Biomass pyrolysis for power generation - a potential technology

A wide range of process and routes are available for power generation from biomass. PYROLYSIS is another emerging technology, wherein biomass is conve rted to liquids, gases and char - liquid fuels being the main target. Power generation using this technology is essentially the use of pyrolytic oils for the gas turbine integrated into a combined cycle. Using this process ha s an inherent advantage of potentially decoupling of the fuel-generation fr om the power- generation site. A comparative study of this technology for p ower generation, with other technologies is made to determine its economic viability. Despite the fact that this technology is relatively new in the l earning curve, it is found comparable with the other routes studied. It is found that the biomass prices have a strong influence in the economics, and using pyrolysis for power generation would be a more favored route than ot hers at higher biomass prices. The study clearly brings out power generatio n through pyrolysis as a potential route and deserves attention. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.