A Cleaner Environment

In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with notions of “environment”, “climate change”, “greenhouse gases”, and many other catch phrases associated with the impact humans have on the world we live in. Whether through political activism, environmental legislation, the need for energy independence or simply a personal sense of responsibility, most of us feel an ever increasing urgency to change our ways and protect our planet. One of the most commonly discussed methods for reducing our environmental impact is to reduce our energy consumption, a notion encapsulated by the idea of a carbon footprint. To learn more visit carbonfootprint.com.

For industrial and utility operators, reducing emissions will have an important overall impact on an individual’s carbon footprint. This is why operators in these industries are increasingly targeted by lawmakers to reduce their emissions. However, many operators resist these changes because, with today’s technologies, to meet these ever stricter regulations requires huge capital expenditures that many operators simply cannot afford.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if your operation could be environmentally responsible and economically feasible at the same time?

Atlantic Combustion Technologies is dedicated to clean and efficient use of biomass fuels in conventional combustion environments. While other fuels will continue to be an important part of our energy mix, biomass is a renewable resource that promises to offset much of our fossil fuel based emissions. Atlantic Combustion Technologies signature product, CoMate, promises to make biomass cleaner burning and more efficient.

Why Biomass?

The vast majority of today’s energy needs are met through the combustion of fossil fuels (like oil and coal). While coal is in abundance in many parts of the world, oil reserves are depleting. And with world energy demands increasing exponentially, fuel prices are rising, making energy production with these fuels ever more expensive. But more to the point, emissions from these plants is an ever increasing problem across the globe.

When we remove fossil fuels from the ground and burn them, they release greenhouse gases (and other pollutants) to the atmosphere. There is no inherent part of this process that reclaims this atmospheric carbon (mostly in the form of C0₂, a leading contributor to global warming). In other words, the natural carbon cycle of the earth is overburdened with excess carbon by the burning of fossil fuels.

Biomass is different. The carbon in biomass comes from the atmosphere; built up over the course of the plant matter’s lifetime. When this organic matter is burned, the carbon is released back to the atmosphere, completing its life cycle. Whether the plant matter decays in the forest, or is burned under controlled conditions, the same amount of carbon is released. In other words, with a biomass fueled combustor, there is no net increase in atmospheric carbon as the system simply becomes part of the natural cycle of life. In fact, under controlled conditions, burning biomass in a combustor results in far less CH₄ production (a far greater contributor to global warming than CO₂) than if it were to decay naturally.

CoMate and the World of Biomass

CoMate Fireside Additive is specifically formulated for use with biomass fuels in boilers, steam generators and other types of industrial scale furnaces. CoMate is the perfect addition to these operations not only because it is provides significant cost savings, but it promotes a reduction in emissions in two principle ways:

1. CoMate functions as a type of combustion catalyst that promotes more efficient combustion. Through these unique processes, CoMate can actually increase boiler efficiency (by between 2% and 3% in some cases), meaning that more energy is produced per unit of fuel burned. This has a twofold benefit. First, one of the biggest issues associated with biomass utilization is supply and logistics. Anything that more efficiently utilizes biomass reduces the impact of these factors. Secondly, by increasing fuel conversion efficiencies, overall emissions are reduced per unit of energy produced.
   
2. CoMate also functions as an ash modifier that effectively reduces the amount of ash carried through the combustion system. This is a dramatic effect that affects emissions on multiple levels. Ash that carries through a combustion system leaves the chimney stack as particulate emissions. These emissions, which comprise much of the non-combustible components in the fuel, vary widely from fuel to fuel. This soot is generally considered a major nuisance, especially for those who live and work near the biomass combustor. It can also lead to serious health effects if it is breathed in on a continuous basis. With CoMate, soot and particulate emissions are drastically reduced, meaning that most of your emissions are just C0₂ and water vapor. And as previously discussed, C0₂ from biomass is part of the natural carbon cycle, making your operation the ultimate in environmental responsibility and cost effectiveness.

And if that wasn’t enough, a secondary benefit to CoMate’s ash modifying capabilities is that it makes for better ash handling and disposal characteristics, another environmental bonus for using CoMate.