Micro-scale Biomass Generation Plant Technology - Stand-alone Designs for Remote Customers

Given the importance of biomass as a source of power generation and the often dispersed location of suitable feedstock material, small-scale biomass plants have become a very promising field of research. For load demands of 5-50kWe, a flexible and easily operated biomass unit would provide a viable source of energy for areas where grid connection is either expensive or prone to disconnection. This paper describes conversion and generation technology for current micro-scale biomass plant designs. Most applications handle either wet or dry biomass, but since both feedstocks are often available, this paper suggests a combination of thermochemical and supplemental biochemical conversions to create considerable amounts of fuel and hence electrical capacity. Discussing the generation part of current plants, a tendency towards using combustion-based technology has been found, while microturbines can provide usable exhaust heat streams and offer better maintenance and operation flexibility. This paper ranks power generation technologies used in current biomass plants in terms of efficiency and flexibility as well as maintenance and economic aspects. For remote locations without the opportunity of a secure grid connection, the proposed plant design demonstrates a very promising way of supplying future energy needs in terms of both electrical and thermal energy.