BIOMASS

AND
BIOFUELS

Biomass:
The material of plants and animals, including their wastes and
residues, is called biomass.
It is organic, carbon-based, material that reacts with oxygen in
combustion and natural metabolic processes to release heat.
Heat, especially if at temperatures >400oC, may be used to generate
work and electricity.
Biofuels:
The initial material may be transformed by chemical and biological
processes to produce biofuels, i.e. biomass processed into a more
convenient form, particularly liquid fuels for transport.
Methane gas, liquid ethanol, oils etc. are some examples.
Bioenergy:
The term bioenergy is sometimes used to cover biomass and biofuels
together.

Worlds Total Installed Electricity

Generation Capacity: 5331.045 GW
International Energy Statistics (2011)

Domestic Use:
Biomass provides about 13% of mankinds energy consumption, including
much for domestic use in developing countries but also significant amounts
in mature economies; this percentage is comparable to that of fossil gas.
The domestic use of biofuel as wood, dung and plant residues for cooking is
of prime importance for about 50% of the worlds population.
Industrial Use
The industrial use of biomass energy is currently comparatively small for
most countries, except in a few sugarcane-producing countries where crop
residues (bagasse) burnt for process heat may be as much as 40% of
national commercial supply.
In some industrialized countries, the increasing use of biomass and wastes
for heat and electricity generation is becoming significant, e.g. USA (about
2% of all electricity at 11 GWe capacity); Germany (at 0.5 GWe capacity)
and in several countries for co-firing with coal.

CO2 Associated with Biomass:

If biomass is to be considered renewable, growth must at least keep pace
with use.
The firewood consumption and forest clearing is significantly outpacing tree
growth in ever increasing areas of the world.
The carbon in biomass is obtained from CO2 in the atmosphere via
photosynthesis.
When biomass is burnt or digested, the emitted CO2 is recycled into the
atmosphere, so not adding to atmospheric CO2 concentration over the
lifetime of the biomass growth.
Energy from biomass is carbon neutral. This contrasts with the use of fossil
fuels, from which extra CO2 is added to the atmosphere.
The heat energy available in combustion ranges from about 8 MJ/kg
(undried green wood) and 15 MJ/kg (dry wood), to about 40 MJ/kg (fats
and oils) and 56 MJ/kg (methane).

Natural & Managed Biomass Systems

Natural and Managed Biomass Systems

Principles of Successful Biomass Systems

1. Every biomass activity produces a wide range of products and services. For
instance where sugar is made from cane, many commercial products can be
obtained from the otherwise waste molasses and fiber. If the fiber is burnt,
then any excess process heat can be used to generate electricity. Washings and
ash can be returned to the soil as fertilizer.
2. Some high-value fuel products may require more low-value energy to
manufacture than they produce, e.g. ethanol from starch crops & hydrogen.
Despite the energy ratio being >1, such an energy deficiency need not be an
economic handicap provided that process energy can be available cheaply by
consuming otherwise waste material, e .g. straw, crop fiber, forest trimmings.
3. Biofuel production is only likely to be economic if the production process
uses materials already concentrated, probably as a by-product and so available
at low cost or as extra income for the treatment and removal of waste.

Principles of Successful Biomass Systems

4. Biofuels are organic materials, so there is always the alternative of using
these materials as chemical feedstock. For instance, palm oil is an important
component of soaps; many plastic and pharmaceutical goods are made from
natural products.
5. Poorly controlled biomass processing or combustion can certainly produce
unwanted pollution, especially from relatively low temperature combustion,
wet fuels and lack of oxygen supply to the combustion regions. Modern
biomass processes require considerable care and expertise.
6. The use of sustainable biofuels in place of fossil fuels abates the emission of
fossil-CO2 and so reduces the forcing of climate change.
7. The main dangers of extensive biomass fuel use are deforestation, soil
erosion and the displacement of food crops by fuel crops.

Biofuel Classification
Moisture Content:
If m is the total mass of the material as it is and m0 is the mass when
completely dried,
Dry basis moisture content
w = mm0/m0
Wet basis moisture content
w = mm0/m
When harvested, the wet basis moisture content of plants is commonly
50%, and may be as large as 90% in aquatic algae including seaweed (kelps).
The presence of moisture in biomass fuel usually leads to a significant loss
in useful thermal output because evaporation uses 2.3 MJ/kg of water and
the subsequently reduced combustion temperature increases smoke and air
pollution.
Classification of Carbon-Based Fuels:
These are classified by their reduction level.
When biomass is converted to CO2 and H2O, the energy made available is
about 460 kJ per mole of carbon (38 MJ per kg of carbon nearly equal to 16
MJ per kg of dry biomass), per unit of reduction level R.

Biofuel Classification
Sugars (R = 1) have a heat of combustion of about 450 kJ per 12 g of carbon
content.
Fully reduced material, e.g. methane CH4 (R = 2) has a heat of combustion
of about 890 kJ per 12 g of carbon.
Following are the three broad classes of biomass energy process. Each class is
further divided into subclasses.
A: Thermochemical Heat:
1- Combustion:
It involves direct combustion for immediate heat.
Dry homogeneous input is preferred
2- Pyrolysis:
Biomass is heated either in the absence of air or by the partial combustion
of some of the biomass in a restricted air or oxygen supply.
Based on the temperature, type of input material and treatment process,
the products consist of gases, vapors, liquids and oils.

Biofuel Classification
3- Thermochemical Processes:
These involve sophisticated chemical control and industrial scale of
manufacture; methanol production is such a process, e.g. for liquid fuel.
B: Biochemical:
1- Aerobic Digestion:
In the presence of air, biomass generates heat with the emission of CO2, but
not methane.
This process is of great significance for the biological carbon cycle, e.g.
decay of forest litter, but is not used significantly for commercial bioenergy.
2- Anaerobic Digestion:
In the absence of free oxygen, certain micro-organisms can obtain their own
energy supply by reacting with carbon compounds of medium reduction
level to produce both CO2 and fully reduced carbon as CH4.
Other names of this processes are fermentation and digestion.
The product of digestion is biogas.

Biofuel Classification
3- Alcoholic Fermentation:
Ethanol is a volatile liquid fuel and may be used in place of refined
petroleum.
Ethanol can be produced with fermentation process.
4- Biophotolysis:
Photolysis is the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen by the action
of light.
Commercial exploitation of these effects has not yet occurred.
C: Agrochemical:
1- Fuel Extraction:
Occasionally, liquid or solid fuels may be obtained directly from living or
freshly cut plants.
Production of natural rubber latex is a well known similar process.

Biofuel Classification
2- Biodiesel and Esterification:
Rudolph Diesel designed his original 1892 engine to run on variety of fuels,
including natural plant oils.
High viscosity and combustion deposits as compared to petroleum-baed
diesel fuel are the difficulties.
To overcome these difficulties, vegetable oil is converted to the
corresponding ester.

Biofuels Production Processes

Biofuel Production Processes

Energy Farming:
Energy Farming means the production of fuels or energy as a main or
subsidiary product of agriculture (fields), silviculture (forests),
aquaculture (fresh and sea water), and also of industrial or social
activities that produce organic waste residues, e.g. food processing,
urban refuse.
It is found best to integrate the energy and biofuel production with
crop or other biomass material products.
Example:
Energy farming in the sugarcane industry; the process depends upon
the combustion of the crushed cane residue (bagasse) for powering the
mill and factory operations. With efficient machinery there should be
excess energy for the production and sale of by-products, e.g. molasses,
chemicals, animal feed, ethanol, fibre board and electricity. Commonly
the ethanol becomes a component of transport fuel and the excess
electricity is sold to the local grid.

Sugar Cane Agro-Industry

Sugar cane argo-industry; process flow diagram

Advantages & Disadvantages of Energy Farming

Advantages

Large potential supply of fuels and energy intensive products

Variety of crops
Variety of uses (including transport fuel and electricity generation)
Efficient use of by-products, residues and wastes
Link with established agriculture and forestry encourages integrated farming
practice
Establishes agro-industry that may include full range of technical processes, with
the need for skilled and trained personnel
Environmental improvement by utilizing wastes
Fully integrated and efficient systems need have little water and air pollution (e.g.
low sulfur content)
Encourages rural development
Diversifies the economy with respect to product, location and employee skill
Greatest potential is in tropical countries.

Disadvantages:

May lead to soil infertility and erosion

Variety of crops may compete with food production
Bulky biomass material handicaps transport to the processing factory
Pollutant emissions from poorly controlled processes
Poorly designed and incompletely integrated systems may pollute water
and air
Large-scale agro-industry may be socially disruptive
Foreign capital may not be in sympathy with local or national benefit
A major disadvantage is that energy crops may substitute for necessary food
production. For example, the grain farms of the United States grow about 10%
of the worlds cereal crops, and export about one-third of this. A sudden
change to producing biofuels, e.g. ethanol from corn, on a large scale would
therefore decrease world food supplies before alternatives could be
established.

Possible Remedies:
The obvious strategy to avoid these drawbacks:
(a) To always grow plants that can supply both human foods (e.g. grain) and
energy (e.g. straw)
(b) To decrease dramatically the feeding of animals from crops
(c) To use all resources more efficiently.

Alcoholic Fermentation
Alcohol Production Methods:
Ethanol C2H5OH is produced using following sources:
1- Directly from sugarcane: Commercial sucrose is removed from the cane
juices, and the remaining molasses used for the alcohol production process.
yeast
C12H22O11 + H2O
4C2H5OH + 4CO2
2- From Sugar Beet: Sugar beet is a mid latitude root crop for obtaining major
supplies of sugar.
3- From Starch Crops: Starch crops, e.g. grain and cassava can be hydrolyzed to
sugars. Starch is composed of chains of glucose units, made by plants and
providing a major energy source for animals.
4- From Cellulose: cellulose comprises about 40% of all biomass dry matter.
Apart from its combustion as part of wood, cellulose is potentially a primary
material for ethanol production on a large scale by hydrolysis process.

Alcoholic Fermentation

Ethanol production

Biogas
Biogas is a mixture of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) evolved from
digesters, including waste and sewage pits; to utilize this gas, the digesters are
constructed and controlled to favor methane production and extraction.
Energy Availability:
The energy available from the combustion of biogas is between 60 and 90% of
the dry matter heat of combustion of the input material.
Processes Involved:
Decaying biomass and animal wastes are broken down naturally to elementary
nutrients and soil humus by decomposer organisms, fungi and bacteria. The
processes are favored by wet, warm and dark conditions. The final stages are
accomplished by many different species of bacteria classified as either aerobic
or anaerobic.
In closed conditions, with no oxygen available from the environment,
anaerobic bacteria exist by breaking down carbohydrate material. The carbon
may be ultimately divided between fully oxidised CO2 and fully reduced CH4.
Nutrients such as soluble nitrogen compounds remain available in solution, so
providing excellent fertilizer and humus.

Biogas Systems
Simple oil drum gas digester

Digesters at higher temperatures proceeds more rapidly

than at lower temperatures, with gas yield rates doubling
at about every 5oC of increase.

Biogas Systems
Indian gobar gas digester

Biogas Systems
Chinese Dom digester

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