Assessment of Miscanthus cultivation for solid biofuels (briquettes) production

Bc. Lucie Podzimková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Biomass from plants, namely energy crops, can serve as a promising energy alternative to fossil fuels. It is an environmentally friendly renewable source of energy used not only for production of solid biofuels. One of the most promising energy crops seems to be Miscanthus.The Thesis was divided into two parts: the main aim of theoretical part was to sum up scientific knowledge about biomass, biofuels as well as about Miscanthus, its utilization, properties and requirements. The main aim of the practical part was to bring assessment and comparison of two varieties of Miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus x giganteus) for energy purposes. To achieve the research goal, briquettes made of Miscanthus were produced and the main quality parameters such as gross calorific values, ash content, contents of C,H,N and volatile matter content were determined. Futher, CO, CO2 and NOx emissions during combustion were analysed and biomass energy potentials of selected crops were calculated.Two varieties of Miscanthus demonstrated very similar resulting values of most of basic explored properties. It was found that briquettes made of Miscanthus fulfilled requirements for classification into non-woody briquettes quality class A according to EN ISO 17225-7 (2014). Combustion emissions were also satisfactory in both cases. However, due to higher energy yield M. x giganteus is evaluated as more suitable for energy purposes.

Keywords

biomass, Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus x giganteus, combustion, briquettes, emissions, energy yield

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 4. 2017

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Tatiana Ivanova, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Sustainable Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics