Using biomass for energy: How it works
Sunday, November 08, 2009The wood biomass-fired electrical power generation facility proposed for the John Matthews Industrial Park at U.S. 301 and Highway 176 would use a “bubbling fluidized boiler” process.
The boiler would use natural gas as a start-up fuel and a mixture of wood biomass (wood chips and forestry thinning) as the primary fuel.
According to information from the S.C. Energy Office Web site, a typical wood biomass generator employs the boiler complemented by steam turbines. The wood is introduced into the boiler, which contains a chamber for biomass combustion.
The equipment within the chamber distributes biomass over a grate that separates the burning biomass from the ash that is formed after burning. The heat in the boiler creates steam in a high-pressure water tube boiler within the machine.
The steam is passed through a multistage steam turbine, which produces the electricity.
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