Module 4

Biomass energy

BIOMASS ENERGY- Introduction- Biomass fuels-Biomass conversion

technologies –Urban waste to Energy Conversion- Biomass Gasification-
Biomass to Ethanol Production- Biogas production from waste biomass-
factors affecting biogas generation-types of biogas plants – KVIC and Janata
model-Biomass program in India
 BIOMASS ENERGY

• Biomass is a general term for living material – plants, animals, fungi,

bacteria.
• The energy obtained from biomass is known as biomass energy.
• “Biomass” can also be considered a form of solar energy as the latter is used
indirectly to grow these plants by photosynthesis.
 BIOMASS RESOURCES

1. Concentrated wastes :
(i) Municipal solid (ii) Sewage wood products
(iii) Industrial waste (iv) Manure at large lots.
2. Dispersed waste residue :
(i) Crop residue (ii) Logging residue
(iii) Disposed manure.
3. Harvested biomass :
(i) Standing biomass (ii) Biomass energy plantations
 PHOTOSYNTHESIS

• The preparation of food by the leaves of green plant and micro-organism in

presence of sunlight, chlorophyll, water and “CO2” is called photosynthesis.

• CO2 from the atmosphere combines with water and light energy to produce
carbohydrates (i.e., sugars, starches etc.) and oxygen.

• The photosynthesis process can be represented by the following reaction :

6CO + 6H O + light energy → C H O + 6CO

2 2 6 12 6 2
The conditions necessary for photosynthesis are :

(i) Light : The intensity of solar radiation of 400-700°. A wavelength is one of

the important inputs for biomass production; this range of light is called
‘Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)’.

(ii) CO2 concentration : CO2 is the primary raw material for photosynthesis.
The main sources of CO2 are :

— Animal respiration;

— Combustion of fuel;

— Decay of organic matter by bacteria;

— Ocean (respiration of marine plants and animal releases CO2 into the water).
(iii) Temperature : The process of photosynthesis is restricted to temperature
range of 0°C to 60°C which can by tolerated by proteins.
 BIOMASS FUELS

• Biomass is organic material that reacts with oxygen in combustion and

natural metabolic process to release heat.

• Sometimes, it is used as such in its original form .

• Often it is transformed into modern energy forms such as liquid and gaseous
fuels, electricity, and process heat to provide energy services needed by rural
and urban populations and also by industry.

• Some of its forms available to users are discussed below:

1. Fuel Wood (Virgin Wood)

• Wood is the most obvious and oldest source of biomass energy.

• This was the main source of energy used by mankind for centuries.

• Direct combustion is the simplest way to obtain heat energy. Its energy density is 16–
20 MJ/kg.

• It can also be converted to more useful forms such as charcoal or producer gas.
2.Charcoal

• Charcoal is a clean (smokeless), dry, solid fuel of black colour.

• It has 75–80 per cent carbon content and has energy density of about 30 MJ/kg.

• It is obtained by carbonization process of woody biomass to achieve higher energy

density per unit mass, thus making it more economical to transport.

• It can be used as fuel in domestic environment as it burns without smoke.

• Chemical grade charcoal has many uses in laboratory and industrial chemical
processes.

• It is also used for making high quality steel.

3. Fuel Pellets and Briquettes

• Crop residues such as straw, rice husk etc. and waste wood are pressed to form
lumps, known as fuel pellets or briquettes and used as solid fuel.

• The purpose is to reduce moisture content and increase the energy density
of biomass making it more feasible for long distance transportation.
4. Bio-diesel

• Some vegetable oils, edible as well as non-edible can be used in pure form or
its blend with petroleum diesel as fuel in a compression–ignition (diesel)
engine.

• Bio-diesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of

sulfur and aromatics.

• Bio-diesel can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled

restaurant greases.
5. Bio-ethanol

• Ethanol (C2H5OH) is a colourless liquid biofuel.

• Its boiling point is 78 °C and energy density is 26.9 MJ/kg.

• It can be derived from wet biomass containing sugars (e.g. sugarcane, sugarbeet,
sweet sorghum, etc.), starches (grains, tubers such as potato, cassava, etc.) or
cellulose (woody matter).

• Main constituents of woody matter are: lignin (fibrous part) and cellulose (juicy
part).

• Ethanol is largely produced from sugar cane

6. Biogas

• Biogas is produced in a biogas fermenter or digester.

• Nitrogen rich sludge (fertilizer) is also produced as a byproduct with improved

sanitation as an added bonus

7. Producer Gas

• Woody matter such as crop residue, wood chips, bagasse (fibrous residue of
sugar cane after juice extraction), rice husk, coconut shell, etc., can be
transformed to producer gas (also known as synthesis gas, syn gas, wood gas,
and water gas or bluegas) by a method known as thermal gasification of solid
fuel.
BIOMASS CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES

• There are many different ways of extracting energy from biomass. These energy
conversion technologies may be grouped into four basic types:

(i) physical method,

(ii) incineration (direct combustion),

(iii) thermo-chemical method and

(iv) biochemical method.

(i) Physical Method

• The simplest form of physical conversion of biomass is through compression of

combustible material.

• Its density is increased by reducing the volume using compression through the
processes called ‘briquetting’ and ‘pelletization’.

• Fuel oils can be extracted from plant products by expelling them.

(a) Pelletizaton : Pelletization is a process in which waste wood is pulverized, dried

and forced under pressure through an extrusion device.
(b) Briquettng :Biomass briquettes are made from woody matter (e.g. agricultural
waste, sawdust, etc.). They serve as replacement for fossil fuels such as oil or
coal, and can be used to heat boilers in manufacturing plants.

• Burning a wood briquette is far more efficient than burning firewood

(ii) Incineration

• Incineration means direct combustion of biomass for immediate useful heat.

• The heat produced are either used to generate electricity or provide the heat for
industrial process, space heating, cooking or district heating.

• Furnaces and boilers have been developed for large scale burning of various
types of biomass such as wood, waste wood, black liquid from pulp industry,
food industry waste .
• The moisture content in the biomass and wide range of
composition tends to decrease the efficiency of conversion.
(iii) Thermo-Chemical
• Biomass is heated either in absence of oxygen or by partial combustion of some of the biomass
in restricted air or oxygen supply.

1. PYROLYSIS

• Pyrolysis can process all forms of organic materials including rubber and plastics, which
cannot be handled by other methods.

• The products are three types of fuels, usually: a gas mixture (H2, CO, CO2, CH4 and N2), oil like
liquid (water soluble phase including acetic acid, acetone, methanol and non-aqueous phase
including oil and tar) and a nearly pure carbon char.

• The distribution of these products depends upon the type of feedstock, the temperature and
pressure during the process and its duration and the heating rate.
2. GASIFICATION

• High temperature pyrolysis (~1000 °C) maximizes the gaseous product. The process is known as

gasification.

3. CARBONIZATION

• Low temperature pyrolysis (up to 600 °C) maximizes the solid output. The process has been used

for centuries for production of charcoal. The process is known as carbonization.

4. LIQUEFICATION

• Liquid product is obtained through catalytic liquefaction process. Liquefaction is a relatively low

temperature (250–450 °C), high pressure (270 atm) thermo-chemical conversion of wet biomass,

usually with high hydrogen partial pressure and also a catalyst to enhance the rate of reaction

and/or to improve the selectivity of the process.

(iv) Biochemical
• The process makes use of metabolic action of microbial organism on biomass
to produce liquid and gaseous fuel.

• Two major biochemical processes are explained below:

• (a) Ethanol Fermentation : Alcoholic Fermentation is the decomposition in absence

of air of simple hexose sugars (sugars containing six carbon atoms per molecule,

i.e. C6H12O6) in aqueous solution by action of enzyme (a natural catalyst) present

in yeast, in acidic conditions (pH value 4 to 5).

The products are ethanol and carbon dioxide.

(b) Anaerobic Fermentation (Anaerobic Digestion)

• This process converts decaying wet biomass and animal wastes into biogas
through decomposition process by the action of anaerobic bacteria (bacteria
that live and grow in absence of oxygen).

• Carbon present in biomass may be ultimately divided between fully oxidized CO2
and fully reduced CH4. Thus:

• The biomass material in the form of water slurry is digested by the bacteria
anaerobically for several days in an airtight container.
• The reactions are slightly exothermic and small amount of heat
(equivalent to 1.5 MJ per kg dry digestible material) is also generated that
helps in maintaining favorable temperature.

• The process may be expedited at somewhat higher temperature.

• The most useful biomass materials appear to be animal manure, algae,

kelp, hyacinth, plant residues and other organic waste materials with
high moisture content
Energy available from various biomass resources
 URBAN WASTE TO ENERGY CONVERSION

• Municipal Solid waste Incineration Plant

• Municipal solid waste is the solid waste generated by households, commercial and institutional
operations and some industries.

• Disposal of MSW is a major problem in big cities where large quantities of waste is to be disposed
of, far away from the city centers.

• The emerging solution is to use this waste biomass as an energy resource in a waste-to-energy
conversion plant near city center.

• The energy thus generated is used within city itself and only a relatively small residue of used
biomass (ash etc.) is disposed away in landfills.

• Through incineration or gasification, electrical energy may be generated along with thermal energy
for process heat.
• The composition of urban waste depends on the style and standard of living
of the people.

• The energy content of domestic refuse differs significantly from area to area.
Generally it lies in range 4.2 to 14 MJ/kg.
 • The dry biomass is shredded to pieces
of about 2.5 cm diameter.
• An air stream segregates refuse derived
fuel (RDF), which is lighter from heavier metal
and glass pieces.
• The heavier part is reclaimed and recycled.
• The RDF thus obtained is burnt in the furnace
at about 1000 °C to produce steam in the boiler.
• Combustion process may be assisted by required
amount of auxiliary fuel when RDF does not burn
properly by itself.
• The superheated steam obtained from boiler is
used in a steam turbine coupled with an
alternator to produce electrical output in the
same way as in a conventional thermal plant.
• The flue gases are discharged to atmosphere
through stack after removal of pollutants such
as particulate matter, SOx and NOx, etc.
• Heat recovery steam generator extracts maximum
MSW to energy incineration plant possible heat from flue gases to form thermal output.
The ash is removed and disposed of to landfills.
 Problems associated with incineration plants

1. Strong concerns exist about the pollutants emitted during combustion.

• Because of various materials contained in the waste stream, pollutants in the flue
gases include derivatives of sulphur, chlorine, fluorine, nitrogen, chlorinated
hydrocarbons and heavy metals.

• One particular important group of pollutants, polychlorinated dibenzo-p dioxins

(PCDD) and the dibenzofurans (PCDF) are possibly among the most acutely
carcinogenic compounds known so far.

• It has been proven to cause cancer in animals and is linked with a variety of
other health problems, including genetic defects.
• PCDD/PCDF are formed either in the combustion chamber or after combustion
when the gases cool in the exhaust stack.

• Disagreement continues over establishing safe levels of dioxins emission from any
incinerator.

• It has been discovered at various levels at every incinerator tested so far.

2. The residual ash, which has high metal concentration, is also of concern.

• The ash is usually disposed of in landfills; the leachate (garbage juice; liquid that
results when water percolates through the landfill) must be well contained to prevent
groundwater contamination
Typical metal concentrations in fly ash and bottom ash of an incinerator
 BIOMASS GASIFICATION

• The word gasification (or thermal gasification) implies converting solid fuel into a
gaseous fuel by thermo-chemical method without leaving any solid carbonaceous
residue.

• Gasifier is the equipment that converts biomass into producer gas.

• Most common raw materials are: wood chips and other wastes from wood industry,
coconut shells, straw etc.
• Gasification involves partial combustion (oxidation in restricted quantity of
air/oxidant) and reduction operations of biomass.

• In a typical combustion process generally oxygen is surplus, while in gasification

process fuel is surplus.

• The combustion products, mainly carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrogen, carbon
monoxide and hydrogen pass through the glowing layer of charcoal for the reduction
process to occur.

• During this stage both carbon dioxide and water vapour, oxidize the char to form CO,
H2 and CH4.

• Following are the typical reactions, which occur during gasification:

• The moisture available in the biomass is converted to steam and generally no extra
moisture is required.

• Thus the product of combustion of pyrolysis gases results in CO2 and H2O (steam),
which further react with char:

• The composition of the gas produced depends on the degree of equilibrium attained
among various reactions.
• Gasifiers are broadly classified into:

(i) fixed bed gasifier and

(ii) fluidized bed gasifier.

• The fixed bed gasifiers are further classified depending upon the direction of airflow as:

(a) downdraft

(b) updraft

(c) cross draft types,

 1. FIXED BED GASIFIERS
a. Downdraft Type

• Downdraft type is best suited for a variety of biomass.

• Its design forces the raw products to pass through

a high temperature zone so that most of the unburnt

pyrolysis products (especially tars) can be cracked into

gaseous hydrocarbons, thus producing a relatively clean gas.

• A recently developed open top downdraft type gasifier is

shown
• Biomass feedstock is fed from the top while air is passed downwards and
producer gas leaves from the bottom of the gasifier.

• Oxidation zone is below the pyrolysis zone, and reduction zone is below the
oxidation zone.

• A clean mixture of combustible gases in the exit stream is obtained.

• Its main advantage is that the producer gas is produced with low tar content,
which will be suitable for gas engines.

• The position of the oxidation zone is thus a critical parameter in the design of
downdraft gasifier.
 b. Updraft Type
• Updraft type gasifier (also called counter flow gasifier) is the
simplest as well as first type of gasifier developed.
• This type of gasifier is easy to build and operate.
• The air enters below the combustion zone and the gas is
drawn off at the top.
• The updraft gasifier achieves highest efficiency as the hot gas
passes through the fuel bed and then leaves the gasifier at
low temperature.
• The gas produced has practically no ash but contains tar
and water vapor because of passing of gas through unburnt
fuel.
• Hence updraft gasifier is suitable for tar free feedstock (fuels
like charcoal, etc.).
• It is most unsuitable for high volatile fuels. The zones of
various reactions are shown in Fig.
 c. Crossdraft Type

• Crossdraft type gasifier is shown in Fig.

• Air enters the gasifier through a water cooled nozzle mounted on

one side of the firebox.

• It operates at a very high temperature and confines its combustion

and reduction zone near the air nozzle.

• Because of short path length for gasification reactions, this type of gas
producer responds most rapidly for change in gas production.

• The high exit temperature of the gas and low CO2 reduction results in
poor quality of gas and low efficiency.

• Therefore, this type of gasifier is not in common use.

 2. Fluidized Bed Type
• A fluidized bed gasifier takes the advantage of excellent mixing
characteristics and high reaction rates of gas-solid mixture.
• A simple fluidized bed gasifier is a chamber with a bed of inert
particles such as sand or lime stone supported by distributor
plate as shown in Fig.
• Pressurized air is passed through distributor plate.
• The velocity of the air is progressively increased till the upward
drag of air on bed particles supports the entire weight of the
bed.
• The bed is then said to be incipiently fluidized, and it exhibits
fluid like properties above this velocity, called minimum
fluidization velocity. This moving mass of solid is called a
fluidized bed.
• The turbulence of the bed increases with velocity, above
minimum fluidization velocity
 BIOMASS TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION
• Ethanol is manufactured by action of microorganisms on carbohydrates. The
process is known as alcoholic fermentation.

• Carbohydrates (also known as saccharides) can be divided into three major classes
in order of increasing complexity.
(a) Monosaccharides

• These are simple hydrocarbons, which cannot be hydrolyzed into simpler

compounds.

• Most common monosaccharides are glucose (C6H12O6) and fructose

(C6H12O6).

• More precisely glucose and fructose can be represented by formulae HCO – (HCOH)
4 – CH2OH and CH2OH – CO – (HCOH) 3 – CH2OH respectively.

• Glucose occurs naturally in sweet fruits (e.g. ripe grapes), honey, etc.
(b) Oligosaccharides

• Oligosaccharides yield few but definite numbers (2–10) of monosaccharide

molecules on hydrolysis.

• For example, disaccharide (such as sucrose, maltose, etc., both having formula
C12H22O11) produces two monosaccharide molecules on hydrolysis.

• Sucrose (common sugar) occurs naturally in sugar cane and beetroot.

• Maltose (malt sugar) is derived from starch.

(c) Polysaccharides

• These are high molecular mass carbohydrates, which yield large number of
monosaccharides molecules on hydrolysis.

• Examples are starch and cellulose, both having general formula (C6H10O5)n. Large
numbers (few hundreds to few thousands) of glucose units are joined together in a
complex chain.

• Starch occurs naturally in all plants, particularly in seeds. The main sources are
maize, barley, rice, wheat, potato, cassava and sorghum, etc.

• Cellulose is main constituent of cell walls of the plants. Wood contains 45–50 per cent
while cotton contains 90–95 per cent cellulose.
• In general monosaccharides and oligosaccharides are crystalline solids,
soluble in water and sweet in taste. These are collectively known as sugars.

• Polysaccharides on the other hand are amorphous, insoluble in water and

tasteless and are known as non-sugars.

• The hexose (glucose and/or fructose) required for ethanol fermentation is derived
from: (a) sucrose (b) starch or (c) cellulose.
PREPARATION OF ETHANOL
(a) From Sucrose

• Sucrose is most common disaccharide and is manufactured from sugar cane or

beetroot.

• Usually commercial sucrose is removed from the cane juice, and the remaining molasses,
which has low commercial value, is used for ethanol production.

• The molasses itself has about 55 per cent sugar content and serves as very good raw
material for ethanol production.

• On hydrolysis with dilute acids or enzyme it gives equal amounts of glucose and fructose.
(b) From Starch
• On hydrolysis with dilute H2SO4 or enzyme, starch breaks down to maltose and
finally to glucose.

(c) From Cellulose

• Cellulose is not hydrolyzed so easily as starch, but on heating with dilute
sulphuric acid under pressure yield glucose (i.e. at 393K and pressure (2–3 atm).
Ethanol yield from hydrocarbon rich plants
• Fermentation of simple sugars to ethanol in absence of air can be carried out
either in batches or continuously. This is a slow reaction and after 36 hours, 94
per cent sugar is utilized.

• The most common microorganism, the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is

poisoned by ethanol concentration greater than 10 per cent so the fermentation
process ceases when the resulting liquid (known as beer) contains about 10–12
percent ethanol (by volume).

• The concentration of ethanol is increased to 95 per cent (by volume) by

successive fractional distillation. The product is known as pure commercial
alcohol and used as fuel in IC engines or other thermal applications.
• The remaining 5 per cent water cannot be removed by simple distillation and special
procedure (azeotropic distillation: co-distillation with solvent such as benzene) is used
to reduce water content to get 99.7 per cent pure ethanol. This is known as absolute
or anhydrous ethanol. This anhydrous ethanol is used for blending with gasoline.

• This second distillation process is energy intensive process and accounts for about 40–60
per cent of the total plant energy requirements.

• Various steps involved in production of ethanol from the three types of biomass
resources are shown in Fig.
Ethanol production from various types of biomass
 BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM WASTE BIOMASS

• Biogas is produced from wet biomass with about 90–95 per cent water content by the
action of anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that live and grow in absence of oxygen).

• Part of carbon is oxidized and another part reduced to produce CO2 and CH4.

• These bacteria live and grow without oxygen. They derive the needed oxygen by
decomposing the biomass.

• The process is favored by wet, warm and dark conditions.

• The airtight equipment used for conversion is known as biogas plant or digester,
which is constructed and controlled to favor methane production
• Nutrients such as soluble nitrogen compounds remain available in solution and
, provide excellent fertilizer and humus.
• The energy available from the combustion of biogas is 60–90 per cent of the
input dry matter heat of combustion.

• Thus the energy conversion efficiency of the process is 60–90 per cent.

• The biochemical processes proceed in three stages, as shown in Fig.

Various stages of anaerobic digestion process

(a) Stage I: First of all the original organic matter containing complex
compounds e.g. carbohydrate, protein, fats etc. is broken through
the influence of water (known as hydrolysis) to simple water soluble
compounds.
The polymers (large molecules) are reduced to monomers (basic molecules).
The process takes about a day at 25 °C in an active digester.
(b) Stage II: The micro-organisms of anaerobic and facultative (that can live and
grow with or without oxygen) groups, together known as acid formers
produced mainly acetic and propionic acids. This stage also takes about one
day at 25 °C. Much of CO2 is released in this stage.
(c) Stage III: Anaerobic bacteria, also known as methane formers slowly digest the
products available from second stage to produce methane, carbon dioxide,
small amount of hydrogen and trace amount of other gases.
The process takes about two weeks’ time to complete at 25 °C.
This third stage, i.e. methane formation stage is carried out strictly by
the action of anaerobic bacteria.
 Factors affecting biogas generation
1. Temperature.
• The anaerobic fermentation process is temperature dependent.
• The process of the digestion and gasification proceeds at the highest rate when
the temperature lies between 35°C – 38°C.
• The process becomes slow within temperature range of 45°C – 45°C and then
rises to a peak between 55°C – 60°C.
• Rate of gas production ‘increases’ with the increase in temperature but the
percentage of methane ‘decreases’.
2. Loading rate.
• “Loading rating” is the weight of volatile solids fed to a digester per day.
• It depends upon the plant capacity and also the retention period.
• For given capacity of the digester, if the loading rate is increased the ‘retention
period’ is correspondingly decreased.
3. Solid concentration.
• Normally, 7 to 9 parts of solid in 100 parts of the slurry is considered ideal.
• It is recommended that 4 parts of the cattle dung to be mixed with 5 parts of water.
4. pH value.
• pH denotes the acidity and alkalinity of the substrate.
• The pH less than 7 is called ‘acidic’ and pH more than 7 is called ‘alkaline’ and pH
solution of 7 is called ‘neutral’.
5. Retention period.
• It is the time period for which fermentable material resides inside the digester. This
period ranges from 30 days to 50 days depending upon the climatic conditions.
• Generally it is observed that maximum gas production takes place within ‘first four
weeks’ and it tapers off gradually.
6. Nutrients concentration.
• The major nutrients required by the bacteria in the digester are C, H2, O2, N2, P
and S.
• To maintain proper balance of nutrients an extra raw material, rich in P and N2,
should be added along with cattle dung to obtain maximum gas production.
7. Toxic substance.
• The presence of ammonia, pesticides, detergents and heavy metals are considered
as toxic substances to micro-organisms, since their presence reduces
fermentation rate.
 Classification of Biogas Plants
The biogas plants may be classified as follows :

1. Continuous type biogas plant :

(i) Single stage type;

(ii) Double stage type.

2. Batch type biogas plant.

3. Floating drum type biogas plant.

4. Fixed dome type (Janta model or chinese model).

5. Modified fixed dome type biogas plant – This type of plant has an additional
displacement tank and water seal gas tank.
1. Continuous Type Biogas Plant
• In this type of plant the biomass is fed regularly to the digester and it supplies the gas
continuously.
These are two types of continuous biogas plant :
1. Single stage type 2. Two stage type
1. Single stage continuous biogas plant. Entire process of conversion of biomass into biogas are
carried in a single digester. This chamber is regularly fed with the raw materials while the spent
residue keeps moving out.
Advantages :
• Simple in construction.
• It does not need skilled labour.
• It is easy to operate and control.
• These are preferred for small and medium sized biogas plants.
• Serious problems are encountered with agricultural residues when fermented in a single stage
continuous process.
2. Two stage continuous type biogas plant.
These plants have two digesters for digestion of biomass. In the ‘first digester’ the biomass is
fed in which the acid production is carried out and then only dilute acids are fed into the
‘second digester‘ where bio-methanation takes place and biogas can be collected from the
second digester/chamber.
Advantages :
• It produces more gas than the single stage plants.
• It requires lesser period of digestion as compared to single stage plants.
• These plants are preferred for large size biogas plants.
Advantages of continuous type biogas plants :
Following are the advantages of continuous type biogas plants :
1. Continuous gas production.
2. Less retention period.
3. Small digestion chambers required.
4. Less problems as compared to batch type plants.
2.Batch Type Biogas Plant
• In a batch type plant, the biomass feeding is done in batches with large time
interval between two consecutive batches.
• A batch loaded digester is filled to its capacity and given sufficient retention
time (35 to 45 days) for digestion of biomass.
• After the completion of digestion, the residue is emptied and filled again.
• Gas production is ‘uneven’ due to slow start of bacterial digestion and to
overcome this difficulty, several digesters are used which are fed and emptied
insequential manner. Thus, the regular supply of gas is maintained.
“Salient features” of batch type plant are :
1. Gas production uneven/intermittent, depending upon the cleaning of the digester.
2. Several digesters required, to get continuous supply of gas.
3. High space requirements, due to several digesters.
4. High initial cost, due to large volume of digester.
3.Floating Drum Type Biogas Plant

• Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) standardised a model in 1961.

• It consists of an underground “cylindrical masonary digester” having an “inlet pipe”

for feeding animal dung slurry and an “outlet pipe” for sludge.

• There is a “steel dome” for gas collection which floats on slurry.

• It moves up and down depending upon accumulation and discharge of gas guided by
the domeguide itself.

• A “partition wall” provided in the digester improves circulation, necessary for

fermentation.
• A pressure of about 100 mm of water column is built in the “floating gas holder”,
which is sufficient to supply gas upto 100 metres.
• This gas pressure also forces out the spent slurry through a sludge pipe.
Advantages :
• Gas pressure is constant.
• Less scum problem.
• No danger of explosion since there is no possibility of mixing of biogas and
external air.
• No gas leakage problem.
Disadvantages :
• High cost.
• High maintenance cost.
• There is a loss of heat through gas holder.
• The outlet pipe, which should be flexible, requires regular attention.
 4.Janata Model Biogas Plant (Fixed
dome)
Constructional features. This plant consists of the following parts:
1. Foundation
2. Digester
3. Dome
4. Inlet Chamber
5. Outlet Chamber.
6. Mixing Tank
7. Gas outlet pipe.
• Foundation. The foundation is the amply compacted base of the digester made of cement
concrete and brick ballast. Its construction is so carried out that it may provide a stable
foundation to the digester walls and bear full load of slurry filled in the digester. It should be
waterproof so that no percolation or water leakage takes place.

• Digester. It is underground cylindrical wall portion made of bricks, sand and cement. It is this
place where fermentation of dung takes place. It is also sometimes called ‘fermentation tank’.
Two rectangular openings facing each other are provided for inflow and outflow at almost
middle of its height.

• Dome. It is a hemispherical roof of the digester; has a fixed height and forms the critical part
in the construction of Janata gobar gas plant. The gas gets collected in the space of the dome
and exerts pressure on the slurry in the digester.
• Inlet chamber.An inlet chamber has a bell mouth shape and is made of bricks,
cement and sand. It has its top opening at the ground level. Its outlet wall is made
inclined/slopy to enable the daily cattle dung feed to move easily into the digester.
• Outlet chamber. It is that part of the plant through which digested slurry moves
out of the digester at a predetermined height. It has a small rectangular cross-
section and above this it becomes larger to a defined height.
For easy cleaning of the digester two steps are provided in it which enable a man

to climb down. Its top opening is also at the ground level. Just near the top
opening is provided a small outlet through which the digested/spent slurry flows
to a compost pit.
• Mixing tank. It is this tank where dung and water are mixed properly in the ratio
of 1 : 1 to make slurry which is then poured into the inlet chamber.
• Gas outlet pipe. It is a small piece of G.I. Pipe which is fitted at the top of the
dome for conveying the gas to the points of use. A valve is fitted at its end to
regulate the flow of gas to the gas connections.
Advantages and disadvantages of “Fixed dome type plants”
Advantages :
• No maintenance problems due to absence of moving parts.
• Low cost.
• Low operating cost.
• Longer working life.
• Due to underground construction, heat insulation is better and therefore, rate of
gas production is uniform during night and day.
• Quantity of gas producd is higher than movable drum type plants.
• No corrosion problem.
• Space above the plant can be used for other purposes.
Disadvantages :
• Variable gas pressure.
• Gas production per cm3 of the digester volume is less.
• Problem of scum formation.
• For construction work skilled masons are required.
 5.Modified Fixed Dome type
(Deenbandhu Biogas Plant (DBP))

• This is fixed dome plant developed by Action for Food Production (AFPRO) in
1984.
• It is appropriate for all types of wastes and minimizes biogas losses from inlet
chamber.
Construction. It has ‘curved bottom’
and ‘hemispherical top’ which are joined
at their bases with no cylindrical portion
in between. An ‘inlet pipe’ connects
‘mixing tank’ with the‘digester’.
• Working. Cattle dung slurry prepared in 1 : 1 ratio with water is fed upto the level
of second step in the outlet tank.
• As the gas generates and accumulates in the empty portion of the plant, it presses
the slurry of the digester and displaces it into the outlet ‘displacement chamber’.
• The slurry level in the digester falls whereas in the outlet chamber it starts rising.
• This fall and rise continues till the level in the digester reaches the upper end of
the outlet opening and at this stage the slurry level in the outer tank reaches the
height of discharge opening.
Advantages :
• This plant required less space being mainly underground.
• Its cost is reduced as the surface area is minimised by joining segments of two
different diameter spheres at their bases.
• It is 30 percent economical as compared to Janata biogas plant.
Comparison Between Fixed Dome Type and Movable
Drum Type Biogas Plants