Energy cogeneration study of red mulberry (Morus rubra)-based biomass

Abstract

Red mulberry (Morus rubra) tree is found in many parts of the globe but its dead branches are ineffectively used in many countries for cooking and heating purposes. The literature indicates that biomass gasification study derived from red mulberry (Morus rubra) wood is not yet investigated. With this objective, in the present work, gasification characteristics of dead red mulberry (Morus rubra) wood under dry and chopped condition is assessed. A downdraft biomass gasifier powering a 10 kW generator has been used to study the producer gas generated when dried branches of dead red mulberry (Morus rubra) wood is used as fuel. Further, provisions are also provided to produce flame for cooking and other heating applications. In the present study, various parameters such as producer gas content, calorific value (CV), cold gas efficiency, equivalence ratio, and flame profiles are studied to optimize the operation of the downdraft biomass gasifier. The present study reveals that maximum CV and cold gas efficiency of the present biomass are 5.846 MJ/m3 and 68.45%, respectively, corresponding to an optimum equivalence ratio 0.296. Performance comparison of the present biomass is done against other types of biomasses reported in various literatures. It is highlighted that the present source of biomass gasification offers competitive performance with the earlier biomass resources. The present resource can be efficiently used to produce power generation and cooking in remote areas where it is currently being utilized inefficiently.