CLEAN TECHNOLOGY

KEJ 4603

CHAPTER 4 (a)
INTRODUCTION TO BIOMASS
AND BIOREFINARIES

BY:
DR.SOFIAH HAMZAH
BIOMASS
 WHAT IS BIOMASS?
❖ Biomass is a renewable energy source that is derived from living or
recently living organisms.

❖ Biomass includes biological material, not organic material like coal.

❖ Energy derived from biomass is mostly used to generate electricity or to

produce heat.

❖ Thermal energy is extracted by means of combustion, torrefaction,

pyrolysis, and gasification.

❖ Biomass can be chemically and biochemically treated to convert it to a

energy-rich fuel.
BIOMASS AND CARBON EMMISIONS

▶ Biomass emits carbon dioxide when it naturally decays and

when it is used as an energy source.

▶ Living biomass in plants and trees absorbs carbon dioxide

from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

▶ Biomass causes a closed cycle with no net emissions of

greenhouse gases
BIOMASS CYCLE CHART
TECHNICAL GASSIFICATION PROCESS
 ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES

▶ Renewable resource
▶ Reduces landfills
▶ Protects clean water supplies
▶ Reduces acid rain and smog
▶ Reduces greenhouse gases
◦ Carbon dioxide
◦ Methane
 ENVIRONMENTAL DISADVANTAGES
❖ Crop and forest residues often contain high concentrations of
important nutrients.

❖ If the residue is harvested as energy, the nutrients can be lost

to the surrounding environment.

❖ Other synthetic chemical nutrients or fertilizers can later be

added.

❖ More plants and trees must be planted, because they will be

used in a higher quantity
 TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
▶ Trees and other biomass is hard to gather

▶ There is a low output of 34% energy gain

▶ Development of cheapo and reliable combustion techniques that

will not release pollutants.

▶ Development of gasification techniques that incorporate hydrogen

to create syngas

▶ Biomass contains less energy per pound than fossil fuels.

▶ Costs of labor, transportation, and storage would then be higher

 SOLUTION
▶ The solution is to have decentralized processing plants
▶ This means less transport of biomass
▶ This is more cost-efficient
▶ More reliable, regular, and better quality
▶ Less competition between companies
 BIOMASS & SUSTAINIBILITY
▪ Biomass is sustainable but there is an expense in producing and
converting biomass into fuels and electricity.

▪ Collecting biomass turned out to be very different than harvesting, as

loggers gained more experience, the process became much more efficient.

▪ While biomass is one of the best forms of renewable energy, it is not a

great fuel.

▪ Removing too much biomass can use up nutrients from the soil and
possibly increase erosion.

▪ Biomass supplies about 15 times as much energy then solar and wind in
the United States, and has the potential to supply much more.
 CONCLUSION
• Biomass is a potential alternative to fossil fuels but it is not
very viable.

• There are many problems in the development and

transportation of it and carbon is a byproduct of processing
of biomass, just like it is a byproduct of fossil fuels.

• There are better alternative energies.

BIOREFINARIES
 WHAT IS BIOREFINARIES?
A facility to convert a biomass to bioproducts including bioenergy (fuel,
heat and power) and diverse array of co-products (including materials
and chemicals).

The concepts is similar to petroleum refinery, which produces multiple fuels and
products from petroleum.

It can be divided into 2 basic conversion platform:

1 Biochemical conversion
2 Thermo-chemical conversion

***Also can be combination of both BCC and TCC

▶ By producing multiple products, a biorefinery takes advantage of the
various components in biomass and their intermediates therefore
maximizing the value derived from the biomass feedstock.

▶ A biorefinery could, for example, produce one or several low-volume, but

high-value, chemical or nutraceutical products and a low-value, but high-
volume liquid transportation fuel such as biodiesel products and a low-
value, but high-volume liquid transportation fuel such
as biodiesel or bioethanol .

▶ At the same time, biorefinary generating electricity and process heat,

through combined heat and power (CHP) technology, for its own use and
perhaps enough for sale of electricity to the local utility.
 From biorefinaries:
▶ The high-value products increase profitability
▶ The high-volume fuel helps meet energy needs
▶ The power production helps to lower energy costs and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from traditional power plant facilities.

****Future biorefineries may play a major role in producing chemicals and

materials that are traditionally produced frompetroleum.
 BIOREFINING PLATFORM
Fractionates diverse lignocellulose biomass feedstocks into its
three primary components - cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
-Cellulose and hemicellulose : can be converted into 6 and 5-
carbon sugars - the building blocks for producing fuel, fiber
and industrial chemicals.
-Cellulose : can be used to make pulp and paper products.
-Lignin : can generate process steam and electricity for the
biorefinery or become higher-value products.
Lignocellulosic Biomass is the non-
fruit or woody portion of plants.

Lignocellulose is composed of:

1 Cellulose, a biopolymer composed primarily of 6-carbon

sugars (~40%)
2 Hemicellulose, a biopolymer composed primarily of 5-
carbon sugars (~30%)
3 Lignin, a biopolymer composed of phenolic derivatives
(~25%)
4 Extractives, including resins and proteins (~5%)
 Biorefineries of the future will
integrate:
End-Uses Products
– Fuels
– Plastics
– Solvents
– Chemical Intermediates
– Phenolics
– Adhesives
– Hydraulic Fluids
– Fatty acids
– Carbon black
– Paints
Plant Production Processing – Dyes, Pigments, and Ink
Science – Wood, trees - Acid/enzymatic – Detergents
– Pulp & Paper products
– Genomics – Grasses hydrolysis – Horticultural products
– Enzymes – Energy crops - Fermentation – Fiber boards
– Metabolism – Agricultural - Bioconversion – Solvents
– Composition Residues - Chemical Conversion–– Adhesives
Plastic filler
– MSW - Gasification – Abrasives
- Combustion
- Pulping
REACTIVE FRACTION PROCESS OF
BIOREFINARIES
 REACTIVE FRACTION PROCESS OF
BIOREFINARIES-con’t
1 Mechanical preparation of biomass.
2 Continuous counterflow washing at elevated temperature
followed by steam explosion to yield liquid fractions (with
dissolved lignin, hemicellulose and extractives) and a solid
fraction of pure cellulose.
3 Separation, recovery and utilization of hemi-sugars and lignin
in liquid fractions.
4 Enzymatic hydrolysis or pulp production of solid cellulose
fraction.
5 Fermentation of C-5 and C-6 sugars to produce fuel ethanol
and/or other industrial chemicals.
6 Processing, recycle, and utilization of feedstocks resulting in
products and co-products from biomass.
PureVision Biorefinery Schematic
Batch Reactor
Pilot-Scale System
 MAJOR CHALLENGES
➢ Technology needs to be perfected using continuous
process.
➢ Mass and energy balance closure needed.
➢ Technology must be demonstrated at a commercial
scale.
➢ Substantial funding is needed to scale up the reactive
fractionation process for commercial operations.
➢ Economics must be proven to be economical.