AREVA Renewables

Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.1

Efficient Combustion of
Empty Fruit Bunch with
minimum Fuel preparation
Ramesh Chivukula
Head Technical
Kuala Lumpur, 10 Sept 2014

AREVA Renewables

Agenda
Introduction & Potential for EFB
Factors to be considered while combusting EFB
Typical Parameters
AREVA solution
Summary and Conclusion
Short presentation of AREVA activities in bioenergy

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.3

Palm oil production and Empty

Fruit Bunch wastes issues
Malaysia is one of the worlds largest producers of Palm oil
4 million hectares of land under cultivation
annually around 75 million tons of FFB processed
16 million tons of EFB produced
One of the significant issues in the palm fruit processing industries/mills is to
manage large amount of wastes generated during the process.
Today the Palm wastes and other wastes from the Palm Oil Industries are mostly
used as land fills,
discarded as waste,
either burned in the open air or left to settle in waste ponds

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.4

Biomass from palm wastes

The following are the biomass products from Palm tree, that are suitable
for combustion in a boiler to generate steam and thereby electricity:
Empty Fruit Bunch [EFB] (See Fig: 1)
Largest quantities of Palm oil Wastes are mainly Empty fruit Bunch
Highly fibrous, high in moisture and also contains oil residues.
Very difficult to either shred the EFB into small sizes or to directly combust in the

boilers.

Palm Fibre (See Fig:2)

Palm Kernel Shell (See Fig: 3)

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.5

Fig -2: Palm Fiber from

Palm oil Industry

Fig -3 : Palm Shell from

Palm oil Industry

Fig -1: EFB from Palm oil Industry

AREVA Renewables

Photo caption - Copyright

Potential Power Generation

from EFB in Malaysia
Minimum potential : ~ 500 MW
Present generation : less than 100 MW
That too with low / medium performance
Many plants planned but not built
Few plants using alternate fuels like Palm Kernel
shells, Palm Fibres

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.7

Critical Factors in design of EFB Boiler

1
2

Chlorine content
Alkali content
Fuel size and volumetric flow
High volatiles / Moisture in fuel

AREVAs Boiler and Grate design attends

to each of the above challenges.

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.8

Effects of Chlorine1
Accelerated corrosion especially in super-heater area
Chlorine corrosion will further be increased with presence of SO2
Extent of Chlorine corrosion depends on Temperature, Concentration
of Chlorine , presence of Sulphur and Alkali metals

Photo caption - Copyright

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.9

Effects of Alkalies 2
High Alkali & alkaline earth constituents results in deposit formation,
which is a complex process depending on
Photo caption - Copyright
Mineral characteristics of Fuel
Fuel Chemistry
Combustion Chemistry
Particle Transport
Fluid Dynamics
Condensation
Deposit formation results in:
Reduction in heat transfer rates
Fouling
Accelerated rate of fire side corrosion
AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.10

3
Fuel Size
and Volumetric Flow

The bulk density of EFB is very low.

This necessitates handling of large quantity of fuel for firing in
the boiler.
Also it is very fibrous, oil content and high moisture levels,
make it unwieldy for shredding in a shredder.

Photo caption - Copyright

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.11

High Volatiles and Moisture in the Fuel

High Volatiles result in lower ignition temperature and more
combustion in upper furnace
High moisture reduces available heating value & inhibits
proper combustion. Combustion air staging more pronounced
to maintain Furnace temp where moisture is being vaporized.
AREVA boiler can accept EFB with moisture up to 55 %

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.12

Typical Parameters of EFB Boiler

Parameters
Boiler Capacity

Up to 80 tph

Main Steam Press

Up to 67 kg/cm2(a)

Main Steam Temp

Up to 435 deg C

Fuel Considered

100 % Prepared EFB

Moisture content

Up to 55 %

Fuel size

Up to 150mm

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.13

Typical Fuel composition

Fuel
Proximate Analysis
Moisture
Ash
Volatile Matter
Fixed Carbon
Ultimate Analysis
Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Sulfur
Ash
Moisture
Oxygen
Chlorine
Other Characteristics
Bulk Density
HHV
LHV

EFB- RAW

EFB- Pressed

% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass

68
1.1
17.7
13.2

50
1.72
27.66
20.62

% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass
% mass

13.2
2.1
0.6
0.1
1.1
68
14.7
0.2

20.62
3.28
0.94
0.16
1.72
50
22.97
0.31

kg/m3
kcal/kg
kcal/kg

250
1376
869

250
2150
1686

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.14

AREVA Solution- Special Design

Features of the Boiler
THREE-PASS
DESIGN
It reduces furnace
outlet temperature
(FOT) leading to
reduction in fouling

AIR STAGING

REDUCTION OF
SUPER-HEATED
STEAM
TEMPERATURE

MODULAR
GRATE

It reduces NOx
generation

It limits corrosion
especially for fuel that
have a high chlorine
and alkali content
(ex: EFB)

One or more standard

grates can be
connected to build
biomass boilers in many
sizes
Economically
interesting

AIR COOLED
MECHANICAL
GRATE
It is cheaper and easier to AIR DISTRIBUTION
operate than the water SYSTEM IN THE GRATE
cooled grate
AREVA Renewables
Presentation

title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.15

Control of the air fed

individually to various zones
of the grate: low percentage
of unburnt material (< 4 %)

Step-grate
15

Minimum Fuel Preparation

Fuel Preparation - No fuel shredding is required for the AREVA
solution
For other technologies in the Market, shredding is required
Main aim of Shredding is to reducing fuel size and facilitate combustion
Shredding of EFB will lead to
Higher investment
Higher auxiliary energy consumption
Higher operating costs (frequent change of blades due to EFBs high abrasive
properties)

AREVA solution: No shredding required, grate and boiler design adapted

accordingly.
The pressed EFB of size 150 mm x 150 mm x 25 mm can be fired directly
in the Boiler

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.16

Minimum Fuel preparation

Only Pressing to reduce moisture content

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.17

EFB Feeding System

One of the key concerns of Palm wastes (Especially EFB) is the
inability to flow freely due the fibrous nature.
Our boiler is capable of accepting coarse EFB with minimum
preparation, thereby reducing the preparation cost considerably.
We have envisaged an automatic crane system capable of feeding
the EFB / palm fibre to the fuel hopper, which is transported
through the chain conveyor and gate arrangement to the grate.

AREVA Renewables

Simple Fuel Feeding System

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.19

GRATE SYSTEM

OVERVIEW OF THE AREVA STEP GRATE

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.20

GRATE SYSTEM DETAILS

Different zones of the Grate

Grate members inside the Boiler

Grate members on the shaft

Hydraulic system for the Grate

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ASH HANDLING SYSTEM

AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.22

Summary of Challenges of EFB &

Appropriate AREVA solution
.

EFB characteristics
Low energy density:
Low bulk density (180-250

kg/m3)
High moisture content (~

68%)

Low calorific value (LHV ~

850 kcal/kg)

High abrasive and

entanglement properties
(fibrous nature)

High Chlorine content (0.10.5%)

High Alkali content (K, Na)

High volatile content

AREVA Renewables

AREVA solution

Pressing EFB moisture down to ~

55% needs no shredding
Simple Fuel feeding system Grab Crane
Design at lower steam
temperature (< 435C) to reduce
metal temperature
Use of alloys more resistant to
corrosion on most exposed parts
Boiler 3-pass design to reduce
fouling
Air staging for better combustion
and control of NOx emissions

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More than 2.5 GW worldwide, the

largest biomass installed base
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AREVA Renewables
Presentation title Presenter/ref. - 3/30/15 - p.28