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UNIT IV
BIOMASS ENERGY

Biomass origin - Resources – Biomass estimation. Thermochemical conversion – Biological

conversion, Chemical conversion – Hydrolysis & hydrogenation, solvolysis, biocrude, biodiesel
power generation gasifier, biogas, integrated gasification.

Biomass

Biomass is plant or animal material used as fuel to produce electricity or heat. Examples are
wood, energy crops and waste from forests, yards, or farms

Sources of Biomass:

1. Agricultural Residues
Crop residues encompasses all agricultural wastes such as bagasse, straw, stem, stalk, leaves,
husk, shell, peel, pulp, stubble, etc. Large quantities of crop residues are produced annually
worldwide, and are vastly underutilised. Rice produces both straw and rice husks at the processing
plant which can be conveniently and easily converted into energy.
Significant quantities of biomass remain in the fields in the form of cob when maize is
harvested which can be converted into energy. Sugar cane harvesting leads to harvest residues in the
fields while processing produces fibrous bagasse, both of which are good sources of energy.
Harvesting and processing of coconuts produces quantities of shell and fibre that can be utilized.
Current farming practice is usually to plough these residues back into the soil, or they are
burnt, left to decompose, or grazed by cattle. These residues could be processed into liquid fuels or
thermochemically processed to produce electricity and heat. Agricultural residues are characterized
by seasonal availability and have characteristics that differ from other solid fuels such as
wood, charcoal, char briquette. The main differences are the high content of volatile matter and lower
density and burning time.
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2. Animal Waste
There are a wide range of animal wastes that can be used as sources of biomass energy. The
most common sources are animal and poultry manure. In the past this waste was recovered and sold
as a fertilizer or simply spread onto agricultural land, but the introduction of tighter environmental
controls on odour and water pollution means that some form of waste management is now required,
which provides further incentives for waste-to-energy conversion.
3. Forestry Residues
Forestry residues are generated by operations such as thinning of plantations, clearing for
logging roads, extracting stem-wood for pulp and timber, and natural attrition. Harvesting may occur
as thinning in young stands, or cutting in older stands for timber or pulp that also yields tops and
branches usable for biomass energy. Harvesting operations usually remove only 25 to 50 percent of
the volume, leaving the residues available as biomass for energy.
4. Wood Wastes
Wood processing industries primarily include sawmilling, plywood, wood panel, furniture,
building component, flooring, particle board, moulding, jointing and craft industries. Wood wastes
generally are concentrated at the processing factories, e.g. plywood mills and sawmills. The amount
of waste generated from wood processing industries varies from one type industry to another
depending on the form of raw material and finished product.
Generally, the waste from wood industries such as saw millings and plywood, veneer and
others are sawdust, off-cuts, trims and shavings. Sawdust arise from cutting, sizing, re-sawing,
edging, while trims and shaving are the consequence of trimming and smoothing of wood.
5. Industrial Wastes
The food industry produces a large number of residues and by-products that can be used as
biomass energy sources. These waste materials are generated from all sectors of the food industry
with everything from meat production to confectionery producing waste that can be utilised as an
energy source.
Solid wastes include peelings and scraps from fruit and vegetables, food that does not meet
quality control standards, pulp and fibre from sugar and starch extraction, filter sludges and coffee
grounds. These wastes are usually disposed of in landfill dumps.
Liquid wastes are generated by washing meat, fruit and vegetables, blanching fruit and
vegetables, pre-cooking meats, poultry and fish, cleaning and processing operations as well as wine
making.
These waste waters contain sugars, starches and other dissolved and solid organic matter. The
potential exists for these industrial wastes to be anaerobically digested to produce biogas, or
fermented to produce ethanol, and several commercial examples of waste-to-energy conversion
already exist.
Pulp and paper industry is considered to be one of the highly polluting industries and
consumes large amount of energy and water in various unit operations. The wastewater discharged by
this industry is highly heterogeneous as it contains compounds from wood or other raw materials,
processed chemicals as well as compound formed during processing. Black liquor can be judiciously
utilized for production of biogas using anaerobic UASB technology.

6. Municipal Solid Wastes and Sewage

Millions of tonnes of household waste are collected each year with the vast majority disposed
of in open fields. The biomass resource in MSW comprises, paper and plastic and averages 80% of
the total MSW collected. Municipal solid waste can be converted into energy by direct combustion,
or by natural anaerobic digestion in the engineered landfill.
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Thermo chemical conversion of biomass

Thermo chemical conversion of biomass can be performed via three primary pathways, i. e.
combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis.

Gasification:
Biomass gasification is a process of converting solid biomass fuel into a gaseous combustible
gas (called producer gas) through a sequence of thermo-chemical reactions.

Drying Zone:
Drying is removes the moisture in the biomass before it enters Pyrolysis. All the moisture
needs to be (or will be) removed from the fuel before any above 100°C processes happen. All of the
water in the biomass will get vaporized out of the fuel at some point in the higher temp processes
Pyrolysis Zone:
Pyrolysis leads to the thermochemical decomposition of the matrix carbonaceous materials by
cracking the chemical bonds which takes place with the formation of molecules with a lower
molecular weight by pyrolysis. By this process a different fractions are obtained: a solid, a
liquid/condensed gas and non-condensed gas formation happen.
The solid fraction includes the inert materials contained in the biomass in the form of ashes
and a high carbon content fraction, called ―char‖. the solid fraction, which has a high carbon
content and is characterized by a high heating value.
The liquid fraction, usually called "tars" and is constituted by complex organic substances,
condensable at relatively low temperatures.
The gaseous fraction is typically 70–90 wt% of the fed material and is a mixture of gases that
are non-condensable at ambient temperature the gaseous fraction is called "pyrolysis gas" and
consists mainly of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and light hydrocarbons such as
methane and other C2, C3 hydrocarbons; minor constituents are acid or inert gases the pyrolysis
reactions take place with a temperature in the range 250–700 °C they are endothermic and, as in the
drying step, the heat required comes from the oxidation stage of the process.
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Oxidation Zone:
Oxidation in order to obtain the thermal energy required for the endothermic reaction and to
maintain the operative temperature, the oxidation of part of the biomass is necessary the oxidation is
carried out in conditions of lack of oxygen with respect to the stoichiometric requirement despite the
partial oxidation involving all carbonaceous species (tars included), it is possible to simplify the
system considering that only char and the hydrogen contained in the gas produced participate in the
partial oxidation the main reactions that take place during the oxidation phase and also discussed in
the chemistry of biomass gasification as evident, the main product of this step is the thermal energy
necessary for the whole process, while the combustion product is a gas mixture of CO, CO2 and
water in this mixture nitrogen can be present if the biomass oxidation is performed with air,
otherwise nitrogen is practically absent if only oxygen is used.

Reduction Zone:
The reduction step involves all the products of the preceding stages of pyrolysis and oxidation
the gas mixture and the char react with each other resulting in the formation of the final gaseous
mixture main reactions occurring in the reduction step have been shown in ‗Chemistry of Biomass
Gasification‘.

Types of Gasification process:

(i) Updraft (ii) Down-draft (iii)

Cross-Draft

Pyrolysis:

Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures in an inert atmosphere. It

involves a change in chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements pyro
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―fire‖ and lysis ―separating‖. It is most commonly used in the treatment of organic materials. It is
one of the processes involved in charring wood.

Working Principle:
It is considered as the first step in the processes of gasification or combustion. In general, pyrolysis of
organic substances produces volatile products and leaves a solid residue enriched in carbon, char. Extreme
pyrolysis, which leaves mostly carbon as the residue, is called carbonization. The process is used heavily in
the chemical industry, for example, to produce ethylene, many forms of carbon, and other chemicals from
petroleum, coal, and even wood, to produce coke from coal.

Solvolysis:
In case of pyrolysis high operating temperature of pyrolysis (greater than 500 0C) give forth to a very
big problem: cross-linking and re-combination reaction between hydrocarbons and aromatics. This may
further lead to tar and char formation which eventually causes difficulty in decomposition. In addition,
pyrolysis requires dry biomass in basis prior every treatment and this will lead to substantial energy
consumption due to high heat of water vaporization. It is therefore unfeasible from the view of economy.
In contrast to pyrolysis, solvolytic liquefaction is more preferable as biomass could be converted into
valuable materials under relatively low temperature (around 300 0C) and shorter reaction time. Not only that,
the presence of solvent during solvolysis liquefaction will help to avoid cross-linked reactions and reverse
reactions by diluting the product concentration.
Solvolysis, a chemical reaction in which the solvent, such as water or alcohol, is one of the reagents
and is present in great excess of that required for the reaction. Solvolytic reactions are usually substitution
reactions—i.e., reactions in which an atom or a group of atoms in a molecule is replaced by another atom or
group of atoms. The solvents act as or produce electron-rich atoms or groups of atoms (nucleophiles) that
displace an atom or group in the substrate molecule. At high temperatures or in the presence of strong bases,
some solvents act as eliminating agents, producing alkenes from alkyl halides. It is common practice to name
solvolysis reactions after the specific solvent, such as ―hydrolysis‖ when water is the reagent.

Solvolytic liquefaction is more preferable as biomass could be converted into valuable materials
under relatively low temperature and shorter reaction time. Not only that, the presence of solvent during
solvolysis liquefaction will help to avoid cross-linked reactions and reverse reactions by diluting the product
concentration. Drying of biomass prior liquefaction treatment is not needed as liquefaction can also convert
biomass with high moisture content. The thermochemically converted liquid product produced from biomass
is called bio-oil.

Liquefaction (or solvolysis) belongs to the depolymerization technologies. It partly cracks and
deoxygenates the lignocellulose to a biocrude that can subsequently be upgraded to biofuels by conventional
oil refining processes. The liquefaction step is a hybrid between pyrolysis and hydrolysis mentioned above as
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it relies on the thermal chemistry of the pyrolysis but proceeds in a liquid solvent, as do hydrolysis, and
operates at a temperature that is intermediate between both, namely 200–400 °C.

Biomass biochemical/biological conversion of Bio-Mass

Biochemical conversion utilizes enzymes or microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, yeasts,

cyanobacteria, algae) to catalyze the conversion of biomass into liquid or gaseous biofuels, value-
added products (e.g., carotenoids) and other commercial chemicals (e.g., acetic acid).
The two main pathways of biochemical conversion are
(i) Anaerobic digestion and
(ii) Fermentation, which have been recognized as green technologies for biomass
conversion in terms of the carbon cycle.

I. Biological conversion or biochemical conversion of biomass (Anaerobic digestion:

Biomass Handling:
Biomass, either grown or obtained from various sources, needs to be transported to the production
sites for biochemical conversion to fuels. Biomass has to be size reduced. Size reduction is an important
mechanical preprocessing step to increase the bulk density and flow ability of particles for transportation.
Biomass is generally ground to 3–8 mm particles to compact it into pellets or briquettes of higher density.
Important parameters in evaluating the efficiency of size reduction are particle size, particle size distribution,
shape, surface area, density, and energy efficiency of mill used. Field drying postharvest is a common
method for drying in sunny regions. However, thermal or mechanical drying techniques using drum driers
are available for drying biomass after harvest and before storage in colder regions.

Pretreatment
Pretreatment plays an important role in the biochemical conversion yields of biofuels. Complex
structures in biomass are broken down into oligomeric subunits through pretreatment. Pretreatment enhances
the product yields by disrupting and solubilizing the hemicelluloses and lignin structures in biomass. Key
properties affecting the conversion of lignocellulose are the crystallinity of cellulose, degree of
polymerization, moisture content, available surface area, and lignin content.

"Steam Explosion (SE) is the most commonly used pretreatment of biomass and uses both physical
and chemical methods to break the structure of the lignocellulosic material through an hydrothermal
treatment. The biomass is treated with high pressure steam at high temperature for a short time, then it is
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rapidly depressurized and the fibrils structure is destroyed by this explosive decompression. This defibration
and the remarkable autohydrolysis significantly improve the substrate digestibility and bioconversion as well
as its reactivity toward other catalytic reactions.
Hydrolysis:
During hydrolysis, breaking down of polymeric and oligomeric cellulosic structure, to simpler
molecules such as glucose, cellobiose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, and mannose, takes place. It is done by
the action of either chemical or enzymatic agents.
Enzymatic hydrolysis is a complex process that takes place at the solid/liquid interphase. Several
processes such as, chemical and physical changes in the solid biomass, primary hydrolysis of soluble
intermediates from the surface, and secondary hydrolysis to ultimately simpler molecules such as glucose,
take place simultaneously.

Fermentation:
Fermentation is an anaerobic process that breaks down the glucose within organic materials. It is a
series of chemical reactions that convert sugars to alcohol or acid. Yeast or bacteria are added to the biomass
material, which feed on the sugars to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide Conversion of simpler
carbohydrates to alcohol through action of microbes is called as fermentation.
A combination of hydrolysis and fermentation is another process where simultaneous breaking down
of complex carbohydrates to simpler ones and converting to alcohol takes place. This process is commonly
called as simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Product yields from SSF are higher than
separate hydrolysis and fermentation, as the end product inhibition during hydrolysis of higher carbohydrates
to glucose and cellobiose, is relieved by simultaneous fermentation of glucose to produce ethanol.

Distillation and separation:

Liquid ethanol can be separated from a mixture of ethanol and water by fractional distillation. This
method works because the liquids in the mixture have different boiling points. When the mixture is heated,
one liquid evaporates before the other. The evaporated ethanol is condensed back through a separate process.

II. Fermentation
In the fermentation pathway, an organic substrate of biomass is chemically changed by the action of
enzymes, which is secreted by different microorganisms such as yeasts. Fermentation processes can be
classified into two main types, namely aerobic and anaerobic, based on the presence or absence of oxygen.
Fermentation is a widely adopted technology in different countries to produce ethanol (C2H5OH) on a large-
scale from sugar crops such as sugarcane and sugar beet, as well as starch crops such as maize and wheat.
Molasses is the most common biomass feedstock for ethanol fermentation because its total weight is
composed of about 50% sugar and about 50% organic and inorganic compounds. The fermentation of sugars
for ethanol production has been recognized as one of the greenest technology for liquid fuel production since
the generated CO2 can be used in other applications of a biorefinery. In this process, initially, the biomass
feedstock is ground down, and the starch is converted to sugars by enzymes, and finally, the sugars are
converted to ethanol by yeasts. Hence, the fermentation of starch is more complex than sugar fermentation,
because the starch should be converted to sugar first and then to ethanol.
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Bio gas plant:

Bio-gas is produced through a bio-chemical process in which certain types of bacteria convert
the biological wastes into useful bio-gas. Since the useful gas originates from biological process, it
has been termed as bio-gas. Methane gas is the main constituent of biogas

.
Mixing tank - The feed material (dung) is collected in the mixing tank. Sufficient water is added
and the material is thoroughly mixed till a homogeneous slurry is formed.
Inlet pipe - The substrate is discharged into the digester through the inlet pipe/tank.
Digester - The slurry is fermented inside the digester and biogas is produced through bacterial action.
Gas holder or gas storage dome - The biogas gets collected in the gas holder, which holds
the gas until the time of consumption.
Outlet pipe - The digested slurry is discharged into the outlet tank either through the outlet pipe or
the opening provided in the digester.
Gas pipeline - The gas pipeline carries the gas to the point of utilization, such as a stove or lamp.

Working Principle:
The process of bio-gas production is anaerobic in nature and takes place in two stages. The two
stages have been termed as acid formation stage and methane formation stage. In the acid formation stage, the
bio- degradable complex organic compounds present in the waste materials are acted upon by a group of acid
forming bacteria present in the dung. Since the organic acids are the main products in this stage, it is known as
acid forming stage. In the second stage, groups of methanogenic bacteria act upon the organic acids to produce
methane gas.
The working of a biogas plant: Consider the above diagram while going through the below- working steps of
the biogas plant. The inlet of the biogas plant is the mixing tank. In this mixing tank, the biomass is mixed
with the water to form a slurry. A slurry is a composition of the water and the cow dung (biomass). The
mixing tank is also called the slurry region. Then, this slurry enters the digester. The
digester (air-tight chamber) is an area with the absence of the oxygen (basically an anaerobic region) and the
presence of microorganisms (the anaerobic bacteria). These bacteria are capable of decomposing the
substances in absence of oxygen. Thus, these microorganisms in the digester,
decompose the biomass, that is, breaks down the complex substance into basic substances like methane,
hydrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide. These gasses produced are stored in the gas tank and wherever
required, these gases are taken out through the gas outlet. The other side products, other than the gas, produced
during the decomposition of the biomass are substances like manure and the fertilizers.
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Advantages:
 It is a eco-friendly fuel.
 The required raw materials for biogas production are available abundantly in villages.
 It not only produces biogas, but also gives us nutrient rich slurry that can be used for
crop production.
 It prevents the health hazards of smoke in poorly ventilated rural households that use
dung cake and fire-wood for cooking.
 It helps to keep the environment clean, as there would be no open heap of dung or
other waste materials that attract flies, insects and infections
 Availability of biogas would reduce the use of firewood and hence trees could be
saved.

Type: Fixed Dome Type or Janata model

KVIC Type or Floating Drum Or batch type

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Type: Balloon type or flexible bag type

Figure: Two stage digester

Biodiesel:
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Raw materials for Biodiesel:

Biodiesel is a non-toxic, biodegradable, renewable fuel that can be produced from a range of
organic and renewable raw material including fresh or waste vegetable oils, animal fats, and oilseed
plants:

Working principle:
Biodiesel production is the process of producing the biofuel, biodiesel, through the chemical
reactions of transesterification and esterification. This involves vegetable or animal fats and oils
being reacted with short-chain alcohols (typically methanol or ethanol). The alcohols used should be
of low molecular weight. Ethanol is the most used because of its low cost, however, greater
conversions into biodiesel can be reached using methanol. Although the transesterification reaction
can be catalyzed by either acids or bases, the base-catalyzed reaction is more common
Animal and plant fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, which are esters formed by the
reactions of three free fatty acids and the trihydric alcohol, glycerol. In the transesterification process,
the added alcohol (commonly, methanol or ethanol) is deprotonated with a base to make it a
stronger nucleophile. As can be seen, the reaction has no other inputs than the triglyceride and the
alcohol. Under normal conditions, this reaction will proceed either exceedingly slowly or not at all, so
heat, as well as catalysts (acid and/or base) are used to speed the reaction. It is important to note that
the acid or base are not consumed by the transesterification reaction, thus they are not reactants, but
catalysts. Common catalysts for transesterification include sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide,
and sodium methoxide.
Almost all biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils using the base-catalyzed technique as it
is the most economical process for treating vegetable oils, requiring only low temperatures and
pressures and producing over 98% conversion yield (provided the starting oil is low in moisture and
free fatty acids). However, biodiesel produced from other sources or by other methods may require
acid catalysis, which is much slower.[4] Since it is the predominant method for commercial-scale
production, only the base-catalyzed transesterification process will be described

Part-A
1. What is Biomass?
2. Give some of the organic materials used in biomass plant.
3. List the different types of biomass that are used as fuel.
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a fixed dome biogas plant?
5. List out all the biomass conversion technologies.
6. Define Hydrolysis.
7. Define the term solvolysis.
8. What is meant by Hydrogenation?
9. Define biocrude.
10. Define the term gasifier.
11. Write down the classification of biogas plant.
12. What are the phases involved in generation of biogas from biomass.
13. Discuss the role of fermentation process in generation of biogas.
14. Name the six factors affecting biogas production.
15. List out the application of biogas.
16. Why site selection is important for installation of biogas?
17. What is meant by wet fermentation & dry fermentation?
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Part-B

1. Explain in detail about the construction and working of KVIC (floating type) bio gas plant.
2. List out the classification of biogas plants and explain any two with neat sketch.
3. Explain briefly about the different methods of thermo-chemical conversion of biomass.
4. Discuss different biomass conversion technologies in detail.
5. Explain two stage thermo-chemical transformation of wood to methanol.
6. Discuss in detail about chemical conversion of biomass.
7. Define gasification. Discuss about various zones occurring during gasification process.
8. Describe in detail the various factors affecting biogas generation.
9. Explain the impacts of biomass construction, production and operation.
10. Discuss with a neat sketch the bioenergy generation through fermentation.