Had been going through some articles lately on a local news site and one
particular article caught my attention.. liquid waste into organic charcoal. I was quite impressed
by this innovation which was supported by the government. "There is still hope
for technology and innovation for my great country Ghana". It made this article, which had been in the pipeline for while, quite relevant and interesting which was inniially motivated by an article on LinkedIn by GE ( power-to-the-people-its-boom-time-for-distributed-power
) . For developing countries like mine energy has a direct bearing on almost
everything. Increase in crude prices can literally increase cost of everything
in the country. Most industries rely on the national grid for power which is
cheaper and when this isn’t available for a period they have to resort to diesel
powered generators which increase cost of operation. I believe that these companies should look further to find solutions to this problem and one such solution for these companies is ‘Distributed power’.
Distributed power? "Distributed power" from“Distributed generation employs small-scale
technologies to produce electricity close to the end users of power. These
technologies often consist of modular (and sometimes renewable-energy)
generators, offering a number of potential benefits. In many cases,
distributed generators can provide lower-cost electricity and higher power
reliability and security with fewer environmental consequences than traditional power generators”.(introduction DG) (
2013-jenbacher-infographic.pdf)
Distributed generation differentiates itself from
the normal large-scale generation located far from where the energy is most needed. They involve
using smaller but numerous plants and systems providing power onsite with
little reliance on the distribution and transmission grid. Distributed generation
technologies yield power in capacities that range from a fraction of a kilowatt
[kW] to about 100 megawatts [MW].
A whisky distillery in Scotland uses mash residue to power its
factory and produce steam for distilling while a brewery in Germany uses its
own waste water to generate the electricity, steam and hot water needed to make
its products. Elsewhere, tree bark, sewage sludge and even rubbish from
landfill are all turning into one thing: power.
More and more companies
are using waste products for power generation, thanks to the growth of
distributed power. It’s efficient and it can produce backup power when
intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar aren’t delivering. A
number of factors have combined to bring about the sudden interest in this type
of power.
Firstly, distributed power is now a viable option.
The technology is smaller, more efficient, and cheaper than ever, so there are
more companies than ever considering it. Distributed power can also be rolled
out quicker and with less risk than large power plants. Users can also scale up
quickly. So it’s easy to see why there’s a lot going for distributed energy.
Sure, there will always be a need for large centralized power stations but the
decentralization movement is in full effect. (power-to-the-people-its-boom-time-for-distributed-power)
Now let’s
come to sub Saharan Africa precisely Ghana. With a fast growing economy it needs
a steady and reliable flow of energy to sustain this growth. Sadly this isn’t
the situation. Grappled with a power crisis which has adversely affected it's industry sector it has pushed the country to search for other energy sources to find a lasting
solution to the power problems. There are many contributors to the current
energy problems such as generation capacity and fuel availability and affordability
just to name a few. Coal fired plants
have been named as viable alternatives with significant public resistance due
to its environmental impact.
After years
of struggle by the capital city officials to dispose of liquid waste, they contracted
a company to process this waste into compost. This was their original mandate
but the company, Slumson Ghana limited, has made an exciting discovery. They were
able to produce marketable ‘organic charcoal’ with quality equal to the
one found on the market. This is immense because such a discovery could be a
game changer. Firstly, it will reduce the rate at which trees are felled for
the sake of charcoal production and also help get rid of liquid waste which is
quite a task. My excitement is actually in the Distributed power potential it holds.
According to this BTU chart ( Btuchart ) charcoal is
quite close to coal. With the right tonnage of this charcoal I believe a manageable
steam turbine can be powered with steam ,similar to coal plants, to augment,the power needs of an industry willing
to invest in this research. liquid waste into organic charcoal
BUT! The engineer
in me raises pertinent questions. All the facts stated here are purely theoretical. the only fact is such a discovery exist . Actually i haven't come across a generation unit running on charcoal(this was the closest Charcoal-Fire-Powered-Generator) , which is largely due to the environmental impact associated with charcoal notably the felling of tress. Also what is the process involved in getting the
charcoal? If it requires a lot of energy to produce this organic charcoal then it isn’t economically
viable. In the article it stated a process of heating to a temperature of about 400°C which is high and demands energy. There isn’t much info about the
emission properties of the charcoal which is quite important if one is
interested in using it as fuel for an electricity generating plant.
In any
case this is a bright innovative spot and my hope is it becomes a driving force for the future in the energy and power production sector in the country.
Good read!