Cogeneration in the Hawaiian sugar industry

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:7011082

Kinoshita, C M

For nearly a century the Hawaiian sugar industry has produced most of the steam and electricity needed to process sugarcane and to power its factories and irrigation pumps. Judicious use of bagasse and cane trash has made the Hawaiian sugar industry among the most efficient in the world in converting biomass into electricity --- in comparison with typical worldwide cane-to-electricity productivities of {approximately}10 kWh per ton of cane, Hawaiian sugar factories today generate, on average, about 60 kWh per ton of cane and, in some factories, 100 kWh or more. Plantations in Hawaii produce about 800 million kWh annually, and, after satisfying virtually all of their internal power requirements, export roughly 400 million kWh to public utility companies. To attain world prominence in generating and exporting power from bagasse, Hawaiian sugar companies have had to address numerous technical, operational, regulatory, and contractual issues relating to the production and distribution of steam and electricity. Prior to 1970 the development of electricity generation in the Hawaiian sugar industry was shaped almost entirely by technical developments --- better utilization of the available biomass resources; consolidation of steam-generation facilities into fewer, larger, and more efficient units; and increased operating pressures and temperatures of steam and electrical generating units and better heat recovery to achieve higher thermal efficiency in the cogeneration plant. In more recent years, however, non-technical issues have influenced electricity generation and sale more than technical factors. 20 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Hawaii Natural Energy Inst., Honolulu, HI (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: AID; TVA
• OSTI ID: 7011082
• Report Number(s): HNEI-90-1002; ON: TI90009934; CNN: TV-73595A
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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