Application Potential of Gasification Technologies in Rural Settlement Areas

Abstract

The rural settlement area of Niğde Çukurkuyu was chosen as a model location in this study to support rural development and sustainability. In order to identify the feasibility of the technology; the population, energy consumption, available potential raw materials (household and agricultural waste amount depending on years) of the settlement have been determined and analyzed and an economic feasibility report has been prepared. According to the obtained data from the region, 30% of the agricultural land is used and annual average of generated agricultural waste is 32200 tons. Depending on the season, averagely 1080 tons of domestic waste potential is available at the settlement. According to these data, estimated installed power of the gasification/plasma gasification plant which use of household waste can be 3 MW. The planting of energy plants such as Switchgrass and Sweet sorghum into unused agricultural land can increase the installed power of the plant to up to 18.8 MW. 1.1% of the energy produced by the process can meet the electricity needs of a 1000 selected rural residential area. Plus, entire heating requirement of the site can be met by 35% of the energy of process. With the remaining energy generated can be used by the grid, so the national economy will be contributed. Finally, it is obviously that a significant energy potential is available for rural development and sustainable energy production.