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This three day course ‘Thermal treatment of biomass and wastes: principles and applications' run by the Centre for Energy at UWA, is designed for those undertaking or considering the disposal of wastes containing organic materials and postgraduate students in the field of energy utilisation.

Course outline:
The course will examine the potential for the use of wastes in alternative energy generation by thermal methods. The practice is widespread in Europe, especially with forest wastes in Scandinavia. However, there are significant amounts of agricultural, sewage and municipal wastes available in Australia.

The technologies developed for combustion, which are mature and environmentally friendly, supply 24 hour a day power and are competitive in cost. The gasification alternative will also be considered. The course content includes a survey of waste materials, their composition, combustion and gasification behaviour in different furnace types and the formation and removal of pollutants. Comparative costs of the various alternatives will be considered.

Who is the course designed for?
The course is designed for those undertaking or considering the disposal of wastes containing organic materials. The substitution of fossil fuel with such wastes has environmental benefits, while managing the secondary issue of responsible disposal.

The course is relevant to all involved in the timber, sewage, food and agricultural processing industries including investors, project managers, insurance underwriters, environmental officers of companies and local goverments councils assessing disposal options for industrial or municipal wastes.

The course would also be of interest to postgraduate students in the field of energy utilisation.

The presenters:

Professor Brian Stanmore , Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Energy, UWA
Brian Stanmore is a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Energy at The University of Western Australia. Having recently retired after a career in industry and academia, which focussed on combustion and pollution control, he is a recognised expert on the formation of dioxins in flames.

His research and consulting work into combustion and resource utilisation in Australia and France included both brown and black coals, sugarcane bagasse, forest wastes and municipal solid waste. Industry roles have included Energy Alternatives Engineer with the Queensland Electricity Commission, as well as renewable energy investigations, where he reviewed coal quality and combustion performance, backed up by the CFD modelling of boilers.

Professor Dongke Zhang FTSE , Director, Centre for Energy, UWA
Dongke Zhang is the foundation Director of the Centre for Energy at The University of Western Australia, a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and a member of the College of Experts of Australian Research Council.

He is an internationally renowned authority in reaction engineering, combustion science and technology, and sustainable energy development. His scientific research, technological development and consulting activities cover a wide range of energy options, including coal and biomass, oil and gas, organic waste utilisation, catalysis, emission control and carbon capture and storage. He has served as a senior scientific adviser to a number of companies.

Course schedule:

Day 1 - 31 May 2010

8:30 - 9:00      Registration
9:00 - 10:00    Survey of wastes, their properties and current use
10:00 - 10:30  Morning tea
10:30 - 12:00  Stoichiometry, energetics, furnace types, combustion calculations
12:00 - 13:30  Networking lunch
13:30 - 15:00  Thermal behaviour of biomass - drying, devolatilisation
15:00 - 15:30  Coffee break
15:30 - 17:00  Tutorial applications, COMBUSTOR PAC

Day 2 - 1 June 2010

9:00 - 10:30    Combustion of biomass char
10:30 - 11:00  Morning tea
11:00 - 12:30  Heat transfer in furnaces, ash fouling, corrosion
12:30 - 14:00  Networking lunch
14:00 - 15:30  Formation of pollutants
15:30 - 16:00  Coffee break
16:00 - 17:00  Tutorial application, COMBUSTOR PAC
19:00               Course dinner

Day 3 - 2 June 2010

9:00 - 10:30    Flue gas treatment
10:30 - 11:00  Morning tea
11:00 - 12:30  Pyrolysis and gasification of biomass
12:30 - 13:30  Networking lunch
13:30 - 15:00  Capital costs; general discussion
15:00 - 15:30  Coffee break
15:30 - 16:30  Tutorial application

Requirements:
A technical background which includes some basic chemistry and physics will be assumed for the participants.
Knowledge of combustion processes is not required. A combustion software package COMBUSTORPAC will be supplied to all participants for calculation exercises.

Cost: $1,980 (including GST)

For further information or to enrol, please contact Amanda Bolt on 08 6488 1701 or at [email protected] .

The photograph shows a French plant which removes recyclables from municipal solid waste and then burns 45,000 tpa of the unrecovered residue. It continuously generates 1.7 MW of electricity for sale, and disposes of the bottom ash as road fill.