Review of Related Literature

Biomass is carbon, hydrogen and oxygen based. Biomass energy is derived

from five distinct energy sources: garbage, wood, waste, landfill gases, and alcohol
fuels. Wood energy is derived both from direct use of harvested wood as a fuel and
from wood waste streams. The largest source of energy from wood is pulping liquor
or “black liquor,” a waste product from processes of the pulp, paper and paperboard
industry. Waste energy is the second-largest source of biomass energy. The main
contributors of waste energy are municipal solid waste (MSW), manufacturing waste,
and landfill gas. Biomass alcohol fuel, or ethanol, is derived primarily from sugarcane
and corn. It can be used directly as a fuel or as an additive to gasoline. Biomass can
be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas or transportation
fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

Gasification is the process of converting rice husk to synthesis gas (syngas) in

a gasifier with controlled amount of air. Syngas can be used as a heat source for
drying, cooking, etc., or in a cogeneration system for producing electricity. The
gasification process can be described in two steps. Step 1 is pyrolysis, which
involves heating the rice husk at 500°C with no or limited air to produce gases, tar,
oil, and char (carbonized husk). The gas generated from Step 1 is gasified at about
1,000°C in Step 2 to produce syngas or producer gas. These gases can be used to
generate heat or electricity or to produce refined synfuel. Rice husk contains about
30–50% of organic carbon and have high heat value of 13–16 MJ per kg. It can be
used to generate fuel, heat, or electricity through thermal, chemical, or
bioprocesses. Rice husk is collected after rice milling, with moisture content of about
14–15%. This fits the requirement for further pretreatment or processing. Thermal
processes, including combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis, are applied for rice
husk processing. Energy products from rice husk are heat, electricity, and biofuel
(solid or liquid). Heat generated from this could be used for house heating and
cooking, industrial boilers, drying, and generating electricity. The cultivation of rice
results in two major types of residues – Straw and Husk –having attractive potential
in terms of energy. Although the technology for rice husk utilization is well-proven in
industrialized countries of Europe and North America, such technologies are yet to
be introduced in the developing world on commercial scale. Rice husk is the most
prolific agricultural residue in rice producing countries around the world. It is one of
the major by-products from the rice milling process and constitutes about 20% of
paddy by weight. Rice husk, which consists mainly of lingo-cellulose and silica, is not
utilized to any significant extent and has great potential as an energy source. Rice
husk can be used for power generation through either the steam or gasification
route. For small scale power generation, the gasification route has attracted more
attention as a small steam power plant is very inefficient and is very difficult to
maintain due to the presence of a boiler. In addition for rice mills with diesel engines,
the gas produced from rice husk can be used in the existing engine in a dual fuel
operation. The benefits of using rice husk technology are numerous. Primarily, it
provides electricity and serves as a way to dispose of agricultural waste. In addition,
steam, a byproduct of power generation, can be used for paddy drying applications,
thereby increasing local incomes and reducing the need to import fossil fuels. Rice
husk ash, the byproduct of rice husk power plants, can be used in the cement and
steel industries further decreasing the need to import these materials.
Rice straw can either be used alone or mixed with other biomass materials in direct
combustion. In this technology, combustion boilers are used in combination with
steam turbines to produce electricity and heat. The energy content of rice straw is
around 14 MJ per kg at 10 percent moisture content. The by-products are fly ash
and bottom ash, which have an economic value and could be used in cement and/or
brick manufacturing, construction of roads and embankments, etc. Straw fuels have
proved to be extremely difficult to burn in most combustion furnaces, especially
those designed for power generation. The primary issue concerning the use of rice
straw and other herbaceous biomass for power generation is fouling, slagging, and
corrosion of the boiler due to alkaline and chlorine components in the ash. Europe,
and in particular, Denmark, currently has the greatest experience with straw fired
power and CHP plants.

Rice husk can be used to generate electricity. The characteristics & chemical
composition of rice husk has made it easy to use it for electricity generation. The
availability of rice husk is also discussed in this point to have an overview of the
scenario of the current rice husk production and its availability. The actions involved
in the full process are drying, pyrolysis also known as devolatilization and
combustion also known as gasification. In the drying process the rice husk is dried at
high temperature, which results steam. This steam is later mixed with gas flow and
creates some water gas chemical reaction if the temperature is sufficiently high. Now
the next step is pyrolysis, where cracking and burning of most of the primary tar
(made of oxygenated organic compounds) content is done. It is also called flaming
pyrolysis or de-volatilization. In this zone the temperature is around 200-300 degree
Celsius and char is produced by burning process. The char is then forwarded to the
combustion zone where it undergoes gasification reactions with steam produced in
the drying process and air. While the char and volatile products reacts with air,
Carbon dioxide and a small amount of Carbon monoxide is produced in reaction and
the reaction emits heat which helps the subsequent gasification reaction. Then again
the Carbon from char and steam reacts and produces carbon monoxide and
hydrogen. As this reaction is a reversible one, after a certain time the amount of
carbon, steam, carbon monoxide and hydrogen becomes equal and the reaction
reaches equilibrium condition. Then a limited amount of air is introduced in the
system which forwards the burning process and produces some more carbon which
again restarts the reaction and produces more carbon monoxide and energy. Then
the reaction takes place and produces hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Further
reactions produce methane and excess carbon dioxide from residual water and
carbon monoxide. And this final reaction increases the resident time of the reactive
gases and organic materials as well as heat and pressure. In the model it is seen
that below the combustion zone there is a reduction zone from where the gas is
collected out of the gasification chamber. There is an ash pit where the ash of rice
husk is accumulated and is ready for disposal.