Co-firing of Biomass with Coal in Pulverized Coal Fired Boilers at Lakvijaya Power Plant: A Case Study

The very first coal fired power plant complex set up in Sri Lanka, the Lakvijaya Power Station, uses pulverized coal power technology. Co-firing of biomass with coal has successfully been demonstrated around the world. There are several co-firing technologies and the pulverized coal fired plants can retrofit the technology very easily.

In this study, Gliricidia (Gliricidia Sepium) has been considered as the candidate biomass option which will be mixed with coal to be fired within the same boiler. An extensive analysis was carried out as elaborated in this paper with regard to technical, economical and other concerns that arise when cofiring is introduced to an existing pulverized coal fired installation. Simulations were carried out to verify the outcome of design changes done in the boiler.

When introducing the co-firing technology, there are many aspects to be considered. They are of technical, economical and social nature, and hence can have an impact on the national economy in various ways. As a nation whose future generation plan will be coal dominant, it is vital that Sri Lanka considers the biomass co-firing concept seriously.