When it comes to biomass combustion, what is inside must come out.
AURI is leading an effort to identify the chemical composition of a range of biomass feedstocks so regulators like the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and those looking to develop biomass-powered operations can have a better idea of what might be contained in plant emissions. AURI Project Development Director Randy Hilliard says the goal is to develop a fact sheet or guide that helps estimate what would be contained in biomass emissions for those planning biomass to energy projects
By utilizing information from an AURI fuels initiative, data from several European databases and actual emissions from existing biomass operations, Hilliard expects to put together a useful decision making tool. If information doesn’t exist, test burns may be conducted to gather what is needed.
“We want to prove from a chemical composition standpoint that there shouldn’t be any problems with emissions,” Hilliard says. “Creating a model based upon that composition should help predict what the emissions are going to be.”
Different types of combustion technologies can yield different levels of air emissions using the same feedstocks. What won’t change is the chemical composition of the biomass fuel.
