DESIGN OF AN IMPROVED BIOMASS TO HEAT COMBUSTER AND ITS EXPEREMENTAL VALIDATIONS

Pulp and paper industry in Nigeria is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Fossil-based fuel pollutes lower layer of the atmosphere, causes greenhouse gases (GHC) and other environmental worries. Renewable energy sources are clean and cost-effective nowadays. An innovative horizontal air staged inclined biomass combustion for drying purpose in the production of paper egg trays is developed and evaluation is performed with oil groundnut kernel shell and wood chip as the fuel. The development of the Biomass-to-Heat-Converter (B2HC) can serve as useful insight in the design and development a laboratory biomass combustion chamber. The influence of the air mixture ratio on the flue gas composition (combustible gases: carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and the B2HC converter (pyrolysis chamber, exhaust gas, surrounding) temperature profile is determined from the fuels. Temperature obtained for the pyrolysis chamber, exhaust gas and surroundings at the optimum condition were 304.41± 49.750C, 119.50± 26.840C and 32.14± 1.380C respectively. The average emission of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from the optimum condition were 274.71± 52.890C ppmv and 91.11± 33.660C ppmv respectively. The optimum average combustion efficiency determined is 62.47 %. The geometrical design in this B2HC shows that carbon monoxide is reduced compared to other works