Modern State and Topical Issues of Studying Solid Fuel Particle Primary Fragmentation Processes as Applied to Biomass Combustion and Gasification in Fluidized and Dense Bed (Review)

It is shown that it is important to take into account the variation of particle sizes due to their fragmentation in fluidized bed biomass combustion. The present state of investigations into the fragmentation process is analyzed. It is shown that primary fragmentation, a process involving cracking and disintegration of initial fuel particles into two or more parts due to thermal stresses and growth of pressure in the particles during their rapid heating at the drying and devolatization stages is the most essential issue. Factors causing the cracking of fuel particles and the nature of this process are considered. The particle fragmentation quantitative characteristics and criteria are analyzed. It is shown that the particle critical diameter is the simplest criterion for estimating the susceptibility of different fuels to fragmentation. The main factors influencing the occurrence of primary fragmentation, namely, particle size, heating rate, bed temperature, and fuel characteristics, are considered. The list of fuel’s main characteristics affecting its primary fragmentation includes the volatiles content, porosity, moisture and ash content, susceptibility of particles to swelling or shrinking, and the organic part composition. Matters concerned with predicting primary fragmentation of fuels are considered. Information about the interrelation between the main characteristics of fuels, their susceptibility to primary fragmentation, and its nature is presented. In view of biomass properties and its combustion conditions, both of the primary fragmentation mechanisms, namely due to devolatization induced stresses and thermal stresses, are supposed to take place. It can be expected that the domination of one or another mechanism will depend on the combination of particle size and heating temperature. The lines of and methods for studying the nature of biomass particles primary fragmentation and its quantitative characteristics under different conditions are outlined. The data obtained as a result of such fundamental investigations will form the basis for elaborating methods for designing furnace devices and gasifiers operating on biomass taking into account the effect of particle fragmentation on the combustion, gasification, carryover, and heating surface contamination processes.