Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427

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Fuel
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A radiant heating wire mesh single-particle biomass combustion apparatus

Mark Flower *, Jon Gibbins
Energy Technology for Sustainable Development Group, Mechanical Engineering Department, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A computer controlled wire mesh apparatus has been developed that uses radiant heating elements at
Received 1 October 2008 900 °C to combust individual biomass particles. Optical access allows particle combustion characterisa-
Received in revised form 9 February 2009 tion by video image analysis.
Accepted 12 February 2009
Combustion test results are presented for roughly cubic particles of European ash at a range of sizes
Available online 13 March 2009
with different moisture contents. As the moisture content of the particles increased the overall times
required for drying, devolatilisation and burnout increased. The effect of moisture content, however,
Keywords:
had a lesser effect upon total burning time than the effect of particle mass, which was shown to dominate
Wire mesh reactor
Biomass
the total combustion time for this single biomass type.
Moisture content Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The UK Government is actively encouraging the use of biomass
as a method to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from large coal
fired power stations. This is done primarily via the Renewables
Obligation (RO) which creates a clear financial incentive for power
suppliers to source renewable energy. The RO also applies to
biomass when co-fired with coal – although the rules regarding
biomass will change shortly [1], meaning that energy crops (rather
than ‘regular’ biomass1 – such as the olive residue left over from ol-
ive oil production) will benefit from a higher financial incentive.
Energy crops tend to be more fibrous and variable than ‘regu-
lar’ biomass, since in the former the entire plant is being burnt,
and the different parts of the plant exhibit varying levels of resis-
tance to size reduction. An example is switchgrass compared to
wheat straw, barley straw and corn stover [3]. In order to mini-
mise the energy requirements and throughput for the size reduc-
tion equipment and/or to identify ‘problem’ energy crops, users
wish to be able to determine the largest particle for a new bio-
mass fuel that can be completely burnt within a given boiler
plant. An a priori prediction of the relationship between particle
size and burning times for a new biomass would be difficult but
in practice this is not necessary since extensive experience is
available on the performance of biomass fuels that have previ-
ously been fired. In this case, a test that can indicate relative par-
ticle burning times under representative conditions can be used
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0) 2075 941618.
E-mail address: Mark.Flower02@Imperial.ac.uk (M. Flower).
1
DTI [2] define two types of biomass – energy crops and ‘regular’ biomass. Energy
crops are defined as crops which are grown primarily for the purpose of being a fuel,
Miscanthus giganteus, salix or populus. This leaves regular biomass being defined as
any other biomass which is not waste. It is a very broad ‘catch-all’ term.
to rank known and new biomass fuels and hence estimate particle
size requirements. This study is the first phase in the develop-
ment of such a test.
Historically several methods have been used in coal/biomass
combustion research, including ‘hot-rod’ (fixed bed) reactors [4],
drop tubes [5], flat-flame burners [6], electrodynamic chambers
[7], and wire meshes [8]. Wire mesh techniques were chosen for
this application since they offer the potential for a rapid increase
in the heat flux applied to the biomass particle and can also be clo-
sely controlled to give repeatable heating conditions. Wire mesh
apparatus are also relatively cheap to build and run and allow a
captive, stationary sample to be used, meaning that, as in this
study, video images of a biomass particle can be recorded as it
burns.
This paper discusses the development and key features of a new
wire mesh rig which is capable of burning individual particles of
biomass in air. The combustion of the biomass depends not only
upon the shape of the particles, but also their mass and moisture
content (e.g. [9] and [10]). For a preliminary exploration of the
capabilities of the new equipment, experiments involving small
cubes of biomass, rather than more complex forms, have been
undertaken. Using these geometrically similar particles, the effect
of particle mass and moisture content on the drying, devolatilisa-
tion and char combustion times has been investigated for a sample
of European ash.
2. Single particle wire mesh apparatus description
2.1. Basic configuration
The wire mesh apparatus developed for this application can
perhaps be likened to a domestic toaster. Fig. 1 shows a schematic

0016-2361/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2009.02.036
 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427
Fig. 1. Cut away diagram of wire mesh apparatus.
diagram. The samples under test are held between two vertical,
electric heating elements. The element material is stainless steel
mesh which at its operating temperature of 900 °C resists oxida-
tion for extensive periods, allowing experiments to be conducted
in ambient air. Heating is under computer control; large currents
(100 A rms, 0.6 kW maximum power) through the elements can
heat them to their operating temperature within 400 ms, effec-
tively instantaneously compared to particle burning times (typi-
cally 10–30 s).
Several different methods have been used to regulate the tem-
perature of a wire mesh in previous studies. These include control-
ling the time for which power is applied to the mesh [11], feed
forward control based upon the anticipated power demanded by
the mesh to reach a specified temperature [12], monitoring a ther-
mocouple spot welded to the mesh [13] and a two-colour infra-red
pyrometer [14]. Retrospective temperature analysis, based upon
examining the resistance changes within the mesh over the entire
heating cycle has also been employed [15].
All of the above systems have been used mainly for tests on
coal particles, which typically are sieved to a narrow size range
of the order of 100 lm, comparable to that used in suspension fir-
ing. These can be supported between two layers of the mesh and
lie partly within the holes of the lower layer. This arrangement
gives very close thermal contact with the heating element through
direct contact,2 short-range gas film conduction and convection at
lower temperatures and radiation at higher temperatures. Many
coal particles also melt and wet the mesh during heating, further
enhancing heat transfer. This excellent heat transfer is not, however,
likely to occur for biomass particles which exhibit little or no
melting, with the particle sizes relevant for suspension firing in
boilers being typically an order of magnitude larger, in the region
of 1–2 mm.
2
Gibbins [16] found that direct conduction to coal particles in tests under vacuum
was less effective below 700 °C, even though these were resting on the mesh. This
was attributed to the small contact areas between the angular coal particles (before
they started to soften and melt) and the mesh.
2419
The larger size of biomass particles led to the design of an appa-
ratus in which the heating of the particle is largely by thermal radi-
ation. This method (as opposed to convective or conductive heat
transfer) permits a much more reproducible result, since not only
can minor changes to the heat flux be made very rapidly, but the
applied heat flux is not dependent upon the melting of the particle.
The radiation impinging on the particle is generated (as de-
scribed above) by two large 40  40 mm wire mesh elements.
These are made of grade 304 stainless steel with an aperture of
63 lm and a wire diameter of 36 lm.
As shown in Fig. 1, on the centre line between the meshes are
placed the biomass particle sample holder and a well-oxidised type
K stainless steel sheathed, mineral-insulated thermocouple of
comparable diameter (1 mm) to the particle, the latter being used
to provide an estimate of the heat flux integrated over time. The
sample holder is designed as two parallel wires, with the sample
centring itself on the gap between the two. This design was found
to be stable, with the sample particle normally remaining in situ
(and at a constant distance from the meshes) throughout the
experiments. The thermocouple and sample are mounted at the
vertical and latitudinal midpoint of the space in-between the wire
meshes. They are additionally positioned equally distant from each
other and from the edges of the wire mesh. This symmetrical
geometry ensures a constant calculated view factor3 of 0.8 from
the particle/thermocouple to the heated wires within the mesh.
The type K thermocouple indicates the cumulative effect of the
time-dependent heating flux applied to the particle, rather than
the particle’s temperature. Indeed since the biomass particles of
interest are too small to be used as a target by a conventional pyrom-
eter (although non conventional techniques have been attempted
3
A view factor is a measure of what this particle sees – by example the calculated
view factor of 0.80 from the particle to the mesh means that were the particle to look
out at its surroundings it would see 80% (heated) wire. The view factor was calculated
using Felix [17] – a software package based upon the Monte Carlo method. This
means that complex geometrical problems can be solved and that the apertures in the
mesh are taken into account.
2420 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427
8 Bit DA
Thyristor
Convertor
Transformer
Resistor
Power
Op Amp
Subtraction
Wire Mesh
Op Amp
Subtraction
Thermo-
Pyrometer
couple
Cold Junction
Compensation
Power Circuit
Fig. 2. Circuit diagram for wire mesh apparatus, showing power and data circuits. The pyrometer was used as a precautionary check during the tests reported in this paper
but was found to be unnecessary.
[18]), and are not in contact with the mesh for direct control of
particle temperatures as in a conventional wire mesh apparatus,
we have not been able to measure particle temperatures. Addition-
ally, interference from the burning volatiles would affect measure-
ments during that phase. The thermocouple is used to ensure the
heat flux generated by the mesh is consistent between runs, permit-
ting particle-to-particle comparisons. As such it is important that
the thermocouple’s readings are not affected by any changes in
the surface oxide layer. The chosen thermocouple has a relatively
thick stainless steel sheath, and was heated for extended periods
under controlled conditions until a thick enough oxide layer had
built up for no further changes in measured temperatures to be
observed.
The principal measurement made in the ‘conventional’ wire
mesh apparatus described in the examples above was the weight
of the sample holder plus sample before and after heating, from
which the weight loss during pyrolysis could be estimated. The
equipment in this study has been primarily designed for real-time
observations of the progress of combustion of the particle, and as
such there is a requirement for direct optical access to be provided
to the particle for video image recording. The times for the respec-
tive phases in particle combustion can then readily be estimated by
processing the video image files.
This requirement for real-time measurements means that the
relatively low temperature limit (enforced by the current use of
stainless steel for the element) is not entirely a disadvantage since
the particles consequently burn at a slower rate (order tens of sec-
onds), thus allowing a satisfactory degree of temporal resolution
using inexpensive and widely available CCTV equipment, operating
at 25 frames/s. Higher temperatures would require high speed
video, and even then a greater overlap between combustion stages
is expected because of internal composition gradients (i.e. the par-
ticle exterior might be charred and burning whilst inner layers are
still drying). It is planned to investigate the use of higher element
temperatures and hence heating rates in a later phase of the pro-
ject, but the combination of cheap element material and conven-
tional video observations is an attractive option for routine use
provided that repeatable and representative rankings of burning
times can be obtained.
PC TDS2020F
Rectification 16 Bit AD 10 Bit AD
& R-C filter Convertor Convertor
Rectification
& R-C filter
Amplification
Data Circuit
2.2. Heating system and power modulation
The element heating system for the wire mesh is powered from
mains electricity. This power source is very convenient to use and,
unlike batteries, does not need maintenance. It is limited, however,
to low power applications (e.g. 3 kW for a conventional 13 A socket
– in this study a 13 A, 240 V socket was used). A consequence of
this choice is that all control calculations must ideally be done
within 20 ms (in phase with 50 Hz mains frequency).
Fig. 2 shows a schematic of the wire mesh heating and control
system. The phase angle, and hence power output, of the thyristor
bridge is set, via a packaged phase angle trigger module, by a 0–5 V
control signal from an embedded TDS2020F microcontroller. Con-
trol calculations are initiated by a mains-derived 50 Hz trigger
pulse. The thyristors operate at relatively low currents on the
high-voltage side of an AC welding set used to provide the low-
voltage, high-current power for the element. This is the same
method as used in previous AC wire mesh units within this lab [8].
The welding set is capable of delivering 100 A rms, which can
heat the wire mesh to temperatures of around 900 °C within
400 ms. A resistor bank (four parallel 0.22 X 50 W aluminium
housed wire wound resistors mounted on a water-cooled plate)
is connected in series with the wire mesh, so that the same high-
current passes though them both. The heating mesh resistance
can then be calculated by measuring the voltage drops across the
wire mesh and resistor bank, respectively.
The brass clamping bars for the mesh are mounted on water-
cooled copper electrodes made from 6 mm OD copper tube. These
are also springy enough to hold the meshes in tension as they ex-
pand on heating, thereby keeping them flat and parallel.
2.3. Temperature measurement and control
The temperature sensing method is important for effective
closed loop temperature control, with an adequately fast response
being the most important feature after the accuracy in measuring
the actual temperature of interest. The wire mesh rigs in [11–15]
either did not use closed loop temperature control, or used temper-
ature measurement techniques which are not suitable for lower
 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427
Fig. 3a. Projected area (in pixels) of a particle of European ash undergoing combustion. The particle had a moisture content of 26% on a wet basis.
temperatures. Fine thermocouples with the junction on the mesh
[16] satisfy both requirements provided that interference from
the heating current can be avoided by a suitable combination of
hardware and software. However, while thin (e.g. 25 or 50 lm)
thermocouples are satisfactory when remade each time for one-
off heating runs in inert atmospheres, the junctions and even the
wires themselves are unsuitable for extended use in oxidising
atmospheres. To overcome these limitations the apparatus pre-
sented in this paper uses a new form of temperature measurement
system which is based on measurements of the resistance of the
wire mesh. Because AC heating currents are used, voltages must
be sampled and control calculations undertaken within a single
mains cycle, allowing an accurate power level to be specified for
the following mains cycle before it begins.
The resistance measurement, as shown in Fig. 2, relies upon
four different sampled voltages, which pass through over-voltage
protection and isolation amplifiers before being subtracted using
op amps to provide two voltage drops – over the wire mesh and
power circuitry resistor bank respectively. These AC voltage differ-
ences are precision rectified, with the peak converted to a DC signal
by an R-C filter. This filter has a time constant of 20 ms (to charge
up), whilst the mesh’s heating time constant is approximately
30 ms. The cooling time constant of the mesh is much slower at
around 500 ms, which compares against a discharging time con-
stant of the R-C filter of near 300 ms. The voltage differences are
then digitised by a 16bit analogue to digital converter (ADC) and
passed to the control algorithm inside the TDS2020F microcontrol-
ler. This then divides one voltage drop by the other to give a num-
ber proportional to the heating element resistance, which
increases monotonically with the temperature of the mesh.
Whilst the resistance measurement provides rapid-response
temperature measurements for cycle-by-cycle modulation of the
2421
heating current to achieve a target mesh resistance (corresponding
to the desired target temperature), at operating temperatures
(which are above the oxidation limit of the stainless steel) it was
expected that oxidation reactions taking place on the wire mesh
would slowly reduce the cross sectional area of the conducting
wires and hence the relationship between the mesh’s resistance
and its temperature. As a precaution a two-colour pyrometer4
was therefore used to monitor the temperature of the mesh during
the experiments reported, allowing the control algorithm to increase
the resistance target value, without the risk of heating the mesh past
its melting temperature, as the oxide layer thickened. Subsequently
this precaution was found to be unnecessary, an obvious saving in
the complexity and cost of the equipment. To correct for variations
between wire meshes (e.g. mesh geometry and degree of mesh oxi-
dation) the target mesh resistance value required to maintain the
type K thermocouple at the desired operating temperature is initially
determined by two (or more) repeated blank runs using an auto-
mated calibration subroutine. This subroutine is also called during
experiments (see below), ensuring continued accuracy in real time.
The voltage from the type K thermocouple is first linearised
(with cold junction compensation5) before being amplified and
passed to the control algorithm via the 10bit ADC onboard the
TDS2020F. The output voltage from the pyrometer was treated in a
very similar manner; except that pyrometer linearisation took place
on board the TDS2020F with lookup tables.
The recorded thermocouple temperatures were not seen to be af-
fected by the particle combustion process. The temperature of the
thermocouple was typically driven to a set point of 900 °C with a
4
IRCON SR-14C05.
5
Omega SMCJ-K thermocouple to analogue converter.
2422 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427

Table 1
Proximate analysis of European ash on a dry basis, as plotted in Figs. 3–7.

Sample Percentage Percentage Percentage

volatile matter fixed carbon ash
European ash #1.1 80.3 18.3 1.3
European ash #1.2 76.4 19.0 4.6
European ash #1.3 75.5 19.5 5.0
European ash #1.4 74.1 15.5 10.4
European ash #1.5 74.3 17.9 7.8

data, although it is recognised that other effects (see Section 4)

may exist.

2.4. Particle video image collection and analysis

A Sanyo VCC69755P colour CCD video camera with a zoom lens

fixed at a focal length of 85 mm closed down to an aperture of f/16
and coupled to a 20 mm expansion tube (to give image magnifica-
tion) is used to observe the particle during combustion. The camera
to particle distance is fixed so that a consistent optical magnifica-
tion is achieved. An Edmund optics cyan filter6 (which blocks light
with wavelengths longer than 600 nm) is used to filter out the re-
flected glow of the mesh on the particle, whilst a piece of heat-
absorbing glass7 (which absorbs 60% of light between 1700 and
2500 nm) is used to protect the filter.
The images are recorded onto video tape,8 before being digitised
into a PAL format.9 The clip is split into frames with a video to JPG
converter [19] – although, due to computer limitations only alter-
nate frames, 80 ms apart, are studied. Individual frames are analysed
by routines written in MathCAD to determine the projected area of
the bright particle/flame/char within each frame. The projected
areas can be plotted to give an indication of the combustion behav-
iour with time, as shown in Fig. 3a; some corresponding frames are
shown in Fig. 3b. Three characteristic points can be observed in
Fig. 3a: the point of ignition (the 3rd data point), the crossover point
where the volatile flame extinguishes and char combustion begins
(the 5th data point) and the point of burnout (the 7th data point).
Volatile and char combustion are easy to differentiate from video
analysis and the transition period between then is very short; char
and volatile combustion typically taking place simultaneously for
a maximum period of 240 ms, which is small when compared to
the entire particle burning times (typically 10–30 s).
The initial ignition point for the volatiles is, however, more dif-
ficult to determine, especially for particles with high moisture con-
tent. An ignition point is therefore defined as follows. As the
particle dries it turns black, meaning that the calculated size of
the bright region in the image shrinks. Then, as the volatile flame
forms, the size of the bright region in the image grows. The frame
with the minimum bright area is taken as the ignition point – seen
as the intersection between the projected particle/flame area lines
on Fig. 3a. Subjective visual comparison with the actual images
suggests that this approximation is no more than ±3 frames (so
±240 ms) from the point in time at which devolatilisation is
strongly established over the entire particle.
These three points can be plotted against the dry mass of the
particle in repeated experiments as both the dry particle mass
and moisture content is varied.
Although the methods outlined above may not be accurately
identifying the actual drying time for a particle (i.e. the time for
Fig. 3b. Original and computed binary example images highlighted with circles in
all free moisture to be evaporated) they are identifying much more
Fig. 3a. Microbar is 5 mm long, with 1 mm graduations.
significant events for characterising early combustion behaviour,

maximum error of ±20 K. The closed loop control system reduced 6

Edmund Optics NT52-538.
this error to ±5 K (after particle burnout) allowing an accurate resis- 7
Edmund Optics NT04-010.
tance target value for the following experiment. It is thought that 8
Vista VVR time lapse video recorder.
this temperature error is the primary reason for the scatter in the 9
Belkin USB Videobus II.
 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427 2423

Fig. 4. Differential mass loss curves against temperature for samples of European ash (as listed in Table 1) undergoing pyrolysis.

the point when self-sustaining combustion of the volatiles (per- 3.2. TGA characterisation method and results
haps diluted by steam from drying) begins and the point when it
ends and heterogeneous char combustion begins. TGA analysis was used for two purposes. The moisture content
of the samples were determined at the end of each day of experi-
ments with the use of a Thermogravimetric Analyser which heated
3. Particle preparation and characterisation by
the samples under nitrogen to 105 °C before maintaining them at
thermogravimetric analysis
that temperature for half an hour. The samples for TGA analysis
were taken adjacent to where the sample for experimentation
3.1. Particle preparation
had been (i.e. on the same square section piece) meaning that they
came from a very similar point in space and time from the square
Since the main objective of this study was to assess the perfor-
section piece as the particles which had undergone combustion.
mance of the new apparatus, a well-controlled sample set of differ-
The variation of the moisture content between the low moisture
ent sized cubes of European ash (Fraxinus excelsor) was prepared.
particles was typically better (at 3 ± 1%, 3.5 ± 0.5%) than the varia-
The single piece of wood from which all the cubes were cut came
tion between the high moisture particles – determined to be
from the trunk of the tree, and was knot free. It was first cut across
26 ± 3%.
the grain to give slices approximately 2–6 mm thick, which were
Proximate analysis11 carried out on the wood (prior to drying or
then cut into square section pieces which were about 75 mm long.
humidifying) showed that variation between samples was low. In-
These were stored under humidity-controlled conditions (see be-
deed, this was the primary reason for choosing this material since
low) before being cut manually to cubes varying in size between
any variation within the results could be then be attributed to the
approximately 1 and 6 mm in base length shortly before exper-
test conditions or to the particle geometry rather than to natural var-
iments.
iation within the sample.
Two sample treatment methods were used to prepare two sep-
Table 1 shows the proximate analysis results (presented on a
arate sets of low moisture biomass particles and a high moisture
dry ash free basis) for five samples of European ash, whilst Fig. 4
set. The two low moisture samples sets (3% and 3.5% moisture,
shows the DTG traces for the same five particles as they underwent
respectively) were obtained by oven drying in two batches (with
pyrolysis. The first (smaller) peak (at 305–320 °C) is thought to be
a one month break between batches) under nitrogen at 105 °C
the temperature where the peak pyrolysis rate of hemi-cellulose
for 12 h, with samples then being stored in separate airtight
occurs, whilst the second (larger) peak (365–375 °C) is for cellu-
boxes with a measured relative humidity10 near 0%. The 3.5% sam-
lose. Yang et al. [20] report pure hemi-cellulose and pure cellulose
ple was prepared second, having been stored at constant relative
breakdown temperatures of 220–315 and 315–400 °C, respec-
humidity (circa 50% RH) in square section form for the month prior
tively. The long tail represents the slow pyrolysis of lignin, re-
to being oven dried. High moisture samples were prepared by being
ported by Yang et al [20] to take place over the entire
held in an airtight box with a relative humidity of 95–100%; where
temperature range, from 160 to 900 °C. It can be seen that, since
they attained a final equilibrium moisture content of around 26%.
All of the airtight boxes were lined with desiccant, ensuring the rel-
ative humidity remained constant as the room temperature natu- 11
Samples were held for half an hour at room temperature to purge any oxygen
rally varied. from the equipment (the heating took place under nitrogen) before being heated at
20 K/s to 105 °C. After a hold time of 70 min heating continued at 20 K/s to 900 °C.
After 110 min some of the nitrogen purge gas was replaced with air (for a further
10
Vaisala HMP50 UCB1B1X humidity probe. 15 min), burning off the fixed carbon.
2424 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427

the heights of the individual curves (as well as the temperatures at
which they occur) are in similar positions, the compositions of the
samples can be assumed to be similar.
4. Results and discussion
To assess the repeatability of measurements made with the
apparatus and of the sample preparation procedure the two differ-
ent low moisture samples (3% and 3.5%, respectively) were pre-
pared and tested independently. Fig. 5 shows the time required
for the particles (from both samples) to undergo drying, devolatil-
isation and char combustion. The three points (per experiment)
represent the points measured by video analysis – measured dry-
ing, devolatilisation ending and particle burnout (see Section
2.4). These points, from every experiment, have been plotted
against the dry mass of the particle.
By making an assumption that the data are normally distributed
about the mean we can estimate the experimental error by forming
95% confidence intervals, plotted on Fig. 5 as shaded bands.
T-tests have been used to determine any statistical variation be-
tween the underlying means of the measured drying time, devola-
tilisation ending time and burnout time of both result sets. A two
tailed T-test, at the 5% level of significance, failed to reject the
hypothesis of equal underlying means every time, whilst an F test
(again at the 5% level of significant) also failed to reject a hypoth-
esis of equal underlying variances for devolatilisation and drying. It
did successfully reject the same hypothesis for the burnout times.
This suggests there is evidence (at the 5% level of significance) that
the rig has produced results from the independent, yet similar,
sample sets – with the possible exception of burnout times, where
two particles from the 3% data set are some distance from the
mean.

Fig. 5. Times, and 95% confidence intervals, to onset of devolatilisation (measured drying time), end of devolatilisation and end of char combustion (burnout time) for cubes
of European ash with approximate sample moisture contents of 3% and 3.5% on a wet basis. Particle masses have been plotted on a dry basis. Mesh heating rate was 2200 K/s
to a peak temperature of 900 °C.
 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427 2425

The higher variance in the burnout times may be a function of
either varying convection within the rig (which was not controlled,
but was expected to be similar since similar thermocouple time–
temperature histories were recorded) and/or of differences in the
point at which the char finally extinguishes or burns out. These
could result from inevitable minor variations in the way the parti-
cle sat on the sample holder which, especially in the later stages of
char combustion, could give variable levels of shielding from either
any convective updraft or from thermal radiation from the heated
mesh. Another possible cause for variation in char burning times is
ash effects, where the ash may clump together and form a protec-
tive layer around the burning carbon core, reducing reactant/prod-
uct flow and increasing burnout times. A high variance for burnout
times was noted in the 26% moisture particles; subjective observa-
tions of the video sequences suggested ash effects were more sig-
nificant for these.
The combustion times (and associated confidence intervals) for
the 26% moisture sample set are shown in Fig. 6. These results
strongly suggest that increasing a particle’s moisture content
increases both the measured drying and devolatilisation times.
The latter change is considered to be a consequence of moisture
still being present in the inner layers of the particle when the vol-
atile flame ignites. This moisture then requires additional heat in-
put for evaporation and also produces water vapour that may cool
the pyrolysing wood [21], resulting in a longer period of simulta-
neous drying and pyrolysis [22]. The effect of moisture on total
particle burning time is less clear due to the greater level of scatter
in the higher moisture sample test results. A T-test at the 5% level
of significance strongly rejects the hypothesis that 26% and 3%,
3.5% particles have a burnout time with a common mean (P-value
0.013 (3%), 0.005 (3.5%)), whilst a similar T-test at the 5% level of
significance rejects the hypothesis that the times required for char
combustion (as shown in Fig. 7) have a common mean (P-value of
0.014 (3%), 0.037 (3.5%)). Thus the effect of increased moisture in
giving increased drying and devolatilisation times is clear. Overall
burning times probably also increase as well, especially for larger
particles [9], but the exact magnitude of the increase is hard to
assess because it is masked by the relatively large scatter in the

Fig. 6. Times, and 95% confidence intervals, to onset of devolatilisation (measured drying time), end of devolatilisation and end of char combustion (burnout time) for cubes
of European Ash with approximate sample moisture contents of 26% on a wet basis (and 95% confidence interval bands for 3% or 3.5% moisture content from Fig. 5). Particle
masses have been plotted on a dry basis. Mesh heating rate was 2200 K/s to a peak temperature of 900 °C.
2426 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427

Fig. 7. Char combustion times, and 95% confidence intervals, for cubes of European Ash with approximate sample moisture contents of 26%, 3% or 3.5% on a wet basis. Char
combustion is measured as the time between the point where devolatilisation ends and final burnout. Particle masses have been plotted on a dry basis. Mesh heating rate was
2200 K/s to a peak temperature of 900 °C.

measurements and in any case it can only be a relatively small
addition to the total time. Fig. 6 therefore suggests that (for this
biomass type), likely changes in moisture content resulting from
changes between 0% and 100% relative humidity at ambient tem-
peratures have much less effect on total burning time than particle
size (dry mass).
5. Conclusions
A new wire mesh heating device has been developed to assess
the relative burning times for single particles of biomass. The appa-
ratus is capable of heating particles rapidly whilst allowing optical
access. A video camera with a high optical zoom is used to monitor
the combustion of the particles. Retrospective frame by frame
analysis of the video footage is used to estimate when combustion
of the released volatiles from a particle on test both begins and
ends, and when char combustion ends.
Particles of European ash with three different moisture contents
(3%, 3.5%, and 26% on a wet basis) have been burnt within the rig.
The 3%, 3.5% samples were prepared independently from each
other to allow an assessment of test repeatability.
Experiments show that there is no evidence to suggest (at the
5% level of significance) that the means and variances of the drying
times, devolatilisation times and means of particle burnout times
for the 3%, 3.5% particles were not equal. The variance of the burn-
out times differed at the 5% levels of significance. This may be be-
cause of slight differences in the heating profile applied, but
variations in convection during burnout, variable shielding by the
sample holder and/or a residual fused ash layer during final char
burnout also appear feasible. This demonstrates that the test
achieves satisfactory repeatability.
The effect of moisture was also studied, with comparisons made
between the oven-dried particles above and particles with 26%
moisture content resulting from storage at 100% relative humidity.
The higher moisture content was observed to delay the start and
end of volatiles combustion slightly but overall burning times
exhibited greater scatter (apparently due to an intrinsically greater
variation in particle-to-particle behaviour) and could not be
 M. Flower, J. Gibbins / Fuel 88 (2009) 2418–2427
concluded to have changed significantly. The dry mass (size) of the
particle was therefore found to be much more important in deter-
mining overall burning times than likely variations in moisture
content for this type of biomass.
Acknowledgements
Funding from the British Coal Utilisation Research Association
and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change is gratefully
acknowledged, but the views expressed are those of the authors
and not necessarily those of BCURA or DECC.
We also gratefully acknowledge helpful discussion with col-
leagues, particularly Paul Fennell (Imperial College), and Michael
Whitehouse (RWE npower) who is the BCURA industrial supervisor
for the project.
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