Bio mass & Bio fuels

R.Somasundaram M.Tech
Topics to be taught
• Bio mass: 5 hours • Process heat & electricity.
• Principles of using bio mass. Availability. Economics. • Pyrolysis..
• Solid, liquid and gases
• Bio fuels 12 hours • Hydrogen reduction.
• Acid & enzyme hydrolysis.
• Introduction. • Conversion of oil (coco) to Ester.
• Bio fuel classification. • Methanol liquid alcohol fermentation.
• Thermo chemical. • Directly from sugar cane sugar beet.
• Biochemical. Agrochemical. • Starch crops.
• Bio mass production for energy farming. • Cellulose.
• Ethanol fuel use.
• Energy farming advantages & disadvantages.
• Ethanol production.
• Geographical distribution.
• Anaerobic digestion for biogas-basic process & energetics.
• Crop yield.
• Digester sizing.
• Energy analysis.
• Working digester.
• Direct combustion for heat.
• Agrochemical fuel extraction- advantages & disadvantages
• Domestic cooling & heating.
• Crop drying.
Bio mass
• All kinds of organic matters from
fuel wood to marine vegetation.
• It is renewable in the sense that
bio-mass renews naturally and adds
to itself in a very short span of time.
(in a year or less)
• It is renewable so long as it is grown
at the same rate of its consumption.
• It is also another form of solar
energy as plants grow by
photosynthesis process using solar
energy
• Sources of bio-mass:
Selective cultivation of energy
efficient crops depending on their
fuel content.
Organic waste such as municipal
solid wastes, timber waste &
sewage sludge.
Residues left as plant materials in
the field and forests.
• Examples: sugar cane, maize,
potatoes, grasses, shrubs,
sunflower, soya been etc.
 Bio-mass as source of energy
• Advantages:
It is a renewable energy.
Reduced emission of
greenhouse gases
Less ash content in comparison
with coal.
• Disadvantages:
Low density of availability 400-
600Kg/m3
Large volumes of storage.
High transportation costs.
Wide variation of source e.g. saw
dust to tree trunk.
Higher moisture content needing
some energy to dry them up.
 Bio fuel
• Any hydrocarbon fuel that is
produced from carbonic matter
(living or once living matter) in a
short period of time ( days, weeks
or months can be called as biofuel.
• Biofuels burn cleaner resulting few
green housing gas and nil
particulate emissions.
• It is sulphur free
• It is biodegradable. i.e. even if there
is any spillage it is not harmful as
compared with fossil fuel.
• Classification :
• I generation: food crops explicitly
grown for fuel production e.g.
eucalyptus
• II generation: fuel manufactured
from biomass. e.g. solid sewage
waste, grass etc.
• III generation: oil rich Algae
• IV generation: they are meant to
store electrical energy from
renewable sources in the chemical
bonds of liquid/gas fuels. e.g.
Butanol, hydrogen etc.
• Energy crops which are low-cost and Energy farming
comparatively maintenance fee are
grown solely for energy production (not
for food).
• The crops are processed into solid, liquid
or gaseous fuels, such as pellets,
bioethanol or biogas.
• These fuels may be burnt to generate
power or heat.
• They are grown on poor agricultural land.
• Hybrid variety may give higher yield.
• Example of woody plants is elephant
grass
• Advantages:
They don’t emit any Sulphur
Provides rural employment. ENERGY FARMING
Waste land can be converted into
fertile land. • Disadvantages:
These crops release oxygen while Additional work is needed to
consuming carbon-di-oxide; so acting convert waste land into fertile
as carbon sink.
Land used for energy farming
When they absorb the same amount
may be in demand for other
of CO2 they release during
consumption, they are called as
purposes like factory/ housing
carbon neutral fuel source. etc.
Less money spent than traditional They are considered to sap the
farming. entire soil energy
STAGES OF ENERGY FARMING
INPUTS PRODUCTION HARVEST
LABOR
PRIMARY TILLAGE
MACHINARY
HANDLING
SEEDS SECONDARY TILLAGE

FERTILIZERS SOWING
MANURE TRANSPORTATION
IRRIGATION
PESTICIDES
ELECTRICITY CULTIVATION
DRYING
IRRIGATION
PESTICIDE/FERTILIZER APPLICATION STOWAGE
DIESL/FUEL
Refined bio-fuel

• Fuel value of bio fuel is less due to presence of moisture in them.

• Bio-mass can be used to give the stored energy by direct combustion
after necessary drying process.
• Conversion of bio-mass into liquid or gas form will make it more
convenient to use along with conventional fuels.
• It has the advantage that
Very little or no modification is required in the existing system
Refined bio-fuel has more calorific value
Storage for long periods without degradation is possible
Ease of transportation.
Bio-mass conversion technology
• Direct combustion:
No chemicals added to process i.e. they can be burnt alone or in
conjunction with other fuels like coal or oil.
Wood, straw etc. can be directly burnt for cooking, space heating.
Sugarcane refute is used as fuel in sugar industry.
It takes place at high temperature in the range of 850°C and above.
• Pyrolysis: It is the thermal decomposition of organic matter in the
absence of oxygen.
• It is a relatively slow chemical reaction to convert biomass into more
useful fuel such as carbon rich solid residue.
Other Bio-mass conversion technology

• Thermochemical conversion:
Gasification: bio- mass is heated with limited oxygen to produce
gases.
 Liquefaction: bio-mass is reacted in presence of steam & oxygen to
produce methanol or ethanol.
• Biochemical conversion:
Anaerobic digestion: microbiological activity in the absence of air.
Fermentation: grains and sugarcane are converted into ethanol under
the influence of ferments like yeast, enzymes
• Pyrolysis does not involve reaction Pyrolysis
with oxygen, water or any other
reagents.
• They operate at around 500°C
• It needs a source of heat.
• End products are char ( a
combination of non-combustible
material and carbon) and a
synthetic gas.
• The gas itself may have CO2 , CO,
hydrogen, methane etc.
• The gas can be suitably cooled and
condensed to produce liquid i.e.
bio-oil.
Bio gas generation
• Decomposition of animal, plant and
human waste in the absence of
oxygen by anaerobic bacteria
digesting them to produce bio gas.
• Main composition is 30-45% CO 50-
70% methane and the reminder
H2S,H2 & N2
• Bio gas has a calorific value of 5000
Kcal/Kg.
• The solid waste is a rich source of
nitrogen which is used as fertilizer.
• Bio gas can be generated by
digestion, pyrolysis or
hydrogasification.
• Digestion is a process using
anaerobic bacteria.
• Aerobic bacteria’s main products
are CO2, NH3
• Anaerobic bacteria is used for bio
gas generation with an optimum
temperature range of 35-38°C
BIO GAS GENERATION BY ANAEROBIC DIGESTION- SITE SELECTION

• The digester needs plenty of water to dispose the slurry content.

• 10-15 m2 of area is required for each m3of gas produced.
• Digester to be away from wells and close to the user.
• It must have good sunlight for optimum generation of gas.
Digester sizing
• The size depends on the retention period. e.g. cow-buffalo dung takes
50 days to pig dung within 20days.
• A slurry is prepared from dry dung on 1: 1 ratio between wet dung to
water. 4:1 ratio is maintained to convert dry dung into wet.
• 10% volume is provided for gas accumulation.
• Loading rate of raw material to maintain pH level (7-7.5 pH value is
maintained for sewage solids with a loading rate of 0.5-1.6
Kg/m3/day).
Types of gas plants

• Though there are many types available in the market, the main types
are
Continuous and batch types
Dome and drum types
• In continuous type, raw materials are continuously added and the
process goes on except for maintenance schedules.
• Batch type works with a stock of fermented slurry to start the
process.
Batch type

• It is suitable where daily supply of raw material is difficult to be

obtained.
• It is charged at 50-60 day interval.
• It starts supplying the gas after 10-15 days till the process of complete
digestion (around 45 days)
• Gas production is uneven.
• Several digesters are required.
• Requires large digesters and so initial cost is very high.
• Dome and drum type has (i) floating gas holder and (ii) fixed dome
digester plant
Gas holder is separate from the digester .
Plant has a steel drum to collect gas. Steel drum is replaced by a fixed
Digestion takes place inside a masonry well dome roof of masonary work.
Fixed dome type
Digester sizing
• It depends on rate of energy to be
produced, calorific value of the
fuel, retention time of biomass,
volatile solid concentration of
feedstock, slurry temperature and
combustion efficiency of the
burner.
• Burner efficiency (ηc) heat of
combustion of methane gas (Hm),
fraction of methane in biogas (Fm),
volume of biogas (Vb), then total
energy available, E= ηc Hm Fm Vb
• Again say C is biogas per unit dry
mass of whole input and mo is
the mass, Vb = Cmo
• Volume of fluid Vf= m/Pmo
• Volume of the dome, Vd= Vf.tr
where tr is the retention time.
Calorific value of methane is taken
as 28 MJ/m3 at STP
Slurry temperature can be
assumed to be 30⁰ C
Gasifier
• Gasification is the decomposition of a
solid (e.g. wood) by a reactive gas (e.g.
air) to obtain a gaseous fuel.
• It is in between pyrolysis and direct
combustion.
• It involves partial oxidation by allowing
oxygen in small quantity at around 650°C.
• Some heat is needed to initiate and
sustain the gasification process.
• The main product is synthetic gas.
• During this process, biomass is subjected
to four successive thermochemical
phenomena : drying, pyrolysis, oxidation
and reduction.
• Drying: The fuel moisture is removed
by evaporation by an endothermic
process at temperature between 100
°C -160 °C.
• Pyrolysis: As the temperature of the
solid increases, gases are generated
by dry biomass from 250 °C. 
• Oxidation: Oxidation is the phase that
provides heat for the three phases of
the gasification process.
• Reduction: the solid residue, coke
reacts with water vapour and carbon
dioxide, thereby forming hydrogen
and carbon monoxide.
Classification of gasifier

• Depending upon the inlet of air into the gasifier and combustion of
the fuel and outlet of generated gas, they can be classified as
Updraft gasifier
Down draft gasifier
Cross draft Gasifier
Types of Gasifier
Ethanol production

• Corn or sugar cane plants are

the main sources. We may
also get it from potato, hemp
etc.
• During fermentation, which
takes place in an aqueous
medium, glucose and other
sugars are converted into
ethanol and CO2
• After fermentation the mash
is heated called as distillation
to drive out the ethanol.
• Thereafter the water content
is removed by dehydration.
Use of ethanol as fuel

• Ethanol can be used as an alternate fuel for spark ignition engines

though they have low mileage. (its volumetric energy content is 34%
as compared to petrol)
• It can be use as a blend from E10 –E85
ENERGY PLANTATION/ENERGY FARMING

• Energy plantation is the process of harvesting energy from plants.

• Plants with higher fuel value may be selectively grown to produce bio
fuel. e.g. eucalyptus.
• Such plants serve as solar energy storage device.
• Such stored energy can be released at temperatures comparable with
fossil fuels.
Carbon recycling international

• Carbon Recycling International is an Icelandic limited liability

company which has developed a technology designed to produce
methanol from carbon-di-oxide and hydrogen.
• It uses water electrolysis process.
• Alternatively, hydrogen is captured from industrial waste gases. The
technology is trademarked by CRI as Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) and
the renewable methanol produced by CRI is trademarked as Vulcanol.
• In 2011 CRI became the first company to produce and sell liquid
renewable transport fuel produced using only carbon dioxide, water
and electricity from renewable sources.