Binding and desulfurization characteristics of pulp black liquor in biocoalbriquettes

To control pollutant emissions from coal combustion in some developing countries, biocoalbriquette, an artificially produced solid fuel, was developed. Both the breaking strength and production costs of the biocoalbriquette have become essentially the most important factors in popularizing it in these countries. To increase the breaking strength and decrease the production costs, it is proposed in this study to use pulp black liquor, a byproduct from the pulp production industry, as a binder. The influences of pulp black liquor on the briquetting and combustion characteristics were investigated. Furthermore, the desulfurization characteristics of pulp black liquor were also evaluated through combustion experiments. The study results show that the briquetting pressure has a limited effect on the breaking strength. An increase in the briquetting pressure yields greater breaking strength of up to the 50 MPa. Above 50 MPa, the breaking strength changes very little with the briquetting pressure. The use of pulp black liquor has had a greater effect on increasing the breaking strength than on changing the briquetting pressure and also on improving the combustion characteristics of the biocoalbriquette. On the other hand, pulp black liquor has some desulfurization capabilities. When used as a binder, it not only increases the breaking strength and decreases the necessary briquetting pressure, but it also improves some characteristics of the combustion and reduces the pollutants emission.