1. BIOMASS
FUELLED POWER
PLANTS

2. OUTLINES
 Introduction
 Biomass and its sources
 Biomass power plant and its working
 Biomass power generation modes
 Social benefits
 Economic viability
 Prospective segments & challenges
 Conclusions
 References

3. INTRODUCTI
ON
Enough Biomass
resources in the
world to cover the
world’s energy
demand.
Using Biomass
sources for power
generation is CO2
neutral.

4. WHAT IS BIOMASS ?
 Biomass is a renewable energy source that is
derived from living or recently living organisms.
 It is produced by metabolic activities of
biological systems (plants and animals) and/or
products of their decomposition or conversion
 The chemical and energetic value of those
materials is based on the carbon-carbon and
carbon-hydrogen bond
 Biomass suitable for utilization must have a net
heating value

5. SOURCES OF BIOMASS
•Comes from the
forest
•Can also come
from plant and
animal waste
•Wood and waste
can be found
virtually anywhere

6. OVERVIEW
 Biomass can be chemically and biochemically
treated to convert it to a energy-rich fuel.
 Thermal energy is extracted by means of
combustion, pyrolysis, and gasification.
 Energy derived from biomass is mostly used to
generate electricity or to produce heat.

7. KEY COMPONENTS OF
BIOMASS POWER PLANT
 Fuel storage and handling equipment
 Combustor / furnace
 Boiler
 Pumps
 Fans
 Steam turbine
 Generator
 Condenser
 Cooling tower
 Exhaust / emissions controls
 System controls (automated).

8. HOW DOES BIOMASS
HOW IS ELECTRICITY GENERATED FROM
POWERPLANT WORK
BIOMASS

9. BIOMASS POWER GENERATION
MODES
 Different types of biomass power
generation modes are
 Combustion
 Gasification combustion
 Mixed burning
 Gasification mixed burning

10. BIOMASS POWER GENERATION
MODES
 COMBUSTION
 Biomass burned directly in boiler to produce steam to generate
electricity
 Main advantage
 Mature technology
 Low running cost
 Simple biomass pretreatment
 Disadvantage
 Low efficiency at small scale
 single biomass fuel
 large investment
 Application
 Large scale power generation

11. BIOMASS POWER GENERATION
MODE
 GASIFICATION COMBUSTION
 solid biomass breaks down to form a flammable
gas.
 Biomass gasified first and then fuel gas burned in
gas turbine or engine

12.  Gasification
 Advantage
 High efficiency at small scale
 Flexible in capacity
 Low investment
 Disadvantage
 Complex equipment
 High maintenance cost
 Applications
 Medium and small system
 Combined cycles , which combine gas turbines and steam
turbines to produce electricity

13. BIOMASS POWER GENERATION
MODE
 MIXED BURNING
 Biomass mixed with coal and burned in boiler
 Main advantage
 Simple and convenient operation
 Least investment if no reconstruction of existing
device
 Main disadvantage
 Strict biomass pretreatment and quality
 Some impact on original system.
 Application
 Suitable for timber biomass.

14. BIOMASS POWER GENERATION
MODES
 Gasification –mixed burning
 Biomass gasified first and then fuel gas burned with coal in
boiler
 Main advantage
 Universal application
 Low impact on original coal-fired system
 Economic benefit
 Main disadvantage
 Complex management
 Certain metal erosion problem
 Application
 Power generation system for mass biomass.

15. VARIOUS TECHNIQUES AND
OPTIONS AVAILABLE
 Biomass liquefaction via pyrolysis
 A process similar to Gasification
 Heating of Hydrocarbons in zero oxygen condition
 Condenses the vapors to obtain Bio-oil (pyrolysis oil)
 Bio-oil is easily transportable, store and handle
 Can be combusted in boiler for heat or electrical
generation

16. VARIOUS TECHNIQUES AND
OPTIONS AVAILABLE
 Organic plant based oil(crude palm oil-CPO)
 Generation of electricity using CPO.
 Biogas anaerobic digestion.
a type of fermentation that converts organic
material into biogas.
 it mainly consists of methane (approximately
60%) and carbon dioxide(approximately 40%).
 Power generation using scrubbed methane gas.

17. SOCIAL BENEFITS OF BIOMASS
POWER GENERATION
 Biomass power generates electricity that is:
 reliable,
 domestically produced,
 economically competitive and
 environmentally sustainable.
 Since biomass energy uses domestically-
produced fuels, biomass power:
 greatly reduces our dependence on foreign energy
sources,
 increases our national security and
 provides greater fuel diversity.

18. ECONOMIC BENEFITS
 Minimizes cost involved with waste disposal
 Can generate money for community
 It provide job opportunity in rural areas
 Power from biomass gasifier based plants are
cheap in rural areas
 Overall cost of installation, running,
transmission, labor etc. per unit cost of
electricity is low.

19. PROSPECTIVE SEGMENTS &
CHALLENGES
 Biomass Combustion power plant is attractive to:
 Industrial Factories owners
 Plantation/Mill owners
 Sugar cane (Bagasse)
 Rice (Rice Husks)
 Wood/Paper (Wood Wastes)
 Corn (Corn Wastes)
 Palm Oil (Empty Fruit Bunches, Shells)
 Cassava (Roots, Stems)
 Able to supply both Electricity and Heat (steam) for
factory use
 Main challenges:
 securing the long term supply of Biomass fuel source at stable prices
 selling price of electricity, if connected to the grid to sell electricity

20. CONCLUSIONS
 Uses low cost waste materials
 Recycling waste materials can be a solution to the
problems with disposing of waste products
 Reduced dependence on foreign oil
 Biomass plants operate in a reliable and
consistent manner providing crucial base load
power generation.

21. REFERENCES
 “Biomass power generation modes.”
http://www.V-FLO.com
 B H KHAN, “Non-conventional energy resources” ,
3RD edition, pub. year 2006
 “Biomass energy”
www.amrenewables.com
 Pyrolysis and Other Thermal Processing. [U.S.
Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Biomass Program]
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/printable_version
s/pyrolysis.html