ICOPE-15-1119 Biomass-coal Co-firing Power Plant System with a High Biomass Ratio

Reduction of greenhouse gases has become the centre of public concern with existing coal fired power plants having a significant role to play. One solution is biomass co-firing at high ratio, such as 50 cal%, in order to reduce CO2 emissions from coal firing. Such high ratio co-firing is already utilized in some power stations overseas but not in Japan due to lack of comprehensive analysis and evaluation in domestic power stations. For the realization of this solution, we examined the characteristics and behavior of biomass (wood pellets) as fuel for coal-fired boilers. As a result, we confirmed that there are no significant technical difficulties in high biomass co-firing ratio in existing pulverized coal-fired boilers. Utilizing this knowledge, a demonstration test is planned at an existing 150MW commercial plant in 2015. During the test, all aspects of biomass will be studied as potential fuel for boilers, including transportation, storage, grinding, firing and so on.