Power generation from cassava biomass

The actual 2 day engineering test operation at an alcohol production plant confirmed that dried cassava-root chips in bulk could be directly fired on a travelling-stoker boiler furnace of a steam turbine-electric generator set. The boiler generated 17 bar pressure and 340 degree Celcius temperature steam at a rate of 42 tons per hour and the furnace consumed about 6 metric tons of dried cassava-root chips per hour. A new kind of biomass fuel was later discovered from dried cassava-rhizome chips which could be burnt in a small stoker-fired boiler furnace. The boiler produced 2 bar pressure and 120 degree Celcius temperature steam at a rate of 55 kilograms per hour, suitable for processing of agricultural products in rural areas, at a fuel cost 50% lower than that from dried cassava-root chips.