Investigation of the potentials of southwest Nigerian Napier Grass as an energy source to replace fossils used in firing thermal power plants for air emissions control

Abstract

The whole world is worried about the environmental problems caused by coal-based power plants but utilizing Napier Grass otherwise known as Elephant Grass, of comparable heating values with coal species, has minimal or no environmental concerns. This study assessed the comparative suitability of southwest Nigerian Napier Grass for utilization as energy resource by determining its yield per hectare of land, heating value and its properties by proximate and ultimate analyses. The results showed that the amount of Napier Grass that could be produced per hectare of land is 21103.2 kg/year, its heating value was 18.31 MJ/kg. The proximate analysis of Napier Grass showed that the moisture contents (%MC) was 12 %, the ash content (%Ash) was 4.3 %, the volatile matter content (%VM) was 74 %, while the fixed carbon content (%FC) was 9.87 %. Its ultimate analysis showed that Napier Grass has a carbon content of 42.77 %, a hydrogen content of 6.74 %, a sulphur content of 0.09 %, a nitrogen content of 1.71 % and an oxygen content of 48.63 %. The study showed that it would be suitable to be included in Nigerian renewable energy sources.

Keywords

• Napier grass
• Southwestern Nigeria
• Energy mix
• Energy content
• Chemical properties
• Proximate analysis