Environmental Value Measurement and Potential Economic Impact Analysis of Biomass Energy Projects

Abstract

This paper explores the co-incineration of biomass pellets and sewage sludge, which is looking at the environmental effects, energy recovery, and pollution creation. The principal objectives are to clarify how to use the co-incineration energy and assess how released contaminants affect the environment. Five different blends are used in the co-incineration process, which takes place in a fluidized bed reactor with an average combustion temperature between 915 and 939 °C. The combustion process is defined by several monitoring methods, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Continuous Mercury Monitoring Systems, thermocouples, and sensors for pressure and flow. The results show that harmful substance concentrations include namely SO2 and NOX, which have reached 12.39-1730.33 mg√m–3N for SO2 and 93.30-1156 mg√m–3N for NOX. In the worst-case scenario, SO2 and NOX emission limitations exceed 40 times and eight times, respectively. Regarding heat recovery, 5.35-7.69 MJkg–1 of potential energy can be recovered from flue gas. Heat recovery decreases as the fuel’s sewage sludge content increases. Utilizing GaBi software for life cycle assessment, additional analysis of pollutant concentrations is possible. The results show that burning sewage sludge substantially affects climate change, land ecotoxicity, and human toxicity. The work offers a promising direction for additional research by suggesting that, under some circumstances, sewage sludge can be used as a supplementary fuel in massive combustion sources.

Keywords

• biomass energy
• climate change
• economic analysis
• environmental effects
• pollution production