Bio-CCS: Co-firing of established greenfield and novel, brownfield biomass resources under air, oxygen-enriched air and oxy-fuel conditions

As demand for electricity and atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise technologies that reduce the environmental impact of generating electricity are sought. Within the many options a combination of co-firing of biomass and carbon capture and storage (Bio-CCS) could present a negative-emission process. This work investigates co-firing of a novel brownfield and two conventional greenfield biomass reserves with coal in oxygen-enriched conditions which may enhance the efficiency of post-combustion capture units. A 20kW furnace is used to assess combustion characteristics in a range of scenarios. Results suggest oxidant staging during oxygen-enriched co-firing can exhibit lower NO emissions while achieving high combustion efficiencies.