Biomass Systems

Biomass Heat Recovery

Biomass is one of Earth’s most abundant organic sources of energy. Boilers have been used for over a century to dispose of vegetable waste and wood by-products while providing usable thermal for heating and power applications. Boilers are also extensively used alongside anaerobic digestors in the production of biogas – providing heating solutions to the site. However during these processes a substantial amount of energy is lost as waste heat.

By utilizing ElectraTherm’s Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) heat to power system, the heat produced from these boilers can be further utilized to generate emission-free power and provide district heating as a CHP unit. ElectraTherm has been demonstrated with the U.S. Department of Defense and is currently in a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy for ORC combined heat and power.

Combined Heat and Power

By incorporating a Power+ Generator into your existing boiler system you can further take advantage of the heat produced to generate up to 125 kWe as well as up to 80°C usable thermal.

The benefit boiler applications have is that most of the equipment needed for our system is already in place (i.e. the boiler), which offsets capital costs and improves your return on investment. Additionally, by simply producing more hot water you are able to maximize the output of the ORC system.

Benefits of an ElectraTherm ORC as a CHP:

// Serves as a radiator alternative.
// Increases fuel efficiency up to 10%.
// Reduces fuel and electric consumption, increasing revenue.
// Provides a baseload heat and power supply.

“We’re heating water anyways. With the ElectraTherm unit we’re generating power at essentially no loss of efficiency”
– Jessie Abel, Wisewood Energy

Read Wisewood Energy’s article here.

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ORC Combined Heat and Power

In Quincy, California in collaboration with Wisewood Energy, ElectraTherm installed a Power+ Generator 4400B for use as a biomass CHP system. The unit will be used to heat a 53,000 square foot health services building while generating additional electricity and supporting forest restoration efforts in the surrounding area. The boiler consumes 200-300 tons of hog fuel a year, providing the Power+ Generator enough thermal energy to reduce heating expenses by $42,000 a year. The additional power generated goes to offsetting the site's electrical demand.

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1,000,000+ Operating Hours in the UK

In coordination with partner Novalux, ElectraTherm has over 30 biomass applications in the United Kingdom. The majority of these sites use ElectraTherm's ORC as a combined heat and power system - generating 80°C of useful thermal with the additional electricity offsetting energy costs. Thanks to the renewable heat incentive in the UK, pairing an ORC with a biomass boiler can prove to be a lucrative revenue stream for years to come.

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Biomass Heat to Power

ElectraTherm commissioned two Power+ Generator 6500's on a biomass heat recovery application in Messina, Italy. The boiler provides 116°C hot water at 22 l/s.

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ORC District Heating Solution

``The addition of the Power+ Generator to the Garden Centre increases overall site efficiency, reduces our use of fossil fuels and their ever increasing costs,`` says Sam Ainscow, manager of Summerseat & Bradley Ford Garden Centre. ``ORC technology is critical to maximizing the site's operations, and ElectraTherm is the most proven, robust ORC technology available.``

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Novalux Biomass Power Station

ElectraTherm supplied two 4400 series Power+ Generators to UK distributor, Novalux, for a biomass heat recovery project in the UK. Two ORC units rated for 65 kW were paired with two 1.2 MW biomass boilers to achieve their maximum combined output of 130 kW. The site consumes roughly 4,000 tons of wood waste per annum.

The PGFireBox combines Air Burners’ waste elimination capabilities with ElectraTherm’s ORC technology for the first self-contained biomass power generator of its kind. Click here to learn more.

Questions?

Contact us and we will be happy to help.

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