My English may not be good and clear. I hope you can bear with it. Check it out…

There are two main methods which cover a wide area of biomass conversion technologies, thermo chemical conversion and bio chemical conversion. To obtain the energy, the combustion factor is the key for both technologies. Hardware biomass conversion systems can be stationary or mobile. The hardware mobile systems are usually used in rural areas supplying power for a small number of homes, such as in a village, or for powering small to medium size countryside businesses. However, the principle for both stationary and mobile hardware combustion systems is similar.

The combustion can be made either using a furnace or a boiler. A furnace (direct combustion) is one of the simplest methods used to obtain energy by burning the biomass materials in a chamber to obtain heat in the form of released hot gases.

A boiler for biomass can be used to transform the heat into steam, this steam is used to turn the turbine to generate electricity.

There are three different types of boilers:

1. Pile Burners

2. Stationary or Travelling Grate Combustors

3. Fluidized-Bed Combustors

‘Direct Firing’ can be divided into four different methods. These methods come under the titles of Pile Burner, Spreader Stoker, Fluidized Bed and Suspension.

The other method is Gasification, which can be divided into five different sub-branches, i.e. Biological Gasification, Landfill Gas, Pyrolysis, Thermal Gasification and Micro Scale Biomass.

Direct Combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and methanol production all come under ‘thermo-chemical’ conversion process. On the other hand, anaerobic digestion and ethanol production come under ‘biochemical’ conversion process type. Biodiesel production comes under ‘chemical’ conversion process.

A number of uses can be made from biogas produced via anaerobic digestion or pyrolysis. These are:

1. Fuel for internal combustion engines

2. To produce heat for commercial and domestic needs

3. As a transport fuel

The following are three different methods for obtaining gases, as a source of energy, from biomass materials.

Gasification

Gasification is described as the process of converting the organic fraction of biomass at higher temperatures and with the presence of air, into a gas mixture with fuel value and more variation than the original solid biomass. This gas can be combusted to produce heat and steam, and can be used in internal combustion engines or gas turbines to produce electricity as well as mechanical energy. Reportedly, the production of electricity via gas turbines combined with steam cycles is the most effective and economical use of the gaseous product. Several biomass gasification processes have been developed (and/or under development) for electricity generation that offer advantages over direct burning, such as higher efficiency and cleaner emissions. Many of the gasification systems are currently at the demonstration stage, and the development of these efficient systems for electricity production is essential: BIGCC (Biomass Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle) and BIG-STIG (Biogas Integrated Gasification Steam Injected Gas Turbine) plants can achieve efficiencies of 42-47%. Significant developments have been made over the past fifteen years in the field of biomass gasification, especially in the area of medium to large-scale electricity production. Gas cleaning to improve the quality of gas is a crucial issue in both combustion and gasification systems, and requires measures such as reduction of emissions and removing of particulates and tars.

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is the decomposition of wet and green biomass through bacterial action in the absence of air. Generally speaking, anaerobic digestion process is made up of four main biological and chemical stages:

1. Hydrolysis

2. Acidogenesis

3. Acetogenesis

4. Methanogenesis

It usually has a mixed gas output of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), called biogas. Landfill gas is the result of the anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste buried in landfill sites. The methane gas produced in landfill sites eventually escapes into the atmosphere. However, the gas can be extracted by inserting perforated pipes into the landfill.

There are a number of benefits related to anaerobic digestion; these can be described under the environmental benefits, rather than on the technical or commercial side. Anaerobic digestion decreases methane emissions and can provide a good treatment system for organic waste and consequently can prevent groundwater contamination and reduce odour from the local environment associated with this waste.

‘The Government should review its current strategy for the anaerobic digestion sector. In doing so, we recommend that it considers practical and financial mechanisms for encouraging the expansion of the UK’s AD capacity, while ensuring that new AD systems deliver the optimal balance between production of biogas and prevention of uncontrolled methane emissions.’ (Biomass Task Force. 2005).

Pyrolysis

In a temperature ranging from 300 to 700 °C and with the absence of oxygen, the chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating is a process called pyrolysis. However, in most cases and in practical terms the presence of oxygen cannot be eliminated completely.

The final outcome of the pyrolysis process is that the organic materials are transformed into gases and leave a solid residue (coke) made up from carbon and ash. Biomass gasification can also be integrated with fuel cells. Also, using pyrolysis, a solid biomass can be liquefied ‘direct hydrothermal liquefaction’ (USDE, 2005). One of the main benefits of flash pyrolysis is that fuel production has been separated from power generation. This type of method is still at the demonstration stage. As the development is still in the early stages, like the rest of the bio-oil upgrading processes, there is still a need to neutralise negative aspects, such as corrosivity and low heating value. In conjunction with the existing systems, pyrolysis can be used for large scale electricity production.

This article is written by Najib Altawell with references from “Biomass Task Force (2005) Biomass task force report to the government. Department of environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) publications, London” and “USDE (2005) Energy efficiency and renewable energy. Biomass”. The article was adopted from http://EzineArticles.com/6256907.

Image source credited to: http://www.wtert.eu/default.asp?Menue=12&ShowDok=15

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Note: Image credited to processmodeling.org/furnace/model3d/furnace%20modeling%203d.html

Since I’m doing research in glycerol conversion to useful compounds, I’m always interested in glycerol related articles and research. I found this article from the internet and I think it is worth sharing it here so that others can learn and contribute if possible. The article is credited to Jo (you can read her biography at the end of the article). Check out the article…

Nowadays, the increase in the price of gas is a phenomenon one cannot consider as erratic. It is an occurrence that infuriates the general public. But one which people have to endure, come in terms with, and tighten their belts for them to be able to tide over the situation. The last two decades or so have seen some of the most unusual spikes in the price of gasoline, and consequently, this results to an increase in the cost of other commodities as well.

Gasoline and diesel belong to the non-renewable type of energy. Simply put, these are resources which cannot be readily replenished, or resources which have a limited supply. The main sources of energy in the world today are coal, oil and natural gas which are called fossil fuels. Unfortunately, fossils fuels are non-renewable. The extraction of fossil fuels from the earth turns out to be more difficult since they are becoming scarcer yet the demand is only becoming more urgent since these fossil fuels are used in nearly all industries from the largest to the smallest.

Therefore the renewable forms of energy have been the topic of many studies and discussions. Innovations in renewable energy generation are taking in the spotlight and seemingly unlikely sources of renewable energy are becoming the newest trend. Among this is glycerol, a byproduct of saponification or the process of soap making andtransesterification or the production of biodiesel. Glycerol can be accounted for 10% of the byproducts of biodiesel production. Glycerol is also known by its more commercial terms of glycerin and glycerine.

One of the investigations focusing on glycerol was the one conducted by the researchers at the Oxford University. This group of scientists was able to generate biofuel from glycerol, which is considered to be a waste byproduct in many industries. They have designed a method which turns glycerol into methanol. The process uses metal catalyst to separate the methanol. Today, methanol is mostly derived from natural gas. It is used extensively in industrial chemistry.

Another study was one from the Department of Chemical and Environment Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. The process they have developed was one which combined excess glycerin and excess biomass from biodiesel production to produce flammable pellets for use as an alternative to coal.

A study from the Rice University explored the potential of fermenting glycerol to produce ethanol. Since for each gallon of biodiesel produces approximately 0.75 lb of glycerol, this would be a very practical way to produce energy. The use of microorganisms in the fermentation is the unique feature of this research. The Klebsiella and Citrobacter are glycerol-fermenting species of bacteria while E. coli synthesize glycerol through a respiratory pathway.

One study by the controversial and award-winning Galen Suppes, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Missouri, has come up with a procedure to convert glycerine into propylene glycol. Propylene glycol can be used as an alternative to ethylene propyl. Ethylene propyl is used as antifreeze for cars and other automobiles. It is derived from petroleum and is a toxic chemical. Propylene glycol, on the other hand, is a safe and sustainable substitute.

Biodiesel production has resulted to a large surplus of glycerine. Though glycerine is used in nearly all industries, its use for sustainable energy is a relatively new concept but one which has attracted a lot of attention. Glycerol has a lot of potential in the renewable energy industry because it is inexpensive and economically-sound. Moreover, it has beneficial environmental impacts since it help cut down on the emissions of oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere, reducing air pollution and its associated effects.

This article is contributed by Jo. Jo is a content writer for ‘ReAgent Chemical Services Ltd’ (http://www.reagent.co.uk), an established UK stationed chemical company that manufactures, has a supply of and supplies an enormous range of premium chemicals. If your firm is searching for superior quality chemical product such as Glycerol or has other industrial compound needs for purposes like chemical fusion, analytical purposes and cleaning then take a look at ReAgent Chemical Services Ltd.

The term “biomass fuel” is a broad term that encompasses all leaves, roots, seeds, and stalks of all plants as well as animal waste. Anything that can burn and decompose can be a biomass fuel, or also called biofuel. Although crude oil is not considered biomass, but it once was millions of years ago.

The wood used to build a campfire is biomass fuel. The idea of using biomass as fuel to create energy to run our homes and cars isn’t new. It’s been around for a long time, but until gasoline went to four bucks a gallon and utility bills went through the roof, nobody seemed too interested in developing the technology into a practical and financially feasible substitute for fossil fuel. But biomass fuel is an idea whose time has come.

You hear now about a grass that grows in Africa being used to create energy or about corn grown in America being used to create energy. You hear about methane gas that’s a natural byproduct of landfills being captured and turned into usable energy. And you haven’t heard the end of these ideas and others like them, either.

Burning fossil fuel (oil, gas, coal) is easy, but it’s quickly becoming far too expensive, and the problem is that there’s a limited supply of all fossil fuels. The earth gives these fuels up after men drill or mine into the earth, but there’s no more being made. When what’s here is gone, it will be millions and millions of years before there is more. So you see the problem.

But biomass is a renewable resource, unlike fossil fuel. If we use grass or corn today, next year there will be more grass or corn because we can produce them easily. Another good thing about using these biofuels is that they be grown at the backyard like what our ancestors have done before. Landfills keep getting bigger and bigger, and the gas that could be harnessed and used has been ignored – until now. Yes, biomass fuel is an idea whose time has come!

It is reported that three Chinese factories making olefins from coal are slated to start up this year, part of a serious look that Beijing is taking at using its large coal reserves to reduce its heavy dependence on imported polyolefins. But before the government lifts some restrictions it imposed in May 2009 and allows more projects making polyethylene and polypropylene from coal, analysts say that government officials will want to see more details on the economic and environmental performance of the factories.

Mr Sun Weishan vice general secretary of the Beijing-based China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association Speaking at a recent industry conference in Beijing, several Chinese petrochemical industry officials urged the government to give coal-to-olefins work high priority, considering that the country imports about half of its PE and one-third of its PP. The three projects starting this year will provide a boost to China’s polyolefin supplies. The factories, in the coal belt of northern and western China, will have He said that capacity for 1.56 million tonnes of polyolefins, or about 6.9% of the country’s current PO capacity.

I’m preparing a list of universities, institution, research centers etc that provides catalyst characterization equipments. The list, as can seen below, will be updated from time to time and I hope this can be a good reference for our research. If you know any place or any institution or any organization that provides related characterization  equipment, please let me know in the comment area or contact me at zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. I welcome any input and feedback from everyone, not only CREG members, researchers in Malaysia, but from all over the world.

A) X-Ray diffraction (XRD)
1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; En. Zainal (0197512727)
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

B) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (SEM-EDX & FESEM)
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (FESEM-EDX)
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

C) Nitrogen Adsorption (NA)
1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

D) Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR)
1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering (N29), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
3. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
4. AMTEC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

E) Atomic Adsorption Spectroscopy (AAS)
1. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

F) Temperature Program Desorption Ammonia (TPD-NH3)
1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Tel:  +604-599 6411, Fax: +604-594 1013; DR AHMAD ZUHAIRI ABDULLAH, Email: chzuhairi@eng.usm.my

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

G) Temperature Program Desorption Reduction Oxidation (TPDRO)

1. Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

H) Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)

1. AMTEC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I) Thermal Gravimetric Analysis – Differential Thermal Analysis (TGA-DTA)

1. Ibnu Sina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2. Faculty of Science – Chemistry Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (DTA only)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

J) X-Ray Florescent (XRF)

1. Faculty of Mechanical, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

If you have or know other institution that provide any characterization equipment, please contact me at zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. I’ll update the list for the benefit of all of us….

Thanks.

Frankly, as a chemical engineer, I have never really studied or know much about laser. Laser, an acronym for light amplification by stipulated emission of radiation, is a really interesting area to study and apply. My nearest experience with laser is merely using a laser pointer during presentations and also a so called laser printer. When I was a kid, I learned about laser while watching Star Wars and Battle Star Galactica.

Recently, while surfing the net, I came across Arcor Laser, a company providing various services related to the laser business. I never expected or rather known such a laser oriented business like Arcor Laser existed. All this while, as mentioned earlier, I have just wondered and saw laser in movies, but in reality, laser is a very useful technology. The application of laser evolved around the automotive, aerospace, medical, electronics, oil patch, heavy equipment, military, power generation, research and development as well as fire arms industry.

Among the signature services provided by Arcor Laser are the laser welding and fuel cell welding. Again, I have never thought of a laser welding, but from what I read, this technology provides an excellent tool for welding many types of material. The focused beam delivers a concentration of heat with spectacular accuracy. This process results in a very narrow weld bead with weld penetration control as close as plus or minus .001”. The heat affected zone, unlike normal welding, is minimized assuring minimal dimensional distortion. These weld characteristics provide more reliable welds, more repeatedly on smaller, thinner parts, unmatched by traditional welding.

Despite of the advantages and benefits of using laser welding, several factors are required to ensure the success of the process. Before laser welding takes place, we need to select the correct type of laser for the material and thickness. Besides that the reflectivity and conductivity should be considered as well as it will affect the weld quality. Likewise the conventional welding, the spot to be welded must be ensured clean to avoid contamination which will result to poor quality. Integration of the entire above mentioned factor will ensure an optimum laser welds.

Arcor laser not only dwell on laser welding and fuel cell welding. They are also very capable in laser materials processing services, system integration, development of intellectual property opportunities, laser cutting, cladding, drilling, welding, and surface modification. In short, whenever there are problems using the conventional method, you can discuss and consult Arcor for innovative solutions using laser.

For me as a researcher, I may consider adopting laser as one of the techniques to gain energy and other products in the field of reaction and catalysis engineering. Who knows I may come out with a revolutionary discovery of the century?

Photo credited to http://opticsclub.engineering.ucdavis.edu/

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2007/11/06/ohgizmo-review-dragon-lasers-250mw-hulk/

Wood Waste, Sawdust and Empty Palm Fruit Bunch (EPFB)

This idea of generating enough sawdust to produce a useful amount of energy might sound weird. All the trash from industrial wood processing is generally redundant and thrown away. Some of it is reprocessed into particle board or into wood pellets for stoves, but there’s still a lot of unused waste wood out there. EPFB in the other hand is left just like that while small fraction of it is utilized for running boilers in mills. When left for a long time, the wood and EPFB will rotten, and this waste can be a potential hazard to the environment as methane is formed. Methane, as we know, is a harmful greenhouse gas.

With proper waste management, the sawdust and EPFB can be systematically collected and burned at a power plant designed for this purpose. The heat is used to generate electricity which can be used to run cars. The idea is more than feasible, it’s already in practice — a 14-megawatt wood waste power plant is being built in Nigeria.

Dirty Diapers

Dirty diapers sound disgusting. But used diapers are an excellent fuel source. The garbage can be transformed into fuel gas and fuel oil by using a process called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of condensed substances by heating that occurs spontaneously at high enough temperatures with catalyst and without oxygen.

The world has a lot of disposable diapers and babies constantly generate more. And it would be relatively easy to use special recycling bins to separate them from other garbage. Pyrolysis is best when it has been fine-tuned to the material being heated. Mixed garbage is full of all kinds of random materials, and you never know what sort of mix you’re going to get each day. We know what kind of the plastics and fabrics are used in their manufacture, and what is the waste material.

Conclusion

As conclusion, proper waste management is imperative and it can be integrated with process such as pyrolysis. From pyrolysis, fuel and energy can be obtained and this is indeed an alternative to the present fossil fuel which will last soon.

Is that right?

After I completed my masters degree, I work with an oil and gas servicing company. I’m not the only engineer there. Two petroleum engineers were employed after me. It is interesting to have intellectual friends like them to discuss about the  energy dilemma of petroleum.

One of them ask, “Do you think petroleum will last around 2015?”

“I’m not sure…”, I answered briefly and slowly. “Hopefully not”, I added a two seconds after that.

Being a petroleum engineering student, my colleague began his story…

“Petroleum is abundantly available down there inside the earth. The supply can last up to 100 years. The problem now is our current technology is not capable to retrieve the black gold. Hence, we need to keep on researching and developing new techniques and technology to retrieve the crude oil.”

What my petroleum engineer friend said make me realized that petroleum is still safely locked and stored down there. The problem hindering us from getting it is the technology. I’m glad I knew that and until now I still subscribe petroleum, hydrocarbon and offshore related magazines to keep myself updated with current technologies concerning petroleum upstream.

Yesterday, I came across this website – Bedrock Energy Development. It is pretty interesting because it introduces a new way of extracting petroleum…

The tag line say it all… “Laser Oil Well Drilling: a look into the future of the search for petroleum”

Laser will be employed to explore oils. Honestly, I never imagine laser application for the oil and gas industry specifically in exploration. However, this new tech has given the world some gleam  of hope and that’s very pretty impressive. Despite the desperate commercialization of green biomass and biodiesel fuel, the demand required by the world could not be met by these renewable technology yet. More and more research are yet to be done to ensure commercial viability of the green technology. Without doubt, the world still need fossil petroleum for energy at least for the next 50 years.

It was stated that lasers have the ability to melt rock in a way that will create a casing in a wellbore, eliminating the expense of setting steel well casing. A laser system could also posess a variety of sensors and imaging systems that could communicate with the surface via fiber optic cable. A new study will obtain precise measurements of the energy required to transmit light from surface lasers with enough power to bore through rocks as deep as 20,000 feet or more beneath the surface. This has certainly ease the traditional and complicated process of drilling to position the wellbore that will be then connected to platform for further processing.

Besides that, another aspect of the new study will be to determine if lasers can be used in the presence of drilling fluids. In most wells drilling “mud” is injected into the borehole to wash out rock cuttings and keep water and other fluids from seeping into the wellbore. The technical challenge will be to determine whether too much laser energy is expended to clear away the fluid where the drilling is occurring.

Well, despite of all this, the laser approach may be the answer to our mysterious technology to dig out the petroleum from stubborn earth crust. Let’s hope for the laser technology application success so we can still enjoy petrol and its’ derivative products at an affordable price.

Basic rule of thumb: less petroleum, house hold price including petrol will rise, and people will suffer…

Think about it.