The combination of temperature gradient and volatile release has been identified as the main cause for primary fragmentation (breakage of fuel particles during devolatilization). A mathematical model of the primary fragmentation in a fluidized bed has been developed, incorporating both causes. It takes into account the type of the coal, size of the coal particles, and the fluidized bed temperature. The model simulates fragmentation of a batch of coal particles. For each particle in the batch, the model follows propagation and merging of cracks, starting from randomly distributed pre-existing pores, leading to possible breakage of the particle. The model calculates volume of the fragmented particles and volume diameters, classifying them into size classes. For each size class, the number of particles is counted, and the mass fraction is calculated. The results are the distribution of mass and number of char particles after the devolatilization and the primary fragmentation parameters.

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Although the countries of the Western Balkans are mostly electrified, there are still regions which do not have access to the electricity network or where the network capacity is insufficient. For the most part such areas are under special care of the state (i. e. underdeveloped, devastated by war, depopulated), on islands or in mountainous regions. Since the decentralized energy generation covers a broad range of technologies, including many renewable energy technologies that provide small-scale power at sites close to the users, such concept could be of interest for these locations. This paper identifies the areas in Western Balkans where such systems could be applied. Consideration is given to geographical locations as well as possible applications. Wind, hydro, solar photovoltaic, and biomass conversion systems were taken into consideration. Since the renewable energy sources data for Western Balkans region are rather scarce, the intention was to give a survey of the present situation and an estimate of future potential for decentralized energy generation based on renewable energy sources. The decentralized energy generation based on renewable energy sources in Western Balkans will find its niche easier for the users that will produce electricity for their own needs and for the users located in remote rural areas (off-grid applications).

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In comparison to the free flame burners the porous medium burners, especially those with flame stabilization within the porous material, are characterized by a reduction of the combustion zone temperatures and high combustion efficiency, so that emissions of pollutants are minimized. In the paper the finite-volume numerical tool for calculations of the non-isothermal laminar steady-state flow, with chemical reactions in laminar gas flow as well as within porous media is presented. For the porous regions the momentum and energy equations have appropriate corrections. In the momentum equations for the porous region an additional pressure drop has to be considered, which depends on the properties of the porous medium. For the heat transfer within the porous matrix description a heterogeneous model is considered. It treats the solid and gas phase separately, but the phases are coupled via a convective heat exchange term. For the modeling of the reaction of the methane laminar combustion the chemical reaction scheme with 164 reactions and 20 chemical species was used. The proposed numerical tool is applied for the analyses of the combustion and heat transfer processes which take place in porous and surface burners. The numerical experiments are accomplished for different powers of the porous and surface burners, as well as for different heat conductivity character is tics of the porous regions.