Catalytic combustion of vineyard pruning waste in a conical spouted bed combustor

The feasibility of a conical spouted bed combustor for the thermal catalytic exploitation of vineyard pruning waste, under different operating conditions has been analyzed. Stable-flow regimes of vine shoot beds with a Pd catalyst were determined over a wide range of combustion conditions. With the aim of improving the combustion yield, thermal exploitation of vine shoots was performed in batch mode, in a conical spouted bed combustor at temperatures ranging from 250 to 550 degrees C, with and without the Pd catalyst. The influence of the catalyst and inlet gas temperature on the flue gas concentration was analyzed. The experimental vine shoot combustion yield with the Pd catalyst at different inlet gas temperatures were compared with those obtained without the catalyst. The high experimental combustion efficiency calculated from the flue gases concentrations demonstrates the favorable performance of the conical spouted bed combustor for the catalytic combustion of vine shoots.