Author, Institution: Rita Petlickaitė, Lithuanian Energy Institute
Science area, field of science: Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004
Research supervisor: Prof. Dr. Algirdas Jasinskas (Vytautas Magnus University, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004)
Dissertation Defence Board of Environmental Engineering Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Egidijus Šarauskis (Vytautas Magnus University, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004) – chairperson
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nikola Bilandžija (University of Zagreb, Croatia, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004)
Senior Researcher Dr. Darius Jakimavičius (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rytis Skominas (Vytautas Magnus University, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004)
Chief Researcher Dr. Nerijus Striūgas (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006)
Dissertation defence meeting will be at the conference room at Lithuanian Energy Institute (Breslaujos 3 – 202, Kaunas)
The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (Gedimino 50, Kaunas) and on the internet: R. Petlickaitė el. dissertation (PDF)
Annotation: Solid fuels play an important role in many energy sectors. Although most solid fuels are still fossil fuels, global energy trends are shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. A sustainable and renewable alternative to fossil fuels is biofuels. According to forecasts, energy crops could replace the wood feedstock, currently used mainly for biofuels. When using herbaceous biomass for biofuels, it is important to ensure that the quality of the pellets meets the quality requirements and that the ash from the combustion of the pellets is used sustainably. In this work, the full-cycle process and environmental impacts of the conversion of multi-crop biomass (maize, hemp and field bean) into solid biofuels, the combustion of the biofuel pellets and the preparation of the ash mixtures for crop fertilisation are comprehensively assessed. The 3 crops were chosen because they are complementary, suitable for sustainable farming systems and have high biomass potential. The quality characteristics of solid biofuel pellets produced from multi-crop biomass were determined; the emissions from the combustion of these pellets were assessed; the melting characteristics and the elemental composition of the ash from the combustion of multi-crop biomass pellets were identified; and the impact of the ash from the combustion of trinomial biomass on the productivity of spring wheat and field beans was studied.
