Biomass
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We secure biomass from the agricultural, forestry, animal farm, wood processing, olive oil and winery industries and use it to power plants that produce heat and electricity through the Rankine Cycle (ORC) or gasification.
Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
The Rankine Cycle is a thermodynamic cycle which converts heat into work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water as working fluid. The Rankine Cycle based on water provides approximately 85% of worldwide electricity production.
ORC offers many advantages, such as: High turbine / thermodynamic cycle efficiency, turbine low mechanical stress, absence of moisture during the vapour expansion, responsible for the erosion of the blades, simple start up procedures, automatic and continuous operation, simple maintenance procedure, no operator attendance required and long life of the plant (> 20 years).
Gasification (Syngas)
Gasification is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials, like biomass, into a gas mixture that is called syngas (from synthesis gas or synthetic gas) and is itself a fuel. Syngas may be burned directly in gas engines, or converted via the Fischer–Tropsch process into synthetic fuels.
The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is potentially more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel because it can be combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel cells. In addition, the high-temperature process refines out corrosive ash elements such as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas production from otherwise problematic fuels