Biomass co-firing

Abstract: Co-firing biomass with fossil fuels in existing power plants is an attractive option for significantly increasing renewable energy resource utilization and reducing CO2 emissions. This chapter mainly discusses three direct co-firing technologies: pulverized-fuel (PF) boilers, fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) systems, and grate-firing systems, which are employed in about 50%, 40%, and 10% of all the co-firing plants, respectively. Their basic principles, process technologies, advantages, and limitations are presented, followed by a brief comparison of these technologies when applied to biomass co-firing. This chapter also briefly introduces indirect co-firing and parallel co-firing and their application status.