Bio-mass is an organic substance that stored natural energy and can be used for energy production. These organic substances are from plants and animals such a piece of wood, rubbish, agricultural residues etc. Utilizing bio-mass for energy can be processed by burning for heat and use for electricity production replacing energy use from fossil such as oil which is limited and non-renewable. Bio-mass is from many sources such as agricultural crops, agricultural residues, wood and wood residues or residential & industrial residues such as chaff, bagasse from sugar production and yeast from ethanol production etc.
Bio-energy means the energy gained from bio-mass by the process of bio-mass transformation to be forms of energy
The process of transforming bio-mass to be forms of energy
- Combustion: burning bio-mass will release heat based on rate of heat in each kind of bio-mass. Heat derived from burning process will be used in steam production with high temperature and pressure leads to gas turbine movement for electricity production. Samples of this kind of bio-mass are agricultural and wood residues.
- Gasification: process of transforming solid fuel or bio-mass to be gas fuel called bio-gas which consists of methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This can be used with gas turbine
- Fermentation: process of fermenting bio-mass with bacteria in vacuum condition. Bio-mass will be digested and segregated transformed to bio-gas which consists of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is used as fuel in engine for electricity production.
- Production of liquid fuel from plant can be described as follows:
- Biological process: digesting starch, sugar and cellulose from agricultural plants such as sugarcane, cassava to become ethanol to be used as liquid fuel in Benzene engine
- Physical & Chemical process: extracting oils from oil plant and undergo oil with transesterification for biodiesel production
- High temperature process eg. Pyrolysis process: treating agricultural residues with high temperature in vacuum condition, residues are transformed to be fuel in form of liquid and gas mixing.
Bio-mass energy technology
- Combustion Technology: combustion is the instantly re-united reaction of fuel and oxygen leads to burning process and releasing heat. Combustion does not require merely oxygen but also the air. As in the air, oxygen is 20% by volume and 23% by weight.
- Liquidification Technology
- Gasification Technology: gasification is the process of transforming energy in bio-mass by thermal conversion method. Main components of producer gas are CO, H2 and CH4
- Anaerobic Digestion Technology: process of chemical gas production from bio-mass by digesting organic substances in vacuum condition called bio-gas, producing methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide CO2 as main components.
- Electricity by using bio-mass as fuel
- Bio-mass gas fitter: bio-mass gas fitter is a gas fitter produced for residential use by using wood and agricultural residues as fuel having principle of process by updraft gasifier. it is a fuel combustion in limited amount of air releasing heat and accelerating other sequences of reaction to transform solid fuel to fuel gas that is inflammable such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane etc.
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