DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING

9
OF BIOMASS

CHAPTER OUTLINE
9.1 Direct Firing 204
9.2 Grate Constructions 205
9.2.1 Stationary Grate 205
9.2.2 Mechanical Grate 206
9.2.3 Modern Innovative Grates 207
9.2.4 Grate Cooling 207
9.3 Combustion of Bark and Wood on a Grate 207
References 210

If the biomass is shredded to small enough particles, it can be

burned in a flame. Direct firing of biomass has been tested at
large coal-fired units as a cheap replacement for coal in case fos-
sil carbon dioxide emissions from coal become unacceptable.
Direct firing of biomass pellets is used in various boiler designs
up to 60 MWth. As the biomass market is changing towards stan-
dardized fuels and pellets become more widely traded around
the globe, the direct firing of biomass will increase in popularity.
Grate firing is the oldest type of firing. Grate firing was the
main combustion technique up until the 1930s when the pul-
verized firing of coal (PFC) replaced it in utility boilers. For
industrial boilers burning solid biomass fuels, grate firing con-
tinued as the main combustion method, although in large units
it has since the late 1980s’ been replaced by fluidized bed firing.
Grate firing of solid biomass fuels is still the most popular boiler
type for smaller boilers up to about 10 MWth.
In grate or stoker-fired boilers, the combustion of solid fuel
occurs in a bed at the bottom of the furnace. Over the centuries,
numerous different technical designs for grate firing systems
have been invented for burning various kinds of solid fuel
(Ostendorf, 1986). In all designs, the fuel burns in a layer, at the
bottom of an enclosure, through which some of the air for com-
bustion passes.

Steam Generation from Biomass. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804389-9.00009-5

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 203
204 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS

Figure 9.1 Direct firing of pellets. Courtesy of Valmet Power.

The benefit of grate firing is that all forms of solid fuel can
be cheaply fired. Even low-grade fuels such as peat and bark
can be fired if their properties remain somewhat constant.
The main disadvantage of grate firing is the slow change in
firing rate and the low burning rate in the grate requiring a large
grate area (Päällysaho, 2009). As all combustion processes occur
sequentially, there is always a relatively large amount of
unburnt fuel in the grate. Changing the bed burning rate is
therefore challenging (Fig. 9.1).

9.1 Direct Firing

Pellets can be directly fired in a burner resembling pulver-
ized coal fired (PFC) boiler burners. The pellets are first broken
apart at a hammer mill, transported to a silo, and then blown
into a burner to be burned in a flame inside the furnace. As
with many other solid biomass boilers, the startup needs liquid
or gaseous fuel. In this case it is oil or bio-oil.
The startup and the load control are very fast and the dry
fuel allows a hot flame with highly efficient combustion. As pel-
lets are readily available from various commercial sources,
 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS 205

direct firing can be remotely operated, and the investment cost

is low, these boilers have started to gain acceptance as peak
load and backup plants for larger combined heat and power
(CHP) boilers.

9.2 Grate Constructions

The mechanical construction of the grate can be stationary
or moving. Stationary grates, such as the inclined grate, Fig. 9.2,
are mainly utilized in small boilers. Mechanical grates are the
dominant type of grate for steam generation (Raiko et al., 1995).

9.2.1 Stationary Grate

The stationary grate was the first grate type to be used when
steam generation started more than 200 years ago. They are
easy to construct but require constant attention and stoking to
keep burning stable. Stationary grates employ gravity to move
fuel. For solid biomass fuels such as bark and wood chips this
requires 30 50 degrees inclination from horizontal Huhtinen
(2000). The inclination of the grate depends on the fuel and its
ability to flow during combustion. The inclination can change
at different locations of the grate. It is typically higher at the
fuel receiving end of the grate. To complete the burning of fuel,
many inclined grates have a small horizontal grate after the
inclined section. This section is called the dump grate.

Figure 9.2 Inclined grate, showing fuel feeding up from the left, gravitationally
sliding to the right, and ending at a dump grate.
206 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS

9.2.2 Mechanical Grate

Larger mechanical grates used in steam generation contain
moving parts and are equipped with automatic fuel feed and
ash removal. The mechanical grate is almost always inclined. In
a typical design of a mechanical reciprocating grate, various
parts of the grate can be mechanically moved backward and
forward to facilitate biomass bed movement on the grate,
Fig. 9.2. By changing the speed of the mechanical movement it
is possible to regulate the movement of the fuel on the grate. In
large grates the speed of the movement can be different in dif-
ferent sections of the grate. A mechanical inclined grate there-
fore does not need to have as deep an inclining angle as the
stationary grate. A suitable angle is 15 degrees Huhtinen (2000).
The mechanical grate is one of the most typical grates for
biomass firing.
A side view of a large industrial mechanical grate is seen in
Fig. 9.3. Fuel feeding is from the top left. The moving grate
transports fuel to the lower right. The speed of transport is
defined by the operating frequency of the mechanically moving
parts. The ash ends at a dump grate, which consist of a perfo-
rated cylinder.
A step grate is one example of a mechanical grate. Its name
derives from the fact that it looks rather like a large staircase
with lots of steps from the bottom to the top. In a step grate
each step is made of cast iron grate bars. Air is introduced
between the grate plates. The most famous “brand” of mechani-
cal inclined step grates has been the Kablitz grate. The Kablitz
grate was the first to make continuous burning of biomass pos-
sible without constant human intervention.
Instead of gravitation, fuel can be transported by a moving
belt. This type of grate is called the traveling grate. The traveling

Figure 9.3 Reciprocating grate. From Thomas (1975).

 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS 207

grate has solid elements joined to a chain, which moves hori-

zontally and transports fuel. Fuel is most commonly fed with a
spreader stoker on the grate. Changing the rate of fuel addition
changes the fuel layer thickness. For coal, a suitable thickness is
10 20 cm, and for wood it is 30 90 cm Huhtinen (2000). The
speed of the traveling grate is chosen so that the burning can
be completed within the grate.
Another common type of grate is the roll grate. Instead of a
stationary or back-and-forth rotating surface the grate consists
of giant rolls. These mix the bed efficiently. Even though roll
grates are usually built inclined, they can also be built horizon-
tally. Roll grates have found their niche in waste burning as they
are insensitive to large objects placed within the waste.

9.2.3 Modern Innovative Grates

A fairy new invention is the horizontally rotating pile grate.
In it the fuel is fed from the bottom to form a large pile or hill
in a refractory-lined precombustion chamber. Round grate sec-
tors are rotated horizontally. The frequency of back-and-forth
movement causes the burning biomass to flow downwards. This
type of grate has been successfully used to burn wood and bark.
So far this type of grate has proven itself useful for thermal
loads of 1 20 MW (Fig. 9.4).
Yet another example of a fairly new type of grate is the
vibrating grate (Caillat and Vakkilainen, 2013). A vibrating grate
has a back-and-forth movement that pushes fuel particles down
a slope. Often the grate is mounted on leaf springs. Grate sec-
tions are vibrated by rods or other moving mechanisms. Due to
vibration the fuel bed moves from the entry point toward the
lower end of the grate. Often the vibrating frequency is
adjustable and can be matched to the firing rate and the fuel
characteristics.

9.2.4 Grate Cooling

Small grates are uncooled, but all grates for steam generation
need cooling. Cooling can be by primary air or by water.

9.3 Combustion of Bark and Wood

on a Grate
The burning of a solid biomass fuel on a mechanical grate
follows the same stages that can be seen in any combustion.
208 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS

Figure 9.4 Pile grate. Courtesy

of Valmet Power.

In Fig. 9.5, starting from the top left the following stages can be
seen: drying of the fuel where the moisture is evaporated, gen-
eration of volatile matter leading to a visible flame, combustion
of char where the hot char glows with heat, and finally ash reac-
tions (Yin et al., 2008). Typically for solid biofuels one uses
refractory, which, when hot, radiates back heat and helps to
keep combustion stable and especially allows moist fuels to dry
faster. All these phases occur in sequence for a single small fuel
particle, although fuel particles are simultaneously at different
burning phases on the grate. Large fuel particles can still have
fresh fuel in the core while the char on the surface is burning
(Horttanainen et al., 2000). The primary air is supplied under
the grate. Usually the amount can be controlled in one or more
separated zones. The secondary and tertiary airflows are typi-
cally injected in the furnace proper above the fuel bed.
In grate firing, irrespective of the type of fuel, combustion
takes place at distinct stages, depending on the location of the
fuel on the grate (Kortela and Marttinen, 1985). In the fuel
entrance region it slowly dries and ignites when the tempera-
ture has sufficiently increased. The challenge is to transfer heat
 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS 209

Figure 9.5 Stages of solid

biomass combustion in an
inclined mechanical grate:
1, fuel feed; 2, drying;
3, devolatilization; 4, char
combustion; 5, ash;
6, primary air.

Table 9.1 Achieved Loading Per Grate Area

Fuel Heat Load per Unit Area (MW/m2)
Coal (traveling grate) 1.6
Bark and wood (moisture content 60%) 0.4
Bark and wood (moisture content 30%) 0.8

from the burning fuel to drying. Typically this is achieved

mainly by the heat radiation. As direct radiation is often not
possible, it is typical to position brick walls to reflect heat.
Burning in stages means there are large variations in local tem-
peratures and concentrations of flue gases in the furnace. A low
heat flux to drying means that the grate area required for moist
fuels is significantly higher than for dry files, Table 9.1.
The maximum fuel burning rate depends on emission limits
as well as on the heating rate of the biomass. Articulate emis-
sions as unburned carbon increase when the burning rate is
increased. This is because air velocity through the grate needs
to be higher for fractionally larger fuel particles and still
unburned carbon to entrain into flue gases from the burning
fuel in the grate.
210 Chapter 9 DIRECT AND GRATE FIRING OF BIOMASS

Grate boilers are prone to changes in fuel quality (Eriksson

and Ingman, 2001). When the fuel moisture content rises, the
time required for drying increases. The flame front moves
downward, slowing the fuel drying more. Variations in fuel
quality cause uneven combustion and often lead to holes of
burnt ash or piles of unburned fuel showing up simultaneously
in the grate. Instabilities of the combustion process can be seen
through bed cameras or by looking at the flue gas oxygen con-
tent as well as other emissions.
Grate controls, bed shapes, disturbance location, and time to
determine where and when unevenness occurs all affect the
grate operation. Grate combustion requires understanding of
heat transfer, gas flows, chemical reactions, and fuel properties.
Ignition and combustion are therefore influenced by many dif-
ferent factors, the effect of which is very complex.

References
Caillat, S., Vakkilainen, E., 2013. Large-scale biomass combustion plants: an
overview (Chapter 8). In: Rosendahl, L. (Ed.), Biomass Combustion Science,
Technology and Engineering. Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy, London,
pp. 274 296. ISBN 9780857091314.
Eriksson, L., Ingman, R., 2001. Recommendations for conversions of grate fired
boilers to fluidising beds (Anvisningar för konvertering av rosterpannor till
fluidiserad bäddteknik). Technical Report, SVF-725 Värmeforsk, Stockholm
(Sweden), ISSN 0282-3772. 30 p (in Swedish).
Horttanainen, M., Saastamoinen, J., and Sarkomaa, P., 2000. Ignition and flame
spread in fixed beds of wood particles. INFUB, Conference on Industrial
Furnaces and Boilers, Porto, 12 p.
Huhtinen, M., 2000. Combustion of bark. In: Gullichsen, J., Fogelholm, C.J.,
(Series Eds.) Chapter 15 in Book 6, Chemical Pulping. Finnish Paper
Engineers’ Association and TAPPI, ISBN 9525216063.
Kortela, U., Marttinen, A., 1985. Modelling, identification and control of a grate
boiler. Proceedings of the American Control Conference, pp. 544 549.
Ostendorf, F.J., 1986. Ignifluid—feuerung: kombination aus rost und wirklichkeit.
(Ignifluid-firing: combined grate and fluidized bed). Brenstoff Wärme Kraft.
38 (5), 201 205 (in German).
Päällysaho, J., 2009, Arinakattilan lämmönsiirron laskentamallin kehittäminen
(Development of heat transfer model for grate boiler furnace). M. Sc. thesis
Lappeenranta University of Technology, 86 p (in Finnish).
Poltto- ja palaminen (Firing and combustion). In: Raiko, R., Kurki-Suonio, I.,
Saastamoinen, J., Hupa, M. (Eds.), Jyväskylä: Teknillisten Tieteiden Akatemia
(TTA). Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy, 629 p. ISBN 9516664482 (in Finnish).
Thomas, H.-J., 1975, Thermishe Kraftanlagen (Thermal Powerplants). In
German, Berlin, Springer, 386 p. ISBN 3540067795.
Yin, C., Rosendahl, L.A., Kær, S.K., 2008. Grate-firing of biomass for heat and
power production. Prog. Energy Combust Sci. 34, 725 754.