Patrick E. Mason

Comparative Study of the Thermal Conductivity of Solid Biomass Fuels

The thermal conductivity of solid biomass fuels is useful information in the investigation of biomass combustion behavior and the development of modeling especially in the context of large scale power generation. There are little published data on the thermal conductivity of certain types of biomass such as wheat straw, miscanthus, and torrefied woods. Much published data on wood is in the context of bulk materials. A method for determining the thermal conductivities of small particles of biomass fuels has been developed using a custom built test apparatus. Fourteen different samples of various solid biomass fuel were processed to form a homogenized pellet for analysis. The thermal conductivities of the pelletized materials were determined and compared against each other and to existing data.