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Pleat Study
Pleat is a rich organic sediment that’s produced in swamps due to the partial decomposition of plants. In 1984, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s scientists, with financing of the Interamerican Development Bank (BID) , located some pleat deposits in Costa Rica. The extension of these studies in Panama in 1985 with the financing of the Agency for the International Development (AID) and participation of the study department of the laid IRHE resulted in the discovery of a large potential and high quality pleat deposit, near Changuinola, in the northeast of Panama.
An economic preliminary evaluation reveals that the production costs of electric energy in a facility that uses pleat in Changuinola could be competitive with the costs of using charcoal or oil. This conclusion is valid with any of the different combinations of mining techniques and boiler types.
Study meaning:
Changuinola and the near communities aren’t right now connected to the national electrical network of Panama. The energy supply is made with diesel based generating plants.
The Changuinola pleat deposit holds a territory of more than 80 km2, with an average thickness of 8m. From its geometric and composition analyses, we estimate the usable pleat resource for combustible on 118 million metric tons (with humidity content of 35%)
This is a big pleat reservoir, compared with other in the world, being able to supply fuel for a 30 MW facility for over 30 years.
The pleat deposits are rarely uniform on their chemical an physics properties. On the contrary they’re almost always composed by different layers of matter. Two meaningful properties of pleat that affect its energetic usage are the ashes content (non burnable waste) and its sulfur content (contamination source).
Summary of the results of the test in pleat in Changuinola
| Pleat type | Juncia.grass-bracken (grass), species of the type sagitarius and others, swampy forest, ninfeaceous sagitarius (water lilies), rizoforo, transition |
| Fibre content | 26% fibre, 58% hémico, 16% sáprico (central region) |
| Fixed charcoal | 34% (average of dry weight) |
| Volatile matter | 62% (average of dry weight) |
| Ashes | 4% (average of dry weight) |
| Organic Matter | 96% (average of dry weight) |
| Humidity | 85% to 95% (approximate variation) |
| Calorific value | 10,000 Btu/lb(average dry) / 8,824 a 11,310 Btu/lb variation |
| pH | 3.5 to 4.8 approximate variation in central area |
| Total density | 0.1g/cm3 (approx.) |
| Wood content | Negligible |
| Absorbency (water retention capacity) | From 1400% to 2400% (approx.) |
| Ash fusion temperature | 2270 ºF Starting temperature reducting conditions 2310 ºF Starting temperature oxidation conditions 2640 ºF Fluid reducting conditions 2670 ºF Oxidation conditions |
Comparisson of the European pleat with the Changuinola pleat
| Quality Category | European Pleat | Changuinola Pleat |
| Fibre content | Hemicas prevail | Hemicas prevail |
| Ash content (% dry weight) | 2% to 10% | Less than 2% most of the deposit ( 4% average) |
| Sulfur content (% dry weight) | Less than 0.2% | Less than 2% |
| Rating dry BTU/lb | 8400 to 9200 | 8800 to 11000 (average 10000) |
| Thickness | Bigger than 2 m | 8 m (average) |
Reference: LANL report Pleat deposit in Changuinola in the northeast of Panama.