Biomass

 Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals, and it is a renewable source of
energy.
 Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called
photosynthesis.

 When biomass is burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat.

 Biomass can be burned directly or converted to liquid biofuels or biogas that can be burned as
fuels.

Converting biomass to other forms of energy

 Burning is only one way to release the energy in biomass.

 Biomass can be converted to other useable forms of energy such as methane gas or
transportation fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
 Methane gas is a component of landfill gas or biogas that forms when garbage,
agricultural waste, and human waste decompose in landfills or in special containers
called digesters.
 Crops such as corn and sugar cane are fermented to produce fuel ethanol for use
in vehicles.
 Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, is produced from vegetable oils and animal
fat
Types of Biomass

1. Wood and Agricultural Products

Most biomass used today is home grown energy. Wood—logs, chips, bark, and sawdust—accounts for
about 44 percent of biomass energy. But any organic matter can produce biomass energy. Other biomass
sources can include agricultural waste products like fruit pits and corncobs. Wood and wood waste are
used to generate electricity. Much of the electricity is used by the industries making the waste; it is not
distributed by utilities, it is a process called cogeneration. Paper mills and saw mills use much of their
waste products to generate steam and electricity for their use. However, since they use so much energy,
they need to buy additional electricity from utilities.

2. Solid Waste
Burning trash turns waste into a usable form of energy. One ton (2,000 pounds) of garbage contains
about as much heat energy as 500 pounds of coal. Garbage is not all biomass; perhaps half of its energy
content comes from plastics, which are made from petroleum and natural gas. Power plants that burn
garbage for energy are called waste-to-energy plants. These plants generate electricity much as coal-red
plants do, except that combustible garbage—not coal—is the fuel used to re their boilers.

3. Landfill and Biogas

Bacteria and fungi are not picky eaters. They eat dead plants and animals, causing them to rot or decay.
A fungus on a rotting log is converting cellulose to sugars to feed itself. Although this process is slowed in
a landfill, a substance called methane gas is still produced as the waste decays. New regulations require
landlls to collect methane gas for safety and environmental reasons. Methane gas is colorless and
odorless, but it is not harmless. The gas can cause fires or explosions if it seeps into nearby homes and
is ignited. Landfills can collect the methane gas, purify it, and use it as fuel. Methane can also be
produced using energy from agricultural and human wastes. Biogas digesters are airtight containers or
pits lined with steel or bricks. Waste put into the containers is fermented without oxygen to produce a
methane-rich gas. This gas can be used to produce electricity, or for cooking and lighting.

4. Ethanol and Biodiesel

Ethanol is an alcohol fuel (ethyl alcohol) made by fermenting the sugars and starches found in plants and
then distilling them. Any organic material containing cellulose, starch, or sugar can be made into ethanol.
The majority of the ethanol produced in the United States comes from corn. New technologies are
producing ethanol from cellulose in woody fibers from trees, grasses, and crop residues.

Biodiesel is a fuel made by chemically reacting alcohol with vegetable oils, animal fats, or greases, such
as recycled restaurant grease. Most biodiesel today is made from soybean oil. Biodiesel is most often
blended with petroleum diesel in ratios of two percent (B2),five percent (B5), or 20 percent (B20). It can
also be used as neat (pure) biodiesel (B100). Biodiesel fuels are compatible with and can be used in
unmodied diesel engines with the existing fueling infrastructure.
SOURCES:

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=biomass_home

http://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/Energy%20At%20A%20Glance/BiomassAtAGlance_11x1
7.pdf

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Bioethanol

Table 2-1. Bioethanol and fuel ethanol standard.

LIMITS
PROPERTY TEST METHOD
Bioethanol Fuel Bioethanol
Clear and bright, Clear and bright,
visibly free of visibly free of
Appearance suspended or suspended or Visual
precipitated precipitated
contaminants contaminants
Acidity/Alkalinity,
6.5-9.0 6.5-9.0 PNS ASTM D6423
pHe
Color Undyed - Visual
Copper, as Cu, mg/kg,
0.1 0.1 PNS ASTM D1688
max.
Density @ 20 oC,
0.7915 - PNS ASTM D4052
kg/L, max.
Ethanol content, %
99.3 96.9 PNS ASTM D5501
v/v, min
1.96-2.44* PNS ASTM D5501
Denaturant, % v/v -
2.16-2.44** (interim)***
Inorganic chloride
PNS ASTM D512-81
content, mass ppm, 40 40
(1985)
max.
Methanol, % v/v,
0.5 0.5 PNS ASTM D5501
max.
Total acids (as acetic 0.007 0.007 PNS ASTM D1613
acid), % w/w, max.
Water content, % 0.5 0.5 PNS ASTM E203
w/w, max. PNS ASTM D6304
*
Denaturant to be used is base gasoline defined in the PNS for e-gasoline
**
Denaturant to be used is PNS-compliant E10
***
Test method ASTM D5501 for Denaturant property specification is used to establish ethanol
purity Level of denaturant in Fuel Bioethanol is net of ethanol content and contaminants
Source: Department of Energy, 2013
 BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION

 First generation bioethanol was produced from sugar based feedstocks such as corn and sugar
cane.

 Availability of alternative feedstocks such as lignocellulosic and algal biomass and

technology advancement led to the development of complex biological conversion
processes, such as separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous
saccharification and fermentation (SSF), simultaneous saccharification and co-
fermentation (SSCF), consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), and syngas fermentation.

 SHF, SSF, SSCF, and CBP are direct fermentation processes in which biomass
feedstocks are pretreated, hydrolyzed and then fermented into ethanol.

 Conversely, ethanol from syngas fermentation is an indirect fermentation that utilizes

gaseous substrates (mixture of CO, CO 2 and H2) made from industrial flue gases or
gasification of biomass, coal or municipal solid waste.
Bioethanol from Sugar/Starch

 Sugar crops such as sugar cane, sugar beet and sweet sorghum mostly consist of
glucose, fructose, and sucrose as their major components (Bai et al., 2008). These fermentable
sugars are extracted by grinding or crushing followed by fermentation to ethanol. Further,
ethanol is separated from the products stream by distillation followed by dehydration.

 Grains such as corn and wheat contain starch, which is a polysaccharide of glucose units linked
by α (1-4) and α (1-6) glycosidic bonds (Pandey, 2010). Starch is not directly fermented by yeast.
After milling the grains and extracting starch, starch is hydrolyzed into glucose using α-amylase
and glucoamylase (Nigam and Singh, 1995). Glucose is then fermented to ethanol.

 Production of ethanol from starch is performed by either dry grind or wet milling process (Bothast
and Schlicher, 2005). The main difference between these two processes is the extraction method
of glucose and co-products formed (Sims et al., 2008). In dry grind, whole corn is milled to
produce ethanol along with high protein animal feed called dry distillers’ grains with solubles
(DDGS).

 In wet milling, steeping of corn is followed by separation of germ, fiber, and starch. Wet milling
produces value added by-products such as corn sweeteners, oil, and corn gluten meal in addition
to ethanol. Wet milling requires high capital cost and is less efficient in producing ethanol than dry
grind process (Rausch and Belyea, 2006; Rodríguez et al., 2010).

 The high capital cost of wet milling process is due to separation of various corn
components to co-produce value added by-products in addition to 2.5 gallons of ethanol per
bushel of corn.

 One disadvantage of dry grind process is that the value of DDGS has decreased due to
an increase in dry grind facilities.
Bioethanol Lignocellulosic Biomass Process

 Biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol consists of three main steps namely
pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation.

 Different pretreatment methods have been employed to disrupt the cell wall and expose the
cellulose, hemicellulose fibers for further processing. Pretreatment methods are mainly
divided into (i) physical (milling and grinding), (ii) physiochemical (steam
pretreatment/auto hydrolysis, hydrothermolysis, and wet oxidation), (iii) chemical (alkali,
dilute acid, oxidizing agents, and organic solvents), (iv) biological or a combination of these
methods (Alvira et al., 2010; Mood et al., 2013).

 After biomass pretreatment, the cellulose and hemicellulose are broken down into
monomers by acid or enzymatic hydrolysis (Sun and Cheng, 2002).

 Four process configurations for ethanol production are possible based on the degree to
which the above mentioned steps are consolidated.

 Process integration reduces capital cost and makes the biofuel production process more efficient
and economically viable (Cardona Alzate and Sánchez Toro, 2006; Hahn-Hägerdal et al., 2006;
Hamelinck et al., 2005).
 Hydrolysis fermentation

Separate Hydrolysis & Fermentation (SHF)

 In Separate Hydrolysis and Fermentation (SHF) configuration, the enzyme production,

hydrolysis of biomass, hexose and pentose fermentation are carried out in separate
reactors (Lynd et al., 2002).

 In SHF, hydrolysis and fermentation can occur at their optimum conditions. However, the
accumulation of glucose and cellobiose during hydrolysis inhibit the cellulases and reduce their
efficiencies (Margeot et al., 2009).

Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF)

 Disadvantages of SHF led to the development of Simultaneous Saccharification and

Fermentation (SSF) process.

 In SSF, both cellulose hydrolysis and hexose fermentation occur in the same reactor. This
results in relieving the end product inhibition on the cellulases as the sugars are immediately
consumed by the fermenting microorganism (Hahn-Hägerdal et al., 2006).

 However, SSF process has some limitations. There is a trade-off between the cost of
enzymes production and hydrolysis fermentation process (Lynd et al., 2002). In SSF,
the rate of enzyme production limits the rate of alcohol production.

 In addition, cellulases used for hydrolysis and the fermenting microorganisms usually have
different optimum pH and temperature conditions. It is important to have compatible
conditions for both the enzyme and the microorganism.

 Another issue with SSF is that most microorganisms used for fermentation of glucose
cannot utilize xylose, a hemicellulose hydrolysis product (Lin and Tanaka, 2006).

Simultaneous Saccharification and Co-fermentation (SSCF)

 In Simultaneous Saccharification and Co-fermentation (SSCF) process, glucose and xylose

are co-fermented in the same reactor.

 Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis are genetically engineered to co-
ferment both glucose and xylose (Dien et al., 2003; Hahn-Hägerdal et al., 2007; Öhgren et al.,
2006; Zhang et al., 1995).

Consolidated BioProcessing (CBP)

 In Consolidated BioProcessing (CBP), single microorganism is used for hydrolysis and

fermentation steps. This potentially reduces the capital costs and increases process efficiency
(Lynd et al., 2002).

 However, microorganisms which can both produce enzymes for hydrolysis of biomass and
then ferment released sugars are still in the early development stage (Lynd et al., 2005).
 SYNGAS FERMENTATION

 Syngas fermentation is an indirect conversion process for the production of alcohols, organic
acids and other products.

 Unlike hydrolysis fermentation processes, syngas fermentation is referred to as an indirect

fermentation because the feedstocks are not directly fed in the fermentor to form products.

 Feedstocks are first gasified into syngas, which is then cleaned and cooled before it is
fed into the fermentor to make products.

 Non-food based feedstocks such as agricultural residue, municipal solid wastes, energy crops,
coal, and petcoke can be gasified to produce syngas.

 Syngas is mainly a mixture of CO, CO2, and H2. However depending on the type of feedstock
and gasification system used, small amounts of tars, CH4, C2H2, C2H4,H2S, NH3,carbonyl sulfide
(COS), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and nitric oxide are also detected in the syngas (Ahmed et al.,
2006; Xu et al., 2011; Xu and Lewis, 2012).

 One of the main advantages of syngas fermentation is that it utilizes all the biomass components
unlike saccharification fermentation where lignin cannot be fermented (Lewis et al., 2008;
Phillips et al., 1994).
  Syngas fermentation can result in high yields (Bredwell et al., 1999; Vega et al., 1989; Worden et
al., 1991). Syngas fermentation also occurs at ambient temperatures and pressures.

 The main disadvantages of syngas fermentation are (i) low solubility and mass transfer
limitations of the CO and H2 gaseous substrates, (ii) slow reactions resulting in long
residence times, (iii) low metabolic energy is produced when the microorganisms grow on
gaseous substrate instead of sugar substrates resulting in slow growth, low cell density
and low solvent production (Barik et al., 1988; Vega et al., 1989).

Source: Devarapalli, M & Atiyeh H. K.: “A review of conversion processes for bioethanol production with
a focus on syngas fermentation”. Biofuel Research Journal 7 (2015). Pages 268-280.

__________________________________________________________________________________

For the biofuel standards, see the tables on

https://www.doe.gov.ph/sites/default/files/pdf/announcements/epower_01_02_philippine_national_standar
ds_petroleum.pdf
 Biodiesel Production

 Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils, yellow grease, used cooking oils, or animal fats. The
production process, called esterification, converts oils or fats into chemicals called long-chain
mono alkyl esters.

 When the alkyl chain alcohol is methanol (most common), these are called fatty acid methyl
esters, or FAME. When FAME is used for fuel, it is commonly referred to as biodiesel.

 Roughly speaking, 100 pounds of oil or fat are reacted with 10 pounds of a short-chain alcohol
(usually methanol) in the presence of a catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide [NaOH] or potassium
hydroxide [KOH]) to form 100 pounds of biodiesel and 10 pounds of glycerin (or glycerol).

 Glycerin, a co-product, is a sugar commonly used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and

cosmetics.
Source: https://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/biodiesel_production.html