Thermal Energy Consumption in the Heat-Technology Production of Solid Composite Fuel From Low-Grade Raw Materials

An evaluation is made of the thermal energy consumed in the heat-technology production of solid composite fuel from low-grade organic raw materials. It is shown that the heat of decomposition of the organic mass and the combustion of the by-products of heat-technology may be sufficient to cover all the energy needs for processing peat, brown coal and wood chips. Producing solid composite fuel from sapropel requires external resources to compensate for part of the heat consumed. Calculations show that it is possible for the thermal processing of raw materials to proceed autothermally due to the heat of decomposition when the moisture content at the reactor inlet is limited: for peat it should be no more than 35%, 54% for brown coal, and 37% for wood chips. The low heat of decomposition of the sapropel organic mass means that its thermal processing cannot proceed autothermally.