WOOD-FIRED COMBUSTION PLANTS

A range of wood combustion plants, using from 10 to 10,000 dry tonnes/day, is examined using the ECLIPSE process simulation package. Various factors, such as wood moisture content, harvest yield, afforestation level (AL) and Discounted Cash Flow Rate (DCF) were investigated to test their influence on the efficiency and the economics of the systems. Steam cycle conditions and wood moisture content had the biggest effects on the system efficiencies; DCF and AL had the largest influences on the economics. Plants using more than 500 dry tonnes/day appear to be economically viable; those using more than 1,000 dry tonnes wood/day seem to be competitive with large-scale, conventional coal-fired plants.