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3 BIOMASS ENERGY
UNIT

DEFINITION (Energy Source)

Although biomass is a term that is closely associated with ecology, it can also be
defined and described in terms of energy. The biomass energy is one of the
primary sources of energy for many activities. It is considered as the source of
renewable energy since the primary source of this energy is plenty in this world.
Most biomass comprises carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other alkali
metals, which provide a large amount of energy when burnt. Organic materials
like agricultural wastes, wood, and municipal wastes can be recycled for the
production of biofuels.

Definition of Biomass in terms of energy

Definition of Biomass could be, the energy that is generated from biomass is
called biomass energy. All organic matter that can produce energy when
reactions are done with it can produce biomass energy. These can be wood,
leaves, pellets, fecal wastes, and other organic matters. Technically speaking,
biomass energy was discovered back during the ages when humans used to live
in caves. Marco Polo, in the 13th century, described the use of biomass for the
production of fuel after taking inspiration from the Chinese who used to cover
sewage tanks to generate biogas.

Biomass energy can be both renewable and non-renewable. The first source of
energy in the production of biomass is the sun. The plants convert solar energy
by photosynthesis into chemical energy as food and subsequently uses it in their
growth, which is later converted to fuel. The energy derived from biomass can
be processed directly by burning to produce heat, or converted directly into
electricity, or can also be processed to produce biofuels in an indirect manner.

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Plants that are a rich source of Biomass energy and hence considered for Biofuel
production
There are several plants that can be considered as a rich source of biomass
energy and hence are often considered for the production of biofuels. Some of
them include wheat, switchgrass, sunflower, cottonseed, mustard oil, corn,
canola, sugarcane, soy plants, jatropha, palm oil, and many more. These plants
are often cultivated in large fields for the production of biofuels.

Ways to produce Biomass energy- Thermal conversion

One of the primitive ways of producing biomass energy is to burn the organic
material and utilize the heat energy produced from it. The thermal conversion
of biomass involves heating the feedstock so that energy is released, the
feedstock is dehydrated, or the biomass is stabilized. The common source of
biomass feedstock is the municipal solid wastes and also waste from lumber
mills and paper factories.

The different processes of thermal conversion are direct firing, pyrolysis, co-
firing, gasification, as well as anaerobic decomposition. Before the biomass is
burnt, they are needed to be dried. The chemical process of drying biomasses is
called torrefaction. In this process, the biomass is heated to a temperature of
200 to 320ᴼC. The biomass not only loses all its moisture, and also loses the
ability to absorb it. After torrefaction, the biomass is converted into a black dry
material, which is then compressed to form briquettes. Briquettes are highly
hydrophobic, thus enabling them to be kept in moist places. Also, the briquettes
have high energy density and can easily be burnt by direct firing or co-firing.

Ways to produce Biomass energy- Biofuel

Biomass is considered a renewable source of biofuels like biodiesel and ethanol.
Such biofuels are used to power vehicles and machines in several countries like
Austria, Sweden, and the United States of America. Ethanol is produced by the
fermentation process of biomasses that are rich in carbohydrates, such as corn,
wheat, and sugarcane. Biodiesel can be made by combining this ethanol with
animal fat, vegetable oil, and recycled cooking fat.

Biofuels do not produce as much energy and, therefore, not as effective as

gasoline. However, they can be mixed with gasoline, and this mixture can be
used to power automobiles and pieces of machinery used in several industries.
By using such mixture, the emission of harmful gases, as observed in the case of
fossil fuels, is greatly minimized.

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Ways to produce Biomass energy- Biochar

Biochar is a byproduct of the pyrolysis process of biomasses. It is considered to
be a valuable source of energy for agriculture and other environmental uses.

When biomass rots or burns, it releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and
methane into the atmosphere. However, such emissions are prevented, and the
process of charring these biomasses can retain the carbon content. When these
biochars are added back to the soil, they can still absorb carbon from the
surroundings. They can act as sequestered carbon sinks, which is beneficial for
maintaining the quality of the soil it has been found that addition of biochars to
the soil helps in increasing the quality and quantity of agricultural production.

Ways to produce Biomass energy- Black liquor

Black liquor is a toxic byproduct in the production of paper from wood. Till the
1930s, this black liquor is considered as an industrial waste product and was
dumped into the nearby water bodies. However, later it was found that the black
liquor can retain almost 50% of the carbon content of the source material. Later
it was used as a power source in several mills with the help of the recovery
boiler. It was also tried to be gasified so that it can be used to generate
electricity.

Ways to produce Biomass energy- Hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen fuel cells are produced from biomass that is rich in hydrogen. These
hydrogen atoms are chemically extracted from the biomasses and are used in
batteries for generating powers and fuel machines and vehicles. These cells are
mainly used for automobiles driven in remote locations, like wilderness areas or
in spacecraft. Hydrogen fuel cells can be considered as an alternative source of
energy for vehicles. In current times, these cells are used as a source of power
for boats, buses, submarines, and forklifts. Testings are going on for their usage
in airplanes as well.

All living organisms can be considered as a rich source of energy. Most of our
energy sources are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and all these atoms make up
the carbohydrate, which is an integral part of all living organisms. Biomass can
be converted to different forms of energy, which can then be used in different
ways like as fuel for automobiles, as a source of power for different industries,
and to generate electricity.

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PHOTOSYNTHESIS PROCESS
Currently, when discussions of climate change mitigation discuss carbon capture
by plants, the primary focus is on woody biomass. There is a newfound
appreciation of the ecosystem service provided by plants, in which they convert
atmospheric carbon into a solid form. This process has been hailed as a tool by
which the problem of increasing atmospheric carbon can be addressed. ‘Plant
trees which soak up the carbon dioxide’ the reasoning goes ‘and you can
contribute to reducing the atmospheric burden of that gas’.
While the science of carbon sequestration is well understood, there is an urgent
need to address the fundamental differences between the components of
living biomass, photosynthetic biomass and respiring biomass.
Photosynthetic biomass performs the act of primary production, the initial step
in the manifestation of life. The biomass so termed has the ability to increase in
mass through the absorption of solar or other electromagnetic radiation while
releasing oxygen and water vapour into the atmosphere. Respiring biomass is
that component of living biomass that uses the output of photosynthesis to
make the complicated biological patterns of life.
It is only this photosynthetic biomass that powers carbon sequestration and
the generation of oxygen, as well as the generation of woody biomass and its
myriad functions: actions essential for the sustainability of the life support
system of the planet. However, only one product of this photosynthetic biomass,
sequestered carbon, usually represented by wood or timber, is currently
recognized as having commercial value in the carbon market for mitigating
climate change.
The ephemeral part, the leaves, are generally ignored, yet the photosynthetic
biomass in terrestrial ecosystems are largely composed of leaves, this
component needs a value placed on it for its ‘environmental services’.
It is not difficult to place value on photosynthetic biomass today. Initial
computations are based on the current values of the carbon market are
currently in excess of 125 billion dollars, assuming that the global market would
pay at least a similar amount to maintain our life support system, the 93.1 billion
tonnes of photosynthetic carbon currently in stock would be roughly worth
about 1.35 dollars per tonne.
It is this biomass that has to grow in order to sequester the lost biotic carbon.
With such growth we will see more oxygen generation, carbon sequestering,
and water cleansing. Much of the biomass to be gained is in degraded
ecosystems around the planet, many of which are also home to the world’s rural
poor. What these degraded ecosystems do have, however, is great growth
potential for generating photosynthetic biomass.

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BIOMASS FUELS
Biomass fuels are organic materials produced in a renewable manner. Two
categories of biomass fuels, woody fuels and animal wastes, comprise the vast
majority of available biomass fuels. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is also a source
of biomass fuel. Biomass fuels have low energy densities compared to fossil
fuels. In other words, a significantly larger volume of biomass fuel is required to
generate the same energy as a smaller volume of fossil fuel.

The low energy density means that the costs of fuel collection and
transportation can quickly outweigh the value of the fuel. Biomass fuels are
typically consumed on-site or transported short distances only (e.g., less than 50
miles). Biomass fuels tend to have a high moisture content, which adds weight
and increases the cost of transportation. The moisture content also decreases
combustion performance.

There are two primary factors to be considered in the evaluation of biomass

fuels: Fuel supply, including the total quantities available, the stability of the
supply or of the industry generating the fuel, and competitive uses or markets
for the fuel. Cost of biomass fuel collection, processing, and transportation, and
who pays these costs.

This section discusses three sources of biomass fuel: woody fuels, animal waste,
and MSW. These discussions include the issues of fuel supply and costs. These
fuels are summarized, along with their respective benefits and barriers, in Table
2 at the end of this section.

Woody Fuels

Wood wastes of all types make excellent biomass fuels and can be used in a wide
variety of biomass technologies. Combustion of woody fuels to generate steam
or electricity is a proven technology and is the most common biomass-to-energy
process. Different types of woody fuels can typically be mixed together as a
common fuel, although differing moisture content and chemical makeup can
affect the overall conversion rate or efficiency of a biomass project. There are at
least six subgroups of woody fuels. The differentiators between these subgroups
mainly have to do with availability and cost. Forestry residues—in-forest woody
debris and slash from logging and forest management activities. Mill residues—
byproducts such as sawdust, hog fuel, and wood chips from lumber mills,
plywood manufacturing, and other wood processing facilities. Agricultural

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residues—byproducts of agricultural activities including crop wastes, vineyard

and orchard prunings or turnings, and rejected agricultural products. Urban
wood and yard wastes—residential organics collected by municipal programs or
recycling centers and construction wood wastes. Dedicated biomass crops—
trees, corn, oilseed rape, and other crops grown as dedicated feedstocks for a
biomass project. Chemical recovery fuels (black liquor)—woody residues
recovered out of the chemicals used to separate fiber for the pulp and paper
industry.

Forestry Residues

Forestry residues have been the focus of many recent biomass studies and
feasibility assessments due to increasing forest management and wildfire
prevention activities under the National Fire Plan. The USDA Forest Service and
the Bureau of Land Management have been tasked with reducing the hazardous
fuel loading within the forests and the urban-wildland interface.

Forestry residues are typically disposed of by on-site (in-forest) stacking and

burning. This results in substantial air emissions that affect not only the forest
lands and nearby populations, but the overall regional air quality as well. Open
burning can also cause water quality and erosion concerns. The Forest Service
and other public and private land management entities would like to have viable
alternatives for disposing of their forestry residues in a more environmentally
benign manner. An ideal situation, from the perspective of forest managers,
would be the creation of a market for the forestry residues. The market they
envision would generate revenues for the forest managers, which in turn would
allow much needed expansion of the forest management programs.

Mill Residues

Mill residues are a much more economically attractive fuel than forestry
residues, since the in-forest collection and chipping are already included as part
of the commercial mill operations. Biomass facilities collocated with and integral
to the mill operation have the advantage of eliminating transportation
altogether and thus truly achieve a no-cost fuel. Mill residues have long been
used to generate steam and electricity.

In Washington State alone, there are approximately 38 facilities that combust

about 3 million BDT of mill residues per year to generate steam and electricity.
All but two of these mill-residue-fired biomass projects are owned and operated
by the mills or wood products companies that supply their fuel. The in-plant

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facilities primarily generate steam for lumber drying and processing. Any
electricity produced is used to offset plant use, although a few facilities do sell
excess electrical power to the local utility.

One example of a mill residue biomass-to-energy facility not owned by a mill is

Avista Utility's Kettle Falls Station in northeastern Washington. The facility is
strategically located within an average distance of 46 miles from 15 different
mills, and purchases approximately 350,000 BDT per year of residues to
generate 46 MW of electrical power. The facility was conceived in the late 1970s
when mills were facing stricter pollution regulations that required them to
replace their wigwam burners. Rather than invest in new equipment, the mills
were willing to enter into long-term contracts with the private electric utility to
supply a biomass facility with mill residues. The facility continues to operate
successfully, due in large part to its unique location in one of the most heavily
forested areas in the Pacific Northwest.

Agricultural Residues

Agricultural residues can provide a substantial amount of biomass fuel. Similar

to the way mill residues provide a significant portion of the overall biomass
consumption in the Pacific Northwest, agricultural residues from sugar cane
harvesting and processing provide a significant portion of the total biomass
consumption in other parts ofthe world. One significant issue with agricultural
residues is the seasonal variation of the supply.

Large residue volumes follow harvests, but residues throughout the rest of the
year are minimal. Biomass facilities that depend significantly on agricultural
residues must either be able to adjust output to follow the seasonal variation,
or have the capacity to stockpile a significant amount of fuel.

Urban Wood and Yard Wastes

Urban wood and yard wastes are similar in nature to agricultural residues in
many regards. A biomass facility will rarely need to purchase urban wood and
yard wastes, and most likely can charge a tipping fee to accept the fuel. Many
landfills are already sorting waste material by isolating wood waste. This waste
could be diverted to a biomass project, and although the volume currently
accepted at the landfills would not be enough on its own to fuel a biomass
project, it could be an important supplemental fuel and could provide more
value to the community in which the landfill resides through a biomass project
than it currently does as daily landfill cover.

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Dedicated Biomass Crops

Dedicated biomass crops are grown specifically to fuel a biomass project. The
most prevalent example of dedicated biomass crops are corn varieties grown for
ethanol production. Fast-growing poplar trees have also been farm-raised for a
biomass fuel, but this has not proven to be economically sustainable. Another
dedicated crop example is soybean oils used in the production of biodiesel.

Chemical Recovery Fuels

Chemical recovery fuels are responsible for over 60 percent of the total biomass
energy consumption of the United States, and therefore must be mentioned in
any analysis of biomass. By and large, the chemical recovery facilities are owned
by pulp and paper facilities and are an integral part of the facility operation.

Animal Wastes

Animal wastes include manures, renderings, and other wastes from livestock
finishing operations. Although animal wastes contain energy, the primary
motivation for biomass processing of animal wastes is mitigation of a disposal
issue rather than generation of energy. This is especially true for animal
manures. Animal manures are typically disposed of through land application to
farmlands. Tightening regulations on nutrient management, surface and
groundwater contamination, and odor control are beginning to force new
manure management and disposal practices. Biomass technologies present
attractive options for mitigating many of the environmental challenges of
manure wastes. The most common biomass technologies for animal manures
are combustion, anaerobic digestion, and composting. Moisture content of the
manure and the amount of contaminants, such as bedding, determine which
technology is most appropriate.

The dairy industry in particular is well suited to biomass-to-energy opportunities

because of the large volume of manure that a milking cow produces, and
because dairy operations have automated and frequent manure collection
processes. Yakima County is the largest producer of dairy products of any county
in the State, and the dairy populations within the County include approximately
75,000 to 85,000 active milking cows on about 80 separate dairies.

Dry Animal Manure

Dry animal manure is produced by feedlots and livestock corrals, where the
manure is collected and removed only once or twice a year. Manure that is
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scraped or flushed on a more frequent schedule can also be separated, stacked,

and allowed to dry. Dry manure is typically defined as having a moisture content
less than 30 percent. Dry manure can be composted or can fuel a biomass-to-
energy combustion project.

Animal manure does have value to farmers as fertilizer, and a biomass-to-energy

project would need to compete for the manure. However, the total volume of
manure produced in many livestock operations exceeds the amount of fertilizer
required for the farmlands, and Nutrient Management Plans are beginning to
limit the over-fertilization of farmlands. Therefore, although there are
competitive uses for the manure and low-cost disposal options at this time,
manure disposal is going to become more costly over time, and the demand for
alternative disposal options, including biomass-to-energy, will only increase.

Wet Animal Manure (Dairy Manure Slurry)

Wet animal manure is typically associated with larger and more modern dairy
operations that house their milking cows in free-stall barns and use a flush
system for manure collection. The combination of free-stall barns and manure
flushing collects all of the milking cow manure with every milking cycle, two or
three times a day. The manure is significantly diluted through the addition of the
flush water, but after separation of some of the flush water, the slurry is an
excellent fuel.

BIOMASS ENERGY CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES AND

APPLICATIONS.
In general, biomass-to-energy conversion technologies have to deal with a
feedstock which can be highly variable in mass and energy density, size,
moisture content, and intermittent supply. Therefore, modern industrial
technologies are often hybrid fossil-fuel/biomass technologies which use the
fossil fuel for drying, preheating and maintaining fuel supply when the biomass
supply is interrupted
Thermochemical Processes.
These processes do not necessarily produce useful energy directly, but under
controlled temperature and oxygen conditions are used to convert the original
biomass feedstock into more convenient forms of energy carriers, such as
producer gas, oils or methanol. These carriers are either more energy dense and
therefore reduce transport costs, or have more predictable and convenient
combustion characteristics allowing them to be used in internal combustion
engines and gas turbines and these are:
1. Pyrolysis.
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2. Carbonisation.
3. Gasification.
4. Catalytic Liquefaction.

1. Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the application of heat to a feedstock in the absence of oxygen
to break down the long chain molecules into short chain molecules. Typically
the feedstock is biomass or waste, and the process is used to produce a syngas
(a mixture of hydrogen, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide).
Varying the process conditions allows the production of fluids similar to diesel,
and a variety of other products. A more detailed understanding of the physical
and chemical properties governing the pyrolytic reactions has allowed the
optimisation of reactor conditions necessary for these types of pyrolysis.
Further work is now concentrating on the use of high pressure reactor
conditions to produce hydrogen and on low pressure catalytic techniques
(requiring zeolites) for alcohol production from the pyrolytic oil.
The advantage of pyrolysis and gasification are that they convert solid material
into gases and vapours which are less costly to handle, transport and store. The
gases will burn in boilers, gas turbines and reciprocating engines increasing fuel
flexibility and security. Capturing and combusting the methane and carbon
monoxide in syngas makes use of the energy in the gas and produces carbon
dioxide which is a less potent greenhouse gas than methane and offsets fossil
fuel energy production.
The disadvantages of pyrolysis and gasification are that they require heat input
to drive the chemical reactions that produce a syngas. Thus some fuel must be
used to generate the syngas.
2. Carbonisation
This is an age old pyrolytic process optimised for the production of charcoal.
Traditional methods of charcoal production have centred on the use of earth
mounds or covered pits into which the wood is piled. Control of the reaction
conditions is often crude and relies heavily on experience. The conversion
efficiency using these traditional techniques is believed to be very low; on a
weight basis estimates that the wood to charcoal conversion rate for such
techniques ranges from 6 to 12 tonnes of wood per tonne of charcoal.
During carbonisation most of the volatile components of the wood are
eliminated; this process is also called "dry wood distillation." Carbon
accumulates mainly due to a reduction in the levels of hydrogen and oxygen in
the wood. The wood undergoes a number of physico-chemical changes as the
temperature rises. Between 100 and 170°C most of the water is evaporated;
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between 170°C and 270°C gases develop containing condensible vapours, CO

and CO2. These condensible vapours (long chain carbon molecules) form
pyrolysis oil, which can then be used for the production of chemicals or as a fuel
after cooling and scrubbing. Between 270°C and 280°C an exothermic reaction
develops which can be detected by the spontaneous generation of heat.
The modernisation of charcoal production has lead to large increases in
production efficiencies with large-scale industrial production in Brazil now
achieving efficiencies of over 30% (by weight). There are three basic types of
charcoal-making: a) internally heated (by controlled combustion of the raw
material), b) externally heated (using fuelwood or fossil fuels), and c) hot
circulating gas (retort or converter gas, used for the production of chemicals).
Internally heated charcoal kilns are the most common form of charcoal kiln. It is
estimated that 10 to 20% of the wood (by weight) is sacrificed, a further 60% (by
weight) is lost through the conversion to, and release of, gases to the
atmosphere from these kilns. Externally heated reactors allow oxygen to be
completely excluded, and thus provide better quality charcoal on a larger scale.
They do, however, require the use of an external fuel source, which may be
provided from the "producer gas" once pyrolysis is initiated.
Recirculating heated gas systems offer the potential to generate large
quantities of charcoal and associated by-products, but are presently limited by
high investment costs for large scale plant.
3. Gasification
Gasification is the partial oxidation of an organic feedstock to produce a
syngas (a mixture of hydrogen, volatile short chain organic compounds, and
carbon monoxide). Typically the feedstock is biomass or waste, and varying the
process conditions allows control over proportions of the compounds in the
syngas. In this approach to the development of fixed carbon supplies from
renewable carbon resources is to convert CO2 outside the biomass species to
synthetic fuels and organic intermediates. The ambient air, which contains
about 360 ppm by volume of CO2, the dissolved CO2 and carbonates in the
oceans, and the earth’s large carbonate deposits, could serve as renewable
carbon resources. But since CO2 is the final oxidation state of fixed carbon, it
contains no chemical energy. Energy must be supplied in a chemical reduction
step. A convenient method of supplying the required energy and of
simultaneously reducing the oxidation state is to reduce CO2 with hydrogen.
The end product, for example, can be methane (CH4), the dominant component
in natural gas and the simplest hydrocarbon known, or other organic
compounds. With all components in the ideal gas state, the standard CO2 +

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4H2  CH4 + 2H2O enthalpy of the process is exothermic by _165 EJ (_39.4

kcal) per gram mole of methane formed [12].
Biomass can also serve as the original source of hydrogen via partial oxidation
or steam reforming to yield an intermediate hydrogen-containing product gas.
Hydrogen would then effectively act as an energy carrier from the biomass
to CO2 to yield a substitute or synthetic natural gas (SNG). The production of
synthetic organic fuels can be carried out in a similar manner. For example,
synthesis gas (syngas) is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxides. It can be
produced by biomass gasification processes for subsequent conversion to a wide
range of chemicals and fuels as illustrated in Fig. 2. These include continuous
water splitting by electrochemical, biochemical, thermochemical, microbial,
photolytic, and biophotolytic processes. The basic concept then of using
biomass as a renewable energy resource consists of the capture of solar energy
and carbon from ambient CO2 in growing biomass, which is converted to other
fuels (biofuels, synfuels, hydrogen) or is used directly as a source of thermal
energy or is converted to chemicals or chemical intermediates. For 2000, the
share of total energy consumption, 430 EJ (408 quad), for these countries is
about 10.5%.

High temperatures and a controlled environment leads to virtually all the raw
material being converted to gas. This takes place in two stages. In the first stage,
the biomass is partially combusted to form producer gas and charcoal. In the
second stage, the C02 and H2O produced in the first stage is chemically reduced
by the charcoal, forming CO and H2. The composition of the gas is 18 to 20% H2,
an equal portion of CO, 2 to 3% CH4, 8 to 10% CO2, and the rest nitrogen. These
stages are spatially separated in the gasifier, with gasifier design very much
dependant on the feedstock characteristics.
Gasification requires temperatures of about 800°C and is carried out in closed
top or open top gasifiers.

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These gasifiers can be operated at atmospheric pressure or higher. The energy

3
density of the gas is generally less than 5.6 MJ/m , which is low in comparison
3
to natural gas at 38 MJ/m providing only 60% the power rating of diesel when
used in a modified diesel engine. A major future role is envisaged for electricity
production from biomass plantations and agricultural residues using large scale
gasifiers with direct coupling to gas turbines. The potential gains in efficiency
using such hybrid gasifier/gas turbine systems make them extremely attractive
for electricity generation once commercial viability has been demonstrated.
Such systems take advantage of low grade and cheap feedstocks (residues
and wood produced using short rotation techniques) and the high
efficiencies of modern gas turbines to produce electricity at comparable or less
cost than fossil-fuel derived electricity. Net atmospheric CO2 emissions are
avoided if growth of the biomass is managed to match consumption. The
use of BIG/STIG (Biomass Integrated Gasifier Steam Injected Gas turbine)
initially and BIG/GTCC (Biomass integrated Gasifier Gas Turbine Combined
Cycle) as the technology matures, is predicted to allow energy conversion
efficiencies of 40% to 55%. Modern coal electrical plants have efficiencies of
about 35% or less. Combined Heat and Power systems could eventually provide
energy at efficiencies of between 50% to 80%. The use of low-grade feedstocks
combined with high conversion efficiencies makes these systems economically
competitive with cheap coal-based plants and energetically competitive with
natural gas-based plants. Studies are continuing in the use of such technologies
for the cost effective treatment of MSW considers that "gasification can
become a strong competitor to anaerobic digestion, composting and
incineration for biomass waste treatment." This is based on the use of BIG/STIG
technology with the system gasification using Atmospheric Circulating Fluidized
Bed technology.

Catalytic Liquefaction
This technology has the potential to produce higher quality products of greater
energy density. These products should also require less processing to produce
marketable products. Catalytic liquefaction is a low temperature, high pressure
thermochemical conversion process carried out in the liquid phase. It requires
either a catalyst or a high hydrogen partial pressure. Technical problems have
so far limited the opportunities of this technology.

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Urban waste to Energy Conversion

Every year, millions of tons of solid waste is generated in households around the
world and which is disposed of in council and municipal landfill sites, while at
the same time, millions of units of energy from coal, oil and natural gas are
burned daily to create the electrical power we need to run our homes and
workplaces. Today, a new generation of Waste to Energy, (WTE) conversion
technologies are emerging which hold the potential to create clean renewable
energy from solid and liquid waste materials.
Waste to energy- The energy content available from combustion of solid waste
represents a significant “alternative energy” supply to help reduce the use and
our dependency on conventional fossil fuels. “Waste” by definition includes any
waste materials other than liquids, gases and any non-usable by-product
generated as a result of a process or production that is no longer deemed
valuable, and are therefore normally discarded.

Waste to Energy From A Landfill

Such waste materials typically originate from either the residential community
as municipal solid waste or from commercial, light-industrial, and agricultural
wastes. Wastes generated from heavy industrial manufacturing activities,
chemical and medical industries are typically classified as hazardous wastes and
are generally not used to convert this type of waste to energy. Traditionally the
term “waste to energy” has generally referred to the practice of incineration of
waste products either by burning the rubbish in the back yard or by large
industrial incinerators to produce heat. The category of waste to energy broadly
describes any of a number of processes or technologies in which a useful
byproduct (energy) is recovered from an otherwise unusable source.

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Waste to energy technologies- Physically convert waste matter into more useful
forms of fuel that can be used to supply energy. These waste to energy processes
includes thermal conversions such as combustion (incineration), pyrolysis,
gasification, or biological treatments such as anaerobic digestion and
fermentation, etc, and various combinations of the above.
For example, solid wastes can be converted into fuel pellets and along with
gasified waste co-fired with fossil fuel coal in an existing conventional coal fired
power station. Energy can be derived from waste in a number of ways. Waste to
energy processes include wastes that has been treated and made into a solid
fuel for incineration to produce heat and steam. Waste that has been converted
into biogas from both organic and inorganic wastes, or biological technologies,
in which bacterial fermentation is used to digest organic wastes to yield fuel,
converting the waste to fuel.
The more common ways in which waste is converted in energy-
Combustion – This is by far the oldest, most common and well-proven thermal
process using a wide variety of waste fuels. Municipal and household waste is
directly combusted in large waste to energy incinerators as a fuel with minimal
processing known as mass burning. The earliest waste combustion systems were
simple incinerators which produced heat and carbon dioxide, along with a
variety of other pollutants and had no energy recover capabilities. Today the
heat energy generated from the combustion process is used to turn water into
steam, which is then used to power steam-turbine generators to produce
electricity. Most modern waste incinerators now incorporate heat recovery
systems and air-pollution control systems. The mass burn process burns the
waste virtually as it is received thereby eliminating the need to process the
material prior to burning except for the removal of oversized items and obvious
non-combustible metallic materials. The problem with this mass burn approach
is that after combustion, the incinerators ash and other pollutants removal
system must be capable of disposing of every bit of the size and capacity of the
combusted material coming out the incinerator as it is going in.
Gasification – Note that gasification of waste materials is not the same as
incineration. Incineration is the burning of waste fuels in an oxygen rich
environment, where as gasification is the conversion of waste materials that
takes place in the presence of limited amounts of oxygen. Gasification is a
thermochemical process that converts solid wastes into a mixture of
combustible gases. Steam or the oxygen in the air is reacted at high temperature
with the available carbon in the waste material to produce gases such as carbon
monoxide, hydrogen and methane. The gasification process produces a syngas

UNIT - III 15
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(hydrogen and carbon monoxide) which is used for generating electricity power.
Whereas the incineration of waste to energy converts the fuel waste into energy
directly on-site, thermal gasification of the waste materials allow the production
of a gaseous fuel that can be easily collected and transported.
Pyrolysis – This is also a thermal process similar to gasification above which
involves the thermal degradation of organic waste in the absence of free oxygen
to produce combustible gases. In other words, pyrolysis uses heat to break down
organic materials in the absence of oxygen. Materials suitable for pyrolysis
processing include coal, animal and human waste, food scraps, paper,
cardboard, plastics and rubber. The pyrolytic process produces oil which can be
used as a synthetic bio-diesel fuel or refined to produce other useful products.
Although pyrolysis technology has been around for a long time, its application
to biomass and waste materials is a relatively recent development as pyrolytic
products are more refined and therefore can be used with greater efficiency. A
common byproduct of pyrolysis is a kind of fine-grained bio-charcoal called
“biochar”, which retains most of the carbon and nutrients contained in biomass
so can be used as a soil enhancement to increase soil productivity.
Anaerobic Digestion – Landfilling is still the primary method of disposal of
municipal solid waste and if left undisturbed, landfill waste produces significant
amounts of gaseous byproducts, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (natural gas, CH4). This landfill gas or “biogas” is produced by the
anaerobic (oxygen-free) digestion of organic matter. Anaerobic digestion to
produce biogas can either occur naturally producing a landfill gas, or inside a
controlled environment like a biogas digester. A digester is a warmed, sealed,
airless container where bacteria ferment an organic material such as liquid and
semi-liquid slurries, animal wastes and manures in oxygen-free conditions to
produce biogas. The main advantage of anaerobic digestion for converting
waste to energy fuel is that it deals with “wet waste” which normally may be
difficult to dispose of. The amount of biogas produced is limited by the size of
the digester tank, so is largely used as a fuel for small-scale operations, such as
farms, where enough energy can be produced to run the farm. The biogas
produced can be burned in a conventional gas boiler to produce heat or as fuel
in a gas engine to generate electricity or fuel some of the farm vehicles.
Fermentation – Fermentation uses various microorganisms and yeasts to
produce liquid ethanol, a type of alcohol, from biomass and biowaste materials.
The conversion of waste to energy by fermentation requires a series of chemical
reactions to produce the ethanol biofuel. The first reaction is called hydrolysis,
which converts organic materials into sugars. The sugars are then fermented to
make dilute ethanol, which is then further distilled to produce a biofuel grade
UNIT - III 16
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ethanol, (ethyl alcohol). With increasing global consumerism and population

growth leading to an increase in the levels of waste materials we produce, waste
management technologies are now helping to find alternatives to landfills by
converting as much of the mixed general waste back to be recycled or reused as
possible in an attempt to turn waste into energy and waste into fuels.

Converting Waste to Energy has many advantages too by not only reducing the
amount of landfill dumping, but by reducing the amount of greenhouse-gas
emissions and pollution we pump into the atmosphere each and every year as
well as reducing our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. However, many
waste to energy conversion technologies are designed to handle only one or a
few types of waste and can be difficult to fully separate different types of waste
materials. Advances in non-incineration conversion technologies and methods
like pyrolysis and thermal gasification are providing ways of generating clean
energy from waste materials that avoid many of the pollution concerns around
conventional incineration and combustion.
Conclusion- Rather than sending residual wastes direct to landfill, advanced
conversion technologies coupled with advanced pollution control systems can
be employed to convert these calorific materials into clean energy. Advanced
waste-to-energy technologies can be used to produce biogas (methane and
carbon dioxide), syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide), liquid biofuels
(ethanol and biodiesel), or pure hydrogen. Just as oil, coal and gas are used as
fuels in a fossil fuel fired power stations, these alternative biofuels can also be
converted into electricity. Today, we have the technologies and options
available to us to separate the bio-waste which should be recycled, from the
waste that can be used as a valuable and future energy source turning waste
and other renewable waste fuels into clean energy.
TYPES AND APPLICATION 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).

UNIT - III 17
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Four Gasifier Types

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.

UNIT - III 18
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The major advantages of this type of gasifier are its simplicity, high charcoal burn
out and internal heat exchange leading to low temperature of exit gas and high
equipment efficiency. This gasifier can work with several kind of feedstock
ranging from Coal to Biomass.

Major drawbacks result from the possibility of "channelling" in the equipment,

which can lead to oxygen break-through and dangerous, explosive situations
and the necessity to install automatic moving grate.

Inlet of coal can be decided based on the type of gasification process selected to
be used in this gasifier.

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.

UNIT - III 19
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Main advantage of downdraft gasifier lies in the possibility of producing tar free
gas for engine operation. However in practice very rarely tar free gas is produced
but the % of tar leaving in product stream is considerably lower than leaving
through the updraft gasifier.

Main disadvantage is that downdraft gasifier cannot be operated with range of

different feedstocks. Low density feedstock gives rise to flow problems and
excessive pressure drop. High ash content coal also gives more problem with
this kind of gasifier than updraft gasifier.

Other disadvantage is it gives lower efficiency, since there is no provision

internal exchange compare to updraft gasifier. The product stream also has low
calorific value.

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.

UNIT - III 20
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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.

Fluidized Bed Gasifier

The operation of both up and downward draft gasifiers is influenced by the

morphological, physical and chemical properties of the fuel. Problems
commonly encountered are: lack of bunkerflow, slagging and extreme pressure
drop over the gasifier.

A new design to address all this difficulties is fluidised bed gasifier.

Air is blown through a bed of solid particles at a sufficient velocity to keep these
in a state of suspension. The bed is originally externally heated and the feedstock
is introduced as soon as a sufficiently high temperature is reached. The fuel
particles are introduced at the bottom of the reactor, very quickly mixed with
the bed material and almost instantaneously heated up to the bed temperature.
As a result of this treatment the fuel is pyrolysed very fast, resulting in a
component mix with a relatively large amount of gaseous materials. Further
gasification and tar-conversion reactions occur in the gas phase. Ash particles
are also carried over the top of the reactor and have to be removed from the
gas stream if the gas is used in engine applications. To remove ash particles
cyclone and candle filter are used.

UNIT - III 21
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The major advantage of fluidised bed is processing of feedstock. This type of

gasifier are mostly used for high ash coal and biomass. Since temperature is
below the ash softening temperature so handling of ash is relatively simple.

Drawback of fluidized bed gasifiers is - high tar content in the produced syn gas
and incomplete carbon conversion.

Gasification is a process of conversion of the fuel or organic wastes/matter into

a gas called producer gas. This process involves a sequence of chemical and
thermal reactions like the oxidation and reduction. The producer gas also called
syngas has a calorific value ranging from 1000 to 1200 kcal/Nm3. Other products
include gases, tar, charcoal and many more. The products obtained from the
gasification process are the primary gases. The names of these gases can be
syngas, generator gas, wood gas, coal gas or others. Generally, named as biogas.
Gasification is one form of combustion, i.e. incomplete or choked combustion.
The process takes place in the reactor called gasifier at high temperatures in
presence or absence of oxygen. Later, the unburnt gases are moved out to burn
elsewhere.
Gasifier Applications
The applications include diversity and can be economically viable too.
 Microscale applications
Generally, these gasifier applications gets classified for lower power ranges
between 1 – 7 kW. This is the range used by most of the farmers for irrigation
purpose in the developing countries.
The equipment must be simple, cheap, light in weight and easily transportable.
Ideally, the charcoal gasifiers which are manufactured locally can meet such
specific requirements.
 Small-scale applications
Generally, these gasifier applications gets classified for power ranges between
7 – 30 kW.
The size of such applications is appropriate for the villages in some developing
countries. The cost should be minimal and it should need less maintenance and
operations. Also, it should be reliable and economically sustainable. The designs
should be simple. Moreover, the gasifiers serving such applications need proper
testing.
 Medium scale applications
Generally, these gasifier applications gets classified for power ranges between
30 -500 kW.

UNIT - III 22
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These applications are widely used in the small to medium agricultural industries
and forestry industries. Generally, they are used in sawmills, wood cutting
industries, and in generating power. They can be used for supplying power to
the remote areas.
The manufacturing, installations can be a bit costly as it requires high equipment
and supply of fuels and such matter to the gasifier. Increase in demand for such
type of equipment can result in lower productions costs. Also, it can impact the
standardization of the parts.
The estimated cost of these applications depends on the type and amount of
fuel and extensively on the level of automation. The costs can vary from 300 –
800 US$/kW for the manufactured reactors only, excluding the equipment.
 Large-scale applications
Generally, these gasifier applications gets classified for higher power ranges
between 500 kW and above. Thus, they are costly and need the utmost care
while construction and delivery.
Gasifiers that are costly and highly quipped such as the fixed bed installations
serve these applications. The design is complex and thus needs to be developed
by specialized construction firms and high engineering. The equipment is fully
automated and has high customizations.
Other Gasifier Applications
Most of the gasifiers serve many other purposes such as generation of heat. This
high demand and usage are because of the minimal requirements for the tar and
moisture content.
As per the high demand of gasifiers and their applications, in future, it can
spread across various industries like
 Pulp industries
 Cement industries
 Metallurgy
 Lime industries
and the like.
Waste to Energy(WTE) – Efficient Solution for Waste Management
A variety of technologies have been introduced for processing the organic
wastes and unused fuels. The Waste to Energy(WTE) Implementations are one
such solution that can help the sustainable management of wastes. However,
this is still a new technology and a bit complex to implement in various regions.
Advantages of waste to energy:
 It is a usable solution in urban and rural areas.
 It reduces the amount of industrial or any waste sent to the landfills.
 It produces energy through the fuel gases with the best utilization of
solid and liquid wastes.

UNIT - III 23
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 The solution should be financially viable.

 The solution should be feasible with the environmental norms.
Thus, with the increase in the industrial and municipal wastes, there has been a
consequent increase in the demand of gasification processes. Moreover, new
technologies such as Waste-to-energy also provide environment-friendly
solutions for effective waste management and power and thermal generations.

BIOMASS TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION

Ethanol is a domestically produced alternative fuel most commonly made from
corn. It is also made from cellulosic feedstocks, such as crop residues and
wood—though this is not as common. U.S. ethanol plants are concentrated in
the Midwest because of the proximity to corn production. Plants outside the
Midwest typically receive corn by rail or use other feedstocks and are located
near large population centers.
Production
The production method of ethanol depends on the type of feedstock used. The
process is shorter for starch- or sugar-based feedstocks than with cellulosic
feedstocks.

Starch- and Sugar-Based Ethanol Production

Most ethanol in the United States is produced from starch-based crops by dry-
or wet-mill processing. Nearly 90% of ethanol plants are dry mills due to lower
capital costs. Dry-milling is a process that grinds corn into flour and ferments it
into ethanol with co-products of distillers grains and carbon dioxide. Wet-mill
plants primarily produce corn sweeteners, along with ethanol and several other
co-products (such as corn oil and starch). Wet mills separate starch, protein, and
fiber in corn prior to processing these components into products, such as
ethanol.

Cellulosic Production
Making ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks—such as grass, wood, and crop
residues—is a more involved process than using starch-based crops. There are
two primary pathways to produce cellulosic ethanol: biochemical and
thermochemical. The biochemical process involves a pretreatment to release
hemicellulose sugars followed by hydrolysis to break cellulose into sugars.
Sugars are fermented into ethanol and lignin is recovered and used to produce
energy to power the process. The thermochemical conversion process involves
adding heat and chemicals to a biomass feedstock to produce syngas, which is a
mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Syngas is mixed with a catalyst and
reformed into ethanol and other liquid co-products.

UNIT - III 24
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Distribution
Most U.S. ethanol plants are concentrated in the Midwest, but gasoline
consumption is highest along the East and West Coasts. According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 90% of ethanol is transported by train or truck. The
remaining 10% is mainly transported by barge, with minimal amounts
transported by pipeline. The United States consumed nearly 14.6 billion gallons
of ethanol in 2019; a tanker truck can carry 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of ethanol,
and one rail car can carry approximately 30,000 gallons of ethanol.

Ethanol, gasoline blendstock, and additives are delivered separately to fuel

terminals where they are blended into fuel trucks for delivery to stations.

Ethanol Pipelines
Delivering ethanol by pipeline is the most efficient option, but ethanol's affinity
for water and solvent properties require the use of a dedicated pipeline or
significant cleanup of existing pipelines to convert them into dedicated
pipelines. Kinder Morgan ships batches of ethanol through its Central Florida
Pipeline.

BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM WASTE BIOMASS

Biogas is a mixture of gases that are produced as a result of the breakdown of
organic matter. It occurs in the absence of oxygen i.e. in anaerobic condition.

UNIT - III 25
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Biogas can be produced from raw materials like plant material, agricultural
waste, manure.

Complete step-by-step solution:-

The raw material used for biogas production is crushed and made into smaller
pieces. Then water is added to it to convert it into a slurry. This will help in easy
digestion of the materials. Biogas production is mediated by microorganisms
such as-methanogens. Certain microorganisms need slight warmer conditions
for their action hence it is heated to about 37 degrees. The slurry will be acted
by the microorganisms in a large biogas tank. It takes 3 weeks for anaerobic
digestion of slurry.

After the production of biogas, purification is done to remove the impurities and
carbon dioxide. Production of biogas by anaerobic process involves 4 steps. They
include- hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. In the first
step, the complex compounds are hydrolyzed into smaller units. In acidogenesis,
these simpler components are converted into organic acids. The acetogenesis
involves the production of acetic acid by using the oxygen present and creates
an anaerobic condition for methane production. In methanogenesis,
methanogens are involved in the production of methane gas and carbon dioxide.

TYPES OF BIOGAS PLANTS

Most organic materials undergo a natural anaerobic digestion in the presence
of moisture and absence of oxygen and produce biogas. The biogas so obtained
is a mixture of methane (CH4): 55-65% and Carbon dioxide (CO2): 30-40%. The
biogas contains traces of H2, H2S and N2. The calorific value of biogas ranges from
5000 to 5500 Kcal/Kg (18.8 to 26.4 MJ /m3). The biogas can be upgraded to
synthetic natural gas (SNG) by removing CO2 and H2S. The production of biogas
is of particular significance in India because of its large scale cattle production.
The biogas is used for cooking, domestic lighting and heating, run I.C. Engines
and generation of electricity for use in agriculture and rural industry. Family
biogas plants usually of 2-3 m3 capacity.
Advantages

 The initial investment is low for the construction of

biogas plant.

 The technology is very suitable for rural areas.

UNIT - III 26
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 Biogas is locally generated and can be easily

distributed for domestic use.

 Biogas reduces the rural poor from dependence on

traditional fuel sources, which lead to deforestation.

 The use of biogas in village helps in improving the

sanitary condition and checks environmental
pollution.

 The by-products like nitrogen rich manure can be used

with advantage.

 Biogas reduces the drudgery of women and lowers

incidence of eye and lung diseases.

Raw materials for biogas generation Biogas is produced mainly from

 Cow dung

 Sewage

 Crop residues

 Vegetable wastes

 Water hyacinth

 Poultry droppings

 Pig manure

Digestion is biological process that occurs in the absence of oxygen and in the
presence of anaerobic organisms at temperatures (35-70ºc) and atmospheric
pressure. The container in which, this process takes place is known as digester.

Anaerobic digestion:

The treatment of any slurry or sludge containing a large amount of organic

matter utilizing bacteria and other organisms under anaerobic condition is
commonly referred as anaerobic digestion or digestion. Anaerobic digestion
consists of the following three stages. The three stages are (i) the enzymatic
hydrolysis, (ii) acid formation and (iii) methane formation.

UNIT - III 27
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Enzymatic hydrolysis

In this stage, a group of facultative microorganisms acts upon the organic matter
and convert insoluble, complex, high molecular compounds of biomass into
simple, soluble, low molecular compounds. The organic substances such as
polysaccharide, protein and lipid are converted into mono-saccharide, peptide,
amino acids, and fatty acids. Then they are further converted into acetate,
propionate and butyrate.

Acid formation

The micro organisms of facultative and anaerobic group collectively called as

acid formers, hydrolyze and ferment the productions of first phase i.e., water
soluble substances into volatile acid. The major component of the volatile acid
is the acetic acid. In addition to acetate or hydrogen and carbon dioxide, some
other acids like butyric acid and propionic acid are also produced.

Methane formation

Finally, acetate or hydrogen plus carbon dioxide are converted into gas mixture
of methane (CH4) and CO2 by the bacteria, which are strictly anaerobes. These
bacteria are called methane fermentators. For efficient digestion, these acid
formers and methane fermentators must remain in a state of dynamic
equilibrium. The remaining indigestible matter is referred as “slurry”. The
following are some approximate rules used for sizing biogas plants or for
estimating their performance:

1. One kg of dry cattle dung produces approximately 1 m3 of

biogas.

2. One kg of fresh cattle dung contains 8% dry biodegradable

mass.

3. One kg of fresh cattle dung has a volume of about 0.9 liters.

4. One kg of fresh cattle dung requires an equal volume of water

for preparing slurry.

5. Typical retention time of slurry in a biogas plant is 40 days.

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The efficiency of biogas generation depends upon the following factors:

1. Acid formers and methane fomenters must remain in a state of

dynamic equilibrium, which can be achieved by proper design of
digester.

2. Anaerobic fermentation of raw cow dung can takes place at any

temperature between 8 and 55°C. The value of 35°C is taken as
optimum. The rate of biogas formation is very slow at 8°C. For
anaerobic digestion, temperature variation should not be more
than 2 to 3°C. Methane bacteria work best in the temperature
range of 35 and 38°C.

3. A pH value between 6.8 and 7.8 must be maintained for best

fermentation and normal gas production. The pH above 8.5 should
not be used as it is difficult for the bacteria to survive above this pH.

4. A specific ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N ration) must be

maintained between 25:1 and 30:1 depending upon the raw
material used. The ratio of 30:1 is taken as optimum.

5. The water content should be around 90% of the weight of the total
contents. Anaerobic fermentation of cow dung proceeds well if the
slurry contains 8 to 9% solid organic matter.

6. The slurry should be agitated to improve the gas yield.

7. Loading rate should be optimum. If digester is loaded with too

much raw material, acids will accumulate and fermentation will be
affected.

Types of biogas plants: Biogas plants basically are two types.

Floating dome type

Eg. KVIC-type (KVIC- Khadi Village Industries Commission)

Fixed dome type

Eg. Deenabandu model

UNIT - III 29
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

KVIC type biogas plant

This mainly consists of a digester or pit for fermentation and a floating drum for
the collection of gas. Digester is 3.5-6.5 m in depth and 1.2 to 1.6 m in diameter.
There is a partition wall in the center, which divides the digester vertically and
submerges in the slurry when it is full. The digester is connected to the inlet and
outlet by two pipes. Through the inlet, the dung is mixed with water (4:5) and
loaded into the digester. The fermented material will flow out through outlet
pipe. The outlet is generally connected to a compost pit. The gas generation
takes place slowly and in two stages. In the first stage, the complex, organic
substances contained in the waste are acted upon by a certain kind of bacteria,
called acid formers and broken up into small-chain simple acids. In the second
stage, these acids are acted upon by another kind of bacteria, called methane
formers and produce methane and carbon dioxide.

Gas holder

The gas holder is a drum constructed of mild steel sheets. This is cylindrical in
shape with concave. The top is supported radically with angular iron. The holder
fits into the digester like a stopper. It sinks into the slurry due to its own weight
and rests upon the ring constructed for this purpose. When gas is generated the
holder rises and floats freely on the surface of slurry. A central guide pipe is
provided to prevent the holder from tilting. The holder also acts as a seal for the
gas. The gas pressure varies between 7 and 9 cm of water column. Under shallow
water table conditions, the adopted diameter of digester is more and depth is
reduced. The cost of drum is about 40% of total cost of plant. It requires
periodical maintenance. The unit cost of KVIC model with a capacity of 2 m3/day
costs approximately Rs.14, 000 - 00. Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a KVIC biogas
plant

UNIT - III 30
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

Janata type biogas plant:

The design of this plant is of Chinese origin but it has been introduced under the
name “Janata biogas plant” by Gobar Gas Research Station, Ajitmal in view of its
reduced cost. This is a plant where no steel is used, there is no moving part in it
and maintenance cost is low. The plant can be constructed by village mason
taking some pre-explained precautions and using all the indigenously available
building materials. Good quality of bricks and cement should be used to avoid
the afterward structural problems like cracking of the dome and leakage of gas.
This model have a higher capacity when compared with KVIC model, hence it
can be used as a community biogas plant. This design has longer life than KVIC
models. Substrates other than cattle dung such as municipal waste and plant
residues can also be used in janata type plants. The plant consists of an
underground well sort of digester made of bricks and cement having a dome
shaped roof which remains below the ground level is shown in figure. At almost
middle of the digester, there are two rectangular openings facing each other and
coming up to a little above the ground level, act as an inlet and outlet of the
plant. Dome shaped roof is fitted with a pipe at its top which is the gas outlet of
the plant. The principle of gas production is same as that of KVIC model. The

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[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

biogas is collected in the restricted space of the fixed dome, hence the pressure
of gas is much higher, which is around 90 cm of water column.

Deenbandhu biogas plant :

Deenbandhu model was developed in 1984, by Action for Food Production

(AFPRO), a voluntary organization based in New Delhi. Schematic diagram of a
Deenabandhu biogas plantentire biogas programme of India as it reduced the
cost of the plant half of that of KVIC model and brought biogas technology within
the reach of even the poorer sections of the population. The cost reduction has
been achieved by minimizing the surface area through joining the segments of
two spheres of different diameters at their bases. The cost of a Deenbandhu
plant having a capacity of 2 m3/day is about Rs.8000-00. The Deenbandhu
biogas plant has a hemispherical fixed-dome type of gas holder, unlike the
floating dome of of the KVIC-design is shown. The dome is made from pre-
fabricated ferrocement or reinforced concrete and attached to the digester,
which has a curved bottom. The slurry is fed from a mixing tank through an inlet
pipe connected to the digester. After fermentation, the biogas collects in the
space under the dome. It is taken out for use through a pipe connected to the
top of the dome, while the sludge, which is a by-product, comes out through an
UNIT - III 32
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

opening in the side of the digester. About 90 percent of the biogas plants in India
are of the Deenbandhu type.

Schematic diagram of a Deenabandhu biogas plant

FACTORS AFFECTING BIOGAS GENERATION

The increasing energy demand due to population growth and industrialization
has led to depletion of conventional sources of energy. Hence, this has paved
way to explore the new and renewable sources of energies like solar, wind, tidal,
biogas, etc. Biogas among all the other energy sources can be easily available
option for energy generation which would help to solve dual problems of energy
demand and waste management. Biogas energy is being exploited to generate
energy for the automobile transportation. This paper explores the potential
factors affecting the rate of biogas production and suggests the appropriate
conditions to accelerate and optimize the gas yield.

A. Background

Biogas contains high methane content (40–70%) that can further be upgraded
to natural gas quality (75–99% methane content). This upgraded biogas can be
injected into a natural gas grid or can be used as a transport fuel (Mittal, Ahlgren,
& Shukla, 2018). The heating value of biogas and natural gas is 17.99- 20.64
MJ/Nm3 and 33.5 MJ/Nm3 respectively which is approximately 60% lesser than

UNIT - III 33
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

natural gas LHV, although pure methane has a LHV (35.8 MJ/Nm3) which is
equivalent to natural gas which can be obtained by enrichment of biogas
(Wyman & Goodman, 1993; Mataalvarez, Mace, & Llabres, 2000).

MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) is implementing the ‘New

National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme with the help of State nodal
departments viz.: Khadi and Village Industries Commission KVIC, Mumbai and
Biogas Development and Training Centre for dissemination of biogas
technology. This programme has set a target to set up at least 2.55 Lacs biogas
units which will generate approximately 8.40 Lacs m3/day of biogas by the end
of 2020 in capacity range of 1- 25m3/day (MNRE, 2018). Government of India
has announced several support schemes like the National Biogas and Manure
Management Program (NBMMP), waste to energy scheme and off -grid biogas
power generation program (Shukla, 2007; MNRE, 2018).

Researchers have reported its advantages being better digestibility, enhanced

biogas generation/bio-methane yield due to availability of additional nutrients
and more efficient usage of the organic waste (Agunwamba, 2001; Mshandete
& Parawira, 2009; Parawira, Mutro, Zvauya, & Mattiasson, 2004). In addition to
these advantages it also helps in eliminating groundwater and soil
contamination, emission of harmful air pollutants like furans, dioxins and
methane (which are a precursor GHG) (Kumar & Bohara, 2014; Mittal, Ahlgren,
& Shukla, 2018). The nitrogen rich slurry a by-product of biogas plant is more
effective than the raw biomass manure which can be used as liquid fertilizer.
The use of these fertilizers would not only curtail the farmer’s expense on buying
the fertilizer but also increase the quality of yield by adopting organic farming
practices.

According to PIB report (2016), Indian waste basket accounts for about 62
million tonnes of waste every year. 50% of 62 million tonnes of waste i.e. around
31 million tonnes is biodegradable organic waste with 4% average annual
growth rate. (Swaminathan & Mathangi, 2018). Biogas can prove to be a boon

UNIT - III 34
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

to villagers and also the urban population as biogas can supplement LPG energy.
This would not only help the people but also government who is struggling on
the amounts of subsidy on the LPG gas. This could actually help in saving the
cost for cooking in every house which would amount to saving of Rs. 800-900/-
on the monthly expenditure and in addition to this it would solve the waste
disposal problem. Presently, waste disposal generally takes place by dumping,
landfilling or incineration. All these techniques however, are not eco-friendly
ways of managing our solid waste. Thus, utilization of organic waste to create
energy can be a viable, cost-effective & eco-friendly solution.

The main problem associated with biogas is its low heating value (LHV) (17.99 –
20.64 MJ/Nm3) and difficulty in maintaining anaerobic conditions, limiting its
wide applicability. Apart from this, presence of inhibitory substances like
ammonia, sulfide, light metal ions, heavy metals, and organics, etc. disrupts the
biogas production. Thus further studies to enhance the biomethanation and
process optimization can help to enhance the gas production. (Wyman &
Goodman, 1993; Mataalvarez, Mace, & Llabres, 2000).

II. ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

The anaerobic digestion takes place in absence of oxygen. The degradation of

the organic materials happens in 4 steps presented graphically in Fig 1.

1. Hydrolysis
2. Acidogenesis
3. Acetogenesis
4. Methanogenesis
Biogas is a mixture of methane: 40-70%; CO2: 25-40%; N2: 0.5-3%; H2: 1-10%
with traces of H2S. Initial phase of anaerobic digestion in acidic conditions and
the final phase (Methanogenesis) take places under neutral conditions (Hobbs ,
Ward, & Pardo, 2007). Methanogenesis is critical step where the biogas is
generated. This is a final stage and is the slowest biochemical conversion step
(Seadi, et al., 2008).

UNIT - III 35
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

A. Factors affecting Biogas Production:

There are several factors such as biogas potential of feedstock, inoculums,

nature of substrate, pH, temperature, loading rate, hydraulic retention time
(HRT), C:N ratio, volatile fatty acids (VFA), inhibitory substances, etc. influence
the biogas production (Gashaw, 2014; Dioha, Ikeme, Nafi, Soba, & Yusuf, 2013).

1. Temperature: Temperature is an important factor for determining the

efficiency of anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The process can be
operated under three temperature ranges:
a. Thermophilic (40°-70°C)

b. Mesophilic (25°-40°C)

c. Psychrophilic (below 25°C)

Rise in temperature aids increased gas production but results in lesser methane
content and increased percentage of CO2 leading to lower heating value of
biogas. Hence, the optimum temperature was found to be 32°-35°C for efficient
and continuous biogas production (Al Mamun & Torii, 2015). The operating
temperature ranges are much debated as some researchers prefer mesophilic
and others thermophilic for the anaerobic treatment. It has also been reported

UNIT - III 36
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

that the anaerobes are most active in the mesophilic and thermophilic ranges
(Desai & Madamwar, 1994; Zennaki, Cadi, Lamini, Aubinear, & Boulif , 1996).

Insulating the digester with insulating material can help retain desired
temperature. Digester coated with charcoal has been observed to have
improved biogas production by 7-15% in KVIC model (Al Mamun & Torii, 2015;
Anand & Singh, 1993). Maintaining the temperature to 40°C can help reduce the
retention time in digester by 40% (Desai & Madamwar, 1994).

Thermophilic conditions (> 45°C) were reported to better than mesophilic

conditions (25–40°C) as higher temperature helps reduce pathogens and also
eliminate odour problem (Sahlström, 2003; Johansen, et al., 2013; Moset,
Poulsen, Wahid, Hojberg, & Moller, 2015).

2. pH:

pH plays a pivotal role in the operation as the pH changes at different stages of

the anaerobic digestion. pH and temperature are interdependent. The optimum
pH which helps to enhance biogas yield lies between 6.5-7.2 (Sunny & Joseph,
2018). The pH changes when total VFA concentration exceeds 4 g/l and glucose
is inhibited for fermentation (Siegert & Banks , 2005; Nazmi, Korres, & Murphy,
2009). The concentration of VFA and acetic acid should be < 200 mg/l for
maintaining optimum level of pH (Yadvika , Sreekrishnan, Kohli, & Rana , 2004;
Gashaw, 2016). The pH within the digester can be maintained within the range
of 6.5- 7.2 by determining adequate organic loading rate. If the process leads to
a decrease in the pH of the substrate inside the biodigester then it can be
controlled by addition of lime or recycled filtrate (Al Mamun & Torii, 2015). The
graph (Graph: 1) shows that the biogas productivity is affected by change in pH
with respect to the retention time. Thus, we can interpret that the optimum pH
for enhanced biogas production lies in the neutral range i.e. 7.0. Researchers
comprehended that when pH is in the methanogenic range then it valorizes the
methane content in the biogas which is more than 60%. They observed that the
pH of the effluent leachate of CSTR digester was in the range of 7.75-8 at a

UNIT - III 37
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

loading rate of 1.4 kg VS/m3.d and COD of 2150 mg/l (Babaee & Shayegan,
2011).

3. Feedstock:

All the biodegradable waste containing carbohydrates, fats, proteins, cellulose

and hemicelluloses can be used as feedstock in bio-digesters (Weiland, 2010).
Table 1 shows the theoretical COD and the potential biogas yield from different
types of nutrients in the substrates. The productivity differs due to varied
biochemical structure and rate of its biodegradability. The Biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD), Chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile solids (VS) content, C:N
ratio and presence of inhibitory substances present in the feedstock influence
the productivity of biogas (Babaee & Shayegan, 2011; Kwietniewska & Tys,
2014). From the below table 2, it is evident that kitchen waste and MSW
containing organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and slaughterhouse
waste which is characterised by high moisture content and high biodegradability
having greater potential for high methane yield as compared to the other
feedstock. Agricultural waste on the other hand is composed by lignocellulosic
material which may lead to poor degradability hence pre-treatment of
lignocellulosic materials can enhance the productivity thereby reducing the
HRT (Jingura & Kamusoko, 2017). The biogas production in case of Jatropha
UNIT - III 38
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

curcas press cake was 60% higher as compared to cattle waste and the methane
content was found to be 66% (Jingura & Kamusoko, 2017). Studies on Jatropha
curcas which is used to extract biofuels is reported to only 30% oil of the total
biomass subjected to biofuel extraction process. The 70% left out deoiled cake
combined with buffalo dung has showed an increase in biogas production having
71.74% methane content (Pal, Vanerkar, & Satyanarayan, 2015). Chandra et al.,
2012 studied the lignocellulosic agricultural waste (wheat straw) with and
without pre-treatment gave 111.6 % and 87.5% biogas yield
respectively (Jingura & Kamusoko, 2017; Chandra, Takeuchi, & Hasegawa,
2012).

UNIT - III 39
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

4. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and Chemical oxygen demand

(COD):

Biochemical oxygen demand is the measure of oxygen required by the microbes

to decompose the organic material. Higher the BOD, more rapid the organic
degradation. COD is the measure of all organic and inorganic biodegradable
matter present in the sample. COD value of organic waste can help predict the
theoretical methane yield from the substrate (Kwietniewska & Tys, 2014). For
0.5 l/gm of COD removed, methane production will approximately equal to 0.35
l/g (Angelidaki & Sanders, 2004).

5. Carbon/ nitrogen ratio:

C/N ratio plays an important role to determine the suitability of organic matter
(OM) for anaerobic digestion. High C/N ratio indicates low nitrogen content for
microbial growth and as a result methanogens uptake the nitrogen for protein
production thereby leading to carbon wastage which ultimately leads low biogas
yield (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017; Chandra, Takeuchi, & Hasegawa,
2012). Whereas, low C/N ratio can lead to accumulation of ammonia, nitrogen
which may cause inhibition in the anaerobic digestion process (Aworanti,
Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017; Gerardi, 2003). Gerardi have reported that C/N ratio
of 25:1 was optimum for good biogas production (Gerardi, 2003). The optimum
range of C/N for proper functioning of bi-digester was found to be 20-35:1
(Kwietniewska & Tys, 2014). Higher temperatures require higher C/N ratio to
lessen the possibility of ammonia inhibition (Wang, Nges, Nistor , & Liu, 2014).
Typical C/N ratios were recorded for few feedstocks: chicken manure 15:1, grass
silage 25:1, cattle manure 13:1and rice husks 47:1 for obtaining maximum
biogas yield (Dioha, Ikeme, Nafi, Soba, & Yusuf, 2013). The optimal C/N ratio
ensures better methane yield.

6. Total and volatile solids and their particle size:

Solid content are the total amount of fermentable substrate present in a unit
volume of slurry. Higher level of dry solids especially lignocellulosic content
UNIT - III 40
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

affect the hydrolysis process (Nazmi, Korres, & Murphy, 2009). The optimum
level solid content for improving the productivity was found to be 7-9%.
(Zennaki, Cadi, Lamini, Aubinear, & Boulif , 1996). Total solids (TS) encompass
both organic as well as inorganic matter. The percentage of volatile solids (VS)
present in the substrate is directly proportional to the methane yield. (Moody,
Burns, Haan, & Spajic, 2009). It is recommended that 8% TS resulted better
biogas yield. Baserja reported that the biogas production increased to 0.46 m3/
(m3 day) at 37°C and 0.68 m3/ (m3 day) at 55°C respectively. It was observed
that when TS content decreases below 7% system becomes unstable whereas
above 10% TS content the digester becomes overloaded hindering its
performance (Baserja, 1984). The size of the particle influences the overall
fermentation of the organic matter in the digester. Smaller particle size
enhances greater adsorption on the substrate resulting in increase in the
microbial activity leading to greater biogas yield. Crushing of the feedstock into
smaller & uniform particle size can significantly reduce the volume of the
digester without compromising on the quantity of biogas produced.

7. Moisture Content:

The moisture content of the substrate affects the process of anaerobic

digestion. The highest methane yield has been reported at 60-80% humidity
(Gashaw, 2016). The experimental comparison between 70% and 80% moisture
content showed that maximum biogas was produced in former i.e. 83 ml CH4/
gm dry matter as compared to later i.e. 71 ml CH4/ gm dry matter (Gashaw,
2016; Khalid, Arshad, Anjum, Mahmood, & Dawson, 2011).

8. Organic Loading Rate (OLR):

The amount of organic matter subjected to the digester volume with respect to
time or the biological conversion capacity of the substrate is termed as organic
loading rate (OLR). The gas production is mainly influenced by the OLR. The OLR
is directly proportional to the amount of volatile solids to be loaded in the
digester which also influences the biogas yield. Lesser the OLR, higher the

UNIT - III 41
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

methane produced. The higher concentration VFA’s indicates that the reactor is
overloaded. In an experimental study on manure performed in Pennsylvania on
100 m3 biogas plant, the loading rates varied from 346- 1030 Kg VS/day. It was
observed that the gas yield increased steadily from 67- 220 m3/day. They
investigated that at an optimum feeding rate the gas production increases, but
beyond the optimum feeding rate the biogas production remains constant.
Studies suggests that a daily OLR of 16 Kg VS/ m3 of digester volume generated
0.04 – 0.074 m3 of gas/Kg of dung fed. In a pilot scale studies for 1 m3 biogas
plant, it was observed that its OLR was 24 Kg dung/ m3digester/day. (Yadvika ,
Sreekrishnan, Kohli, & Rana , 2004; Gashaw, 2016). OLR of 2.91 Kg VS m3/day is
required for generation of 0.36 m3/Kg VS. According to the rule of thumb, OLR
should be between 0.5- 3 Kg VS m3/day. For CSTR digester the OLR is 1-6 Kg
COD/ m3 reactor vol/ day. (Gashaw, 2016).

9. Hydraulic retention time (HRT)

HRT is the time for which the biodegradable matter remains inside the
reactor. HRT is influenced by the temperature inside the digester, the type of
the feedstock and the technologies applied. The HRT in case of mesophilic
digester is 10- 40 days and thermophilic is of 14 days. Too short retention
time might leave the bacteria getting washed out of the digester without
they getting multiplied thus leaving the digester coming to standstill state
and longer retention time would increase the volume of the reactor. Thus in
order to reduce the retention time and reactor volume, the optimum loading
rate is to be maintained for optimizing the methane gas generation. 2-3
weeks of time is considered optimum for lignocellulosic material to degrade
and generate biogas (Qi, Aldrich, Lorenzen, & Wolfaadt, 2005; Nazmi, Korres,
& Murphy, 2009). Studies of treating a co-digested cattle waste, poultry
waste and cheese whey (2:1:3) gave highest biogas production of 2.2 l/day
having 62% methane content with an HRT of 10 days and OLR of 6 g TS/ l (Al
Mamun & Torii, 2015; Desai & Madamwar, 1994).

UNIT - III 42
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

10.Co-digestion:

Studies have revealed that digester performance can be enhancement by co-

digestion supplying the necessary missing nutrients to micro-organism to
increase their efficiency. Yusuf reported using co-digested substrate can
improve biogas yield by controlling the carbon to nitrogen ratio (Yusuf, Debora,
& Ogheneruona, 2011). Using co-digestion of leftover foods, vegetable wastes,
fruit and cow manure can help improve biogas technology (Deressa, Libsu,
Chavan, Manaye, & Dabassa, 2015). Co-digestion of feedstock as compared to
single substrate waste treated anaerobically have shown encouraging results to
enhance cumulative biogas yield (Narayani & Gomathi , 2012; Prakash & Singh,
2013; Otun, Ojo, Ajibade, & Babatola, 2015; Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye,
2017). Researchers studied co-digestion of cattle manure with food waste, cow
dung with fruit waste, food waste and vegetable waste, pig/swine manure with
grass silage and grass clippings and chicken droppings/manure with
Cymbopogon citratus, water hyacinth and municipal sewage sludge and found
encouraging results to improve the productivity (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye,
2017; Prakash & Singh, 2013; Otun, Ojo, Ajibade, & Babatola, 2015; Quiroga,
Castrillon, & Nava, 2014; Owamah, Alfa, & Dahunsi, 2014; Matheri, Belaid,
Seodigeng, & Ngila, 2016; Xie, Wu, Lawlor, Frost, & Zhan, 2012; Imam, Khan,
Sarkar, & Ali, 2013; Borowski, Domanski, & Weatherley, 2014). The non-edible
agricultural waste of oil seeds like citronella, jatropha, mustard oil cake, mahua,
soya sludge, neem and pongamiaare can be used as a feed to generate
biogas (Pal, Vanerkar, & Satyanarayan, 2015). Co-digestion of grass silage with
slurries was found to enhance digestion process thereby also reducing the
inhibitory effect of ammonia and H2S (Sterling , Lacey , Engler, & Ricke, 2001;
Nazmi, Korres, & Murphy, 2009). Co-digestion of cow dung with grass (5:2)
showed 53% VS removal with a methane yield of 0.268 m3 CH4/ kg VS added
(Lehtomaki, Huttunen, & Rintala, 2007; Nazmi, Korres, & Murphy, 2009).
Prakash and Singh studied effects of using co-digested waste of cow dung (CW)
+ vegetable waste (VW) and CW+ Fruit waste (FW) in different ratios. They have

UNIT - III 43
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

suggested 1:1 ratio for CW+ VW and 2:1 ratio for CW+ FW for enhancing the
productivity (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017; Prakash & Singh, 2013).
Studies of using cowdung, sewage, chicken waste and pig manure in equal
proportion gave the highest biogas yield (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017;
Sebola, Tesfagiorgis, & Muzenda, 2015). It was also observed that chicken
gizzard/ chicken rumen can be used as inoculum to maximize the biogas
production. (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017; Aragaw, Andargie, &
Gessesse, 2013; Ogunleye, Aworanti, Agarry, & Aremu, 2016). However, kinetic
mathematical modelling aspect and thermodynamic properties of biogas
generation also needs to be studied (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017). Co-
digestion of several substrates, for example, banana and plantain peels, spent
grains and rice husk, pig waste and cassava peels, sewage and brewery sludge,
among many others, have proved to improve the methane yield to more than
60% as compared to that in mono-substrate digestion process yield. (Ezekoye &
Okeke, 2006; Illori, Adebusoye, Lawal, & Awotiwon, 2007; Adeyanju, 2008;
Babel, Sae-Tang, & Pecharaply, 2009). Co-digested food waste with dairy
manure in a two-phase digestion system conducted at laboratory scale
demonstrated that the gas production rate (GPR) of co-digestion has been
increased by 0.8 - 5.5 times compared to dairy manure mono-digestion (Mashad
& Zhang, 2007). A study on biogas production from co-digestion of a 60: 40 wt
% of cattle dung and sinews gave a maximum biogas production of 3.3 L/day at
33 days after a 20-day period of inactivity (Paulchamy, Dharmaraj, & Laxmanan,
2008). The tomatoes and cattle dung was co-digested, a 20 days minimum
retention period yield 62% biomethane content at 40°C. (Aworanti, Agarry, &
Ogunleye, 2017). Lignocellulosic material can actively undergo biodegradation
at 30-60°C (Usman, Olanipekun, & Ogunbanwo, 2012; Aworanti, Agarry, &
Ogunleye, 2017).

11.Agitation:

Studies have revealed that agitation of the substrate inside the bio-digester
helps to enhance biogas production (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017;
UNIT - III 44
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

Santosh, Sreekrishman, Kohli, & Rana, 2004). Stirring the slurry helps to mix the
feedstock without settling down and forming a scum in the digester. Slow mixing
of the substrate was found to improve the biogas yield (Baier & Schmidheiny,
1997). The digester were subjected to 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 rpm agitation speed
and it was observed that 30 rpm speed gave highest amount of biogas (i.e. 6.285
dm3/gm) having 58% CH4 content and followed by 40, 50, 60, 70 rpm having
biogas yield of 6.003, 5.720, 5.438 and 5.044 dm3/gm and CH4 content of 57.1%,
55%, 50% and 48% respectively. (Aworanti, Agarry, & Ogunleye, 2017).
Researchers investigated that the biogas production will increase by 15% for
stirred digester compared to unstirred (Muthanna & Muhul, 2006). Studies have
suggested an increase of 10 to 30% in biogas yield with agitation (Karima,
Hofmanna, Klassonb, & Al-Dahhana, 2005). An increase of 7% in biogas yield was
reported with intermittent mixing as compared to continuous mixing (Kaparaju,
Buendia, Ellegaard, & Angelidakia, 2008). Thus, a moderately agitated digester
can be employed for maximizing the generation of biogas.

12.Pre-Treatment/ Inoculum:

Pre-treatment of the substrate helps to increase the degradability of the

feedstock. It breaks the complex organic molecules into the simpler ones which
can be readily degraded by the micro-organisms. The methods of pre-treatment
can be physical, chemical or biochemical. The substrate derived from
agricultural waste, poultry waste, MSW, etc. needs pre-treatment as they
contain lignin, cellulose, hemicellulosic complex substances which can be
broken down to simpler forms for better digestion. The pre-treatment of ligno-
cellulosic material have proved to increase the biogas production also reducing
the HRT (Chandra, Takeuchi, & Hasegawa, 2012; Jingura & Kamusoko, 2017). An
addition of nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se) and sulfate
nutrients resulted in an 40% higher yield and reduced VFA concentration
(Gunaseelan & Nallathambi, 1997; Nazmi, Korres, & Murphy, 2009). The ideal
combination of nutrients for the hydrolysis and acidogenesis is C:N:P:S of
500:15:5:3 and that for Methanogenesis is 600:15:5:3 (Dieterich, 2008; Nazmi,
UNIT - III 45
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

Korres, & Murphy, 2009). Addition of NH4Cl to Bermuda grass gave 96%
methane yield (Gunaseelan & Nallathambi, 1997). An experimental study of
chicken dropping without/ with pre-treatment showed encouraging results in
pre-treated feedstock leading enhance biogas productivity. The biogas
generation without and with pre-treatment were 20 m3/ one ton of fresh waste
and 64.4 m3/ one ton of fresh waste (Elasri & Afilal, 2016).

13.Inoculum:

The inoculum helps in reducing the start-up time of the digester. The seeding of
the digester is found to accelerate the rate of biogas formation. Researchers
have found that the feed to inoculum ratio affected the performance of biogas
digester. It was reported that 80% biogas was obtained during the first ten days
of digestion period when seeded with inoculum (Ahamed, Raiyan, Hossain,
Rahman, & Salam, 2016).

14.Inhibitors:

Ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide, Long Chain Fatty Acids (LCFA), H2S are most
common inhibitory substances present in the substrate in the anaerobic
digestion process. It has been observed that methanogens are more sensitive to
toxic material as compared to other group of bacteria. Methanogens are
affected more by short chain fatty acids. The ammonia concentration of less
than 200mg/l has been found to be suitable for biogas generation as nitrogen
acts a nutrient, hence C:N ratio of 30:1 has been determined to improve biogas
productivity thereby supplying proper nutrients to micro-organisms for the
microbial activity (Chen, Cheng, & Creamer, 2008; Liu & Sung, 2002). The
inhibitory effect of ammonia mainly influences the methanogenic phase of
digestion process (Calli, Yenigun, Mertoglu, & Inanc, 2005). Poultry waste, swine
waste, high proteinaceous sludge is rich in NH3 (Kougias & Angelidaki, 2018;
Kougias, Fotidis, Zaganas, Kotsopoulos, & Martzopoulos, 2017; Fotidis, Kougias
, Zaganus, Kotsopoulos, & Martzpoulos, 2014; An, et al., 2017). The free
ammonia (NH3) is responsible for inhibitory effect and not the ammonium ion

UNIT - III 46
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

(NH4+) (Kougias & Angelidaki, 2018). A study on ammonia inhibition suggests

that the concentration of 1.77-14 g/l of total ammonia nitrogen can reduce the
biogas yield by almost 50% (Kougias & Angelidaki, 2018; Chen, Cheng, &
Creamer, 2008). The ammonia inhibition is influenced by the pH and
temperature. The change in pH and temperature can lead to disturb the process
dynamics which will lead to operate the digesters under inhibited steady
conditions leading to around 30% loss in the biogas yield. Long Chain Fatty Acids
(LCFA) is present in the agricultural residues, food waste, olive oil wastewater,
slaughterhouse waste, etc. which act as inhibitory substances in the process of
anaerobic digestion. It is reported that thermophiles are more sensitive to LCFA
than mesophiles (Chen, Cheng, & Creamer, 2008; Hwu & Lettinga, 1997).

ENERGY PLANTATION
Energy is the key factor for the economic growth of any nation and
India is no exception. In spite of increasing availability of energy, there
is always need for more. This is the reason which has prompted the
world countries to develop alternative sources of energy like
geothermal, solar nd wind. Moreover we must use the available coal
reserves sustainably.
In this context, crops producing hydrocarbons are very important.
Petroplants accumulate photosynthetic products like hydrocarbons of
high molecular weight. In 1979, M. Calvin of the University of California
reported the collection and use of photosynthetically produced
hydrocarbons. He suggested them as a substitute for conventional
petroleum sources.
Most of the plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae,
Asclepiadaceae, Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Caprofoliaceae and
Lamiaceae are promising petroplants. Euphorbia lathyris of family
Euphorbiaceae is considered as most suitable petrocrop containing
more than 5% oil and polymeric hydrocarbons.

List of Petro Crops

The following is the list of petrocrops

UNIT - III 47
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

Petro Crop Family Name

Agave americana Agavaceae

Allemanda vathartica Apocynaceae

Nerium odorum Apocynaceae

Tabernaemontana coronaria Apocynaceae

Thevetai nerifolia Apocynaceae

Wrightis tomentosa Asclepiadaceae

Aclepias curassavia Asclepiadaceae

Calotropis gigantica Asclepiadaceae

Ceropegia tuberosa Asclepiadaceae

Cryptostegia grandiflora Asclepiadaceae

Pergularia daemia Asclepiadaceae

Copaifera longsdorfii Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia lathyris Euphorbiaceae

Hevea Brasiliensis Euphorbiaceae

Jatropa curcas Euphorbiaceae

Pedilanthus thithymaloides Euphorbiaceae

Aloe vera Liliaceae

Sansevieria sps. Liliaceae

Artocarpus integrifolia Moraceae

Argemone mexicana Papaveraceae

Pedalium murex Pedaliaceae

Pittosporum resinferum Pittosporaceae

Madhuca indica Sapotaceae

UNIT - III 48
[RENEWABLE ENERGY SOUCRES]

Petro Crop Family Name

Mimusops elengi Sapotaceae

Vitis quadrangularis Vitaceae

Technically, energy plantation means growing selected species of trees
and shrubs which are harvestable in a comparably shorter time and are
specifically meant for fuel. These plantations help provide wood either
for domestic or industrial purposes.
The energy plantations provide almost inexhaustible renewable
sources of energy which are local and independent of unreliable and
finite sources of fuel. The total time constant for each cycle is 3-8 years
only.

Features of Energy Plantations

The attractive features of energy plantations are:
 Good amount of heat content of wood
 Wood low in sulphur and non-polluting
 Ash from burnt wood is a valuable fertiliser
 Raising plantations in erosion-prone lands helps to reduce
soil erosion
 Help in rural employment generation

Significance of Energy Plantations

Energy plantations are the plants planted only for use as fuel. The
woody plants have been used since ancient times to generate fire for
domestic and industrial purpose. In recent years, to meet the ever
growing demand of energy, plantation of energy plants is been
encouraged. We are all aware that trees are cut in many of the forest
belts of India like Gangetic plains, Siwalik region and foot-hills of
Himalayas.
In terms of fuel wood production, India is the biggest, but the per
capita fuel wood production is very low. In India, people of hill area
hardly get fire-wood plants and they have to go to interior of forest to
collect wood-falls. Also introduction of technologies developed for
plains is not achievable in these areas.

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For example, they cannot be motivated to use solar cooker, because of

being solely traditional and religious. Even gobar gas plant cannot be
useful in hills, due to low temperatures. Therefore, renewable source
of energy is highly desirable for survival of population in hills and for
reducing the pressure on forests. And thus, energy plantation has got
great support in our country.
For obtaining good amount of biomass, afforestation and forest
management government has started many plans like social forestry,
silviculture and agro-horticulture practices in waste and barren lands.
These programmes include growing of drought resistant, salt resistant,
pollutant resistant and high density energy plantations (HDEP) in waste
and barren
The technique used in high density energy plantations, HDEP is the
practice of planting trees at close spacing. Here the trees grow rapidly
due to struggle for survival. It provides fast and high returns with many
opportunities of permanent income and employment.

Social Forestry: Energy plantation and power programme

Plantation through social forestry has been highlighted by the
Government of India to meet the demand of fuel and fodder in the rural
areas. Social forestry will definitely decrease the ever increasing
pressure on the forests. Through social forestry, trees are planted
along road sides, canals, railway lines and waste lands in villages.
The following must be considered while selecting plant species for
energy plantations:
 The species should be local. This helps for better climatic and soil
adaptation.
 Species should show rapid growth and high coppicing ability.
 The species should also produce additional products like fruits,
seeds, fodder and green manure apart from fuel wood.
 The species must have hard wood.
 The species must have low requirement of water and fertilizer.
 The species must have ability to increase the soil quality.
 The species also should have high calorific value of wood.
List of Social forestry plants
The following is the list of plants included in social forestry,

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Petro Crop Family Name

Acacia nilotica Fabaceae

Albizia lebbek Fabaceae

Albizia procera Fabaceae

Anthocephalus chinensis Rubiaceae

Azardirachta indica Meliaceae

Bauhinia variegata Fabaceae

Butea monosperma Fabaceae

Cassia fistula Fabaceae

Dalbergia sisso Fabaceae

Eucalyptus globulus Mrytaceae

Eucalyptus citriodora Myrtaceae

Ficus glomerata Moraceae

Lagerstroemia speciosa Lythraceae

Madhuca indica Sapotaceae

Morus alba Moraceae

Populus ciliata Salicaceae

Populus nigra Salicaceae

Terminalia arjuna Combritaceae

Toona ciliata Melicaceae

Salix alba Salicaceae

Salix tetrasperma Salicaceae

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND BENEFITS

Biomass benefits are still subject of many debates when compared with other
renewable energy sources. However, biomass has many advantages over fossil
fuels due to reduction of the amount of carbon emissions. The main benefits of
biomass are:

Biomass is a renewable energy source

The benefit of biomass energy is that biomass is renewable source of energy and
it cannot be depleted. Biomass mostly derived from plants, that means as long
as plants are going to be on this planet, biomass will be available as renewable
energy source.

Biomass helps climate change by reducing GHG

Biomass helps reduce the amount of GHG that give more impact to global
warming and climate change. The biomass emissions level is far smaller
compared to fossil fuels. The basic difference between biomass and fossil fuels
when it comes to amount of carbon emissions is: all the CO2 which has been
absorbed by plant for its growth is going back in the atmosphere during its
burning for the production of biomass energy. While the CO2 produced from
fossil fuels is going to atmosphere where it increases greenhouse effect.

Cleaner environment

Biomass energy helps to clean our environment. World population is constantly

increasing with a increasing increased waste which needs to be properly
disposed. Many of garbage ends up in water resources harming ecosystems and
having negative impact on human health. This garbage could be used for
valorisation and produced energy, bioferilizers and other products.

Biomass is widely available source of energy

Biomass is widely available energy source. The sources are from agriculture,
forestry,fisheries, aquaculture, algae and waste. Many energy experts agree
that when you combine economic and environmental character of energy
sources biomass is on top of the list as one of the best energy sources.

GHG emission balances for biomass-fuelled electricity and heat applications

GHG balances for a wide range of technologies to produce electricity and heat

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were prepared by Elsayed, Matthews and Mortimer (2003). System boundaries

encompassed the entire chain from fuel production to end-use. Some biomass
systems show net GHG emissions savings of more than 40% of the substituted
fossil alternatives, while some others only score 4%. Thus, the span of the
environmental benefit is wide, and the effective value will depend on the
particular application situation (technology, scale etc). The total GHG emissions
from contaminated biomass fuels (non-tradables) are set at 0, since these fuels
are available anyway. There existence cannot be avoided, and all GHG emissions
associated with their production should be allocated to the products from which
they are the unavoidable result.

Bioenergy is a unique type of renewable electricity: unlike solar, wind, and

hydropower, generating power from biomass emits greenhouse gases and
pollutants into the air. However, because of the renewable nature of biomass,
many consider it to be a carbon-neutral source of electricity.
Is biomass/bioenergy carbon-neutral?

When we burn biomass for heat or electricity, it releases carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. However, sources of biomass, such as agricultural crops and trees,
also capture carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis and sequester
said carbon dioxide. If trees and other plants absorb as much carbon dioxide as
they emitted during the biomass combustion process, then the carbon cycle
remains in balance.
However, in real-life practice, it’s not that simple: the carbon impact of
bioenergy depends on the combustion technology, how the biomass is
harvested, any re-growing efforts, the type of biomass used, timing, and the
energy resource it’s displacing.
For example, consider electricity from woody biomass: burning wood to produce
electricity emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but trees will re-grow and
capture the emitted carbon dioxide. However, forests can take decades to
regrow and sequester carbon, so the carbon neutrality of that source of
bioenergy depends on the time frame you’re looking at. If companies burn trees
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at a faster rate than they’re being re-planted and grown or burning trees that
would otherwise be left untouched in a forest, the carbon neutrality is
compromised. Trees and other plants also capture differing amounts of carbon
depending on their age, which makes carbon accounting for woody biomass
even more complicated.

Now, compare woody biomass to biogas generated from animal waste in

anaerobic digesters: burning biogas for electricity also emits carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere. However, this process often results in net negative greenhouse
gas emissions because of the potency of methane. Biogas is made mostly of
methane which, if not burned as biogas, has a more negative impact on the
greenhouse effect.
If you’re being offered “green” electricity from biomass energy plants, it’s
important to remember that it’s not necessarily clean like other types of
renewable energy.
Additional environmental consequences of biomass energy

Outside of the greenhouse gas emission implications of using bioenergy, there

are a number of additional environmental consequences to consider:

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Deforestation
There are plenty of bioenergy plants that use waste –whether that be
agricultural or animal– as a fuel source. However, many energy companies use
forest timber for fuel and clear-cut mature trees that, if left untouched, remove
carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Actions like these lead to
deforestation, causing habitat loss, soil erosion, destruction of natural beauty,
and more.
Pollution
Outside of contributing carbon dioxide emissions, burning biomass in a solid,
liquid, or gaseous state can also emit other pollutants and particulate matter
into the air, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and
nitrogen oxides. In some instances, the biomass burned can emit more pollution
than fossil fuels. Unlike carbon dioxide emissions, many of these pollutants
cannot be sequestered by new plants. These compounds can lead to a number
of environmental and human health issues if not properly contained.
Water use
Plants require water to grow; when energy companies grow trees and other
crops for a bioenergy plant, they use a lot of water for irrigation. On a large
scale, this exacerbates drought conditions, impacting aquatic habitats and the
amount of water supply available for other purposes (food crops, drinking,
hydropower, etc.).
Making biomass more environmentally friendly

Not all biomass energy solutions are created equal; some of the environmental
downsides of bioenergy can be mitigated through more sustainable forest
management, and making careful choices about the type of biomass we harvest
for fuel and how we harvest it. Advancements in research and technology, along
with policy development, can help ensure that future investments in bioenergy
are more environmentally friendly.

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BIOMASS PROGRAMS IN INDIA

Biomass contributes over a third of primary energy in India. Biomass fuels are
predominantly used in rural households for cooking and water heating, as well
as by traditional and artisan industries. Biomass delivers most energy for the
domestic use (rural - 90% and urban - 40%) in India (NCAER, 1992). Wood fuels
contribute 56 percent of total biomass energy (Sinha et. al, 1994). Consumption
of wood has grown annually at 2 percent rate over past two decades (FAO, 1981;
FAO, 1986; FAO, 1996).

Estimates of biomass consumption remain highly variable (Ravindranath and

Hall, 1995; Joshi et. al., 1992) since most biomass is not transacted on the
market. Supply-side estimates (Ravindranath and Hall, 1995) of biomass energy
are reported as: fuelwood for domestic sector- 218.5 million tons (dry), crop
residue- 96 million tons (estimate for 1985), and cattle dung cake- 37 million
tons. A recent study (Rai and Chakrabarti, 1996) estimates demand in India for
fuelwood at 201 million tons (Table 1). Supply of biomass is primarily from fuels
that are home grown or collected by households for own needs. The
Government sponsored social forestry programme has added to fuel-wood
supply to the tune of 40 million tons annually (Ravindranath and Hall, 1995).

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