Biomass
Energy Source Of The Future?
What do we mean by Biomass as an energy source?
Gasification
A process that uses high temperatures to convert carbon based organic or fossil materials (biomass) into a biogas which can be used as fuel. These biogases are often composed of different gases like carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide.
Example: Gasification of coal
The gasification of coal is the process of deriving biogas from coal + water and air or O2 to create a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Equation = C (s) + H2O (aq) + O2 (g) -> CO (g)+ H2 (g)+ CO2 (g)+ H2O (g)
Example: Deriving pure hydrogen from a biogas
Gasification is often used in order to create pure hydrogen from a biogas, shown below is the process of turning methane (a common byproduct of gasification) into methane with the help of water vapor.
Equation: CH4 (g) + 2 H2O (g) → CO2 (g) + 4 H2 (g)
Combustion
The basic equation:
biomass + O2 (g) → CO2 (g) + H2O (g) + energy
An equation using the combustion of glucose as an example:
C6H12O6 (s) + 6 O2 (g) → 6 CO2 (g) + 6 H2O (g) + heat energy
Biochemical conversion of biomass using microorganisms
Using glucose as an example:
Equation: C6H12O6 (s)→ 3 CH4 (g) + 3 CO2 (g) + energy
Modern use of Biomass
Outlook for the future
Sources
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/US_energy_consumption_by_source_2011.png
http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/images/figure_83-lg.jpg
Equation for combustion: http://ndla.no/nb/node/3840?fag=7
Equation for combustion of glucose from: http://ndla.no/nb/node/4320?fag=7
Equation for breaking down biomass using microorganisms: http://ndla.no/nb/node/10207?fag=7