Desenvolvimento de pellets provenientes de madeira e finos de carvão vegetal

Abstract

With the growing demand for world energy, there is a need for energy sources with the potential to replace fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas. An alternative form of energy with high energy potential are pellets, which can be considered as renewable biofuels, have low humidity, homogeneous form and high energy density, and are derived from vegetal biomass. The objective of this work is to develop and characterize pellets from wood with addition of charcoal fines. Three compositions of pellets were produced and compared: sawdust pellets of pinus spp. (P1), pine sawdust pellets with 10% charcoal fines (P2) and 25% charcoal fines (P3). The national and international pellet standards were used for this purpose. The results of the analyzes showed that the addition of charcoal fines can increase the energy potential of the pellets, since the pellets P2 and P3 presented values higher than the pellets P1, in the quality parameters related to the energetic part, such as higher calorific value and lower and energy density. With regard to quality parameters, physical, chemical and thermal, all pellets have reached the values stipulated by the norms of international standards. Thus, it can be concluded that pellets have high energy potential and can be substitute sources of energy, considered as clean and renewable, due to the use of residues from wood, and that the insertion of charcoal fines can contribute to an increase potential of the pellets.