Analysis and Modeling of Conversion Processes for Biomass, Coal and Other Solid Fuels to Overcome Current Issues

Dear Colleagues,

Thermochemical conversion processes, such as combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis, of biomasses and other solid fuels are always determined by their ash behavior. Ash-related effects of agglomeration, fouling, sintering, slagging, catalytic ash components, etc. will strongly affect the process design and appropriate parameters. The ongoing trend of the substitution of fossil fuels by renewable and secondary ones has to consider completely different ash systems. Ashes of biomasses and other secondary carbon resources typically contain higher contents of K, P, Ca, Mg, and Cl compared to fossil ones and thus tend to form eutectic systems. The process-related ash behavior of solid fuels is strongly affected by differences in origin by authigenic, detrital, and technogenic minerals in the fuels. Key factors of ash behavior in industrial processes are inter alia the selective gas phase transfer of ash species (e.g., heavy metals), fouling, sintering, slagging, agglomeration, catalytic effects, mineral formation and transformation, ash fusion, and slag viscosity. Due to the requirements of an increased efficiency in energy and resources, process optimization uses more and more frequently modeling tools, e.g., thermochemical or neuronal networks, to simulate and optimize ash behavior. In addition to that, processes for recovery of valuable ash components have to be developed to enhance efficiency. This Special Issue assembles papers covering recent approaches to improved process control based on a complementary understanding of ash behavior from the initial fuel up to the high temperature range by various measurement and modeling tools.

Prof. Dr. Markus Reinmöller
Prof. Dr. Aneta Magdziarz
Dr. Flemming Jappe Frandsen
Prof. Dr. Jin Bai
Prof. Dr. Fenghai Li
Guest Editors

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