The Effect of Additives on Particulate Matter Emissions from Biomass Combustion

The continuous rise in energy demand, the decrease in fossil fuel reserves, and the adverse environmental effects of these fuels have increased the interest in renewable resources all over the world. The use of biomass as an energy source has aroused promising interest on global and national scale, as it can alleviate the pressure on environmental pollution as being a renewable resource. By using sustainable biomass conversion technologies, multiple advantages can be achieved, such as preventing climate change, protecting the environment and human health, and obtaining useful energy and high-value-added products. Combustion is a conventional economical thermal method for energy conversion of biomass. One of the most convenient methods for effectively utilizing biomass resources in heat and electricity generation is to convert these fuels into standardized pellet fuels. However, the combustion of agricultural wastes causes an increase in anthropogenic particulate matter (PM) emissions, which pose a threat to human health and the environment. Especially, ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.1–2.5) emissions have much higher health risks as they can act as a transport vector for pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2–COVID-19. PM emissions from biomass combustion cannot be ignored and necessitates more research. Alkaline metals in biomass play a key role in the formation of PM emissions. Additives can be used to control pollutant emissions from combustion systems. This chapter covers the combustion of biomass in the presence of additives in order to mitigate total particulate matter emissions and ash-associated problems within small-scale combustion devices.