A vacuum operated wood pellet management apparatus, systems and methods thereof, capable of handling, transferring, dispensing and filtering wood pellets. The pellet management apparatus and systems comprising a housing having a motor and a vacuum fan, a power supply, wherein the power supply controls an output of the motor, a pellet chamber connected to the housing, wherein the pellet chamber includes an inlet port configured to receive a plurality of wood pellets from a source of wood pellets and an outlet port regulated by a self-closing hinge.

A vacuum operated wood pellet management apparatus, systems and methods thereof, capable of handling, transferring, dispensing and filtering wood pellets. The pellet management apparatus and systems comprising a housing having a motor and a vacuum fan, a power supply, wherein the power supply controls an output of the motor, a pellet chamber connected to the housing, wherein the pellet chamber includes an inlet port configured to receive a plurality of wood pellets from a source of wood pellets and an outlet port regulated by a self-closing hinge.

Pulverizers are very critical equipment in overall functioning of a plant. They need to be controlled and monitored properly for the optimized operation of the pulverizers. A system and method for performance and health monitoring to optimize operation of a pulverizer is provided. The system comprises a digital twin that can mimic the performance of the pulverizer in real-time and assist the operators in decision making related to operation, maintenance and scheduling. The digital twin is configured to receives real-time sensor data from a plurality of data sources and provides real-time soft sensing of key health and performance parameters of the pulverizer. One more key aspect of the solution is the advisory system that alerts and recommends corrective actions in terms of parameters controlled through other equipment or changes in operation or design or changes in cleaning schedule.

Described herein is a method for isolating high carbon chipped wood charcoal fuel suitable for grilling food. According to one aspect, the method involves removing pyrolyzed wood charcoal from a kiln wherein the pyrolyzed wood charcoal comprises lumps, chips, smaller pieces, and dust particles. The pyrolyzed wood charcoal is passed over a first sieve that is configured to separate the lumps from the chips, smaller pieces and dust particles. The chips, smaller pieces and dust particles are then passed over a second sieve that is configured to separate the chips from the smaller pieces and dust particles. The resulting chipped wood charcoal is consistently sized to be small enough to pass through a food supporting grill grate and supportable by an underlying grid support, thereby allowing refueling while grilling without interruption.

A cooking apparatus can include an enclosure defining a heating chamber configured to be heated and used for cooking food, a burn box proximate to the enclosure and which is configured to provide heat to the heating chamber, a hopper fluidly coupled to the burn box and configured to hold fuel, and a fuel conditioner disposed between the hopper and the burner to condition the fuel prior to burning in the burner. The fuel conditioner can be, for example, a wood chipper configured to reduce the size of the fuel.

Provided herein are integrated biomass combustion-carbonation gas conditioning systems to directly sequester carbon dioxide from biomass-derived CO.sub.2-containing flue gas. The CO.sub.2 is sequestered by mineral carbonation in concrete materials within a carbonation reactor. The mineral carbonation processes sequester CO.sub.2 in concrete materials, aqueous slurries, or aggregates without any additional carbon enrichment process. Contacting a CO.sub.2-containing gas stream from a biomass combustion apparatus with concrete, aggregate, or alkaline solutions, causes a carbonation reaction in which carbonation products such as calcium carbonate (CaCO.sub.3) and alumina silica gel are formed. The carbonation reactions set forth herein are useful for strengthening concrete and concrete components. Certain processes herein condition the biomass-derived flue gas. The conditioning includes condensing the gas to remove acidic gas, and to remove particulates and water. The conditioning includes adjusting the temperature, relative humidity, and gas flow rate of the biomass-derived flue gas without any carbon capture step before entering the carbonation reactor. The permanent storage of CO.sub.2 in concrete materials reduces carbon emissions from biomass combustion systems. The process does so, in certain embodiments, at low temperatures, ambient pressure, and even under dilute CO.sub.2 concentrations in CO.sub.2-containing flue gas streams. For example, the CO.sub.2 concentration in a CO.sub.2-containing flue gas stream from a biomass combustion system may be lower than 20 volume percent (vol %) and be used to produce low-carbon concrete materials.

Provided herein are integrated biomass combustion-carbonation gas conditioning systems to directly sequester carbon dioxide from biomass-derived CO.sub.2-containing flue gas. The CO.sub.2 is sequestered by mineral carbonation in concrete materials within a carbonation reactor. The mineral carbonation processes sequester CO.sub.2 in concrete materials, aqueous slurries, or aggregates without any additional carbon enrichment process. Contacting a CO.sub.2-containing gas stream from a biomass combustion apparatus with concrete, aggregate, or alkaline solutions, causes a carbonation reaction in which carbonation products such as calcium carbonate (CaCO.sub.3) and alumina silica gel are formed. The carbonation reactions set forth herein are useful for strengthening concrete and concrete components. Certain processes herein condition the biomass-derived flue gas. The conditioning includes condensing the gas to remove acidic gas, and to remove particulates and water. The conditioning includes adjusting the temperature, relative humidity, and gas flow rate of the biomass-derived flue gas without any carbon capture step before entering the carbonation reactor. The permanent storage of CO.sub.2 in concrete materials reduces carbon emissions from biomass combustion systems. The process does so, in certain embodiments, at low temperatures, ambient pressure, and even under dilute CO.sub.2 concentrations in CO.sub.2-containing flue gas streams. For example, the CO.sub.2 concentration in a CO.sub.2-containing flue gas stream from a biomass combustion system may be lower than 20 volume percent (vol %) and be used to produce low-carbon concrete materials.

Sorbent components containing halogen, calcium, alumina, and silica are used in combination during coal combustion to produce environmental benefits. Sorbents such as calcium bromide are added to the coal ahead of combustion and other components are added into the flame or downstream of the flame, preferably at minimum temperatures to assure complete formation of the refractory structures that result in various advantages of the methods. When used together, the components reduce emissions of elemental and oxidized mercury; increase the level of Hg, As, Pb, and/or Cl in the coal ash; decrease the levels of leachable heavy metals (such as Hg) in the ash, preferably to levels below the detectable limits; and make a highly cementitious ash product.

Sorbent components containing halogen, calcium, alumina, and silica are used in combination during coal combustion to produce environmental benefits. Sorbents such as calcium bromide are added to the coal ahead of combustion and other components are added into the flame or downstream of the flame, preferably at minimum temperatures to assure complete formation of the refractory structures that result in various advantages of the methods. When used together, the components reduce emissions of elemental and oxidized mercury; increase the level of Hg, As, Pb, and/or Cl in the coal ash; decrease the levels of leachable heavy metals (such as Hg) in the ash, preferably to levels below the detectable limits; and make a highly cementitious ash product.

Sorbent compositions containing calcium and iodine are added to coal to mitigate the release of mercury and/or other harmful elements into the environment during combustion of coal containing natural levels of mercury.