Lecture Note

Renewable Energy and Green Technology

 Course Title: Renewable Energy and Green Technology
Course No. Ag. Engg. 4.3 Create Hr : 1+1

Course content
No Title of topic Sub topics to be cover

1 Introduction Classification of energy sources; contribution of these of sources in

agricultural sector,
2 Familiarization Biomass energy;Biomass characteristics
with biomass Bio mass resources; Introduction of biofuel: Solid biofuels (wood,
utilization for straw, animal wastes, and crops etc.); Liquid biofuel (bioalcohol,
biofuel ethanol, methanol, butanol, biodiesel, and biooils etc.); Gaseous
production and biofuels (bio-methane, and wood gasetc)
their application Application: Direct combustion for heating, Domestic cooking
3-4 Biogas Anaerobic digestion to methane (Bio Gas)
Types of biogas plants: Floating dome type (KVIC);Fixed dome type
(Janta, Deenabandu model);
Base Pre-requisites of biogas plant installation;
Advantages and disadvantages of biogas;
Comparison of floating and fixed gas holder type plants;
Design steps and numerical
5 Gasifiers, Gasification; Chemical reactions in gasification; Producer gas;
Application of producer gas; Type of Gasifiers (Up draught, Down
draught, Cross draught, Fluidized bed)
6 Liquid bio fuel Production of Bio fuel (Ethanol); Production process of biodiesel;
Biooil; Utilization as bioenergy resource,
7 Introduction of Introduction;Terminology of solar radiation; Sun earth angle;Solar
solar energy radiation measurement; Numerical

8-9 Familiarization Solar cooker (box type concentrated type);

with solar energy solar water heater; natural circulated and forced solar drying; solar
gadgets pond; solar distillation; Numerical

10 Solar Solar photovoltaic fundamentals;Solar cell;Operation of a PV cell;

photovoltaic Solar photovoltaic module; Solar panels; Solar array
system, Application:Solar lantern;Solar street; lights; Solar fencing; Solar water
pumping system
 11-13 Introduction of Wind power; Calculation of power;
wind energy and Types of wind mills: Vertical axis wind mills (Savonius or S type wind
their application. mill Darrius wind mill), Horizontal axis wind mills: (Single blade wind
mills Double blade wind mills Multi blade wind mills Bicycle multi-
blade type i.e., Sail type.)
Comparison of horizontal and vertical axis wind mill, Limitations;
Numerical
14 Availability of Different type farm biomass;
biomass and their Densification, briquetting;
application. Briquetting machine;

Reference book
R.R. Mahitcha. Non conventional energy sources, Atul Prakashan
R K Partsad, T P Ojha. Non conventional energy sources Jain Brothers
G.D. Rai, Non Conventional Energy Resources, Khanna Publication,
Sanjay Kumar et al Fundamentals of Agricultural Engineering, Kalyani Publications, New Delhi
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lecture -1
Energy
Energy is the primary and most universal measure of all kinds of
work by human beings and nature. Everything what happens in the
world in the expression of flow of energy in one of its forms.
Technical conversion of energy has three different conversion stage
namely:
Stage Definition Energy source
Primary energy Original source e.g. crude oil, coal not
yet processed, natural
uranium, solar, wind
etc
Final energy/ Energy in the form e.g., gas, fuel, oil,
secondary that reaches the end petrol, electricity
user, hot water or
steam
Effective energy Energy in form used by e.g., light, radiation
the end user heat, driving force or
vehicles
Energy Sources
The energy sources can be classified in a number of ways. The
general classification of energy resources is an follows:
A. Based on the usability of energy
1. Commercial sources of energy: The energy sources like
petroleum products (diesel, petrol and kerosene oil) and electricity, which
are capital intensive, exemplify commercial sources of energy.
Considering the fact that most of the commercial sources are also non-
renewable and to some extent are imported to India, efforts are made to
conserve such sources of energy.
2. Non-commercial sources of energy: Each and every energy
source has some economic value. Some energy sources are available
comparatively at low cost whereas others are capital intensive. The
energy sources which are available cheaply are called non-commercial
sources of energy whereas the ones which are capital intensive are called
commercial energy sources. Human labour and bullocks exemplify the
category of non-commercial source of energy.
B. Based on traditional use
1. Conventional : those energy sources which have been traditional
used for many decades e.g. fossil fuels, nuclear and hydro
2. Non-conventional: Those energy sources which are considered for
large scale use of oil crisis of 1973 are called non-conventional
energy source e.g. solar, wind, biomass etc.

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C. Based on long term availability

1. Non – renewable /Exhaustible: Those which are finite and do not
get replenished after their consumption. Fossil fuels, nuclear,
natural gas etc.
2. Renewable resources: Those which are renewed by nature again
and again and their supply not affected by the rate of their
consumption.
D. Base on origin
1. Fossil fuel
2. Wind energy
3. Solar energy
4. Biomass energy
5. Nuclear energy
6. Solar energy
7. Geothermal energy
8. Tidal energy
9. Hydro energy
Introduction to Renewable Energies
Renewable energy refers to energy resources that occur naturally
and repeatedly in the environmental and can be harnessed for human
benefit. These energy resources are inexhaustible within the time horizon
of humanity. Examples of renewable energy systems include solar, wind,
and geothermal energy (getting energy from the heat in the earth). We
also get renewable energy from trees and plants, rivers, and even
garbage. During recent years, due to the increase in fossil fuel prices and
the environmental problems caused by the use of conventional fuels, we
are reverting back to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and
hydraulic energies. Renewable energies are inexhaustible, clean and they
can be used in a decentralized way (they can be used in the same place
as they are produced).
Renewable Energy Technology / Application
Source
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) cells to produce electricity and Solar
thermal system for heating water/air
Wind Wind turbine to pump water, produce electricity or for
any other mechanical use
Water Hydro-electric, wave and tidal systems to produce
electricity
Biomass Direct combustion of gas produced from biomass, or
biogas, to generate electricity and/or heat - e.g. wood
stoves or larger commercial operations
Geothermal Using the temperature of the earth to produce

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electricity and/or heat

Ocean energy (wave Ocean to operate a heat engine to produce a work
and Tidal energy) output and generated electricity

Advantages of renewable energy

 These sources of energy are renewable and there is no danger of
depletion. These recur in nature and are in-exhaustible.
 The power plants based on renewable sources of energy don‟t
have any fuel cost and hence negligible running cost.
 Renewable are more site specific and are used for local
processing and application. There is no need for transmission
and distribution of power.
 Renewable have low energy density and more or less there
is no pollution or ecological balance problem.
 Most of the devices and plants used with the renewables are
simple in design and construction which are made from local
materials, local skills and by local people. The use of renewable
energy can help to save foreign exchange and generate local
employment.
 The rural areas and remote villages can be better served with
locally available renewable sources of energy. There will be huge
savings from transporting fuels or transmitting electricity from
long distances.
Disadvantages of renewable energy
 Low energy density of renewable sources of energy need large
sizes of plant resulting in increased cost of delivered energy.
 Intermittency and lack of dependability are the main
disadvantages of renewable energy sources.
 Low energy density also results in lower operating temperatures
and hence low efficiencies.
 Although renewable are essentially free, there is definite cost
effectiveness associated with its conversion and utilization.
 Much of the construction materials used for renewable energy
devices are themselves very energy intensive.
 The low efficiency of these plants can result in large heat
rejections and hence thermal pollution.
 The renewable energy plants use larger land masses.

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Lecture -2
Biomass energy
The material which has life is called Biomass. Other words, the
material contained in the bodies of living organism (plants and animals)
is said to be Biomass or plant matter/ organic matter. The energy
obtained from organic matter, derived from biological organism is known
as biomass energy.
Solar energy Photosynthesis Biomass Energy generation
Biomass include wood, leaves, animal waste, crops, bones, and scales or
any other organic matter and Biomass energy is the utilization of energy
stored in this organic matter.
The ultimate source of bio mass energy is sun. Plants absorb the
energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis. The chemical
energy stored in plants get passed on to animal and human beings that
eat them. The average efficiency of photosynthetic conversions of solar
energy into biomass energy is estimated to be 0.5 to 1.0 %.
Biomass is a renewable energy source. The organic matters are
burned directly to produce heat or they are refined to produce fuel like
ethanol or other alcoholic fuels.
Biomass characteristics
The main constituents of any biomass material are (i) lignin (ii)
hemicellulose (iii) cellulose (iv) mineral matter (v) ash. Wood is a solid
lingocellulose material naturally produced in tree and shrubs, made up
40-50 % cellulose, 20-30 % hemicellulose and 20-30 % lignin. The
percentage of the above components of biomass varies from species to
species. Evaluation of biomass resource as potential energy feedstocks
generally requires information about their composition, heating value,
production yields (in the case of energy crops) and bulk density.
Bio mass resources
Biomass resources for energy production are widely available in
forest areas, rural farms, urban refuse and organic waste from agro-
industries.
Biomass resources fall into three categories:
1. Biomass in its Traditional solid mass (Wood and Agriculture
residue) To burn the bio mass directly
2. Biomass in its non-traditional solid mass (converted into liquid
fuels) The biomass is converted into ethanol and methanol to used
liquid fuel
3. To ferment the biomass anaerobically to obtain a gaseous fuel called
biogas

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Biomass conversion Routes in produce energy

1. Physical  Densification of biomass into solid

briquettes
2. Agrochemical  Fuel extraction (solid & liquid) from
freshly cut plant
3. Thermo chemical  Combustion
 Carbonization
 Pyrolysis
 Gasification
 Liquefaction
 Anaerobic diagestion to methane (Bio
Gas)
4. Biochemical  Ethanol fermentation
 Hydrogen formation cell
Direct combustion for heat
Direct combustion is the simplest and most common method of
capturing the energy contained within biomass. The technology is well
understood and commercially available. Combustion or burning is a
exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel (usually a hydrocarbon) and
an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light.
In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing
element, such as oxygen and the products are compounds of each
element in the fuel with the oxidizing element.
Three things are needed for effective burning:
 High enough temperatures
 Enough air, and
 Enough time for full combustion
If not enough air gets in, combustion is incomplete and the smoke is
black from the unburned carbon. If too much air gets in the temperature
drops and the gases escape unburned, taking the heat with them.
Therefore, the right amount of air is very important to gives the best
utilization of fuel. One problem with this method is its very low efficiency
(2-5 %). With an open fire most of the heat is wasted and is not used.
A simpler example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and
oxygen:
2H2 + 02 2H20 (g) + heat result is water
vapour]
Types of combustion:
A. Rapid: Rapid combustion is a form of combustion in which large
amounts of heat and light energy are released, which often results
in a fire. This is used in a form of machinery such as internal
combustion engines.
B. Slow: Slow combustion is takes place at low temperatures. Cellular
respiration is an example of slow combustion

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C. Complete: In complete combustion, the reactant will burn in

oxygen, producing a limited number of products. When a
hydrocarbon burns in oxygen, the reaction will only yield carbon
dioxide and water. When a hydrocarbon or any fuel burns in air,
the combustion products will also include nitrogen. The complete
combustion is almost impossible to achieve.
D. Incomplete: Incomplete combustion occurs when there isn't
enough oxygen to allow the fuel to react completely with the oxygen
to produce carbon dioxide and water, also when the combustion is
quenched by a heat sink such as a solid surface or flame trap.
Pyrolysis:
Biomass can be converted into gases, liquids and solids through
pyrolysis at temperature of 200 to 500 °C by heating in a closed vessel in
absence of oxygen. The residue is then the char - more commonly known
as charcoal - a fuel which has about twice the energy density of the
original and burns at a much higher temperature.
Pyrolysis is most commonly used for organic materials. It occurs
spontaneously at high temperatures In general; it produces gas and
liquid products and leaves a solid residue richer in carbon content.
Pyrolysis is heavily used to produce charcoal, activated carbon, methanol
and other chemicals from wood, to convert ethylene dichloride into vinyl
chloride to make PVC, to convert biomass into syngas, to turn waste into
safely disposable substances, and for the cracking of medium-weight
hydrocarbons from oil to produce lighter ones like gasoline.
The products of pyrolysis of wood are nearly
1. charcoal -25 %
2. Wood gas -20 %
3. Pyroligneous acid -40 %
4. Wood oil -15 %
The rate of pyrolysis depends on several factors like
• Composition of material
• Heating rate
• Residence time
• Temperature level
Similarly, another term gasification is also the pyrolysis adopted to
produce maximum amount of secondary fuel gases.
Gasification
Biomass gasification is a thermochemical decomposition process in
controlled air. It is conversion process of solid, carbonaceous fuel into
combustible gas mixture, normally known as producer gas (or wood gas,
water gas, synthesis gas syngas)
This is done by partially burning and partially heating the biomass
(using the heat from the limited burning) in the presence of charcoal (a

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natural by-product of burning biomass). The gas can be used in internal

combustion engines.
Gasification is a process that converts carbonaceous materials,
such as coal, petroleum, biofuel, or biomass, into carbon monoxide and
hydrogen by reacting the raw material, such as house waste, or compost
at high temperatures (>700°C) with a controlled amount of oxygen.
Gasification is a method for extracting energy from many different types
of organic materials. Almost any type of organic material can be used as
the raw material for gasification, such as wood, biomass, or even plastic
waste.
The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is potentially
more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel. Syngas may be
burned directly in internal combustion engines or used to produce
methanol and hydrogen. Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely
used on industrial scales to generate electricity.
In essence, a limited amount of oxygen or air is introduced into the
reactor to allow some of the organic material to be "burned" to produce
carbon monoxide and energy, which drives a second reaction that
converts further organic material to hydrogen and additional carbon
dioxide.
Chemical reactions in gasification
Gasification is quite complex thermochemical process. Splitting of
gasifier into strictly separate zone is not realistic, but nevertheless
conceptually essential. Four distinct processes take place in a gasifier;
drying of the fuel, pyrolysis, combustion and reduction.
Drying zone
Biomass fuels consist of moisture ranging from 5 to 35% at the
temperature above 120 °C, the moisture is removed and converted to
steam, in the drying, fuels do not experience any kind of decomposition.
Depending on the kind of rector, the fuel composition and size of fuel
drying may require several minutes to accomplish or may occur almost
instantaneously.
Pyrolysis zone
At about 400°C, the complex structure of biomass begins to
breakdown with the release of gases, vapours and liquid. Many of these
released components are combustible and contribute significantly to the
heating value of the product gas from the gasifier. The ratio of products is
influenced by the chemical composition of biomass fuels and their
operating condition. Reaction times range from milliseconds to minutes.
Reaction yields range from mostly liquids to exclusively low molecular
weight gases e.g. volatile gases, oil, char and tar.

Oxidation/combustion zone
As the temperature approaches 700°C, the char begins to react
with oxygen, introduced air in the oxidation zone contains inert gases

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such as nitrogen and argon besides oxygen and water vapours. The
oxidation take place at the temperature of 700 to 1300°C. heterogeneous
reaction take place between oxygen in the air and solid char fuel,
producing carbon dioxide and water vapour

Hydrogen in the fuel reacts with oxygen in the air blast, producing steam

Reduction Zone
In reduction zone, a number of high temperature chemical
reactions take place in the absence of air. Most of the reactions are
endothermic and the heat released during exothermic reaction in
oxidation is also utilized in reaction zone. Hence temperature of gas goes
down in this zone. The temperature in the zone ranges from 800-1000°C.

Hence final gas produces in the gasifier is composed of mainly CO and H2

Producer gas
 Producer gas obtained through gasification is the mixture of
combustible and non-combustible gases
 The quantity of constituents of gas depends upon the type of fuel
and operation

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 Heating value of gas 4.5 to 6 MJ/m2

Content of producer gas
1. Carbon monoxide -15 to 30 %
2. Hydrogen - 10 to 20 %
3. Methane - less than 4 %
4. Nitrogen -45- 60 % (non combustible)
5. Carbon dioxide - 5 to 15 % (non combustible)
Application of producer gas
Thermal application: cooking, water heating, stem generation, drying etc.
Motive power: I C engine as water pumping
Electricity: I C engine and gas turbine etc.
Type of Gasifiers
Gasifiers are generally classified according to the method of contacting
fuel, direction of air / gas movement, type of bed and type of fuel used.
The most important classification of gasifier is based on type of bed.
A. Fixed bed
1. Up draught
2. Down draught
3. Cross draught
B. Fluidized bed
Up–Draft Gasifiers (Counter Current Gasifiers): In this design the
biomass moves down wards as the gasification process goes on. The
air is taken from the bottom of the gasifier and the producer gas leaves
the gasifier from the top portion. This means the producer gas moves
counter to the direction of flow of biomass. Wide variety of biomass
feedstock is suitable for this design, even with relatively higher moisture
contents. Since hot gases passes through biomass, the moisture is
driven off. One of the major disadvantages of this design is that the
pyrolysis products are not routed through combustion zone and hence
the gas cleaning becomes very expensive.
 This type of gasifier is easy to build and operate
 The gas produced has practically no ash but contains tar and
water vapour because of passing of gas through the un-burnt fuel.
 Up draft gasifiers are suitable for tar free fuels like charcoal

Fig. Updraft Gasifier Fig. Down draft Gasifier

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Downdraft Gasifier (Co current gasifiers): In this design, biomass is

fed from the top and air intake is from the top or from the sides
also. The producer gas is collected from the bottom of the reactor,
moving in the same direction to biomass feeding and air. Since the
producer gas moves through the hearth zone, the chances of proper
combustion of tar and char are expected. This design requires biomass
with minimum moisture content (+15%) and uniformity in size for
proper pyrolysis. The producer gas carries away high temperatures,
lowering the overall efficiency. Since the gas flows through oxidation
zone chances of carrying higher amounts of ash, particulate matter in
the gas necessitating efficient gas cleaning mechanism. The gasifiers
are suitable for fuels like wood and agricultural wastes. They are cheap
and easy to make. They may be used to power generation upto above
150 kW.

Cross Draft Gasifier: Cross-draught gasifiers, schematically illustrated

in Figure 2.9 are an adaptation for the use of charcoal. Charcoal
gasification results in very high temperatures (1500 °C and higher) in the
oxidation zone which can lead to material problems. In cross draught
gasifiers insulation against these high temperatures is provided by the
fuel (charcoal) itself.
Advantages of the system lie in the very small scale at which it can be
operated. Installations below 10 kW (shaft power) can under certain
conditions be economically feasible. The reason is the very simple gas-
cleaning train (only a cyclone and a hot filter) which can be employed
when using this type of gasifier in conjunction with small engines.
A disadvantage of cross-draught gasifiers is their minimal tar-converting
capabilities and the consequent need for high quality (low volatile
content) charcoal.
It is because of the uncertainty of charcoal quality that a number of
charcoal gasifiers employ the downdraught principle, in order to
maintain at least a minimal tar-cracking capability.

Fig. Cross draft Gasifier Fig. Fluidized bed gasifier

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Fluidized bed gasifier: The operation of both up and downdraught

gasifiers is influenced by the morphological, physical and chemical
properties of the fuel. Problems commonly encountered are: lack of
bunkerflow, slagging and extreme pressure drop over the gasifier. Air is
blown through a bed of solid particles at a sufficient velocity to keep
these in a state of suspension. The bed is originally externally heated and
the feedstock is introduced as soon as a sufficiently high temperature is
reached. The fuel particles are introduced at the bottom of the reactor,
very quickly mixed with the bed material and almost instantaneously
heated up to the bed temperature. As a result of this treatment the fuel is
pyrolysed very fast, resulting in a component mix with a relatively large
amount of gaseous materials. Further gasification and tar-conversion
reactions occur in the gas phase. Most systems are equipped with an
internal cyclone in order to minimize char blow-out as much as possible.
Ash particles are also carried over the top of the reactor and have to be
removed from the gas stream if the gas is used in engine applications.
The major advantages of fluidized bed gasifiers, and others, stem from
their feedstock flexibility resulting from easy control of temperature,
which can be kept below the melting or fusion point of the ash (rice
husks), and their ability to deal with fluffy and fine grained materials
(sawdust etc.) without the need of pre-processing. Problems with feeding,
instability of the bed and fly-ash sintering in the gas channels can occur
with some biomass fuels.
Other drawbacks of the fluidized bed gasifier lie in the rather high tar
content of the product gas (up to 500 mg/m³ gas), the incomplete carbon
burn-out, and poor response to load changes.
Particularly because of the control equipment needed to cater for the
latter difficulty, very small fluidized bed gasifiers are not foreseen and the
application range must be tentatively set at above 500 kW (shaft power).

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Lecture -3
Anaerobic diagestion to methane (Bio Gas)
Anaerobic digestion is the decomposition of organic waste to gaseous fuel
by bacteria in an oxygen free environment. The process occurs in stages
to successively break down the organic matter in to simpler organic
compounds. The final product, known as biogas is a mixture of methane,
carbon dioxide and some trace gases. Biogas is also known as the swamp
gas, sewer gas, fuel gas, marsh gas, wet gas and in Indian more
commonly as gobar gas.
Composition of biogas
Sr. Constituents Formulae Proportion in percentage
No
1 Methane gas CH4 50-65
2 Carbon dioxide CO2 30-45
3 Hydrogen H2 1- 3
3 Nitrogen N2 0-5
4 Oxygen 02 0.01
Hydrogen M2 S 1-2
5
sulphide
Basics of anaerobic digestion
The treatment of any slurry or sludge containing a large amount of
organic matter utilizing bacteria and other organisms under anaerobic
condition is commonly referred as anaerobic digestion.
Anaerobic digestion consists of the following three phase.
(i) Hydrolysis phase,
(ii) Acid formation phase
(iii) Methane formation phase
Hydrolysis
Large molecules are breakdown into smaller size by enzymes which in
turn are decomposable by bacteria. The organic substances such as
polysaccharide, protein and lipid are converted into mono-saccharide,
peptide, amino acids, and fatty acids. Then they are further converted
into organic acids (acetate, propionate and butyrate). Cellulytica bacteria
help to reduce chains and branches. Cellulytica bacteria is of two types
mesophilic (30°- 40°) and thermophilic (50°- 60°).
Acid formation
Acid phase which simple organic materials are converted into simpler
acids such as volatile fatty acids. Acetic acid is one common by-product
of digestion of fats, starch and proteins. Methane bacteria are strictly
anaerobic and can produce methane either by fermenting acetic acid to
from methane and carbon dioxide, or by reducing carbon dioxide to
methane using hydrogen gas. Acetic acid is to react with methaogenic

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bacteria resulting in methane formation. Acetic acid accounts for 70 % of

methane produced.
Methane formation
Methanogenic bacteria react with acetic acid, ethyanol, carbon dioxide
and hydrogen to produce methane. Methane forming bacteria slowly, in
about 14 days at 25 °C complete the digestion. The remaining
indigestible matter is referred as “slurry”.

Optimum conditions for biogas production

Parameters Optimum value
Temperature 30-35 °C
pH 6.8-7.5
C/N Ratio 20-30:1
Solid content 8-10 %
Retention time 20-50

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Feedstock for biogas plants

 Animal wastes:
 Human wastes
 Kitchen wastes
 Agriculture Wastes
 Aquatic plants
 Municipal wastes
 Industrial wastes
 Hens and ducks droppings
The calorific values of different fuels
Commonly used fuels Calorific values in K.Cal.
Bio-gas 4713/M3
Dung cake 2093/Kg
Firewood 4978/Kg
Diesel (HSD) 10550/Kg
Kerosene 10850/Kg
Petrol 11100/Kg

Factors involved in biogas production

Biogas production involves different physical, chemical and biological
process for conversion of biodegradable organic materials to energy rich
gas.
C/N ratio
The ratio of carbon to nitrogen present in the feed material is called
C:N ratio. It is a crucial factor in maintaining perfect environment for
digestion. Carbon is used for energy and nitrogen for building the cell
structure. Optimum condition for anaerobic digestion to take place
ranges from 20 to 30:1. This means the bacteria use up carbon about 20
to 30 times faster than they use up nitrogen.
When there is too much carbon in the raw astes, nitrogen will be used
up first and carbon left over. This will make the digestion slow down and
eventually stops. On the other hand if there is too much nitrogen, the
carbon soon becomes exhausted and fermentation stops. The nitrogen
left over will combine with hydrogen to form ammonia. This can kill or
inhibit the growth of bacteria specially the methane producers.
Temperature:
Temperature affects the rate of reaction happening inside the digester.
Increase in the ambient temperature increases the rate of reaction thus
increasing the biogas production as well. Methane bacteria work best at a
temperature of 35° - 38° C. The fall in gas production starts at 20°C and
stops at a temperature of 10°C. Studies hawed that 2.25 m3 of gas was
produced from 4.25m3 of cattle dung everyday when the digester

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temperature was 25°C. When the temperature rose to 28.3°C the gas
production was increased by 50 per cent to 3.75 m° per day.
Retention time:
It is the theoretical time that particular volume of feedstock remains
in the digester. In other words, retention time describes the length of time
the material is subjected to the anaerobic reaction. It is calculated as the
volume of digester divided by the feedstock added per day and it is
expressed in days. Under anaerobic condition, the decomposition of the
organic substances is slow and hence need to keep for long time to
complete the digestion. In case of Indian digesters, where the feed stock
is diluted with equal composition, so demarcation prevails between solid
and liquid. In this case, biomass in the form of bacteria is washed out;
hence the solid retention time (SRT) is equal to hydraulic retention time
(HRT).
Loading rate
Loading rate is defined as the amount of raw material fed to the
digester per day per unit volume. If the reactor is overloaded, acid
accumulation will be more obviously affecting daily gas production. On
the other hand, under loading of digester have negative impact in
designed gas production.
Toxicity:
Though small quantities of mineral ions like sodium, potassium
stimulates the growth of bacteria, the high concentration of heavy metals
and detergents have negative impact in gas production rate. Detergents
like soap, antibiotics, and organic solvents are toxic to the growth of
microbes inside the digester. Addition of these substances along with the
feed stock should be avoided.
pH or hydrogen ion concentration
To maintain a constant supply of gas, it is necessary to maintain a
suitable pH range in the digester. pH of the slurry changes at various
stages of the digestion. In the initial acid formation stage in the
fermentation process, the pH is around 6 or less and much of CO2 is
given off. In the letter 2-3 weeks times, the pH increase as the volatile
acid and N2 compounds are digested and CH4 is produced. The digester is
usually buffered if the pH is maintained between 6.5 and 7.5. In this pH
range, the micro – organisms will be very active and digestion will be very
efficient. If the pH range is between 4 and 6 it is called acidic. If it is
between 9 and 10 it is called alkaline. Both these are detrimental to the
methanogenic (Methane production) organisms.
Total solid content
The raw cow dung contains 80-82% of moisture. The balance 18-
20% is termed as total solids. The cow dung is mixed usually in the
proportion of 1:1 in order to bring the total solid content to 8-10%. This

15
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

adjustment of total solid content helps in digesting the materials at the

faster rate and also in deciding the mixing of the various crop residues as
feed stocks in biogas digester.
Feed rate
One of the prerequisites of good digestion is the uniform feeding of
the digester so that the micro – organisms are kept in relatively constant
organic solids concentration at all times. Therefore the digester must be
fed at the same time every day with a balanced feed on the same quality
and quantity.
Diameter to depth ratio
Studies reveal that gas production per unit volume of digester
capacity was maximum, when the diameter to depth ratio was in the
range of 0.66 to 1.00. One reason may be that because in a simple
unstirred single stage digester the temperature varies at different depths.
The most activity digesting sludge is in the lower half of the digester and
this is less affected by changes in night and day temperature.
Nutrients
The major nutrients required by the digester are, C, H2, O2 N2 P
and S, of these nutrients N2 and P are always in short supply and
therefore to maintain proper balance of nutrients and extra raw material
rich in phosphorus (night soil, chopped leguminous plants) should be
added along with the cow dung to obtain maximum production of gas.
Degree of mixing
Bacteria in the digester have very limited reach to their food, it is
necessary that the slurry is properly mixed and bacteria get their food
supply. It is found that slight mixing improves the fermentation; however
a violent slurry agitation retards the digestion.
Type of feed stocks
All plant and animal wastes may be used as the feed materials for
a digester. When feed stock is woody or contains more of lignin, then
digestion becomes difficult. To obtain as efficient digestion, these feed
stocks are combined in proportions, Pre-digestion and finely chopping
will be helpful in the case of some materials. Animal wastes are pre-
digested. Plant wastes do not need pre-digestion. Excessive plant
material may choke the digester.

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 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lecture -4
Types of biogas plants:
Biogas plants basically are two types
1. Floating dome type
Eg. KVIC-type (KVIC- Khadi Village Industries Commission)
2. Fixed dome type
E.g. Deenabandu model
Base Pre-requisites of Biogas Plant Installation:
 The land should be leveled and at a higher elevation than the
surroundings to avoid runoff water and soil should not be too loose
of the area.
 The plant should be nearer to the place of gas use and to the cattle
shed/ stable for easy handling of raw materials.
 The ground water table should not be very high.
 Adequate supply of water should be there at the plant site.
 The plant should get clear sunshine during most part of the day
and the plant site should be well ventilated as methane mixed with
oxygen is very explosive.
 A minimum distance of 1.5m should be kept between the plant and
any wall or foundation or any source of drinking water purpose.
 It should be away from any tree to make it free from failure due to
root interference.
 There should be adequate space for construction of slurry pits.
 Mechanical agitation of the scum layer and slight stirring of slurry
improves gas production.
 The solid content in the slurry should be maintained between 7.5
to 10 per cent for optimum gas production.
 A carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20: 1 to 30: 1 is found to be optimum
for bio-gas production. The CN ratio of cattle dung if approximate
25:1.
KVIC type biogas plant
This mainly consists of a digester or pit for fermentation and a
floating drum for the collection of gas. Digester is 3.5-6.5 m in depth and
1.2 to 1.6 m in diameter. There is a partition wall in the center, which
divides the digester vertically and submerges in the slurry when it is full.
The digester is connected to the inlet and outlet by two pipes. Through
the inlet, the dung is mixed with water (4:5) and loaded into the digester.
The fermented material will flow out through outlet pipe. The outlet is
generally connected to a compost pit. The gas generation takes place
slowly and in two stages. In the first stage, the complex, organic
substances contained in the waste are acted upon by a certain kind of
bacteria, called acid formers and broken up into small-chain simple
acids. In the second stage, these acids are acted upon by another kind of
17
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

bacteria, called methane formers and produce methane and carbon

dioxide.
Gas holder: The gas holder is a dum constructed of mild steel sheets.
This is cylindrical in shape with concave. The top is supported radically
with angular iron. The holder fits into the digester like a stopper. It sinks
into the slurry due to its own weight and rests upon the ring constructed
for this purpose. When gas is generated the holder rises and floats freely
on the surface of slurry. A central guide pipe is provided to prevent the
holder from tilting. The holder also acts as a seal for the gas. The gas
pressure varies between 7 and 9 cm of water column. Under shallow
water table conditions, the adopted diameter of digester is more and
depth is reduced. The cost of drum is about 40% of total cost of plant.

Janata type biogas plant:

The design of this plant is of Chinese origin but it has been introduced
under the name “Janata biogas plant” by Gobar Gas Research Station,
Ajitmal in view of its reduced cost. This is a plant where no steel is used,
there is no moving part n it and maintenance cost is low. The plant can
be constructed by village mason taking some pre-explained precautions
and using all the indigenously available building materials. Good quality
of bricks and cement should be used to avoid the afterward structural
problems like cracking of the dome and leakage of gas. This model have a
higher capacity when compared with KVIC model, hence it can be used
as a community biogas plant. This design has longer life than KVIC
models. Substrates other than cattle dung such as municipal waste and
plant residues can also be used in janata type plants. The plant consists
of an underground well sort of digester made of bricks and cement
having a dome shaped roof which remains below the ground level is
shown in figure. At almost middle of the digester, there are two

18
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

rectangular openings facing each other and coming up to a little above

the ground level, act as an inlet and outlet of the plant. Dome shaped
roof is fitted with a pipe at its top which is the gas outlet of the plant. The
principle of gas production is same as that of KVIC model. The biogas is
collected in the restricted space of the fixed dome; hence the pressure of
gas is much higher, which is around 90cm of water column.

Deenbandhu biogas plant:

Deenbandhu model was developed in 1984, by Action for Food
Production (AFPRO), a voluntary organization based in New Delhi.
Schematic diagram of a Deenbandhu biogas plant entire biogas
programme of India as it reduced the cost of the plant half of that of KVIC
model and brought biogas technology within the reach of even the poorer
sections of the population. The cost reduction has been achieved by
minimizing the surface area through joining the segments of two spheres
of different diameters at their bases. The Deenbandu biogas plant has a
hemispherical fixed-dome type of gas holder, unlike the floating dome of
the KVIC-design is shown. The dome is made from pre-fabricated
ferrocement or reinforced concerete and attached to the digester, which
has a curved bottom. The slurry is fed from a mixing tank through an
inlet pipe connected to the digester. After fermentation, the biogas
collects in the space under the dome. It is taken out for use through a
pipe connected to the top of the dome, while the sludge, which is a by-

19
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

product, comes out through an opening in the side of the digester. About
90 precent of the biogas plants in India are of the Deenbandhu type.

Comparison of floating and fixed gas holder type plants:

Floating gas holder type biogas fixed gas holder type plants
plant
1 Initial cost of plant is high. 1 Initial cost, of plant is low
2 Floating gas holder is made up 2 No such problems of rusting
iron plate and has tendency of and corrosion as there is no
rusting and corrosion floating gas holder.
3 Maintenance expenditures are 3 Maintenance expenditures are
high. low.
4 Life of plant is lower due to 4 Life of plant is higher.
floating lias holder which may
last, few years.
5 Plant, is not underground due 5 Plant is under ground the
floating gas holder hence land upper land can be used for
occupied by plant cannot be other purposes.
used for any other purposes.
6 Its performance is very much 6 Its performance is not much
affected by temperature affected by temperature
variations. variations.
7 Other forms of biomass cannot 7 Other forms biomass such as
be used except gobar and agro waste and municipal
human excretes wastes can be used with some

20
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

modifications.
8 Pressure of gas remains 8 Pressure of gas increases with
constant increased gas production
decrease with gas
consumption.
9 Gas holder lank is needed to 9 Separate gas holder is not
be fabricated in workshop and required.
transported to the site
10 Fault finding and repairs are 10 Fault finding and repairs arc
easy not easy
11 Higher depth of plant requires 11 Lower depth of excavation
deeper excavation of land. reduces the cost of
construction.

Gas consumption
Gas is used as cooking fuel but it is not yet used in lighting or power
generation purposes in the developing country. Hence the size of biogas
plant is decided on the basis number of persons in the family, types of
food habit, types of utensils used in cooking etc. Daily need of gas per
person varies from 0.28 to 0.42 cubic meter.
Following table shows the gas requirements for different applications.
Sr. Applications Requirement Gas consumption in
m3/hr
1 Cooking One person per day 0.24
2 Gas lighting 40 candle power 0.07
3 Mental lamp 100 candle power 0.13
4 Gas engine Per one HP 0.45
5 Petrol engine Per one liter petrol 1.4
6 Diesel engine Per one liter diesel 1.6
7 Electric appliances Per kwh or unit of 0.60
electricity

Advantages and disadvantages of biogas:

Advantages:
1. Cost of equipments used for making biogas is less and equipments
used are very simple.
2. Waste product obtained from digester is best quality of fertilizer
and gives best yields.
3. Biogas can be used for lighting, running the engines, farms
machines and cooking gas in the kitchen.
4. Distribution of gas has no problems of any gas leakages and fire.
5. Biogas is a best medium for cooking food.

21
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

6. Organic feed stocks used in the plants are easily available at all
places..
7 Biogas plant gives efficiency as much as 60.
Disadvantages:
1 Biogas produced from biogas plant has to be used at nearby places
only. It cannot be transported over long distances.
2 Biogas cannot be filled in the bottles.
3 Biogas plants require more area.
4 It cannot be established in urban area where availability of land is
limited.
Gas production in different feed stocks
Different types of feed stocks give different rate of gas production. The
size of digester can be determined by the types of biomass feed stocks.
Following table shows rate of gas production from varieties of feed stocks:
Sr. Type of Nos of Gas produced per kg of Daily gas
No biomass catties biomass in m 3 availability in
m3
1 Cow dung 10 0.36 0.36
2 Buffalo dung 10 0.36 0.36
3 Morse dung 15 0.36 0.54
4 Pig dung 02 0.078 0.18
5 Chicken 018 0.062 0.011
droppings
6 Human excrete 0.40 0.072 0.028

Plant size, feed stock, and gas consumption in cooking:

Sr. Plant size Daily biomass No. of No Cross Cooking needs in
in m3 in kg cattle breed cattle no. of persons
1 1 25 2 1 Up to 4
2 2 50 4 2 48
3 3 75 6 3 8 12
4 4 100 8 4 12 16
5 6 150 12 6 20 24
6 8 200 16 8 30 34
7 10 250 20 10 40 45
8 15 375 30 15 50 55
9 20 500 40 20 80 85

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 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lecture -5

Design of digester
The energy available from a biogas digester is given by

Where, η is the combustion efficiency of burner, boiler etc. (~60 %) Hb the

heat of combustion per unit volume of biogas and Vb the volume of
biogas.

Where, Hm is the heat of combustion of methane and fm the fraction of

methane in the biogas
The volume of biogas is given by

Where, C is the biogas yield per unit dry mass of whole input dry mass of
whole input and M0 is the mas of dry input.
The volume of fluid in the digester is given by

Where, ρm is the density of dry matter in the fluid

The volume of the digester is given by

Vf is the flow rate of the digester fluid (water) and tr is the retention time
in the digester.
Exampal:1. Design an appropriate size of biogas plant for a family of
8 members owing two bullocks, one buffalo and 2 calves. The gas is
required for cooking food and lighting one lamp of 100 candle power
for 2h daily (As same density of slurry (p) = 1090 kg/m3)

Solution: Bullock dung = 2 x 15 = 30 kg

Buffalo dung = 1 x 15 = 15 kg
Calves dung = 5 x 2 = 10 kg
Total dung = 55 kg
We know that
1 kg dung produces 0.036 m3 gas
Total gas produced = 55 x 0.036 m3/day
=1.98 m3/day
1 day cooking required 0.24 m3/person
Gas required for cooking = 0.24 x 8
= 1.92 m3/person per hour
For lighting purpose = 0.13 m3/hour
For 2 hours = 0.13 x 2
= 0.26 m3/person
Total gas required = 1.92 + 0.26
23
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

= 2.18 m3/daily use

Density of slurry = 10.99 kg/m3
Wt of total charge = 55 + 55 = 110 kg/day
Volume of charge = 110/1090 = 0.1009 m3
Digester volume = volume of daily charge x Re
= 0.1109 x 30 days
= 3.027 m3
10 % extra is taken for digester volume
= 1.1 x 3.027
Digester volume = 3.33 m3
π/4 x D2 x h = 3.33 m3
Where d = diameter of digester
h = height of digester, D = 0.6 h
Or π/4 x (0.6h)2 x h = 3.33
h3 = 3.33 x π/4 x 1/(0.6)2
h3 = 11.78 m3
h = 2.275
And D = 0.6 x 2.275 = 0.6 x 2.275. = 1.365

Example:2. Calculate the theoretical power available of an ORP – 12

PV 500 wind mill at 12 mph wind speed
Power = ½ ρ V3 A
Where, P = power of the wind mill watts
ρ = Air density 1.2 kg/m3 at sea level
V = Wind velocity m/s
A = Frontal area of wind mill m2 Rotor diameter = 5m
V = 12 x 1000/ 60 x 60 = 10/3 = 3.3 m/s
P = ½ x 1.2 x (10/3)3 x (π/4) x 52
= 430 Watts

Example:3 Calculate the power of above wind mill at 24 km/h speed

Solution: We know that P ∞ V3

P1 = 430 watts V1 = 12 km/h
P2 = ? V2 = 24 km/h
P2 = P1 (V1/V2)3
= 430 (24/12)3
= 430 x 8
= 3440 watts
= 3.44 KW

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 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Example:3 Calculate the power generation of a standalone wind

energy generator of 50 m diameter at 40 km/h speed. The overall
conversion efficiency of the machine is 40 % (percent)
P = ½ ρ n V3 A Watts
V = 40 x 1000/ 60 x 60
= 109/9 m/s
A = π/4 D2
= 3.14/4 x50 x 50
= 1962 m2
Calculation of size of biogas plant:
Example: A farmer family has 7 members and 2 cows, 2 baby cows an d
1 buffalo. Calculate the size of biogas for this family.
• 1 cow gives 10 kg gobar and 0.36 m3 gas
• 1 baby cow gives 5 kg gobar and 0.27 m3 gas
• 1 buffalo gives 15 kg gobar and 0.54 m3 gas
(1) Availability of biomass:
On the basis of we can calculate the daily biomass availability and
essential gas production
2 cows give 20 kg gobar 0.72 m3 gas
2 baby cows give 10 kg gobar 0.72 m3 gas
1 buffalo give 10 kg gobar 0.54 m3 gas
Total availability of gas 1.58 m3 gas
(2) Gas consumption for the family:
6 members of the family shall consume 1.44 m3 gas
100 candle lamp for 3 hours shall need 0.26 m3 gas
Totally daily gas required 1.70 m3 gas
Availability of gas on biomass availability is 1.58 m3 gas while
requirement of gas is 1.70 m3 gas daily. Hence it is necessary to set up
biogas plant of daily production capacity 2.00 m3 gas to suffice the family
need for energy. Of course family shall need to obtain additional biomass
to run the plant at full capacity and to satisfy entire needs.
On the basis of gas consumption
Gas is used as cooking fuel but it is not yet used in lighting or power
generation purposes in the developing country. Hence the size of biogas
plant is decided on the basis number of persons in the family, types of
food habit, types of utensils used cooking etc. Daily need of gas per
person varies from 0.28 to 0.42 cubic meters. Following table shows the
gas requirements for different applications.
Sr. Applications Requirements Gas consumption in
m3/hr
1 Cooking One person per day 0.24
2 Gas lighting 40 candle power 0.07

25
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

3 Mental lamp 100 candle power 0.13

4 Gas engine Per one HP 0.45
5 Petrol engine Per one liter petrol 1.4
6 Diesel engine Per one liter diesel 1.6
7 Electric appliances Per kwh or unit of 0.60
electricity

On the basis of type of biomass:

Different types of feed stocks give different rate of gas production.
The size digester can be determined by the types of biomass feed stocks.
Following table shows rate of gas production from varieties of feed stocks.

Sr. Type of Normal Gas produced per Daily gas

biomass manual kg of biomass in availability in
Kg/day m3/kg m3
1 Cow dung 10 0.036 0.36
2 Buffalo dung 15 0.036 0.36
3 Pig dung 02 0.078 0.18
4 Chicken 0.18 0.062 0.011
droppings
5 Human excrete 0.40 0.072 0.028

Example: Calculate (i) the volume of a biogas digester suitable for

the output of six cows and (ii) the power available from the digester.
The retention time is 14 days, temperature, 30ºC; dry matter
consumed 2.5 kg/day biogas yield, 0.24 m3/kg, burner efficiency,
0.6; methane proportion 0.7; density of dry matter, 50 kg/m3.

Solution: The mas of dry input (Mo) = 2.5 ×6 =15 kg/day

Fluid volume

ρm is the density of dry matter in the fluid

The volume of the digester is given by

Vf is the flow rate of the digester fluid (water) and tr is the retention time
in the digester.
= 0.3×14= 4.2 m3

26
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

The volume of biogas is given by

Where, C is the biogas yield per unit dry mass of whole input dry mass of
whole input and M0 is the mas of dry input.
=0.24×15=3.6
Energy available from a biogas digester

Where, Hm is the heat of combustion of methane and fm the fraction of

methane in the biogas
E= 0.6×28×0.7×3.6= 42.336 MJ/day= 11.76kWh/day

27
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-6
Bio fuels
Bio-diesel is a fuel, made from natural (biological) renewable
resources which can be used directly in conventional diesel engines. Unlike
fossil diesel, pure bio-diesel is biodegradable, non-toxic, essentially free of
sulphur and aromatics and releases less emissions during combustion.
Bio-diesel some times called FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) or FAEE (fatty
acid ethyl ester). It can be produced from edible oils such as palm oil,
soyabean oil, rape seed oil, sunflower oil and some other vegetable oils;
animal fats and non-edible oils like jatropha, castor beans, pongamia
pinnata. In Europe, rapeseed oil is the major feed stock used to make bio-
diesel, with some sunflower oil is also used. Soyabean oil is the major
feed stock to make the bio-diesel in USA. In tropical and subtropical
countries, there are wider feed stocks have been considered including edible
and non-edible oils. However, using edible oils to produce bio- diesel is not
encouraged in China because China imports more than 400 million tones
edible oils annually to satisfy its consumption needs. They tried to make
biodisel from recycled waste oils but the scale of production is limited due
to higher operating cost. One negative aspect of biodiesel is that, the purity
of biodiesel changes during storage due to oxidative and hydrolytic
reactions and availability of feed stock (raw material) for production.
Advantages of biodiesel
1. Produced from sustainable / renewable biological sources
2. Eco-friendly and oxygenated fuel
3. Sulphur free, less CO, HC, particulate matter and aromatic
compounds emissions
4. Income to rural community
5. Fuel properties similar to the conventional fuel
6. Used in existing unmodified diesel engines
Production methods:
1. Preparation: care must be taken to monitor the amount of water
and free fatty acids in the incoming biolipid (oil or fat). If the free
fatty acid level or water level is too high it may cause problems with
soap formation and the separation of the glycerin by-product
downstream.
2. Catalyst is dissolved in the alcohol using a standard agitator or
mixer.
3. The alcohol/catalyst mix is then charged into a closed reaction vessel
and the biolipid (vegetable or animal oil or fat) is added. The system
from here on is totally closed to the atmosphere to prevent the loss of
alcohol.
4. The reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol
(around 70 °C) to speed up the reaction. Some systems recommend
the reaction take place anywhere from room temperature to 55 °C for
safety reasons. Recommended reaction time varies from 1 to 8 hours;
under normal conditions the reaction rate will double with every 10
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

°C increase in reaction temperature. Excess alcohol is normally used

to ensure total conversion of the fat or oil to its esters.
5. The glycerin phase is much denser than biodiesel phase and the
two can be gravity separated with glycerin simply drawn off the
bottom of the settling vessel. In some cases, a centrifuge is used to
separate the two materials faster.
6. Once the glycerin and biodiesel phases have been separated, the
excess alcohol in each phase is removed with a flash evaporation
process or by distillation. Care must be taken to ensure no water
accumulates in the recovered alcohol stream.
7. The by-product (i.e., glycerin) contains unused catalyst and soaps,
which are neutralized with an acid and sent to storage as crude
glycerin.
8. Once separated from the glycerin, the biodiesel is sometimes
purified by washing gently with warm water to remove residual
catalyst or soaps, dried, and sent to storage.
9. Reduce expenditure on oil imports
10. Nontoxic, biodegradable and safety to handle
Biodiesel production
The process flowchart for biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas
seeds and by products is shown in figure .
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Ethanol from agricultural produce (Sugar cane and corn)

Non-petroleum fuels liquid fuels find use when petroleum fuels are
scarce or costly. The scientists have been in search of new fuels to replace
conventional fuels that are used in IC engines. Among all the fuels,
alcohols, which can be produced from sugarcane waste and many
other agricultural products, are considered the most promising fuels for
the future. There are two types of alcohols: methanol (CH3OH) and ethanol
(C2H5OH). Ethanol has attracted a lot of attention as a transport fuel
because it is relatively cheap non- petroleum-based fuel. Also, the
emissions from the combustion of ethanol are much less than for fossile
fuels. Ethanol, being a pure compound, has a fixed set of physical as well
as chemical properties. This is in contrast to petrol and diesel, which are
mixtures of hydrocarbons. But in countries like India, ethanol is a strong
candidate since they posses the agricultural resources for it production.
It is a more attractive fuel for India because the productive capacity from
sugarcane crops is high, of the order of 1345 l/ha. Earlier, this fuel was not
used in automobiles due to low energy density, high production cost and
corrosion. The current shortage of gasoline has made it necessary to
substitute ethanol as fuel in SI engines. At present, Brazil is the only
country that produces fuel alcohol on a large scale from agricultural
products (mainly sugarcane). Brazil was the first and biggest producer of
cheapest bio-ethanol in the world. Second cheapest bio-ethanol is made
from corn in the USA. Properties of ethanol and methanol are similar, with
difference of only 5 -10%. Ethanol is superior to methanol as it has wider
ignition limit (3.5 -17) than methanol (2.15 -12.8). Ethanol calorific value
(26,880 kJ/kg) is considerably higher than methanol (19,740 kJ/kg).
Ethanol is a much more superior fuel for diesel engines as its cetane
number is compared to the cetane number of 3 for methanol. Ethanol is
used in racing cars due to its very high heat of vaporization.
Manufacture of ethanol
Three different feed stocks are available for ethanol production
such as, sugar feed stock i.e., sugarcane and sugar beet; starch feed
stock i.e., cereal grains and potato and cellulose feed stock i.e., forest
products and agricultural residues.
Ethanol from starchy feed stock (grains
Ethanol production from cereal grains such as barley, wheat and
corn is a much easier process than from cellulose material. The process
includes several steps, as listed below:
a) Milling of grains
b) Hydrolysis of starch to sugar units
c) Fermentation by yeas
d) Distillation
e) Removal of water from ethanol
After grinding the raw material, it is mixed with water and enzymes to
break down the starch to sugar units. The free sugar can be used by yeast
or bacteria and converted to ethanol and carbon dioxide. As the
concentration of ethanol increases to about 15%, fermentation is reduced,
since high alcohol concentration kills the yeast or bacteria. It is then
necessary to separate the ethanol from the other material in the
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

fermentation tanks by distillation. Distillation increases the ethanol

concentration up to about 95%. In order to remove the rest of the water
from the ethanol solution, it must be dried by different drying agents to a
concentration of 99.5% ethanol or absolute ethanol. Extractive distillation
with benzene also yields anhydrous ethanol. It is possible to produce 1 litre
of absolute ethanol from about 3 kg of wheat. The process flow chart for
production of ethanol from grains is shown in fig.

Ethanol production from sugar cane:

Ethanol production from sugarcane is one of the easiest and
most efficient processes since sugarcane contains about 15% sucrose.
The glycosidic bond in the disaccharide can be broken down into two
sugar units, which are free and readily available for fermentation.
The cane is cut and the juice is extracted by maceration. After
clarification, the juice is concentrated by boiling. The concentrated
juice is fermented with yeast to produce raw ethanol. A series of
distillation steps including a final extractive distillation with benzene
are used to obtain anhydrous ethanol. The normal yield of ethanol is
about 8.73 litres of alcohol per tonne of cane. The potential of ethanol
production in India is about 475 litres per year. The process flow chart
for production of ethanol from sugarcane is shown in fig.
Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-7
Biomass Briquetting – A Value Adding Technology for Agro Residues
Biomass plays a major part in fulfilling the energy needs of the
developing countries. According to the world’s energy topics, it is widely
accepted that fossil fuel shortage, fuel increasing price, global warming
including other environmental problems are critical issues. Therefore,
biomass energy has been attracting attention as an energy source since zero
net carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere from biomass
production and utilization can be achieved. The carbon dioxide released
during combustion process is compensated by the carbon dioxide
consumption in photosynthesis. Among several kinds of biomass, agro
residues have become one of most promising choices. They are available as a
free or almost free, indigenous and abundant energy source. But it is
generally difficult to handle them because of its bulky nature, low
combustion characteristics and copious liberation of smoke. The direct
burning of these agro residues in domestic and industrial applications is
inefficient and associated with wide scale air pollution. In order to achieve
more efficient usage of agro residues, it is essential to densify them to
compact pieces of definite shape and high thermal value. Briquetting is one
of the several compaction technologies in the category of densification. The
process of briquetting consists of applying pressure to a mass of particles
with or without a binder and converting it into a compact product of high
bulk density, low moisture content, uniform size and shape and good
burning characteristics. Briquettes can be produced with the density of 1.2
to 1.4 g/cm3 from loose agro residues with a bulk density of 0.1 to 0.2
g/cm3.
Raw materials for briquetting
Almost all agro residues can be briquetted. Agro residues such as
saw dust, rice husk, tapioca waste, groundnut shell, cotton stalks,
pigeon pea stalks, soybean stalks, coir pith, mustard stalks, sugar
cane bagasse, wood chips, tamarind pod, castor husk, coffee husk, dried
tapioca stick, coconut shell powder are the commonly used raw materials
for briquetting in India. All these residues can be briquetted individually
and in combination with or without using binders. The factors that mainly
influence on the selection of raw materials are moisture content, ash
content, flow characteristics, flow characteristics, particle size and
availability in the locality. Moisture content in the range of 10-15% is
preferred because high moisture content will pose problems in grinding
and more energy is required for drying. The ash content of biomass affects
its slagging behaviour together with the operating conditions and mineral
composition of ash. Biomass feedstock having up to 4% of ash content is
preferred for briquetting. The granular homogeneous materials which can
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

flow easily in conveyers, bunkers and storage silos are suitable for
briquetting.
Briquetting Process
The series of steps involved in the briquetting process are
1. Collection of raw materials
2. Preparation of raw materials
3. Compaction
4. Cooling and Storage.
Collection of raw materials
In general, any material that will burn, but is not in a convenient
shape, size or form to be readily usable as fuel is a good candidate for
briquetting.

Preparation of raw materials

The preparation of raw materials includes drying, size reduction,
mixing of raw materials in correct proportion, mixing of raw materials with
binder etc.
Drying
The raw materials are available in higher moisture contents than
what required for briquetting. Drying can be done in open air (sun), in
solar driers, with a heater or with hot air.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Size reduction
The raw material is first reduced in size by shredding, chopping, crushing,
breaking, rolling, hammering, milling, grinding, cutting etc. until it reaches
a suitably small and uniform size (1to10 mm). For some materials which
are available in the size range of 1 to 10 mm need not be size reduced.
Since thesize reduction process consumes a good deal of energy, this
should be as short as possible.

Shredding machine
Raw material mixing
It is desirable to make briquettes of more than one raw material.
Mixing will be done in proper proportion in such a way that the product
should have good compaction and high calorific value.
Compaction
Compaction process takes place inside the briquetting machine. The
process depends on the briquetting technology adopted.
Briquetting Technologies
Briquetting technologies used in the briquetting of the agro residues
are divided into three categories. They are (i) high pressure or high
compaction technology, (ii) Medium pressure technology and (iii) low
pressure technology. In high pressure briquetting machines, the pressure
reaches the value of 100 MPa. This type is suitable for the residues of high
lignin content. At this high pressure the temperature rises to about 200 –
250 °C, which is sufficient to fuse the lignin content of the residue, which
acts as a binder and so, no need of any additional binding material. In
medium pressure type of machines, the pressure developed will be in the
range of 5 MPa and 100MPa which results in lower heat generation. This
type of machines requires additional heating to melt the lignin content of
the agro residues which eliminates the use of an additional binder
material. The third type of machine called the low pressure machines
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

works at a pressure less than 5 MPa and room temperature. This type of
machines requires addition of binding materials. This type of machines is
applicable for the carbonized materials due to the lack of the lignin
material.
The high pressure compaction technology for briquetting of agro
residues can be differentiated in to two types (i) hydraulic piston press type
and (ii) screw press type. Among these two technologies hydraulic piston
press type was predominantly used to produce briquettes in India,
particularly in Tamil Nadu all the briquette producing firms’ uses
hydraulic piston press technology for briquetting. Mostly cylindrical
shaped briquettes with 30 mm to 90 mm diameter were produced. All the
commercial firms involved in briquette making produces 60 mm and 90
mm diameter briquettes.

A scheme of a hydraulic piston press briquetting technology

Feedstock
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Cooling and Storage of briquettes

Briquettes extruding out of the machines are hot with temperatures
exceeding 100oC. They have to be cooled and stored in dry place.
Uses for Briquettes
The most frequent applications for this type of fuel are of both a
domestic and industrial nature; from fireplaces or stoves to boilers
generating hot water and steam. Tea industries, wine distilleries, textile
industries, and farms are the major sectors using briquettes. Briquettes are
also used in gasification process for electricity production.
Advantages of agro residual briquettes:
 The process increase the net calorific value of material per unit
volume
 End product is easy to transport and store
 The fuel produced is uniform in size and quality
 Helps solve the problem of residue disposal
 Helps to reduce deforestation by providing a substitute for fuel wood.
 The process reduce/eliminates the possibility of spontaneous
combustion waste
 The process reduces biodegradation of residues
Necessary requirements to start a briquette production unit
1. Land requirement: Land area of minimum 1 acre is required for starting
a briquette production unit to store the raw materials for briquetting and
produced briquettes.
2. Raw materials: Continuous availability of raw materials is a major factor
for profitable briquette production.
3. Drying facility to dry raw materials: The raw materials which are
commonly available are with higher moisture content. So, any of the drying
technologies such as solar driers/ heater/ hot air generator system is
required to bring down the moisture content to an desirable level for
briquetting.
4. Shredding machine: A shredding machine with minimum of 5 hp motor
is required to powder the agro residues for briquetting.
5. Briquetting machine: A high pressure hydraulic piston press type
briquetting machine powered by minimum of 50 hp motor is required to
produce binderless briquettes from agro residues.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-8
SOLAR ENERGY
Sun is the largest source of energy. Energy radiated from the sun is
electromagnetic waves reaching the plant earth in three separated region,
1. Ultraviolet - 6.4 % (λ<0.38μm)
2. Visible -48 % (0.38 μm <λ<0.78μm)
3. Infrared -15.6 % (λ>0.78μm
When solar radiation (solar energy) is absorbed by a body it increases its
energy. It provides the energy needed to sustain life in the solar system. It is
a clean inexhaustible, abundantly and universally available energy and is
the ultimate source of other various sources of energy.
The heat generation is mainly due to various kinds of fusion reactions ,
the most of energy is released in which hydrogen combine to helium.
He4 + 26.3 MeV
An effective black body temperature of sun is 5777K
Use of direct solar energy
 Solar thermal power plant
 Photolysis systems for fuel production
 Solar collector for water heating
 Passive solar heating system
 Photovoltaic, solar cell for electricity generation.
Use of indirect solar energy
 Evaporation, precipitation, water flow
 Melting of snow
 Wave movements
 Ocean current
 Biomass production
 Heating of earth surface
 Wind
Solar Constant: The rate at which solar energy arrives at the top of the
atmosphere is called solar constant Isc
Standard value of 1353 W/m2 was adopted in 1953, but 1367 W/m2, adopted
by the world radiation center is known commonly used.
Extra-terrestrial solar radiation:
Solar radiation received on outer atmosphere of earth.
[ ( )]
Where, nth day of the year
Terrestrial solar radiation: The solar radiation reaches earth surface after
passing through the atmosphere is known as terrestrial solar radiation or
global radiation.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Direct or Beam radiation: It is the solar radiation propagating along the

line joining the sum and the receiving object.
Diffuse radiation: It is the solar radiation scattered by aerosols, dust and
molecules. It does have a unique direction.
Total radiation or Global radiation: The sum of beam and diffuse radiation
is referred as total radiation.
Irradiance: the rate at which radiant energy is incident per unit area of the
surface. The unit of Irradiance is W/m2. It is used for beam and diffused
radiation.
Radiant exposure (irradiation): the incident energy per unit area on a
surface is found by integration of irradiance over a specified time usually an
hour or a day. Its unit is J/m2.
Radiant existence (Radiosity): The rate at which radiant energy (W/m2)
leaves a surface per unit area, by the combination of emission reflection and
transmission.
Emissive power: The rate at which radiant energy (W/m2) leaves a surface
per unit area, by emission only.
Albedo: The energy reflected back to the space by reflection from clouds,
scattered by the atmospheric gases and dust particles and by reflection from
earth surface is called albedo of earth atmospheric system. 30 % of the
incoming solar radiation back to extraterrestrial region through atmosphere
from earth
Solar time
Zenith: the point directly over head is called zenith.
Air mass ratio: Air mass is defined as the ratio of the path length of
radiation through the atmosphere, considering the vertical path at sea level
as unity.

( )
where, α is inclination angle and θz is zenith angle
Latitude (ɸ): the latitude of a location on earth surface is angle made by the
radial line joining the given location to the center of the earth with its
projection on the equator plane.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Declination (δ): It may be defined as the angular distance of the sun ray
from the plane of earth equator.

[ ]

where, n =day of year counted from 1st of January.

Solar radiation measurement
Solar radiation measuring instruments are following type
Pyranometer: used to measure global radiation
Pyrheliometer: used to measure beam radiation
Pyranometer: It is used to measure total hemispherical radiation-beam
plus diffuse on a horizontal surface. If shaded, a pyranometer measures
diffuse radiation. Most of solar resource data come from pyranometers. The
total irradiance (W/m2) measured on a horizontal surface by a pyranometer
is expressed as follows:
I total = I beam cosθ + I diffuse
where, θ is the zenith angle (i.e., angle between the incident ray and the
normal to the horizontal instrument plane.
Pyrheliometer: The pyrheliometer is a broadband instrument that
measures the direct beam radiation. Consequently, the instrument should
be permanently pointed toward the Sun. A two-axis Sun tracking
mechanism is most often used for this purpose. The detector is a multi-
junction thermopile placed at the bottom of a collimating tube provided with
a quartz window to protect the instrument. The detector is coated with
optical black. Its temperature is compensated to minimize sensitivity of
ambient temperature fluctuations. The pyrheliometer aperture angle is 5°.
Consequently, radiation is received from the Sun and a limited circumsolar
region, but all diffuse radiation from the rest of the sky is excluded. A
readout device is used to give the instant value of the direct beam
irradiance. Its scale is adapted to the sensitivity of the particular instrument
in order to display the value in SI units, Wm-2.
Utilization of solar energy by technological processes
Heliochemical: By the process of photosynthesis, plants absorb the solar
energy which maintains life the earth by productions of various types of
foods. The energy is absorbed by the chemical reaction hence the process is
called Heliochemical.
Helioelectrical: The solar energy is input to photovoltaic converters and
power is output from it which is used for spacecraft etc.
Heliothermal: This process can be used for water heating of building etc.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Applications of solar energy

1. Heating and Cooling of buildings
2. Solar water and air heating
3. Salt production by evaporation of seawater
4. Solar distillations
5. Solar drying of agricultural products
6. Solar cookers
7. Solar water pumping
8. Solar refrigeration
9. Electricity generation through Photo voltaic cells
10. Solar furnaces
11. Industrial process heat
12. Solar thermal power generation
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-9

Application of solar energy

Solar Thermal Energy Collector
Solar Thermal Energy Collector: Solar thermal energy collector is
equipment in which solar energy is collected by absorbing the radiation in
an absorber and then transferring to a fluid. There are two type of
collectors;
Flat Plate solar Collector:
This is the most common type of solar thermal collector. It is designed
for operation in the low temperature range (ambient 600C) or in the
medium temperature range (100 0C). It has no optical concentrator. Here
the collector area and the absorber area are numerically same.

The flat plate collector consists of five major parts as given below:
A metallic flat absorber plate: It is made of copper, steel or aluminium
(having high thermal conductivity) and having black surface. The
thickness of the metal sheet ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 mm.
Tubes or channels: they are soldered to the absorber plate. Water flowing
through these tubes takes away the heat from the absorber plate. The
diameter of tubes is around 1.25 cm, while that of the header pipe which
leads water in and out of the collector and distributes it to absorber tubes
is 2.5 cm.
A transparent toughened glass sheet: of 5 mm thickness is provided as
the cover plate. It reduces convection heat losses through a stagnant air
layer between the absorber plate and the glass. Radiation loss are also
reduced as the spectral transmissivity of glass is such that it transparent
to short wave radiation and nearly opaque to long wave thermal radiation
emitted by interior collector walls and absorbing plate.
Fiber glass insulation: Fiber glass of 2.5 to 8.0 cm thickness is provided
at the bottom and on the sides in order to minimize the heat loss.
Encloses container: The commercially available collector have a face
area of 2 m2. The whole assembly is fixed on a supporting structure that is
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

installed on a tilted position at a suitable angle facing south in northern

hemisphere. For the whole year, the optimum tilt angle of collector is equal
to the latitude of its location. During winter the tilt angle is kept 10-150
more than the latitude of the location, while in summer it should be 10-
150 less than the latitude.
Working of solar flat plate collector:
The solar flat plate collector is provided with inlet through which
water from the outside tank enters from downside header pipe. The water
passes through the number of distributor pipe line. The water gets heated
up while passing through these pipes. The heated water is collected in the
upper header pipe and flows back to the side tank. IN this way water gets
circulating through the collector where it absorb heat energy.
Water is circulating inside the collector due to thermosyphon effect in which
heated water has tendency to move up. This is a natural circulation of
water. In some collector the circulating pump is provided the pump
circulates the water inside the collector system. Such type of circulation is
called forced or pressurized water circulation system. It has better efficiency.
Advantages of flat plate collector:
1. They absorb heat from beam and diffused radiations.
2. They are passive heating system without any moving component.
3. They are simple in design and construction.
4. They can be easily fabricated using locally available materials.
5. Maintance is simple and without any expenders.
6. They are providing with water tank which can serve as tank to store daily
requirements of water.
7. They can be easily installed unused spaces like roof top, balcony, window
shades etc.
Solar flat plate collectors have following disadvantages:
1. They are bulky and difficult in transportation.
2. Their efficiency is around 60 percentage and less.
3. Pipe lines may get scale formation on inside surface. It reduces its heat
transfer efficiency.
4. They cannot be used in the applications like power generation where very
high temperatures are required.
Applications of flat plate collector:
The flat plate solar collectors are widely used now a days as they are
gaining popularity with improved design.
1. They are used for water heating in homes, hotels, hospitals and
industries etc.
2. They used for space and air heating.
3. They are used for making distilled water.
4. They are used for drying agricultural produce.
5. They are used for wood seasoning.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Concentrating Type solar Collector:

Here the receiving area of solar radiation is several times
greater than the absorber area and the efficiency is high. Mirrors and
lenses are used to concentrate sun rays on the absorber. The temperature
of working fluid can be raised only up to 500 0C. For better performance,
the collector is mounted on a tracking equipment to always face the sun
with its changing position.
Advantages:
1. Reflecting surfaces required material and are structurally simpler
than flat plate collectors.
2. The absorber area of a concentrator system is smaller than other.
3. Due to less area of heat loss and better insolation intensity.
4. Concentrating type collectors can be used for electric power
generation.
5. Heat storage cost less.
6. Higher efficiency.
7. No-anti freeze required to protect the absorber.
Disadvantage:
1. Non-uniform flux on the absorber
2. High initial cost
3. Additional optical losses such as reflectance loss and the intercept
loss
4. Out of the beam and diffuse solar radiation components, only beam
component is collected in case of focusing collectors because diffuse
components cannot be reflected and thus lost.
Solar cooking:
Solar cooker is a device in which food is cooked by the heat received
from solar radiations.
Varieties of solar cookers have been designed using different materials
and they are used by the people all over the world. Some of the types are
given below.
Box type solar cooker:
This is simple flat plate solar cooker in the shape of box or suit case
which can move anywhere we like to use. It is made up of double wall
wooden or aluminum sheet metal box with operable glass lid. In between the
wall, insulating materials like thermocol or glass wool is filled up. Inside
surface of solar cooker is painted with non-shining black paint so that it can
efficiently absorb the heat from solar radiations. There are following
components of the box type solar cooker:
Outer box : It is made up from sheet metal and painted with black color
which work as absorber plate to receive heat energy.
Inner box: It is also made from sheet metal and painted with black color
which works as absorber plate to receive heat energy.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Insulation: In the space between the outer box and inner box insulating
materials like glass wool or thermocol is filled up to prevent the loss of heat
energy from the cooker.
Double glass lid: A lid which can close or open is provided over the empty
space where food material is kept for cooking. It is double glass cover to
prevent the radiation losses from the cooker, Ii permits the solar rays to
enter the cooker but prevents to go out from the cooker.
Mirror paneled outer lid: This is sheet metal cover to close or open the box
of cooker. Inside surface of the cover is provided with flat reflecting mirror.
Cooking containers: The aluminum containers are kept in the space
provided in the cooker. They are also painted with black color on outer
surface to absorb the heat energy. The food stuff is kept inside these
containers.
Working of solar cooker:
The solar cooker is placed on the stand in the sunlight where direct beam
radiations are falling. Its mirror cover lid is open and adjusted in such a way
that the reflection of sun rays fall on the transparent double glass lid. The
food materials like rice, vegetables for boiling or dry roasting are kept in the
containers. Depending upon the intensity of sun rays the food gets cooked
within one to three hours. In clear day with good sunshine it is possible to
get food cooked in an hour.

Fig. Construction of solar cooker

Concentrating collector solar cooker

In the concentrating solar cookers, the cooking pot is placed at the
focus of a concentrating mirror. Concentrating type solar cooker is working
on one or two axis tracking with a concentration ratio up to 50 and
temperature up to 300C, which is suitable for cooking. Concentrating
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

cookers utilize multifaceted mirrors, Fresnel lenses or parabolic

concentrators to attain higher temperatures. The concentrating type of solar
cookers is further subdivided into parabolic dish/trough, cylindrical,
spherical, and Fresnel. This type of cookers usually employs
mirrors/reflectors to concentrate the total solar energy incident on the
collector surface, so the collector surface is usually very wide and the
temperature achieved is very high. Parabolic dish cooker has the highest
efficiency in terms of the utilization of the reflector area because in fully
steerable dish system there are no losses due to aperture projection effects.
Also radiation losses are small because of the small area of the absorber at
the focus. Additional advantages include higher cooking temperatures, as
virtually any type of food can be cooked and short heat-up times.

Fig Solar cooker

Solar dryer
Conventional method of drying is to spread the material in a thin layer
on ground and let it exposed to the sun. Such a method has various
disadvantages like,
 Accumulation of dust and harms due to insects
 Wastage of material due to birds
 Non uniform drying due to varying intensity of sun
 Larger area required for drying
All these difficulties are removed by using solar drier. There are two types
of solar driers.
Natural convection solar drier:
Natural air-drying is an in bin drying system with the following typical
characteristics:
 Drying process is slow, generally requiring 4 to 8 weeks.
 Initial moisture content is normally limited to 22 to 24%.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

 Drying results from forcing unheated air through grain at airflow rates
of 1 to 2 cfm/bu.
 Drying and storage occur in the same bin, minimizing grain handling.
 Bin is equipped with a full-perforated floor, one or more high capacity
fans, a grain distributor and stairs
 Cleaning equipment is used to remove broken kernels and fines.

Description of Cabinet drier

It can be of fixed type and also of portable type. Generally it has an
area of about 3 x 5 m2 glass sheet fixed at the top at an angle of about 0 to
300. Holes are provided at the bottom and at the topsides for airflow by
natural convection. Wire meshed black tray is provided to the material to be
dried.
Forced convection solar dryer (Hot air system)
In these, the collectors are provided with duct. Generally, a duct of 2.5
cm depth is provided. It is made out of two plates welded together
lengthwise. Cold air is blown through a blower into the collectors, which
gets heated during the passage through it. The hot air thus available is then
used for drying the products kept on the shelves of driers. This hot air takes
away the moisture of the products and is let out through a properly located
outlet.
1. Absorber with ducting
2. Blower with motor and
3. Drying bin
Description: This drier has three main components viz., flat plate collector,
blower and drying bin. The area of the collector is 8 m2. It is divided into 4
tray each having 2m x 1m absorber area. The absorber is made out of
corrugated G.I. sheet and is painted with dull black color. Another plain G.I.
sheet placed 5 cm below the absorber plate creates air space for heating.
This sheet is insulated at the bottom with glass wool and is supported at the
bottom with another plain G.I. sheet. The absorber is covered at the top with
two layers of 3 mm thick plain glass. The unit is supported on all sides with
wooden scantling and is placed at 110 to the horizontal facing south. Baffle
plates are provided in the air space. The air space is open at the bottom to
suck atmospheric air and at the top it is connected to a duct leading to
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

suction side of the blower. The blower is of 80 m3 / min, capacity run by

3HP electric motor. The delivery side of the blower is connected to the
plenum chamber of a circular grain
Forced Convection Solar Drier for Drying of Grains
For drying high moisture paddy the solar drier can be used. The
different components of the drier are air heater, air ducts and blower and
grain drying chamber. The flat plate collector used for heating the air has an
efficiency of 60% and rise in ambient air temperature is 13 °C. Freshly
harvested paddy can be dried and it may take about 7-8 hours to bring the
moisture content from 30% to 16% (d.b.). After drying the grains, the milling
quality can be tested. The use of solar air heater for drying of grains
indicates that 10-15 °C rise in the temperature of the air is enough to reduce
the relative humidity of the air to 60% or less which is quite useful for
drying of cereal grains. To the level consists of safe moisture content for
storage 500 kg of paddy could be dried from 30 to 40 % moisture content in
a period of 6 hours on bright sunny day by using air flow rate 4 m3/min,
with temperature rise 8-10°C. Solar drier consists of air heater, blower
drying chamber, air distribution system and thermal storage system. The
heated air is blown to drying chamber by blowers of the centrifugal type to
handle large quantity of air. Batch type or continuous flow type drying
chamber artificially creates the necessary radiation to reduce moisture. Hot
air from the collector is sucked by a blower through the inlet pipe and is
being forced into the drying chamber. An auxiliary heating system to
supplement heat requirement may be arranged. This type of auxiliary
systems and thermal storage systems for collecting extra energy during
daytime, take care of the night operations.
Solar Pond:
A solar pond is large-scale solar thermal energy collector with integral
heat storage for supplying thermal energy. A solar pond can be used for
various applications, such as process heating, desalination, refrigeration,
drying and solar power generation.
Solar pond is simply a pool of salt water which collects and stores
solar thermal energy. The saltwater naturally forms a vertical salinity
gradient also known as a "Halocline", in which low- salinity water floats on
top of high-salinity water. The layers of salt solutions increase in
concentration (and therefore density) with depth. Below a certain depth,
the solution has a uniformly high salt concentration.
When solar energy is absorbed in the water, its temperature increases,
causing thermal expansion and reduces density. If the water is fresh, the
low-density warm water would float to the surface, causing convection
current. The temperature gradient alone causes a density gradient that
decreases with depth. However the salinity gradient forms a density gradient
that increases with depth, and this counteracts the temperature gradient,
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

thus preventing heat in the lower layers from moving upwards by convection
and leaving the pond. This means that the temperature at the bottom of the
pond will rise to over 90 °C while the temperature at the top of the pond is
usually around 30°C.
There are 3 distinct layers of water in the pond:
 The top layer, which has a low salt content.
 An intermediate insulating layer with a salt gradient, which
establishes a density gradient that prevents heat exchange by natural
convection.
 The bottom layer, which has a high salt content.
The top layer is cold and has relatively little salt content. The bottom
layer is hot- up to100°C (212°F) - and is very salty. Separating these two
layers is the important gradient zone. Here salt content increases with
depth. Water in the gradient cannot rise because the water above it has less
salt content and is therefore lighter. The water below it has a higher salt
content and is heavier. Thus, the stable gradient zone suppresses
convection and acts as a transparent insulator, permitting sunlight to be
trapped in the hot bottom layer from which useful heat may be withdrawn
or stored for later use. The heat trapped in the salty bottom layer can be
used for many different purposes, such as the heating of buildings or
industrial hot water or for generating electricity.
The Bhuj (Gujarat) solar pond is first-ever solar pond in India to
have connected itself to an end-user- supplying industrial process heat to
the Kutch Dairy. The pond covers an area of 6000 square metres. Avoiding
use of imported membrane lining, the project developed a cost-effective,
indigenous lining scheme, using locally mined clay and plastics. While
the pond attained a record 99.8 °C under stagnation, stability of the
salinity gradient was maintained even at such elevated temperatures.
Solar still/ solar desalination
The basic principle behind solar distillation is simple and replicates
the natural process of water purification. A solar still is an air tight basin
that contains saline or contaminated water (i.e. feed water). It is enclosed by
a transparent top cover, usually of glass or plastic, which allows incident
solar radiation to pass through. The inner surface of the basin is usually
blackened to increase the efficiency of the system by absorbing more of the
incident solar radiation. The feed water heats up, then starts to evaporate
and subsequently condenses on the inside of the top cover, which is at a
lower temperature as it is in contact with the ambient air. The condensed
water (i.e. the distillate) trickles down the cover and is collected in an
interior trough and then stored in a separate basin. This system is also
known as passive solar still, as it operates solely on sun`s radiation. The
amount of solar radiation that is absorbed is a function of the absorptivity
and depth of the water. The remaining energy eventually reaches the
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

blackened basin liner, where it is mostly absorbed and converted into

thermal energy. At this stage, the water heats up, resulting in an increase of
the temperature difference between the cover and the water itself. Heat
transfer takes then place as radiation, convection and evaporation from the
water surface to the inner part of the cover. The evaporated water condenses
and releases latent heat. This last one is then lost through convection and
radiation together with the remaining convective and radiative heat.
Solar Still Operation
Water to be cleaned is poured into the still to partially fill the basin.
The glass cover allows the solar radiation to pass into the still, which is
mostly absorbed by the blackened base. This interior surface uses a
blackened material to improve absorption of the sunrays. The water begins
to heat up and the moisture content of the air trapped between the water
surface and the glass cover increases. The heated water vapor evaporates
from the basin and condenses on the inside of the glass cover. In this
process, the salts and microbes that were in the original water are left
behind. Condensed water trickles down the inclined glass cover to an
interior collection trough and out to a storage bottle. Feed water should be
added each day that roughly exceeds the distillate production to provide
proper flushing of the basin water and to clean out excess salts left behind
during the evaporation process. If the still produced 3 litres of water, 9 litres
of make-up water should be added, of which 6 litres leaves the still as
excess to flush the basin.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-10
Solar Photovoltaic System
Photovoltaic system (PV) is the technology of solar cells for energy by
converting solar energy (sunlight, including ultra violet radiation) directly
into electricity. A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light
directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Combination of cells are
used to make solar panels, it is called solar modules, or photovoltaic
arrays. The photovoltaic effect refers to photons of light knocking electrons
into a higher state of energy to create electricity. Solar cells produce direct
current electricity from light, which can be used to power equipment or to
recharge a battery. An inverter is required to convert the DC to AC.
How do Photovoltaics Work?
Solar cells are made of the some kinds of semiconductor materials,
such as silicon. For solar cells, a thin semiconductor wafer is specially
treated to form an electric field, positive on one side and negative on the
other. When light energy strikes the solar cell, electrons are knocked loose
from the atoms in the semiconductor material. If electrical conductors are
attached to the positive side (p-type) and negative side (n-type), forming an
electrical circuit, the electrons can be captured in the form of an electric
current-that is, electricity. This electricity can then be used to power a
load, such as a light or a tool.

These devices have theoretical efficiency of the order of 25 %. Actual

operation efficiency is less than half this value and decrease fairly rapidly
with increasing temperature. Large number of cells has been manufactured
with area 2 × 2 cm, efficiency approaching 10 % and operating at 28°C. The
efficiency is the power developed per unit area of array divided by the solar
energy flux in the free space (1.353 kW/m2)
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Operation of a PV cell
Due to the low voltage of an individual solar cell (typically 0.5V), several
cells are combined into photovoltaic modules, which are in turn
connected together into an array. The electricity generated can be either
stored, used directly or fed into a large electricity grid powered by central
generation plants (grid-connected/grid-tied plant) or combined with one
or many domestic electricity generators to feed into a small grid.
Multiple cells can be clubbed together to form a Module and
multiple modules can be wired together to form an Array. In general,
the larger the area of a module or array, the more electricity will be
produced. Photovoltaic modules and arrays produce direct- current (dc)
electricity. They can be connected in both series and parallel electrical
arrangements to produce any required voltage and current combination.
Application of PV system
Solar Lantern:
The lantern is basically a portable lighting device suitable for either indoor
or outdoor lighting, covering a full range of 360 degrees. A solar Lantern is
made of three main components - the solar PV panel, the storage battery
and the lamp. The operation is very simple. The solar energy is converted to
electrical energy by the SPV panel and stored in a sealed maintenance-free
battery for later use during the night hours. A single charge can operate the
lamp for about 3-6 hours.
Advantages:
• Charges from the sun
• Up to 6 hours of light
• Zero running cost
• Extremely Bright light (equivalent to 60Watt tungsten light)
• Very solid, durable design
• Portable, easy to carry anywhere
• Long life, maintenance free battery
• Wall mounting option
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

• Versatile; charge it suing Solar, AC charger or Car Charger

• Emergency function: Lights on automatically in power cuts

A LED based solar lantern system aims at providing solar electricity for
operating LED lights for specified hours of operation per day. Light
Emitting Diode (LED) is a device which emits light when an electric
current passes through it. A Solar lantern is a lighting system consisting of
a lamp, battery and electronics, all placed in a suitable housing, made of
metal, plastic or fiber glass, and a PV module. The battery is charged by
electricity generated through the PV module.
System Description

PV Module 12 V, 10 Wp
Battery Sealed and Maintenance free type
Lamp Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL), 7/ 9 W or LED
Working Time 3-6 hrs
Charging Time 6-8 hours / day
Warranty 10 Years for PV module, 1 year for electronics battery

Solar Street Lights:

This system is designed for outdoor application in un-electrified
remote rural areas and is an ideal application for campus and village street
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

lighting. The system is provided with battery storage backup sufficient to

operate the light for 10-11 hours daily. The system is having automatic
ON/OFF time switch for dusk to down operation and overcharge/deep
discharge prevention cut- off with LED indicators.
The solar street light system comprise of:
• Solar PV Module
• 12 V, 75 Ah Tubular plate battery with battery box
• Charge Controller cum inverter (20-35 kHz)
• 11 Watt CFL Lamp with fixtures
• 4 metre mild steel lamp post above ground level with weather proof
paint and mounting hardware.
The SPV modules are reported to have a service life of 15-20 years.
Tubular Batteries (Sealed and Maintenance free type) provided with the solar
street lighting system require lower maintenance; have longer life and give
better performance as compared to pasted plate batteries used earlier. The
systems electronic provide for over-charge and over-discharge cut-off
essential for preventing battery and luminaries damages.
Power Consumption 28W(For LED consumption only, the system with
power supply is about 36W)
Working Voltage 85-264VAC, 12 or 24VDC
Luminous Flux 2,100lm (equal to 75w HPS Lamp on 7m height pole or
150w HPS lamp on

6m Height Pole)

Solar Fencing:
Solar Power Fencing system is safe, effective and reliable perimeter
solutions. The systems utilize the latest solar power fence technology.
Deterrence is provided through an electric pulse which is sent around the
fence line every 1.2 seconds. The pulse delivers a SAFE, SHORT, yet SHARP
SHOCK. Importantly, should someone attempt to breach the fence, the
system reports the zone under attack. An alarm is sent to the monitoring
center so they can dispatch a security guard ensuring the site is secure day
and night.
Solar Power Fencing systems can be standalone or linked with other
security systems. It can be designed to meet the rigorous requirements of
high-risk security installations, such as military installations and prisons,
through to small commercial applications such as self storage facilities and
vehicle sales yards.

Why go for solar power fencing?

 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

• Growing, rationing of crops and pastures can be improved during slow

growth periods.
• Keep animals, including wild and vermin, away.
• Separate various types and classes of animals.
• Fence off trees, rivers, eroding areas and roads.
• Substantial increase in the pasture production.
• The return of valuable animal manure more evenly over the
grazing area than having it concentrated in specific areas.
Features:
• Easy Construction.
• Power fence can be erected to target species only.
• Low maintenance.
• Long lasting because of minimal physical pressure.
• All domestic and wild animals can be controlled economically.
• Modification of system to control a variety of animals is very easy.
• Discourages trespassers and predators.
• Not harmful. It gives a short, sharp but safe shock to the intruder.
• Perimeter protection
• Substantially reduces crop damage
• Environment friendly
• Uses solar energy and therefore non dependent on grid power
• Significantly reduces man-animal conflicts
• Effective wildlife management tool for use by park managers
• Cost effective and return on investment starts from day one.
• Works 24/7

Applications of electric Fence systems

 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Electric fence systems have varied application in Agriculture, Industrial and

Forestry or Plantation sectors. With increasing crime in urban areas, this
proven technology has now been adapted for domestic security applications,
too.
Industrial: Security Electric Fence systems provide 100% protections
against theft, Pilferage, arson, sabotage. The fence systems can also be
integrated with other security devices like sirens, flood lights etc., making it
impenetrable.
Domestic: The wall top system for residential applications is sleek, aesthetic
and ideal for compounds, rooftops, farm houses and apartments.
Solar Water Pumping System:
The solar water pumping system is a stand-alone system operating on
power generated using solar PV (photovoltaic) system. The power generated
by solar cells is used for operating DC surface centrifugal mono-block pump
set for lifting water from bore / open well or water reservoir for minor
irrigation and drinking water purpose.
Advantages of solar pump sets:
• No fuel cost-uses abundantly available free sun light
• No conventional grid electricity required
• Long operating life
• Highly reliable and durable- free performance
• Easy to operate and maintain
• Eco-friendly
• Saving of conventional diesel fuel
Salient Features:
• Automatic start and shut off as per solar intensity
• Dry run protection (automatic switch off)
• Single phase 50 Hz AC input operating voltage range of 100-270 Volts
• Visual indication of faults through flickering LED displays
• Will not restart automatically for faults like dry run, phase imbalance,
output short circuit; unless attended
• Controller is designed to accept DC voltages
Applications:
• Remote Villages, Homes, Cabins and Hunting Lodges
• Irrigation for remote orchards, gardens, and greenhouses
• Wildlife watering at wild game parks and farms
• Fish pond water level maintenance and aeration
• Surface water pumping for landscaping streams and waterfalls
• Cattle, Livestock and wildlife watering systems.
Parts of the solar water pumping system:
• Solar PV panel
• Motor-pump sets compatible with the photovoltaic array:
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

• Surface mounted centrifugal pump set or submersible pump set Pipe

fittings
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-11

Wind Energy
Wind results from air in motion. Air in motion arises from a pressure
gradient. It has been estimated that 2% of the solar radiation falling on the
face of the earth is converted to KE in the atmosphere and 30% of the KE
occurs in the lowest 1000 m elevation. The energy available in the wind over
the earth surface is 1.6 x 107 MW which is of the order of magnitude of
present energy consumption on the earth. In India air speed values lies
between 05-20 km/hr. Wind speed increase with height. They are measured
at standard height of 10m where they are found to be 20-25% greater than
close to the ground surface. Wind power is the conversion of wind energy
into a useful form of energy, such as electricity, using wind turbines.
Wind Mill: A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the
kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is
used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the
machine is usually called a windmill.
Wind Turbine: If the mechanical energy is instead converted to
electricity, the machine is called a wind generator, wind turbine, wind power
unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or Aerogenerator
Wind Power
Wind possesses kinetic energy by virtue of its motion. Factors that
determine the output from wind mill
1. Wind Speed
2. Cross Section of wind swept by rotor
3. Over all conversion efficiency of rotor, transmission system and
generator/ pump.
Wind mill works on the principle of converting Kinetic energy (KE) of
the wind into mechanical energy. Power is equal to energy per unit time

where,
ρ = Air density (1.225 kg/m3 at sea level and changes by 10% with
altitude Area swept by the rotor)

v = wind velocity
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

We can convert the expression for KE into power

The term P/A is the wind power potential

Power equation also written

From equation,
1. The wind power available is directly proportional to the air density
2. By doubling the diameter of the rotor the power will increase 4 fold
3. By doubling wind speed the power available will increase 8 fold
Wind machine intended for generating substantial amounts of power
should have large rotors and be located in areas of high wind speed.
Power coefficient
The fraction of the free flow wind power that can be extracted by a
rotor is called power coefficient. It is also called ideal or maximum,
theoretical efficiency (ηmax) of a wind turbine.
It is the ratio maximum power obtained from the wind, to the total
power available in the wind.

( )

The maximum theoretical power coefficient is equal to 16/27 or 0.593

for a horizontal axis wind machine. The factor 0.593 is known as the Betz
coefficient.
Maximum power
The maximum power for ideal wind machine, with horizontal axis
wind machine

than

Forces on the blades and thrust on turbines

There are two types of forces which are acting on the blades. One is
circumferential force acting in the direction of wheel rotation that provides
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

torque and other is the axial force acting thrust that must be counteracted
by proper machine design.
The circumferential force or torque

where,
T= torque kgf or newton
P= Power
D= diameter of turbine wheel
N= wheel revelations per unit time

Or

At maximum efficiency

The axial force or thrust

The axial force on a turbine wheel operating at maximum efficiency

where ve =1/3 vi

We see that axial force is proportional to the square of the diameter of the
turbine wheel, this limits turbine wheel diameter of large size.
Suitable places for erection of wind mill
1. Off shore and on the sea coast – wind energy availability is 2400
kWh/m2/year
2. Mountains – 1600 kWh/m2/year
3. Plains – 750 kWh/m2/year
Places unsuitable for wind mill
1. Humid equatorial region. In these area wind velocity is minimum
2. Warm, windy countries where frequency of cyclones is more
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Advantages of Wind Energy

1. It is renewable source of energy
2. Now polluting and no adverse influences on environment.
3. No fuel and no transportation is required
4. The cost of electricity production is comparatively low
Disadvantages
1. Wind energy is dilute and fluctuating in nature
2. It requires storage capacity
3. Machines operating on wind energy are noisy
4. Wind power machines are relatively have high overall weight (110
kg/kW)
5. Large area is required for wind mill
6. Efficiency of operation is poor and maintenance costs are high
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-12
Types of wind mills
Wind mill is a machine for wind energy conversion. A wind turbine
converts the kinetic energy of the wind’s motion to mechanical energy
transmitted by the shaft. A generator further converts it to electrical energy,
thereby generating electricity.
1. Vertical axis wind mills: Ex. Savonius or S type wind mill (low wind
velocity) Darrius wind mill (high wind velocity)
2. Horizontal axis wind mills: Ex. Single blade wind mills Double blade
wind mills Multi blade wind mills Bicycle multi-blade type i.e., Sail
type.
Parts of Common Wind Turbines
The main parts of the systems that comprise these wind turbines are:
1. The tower: Since velocities close to the ground are very low and there
must be good clearance between the lower part of the blades and the
ground, the wind turbines are placed on top of a tower at a significant
height above the ground. The height of the tower depends on the diameter of
the blade and is of the order of magnitude of the blade diameter, D, allowing
a clearance of D/2, between the ground and the lower part of the blade.
Thus, towers are between 30 and 100 m high. The tower is a simple
structural element, usually made of reinforced concrete, which is designed
to withstand the axial force and resulting moment generated by the wind
turbine. It is typically thicker at the lower part and is usually designed as a
hollow structure to allow easy access to the top for engine repairs at the
turbine hub. Some older (and shorter) towers were designed as trusses made
of metal.
2. The yaw bearings and yaw break: Because the wind turbine must
rotate to face the instantaneous direction of the wind, the entire electricity
producing system is pivoted on strong bearings that allow the rotation of the
system around a vertical axis. The drag force on a downstream rotating vane
or a simple rudder provides the force for this rotation. In order to avoid
overshooting in the rotation of the electricity generating system and
unnecessary power fluctuations, the yaw break system slows the rotational
motion by providing damping.
3. The rotor blades: They are the most important part of the generating
system, where the wind energy is imparted to the engine. They are very long,
typically 30–100 m in diameter. The rotor blades are designed
aerodynamically with pitch angles that vary with the distance from the hub
and they are made of low weight and strong materials. Low density woven
composites are now typically used for the turbine blades, which are typically
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

hollow. The blades are connected to the hub, which extends to a horizontal
metal shaft that becomes the prime mover of the engine. The shaft is
supported by a series of bearings. In the more advanced and better
optimized engines, a mechanism is put in place that changes the pitch of
the blades to produce maximum power at the instantaneous wind velocity.
These mechanisms are made of sensors and actuators, which measure the
magnitude of the instantaneous wind velocity, adjust the position of the
base of the blades inside the hub and, thus change the pitch of the entire
blade. The actuator mechanisms are attached to the blades, rotate with
them and are supported by their own pitch-control bearings.
4. The gear box: In order to minimize the centrifugal stresses, the
rotational speed of the blades at operating conditions is fairly low, typically
of the order of 100 rpm. A gearbox steps up the rotational speed of the prime
mover to reach a range 2,000–3,000 rpm and transmits the power to a
secondary high rpm shaft, which is connected to the generator. A small
fraction of the blade power is dissipated in the gear box by friction. For this
reason, larger wind power engines may require a cooling system for their
gearbox.
5. The generator: Both permanent magnet generators and generators with
electromagnets (exciters) are used for the conversion of the mechanical
power to electricity. The generators of the more modern and larger engines
are rated in MW (typically 1–3 MW) and include power electronics, such as
Variable Speed Constant Frequency devices (VSCF), which convert the
variable frequency of the secondary shaft to a constant frequency. Any
power spikes in the system are usually absorbed by the inertia of the rotor.
One of the salient characteristics of wind power systems is that very high
power fluctuations occur with relatively low wind velocity changes. For
example, an increase of the wind velocity from 8 to 10 m/s (or 25%) would
cause a power increase of almost 100%. Frequent power variations of this
magnitude are undesirable because they are associated with high stresses
on the blades, on the prime mover and gear as well as with strong power
fluctuations on the electric grid. These types of problems are minimized by
designing the wind turbines to produce almost constant power.
Vertical axis type wind mills
Vertical axis machines are of simple design as compared to the
horizontal axis. The axis of rotation of vertical axis wind turbine is vertical to
the ground and almost perpendicular to the wind direction. These turbines
can receive wind from any direction. Hence complicated yaw devices can be
eliminated. The generator and the gearbox of such systems can be housed at
the ground level, which makes the tower design simple and more
economical. Moreover, the maintenance of these turbines can be done at the
ground level.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

The major disadvantage of vertical axis machines are that, these

turbines usually not self starting. Additional mechanism may be required to
push and start the turbine, once it is stopped.

Schematic diagram horizontal and vertical axis wind mill

Savonius wind mill

It works on the principle of cup anemometer. This was invented by S.J.
Savonius in the year 1920. This machine has become popular, since it
requires low wind velocity for operation. It consists of two half cylinders,
which are mounted on a vertical axis perpendicular to the direction of wind,
with a gap at the axis between the two cylinders (Fig.29). Two half cylinders
facing each other forming a ‘s’ shaped cross-section. Irrespective of the wind
direction, the rotor rotates such as to make the convex sides of the buckets
head into the wind. From the rotor shaft, we can tap power for our use like
water pumping, battery charging, grain winnowing etc. The main action of
the wind is very simple, the force of the wind is greater on the cupped face
than on rounded face. A low pressure is created on the convex sides of
drums. Torque is produced by the 5 pressure difference between the two
sides of the half cylinders facing the wind. This design is efficient but
requires a large surface area. A savonius wind energy conversion system has
vertical axes which eliminate the expensive power transmission system from
the rotor to the axis. Since it is a vertical axis machine it does not matters
much about the wind direction. The machine performs even at lower wind
velocity ranges (i.e., 8 kmph).
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Schematic diagram of savonius wind mill

Darrieus wind mill

It has two are three thin, curved blades with airfoils cross section and
constant chord length. Both ends of blades are attached to a vertical shaft.
Thus the force in the blade due to rotation is pure tension. This provides a
stiffness to help withstand the wind forces it experiences. The blades can
thus be made lighter than propeller type.

Schematic diagram of darrieus wind mill

 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

Lacture-12
Horizontal axis type wind mills
Horizontal axis wind turbines have their axis of rotation horizontal to
the ground and almost parallel to the wind stream. Most of the commercial
wind turbines fall under this category.
Horizontal axis machines have some distinct disadvantages such as
low cut-in speed and easy furling. In general, they show relatively high
power coefficient. However, the generator and gearbox of these machines are
to be placed over the tower which makes its design more complex and
expensive. Depending on the number of blades, horizontal axis wind
turbines are further classified as single bladed, two bladed, three bladed and
multi bladed. Single blade turbines are cheaper due to savings on blade
materials. The drag losses are also minimum for these turbines. However, to
balance the blade, a counter weight has to be placed opposite to the hub.
Single bladed designs are not very popular due to problems in balancing and
visual acceptability. Most of the present commercial turbines used for
electricity generation have three blades.
The horizontal type wind mills have thin cross-section or more
efficient thick cross-section of aerofoil blade. The blade is designed such
that the tip of the blades makes a small angle with the plane of rotation and
almost at right angles to the direction of wind. In a modern wind turbine,
the velocity of blades is six times the wind velocity. Ideally, the blade should
be twisted, but because of construction difficulties this is not always
achieved. The horizontal axis wind mills generally have better performance.
These are mainly used for electric power generation and pumping water.

Schematic diagram of horizontal axis wind mill

Horizontal axis propeller type wind mill with single blade
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

In this type of machine, a long blade is mounted on a rigid hub.

Induction generator and gear box are arranged. If extremely long blades (60
m) are mounted on the hub, large blade root bending moments may occur
due to tower shadow, gravity and sudden shifts in the wind directions. To
reduce rotor cost, use of low cost counter weight is recommended for
balancing long blade centrifugally.
 The blade is designed such that the tip of the blades makes a small
angle with the plane of rotation and almost at right angles to the
direction of wind.
 The generator and gearbox of these machines are to be placed over the
tower which makes its design more complex and expensive.
 In a modern wind turbine, the velocity of blades is six times the wind
velocity. Ideally, the blade should be twisted, but because of
construction difficulties this is not always achieved.
 The horizontal axis wind mills generally have better performance.
These are mainly used for electric power generation and pumping
water.
Horizontal axis - two blade wind mill
In this type of design, rotor drives a generator through a step-up gear
box. The blade rotor is designed to be oriented downwind of the tower. The
components are mounted on a bedplate, which is attached on a pintle at the
top of the tower. The rotor blades are continuously flexed by unsteady
aerodynamic, gravitational and inertial loads, when the machine is in
operation. If the blades are made of metal, flexing reduces their life due to
fatigue loading. With rotor, the tower is also subjected to above loads, which
may cause serious damage. If the vibrational modes of the rotor happen to
coincide with one of the natural mode of vibration of the tower, then the mill
may get damaged. Due to high cost of blades, the rotor with more than two
blades is not recommended. Rotors more than two, say 3 or 4 blades would
have slightly higher coefficient.
Horizontal axis-multi blade type wind mill: This type of design for multi
blades is shown in fig.34, made from sheet metal or aluminum. The rotors
have high strength to weight ratios and are strong enough to with stand a
wind speed of 60 Kmph. This type of wind mills have good power coefficient,
high starting torque, simple and are low in cost.
Sail type wind mill: It is recent development in wind mills. The blades are
made by stretching out triangular pieces of canvas cloth or nylon or plastics.
There is also variation in the number of sails used. It runs at 60 to 80 rpm.
The horizontal axis types generally have better performance. They have been
used for various applications but two major areas of interest are electric
power generation, and pumping water.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

COMPARISON OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL AXIS WIND MILL

Horizontal axis wind mill Vertical axis wind mill
1. Shaft of the rotor of wind mill as 1. Shaft of the rotor of wind mill is
horizontal and is not very long. vertical and it is very long and
heavy.
2. Wind mill tower is required to 2. No such tower is needed and
support rotor and generator. generator is kept at ground level.
3. Its starting torque is less. 3. Its starting torque is high.
4. Tip to wind speed ratio is more 4. Tip to wind speed ratio is less
and it gives more power. and it gives less power.
5. Rotor head changes the direction 5. Vertical shaft rotor does not
when wind direction is changed. require to change its directions.
It runs by the winds coming from
any directions.
6. Wind mill support system has to 6. Wind mill support system is
bear total weight of rotor, blades made up of guy bars which does
and generator. not require to bear the weight of
rote and generator.
7. Wind force on the rotor produces 7. Wind force on the rotor does not
stress on every parts of the wind produce stress on all parts of the
mill such as rotor, bearings and wind mill.
structures.
8. The support structures required 8. Strong support structures are
is very strong. not very strong.
9. The wind mills are very popular 9. The wind mills are not very
for power generation. popular for power generation.
10 Propeller type and multi blade 10 Savonius rotor and Darricus
American type are examples of wind mills are vertical type wind
horizontal axis wind mills mills.

Limitations:
1. Wind machines must be located where strong, dependable winds are
available most of the time.
2. Because winds do not blow strongly enough to produce power all the
time, energy from wind machines is considered "intermittent," that is, it
comes and goes. Therefore, electricity from wind machines must have a
back-up supply from another source.
3. As wind power is "intermittent," utility companies can use it for only part
of their total energy needs.
4. Wind towers and turbine blades are subject to damage from high winds
and lighting. Rotating parts, which are located high off the ground can be
difficult and expensive to repair.
5. Electricity produced by wind power sometimes fluctuates in voltage and
power factor, which can cause difficulties in linking its power to a utility
system.
 Ag.Engg. 4.3 (Renewable Energy and Green Technology )

6. The noise made by rotating wind machine blades can be annoying to

nearby neighbors.
7. People have complained about aesthetics of and avian mortality from
wind machines.