OPTIMIZING BIOMASS COMBUSTION IN INDUSTRIAL BURNERS: A CASE STUDY ON MASS AND ENERGY BALANCE AT MAICHEW PARTICLE BOARD FACTORY

Abstract

The growing need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels has prompted exploration of biomass as a sustainable energy source. Maichew Particle Board Factory, a sister company of EFFORT, producing 3,360 tons of sawdust annually, has untapped potential to utilize biomass for energy generation. This study aims to perform a mass and energy balance analysis on the factory's burner, optimize the air-to-fuel ratio, and identify challenges in transitioning to biomass as the primary fuel. A combustion analysis was conducted using the fuel combustion equation, and optimization of the air-to-fuel ratio was carried out using Microsoft Excel Solver. The analysis revealed that the burner consumes 376.95 kg of sawdust per hour and 6,1 80.9 kg of air per hour, producing 5,791 .5 MJ/hr of flue gas energy for the dryer. The findings underscore the factory's capacity to utilize sawdust effectively as fuel, offering a pathway to reduce fossil fuel dependence and enhance energy efficiency in biomass-based operations.