Assessing the thermal efficiency and emission reduction potential of alcohol-based fuel curing equipment in tobacco-curing

So far, coal, petroleum, and natural gas are still the most widely used fuels, and the emissions of SO₂, NO_X and particulate matter produced from their combustion have a serious influence on the air. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a clean fuel. In this study, the bulk curing barns were equipped with different fuel equipment, Barn A used traditional coal heating equipment; Barn B used biomass briquettes fuel (BBF) integrated heating equipment; Barn C equipped with alcohol-based fuel (ABF) heating equipment. The temperature of the outer surface of the heating equipment, the exhaust gas of the chimney, and the curing heat efficiency and energy consumption were analyzed. Compared with the barn BBF and barn coal, the barn ABF can meet the flue-cured tobacco curing highest temperature requirements of 68 °C, the accuracy of the target dry bulb temperature (DBT) curve during the curing of flue-cured tobacco was 93.4%. At the same time, during ABF combustion, the emissions of CO₂ and CO were 40.82% and 0.19%, respectively. However, no emissions of NO_X, SO₂, and H₂S were detected in the chimney exhaust. Compared with the barn BBF and barn coal, the thermal efficiency of barn ABF heating equipment in the barn was increased by 44.78% and 86.28%, respectively. Additionally, the coast per kilogram of dry tobacco was reduced by 19.44% and 45.28%, respectively. Therefore, compared to barn coal and barn BBF, the barn ABF can control temperature changes more accurately, and shows an obvious advantage in environmental protection and heat utilization efficiency.