Fundamental studies of drying, combustion and ash properties of biomass and impacts of pulp and paper mill operations

加拿大的纸浆和造纸厂需要大量的高压蒸汽和电力才能运行。所需能源的大约三分之二是通过在回收锅炉中燃烧浓缩黑液(废纸浆废液)来提供的。其余的来自生物质锅炉，通常被称为生猪燃料锅炉，以及当地的公用事业站。生物质锅炉为纸浆和造纸厂提供了一种解决高能源和废物处理成本的方法。为了在全球市场上保持竞争力并满足日益严格的环境法规，工厂需要优化运营，以最大限度地提高生物质锅炉的能量产量，同时将与燃烧相关的环境影响降至最低。这项为期4年的合作研发计划旨在获得生物质混合物干燥、燃烧和灰分特性的基本数据，并利用这些信息开发可行的控制策略和新技术，以改善生物质锅炉和磨煤机的运行。这项研究将在该大学进行 在NSERC和十家加拿大纸浆和造纸相关公司的支持下，多伦多的纸浆和造纸行业将于2012年4月1日开始运营。 拟议的研究计划由五项主要任务组成，每项任务都涉及多个项目。研究将由陈宏喜教授和来自多伦多大学和西安大略大学的其他九名教授领导。选定的项目还将与其他大学和工业研究机构合作进行。该研究项目将在加拿大培养26名研究生、4名博士后研究员和22名本科生。该计划的成功完成将导致知识产权和可商业化的新技术的开发，并将为纸浆和造纸厂提供工具和指导方针，以优化锅炉和造纸厂的运营，并将对环境的影响降至最低。

Pulp and paper mills in Canada require large amounts of high pressure steam and electric power to operate. About two-thirds of the energy required is supplied by burning the concentrated black liquor (spent pulping liquor) in recovery boilers. The remaining is from biomass boilers, known conventionally as hog-fuel boilers, and from local utility stations. Biomass boilers provide pulp and paper mills with a means of addressing high energy and waste disposal costs. In order to remain competitive on the global market and to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations, mills need to optimize operations to maximize the energy production of their biomass boilers, while minimizing the environmental impact associated with combustion. This 4-year collaborative research and development program is aimed at obtaining fundamental data on drying, combustion and ash properties of biomass mixtures and to use the information to develop viable control strategies and new technologies to improve biomass boiler and mill operations. The research will be conducted at the University of Toronto starting April 1, 2012 through support from NSERC and ten Canadian pulp and paper related companies. The proposed research program consists of five main tasks and each involves multiple projects. It will be led by Professor Honghi Tran and nine other professors from the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario. Selected projects will also be conducted in collaboration with other universities and industrial research institutions. The research program will train 26 graduate students, 4 postdoctoral fellows and 22 undergraduate students in Canada. Successful completion of the program will lead to the development of intellectual property and new technologies that can be commercialized, and will provide pulp and paper mills with tools and guidelines for optimizing boiler and mill operations and minimizing environmental impacts.