Effect of Mineral Additives on Fusion Behavior of Agricultural Residue Ashes during Combustion or Co-combustion with Lignite

In this work, the ash fusibility behaviour of selected agricultural residues and their blends with lignite was studied, by carrying out chemical, mineralogical, fusibility and thermogravimetric analyses and calculating slagging/fouling indicators for predicting deposition tendencies in boilers. Two additives, bauxite, and clinochlore, were used at varying amounts to reduce ash melting, followed by examining their anti-fusion mechanisms. Initial deformation and softening temperatures of biomass materials were low for combustion processes operating above 900 °C due to their high concentration in K, Na, and P compounds. When the additives were mixed with raw fuels or lignite/biomass blends, the initial deformation of ashes started at temperatures up to 340 °C higher, whereas the fluid temperature in most cases exceeded 1500 °C. Bauxite was more effective than clinochlore. The positive impact of additives was attributed to the mineralogical transformations during ashing to phases with a high melting point through reactions with K, Na-bearing minerals, or CaO of fuel ashes.