Innovations to a Palm Biomass-Fueled Power Plant

Abstract

The drive for sustainabilitySustainability has inspired palm oil refineries to use palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fiberEmpty fruit bunch fiber and palm kernel shell (PKS)Palm kernel Shell (PKS) as biomassBiomass fuels. Their usage, however, poses various challenges such as entanglement of fibers and blockage of fuel flow, as well as the tendency of PKSPalm kernel Shell (PKS) to form clinker in furnace. This chapter details some changes made for a water tube boiler to improve its fuel handling and combustion efficiency, which allowed handling of fiber with higher moisture content. It also shows how selection and location of multiple soot blowing systems have helped ash removal from the boiler tubes. Ash removal results in longer uninterrupted operation of this boiler, which is in excess of 60 days. The fuel feeding and furnace grate design, along with the heat recoveryHeat recovery system has allowed higher EFB combustion at 95%; this has helped the boiler to achieve 30% lower fuel consumption. While many biomass boilersBiomass boiler require an addition of 20–25% PKSPalm kernel Shell (PKS), this new boiler can operate with less than 5% PKS. The new boiler is also able to handle EFBEmpty fruit bunch fiber fiber with 55% moisture content due to the in-built drying zone within the furnace. The usage of heat pipe exchangersHeat pipe exchangers has improved heat recoveryHeat recovery from the flue gas, resulting in increased boiler feed water temperature of 260° C. The chapter also shows how special surface coatings have been applied at various sections of the boiler to prolong its tube life.