Rummel L., Paist A., 2016, Case Study Comparison of Bubbling Fluidised Bed and Grate-Fired Biomass Combined Heat and Power Plants, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 52, 1147-1152.
As woody biomass is gaining importance as an energy source for electricity and heat we need to investigate with scientific methodology the main problems that occur with biomass boiler systems. The results of research done on large power plants and lab scale batch boilers are often not applicable in case of small and medium size biomass boilers on which the research has been limited. This study focuses on the smaller-size CHP plants of which there is a rapidly growing number in Europe. This case study compares two biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants with 2 MW electrical and 8 MW thermal capacity. One boiler system uses grate firing and the other one bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) technology. The article focuses on comparison of design and actual operating parameters measured during acceptance tests of the two CHP plants. The tests were carried out to confirm that the built CHP plants achieved the performance guarantees specified in the contract. The tests were carried through by the same company according to the same standards. In these tests, data regarding fuel properties, working parameters, emissions etc. was collected. The distance between the two plants is 127 km, making the operational conditions very similar. The test for the grate-fired plant were carried out in June 2012 and for the BFB plant in March 2016. This case study is unique in the way that it is based on extensive comparable data on two industrial CHP plants using the same fuel and having exactly the same capacities, but at the same time having very different combustion technologies and supporting equipment.
