Assignment No 4.

1. A car tyre has a mass of 15kg. Tyres can be disposed of using a process known as
pyrolysis. 31% by mass of a car tyre can be converted into carbon and 26% by mass
can be converted into gas, which is predominantly methane. If 10,0000 tyres are
treated in this way each year in a city. What will be the volume of methane produced
in this process at 600 oC?
(a) 2.34 * 106 m3
(b) 17.64 * 108m3
(c) 1.76 * 106 m3
(d) 2.34 * 1012m3
Sol: Mass of 10,0000 tyres = 10,0000 *15 *1000 g = 15 x 108 g
26% of this is 26 * 15 x 106 = 3.9*108 g of methane
Molecular mass of methane = 16
Therefore, moles of methane = (3.9/16) x 108mole = 2.44 x 107
1 mole occupies 22.4 dm3 volume @ NTP
Hence volume = 22.4 * 2.44 x 107 dm3 = 5.5 x 108 dm3 = 5.5 x 105 m3 at 0 oC
At temperature = 600 0C, Volume of methane = (873/273)* 5.5 x 105 m3 = 1.76 x
106 m3
2. Pine needle is used to produce bio oil in a slow pyrolysis unit. The % of bio oil, char
and gas are 40 %, 45 % and 15 %. The average molecular formula of the bio char is
determined as CH0.56O0.28N0.013 and for the bio oil it is CH1.47O0.36N0.005. The
composition of gas is as follows: H2 20 %, CO2 36 %, CO 25 % and CH4 19 %.
Calculate the percentage of carbon converted to bio-oil.
(a) 3.704
(b) 30.3704
(c) 0.40275
(d) 40.2752
Sol: Basis: 100 g pine needle
Bio oil produced = 40 g
Char produced = 45 g
Gas produced = 15 g
Molecular weight of bio oil (CH1.47O0.36N0.005 ) = 12 + 1*1.47 + 16*0.36 + 14*0.005 = 19.3 g
Thus, 40 g bio oil = 40/19.3 moles = 2.07 moles
Molecular weight of Char (CH0.56O0.28N0.013) = 12 + 1*0.56 + 16*0.28 + 14*0.013 = 17.222 g
Thus, 45 g char = 45/17.222 moles = 2.613 moles
Average molecular weight of the gas =
0.2 *2 + 0.36*44 + 0.25 *28 + 0.19*16 = 26.28
Thus 15 g gas = 15/26.28 mole = 0.5708 mole gas
Vol % / mole % of gas components
H2 20 %, CO2 36 %, CO 25 %, CH4 19 %.
Thus, one mole of gas contains: 0.2 mole H2, 0.36 mole CO2, 0.25 mole CO and 0.19 mole
CH4
Now C present in bio oil = 2.07 moles
C present in char = 2.613 moles
C present in gas = (0.5708*(0.36 + 0.25 + 0.19)) = 0.5708*0.8 = 0.45664 moles
Total carbon = 2.07 + 2.613 + 0.45664 moles = 5.13964 moles
% of C converted to bio oil = 2.07*100/5.13964 = 40.2752 %
3. Heating value can be calculated experimentally through
(a) Spectrophotometer
(b) Bomb calorimeter
(c) Mass Spectroscopy
(d) None of these

4. Friability index of ……… indicates that the briquettes are disintegrated entirely after
a certain time, which clearly indicates an inadequate briquette quality.
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 10
(d) 100

5. Densification is the process of increasing the …………..of something. It makes a fuel

denser and gives more uniform properties with respect to its raw form.
(a) Density
(b) Dynamic viscosity
(c) Kinematic viscosity
(d) Compressibility

6. Carbonised briquettes can be produced from agricultural residues through possible

production sequences:
(a) Carbonization→ grinding → briquetting
(b) Grinding → briquetting → carbonization
(c) Both (a) and (b) of the above
(d) None of these

7. Which one is not an advantage of densification?

(a) Uniform combustion in boilers
(b) Reduced dust production
(c) Reduced possibility of spontaneous combustion in storage
(d) High cost of transportation due to increased energy density

8. The solid is called a briquette if, roughly, it has a diameter greater than……… .
Smaller sizes are normally termed pellets though the distinction is arbitrary.
(a) 3 mm
(b) 30 mm
(c) 300 mm
(d) None of these
 9. ……………..is a measurement of the briquette's resistance to mechanical action that
can affect them during handling and transportation.
(a) Friability
(b) Durability
(c) Compressibility
(d) Resistivity

10. The Briquettes resistance to humidity is traditionally tested in:

(a) Resistivity Test
(b) Shere test
(c) Immersion tests
(d) None of these

11. In an MSW gasifier air flowrate and feed flow rate are X Nm3/s and t kg per second
respectively. The MSW does not contain any sulphur, nitrogen and chloride. The
syngas contains CO, CO2, H2, CH4, and C2H2. The rate of production of syngas in
Nm3/kg of MSW calculated by:
𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑁𝑚3 .𝑠 −1 )×0.97
(a) 𝐹𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑁𝑚3 . 𝑘𝑔−1 ) = 𝐶𝑂+𝐶𝑂2 +𝐻2 +𝐶𝐻4 +𝐶2 𝐻2
[1− ]×𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝑘𝑔.𝑠 −1 )
100
𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑁𝑚 .𝑠−1 )×1.79
3
(b) 𝐹𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑁𝑚3 . 𝑘𝑔−1 ) 𝐶𝑂+𝐶𝑂2 +𝐻2 +𝐶𝐻4 +𝐶2 𝐻2
[1− ]×𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝑘𝑔.𝑠−1 )
100
𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 (𝑵𝒎𝟑 .𝒔−𝟏 )×𝟎.𝟕𝟗
(c) 𝑭𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒈𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏(𝑵𝒎𝟑 . 𝒌𝒈−𝟏 ) = 𝑪𝑶+𝑪𝑶𝟐 +𝑯𝟐 +𝑪𝑯𝟒 +𝑪𝟐 𝑯𝟐
[𝟏− ]×𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆(𝒌𝒈.𝒔−𝟏 )
𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑁𝑚 .𝑠−1 )×0.197
3
(d) 𝐹𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑁𝑚3 . 𝑘𝑔−1 ) = 𝐶𝑂+𝐶𝑂2 +𝐻2 +𝐶𝐻4 +𝐶2 𝐻2
[1− ]×𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝑘𝑔.𝑠 −1 )
100

12. In an MSW gasifier air flowrate and feed flow rate are 7 Nm3/s and 6 kg per second
respectively. The MSW does not contain any sulphur, nitrogen and chloride. The
syngas contains CO (40%) , CO2(2 %), H2 (30%), CH4 (5%) and C2H2 (2%).
Calculate the rate of production of syngas in Nm3/kg of MSW.
(a) 0.4702 Nm3/kg MSW
(b) 4.389 Nm3/kg MSW
(c) 47.02 Nm3/kg MSW
(d) 430.2 Nm3/kg MSW
Sol: We know that under the above condition the rate of syngas production can be computed
by the following equation
𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑁𝑚3 . 𝑠 −1 ) × 0.79
𝐹𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑁𝑚3 . 𝑘𝑔−1 ) = 𝐶𝑂+𝐶𝑂2 +𝐻2 +𝐶𝐻4 +𝐶2 𝐻2
[1 − ] × 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝑘𝑔. 𝑠 −1 )
100

Therefore,
Synags production = [(7*(0.79)]/[(1-(0.4 + 0.02 + 0.3 + 0.05 + 0.02)]*6
= 5.53/(0.21*6)= 4.389 Nm3/kg MSW