الفهرس 
Introduction and Literature ReviewOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 113 |  |  |
| | | from | 113 | | |
Abstract
There is a growing interest in using renewable energies to reduce greenhouse effect as well as to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. In this framework, the utilization of biomass in heat and power generation plants can be considered attractive since biomass is a CO2 neutral fuel. However, there are some difficulties that limit the use of biomass. Among others, high transportation cost makes the use of biomass residues in large power stations uneconomic. Combined straw–bitumen pellets are proposed as an alternative fuel. These serve as a binding material with a relatively high heating value. Blends of rice straw and bitumen, with different straw to bitumen ratios, have been well mixed and then compressed to obtain the proposed fuels. Pellets have been obtained with different diameters: 10, 15 and 20 mm and length ranging between 20 and 30 mm. Enhancing sulphur self-retention to directly meet the environmental regulations is achieved by building-in CaO within fuel pellets. The combustion behavior of the combined pellets has been investigated by performing a series of batch combustion tests in a fluidized bed combustor.