Co-firing of rice husk for electricity generation in Malaysia

Abstract

The threat of increased global warming has subjected the usage of fossil to be further researched for better alternatives. As a result, the utilisation of renewable and sustainable energy resources, such as biomass, for electricity production has become increasingly attractive. Co-firing biomass with low percentages in coal fired power plants will enable the use of sustainable fuels for power production without large investments. Co-firing can be seen as a method to mitigate the emissions of CO2 as the amount of CO2 released from combustion is equal to the amount consumed during plant growth. This dissertation, looks into the utilisation of rice husk as a source of renewable and sustainable energy source for co-firing in coal power plants in Malaysia through the feasibility of the rice husk as a fuel, the combustion technology options for co-firing, and the fuel blend suitable for co-firing in local coal fired power plants. In order to achieve the research area, modelling of the combustion of both coal and a blend of coal and rice husk was done. It was found that the rice husk and coal blend was able to produce the same temperature needed to produce the steam quality as specified by a coal power plant in Malaysia while reducing the amount of nitrogen and carbon dioxide concentration.