Experimental Investigation on the effect of Chemical Pretreatments of Slow-Pyrolyzed Nigerian Jatropha curcas L. Biomass Residues on Pyrolytic oil

In Nigeria, assemblage and discarding of residues from energy crops are increasingly becoming laborious and costly and may pose serious environmental challenges if not correctly managed. The Energy Commission of Nigeria’s long term (2016-2030) plan on the nation’s energy requirements is entirely non-fossil. This is attributable to the global decline of fossil fuel sources, soaring prices, climate crisis and the need to utilize hitherto abundant biomass resources for energy and chemical feedstocks purposes in Nigeria. In this research, an experimental study on the bio-oil generated through slow pyrolysis of Jatropha curcas L. biomass residues – Jatropha curcas L. seed shell (JSS) and Jatropha curcas L. fruit hull (JFH) were realized in a fixed bed reactor at 450 ℃ in a batch-wise step, biomass sample (1.14 mm) particle size, designed by authors. The biomass samples were subjected to pretreatment with 4% sulphuric and sodium hydroxide solutions each respectively. The Chemical compositions and functional groups available in the bio-oil of both raw and pretreated biomasses obtained at 450 ℃ were investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier Transform- Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy analysis respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to look into the residual biomass surface morphology of pretreated and untreated Jatropha curcas L. waste of JSS and JFH. The results acquired disclosed that the bio-oil obtained from JSS and JFH might be a principal liquid fuel starting point and chemical feedstocks.

Extraction and Characterization of Biogenic Silica Obtained from Selected Agro-Waste in Africa

Increased amounts of available biomass residues from agricultural food production are present widely around the globe. These biomass residues can find essential applications as bioenergy feedstock and precursors to produce value-added materials. This study assessed the production of biogenic silica (SiO2) from different biomass residues in Africa, including cornhusk, corncob, yam peelings, cassava peelings and coconut husks. Two processes were performed to synthesize the biogenic silica. First, the biomass fuels were chemically pre-treated with 1 and 5% w/v citric acid solutions. In the second stage, combustion at 600 °C for 2 h in a muffle oven was applied. The characterization of the untreated biomasses was conducted using Inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The resulting ashes from the combustion step were subjected to ICP, nitrogen physisorption, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) as well as X-Ray diffraction (XRD). ICP results revealed that the SiO2 content in the ashes varies between 42.2 to 81.5 wt.% db and 53.4 to 90.8 wt.% db after acidic pre-treatment with 1 and 5 w/v% acid, respectively. The relative reductions of K2O by the citric acid in yam peel was the lowest (79 wt.% db) in comparison to 92, 97, 98 and 97 wt.% db calculated for corncob, cassava peel, coconut husk and cornhusk, respectively. XRD analysis revealed dominant crystalline phases of arcanite (K2SO4), sylvite (KCl) and calcite (CaCO3) in ashes of the biomass fuels pre-treated with 1 w/v% citric acid due to potassium and calcium ions present. In comparison, the 5 w/v% citric acid pre-treatment produced amorphous, biogenic silica with specific surface areas of up to 91 m2/g and pore volumes up to 0.21 cm3/g. The examined biomass residues are common wastes from food production in Africa without competition in usage with focus application. Our studies have highlighted a significant end-value to these wastes by the extraction of high quality, amorphous silica, which can be considered in applications such as catalyst support, construction material, concrete and backing material.

Biomass residues adjacent forest roads in two different forest species (Fagus sylvativa and Pinus brutia): quantities and evaluation of their biogas production potential

In this study the quantity of biomass residues accumulated at a low-altitude Mediterranean forest (pinus and fagus clusters) were evaluated under field conditions. Samples of fresh and dry leaves (litter) were digested in batch anaerobic reactors to evaluate their biogas production potential. The quantity of pine needles and fagus leaves accumulated onto the forest carpet was on average 670 and 1440 g/m2, respectively and they were characterized by a low moisture content (10-11%). The biogas production potential was 100 and 150 L/kg volatile solids for pinus and fagus litter respectively (compared to 140 and 300 L/kg VS for the fresh pine needles and fagus leaves). The data from both field and laboratory studies were used to calculate the biogas yield per km of forest road, if the collected biomass is disposed of to an anaerobic digestion facility. The conceptual model applied revealed that it is possible to recover up to 500 and 1000 m3 CH4 / km, from the pinus and fagus clusters respectively. Concluding, pine needles and fagus leaves are important resources and can be efficiently used for energy production in anaerobic digestion facilities.

Small-Scale Woodlot Growers’ Interest in Participating in Bioenergy Market In Rural Ethiopia

Production of value-added outputs from biomass residues represents an opportunity to increase the supply of renewable energy in Ethiopia. Particularly, agroforestry could provide biomass residues for improved bioenergy products. The aim of this study was to characterize the interest of growers to provide biomass residues to a hypothetical biomass feedstock market. This study relied on a survey conducted on a sample of 240 farmers. Although the awareness of potential biomass products was generally quite low, a majority of farmers expressed interest in supplying biomass residues, but the level of interest depended on certain individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics. For example, younger and female household heads were found to be more interested in participating in the hypothetical biomass market, as were households with an improved biomass stove, larger land holdings, and higher income levels. In addition, larger households and those that felt less vulnerable to firewood scarcity also expressed more interest. As a whole, the results imply that farmers, particularly those with younger and female heads of households, should be supported with programs tailored to ensure their inclusion in biomass supply chains. Respondents generally preferred farm-gate sales of biomass, so the collecting, baling, and transporting of woody residues need to be properly incentivized or new actors need to be recruited into the supply chain. Providing households with energy-efficient tools such as improved stoves would not only increase demand for biomass products, but also increase the amount of biomass residues that could be supplied to the market instead of used at home.