Biomass energy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In light of possible future restrictions on the use of fossil fuel, due to climate change obligations and continuous depletion of global fossil fuel reserves, the search for alternative renewable energy sources is expected to be an issue of great concern for policy stakeholders. This study assessed the feasibility of bioenergy production under relatively low-intensity conservative, eco-agricultural settings (as opposed to those produced under high-intensity, fossil fuel based industrialized agriculture). Estimates of the net energy gain (NEG) and the energy return on energy invested (EROEI) obtained from a life cycle inventory of the energy inputs and outputs involved reveal that the energy efficiency of bioenergy produced in low-intensity eco-agricultural systems could be as much as much as 448.5–488.3 GJ·ha −1 of NEG and an EROEI of 5.4–5.9 for maize ethanol production systems, and as much as 155.0–283.9 GJ·ha −1 of NEG and an EROEI of 14.7–22.4 for maize biogas production systems. This is substantially higher than for industrialized agriculture with a NEG of 2.8–52.5 GJ·ha −1 and an EROEI of 1.2–1.7 for maize ethanol production systems, as well as a NEG of 59.3–188.7 GJ·ha −1 and an EROEI of 2.2–10.2 for maize biogas production systems. Bioenergy produced in low-intensity eco-agricultural systems could therefore be an important source of energy with immense net benefits for local and regional end-users, provided a more efficient use of the co-products is ensured.

- by
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- Agroecology, Biomass, Biomass energy, Bioenergy and Biofuels

The heavy reliance on non-renewable energy sources from fossil fuel such as petroleum, natural gas and coal has led to the scarcity of these sources and occurrence of global warming. This phenomenon raises the public concerns to diversify the energy sources to sustain energy availability. To address these predicaments, biomass is among the prominent alternative energy sources since it is renewable and possesses minimal harms to the environment. Leucaena leucocephala, or locally known as ‘Petai Belalang’ is one of the potential energy crops. In this study, 3 portions of Leucaena leucocephala stem which are bottom, middle and top have been divided and 2 different particle sizes which are 0.5 and 1.5 mm were used to determine their influences on the properties of the samples. Proximate analysis (moisture content, volatile matter, ash content and fixed carbon), physical analysis (specific gravity and bulk density) plus calorific value of Leucaena leucocephala were conducted as the param...

The societal challenges of the 21st century are profound and wide ranging. Basic needs such
as food, housing, mobility, health, and energy will become even more acute as the world
population exceeds nine billion. The demand for sustainable development will require
redefined engineering cutting-edge skills and ever reaching hands-on experience to navigate
these needs to a standard level. The power sector is on the cusp of a technology breakthrough
with a number of promising developments coming on string. A concerted drive to solve
challenges of the energy trilenma: energy access, affordability and sustainability coupled with
rapid technological change that spored tech firms. Constant power supply is the hallmark and
the bedrock of any developed economy. Today, 60% to 70% of the Nigerian population have
no access to electricity. One hundred million Nigerians representing 60% of its population,
have no access to grid electricity and those who do, experience extremely unreliable supply.
This present power crisis will persist unless the government diversifies the energy resources
in domestic, commercial and industrial sectors and adopts new available technologies to
reduce energy wastage and to save cost. The need for diversified sources of power supply has
naturally become a germane issue with the nation now planning to opt out of monocultural
profiles. Recent innovations are already booming the power sector, enabling the emergence
of “the prosumer,” energy consumer who produces their own electricity taken for example
the tech such as solar photovoltaic (PV) , energy storage and smart metres. The use of
biomass as an innovation in clean energy and power has proven itself efficient.
Simultaneously, providing a way to produce electricity and reduce health hazards. The
establishment of mini-hydro stations is a pathway to enhance access to electricity for
Nigeria’s increasing population. In all, aiding the society and improving engineering
education.

- by Donubari Kogbara
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- Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, Power System, Renewable energy resources
- by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Nizami and +1
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- Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Biomass, Energy

This experiment was conducted on fixed bed combustion in a one-dimensional bench. The effects of ash and moisture content on the combustion characteristics of corn straw were determined. The two parameters directly relate to the burning rate and affect combustion efficiency and the release of gas. The bed temperature distribution, mass loss rate and gas composition were measured in the bed. The results show that the optimum char combustion efficiency was achieved at 10% moisture content of corn combustion. A slight increasing the moisture content to 10% can obtain a higher bed temperature and accelerate the ignition rate in the char oxidation stage, while there is also a slight decrease in the conversion ratio of C to CO. The conversion rate of S to SO 2 for 10% moisture content was higher with the temperature zone above 1000 C. With the increased ash content, there was a slight increase in the average ignition rate; the bottom bed temperature increased with a serious ash slagging. C was converted to CO and presented a slightly increasing trend for higher ash content and the conversion of N to HCN. This work provides an overall understanding of corn combustion for large boiler system.

- by Wei Zhou
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- Biomass, BIOCHAR, Biomass Pyrolysis, Biomass energy

The biomass for energy purposes, coming from agroforestry systems and timber industry, can provide various environmental and socio-economic benefits. Among all renewable energy sources, agroforestry biomass represents both an important alternative source to fossil fuels and an opportunity for the socio-economic development of various marginal areas in Italy. In particular, agroforestry is a collective name of land use systems in which woody perennials are grown in association with herbaceous plants and/or livestock in a spatial arrangements, a rotation, or both in which there are both ecological and economic interactions between the tree and the non-tree components of the system. Estimating availability of biomass resources is important to assess bioenergy production potential and so bioenergy contribution to annual energy demand. In the supply of biomass to energy use, the planning of operations is the basis for sustainable development of agroforest system. Most existing forest practice rules and recommendations did not anticipate this increased extraction of woody biomass and offer no specific guidance on how much removal is healthy for ecosystems. Intensification of biomass utilization, particularly for energy and fuel needs, presents a range of potential environmental risks. Therefore, the research focuses on development of guidelines for increasing a sustainable biomass supply chain at local scale, in order to facilitate energy planning that considers the local system carrying capacity and the potential of substitution of fossil fuels.

- by Andrea Rosario Proto
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- Biomass, Biomass energy, Forestry Engineering, Woody Biomass

Rice husk lean-combustion in a bubbling and atmospheric fluidized bed reactor (FBR) of 0.3 m diameter with expansion to 0.4 m in the freeboard zone and 3 m height was investigated. Experiment design – response surface methodology (RSM) – is used to evaluate both excess air and normal fluidizing velocity influence (independent and controllable variables), in the combustion efficiency (carbon transformation), bed and freeboard temperature and silica content in the ashes. Hot gases emissions (CO2, CO and NOx), crystallographic structure and morphology of the ash are also shown. A cold fluidization study is also presented. The values implemented in the equipment operation, excess air in the range of 40–125% and normal fluidization velocities (0.13–0.15 Nm/s) show that the values near the lower limit, encourage bed temperatures around 750 °C with higher carbon transformation efficiencies around 98%. However, this condition deteriorated the amorphous potential of silica present in the ash...

- by TATIANA PINEDA
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- Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering

— Algae are gaining broad consideration as a substitute renewable source of biomass for the manufacture of bioethanol, due to this reason categorized under the " third generation biofuels " .İn this work, GC-MS analysis and FTIR has been done of bio-oil obtained from fast pyrolysis of Freshwater Algae(Spirogyra) in this paper we have shown a simple process of converting biomass of fresh water algae to bio-oil through pyrolysis and explained it with the help of graphs and tables. Pyrolysis is a thermal process for converting various biomasses , residues and wastes to produce high-energy-density fuels (bio-oil, biochar). The bio-oil was obtained in two step pyrolysis in which temperature of the system kept 25ºC and then increased up to 650ºC time by time. After pyrolysis these fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and FTIR which show different peaks and data of different compounds and functional groups present in this bio-oil

- by Agriculture Journal IJOEAR
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- Biomass, Agriculture, Pyrolysis, Biomass Pyrolysis

Agricultural by–products are renewable energy sources from which essential amount of energy can be recovered, which can be used to replace the use of conventional fossil fuel, reduces the potential of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and at the same time reduces deforestation, especially in rural areas. Energy values of biomass from small Agricultural farms, in particular waste generated from different tropical crops, viz; Maize, Millet, Rice, Sorghum and Groundnut were determined, to ascertain their potentials as alternative fuel sources for rural use. The materials were found to be of importance judging by their combustion potentials in all the forms investigated. The Energy values of the by-products considered ranged between 11.68 MJkg-1 to 17.48 MJkg-1 with Groundnut pods and millet husk having the highest and least respectively. Moisture and ash had effect on the energy values of these biomass. Our results are relevant to the problems posed by the management of farm residues in de...

- by Musa Bappah
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- Agricultural Engineering, Agronomy, Renewable Energy, Energy Engineering

Various researchers work on PKL electricity previously. But they did not mention the future prospect about PKL electricity. This research work mentioned the and discussed about the future prospects of PKL electricity.The appliances may not compete with the conventional electricity but in near future it is expected that the costs of the PKL electrode concentration cells will drop drastically, performances of several electrical appliances run on PKL electricity. 1KW or, 1000 watt mini power plant has been setup at Islamabad village, Union-Rajapur, Thana-Kanighat in Sylhet District of Bangladesh. Energy saving AC bulbs are using for 57 houses, 10 energy saving energy bulbs and a 80 watt AC fan are using in a mosque of that village. This paper expressed the required PKL jouice, positive and negative electrodes, charge controller, modified square wave inverter, the panel board and storage batteries. Storage batteries are used for constant output voltage. The panel board is made by a DC voltmeter, AC voltmeter & DC voltammeter as indicators of the produced electricity. This mini power plant has been setup for experimental purposes to develop "an operational system of clean energy production and supply using Pathor Kuchi Leaf (Bryophilum Pinnatum)" electricity to the complex rural area where the grid electricity is absent. Most of the results have been tabulated & graphically discussed. Furthermore, the electrical and chemical properties of PKL electricity generation device have been studied in this research work by the researchers. It has been studied the following characterizations: The electrical properties are: internal resistance, voltage regulation, energy efficiency, pulse performance, self discharge characteristics, discharge characteristics with load, capacity of the PKL cell, temperature characteristics and life cycle of the PKL cell. The change of PKL power efficiency with time. The internal resistance is nearly 0.60 ohm, voltage regulation is close to 9%, pulse performance is so good and energy efficiency is about 65%. Internal resistance is nearly 0.25 ohm, which is nearly good. Voltage and current reduces exponentially and the concentration of copper decreases gradually with time for PKL cell which also reflect the higher life time of the cell. Voltage and current linearly decreases with decreasing the concentration of copper ions. Some Practical Applications for static and dynamic method have been studied. Most of the results have been tabulated and graphically discussed.It has been designed and fabricated a mini PKL power plant for for practical use at the off-grid areas of Bangladesh. This mini power plant presents the salient design features of the PKL electric system, which is the first of its kinds in the world. Experiences regarding the operation and maintenance of this PKL power plant, which has been functional in Bangladesh. Attempts have been made to correlate certain measurable parameters anticipated performance of the mini PKL power plant. As a practical application this mini power plant deals with the technology of PKL electricity used in application at the rural areas in Bangladesh.

- by Md. Kamrul Alam Khan
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- Biomass energy

The chapter discusses the problem of air emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs) from the process of cement clinker production. In the analyzed cement kilns significant amount of fossil fuels is replaced with alternative fuels, mainly waste-derived fuels. Thus, particular attention has been paid to the potential impact on the level of the emissions such factors as type and quantity of used wastes and their ways of introducing into the kiln during co-combustion. The analysis include the results of measurements of PCDD/PCDF concentrations in the flue gases of selected cement kilns and differences in used raw materials, methods of production, technological process and flue-gas cleaning systems. Due to the fact that co-combustion in cement kilns is an alternative to incineration of waste, the emissions were compared with the emission of PCDD/PCDF from municipal solid waste incineration plants and the waste combustion in uncontrolled conditions (domestic furnaces and small boilers).
English title: Emissions of dioxins and furans from co-combustion of alternative fuels in cement kilns.

- by Robert Oleniacz and +1
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- Municipal Solid Waste Management, Alternative Energy, Municipal Solid Waste, Biomass energy

In the study, first-time personal exposure level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was measured during cooking hours in participants of three different types of kitchen both in the particulate and gaseous phase using traditional and improved cookstoves. Along with that, indoor particulate matter (PM) concentration was also estimated during the cooking hours to examine the impact of intervention in different kitchens. The results of the study clearly revealed that the kitchen characteristics and type of cookstove technology have a significant impact on PM 2.5 , PM 1 and PAHs concentration. Cookstoves intervention has resulted in maximum reduction of PM 1 i.e. 75% in an enclosed kitchen followed by semi-enclosed and open kitchen having 71% and 52%, respectively. In addition, correlation analysis of PM 2.5 and PM 1 with PAHs showed a strong association (r 2 = 0.9), showing the affinity of PAHs to bind to fine range of particles. Health risk assessment was also carried out to assess the PM daily dose and carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk due to inhalation of PAHs. The study confirmed the personal concentration of PAHs compounds was significantly high (p < 0.05) during use of traditional cook-stove compared to improved cookstove among all the three kitchens. Furthermore, to measure the toxicity levels, PAHs concentrations have been converted to benzo[a]pyrene equivalence for calculating cancer and non-cancer effects using toxicity equivalency factors. The overall lifetime carcinogenic risk was the highest 2.5E-03, 6.4E-04 among women who prepared meals in the enclosed kitchen compared to 8.4E-04, 1.3E-04 in semi-enclosed and 2.2E-04, 4.6E-05 in the open kitchen during use of traditional and improved cookstoves, respectively, which exceeded the US EPA standard i.e. 1 × 10 −6. The study underlined the importance of personal monitoring for exposure, and risks-based studies along with the time-activity of user to measure the actual inhalation risk for the participants. These findings indicated that women are exposed to hazardous smoke in the indoor kitchen and are at greater risk of developing cancer, especially in rural areas.

The biofuel industry is rapidly growing with a promising role in producing renewable energy and tackling climate change. Nanotechnology has tremendous potential to achieve cost-effective and process-efficient biofuel industry. Various nanomaterials have been developed with unique properties for enhanced biofuel production/utilization. The way forward is to develop nanotechnology-based biofuel systems at industrial scale.

- by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Nizami and +1
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- Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Environmental Science
- by Maurizio Borin
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- Biomass, Biomass energy, Energy crops, biofuels, Biomass Crops

Energy and power capability of supercapacitors are important because of their use in
providing backup power or pulse current to electronic/electric products or systems. The choice of
the electrode materials, such as carbons, metal oxides or conducting polymers determines their
mechanism of energy storage process. This short review focuses on the supercapacitors using
porous carbon electrodes prepared from fibers of oil palm empty fruit bunches. The specific energy
and specific power of these supercapacitors were analyzed to observe the change in their trend with
respect to the electrode preparation parameters affectingthe porosity, structure, surface chemistry
and electrical conductivity of electrodes, and hence influence the energy and power capability of
supercapacitors. This review finds that the trend of changein specific energy and specific power is
not in favor of the expectation that both the specific energy and specific power should be in
increasing trend with a significant progress.

Production of biogas from agricultural and animal wastes is one of the viable options to mitigate the scarcity of energy and hazards of fossil fuels to both human and ecology. Therefore, this project work was on generation of biogas using cow dung and rumen fluid as co-substrate. A biogas digester with a capacity of 105 liters was used to produce the gas. The substrate (cow dung and rumen fluid) was mixed in the ratio 3:2 and water to substrate ratio of 2:1 was used. The digester was stirred thrice daily to avoid scum formation in the digester and to allow for easy escape of the gas produced. The retention time used for this experiment was 42 days during which the daily internal temperature readings were taken in order to determine temperature variations and also to determine the effect of heat on the production rate. A rubber hose was connected to the digester gas outlet located at the top of the digester and the other end of the rubber hose was connected to a PVC Tyer tube provided for storing the gas generated. The gas produced was collected and taken to the laboratory for chemical analysis. The results showed that biogas yielded consists of 57.98 % of methane (CH4), 39.99 % of carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.10 % of oxygen (O2), 0.01 % of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and 0.01% of water vapour. The methane has the highest percentage, which represents the main source of energy and oxygen having 0.10 %, which shows that the process was purely carried out under anaerobic condition. Result of this study showed that methane has the highest percentage and generally cow dung with rumen fluid easily lent itself to process of anaerobic digestion.

Biochars produced from pelletized grape vine (GV) and sunflower husk (SFH) agricultural residues were studied by pyrolysis in a batch reactor at 400 and 500 °C. Chemical and physical evolution of the biomass under pyrolysis conditions was determined and the products were characterized, including the main gaseous organic components. Results showed a decrease in solid biochar yield with increasing temperature. Biochar is defined as a " porous carbonaceous solid " produced by thermochemical conversion of organic materials in an oxygen depleted atmosphere, which has physiochemical properties suitable for the safe and long-term storage of carbon in the environment and, potentially, soil improvement. The aim of this work is to improve the knowledge and acceptability of alternative use of the biochar gained from agro-forestry biomass residuals, such as grape vine and sunflower husks, by means of modern chemical and physical characterization tools.

- by Andrea Rosario Proto and +1
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- Biomass, Agroforestry, Biomass energy, Pellet

Biomass pyrolysis is a promising renewable sustainable source of fuels and petrochemical substitutes. It may help in compensating the progressive consumption of fossil-fuel reserves. The present article outlines biomass pyrolysis. Various types of biomass used for pyrolysis are encompassed, e.g., wood, agricultural residues, sewage. Categories of pyrolysis are outlined, e.g., flash, fast, and slow. Emphasis is laid on current and future trends in biomass pyrolysis, e.g., microwave pyrolysis, solar pyrolysis, plasma pyrolysis, hydrogen production via biomass pyrolysis, co-pyrolysis of biomass with synthetic polymers and sewage, selective preparation of high-valued chemicals, pyrolysis of exotic biomass (coffee grounds and cotton shells), comparison between algal and terrestrial biomass pyrolysis. Specific future prospects are investigated, e.g., preparation of supercapacitor biochar materials by one-pot one-step pyrolysis of biomass with other ingredients, and fabricating metallic catalysts embedded on biochar for removal of environmental contaminants. The authors predict that combining solar pyrolysis with hydrogen production would be the eco-friendliest and most energetically feasible process in the future. Since hydrogen is an ideal clean fuel, this process may share in limiting climate changes due to CO 2 emissions.
Keywords Sustainable and renewable energy source; Fossil-fuel alternatives; Biomass pyrolysis; Biofuel (bio-oil, biogas, biochar); Charcoal (activated carbon); Hydrogen fuel

- by Prof Dr Yehia Fahmy and +2
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- Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Development Economics, Environmental Economics

The possibility of producing bioethanol from the biomass of finger millet straw was studied. The effects of temperature, acid concentration, hydrolysis time, and substrate concentration were investigated. The result showed that a maximum sugar content of 79.04 and 82.01 %w/w was achieved using phenol-sulfuric acid and Fehling method, respectively, from hydrolysis of 10 % biomass concentration at 2 % sulfuric acid, 35 o C reaction temperature, and 4 days of hydrolysis time. The optimized hydrolyzate sample was fermented at optimized pH 6.0, 4 g/L yeast concentration, 32.5 o C reaction temperature, 4 days of fermentation time, and maximum of 7.28 %w/v of ethanol content was obtained using Pycnometer measurement. In general, the bioethanol achieved from FMS (7.28 %) at optimized conditions were highly promising and hence, it can be employed as an alternative lignocellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production rather than using food crops such as corn, sugarcane, etc.

- by Abebe Reda
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- Biomass energy, Photocatalytic water splitting
- by Syukri Muhammad Nur
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- Renewable Energy, Biomass, Bioenergy, Biomass energy

Desertification and deforestation are great problems facing developing nations. Adequate means of disposing wastes are also lacking, hence, converting them to other useful products such as briquettes for domestic fuel is desirable. The purpose of this work is to study some properties of briquettes made from groundnut shell and waste paper admixture with a view of addressing handling, transportation, and storage problems which is associated with biomass when used as fuels. Briquettes were manufactured using a motorized briquetting machine using five groundnut shells, waste paper mixing ratios (by weight), i.e., 10:90; 20:80; 30:70; 40:60; and 50:50. Obtained results showed that briquette produced using 10:90 waste groundnut shell - waste paper ratios exhibited the largest (though minimal) linear expansion on drying. While the compressed (maximum) density of the briquettes ranged between 627.59 kg/m3 and 878.10 kg/m3. For the relax density ranged from 281.43 kg/m3 and 499.38 kg/m3, th...

- by paul onyeanula
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- Renewable Energy, Renewable energy resources, Alternative Energy, Biomass energy

This project is about designing and analyzing a portable biogas digester to fermentation of kitchen waste product in order to produce methane gas. The overall objective of carrying the work is to analyze the efficiency of biogas production for better performance of the digester tank and to optimize the biogas generation under normal and harsh operating conditions.

- by Trinayan Gogoi
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- Biogas, Biomass energy, Biogas Plants

production of bio ethanol from corncob

Briquettes are widely used as a renewable energy material for solving the problem of dependency and over-consumption of wood fuel as a source of energy for human use. However, their performance depends on the types and nature of binders used during the preparation and densification process. Most of the performance-related problems such as low yield and energy content can be significantly improved with the use of binders in right proportions. This review discusses the state-of-the-art of fuel briquettes and the influence of binder's properties on the combustion characteristics, energy content, mechanical durability, and density of fuel briquettes. The compatibility between the binders and the fuel briquettes to obtain a better yield is also discussed with the resulting mechanical and combustion properties. The mechanical durability of fuel briquettes can be improved by reducing the content of lignin, fat, and other extractives in the binder, as well as improving the binder's variables such as the particle size, texture, and quantity. By using binders mixed with phosphorus-based additives such as Ca(H 2 PO 4) 2 and NH 4 H 2 PO 4 , the combustion rate of fuel briquettes can be enhanced and the pollutant emissions during the combustion process can be reduced to the minimum. In addition, the higher the binders' compacting pressure and processing temperature, the higher the density and energy content per unit volume of fuel briquettes.

- by Temitope Olugbade
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- Biomass energy

En Colombia, según cifras del Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial, se generan 27.300ton/día de basura de los cuales el 65% son residuos sólidos orgánicos, equivalentes a 17.745 ton/día, los cuales van a los rellenos sanitarios en la mayoría de los municipios Colombianos. Esto incrementa sustancialmente la emisión del metano como gas que provoca el efecto invernadero.
La codigestión de residuos orgánicos de diferente fuente ha resultado un proceso exitoso tanto en condiciones termofílicas como mesofílicas, y por esto, se han construido plantas de biogás centralizadas, alimentadas con diferentes residuos orgánicos para trabajar en codigestión, en diferentes países de Europa y Asia.
Se han aplicado tecnologías europeas y asiáticas en Colombia y otros países de Latinoamérica, pero no se ha investigado rigurosamente la relación de la temperatura que simule las condiciones de diferentes pisos térmicos del relieve colombiano en los que pueden aplicarse, para obtener una mayor producción de biogás en la codigestión de residuos ganaderos con residuos vegetales.
En este proyecto se pretendió resolver la pregunta de la incidencia de la temperatura en la degradación del vástago de plátano, hasta convertirla en metano y dióxido de carbono, por codigestión anaerobia con rumen como residuo bovino e inóculo anaerobio. Tales residuos se mezclaron para obtener 4 relaciones de sustrato. Se llevaron a bioreactores de 750mL, haciendo un arreglo factorial con 3 temperaturas (25, 35 y 45°C) por triplicado. Se analizaron condiciones iniciales y finales de parámetros fisicoquímicos, midiéndose el metano (gas efecto invernadero) contenido en cada uno de los bioreactores por cromatografía de gases (CG-FID) durante 40 días.
Mediante el programa Statgraphics Centurion XVI se ajustaron los valores de producción de metano a una ecuación polinomial de grado 3 en función de la temperatura y la relación de biomasa (porcentaje de vástago de plátano). La temperatura a la cual se dio la mayor producción de metano, fue a 45°C, seguida de 35°C y 25°C, con valores de 1250,1; 1018,2 y 885,7mL respectivamente. Lo cual indica que un clima templado cálido donde se tenga producción de plátano y ganado, los residuos generados de vástago de plátano pueden aprovecharse para generar energía en forma de metano mediante codigestión anaerobia con rumen bovino.
También se realizó un análisis multivariado concluyéndose estadísticamente que existe una interacción significativa entre la temperatura y la relación de biomasa con respecto a la producción de metano. Es decir, que la producción de metano depende de la temperatura entre los rangos mesofílico y termofílico desde 25°C hasta 45°C, para cualquiera de las tres relaciones de biomasa de 0, 33 y 66% de vástago en las que se detectó presencia de metano.

Automatic process control aiming at making industrial systems more autonomous, could have a tremendous impact on quality management which has become the prior concern of most companies. This project addressed the problem of palm oil mill quality management through automatic control of the boiler equipment. The study was carried out for the Mondoni oil mill of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC). The water tube boiler which is fueled with biomass (bers and shells) from the milling process, could be regarded as the central equipment of the oil mill; improving on its reliability through automatic control of its main functional parameters considerably improves on the overall palm oil mill quality management as clearly depicted in this project report. A PLC based control system has been designed to monitor the steam pressure and steam drum water level which are the main boiler functional parameters. Moreover, how reliability centered maintenance and total quality management based on the designed control system could be worked out, are also explored. Considering the onerous and hazardous nature of the boiler equipment, the project risk management has been envisaged as well. The project impact analysis exhibits outstanding benets with respect to environmental, social and economic concerns. The cost eectiveness of the project has been assessed through a rough protability analysis which revealed positive results: Considering a period of 5 years with a discount rate of 8%, an initial investment of about 12 000 000 FCFA, yields a Net Present Value (NPV) of approximately 5 000 000 FCFA.
Key Words: Palm oil Mill, Boimass energy, Boiler system, Programmable Logic Controller, Quality Management.

The rising energy crisis significantly resists the improvement of developing countries all over
the world. Agricultural residues can play a vital role as a source of renewable energy to
overcome the crisis. Rice husk is the second-largest agricultural residue in Bangladesh and
uses significantly for cooking conventionally in rural areas. The traditional method greatly
decreases the rice husk’s ability for heating. The use of rice husk as pellets greatly reduces
the loss of energy during use, thereby enhancing its efficiency. The purpose of this research
is to develop an efficient process to produce biomass pellets using rice husk. The objective of
this study can be accomplished by finding better rice husk and suitable additives for pellet
processing. It is possible to find better rice husk by studying its thermochemical properties.
By using various additives for pelletizing, examining the pellets to evaluate their different
properties, and comparing those properties, suitable additives can be obtained. The BRRI
Dhan 46 rice husks were classified as the most suitable candidate for Bangladesh. Rice flour,
Banana Peel, Potato peel, and Cornflour were used as additives during pelletizing. Wet
papers were used at a certain ratio with rice flour, and cornflour to judge its effect on the
production of pellets. Small rice husk particles and blended wet papers have shown major
advantages during pelletization and have improved the pellet properties significantly. To
assess the quality of the pellets, length, weight, bulk density, pellet formation time, and
flame period were measured. Among all starch additives used in this research, Rice flour
was found to be the finest. 3:1:1:1 ratio of rice husk, rice flour, tissue paper, and water were
maintained during pelletizing while using rice flour as additives. Our findings in this research
may help the small-scale pellet industries in the rural areas in Bangladesh for the production
of better quality rice husk pellet and may encourage the consumers to show interest in the
proper use of biomass energy.

- by Faysal Ahmmad
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- Biomass energy, Renewable Resources, Biomass Processing, Biomass Pellets

Renewable energies are at the forefront of sustainable solutions against global warming. Among these, we can mention the energy biomass that contributes to energy self-sufficiency and the improvement of the living environment. In this... more

- by Evrard Karol EKOUEDJEN
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- Biomass energy
- by JJ Tai
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- Renewable Energy, Biomass, Biomass to fuel conversion, Biomass energy

The study relates to a compact briquetting machine developed in the Philippines that can compress and produce cylindrical briquettes having a hole at the center using biomass and urban wastes with the aid of a hydraulic jack and is semi-automatically returned to start position using a pulling device. The machine can compact 16 cylindrical briquettes in one pressing or about 200 to 240 pcs/hr. The quality of the three types of briquettes produced using waste paper, sawdust and carbonized rice husk, slightly varied. Parameters analyzed like bulk density, heating value, moisture, N and S closely met or has met the requirements of DIN 51731.

- by Aries Roda Romallosa, ABE, PhD
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- Technology, Biomass, Biomass energy, Alternative Fuels

Biomass is a versatile energy resource that could be used as a sustainable energy resource in
solid, liquid and gaseous form of energy sources. Torrefaction is an emerging thermal biomass
pretreatment method that has an ability to reduce the major limitations of biomass such as
heterogeneity, lower bulk density, lower energy density, hygroscopic behavior, and fibrous
nature. Torrefaction, aiming to produce high quality solid biomass products, is carried out at
200-300 °C in an inert environment at an atmospheric pressure. The removal of volatiles
through different decomposition reactions is the basic principle behind the torrefaction
process. Torrefaction upgrades biomass quality and alters the combustion behavior, which can
be efficiently used in the co-firing power plant. This paper presents a comprehensive review on
torrefaction of biomass and their characteristics. Despite of the number of advantages,
torrefaction is motivated mainly for thermochemical conversion process because of its ability
to increase hydrophobicity, grindability and energy density of biomass. In addition to this,
torrefied biomass could be used to replace coal in the metallurgical process, and promoted as
an alternative of charcoal.

Carbon atom Carbon atom is most important and abundant constituent of existing and new generated biological mater and biomass and the basis of all forms of life on earth. It is involved in the composition and construction of organic micro-and macromolecules, cells and living organisms, storage molecules, fossils, fossil fuels, biofuels and energy resources of living and nonliving organic matter. Initially originated from atmospheric carbon dioxide, it is absorbed and incorporated into organic molecules by photosynthetic plants and microorganisms through photosynthetic processes to form glucose and other less or more complex organic molecules, enabling and sustaining life on Earth. A semantic part of CO2 has been captured, trapped and immobilized in various forms of fossils, not participating in biogeochemical carbon cycles for millions of years, or is dissolved in oceans. Carbon sources is also one of most important parameters, strongly influencing microbial growth and the accumulation of cellular metabolites, fermentation technologies, process economics and feasibility of industrial production. Advanced developments in recombinant technologies, such as metabolic and genetic engineering, systems and synthetic biology, as well as in bioengineering, biotechnology, industrial microbiology and fermentation technology will expand the opportunities of literally unseen microbial world.

- by Shafini Fie
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- Biomass energy
- by Sachin Kumar
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- Biomass, Biogas, Biomass to fuel conversion, Biomass energy
- by pravakar mohanty
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- Biomass, Biomass to fuel conversion, Biomass energy, Biomass Processing

The ever growing environmental concern caused by excessive use of fossil fuels in energy and transportation systems triggered considerable investigations on alternative energy sources such as biomass. Furthermore, the availability and security of fossil fuels to meet future global energy need are also subjected to uncertainty. For these reasons, the world's current focus is shifted towards hydrogen-based future economy. Gasification is a proven technology to produce satisfactory yield of hydrogen. Many studies have been performed to increase the production yield. Due to the extensive range of investigations, mathematical and computational approaches have been applied to conduct these studies. Thus, this paper aims to update and broaden the review coverage by incorporating works done to materialize the investigations on the potential of producing hydrogen from biomass via gasification encompassing mathematical modeling, simulation, optimization, process heat integration and cogeneration. Each of these subjects is reviewed and analyzed which helped to identify their respective strength and areas which require further research effort.

- by Tigabwa Y . Ahmed, PhD
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- Engineering, Renewable Energy, Biomass, Modeling

An extensive background overview on the use of agricultural residues (wastes) for production of paper, board, binderless board, energy, different types of fuels by pyrolysis (solid, liquid and gaseous fuel), many petrochemicals substitutes, charcoal (activated carbon), dissolving pulps and rayon. It includes both scientific and industrial data, case studies, current status, sustainability of paper and sugar industries, green nanotechnology, and future prospects.
Keywords: Agricultural Residues (Wastes); Paper and Board manufacture; Sustainability of Paper and Sugar Industries; Green Nanotechnology; Future Prospects

- by Prof Dr Yehia Fahmy and +3
- •
- Rural Sociology, Development Economics, Bioeconomics, Energy Economics

The decreasing availability of fuel wood coupled with the increasing prices of kerosene and cooking gas in Nigeria has drawn attention on the need to consider alternative sources of energy for domestic and industrial use in the country. The study was undertaken to evaluate the combustion properties (percentage volatile matter, percentage ash content, percentage fixed carbon, heating value) of briquette produced from coconut husk and male inflorescence of Elaeis guineensis. The experiment was laid down using the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The study involves three particle sizes (2 mm each) of coconut husk, male inflorescence of oil palm tree and cassava starch used as binder. The coconut husk and male inflorescence of Elaeis guineensis were varied into (25:30:40:50:60) respectively and bound together with starch at same ratio. Proximate analysis was carried out to determine the constituent of the briquettes which include ash content, percentage fixed carbon, percentage volatile matter and experimental test to determine the heating Original Research Article Lawal et al.; JENRR, 3(2): 1-9, 2019; Article no.JENRR.50112 2 value was also determined. All processing variables in this study were significantly different except for heating value at P>0.05. From the result of the percentage ash content, briquette produced from coconut husk, male inflorescence and starch at (20:20:60) has the least fixed carbon (6.5%) with better performance. The highest percentage volatile matter 74.6% was obtained from coconut husk, male inflorescence and starch at (20:20:60) while low fixed carbon (18.8%) was obtained from male inflorescence and starch at (60:40). In conclusion, large quantities of wastes generated in terms of coconut husk and male inflorescence which are disposed indiscriminately can be utilized to produce briquette with enhanced performance.

- by Ayanleye Oluwafemi and +1
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- Biomass, Wood Science, Biomass to fuel conversion, Biomass energy
- by Ade Hidayat
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- Biomass energy

Currently, energy problems are faced all over the world, majorly African countries. One of the solutions in the challenging energy situation is utilization of renewable energy. Even countries that are rich with fossil fuels have identified the necessity of developing alternative sources of energy. Nigeria is endowed with abundant natural renewable energy resources like the solar, wind, hydro, biomass (waste) etc. Renewable energy will be a pragmatic alternative to supplementing electricity supply in Nigeria. It can be cost-effective in areas far-flung from the national grid, and will impact Nigeria's electricity bottom line. However, the economy has mainly relied on the consumption of oil and gas for commercial energy. There is therefore a growing global concern about the future of non-renewable biomass in form of fossil fuel and its attendant consequences on the environment as evident in global warming. Moreover, there is an ever growing demand for energy. Biogas, a form of renewable energy can provide a clean, easily controlled source of renewable energy from organic waste materials for a small labour input, replacing firewood or fossil fuels which are becoming more expensive as supply falls behind demand. Thus, this paper centres on the past and present status of energy in Nigeria and Africa at large and potential of renewable energy from organic wastes citing several case studies.

- by Fidelis O . AJIBADE and +2
- •
- Nigerian Literature, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

This study aims to (1) convert agricultural waste to biochar through pyrolysis, (2) examine its physiochemical characteristics, and (3) investigate its potential role as fuel and catalyst in energy recovery technologies. The produced biochars at 250, 350, and 450 °C showed a wide range of mineralogical composition, high porosity, and thermal stability, and alkaline pH that make biochar suitable for improving the processes of energy recovery technologies such as anaerobic digestion (AD), transesterification and pyrolysis. The alkaline pH of biochars can neutralize the acidic condition and increase the digestibility of the feedstock in AD process for enhanced methane (CH4) production. Biochar favors the transesterification process for biodiesel production due to products separation and high stability under basic and acidic conditions. In pyrolysis process, biochar can act as a catalyst to increase the degradation rates of plastic or biomass wastes or can be used as an adsorbent material during the post-treatment to improve the quality of the liquid oil. The high heating values (HHV) of biochars produced at 250, 350 and 450 °C were 24, 23.64 and 23.08 MJ kg-1. This characteristic of biochar along with the high tendency of slagging indicate that biochar could be used itself as a source of energy. Biochar can also act as a promising low-cost adsorbent for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) due to its highly porous structure and sorptive capacity and subsequently the conversion of absorbed CO2 to fuel. Research is yet required on the application of biochar in pyrolysis and capturing and catalyzing the conversion reactions of CO2 to fuels.

- by Mohammad Rehan and +1
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- Environmental Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science