CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMASS RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES FROM SOME PERENNIAL SPECIES

The scope of this study is the evaluation of the energy content and the qualitative characteristics of five perennial biomass species collected from various forest and hill areas in Romania. The compared species are: stone lichen (Cetraria islandica), mistletoe (Viscum album), knotweed (Polygonum aviculare), wheatgrass (Agropyron repens) and knapweed (Centaurium erythraea). The following characteristics are evaluated: higher heating value (HHV), higher heating value of ash free sample (HHVf), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), moisture, ash content, bulk densities and fuel value index (FVI). Carbon content is the essential characteristic that considerably affects the heating power of fuels. Our data indicate that the studied species are good resources as biofuel in the form of pellets. The specific parameters are determined according to definite standard methods. From among the considered species, Viscum album presents the highest heating value, highest carbon content and the lowest moisture content, thus being a satisfactory material for home pellets manufacturing.YYY