Unit-5

BioMass
1. Biomass refers to solid carbonaceous material derived from plants and animals.

2. These include residues of agriculture and forestry, animal waste and discarded material
from food processing plants.

3. Biomass being organic matter from terrestrial and marine vegetation, renews naturally in
a short span of time, thus, classified as a renewable source of energy.

4. It is a derivative of solar energy as plants grow by the process of photosynthesis by

absorbing CO2, from the atmosphere to form hexose (dextrose, glucose, etc.) expressed by
the reaction.
Sunlight
6CO2+6H2O photosynthesis C6H12O6 +6O2

5. Biomass does not add CO₂ to the atmosphere as it absorbs the same amount of carbon in
growing the plants as it releases when consumed as fuel.

6. It is a superior fuel as the energy produced from biomass is 'carbon cycle neutral'.

7. Biomass fuel is used in over 90% of rural households and in about 15% urban dwellings.

BioMass Conversion Technologies

A . Biomass Conversion:

1. The following processes are used for the biomass conversion to energy or to biofuels:

a Direct combustion,

b. Thermochemical conversion, and

C. Biochemical conversion.

a. Direct Combustion:

1. Combustion is the process of burning in in presence of oxygen to produce heat, light and
byproducts.

2. Complete combustion to ashes is called incineration.

3. Wood, dung, vegetable waste can be dried and burnt to provide heat or converted into
low calorific value gas by pyrolysis.

4. In the pyrolysis process, the organic material is converted to gases, solids and liquids by
heating to 500 °C to 900 °C in the absence of oxygen.

5. The combustion of biomass is more difficult than other fuels, since it contains relatively
higher moisture content.

6. Biomass is free from toxic metals and their ash.

b. Thermochemical Conversion:

1. Biomass is decomposed in thermochemical processes having various combinations of

temperatures and pressures.

2. Thermochemical conversion takes two forms: gasification and liquefaction.

c. Biochemical Conversion:

1. In biochemical conversion there are two principal conversion processes:

i. Anaerobic digestion, and

ii. Fermentation

B. Anaerobic Digestion:

1. This process involves microbial digestion of biomass.

2. The process and end products depend upon the micro-organisms cultivated and culture
conditions.

3. This process generates mostly methane (CH₁) and CO2 gas with small impurities such as
hydrogen sulphide.

4. The output gas obtained from anaerobic digestion can be directly burnt, or upgraded to
superior fuel gas (methane) by removal of CO, and other impurities.

5. The residue may consist of protein-rich sludge and liquid effluents which can be used as
annual feed or soil treatment after certain processing.

a. Stages of Digestion System:

i Anaerobic digestion system consists of three stages.

ii. A flow chart showing these stages is given belo
 Soluble
Biomass glucose Acetic and Methane B
Hydrolysis Acidification
(Fats, proteins and Nutrients Propanic Formation
carbohydrates) Stage 1 Stage 2 acid Stage 3

Anaerobic digestion process Dig.

Deenbandhu
Deenbandhu Biogas Plant:

1. Deenbandhu model was developed by the Action For Food Production (AFPRO), New
Delhi.

2. Deenbandhu plants are made entirely of brick masonry work with a spherical shaped gas
holder at the top and a concave bottom as shown

3. The inlet pipe connects the mixing tank with digester where as displaced slurry after
digestion moves to outside as there is no displacement space on inlet side.

4. The gas pushes the slurry downward till the level in the digester reaches the upper end of
outlet opening.

5. Recently, environmental protection and social development association (EPA), a NGO, has
constructed modified Deenbandhu design plants in Bardiya district which is also approved
by biogas support programme (BSP).

6. In India, this model proved 30 percent cheaper than Janata model and is known as friend
to poor. It also proved to be about 45% cheaper than a KVIC plant of comparable size
without affecting the efficiency of plant.

Process Of Gasification
A. Gasification:

The process of gasification involves the following four processes:

a. Drying: Biomass fuels usually contain 10%-35% moisture. When biomass is heated to
about 100 °C, the moisture is converted into steam.

b. Pyrolysis: After drying as heating continues, the biomass undergoes pyrolysis. It involves
burning biomass completely without supplying any oxygen. As a result, the biomass is
decomposed or separated into solids, liquids and gases charcoal is the solid part, tar is the
liquid part and flue gases make up the gaseous part.

C. Oxidation: Air is introduced into the gasifier after the decomposition process During
oxidation which takes place at about 700-1400 °C, charcoal or the solid carbonized fuel
reacts with the oxygen in the air to produce carbon dioxide and heat.
C+O2 CO₂ + heat

d. Reduction: At higher temperatures and under reducing conditions that is when not
enough oxygen is available, the following reactions takes place forming carbon dioxide,
hydrogen and methane.

C+CO2 2CO
C+H2O CO+H₂
CO+H2 O CO2 +H2
C+2H2 CH4

B. Composition:
Carbon Monoxide -18-22%

Hydrogen -13-19%

Methane -1-5%

Heavier Hydrocarbons -0.2-0.4%

Carbon dioxide -9-12%

Nitrogen -45-55%

Water vapour -4%

C. Heating value:

1. The gas produced in the gasifier is a clean burning fuel having heating value of about 950-
1200 kcal/m³.

D. Application:

1. SI engines can be made to run entirely on producer gas.

2. CI engines can be made to operate with about 60-80% fuel oil replacement by producer
gas.

3. In an industrial oil fired boiler.

4. In gas turbine.

C. Material used for Biogas Generation:

1. Biogas is produced by anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes by suitable bacteria. It

contains 55-65% methane, 30-40% carbon dioxide and the remainder is impurities like H₂S,
N2, H₂ gases.

2. The main source of production of biogas are crops residue, wet cow dung, vegetable
wastes, water hyacinth, algae, poultry or piggery droppings, human waste, etc.

3. Any organic material of animal or plant which is easily hiodegradable can be the source of
biogas production.

Table 1: Production of biogas from different types of raw materials.

D. Factors Affecting the Size of of Biogas Plant:

1. The amount and type of organic waste to be disposed in the digester

2. Demand of natural gas and consumption pattern.

3. On-site nature of the soil and the level of ground water.

4 Air temperature in the region and wind direction throughout the different seasons.

5. The training level of the staff on farm and home regarding operation of biogas units.

Basic Principle of OTEC

1. The principle of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is that there is a temperature
difference between water at the bottom of the sea and the water at the top.

2. This temperature difference can be used to operate a heat engine and most of the
radiation is being absorbed at the surface layer of water

3. The mixing between hot and cold water is prevented because no thermal convection
occurs between hot and cold water layer. This means that the surface layer will act as a
source and cold layers act as a sink.

4. Therefore, it is essential to connect the reversible heat engine between source and cold
sink to produce work that can be converted into required applications.

5. The absorption of solar radiation in the water varies and can be expressed by Lambert's
law:

B. Types of OTEC System:

1. There are two basic types of OTEC systems:

a. Closed cycle system or Anderson cycle system, and

b. Open cycle system or Claude cycle system.

a. Closed or Anderson Cycle OTEC System:

1. In this system, the working fluids for heat engines use the fluids like ammonia, freon 12,
butane gas having low boiling point because the working temperature of sea water is small.

2. Warm water from ocean surface is circulated through a pump to a heat exchanger which
acts as boiler to generate freon vapour at high pressure.

3. This vapour expands in the turbine to develop mechanical power and it is used to drive an
electric generator which produces electric energy.

4. Freon vapour from turbine at low pressure is condensed in the condenser with the help of
cold water drawn from the depth of ocean through a pump. The overall efficiency of such
plant is very low in the range of 2 to 3% only.

b. Open Cycle or Claude Cycle OTEC System:

1. In this system, the warm water from ocean surface is admitted through the deaerator to
the flash evaporator which is maintained under high vacuum.

2. As a result, a low pressure steam is generated due to throttling effect and the remainder
liquid is discharged back to the ocean at high depth.

3. The deaerator also removes the dissolved non-condensable gases from water before
supplied to the evaporator.

4. This low pressure steam having very high specific volume is supplied to turbine where it
expands and the mechanical power so developed is converted into electrical power by the
generator.
5. The exhaust steam from turbine is discharged into a direct contact type heat exchanger
and mixes with the cold water drawn from ocean at a depth of about 1 to 2 km.

6. The mixture of condensed steam and ocean cold water are discharged into the ocean.

Advantage and Disadvantage of OTEC

A. Advantages:

1. The thermal resource of the ocean ensures that the power source is available during day
or night.

2. It is eco-friendly

3. It eliminates the need for a surface heat exchanger.

4. It produces potable water which reduces electrical generating costs up to one-third.

B. Disadvantages:

1. Due to low pressure, large size of steam turbine is used.

2. It needs very large vacuum pumps.

3. In closed cycle the working fluid is expensive.

4. Cost of plant is high.

5. Cost of electrical energy from open cycle OTEC is very high.

6. Corrosion of metal parts due to saline water.

7. Size of the plant is limited due to large size of the components

8. Construction of floating power plant is difficult.

C. Applications:

1. A closed cycle OTEC plant can also act as a chemical treatment plant

2 An OTEC plant can also be used to pump up the deep sea water and this cold water is used
for cooling green houses, and air conditioning systems etc.

3. The enclosing area of OTEC can be used for aquaculture and mariculture

4. The deep sea cold water is rich in nutrient and can be used for various applications.

Limitations of OTEC

1. Low thermal efficiency (2-3%) because of low temperature difference of water available.

2. The capital cost is more.

3. Large size pump is required to handle large volume of water.

4 Plant should be capable of withstanding severe ocean storms and seasons.

5. Components life is short because of corrosion and erosion by ocean water.

6. Plant size above 100 MW is limited because it requires large size component (requires 30
m diameter pipe of 1 km long).

7 Difficult maintenance.

8. Construction of floating plant is difficult.

Tidal Power Plants

Principle: To utilize tidal energy, water must be trapped at high tide behind a dam or
barrage and then made to drive turbine as it returns to sea during low tides. The available
energy is proportional to the square of the amplitude.

B. Components of Tidal Power Plant:

Main components of tidal power plants are

a Barrage,
b. Sluice gates,

C Turbine, and

d. Basin.

a. Barrage: It is a dam of low head and requires the following features:

1. Less sloppy towards the ocean and basin side.

2. It should be able to withstand the shock load of tides and wave.

3. Low height and shorter in length to minimize the cost of construction.

4. Steel foundation frame and channels are embedded in the ducts within the barrage for
turbine and gates steel foundation.

b. Sluice Gates: These gates are opened by water pressure and no mechanical means is
required.

C Turbine: The Kaplan or bulb type turbine is used to operate with low head and the entire
turbine generator unit is submerged in the water.

d. Basin: The basin can be single, pair or multiple type and have different designs.

C. Working of Tidal Power Plant: The working is described according to the following type
of basins:

a Single basin system, and

b. Double basin system.

a. Single Basin System:

1. In a tidal power plant (based on single basin system), the power house is situated at the
mouth of basin.

2. The hydraulic turbine in the power house only operates during the discharge of water
from the basin during ebb tide and during the high tide the basin is again filled.

3. The direction of flow through the turbine during the ebb and flood tides alternates and
generation of power is accomplished, both during the emptying and filling cycle of basin

4. Though the double cycle system has only short duration interruptions in turbine
generator operation, but the continuous power generation is still not possible
5. Further, the power generation coincides occasionally with the peak power demands. This
problem is overcome in double-basin system.

b. Double Basin System :

i. Construction :

1. This system has two basins at different levels and a dam is provided in between these
basins.

2. Inlet and outlet sluice gates are provided in the dam and the water level in upper basin is
maintained above the level of water in the lower basin.

ii. Working:

1. When the water level in upper basin is maximum during high tide, the inlet sluice is closed
and the level of water in lower basin keeps on rising due to discharge of water by the
turbine.

2. When the level of water in lower basin equals during the ebb tide, the outlet sluice is
opened and it is closed when the water level reaches to its minimum level which is equal to
the level of water in upper basin.

3. Again the inlet sluice is opened and the cycle is repeated.

D. Advantages of Tidal Power:

1. Protection of coastline against damage from high storm tides by providing a barrage

2. The main advantage of tidal power plant is that it is inexhaustible.

3. It produces electricity reliably.

4. It is unaffected by the changing mood of the nature such as failure of monsoon

5. It is pollution free.

E. Limitations of Tidal Power:

1 Initial capital cost of plant is very high and needs long constructional period.

2. Output power is variable due to uneven operation.

3. Sea water is corrosive.

4. Sedimentation of basin is a serious problem.

5. Due to variable tidal range, the efficiency of plant is affected.

6. Marine life is affected.