04-05-2011, 10:56 AM
Biomass Gasification for Production of Producer gas using Wood
chip, Saw dust, Trash papers and Other Agricultural Wastes
Abstract—
Renewable energy such as solar, wind, and bio-fuels can play a key role in creating a clean,reliable energy future. The benefits are many and varied, including a cleaner environment. Electricity isoften produced by burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas besides hydropower. Thecombustion of these fuels releases a variety of pollutants into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide(CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which create acid rain and smog. Carbondioxide from burning fossil fuels is a significant component of greenhouse gas emissions. Theseemissions could significantly alter the world’s environment and contribute to global warming.Renewable energy, on the other hand, can be a clean energy resource. Using renewables to replaceconventional fossil fuels can prevent the release of pollutants into the atmosphere and help combatglobal warming. For example, using solar energy to supply a million homes with energy would reduceCO2 emissions by 4.3 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 850,000 cars from the road.Equally important, renewable energy technologies contribute significantly to local economies, creatingjobs and keeping energy expenses in the local economy. This paper will introduce you to renewablefuel technologies which are not petroleum-based, so they’re cleaner burning.Wood charcoal has always been the primary fuel for cooking in Ethiopia because it is cheaper, burnscleanly and easy to find. As the price of kerosene and propane gas tank is higher 90% of homes dependtraditionally on charcoal while others exploit wood, thus leaving the country with a little less than 3%of its forest.Researches made on biomass gasification suggest that many types of agricultural waste, such as peanutand coffee hulls, coconut shells, wood chips, and scrap papers of offices and saw dust can be convertedinto charcoal after biomass gasification. These means the use of the wood and those agricultural wastesare being doubled in such a way that the gasification process gives the producer gas that can be used asfuel and the byproduct of the gasification process will be further processed in to charcoal briquette.Generally this work consists of producing syngas or the producer gas by gasification of wood chips andsaw dust of Jimma University’s wood work shop wastes and scrap papers of each faculty andadministrative office of the university which are being burned in the garbage pit as a waste, grass andother agricultural wastes. The producer gas containing carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane and someother inert gases mixed with air can be used in burners for cooking and in gasoline or diesel enginewith little modifications. So that in this project the manufacturing of two types of biomass gassifiershas been carried out and the test is being conducted for making comparison between the two gassifiersfor better result. The two types of gassifiers are stratified type and imbert type.Furthermore the combination of exploiting local resources for clean energy production, localcommitment and use of local labor and improvement of the environment and saved emissions are allfactors that improve the general living quality. Like wind, water and solar power, wood should beactively promoted by the government as a renewable resource that can help reduce pollution.
Key words- Biomass, Syngas, Renewable energy, Cleaner environment, Gassification, Stratified andImbert, Exploiting local recourse