Assessment and optimization of co-firing power plant in Thailand: Seasonal effects and dust emission concerns

Abstract

In this work, the industrial-scale co-fired power plant in Thailand was analyzed and the optimization model was proposed to provide a proper fuel selection for the feedstock seasonal planning to minimize the cost of electricity generation. Also, the dust emission model was introduced in this work to investigate the environmental concern of the proposed fuel formula. The seasonal effects including feed price, properties, and availability were also included in the optimization model. The optimum solution reported a set of fuel formulas for each season that is capable of maintaining power production stability and minimizing fuel costs. Although, the global demand for coal was at its peak in the winter season, using biomass (wood chip, wood bark, and fiber) could increase the production to achieve its minimum requirement. The optimization could reduce the cost of electricity (COE) production by up to 14% (in the winter season). Also, the emission model indicated that to increase the steam production rate to meet the requirement in the summer season, a larger amount of mixed fuel consumption rate was needed. This led to an increase in dust emissions in the summer season. However, in the winter season, the result from optimization could decrease dust emissions by up to 50%. In conclusion, increasing biomass utilization is a favorable option in both economic and environmental aspects.