ABSTRACT
The use of biomass or bioenergy can be traced back to the beginning of human civilization when people started to burn wood for heating and cooking purposes. Ironically, after so many years have gone by, wood still remains the largest biomass resource in the world [1]. However, one major difference which has occurred over this period of time is the introduction of the concept “modern biomass” which states the usage of traditional biomass resources in highly efficient systems. This concept has been put into practice with more conviction and determination during the last decade, particularly in Europe, due to ever rising CO2 levels in our environment. By now, it is an established fact that about 10-30% of total energy demand for hot water supply and domestic heating in European countries like, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Finland is provided by small scale biomass
combustion systems [2]. Moreover, it has been also concluded that despite the vast spread of technologically advanced small scale combustion devices in European countries (like countries mentioned above) during the recent years, still the old biomass combustion systems (stoves and boilers) occupy more consumers [3]. These conventional systems which are based on natural draft play a pivotal role in contributing to the high emission levels of particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), organic gaseous compounds (OGC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). These facts and figures have triggered an enormous understanding and awareness among the researchers as well as local population concerning harmful pollutants emitted by residential biomass combustion systems. For this reason inefficient small scale biomass combustion systems have been heavily criticized and demanded to be replaced by new efficient technologies.
