Estudio técnico y económico del uso de un sistema de cogeneración mediante la utilización de biomasa en la Empresa ARBORIENTE S.A.

Abstract

The present research consisted of a technical and economical study of the use of a cogeneration system that uses residual forest biomass fuel at Arboriente S.A. The research began with an analysis of the current situation of the plant, describing the availability and characterization of biomass in order to determine the chemical composition of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulfur of the different types of wood. Through the analytical method, the calorific value was calculated, which was used to define the heat produced by the biomass. Under these requirements a 100 BHP (brake horsepower) pyro tubular biomass boiler was selected and used in a Rankine cycle with regeneration, which produces thermal energy in the form of steam. This steam generates the movement to a steam turbine turning into rotating kinetic energy that applied to the rotor of the generally synchronous three-phase generator produces clean and best of all renewable electric energy. On the other hand, the investment and operation costs of the technology were analyzed separately, these scenarios were evaluated together with the electricity consumption to be reduced, and for this purpose different regulations and the rate list of electricity distribution companies issued by ARCONEL were examined. It was concluded that the cogeneration system would cover 50.22% of the current energy demand, which represents the value of 460429.85 kw/h (kilowatt-hour(s) per year and the amount of $35175.23 per year of energy expenditure. It is recommended to control the humidity of the residual biomass, since it is the most significant factor that influenced the response variable, which in this case is the heat generated through biomass.