Issues related to biomass power generation

This post was last edited by qinweijun on 2012-2-15 at 10:58. Background and necessity for building a biomass gas combined cycle [BIGCC] power generation demonstration project: Biomass energy has always been an important source of energy for human survival. It ranks fourth among the world’s total energy consumption, after coal, oil, and natural gas, and holds a significant position in the overall energy system. Experts estimate that biomass energy is highly likely to become the most important component of future sustainable energy systems. In today’s world, due to the soaring prices of \"black gold,\" the importance and value of \"green gold\" (biomass energy) are becoming increasingly prominent. In the power generation sector, gas turbine power generation (mainly combined cycle power generation) offers advantages such as fast startup (reaching operational status within minutes, while direct-fired boilers take several hours to start), high efficiency, low pollution, and excellent profitability. Using biomass gasification combined cycle power generation or cogeneration is a model for the efficient hierarchical utilization of biomass energy. The power generation efficiency of the biomass gasification combined cycle technology, after deducting the energy used for its own operations, exceeds 35%, which is much higher than that of biomass direct combustion generators; moreover, the consumption of biomass fuel is lower ； By adopting the biomass gasification combined cycle cogeneration technology, hierarchical utilization of energy can be achieved, improving the overall thermal efficiency. Furthermore, the by-products of its gasification process have high utility value and yield good overall benefits, making it one of the development directions for the industrialization of biomass energy technologies today.

Currently, for the rice industry, fixed-bed gasification power generation is a more suitable option, as it allows for the production of rice husk charcoal. The price of rice husk charcoal can cover the raw material costs, and the equipment investment is not very high, around 2 million. More importantly, the electricity generated has a place to be used! The scale of biomass power generation is not very large, making it difficult to connect to the grid!

The biggest problem with fixed-bed and gasification-bed gasification for power generation is the inability to effectively deal with tar, which has a significant impact on gas turbine generators; frequent cleaning is required, resulting in poor economic efficiency. Currently, plasma reforming (polyradical technology) is being used to break down tar into smaller molecules such as CO and H2

Plasma reforming? What kind of technology is it? Are there any practical applications now? Could you give an introduction?

This post was last edited by qinweijun on 2012-2-15 at 10:57. In China, true commercialization has not yet taken place, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences is working on this area; the main focus is on the treatment of household waste and hazardous waste. In Shaanxi, there is a company that uses plasma technology to treat transformer oil, with the treated oil being burned directly afterward. This approach requires significant energy consumption, high temperatures, and thus imposes strict requirements on the materials used in equipment. Abroad, this technology has already been developed and is in use on a commercial scale.

Are you referring to plasma technology that uses electrolytic plasma for combustion?

There are many innovative aspects in this technology; for example, the various steps of gasification – pre-treatment, pyrolysis, carbon conversion, ash melting, tar cracking, syngas reforming, and waste heat utilization – are all precisely controlled and integrated to achieve optimization； The gasification gas comes into contact with a large number of active free radicals in the polyradical acceleration reaction unit ； Thoroughly break down tar and remove pollutants ； Gasification syngas mainly composed of CO and H2.

Well, then I’d like to ask again: in terms of economic viability, is it feasible to use plasma for reforming?

The cost-effectiveness is decent; it’s mainly used for heating and power generation, and **project subsidies as well as carbon emission reductions can be applied for.

If one wants to promote and apply it on an industrial scale, economic viability is essential for it to work.