Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Fuel Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuproc

Characterization and combustion of olive pomace and forest residue pellets

T. Miranda a, J.I. Arranz a, I. Montero a, S. Román b,⁎, C.V. Rojas a, S. Nogales a
a
Department of Mechanical, Energetic and Materials Engineering, Spain
b
Department of Applied Physics, Industrial Engineering School, University of Extremadura Avda Elvas s/n, 06071 Badajoz, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As a result of agroindustrial activities in southwestern Europe, a great amount of residues are generated;
Received 30 June 2011 among them, olive pomace stands out as one of the most abundant. One interesting alternative to increase
Received in revised form 5 October 2011 its potential as biofuel can be its densification. However, in order to achieve high quality pellets, it is necessary
Accepted 18 October 2011
to blend this material with other feedstocks. In this work, the properties of blends of pelletized residues from
Available online 21 January 2012
olive pomace and pyrenean oak were analyzed with a view to find the best option.
Keywords:
In order to compare the characteristics of the obtained pellets, such as moisture content, mechanical durability,
Biomass ash content and calorific value, these parameters were determined according to the Technical Specifications for
Characterization Solid Biofuels CEN/TS. Moreover, the pellets produced were subjected to a combustion test in a pellet stove to
Combustion analyze the emissions associated to each sample. The results show that not all residues pelletize satisfactorily,
Olive pomace which is due to the different conditions of the precursors. Adding pyrenean oak residues to the olive pomace
Pyrenean oak samples guarantees a more effective compression of the pellet, improving its manipulation and transport, without
significantly modifying its thermal properties. Concerning the pellet combustion, emissions are slightly worse
with olive pomace pellet, concluding that it is not recommendable to use blends with more than 50% of this
product.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In recent years, the production of thermal energy by biomass on a
small scale has shown a clear trend towards densified biofuels (pellets)
[1], which is due to their homogeneous size which facilitates an
automatic or semi-automatic treatment and, thus, resolves the
disadvantages of the traditional domestic use of biomass. The
use of densified biofuels also reduces the costs associated to handling
and transportation, due to the increase in density involved by
densification process.
On the other hand, in the Mediterranean areas of European South-
west, agroindustrial activities are very important, and a great amount
of residues are produced. This is the case of olive oil manufactures,
which give rise to significant amounts of olive pomace. The manage-
ment of these residues involves a problem for these industries due to
their potential as pollutants in some cases and to the costs associated
to the treatments needed for their proper removal.
The olive pomace, once it has been subjected to a drying process, can
be used as a fuel. However, their oleaginous characteristics impede the
densification during the pelletizing process. Moreover, their high con-
centrations of certain elements exceed the specifications given by the
corresponding standards. Therefore, it is necessary to blend the olive
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 34 924289600; fax: + 34 924289601.
E-mail address: sroman@unex.es (S. Román).
oil by-products with other biomass residues that must present suitable
characteristics for an ideal pelletization [2].
Generally, residual products from the timber industry and forest
residues are used as pellets for energy purposes. Though, it is also
possible to use by-products emerging from agricultural land use,
as well known as "agropellets". The latter, however, present some
disadvantages such as a lower density and the generation of potential
emissions that can negatively affect to the furnace.
One of the possible options allowing mitigating whether the possible
difficulties arising during the pelletization process or the emission of
contaminants during combustion is the blending with other materials.
Usually it is interesting to use agroindustrial by-products which are
characterized by good densification properties or favorable elemental
composition (with low contents of chlorine, nitrogen, fluoride or
sulphur).
The behavior of different blends of biomass materials has been
previously investigated; Serrano et al. [3] studied the addition of
pine on barley straw pellets quality; Mediavilla et al. analyzed the
pelletization properties of blends vine shoots and cork [4]. Also,
blends of biomass feedstocks with other materials such as coal [5,6],
or Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) have been studied [7].
At this point, it might be interesting to study the by-products of the
olive oil industry and their applicability to the production of pellets.
Since Extremadura (in southwest of Europe) is one of the most
important region in the production of olive oil in Spain [8], a high
amount of residues are frequently accumulated offering a potential
exploitation.

0378-3820/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2011.10.016
92 T. Miranda et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96
Besides, Extremadura also disposes of a large amount of forest
residues, stemming from oaks, pines, holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and
cork oaks (Quercus suber), amongst others [9]. Those by-products
have excellent characteristics regarding densification and combustion
and can therefore be used for the fabrication of pellets.
A special case is the pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) which is
characterized by its smaller size and its greater slenderness compared
to the common oak (Quercus robur). Even though this tree produces
firewood and coal of good quality, it is not being exploited for industrial
purposes [10].
Nowadays, the study of the combustion behavior of different biofuels
and the optimization of biomass boilers is a hot topic for research. Verma
et al. [11] investigated the use of a 40 kW boiler for the combustion of
different types of pellets from agriculture and wood residues. Also, the
comparative study of the performance of these equipments in the
frame of current technical specifications has been carried out [12,13].
Other authors have also studied the behavior of domestic boilers
[14–16], and the emissions arising from combustion processes [17].
In order to evaluate the theoretical behavior of biomass boilers,
Persson et al. [18] developed different mathematical models for several
types of boilers and stoves.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the energetic characteristics,
densification properties and combustion behavior in a pellet stove
of different blends of one agricultural residue (in this case dried
olive pomace) and a forest residue (pyrenean oak). To the authors’
knowledge, the studies on the densified blends of these particular
residues are very scant, as well as the analyses of the combustion
processes using a low power domestic boiler. With this purpose, the
characteristics of the densified final product have been optimized
according to its thermal properties, manipulation and transport
procedure.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Residues
The residues of pyrenean oak consist of the rests of the last clearing
of the mountain forests. For the purpose of this work, representative
samples from entire cut-down trees were collected [10]. It has to be
pointed out that the residue has not been barked. This circumstance
has to be taken into account for the proper interpretation of the
results, expecting higher ash content than in the case of a fined-down
residue.
Likewise, the olive pomace has been collected from local manu-
facturers from Extremadura region (Spain).
2.2. Material preparation
2.2.1. Preparation for the densification
A common property of biomass materials is the heterogeneity of
their physical characteristics such as the form and size of the particles,
their grain-size distribution and their moisture content. These properties
require a pre-treatment that consists on the fragmentation of the
material (only in the case of pyrenean oak) followed by the grinding
and drying of both residues (forest and olive pomace).
The samples were dried in air enough time to attain the equilibrium
moisture. The olive pomace showed a moisture value of approximately
7%, whereas the pyrenean oak value was estimated to be around 10%.
Both values seem to be suitable for the densification of the residue
and because of this, it was not necessary to carry out further drying of
the samples [19].
The chipping of the pyrenean oak was carried out by means of a
small Viking GE 260 wood chipper.
With the intention of guaranteeing a good densification process, it
is necessary to use a particle size lower than the hole diameter of the
die of the pelletizer. Therefore, the residues were introduced into a
BM 15 Oliotechnology hammer mill and, subsequently, sieved in
order to obtain a particle size lower than 3.15 mm (diameter).
In the case of the olive pomace, there is no need of any pre-
treatment since it already presents an adequate granulometry and
moisture properties for the pelletizing process.
2.2.2. Preparation for the analysis procedure
Since a particle size smaller than 0.5 mm was necessary for the
most important part of the analysis, the granulometric values of the
residues had to be reduced. Therefore, a Retsch MM301 ball mill was
applied during 5 min at 25 Hz, as well as a sieve of the corresponding
size.
2.3. Densification and categorization of the samples
As soon as the samples were prepared, the pelletizing process was
carried out by means of a small GR150E2 pelletizer. This machine
reaches a nominal power of 15 kW and is equipped with a plane die
with openings of a 6 mm diameter.
In order to determine the characteristics and thermal properties of
the two types of residues, a series of different pellets, composed of
blends of the two residues, were produced.
Thus, the following samples were obtained:
• 100OP: composed only of olive pomace.
• 75OP25PY: blend of 75% olive pomace and 25% pyrenean oak.
• 50OP50PY: blend of 50% olive pomace and 50% pyrenean oak.
• 25OP75PY: blend of 25% olive pomace and 75% pyrenean oak.
• 100PY: composed only of pyrenean oak.
2.4. Characterization
The simplified method of drying in stove (Technical Specification
CEN/TS 1474-2 [20]) was used for the determination of the moisture
level. The sample was introduced in a stove at 105 °C during a time
not superior to 24 h. The moisture content was then obtained through
weighing and expressed in percentage in wet basis.
The heating value was calculated according to CEN/TS 14918 [21].
For the test purpose, a Parr 1351 calorimetric bomb was used.
The Technical Specification CEN/TS 15148 [22] was applied for the
determination of the volatile matter content. For this purpose, the
sample was covered and then heated in a muffle furnace up to
900 °C during 7 min. The volatile loss was calculated by weighing
the difference.
In order to obtain the ash content (Technical Specification CEN/TS
14775 [23]), the temperature of the muffle furnace was increased up
to 250 °C, keeping this temperature during 60 min. Subsequently, the
temperature was increased up to 550 °C, maintaining this condition
during 120 min. The ash content (%) was obtained by weigh. The
fixed carbon percentage was determined by difference.
The equipment used for the ultimate analysis was an elemental
analyzer Eurovector EA 3000. The analyzer was provided by the
Spectroscopy Unit NIR/MIR from the Central Service of Investigation
Support of the University of Córdoba. The analyses for the determination
of the whole content of C, H and N, were carried out according to the
Technical Specification CEN/TS 15104 [24]. The determination of
the S percentage was carried out in accordance with the Technical
Specification CEN/TS 15289 [25].
The bulk density was determined according to CEN/TS 15103 [26].
The mechanical durability of the pellets was determined according
to the Technical Specification CEN/TS 15210-1 [27]. A 500 g sample of
pellet was tumbled at 50 rpm for 500 rotations. A sieve with round
screen holes of 3.15 mm diameter was used to retain crumbled pellets
after tumbling. The durability is expressed by the percent ratio of the
mass of pellets retained on the sieve after tumbling in reference to the
mass of pellets before tumbling.
 T. Miranda et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96 93

2.5. Combustion analyses
A pellet stove Edilkamin Junior (5.8 kW) was used for combustion
tests. In order to measure the composition of the combustion gases
(O2, CO, CO2, NOx, SO2, and others) a gas analyzer Testo 350 XL was
used. The temperature of the combustion chamber was obtained by
a temperature probe placed in the burner. The parameter called
“efficiency” was used as a reference index to compare the combustion
process in the different operating methods used, defined as Expression
(1)[28].
 
CO2
τ1 ¼  100
CO2 þ CO
The efficiency parameter in this definition is not sensitive to low CO
concentrations, which are the usual in combustion processes. Taking
into account the definition of ideal combustion the Expression (2) can
be used to evaluate the combustion efficiency.
 
CO2 Real
τ2 ¼  100
CO2 Theroretical maximum
Thus, in this case the combined use of Expressions (1) and (2) is
chosen to assess the efficiency of the process.
A value for the percentage of oxygen in gases of 11% was chosen as
a reference in order to compare the tests.
Combustion tests (three-hour duration) were carried out at minimum
power of the stove. The probes were recording data every minute.
3. Results and discussion
All of the analyses were carried out three times and the arithmetic
mean of each property was used.
3.1. Characterization
Table 1 shows the values corresponding to the ultimate and proxi-
mate analyses of the densified samples. Primarily, the moisture content
of the olive pomace and the pyrenean oak residues differ from each
other with the second by-product mentioned showing a higher value.
The results of the moisture content of the pellets are influenced by
this fact.
However, the temperature during the densification process is
increased by the friction between the blend of the residues and
the complex of die and cylinder of the pelletizer. This causes the
evaporation of the moisture of the blend. This friction is less pro-
nounced in the blends with a higher percentage of olive pomace
as a result of its oleaginous nature. Therefore those blends showed
a lower loss of moisture.
The high heating values (HHV) obtained are excellent properties
for the application of the pellets as biofuels. The olive pomace
(100OP) obtained the best result.
ð1Þ
The values prove that the olive pomace (100OP) has higher ash
content. The pyrenean oak residue (100PY) presents a higher ash
content than industrial pellets stemming from forest biomass, which
is due to the fact that this residue was not previously barked (as already
mentioned in Section 2.1) [15]. Nevertheless, all these results are inferior
to those found on the literature for other types of biomass such as wheat
straw (5.27% db) or rice husk (20.26% db) [29].
However, the fixed carbon presents higher values for the pellets
ð2Þ with a high proportion of olive pomace, so that it can be assumed that
the calorific power previously described is higher in the mentioned
samples.
Ultimately, the content of volatile matter is quite high and reaches
nearly 80% in all samples. A slight tendency in the increase of this
content can be observed for the pellets with a higher proportion of
pyrenean oak.
The ultimate analysis (Table 1) shows very low sulfur values which
excludes the generation of hazardous gases for the environment.
Pellets obtained by olive pomace might present some problems
stemming from their nitrogen oxide emission values, since the
percentage measured nearly reaches a value of 2% [30]. Values also
show that the concentration of nitrogen decreases along with the
increase of pyrenean oak residues in the blend.
The percentage of carbon in all the samples of this type is lower
than carbon contents for other types of biomass residues [29].
The bulk density is low in pyrenean oak pellets and it has a higher
density in olive pomace pellets. This is due to the fact that this
by-product facilitates its compaction.
The mechanic durability of the pellets is lower in olive pomace
pellets. However, this property is above 90% in all of the samples.

3.2. Analysis of the development of the properties according to the

Table 1
composition of the pellets
Analyses carried out.

100OP 75OP 50OP 25OP 100PY Fig. 1 represents the development of the most important properties
25PY 50PY 75PY according to the concentration of the residues in each pellet type (ash
Proximate analysis
content, HHV, durability, bulk density). In order to enable a better
Moisture (% wb)a 6.86 7.65 7.40 5.54 4.70 visualization, the values are presented in a graph so that the tendency
Ash (% db)b 5.55 5.40 5.02 4.62 3.71 can be observed.
Fixed carbon (% db) 17.28 17.11 17.56 16.29 12.65 By means of these diagrams it is possible to determine which pellet
Volatile matter (% db) 77.18 77.49 77.42 79.09 83.64
is better for its use in combustion.
Ultimate analysis Concerning the ash content, the values of all the samples seem to
C (% db) 51.42 51.15 48.98 49.44 49.12 be acceptable when taking into account that the forest residue had
N (% db) 1.98 1.89 1.07 0.85 0.56 not been barked previously [31]. This amount decreases in the pellets
H (% db) 6.56 8.19 7.59 7.64 7.82 with a higher percentage of pyrenean oak, and therefore, taking only
S (% db) b 0.1 b0.1 b 0.1 b 0.1 b0.1
HHV (kcal kg− 1) (db) 5262.48 5042.86 4746.92 4595.55 4568.69
the ash content into account, the 100PY pellet would be the ideal one.
In addition, the variation becomes more distinct with an increasing
Physical properties percentage of forest residues in the pellet.
Durability (%) 91.41 93.63 95.73 95.96 97.08 On the other hand, the heating value increases slightly with a
Bulk density (kg m− 3) 780.00 778.95 777.25 762.23 742.50
higher concentration of olive pomace. The variation smoothes gradually
Dimensions with a lower percentage of olive pomace in the samples. In this case, the
Diameter (mm) 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.10 6.11 pellet with the best thermal aptitude would be 100OP.
Length (mm) 2.24 2.00 2.23 2.54 2.09 The durability of the produced pellets increases with a higher
a
Wet basis. percentage of pyrenean oak. Its development is nearly linear, showing
b
Dry basis. a slight lower increase, once the 50% value is surpassed.
94 T. Miranda et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96

Fig. 1. Development of the properties according to the composition of the blends (db: dry basis).

The bulk density decreases considerably with a higher percentage
of forest residues. For the blends with high concentrations of olive
pomace, this property varies insignificantly, showing a turning point
at reaching a percentage of 50% of forest residue.
Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of the
different blends analyzed, the pellets with the same concentration
of olive pomace and pyrenean oak (50OP50PY) present the ideal
thermal and physical characteristics for the application as a densified
solid biofuel.
3.3. Combustion analyses
Figs. 2 and 3 show the evolution of different emissions, chamber
temperature and efficiencies during combustion as olive pomace is
added to pellets of pyrenean oak. Pellets corresponding to the 100%
of pyrenean oak (100PY), 50% pyrenean oak and 50% olive pomace
(50OP50PY) and 100% olive pomace (100OP) have been used.
In Table 2 the average values of emissions, temperature in the
combustion chamber and efficiencies for the pellets under study are
shown.
In the analyzed cases, the percentage of O2 in the gases is very
similar, undergoing a small reduction in pellets with greater concen-
tration of olive pomace.
Also it is possible to see, a fast reduction in the O2 levels at the
beginning of the combustion due to the greater amount of fuel
in the combustion chamber, which become stabilized in values
between 17.4 and 18.5%, according to each experiment (as seen in
Table 2).

Fig. 2. O2, CO and NOx emissions vs time.

 T. Miranda et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96 95

Fig. 3. Combustion chamber temperature and efficiencies 1 and 2 vs time.

The CO emissions in the combustion of pellets of pyrenean oak are
lower than the emissions produced by olive pomace, although the
highest average values are obtained by the sample constituted by
50% of each residue.
Other authors, such as Fernandes et al. [17] show, for a small
domestic pellet boiler, with a power of 10 kW, an average emission of
CO of about 1150 ppm (13% O2) for commercial pine pellets, equivalent
to about 1438 ppm (11% O2). Pyrenean oak pellets show CO emissions
slightly higher.
On the other hand, Verma et al. [11] obtain CO emissions of
4221 mg m − 3 (with 1.35% O2) (equivalent to 1718 ppm 11% O2) for
peat pellets in a boiler of 40 kW, about 1600 mg m− 3 (with 7.43% O2)
(equivalent to 1180 ppm 11% O2) for sunflower husk pellets. The
same authors point out that waste straw pellets, amongst others, have
small CO emissions.
The NOx concentration increases in the three cases as the experiment
is developed, until it reaches stability in the average values when
surpassing approximately 30 min of the process. As it is possible to
verify in Fig. 2, lower NOx emissions are generated in the combustion
of pellets with greater percentage of 100PY.
The results of Fernandes et al. [17], for commercial pine pellets,
show small emissions of NOx, not exceeding in any case 30 ppm
(13% O2).
The results of Verma et al. [11] show NOx emissions from about
180 mg m − 3 for waste straw pellets, to 95 mg m − 3 for peat pellets,
amongst others.
Fig. 3 shows to the values of temperature in the combustion chamber
and efficiencies 1 and 2, in the course of the duration of the experiment.
The highest temperature in the combustion chamber is reached by
100OP pellets, reaching values of more than 700 °C. In the three cases
of Fig. 3, an increase of the values takes place, although in the final
section of the experiment with pellets 100PY, a small reduction occurs.
As expected, the temperatures in the test of 50OP50PY pellets are placed
in intermediate values.
As far as Efficiency 1 (Fig. 3), the trend is not clear, since the smaller
value is obtained for 50OP50PY (89.5% as seen in Table 2), being 100PY
pellet with greater efficiency (93.6%, Table 2) whereas 100OP pellets
show 91.6% average). These values are related to CO emissions.
It is possible to observe in the beginning of the experiment very
low specific values, influenced by the high CO emissions in this interval,
since the combustion has still not reached the wanted temperature.
Efficiency 2 shows very low values (Fig. 3), due to the great excess of
air introduced in the stove in all the tests. It is observed, in addition,
that it increases slightly for the processes with greater amount of
residue, thanks to the smaller O2 percentage in combustion gasses
shown in Fig. 2.
4. Conclusions
The results of this work suggest the following conclusions.
The pellets produced from olive pomace show acceptable values
for their thermal use. However, there are some limitations, since
some properties (ash content, nitrogen…) show such high levels
that they might cause problems for the operation of the furnace.
Even though some parameters are still high, the ash content in all
of the samples is acceptable for its use of these pellets as biofuels
[31].

Table 2
Average values for emissions temperature combustion chamber and efficiencies.

O2 (%) CO (ppm 11% O2) NOx (ppm 11% O2) Temp. combust. Eff 1 Eff 2
chamber (°C)

100OP 17.4 3435 324 575 91.6 22.5

(18.4–16.6) (5559–2031) (371–290) (691–456) (95.8–84.2) (26.7–17.2)
50PY50OP 17.8 3963 327 517 89.5 20.7
(18.1–17.4) (5172–2163) (347–303) (586–375) (94.0–86.5) (23.0–18.8)
100PY 18.5 1907 272 419 93.6 18.0
(18.8–18.1) (2981–1145) (286–250) (525–329) (96.5–89.6) (20.3–16.3)
96 T. Miranda et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 103 (2012) 91–96
Nevertheless, some physical characteristics, such as the durability,
indicate that there might be problems concerning to the manipulation
and transport.
By adding pyrenean oak, an improvement in durability can be
obtained in the samples as well as a reduction of the ash content,
although this causes a decrease in other properties as the case of the
heat value.
Taking all of the properties into account, it can be confirmed that an
increase of the concentration of forest residues improves the physical
characteristics of the pellets.
As far as the pellets combustion, it is possible to see that the addition
of olive pomace in pellets of pyrenean oak produces a slight increase in
the emissions of its combustion. On the other hand, the temperature of
combustion rises and a diminution of the O2 in gases is obtained, which
can involve a slight improvement in the quality of the combustion.
The addition of olive pomace in pellets of pyrenean oak does not
very significantly modify the emissions produced in the combustion
but it shows lower values in its characterization, mainly when the
concentration of olive pomace is greater than 50%. For this reason,
the use of pellets for combustion in stove is reasonable if they do
not exceed 50% of residue in its blends.
Acknowledgements
The authors of this work appreciate the support of Junta of Ex-
tremadura for carrying out projects of general promotion of the
knowledge and Research and Development, oriented and applied in
the scientific and humanistic areas (IB10096) and the aid to investigation
groups (GR10151).
References
[1] V.K. Verma, S. Bram, J. De Ruyck, Small scale biomass heating systems: standards,
quality labelling and market driving factors—an EU outlook, Biomass and Bioe-
nergy 33 (2009) 1393–1402.
[2] J. Vourdoubas, Possibilities of using olive kernel wood for pellets production in
Crete—Greece, Proceedings of 16th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition,
Valencia (Spain), 2008.
[3] C. Serrano, E. Monedero, M. Lapuerta, H. Portero, Effect of moisture content, par-
ticle size and pine addition on quality parameters of barley straw pellets, Fuel
Processing Technology 92 (2011) 699–706.
[4] I. Mediavilla, M.J. Fernández, L.S. Esteban, Optimization of pelletisation and com-
bustion in a boiler of 17.5 kWth for vine shoots and industrial cork residue, Fuel
Processing Technology 90 (2009) 621–628.
[5] M.V. Gil, D. Casal, C. Pevida, J.J. Pis, F. Rubiera, Thermal behaviour and kinetics of
coal/biomass blends during co-combustion, Bioresource Technology 101 (2010)
5601–5608.
[6] M.V. Gil, P. Oulego, M.D. Casal, C. Pevida, J.J. Pis, F. Rubiera, Mechanical durability
and combustion characteristics of pellets from biomass blends, Bioresource Tech-
nology 101 (2010) 8859–8867.
[7] J.C. Moran, J.L. Miguez, J. Porteiro, D. Patiño, E. Granada, J. Collazo, Study of the
feasibility of mixing refuse derived fuels with wood pellets through the grey
and Fuzzy theory, Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 2607–2612.
[8] A.R. Celma, S. Rojas, F. López Rodríguez, Waste-to-energy possibilities for indus-
trial olive and grape by-products in Extremadura, Biomass and Bioenergy 31
(2007) 522–534.
[9] A.M. Felicísimo, A. Gómez, J. Muñoz, Potential distribution of forest species in
dehesas of Extremadura (Spain), Advances in GeoEcology 37 (2004)
231–246.
[10] M.T. Miranda, J.I. Arranz, S. Rojas, I. Montero, Energetic characterization of densi-
fied residues from Pyrenean oak forest, Fuel 88 (2009) 2106–2112.
[11] V. K. Verma, S. Bram, F. Delattin, P. Laha, I. Vandendael, A. Hubin, J. De Ruyck,
Agro-pellets for domestic heating boilers: Standard laboratory and real life
performance, Applied Energy (2011) In press. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.
12.079.
[12] V.K. Verma, S. Bram, G. Gauthier, J. De Ruyck, Evaluation of the performance of a
multi-fuel domestic boiler with respect to the existing European standard and
quality labels: part-1, Biomass and Bioenergy 35 (2011) 80–89.
[13] V.K. Verma, S. Bram, G. Gauthier, J. De Ruyck, Performance of a domestic pellet
boiler as a function of operational loads: part-2, Biomass and Bioenergy 35
(2011) 272–279.
[14] J. Dias, M. Costa, J.L.T. Azevedo, Test of a small domestic boiler using different pel-
lets, Biomass and Bioenergy 27 (2004) 531–539.
[15] J.F. González, C.M. González-Garcíaa, A. Ramiro, J. González, E. Sabio, J. Gañán,
M.A. Rodríguez, Combustion optimisation of biomass residue pellets for do-
mestic heating with a mural boiler, Biomass and Bioenergy 27 (2004)
145–154.
[16] J.F. González, C.M. González-García, A. Ramiro, J. Gañán, A. Ayuso, J. Turegano, Use
of energy crops for domestic heating with a mural boiler, Fuel Processing Tech-
nology 87 (2006) 717–726.
[17] U. Fernandes, M. Costa, Particle emissions from a domestic pellets-fired boiler,
4th International Congress on Energy and Environment Engineering and Manage-
ment, Mérida (Spain), 2011.
[18] T. Persson, F. Fiedler, S. Nordlander, C. Bales, J. Paavilainen, Validation of a dy-
namic model for wood pellet boilers and stoves, Applied Energy 86 (2009)
645–656.
[19] I. Obernberger, G. Thek, Physical characterization and chemical composition of
densified biomass fuels with regard to their combustion behavior, Biomass and
Bioenergy 27 (2004) 653–669.
[20] CEN/TS 14774–2, Solid biofuels—methods for the determination of moisture con-
tent—oven dry method—part 2, Total Moisture—Simplified Method, European
Committee for Standardization, 2004.
[21] CEN/TS 14918, Solid Biofuels—Method for the Determination of Calorific Value,
European Committee for Standardization, 2005.
[22] CEN/TS 15148, Solid Biofuels—Method for the Determination of the Content of
Volatile Matter, European Committee for Standardization, 2005.
[23] CEN/TS 14775, Solid Biofuels—Method for the Determination of Ash Content, Eu-
ropean Committee for Standardization, 2004.
[24] CEN/TS 15104, Solid Biofuels—Determination of Total Content of Carbon, Hydro-
gen and Nitrogen—Instrumental Methods, European Committee for Standardiza-
tion, 2005.
[25] CEN/TS 15289, Solid Biofuels—Determination of Total Content of Sulphur and
Chlorine, European Committee for Standardization, 2006.
[26] CEN/TS 15103, Solid Biofuels—Methods for the Determination of Bulk Density,
European Committee for Standardization, 2005.
[27] CEN/TS 15210–1, Solid Biofuels—Methods for the Determination of Mechanical
Durability of Pellets and Briquettes—Part 1: Pellets, European Committee for
Standardization, 2005.
[28] D.W. Sevon, D. Cooper, Chemical Engineering Science 46 (1991) 2983–2996.
[29] PHYLLIS—a database for biomass and waste; http://www.ecn.nl/phyllis.
Petten, Netherlands: Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN. [Status:
October 2011].
[30] S. Van Loo, J. Koppejan, Handbook of biomass combustion and co-firing, Twente
University Press, 2003.
[31] CEN/TS 14961, Solid Biofuels—Fuel Specifications and Classes, European Commit-
tee for Standardization, 2005.