ON THE REPLACEMENT OF FOSSIL COAL IN LOCAL SOLID FUEL BOILERS

The paper substantiates the need to replace fossil coal in local solid fuel boilers by biocoal produced from various types of agricultural waste. Selection of the best available technology for biocoal production should be based on an integrated assessment including economic, environmental and social aspects. It is noted that direct combustion of agricultural waste does not meet environmental safety standards and also requires significant costs for modernization of existing boiler equipment. It is proposed to produce biocoal from agricultural waste using modern methods of thermochemical treatment — torrefaction and carbonization. End-products of biomass torrefaction — biocoal pellets or briquettes — have high calorific value, low sulfur and heavy metal contents, and low nitrogen oxide emissions. Hydrothermal carbonization is currently the most advanced biomass processing technology. It completely prevents pollution and has a number of significant advantages over other methods of biomass treatment. These advantages make it possible to consider hydrothermal carbonization to be the best available technology for the production of biochar, liquid biofuel and other products from non-food biomass. Bibl. 15, Fig. 2, Tab. 1.