VIRIDIS provides design, purchase, installation, operation and maintenance for biomass power plants. A biomass-fired power plant produces electricity and heat by burning biomass in a boiler.
Biomass is organic matter derived from living, or recently living organisms. Biomass can be used as a source of energy and it most often refers to plants or plant-based materials which are not used for food or feed, and are specifically called lignocellulosic biomass .
Working Principle
As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. Conversion of biomass to biofuel can be achieved by different methods which are broadly classified into: thermal, chemical, and biochemical methods.
Thermal conversion
This is where organic matter is burned in the presence of oxygen to generate heat. The heat can be used for heating purposes in homes. The heat can also be used to produce electricity by heating water to produce steam. The steam is then directed to turn a turbine. The turbine turns a shaft, which connects it to a generator. The motion of the shaft triggers the generator to produces electricity.
Co-firing biomass with coal (replacing a portion of coal with biomass) is an effective method of using biomass for energy purposes and to reduce CO2 emissions. Coal plants can be made suitable to replace part of the coal by biomass or even to convert fully to biomass – turning a coal plant into a 100% renewable energy plant. Biomass cofiring with coal, by contrast, typically occurs at efficiencies near those of the coal combustor (30–40%, higher heating value basis).
Chemical conversion
This is a process that converts organic matter into carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. To achieve this, organic materials are reacted using heat (without combustion) with a limited amount of steam or oxygen. The result is a gas mixture called syngas or producer gas, which is also a form of fuel. The energy resulting from gasification and burning of the produced gas is classified as renewable energy if the elements that were gasified originated from biomass. The syngas can be used for heating, generation of electricity and many other functions.
Conversion of biomass to biofuel can also be achieved via selective conversion of individual components of biomass.For example, cellulose can be converted to intermediate platform chemical such a sorbitol, glucose, hydroxymethylfurfural etc. These chemical are then further reacted to produce hydrogen or hydrocarbon fuels.
Biochemical conversion
As biomass is a natural material, many highly efficient biochemical processes have developed in nature to break down the molecules of which biomass is composed, and many of these biochemical conversion processes can be harnessed.
Biochemical conversion makes use of the enzymes of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down biomass. In most cases, microorganisms are used to perform the conversion process: anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and composting.
Electrochemical conversion
In addition to combustion, bio-mass/bio-fuels can be directly converted to electrical energy via electrochemical oxidation of the material. This can be performed directly in a direct carbon fuel cell,direct ethanol fuel cell or a microbial fuel cell.The fuel can also be consumed indirectly via a fuel cell system containing a reformer which converts the bio-mass into a mixture of CO and H2 before it is consumed in the fuel cell.
Advantages
- Renewable energy
- Low carbon emission
- Widely available
- Cheaper compared to fossil fuels
- Minimizes overdependence on traditional electricity
- Reduces amount of waste in landfills
- Can be Used to Create Different Products