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CHP plant
Heat production
plant
85%
Heat production
60%
Loss 60%
Loss 15% Loss 15%
Figure 20: By separate electrical power generation and heat production at a power plant and a district heating plant, the
losses are much larger than by combined heat and power production at a CHP plant. Losses include own consumption at
the plant
Table 6: Electrical power output, heat output, and electrical power efficiency for the seven decentralised CHP plants. As
explained in the text, the annual electrical power efficiency is lower than the efficiency at full load. The annual electrical
power efficiency is calculated on the basis of production figures for 1997 except for Maribo/Sakskbing that is an esti-
mated figure. The high figures for Slagelse are caused by the fact that the steam from the waste boiler plant is not included
in the boiler loss. The low figures for Grenaa Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant) are caused by supplies of process steam for in-
dustrial purposes. All figures stated are net figures, i.e., the plants own consumption of electrical power has been de-
ducted. See also Table 7.
plants located near large cities like Rudkbing, Haslev, The plants are owned and run by the
Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, electrical power companies: I/S Sjl-
Odense and others. At these power
Slagelse, Masned, and landske Kraftvrker, SK Energi, and
plants, part of the loss of approx. 60% Maribo/Sakskbing I/S Fynsvrket. The electricity gener-
as shown in Figure 20 is utilised for The CHP plants in Haslev and Rud- ated is supplied to the public utility
district heating production. kbing were started up in 1989 and companies main distribution network,
The six straw-fired decentralised 1990 and are Denmarks and probably and the heat is supplied to the district
CHP plants that are already in opera- the worlds first electrical power gen- heating systems of the towns.
tion and the planned plant in Mar- erating plants exclusively fired with
ibo/Sakskbing are all based on the straw. The plant at Masned near Size of Plant
CHP principle described. As the Vordingborg that was started up in The outputs at the plants of Rudk-
plants are partly constructed as dem- 1996 is also exclusively straw-fired, bing, Haslev, and Masned are: 2.3,
onstration plants for the purpose of but at the same time designed for 5, and 8.3 MW electrical power (MW
demonstrating the straw-based tech- wood chips up to 20% of the total in- electricity). With a heat output of 7.0,
nologies, they are rather different in put. The plant near Maribo/Sak- 13, and 20.8 MJ/s respectively, the
construction design. Comparable data skbing is planned to start up at the annual consumption of straw is ap-
on the seven plants appear from Ta- beginning of the year 2000 and is ex- prox. 12,500, 25,000, and 40,000 ton-
bles 6, 7, 8, and 9. clusively straw-fired. nes. Electrical output and heat output
Boiler
Steam drum
Combustion
chamber
Air preheater
Superheater 2
Superheater 1
Economizer
Straw storage
Shredder
Steam from boiler
Turbine
Generator Bag filter
Vibrating grate
District heating
Slag container Feed water tank heat exchanger
Condenser
Storage tank
Figure 21. Simplified diagram of Rudkbing Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant). The flue gas passes through the combustion
chamber to the superheater section and further through an economiser and air preheater and is cleaned in a bag filter
before being released through the chimney at 110C.
are net figures, i.e., the plants own Firing and Combustion System which for each of the three firing sys-
consumption of electrical power and At the plant in Slagelse, two automatic tems consist of three screws. The
heat are deducted. cranes handle the transport of the big screw stokers press the straw through
As the plant in Slagelse is a com- bales from the rows in the storage to the feeding tunnel on to the grate that
bination between a waste-fired and a three parallel feeding system. The consists of an inclined movable push
straw-fired boiler that produces steam bales are passed via a closed fire- grate followed by a short horizontal
for the same turbine, the data in Ta- proof tunnel system (that prevents a push grate. After burning out, the
bles 6 and 7 for the entire plant are possible backfire/burn-back from ash/slag falls via a slag hopper into a
11.7 MW electrical power and 28 MJ/s spreading to the straw storage) to- slag bath filled with water from where
heat, respectively. An amount of 65- wards the straw shredder of the same a conveyor system conveys the wet
70% of the production output is based type as that used at Grenaa Kraftvar- ash/slag to containers.
on straw which is equal to an annual mevrk (CHP plant). The strings that At Rudkbing Kraftvarmevrk
consumption of straw of approx. hold the bales together are automati- (CHP plant) with a firing capacity of
25,000 tonnes. cally cut and removed. 10.7 MW, only one firing system is re-
The plant near Maribo/Sak- The shredder consists of three quired. After shredding, the straw falls
skbing is designed for an electrical rotating cylinders positioned above down into a stoker system consisting
power output of 9.3 MW and a heat each other equipped with kind of a of one single rectangular ram stoker
production of 20.3 MJ/s. The annual disc separator. The loose straw falls that by forward and backward move-
consumption of straw is approx. off the shredder on to a rotary valve ments pushes the straw through a
40,000 tonnes. and from there to the screw stokers water-cooled feeding tunnel on to the
Boiler Output, Steam Data, and Other Unit Masned Gren Mbjerg Slagelse
Heat Storage fuels
All the boilers are water tube boilers
with steam drum and natural circula- Waste tonnes/year - - 150,000 20,000
tion in the vaporiser system. For rea-
sons of plant efficiency, it is necessary Coal tonnes/year - 40,000 - -
with a high electrical power genera-
Gas Nm /year
3
- - 4 million -
tion. This preconditions a high steam
pressure and steam temperature. In Wood chips tonnes/year 8,000 - 25,000 -
order for the boiler to withstand the
high pressure, the boiler water passes Table 8: Four of the plants are designed for co-firing with other fuels.
through water/steam tubes that make
out the walls (and top and bottom) of
At the planned CHP plant in Mar- ing with combinations of straw and The fluidized bed principle is seen in a
ibo/Sakskbing that will be started up other fuels. variety of types, but roughly there are
at the beginning of the year 2000, the two main principles:
steam temperature will be designed to The CHP Plant in Grenaa
Bubbling fluidized bed (BFB)
542C. A range of experiments will The CHP plant in Grenaa is coal- and
Circulating fluidized bed (CFB)
show how serious the corrosion prob- straw-fired, and in addition to electri-
lems will be. cal power, it shall together with a mu- The boiler in Grenaa is a circulating
The prospects for Danish trade nicipality run refuse incineration plant, fluidized bed type. From the fluidized
and industry gaining a foothold in for- and waste heat from the industrial en- bed section, the heated flue gas circu-
eign markets with straw-fired CHP terprises nearby, cover 90% of the lates together with solid particles into
plants preconditions high electrical district heating consumption in Gre- an separator cyclone where the solid
power efficiencies and thus high naa and 90% of the process steam particles are extracted and re-
steam data in the range of 580C as consumption by the industrial enter- circulated in the fluidized bed. The
at the most recently constructed pul- prise Danisco Paper. As from 1997, flue gas passes from the cyclone to a
verised coal-fired power plants. At the industrial steam system is devel- pass where the economiser and air
temperatures that high, it will, in addi- oped so as to also cover the process preheater are positioned. Between the
tion to the problems in connection with steam consumption by Danisco Distill- cyclone outlet and the economiser,
corrosion and slag deposits, also be ers. So far being the only biomass- the flue gas passes 2 tube sections
necessary to equip the plant with tur- fired plant in Denmark, the boiler type which together with a bank of pipes in
bines of a different and more expen- used in Grenaa is designed as a cir- the bed itself make out the superhea-
sive quality than that previously used culating fluidized bed system. ter. In 1996, the superheater was ex-
on the CHP plants described in the tended with a section positioned in the
above sections. Fluidized Bed ash re-circulation system.
A fluidized bed boiler consists of a cy-
lindrical vertically set combustion
Grenaa and Maabjerg chamber where air passes through Handling and Firing System
The CHP plants in Grenaa and Maa- the solid particles consisting of fuel At the CHP plant in Grenaa as with
bjerg near Holstebro are owned and and a fluidizing medium, e.g., sand, the other plants, the straw is delivered
run by the electricity utility companies thereby fluidizing the mixture (the bed) in the form of big bales. With an an-
I/S Midtkraft and I/S Vestkraft. and thus attain properties as a liquid. nual supply of 55,000 tonnes of straw,
The Grenaa plant was started up An advantage of the fluidized bed it has been necessary to automate
in 1992, and the plant in Maabjerg in boiler is that it is suitable for firing with weighing and measuring of the water
1993. Both plants are designed for fir- co-fuels. content on delivery to the plant. An
Maabjergvrket (CHP plant). On the left, the storage tank of 5,000 m3. The straw storage is the low building on the right.
Outermost on the right the outdoor wood chips storage.
Other Data is cleaned for solid particles by means filter, and in respect of the waste-fired
The boiler in Grenaa has been de- of an electrostatic filter. boilers, the flue gas cleaning system
signed for firing with coal and straw in is supplemented by a scrubber sys-
a mixture of 50% straw on energy ba- The CHP Plant in Maabjerg tem in order to reduce hydrogen chlo-
sis. At full load (100%), the boiler pro- In Maabjerg near Holstebro, I/S ride-, hydrogen fluoride-, and sulphur
duces 104 tonnes of steam per hour Vestkraft ( electricity utility) has con- oxide emissions. The scrubber system
at 505C and 92 bar. Of this amount, structed a CHP plant that is fired with separates at the same time heavy met-
between 37 and 77 tonnes of steam waste, straw, wood chips, and natural als from the fly ash to a certain extent.
are drawn off per hour at 210C and gas. The plant is divided into 3 boiler The straw/wood chips-fired boiler
8.3 bar for process steam for the in- lines, 2 for waste and 1 for straw and can operate at full load on either straw
dustrial enterprises Danisco Paper wood chips. or wood chips, or on combinations of
and Danisco Distillers. In addition to All 3 boilers are equipped with straw and wood chips. The boiler out-
55,000 tonnes of straw, approx. separate natural gas-fired superheater put is 12 tonnes of straw per hour.
40,000 tonnes of coal are consumed that raises the steam temperature Further data are set out in Tables 6, 7,
per annum. The coal storage is capa- from 410C to 520C at a pressure of 8, and 9.
ble of supplying coal for 20 days and 67 bar. The straw is fired in the form
nights at 100% pure coal firing, and of whole big bales into 6 cigar burn-
the straw storage is capable of sup- Environmental
ers, installed 3 and 3 opposite each
plying straw for the consumption of other. By means of a pneumatic feed- Requirements
4.2 days and nights at 50/50% fuel ing system, the wood chips are thrown In the Danish Environmental Protec-
mixture. Like the other CHP plants, on to a vibrating grate where unburnt tion Agency Directions No. 6 and
the boiler plant is equipped with a straw and wood chips burn out. The 9/1990 on Industrial Air Pollution
heat storage tank, and like the plants flue gas generated by the straw/wood Control Guidelines /ref. 42/, emission
in Slagelse and Masned, the flue gas chips-fired boiler is cleaned in a bag levels that are intended as a guide for
Emission Unit Rudkbing Haslev Slagelse Gren Aabenraa Mbjerg Masned Maribo/
Sakskbing
CO volume % 0.2 at 0.05 at 0.2 at None None 0.05 at 0.05 at 0.05 at
dry flue gas 12% CO2 10% O2 12% CO2 10% O2 2) 10% O2 10% O2
Dust mg/Nm3 50 50 50 50 50 40 40 40
NOx mg/Nm 3
350 340 340 160 400 None 200 400
SO2 mg/Nm 3
None 300 300 280 2,000 1)
None None None
Table 9: Maximum emissions from the 7 decentralised CHP plants and the power plant at Aabenraa. The figures are from
the environmental approvals of the individual plants.
1): The emission is 100-200 mg SO2/Nm3 when operating
2): Calculated on the basis of 650 mg/Nm3.
straw-fired boiler plants larger than 1 price forming the basis of Table 7 is amounts of straw at power plants to a
MW input are for dust and CO sug- based on the net output and not on critical analysis. Among the important
gested at 40 mg/Nm3 and 0.05% CO the gross output. The gross output in- issues in that respect were:
(volume % at 10% O2 in the flue gas), cludes the plants own consumption of
respectively. However, concerning the power. The status of being pilot and High-temperature corrosion of su-
CHP plants described here, the envi- demonstration plant also contributes perheaters at high steam tempera-
ronmental approvals in question stipu- to an increase in the cost of construc- tures
late individual requirements to be met, tion which contributes to confusing the Industrial application of mixed ash
see Table 9. price. by co-firing of straw and coal
The volumetric calorific value of Flue gas cleaning by co-firing of
Cost of Construction and straw is a factor 10-15 times lower straw and coal
than that of coal at the same time of Resource statements and straw sup-
Operating Costs straw being physically more difficult to ply safety
The cost of construction for the de- handle, thus the costs for storage, Costs
centralised biomass-fired CHP plants handling and firing systems contribute
is relatively higher than that of con- to increasing the plants high specific There are several overall concepts for
ventional coal-fired power plants cost of construction. With a straw solutions:
measured by the million (DKK) per in- price of approx. DKK 0.45 per kg or
stalled MW electrical power output. approx. DKK 0.11 per kWh, straw is 1. Separate firing: Straw fired in a
For the seven plants, the specific con- three times as expensive as coal for separate biomass-based boiler
struction investment is in the range of electrical power production, see Fig- that supplies steam for the coal-
approx. DKK 21 and 30 million per ure 1, Section 1. fired boiler.
MW electrical power. As will appear 2. Co-firing: Straw and coal fired to-
from Table 7, the cost of construction gether in power plant boiler
is price index-linked to the 1995 level, Straw at Power Plants 3. Coupled-gasifier-combustor. Gasi-
thereby making it suitable to be com- In 1993, the Danish parliament fication of straw, the gas burns in a
pared. The relatively high cost of con- Folketinget ordered the Danish boiler that may be designed for co-
struction depends first and foremost power plants to use 1.2 million tonnes firing of straw gas and pulverised
on the size of the plant, (the smaller of straw (it was later decided that 0.2 coal. This concept is undergoing
the plant, the higher the specific cost million tonnes of wood chips can be further development.
of construction). By technological ad- substituted by wood or willow chips)
vances in respect of a certain type of and 0.2 million tonnes of wood chips By separate firing, problems in re-
plant, the specific price will drop for as fuels at the centralised power spect of high-temperature corrosion
new plants compared to older plants plants not later than 2000 as a result are avoided because the steam tem-
of the same size. The specific price of the energy policy target in respect perature in the biomass boiler is kept
should be understood as a guide, of CO2 reduction. under a critical level. Industrial appli-
since the cost of construction varies The Electricity Utility Group EL- cation of ash from the coal boiler is no
with the items included, see Table 7. SAM and ELKRAFT Power Company problem because the ash from the two
By a comparison with other types of Ltd. therefore implemented a wide boilers are not mixed. The drawback
CHP plants, it should be mentioned range of activities in order to subject to separate firing is first and foremost
that the calculation of the specific the problems of firing very large the high cost of construction. By co-
firing, solutions should be found to the
problems of high-temperature corro-
sion and industrial application of
mixed ash. At power plants that are
equipped with desulphurization- and
nitrogen reduction units (deNOx
plants), the content of alkali metals
(potassium and sodium) and chlorine
in the straw ash causes operating
problems. A major advantage of co-
firing is the low cost of construction.
The interest for coupled-gasifier-
combustors is due to both the low cost
of construction and the prospects of
photo: snderjyllands hjspndingsvrk
630 MW
Super
heater Biomass-fired Coal-fired
boiler boiler
Wood
chips Coal
Condenser
graphic: snderjyllands hjspndingsvrk
Straw
Figure 22: Simplified diagram of Enstedvrkets biomass-fired boiler of 40 MW electrical power and the coal-fired boiler of
630 MW electrical power. The biomass-fired boiler substitutes the use of the 80,000 tonnes of coal/year, thereby reducing
the amount of CO2 being released to the atmosphere by 192,000 tonnes/year.
periments on co-firing with straw and The annual efficiency is estimated be- grate. The dosing of wood chips is
pulverised coal in a 150 MW electrical ing a bit lower due to the connection performed by a feeding screw from an
power power plant boiler. with Unit 3 and due to variations in intermediate silo.
In Zealand, ELKRAFT Power load conditions. The biomass-fired The flue gas is cleaned by elec-
Company Ltd. has planned firing with boiler is planned to operate 6,000 trostatic filter. In order for the bottom-
straw at Avedrevrket (power plant) hours at full load per annum. With a ash and slag from the boiler to be ap-
in a separate biomass-fired boiler. storage capacity of only 1,008 bales plied as fertiliser, the fly ash from the
which will allow for approx. 24 hours filter (that contains the major part of
Enstedvrket operation, 914 big bales should be de- the heavy metals of the ash) is sepa-
The biomass-fired boiler plant at the livered every 24 hours on average, rated from the ash from the bottom of
Enstedvrket consists of two boilers, equal to 4 truck loads per hour for 9.5 the boiler.
a straw-fired boiler producing heat at hours every 24 hours. The total cost of construction of
470C, and a wood chips-fired boiler The straw-fired boiler is equipped the boiler plant at the Enstedvrket is
superheating the steam from the with 4 feeding lines. The plant can op- approx. DKK 400 million (1995
straw-fired boiler to 542C. The super- erate at a 100% load at only 3 lines, prices). The price includes boiler, fuel
heated steam is lead to the high- though. Each feeding line consists of storage, steam pipe to the Unit 3 tur-
pressure steam system of the Ensted- a fireproof tunnel, conveyors, straw bine. Re-use of boiler house and elec-
vrket Unit 3 (210 bar). With an esti- shredder, fire damper, and a feeding trostatic filter. The project was decided
mated annual consumption of 120,000 tunnel. As with the plant at Masned, in January 1995, and commercial op-
tonnes of straw and 30,000 tonnes of the straw shredder is designed as two eration commenced at the beginning
wood chips, equal to an input of 95.2 coupled, conical, vertical screws of 1998.
MJ/s, the biomass-fired boiler pro- towards which the straw bale is
duces 88 MW thermic (energy) includ- pressed. From the straw shredder, the Studstrupvrket
ing 39.7 MW electrical power (approx. shredded straw is dosed via a fire Before it was decided to establish co-
6.6% of the total amount of electrical damper on to the screw stoker that firing of straw and coal at Studstrup-
power generated by Unit 3. Thus the presses the straw like a plug through vrket (power plant), I/S Midtkraft
biomass-fired boiler is considerably the feeding tunnel and on to the grate. (electricity utility) carried through ex-
larger than the largest of the decen- The wood chips-based boiler is periments on two old power plant
tralised biomass-fired CHP plants. Net equipped with two pneumatic damp- units, a pulverised-coal-fired unit of
electrical power efficiency being 40%. ers that throws the wood chips on to a 125 MW electrical power, and a