Co-Combustion of Pakistani Coal and Biomass in Pilot Scale Combustors

Partner Institutes
University of Leeds	Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Mehran University, University of Punjab and Islamic International University

Project brief:

A steady increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels each year is contributing to global climate change. Hence, there is a push to develop low carbon combustion technologies. Pakistan’s huge coal reserves in Thar provide an ideal alternative for power generation and can help significantly reduce the gap between power supply and demand that is crippling the country.

The Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences has come together with multiple universities in Pakistan, namely Mehran University, University of Punjab and Islamic International University, as well as industrial giant Engro to come up with an alternative energy source. The University of Leeds is the UK partner under the INSPIRE brand umbrella.

The project will focus on technical developments to bring about the clean combustion of Thar coal at a pilot scale to gain information on how this coal will perform in a power plant. The results will be compared with those from a database of results of world coal combustion tests. The project has vast potential for commercialisation. National and international power companies and the government of Pakistan itself would be the main users of this technology. The impact will be enormous in terms of economical development and improvement in the quality of life in general by provision of cheap, clean and uninterrupted electricity to the nation’s individual consumers and industries.

The results of the research will be published on the 34^th International Symposium on Combustion, the European Conference on Coal Research and Its Applications as well as the World Congress of Chemical Engineering. It will also be published in international Journals of repute for wider audiences. The project will have a multidimensional effect in the region and will act as a catalyst for strong linkages with other national/international organisations.

An annual international workshop is being planned, which will help in developing better linkages regionally/internationally. This workshop would be telecast live to all participating institutes and will allow participating countries and higher education institutes to benefit from the research. As a result, there will be a flow of research projects from the Pakistani industry to local universities, increasing the levels of industrial funding and interaction.

Lessons learnt:

Partnerships among universities across the borders is a very conducive way to enhance research output.

Challenges faced:

The major challenge posed was the difficult working environment.

The impacts/benefits of the project:

The project will have a significant impact on national priorities and it has met with great success in transforming key organisational strategies on power generation in Pakistan.

Key contacts:

Dr. Bill Nimmo, University of Leeds

w.nimmo@leeds.ac.uk, www.leeds.ac.uk/

Dr. M. Tayyeb Javed, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences

m.t.javed@pieas.edu.pk, www.pieas.edu.pk/