Production of renewable energy from biomass and waste materials using fluidized bed technologies

Malaysian industries generate substantial amount of biomass and waste materials such as wastes from agricultural and wood based industries, sludge waste from waste-water treatment plants and solid waste from municipals. Incinerating these waste materials not only produces renewable energy, but also solving their disposal problems. Fluidized bed combustors are widely used for incinerating these biomass materials. The significant advantages of fluidized bed incineration include simple design, efficient, and ability to reduce air pollution emissions. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of producing the "green'' energy from biomass materials using the fluidized bed technologies.