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Biomass. It Refers To Substances That Are Produced From Living or Once-Living Organisms and

Biomass refers to substances produced from living or once-living organisms and biological wastes that can be used to produce energy. It stores energy from the sun through photosynthesis in plants. There are various sources of biomass including wood waste, municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, and animal waste. Biomass can be converted into energy through direct combustion, thermochemical processes like gasification and pyrolysis, or biochemical processes like anaerobic digestion and fermentation. Each conversion process yields different energy products and has advantages depending on the type and amount of biomass.

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42 views4 pages

Biomass. It Refers To Substances That Are Produced From Living or Once-Living Organisms and

Biomass refers to substances produced from living or once-living organisms and biological wastes that can be used to produce energy. It stores energy from the sun through photosynthesis in plants. There are various sources of biomass including wood waste, municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, and animal waste. Biomass can be converted into energy through direct combustion, thermochemical processes like gasification and pyrolysis, or biochemical processes like anaerobic digestion and fermentation. Each conversion process yields different energy products and has advantages depending on the type and amount of biomass.

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Biomass.

It refers to substances that are produced from living or once-living organisms and

biological wastes from industry and home use. It has stored energy that originally came from the

sun. During photosynthesis, plants absorb the sun’s energy and convert carbon dioxide and water

into nutrients. When biomass is burned, the chemical energy stored in it, called biomass energy is

released in the form of heat (US EIA, 2018). Biomass can be processed to obtain biofuel, burned

to produce heat, or converted into electricity (National Geographic, 2012). Biomass comes from

different sources; therefore, its energy production quality and efficiency are not consistent.

Wood waste is among the most familiar type of biomass used in the present. These wastes

include saw millings and plywood, veneer, off-cuts, trims, and shavings that originate from wood

processing industries and are usually concentrated at the processing factories such as sawmills and

plywood mills.

Municipal solid wastes and sewage are rampant and is considered as a major problem in

many areas as it contributes to land and water pollution. Each year, millions of tons of household

wastes are collected, with the majority thrown out in open fields and landfills. According to the

National Energy Education Development, 2,000 pounds of garbage contains approximately the

same heat energy produced by 500 pounds of coal. However, solid waste is not pure biomass

because it comprises of plastic made from petroleum and natural gas that contributes to half of the

energy it generates when burned.

Another source of biomass is agricultural waste that primarily comes from a huge amount

of crop residues produced yearly and is being underused. When different crops are harvested, a

portion of it becomes residue and often being discarded. These remains from harvesting and

processing of crops are all good sources of energy. Compared to common biomass sources such

as charcoal and wood, agricultural residues have seasonal availability, high concentration of
evaporative matter with lower density, and burning time which makes it a good source of

renewable energy.

Aside from plants, animals may also be a source of biomass in the form of wastes they

excrete. Several animal wastes can be used as biomass, but animal and poultry manure are

commonly utilized. Instead of letting animal manure emit foul odor to the area, it undergoes

anaerobic digestion, which yields biogas that can be used to power internal combustion engines

and to generate electricity from small gas turbines. When this gas is burned, it can be used for

cooking or space and water heating (Zafar, 2019).

Biomass comes in various forms and can generate the maximum amount of biogas when

applied with a suitable conversion process. Before choosing a conversion process, one should

consider the type and amount of biomass that will be used as a feedstock, the desired form of end-

product, its environmental effect, and financial issues. Different forms of biomass display unique

reactions to different conversion processes. They also have different availability and conversion

costs (Toka and Iakovou, 2016).

The most common conversion technologies used to utilize biomass can be divided into

three that is, direct combustion, thermochemical processes, and biochemical processes.

Direction combustion involves the burning of biomass in the presence of air or oxygen to

release heat. It is the simplest method proven to effectively convert biomass energy to heat or

electricity using steam cycle e.g. boilers, power plants, and stoves. This process may be used from

small-scale like production of heat for home use up to large-scale such as electricity generation.

Thermochemical processes include the application of heat and chemical processes to yield

energy products from biomass and can be subdivided to gasification and pyrolysis. Gasification
is a process where biomass is converted into a combustible gas known as producer gas

(CO+H2+CH4) or syngas (synthetic gas). This process uses heat that ranges from 700°C to 1400°C

depending on the type of technology used and the condition of the process. It also utilizes pressure,

partial combustion and a gasifying agent such as water vapor, oxygen, air or a mixture of the three.

As stated, there is no oxygen present in the system except the oxygen contained from the biomass

being used with operating temperature that ranges from 300°C to 800°C (Agrela and Alshaaer,

2019).

Lastly, biochemical processes involve the conversion of biomass to gaseous or liquid fuels like

biogas or bioethanol with the aid of different microorganisms. These microorganisms help in

breaking down complex molecules of biomass to much simpler compounds because of their high-

energy density. They can either be added to the feedstock or exist already on the biomass used.

Biochemical process is usually used in types of biomass having high moisture content. Anaerobic

digestion and fermentation are among the widely used biochemical processes in the present.

Anaerobic digestion is simply a fermentation process where biomass is left to decompose in an

oxygen-free environment with the help of bacteria. This process yields solid residue and biogas,

which is a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane. Methane can be captured and processed to

produce electricity through gas turbines or in heat and steam processes. Also, the solid residue

from anaerobic digestion may be burned to produce energy. Similar to anaerobic digestion,

alcoholic fermentation is a biochemical process that involves the conversion of plant glucose or

carbohydrates to alcohol or acid through the addition of bacteria or yeast which feed on sugars to

produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The ethanol produced is distilled and dehydrated for a higher-

concentration of alcohol achieving the required purity to make it usable in transport applications
that can replace a significant amount of fossil fuels. On the other hand, solid residues from the

fermentation process can be used to feed cattle (Carlson, 2016).

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