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Special
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Written by Sabrina Deparine
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Monday, 08 February 2010 15:57 |
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Page views: 1877 |
Brazil, one of the biggest ethanol exporters in the world, never runs out of ideas and usages for ethanol. Just recently, Brazilian energy company, Petrobras, and G.E. have experimented by using sugarcane-based ethanol to replace gas in running a turbine system. The said experiment was conducted in a plant that uses turbine to produce electricity in full commercial scale.
 The use of ethanol as fuel for turbine systems at the Juiz de Fora power plant is the first-ever use of sugarcane ethanol on an industrial scale; thus, it is another feather added to Brazil’s cap. The Juiz de Fora power plant is a natural gas plant that has an output capacity of 87 megawatts. It is fully-equipped with two G.E. gas turbines. One of the combustors was altered by G.E. to make it a dual-fuel system so it can run on ethanol. Technically, the dual-fuel system has enhanced the energy security and reliability of the plant as it adds options to possible fuel source.
The “experiment period” for using ethanol as an alternative fuel for the gas turbines is not yet through. It will run for the next five months to validate its effects and efficiency. So far, the outcome is satisfactory but the company is keeping tab on the emissions to ensure that these are within the acceptable range.
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