Measurements of temperature and gas composition within the burning bed of wet woody residues in a 4 MW moving grate boiler

• Temperature and gas species distribution inside the fuel bed of a grate boiler
• High temperatures were measured at the bottom of the fuel bed.
• Different stages of the combustion process occurred in horizontally adjacent layers.
• Correlations between primary air flow rate and gas concentrations were assessed.

Moving grate firing systems are widely used for biomass combustion. The characteristics of the fuel bed combustion in moving grate boilers are of practical interest as they are directly related to the release of pollutants and affect the furnace efficiency. Measurements of temperature and gas species concentrations inside the fuel bed are necessary to improve our understanding of the highly complex processes involved in biomass combustion. There have been few experimental studies of the fuel bed of industrial scale grate furnaces. The present study measured temperature and gas species concentrations within a thick burning bed of wet woody biomass, in a 4 MW reciprocating grate boiler. Measurements were carried out under three different operating conditions through ports located in the wall of the furnace using a stainless steel probe incorporating a thermocouple. Temperatures of about 1000 °C were measured close to the grate, indicating intense combustion at the bottom of the fuel bed. The temperature distribution along the bed height showed that different stages of the combustion process take place in horizontally adjacent layers along the grate. Higher flow rates of the primary air resulted in relatively higher CO and lower CO2 and NO concentrations in the fuel bed.