CBE697 Biorefineries

Assignment 2: 20-mark Question

Faris Hafiyyan (2011801274), Masila Noraini (2011695452), Shahrizi Razali (2012401476)
QUESTION
PO2, PO6, CO2, C3, C4
China is the main player in swine industry. With the large expansion of the industry, Chinese
farmers are having difficulties in disposing of so many swine carcasses resulting from inevitable
routine mortality of pigs. Annually, a typical farrow-to-finish farming system produces over 90
tons of dead pigs. The usually farmer opt for burial, incineration and anaerobic digestion as
disposal techniques. The properties of the swine carcasses material is tabulated in Table 1.
Table 1 Proximate Analysis of Swine Carcasses Material
Component Carcasses Material
Moisture
8.8 wt%
Volatile
65.9 %
Ash
0.002 wt%
Fixed carbon
25.3 wt%
Heating value
39.3 MJ/kg
a) Deduce the negatives impacts of using conventional disposal techniques to dispose of
the swine carcasses
(6 marks)
b) Based on the information provide as the above, suggest the most suitable disposal
techniques that can be used to dispose of the swine carcasses in a safely, practically,
and economically manner. Explain the principle of the conversion process you have
chosen and the pretreatment needed (if any), as well as state the end-product and its
prospective uses.
(14 marks)

ANSWER
a) Negatives impacts of using conventional disposal techniques to dispose of the swine
carcasses incudes;
Direct burial and landfill disposal can cause contamination the groundwater supply
particularly in areas with light soil and a high water table
Direct burial and landfill can also cause infectious agents to enter the food chain for both
human and animal
Anaerobic digestion by microorganism generates high concentration of hydrogen sulfide
and other dangerous component that can exceed human safety levels
These released gasses can jeopardize the human health and some components are
malodorous
Incineration requires high operational cost and contributes to the air pollution
Lead to environmental pollution
[1 point x 2 marks = 6 marks]
b) Most suitable disposal techniques that can be used to dispose of the swine carcasses in a
safely, practically, and economically manner;
From the above table analysis of swine carcasses materials, swine carcasses can be
converted to bio-oil by alkaline hydrothermal liquefaction.
Feed are typically with 5 -35 % solid.
Process condition and requirement:
o Medium-temperature (between 280 370 C)
o High pressure (10 25 MPa)
o Residence time (5 30 min)
o Water can simultaneously act as reactant and catalyst.
At these temperatures and pressures, water becomes a highly reactive medium
promoting the breakdown and cleavage of chemical bonds, allowing for the reformation
of biological molecules
Water is also beneficial as a reaction medium since the newly formed bio-crude oil selfseparates after conversion.
The aqueous medium also eliminates the need dry the incoming feedstock, bypassing
resource and energy intensive pre-processing steps.
The thermal and mechanical energy input for hydrothermal processes are considerable,
however by applying energy recirculation such as preheating the substrate with the
reactor effluent stream, the energy consumption can be reduced significantly
The fuel properties of the bio-oil are better than those of fast pyrolysis oil, but a little bit
worse than those of diesel.
A yield of end products comprises of bio-oil and solid residue such as carbon, hydrogen,
nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, ash.
The bio-oil could further be upgraded by catalytic cracking or hydrodeoxygenation for
production of liquid transport fuels.
Some valuable chemicals, such as hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid, were
found in the bio-oils. Extraction of the valuable chemicals from the bio-oil could
significantly boost the economic attractiveness of the bio-oil.
[Total mark = 14 marks]