Experimental investigation of fluidised bed co-combustion of meat and bone meal with coals and olive bagasse

Meat and bone meal (MBM) was co-fired in a laboratory scale fluidised bed combustion (FBC) apparatus together with three different primary fuels: two coal types and olive bagasse residues. Several two component fuel blends were tested under different combustion conditions to study how primary fuel substitution by MBM affects flue gas emissions as well as fluidised bed (FB) agglomeration tendency. MBM, being a highly volatile fuel, caused significant increase of CO emissions and secondary air should be used in industrial scale applications to conform to regulations. The high N-content of MBM is moderately reflected on the increase of nitrogen oxides emissions, which are reduced by MBM derived volatiles. The MBM ash, although containing bone material rich in Ca, did not create any noteworthy desulphurisation effect. The observed slight decrease in SO2 emissions is predominantly attributed to the lower sulphur content in the coal/MBM fuel mixtures. The experimental work is evaluated with bed agglomeration indices from literature. The SEM/EDS analysis of bed material samples from the coal/MBM tests revealed the formation of conglomerates of bed material debris and ash with sizes that do not greatly exceed the original bed inventory and thus are not problematic. On the contrary, the co-combustion tests of olive bagasse residues with MBM led to a prompt loss of fluidisation, as a consequence of the high potassium and silicon content of the olive bagasse, the chlorine contents in both MBM and olive bagasse, and the high phosphorus content in the MBM also forming eutectics with potassium.