Open AccessThe paper outlines the problems of energy supply and waste utilization of the forest industries. As a solution, it proposes to use gasification to utilize wood leftovers, which is followed by electric power generation from combustion of producer gas. The plant was expected to have a power of 150 kW. The proposed power technology plant comprises a line for pre-treatment of wood chips, a gas generator (gasifier) and a gas turbine unit.
The paper justifies a need for preliminary preparation of wood waste, particularly chipping and drying. Various drying schemes have been analyzed. A line for pre-treatment of wood chips comprises a drum chipper, a receiving raw material wood container and a drum dryer using fume gases.
A co-current gasifier is chosen because of the high content of tar in the original fuel. In the co-current gasifier, most of the tar, passing through the high temperature area, is burned. The paper offers high temperature dry cleaning of producer gas in the cyclone separator. Such a scheme of cleaning provides high efficiency of the plant and simplifies its design, but suspended particles still remain in the producer gas. When analyzing the schemes of power converters this is taken into account.
A choice of the gas turbine as a power converter is justified. To reduce the erosion damage of the turbine blades there is a proposal to use an unconventional gas turbine scheme with air turbine and a combustion chamber located downstream of the turbine. In this plant the air rather than the combustion gas passes through the turbine. The air from turbine goes into the combustion chamber, the combustion gas passes through the air heater, where it transfers heat to the air. Such scheme allows reducing power costs for the fuel gas compression before the combustion chamber.
Optimization of the gas turbine cycle is performed. The optimum compressor pressure ratio is 3,7. The plant efficiency for this pressure ratio is 25,7%. Calculation results of the main elements are reported.
Thus, the power technology plant, which allows us to solve problems of energy supply and waste utilization of the forest industries, is proposed.