Utilisation of Biofuel Consuming Energy Plants' Ash Material Flows in Eastern Finland

• Main Authors: Soininen, H., Mäkelä, L., Valkeapää, A.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: ETA-Florence Renewable Energies 2010
• Subjects: Biomass; karelia*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5071/18theubce2010-od1.2; http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings?detail=6300

More than half of this is received from carbon combustion (554 000 tonnes), and the rest (362 000 tonnes) from the combustion of wood and peat. The ash volume received from wood and peat combustion has almost doubled over the past 10 years, and is expected to rise as a result of the increasing future use of biofuels. The objective of this study was to clarify the ash volumes produced by biofuel consuming energy plants located in 54 municipalities in the area of eastern Finland (the provinces of South Savo, North Savo and North Karelia, 570 000 inhabitants), and to establish their current state of utilisation in accordance with the statutory treatment regulations. A total of 108 energy plants were selected for a detailed analysis ­53 from South Savo, 26 from North Savo, and 28 from North Karelia, all of which consume wood­based fuels and peat. The total volume of the biofuel ash produced is approximately 100 000 tonnes per annum. Among other factors, this volume is affected by the uptime of local industrial plants, market conditions and weather conditions. Currently, ash is used in road and field construction, other earthwork constructions, land fill site constructions, and for forest fertilising purposes. The legislation on the utilisation of ash has been updated lately. One of the preconditions for utilising ash as a fertiliser is that the ash in question must be further refined and processed accordingly. : Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 190-194