DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEEERING, AJIET, MANGALORE

ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

Biomass Energy: Photosynthesis, photosynthetic oxygen production, energy plantation.
Biochemical Route: Biogas production from organic wastes by anaerobic fermentation,
Biogas plantsKVIC, Janta, Deenbhandu models, factors affecting bio gas generation.
Thermal gasification of biomass, updraft and downdraft

Biomass Energy
Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. Refers to
plants or plant-derived materials which are specifically called lignocellulose biomass.
As a renewable energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion to
produceheat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel.
Benefits of Using Biomass
1) Biomass used as a fuel reduces need for fossil fuels for the production of heat, steam, and
electricity for residential, industrial and agricultural use.
2) Biomass is always available and can be produced as a renewable resource.
3) Biomass fuel from agriculture wastes maybe a secondary product that adds value to
agricultural crop.
4) Growing Biomass crops produce oxygen and use up carbon dioxide.
5) The use of waste materials reduce landfill disposal and makes more space for everything
else.
6) Carbon Dioxide which is released when Biomass fuel is burned, is taken in by plants.
7) Less money spent on foreign oil.

Photosynthesis Process
The process by which plants and other photoautotrophs generate carbohydrates and oxygen
from carbon dioxide, water, and light energy in chloroplasts, the "fuel" used by all living things.
The conversion of unusable sunlight energy into usable chemical energy, is associated with the
actions of the green pigment chlorophyll.
Most of the time, the photosynthetic process uses water and releases the oxygen that we
absolutely must have to stay alive.

We can write the overall reaction of this process as:

6H O + 6CO ----------> C H O + 6O
2 2 6 12 6 2

Six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of sugar
plus six molecules of oxygen

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Photosynthesis is a two stage process

Mainly the photosynthesis consists of two steps:

1) Due to action of chlorophyll and sunlight, water molecule breaks in to H2 and [Link] phase
is called light reaction in which solar energy is converted in to potential chemical energy. The
O2 escapes and H2 gets converted into some unknown compound.
2) This phase of reaction is called dark reaction which forms CO2 and starch or sugar from
unknown compound of H2 and does not require sunlight.

Energy Plantation
It is a means of extracting maximum solar energy by growing plants. The plants are grown,
especially for their fuel value and acts as solar collectors. They are economical, free from
pollution and require no maintenance. Energy fauns are the best alternatives for present fuel
crisis and to replace fossil and nuclear energy sources. In plant farm, the natural photosynthesis
process stores ten times more energy annually than consumed by the world. In India, the total
forest area is around 25%. Jojaba, Acacia, Tortilla, Albizzia, Lebbak, Prasois. Juliflora are
some of the tree species which have been identified for energy farm in our country. Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore running a program to grow monoculture plantations of fast
growing species and monitor the biomass productivity. They also studied the economics of
monoculture plantations and developed an alternative forestry strategy to meet various village
needs.
Energy farm is a locally available energy source with highest versatility among renewable
energies. No other energy source can open such new opportunities for agricultural and forest
development. A number of projects have been taken up to full fill the needs of fuel and power
generation. A number of projects, worth about 5MW capacity, have been taken under DNES
(Development of Non conventional Energy Sources) at various places in the country. Gasifiers
and sterling engines are used for generation of energy from various types of biomass.
Biogas generation
The decomposition of animal, plant and human wastes generates biogas and is a mixture of
methane (50 to 70%), carbon dioxide (30 to 40%), hydrogen, hydrogen sulphide and nitrogen.
The biogas is a clean, slow burning gas with its calorific value ranging from 21000kJ/kg to
23028 kJ/kg (38 l 31 kJ/m3 ).Biogas is mainly used for cooking applications. The materials
used for biogas generation retains its fertilizer properties and return to the soil.
The biogas is generated from cow dug , piggery waste, poultry droppings, algae, crop residues,
garbage kitchen wastes etc. The cellulosic organic material of animal or plant origin forms raw
material with high potential for biogas generation.
There are three methods by which biogas could be generated. They are digestion, pyrolysis or
hydro gasification.
Digestion is a biological process which occurs in a chamber called digester .The process occurs
in the presence of anaerobic organisms at atmospheric pressure and temperatures of 35 – 70 C
and in the absence of oxygen.

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Anaerobic digestion
It is the method of generating biogas through fermentation or bio digestion of different types
of wastes by a number of anaerobic and facultative organisms. Facultative organisms are
bacteria which grow with or without oxygen. Bacteria are classified in to two groups, aerobic
- which grow in presence of oxygen and anaerobic-does not require oxygen to grow. The
biodegradation or decomposition of the organic matter by fermentation process through
anaerobic digestion, results in the formation of biome.
The anaerobic digestion produces sugar. Alcohols, pesticides and amino acids by breaking
organic matter. This results in the formation of methane by another type of bacteria.
The phases of anaerobic digestion are:
1) Enzymatic hydrolysis: In this phase, the fats, starches and proteins present in the cellulose
cellulose biomass are converted in to simple compounds.
2) Acid formation: In this phase, the complex organic compounds converted in to simple
organic acids. The acids and volatile solids are formed by hydrolysis and fermentation from
micro organism of facultative and anaerobic group and together called acid formers. This stage
may last about two weeks and this phase results in the formation of large amount of carbon
dioxide.
3) Methane formation: In this phase, the acids produced from previous phase converted in to
methane (CH4) and CO2 by anaerobic bacteria which are also known as methane fomenters.
For digestion process to be efficient, these acid formers and methane fomenters must be in a
state of dynamic equilibrium. The variation in pH value, will affect the methane formers as
they are sensitive to pH variations. For fermentation and biogas generation, a pH value of 6.5
to 8 is suitable
The anaerobic digestion is represented by the general equation

It is also to be noted that, the digestion at high temperature is faster than that at lower
temperature. For every 5°C raise in temperature, the gas yield rate increases twice. The
temperature ranges that influence the bacteria are
- Psicrophilic, about 20 C
-Mesophilic, about 35 C
- Thermophilic, about 55°C

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In tropical countries, the digesters are operating in psichrophilic range. The digesters are heated
in cold climates by using a part of biogas output and temperature ranges up to 35°C. Some
digesters work at 55°C, to digest material.
Advantages of Anaerobic digestion
1) The anaerobic digestion produces biogas which has a calorific value. Hence this gas could
be successfully used to produce steam or hot water.
2) A smaller quantity of excess sludge is produced during anaerobic digestion of organic
matter.
3) The running cost is very less when compared to equivalent aerobic system
4) The odor is less
5) The use of biogas in industries reduces the consumption of coal and also reduces air
pollution.
Biomass Resources
•Animal dung
• Poultry wastes
• Plant wastes ( Husk, grass, weeds etc.)
•Human excreta •Industrial wastes(Saw dust, wastes from food processing industries)
•Domestic wastes (Vegetable peels, waste food materials)
•Dedicated Energy Crops (switch grass, miscanthus, bamboo, sweet sorghum, tall fescue,
kochia, wheatgrass etc)
•Agricultural Crop Residue (Examples include corn stover (stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs),
wheat straw, oat straw, barley straw, sorghum stubble, and rice straw.)
• Forestry Residues
•Algae
Biomass conversion Technologies
A wide variety of conversion technologies is available for manufacturing premium fuels from
biomass. Biomass conversion or simply bioconversion can take many forms

1. Direct combustion such as wood waste and bagasse(sugarcane refuge)

2. Thermochemical conversion
3. Biochemical conversion
Thermochemical conversion
Takes two forms; gasification and liquefaction

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• Gasification takes place by heating the biomass with limited oxygen to produce low
heating value gas or by reacting it with steam and oxygen at high pressure and
temperature to produce medium heating value gas.
• The latter may be used as fuel directly or used in liquefaction by converting it into
methanol alcohol or ethanol or it may be converted to high heating value gas

Biochemical conversion
• Biochemical conversion takes two forms .anaerobic digestion and fermentation.
• Anaerobic digestion involves the microbial digestion of biomass(an anaerobe is a
micro organism that can live and grow without air or oxygen, it gets its oxygen by
the decomposition of matter containing it).
• The process takes place at low temperature upto 65 C and requires a moisture
content of atleast 80 percent .
• It generates a gas containing mostly of CO2 and methane (CH4) with minimum
impurities such as hygrogen sulphide
• The gas can be burned directly or upgrades to synthetic natural gas by removing
CO2 and the impurities.
• The residue may consists pf protein rich sludge that can be used as animal feed and
liquid effluents that are biologically treated by standard techniques and returned to
soil

Fermentation
• It is the breakdown of complex molecules in organic compound under the influence
of ferment such as yeast, bacteria, enzymes etc
• Fermentation is a well established and widely used technology for the conversion
of grains and sugar crops into ethanol
• It is intended for mixing with gasoline to produce gasohol(90% gasoline, 10%
ethanol)
• This process requires high cost and high energy required

Classification of biogas plants

Biogas plants are classified in to
1) Continuous and batch types
2) The dome and drum types

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3) Different variation in the drum type

Continuous and batch type
a) Continuous plant: In this type, the raw material is fed in to a single digester and the process
is carried out without interruption. The process may be completed in a single stage or two
stages
i) Single stage process: The raw material is fed to a single chamber in which organic matter
is converted to biogas. The sludge is removed from the chamber continuously.
ii) Two stage process: This type consists of two chambers. The acid formation is carried out
in one chamber and bio-methanation is carried out in a separate chamber. The biogas is
generated in the second chamber. In the continuous plant, the size of the digester is small and
takes lesser time for digestion process. The biogas generation is continuous and encounters
lesser problems compared to batch type.
b) The batch plant: In this type, after digestion process, the digester is emptied. The urea lime
etc is fed in to a number of digesters which produces gas for 40to 50 days. As these digesters
are charged and emptied one by one in a synchronous manner, the gas will be continuously
supplied through a common gas holder. The system uses a number of digesters and gas
generation is intermittent. It is expensive and encounters more problems.

The dome and the drum types:

Mainly two types of biogas plants are used - The floating gas holder plant - Fixed dome digester In
India, the first type is known as KVIC plant and the later type is called Chinese plant. A vertical or
horizontal digester may be used. In both the designs, cylindrical, rectangular and spherical shapes am
used. In floating gas holder plant, the gas holder is free from digester whereas in fixed type, the gas
holder and digester are combined.

Different variations in the drum type: Floating design is either provided with water seal or
without water seal. The plant works as anaerobic digester with water seal and this design
reduces corrosion of the gas holder drum. The materials of gas holder and digester are also
varied. Usually bricks and stones are used. In latest designs of gas holder, fibre glass reinforced
plastic is used.

• Types of biogas plants: Biogas plants basically are two types.

Floating dome type
• Eg. KVIC-type (KVIC- Khadi Village Industries Commission), Janatha
Fixed dome type
• Eg. Deenabandu model

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1. Fixed dome type plant Principle (Deenabandu model )

Biogas is produced as a result of anaerobic decomposition of biomass in the presence of water.
Raw material:
• Animal dung
• Poultry waste
• Plant waste
• Human excreta
• Industrial waste (saw dust, waste from food processing industry)
• Domestic waste

Construction
The biogas plant is a brick and cement structure having the following five sections:
Mixing tank present above the ground level.
Inlet chamber: The mixing tank opens underground into a sloping inlet chamber
Digester: The inlet chamber opens from below into the digester which is a huge tank with
a dome like ceiling. The ceiling of the digester has an outlet with a valve for the supply of
biogas
Outlet chamber: The digester opens from below into an outlet chamber.
Overflow tank: The outlet chamber opens from the top into a small over flow tank

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Working
The various forms of biomass are mixed with an equal quantity of water in the mixing tank.
This forms the slurry.
The slurry is fed into the digester through the inlet chamber
When the digester is partially filled with the slurry, the introduction of slurry is stopped
and the plant is left unused for about two months.
During these two months, anaerobic bacteria present in the slurry decomposes or ferments
the biomass in the presence of water
As a result of anaerobic decomposition, biogas is formed, which starts collecting in the
dome of the digester.
As more and more biogas starts collecting, the pressure exerted by the biogas forces the
spent slurry into the outlet chamber.
From the outlet chamber, the spent slurry overflows into the overflow tank.
The spent slurry is manually removed from the overflow tank and used as manure for plants.
The gas valve connected to a system of pipelines is opened when a supply of biogas is
required
Advantages:

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 Low initial costs and long useful life-span;

 No moving or rusting parts involved;
 Basic design is compact,
 Saves space and is well insulated;
 construction creates local employment.
 The underground construction saves space and protects the digester from
temperature changes.
 The construction provides opportunities for skilled local employment.
Disadvantages:
 Masonry gas-holders require special sealants and high technical skills for gas-tight
construction; gas leaks occur quite frequently;
 Fluctuating gas pressure complicates gas utilization;
 Amount of gas produced is not immediately visible,
 Plant operation not readily understandable;
 Fixed dome plants need exact planning of levels; excavation can be difficult and
expensive in bedrock.
 Disadvantages are mainly the frequent problems with the gas-tightness of the brickwork
gas holder (a small crack in the upper brickwork can cause heavy losses of biogas).
 Fixed-dome plants are, therefore, recommended only where construction can be
supervised by experienced biogas technicians.
 A specific environmental disadvantage is methane emission from the expansion
chamber.

Janatha Bio Gas Plant

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This is a plant where no steel is used, there is no moving part in it and maintenance cost is
[Link] plant can be constructed by village mason taking some pre-explained precautions
and using all the indigenously available building [Link] 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 [Link] 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 [Link] 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 [Link] almost middle of the digester, there are two rectangular openings facing
each other and coming up to a little above the ground level, act as an inlet and outlet of the
[Link] shaped roof is fitted with a pipe at its top which is the gas outlet of the [Link]
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 90 cm of water column.
2. Floating gas holder type of biogas plant(KVIC)
The raw materials used and the principle involved are common to both the types of biogas
plants.

Construction
Mixing Tank - present above the ground level.
Digester tank - Deep underground well-like structure. It is divided into two chambers by
a partition wall in between
It has two long cement pipes:
1. Inlet pipe opening into the inlet chamber for introduction of slurry.
2. Outlet pipe opening into the overflow tank for removal of spent slurry

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Gas holder - an inverted steel drum restingabove the digester. The drum can move up and
down i.e., float over the digester. The gas holder has an outlet at the top which could be
connected to gas stoves.
Over flow tank - Present above the ground level.
Working
Slurry (mixture of equal quantities of biomass and water) is prepared in the mixing tank
The prepared slurry is fed into the inlet chamber of the digester through the inlet [Link]
plant is left unused for about two months and introduction of more slurry is stopped. During
this period, anaerobic fermentation of biomass takes place in the presence of water and
produces biogas in the digester. Biogas being lighter rises up and starts collecting in the gas
holder. The gas holder now starts moving up.
The gas holder cannot rise up beyond a certain level. As more and more gas starts
collecting, more pressure begins to be exerted on the [Link] spent slurry is now forced
into the outlet chamber from the top of the inlet [Link] the outlet chamber gets
filled with the spent slurry, the excess is forced out through the outlet pipe into the overflow
tank. This is later used as manure for [Link] gas valve of the gas outlet is opened to get
a supply of [Link] the production of biogas begins, a continuous supply of gas can be
ensured by regular removal of spent slurry
Advantages
 Floating-drum plants are easy to understand and operate.
 They provide gas at a constant pressure, and the stored gas-volume is immediately
recognizable by the position of the drum.
 Gas-tightness is no problem, provided the gasholder is de-rusted and painted
regularly.

Disadvantages

 The steel drum is relatively expensive and maintenance-intensive.

 Removing rust and painting has to be carried out regularly.
 The life-time of the drum is short (up to 15 years; in tropical coastal regions about five
years).
 If fibrous substrates are used, the gas-holder shows a tendency to get "stuck" in the
resultant floating scum.
Problems involved with Biogas production
1. Handling of effluent slurry is a major problem and sufficient open space is to be provided to
dry the slurry. It also requires human animal labour to carry effluent to the field.
2. The methanogenic bacteria involved in gas generation are very sensitive to temperature and
affects the gas generation rate.

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3. Due to lack of knowledge about Biogas generation, some persons add urea fertilizer which
results in toxicity of ammonia nitrogen and decreases gas production.
4. When cattle dung and water is not properly mixed, volatile fatty acids will be accumulated
and results in failure of digester
5. .It is necessary to maintain an optimum range of PH and volatile fatty acids, otherwise
digester will not work properly.
6. There is chance of leakage of gas from gas holder in case of Janata Model

Advantages and disadvantages of Biomass

Advantages
1. The initial investment is low and costlier equipments are not used.
2. The use of Biomass as fuel reduces environmental hazards.
3. The technology is best suited for rural areas of developing countries like India.
4. The byproducts can be fully recycled. 5. Less polluting, suitable for domestic purposes.
6. Easy transportable to consumers

Disadvantages
1. The plant uses larger land area.
2. The efficiency of biological energy conversion is very less (0.1%).
3. In centralized power generation system, the cost of energy production is higher.
4. Collection and transportation of biomass is expensive.
5. When compared to LPG cylinders, it is difficult to store the gas, as it cannot be liquified
ordinarily
Comparison between floating drum plant and fixed dome type plant

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Factors affecting biogas generation

1. pH or hydrogen ion concentration: In the digester, a suitable pH range is to be maintained
to provide constant supply of the gas. In a pH range of 6.5 to 7.5, micro organisms will be very
active and bio-digestion will be very efficient. The addition of some material to the digester
causes variations in the pH value and results in the imbalance of bacteria population. For
sewage solids, the ideal pH is from 7 to 7.5.
2. Temperature: The temperature range from 35°C to 38°C results in better methane formation
the gas generation starts decreasing at 20°C and ceases completely at 10°C.
3. Total solid content of feed material: In order to get total solid content of 8 to 10%, the cow
dung is to be mixed in the range of 1:1 by weight. Around 80-82% of moisture is present in
raw cow dung and remaining 18-20% is called total solids. The adjustment made in total solid
content increases the bio-digestion rate.
4. Loading rate: The amount of raw material supplied to the fermentation tank (digester) per
day per unit volume is known as loading rate. For municipal sewage treatment plants, the
loading rate ranges from 0.5 to 1.6 kg/m3 /day. The optimum range of loading rate ranges from
1.2 to 5.3 kg/m3 /day. High loading rate, results in the formation of acids and thus fermentation
stops.
5. Seeding: Seeding is nothing but the increase in number of methane formers by artificial
means. It uses digested sludge which is rich in methane formers. But higher seeding is also not
desirable as gas production decreases beyond certain limits due to reduction of total solid
contents of the cow dung.
6. Uniform feeding: In order to provide good fermentation in the digester, a control over
quality and quantity of raw material supplied to the digester is essential. Therefore, all the time
uniform feeding of digester is necessary.
7. Carbon nitrogen ratio of the input material: For an optimal digestion rate, a carbon
nitrogen ratio of 30:1 is necessary. High carbon in raw material slows down the digester. High
nitrogen content of the raw material may stop the fermentation process. The ammonia formed
due to nitrogen and hydrogen may kill methane producers.
8. Diameter to depth ratio: It was investigated that the maximum gas production rate occurs
with diameter to depth ratio of 0.66 to 1.0. But the effect of temperature at different depths also
plays important role is deciding this ratio.
9. Nutrients: In digester, the bacteria always require C, H2 , 02 P and S. Out of these nutrients,
the supply of N2 and P are always short. In order to compensate this, extra raw material which
is rich in phosphorus and N2 must be added to increase the gas generation rate.
10. Mixing or stirring or agitation of content of digester: In digester, a proper mixing of
slurry is required to improve the fermentation process. Slight mixing results in good
fermentation and the digestion may be retarded due to violent agitation.
11. Retention period or feeding rate: The temperature and feed stocks influence the retention
period of the material for biogas generation. Usually the retention period is kept from 30 to 45
days.

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12. Pressure: The fermentation process is also influenced by the pressure acting on the slurry
surface. Lower pressure gives better fermentation process.
13. Acid accumulation inside the digester: When fresh raw material is supplied in excess,
the PH value decreases due to the formation of acids. The addition of neem cake produces
methane from these acids.
Thermo chemical conversion of biomass: In bio chemical energy conversion, the action of
bacteria results in the formation of biogas. In thereto chemical conversion of biomass, its
temperature is raised and processes like pyrolysis, combustion and gasification occurs
depending on amount of oxygen supplied. The example for combustion is burning of biomass
in open fire and stoves. In this case, oxygen is supplied in excess of theoretically required.
When less 02 is supplied, pyrolysis and gasification occurs. The conversion of wood and
incineration of solid waste is an example of pyrolysis. A gas mixture consisting of carbon
monoxide and hydrogen [producer gas] is generated at some temperature and O2 supply. The
formation of gaseous mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is called thermal gasification
The conversion of solid fuel in to producer gas by undergoing a series of thermo chemical
processes like drying, pyrolysis, oxidation and reduction is known as thermal gasification.
Carbon monoxide, hydrogen and oxygen are the main constituents when air is used as
gasification agent. A typical gas composition is as follows,

The dual fuel engines and diesel engines uses this gas as working fluid with some design
changes.
Classification of Biomass gasifiers :
A chamber through which oxygen or air required for combustion is passed, known as gasifier.
The gasifier converts solid fuel into producer gas by undergoing a series of thermo chemical
processes.
Gasifiers are classified into
1. According to direction of gas flow: down draught, up draught and cross draught generator.
2. According to generation capacity: small size up to 10 kW, medium size for outputs from
10kW to 50kW, large size from 50 to 300 kW and very large above 300 kW output.
3. According to type of bed: fixed bed and fluidized bed.
1. Fixed bed gasifiers
They are three main designs of fixed bed type:

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i) Up draught type: In this type, air entry is below combustion zone and producer gas
escapes from top of gasifier. It is suitable for char-coal, in stationary engines.
ii) Down draught gasifier: In this type, air entry is at combustion zone and gas escapes
through bottom of gasifer. These are suitable for wood and agricultural wastes.
iii) Cross draught. gasifiers: The gasifier contains charcoal which acts as insulator and
dust filter. The gas flows around the gasifier in the annular space.

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
A design approach aiming at the removal of the above difficulties is the fluidized bed gasifier
illustrated schematically in Fig. above.
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, stem from their feedstock flexibility resulting
from easy control of temperature, which can be kept below the melting or fusion point of the

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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)

Up draught type

The oldest and simplest type of gasifier is the counter current or updraught gasifier shown
schematically in Fig The air intake is at the bottom and the gas leaves at the top. Near the grate
at the bottom the combustion reactions occur, which are followed by reduction reactions
somewhat higher up in the gasifier. In the upper part of the gasifier, heating and pyrolysis of
the feedstock occur as a result of heat transfer by forced convection and radiation from the
lower zones. The tars and volatiles produced during this process will be carried in the gas
stream. Ashes are removed from the bottom of the gasifier.
The major advantages of this type of gasifier are its simplicity, high charcoal burn-out and
internal heat exchange leading to low gas exit temperatures and high equipment efficiency, as
well as the possibility of operation with many types of feedstock (sawdust, cereal hulls, etc.) .
Major drawbacks result from the possibility of "channelling" in the equipment, which can lead
to oxygen break-through and dangerous, explosive situations and the necessity to install
automatic moving grates, as well as from the problems associated with disposal of the tar-
containing condensates that result from the gas cleaning operations. The latter is of minor

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importance if the gas is used for direct heat applications, in which case the tars are simply
burnt.

Downdraught or co-current gasifiers

A solution to the problem of tar entrainment in the gas stream has been found by designing co-
current or downdraught gasifiers, in which primary gasification air is introduced at or above
the oxidation zone in the gasifier. The producer gas is removed at the bottom of the apparatus,
so that fuel and gas move in the same direction, as schematically shown in Fig.
On their way down the acid and tarry distillation products from the fuel must pass through a
glowing bed of charcoal and therefore are converted into permanent gases hydrogen, carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane
Depending on the temperature of the hot zone and the residence time of the tarry vapours, a
more or less complete breakdown of the tars is achieved. The main advantage of downdraught
gasifiers lies in the possibility of producing a tar-free gas suitable for engine applications.
In practice, however, a tar-free gas is seldom if ever achieved over the whole operating range
of the equipment: tar-free operating turn-down ratios of a factor 3 are considered standard; a
factor 5-6 is considered excellent.
Because of the lower level of organic components in the condensate, downdraught gasifiers
suffer less from environmental objections than updraught gasifiers.
A major drawback of downdraught equipment lies in its inability to operate on a number of
unprocessed fuels. In particular, fluffy, low density materials give rise to flow problems and
excessive pressure drop, and the solid fuel must be pelletized or briquetted before use.

ENERGY ENGINEERING, MODULE 2 NOTES

 DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEEERING, AJIET, MANGALORE

Downdraught gasifiers also suffer from the problems associated with high ash content fuels
(slagging) to a larger extent than updraught gasifiers.
Minor drawbacks of the downdraught system, as compared to updraught, are somewhat lower
efficiency resulting from the lack of internal heat exchange as well as the lower heating value
of the gas. Besides this, the necessity to maintain uniform high temperatures over a given cross-
sectional area makes impractical the use of downdraught gasifiers in a power range above about
350 kW (shaft power)
Advantages and disadvantages of Biomass
Advantages
1. The initial investment is low and costlier equipments are not used.
2. The use of Biomass as fuel reduces environmental hazards.
3. The technology is best suited for rural areas of developing countries like India.
4. The byproducts can be fully recycled.
5. Less polluting, suitable for domestic purposes.
6. Easy transportable to consumers
Disadvantages
1. The plant uses larger land area.
2. The efficiency of biological energy conversion is very less (0.1%).
3. In centralized power generation system, the cost of energy production is higher.
4. Collection and transportation of biomass is expensive.
5. When compared to LPG cylinders, it is difficult to store the gas, as it cannot be liquified
ordinarily

Theory Question Bank

1. Write a short note on i. Photosynthesis ii. Energy Plantation(DEC 2018/JAN2019)
2. With a neat sketch explain downdraft gasifier(DEC 2018/JAN2019)
3. Explain photosynthesis with example(DEC2019-JAN 2020)
4. Explain briefly method of biomass gasification(DEC2019-JAN 2020)
5. What are the stages in anaerobic digestion process?Explain(JUNE/JULY 2019)
6. With a neat sketch explain updraft gasifier. Mention the temperature
ranges(JUNE/JULY 2019)
7. Explain the factors affecting biogass generation(FEB/MARCH 2022)
8. Explain i. Anaerobic fermentation ii. Photosynthesis(FEB /MARCH 2022)

ENERGY ENGINEERING, MODULE 2 NOTES