Investigating the impact of an Al-Si additive on the resistivity of biomass ashes

Ash resistivity is an important factor in the collection efficiency of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). There is good experience in the industry regarding resistivity of coal fly ash and well-established models for its prediction based on coal ash composition. The same is not true for biomass ash and this paper reports much-needed data for three different biomass types. Coal pulverised fuel ash (PFA), can be used as an aluminosilicate additive to mitigate biomass ash deposition issues. The effects of PFA additive on the resistivity of biomass ashes is also reported here. Biomass ash resistivity is an order of magnitude lower than that of typical coal ashes, and thus re-entrainment of particles in ESPs may become an operational issue, exacerbated by the presence of moisture and sulphur. PFA additive can increase the resistivity, but also leads to higher ash loading. Regression analysis indicates that potassium in biomass ash impacts significantly upon resistivity, contrary to previous studies. Various existing resistivity models were tested for predicting biomass ash resistivity; they produced significant overestimates when compared to experimental results due to omission of potassium as a component of the ash. Modifications to existing models or new models are required to predict resistivity of biomass ashes, and the data reported here will be important for developing such a model.