International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The use of renewable sources for energy purposes is very important from the global environmental perspective. Biomass is part of this group of fuels. This article focuses on the characteristics of wet biomass, a typical fuel source in the Albanian rural areas and not only. Thus, the most significant factor of biomass combustion is its moisture content in natural conditions. This property significantly influences the burning quality of biomass. Drying of this fuel using conventional methods or energy intensity processes aims to decrease the moisture content in biomass and meantime increase of its calorific value. The techniques of drying wet biomass vary significantly. Energy utilization of wet biomass is the main goal of this paper, considering it an important fuel source especially during winter season in Albanian rural areas. The variation of heating value to moisture content and other significant parameters have been investigated.

In connection with the observed dynamism of changes on the energy market regarding generation of energy from sources other than coal, more attention was paid to the use of "clean", low-emission technologies. Bearing in mind the need to search new, alternative energy sources, the aim of the study was to investigate and analyze the properties of grain biomass, such as rice and corn, as a fuel. To achieve the goal, the research problem has been formulated: how the fragmentation degree and the type of biomass affects such energy properties as heating value and heat of combustion. To resolve the problem, the properties of white rice, black rice, red rice and corn before and after grinding were analysed. The results show that white rice has the biggest value of heat of combustion before grinding, red rice – the lowest. White rice has the biggest heating value for whole grain, red rice – the lowest. The research allows to state that grinding operations result in increasing energetic properties of biomass. It can be also assumed that biomass is a good substitute of fossil fuel.