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SUBSCRIBE Get the latest posts in your inbox! By BBJ Group December 20, Biomass Conversion Technologies Written by John Baker , Principal, Corporate Consultant for BBJ Group. There are four types of conversion technologies currently available that may result in specific energy and potential renewable products: Thermal conversion is the use of heat, with or without the presence of oxygen, to convert biomass into other forms of energy and products.

Combustion is the burning of biomass in the presence of oxygen. The waste heat is used to for hot water, heat, or with a waste heat boiler to operate a steam turbine to produce electricity. Biomass also can be co-fired with existing fossil fuel power stations. Pyrolysis convert biomass feedstocks under controlled temperature and absent oxygen into gas, oil and biochar used as valuable soil conditioner and also to make graphene.

The gases and oil can be used to power a generator and some technologies can also make diesel and chemicals from the gases. Biofuels, which have been produced through biochemical processing of starch and sugar crops, have had the largest impact globally, especially as a fuel additive in Brazil cane and the United States corn.

However, thermochemical processing has several advantages over biochemical processes, including dramatically shorter reaction times, lower catalyst costs, a wider array of fuel input options, and a much lower risk of process contamination.

Biochemical conversion utilizes bacteria and enzymes to break down biomass molecules. The process is slower by an order of magnitude than gasification hours or days versus minutes or seconds but it does not require a significant amount of external energy.

The three main routes for biochemical conversion are:. In anaerobic digestion, the bacteria access oxygen from the biomass itself, not from the air, to produce methane and carbon dioxide. Aerobic digestion, or composting, breaks down biomass in the presence of oxygen while using microorganisms that take the oxygen from the air, producing carbon dioxide, heat, and a solid digestate.

The sugars can be converted into ethanol or other chemicals with the addition of yeast. Whereas anaerobic digestion produces gases, the principal products of fermentation are liquids. The fermentation of starch and sugar-based feedstocks has been fully commercialized via corn and cane-based ethanol production in the US, Brazil, and elsewhere.

It has proven to be less efficient and economical in breaking down the inputs into simple sugars that could be accessible by the yeast and bacteria in the process. Thermochemical conversion processes include combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, and solvent liquefaction.

Combustion was one of the first advanced uses of biomass conversion. Combustion is an exothermic heat-producing reaction between oxygen and the hydrocarbon in biomass. The biomass is converted into heat, water, and carbon dioxide.

Biomass combustion remains a major source of energy production throughout the world and has replaced coal as a renewable source of energy in many power plants.

The advantages of combustion include the extreme simplicity of process operation: burning. Since biomass combustion is discouraged or banned in certain regions due to the release of polluting contaminations, gasification and other processes may be favored due to lower concentrations of CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x and solid waste in the end products, in addition to ease of fuel transport and flexibility in applications gas, liquid, chemical production.

Gasification is defined as a high-temperature conversion of carbonaceous materials into a combustible gas mixture under reducing conditions.

Through gasification, a heterogeneous solid material can be converted into gaseous fuels intermediate producer gas and syngas that can be used for heating, industrial processes, electricity generation, and liquid fuel production.

The catalyst required for gasification typically consists of air, oxygen, steam, or a mixture of those three. The key benefits of using biomass as an energy source include the fact that the components, when released, do not constitute a net contribution back into the atmosphere as well as the reduction on the dependence of non-renewable or imported fuel sources.

Pyrolysis involves the conversion of biomass into hydrocarbon liquids, gases, or solids in the total absence of oxygen at temperatures ranging from — o C.

Syngas is a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. During gasification, syngas is cleaned of sulfur, particulates, mercury, and other pollutants. The clean syngas can be combusted for heat or electricity, or processed into transportation biofuels, chemicals, and fertilizers.

Slag forms as a glassy, molten liquid. It can be used to make shingles, cement, or asphalt. Industrial gasification plants are being built all over the world. Asia and Australia are constructing and operating the most plants, although one of the largest gasification plants in the world is currently under construction in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

This plant will eventually be able to convert more than , tons of MSW into enough energy to power 50, homes. Anaerobic Decomposition Anaerobic decomposition is the process where microorganisms , usually bacteria , break down material in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic decomposition is an important process in landfills , where biomass is crushed and compressed, creating an anaerobic or oxygen-poor environment.

In an anaerobic environment, biomass decays and produces methane, which is a valuable energy source. This methane can replace fossil fuels. In addition to landfills, anaerobic decomposition can also be implemented on ranches and livestock farms.

Manure and other animal waste can be converted to sustainably meet the energy needs of the farm. Biofuel Biomass is the only renewable energy source that can be converted into liquid biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Biofuel is used to power vehicles, and is being produced by gasification in countries such as Sweden, Austria, and the United States. Ethanol is made by fermenting biomass that is high in carbohydrates, such as sugarcane, wheat, or corn. Biodiesel is made from combining ethanol with animal fat, recycled cooking fat, or vegetable oil.

Biofuels do not operate as efficiently as gasoline. However, they can be blended with gasoline to efficiently power vehicles and machinery, and do not release the emissions associated with fossil fuels. Ethanol requires acres of farmland to grow biocrops usually corn. About 1, liters gallons of ethanol is produced by an acre of corn.

But this acreage is then unavailable for growing crops for food or other uses. Growing enough corn for ethanol also creates a strain on the environment because of the lack of variation in planting, and the high use of pesticides.

Ethanol has become a popular substitute for wood in residential fireplaces. When it is burned, it gives off heat in the form of flames, and water vapor instead of smoke.

Biochar Biochar, produced during pyrolysis, is valuable in agricultural and environmental use. When biomass rots or burns naturally or by human activity , it releases high amounts of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

However, when biomass is charred, it sequesters , or stores, its carbon content. When biochar is added back to the soil, it can continue to absorb carbon and form large underground stores of sequestered carbon—carbon sinks—that can lead to negative carbon emissions and healthier soil.

Biochar also helps enrich the soil. It is porous. When added back to the soil, biochar absorbs and retains water and nutrients. Slash-and-char agriculture replaces slash-and-burn , which temporarily increases the soil nutrients but causes it to lose 97 percent of its carbon content.

During slash-and-char, the charred plants biochar are returned to the soil, and the soil retains 50 percent of its carbon. This enhances the soil and leads to significantly higher plant growth.

Black Liquor When wood is processed into paper, it produces a high-energy, toxic substance called black liquor. Until the s, black liquor from paper mills was considered a waste product and dumped into nearby water sources. With the invention of the recovery boiler in the s, black liquor could be recycled and used to power the mill.

In the United States, paper mills use nearly all their black liquor to run their mills, and the forest industry is one of the most energy-efficient in the nation as a result. More recently, Sweden has experimented in gasifying black liquor to produce syngas, which can then be used to generate electricity.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Biomass is rich in hydrogen, which can be chemically extracted and used to generate power and to fuel vehicles. Stationary fuel cells are used to generate electricity in remote locations, such as spacecraft and wilderness areas. Yosemite National Park in the U. state of California, for example, uses hydrogen fuel cells to provide electricity and hot water to its administration building.

Hydrogen fuel cells may hold even more potential as an alternative energy source for vehicles. The U. Department of Energy estimates that biomass has the potential to produce 40 million tons of hydrogen per year. This would be enough to fuel million vehicles.

Currently, hydrogen fuel cells are used to power buses, forklifts, boats, and submarines, and are being tested on airplanes and other vehicles. However, there is a debate as to whether this technology will become sustainable or economically possible.

The energy that it takes to isolate, compress, package, and transport the hydrogen does not leave a high quantity of energy for practical use.

The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon is exchanged between all layers of Earth: atmosphere, hydrosphere , biosphere , and lithosphere.

The carbon cycle takes many forms. It is exchanged through photosynthesis, decomposition, respiration, and human activity. Carbon that is absorbed by soil as an organism decomposes, for example, may be recycled as a plant releases carbon-based nutrients into the biosphere through photosynthesis.

Under the right conditions, the decomposing organism may become peat , coal, or petroleum before being extracted through natural or human activity. Between periods of exchange, carbon is sequestered, or stored.

The carbon in fossil fuels has been sequestered for millions of years. When fossil fuels are extracted and burned for energy, their sequestered carbon is released into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels do not reabsorb carbon.

In contrast to fossil fuels, biomass comes from recently living organisms. The carbon in biomass can continue to be exchanged in the carbon cycle. In order to effectively allow Earth to continue the carbon cycle process, however, biomass materials such as plants and forests have to be sustainably farmed.

It takes decades for trees and plants such as switchgrass to reabsorb and sequester carbon. Uprooting or disturbing the soil can be extremely disruptive to the process.