ENERGY FROM BIOMAS

INTRODUCTION TO BIOMASS ENERGY SYSTEM

Introduction

Biomass energy or „„bio-energy‟‟ includes any solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, or any electric power
or useful chemical product derived from organic matter, whether directly from plants or
indirectly from plant-derived industrial, commercial or urban wastes, or agricultural and
forestry residues. Thus bio-energy can be derived from a wide range of raw materials and
produced in a variety of ways. Because of the wide range of potential feed stocks and the variety
of technologies to produce them and process them, bioenergy is usually considered as a series of
many different feedstock/technology combinations. In practice, we tend to use different terms for
different end uses—e.g., electric power or transportation.

The term „„bio-power‟‟ describe biomass power systems that use biomass feed-stocks instead
of the usual fossil fuels (natural gas or coal) to produce electricity, and the term „„biofuel‟‟ is used
mostly for liquid transportation fuels which substitute for petroleum products such as gasoline
or diesel. „„Biofuel‟‟ is short for biomass fuel.
The term „„biomass‟‟ generally refers to renewable organic matter generated by plants through
photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plants combine carbon dioxide from the air and water
from the ground to form carbohydrates, which form the biochemical „„building blocks‟‟ of biomass.
The solar energy that drives photosynthesis is stored in the chemical bonds of the carbohydrates
and other molecules contained in the biomass. If biomass is cultivated and harvested in a way
that allows further growth without depleting nutrient and water resources, it is a renewable
resource that can be used to generate energy on demand, with little net additional contributions
to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Materials having organic combustible matter are also referred under biomass. Biomass can be
directly utilized as fuel or can be converted through different routes into useful forms of fuel.
Biomass is a scientific term for living matter, but the word biomass is also used to denote
products derived from living organisms— wood from trees, harvested grasses, plant parts and
residues such as twigs, stems and leaves, as well as aquatic plants and animal wastes.

Burning biomass efficiently results in little or no net emission of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere, since the bioenergy crop plants actually took up an equal
amount of carbon dioxide from the air when they grew. However, burning conventional fossil
fuels such as gasoline, oil, and coal or natural gas results in an increase in carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, the major greenhouse gas which is thought to be responsible for global climate
change. Some nitrogen oxides inevitably result from biomass burning (as with all combustion
processes) but these are comparable to emissions from natural wildfires, and generally lower
than those from burning fossil fuels. Other greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the use
of fossil fuels by farm equipment, and with the application of inorganic fertilizers to the
bioenergy crop. However, these may be offset by the increase in carbon storage in soil organic
matter compared with conventional crops. Utilization of biomass residues which would otherwise
have been dumped in landfills e.g. urban and industrial residues) greatly reduces greenhouse
gas emissions by preventing the formation of methane.
All the Earth‟s biomass exists in a thin surface layer called the biosphere. This
represents only a tiny fraction of the total mass of the Earth, but in human terms it
is an enormous store of energy—as fuel and as food. More importantly, it is a
store which is being replenished continually. The source which supplies the energy
is of course the Sun, and although only a tiny fraction of the solar energy reaching
the Earth each year is converted into biomass, it is nevertheless equivalent to over five
times the total world. The annual world of biomass is estimated at 146 billion metric
tons, mostly from uncontrolled plant growth. The current world demand for oil and gas
can be met with about 6% of the global production of biomass. Biomass is significant
as heating fuel, and in some parts of the world the fuel is most widely used for
cooking . An advantage of this source of energy is that use of biomass for fuel would
not add any net carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The Earth‟s land-based production which is used by the human population worldwide ranges from
a low figure of about 5% to a high of over 30% (including food, animal fodder, timber and other
products, as well as bioenergy). The higher estimates include a lot of wasted material and
inefficient activities such as forest clearance, as well as losses of productivity due to human
activity. Globally biomass energy use has been independently estimated at about 55 exajoules per
year, or about 2% of annual biomass production on land.

Definition of biomass

“What Is Biomass?,” the word “biomass” consists of “bio” + “mass”, and originally used in the
field of ecology simply referring to amount of animal and plant. After the oil shocks, the meaning
of the word was widened beyond ecological field and came to include the meaning “biological
resources as energy sources”, since it was vigorously proposed that alternative energy sources
should be promoted. There is still no strict definition of biomass, and the definition differs
from one field to another. From the perspective of energy resources, a common definition is “a
general term for animal and plant resources and the wastes arising from them, which have
accumulated in a certain amount (excluding fossil resources)”. Accordingly, biomass encompasses
a wide variety including not only agricultural crops, timber, marine plants, and other
conventional agriculture, forestry, and fisheries resources, but also pulp sludge, black liquor,
alcohol fermentation stillage, and other organic industrial waste, municipal waste such as
kitchen garbage and paper waste, and sewage sludge.
Characteristics of biomass energy
Up to the 19th century, biomass in the form of firewood and charcoal was the main source of
energy, but these were replaced by coal and oil in the 20th century. In the 21st century, however,
biomass shows signs of being revived because of the following characteristics: it is renewable, it
is storable and substitutive, it is abundant, and it is carbon neutral.

Biomass categories

There is no established way of categorizing biomass, which is defined differently according to the
field; categorization changes depending on the purpose and application. Generally there are two
ways to categorize biomass: one is biological categorization based on types of existing biomass in
nature (such as categorization according to ecology or type of vegetation), and the other is based
on the use or application as resources. The latter is highly significant in terms of making
effective use of energy (resources).

Feed stock for Biofuels

The various feed stocks that can be used for the production of biofuels maybe classified into
three groups: cellulosic biomass, sugar and starchy crops, and oil-containing or oil-producing
plants. The first group of feedstock is cellulosic biomass. It is the type o feed stock that is
increasingly becoming important for the production of biofuels.
 Biomass Conversion Methods
Introduction
Biomass energy or ‘‘bioenergy’’ includes any solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, or any
electric power or useful chemical product derived from organic matter, whether directly
from plants or indirectly from plant-derived industrial, commercial or urban wastes, or
agricultural and forestry residues. Thus bio- energy can be derived from a wide range of
raw materials and produced in a variety of ways. Because of the wide range of potential
feed stocks and the variety of technologies to produce them and process them, bio-energy is
usually considered as a series of many different feedstock/technology combinations. In
practice, we tend to use different terms for different end users i.e electric power or
transportation.

The term „„biopower‟‟ describe biomass power systems that use biomass
feedstocks instead of the usual fossil fuels (natural gas or coal) to produce elec
tricity, and the term „„biofuel‟‟ is used mostly for liquid transportation fuels which
substitute for petroleum products such as gasoline or diesel. „„Biofuel‟‟ is short for
biomass fuel.

The term „„biomass‟‟ generally refers to renewable organic matter generated by

plants through photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plants combine carbon
dioxide from the air and water from the ground to form carbohydrates, which form the
biochemical „„building blocks‟‟ of biomass. The solar energy that drives photosynthesis is stored
in the chemical bonds of the carbohydrates and other molecules c o n t a i n e d in
the biomass. If biomass is cultivated and harvested in a way that allows further
growth without depleting nutrient and water resources, it is a renewable resource that can be
used to generate energy on demand, with little net additional contributions to global greenhouse
gas emissions.
.
Materials having organic combustible matter are also referred under biomass. Biomass can be
directly utilized as fuel or can be converted through different routes into useful forms of fuel.
Biomass is a scientific term for living matter, but the word biomass is also used to denote
products derived from living organisms— wood from trees, harvested grasses, plant parts and
residues such as twigs, stems and leaves, as well as aquatic plants and animal wastes.

Burning biomass efficiently results in little or no net emission of carbon dioxide

to the atmosphere, since the bioenergy crop plants actually took up an equal
amount of carbon dioxide from the air when they grew. However, burning
conventional fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, coal or natural gas results in an
increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the major greenhouse gas which is
thought to be responsible for global climate change. Some nitrogen oxides
inevitably result from biomass burning but these are comparable to emissions f r o m
natural wildfires, and generally lower than those from burning f o s s i l fuels.
Other greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the use of fossil fuels by farm
equipment, and with the application of inorganic fertilizers to the bioenergy crop.
However, these may be offset by the increase in carbon storage in soil organic
matter compared with conventional crops. Utilization of biomass residues which
would otherwise have been dumped in landfills (e.g. Urban and industrial residues)
greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions by preventing the formation of methane.

All the Earth‟s biomass exists in a thin surface layer called the biosphere.
This represents only a tiny fraction of the total mass of the Earth, but in human
terms it is an enormous store of energy—as fuel and as food. More importantly,
it is a store which is being replenished continually. The source which supplies
the energy is of course the Sun, and although only a tiny fraction of the solar
energy reaching the Earth each year is converted into biomass, it is nevertheless
equivalent to over five times the total world. The annual world of biomass is
estimated at 146 billion metric tons, mostly from uncontrolled plant growth. The
current world demand for oil and gas can be met with about 6% of the global
production of biomass. Biomass is significant as heating fuel, and in some
parts of the world the fuel is most widely used for cooking. An advantage of
this source of energy is that use of biomass for fuel would not add any net carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere.

The Earth‟s land-based production which is used by the human population worldwide ranges
from a low figure of about 5% to a high of over 30% (including food, animal fodder, timber and
other products, as well as bioenergy). The higher estimates include a lot of wasted material
and inefficient activities such as forest clearance, as well as losses of productivity due to human
activity. Globally biomass energy use has been independently estimated at about 55 exajoules
per year, or about 2% of annual biomass production on land.

Worldwide, biomass is the fourth largest energy resource after coal, oil and
natural gas—estimated at about 14% of global primary energy (and much higher in
many developing countries). Biomass is used for heating (such as wood stoves in
homes and for process heat in bioprocess industries), cooking (especially in many
parts of the developing world), transportation (fuels such as ethanol) and,
increasingly, for electric power production.
 Biomass Production Techniques
Careful planning is required for biomass production, which consists of integration of
different techniques and improved methods. The general sequence for biomass production
is the integration of different techniques and improved methods starting from site survey,
nursery techniques, transplanting techniques and maintenance of the plantation. The
production techniques include:
 Site survey
 Planting site selection Species selection
 Preparation of the planting site Preparation of the soil mixture Sowing of seed
 Method of sowing
 Transplanting of seedling into containers
 Transport of seedlings to the planting site
 Maintenance of the plantations

After successful plantation of biomass it is harvested by various methods such as:

Coppicing

It is one of the most widely used harvesting methods in which the tree is cut at the base,
usually between 15 and 75 cm above the ground level. New shoots develop from the stamp
or root. These shoots are sometimes referred to as sucker or sprouts. Management of
sprouts should be carried out according to use. For fuel wood the number of sprouts
allowed to grow, should depend on the desired sizes of fuel wood. If many sprouts are
allowed to grow for a long period, the weight of the sprouts may cause the sprouts to tear
away from the main trunk. Several rotations of coppicing are usually possible with many
species. The length of the rotation period depends on the required tree products from the
plantation. It is a suitable method for production of fuel wood. Most eucalyptus species and
many species of the leguminous family, mainly naturally accessing shrubs can be harvested
by coppicing.

Pollarding

It is the harvesting system in which the branches including the top of the tree are cut, at a
height of about 2 m above the ground and the main trunk is allowed to stand. The new
shoots emerge from the main stem to develop a new crown. This results into a continuous
increase in the diameter of the main stem although not in height. Finally, when the tree
loses its sprouting vigor, the main stem is also cut for use as large diameter poles. An
advantage of this method over coppicing is that the new shoots are high enough off the
ground so that they are out of reach of most grazing animals. The neem tree is usually
harvested in this manner. The branches may be used for poles and fuel wood.
Lopping

In this method most of the branches of the tree are cut. The fresh foliage starts sprouting
from the bottom to the top of the denuded stem in spite of severe defoliation, surprisingly
quickly. The crown also re-grows and after a few years, the tree is lopped again. The lopped
trunk continues to grow and increases in height, unless this is deliberately prevented by
pruning it at the top.

Pruning
It is a very common harvesting method. It involves the cutting of smaller branches and stems.
The clipped materials constitute a major source of biomass for fuel and other purposes, such as
fodder mulching between tree rows. It is also often required for the maintenance of fruit and
forage trees, alley cropping and live fences. The process of pruning also increases the
business of trees and shrubs for bio fencing. Root pruning at a required distance from the
hole is effective to reduce border tree competition with crops for water and nutrients.

Thinning

It is a traditional forestry practice and in fuel wood plantation, it can also be of importance.
The primary objectives of thinning are to enhance diametric growth of some specific trees
through early removal of poor and diseased trees to improve the plantation by reducing the
competition for light and nutrients. Depending on initial plant density, initial thinning can be
used for fuel wood.
Biomass Conversion Processes
Biomass can be converted into useful forms of energy using a number of different processes.
Factors that influence the choice of conversion process are: the type and quantity of
biomass feedstock, the desired form of the energy, i.e. end-use requirements, environmental
standards, economic conditions, and project specific factors. In many situations the form in
which the energy is required determines the process route followed by the available types
and quantities of biomass. The conversion technologies to utilize biomass can be classified
into four basic categories

• Direct combustion
• Thermochemical processes
• Biochemical processes
• Agrochemical processes
Biomass can be converted into three main products: two related to energy power/heat
generation and transportation fuels - and one as a chemical feedstock. There are various
conversion technologies that can convert biomass resources into power, heat, and fuels for
potential use in different countries. The various biomass energy conversion processes are:

Direct Combustion Processes

Feed stocks used are often residues such as woodchips, sawdust, bark, bagasse, straw,
municipal solid waste (MSW) and wastes from the food industry. Direct combustion
furnaces can be divided into two broad categories and are used for producing either direct
heat or steam. Ovens, spreader-stoker and fuel cell furnaces employ two stages. The first
stage is for drying and possible partial gasification, and the second is for complete
combustion. More advanced versions of these systems use rotating or vibrating grates to
facilitate ash removal, with some requiring water cooling also.

Co-Firing

A modern practice which has allowed biomass feed stocks an early and cheap entry point
into the energy market is the practice of co-firing a fossil fuel (usually coal) with a
biomass feedstock. It refers to the blending of biomass with coal in the furnace of a
conventional coal- fired steam cycle electric power plant. This is currently one of the
simplest ways of utilizing biomass to displace fossil fuels, requiring no new investment or
specialized technology. Co-firing is known to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, sulfur
dioxide (SOx) emissions, and potentially some emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well.
Many electric utilities around the world have experimented successfully with co-firing,
using wood chips, urban waste wood and forestry residues.
Co-firing has a number of advantages, especially where electricity production is an
output. First, where the conversion facility is situated near an agro-industrial or forestry
product processing plant, large quantities of low-cost biomass residues is available. These
residues can represent a low-cost fuel feedstock although there may be other opportunity
costs. Second, it is now widely accepted that fossil-fuel power plants are usually highly
polluting in terms of sulfur, CO2 and other GHGs. Using the existing equipment, perhaps
with some modifications, and co-firing with biomass may represent a cost-effective means
for meeting more stringent emissions targets. Biomass fuel‟s low sulfur and nitrogen
(relative to coal) content and nearly zero net CO2 emission levels allows biomass to offset
the higher sulfur and carbon contents of the fossil fuel. Third, if an agro-industrial or
forestry processing plant wishes to make more efficient use of the residues generated by
co-producing electricity, but has a highly seasonal component to its operating schedule,
co-firing with a fossil fuel may allow the economic generation of electricity all the year
round.

Agro-industrial processors such as the sugarcane sugar industry can produce large
amounts of electricity during the harvesting and processing season; however, during
the off-season the plant will remain idle. This has two drawbacks, first, it is an inefficient
use of equipment which has a limited lifetime, and second, electrical distribution utilities
will not pay the full premium for electrical supplies which cannot be relied on for year-
round production. In other words the distribution utility needs to guarantee year-round
supply and may therefore have to invest in its own production capacity to cover the
off-season gap in supply with associated costs in equipment and fuel. If however, the agro-
processor can guarantee electrical supply year-round through the burning of alternative
fuel supplies, then it will make efficient use of its equipment and will receive premium
payments for its electricity by the distribution facility.
Thermo-chemical conversion

Thermo-chemical biomass conversion does include a number of possible roots to produce

useful fuels and chemicals from the initial biomass feedstock.

Thermo-chemical processing of biomass and wastes offers a number of ways to produce

energy and if this is applicable, a potential attractive method is provided to avoid waste
accumulation. In addition to obtain heat from biomass, wastes can be converted into a
mixture of gases, liquids and carbon char. The proportions of the various products are
dependent upon the feedstock, temperature and pressure of the reaction, the time spent
in the reaction zone, and the heating rate.

Large industrial scale furnaces and boilers have been developed for burning bark, wood,
wood wastes, black liquor from pulping operations, food industry wastes and municipal
solid wastes. The high moisture content and variable composition of many biomass
sources makes them difficult to achieve the same cost-benefit as fossil fuel furnaces in
smaller units, but larger units can be very efficient, nearly matching the performance of
fossil fuel furnaces. Along with combustion of biomass and waste, a well-known
technology, the major areas of current research focus appear to be pyrolysis and
gasification.

Combustion

Direct combustion is a thermo-chemical conversion process type that utilizes as major

biomass feedstock wood, agricultural waste, municipal solid and residential waste to
produce fuels for heat, steams or electricity. In general combustion models of biomass can
be classified as macroscopic or microscopic. The macroscopic properties of biomass are
given with form macroscopic analysis, such as ultimate analysis, heating value, moisture
content, particle size, bulk density, and ash fusion temperature. Properties for microscopic
analysis include thermal, chemical kinetic and mineral data. Physical property values
vary greatly and properties such as density, porosity, and internal surface area are
related to biomass grades whereas bulk density, particle size, and shape distribution are
related to fuel preparation methods .Combustion is widely used on various scales to
convert biomass energy to heat and/or electricity with the help of a steam cycle (stoves,
boilers and power plants).The advantages of co-firing are apparent: the overall electrical
efficiency is high due to the economies of scale of the existing plant (usually around
40%) and investment costs are low up to negligible when high-quality fuels as pellets
are used. Also, directly avoided emissions are high due to direct replacement of coal.
Combined with the fact that many coal-fired power plants in operation are fully
depreciated, this makes co-firing usually a very attractive Green House Gases mitigation
option. In addition, biomass firing leads to lowering sulfur and other emission.
Combustion of biomass produces hot gases at temperatures around 800-1000 Degree C. It
is possible to burn any type of biomass but in practice combustion is feasible only for
biomass with moisture content lower than 50%, unless the biomass is pre-dried. High
moisture content biomass is better suited in the case of biological conversion processes.

Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is defined as the thermal destruction of organic materials in the

absence of oxygen, or partially combusted in a limited oxygen supply, to produce a
hydrocarbon rich gas mixture, an oil-like liquid and a carbon rich solid residue. Pyrolysis
converts biomass at temperatures around 5000C, in the absence of oxygen, to liquid (bio-
oil), gaseous and solid (charcoal) fractions. The process can be adjusted to favor charcoal,
pyrolytic oil, gas, or methanol production with a 95.5% fuel-to-feed efficiency. Pyrolysis can
be used for the production of bio-oil if flash pyrolysis processes are used and are currently
at pilot stage. The bio-oil can be used in engines and turbines and its use as a feedstock
for refineries is also being considered.

Bio-oil contains about 40wt% of oxygen and is corrosive and acid. The crude oil can
also be upgraded (e.g. via hydrogenation) in order to reduce the oxygen content. But
upgrading comes with both economic and energy penalties .Some problems in the
conversion process and use of the oil need to be overcome; these include poor thermal
stability and corrosiveness of the oil. Upgrading by lowering the oxygen content
and removing alkalis by means of hydrogenation and catalytic cracking of the oil
may be required for certain application.

Gasification
Gasification is a form of pyrolysis, carried out at high temperatures in order to
optimize the gas production. The resulting gas, known as synthesis gas, is a mixture of
carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane, together with carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Biomass gasification technologies have historically been based upon partial oxidation
or partial combustion principles, resulting in the production of a hot, dirty, low
calorific value gas that must be directly ducted into boilers or dryers. In addition to
limiting applications and often compounding environmental problems, these
technologies are an inefficient source of usable energy.

Biomass gasification is the latest generation of biomass energy conversion processes,

and is being used to improve the efficiency, and to reduce the investment costs of
biomass electricity generation through the use gas turbine technology. High
efficiencies (up to about 50%) are achievable using combined-cycle gas turbine
systems, where waste gases from the gas turbine are recovered to produce steam to be
used in a steam turbine. Economic studies show that biomass suffocation
plants can be as economical as conventional coal-fired plants.
Practically, gasification is the conversion of biomass into a combustible gas mixture by
partial oxidation at high temperatures, typically in the range 800-900 C0. The low
calorific value gas produced can be burnt directly or used as a fuel for gas engines and
gas turbines. The produced gas can be used as a feedstock in the production of chemicals
(e.g. methanol). The gas is very costly to be stored or transported due to its low energy
density so it has to be locally used. The gasification of coal is well known, and has a
history back to year 1800. The oil-shortage of World War II imposed an introduction of
almost a million gas producers to fuel cars, trucks and busses. One major advantage of
gasification is the wide range of biomass resources available, ranging from agricultural
crops, and dedicated energy crops to residues and organic wastes. The feedstock
might have a highly various quality, but still the produced gas is can be standardized
and transformed in a homogeneous product. This makes possible to choose the feedstock
that is the most available and economic at all times. The precise composition of the gas
from a reactor depends on the type of biomass used, the temperature, and the reaction
rate. Gasification technology has been used quite successfully for direct heat
applications, as a sophisticated gas cleaning system is not required.

Liquefaction

Liquefaction is the conversion of biomass into a stable liquid hydrocarbon using low
temperatures and high hydrogen pressures. The process produces a marketable liquid
product. The interest in liquefaction is low because the reactors and fuel feeding
systems are more complex and more expensive than for pyrolysis processe.
Types of Gasifier

Up-draught or Counter Current Gasifier

The oldest and simplest type of gasifier is the counter current or up-draught
gasifier where the air intake is at the bottom and the gas leaves at the top. The
combustion reactions occur near the grate at the bottom, which are followed by
reduction reactions somewhat higher up in the gasifier. In the upper part of the gasifier,
heating and pyrolysis of the feedstock occur as a result of heat transfer by forced
convection and radiation from the lower zones. The tars and volatiles produced
during this process are carried in the gas stream. Ashes are removed from the
bottom of the gasifier. The major advantages of this type of gasifier are its
simplicity, high charcoal burn-out and internal heat exchange leading to low gas exit
temperatures and high equipment efficiency, as well as the possibility of
operation with many types of feedstock (sawdust, cereal hulls, etc.).

Major drawbacks result from the possibility of „„channeling‟‟ in the equipment, which can
lead to oxygen break through and dangerous, explosive situations and the necessity to
install automatic moving grates, as well as from the problems associated with disposal of
the tar-containing condensates that result from the gas cleaning operations. The latter is
of minor importance if the gas is used for direct heat applications, in which case the tars
are simply burnt.

Downdraught or Co-Current Gasifiers

A solution to the problem of tar entrainment in the gas stream has been found by
designing co-current or downdraught gasifiers, in which primary gasification air is
introduced at or above the oxidation zone in the gasifier. The producer gas is
removed at the bottom of the apparatus, so that 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 vapors, a
more or less complete breakdown of the tars is achieved. The main advantage
of down- draught gasifiers lies in the possibility of producing a tar-free gas suitable for
engine applications. In practice, however, a tar-free gas is seldom
if ever achieved over the whole operating r a n g e of the equipment: tar-
free operating turn-down ratios of a factor 3 are considered standard; a factor 5-6
is considered excellent. Because of the lower level of organic components in the
condensate, downdraught gasifiers suffer less from environmental objections than
updraught gasifiers.

A major drawback of downdraught equipment lies in its inability to operate on a

number of unprocessed fuels. In particular, fluffy, low density materials give rise
to flow problems and excessive pressure drop, and the solid fuel must be pelletized or
briquetted before use. Downdraught gasifiers also suffer from the problems
associated with high ash content fuels to a larger extent than up-draught gasifiers. Minor
drawbacks of the downdraught system, as compared to updraught, are somewhat of lower
efficiency resulting from the lack of internal heat exchange as well as the lower heating
value of the gas. Besides this, the necessity to maintain uniform high temperatures over a
given cross-sectional area makes impractical the use of downdraught gasifiers in a power
range above about 350 kW (shaft power).

Cross-Draught Gasifier

Cross-draught gasifiers are an adaptation for the use of charcoal. Charcoal

gasification results in very high temperatures in the oxidation zone which can lead to
material problems. In cross-draught gasifiers insulation against these
high temperatures is provided by the fuel (charcoal) itself. Advantages of the
system lie in the very small scale at which it can be operated. Installations below 10
kW (shaft power) can under certain conditions be economically feasible. The reason is
the very simple gas-cleaning train (only a cyclone and a hot filter) which can be employed
when using this type of a gasifier in conjunction with small engines.

A disadvantage of cross-draught gasifiers is their minimal tar-converting

capabilities and the consequent need for high quality (low volatile content) charcoal. It is
because of the uncertainty of charcoal quality that a number of charcoal gasifiers employ the
downdraught principle, in order to maintain at least a minimal tar-cracking capability.

Fluidized Bed Gasifier

The operation of both up and down draught gasifiers is influenced by the

morphological, physical and chemical properties of the fuel. Problems commonly
encountered are: lack of bunker flow, slagging and extreme pressure drop over the
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 pyrolyzed 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. Most
systems are equipped with an internal cyclone in order to minimize char blow-out
as much as possible. 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 .
Bio-chemical conversion

Biochemical conversion is the process by which biomass is converted into gas (CO2/CH4),
waste (compost or fertilizer) and water (water orC2H5OH) by using micro-organisms. The
biochemical processes refer mainly to (1) Aerobic fermentation which produces compost,
carbon dioxide and water, (2) Anaerobic fermentation which produces fertilizer and gas
(CH4/CO2) and (3) Alcoholic fermentation which produces ethanol (C2H5OH), carbon
dioxide (CO2) and waste.

Biochemical procedures, non-pollution methods, characterized by low energy consumption,

have been studied by specialists mainly with regard to biogas, ethyl alcohol, compost and
protein obtaining. But, the world-wide application of such procedures has not gone beyond
preliminary experiments on a pilot scale, with few industrial results or as stations of
producing biogas and compost, placed according to specific and local responsibilities.
Biochemical systems are among the most promising, environmentally sustainable
alternatives for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Biomass can act as a
reservoir of carbon or as a direct substitution for fossil fuels with no net contribution to
atmospheric CO2 if produced and used sustainable.

The sun is the energy source on which all terrestrial life is based. The energy of solar
radiation is the driving force of the biological cycle. Only about 0.1% of the energy received
by the earth from the sun enters into photosynthetic production of organic matter.
Roughly 150-200 billion tons of dry organic matter is estimated to be produced annually in
the world as vegetation in forests, grasslands, marshes, oceans, estuaries, lakes, rivers,
tundra‟s etc. Approximately half of the energy tied up in photosynthesis is involved in
plant respiration. Biochemical conversion methods are inverse photosynthesis. This
action can be converted inversely by using some micro-organisms.

Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic reactors are generally used for the production of methane-rich biogas from
manure (human and animal) and crop residues. Anaerobic digestion is a series of
processes in which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of
oxygen, used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release
energy.

They utilize mixed methanogenic bacterial cultures which are characterized by defined
optimal temperature ranges for growth. These mixed cultures allow digesters to be
operated over a wide temperature range, i.e., above 0 degree C up to 60 degree C. When
functioning well, the bacteria convert about 90% of the feedstock energy content
into biogas (containing about 55% methane), which is a readily useable energy
source for cooking and lighting. The sludge produced after the manure has passed
through the digester is non-toxic and odorless. Also, it has lost relatively little
of its nitrogen or other nutrients during the digestion process thus, making a good
fertilizer. In fact, compared to cattle manure left to dry in the field the digester sludge has
higher nitrogen content; many of the nitrogen compounds in fresh manure become
volatized while drying in the sun. On the other hand, in the digested sludge little of the
nitrogen is volatized, and the nitrogen is more readily accessible by plants than many of
the nitrogen compounds found in dung, and thus the fertilizer value of the sludge may
actually be higher than that of fresh dung.

Pressure from environmentally related legislation on solid waste disposal methods in

developed countries has increased the application of anaerobic digestion as a process for
reducing waste volumes and generating useful by-products. Anaerobic digestion may
either be used to process the source separated fraction of municipal waste, or alternatively
combined with mechanical sorting systems, to process residual mixed municipal waste.
These facilities are called mechanical biological treatment plants.

Utilizing anaerobic digestion technologies can help to reduce the emission of green-house
gases in a number of key ways:
• Replacement of fossil fuels.
• Reducing or eliminating the energy footprint of waste treatment
plants.
• Reducing methane emission from landfills.
• Displacing industrially produced chemical fertilizers.
• Reducing vehicle movements.
• Reducing electric grid transportation losses.
If the waste processed in anaerobic digesters was disposed of in a landfill, it would break
down naturally and often anaerobically. In this case the gas will eventually escape into the
atmosphere. As methane is about 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon
dioxide this has significant negative environmental effects.

The most common and popular on-farm use of biogas is to fuel an engine-
generator to produce electricity for on-farm use, or, less commonly, for off-farm sale
or under a net-metered arrangement with the utility. Heat recovered
from combustion of the biogas (whether in boilers or internal combustion engines)
can be used to maintain the operating temperature of the anaerobic digester or
for other on-farm uses. Burners and boilers used to produce heat and steam can
be fueled by biogas. The direct substitution of biogas for natural gas or LPG, however, will
not work for most standard commercially available burners. At the given fuel gas feed
pressures, gas must flow into combustion in the right stoichiometric ratio with air.
Because of its high CO2 content, if biogas flows through the burner orifice at the pressure
intended for feeding methane or propane, the fuel-to-air ratio is insufficient to ensure
flame stability.

A relatively simple option is to provide the combustion equipment with a second „„as is‟‟
biogas burner that operates in parallel with the first. In this case, regardless of the fuel
used, air flow is kept constant. Burner orifices for the respective burners can be set such
that each burner meters the proper amount of gas to meet combustion stoichiometry. This
could require other control measures such as (for simplest control) complete switchovers
from pure biogas fuel to the fossil alternative, and modest (a few hours‟ worth) backup
biogas storage, but is otherwise straight forward.

Digester liquor can be used as a fertilizer supplying vital nutrients to soils. The solid,
fibrous component of the digested material can be used as a soil conditioner to
increase the organic content of soils. The liquor can be used instead of chemical fertilizers
which require large amounts of energy to produce and transport. The use of
manufactured fertilizers is therefore more carbon intensive than the use of anaerobic
digester liquor fertilizer.

In countries that collect household waste, the utilization of local anaerobic digestion
facilities can help to reduce the amount of waste that requires transportation to
centralized landfill sites or incineration facilities. This reduced burden on transportation
reduces carbon emissions from the collection vehicles. If localized anaerobic digestion
facilities are embedded within an electrical distribution network, they can help in
reducing the electrical losses that are associated with transporting electricity over a
national grid.

There are four key biological and chemical stages of anaerobic digestion:
o Hydrolysis
o Acidogenesis
o Acetogenesis
o Methanogenesis
In most cases biomass is made up of large organic polymers. In order for the bacteria in
anaerobic digesters to access the energy potential of the material, these chains must first
be broken down into their smaller constituent parts. These constituent parts or monomers
such as sugars are readily available by other bacteria. The process of breaking these
chains and dissolving the smaller molecules into solution is called hydrolysis. Therefore,
hydrolysis of these high molecular weight polymeric components is the necessary first step
in anaerobic digestion. Through hydrolysis the complex organic molecules are broken
down into simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids.

Acetate and hydrogen produced in the first stages can be used directly by
methanogens. Other molecules such as volatile fatty acids with a chain length that is
greater than acetate must first be catabolized into compounds that can be directly utilized
by methanogens. The biological process of acidogenesis is where there is further
breakdown of the remaining components by acidogenic fermentative bacteria. Here, VFAs
are created along with ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide as well as other by-
products. The process of acidogenesis is similar to the way that milk sours. The third
stage of anaerobic digestion is acetogenesis. Here, simple molecules created through the
acidogenesis phase are further digested by acetogens to produce largely acetic acid as well
as carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
The terminal stage of anaerobic digestion is the biological process of methanogenesis.
Here, methanogens utilize the intermediate products of the preceding stages and convert
them into methane, carbon dioxide and water. It is these components that make up the
majority of the biogas emitted from the system.

Batch or Continuous

A batch system is the simplest form of digestion. Biomass is added to the reactor at the
start of the process in a batch and is sealed for the duration of the process. Batch reactors
suffer from odor issues that can be a severe problem when they are emptied. Typically,
biogas production will be formed with a normal distribution pattern over time. The
operator can use this fact to determine when they believe the process of digestion of the
organic matter has completed. It is typically a cheaper form of digestion.

In continuous digestion processes organic matter is constantly added (continuous

complete mixed) or added in stages to the reactor (continuous plug flow; first in-first out).
Here the end products are constantly or periodically removed, resulting in constant
production of biogas. Single or multiple digesters in sequence may be used.

Temperature

There are two conventional operational temperature levels for anaerobic digesters,
which are determined by the species of methanogens in the digesters:
• Mesophilic which takes place optimally around 30-38
deg. C or at ambient temperatures between 20 and 45
deg. C where mesophiles are the primary
microorganism present.
• Thermophilic which takes place optimally around
49-57 deg. C at elevated temperatures up to 70 deg.
C where thermophiles are the primary
microorganisms present. There are a greater number
of species of mesophiles than thermophiles. These
bacteria are also more tolerant to changes in
environmental conditions than thermophiles.
Mesophilic systems are therefore considered to be
more stable than thermophilic digestion systems.

As mentioned above, thermophilic digestion systems are considered to be less stable,

the energy input is higher and more energy is removed from the organic matter.
However, the increased temperatures facilitate faster reaction rates and hence faster
gas yields. Operation at higher temperatures facilitates greater sterilization of the end
digestate.
Solids

Typically, there are three different operational parameters associated with the solids
content of the feedstock to the digesters:
• High-solids (dry—stackable substrate)
• High-solids (wet—pumpable substrate)
• Low-solids (wet—pumpable substrate)
High-solids (dry) digesters are designed to process materials with high-solids
content between 25 and 40%. Unlike wet digesters that process pumpable
slurries, high solids (dry—stackable substrate) digesters are designed to
process solid substrates deposited in tunnel-like chambers with a gas-tight door.
They typically have few moving parts, require minimal or no pre-grinding or
shredding, and do not use water addition. Solid state digestion of cattle dung is a
suitable technology in which fresh cattle dung is anaerobically digested. Solid
degradation of about 40-48% is observed in the effluent slurry that provides easy flow
ability to the outlet slurry. Wet digesters can either be designed to operate in high solids
content, with a total suspended solids (TSS) concentration greater than 20%, or a low solids
concentration less than 15%. High- solids (wet) digesters process a thick slurry that
requires more energy input to move and process the feedstock. The thickness of the
material may also lead to associated problems with abrasion. High-solids digesters will
typically have a lower land requirement due to the lower volumes associated with the
moisture.

Low-solids (wet) digesters can transport material through the system using standard
pumps that require significantly lower energy input. Low-solids digesters require a larger
amount of land than high-solids due to the increase volumes associated with the increased
liquid-to-feedstock ratio of the digesters. There are benefits associated with operation in a
liquid environment as it enables more thorough circulation of materials and contact
between the bacteria and their food. This enables the bacteria to more readily access the
substances they are feeding off and increases the speed of gas yields.

Number of Stages

Digestion systems can be configured with different levels of complexity:

• One-stage or single-stage
• Two-stage or multistage

A single-stage digestion system is one in which all of the biological

reactions occur within a single sealed reactor or holding tank. Utilizing a single stage
reduces construction costs; however, it facilitates less control of the reactions occurring
within the system. Acidogenic bacteria, through the production of acids, reduce the pH
of the tank. Methanogenic bacteria, as outlined earlier, operate in a strictly defined pH
range. Therefore, the biological reactions of the different species in a single stage
reactor can be in direct competition with each other. Another one-stage reaction system is
an anaerobic lagoon. These lagoons are pond-like earthen basins used for the treatment
and long-term storage of manures. Here, the anaerobic reactions are contained within the
natural anaerobic sludge contained in the pool.

In a two-stage or multistage digestion system different digestion vessels are optimized to

bring maximum control over the bacterial communities living within the digesters.
Acidogenic bacteria produce organic acids and grow and reproduce more quickly than
methanogenic bacteria. Methanogenic bacteria require stable pH and temperature in
order to optimize their performance.

Typically hydrolysis, acetogenesis and acidogenesis occur within the first reaction
vessel. The organic material is then heated to the required operational temperature
(either mesophilic or thermophilic) prior to being pumped into a methanogenic reactor.
The initial hydrolysis or acidogenesis tanks prior to the methanogenic reactor can provide
a buffer to the rate at which feedstock is added. It should be noted that it is not possible to
completely isolate the different reaction phases and often there is some biogas that is
produced in the hydrolysis or acidogenesis tanks.

Residence

The residence time in a digester varies with the

amount and type of feed material, the configuration of the digestion system and whether it
be one-stage or two-stage. In the case of single-stage thermophilic digestion residence
times may be in the region of 14 days, which compared to mesophilic digestion is relatively
fast. The plug-flow nature of some of these systems will mean that the full degradation of
the material may not have been realized in this timescale. In two-stage mesophilic
digestion, residence time may vary between 15 and 40 days.

Continuous digesters have mechanical or hydraulic devices, depending on the level of

solids in the material, to mix the contents enabling the bacteria and the food to be in
contact. They also allow excess material to be continuously extracted to maintain a
reasonably constant volume within the digestion tanks.

Feed-stocks

The most important initial issue when considering the application of anaerobic digestion
systems is the feedstock to the process. Digesters typically can accept any biodegradable
material; however, if biogas production is the aim, the level of putrescibility is the key
factor in its successful application. The more putrescible the material the higher the gas
yields possible from the system. Substrate composition is a major factor in determining
the methane yield and methane production rates from the digestion of biomass.
Techniques are available to determine the compositional characteristics of the feedstock,
while parameters such as solids, elemental and organic analyses are important for
digester design and operation.
Anaerobes can break down material to varying degrees of success from readily in the case
of short chain hydrocarbons such as sugars, to over longer periods of time in the case of
cellulose and hemicellulose. Anaerobic micro-organisms are unable to break down long
chain woody molecules such as lignin. Anaerobic digesters were originally designed for
operation using sewage sludge and manures. Therefore, many digesters operate with co-
digestion of two or more types of feedstock. For example, in a farm-based digester that
uses dairy manure as the primary feedstock the gas production may be significantly
increased by adding a second feedstock; e.g. grass and corn (typical on-site feedstock),
or various organic by-products, such as slaughterhouse waste, fats oils and grease from
restaurants, organic household waste, etc. (typical off-site feedstock).

A second consideration related to the feedstock is moisture content.

Dryer, stackable substrates, such as food and yard wastes, are suitable for digestion in
tunnel-like chambers. Tunnel style systems typically have near-zero waste water
discharge as well so this style system has advantages where the discharge of
digester liquids are a liability. The wetter the material the more suitable it will be for
handling with standard pumps instead of energy intensive concrete pumps and physical
means of movement. Also the wetter the material, the more volume and area it takes up
relative to the levels of gas that are produced. The moisture content of the target feedstock
will also affect what type of system is applied to its treatment. In order to use a high
solids anaerobic digester for dilute feed stocks, bulking agents such as compost should be
applied to increase the solid content of the input material. Another key consideration is
the carbon: nitrogen ratio of the input material. This ratio is the balance of food a microbe
requires in order to grow. The optimal C:N ratio for the „food‟ of a microbe is 20-30:1.
Excess N can lead to ammonia inhibition of digestion.

The level of contamination of the feedstock material is a key consideration.

If the feedstock to the digesters has significant levels of physical
contaminants such as plastic, glass or metals, then pre-processing will be required
in order for the material to be used. If it is not removed then the digesters can
be blocked and will not function efficiently. It is with this that mechanical
biological treatment plants are designed. The higher the level of pre-treatment a
feedstock requires, the more processing machinery will be required and hence
the project will have higher capital costs.

Methane Production in Landfills

Anaerobic digestion in landfills is brought about by the microbial decomposition of the

organic matter in refuse. The levels of organic matter produced per
capita vary considerably from developed to developing countries. Worldwide, the urban
population is growing at twice the rate of the total population growth, creating
unprecedented demands for goods and services as well as increasing pressure
on the environment and on safe waste disposal . Landfill-generated gas is
on average half methane and half carbon dioxide with energy content from
18 to 19 MJ/m3. Its production does not occur under pressure, and thus recovery
processes must be active. Commercial production of land-gas can also aid with the
leaching problems now increasingly associated with landfill sites. Local
communities neighboring landfill sites are becoming more aware of the
potential for heavy metals and nutrients to leach into aquifers. Landfill
processing reduces the volume of sludge to be disposed of, and the nutrient
content, thus facilitating proper disposal. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas,
with substantial amounts being derived from unutilized methane production from
landfill sites. Its recovery therefore, not only results in the stabilization of the landfill
site, allowing faster reuse of the land, but also serves to lessen the impact of biosphere
methane emissions on global warming.

Ethanol Fermentation

Ethanol is mainly used as a substitute for imported oil in order to reduce their
dependence on imported energy supplies. The substantial gains made in fermentation
technologies now make the production of ethanol for use as a petroleum substitute and
fuel enhancer, both economically competitive (given certain assumptions) and
environmentally beneficial. The most commonly used feedstock in developing countries
is sugarcane, due to its high productivity when supplied with sufficient water. Where
water availability is limited, sweet sorghum or cassava may become the preferred
feedstocks. Other advantages of sugarcane feedstock include the high residue energy
potential and modern management practices which make sustainable and
environmentally benign production possible while at the same time allowing continued
production of sugar. Other feedstocks include saccharide-rich sugar beet, and
carbohydrate-rich potatoes, wheat and maize.

Ethanol fermentation, also referred to as alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process

in which sugars such as glucose, fructose and sucrose are converted into cellular energy
and thereby produce ethanol and carbon dioxide as metabolic waste products. Because
yeasts perform this process in the absence of oxygen, ethanol fermentation is classified
as anaerobic. Ethanol fermentation occurs in the production of alcoholic beverages and
ethanol fuel, and in the rising of bread dough.

Typically, sugars are extracted from the biomass feedstock by crushing and washing (or
in the case of starchy feedstocks like corn, by breakdown of starch to sugars). The sugar
syrup is then mixed with yeast and kept warm, so that the yeast breaks down the
sugars into ethanol. However, the fermented product is only about 10% ethanol, so a
further stage of distillation is required to concentrate the ethanol to 95%. If the ethanol
is intended for blending with gasoline, a „„dehydration‟‟ phase may be required to make
100% pure ethanol. In the near future, ethanol may be made from cellulose, again by
breakdown into sugars for fermentation. Cellulose is widely and cheaply available from
many other biomass feed stocks, energy crops, agricultural and forestry residues.
 Biodiesel

Another form of liquid fuel from biomass is „„biodiesel‟‟, which is derived from
the vegetable oils extracted by crushing oilseeds, although waste cooking oil or animal
fats (tallow) can also be used. The oil is strained and usually „„esterified‟‟, by combining
the fatty acid molecules in the oil with methanol or ethanol. Vegetable oil esters have
been shown to make good-quality clean-burning diesel fuel. The use of vegetable oils
for combustion in diesel engines has occurred for over 100 years. In fact, Rudolf Diesel
tested his first prototype on vegetable oils, which can be used, „„raw‟‟, in an emergency.
While it is feasible to run diesel engines on raw vegetable oils, in general the oils must
first be chemically transformed to resemble petroleum- based diesel more closely. The
raw oil can be obtained from a variety of annual and perennial plant species.
Perennials include oil palms, coconut palms, physica nut and Chinese tallow tree.
Annuals include sunflower, groundnut, soybean and rapeseed. Many of these plants
can produce high yields of oil, with positive energy and carbon balances.
Transformation of the raw oil is necessary to avoid problems associated with
variations in feedstock. The oil can undergo thermal or catalytic cracking, Kolbe
electrolysis, or transesterification processes in order to obtain better characteristics.
Untreated oil causes problems through incomplete combustion, resulting in the
buildup of sooty residues, waxes, gums, etc.

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-
chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically
reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol. Biodiesel is
meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and
waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or
blended with petro diesel. Blends of biodiesel and conventional hydrocarbon-based
diesel products are most commonly distributed for use in the retail diesel fuel
marketplace. Much of the world uses a system known as the „„B‟‟ factor to state the
amount of biodiesel in any fuel mix:

• 100% biodiesel is referred to as B100, while

• 20% biodiesel is labeled B20
• 5% biodiesel is labeled B5
• 2% biodiesel is labeled B2.

Obviously, the higher the percentage of biodiesel, the more ecology-

friendly the fuel is. Blends of 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel (B20)
can gen- erally be used in unmodified diesel engines. Bio diesel can also be used
in its pure form (B100), but may require certain engine modifications to avoid
maintenance and performance problems. Blending B100 with petroleum diesel may be
accomplished by:
o Mixing in tanks at manufacturing point prior to delivery to tanker truck.
o Splash mixing in the tanker truck (adding specific percentages of biodiesel and
petroleum diesel).
 o In-line mixing, two components arrive at tanker truck simultaneously.
o Metered pump mixing, petroleum diesel and biodiesel meters are set to X total
volume, transfer pump pulls from two points and mix is complete on leaving
pump.
There is ongoing research into finding more suitable crops and improving oil yield. Using the
current yields, vast amounts of land and fresh water would be needed to produce enough oil
to completely replace fossil fuel usage. It would require twice the land area of the US to be
devoted to soybean production, or two thirds to be devoted to rapeseed production, to meet
the current US heating and transportation needs. Specially bred mustard varieties can
produce reasonably high oil yields and are very useful in crop rotation with cereals, and have
the added benefit that the meal leftover after the oil has been pressed out can act as an
effective and biodegradable pesticide.

It was experimented with using algae as a biodiesel source and it was found that these oil-
rich algae can be processed into biodiesel, with the dried remainder further reprocessed to
create ethanol. In addition to its projected high yield, algaculture—unlike crop-based
biofuels— does not entail a decrease in food production, since it requires neither farmland
nor fresh water. Many companies are pursuing algae bio-reactors for various purposes,
including scaling up biodiesel production to commercial levels.
PHYSICAL CONVERSION OF BIOMASS

Firewood is a classic energy source, and is still important household energy source in
many developing countries. In the latter half of the 20th century, firewood was deprived of
many uses by petroleum, but firewood production occupies more than half of the harvested
wood, and firewood covers 14% of the world energy consumption, and 36% of the energy
consumption in the developing countries.
However, in some regions, the amount of wood is decreasing with the increasing
population, and they have to travel far to get firewood. They have troubles even for
getting firewood for cooking. In Asian countries, most of the forestry wood has
difficulties in use, due to the troubles encountered for transporting wood from the
forest of high slope area.

Firewood supply

The potential of firewood supply is discussed here. According to FAO (Food and
Agriculture Organization), forest area of the world is 39,500 km2 (3.95 Gha) and
decreasing gradually (-0.2%/year). Although the primary growth rate of forest is estimated
to be more than 5.1km3/year (5.1 billion m3/year), annual lumber production is as small as
1.6 km3/year (1.6 billion m3/year) for industrial use, and 1.8 km3/year (1.8 billion m3/year)
for fuel use. Even if forestry area is constant, artificial forest with high growth rate is
increasing gradually, and supply increase with mild development of economy can be met.
To convert raw wood to firewood, it is cut into the length of less than 50 cm, because of the
furnace dimension. The improve the easiness of burning, change its form to have an
aspect ratio of 10-20 by cutting into pieces so that surface area is increased. This
requirement is troublesome, and recently, artificial firewood produced by pelletizing the
crashed wood into a form of cylinder with empty core is developed.
Thermo chemical conversion of biomass

Combustion

Combustion is an exothermic chemical reaction accompanied by large heat generation and

luminescence, and is a phenomenon in which the reaction is spontaneously continued by
the heat generated by the reaction. When using biomass as fuel, the heat-generating
oxidation reaction, where carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, combustible sulfur, and nitrogen
contained in biomass react with air or oxygen, is known as combustion, industrially.
Combustion process proceeds by gas phase reaction, surface reaction, or both, following
processes such as fusion, evaporation, and pyrolysis. In actual combustion reaction,
complicated phenomena such as evaporation, mixture, diffusion, convection, heat
conduction, radiation, and luminescence advance complexly at a very high velocity. Gas
fuel burns directly in gas phase as premix combustion or diffuse combustion. Liquid fuel
burns as inflammable gas in gas phase after surface evaporation, which is called
evaporation combustion, Heavy oil etc. burns in evaporation combustion but
decomposition combustion also proceeds, where decomposing the fuel portion occurs by
the produced heat.

Forms of combustion
The combustion forms of direct combustion of biomass, which is in solid form, include
evaporation combustion, decomposition combustion, surface combustion, and smoldering
combustion. In evaporation combustion, the fuel containing simple component and
molecular structure with comparatively low fusing point fuses and evaporates by heating,
and reacts with oxygen in gas phase and burns. In decomposition combustion, gas
produced from thermal decomposition by heating (H2, CO, CmHn, H2O, and CO2) reacts
with oxygen in gas phase, forms flame, and burns. Usually, char remains after these
forms of combustion and burns by surface combustion. Surface combustion occurs in the
case of the component composed of only carbon containing little volatile portions such as
charcoal, and oxygen, CO2, or steam diffuses to pores existing inside or on solid surface of
the component, and burns by surface reaction. Smoldering combustion is the thermal
decomposition reaction at temperature lower than the ignition temperature of volatile
component of the reactive fuels such as wood. If ignition is forced to smoke or temperature
exceeds ignition point, flammable combustion occurs. In industrial direct combustion of
biomass, decomposition combustion and surface combustion are the main forms of the
combustion.

Combustion method

Industrially, combustion surplus air is supplied in addition to the theoretical amount

required for biomass combustion. If surplus air rate is too high, it causes decrease in
combustion temperature and thermal efficiency. As the combustion method of biomass,
grate combustion (fixed grate and moving grate), fluidized bed combustion, rotary hearth
furnace combustion, and burner combustion are used.
Application

The combustion of biomass is the simplest use of biomass to obtain heat, and is widely
used because experiences of fossil fuel technology can be applied, because generation of
NOx, SOx, HCl, and dioxin is low, which is the advantage of biomass combustion, and
because flammability is excellent. Combustion heat is used for power generation and heat
production by recovering heat through heat transfer media such as steam and hot water
using boilers and heat exchangers. In district heat supply and in energy centers of
industrial complexes, cogeneration fueled by waste wood and agricultural waste is widely
used. There are many power plants and heat utilization plants regardless of scale using
paddy husk, bagasse, waste wood, oil palm waste and poultry chicken droppings, etc. as
fuels.
BIOMASS GASIFICATION
Modern agriculture is an extremely energy intensive process. However high agricultural
productivities and subsequently the growth of green revolution has been made possible only
by large amount of energy inputs, especially those from fossil fuels. With recent price rise
and scarcity of these fuels there has been a trend towards use of alternative energy
sources like solar, wind, geothermal etc. However these energy resources have not been
able to provide an economically viable solution for agricultural applications.

One biomass energy based system, which has been proven reliable and had been
extensively used for transportation and on farm systems during World War II is wood or
biomass gasification.

Biomass gasification means incomplete combustion of biomass resulting in production of

combustible gases consisting of Carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrogen (H2) and traces of
Methane (CH4). This mixture is called producer gas. Producer gas can be used to run
internal combustion engines (both compression and spark ignition), can be used as
substitute for furnace oil in direct heat applications and can be used to produce, in an
economically viable way, methanol - an extremely attractive chemical which is useful both
as fuel for heat engines as well as chemical feedstock for industries5. Since any biomass
material can undergo gasification, this process is much more attractive than ethanol
production or biogas where only selected biomass materials can produce the fuel.

Besides, there is a problem that solid wastes (available on the farm) are seldom in a form
that can be readily utilized economically e.g. Wood wastes can be used in hog fuel boiler but
the equipment is expensive and energy recovery is low6. As a result it is often
advantageous to convert this waste into more readily usable fuel from like producer gas.

However under present conditions, economic factors seem to provide the strongest
argument of considering gasification.. In many situations where the price of petroleum
fuels is high or where supplies are unreliable the biomass gasification can provide an
economically viable system - provided the suitable biomass feedstock is easily available
(as is indeed the case in agricultural systems).
THEORY OF GASIFICATION

The production of generator gas (producer gas) called gasification, is partial combustion of
solid fuel (biomass) and takes place at temperatures of about 1000 0C. The reactor is called
a gasifier.

The combustion products from complete combustion of biomass generally contain nitrogen,
water vapor, carbon dioxide and surplus of oxygen. However in gasification where there is a
surplus of solid fuel (incomplete combustion) the products of combustion are (Figure 1)
combustible gases like Carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrogen (H2) and traces of Methane and
non-useful products like tar and dust. The production of these gases is by reaction of
water vapor and carbon dioxide through a glowing layer of charcoal. Thus the key to gasifier
design is to create conditions such that a) biomass is reduced to charcoal and, b) charcoal is
converted at suitable temperature to produce CO and H2.

Gasification is the thermo-chemical process of converting biomass waste into alow

medium energy gas utilizing sub-stoichiometric amounts of oxidant. The simplest form of
gasification is air gasification in which biomass is subjected to partial combustion with a
limited supply of air. Air gasifiers are simple, cheap and reliable. Their chief drawback is
that the gas produced is diluted with nitrogen and hence has low calorific value. The gas
produced is uneconomical to distribute; it must be used on-site for process heat. In oxygen
gasification, pure oxygen is used so that the gas produced is of high energy content. The
chief disadvantage of oxygen gasification is that it requires an oxygen plant and thus
increases the total cost of gasification.

Properties of Producer gas

The producer gas is affected by various processes as outlined above hence one can expect
variations in the gas produced from various biomass sources. Table 2 lists the composition of
gas produced from various sources. The gas composition is also a function of gasifier design
and thus, the same fuel may give different calorific value as when used in two different
gasifiers. Table 3 therefore shows approximate values of gas from different fuels.

The maximum dilution of gas takes place because of presence of nitrogen. Almost 50-60% of
gas is composed of noncombustible nitrogen. Thus it may be beneficial to use oxygen instead
of air for gasification. However the cost and availability of oxygen may be a limiting factor
in this regard. Nevertheless where the end product is methanol - a high energy quality item,
then the cost and use of oxygen can be justified.
Gasifier Fuel Characteristics

Almost any carbonaceous or biomass fuel can be gasified under experimental or laboratory
conditions19. However the real test for a good gasifier is not whether a combustible gas can
be generated by burning a biomass fuel with 20-40% stoichiometric air but that a reliable
gas producer can be made which can also be economically attractive to the customer.
Towards this goal the fuel characteristics have to be evaluated and fuel processing done.

Many a gasifier manufacturers‟ claim that a gasifier is available which can gasify any fuel.
There is no such thing as a universal gasifier. A gasifier is very fuel specific and it is tailored
around a fuel rather than the other way round.

Thus a gasifier fuel can be classified as good or bad according to the following parameters :

 Energy content of the fuel

 Bulk density
 Moisture content
 Dust content
 Tar content
 Ash and slagging characteristic
BIO GAS

Since today‟s infrastructure for transport is based on liquid fuels, the introduction of
gaseous fuels into the transport sector is slow and represents a challenge for future
transport strategies. Nevertheless, vehicles which use gaseous fuels in place of liquid fuels
are already operating. Today, most of them run on natural gas. Many automotive
manufacturers already offer pure or bivalent natural gas vehicles as standard models.

One of the promising future options for sustainable transport fuels is the subsidization of
natural gas by bio-methane. Bio-methane is the most efficient and clean burning biofuel
which is available today. It can be produced from nearly all types of biomass including wet
biomass which is not usable for most other biofuels. Another motivation for using gaseous
biofuels for transport applications is the opportunity of diversifying feedstock sources.

Principles of biogas technology

Biogas technology, i.e. anaerobic digestion is biological method for degrading and
stabilizing organic, biodegradable raw materials in special plants in a controlled
manner. It is based on microbial activity in oxygen-free (anaerobic) conditions and
results in two end-products: energy- rich biogas and nutrient-rich digestion residue.
Anaerobic degradation of biodegradable materials also happens in nature, e.g. in
swamps, soils, sediments and in ruminant metabolism.
Anaerobic degradation
During the anaerobic degradation process several different microbial consortia
degrade the raw materials in parallel and/or subsequent degradation steps.

Anaerobic degradation of organic, biodegradable material

In hydrolysis, the polymers (carbohydrates, proteins and lipids) are degraded into
their monomers and dimers via hydrolytic enzymes excreted by acidogenic
microbes. The higher the surface area of the raw materials, the more efficiently the
hydrolytic enzymes can attack the material. Therefore, hydrolysis is often the rate-
limiting step in the degradation of particulate raw materials and pre-treatments,
such as maceration, may be used in order to improve it. Also, the process
operational conditions affect hydrolysis, e.g. higher temperature enhances
hydrolysis. Optimal pH is approximately 6.0, though hydrolysis occurs also at
higher pH. Too high organic loading rate (OLR) may inhibit hydrolysis through
accumulation of degradation intermediates.

Once the raw materials are degraded into smaller molecules, i.e. long chain fatty
acids (LCFA), alcohols, simple sugars and amino acids, during hydrolysis, the
acidogenic bacteria are able to uptake them and facilitate further degradation into
volatile fatty acids (VFA) . The more specific intermediate products depend on
operational conditions, raw materials and microbial activity. One part of
acidogenesis is also ammonification of nitrogen compounds into ammonium-
nitrogen, a noteworthy compound due to possible toxicity and to the increased
fertilizer value of the digestate.

Approximately 70% of methane is usually produced from acetate (acetoclastic

methanogens) and 30% from hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Raw materials for biogas processes
The raw material for the production of bio-methane is biogas, which can be
processed from various feedstock sources. For biogas production much more
different feedstock sources can be used than for common liquid biofuels. For
instance biodiesel can be only made from plant materials containing certain
amounts of oil. In contrast, biogas is produced from nearly all types of organic
materials including vegetable and animal feed-stocks.

The origin of the feedstock can vary, ranging from livestock waste, manure, harvest
surplus, to vegetable oil residues. Dedicated energy crops are becoming more and
more practice as feedstock source for biogas production. Recently, waste water
sludge, municipal solid wastes and organic wastes from households have been
introduced as feedstock. Another feedstock source is the collection of biogas from
landfill sites. In some countries biogas is produced in agricultural facilities,
mainly by the fermentation of manure and maize silage.

One main advantage of methane production is the ability to use so-called “wet
biomass” as feedstock source. Wet biomass cannot be used for the production of
other biofuels such as biodiesel or bio-methane. Examples for wet biomass are
sewage sludge, manure from dairy and swine farms as well as residues from food
processing. They all are characterized by moisture contents of more than 60-70 %.

The use of waste materials is not only excellent suitability for biogas production it
also creates some additional benefits. Thus, it contributes to reduce animal wastes
and odors. Digestion effectively eliminates environmental hazards, such as over
production of liquid manure. Therefore biogas production is an excellent way for
livestock farmers to comply with increasing governmental regulations of animal
wastes. In addition it destroys disease causing pathogens existing in waste
materials. Nevertheless, using animal feedstock can be critical as well. For instance
anaerobic degradation of poultry excrements with high contents of organic nitrogen
produce high concentrations of undesirable ammonium.

Apart from waste materials wet biomass also includes dedicated energy crops or
any other vegetable materials with high moisture contents. Even grass can be used
as feedstock. The suitability of energy crops for biogas production was received
through improvements in the fermentation process. The main disadvantage of
energy crops when compared to waste materials is their need for additional
agricultural land as it is needed also for biodiesel and bioethanol production.
Nevertheless, energy crops for biogas production have several advantages which
make them very promising for the future. One main advantage is the production of
considerably high yields of energy crops, even when they are cultivated extensively.
Different raw materials will produce different amounts of biogas and methane
depending on their content of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. In theory, all
biodegradable materials with reasonable lignin content (i.e. not wood) is suitable
raw materials for biogas processes. In agriculture, manure and most plant biomass
can be directed to biogas plants, while from municipalities, food waste and sewage
sludge are the most important material flows to biogas processes. Moreover,
different industries produce biodegradable by-products which can be used in biogas
plant. Theoretical biogas and methane production from carbohydrates, fats and
proteins

Substrate content Biogas(m3/t) Methane(m3/t) Methane (%)

Carbohydrates 830 415 50,0

Fats 1444 1014 70,2

Proteins 793 504 63,6

Manure
Basically all manures can be directed to biogas plants, but depending on their
quantities and characteristics and the plant design they can be either digested
alone or in conjunction to digestion of other raw materials. The methane production
potential of manures differs between the manure types and also case-specifically
depending on e.g. animal feeding and housing solutions and the bedding material
used. Manure is a good base material for biogas plants as i) it is continuously
produced and available, ii) it contains all the nutrients required by the anaerobic
bacteria, and iii) has high buffering capacity.

Energy Crops
For biogas production, plant biomass, i.e. energy crops and/or crop residues, should
be harvested within their growing period as fresh, green plants. The more dry and
straw-like the plant, the less biogas it produces .Plant biomass can be fed to biogas
reactors freshly cut or after storage. In suboptimal storing conditions, the crops
may be partly degraded which usually decreases their BMP. Thus, storage should
be optimized for preventing such degradation. Ensiling and paling are advisable
storing methods for most crop materials.
Ensiling e.g. maize under optimal anoxic conditions and no additives has been
reported to even increase BMP by 25%, apparently due to formation of organic
acids (lactic acid) which serves as a precursor for methane production .The
examples of crop BMPs and methane yields during continuous co-digestion with
manure.
Municipal and industrial materials
Several municipal and industry al wastes and by-products are suitable substrates
for biogas plants. The characteristics of these materials may vary in many ways.
For example, the characteristics of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste
(OFMSW) vary depending on collection method (source-or mechanically sorted),
collection site (restaurant, school, hospital, residential area etc.) and time of year.
Also, sewage sludge from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants
may be directed to biogas processes. Its characteristics are also variable depending
on the waste water treatment process and the waste water origin. Many by-
products from food-processing offer good raw materials for biogas plants, but other
organic, industrial raw materials are also available.
Biogas Production
The production of bio-methane includes two steps. Firstly, biogas has to be
produced from feedstock sources. Secondly, the biogas has to be further processed
and cleaned in order to receive bio-methane which is suitable for transport
applications.

Digestion Process

Biogas is produced by means of anaerobic digestion. Organic matter is broken down

by micro-biological activity and in the absence of air. Symbiotic groups of bacteria
perform different functions at different stages of the digestion process in order to
break down complex organic materials. There are four basic types of
microorganisms involved. Hydrolytic bacteria break down complex organic wastes
into sugars and amino acids.

Fermentative bacteria then convert those products into organic acids. Acidogenic
microorganisms convert the acids into hydrogen, carbon dioxide and acetate.
Finally, the methanogenic bacteria produce biogas from acetic acid, hydrogen and
carbon dioxide.

Since these bacteria are sensitive to temperature, this has to be considered in the
digestion process. In order to promote bacterial activity, temperatures of at least
20° C are required. Generally, higher temperatures shorten processing time and
reduce the required volume of the digester tank by 25 % to 40 %. Regarding the
temperature, bacteria of anaerobic digestion can be divided into psychrophile (25
°C), mesophile (32 - 38 °C) and termophile (42 - 55 °C) bacteria. The choice of the
process temperature depends on the feedstock and of the utilized digester type.
Thus, digesters have to be heated in colder climates in order to encourage the
bacteria to carry out their function.

Digestion time ranges from a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on

feedstock and digester type as well as on the digestion temperature.

Digester Types

The common technology for biogas production is the digestion of feedstock in

specially designed digesters. These must be strong enough to withstand the buildup
of pressure and must provide anaerobic conditions for the bacteria inside. In
addition, anaerobic digester systems can reduce fecal coliform bacteria in manure
by more than 99 %, virtually eliminating a major source of water pollution.
Further, the ability of the digester to produce and capture methane from the
manure reduces the amount of methane that otherwise would enter the
atmosphere. Methane gas in the atmosphere is a contributor to global climate
change.
Today, there are many different technologies and digester types available.
Generally, the size of biogas plants can vary from a small household system to large
commercial plants of several thousand cubic meters. Digester size also influences
logistics and vice versa. For instance, for larger scale digesters feedstock has to be
collected from individual farms and transported to central digester facilities.
However, independent from the type of digester, they are often built near the
source of the feedstock, and several are often used together to provide a continuous
gas supply.

Digestion classification by several criteria

Digesters have to fulfill requirements in order to guarantee a certain process
temperature which should be as continuous as possible. Therefore the digester has
to be insulated and equipped with heaters, especially in colder climates.

The water content of substrate also influences the design and type of digester. One
of the most common classifications regarding the water content of the substrate is
the classification into wet digestion which is fed with dry mass contents lower than
15 % and into dry digestion which is fed with dry mass content between 20 and 40
%. Wet digestion usually is applied to manure and sewage sludge, whereas dry
digestion is often applied to the fermentation of energy crops.

Digesters can be classified after the number of process steps. Single-stage and two-
stage digesters are the most common technologies today whereas the focus is on
single-stage digesters. These are characterized by no special separation of different
process steps (hydrolysis, acidification, methanisation). All process steps are
conducted in one single digester. Process steps of two-stage and multi-stage
technologies are conducted in two or more different digesters.

However, digesters can be also classified after their filling procedure and after the
filling interval. Digester types include following technologies:

Batch type: the digester is filled at once, the feedstock digests and subsequently
the whole system is emptied Continuously expanding type: firstly, the digester is
filled up to 1/3, then it is continuously filled until it is full and finally the digester is
emptied Continuously flow type: the digester is initially filled completely, then the
feedstock is continuously added and digested material is continuously removed Pug
flow type: the feedstock is added regularly at one end and over flows the other end
Contact type: this is a continuous type, but a support medium is provided for the
bacteria.
Technological and operational solutions for biogas plants

Biogas plants are always case-specific. They are designed according to those
particular conditions and characteristics and quantities of raw materials as
intended when commissioning a plant. There are several technological and
operational solutions to choose from and the length of the technology chain
applied differ from smaller to larger scale according to factors, such as
investment and operational cost, workload, the end-use of digestate intended, goals
for energy production etc. In small household plants very simple technological
solutions are used. On farm- scale the technology becomes somewhat more
elaborate, but the aim is to still keep it simple and easy-to-use, while on large,
centralized scale the biogas plant may consist of several different processing units
the operation of which requires more monitoring and knowhow.

Different scales

Biogas is produced in biogas plants which differ in size (scale) and technology.
Small and often self-made biogas plants are used in tropical countries for treating
wastes from the household farming and cooking. In industrial countries with
intensive agriculture the biogas plants are significantly bigger and more advanced,
equipped with modern technology to increase digester capacity and to apply process
control for stable operation. Generally agricultural biogas digesters can be divided
into different scales by size

Household digesters are very simple and manually operated. This type of biogas
plants can be effectively operated under warm climate conditions, while
implementation in temperate to cold areas may require temperature control. The
biogas produced is usually utilized for cooking and lighting.
Centralized Biogas plants
In centralized biogas plants, the technological solutions are usually more complex
than in biogas plants focusing on agricultural materials of one or a few farms.
Moreover, the raw materials are often collected from several sources and the feed
mixture may contain diverse materials from agriculture, municipalities and
industry. The choice of technology varies case specifically depending on the raw
materials available, the aims of the processing (e.g. energy production, fertilizer
production, stabilization of waste materials, reduction of environmental load), the
costs for investment and operation, subsidy systems available, etc. For example in
Denmark, there are many large, centralized biogas plants only for digestion of
liquid manure, a development active in the 1980s and since directed towards
smaller farm-scale plants . On the contrary in Finland, centralised biogas plants
digest diverse raw materials from agricultural materials to those from the
municipalities and industry. Also during the last years, centralised biogas plants
have been built in Germany.

Centralised biogas plants may produce heat or heat and power depending on the
case- specific conditions, but the economy of scale may also make bio-methane
production more attractive than in smaller biogas plants.

Centralised biogas plants may also aim at producing targeted fertilizer products
instead of plain digestate. In many cases, transportation of the large amounts of
digestate to the fields would be too costly as the amount of nutrients requires a
large field area for spreading. Thus, post processing of the digestate may offer the
solution for efficient reuse of the nutrients. Usually the digestate is firstly
mechanically separated into solid and liquid fractions. The solid fraction may be
further dried and pressed into pellets to provide a phosphorus-rich fertilizer or
material for incineration or thermal gasification. For the liquid fraction, there are
many process technologies available and/or under development.
Biogas Plants
Continuous wet and dry processes

Continuously fed biogas plants are filled and then emptied by different
strategies. Wet processes are often CSTRs fed in certain intervals (a few
times per day or per hour) with simultaneous withdrawal (often by
gravity) of digestate. The biogas production is thus rather constant, but
as the new feed is mixed into the reactor contents, some by-pass occurs
(i.e. not all raw material stays the whole HRT in the reactor). On the
other hand, mixing efficiently provides good contact between the raw
materials and the microbes, no re-inoculation is required, the reactor
content is homogeneous, and the reactor temperature stays stable.

Continuous feeding may also be performed for raw materials with high
TS content, such as food waste. A common reactor type is plug-flow,
meaning a vertical cylinder being fed from one end and emptied from the
other and using e.g. belts for transporting the materials. The raw
material is firstly mixed with already digested material to provide the
necessary microbial inoculum, which needs to be taken into account
when designing the process. The process may also contain collection and
recirculation of leachate from the digested material, further facilitating
contact between the digested material and the microbes. The greatest
challenge of these dry processes is mixing: the digestate is often still
unstabilized and requires post-treatment, such as composting. The
mixing may also be inadequate for ensuring efficient biogas release and
collection as well as stable temperature in the reactor content.
Batch dry processes

Batch operation is usually used for raw materials with high TS content,
such as solid manure. A garage type is probably the most common batch
reactor. It is filled with a mixture of new raw material and digestate (to
provide inoculum) using e.g. a front loader, then closed for biogas
producing period of at least 20-30 days, and finally opened and emptied
just to start the cycle again with new filling. As the biogas production
thus varies depending on the stage of the operational cycle, it is usual to
have at least three parallel batches in different stages of operation: one
being filled, one in biogas producing phase and one being emptied.

Energy use of biogas

Biogas is a versatile, renewable fuel that can be used for production of

heat, electricity and/or vehicle fuel. Biogas can be combusted in gas
boilers to produce heat or in gas engines or turbines to produce both
electricity and heat. It can also be upgraded to vehicle fuel quality by
increasing the methane content through removal of most of the other
compounds present.

Biogas composition
Biogas contains mainly methane (55-70%), while the rest is mostly
carbon dioxide. One cubic meter of biogas (at 60% methane) contains
approximately 22 MJ of energy (lower heating value), while the
methane content alone contains roughly 36 MJ (10 kWh). Small
quantities of other gaseous compounds such as hydrogen, hydrogen
sulphide, ammonia, oxygen, nitrogen, silicon dioxide and particulates
are also present depending on process technology and the raw materials
digested. In addition, biogas is generally saturated with water when it
leaves the digester. The saturation level is strongly dependent on the
gas temperature. For example, saturated biogas at 30 °C has water
content of 30 g/m3 biogas, while at 40 °C, the same gas has a water
content of 52 g/m3 biogas. This means that the water content in the
biogas leaving the digester is higher at thermophilic digestion compare
to mesophilic. The demand for water reducing pre-treatment (drying)
before biogas utilization depends on the energy use.
Biogas in heat production

The easiest way of utilizing biogas is to produce heat in a boiler. The

technology has low investment and maintenance costs and is well-known
and reliable. For small scale biogas plants located at a site with a high
heat demand, it is probably the best alternative, at least in countries
with rather low price for electricity produced with biogas. The heat
demand at a farm during summer can, as a monthly average, be about
20% compared with a winter month. Therefore, localization close to a
site with a high demand for heat the whole year around can be
favorable. One option can also be to invest in an enterprise needing a lot
of heat during summer time. Drying of wood chips is an example of such
an enterprise. Biogas can also be used for steam production in industrial
applications, where the seasonal variation in heat demand is low.
Application for heating greenhouses can bring extra value since the
carbon dioxide content of the exhaust gases can be used to promote
growth in the greenhouse.

In boilers, the requirements for biogas quality are low but it is

recommended to reduce the level of hydrogen sulphide content below
1.000 ppm, which allows the exhaust gases to maintain a dew point
around 150 °C . It is also rather important to maintain an even
concentration of methane in the biogas over time. The composition of the
biogas, especially the methane content, affect the Wobbe index (defined
by the calorific value divided by the square root of the relative density)
and is important when designing biogas utilization components, for
example a nozzle for a burner.

Economy of Biogas

The main problem of using bio-methane for transport is the lack of

infrastructure. Vehicles running on biogas are not compatible with
common vehicles running on liquid fuels. Nevertheless a remarkable
infrastructure for natural gas was created in several European
countries. This existing infrastructure can be used for natural gas and
for bio methane at the same time.

Upgrading of biogas into bio-methane is a relatively new technology but

experience from Sweden and other countries shows that it is possible
now to upgrade biogas with high reliability and at reasonable costs. The
Swedish experience shows that biogas can be an economical sustainable
fuel with a potential to drastically reduce emissions in urban transport.
ETHANOL

Biofuels are fuels derived from biomass. Biomass is organic matter taken
from or produced by plants and animals. It comprises mainly wood,
agricultural crops and products, aquatic plants, forestry products, wastes
and residues, and animal wastes. In its most general meaning, biofuels are
all types of solid, gaseous and liquid fuels that can be derived from biomass.
Examples of solid biofuels include wood, charcoal and bagasse. Wood and
charcoal are widely used as fuel for domestic purposes such as cooking in
the rural areas of most developing countries. Waste bagasse, the fibrous
material produced from sugar cane processing, is extensively used for steam
and electrical power generation in raw sugar mills. Examples of gaseous
biofuels include methane gas and producer gas. Methane gas is produced
from the anaerobic fermentation of animal wastes, waste water treatment
sludge and municipal wastes in landfills. On the other hand, producer gas
can be made from the pyrolysis or gasification of wood and agricultural
wastes. Examples of liquid biofuels include methanol, ethanol, plant oils and
the methyl esters produced from these oils commonly referred to as
biodiesel.
Feedstock for Biofuels
The various feed stocks that can be used for the production of biofuels
maybe classified into three groups: cellulosic biomass, sugar and starchy
crops, and oil-containing or oil-producing plants. The first group of
feedstock is cellulosic biomass. It is the type of feedstock that is
increasingly becoming important for the production of biofuels. Its
attractiveness as a feedstock results from the fact that it is made up of very
complex sugar polymers that are not usually used as a source of human
food. Cellulosic biomass includes a wide range of heterogeneous solid
materials including, but not limited to, the following: (a) Agricultural
residues comprising leftover material from crops such as rice straw, or
coconut coir, or the stalks, leaves and husks of corn plants; (b) Forestry
wastes such as chips and sawdust from lumber mills, dead trees, and tree
branches; (c) Municipal solid wastes such as paper products; (d) Food
processing and other industrial wastes such as slops from alcohol
distilleries and black liquor from pulp and paper manufacturing; and(e)
Energy crops grown for fuel purposes such as fast growing trees and
grasses.

The main components of cellulosic biomass are cellulose, hemi-celluloses,

and lignin. Depending on the source of biomass, cellulose may account for
40% to 60% by weight of the biomass and is thus the most
common form of carbon in the biomass. It is a complex sugar
polymer, or a polysaccharide, and is made from the six-carbon
sugar called glucose. Because of its crystalline structure, it is
resistant to hydrolysis, the chemical reaction that enables the
production of simple, fermentable sugars from a polysaccharide.
Hemicellulose is also a major source of carbon in biomass and may
account for 20% to 40% by weight of the biomass. It is also a complex
polysaccharide that is made from a variety of five-carbon and six-carbon
sugars. Although it is relatively easier to hydrolyze into simple sugars
compared to cellulose, the sugars that are produced, however, are not easily
fermented to ethanol. Lignin comprises from 10% to 24% by weight of
biomass and provides structural integrity and strength in plants. It
remains as the residual material after the sugars in the biomass have been
converted to ethanol. As a highly complex carbon-containing polymer, it
contains a lot of energy and can be burned to produce steam and electricity
for use in the biomass-to-ethanol manufacturing process.

The second group of feedstock is sugar and starchy crops.

These are plants such as sugar cane and sugar beets that can
store through photosynthesis the energy from the sun by
converting it into simple sugars. In a similar fashion, there are
plants such as corn, cassava and sweet potato that store the
energy as complex sugars or starches. Although the name sugar is
most often used to refer to sucrose or table sugar, in general, sugars
are water-soluble carbohydrates that have relatively low molecular weight
and usually characterized with having a sweet taste.

Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are a group of organic compounds that

include sugars, starches, celluloses and gums. They provide a major source
of energy in the diet of humans and animals. These compounds are
produced through photosynthesis by plants and contain only molecules of
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, usually in the ratio 1:2:1. Simple sugars are
called mono-saccharides. More complex sugars comprise between two and
ten mono saccharides that are linked together. Thus dissacharides are
those that contain two monosaccharides, trisaccharides are those that
contain three and so on. These biomass products are mainly used as human
or animal food. However, because of the need to find alternative sources of
energy other than fossil fuels, these products are increasingly being used
for the production of biofuels, particularly ethanol as gasoline substitute or
blend.

The third group of feedstock is composed of oil-containing or oil-producing

plants. There are a large number of plants that produce oils, in particular
fixed oils, which can be processed to produce biofuels that can be used as
diesel substitute or blend. The common characteristic of these oils is
that they may be decomposed into glycerin and one or more acids
of the type called fatty acids. The physical properties commonly
found in these plant oils are the following: (a) They float on water but are
not soluble in it; (b) They are greasy to the touch and have lubricating
properties; (c) They are not readily volatile; and (d) They may be burned
without leaving any significant residue. Most of these oils such as soybean
oil, coconut oil and palm oil have been used mainly for human or animal
food or the production of various types of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals
but increasing amounts are now being processed for the production of
biodiesel.

The recent interest in the production of energy from biomass has focused
primarily on technologies and applications that produce liquid fuels for the
use of the transportation industry. Since ethanol in its anhydrous form can
be blended with gasoline, it has become one of the most widely used biofuel.
In the same manner, since biodiesel (the methyl ester of plant oil) can be
easily blended with or used as a substitute for diesel fuel, its production
and use have also become widespread. Their use has the additional
advantage of reducing emission of air pollutants, buildup of greenhouse gas
and dependence on imported oil. At the same time, the cultivation and
harvesting of the feedstocks have positive impacts on the agricultural and
rural economies.
Introduction to Ethanol
The world in the 21st century presents many critical challenges. One of the
most important challenges is the environment. As population increases and
the standard of living improve, there is a growing concern that there will be
a shortage of energy to heat our homes and power the vehicles on which we
so heavily depend. We must also remember the need for clean air, clean
water, cleaner burning fuels, and biodegradable, renewable materials.
Advances in technology have allowed development of alternative energy
sources. Alternative energy sources are renewable, cleaner, and more
dependable than traditional fuels.

What is Ethanol

Ethanol is an alternative energy source. It is an alcohol made by fermenting

corn or other similar biomass material. There are three primary ways that
ethanol can be used as a transportation fuel

 As a blend of 10 percent ethanol with 90 percent unleaded gasoline called “E-

10 Unleaded”;
 As a component of reformulated gasoline, both directly and/or as ethyl
tertiary butyl ether (ETBE); or
 As a primary fuel with 85 parts of ethanol blended with 15 parts of
unleaded gasoline called “E-85.”

When mixed with unleaded gasoline, ethanol increases octane levels,

decreases exhaust emissions, and extends the supply of gasoline.

Ethanol in its liquid form, called ethyl alcohol, can be used as a fuel when
blended with gasoline or in its original state. It can also be used as a raw
material in various industrial processes. Ethanol is made by fermenting
almost any material that contains starch or sugar. Grains such as corn and
sorghum are good sources; but potatoes, sugar cane and other farm plants
and plant wastes are also suitable.
How is Ethanol Made?

Ethanol is a product of fermentation. Fermentation is a sequence of

reactions which release energy from organic molecules in the absence of
oxygen. In this application of fermentation, energy is obtained when sugar
is changed to ethanol and carbon dioxide.

Changing corn to ethanol by fermentation takes many steps. Starch in corn

must be broken down into simple sugars before fermentation can occur. In
earlier times, this was done by chewing the corn. This allowed the salivary
enzymes to naturally break down the starch. Today, this is achieved by
cooking the corn and adding the enzymes alpha amylase and glucoamylase.
These enzymes function as catalysts to speed up the chemical changes.

Once a simple sugar is obtained, yeast is added. Yeast is a single-celled

fungus that feeds on the sugar and causes the fermentation. As the fungus
feeds on the sugar, it produces alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide. In
fermentation, the ethanol retains much of the energy that was originally in
the sugar, which explains why ethanol is an excellent fuel.

Feedstock of ethanol Production

Ethanol can be produced from any biological feedstock that contains
appreciable amounts of sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar
such as starch or cellulose. Many different feedstock sources can be used for
ethanol production. They can be divided into sugary, starchy and cellulosic
feedstock.
Two examples of feedstock for ethanol production are sugar beets and sugar
cane which contain high percentages of sugar. Sugars can be easily
fermented. Corn, wheat, barley, rye and other cereals are typical feed stocks
containing starch in their kernels. Starch can relatively easily be converted
into sugar and then into ethanol. In some countries ethanol is manufactured
mainly from maize and grain. Other starchy crops that can also be used for
bioethanol production are sorghum grains, cassava and potatoes. Recent
research includes bioethanol production from potatoes and waste potatoes
from food industry.
Since ethanol from sugar and starch bearing plants is readily available
today, these feedstock types are also called first-generation feedstocks. First
generation feedstocks are characterized by the fact that only parts of the
plants (starch, sugar, oil) are used for biofuel production.
Contrary to this, next-generation feedstock types provide the opportunity to
use nearly the whole plant for biofuel production and not only parts of the
plants (grains, tubes, stalks). In order to use second generation biofuels for
ethanol production, advanced technologies are necessary. A large variety of
feedstock is available for producing ethanol from biomass that contains
large amounts of cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulose and hemicellulose
can be converted to sugar, though with more difficulty than conversion of
starch.
Considered cellulosic biomass is agricultural wastes, forest residues,
municipal solid wastes (MSW), wastes from pulp/paper processes and
energy crops. Cellulosic agricultural wastes for ethanol production include
crop residues such as wheat straw, corn stover (leaves, stalks and cobs), rice
straw and bagasse (sugar cane waste). Forestry wastes include logging
residues as well as wood which is not used and thus left in the forest. MSW
contains high percentages of cellulosic materials, such as paper and
cardboard.
In contrast to cellulosic waste materials, dedicated energy crops, which are
grown specifically for ethanol production, include fast-growing trees
(poplars), shrubs (willows), and grasses (switch grass). The cellulosic
components of these materials range between 30% and 70%. This new
concept of utilizing cellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production is not yet
applicable on the large scale, but is currently subject to intensive research.
However, independent from the feedstock type, the large-scale production of
agricultural ethanol requires substantial amounts of cultivable land with
fertile soils and water (except for wastes). Therefore ethanol production is
less attractive for densely occupied and industrialized regions like Western
Europe, or for regions where desire for increased farmland puts pressure on
important natural resources like rainforests.
Types of feedstock for ethanol production (examples)