Radiative transfer for biomass particles

The combustion of biomass for energy production is attracting a growing interest academically and industrially as a means to reduce the sector's impact on climate forcing. Modelling will play a key role in the design of optimal biomass combustion systems, however there is a need to adapt currently adopted models for solid fuel combustion to take into account the unique challenges that biomass combustion introduces.

Among these is the irregular shapes of biomass particles, which tend to depart significantly from the ideally spherical assumption that is widely adopted. Studies into investigating the impact of these shape irregularities on radiative transfer to the particle, the dominant mode of heat transfer at combustion temperatures, to better represent the ignition and combustion of biomass.

For further information contact Professor Derek B Ingham (d.ingham@sheffield.ac.uk).