Biomass Energy

Introduction
•Biomass is a general term for living materials-plants,
animals, fungi, bacteria.
• It has been estimated that just one eighth of the
total biomass produced annually would provide all
humanity’s current demand for energy.
• Biomass can be re-grown. So it is potentially a
renewable resource.
Is biomass energy is renewable?
• Yes, since biomass can be re-grown, it is potentially a
renewable resource.

How biomass energy is called indirect form of solar energy?

Animals feed on plants and plants grow through
photosynthesis process using solar energy. So photosynthesis
process is primarily responsible for generation of biomass
energy. A small portion of the solar radiation is captured and
stored in the plants during photosynthesis process. Therefore,
it is an indirect form of solar energy.
Advantages of biomass energy
• It is a renewable source
• the energy storage is its in-built feature
• It is indigenous source requiring little or no foreign exchange
• the forestry and agricultural industries that supply feed stocks also provide
substantial economic development opportunities in rural areas
• the pollutant emissions from combustion of biomass are usually lower than
those from fossil fuels
• commercial use of biomass may avoid or reduce the problems of waste
disposal in other industries, particularly municipal solid waste in urban
centers
• use of biogas plants apart from supplying clean gas, also leads to improved
sanitation, better hygienic conditions in rural areas as the harmful decaying
biomass get stabilized
• the nitrogen-rich bio-digested slurry and sludge from biogas plant serves as
a very good soil conditioner and improves the fertility of the soil
•Varying capacity can be installed, any capacity can be operated, even at
lower loads
• no seasonality.
Disadvantages of biomass energy
• It is a dispersed and land intensive source
• It is often of low energy density
• It is also labour intensive and the cost of large
quantities for commercial application is significant.
Most current commercial applications of biomass
energy use material that has been collected for other
reasons, such as timber and food processing residues
and urban waste.
• capacity is determined by availability of biomass
and not suitable for varying loads
• not feasible to set up at all locations
Photosynthesis and Respiration process
•Photosynthesis is a complex process in which formation of
hexose (glucose, fructose etc.) is formed by combining CO2
from the atmosphere with water plus light energy to
produce oxygen and carbohydrates. The reverse of this
process is called respiration, in which CO2 , H2O and energy
are produced using carbohydrate and oxygen.

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy 6O2 + C6H12O6

• Forward reaction Photosynthesis

Reverse reaction Respiration
•In green plants, both photosynthesis and respiration occur
during day and only respiration at night.
Usable forms of biomass
Biomass is organic material that reacts with oxygen in
combustion and natural metabollic process to release heat. It is
used as such in its original form but more often it is transformed
into modern energy.
• Fuel wood
• Charcoal
• Fuel Pellets (crop residue such as straw, rice husk etc. and waste
wood are pressed to form lumps, known as fuel pellets)
• Bio-diesel (Petroleum, diesel)
• Bio-ethanol (Ethanol is liquid biofuel which can be derived
from sugarcane, starches (grains, potato etc.), cellulose (woody
matter))
• Biogas (Organic waste from plants, animals and humans .
Biogas is produced in a biogas digester. Nitrogen rich fertilizer is
also produced)
Biomass Resources
• Forests
• Agricultural Residues (Crop residues such as straw,
rice husk, coconut shell, groundnut shell etc.)
• Energy crops (sugar plants, starch plants, oil
producing plants)
• Aquatic plants
• Urban waste
Biomass production from waste

There are three stages of anaerobic digestion process

(a)Stage -I: First of all the original organic matter containing organic
complex compounds e.g. Carbohydrate, protein, fats etc. is broken
through the influence of water (known as hydrolysis) to simple
water soluble compounds. This process takes about a day at 25o C
in an active digester.
(b) Stage -II: In this process basically acid (acetic and propionic acids) is
formed with the help of acid forming bacteria. This stage also takes
about one day at 25o C. Much of CO2 is released in this stage.
(c) Stage -III: Anaerobic bacteria, also known as methane formers
slowly digest the products available from second stage to produce
methane, carbon dioxide, small amount of hydrogen and trace
amount of other gasses. This process takes about two weeks time to
complete at 25o C. This third stage i.e methane formation stage is
carried out strictly by the action of anaerobic bacteria.
Operational parameters of Biogas plant
(a) Temperature: Methane forming bacteria work best in temperature
ranges from 20 - 25o C.
(b) Pressure: A minimum pressure of 6-10 cm of water column, i.e 1.2
bar is considered ideal for proper functioning of plant.
(c) Solid to moisture ratio in the biomass: The optimum total solid
concentration should be 7-9%.
(d) pH value: It should be around 6 or less.
(e) Feeding rate: If feeding is too much than undigested slurry may
come out.
(f) Carbon to Nitrogen ratio: Ratio should be 30:1. Carbon (in
carbohydrates) and nitrogen in proteins, nitrates etc.) are the main
nutrients for anaerobic bacteria. Carbon supplies energy while
nitrogen is needed to build up the cell structure (growth).
General Maintenance problems of biogas plants and their remedies:
• Handling of digested slurry: It may be a major problem if sufficient open
space is not available to get the slurry dry.
• Low gas production rate: The methane forming bacteria are very sensitive to
temperature. During winter, as the temperature falls, the gas production rate
also reduces.
Remedy: (1) Using solar thermal heater to add hot water in the slurry, but it
should not exceed 60o C as higher temperature may kill the methane forming
bacteria.
(2) Circulation of solar-heated hot water through pipes in the digester.
(3) Greenhouse effect may be used to trap solar radiation for heating.
(4) Covering the biogas plant by straw bags during night hours.
(5) Manual or auto stirring of digested slurry.
(6) Addition of some nutrients for bacteria.
• Some problems arise due to the following:
(1) Increased loading rate
(2) Not mixing sufficient water in the cattle dung.
Due to these reasons, the flow of slurry from inlet towards outlet is very slow
or may even stop. This may cause accumulation of fatty acid leading to
decrease to decrease of pH value