What is Biomass

Biomass to Energy Overview

A carbon-neutral fuel source

Proven Technology to Utilize Biomass as a Renewable Energy Source

Biomass is a renewable energy source consisting of living or recently living organisms. Generally, this means plants and trees in the form of industrial and agricultural scrap.

How a Biomass Combustion Energy Plant Works

Our biomass technology helps to protect the earth and atmosphere from greenhouse gas emissions. Since biomass consists of “recently alive” material, burning biomass is CO2-neutral in the sense that it only releases the quantity of CO2 that the plant absorbed during growth.

Some biomass needs pre-treatment before the fuel is fed onto a combustion grate where it is burned. The heat from the combustion is used to fire the boiler, which in turn generates hot water or steam. The steam turns a turbine which produces electricity.

In general, biomass fuels are evaluated on the basis of their physical properties (density, size distribution, humidity, foreign matter) and chemical properties (calorific value, proximate analyses, ultimate analyses, ash analyses, and ash-melting behavior).

Today we can recover energy from biomass in highly efficient energy plants – generating heat, process steam, electricity, syngas, and/or bio-oil. Many of our biomass energy solutions are combined heat and power (CHP).

Biomass can be derived from a variety of sources, and it’s essential to understand the properties and chemical composition of each one. Some biomass needs pre-treatment before the fuel is fed onto a combustion grate where it is burned.

Biomass Fuels Include:

B&W has been trusted suppliers of biomass combustion technologies for many years. Our extensive list of commercially demonstrated and industry-accepted products have stood the test of time in providing reliable steam generation for both process and electric power applications. While offering a highly available and readily dispatchable renewable energy source, the combustion of biomass also provides environmental benefits such as reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and mercury, when compared with other fossil fuels. Biomass is also a carbon dioxide (CO2)-neutral renewable energy source.

Biomass combustion:

Emissions control:

B&W Biomass Renewable Energy Solutions (PDF - 4MB)

B&W’s water-cooled vibrating grate is ideal for burning most types of biomass including wood chips, sawdust, wood pellets, bark, wheat and rice straw, rice husks and palm waste. A high preheating temperature of primary combustion air and in special cases, mounting of cast iron plates, make it possible to burn fuels with high moisture content.

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Biomass Success Stories