Energy and emission properties of burley tobacco stalk briquettes and its combinations with other biomass as promising replacement for coal

• Published in: Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju 2023-03, Vol.74 (1), p.61-68
• Main Authors: Malnar, Maja, Radojičić, Vesna, Kulić, Gordana, Dinić, Zoran, Cvetković, Olga
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Ash; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Biomass; Briquets; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Carbon monoxide; Chemical composition; Coal; Combustion products; Composition; Emissions; Emissions control; Energy; Fossil fuels; Hardwoods; heat value; Nicotiana; Nicotine; nicotine content; Nitrogen oxides; obnovljiva energija; Original; Photochemicals; produkti izgaranja; renewable energy; sadržaj nikotina; Sawdust; Soybeans; Straw; Sulfur Dioxide; Tobacco; toplotna vrijednost; Wheat straw
• ISSN: 1848-6312; 0004-1254; 1848-6312
• DOI: 10.2478/aiht-2023-74-3630

As a tobacco producer, Serbia has to deal with large amounts of leftover tobacco stalks after harvesting. One option for this type of biomass is to burn it, but burning is not encouraged in Serbia, since the levels of its combustion products have not been investigated yet. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the elemental composition, ash and nicotine content, heat values, and composition of gaseous combustion products of tobacco stalk briquettes and to see if their mixing with other types of biomass available in Serbia could improve their ecological profile. We made 11 different types of briquettes: six of pure raw materials, including burley tobacco stalks, sunflower head remains, wheat straw, corncob, soy straw, and beech sawdust and five by mixing tobacco stalks with these other raw materials in a 50:50 mass ratio. All briquettes meet the ecological criteria regarding the emission limits for nitrogen oxides (NO ), sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Nicotine content in flue gases (