CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPARISON OF WOOD BIOMASS WITH AGGLOMERATION COKE.

In millions of years, nature has created huge energy reserves in the form of fossil fuels, consumption of which is constantly increasing. The depletion of energy reserves stored in fossil fuels is becoming real. For this reason, as well as for the protection of the environment, it is necessary to look for and utilize the renewable energy sources that we encounter in everyday life. Such a source of energy is, for example, biomass, which has been used as a fuel by many generations before us. The combustion of biomass does not have such negative environmental consequences as fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the main energy source in the metallurgical industry, and this is the reason for seeking possibilities of their substitution by alternative fuels. The choice fell on wood biomass. It is therefore necessary to thoroughly analyze the current knowledge of this field of research and to answer the question of its applicability in the agglomeration process. The product of agglomeration process is an agglomerate the production of which is closely related, from an environmental and energy point of view, to the production of coke, which is the basic fuel component of the blast furnace batch. In order to ensure the quality of the agglomerate, it is necessary to apply fuel into the agglomeration mixture which properties meet the criteria for the release of sufficient heat during burning, acceptable combustion rate or low content of ballast substances concentrated mainly in the solid residue after combustion – ash. At present, the dominant position in the agglomeration process has coke breeze. Biomass use is a strategy that is considered a partial solution for reducing the consumption of coke breeze. Biomass is therefore an alternative for achieving emission reductions and ensuring agglomeration production that meets the quality requirements of the blast furnace process. Such solution should be reflected directly in the price of blast furnace iron production and the improved environmental quality. The paper is focused on the characterization of wood biomass and its comparison with the fossil fuel i.e. coke breeze. The characterisation of the fuel samples was performed by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The quantitative analysis of the crystalline and amorphous phases in each of the fuel samples was performed using the Rietveld method. The results of the analysis of selected biomass species point to the correct direction – their use in the agglomeration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]