Bark, straw, mud. for several years now, they have been referred to as biomass, not waste.
The result of a primary production, it is now possible to recover this waste to produce energy by burning it. The combustion process produces heat, to heat water for instance, which will then produce steam when it evaporates. This steam will rise in temperature and pressure. By releasing the steam into a turbine combined with an alternator, electricity is produced on the one hand, and on the other hand, the steam which has returned to its liquid state is recycled in the boiler’s circuit.
In France, near Bordeaux, the Dalkia group has designed a biomass boiler for Smurfit Kappa Cellulose du Pin. This paper-maker uses a lot of steam in its process, obtained by burning bark, which serves to manufacture the paper pulp. This new boiler is optimised at 70%, compared with the usual 30%. It is the biggest production unit in France and will be operational by the end of 2010.
GEA BTT provided the air condensers that will condense the steam when it comes out of the turbines and GEA Ergé Spirale manufactured the cooling towers designed to cool down the auxiliaries in the turbo-alternator groups. For GEA, being associated with a project that respects the environment is perfectly in line with the innovative solutions the group is developing in terms of energy efficiency.