By Daniel Mahr, P.E.
Energy Associates, P.C.
Montville, NJ, USA
WHY BIOMASS?
The power industry is confronting challenges with seemingly conflicting goals. Large, solid-fuel power plants provide the reliability and flexibility utilities require for baseload, cycling, and on-demand situations. They provide the economy of scale needed to minimize the cost of production. Consumers, including industry, rely on affordable, dependable electrical energy. It’s an important part of our economy and our daily lifestyle. Reducing emission levels and conserving our finite resources are key components for achieving a sustainable environment.
Historically, biomass powered society’s early development, and its ability to power our needs today is being reassessed, as a means to recycle carbon emissions. Biomass is a resource that can be substituted for coal, in varying degrees for existing pulverized coal (PC) plants. New, large power plants are being designed to utilize biomass as the primary fuel, most notably in circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFB) boilers.
Biomass is available now. New products and sources are being developed, as the market unfolds.
While biomass-fired plants have been a part of the scene for some time, they have typically been relatively small, 25 to 50 MW, and often address specialized, local conditions. Biomass units on the scale of 300 MW and larger present a number of different and important challenges. The plant’s ability to effectively utilize biomass fuel products is more important for this technology scale-up. Continue reading →