PART - 3

Biomass Feedstock Generations

Biomass Cogeneration System

Efficiency = 87%

Efficiency = 55%
 What is Pyrolysis?
“Pyrolysis is thermal cracking in the absence of oxygen.”
Cedric Briens

“Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of organic material at elevated

temperatures, in the absence of gases such as air or oxygen.”
Greenpeace

Heat introduced, O2 excluded

An endothermic reaction

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical conversion technology used to produce energy from

biomass. It involves the heating of organic materials in the absence of reagents,
especially oxygen to achieve decomposition. When pyrolysis takes place in the
presence of water, it is called hydrous pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis of Biomass

HEAT

Vapour
Condensation

Biomass

7
Fast Pyrolysis
Process

(Electrostatic
Precipitator)
 The Organic Chemistry
Pyrolytic reaction using
cellulose:

Combustible Gas

Liquid Bio-Oil
Biochar

HEAT
3C6H10O5 C6H8O +8H2O +CH4+2CO+2CO2+ 7C
(Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate consisting
of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen)
Water of Pyrolysis 10
 Pyrolysis – Products
1) Intermediate products: Syngas, Charcoal
2) Main products (final products): Bio-oil and Bio-char
3) By products: Electricity and Thermal energy

Pyrolysis – By product
Some Advantages of Pyrolysis of Biomass

• Carbon neutrality
• Utilises otherwise waste biomass
• Potential to be self-sustaining energy-wise
• Increases bulk and energy density of
biomass
• Source of valuable chemicals
• Biomass source can be decoupled from the
energy utilisation

14
 Mode of Biomass Pyrolysis
Product yields (dry feed basis) for pyrolysis of wood

Mode Conditions Liquid Char Gas

Moderate temperature,
Fast pyrolysis 75% 12% 13%
short residence time

Low temperature, very

Slow Pyrolysis 30% 35% 35%
long residence time

High temperature, long

Gasification 5% 10% 85%
residence time.
A.V.Bridgwater

16
Carbonisation/ Slow Pyrolysis
Fast Pyrolysis
Essential features of a fast pyrolysis process:

• Very high heating and heat transfer rates, which require a

finely ground feed.
• Thermodynamically stable and easily achievable process.
• Product is obtained in less than 1 sec.
• Quenching (rapid cooling) of the pyrolysis vapours to give the
bio-oil product.
Bio-Oil
Energy efficiency of Bio-Oil

Applications of Bio-Oil
 The Challenges
For upgrading of bio-oil to transport fuels
• Low volatility
• Low heating value.
• High viscosity
• Corrosiveness
Every biomass is different!
• Coking

Alternatives to upgrading
• Gasification of bio-oil to syngas
• Combination of bio-oil with diesel

23
Bio-char
27
Organisation of Development Action and Maintainance (ODAM, Tamil Nadu),
with support from the Siemenpuu Foundation in Finland, conducted a series of
biochar field trials in Southern India using common feedstocks to produce the
biochar. And used it for farming purposes.
Part - 4
Gasification
Why biomass gasification?
 Biomass that can be used…
Very wide variety of feedstock can be used with simple processing in terms of
sizing and moisture reduction to less than 20%, bulk density of above 100 kgs/m3
& free flowing nature.

Agri-residues like Cotton / Shells of Arecanut,

Rice husk (as is basis &
Soyabean / Mustard stalks, Almond, Cashewnut,
no need to briquette)
Corn Cobs Groundnut, Coconut

Waste Wood, Wood chips,

Branches & Twigs Bamboo pieces & Pine
Plywood & Saw mill
needles
wastes

Sugarcane bagasse & Wild bushes and weeds Greening of waste lands
Sugarcane trash like Prosopis Juliflora, though production of
(briquetted) Lantana, Invader Bush etc. sturdy Energy species.
 Basic Process Chemistry
• Conversion of solid fuels into
combustible gas mixture
called producer gas (CO + H2
+ CH4)
• Involves partial combustion of
biomass

Distinct process in the gasifier viz.

• Drying
• Pyrolysis
• Combustion & Cracking
• Reduction
Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the application of heat to raw biomass, in an absence of air, so as
to break it down into charcoal and various tar gasses and liquids. It is
essentially the process of charring.

Drying
Drying is what removes the moisture in the biomass before it enters Pyrolysis.
All the moisture needs to be (or will be) removed from the fuel before any
above 100°C processes happen. All of the water in the biomass will get
vaporized out of the fuel at some point in the higher temp processes. Where
and how this happens is one of the major issues that has to be solved for
successful gasification. High moisture content fuel, and/or poor handling of the
moisture internally, is one of the most common reasons for failure to produce
clean gas.
Combustion
Combustion is the only net exothermic process of the Five Processes of Gasification; ultimately, all of
the heat that drives drying, pyrolysis, and reduction comes either directly from combustion, or is
recovered indirectly from combustion by heat exchange processes in a gasifier. Combustion can be
fueled by either the tar gasses or char from Pyrolysis.

Cracking
Cracking is the process of breaking down large complex molecules such as tar into lighter gases by
exposure to heat. This process is crucial for the production of clean gas that is compatible with an internal
combustion engine because tar gases condense into sticky tar that will rapidly foul the valves of an engine.
Cracking is also necessary to ensure proper combustion because complete combustion only occurs when
combustible gases thoroughly mix with oxygen. In the course of combustion, the high temperatures
produced decompose the large tar molecules that pass through the combustion zone.

Reduction
Reduction is the process of stripping oxygen atoms off
combustion products of hydrocarbon (HC) molecules, so
as to return the molecules to forms that can burn again.
Reduction is the direct reverse process of combustion.
Combustion is the combination of combustible gases with
oxygen to release heat, producing water vapor and
carbon dioxide as waste products. Reduction is the
removal of oxygen from these waste products at high
temperature to produce combustible gases. Combustion
and Reduction are equal and opposite reactions. In fact,
in most burning environments, they are both operating
simultaneously, in some form of dynamic equilibrium, with
repeated movement back and forth between the two
processes.
Producer Gas Properties
 Benefits…
• Green electricity.
• Use the systems to also generate steam, chilling, hot
water, hot air.
• High plant load factors (PLFs) about 80%.
• Quick and modular solutions with no pollution.
• Generate high energy, high value charcoal & biochar as
by-product.
Applications
1.2 MWe, Grid connected Power Plant using Agri-Residues as Biomass
Two major gasification process
Types of Gasification Processes
 Types of Commercial Gasifiers
Although there are various types of gasifers (gasification reactors), different in design
and operational characteristics, there are three main gasifier classifications into which
most of the commercially available gasifiers fall. These categories are as follows:

▪ Fixed-bed gasifiers (also referred as moving-bed gasifiers)

- Fixed-or moving-bed gasifiers include that of Lurgi and British Gas Lurgi (BGL).
▪ Entrained-flow gasifiers
- Commercial gasifiers of GE Energy, CB&I E-Gas™ and Shell SCGP are examples of
entrained-flow types.
▪ Fluidized-bed gasifiers
- Examples of fluidized-bed gasifiers include the catalytic gasifier technology being
commercialized by Great Point Energy, the Winkler gasifier, and the KBR
transport gasifiers.
 Moving bed gasification
Schematic of a moving bed gasifier with various processes at different levels and
variation of the coal and gas temperatures along the gasifier is shown in figure. Coal
which enters at top and moves downward through gravity is gasified by the upcoming
countercurrent air/oxygen and steam mixture. In this gasifier, the hot synthesis gas from
gasification zone is used to preheat and pyrolyze the downward flowing coal. With this
process the oxygen consumption is very low, but pyrolysis products are present in the
product syn gas. This gasifier operates on lump coal and outlet temperature of syn gas is
generally low.
 Characteristics
Moving-bed gasifiers share the following characteristics:

• Simplicity of gasifier configuration and operation

• High equipment efficiency

• Relatively low oxidant (oxygen or air) requirement

• Less complex feedstock preparation with the use of coarse coal particles

• Product gas at relatively low temperatures, thus no need for expensive high-temperature heat
recovery equipment

• Feedstock flexibility: suitable to handle coals with high reactivity and moisture

• High "cold-gas" thermal efficiency, when the heating value of the produced hydrocarbon liquids
is accounted for

• High methane content in product gas

• Limited ability to handle coal fines

• Caking coals require design modifications to the gasifier

• Long feedstock residence time in gasifier and slag flow characteristics require carefully
controlled feed size distribution for proper operation

• Hydrocarbon liquids such as tars and oils are produced; increased effort to clean produced gas
if it is used for applications other than direct heating

• Explosion hazard without careful process monitoring

 Entrained bed gasification
In entrained bed type gasification process, feed and oxygen enter in co-current flow. The feed is
grounded to a size of 100 µm or less to promote mass transfer and allow transport of solids using gas
flow. The key characteristics of entrained flow gasification is very high and uniform temperatures
(usually more than 1000°C) and the very short residence time of the fuel within the gasifier. Because of
the high temperatures, very high conversions are possible. The high temperature operation requires
high oxygen demand for these types of processes. Schematic of the operation of an entrained flow
gasifier and variation of the temperature of coal and gas along the gasifier are shown in figure. In
entrained flow gasification, ash is withdrawn in the molten form. Solids fed into the gasifier must be
very finely ground and homogeneous, which in turn means that entrained flow gasifiers are not suitable
for feed stocks such as biomass or wastes, which cannot be readily pulverised.
 Characteristics

Entrained-flow gasifiers typically exhibit the following characteristics:

• Fuel flexibility; can accept a variety of solid feedstocks

• Large oxidant requirements

• Can either be oxygen or air blown, but most commercial plants are oxygen blown

• Uniform temperature within the reactor

• Slagging operation

• Short reactor residence time

• High carbon conversion, but low cold gas efficiency

• High level of sensible heat in product gas, heat recovery is required to improve efficiency

• Environmentally most benign; produced syngas consists of mainly H2, CO and carbon dioxide
(CO2) with trace amount of other contaminants which can be removed downstream of the
reactor; glassy slag is inert and easily disposed
 Fluidized bed gasification
Schematic of a fluidized bed gasifier and variation of the temperatures of coal and gas along the gasifier
is shown in the figure. Fluidized bed gasification offers good mixing of coal and air/oxygen and steam
mixture, which promotes both heat and mass transfer. This ensures an even distribution of material in
the bed and hence, a certain amount of partially reacted fuel is inevitably removed with the ash. This
places limitation on overall carbon conversion in fluidized bed processes. Fluidized bed gasifiers
generally operate below the ash softening temperature, because ash slagging can disturb the
fluidization of the bed. Size of the particles is critical; material that is too fine will tend to entrained in
the syn gas and leaves the bed over head. This is partially captured in cyclones and returned to bed.
This type of gasifier is suitable for reactive feed stocks such as low rank coals and biomass.
 Characteristics
Fluidized-bed gasifiers may differ in ash conditions (dry or agglomerated/slagging) and in design
configurations for improving char use. Also, depending on the degree of fluidization and bed height,
these types of reactors sometimes are also named as circulating fluidized bed reactors, and/or
transport reactors.

Fluidized-bed gasifiers display these characteristics:

• Load flexibility and high heat transfer rates

• Fuel flexibility, can gasify a wide range of feedstocks

• Moderate oxidant and steam requirements

• Uniform, moderately high temperature throughout the gasifier

• Higher cold gas efficiency than entrained-bed gasifiers, but lower carbon conversion

• Extensive char recycling is required

 Classifications of Gasifier
Gasifier equipment is generally classified as upward draft, downward draft and cross draft
gasifiers, based on the direction of air/oxygen flow in the equipment. It should be noted
that there are types of gasifier equipment which are different from types of gasification
processes. Gasification processes can be categorized into three groups: entrained flow,
fluidised bed and moving bed (sometimes called, somewhat erroneously, fixed bed).

Four Gasifier Categories

In a gasifier, fuel interacts with air or oxygen and steam. So the gasifier are classified as per
the way air or oxygen is introduced in it. On a bigger scale there are following four gasifier
types.
The choice of the one type of gasifier over the other is mostly determined by the fuel, its final
available form, its size, moisture content and ash content. First three type of gasifiers are
mostly used in entrained bed gasification process and moving bed gasification process.
While the last one is fluidised bed gasification process.
 Upward Draft or Counter-Current gasifier

• This one is oldest and simplest of all gasifier types.

• The air comes in at the bottom and produced syn

gas leaves from the top of the gasifier.

• Near the grate at the bottom combustion reaction

occurs, above that reduction reaction occurs.

• In the upper part of the gasifier heating and

pyrolysis of the feedstock occurs as a result of heat
transfer by forced convention and radiation from
the lower zones.

• Tars and volatile produce produced during the

reaction will leave along with the syn gas at the top
of the gasifier. Which will be later separated by use
of cyclone and candle filter.
 Downdraft or Co-Current Gasifier

❖ In updraft gasifier there is a problem of tar

entrainment in the product gas leaving stream.

❖ A solution is to have primary gasification air

introduced at or above the oxidation zone in the
gasifier.

❖ The produced gas is taken out from the bottom hence

fuel and gas move in the same direction.

❖ On their way down, the acid and tarry distillation

products from the fuel must pass through a glowing
bed of charcoal and therefore are converted into
permanent gases hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide and methane.

❖ Depending on the temperature of the hot zone and

the residence time of the tarry vapours. More or less a
complete breakdown of the tars is achieved.
 Cross Draft Gasifier

Although cross draft gasifiers have certain advantages over updraft

and downdraft gasifiers, they are not ideal. The disadvantages such
as high exit gas temperature, poor CO2 reduction and high gas
velocity are the consequences of the design. Unlike downdraft and
updraft gasifiers, the ash bin, fire and reduction zones in cross draft
gasifiers are separate. These design characteristics limit what kind of
fuel can be used, restricting it to only low ash fuels such as wood,
charcoal and coke.

The load following ability of cross draft gasifier is quite good due to
concentrated zones which operate at temperatures up to 12000C.
Start up time (5-10 minutes) is much faster than that of downdraft
and updraft units. The relatively higher temperature in cross draft
gas producer has an obvious effect on exit gas composition such as
high carbon monoxide and low hydrogen and methane content
when dry fuel such as charcoal is used. Cross draft gasifier operates
well on dry air blast and dry fuel.
Part - 5
Gasification: Syngas
Gasification efficiency
Gasification opportunities and
challenges
Gasification: Syngas upgrading to fuels
• The carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen Fischer-Tropsch (FT) Synthesis
(H2) in the syngas are reacted over a catalyst
to form a wide range of hydrocarbon chains
of various lengths it is called Fischer-
Tropsch (FT) synthesis.
• The catalysts used are generally cobalt or
iron based. The reaction is performed at a
pressure of 20–40 bar and range of a
temperature either 200-250°C or 300-
350°C.
• Iron catalysts are generally used at the
higher temperature range to produce a in
this olefins lighter gasoline product.
• Cobalt catalysts are used at the lower
temperature range to produce waxy, long-
chained products that can be cracked for
diesel.
• Iron and cobalt catalysts can be used in a
range of different reactor types (fixed bed,
slurry reactor etc) to produce FT diesel.
 CO

C–O Distribution
Mix H-H Tower

Catalyst: Fe/ Co/ Ni

H2
Liquefaction of Biomass
Figure
Part - 6
 Bioethanol Introduction
• The principle fuel used as a petrol substitute for road transport vehicles is bioethanol. Bioethanol fuel is
mainly produced by the sugar fermentation process, although it can also be manufactured by the chemical
process of reacting ethylene with steam.

• The main sources of sugar required to produce ethanol come from fuel or energy crops. These crops are
grown specifically for energy use and include corn, maize and wheat crops, waste straw, willow and popular
trees, sawdust, reed canary grass, cord grasses, jerusalem artichoke, myscanthus and sorghum plants. There
is also ongoing research and development into the use of municipal solid wastes to produce ethanol fuel.

• Ethanol or ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) is a clear colourless liquid, it is biodegradable, low in toxicity and causes
little environmental pollution if spilt. Ethanol burns to produce carbon dioxide and water. Ethanol is a high
octane fuel and has replaced lead as an octane enhancer in petrol. By blending ethanol with gasoline we can
also oxygenate the fuel mixture so it burns more completely and reduces polluting emissions. Ethanol fuel
blends are widely sold in the United States. The most common blend is 10% ethanol and 90% petrol (E10).
Vehicle engines require no modifications to run on E10 and vehicle warranties are unaffected also. Only
flexible fuel vehicles can run on up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol blends (E85).
• Wheat/ grains/ corn/ sugar-cane can be used to produce ethanol
(Basically, any plants/ crops that composed largely of sugars)

• Bioethanol is mainly produced in three ways:

 First Generation

Biomass
feedstock
Second Generation
for
bioethanol
production
• Biomass wastes consist of a complex mixture of carbohydrate polymers such as cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin. Biomass is pre-

treated with acids or allowed to react with enzymes to reduce the size of the feedstock and produce sugars.

• The carbohydrate polymers are broken down with the help of enzymes or dilute acids into sucrose sugar and then fermented into

bioethanol. However, the lignin present in the biomass is used as a fuel for boilers in which bioethanol is produced. Enzymatic

hydrolysis, concentrated acid hydrolysis and dilute acid hydrolysis are the three basic methods for extracting sugar from biomass.

• On the other hand, corn can be processed into ethanol by either dry milling or wet milling. In the dry milling process, the corn

kernel is cleaned and broken down into fine particles through hammer milling. This process creates a powder with a course flour-

type consistency. The wet milling process involves soaking corn kernel in warm water to break down its proteins and release

starch.
• Once the biomass or corn is broken down into sugar via the hydrolysis process, the sugar solution is

ready to be fermented into ethanol. The addition of yeast to the solution followed by rapid heating

converts the sucrose sugars into fructose and glucose with the help of invertase present in the

yeast.

• These sugars further react with another enzyme, zymase, contained in the yeast to yield ethanol

and carbon dioxide. The fermentation process is carried out at temperatures between 250 and

300°C. The ethanol thus produced undergoes the fractional distillation process to remove excess

water produced during the fermentation process.

 Benefits of bioethanol…!!
• Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels. It comes from a renewable resource
i.e. crops (like cereals, sugar beet and maize).
• Another benefit over fossil fuels is the greenhouse gas emissions. The road transport network
accounts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions and through the use of bioethanol, some of these
emissions will be reduced as the fuel crops absorb the CO2 they emit through growing.
• By encouraging bioethanol’s use, the rural economy would also receive a boost from growing the
necessary crops.
• Bioethanol is also biodegradable and far less toxic that fossil fuels. In addition, by using bioethanol in
older engines can help reduce the amount of carbon monoxide produced by the vehicle thus
improving air quality.
• Another advantage of bioethanol is the ease with which it can be easily integrated into the existing
road transport fuel system. In quantities up to 5%, bioethanol can be blended with conventional fuel
without the need of engine modifications.
• The price of bioethanol / petrol fuels will be kept low due to government subsidies and lower rates in
tax. This has shown to encourage the use of a cleaner fuel, assuming public interest is sufficient to
create a significant market in alternatively fueled bioethanol and alcohol cars.
• Bioethanol produces only carbon dioxide and water as the waster products on burning, and the
carbon dioxide released during fermentation and combustion equals the amount removed from the
atmosphere while the crop is growing.
 Applications of bioethanol
❖ Bioethanol can be used in petrol engines as an alternative for gasoline. It can be
mixed with gasoline to virtually any percentage. Most of the existing petrol engines
operate on blends of up to 15% bioethanol with petroleum.

❖ The higher octane rating of bioethanol than ethanol-free gasoline increases an

engine's compression ratio giving increased thermal efficiency. It is also used to
fuel bioethanol fireplaces. It is extremely suitable for residential use as it is flueless
and does not require a chimney.

❖ Other major applications of bioethanol include the following:

• Fuel for power generation by thermal combustion
• Fuel in cogeneration systems
• Feedstock in the chemicals industry
• Fuel for fuel cells by thermochemical reactions
 Environmental Impacts
❖ Improving the quality of air is one of the most important functions of bioethanol.
When added to fuel, bioethanol reduces the use of cancer-causing gasoline
compounds such as ethylbenzene, xylene, toluene and benzene. It also reduces the
emissions of small particulates and soot from motor fuels, and greenhouse gas
emissions.

❖ Water-saving ethanol plant designs are very common. In addition, the water
discharged from these plants is regulated such that the water is environmentally
neutral when it leaves the plant.

❖ Certain plants manage and reuse the wastewater generated during the ethanol
process. Therefore, it is evident that using bioethanol has a positive effect on
ecology, minimizes exhaust gas emissions and improves energy safety and operation
of transport facilities.
 Bioethanol from Algae
• Researchers have recently launched a proposal to cultivate massive amounts of seaweed or
algae. They claims that the project could occupy about ten thousand kilometers of seaweed
farm and they estimated that the farm would be able to produce bioethanol from algae, as
much as 20 million kiloliters or 5.3 billion gallons of bioethanol per year. This amount equal to
a third of Japanese fuel consumption a per year.

• Seaweed / algae has already been proven to be capable of becoming an alternative option
for producing biofuel. Most of the biofuel today is produced from food stock which has
its own disadvantage and the ratio of the crops and the amount of ethanol that it produces is
not balanced. Some suggest that the using of food stock for bioethanol production has
caused food prices to rise.

• This would be then processed by floating bio reactors. Facilities that would use enzyme to
breakdown the seaweed into sugar which would then be processed and be converted to
ethanol. This process will take place on the sea and would be then transported to land by
tankers.
 What are the advantages of using algae / seaweed for
bioethanol production?

• It doesn’t need soil or freshwater and other producer substances. It is

naturally occurring in the sea and there would be no imbalance that
would happen when it is harvested.

• We would be able to avoid the food price hike, if we would utilize this
new technology for we will no longer be taking away lands to farm
crops.

• Algae / seaweed grow unbelievably faster. Around 10 times as fast as

sugar cane. It is actually the fastest growing crop known to man.
Part - 7
 Rankine cycle
The Rankine cycle or Rankine Vapor Cycle is the process widely used by power plants such as coal-
fired power plants or nuclear reactors. In this mechanism, a fuel is used to produce heat within
a boiler, converting water into steam which then expands through a turbine producing useful work.
This process was developed in 1859 by Scottish engineer William J.M. Rankine. This is
a thermodynamic cycle which converts heat into mechanical energy—which usually gets transformed
into electricity by electrical generation.
The steps in the Rankine Cycle and the corresponding
steps in the pressure volume diagram are outlined
below:
Pump: Compression of the fluid to high pressure using a
pump (Steps 3 to 4)
Boiler: The compressed fluid is heated to the
final temperature (which is at boiling point), therefore,
a phase change occurs—from liquid to vapor (Steps 4 to
1)
Turbine: Expansion of the vapor in the turbine (Steps 1
to 2)
Condenser: Condensation of the vapor in the condenser
(where the waste heat goes to the final heat sink
(the atmosphere or a large body of water (ex. lake or
river) (Steps 2 to 3)
 Rankine cycle
The efficiency of the Rankine cycle is limited by the high heat of vaporization by the fluid. The fluid
must be cycled through and reused constantly, therefore, water is the most practical fluid for this
cycle. This is not why many power plants are located near a body of water—that's for the waste
heat.
As the water condenses in the condenser, waste heat is given off in the form of water vapour—
which can be seen billowing from a plant's cooling towers. This waste heat is necessary in any
thermodynamic cycle. Due to this condensation step, the pressure at the turbine outlet is lowered.
This means the pump requires less work to compress the water—resulting in higher overall
efficiencies.
 Brayton cycle
The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle used in some heat engines. Notably, it is used for gas
turbine engines and some jet engines. The cycle consists of compressing ambient air, mixing the air
with fuel, then igniting the mixture, which expands, doing work. In many Brayton cycle engines, the
hot air can then be recycled, heating the fresh air coming through. This increases efficiency, because
less fuel is needed to heat the fresh air. In physics terms, the cycle consists of adiabatic compression
and expansion paired with isobaric heating and cooling, and allows for increased efficiency over some
other cycles.

Some designs for nuclear power plants have toyed with the idea of using a Brayton cycle, such as the
South African Pebble-bed modular reactor and certain molten salt reactors. This would require using
heated gas from the reactor core to power the turbines. However, the large amount of research and
development needed to implement this has so far been a barrier preventing success. The majority of
nuclear reactors instead use a Rankine cycle steam engine, so current gas-cooled models must use
this heated gas to heat water in turn for the steam engine turbines.
 Efficiency
Efficiency is a comparison of the energy output to the energy input in a given system.
It is defined as the percentage ratio of the output energy to the input energy, given
by the equation:
Efficiency = (Eout / Ein) × 100%
This equation is commonly used in order to represent energy in the form
of heat or power.

"Efficiency" is often confused with "effectiveness",

and the two should be recognized as distinct from
one another when analyzing energy systems.
Energy efficiency measures how much a system is
getting out of the fuel or primary energy flow it is
using. If the energy system is effective, it is making
use of this energy towards the right goal. For
example, a car is a very effective form
of transportation, since it is able to move people
across long distances and to specific places.
However, a car may not transport people very
efficiently because of how it uses fuel.