Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin No.116 (July - Sept 2015) p11-19
Thermodynamics Applied to Palm Oil Milling
N Ravi Menon

Most of the mill engineers, in particular the mechanical engineers, may be quite familiar with the engineering thermodynamics associated with the biomass fired boilers that they operate daily in a palm oil mill. The heat content in the biomass fuel expressed usually as the calorific value is transferred to the water in a boiler to generate the steam which in turn operates the steam turbine wheels when undergoing an approximate isentropic expansion. As the alternator is coupled to the turbine shaft through a gear box, it can generate electricity that is sufficient to operate all the mill machinery as well as the domestic supplies if worker’s quarters is located nearby.





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