In this article, I will be discussing the advantages of liquid fuels over solid fuels. There is always a reason why other power plants will prefer the use of liquid fuels e.g. oil to generate the energy they need.
Without wasting time, let me share what you need to know about these advantages.
Advantages of liquid fuels over solid fuels;
1. It’s easier to handle liquid fuels.
This is the first advantage of using liquid fuels over solid ones. It’s easier to handle liquid fuels.
The only thing you will need to be concerned about when it comes to handling liquid fuels is to ensure the right place of storage.
Liquid fuels are flammable, they will need to be stored in areas where a flame can’t reach for safety purposes.
But when it comes to handling it, it’s easier since you won’t need large material handling equipment.
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Moving them from one point to another will be easier, spillage can be highly reduced and there are no dust problems when you compare it with solid fuels.
So, this saves the power plant from the extra cost of handling the fuel as it is being used in power generation.
2. Liquid fuels require less space.
Liquid fuels are very different from solid fuels. The fact that they are in liquid form, you don’t expect big chunks to be stored in rooms as it’s the case with solid fuels.
When it comes to storing liquid fuels the only thing you need is good tanks that can hold it.
With these tanks, you can fill them and pack them in a room and you will still have space left since you can pile the tanks above each other.
This means you will require less space and this will bring about an organized layout of the entire plant.
When it comes to solid fuels, you will need a huge space to store them because of their nature.
The big chunks of coal won’t fit easily in tanks. You will need to contain them in a specific storage room.
The room that will be used to store the solid fuel won’t be occupied by anything else.
You will notice that the storage space that will be needed for the solid fuel is going to be more, especially when the demand for the fuel increases.
This is not the case with liquid fuels and that is why it’s advantageous when you choose them.
3. Liquid fuels can be fired easily.
Firing liquid fuels is very easy compared to solid fuels. Let me share with you why that is so.
Liquid fuels can hardly mix with moisture, and when that happens, it can be noticed easily and the fuel is going to be considered unusable.
With solid fuels, it’s easier for them to absorb moisture and it’s hard to notice if the fuel has moisture content.
So, when firing is required, it’s easier with liquid fuels because maximum temperatures can be attained easily compared to solid fuels.
With solid fuels, you will need more time for you to attain the maximum temperature since the initial heat generated will be used to dry the fuel first.
Solid fuels with moisture content are going to take time to burn and this will result in lower energy production.
And this is what makes liquid fuels better than solid ones.
4. Liquid fuels have a low quantity of ash.
Liquid fuels produce a very low quantity of ash when they burn. We need less ash when burning happens since it becomes easier to handle the end products of the burning.
This is not the same case with the solid fuels, they produce a large quantity of ash.
This brings a huge problem when it comes to disposing of it and it also adds up to the cost of operation.
You will need an appropriate place to dispose of the ash, you will need somewhere to hold the ash and you will have to hire someone to take care of the ash.
Now you see how costly that is going to be. With liquid fuels, that cost is highly reduced since the ash quantity produced is very low.
5. With liquid fuels continuous firing can be achieved easily.
It’s easier to achieve continuous firing when liquid fuels are used in a furnace without any difficulties.
If continuous firing is required, adding the liquid fuel continuously will ensure the fire keeps blazing.
That is very different when you compare it to the solid fuels, when solid fuel is added the firing will slightly decrease until the other solid fuels are burned.
This will make the continuous firing of solids quite difficult.
If you need to achieve continuous firing with the solid fuel you will have to invest more into your firing system.
Which will also end up increasing the cost of operation instead of decreasing it.
6. Liquid fuel combustion is uniform.
With liquid fuels, combustion is uniform as long as the fuel is passed through the right point of ignition.
When the combustion is uniform it makes work easier when it comes to the amount of energy needed to sustain certain processes in the plant.
With uniform combustion, you are likely to avoid the problem of carbon monoxide forming.
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This means the operators will always be safe from poisoning and the firing system will need less maintenance.
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With uniform combustion, the amount of energy produced will be higher.
When we talk about solid fuels, things are different on this side.
It’s hard to attain uniform combustion in solid fuels unless other means of mixing up the fuel are used.
Apart from that, a sufficient air supply will also be needed from each point of the firing system to keep the fuel burning.
7. The combustion of liquid fuels can be easily controlled.
The combustion of liquid fuels can be controlled easily and that is an advantage of using them.
In any plant process, we need to have the ease of controlling the energy produced.
Having control is important because it limits accidents in plants and also provides sparing use of fuel.
When you increase the volume of liquid fuel in a firing system, it’s going to increase the amount of energy produced within an instant.
While decreasing the volume of liquid fuel fed into the firing system will decrease the amount of energy produced at that instance.
This is not the same case with solid fuels, it will take time for the firing to be controlled when a change of load is applied.
Lastly…
These are just but a few of the advantages of using liquid fuels over solid fuels.
But you should also keep in mind that liquids fuels also have their disadvantages that I will be talking about in my next article.
If you have any questions about what I have shared just leave your comment.
Thanks for reading, see you in my next article.
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