Biomass: rice hulls waste-to-energy 1

[pimheinkool]

About biomass fueled power plants: using rice hulls to fuel power plants was not very succesful in the late 1980s. Problems: high emissions (PM,NOx, boiler slagging, fuel logistics. Does anyone know about possible new technical develpments resulting in a more promising future for the application of rice hulls waste-to-energy? Many thanks for your help in advance!<br>Pimhein Kool

 

[bmike]

Before you entirely throw out the idea of rice hulls to energy by combustion, I suggest you discuss the topic with Mr. Bertil Rosen of KMW Energy Inc. in London, Ontario (Telephone: 519-686-1771 FAX: 519-686-1132). One of the problems with combustion based energy systems is that they are not all &quot;engineered&quot;, and in many cases are nothing more than incinerators with boilers added as an afterthought. The level of engineering in some cases is rather crude. In my opinion, this is not the case with KMW, however the added level of engineering carries a cost, which all potential users do not, unfortunately, appreciate at the appropriate time.

Sadly, this is the case with many engineered products and systems, which are applied rather than designed. This leads to their misuse, unsatisfactory performance, and in a too many cases, an unjustified condemnation of the whole idea.

KMW did work in the area of rice to energy in the late 80's, but I do not know how it turned out. They installed a burner/boiler system at ORTECH in the 80's which was used to test a variety of solid fuels (pine cones, tire chips, high sulfur coal, etc.) with what I recall were acceptable emission levels.

I have not been involved in this area for over ten years, so my ideas may be outdated, but I suggest you give them a call before you discard the whole idea.

 

[pimheinkool]

bmike, thanks for your attention

 

[annex]

i am anmarie omagtang from the philippines. i would like to ask on the protein content of rice hulls and what are its posibility to be use as high protein containing biscuit.if it is possible, can you suggest to me a possible methodology to accomplish this task. hoping for your immediate response.
god speed.

 

am nuwagaba richard from uganda East Africa and am doing my last year project in mechanical engineering.am seeking information an the commercial use of rice hulls. detailed information on the quantities involved will be of great help to me. thanx a lot in advance.

 

[Cara]

With regards to burning rice hulls: because they do not have high caloric values, they can be a challenge to burn efficiently and completely. If the combustion unit isn't well engineered, then it's a nearly impossible challenge.

On of the 'new' technologies that allows biomass to be combusted more easily is fluidised bed reactors. Because they allow more air circulation between the particles, and have a built in thermal fly-wheel circulating with the particles inside the combustion chamber, they tend to be a far more efficient way to combust low-quality fuel (like rice husks.) Insofar as I know, many companies are having success with this approach. Co-firing with a higher-quality fuel is another approach that would make this viable.

Do a search for &quot;fluidised bed reactors&quot; to find out more.

Cara.