MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Presco's Innovative Intervention to the Rescue
Presco's Innovative Intervention to the Rescue
23/07/2014 (THISDAY Live) - As the power challenge facing the nation continues to take its toll on the industrial sector, Crusoe Osagie analyses the approach of integrated palm oil producer's, Presco Plc, in dealing with the intractable problem.
The Nigerian economy was recently rebased and officially pronounced as the largest economy in Africa.
After a recent statistical re-computation the nation's economy from 46 broad sectors, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is now estimated at $510 billion.
And following the exercise (last carried out in 1990), which received the accolades of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank, among others, Nigeria emerged Africa’s biggest economy while South Africa with a GDP of $384 billion has now been pushed to the number two position in the continent.
However, the nation's well known power quandary is quite capable of making nonsense of the potential which the current enviable economic status portends.
President Goodluck Jonathan once stated that the erratic nature of Nigeria’s power supply cannot guarantee any meaningful industrial development and can also not lead the country to its vision to become one of the top 20 industrialised nations of the world by the year 2020.
Jonathan on August 26, 2010, around when he made the above declaration, unveiled a detailed power sector roadmap as part of the implementation of the reform process, which legislative groundwork was laid by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act of 2005.
President Jonathan, no doubt, set about the task with vigour as the power sector, under his administration, witnessed appreciable rise in investment and unprecedented enthusiasm from local and international investors to inject funds into the Nigerian economy.
Also, some projects initiated by his predecessors, Olusegun Obasanjo and the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had been completed, while others were ongoing. Government’s efforts to increase power supply, sort of paid off initially, especially in 2011 and 2012 as power supply first hit an unprecedented yet grossly inadequate peak of 4,321.3megawatts at about 9.15am on August 31, 2012.
Power generation also continued to hover around this figure throughout the remaining part of 2012, hitting an all-time peak of 4,517mw on December 21, 2013; thus setting a new record in the country.
However, since 2014, the power situation has been characterised by a cycle of hope and despair, a development, which has been blamed on frequent system collapse and other inexplicable factors.
A sharp drop in power supply was first noticed in January 2013 when Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) shut down the Okpai Power Plant in Delta State for repairs, reducing generation by 460mw before it rose again to 4,286mw peak for the month. Although it hit 4,350mw peak in February, by March 26, 2013, the figure had dropped to 3,670.3megawatts.
With generation around to 3,000mw, power outages have metamorphosed into complete darkness in most parts of Nigeria, while many urban cities and towns across the country hardly enjoy three to four hours of uninterrupted power supply.
Presco's innovative solution
One of the most critical challenges faced by businesses in Nigeria, whether large, medium or small scale is the challenge of a reliable and affordable source of power. Even the average family faces the same challenge in their homes as almost all modern technological devises require one form of energy or the other for their effective use.
The sorry state of public power supply which is to a very large extent responsible for the low capacity utilisation of the real sector of the Nigerian economy makes the provision of alternative power source a major cost consideration in any business undertaking.
The most commonly available alternative is the use of fossil fuels (diesel, black oil and petrol) to generate energy to power plants and machineries, an alternative that is not without obvious negative environmental and cost consequence.
Presco oil palm plc therefore, to remain competitive in an ever dynamic market decided to make long term strategic investment, to solve the energy debacle by putting into profitable use, all the “wastes” associated with its palm oil production, being an integrated vegetable oil company.
"Major investments have so far been made in mill capacity expansion from 24 tonnes of fresh fruits processing per hour to 60 tonnes of fresh fruits processing per hour,; the installation of a blow-mould/jerry can filling plant, refinery capacity expansion from 50 tonnes per day to 100 tonnes per day, installation of bio-methane plant and installation of 1.2mw and 2.5mw steam turbines respectively.
"Also planned to come into operation in future are Palm Kernel Cake pelletising plant, new 300 tonness per day refinery and new 30 tonnes per hour Vickers steam boiler," the company told THISDAY.
Mindful of the tremendous energy requirements to meet the demands of these expansion, Presco decided to make the strategic move of investing heavily in a power plant, equipment and technology to provide sufficient power to run the plant at the lowest possible cost.
Essentially, two forms of energy - electromotive energy to run the machineries and thermal energy to heat and maintain process temperature are needed in the company's operation. Currently, the greater proportion of Presco's energy needs are produced using the steam boiler, most of which is used to run the steam turbine alternators.
The boilers run on bio-mass fuel from the solid wastes of the mill including fiber, shells and empty fruit bunches. The liquid waste from the mill like palm oil mill effluent, is also an important source of energy that is called biogas.
The goal of the oil palm giant is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, diesel and kerosene, to the barest minimum and to power the plants on energy recovered from mill wastes.
The bulk of its electromotive energy requirement will be about eighty five per cent produced by the 2.5mw steam turbine which will run on steam produced from solid wastes of the mill. Biogas which contains about 56 per cent methane is already being used to fire the package boiler and also as bi-fuel with diesel in the diesel generators.
There is no doubt that a lot of investment has in the past few years gone into achieving this goal. However, the good news for the company’s shareholders is that the pains of today will surely translate into tomorrow’s gains.
Presco's new technology
Biogas typically refers to a mixture of gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from regionally available raw materials such as recycled waste. It is a renewable energy source and in many cases exerts a very small carbon footprint.
Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic bacteria or fermentation of biodegradable materials such as manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops.[1] It is primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes.
The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.
Biogas can be compressed, the same way natural gas is compressed to CNG, and used to power motor vehicles. In the UK, for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17 per cent of vehicle fuel. It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world. Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards when it becomes bio methane.
Biogas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digested gas. A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops. It can be produced using anaerobic digesters.
These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. During the process, an air-tight tank transforms biomass waste into methane, producing renewable energy that can be used for heating, electricity, and many other operations that use an internal combustion engine, such as GE Jenbacher or Caterpillar gas engines.
There are two key processes: mesophilic and thermophilic digestion. In experimental work, a 1000-litre digester using psychrophiles harvested from "mud" has produced 200–300 liters of methane per day.
Production of methane through anaerobic digestion of organic wastes would benefit the society in general by providing clean fuel from renewable industrial waste. Biogas production from organic waste represents potential green energy or renewable energy from a sustainable development perspective as it consists of greenhouse gases like methane.
Energy recovery from waste represents an important way to reduce the amount of electrical energy that is produced from fossil fuels. This would reduce and perhaps replace fossil fuel-derived energy and reduce its environmental impacts including global warming and acid rain.
Presco biogas plant
The Presco biogas plant receives Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) - a waste from the mill - digests it anaerobically to produce treated effluent as well as gas which serves as energy for the mill. It consists of various sections which include:
Cooling Towers in which POME with a Carbon-Oxygen Demand (COD) value of 70,000mg/l is cooled from about 700c to 400c or less before entering the feeding pit for inoculation (POME mixes with re-circulated sludge to improve PH and reduce temperature values).
From the feeding pit, the effluent is sent through pipes into the reactors with the help of a pump. While in the reactors, the POME is acted upon by micro-organism at different stages.
The micro-organism involved in this anaerobic digestion are usually bacteria capable of hydrolysis, acid-forming bacteria, base-forming bacteria (acetogens) and methane-forming bacteria (methanogens).
The product of this digestion is the treated effluent with a COD value less than 5000mg/l as against 70,000mg/l afore mentioned. The by-product of the process is the biogas which has a composition of methane (55 per cent), carbon(iv)oxide (38 per cent), oxygen (0.5 per cent) and hydrogen sulphide (1500parts per million) on the average.
Filter section
As earlier mentioned, biogas consists of other gases apart from methane. These other gases (H2S and CO2) are unwanted because they can damage the internal parts of the equipment and can also decrease the calorific value of the methane. The filters are installed to avoid this by reducing the content of the H2S and CO2 to insignificant values.
Blowers section
The blowers help to transport the gas from the filter or/and the reactors to the various consumers.
The Presco biogas plant was designed to feed four major consumers within its factory namely: the package boiler, which supplies steam to the refinery and it used to run on kerosene but now runs on 100 per cent biogas; the generator set, which provides electricity for the mill and industrial estate, currently running on 50 per cent biogas and 50 per cent diesel; the biomass boiler, which provides steam needed for the mill and the turbine, it is currently running on biomass fuel; and the thermopac which has been designed to run 100 per cent on biogas.
The Nigerian economy was recently rebased and officially pronounced as the largest economy in Africa.
After a recent statistical re-computation the nation's economy from 46 broad sectors, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is now estimated at $510 billion.
And following the exercise (last carried out in 1990), which received the accolades of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank, among others, Nigeria emerged Africa’s biggest economy while South Africa with a GDP of $384 billion has now been pushed to the number two position in the continent.
However, the nation's well known power quandary is quite capable of making nonsense of the potential which the current enviable economic status portends.
President Goodluck Jonathan once stated that the erratic nature of Nigeria’s power supply cannot guarantee any meaningful industrial development and can also not lead the country to its vision to become one of the top 20 industrialised nations of the world by the year 2020.
Jonathan on August 26, 2010, around when he made the above declaration, unveiled a detailed power sector roadmap as part of the implementation of the reform process, which legislative groundwork was laid by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act of 2005.
President Jonathan, no doubt, set about the task with vigour as the power sector, under his administration, witnessed appreciable rise in investment and unprecedented enthusiasm from local and international investors to inject funds into the Nigerian economy.
Also, some projects initiated by his predecessors, Olusegun Obasanjo and the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had been completed, while others were ongoing. Government’s efforts to increase power supply, sort of paid off initially, especially in 2011 and 2012 as power supply first hit an unprecedented yet grossly inadequate peak of 4,321.3megawatts at about 9.15am on August 31, 2012.
Power generation also continued to hover around this figure throughout the remaining part of 2012, hitting an all-time peak of 4,517mw on December 21, 2013; thus setting a new record in the country.
However, since 2014, the power situation has been characterised by a cycle of hope and despair, a development, which has been blamed on frequent system collapse and other inexplicable factors.
A sharp drop in power supply was first noticed in January 2013 when Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) shut down the Okpai Power Plant in Delta State for repairs, reducing generation by 460mw before it rose again to 4,286mw peak for the month. Although it hit 4,350mw peak in February, by March 26, 2013, the figure had dropped to 3,670.3megawatts.
With generation around to 3,000mw, power outages have metamorphosed into complete darkness in most parts of Nigeria, while many urban cities and towns across the country hardly enjoy three to four hours of uninterrupted power supply.
Presco's innovative solution
One of the most critical challenges faced by businesses in Nigeria, whether large, medium or small scale is the challenge of a reliable and affordable source of power. Even the average family faces the same challenge in their homes as almost all modern technological devises require one form of energy or the other for their effective use.
The sorry state of public power supply which is to a very large extent responsible for the low capacity utilisation of the real sector of the Nigerian economy makes the provision of alternative power source a major cost consideration in any business undertaking.
The most commonly available alternative is the use of fossil fuels (diesel, black oil and petrol) to generate energy to power plants and machineries, an alternative that is not without obvious negative environmental and cost consequence.
Presco oil palm plc therefore, to remain competitive in an ever dynamic market decided to make long term strategic investment, to solve the energy debacle by putting into profitable use, all the “wastes” associated with its palm oil production, being an integrated vegetable oil company.
"Major investments have so far been made in mill capacity expansion from 24 tonnes of fresh fruits processing per hour to 60 tonnes of fresh fruits processing per hour,; the installation of a blow-mould/jerry can filling plant, refinery capacity expansion from 50 tonnes per day to 100 tonnes per day, installation of bio-methane plant and installation of 1.2mw and 2.5mw steam turbines respectively.
"Also planned to come into operation in future are Palm Kernel Cake pelletising plant, new 300 tonness per day refinery and new 30 tonnes per hour Vickers steam boiler," the company told THISDAY.
Mindful of the tremendous energy requirements to meet the demands of these expansion, Presco decided to make the strategic move of investing heavily in a power plant, equipment and technology to provide sufficient power to run the plant at the lowest possible cost.
Essentially, two forms of energy - electromotive energy to run the machineries and thermal energy to heat and maintain process temperature are needed in the company's operation. Currently, the greater proportion of Presco's energy needs are produced using the steam boiler, most of which is used to run the steam turbine alternators.
The boilers run on bio-mass fuel from the solid wastes of the mill including fiber, shells and empty fruit bunches. The liquid waste from the mill like palm oil mill effluent, is also an important source of energy that is called biogas.
The goal of the oil palm giant is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, diesel and kerosene, to the barest minimum and to power the plants on energy recovered from mill wastes.
The bulk of its electromotive energy requirement will be about eighty five per cent produced by the 2.5mw steam turbine which will run on steam produced from solid wastes of the mill. Biogas which contains about 56 per cent methane is already being used to fire the package boiler and also as bi-fuel with diesel in the diesel generators.
There is no doubt that a lot of investment has in the past few years gone into achieving this goal. However, the good news for the company’s shareholders is that the pains of today will surely translate into tomorrow’s gains.
Presco's new technology
Biogas typically refers to a mixture of gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from regionally available raw materials such as recycled waste. It is a renewable energy source and in many cases exerts a very small carbon footprint.
Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic bacteria or fermentation of biodegradable materials such as manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops.[1] It is primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes.
The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.
Biogas can be compressed, the same way natural gas is compressed to CNG, and used to power motor vehicles. In the UK, for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17 per cent of vehicle fuel. It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world. Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards when it becomes bio methane.
Biogas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digested gas. A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops. It can be produced using anaerobic digesters.
These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. During the process, an air-tight tank transforms biomass waste into methane, producing renewable energy that can be used for heating, electricity, and many other operations that use an internal combustion engine, such as GE Jenbacher or Caterpillar gas engines.
There are two key processes: mesophilic and thermophilic digestion. In experimental work, a 1000-litre digester using psychrophiles harvested from "mud" has produced 200–300 liters of methane per day.
Production of methane through anaerobic digestion of organic wastes would benefit the society in general by providing clean fuel from renewable industrial waste. Biogas production from organic waste represents potential green energy or renewable energy from a sustainable development perspective as it consists of greenhouse gases like methane.
Energy recovery from waste represents an important way to reduce the amount of electrical energy that is produced from fossil fuels. This would reduce and perhaps replace fossil fuel-derived energy and reduce its environmental impacts including global warming and acid rain.
Presco biogas plant
The Presco biogas plant receives Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) - a waste from the mill - digests it anaerobically to produce treated effluent as well as gas which serves as energy for the mill. It consists of various sections which include:
Cooling Towers in which POME with a Carbon-Oxygen Demand (COD) value of 70,000mg/l is cooled from about 700c to 400c or less before entering the feeding pit for inoculation (POME mixes with re-circulated sludge to improve PH and reduce temperature values).
From the feeding pit, the effluent is sent through pipes into the reactors with the help of a pump. While in the reactors, the POME is acted upon by micro-organism at different stages.
The micro-organism involved in this anaerobic digestion are usually bacteria capable of hydrolysis, acid-forming bacteria, base-forming bacteria (acetogens) and methane-forming bacteria (methanogens).
The product of this digestion is the treated effluent with a COD value less than 5000mg/l as against 70,000mg/l afore mentioned. The by-product of the process is the biogas which has a composition of methane (55 per cent), carbon(iv)oxide (38 per cent), oxygen (0.5 per cent) and hydrogen sulphide (1500parts per million) on the average.
Filter section
As earlier mentioned, biogas consists of other gases apart from methane. These other gases (H2S and CO2) are unwanted because they can damage the internal parts of the equipment and can also decrease the calorific value of the methane. The filters are installed to avoid this by reducing the content of the H2S and CO2 to insignificant values.
Blowers section
The blowers help to transport the gas from the filter or/and the reactors to the various consumers.
The Presco biogas plant was designed to feed four major consumers within its factory namely: the package boiler, which supplies steam to the refinery and it used to run on kerosene but now runs on 100 per cent biogas; the generator set, which provides electricity for the mill and industrial estate, currently running on 50 per cent biogas and 50 per cent diesel; the biomass boiler, which provides steam needed for the mill and the turbine, it is currently running on biomass fuel; and the thermopac which has been designed to run 100 per cent on biogas.