Biomass and sewage sludge are attracting increasing interest in power plant
technology as a source of carbon-dioxide-neutral fuels. A new way to reduc
e the consumption of fossil fuels could be the co-combustion or co-gasifica
tion of coal and biomass or coal and sell age sludge. In both cases, pyroly
sis is the first step in the technical process. In order to obtain derailed
information about the pyrolysis of coal/biomass and coal/sewage sludge mix
tures as well as unblended fuels, the ''Institut fur Verfahrenstechnik und
Dampkesselwesen (IVD)'' at the University of Stuttgart has carried out inve
stigations using an electrically heated entrained flow reactor. The test ru
ns provided information about fuel conversion efficiency, pyrolysis gas and
tar yield.