Viability of biomass fueled steam turbine cogeneration with power export for an Asian plywood industry

Abstract

Cogeneration is proved to be one of the promising energy management techniques, which offers an efficient method of producing electricity and useful thermal energy from a common source. In the present study the economic and technical feasibility of implementing steam turbine based on cogeneration in a plywood industry at south India with power export is analyzed. On the basis of "Heat to Power Ratio", it is found that steam turbine cogeneration is the best option. Detailed thermal analysis shows that the cogeneration system with waste wood as fuel can improve the energy efficiency by 41%. The economic evaluation shows that the revenue from power export and sale of excess waste wood can provide almost 100% saving in the annual operating cost compared to the existing facility. The additional investment incurred is expected to be paid back within 2 years.