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The fate of various ash-forming elements determine how well a fuel will perform in a given thermochemical energy conversion process. In order understand ash-related process problems it is particularly important in which compounds alkali metal ions, for biomass this primarily means K⁺ and Na^+, are bonded. Their low charge and relatively large ionic radii leads to poor bond strengths in compounds where they provide the only Lewis acid component, i.e. electron acceptor. This can be remedied by trying to bond alkali metal ions to stronger, predominantly molecular Lewis bases which is the case in for instance arkanite, K₂SO₄ – the targeted reaction product when (NH₄)₂SO₄ is added in the flue gas to reduce KCl formation. Another approach is to bond alkali in bottom or bed ash, by including Lewis base forming elements such as phosphorus or the additive kaolin which is dominated by kaolinite. This route attempts to promote formation of high-temperature melting compounds with at least one alkali metal ion per phosphate or other starting molecule.

While the understanding of how phosphorus reacts in combustion process is increasing it is valuable to understand how it will react in presence of other elements or molecules that play an important role for alkali capture. This will be of interest in situations where the base fuels may be combusted with addition of sulphur or kaolin, for instance. If the base fuels has a high concentration of phosphorus the amount of additive may need to be adjusted according to what phosphates will form, and if they will form even in the presence of the amending additives. Using the inherent composition of the fuel to decide suitable strategies for additive choice or possibly co-combustion is a key component of fuel design.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relative Lewis base potential for capture of alkali metal ions between phosphates and kaolin. This is made by adding highly available phosphorus in the form of di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate, (NH₄)₂HPO₄, and kaolin, a mineral where kaolinite is the main constituent for capturing alkali to the fuel blend. The fuel chosen is stem wood where the amount of Lewis acid forming elements greatly surpass that of Lewis base forming elements found in the ash forming matter.