Study of parameters of production of granular fuel from peat

Granulation technology is becoming an increasingly attractive one for the energy use of biomass. The problem to find a suitable method of compaction of various types of biomasses has existed for decades. The purpose of this study is to select the optimal mode to produce pellets from peat fuel. Peat samples collected in the Mezen district of the Arkhangelsk region have been selected as the data for study. Elemental analysis of the studied samples of peat and peat pellets has been carried out using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy on an EDX-8000 spectrometer. Experiments on peat granulation have been carried out in a press granulator of the German company Amandus Kahl. The authors describe the procedure of selection of the operating mode of a press granulator to produce pellets from peat fuel. Optimal regime of pellets production has been selected corresponding to the national standard. An elemental analysis of the studied samples of peat and peat pellets has been carried out using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The results have shown that the ash content of peat fuel from the Arkhangelsk region is no more than 2 %. Production of environmentally friendly high-calorific pellets from peat corresponding to the National Russian standards allows increasing the energy potential of the Arkhangelsk region. When converting peat into the pellets, the content of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen (C+N+H) increases, and the content of sulfur and oxygen (O+S) decreases, which leads to the increase of the heat of fuel combustion. Advantages of the use of peat to produce energy are low sulfur content, low ash content and high softening ash temperature.