Production of Gaseous Fuels using De-oiled Cake of

Pongamia & Shells

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi

Different Gasification Methods….

 Recent Noble Prize in Medicine - 2016
• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awarded to
Yoshinori Ohsumi "for his discoveries of mechanisms for
autophagy".
• When the body is on a fast, it tells the brain there is not enough
food.
• This allows for autophagy — where cells attack old and junky
proteins in the body.
• Fasting has two very good benefits for us.
• It helps in self-destruct — keeping the body in good condition.
• The other benefit is that when the self-destruction occurs, there is
the inducement of the growth hormone which allows for the
generation of new cells.
• Fasting is the basic Arsha samskaram.
 Biogas plant (20 m3/d) capacity available at IIT Delhi

Gas Holder Supporting Structure

Ground Level
Central Guide Frame

Flange Plates
Earth Filling

F
10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

30
15 Thick Partion Wall
CC Foundation (1:3:6)

B1 B
C

D
D
30 30
15
A
7.5 23 23 7.5
All dimensions in centimetres
 Development
Biogas of Special
Plant before FeedingInoculum
Started
20 m3/d BGP About 12 m3 CD Feeding of pongamia oil cake in
inoculum 3:1 DR for 15 days

Start of gas production

Continued
No feeding of CD for last
3 months
1 2 3 4 5
Schedule I 2 kg pongamia oil cake with 6
kg water for 5 days

10 cm height
Schedule II 5 kg pongamia oil cake with 15
kg water for 10 days

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Drop in gas Increase in Constant gas yield (10-15

yield gas yield day) at 30 cm height
Biogas Plant After Feeding of Oil Cake Slurry
 Evolution of New Strain of Microbes

 This shows the adaptation of microbes to the environment

offered by new substrates possibly by developing into a
suitable strain.
 This acclimatization is due to fact that,
 Slow increase in the concentrations of inhibitory materials
within the established environment influenced many
microorganisms in rearrangement of their metabolic
resources.
 This needs sufficient time..
 The slurry of the biogas plant stabilized with pongamia
deoiled cake was used as primary inoculum for further
studies.
 Continuous Feeding Experimental Investigation on
Selected Treatments in Digester of 300 Litre Capacity
Guide Pipe to Support Gas Holder
66.25 cm
Valve

Gas Holder To Gas Flow Meter

Influent Inlet and Gas Sampler

Digester
Effluent Oulet

61.5 cm 68.5 cm

Slurry Level

72.5 cm
17.5 cm
5 cm 5 cm

75 cm
Annular Ring for Supporting Partion Plate
Gas Holder
 Continuous Feeding Experimental Investigation in
Floating Drum Biogas Plant of 20 m3/d Capacity
Gas Holder Supporting Structure

Ground Level
Central Guide Frame

Flange Plates
Earth Filling

F
10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

30
15 Thick Partion Wall
CC Foundation (1:3:6)

B1 B
C

D
D
30 30
15
A
7.5 23 23 7.5
All dimensions in centimetres

Biogas plant (20 m3/day) being fed with jatropha & pongamia
oil seed cakes
 Total solids and volatile solids concentration in the
substrates under Phase III

Treatment Substrate concentration of the

daily feed material
Total solids Volatile solids
kg/d % kg/d %
PC (3.5 DR,0 % 8.95 19.9 8.53 19.0
CD)
 Variation of methane and carbon dioxide content in
produced biogas from pongamia oil seed cake substrate
Total Volatile Solid Mass Removal Efficiency

Pongamia Oil Cake

KC [3.5 DR, 0 % CD]
 De-Oiled Rice Bran

• Bran is the hard outer layers of any cereal grain

(rice, corn etc.). Along with germ, it is an
integral part of whole grain and produced as a
by–product of milling in the production of
refined grains.
• India is the world’s largest rice bran oil
producer and promotions for rice bran oil are
happening both at the domestic and global
level.
• With world wide rice bran annual production of
about 50–60 MMT, and India alone produces
around 10–11 MMT.
 Aflatoxin and its presence in DORB: Unfit for
consumption
Aflatoxins are mycotoxins produced as secondary metabolites by
filamentous fungi that grow on seeds, grains, and feed in the field, or
in storage.
• The DORB which generally goes into processed cattle feed
contained a considerable amount of aflatoxin (Jayaraman and
Kalyanasundaram, 1996).
• The presence of aflatoxin in cattle feed is a matter of concern, as
AF B, in the feed of milch cows is known to come out as AFM, in
milk which is consumed by human.
 Analysis of DORB
Proximate analysis S. Samples Moisture Total Volatile Ash
No content solid % solids % content
% (wb) (wb) (db) % (db)
1. De-oiled 12.2 87.8 85.8 14.2
rice bran

2. Cattle dung 81.2 18.8 78.3 21.7

Ultimate analysis

S. Feed C (%) H (%) N (%) C/N

No material
1. De-oiled rice 45.33 6.76 2.743 16.52
bran
2. Cattle Dung 35.20 4.60 1.55 22.7
pH variations during the hydrolysis stage at various TS
Concentration
7.50

7.00

6.50

6.00
pH

5.50

5.00

4.50

4.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Days
 Biogas plant
running solely
on De–oiled
Rice Bran at
Micromodel

0.3
1 m3/day 1 m3/day
m3/day
 Methane and Carbon Dioxide content in produced
biogas
70.0

60.0
Gas constituents, %

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0 Methane content

10.0 Carbon Dioxide content

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Days
The average Methane and Carbon dioxide percentage were recorded as
55.8% and 38.67% respectively
Total volatile solids mass removal efficiency of anaerobic
digestion process
73.00
68.00
63.00
58.00
53.00
TVSMRE, %

48.00
43.00
38.00
33.00
28.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Day
The total volatile solid removal efficiency was estimated to be
in the range of 32.3–67.5%
 Biogas Plants in IIT Delhi

25 Cum Plant
20 cum plant on Pongamia Agriculture/kitchen residue
De-Oiled Cake
 Kitchen Waste to Bio-gas : Clean IIT Delhi
80

CH4 CO2
70

55
CH4 CO2 60

50
50

45
40

40
30

35
20

30
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51
Alternate feed material : Locally Available Seeds for Biogas
Production
Seeds of following different Trees which are widely distributed
across India are selected.

Albizia Acacia Leucaena Prosopis

lebbeck nilotica leucocephala juliflora
Grinding of Seeds
Biogas Plants running on different substrates in IIT

Plants on Tree Seeds and Crop Residues

Methane content in Biogas from Seeds
5 to 10 kW Engines : Conversion from Diesel to 100 %
Gas
Engine Specifications
Model DA-10
No. of Single
Cylinders Cylinder
Power 10 Hp
Rating
Engine 1500 RPM
Speed
Cooling Air Cooled

→
Production of Gaseous Fuel using Shells of Pongamia

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi

A Thermo-chemical Route to Enhance the

Value of Resource….
The Final Residue: Shells
 Thermal Processing of Woody Biomass

• On heating, any solid fuel undergoes the following

processes: Advanced Thermal Treatment
– Drying (<150oC)
– Pyrolysis (200-700oC)
– Flaming Combustion
– Glowing Combustion
Final products: CO2, H2O (complete combustion)
 Pyrolysis

• Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of organic

material at temperatures between 400 °C and 900 °C without
the presence of oxygen or other reagents.
• The pyrolytic breakdown of wood produces a large number of
chemical substances.
• Some of these chemicals can be used as substitutes for
conventional fuels.
• The distribution of the products varies with the chemical
composition of the biomass and the operating conditions.
Biomass Gasification
Gasifier at IIT Delhi
Gasifier with I.C. Engine
 Gas Composition

Wood Gas

Composition CO2 CO H2 N2 CH4

Gas Sample (%) 11.46 17.03 14.95 55.55 1.02

Shells Gas

Gas CO2 CO H2 N2 CH4

Sample (%) 9.47 9.71 5.29 74.56 0.96

Operating parameters of wood and Pongamia shells
gasification
Pongamia
Entity Wood
Shells
gas flow rate (g/s) 9.51 9.62
N 5.46 7.30
Φ 3.62 2.01
(A/F)m 4.97 2.77
CVg (MJ/m3) 2.29 4.48
mg (kg of gas/kg fuel) 5.14 3.54
MWg (kg/kmol) 28.02 25.82
ρ (kg/m3) 1.15 1.06
E (MJ/kg fuel) 10.27 15.01
Cth 0.65 0.84
 Pelletizatin

Pelletization Using Briquetting Machine

Photograph of Pongamia shell pellets

11.5 mm Bulk density 469

diameter kg/m3
 Variation of Producer gas composition
Gas composition for various samples
S.No. Gas (from 11.5 mm shell pellets)
Composition
(%)
Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample Sample
4 5

1 H2 14.46 10.45 10.55 14.03 13.87

2 CO 13.48 12.20 15.52 19.46 15.61

3 CH4 1.71 1.73 1.11 0.98 1.04

4 CO2 16.66 24.12 18.41 5.98 7.13

5 N2 53.96 51.49 54.39 59.53 62.35

Conclusions from gasification of Pongamia pellets
(11.5 mm dia.)
• Tavg.)oxidation 831oC
• Tmax.)oxidation 1047oC
• Tavg.)reduction 700oC
• η gasification 87.1%

▪ It was observed that gasification efficiency was high for 11.5

mm diameter pellets as compared to 17 mm diameter pellets.
▪It was found that there was an agglomeration of cake pellets
with 11.5 mm diameter and these chunks were choking the
gasifier reactor
▪Pongamia de-oiled cake pellets were found to be not suitable
for gasification in the downdraft wood gasifier.
Photograph of Engine Setup
 Engine Specification

Make Kirloskar
Four -stroke direct injection naturally aspirated single
Type cylinder,
C.I. engine modified to operate in SI mode
Bore 87.5 mm
Stroke 110 mm

Cylinder capacity 661.5 cc

Compression ratio 10 (after modification)

Power output 4.4 kW at 1500 rev/min for diesel operation

3.12 kW at 1450 rev/min

Maximum torque 30 Nm at full load at 1500 rev/min for diesel operation

Loading device Electrical generator
Comparison of performance and emission characteristics
of engine
S No. Spark Shell pellets(11.5 mm) Mixture pellets(11.5 mm)
Timing
Power EGT NOx CO Power EGT NOx CO
(obtdc)
output (oC) (ppm) (%vol) output (oC) (ppm) (%vol)
(kW) (kW)

1 20 2.296 387 248 0.10 2.489 338 426 0.06

2 25 2.320 325 266 0.10 2.466 332 442 0.07
3 30 2.538 364 289 0.09 2.982 337 764 0.03
4 35 2.975 332 816 0.06 2.343 342 528 0.09
5 40 2.217 359 286 0.10 --- --- --- ---
Pine Needles
“A painless tomorrow’s energy”