UI: Burning oat hulls in power plant reduces harmful emissions
The University of Iowa reports that burning a 50-50 mix of oat hulls and coal in the university’s power plant reduced harmful emissions.
The technique cut carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent and also reduced emissions of soot and hazardous chemicals. The study was published in the journal Fuel.
The fuel mix reduced filterable particulate matter by 90 percent, cut hazardous air pollutants by 41 percent, and lowered emissions of heavy metals, including manganese, copper, nickel and zinc, by 51 percent, the researchers reported. The drop in carbon dioxide meant the fuel contributed less to climate change concerns than burning just coal, university researchers said.
The team also found that burning wood chips and coal had minor impacts on the release of pollutants, although more analysis may be needed to fully understand the effect, depending on the amount used and the mix percentage.
The UI power plant this summer added a third type of biomass, a grass called miscanthus, to its renewable-energy portfolio, part of a plan to derive 40 percent of UI’s power generation from renewables by 2020. The team will analyze the environmental impact of mixing that grass with coal too.
Contributing authors include UI chemistry professor Vicki Grassian, post-doctoral researcher Armando Estillore, and graduate students Imali Mudunkotowa and Ibrahim Al-Naiema. Read more
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