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PP-III-60DESIGN OF CONICAL SPOUTED BED COMBUSTOR FORVALORIZATION OF CORK STOPPER WASTESMaría J. San José, Sonia Alvarez, Luis B. López, Martin Olazarand Javier BilbaoDepartamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología,Universidad del País Vasco, Aptdo 644. 48080 Bilbao. Spain.Tel: 34-94-6015362. Fax: 34-94-6013500 e-mail: mariajose.sanjose@ehu.esRenewable biomass sources are of growing importance in satisfying energyneeds over fossil fuels. In 2007, near 10.000 million stoppers made of cork wastesended up landfilled. As cork has a high heating value, it is suitable for energyproduction. Combustion in fluidized beds of cork with inert material produces VOCsand PAHs emissions [1]. Suitability of the spouted bed technology for thermalvalorization of biomass by combustion [2-4]has been proven without inert material, due tothe capacity for handling large size particles,of irregular texture, with a wide sizedistribution and sticky solids as cork stoppers[5-6]. In this paper, an experimental unit atpilot plant scale. Figure, has been used forcombustion of cork wastes and the optimaldesign of the conical spouted bed combustorhas been determined. The study has beencarried out with beds consisting of corkwastes, of density ρ s = 270 kg/m 3 and ofaverage Sauter diameter between 5 and 25 mm.The results prove the optimal design of the conical spouted bed combustor forsuccessful combustion of cork wastes.References[1]. Cabañas, A., Saez, F., González, A., Escalada, R., 2000. J. Agric. Engng. Res., 77 (3), 349.[2]. San José, M.J., Aguado, R., Alvarez, S. Olazar.M., 2002. Inform. Tecnol., 13(2), 127.[3]. San José, M.J., Álvarez, S., Ortiz de Salazar, A., Olazar, M., Bilbao, J. Science in Thermal andChemical Biomass Conversion, Newbury Berks, UK: CPL press. vol. 1, 228-236(2006).[4]. San José, M.J., Alvarez, S., Ortiz de Salazar, A., Morales, A., Bilbao, J., 2006. Int. J. Chem.React. Eng., 4, A15, 1.[5]. Olazar, M.; San José, M.J.; Peñas, F. J.; Bilbao, J., 1994. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 33, 1838.[6]. Olazar, M., San José, M.J., LLamosas, R., Bilbao, J., 1994. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res,. 33: 993.AcknowledgementsThis work was carried out with the financial support of the University and the CountyCouncil of Biscay (Project DIPE 07/09) and of Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation(Project TRA2009-0318).550