Fuzzy optimization of direct and indirect biomass co-firing in power plants
College
Gokongwei College of Engineering
Department/Unit
Chemical Engineering
Document Type
Article
Source Title
Chemical Engineering Transactions
Volume
76
First Page
55
Last Page
60
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Abstract
Co-firing of biomass in fossil fuel-fired power plants is a mature technology option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Up to 10 % of fossil fuel energy input can be displaced by biomass without the need for major retrofits. Co-firing may be done directly or indirectly. However, direct co-firing has the disadvantage of being less flexible with the use of different types of biomass. Indirect co-firing, on the other hand, overcomes this limitation by using a gasifier which converts the biomass into syngas and biochar. The syngas can then be used for co-firing, while biochar can be applied to soil as a form of carbon sequestration. This process stores the carbon initially fixed by biomass through photosynthesis in the soil, and results in the net transfer of part of the carbon in biomass from the atmosphere to the soil. Biochar thus acts as a negative emissions technology with potential for scale-up in the near future. The utilization of biomass for co-firing in a fleet of thermal power plants can be optimized as a carbon management network, subject to biomass availability and the presence of suitable biochar sinks. In this work, a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model is developed to minimize net carbon emissions in such a system, taking into account parametric uncertainties in the storage capacities of the biochar sinks. It is assumed that there is the option to use direct, indirect or no co-firing in each power plant in the system. The model is illustrated using a case study. Copyright © 2019, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
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Digitial Object Identifier (DOI)
10.3303/CET1976010
Recommended Citation
Aviso, K. B., Sy, C. L., & Tan, R. R. (2019). Fuzzy optimization of direct and indirect biomass co-firing in power plants. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 76, 55-60. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1976010
Disciplines
Chemical Engineering
Keywords
Biomass energy
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