Characteristics of biomass charcoal briquettes and pollutant emission reduction for sulfur and nitrogen during combustion

Typical biomasses (wheat straw, maize straw and rice straw) were used for studying the carbonization of biomass, preparation and performance characterizations of charcoal briquettes. The combustion with charcoal briquettes was conducted on a self-built platform and the emission characteristics of sulfur and nitrogen pollutants were investigated. The results indicated that it is optimal for biochar preparation as a fuel with 450–500 °C of carbonization temperature, 180 min of holding time and 5 °C·min−1 of heating rate. Biochar briquettes will have strong mechanical strength at briquetting pressure of 25 MPa, particle size of less than 1 mm and the ratio of modified corn starch of 4.32 wt%. Compared with biomass burning, biomass charcoal briquettes had better combustion performance and the emissions of pollutants were reduced. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd