Options for Energy Applying High-ash Peat as a Part of Fuel Compositions

The problems of global climate change and worsening the ecological situation lead to the fact that the issue of the renewable energy development is becoming relevant for an increasing number of countries. For Russia, peat is considered as one of the promising renewable fuel resources. The presence of many peat deposits makes it possible to partially solve the problem of resource-deficient regions dependent on fuel supplies from developed coal deposits. However, a fairly significant part of peat resources has a high ash content that results in increasing the operating costs during its combustion. The world experience in creating mixed fuel compositions from substandard types of raw materials indicates the effectiveness of this direction; therefore, the approach proposed in this paper for combusting highly mineralized types of peat can be considered quite relevant. The aim of this work is to present options for energy applying high-ash peat as a part of fuel compositions from coal, high-sulfur industrial waste and biowaste of the agro-industrial complex. The main research object is highly mineralized peat from the Sukhovskoe deposit (Tomsk oblast). A significant amount of calcium carbonate in the mineral part of peat predisposes the reduction of sulfur oxide emissions during its co-combustion with coal and carbonaceous waste. The peat addition to potassium-containing flour milling waste in the amount of 5% (by weight) makes it possible to prevent slagging of heating surfaces while maintaining high thermotechnical characteristics of the mixed fuel. The obtained results indicate the economic and environmental efficiency of applying Sukhovskoy peat as part of fuel compositions and allow considering it as a potential fuel source in the Tomsk oblast.