FROM WASTE AND BIOMASS TO ENERGY

COMBUSTION: Extracting energy from waste and biomass means killing two birds with one stone and being environmentally friendly too. It solves a disposal problem and produces energy which is largely CO₂ neutral.

At the same time as intensive research in second generation bioethanol technology is being conducted in Denmark, production of first generation bioethanol is in full swing in other places around the world, some of which are using combustion technology from the Danish company Babcock Wilcox Vølund. The company’s latest order is a boiler for the German concern Südsucker, which is building a bioethanol plant in Belgium which will produce 800,000 litres of bioethanol daily.

“Babcock Wilcox Vølund is specializing in combustion technology for large scale plants,” says director John Veje Olesen of Babcock Wilcox Vølund. “Our expertise in straw combustion was influential in landing this EUR 30 million order in Belgium, where the bioethanol will be produced from wheat. After grinding the kernels, the husk and chaff can be burnt to produce steam and electricity, which will supply about 80% of the entire plant’s energy needs.

CO₂ neutral
“Combustion of wheat husk and chaff is CO₂ neutral and does not add to global warming,” says John Veje Olesen. “It makes the plant extremely environmentally friendly as well as economically sound. Combusting waste kills two birds with one stone. It solves a disposal problem, which many places in the world struggle with, and at the same time produces energy which is largely CO₂ neutral. Combined with the right flue gas cleaning, it is a very neat environmentally friendly solution.”

Great savings
“Denmark is extracting most energy from waste and biomass, which is used as fuel in combined heat and power [CHP] stations, in the world” says John Veje Olesen. “Danish waste-fired CHP stations make good use of our technologies, which are increasingly in demand abroad where there is growing interest in using indigenous resources to produce energy. In the EU there is the potential to burn 50 million tons of waste annually, the energy equivalent of 8.2 million tons of coal. In Denmark, energy from waste is used to supply electricity and heat to more than 400,000 households.

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Director John Veje Olesen of Babcock Wilcox Vølund