Electricity Generation

Biomass is organic matter of recent origin produced directly or indirectly by living organisms. The
biomass in plant matter is produced by the process of photosynthesis in which carbon dioxide and
water from the environment are converted, using energy from sunlight, into the carbohydrates
(sugars, starches, cellulose and lignin) that constitute the plant.

The energy in the sunlight is thus stored as chemical energy in the various forms of biomass. Biomass
may then be regarded as an energy resource which can be used to provide heat, electricity and
transport fuels for humankind and includes wood from plantation forests, residues from forest
production and the timber industry, residues from agricultural production, vegetable oils, animal fats
and organic wastes from industry, animal husbandry and human settlements.

Biomass has the potential to be an increasingly cost-competitive renewable energy source in India
and to make a valuable contribution to the overall energy supply system mainly because of its very
low cost and the fact that it is renewable.
 Biomass is particularly well positioned to play a major role in our
country effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.
 The conversion of biomass resources into useful energy service products
can be undertaken using a wide range of technological pathways.

 Various application of biomass like briquetting of biomass, charcoal

briquette, electricity generation and producer gas generation are
discussed (figure 1)
Processes for the conversion of biomass to fuels, energy and heat
 Electricity generation

There are various technologies for utilising biomass as fuel to generate electricity and heat (i.e.
processing heat). Biomass can be used through:

 Direct combustion in a conventional steam boiler to cogenerate processing steam and

electricity
 Cofiring coal and biomass in a pulverised coal-fired boiler
 Directly combusting in a fluidised bed combustor (FBC)
 Gasification in a gasifier to produce low calorific value gas for running a gas turbine/
generator for electricity generation.

 The biogases produced from biomass can also be burnt or cofired with other fuels in
boilers or gas engines to generate further electricity and heat.
Direct combustion is a commercialised technology that is widely used to generate
electricity and/or heat for processes in industries related to biomass resources, such as the
sugar and wood products industries.

In these cases, the biomass resources are generally available on-site and burned in
conventional steam boilers.

 Bagasse has been extensively used as the main fuel to generate electricity and heat. Most
sugarcane mills utilise bagasse to cogenerate steam and electricity for their own needs.

 Benefits to the reduction of greenhouse gas and to generation of a second revenue stream
for the sugar industry imply a potentially significant role for cogeneration in the
electricity market.
Cofiring :Cofiring biomass and coal in an existing pulverised coal-fired power plant is a
low-cost option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by partly substituting coal with CO2-
neutral biomass fuels.

High combustion efficiency can be achieved with only minor or no modification to existing
systems. Cofiring biomass fuels with coal in pulverised coal-fired furnaces can be carried
out using three technology options:

 Direct firing of the biomass with the coal (figure 2)

 Indirect firing of the biomass fuel

 Firing the biomass fuel in a separate boiler but using the steam in the existing generating
plant.
Routes available for direct cofiring
 Fluidised bed combustion

A fluidised bed combustor (FBC) utilises biomass fuels also through direct combustion.

FBC involves the combustion of waste in a fluidised bed of sandy material with high
thermal inertia but low combustion temperature.

This form of combustion is highly tolerant to low heating value wastes with variable
quality, and produces much lower pollutant emissions than other conventional forms of
combustion (e.g. the low combustion temperature results in low thermal NOx
production).
 Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC)
BIGCC is an advanced technology for utilising biomass to generate electricity, in which
biomass is gasified with air to produce syngas, which is then combusted to drive a gas
turbine/ generator for the production of electricity.
The residual heat of exhaust gas from the gas turbine is also used to produce steam and run
a steam turbine/generator to generate more electricity. The combined cycle insures a very
high energy efficiency.
Biomass can be employed in decentralized manner. Two different forms of power
generation from biomass, which can be employed in decentralized manner are as below:-
(A) Dendro Thermal Power Generation (D.T.P.G.)
(B) Gasifier based Power Generation (G.P.G.)
(A)Dendro Thermal Power Generation (D.T.P.G.)
It basically involves, combustion of biomass externally. The thermal energy is
converted into shaft power either directly or through various inter-mediate stages of
conversion, involving steam or the organic fluid etc.
In general, this process consists of the main components as Dryer, Boiler, Steam
turbine, Condenser and Generator, etc.
 The dryer is used to reduce the damperness of the uneven wood to a lower level.
 In the dryer a part of the flue gas from the boiler, supplies the drying energy.
 The dried wood is fed into the boiler, It is then burnt in suspension in the boiler to
raise a high pressure steam.
 
As far as power generation from dendro thermal based power generation is concerned.
It makes use of three commonly available thermodynamic cycles i.e. Brayton, Starling or
Rankine cycles.
In simple fashion, heat of combustion gases can be used to run gas turbine for power
generation through Brayton cycle or alternately it can pass through heat exchanger for
energizing a working fluid and finally to run a gas engine through a Stirling cycle.
The heat of combustion gases, can be used to generate steam vapour to use it in
steam/vapour engine or steam/vapour engine through Rankine cycle.
These commonly available Dendro thermal power generation option are illustrated in Fi
Fuel Air Heating Element

COMBUSTION

CHAMBER

GAS TURBINE THERMODYNAMIC

CYCLE

  
HEAT GAS ENGINES BRAYTON
EXCHANGER
 
 
STEAM/VAPOUR RANKINE
 
TURBINE  
 
VAPOUR GENERATION

 
STAEM/ORGANIC

STEAM/VAPOUR RANKINE

ENGINE  

   

ENGINE  
 

   

 
Commonly Used Dendro Thermal Power Generator Op
 
tions
 

 
The steam turbine can be one, two or three stages unit. The steam turbine drives the
alternator or generator. The cooling system uses a condenser of shell and tube type. For
the condenser, the supply of cooling water is about 50 items that of the steam to be
condensed. In case of water shortage a cooling tower can be added but it will consume
about 2.5 percent of the energy produced by the power station (for circulating pumps and
fans).
(A)Gasifier Based Power Generation

The gasifier based power generation system consists of following components:

1. Feed Preparation Unit
 The producer gas emerging from the gasifier should be free from
contaminants like, soot or other phonetic components.
 These contaminants are removed from scrubbing the gas with water and the
gas is cooled down up to neatly ambient temperature in cooling and
cleaning unit.
 The clean gas is mixed with air in proper proportion then inducted to either
Spark Ignition Engine of Compression Ignition Engine.
 In the Spark Ignition Engine, it can totally replace the petrol fuel, though
the engine is derated by about 40%.
 On the other hand, if this gas is used as a fuel for Compressing Ignition
Engine, the compressing ignition gas has to be enriched by adding 20 to
30% of diesel for igniting the gas in the engine cylinder.
 The engine in turn drives the generator for electricity generation.
The schematic biomass gasification power generation system is shown in Fig. 10.5.
The wood or the agricultural residue should be cut into proper size. They may have
to be briquetted in case of some loose agricultural residues. The gasifier accepts
wood chips, agricultural residues in shreaded or briquetted form.
The biomass undergoes pyrolysis, oxidation and reduction and produces producer
gas. Carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane are the main combustion
components of the producer gas.
Basically a gasifier consisted of followings components, such as: Main
Combustion Chamber, Cooling System (Directly Water Cooled or Indirectly Water
Cooled), Cleaning System and engine set up as shown in Figure.
 Gasification plant

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The plant is equipped with a downdraft gasifier, a rotating
grate, ventury type suction unit which sucks the gas as well
as clean it from tar.

Biomass-based power generation system

Installed in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh

  The production capacity of the power plant is 25kW.

 The plant is run by biomass briquettes and other

available biomass.

 Fuel consumption ranges between 1.1-1.2 kg/kW. The

plant is equipped with a downdraft gasifier, a rotating
grate, ventury type suction unit which sucks the gas as
well as clean it from tar.

 The system is also equipped with three stages of

cleaning consisting of wood blocks, sawdust and
charcoal dust for further cleaning of tars.

 Finally, gas is fed to a natural gas engine which converts

the producer gas power to electricity.

 Cost of production is about Rs. 6.8/kW.

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 Source: https://www.inti.gob.ar/e-renova/erBI/.../AnkurScientific-BiomasstoEnergy (assessed on Jan 21, 2016)

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