Briefly Describe Advances And Applications Of Bio

Energy Technology And Construction Methods Or

Turbines And Their Types
Bio energy
Bio energy refers to electricity and gas that is generated from organic
matter, known as biomass. This can be anything from plants and timber
to agricultural and food waste – and even sewage.
The term bio energy also covers transport fuels produced from organic
matter. But on this page, we’re just focusing on how it’s used to generate
electricity and carbon neutral gas
.
How does biomass generate energy

When biomass is used as an energy source, it’s referred to as

‘feedstock’. Feed stocks can be grown specifically for their energy
content (an energy crop), or they can be made up of waste products from
industries such as agriculture, food processing or timber production.
Dry, combustible feed stocks such as wood pellets are burnt in boilers or
furnaces. This in turn boils water and creates steam, which drives a
turbine to generate electricity.
Wet feed stocks, like food waste for example, are put into sealed tanks
where they rot and produce methane gas (also called biogas). The gas
can be captured and burnt to generate electricity. Or it can be injected
into the national gas grid and be used for cooking and heating.
Bio energy is a very flexible energy source. It can be turned up and
down quickly to meet demand, making it a great backup for weather-
dependent renewable technologies such as wind and solar.
Is bio energy environmentally friendly and sustainable

Burning biomass does release carbon dioxide. But, because it releases

the same amount of carbon that the organic matter used to produce it
absorbed while it grew, it doesn’t break the carbon balance of the
atmosphere.
In comparison, burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide that has been
locked away for millions of years, from a time when the earth’s
atmosphere was very different. This adds more carbon dioxide into our
current atmosphere, breaking the carbon balance.
The overall sustainability and environmental benefits of bio energy can
depend on whether waste feed stocks or energy crops are being used.
Waste feed stocks

Waste biomass gives off gases naturally when it rots. If this happens in a
place where there’s no oxygen, such as food waste buried deep within
landfill, it can generate methane which is a much stronger greenhouse
gas than carbon dioxide. Instead of allowing methane to vent into the
atmosphere, breaking it down in a sealed tank allows it to be captured
and burnt. Burning methane leaves you with carbon dioxide and water,
which are better for the environment.

Energy crops

Energy crops are grown specifically for generating energy. So, unlike
capturing methane from waste, there isn’t an argument that burning them
reduces greenhouse gases which would have been given off anyway.
However, energy crops can still be low carbon if they are managed
sustainably. For example, when energy crops are burnt, equivalent crops
should be planted that will absorb the same amount of carbon that was
released by burning.

Does Good Energy use bio energy

Yes. 20% of our renewable electricity is from bio generation and 6% of

the gas we supply is bio methane.
Our bio generation procurement policy makes sure that we only contract
with bio energy generators that have sustainable and responsible
generation practices.
To keep our energy supply as clean and ethical as possible, we only
source bio energy that meets the following requirements:
 It must come from waste or sustainable sources
 Land must be used sustainably, respecting natural habitats and
biodiversity
 Energy crops must not impact food production
 Animal welfare must be respected
 Transportation of bio fuels should be minimized
 Biofuel generators should be highly efficient and able to put waste
heat to good use
 Impacts on air quality must be appropriately managed
 Green Gas must be certified under the

Biomass Energy Potential in Pakistan

Being an agricultural economy, biomass energy potential in

Pakistan is highly promising. Pakistan is experiencing a severe
 energy crisis these days which is resulting in adverse long term
economic and social problems. The electricity and gas shortages
have directly impacted the common man, industry and commercial
activities.

The high cost of energy mix is the main underlying reason behind the
power crisis. The main fuel for the local power industry is natural gas
however due to the continued depletion of this source and demands
elsewhere the power generation companies are now dependent on
furnace oil which is relatively expensive.

The way out of this crisis is to look for fuel sources which are cheap
and abundantly available within the country. This description and
requirement is fulfilled by bio mass resources which have been largely
ignored in the past and are also available in sufficient quantities to tackle
the energy crisis prevailing in the country.

Biomass Energy in Pakistan

The potential to produce power from biomass resources is very

promising in Pakistan. Being an agrarian economy, more than 60% of
the population is involved in agricultural activities in the country. As per
World Bank statistics, around 26,280,000 hectares of land is under
cultivation in Pakistan. The major sources of biomass energy are crop
residues, animal manure and municipal solid wastes

Agricultural Residues

Wheat straw, rice husk, rice straw, cane trash, bagasse, cotton sticks are
some of the major crop residues in Pakistan. Sugar cane is a major crop
in the country and grown on a wide scale throughout Pakistan. During
2010-2011, the area under sugarcane cultivation was 1,029,000 hectares
which is 4% of the total cropped area.
Sugarcane trash which constitutes 10% of the sugar cane is currently
burned in the fields. During the year 2010-11, around 63,920,000 metric
tons of sugarcane was grown in Pakistan which resulted in trash
generation of around 5,752,800 metric tons. As per conservation
estimates, the bioenergy potential of cane trash is around 9,475 GWh per
year.
Cotton is another major cash crop in Pakistan and is the main source of
raw material to the local textile industry. Cotton is grown on around
11% of the total cropped area in the country. The major residue from
cotton crop is cotton sticks which is he material left after cotton picking
and constitute as much as 3 times of the cotton produced.

Majority of the cotton sticks are used as domestic fuel in rural areas so
only one-fourth of the total may be considered as biomass energy
resource. The production of cotton sticks during 2010-2011 was
approximately 1,474,693 metric tons which is equivalent to power
generation potential of around 3,071 GWh.
Cotton sticks constitute as much as 3 times of the cotton produced.

Animal Manure

Pakistan is the world’s fourth largest producer of milk. The cattle and
dairy population is around 67,294,000 while the animal manure
generation is estimated at 368,434,650 metric tons. Biogas generation
from animal manure is a very good proposition for Pakistan as the
country has the potential to produce electrical energy equivalent
to 23,654 GWh

Municipal Solid Waste

The generation or solid wastes in 9 major urban centers is around 7.12

million tons per annum which is increasing by 2.5% per year due to
rapid increase in population and high rate of industrialization. The
average calorific value of MSW in Pakistan is 6.89 MJ/kg which implies
power generation potential of around 13,900 GWh per annum.

Turbine and types of turbine

A turbine Ais a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from

a fast moving flow of water, steam, gas, air, or other fluid and converts it
into useful work. turbine is a turbo-machine with at least one moving
part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades
attached

Turbine principle

Several physical principles are employed by turbines to collect this

energy: Impulse turbines change the direction of flow of a high velocity
fluid or gas jet. The pressure of the gas or fluid changes as it passes
through the turbine rotor blades

What are Turbines Types of turbines & their

applications

What is turbine
A turbine is a rotating part which converts kinetic energy of a
working fluid into useful mechanical energy and/or electrical
energy. Simple, right? Well, nothing is simple when you go
deeper.
There are set of blades mounted on a rotor which helps in
extracting energy from the moving fluid. The efficiency of
turbines depend on the design of the blades.
Different applications need different designs & designing them
isn’t a layman’s job.
The 4 types of turbines are

1. Water turbines
2. Steam turbines
3. Gas turbines &
4. Wind turbines

Turbines used in hydro power plants

The turbines used in hydroelectric power plants are water

turbines which have water as their working fluid.
First of all, millions of litres of water is collected in the dam.
More the height of dam, more the pressure. The highly
pressurized water is then made to flow via large pipe called
as penstock.
The turbine is located at the end of penstock from where the
pressurized water strike the blades of turbine at high velocity
making it to rotate. This turbine is connected to a generator
which generates electricity.
The shape of turbine blades depend upon the pressure &
velocity of water. Water turbines are classified into 2 types -

1. Impulse type
2. Reaction type
Types of water turbines with Francis being most widely
used.
Impulse type turbines

Impulse turbines basically work on Newton’s 2nd law.

In impulse turbines, number of elliptical half sized buckets are
fitted instead of blades on the rotor hub. When water strike the
buckets at high speed, the rotor starts rotating. In short, the
kinetic energy of water gets converted into rotational
mechanical energy !
Thus electricity is generated when one end of turbine shaft is
connected to generator !
Example – Pelton turbine

Reaction turbines

The turbine blades or the impeller blades are designed in such a

way that a force is generated on one side when water flows
through it just like an airfoil. The force produced by airfoil is
responsible for lift of aeroplane. Similarly here, that force
makes the blades rotate.
Example – Kaplan turbine

Different types of turbines have their own ideal operating

conditions. For eg.

→ Pelton turbines are preferred where low discharge rate can be

obtained & high head(80-1600m) is available.
→ Kaplan turbines require high discharge rate along with low or
medium head(2-70m).
→ Francis turbine work on medium flow rate & medium head.
Francis turbine is a combination of impulse & reaction turbine.
Francis turbines are most widely used turbines because they
offer the highest efficiency & could also work in wide range of
operating conditions.

1m head of water = 9810 Pa (100m of head is almost 7 times of

atmospheric pressure

Turbines used in thermal power plants

Also called as steam turbines, they are used in nuclear &

thermal power plants where water is heated to form steam &
then flowed through turbines to produce electricity. Alike water
turbines, steam turbines are also classified into impulse &
reaction types but the arrangement & design is different. All the
modern steam turbines are a combination of impulse & reaction
type.
 Blades of Impulse & Reaction turbines
Steam turbines consist not only rotating blades called as rotor
but also static blades called as stator. Rotors & stators are
placed alternately in order to extract most energy out of it. This
method is called as compounding.

Also, if you observe, the moving buckets in impulse turbine are

designed to get pushed by the steam. While the rotor blades in
reaction turbine are aerofoiled shape, which lets itself generate
reaction & also let steam maintain its velocity !
 Section view of a steam turbine

Gas turbines

Parts of a gas turbine, popularly called as jet engine.

Gas turbines in other words are internal combustion engines,
which are not only used in power plants for generating
electricity but also for propelling airplanes & helicopters. Gas
turbines as a whole system has a axial compressor at the inlet.
These are sets of rotating blades which suck huge amount of air
& compress it which also increases the temperature. This air is
then supplied to the combustion chamber. Fuel is added into the
combustion chamber & ignitor ignites the fuel. Thus large
amount of exhaust gases are produced which are made to flow
through turbines.

The different types of gas turbines/jet engines are –

1. Turbojet
2. Turbofan
3. Turbojet
4. Turboshaft
5. Ramjet

The above mentioned are open cycle gas turbines where the
exhaust gases are let directly into atmosphere. The other type
i.e closed cycle gas turbines where the exhaused are reused
again for reheating are used in powerplants.
Wind turbines

Parts in wind turbine

Wind turbines are a boon to mankind- affordable, clean &
sustainable ! Some windfarms are so big that they could produce
50MW of power.
Well, coming to working of wind turbines, the story remains
same as other turbines. The rotor has 3 blades & are designed in
such a way that when wind flows straight through them, they
start rotating. The only problem here is wind turbines rotate at a
very low of RPM. The low RPM doesn’t produce electricity of
required frequency & that is why we require a gearbox which
increases the speed of shaft. The output shaft is then connected
to the generator.
The 3 primary types of wind turbines are –

1. Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT)

2. Savonius vertical-axis wind turbine (Savonius VAWT)
3. Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine (Darrieus VAWT)
3 main types of wind turbines