Agricultural Waste As a Resource of Energy

How it works – The process

1. After processing, the waste is (re)collected and used as:
   a.      Fuel for a biomass combustion boiler that heats up a fluid.
   b.      Resource material for generating biogas in a fermentation unit, which is then fed into a boiler.
2. The heated fluid is used to power a CHP (Combined Heat & Power) Engine.
3. The CHP Engine, based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), produces electricity and heat simultaneously.
4.  Electricity is used for local demand or exported to the grid (if present).
5. Heat is re-used as an energy source for a cooling unit (with absorption system) for post-harvesting cooling.

Key Questions
In order to assess whether an interesting AWARE business case arises, a number of key questions need to be answered:

• What is the required energy capacity (kWe)?
• What is the required energy (kWhe) – time * capacity?
• Is there any agricultural (processing) waste or biomass available?
• What is the quality of the biomass?
• What does the biomass cost?
• Do the supply of biomass and the energy demand match concerning time? i.e. what period of the year is biomass available and during what period is the energy required?

For more information, please contact