Steam - injected gas - turbine cogeneration for the cane sugar industry : optimization through improvements in sugar - processing efficiencies

The study has found that some 50,000 MW of gas turbines fired with sugar cane residues could be supported globally with the 1985 level of cane production. In the 70 developing countries that grow sugar cane, gas turbines could produce some 300 billion kWh of electricity annually, representing over 25% of the present level of electric utility generation and about as much electricity as is now generated with oil in these counties. The cost of generating this electricity would be lower than that for most central-station alternatives. Such a major role for cane-sugar producers in power generation is feasible despite the fact that at present all the bagasse, the fibrous residue of cane milling, is typically burned as fuel in small-turbine cogeneration systems to meet the modest steam, mechanical power, and electricity demands of sugar factories. With the same amount of bagasse much more electricity can be produced than at present if more efficient modern cogeneration systems are employed. A few factories in Hawaii and elsewhere have recently installed larger, more efficient steam-turbine cogeneration systems that export some electricity to the grid, and a number of other installations are being considered. This study was motivated by recent significant developments in gas turbine technology in the U.S., which could lead to the near-term commercialization of biomass-fired gas turbine cogeneration systems that would be much more efficient and more economical than steam turbine cogeneration systems. (Author abstract)