BIOENERGY:

FUNDAMENTALS
AND APPLICATIONS
BIOFUELS

ESEN 340
SPRING 2021
ERDEM GÜNAY
Types of Biofuels
• Bioethanol
• Biodiesel
• Waste
• Charcoal TODAY’S
Units and Conversions SUBJECTS

Some Numeric Problems

History of Biofuels
TYPES OF BIOFUELS

Solid Biofuels: Wood or solid waste from plants, animal waste.

Liquid Biofuels: Bio-alcohols (methanol and ethanol), oils,

biodiesels and other liquid material that can be obtained from
biological sources and used as fuel.

Gaseous Biofuels: Mainly methane produced from biological

sources like decay of garbage or agricultural manure. Hydrogen,
from biological sources can also be considered as gaseous biofuel.
MODERN AND CONVENTIONAL
BIOFUELS
 Conventional Biofuels: They can be
burned directly (have been used for
many years in the human history):
 Unprocessed wood, charcoal, straw, animal
wastes.
 Modern Biofuels: They are
manufactured by complex chemical
processes (invented recently in the
human history).
 Ethanol, biodiesel, synthetic gas, etc.
BIOETHANOL
 ETHANOL
 Most of the cars in US can
run on blends of E10 (10%
ethanol), without any
modification to the engine.
 Other concentrations need
modifications to the engine.
 Since 1976, in Brazil, it is
mandatory to blend ethanol
with gasoline;
 and since 2007 the legal blend
is around 25% ethanol and 75%
gasoline.
ETHANOL FROM
CORN

 In United States,
ethanol is mostly
made from yellow
corn by yeast
fermentation.
ETHANOL FROM
SUGARCANE

 In Brazil, ethanol is
mostly made from sugar
cane. It is crushed in a
mill to extract the juice.
 Juice is used to make sugar
and is a source for ethanol
production by yeast
fermentation.
 left-over pulp, called
"bagasse" can be burned in
a power station.
ETHANOL  Ethanol Fermentation:
FORMATION BY
FERMENTATION  C6H12O6 +Enzymes→2C2H5OH+2CO2
 ETHANOL FORMATİON BY FERMENTATION
 Yogurt from milk
 Cheese from milk
 Early steps in making chocolate use
fermentation
 Bread rising with yeast, used in baking
(due to CO2 as product)

Ethanol Fermentation:
 C6H12O6 +Enzymes→ 2C2H5OH+2CO2
BIO
ETHANOL
BIODIESEL
BIO DIESEL FROM VEGETABLE OIL

 Our aim is to separate

fatty acids from the oil and
produce new esters.
BIO DIESEL
BIODIESEL FROM SOYBEAN OIL
BIODIESEL CAN BE CREATED BY REMOVING GLYCERIN FROM SOYBEAN OIL OR OTHER
VARIOUS VEGETABLE OILS.
WASTE
BREAKING THE DECAYING
BIOMASS AND ANIMAL
WASTES

 Decaying biomass and

animal wastes are
broken down
naturally to
elementary nutrients
and soil humus by
decomposer
organisms, fungi and A pile of cow manure

bacteria.
BIOGAS

 Biogas is the
CH4/CO2
gaseous mix.
 Digesters are
constructed
to maximize
CH4
production
and
extraction.
 Garbage
can also be
used to
produce
biogas.

Ref: http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk/news/biofuels-may-replace-half-of-
eu-gasoline-by-2020/
CHARCOAL
 AN EXAMPLE FOR A CONVENTIONAL FUEL:
CHARCOAL

 Charcoal is produced by slow pyrolysis

process in kilns.
 Wood or other plant oriented materials
are heated in the absence of O2.
 H2O and other volatile substances are
removed.
 High C content product can reach
temperatures hot enough to melt sand
and iron.
 Charcoal, is still the main energy source
for 200–300 million people in the world.
 BIOFUELS SUMMARY

 Fuels produced from mainly biomass.

 Biofuels are different from fossil fuels
 They are renewable.
 They can be produced in a very small time.

 Solid Biofuels: Wood or solid waste from

plants, animal waste, etc.
 Liquid Biofuels: Bio-alcohols (methanol and
ethanol), oils, biodiesels, etc.
 Gaseous Biofuels: Mainly methane produced
from biological sources like trash sites.
Hydrogen, from biological sources can also be
considered as gaseous biofuel.
HISTORY OF
BIOENERGY
HISTORY OF BIOFUELS:
THE FUELS USED BY THE
EARLY HUMANS
 All are from biomass
oriented
 From plants:
 Wood,
 Dried grass or branches

 From animals:
 Fat,
 Bones,
 Feces (body wastes)
VALUE OF WOOD
 Trees have value as lumber as
well as fuel.
 Lumber can be used
construction materials, railroad
ties, telephone poles, source of
pulp for the papermaking
industry.
 It has also a great value while
living, as a source of wildlife
habitat. As a source of oxygen.
 In contrast coal is simply a fuel.
HISTORY OF THE USE
OF WOOD
 When the first humans arrived
in Europe (6000 years ago)
they encountered dense
forests.
 These people cleared the
forests by burning the trees
they settled.
 The ashes of the trees
fertilized the soil. Openings in
the forest facilitated the
growth of their crops.

ref: Biofuels by John Tabak

Infobase Publishing, New York
HISTORY OF THE USE
OF WOOD

 Green wood, wood that has

not been dried, is a poor
source of fuel.
 It is difficult to burn, the
thermal energy is wasted when
the water in the wood is
converted into steam.
 They searched for dead and
dry woods in the forests and
used them instead.
HISTORY OF
WOOD

 The Roman
Empire was
the
superpower
in the history.
 They
conquered all
over the
Europe.
 HISTORY OF WOOD

 In ancient Rome 2000 years ago, the

sophisticated wood market had
served the city’s 1 million inhabitants.
 Romans used less wood and more
stone and brick for construction.
 Bricks were produced by the heat
energy of woods.
 Space heating and Roman baths
required large amounts of fuel wood
as well.
 Romans lived an energy rich lifestyle.

ref: Biofuels by John Tabak

Infobase Publishing, New York
  The wood amount
to be used must
be controlled with
SHORTAGE caution since there
OF WOOD were times of
shortage of wood
in the human
history.
SHORTAGE OF
WOOD

 In US wood consumption
peaked in 1907 (about 30
million m3). This was 2/3 of the
world’s output for that year.
 The wood being taken from
the nation’s forests at a rate
that was 3-4 times greater than
it was being replenished.

ref: Biofuels by John Tabak

Infobase Publishing, New York
SHORTAGE OF
WOOD
 Early in the 20th century,
President Roosevelt, took large
amounts of forests into reserve.
 By 1962, the Forest Service
estimated that more wood was
being grown than being consumed.
It is also true today.
 However, many tropical forests,
most of which are located in
developing nations, are still
shrinking.
 To create agricultural land by
burning forestland.
 SOME CASE STUDIES:
BRAZIL
 Only two million people lived in Brazil
prior to the arrival of Europeans at the
beginning of the 16th century.
 At that time the coast of Brazil
consisted of an enormous forest.
 First, the forests were started to be
cleared due to the large amount of
sugarcane plantations.
 Second, cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats
were imported to create a new
agricultural industry. Large sections of
the forests were burned in order to
create grasslands on which the animals
could feed.
 SOME CASE STUDIES:
BRAZIL
 The development of coffee
plantations led to the further
destruction of the original forests.
 In 1970s Brazil initiated a program
to produce ethanol from sugarcane
as a strategy to reduce oil imports,
which required even more
agricultural land.
 Today once one of the world’s
great forests Brazil’s long Atlantic
seacoast is totally disappeared.
Country Forest area (% of land area)

LIST OF
French Guiana 91.5
Finland 74.0
Japan 68.2
Sweden
Republic of Korea
67.1
64.5 COUNTRIES
Brazil
Portugal 42.2
55.7
BY FOREST
AREA
Italy 34.6
United States of America 33.1
Germany 31.8
The World 30.3
France 28.5
China 22.0
Turkey 13.3
Argentina 12.0
United Kingdom 11.8
Iran 6.8
Iraq 1.9
Saudi Arabia 1.3
Egypt 0.1
 HISTORY OF
MODERN BIOFUELS
 1917, Alexander Graham Bell made the
following observation in National
Geographic:
 “Alcohol makes a beautiful, clean
and efficient fuel. Alcohol can be
manufactured from corn, and in fact
from almost any vegetable matter
capable of fermentation. We need
never fear the exhaustion of our
present fuel supplies so long as we
can produce an annual crop of
alcohol to any extent desired.”
 In 1820, alcohol was the main fuel for
gas lamps and 100 million gallons a year
were sold.
 HISTORY OF
MODERN BIOFUELS
 In 1876, German inventor N. August
Otto (the inventor of the first four-
stroke internal combustion
automobile engine) used alcohol as
the fuel.
 Rudolph Diesel demonstrated his
first engine in 1900 running on
peanut oil.
 The Ford Model T, which first came
out in 1908, was also designed to
run on ethanol.
 Then petroleum based fuels
dominated the market as more
economical and efficient alternatives
HISTORY OF
MODERN
BIOFUELS
 In WW II, the demand
of biofuels increased.
Various new
applications (like the
use of gasoline with
alcohol from
potatoes) was
developed.
 After war, the cheap
oil dominated the
market again.
 HISTORY OF
MODERN BIOFUELS
 OPEC crisis hit the world in early
1970s; the world started to
consider the biofuels and other
alternative energy sources more
seriously
 Increasing oil prices, concerns
about limited oil reserves and
increasing environmental
awareness draw more attention to
biofuels and other renewable
energy sources in recent years.

ref:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/history-of-
biofuels/
 Heat content of green wood is estimated to be 2580 Btu/pound.
Convert this to GJ/ton.

EXAMPLE 1: BIOMASS ENERGY CONTENT

 Total world primary energy consumption in the year 2002 was
estimated to be 451 EJ/year . Convert this to GW.

EXAMPLE 2: WORLD POWER CONSUMPTION

 An energy crop in a region yields 15850Btu per yard2, per year. Convert
this to W per m2.

EXAMPLE 3: POWER OF ENERGY CROP PER AREA

 A small village of 1200 people consume 80kW energy which is supplied
by the combustion of charcoal. If the energy content of charcoal is 30
GJ/ton, what is the mass of charcoal consumed in kg per person per day?

EXAMPLE 4: BIOMASS CONSUMPTION PER

CAPITA
 The CO2 gas released due to the combustion of dry wood is about
80kg/GJ. If the heat content of dry wood is 15 GJ/ton. Find CO2
emission in terms of m3/kg (Assuming ideal gas at 0oC, 1atm).

EXAMPLE 5: CO2 EMISSION DUE TO

COMBUSTION OF BIOMASS
METRIC PREFIXES
UNITS OF LENGTH
UNITS OF AREA
UNITS OF VOLUME
UNITS OF MASS
UNITS OF PRESSURE
UNITS OF ENERGY, HEAT, WORK
UNITS OF POWER