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Energy Engineering

Biomass Energy
Photosynthesis, Photosynthetic oxygen production, Energy plantation, Biogas
production from organic wastes by anaerobic fermentation, Classification of bio gas plants,
Factors affecting bio gas generation, Thermo chemical conversion on bio mass, Types of
gasifiers.
Introduction:
Biomass is the organic matter derived from biological organisms (Terrestrial &
Aquatic) and their derivatives. Such materials can be burned directly to produce heat or
power, but can also be converted into biofuels. It includes forest crops and residues, crops
grown especially for their energy content on "energy farms" and animal manure. Unlike coal,
oil and natural gas, which takes millions of years to form, biomass can be considered a
renewable energy source because plant life renews and adds to itself every year. It can also
be considered a form of solar energy as the latter is used indirectly to grow these plants by
photosynthesis.
Biomass means organic matter and photo-chemical approach to harness solar energy
means harnessing of solar energy by photosynthesis. Solar energy is stored in the form of
Chemical energy. Hence Solar energy- Photosynthesis- Biomass- Energy generation.
Out of several sources of renewable energy like solar, wind, ocean thermal energy, tidal wave
energy, Geothermal energy, nuclear energy, energy through biomass are important feature
in our country. Biomass resources fall into following categories;
(i) Biomass in its traditional solid mass (wood and agriculture residue)
(ii) Biomass in non-traditional form (converted into liquid fuels).
(iii) Ferment the biomass anaerobically to obtain a gaseous fuel called bio-gas
The first category is to burn the biomass directly and get the energy. "In the second category,
the biomass is converted into ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and methanol (methyl-alcohol) to be
used as liquid fuels in engines. Biomass includes wood waste and bagasse, which have
potential of generating substantial electric power. All these bio-mass are highly dispersed and
bulky and contain large amounts of water (50 to 90 per cent). Thus, it is not economical to
transport them over long distances, and conversion into usable energy must take place close
to the source, which is limited to particular regions. However, biomass can be converted to
liquid or gaseous fuels, thereby increasing its energy density and making feasible
transportation over long distances.
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Terrestrial crops include (1) sugar crops such as sugarcane and sweet sorghum; (2)
herbaceous crops, which are non-woody plants that are easily converted into liquid or
gaseous fuels; (3) silvi culture (forestry) plants such as cultured hybrid poplar, sycamore,
sweet gum, alder, eucalyptus, and other hard woods. Current research focuses on the
screening and identification of species that are available for short rotation growing and on
the optimum techniques for plant mg, fertilization, harvesting, and conversion. Animal and
human waste are indirect crops from which methane for combustion and ethylene (used in
the plastic industry) can be produced while retaining the fertilizer value of the manure.
Aquatic crops are grown in fresh, sea, and brackish waters. Both submerged and emergent
plants are considered, including sea weeds, marine algae, and of particular interest, the giant
California kelp.
Bio gas or methane is produced by the anaerobic decomposition of organic materials.
This gas is produced from cow dung and other wastes such as cornhusks, leaves, straw,
garbage, flesh of carcusses, poultry droppings, pig dung, human excreta and sewage. Aquatic
biomass is another source to produce methane gas. It has been estimated that about two
lakh hectares of land is covered by water hyacinth spreading West Bengal, Bihar, Assam,
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Kerala. It can absorb 80% of nitrogen and 60% of
phosphorus from the secondary effluent in 5 days. The yield is 148 tonnes per hectare per
year. A huge quantity of agriculture residues are available in the country which go waste
every year. Against the total agricultural waste which could be around 200 million tonnes, the
actual consumption as fuel might be around 40 million tonnes. It has been estimated that
even for the smallest gas plant (2 cu. m.), one should have a regular supply of 45 kg of fresh
dung every day. The animal should preferably be stable bound otherwise the dung would be
lost in the pasture. The family size gas plant will cook a day's meals for a-small family. The
rate of gas production will be highest if the mixture in the digester contains solids between 7-
9 per cent. Cow dung originally contain about 18% of solids The bio-gas can also be used to
run diesel engines which operate with the mixture of bio gas and diesel oil it can reduce the
consumption of diesel oil by about 80% and engine run faster by 43% of extra power with this
mixture.

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Energy Engineering

Photosynthesis:
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to
convert light energy, normally from the Sun, in to chemical energy that can be
later released to fuel the organisms' activities (energy transformation). This chemical energy
is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon
dioxide and water hence the name photosynthesis, from the Greek latter, phs, "light", and
synthesis, "putting together".

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Energy Engineering

Most plants, most algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms
are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis maintains atmospheric oxygen levels and
supplies all of the organic compounds and most of the energy necessary for life on Earth.
Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the process
always begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called reaction centres that
contain green chlorophyll pigments. In plants, these proteins are held
inside organelles called chloroplasts, which are most abundant in leaf cells, while in bacteria
they are embedded in the plasma membrane. In these light-dependent reactions, some
energy is used to strip electrons from suitable substances, such as water, producing oxygen
gas. The hydrogen freed by water splitting is used in the creation of two further compounds:
reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), the "energy currency" of cells.
In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, sugars are produced by a subsequent sequence of
light-independent reactions called the Calvin cycle. In the Calvin cycle, atmospheric carbon
dioxide is incorporated into already existing organic carbon compounds, such as ribulose
bisphosphate (RuBP). Using the ATP and NADPH produced by the light-dependent reactions,
the resulting compounds are then reduced and removed to form further carbohydrates, such
as glucose. Photosynthesis nourishes almost all the living world directly or indirectly.
Photosynthesis converts light energy to the chemical energy of food
All green parts of a plant have chloroplasts.However, the leaves are the major site of
photosynthesis for most plants.There are about half a million chloroplasts per square
millimeter of leaf surface.The color of a leaf comes from chlorophyll, the green pigment in
the chloroplasts.Chlorophyll plays an important role in the absorption of light energy during
photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are found mainly in mesophyll cells forming the tissues in the
interior of the leaf.O2 exits and CO2 enters the leaf through microscopic pores called stomata
in the leaf.Veins deliver water from the roots and carry off sugar from mesophyll cells to
nonphotosynthetic areas of the plant.
The equation describing the process of photosynthesis is:
6CO2 + 12H2O + light energy --> C6H12O6 (Glucose) + 6O2+ 6H2O
Water appears on both sides of the equation because 12 molecules of water are consumed,
and 6 molecules are newly formed during photosynthesis.
We can simplify the equation by showing only the net consumption of water:
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6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy --> C6H12O6 + 6O2


The overall chemical change during photosynthesis is the reverse of cellular respiration.In its
simplest possible form:
CO2 + H2O + light energy --> [CH2O] + O2
[CH2O] represents the general formula for a sugar.
Note : One of the first clues to the mechanism of photosynthesis came from the discovery
that the O2 given off by plants comes from H2O, not CO2.Before the 1930s, the prevailing
hypothesis was that photosynthesis split carbon dioxide and then added water to the carbon:
Step 1: CO2 --> C + O2 ; Step 2: C + H2O --> CH2O

Energy Plantation:
Technically speaking, energy plantation means growing select species of trees and
shrubs which are harvestable in a comparably shorter time and are specifically meant for
fuel. It is the Method of tapping maximum solar energy by growing plants. Energy farms are
ideal solar collectors requiring virtually no maintenance, it is economical and non-polluting.
It uses an established technology and it stores energy. Photosynthesis occurring in naturally,
stores more than ten times much energy annually, in plant farm than is consumed by all
mankind. But very little of this energy is tapped.

The attractive features of energy plantations are:


(a) Heat content of wood is similar to that of Indian coal
(b) Wood is low in sulphur and not likely to pollute the atmosphere
(c) Ash from burnt wood is a valuable fertilizer
(d) Utilization of erosion prone land for raising these plantations helps to reduce wind and
water erosion, thereby minimizing hazards from floods, siltation, and loss of nitrogen and
minerals from soil
(e) Help in rural employment generation

In India about 23% of total land area is under forests. Area under the social forestry
of quick growing trees has increased. Fuel wood accounts for about 60% of all energy
consumed in the country, Social forestry program comprises the schemes (a) mixed
plantation on waste lands, and (b) reforestration of degraded forests. Jojaba an ever green
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Energy Engineering

shrub around 1.7 m in height grows wild in the semi-arid region of Mexico and U.S.A Its
seeds contain about 50 to 80% of oil and its plantation in U.S.A and Israel has been
successfully done providing 1,420 plants per hectare producing 1970 kg of dry seed per
annum. Ethyl alcohol, the most promising compound, for mixing with gasoline, can be easily
prepared from the starch and carbohydrates available from plants on other sources of bio-
mass. Sycamore is a promising tree that yield upto 16 tons/acre per year. A harvested
sycamore produces a number of sprouts that are themselves ready for harvesting in 2 to 3
years. The utilization of bio gas as a source of energy goes back to the beginning of this
century when sewage sludge was anaerobically digested and the resulting gas collected and
utilized in the sewage treatment plant itself for heating the sludge during digestion. The
idea of production of bio gas from domestic and farm-yard wastes and its utilization in rural
areas as a source of energy originated in India the late thirties with the khadi movement
which was concerned with the scale of tree felling in rural areas for the fire wood. It was
also argued that burning of the cow dung cakes is wasteful of a valuable resource which
could be better utilized for fertilizing the fields. Anaerobic digestion of the wastes results
not only in valuable bio gas production but also in a slurry whose fertilizer value is almost
intact or even better since the fertilizing components in the digested slurry are directly
utilizable by plants.
Under the Biomass programme energy plantation projects have been taken up with
a view to fulfill the needs of fuel, fodder, and power generation together with good
potential for rural employment. Very encouraging results have been obtained in production
of fast growing species of biomass in arid areas. The department of non-conventional
energy sources (DNES) has taken up projects worth 5 MW aggregate capacity split into
mechanical and electrical application systems through gasifiers/stirling engines working on
biomass at various locations in the country under a demonstration programme. Indigeneous
capacity has been created for manufacturing gasifiers and stirling engines for generation of
energy from various types of biomass.

Biomass Conversion Technologies


A wide variety of conversion technologies is available for ln manufacturing premium fuels
from biomass .Some are simple and well understood like digestion and fermentation; others
like gasification have been tested in large pilot plants and are now being commercialized.
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Each biomass resource-wood, dung, vegetable waste can be treated in many different
ways to provide a wide spectrum of useful products. Domestic refuse, for example, can be
dried and burnt to provide heat or converted into low calorific value gas by 'pyrolysis'(heating
without air). Alternatively, it can be stirred into a slurry and digested to yield methane. Like-
wise, liquid and gaseous fuels such as methanol and methane can be manufactured by
several different routes and from a variety of feedstocks. The choice of the process is
determined by a number of factor like the location of the resource and its physical condition,
the economics of competing processes, and the availability of a suitable market for the
Product.
(1) Direct combustion, such as wood waste and bagasse (sugarcane refuge)
(2) Thermochemical conversion
(3) Biochemical conversion.

Thermochemical conversion:
(a) gasification
(b) Liquefaction,
Gasification takes place by heating the biomass with limited oxygen to produce low
heating value gas or by reacting it with steam and oxygen at high pressure and temperature

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Energy Engineering

to produce medium heating value gas. The latter may be used as fuel directly or used in
liquefaction by converting it to methanol (methyl alcohol CH30H), or ethanol (ethyl alcohol
CH3CH20H) or it may be converted to high heating value gas.
Biochemical conversion takes two forms. Anaerobic digestion and fermentation.
Anaerobic digestion: involves the microbial digestion of the Biomass. (An anaerobe is a
micro-organism that can live and grow without oxygen, it gets oxygen by, the decomposition
of matter containing it.) It has already been used on animal manure but it also possible with
other biomass. The process takes place at low temperature 65C, and requires a moisture
content of at least 80 percent. It Generate the gas consisting mostly of CO2 and methane
(CH4) with minimum impurities such as hyarogen Sulfide. The gas can be burn directly or
upgraded to synthetic natural gas.
Fermentation: It is the breakdown of complex molecules in organic compound under the
influence of a ferment such as yeast, bacteria, enzymes etc. Fermentation is a well-
establisbed and widly used technology.

Factors that affect generation of biogas.


(1) pH or the hydrogen-ion concentration
(2) Temperature
(3) Total solid content of the feed material
(4) Loading rate
(5) Seeding
(6) Uniform feeding
(7) Diameter to depth ratio
(8) Carbon to Nitrogen ratio
(9) Nutrients
(10) Mixing or stirring or agitation of the content of the digester
(11) Retention time or rate of feeding
(12) Type of feed stocks
(13) Toxicity due end product
(14) Pressure
(15) Acid accumulation inside the digester.

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Classification of Biogas Plants


Biogas plants are mainly classified as
(1) Continuous and batch types (as per the process).
(2) The dome and the drum types.
(3) Different variations in the drum type.

Figure: Fixed dome type of biogas plant

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Figure: Floating gas holder type of biogas plant

Raw materials required


Forms of biomass listed below may be used along with water.
Animal dung
Poultry wastes
Plant wastes ( Husk, grass, weeds etc.)
Human excreta
Industrial wastes(Saw dust, wastes from food processing industries)
Domestic wastes (Vegetable peels, waste food materials)
Principle
Biogas is produced as a result of anaerobic fermentation of biomass in the presence of water.
Construction
The biogas plant is a brick and cement structure having the following five sections:
Mixing tank present above the ground level.
Inlet chamber: The mixing tank opens underground into a sloping inlet chamber.
Digester: The inlet chamber opens from below into the digester which is a huge tank
with a dome like ceiling. The ceiling of the digester has an outlet with a valve for the
supply of biogas.
Outlet chamber: The digester opens from below into an outlet chamber.
Overflow tank: The outlet chamber opens from the top into a small over flow tank.
Working

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The various forms of biomass are mixed with an equal quantity of water in the mixing
tank. This forms the slurry.
The slurry is fed into the digester through the inlet chamber.
When the digester is partially filled with the slurry, the introduction of slurry is
stopped and the plant is left unused for about two months.
During these two months, anaerobic bacteria present in the slurry decomposes or
ferments the biomass in the presence of water.
As a result of anaerobic fermentation, biogas is formed, which starts collecting in the
dome of the digester.
As more and more biogas starts collecting, the pressure exerted by the biogas forces
the spent slurry into the outlet chamber.
From the outlet chamber, the spent slurry overflows into the overflow tank.
The spent slurry is manually removed from the overflow tank and used as manure for
plants.
The gas valve connected to a system of pipelines is opened when a supply of biogas is
required.
To obtain a continuous supply of biogas, a functioning plant can be fed continuously
with the prepared slurry.
Advantages of fixed dome type of biogas plant
Requires only locally and easily available materials for construction.
Inexpensive.
Easy to construct.

Floating gas holder type of biogas plant


Construction of the floating gas holder type plant
The floating gas holder type of biogas plant has the following chambers/ sections:
Mixing Tank - present above the ground level.
Digester tank - Deep underground well-like structure. It is divided into two chambers
by a partition wall in between.
It has two long cement pipes:
i) Inlet pipe opening into the inlet chamber for introduction of slurry.
ii) Outlet pipe opening into the overflow tank for removal of spent slurry.
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Gas holder - an inverted steel drum resting above the digester. The drum can move
up and down i.e., float over the digester. The gas holder has an outlet at the top
which could be connected to gas stoves.
Over flow tank - Present above the ground level.
Slurry (mixture of equal quantities of biomass and water) is prepared in the mixing
tank.
The prepared slurry is fed into the inlet chamber of the digester through the inlet
pipe.
The plant is left unused for about two months and introduction of more slurry is
stopped.
During this period, anaerobic fermentation of biomass takes place in the presence of
water and produces biogas in the digester.
Biogas being lighter rises up and starts collecting in the gas holder. The gas holder
now starts moving up.
The gas holder cannot rise up beyond a certain level. As more and more gas starts
collecting, more pressure begins to be exerted on the slurry.
The spent slurry is now forced into the outlet chamber from the top of the inlet
chamber.
When the outlet chamber gets filled with the spent slurry, the excess is forced out
through the outlet pipe into the overflow tank. This is later used as manure for plants.
The gas valve of the gas outlet is opened to get a supply of biogas.
Once the production of biogas begins, a continuous supply of gas can be ensured by
regular removal of spent slurry and introduction of fresh slurry.
Disadvantages of floating gas holder type biogas plant
Expensive
Steel drum may rust
Requires regular maintenance
Advantages of biogas as a fuel
High calorific value
Clean fuel
No residue produced
No smoke produced
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Non polluting
Economical
Can be supplied through pipe lines
Burns readily - has a convenient ignition temperature
Uses of biogas
Domestic fuel
For street lighting
Generation of electricity
Advantages of biogas plants
Reduces burden on forests and fossil fuels
Produces a clean fuel - helps in controlling air pollution
Provides nutrient rich (N & P) manure for plants
Controls water pollution by decomposing sewage, animal dung and human excreta.
Limitations of biogas plants
Initial cost of installation of the plant is high.
Number of cattle owned by an average family of farmers is inadequate to feed a
biogas plant.

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