3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Economic evaluation of bamboo cultivation and potential yield on rehabilitated mine sites(2017) Mothapo, Makgamatho GodfreyAbandoned mines in South Africa have created a series of environmental legacies around the mining community in the form of health hazard (air pollution), land degradation and illegal mining activities. The biggest mine environmental legacy that is being addressed today in South Africa is that of abandoned mines, particularly asbestos and the process of cleaning up asbestos mining dumps in South Africa as implemented by Mintek (state owned mineral processing and metallaurgical research instistute)on behalf of Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and this form the main basis of this research study. The history of abandoned mines, particularly asbestos mining, is that the mining peaked and took place during the time when there were no environmental regulations forcing mining companies to take control of their waste. The only legislation was the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (Act No.45 of 1965). The Mineral Act, which regulated most of the mining activity in South Africa was promulgated in 1991 and was enacted as Act No.50 in 1991. Apart from the environmental challenges, these mines are located in rural areas with high unemployment levels and poor infrastructure, and therefore all solutions would require these matter to be addressed as well. This study was based on a literature review involving bamboo as a potential vegetation cover to be grown on abandoned mineland both for rehabilitation and with intention to harvest it for energy use. This would hope to address some of the socioeconomic issues within the communities surrounding such abandoned asbestos mines. Penge area in the Limpopo Province is proposed as the site for a pilot study for such bamboo cultivation. Bamboos are a large group of rapidly growing woody grasses, mainly found in the IndoChina regions of the world that can be sustainably managed in short-cycle harvesting schemes. They offer many benefits like erosion control, architectural properties for rural construction activities and can be used as biomass feedstock for the bioenergy economy. The results of this study indicate that it is possible to grow bamboo in the Penge based on its physio-climatic conditions. The literature review proposes , Bambusa balcooa, Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus strictus and Phyllostachys edulis as suitable bamboo species for the region. Based on rudimetary simple evaluation model the area will produce 14 tonnes/ha/year of biomass in the 5th year of harvesting, increasing to and stabilizing to 47 tonnes /ha/year in the 7th year and it has proven economically feasible to proudce energy from the amount of feedstock generated.Item Combustion and physicochemical properties of raw and thermally treated bamboos(2015) Makwarela, OliveSouth Africa is economically vulnerable to climate change because its economy is powered by electricity generated from coal fired power stations. There is a need to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel energy not only because of greenhouse gas emissions but also energy security. Bamboo is touted as a renewable energy source, however, like other woody biomass material, it has poor physicochemical properties and low energy densities. Therefore, the bamboo samples utilized in this study were subjected to thermal pre-treatment methods to improve on their combustion and physicochemical properties. Bamboo samples of 1, 3 and 4+ years old were subjected to torrefaction at 250°C and 280°C as well as low temperature carbonisation at 350°C and 400°C. A standard HGI method was modified during the course of this research for studying the grindability of the raw and treated bamboo material. The fuel properties and combustibility of these raw and thermally treated bamboo materials were then studied using thermogravimetric analysis. The raw bamboo samples exhibited a CV ranging from 17 MJ/kg to 18 MJ/kg, whereas the torrefied samples and the carbonised samples had a CV ranging from 25 MJ/kg to 28 MJ/kg and 28 MJ/kg to 30 MJ/kg, respectively. The 4 year old bamboo carbonised at 400°C had the highest CV of 30.24 MJ/kg. The CV improvement occurred as a result of molecular modification observed through an increase in fixed carbon content from 16 to 74%. The energy yields ranging from 48 to 74% were achieved for the torrefied samples and 44 to 54% for the low temperature carbonised samples, depending on the age of the bamboo sample. At torrefaction temperatures tested, the 4 year old bamboo had the highest mass and energy yield, whereas at carbonisation temperatures, 3 year old bamboo had the highest. The number of differential thermogravimetric peaks was observed to decrease from 2 to 1 as the thermal treatment temperature increased to a carbonisation range (350-400) °C. This can be attributed to the less VM content in the carbonised samples. The raw bamboo and thermally treated bamboo had higher reactivity, lower ignition and burnout temperatures compared to that for coal. Blending of coal with bamboo (raw and thermally treated) appeared to increase the reactivity and lower the ignition temperature during co-firing. The activation energies of the individual fuels ranged from 56 to 289 kJ/mol, using the Ozawa model. Bamboo samples carbonised at 400°C had the highest activation energy, irrespective of age. The activation energy was also the highest when co-firing a blend with the highest proportion of coal. Based on the co-firing tests undertaken in the TG analyser in which a percentage of coal is blended with various proportions of raw and thermally treated bamboo, the results showed that as the percentage of coal in the blend increases there is less interaction or influence of biomass. The role of biomass is to aid with ignition of devolatilization in the coal at lower temperatures. At the carbonisation stage, biomass behave more like coal in principle. It was confirmed in this study that in terms of combustibility, the torrefied bamboo samples had a greater capacity to provide lower ignition and burnout temperatures over the low carbonised bamboo samples utilized, and this might support its application as a source of fuel in an industrial burning combustor. The carbonised 4 year old bamboo appears to be the preferred alternative source fuel to be fired solely in an existing pulverised boiler in South Africa or co-fired with coal due to the carbonised bamboo samples exhibiting the higher CV and more coal-like combustion profile.