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Environmental Assessment of Renewable Energy Conversion Technologies Paris A. Fokaides
Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth Assessment
Edited by Nayan Kumar and Prabhansu
This edition first published 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA and Scrivener Publishing LLC, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 541J, Beverly, MA 01915, USA
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 978-1-119-78536-1
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Cover design by Russell Richardson
Set in size of 11pt and Minion Pro by Manila Typesetting Company, Makati, Philippines
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5 Thermal Performance Studies of an Artificially Roughened Corrugated Aluminium Alloy (AlMn1Cu) Plate Solar Air Heater (SAH) at
Dutta P. P., Goswami P ., Das A., Chutia L., Borbara M., Das V., Bania K., Rai S. and Bardalai M.
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M. Naveen Kumar, A. Gangagni Rao, Sudharshan Juntupally, Vijayalakshmi Arelli and Sameena
8.4
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8.4.2.1 Bacterial Enzymes Involved in Lignin De-Polymerization
8.4.2.2 Types of Bacteria and their Role in Delignification
8.5 Combined Biological Pretreatment Case Studies and Opportunities
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Preface
Background
Renewable energy is one of the pioneer fields nowadays and everyone is interested in the growth curve of it. It has broad applications in several areas ranging from energy, transport, and transmission to storage and even day-to-day activities. This book provides a perfect blend of all current issues related to latest developments in the field of renewable energy utilization. The book will be very useful for engineers, scientists, academicians, etc., in the fields of mechanical, electrical, electronics, civil, computer, and artificial intelligence working in the broader domain of renewable energy.
Objectives
This book is intended for use as a reference book to look into the latest developments in the field of renewable energy keeping the minimum basic knowledge intact. The objectives of this work are:
• To cover the sub-domains of the renewable energy sector in which the latest developments have taken place.
• To present practical problems that are coming up in understanding and implementing the renewable energy sector.
• To link academia with the industries and try to solve some of the practical industrial problems.
We hope that the careful explanations given in this book with numerous figures and tables will help the readers to develop important skills and will help them to boost their knowledge and confidence level.
Philosophy and Goal
The main philosophy is to help the young and budding engineers of tomorrow to ignite their minds to critically analyze the importance of renewable energy and its future scope. This book also intends to awaken interest and enthusiasm in the students; it should be thought of only as as a problem-solving aid.
The key features of different chapters of this text are as follows. Chapter 1 offers a brief but comprehensive review of the biomass resources, chemical structure and characterization, technologies available for conversion, scientific processes and their related products. The author concludes with a discussion of the impact of biomass as an emerging renewable: challenges and opportunities and a brief discussion about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 2 gives an overview of different renewable energy technologies based on sustainability. This chapter gives short overviews on fuzzy-TOPSIS and Monte Carlo tools for renewable energy sustainability. Chapter 3 gives a detailed account of the biomass effect, the energy crisis, biomass impact, and the efficient biomass conversion into energy through the developed technology. Chapter 4 presents recent advances in power electronics in power drive systems, transmission systems, electric vehicles, and more electric aircrafts/ships. The authors offer a short introduction to the state-of-the-art reliability of power converter. Chapter 5 investigates thermal performance of an artificially roughened Corrugated Aluminium Alloy (AlMn1Cu) Plate Solar Air Heater (SAH) at a moderate air flow rate. Chapter 6 is mainly focussed on array reconfiguration methods which are elaborately described through their classification, methodology, and best-suited configuration in each of its categories. As per the momentum situation, as a result of the long wire length prerequisite for PV cluster reconfiguration. In Chapter 7, various rigorous models such as view factor, ray tracing, and empirical models will be studied and a comparison of the optical models and their dependent software for calculating irradiance available to bifacial modules are also discussed. Chapter 8 deals with the intervention of microorganisms for the pre-treatment of lingo-cellulosic biomass to extract the fermentable sugars for bio-fuel production. In Chapter 9, detailed descriptions of various resources, conversion technologies and applications of biomass and bio-energy in upcoming sectors are provided. Chapter 10 takes a tour of renewable energy development in Africa. In this chapter, lessons and policy recommendations from South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria have been taken.
Sustainable development of pine bio-carbon derived thermally stable and electrically conducting polymer nano-composite films is presented in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 includes power electronics on energy systems and its impact, the current energy scenario, advancement in power semiconductor technology, new power converters for renewable energy systems solar, wind and recent developments in multilevel inverter based PV systems. Chapter 13 elaborates the importance of fuel cells (FCs) for alternative and sustainable energy systems. Chapter 14 typically discusses working mechanism, efficiency and output emission of FCs, hydrogen production and transportation, uses of FCs in industries and automobiles, advancements in the high cost controls, and future advancements of FCs in the market. A huge number of recent ongoing published researches—over 10,000 per year—indicates that a proper use of FCs can easily replace the conventional engine vehicles in the near future. The focus of Chapter 15 is designing, fabrication and testing of miniature hydel impulse turbine prototypes for powering household lightings and auto faucet system. In Chapter 16, the authors demonstrate the modeling, performance analysis, impact study and operational paradigms of a solar photovoltaic power plant. Chapter 17 depicts a systematic survey of different control techniques used in microgrids. Significant recent developments and possible scope for future research are also addressed. In Chapter 18, a brief outline of the challenges in microgrid protection along with the techniques proposed to address them has been analyzed. Specifically, the challenges related to maintaining high reliability during the islanded condition, faults in the DER, and weather intermittency have been
Preface xxi
discussed at length. Chapter 19 provides optimization theories of finance for generation portfolio. Chapter 20 investigates simple and significant control strategies for the VSCs of the grid integrated PMSG-WES. The strategies are aimed to exert the coordinated control of basic and advanced functions adhering to the grid connectivity requirements of IEGC. As a mode of analysis, PSCAD/EMTDC model is devised to validate the presented control schemes based on experimental observations. Chapter 21 studies radiant cooling systems with parallel desiccant-based dedicated outdoor air system with solar regeneration.
Dr. Nayan Kumar
Department of Electrical Engineering, Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India
E-mail: nayansays@gmail.com
Dr. Prabhansu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat, Gujarat, India
E-mail: prabhansu.nitp@gmail.com
Biomass as Emerging Renewable: Challenges and Opportunities
Prabhansu1* and Nayan Kumar2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India
2Department of Electrical Engineering, Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India
Abstract
Bioenergy is a widespread form of modern renewable energy source because of the devastating impacts of high demand for fossil fuel, i.e., global warming and environmental effects. This paper addresses the different engineering aspects of bioenergy and its international status. Bioenergy deals with their chemical structure, characterization, technologies available for conversion, scientific processes and their related products, all of which are are reviewed and discussed. Moreover, bioenergy-derived products are analyzed from environmental and techno-economic considerations, and observations and remarks are presented. Finally, the challenges faced expand the share of bioenergy employments in the global energy market and developed countries.
Keywords: Biomaterials, waste to energy, renewable energy, energy management
1.1 Introduction
Biomass is finding increased attention in industry and academia as one of the preferred choices of eco-friendly and sustainable energy sources. The need for biomass has multiplied in recent years because of government support in many countries and sharp cost reductions for power generation fuel and heat generation in industry and as a fuel used in transport. Biomass has so far been the renewable energy source most resilient to Covid-19 lockdown measures. The share of renewables in the global electricity supply reached nearly 28% in the first quarter of 2020, up from 26% during the same period in 2019 [1].
Bioenergy must be produced in ways that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. The potential is enormous to produce bioenergy cost-effectively and sustainably on existing farmlands and grasslands and to use residues from existing forests without encroaching upon rainforests.
Biomass is mainly classified into two categories: modern and traditional. In recent years, biomass has become a very popular source of renewable energy; its supply to final energy
demand across all sectors is five times higher than wind and solar PV combined, even when the traditional use of biomass is excluded [1, 2]. Many countries are interested in developing biomass energy generation. The most responsible player for bioenergy market contraction is the US [3]. The cumulative capacity of biomass power worldwide from 2009 to 2019 is illustrated in Figure 1.1 [4].
Bioenergy technologies utilize plant or animal waste, and it also involves material after their natural and artificial transformation and can be used for energy production [5–9] or, in other words, the resources of bioenergy are made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen [10, 11]. Examples of bioenergy resources are bagasse, sawdust, household waste, and wastewater, pelletized agricultural waste, etc. [12–15].
The energy obtained from biomass will help in the reduction of dependency on fossil fuels [16–18]. In 2017, modern bioenergy contributed an estimated 5.0% to total final energy consumption, as shown in Figure 1.2 [19]. Biomass is regarded as one of the major energy sources for several developing countries, and its use could be as high as 20-33%, but if one compares it with an industrialized nation, the total share could be as low as 9-14% of the total consumption of resources and the trend is gradually increasing [20]. It has traditionally been used since time immemorial, and its sustainable use is increasing rapidly because of its economic potential in terms of agricultural waste, sewage and household waste. This source of energy is carbon neutral since, at the time of growth of biomass, it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, which is added due to its combustion. Thus, it provides a net zero balance of total CO2 produced by it [21, 22]. Although the main focus of the current society is the use of fossil fuels but in order to fight climate change, biomass will definitely be beneficial at large [23]. Urban society is contributing 70% of the total CO2 addition to the environment and is contributing the most to climate change, and its aftereffects are already beginning to show in several cities across the globe [24, 25]. With the help of available processes like physical, chemical and biological, biomass can be converted into gaseous, liquid and solid combustible substances [26, 27].
The biomass obtained from peanut shell, mango stone and the seed of sunflower is found to have a Higher Heating Value (HHV) very close to other commercially available biofuels [28–31]. Several research works are going on for the constant development of decentralized biomass boilers for energy production [32, 33]. Cogeneration means the use of low-grade fuels with high-grade fuels for the production of electrical energy [34]. In 2017, electricity from biomass-based sources was the third-largest renewable electricity source
Figure 1.1 Global cumulative bioenergy power capacity from 2009 to 2019 [4].
after hydropower and wind with 596 TWh of biopower generated and is shown in Figure 1.3 [35]. China is the world leader in bioenergy-based electric power generation.
Now there is a sharp rise in the use of biomass as an alternate source of energy as it mainly comprises a green source [36, 37]. Biomass is evenly distributed throughout the globe as it can also be obtained as a by-product of agricultural and industrial waste, thus having a high growth potential [38, 39]. The greatest benefits are the use of forest area for the collection of twigs and woods, which will ultimately prevent forest fires, and at the same time, it offers new employment. 9.8 million people worldwide got their livelihood through renewable source in 2016, an increase of 1.1% over 2015. A detailed description is given in Table 1.1 [29]. The main focus is to obtain eco-friendly energy from biomass for sustainable growth and also to gradually replace conventional fossil fuels [40]. It has a huge amount of potential for the large-scale generation of biofuels which can be utilized for electricity, heat (shown in Table 1.2) [35] and also for transportation [41].
The US Department of Energy and the European Commission have worked on an “Action plan for Biomass” in which they have made a clear-cut emphasis on bioenergy [42]. This is relevant for the major issue of climate change, as covered by the International Panel on
Figure 1.2 Bioenergy estimated share in total final energy consumption, 2017 [19].
Figure 1.3 Electricity generation from biomass [35].
Table 1.1 Estimated direct and indirect jobs in bioenergy, by country/region and technology, 2017-2018 [29].
World China Brazil United States India European Union Thousand jobs
aPower and heat applications. bTraditional biomass is not included.
Table 1.2 Heat production from biomass in EJ [35].
Climate Change (IPCC), which monitors greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere [42, 43]. The biomass produces net zero carbon in its cycle as the CO2 liberated by the biomass is again reused by plants [43–45]. Each and every material or substance being derived from photosynthesis indirectly or directly is termed as biomass [46]. The total biomass on our planet earth has the potential to provide eighty times more energy as compared to the total requirement of the entire globe [47]. The biggest challenge today is energy-saving and, at the same time, the reduction of harmful emission [48, 49]. The advantages and limitations of bioenergy are shown in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3 Bioenergy technologies [4–49].
Characteristics
Bioenergy conversion schemes
a. Bioenergy share is 13-14% of the world’s total energy consumption
b. Traditionally biomass energy is mainly utilized for
c. Heating and cooking, which accounts for about 8%.
d. Modern bioenergy is utilized for running plant and transport.
e. USA is largest producer of biodiesel and ethanol.
Advantages
i) A suitable source of energy ii) They are used in transportation fuel generation, i.e., bio-diesel etc.
Disadvantages
Carbon emissions from burning Wastes Resource availability risk
1.2
Bioenergy Chemical Characterization
If one clearly identifies the residue of biomass, one may find different components like lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose having different percentage. The chemical composition may vary depending on the structures of the bioenergy [50].
1.2.1 Cellulose [C6(H2O)5]n
The most important chemical component in the biomass is cellulose, which contains 90% of total cotton and 50% of total wood and possesses a very strong function in the plant cell wall [51]. The creation of an intermolecular hydrogen bond on different hydroxyl group makes it more firm and stable [52]. In addition to that, [53] confirmed that the group of hydroxyl have greater reactivity as compared to the secondary ones because of low impediment.
1.2.2 Hemicellulose [C5(H2O)4]n
Hemicellulose is different for different plants [54], and it is generally found to get decomposed in between 180-350 °C and produces aldehydes, ketones, non-condensable coal gas, furans and acids [55].
1.2.3 Lignin [C10H12O3]n
The content of lignin is also different for different species and ranges between 25-30% for soft plants and can be as high as 50% for ebony like hard species of plant. The major elemental components like carbon are up to 65%, for hydrogen, it is between 5-6%, and the rest are mostly oxygen [56]. The methoxylation of the compounds plays a very crucial role, and because of it, the composition varies [57]. At the temperature of around 128 °C, dry lignin begins to soften, but this also depends on the molecular weight and with the increase in molecular weight, the softening temperature is bound to increase [58]. The availability of lignin is quite high [59, 60]. It has got higher calorific value as compared to cellulose [61] and can be subsequently used for the production of bioplastics, additives etc. [62]. Several high valued components are produced from it [63–66].
1.2.4 Starch
Starch is found mainly in two forms in nature, i.e., hot water soluble amylose (25-27%) and water-insoluble amylopectin (73-75%) [67]. The residues of α-Dglucose are joined in starch to form long chains in order to create polymers [68].
1.2.5
Other Minor Components of Organic Matter
The important substrates of biomass that influences the treatment process are lipids, nucleic acid, proteins, acetyls and uronic acid [69–75].
1.2.6 Inorganic Matter
Biomass often contains several inorganic substances and especially in the form of ash content [76]. The major elements that are constituents of biomass are potassium, sodium, silicon, calcium, iron and aluminium [77].
1.3 Technologies Available for Conversion of Bioenergy
Three main routes are available for the conversion of biomass to usable forms. They are as follows:
i. Thermo-chemical conversions: It involves the process of pyrolysis, gasification, combustion and liquefaction [41, 78–86], as shown in Figure 1.4.
ii. Biochemical conversions: This route helps in converting biomass to the main carbohydrate so that further, it can be converted to several bio-products like biogas and mainly liquid fuels. The agents involved are mainly bacteria and enzymes [87]. Important available technologies are fermentation and anaerobic digestion [81, 88–95].
iii. Physico-chemical conversions: The exact conversion of biomass into bio-oil is dependent on several variables or elements, i.e., composition of feedstock, temperature and heating value, pressure, solvent, residence time, and catalysts. The process mainly involves the conversion of vegetable oil and animal fat into biodiesel. Major oils used are rapeseed, jatropha, sunflower [96, 97]. Comparison of bio-fuel (bio-diesel and bio-ethanol) production for different countries over the period 19902019 is shown in Figure 1.5 [98].
Figure 1.4 Thermochemical options for the production of fuels, chemicals, and power [79].
Figure 1.5 Trend of bio-fuel production for different countries over the period 1990-2019 [98].
1.4 Progress in Scientific Study
The major countries that are involved in the scientific study and production of biomass, in increasing order of their intensity, are the United States, China, India, Germany and Italy. Recent progress has been identified in the areas of the use of combustion technology and the development of hybrid systems.
1.4.1 Combustion Technology
Combustion technology is constantly getting advanced, and the main thrust areas are flameless combustion, also known as Flameless Oxidation (FLOX) [99, 100], HighTemperature Air Combustion (HTAC) [101], Moderate or Intense Low Oxygen Dilution Combustion (MILD) [102] and Colorless Combustion [103]. There are several advantages while using flameless combustion. Some of them are reduction in fuel consumption, reduction in major pollutant emissions like NOx and the involvement of stable and efficient combustion. Also, it helps in higher heat transfer rate and reduction in noise often found in combustion [104–106]. Side by side interest in biomass, i.e., mainly willow and poplar, demolition wood, sawdust and bark, has increased over the years [105, 107]. The combustion of biomass includes a chain of reactions where carbon gets converted to carbon dioxide and water, whereas its incomplete combustion will lead to many harmful products like CO [108]. The main criterion for flameless combustion is to raise the temperature to the desired level [109].
The properties of biomass can be classified as microscopic (mineral data, kinetics & thermal characteristics) and macroscopic (ultimate analysis, size of the particle, moisture content, fusion temperature of ash and bulk density) [110]. The phenomenon of flameless combustion has a significant effect on the reduction of emission and combustion
performance [111]. In research work, Suda et al. [112] studied emissions and combustion characteristics of coal under high-temperature conditions in a cylindrical furnace and fed by bituminous and anthracite variety of coal. By the use of the latest NOx burner technology with the staging of air, it was found to perform better mitigation of NOx [113]. The latest in flameless biomass combustion included the study on NOx formation by Roman et al. [114], and it was found that NOx emission is proportional to the concentration of oxygen in the air and the atmospheric air temperature.
It was found by [115] that with the increase in temperature, the heat transfer rate is bound to increase and that greatly increases the combustion of wood pellet. It was also found that the mass-loss rate is higher at 1000 °C than at 1100 °C. The ash and the content of moisture are the main causes of various ignition and problems of combustion [116]. Other studies were also reported in relation to flameless combustion by the release of volatile matter and suppression of ignition delay [117].
1.4.2 Hybrid Systems
In order to get a better approach towards generations based on renewables, a system approach is often preferred, and it considers the control of generators locally and its association with the subsystem known as micro-grid [118]. At the time of disturbances, the loads are separated from the system of distribution, and the micro-grid gets isolated without interfering with the integrity of the transmission grid [119]. The source of renewable energy has seasonal and daily variations. Therefore, because of its intermittent nature, it is difficult to get a continuous power flow. The techno-economic concepts for this have been discussed for remote areas [120], and the case study of the feasibility of installation of the wind farm has been studied for Australia [121]. The comparisons between computational models for hybrid systems are presented in McGowan et al. [122]. Converters of wind energy and diesel generators were predicted for reliability and economic analysis by the use of Monte Carlo techniques [123]. Different hybrid systems of solar PV/diesel were revisited by Wichert et al. [124] and highlighted future developments. The performance of different hybrid systems is also presented by Elhadidy et al. [125], and its storage in a battery is discussed by Saheb-Koussa et al. [126]. A new method for optimization of hybrid wind and solar PV and diesel system has been introduced in Belfkira et al. [127]. Similarly, different combinations of PV diesel/battery hybrid system are provided in [128–137]. Another work included biomass, solar and wind hybrid model in which HRES of biomass 20 kW, generation of wind 125 kVA and 20 kW of solar PV and further analyses on it were done for rural electrification [118].
1.4.3 Circular Bio-Economy
Nonetheless, the expense identified with the biomass assortment, isolation, transportation, and capacity is as yet a worry. The idea of using biomass as a wellspring of an environmentally friendly power and other financially significant items is a lot of coverage with the idea of circular economy, and this convergence of circular economy and bio-economy can be named as the circular bio-economy. Yet, with change in the biomass executives’ framework and shaping laws empowering the re-usage of created squander, the idea of a circular bio-economy can be carried out to address the issues of environmental change, ecological
contamination, and non-renewable energy source consumption. Comparative assessment of massive scope projects is essential to distinguish the best accessible innovation for biofuel creation. Moreover, the current maintainability issues of the biomass store network ought to be routed to guarantee lasting through the year conveyance of feedstock to the transformation office. A vigorous plan of action would pull in financial backers and speed up the commercialization of biomass-inferred bio-fuel.
1.4.4 Other Notable Developments
The work conducted by Huang et al. [138] proposed a system comprising of marine fuel cell based on marine sediment and its allied systems. It was found to exploit the substrates that are biodegradable in nature and produce electricity from them. A biomass energy harvesting system has been reported for underwater applications, both experimentally and numerically [139]. In another application, biomass-derived carbon has been shown to have applications in batteries and supercapacitors [140]. In one of the extensive reviews conducted by [141], it was concluded that advanced oxidation processes had a lot of potential in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of bioenergy.
1.5 Status of Biomass Utilization in India
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is providing government subsidies on gasification of biomass and cogeneration [142, 143]. India is primarily agricultural land and can provide one of the largest amounts of biomass for energy generation [144]. There are two types of residue; the primary is what one gets on the field, whereas the second is those which are obtained when it is stacked for processing [145]. Besides agriculture, cattle and livestock also contribute to a major extension to the high availability of biomass [146]. Several crops like sugarcane, pulses, corns, etc., are considered as biomass on the basis of moisture content, ash content, calorific value and carbon proportion [147, 148]. Nowadays, more focus is on bamboo, kadam, Julie flora and babul as they provide a high amount of dry content of material [149]. As per MNRE, more than 200 million tonnes of biomass are generated, and most of them are left unused or not used properly [150, 151]. Some of these wastes, in particular municipal solid waste, can be converted to energy fuels through several thermal and chemical conversion processes; otherwise, it may create a lot of problems to the drainage line as well as the underground water level [152, 153]. The wastes like fruit and vegetable peels, food pulp and sludge can be used for biogas generation through anaerobic digestion [154–158]. Similarly, animal waste and municipal solid waste can be converted to manure and have huge potential in India [159–161]. Several institutions like MNRE, IISC, IIT, and CSIR, as well as other research and academic labs are working day and night to provide solutions for sustainable use of biomass [162]. There is also a lot of scope available for industrial waste to be converted to useful energy through bio-chemical routes [163, 164]. Among various states in India, Punjab is the largest producer of crops and has the largest biomass production [165]. These can be co-fired in power plants for electricity generation [166]. Just by proper use of bagasse, India can generate another 800 MW of extra electricity [167, 168]. The thermal conversion route of biomass comprises gasification, pyrolysis, liquefaction and combustion [169–172]. Everywhere it is required to have low moisture content, but if the moisture content