Volume 19: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part II

Study on Ash Characteristics of Cofiring Sawdust with Coal for supercritical power plants in Indonesia Hariana, Fairuz Milkiy Kuswa, Muhammad Huda, Arif Darmawan

Abstract

Currently, Low-rank coal and medium-rank coal dominate Indonesian coal. Unfortunately, although Indonesia produces coal, the coal reserve is relatively limited. On the other hand, the use of biomass has many obstacles and has low thermal efficiency. Cofiring biomass and coal is believed to be an excellent solution to answering these problems and extending the life of power plants. This paper presents experimental investigations into the cofiring of sawdust with pulverized coal using a drop tube furnace. The ash particles characteristic and material composition were also analyzed using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX). The results indicate that cofiring sawdust with coal during combustion impact ash characteristics due to fuels’ varied physical and chemical properties. The slagging issue is still safe in follow-up observations from prior research involving the addition of 10% sawdust biomass to cofiring in pulverized coal supercritical boilers using a combination of DTF and SEM methodology. Substituting 10% of biomass for coal could have a big impact on supercritical power plants in Indonesia, with a capacity of 5-6 GW.

Keywords cofiring, biomass, sawdust, drop tube furnace, SEM-EDX, ash.