Abstract:
This research aims to improve the drying process fuel, a process that improves the thermal energy of the fuel by using low pressure steam from a power plant (37.15 MW) for dehydration (Cap.400 T/D) to reduce the percentage of moisture and the cost of dehydration. The fuel included fiber (mixed with palm bunch, coconut shell, bark) and wood chips having the percentage of moisture before dehydration of about 40-60%. In this paper using the Six Sigma systemic process improvement methodology; Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control ( DMAIC). used Cause and Effect Diagram, Cause and Effect Matrix and FMEA for selecting factors which affect to the percentage of moisture. The 3k Factorial Design method was used to determine the factors that affect significantly the fuel moisture content. The result showed decrease in average moisture content from 10% to 23.74%, thereby increasing the heating value to be 4,028 MJ/ton/month, decreasing the average cost of biomass drying process from 0.147 baht/MJ to 0.122 baht/MJ. The total cost of reduction valued 4,583,028 baht/year.