Assessment of combustion and emission behavior of corn straw biochar briquette fuels under different temperatures

The 350 °C and 700 °C corn straw biochars were used to produce solid fuel briquettes. NovoGro (NG), an industrial by-product, were selected as a binder in the briquetting process. The ratios of the raw material to NG was assumed as 100:1 and 50:1 (denoted as 350NB₁, 350NB₂, 700NB₁ and 700NB₂, respectively). The physicochemical and morphological properties, combustion characteristics and gas emissions of the four briquettes were investigated. The results revealed that the biochars and the NG binder performed a good combination. The low temperature biochar briquettes, especially 350NB₂, had excellent combustion characteristics, including low H/C and O/C ratios (0.17 and 0.82), low gas emissions (104.06 mg/m³ of CO, 157.25 mg/m³ of NO_x and 18.92 mg/m³ of SO₂), optimal resistance to mechanical shock (~90%) and high calorific values (21.48 MJ/kg). Thus, NG is a good binder for the briquetting of biochar. The low temperature biochar was a good feedstock for solid fuel production in the improvement of the combustion and emission quality.