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Utilization of Biogas as a Renewable Energy

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Words: 739 |

Pages: 2|

4 min read

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 739|Pages: 2|4 min read

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Biogas is a type of renewable energy that belongs to the category of biofuel that is naturally produced from the decomposition of organic waste in the absence of oxygen, which is referred to as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a natural form of waste-to-energy that uses the process of fermentation to break down organic matter. Biogas generated from anaerobic digestion processes is a clean and environmentally friendly renewable fuel. Currently there are various beneficial biogas utilization options available with the advancement of the technologies. The most common uses for biogas are electricity production, heat generation and with the new technologies, it can be converted to renewable natural gas and compressed renewable natural gas as well to be used as vehicle fuels.

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The most common use of biogas is for thermal (heat) energy. A small biogas system can provide the heat energy for simple household activities by simply adjusting the air-to-gas ratio in a conventional gas burner. According to “Sustainable Heat Use of Biogas Plants” handbook by Dominik Rutz, biogas can be used as fuel for a combined heat and power (CHP) installation, which is a simultaneous production of electricity with the recovery and utilisation heat. Basically, it is a gas powered engine with a generator connected to it. The engine drives the generator, which in turn produces electricity.

As a result of the internal combustion, the gas engine also generates heat. This heat leaves the engine through the exhaust gases and the cooling liquid. By using heat exchangers, this thermal energy can be captured and used productively. An engine based CHP unit has an efficiency of up to 90% and produces thereof about 35% electricity and 65% heat. Compared to natural gas, biogas generally has a lower quality. Its heating value is lower. Furthermore, biogas can also contain contaminants that are harmful to the engine, such as sulphur compounds, halide compounds, acids and solids thus leading to biogas often being treated in order to reduce the level of contamination and enhance the performance and lifetime of the gas engine.

This renewable energy is already used for heat and electricity production, but the best upgrading solution of this clean energy is the use as vehicle fuel. Gasoline vehicles can use biogas as a fuel, but biogas has to be upgraded to natural gas quality in order to be used in normal vehicles designed to use natural gas.

Gas upgrading is normally performed in two steps where the main step is the process that removes CO2. Minor contaminants are normally removed before the CO2 removal and the water dew point can be adjusted before or after the upgrading (depending on the process).

The second step is the removal of H2S in which the ferrous material (material consisting of iron) are placed in a closed gas tight container to be purified.

Suryavanshi N. D. Shaha, professor at S.V.P.M’s college of Engineering mechanical engineering stated that biogas has very high octane number approximately 130. By comparison, gasoline is 90 to 94 and alcohol 105 at best. This means that a higher compression ration can be used with biogas than petrol. An engine's compression ratio is the ratio of the volume of gas in the cylinder when the piston is at the top of its stroke (top dead centre, or TDC) to the volume of gas when the piston's at the bottom of its stroke (bottom dead centre or BDC). A high compression ratio is desirable because it allows an engine to extract more mechanical energy from a given mass of air-fuel mixture due to its higher thermal efficiency with less fuel, while giving longer expnasion cycle, creating more mechanical power output and lowering the exhaust temperature. Biogas is a non-fossil gas which is produced from the decomposition of organic waste that has been recognized as an important component of the renewable energy program in the world. It has a real potential of fossil energy replacement.

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Biogas can be a valuable energy resource that can be potentially used in many types of equipment. There are a variety of end uses for biogas. Except for the simplest thermal uses such as odor flaring or some types of heating, biogas needs to be cleaned or processed prior to use. With appropriate cleaning or upgrade, biogas can be used in all applications that were developed for natural gas such as production oh heat and electricity generation and even as vehicle fuel.

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Utilization of Biogas as a Renewable Energy. (2018, November 05). GradesFixer. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/biogas-utilization/
“Utilization of Biogas as a Renewable Energy.” GradesFixer, 05 Nov. 2018, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/biogas-utilization/
Utilization of Biogas as a Renewable Energy. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/biogas-utilization/> [Accessed 18 Mar. 2024].
Utilization of Biogas as a Renewable Energy [Internet]. GradesFixer. 2018 Nov 05 [cited 2024 Mar 18]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/biogas-utilization/
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