Technical Parameters Study of Coconut Shell Combustion as Heat Source by Using Fixed-bed Type Incinerator

The purpose of this study is to exploit the thermal energy of coconut shells via combustion. Coconut shell average size was maintained, whereas the flow rate of air requirements was varied to meet the equivalence ratio (ER) for combustion. The desired output is the highest average temperature of the product gas that can be achieved. A static grate packed-bed was used as the incinerator. The air is supplied from the bottom of the incinerator, under the grate by a 263 m3/h of ring blower and monitored using a floating type air-flowmeter. The air flow rate was manually adjusted using air regulator valve. K-type thermocouples are used to detect temperatures inside the combustion chamber as well as the temperature of combustion gases at the cyclone exit and are visualized by utilizing a thermocouple reader. Experimental data showed that with the average size of the coconut shell (10 x 10) mm reached the highest temperature at primary combustion chamber of about 800 oC with product gas output temperature of about 390 oC at an equivalence ratio (ER) of 5.56.