News
Biomass Electricity Generation Plant - IAS Academy In Coimbatore
Biomass Electricity Generation Plant - IAS Academy In Coimbatore
Biopower technology converts renewable biomass fuels into heat and electricity using a process similar to that of fossil fuels. There are three ways to release the energy stored in biomass to generate biodynamics: combustion, bacterial decay and conversion to gas/liquid fuels.
Burning
Most of the electricity produced by biomass is produced through direct combustion. Biomass is burned in a boiler to produce high pressure steam. This steam flows through a series of turbine blades, causing them to spin.
The rotation of the turbine drives a generator, which produces electricity. Biomass can also replace some of the coal in existing power plant furnaces in a process called co-firing (burning two different types of materials at the same time).
Bacterial Decomposition (Anaerobic Digestion)
Organic waste, such as animal manure or human sewage, is collected in oxygen-free tanks called digesters. Here, the material is broken down by anaerobic bacteria, producing methane and other by-products to form renewable natural gas, which can then be purified and used to generate electricity.
Conversion To A Gas Or Liquid Fuel
Biomass can be converted into gaseous or liquid fuels through gasification and pyrolysis. Gasification is the process of exposing solid biomass materials to high temperatures with little or no oxygen to produce syngas (or syngas)—a mixture primarily composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas can then be burned in a conventional boiler to generate electricity. It can also be used to replace natural gas in combined cycle gas turbines.
Pyrolysis uses a similar process to gasification, but under different operating conditions. In this case, biomass is heated in a lower temperature range, but in the complete absence of oxygen to produce crude bio-oil. This bio-oil is then used to replace fuel oil or diesel in furnaces, turbines and engines used to generate electricity.
Biomass For Electricity Generation:
Biomass can be used for facility heating, power generation and cogeneration. The term biomass covers a wide variety of materials, including wood from various sources, agricultural residues, and animal and human waste.
Biomass can be converted into electricity in a number of ways. The most common is the direct combustion of biomass materials, such as agricultural waste or wood materials. Other options include gasification, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion.
Gasification produces syngas with usable energy content by heating biomass with less oxygen than is required for complete combustion. Pyrolysis produces bio-oil by rapidly heating biomass in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic digestion produces renewable natural gas when organic matter is broken down by bacteria in the absence of oxygen.
Biomass Based Power Generation In India:
India produces a large amount of biomass material in its agricultural, agro-industrial and forestry operations. It is estimated that just over 500 million tons of agricultural and agro-industrial residues are produced each year. In terms of heat content, this amount is equivalent to about 175 million tons of oil. Some of these materials are used as feed and fuel for the rural economy.
However, research shows that at least 15-200 million tons of this biomass material do not find much productive use and could be used for alternative uses at economical cost. These materials include various husks and straws. This amount of biomass is sufficient to generate 15 000–25 000 MW of electricity.
In addition, electricity can be generated from biomass grown on wastelands, roadside and railroad plantations, etc. It is estimated that such biomass could generate more than 70 000 megawatts of electricity. Therefore, the total power generation potential of biomass can reach about 100 000 MW.
Read more:
