3D-porous activated carbon morphological modification of Manihot esculenta tuber and Bambusa blumeana stem for high-power density supercapacitor: Biomass waste to sustainable energy

Abatement of hazardous materials and biomass waste via pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis for environmental sustainability and circular economy.

Unlocking integrated waste biorefinery approach by predicting calorific value of waste biomass

In this research Manihot esculenta (cassava) tuber stem microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and woven bamboo fiber (WBF) reinforced unsaturated polyester (UP) composites are prepared and tested. The main aim of this study was to synthesis the microcrystalline cellulose from Manihot esculenta tuber stem and investigate the mechanical, wear and hydrophobic properties of UP resin composite made using MCC and WBF. The laminated composites were prepared by the hand layup method and characterized according to ASTM standards. According to the results, the composite containing 40 vol% of WBF increased the tensile strength and modulus, flexural strength and modulus, interlaminar shear strength, Izod impact as well as hardness by 39%, 10%, 42%, 27%, 1%, 91%, and 1%, respectively as compare to pure polyester resin composites. In comparison to all composites, the composite with 4 vol% of MCC exhibits the lowest sp. wear rate of 0.011 mm3/Nm. The water absorption contact angle indicated that all composite designations had a wider contact angle of more than 70°, which indicates a stronger hydrophobicity of composites. The SEM fractography reveals improved bonding and toughness for 4 vol% of MCC and WBF reinforced UP composites. Such mechanically stronger, wear resistance, as well as high hydrophobic composites, could be used in aerospace, automobile, defence and industrial sector.

There is growing interest in the production of biofuels from biomass wastes. The availability of biomass waste poses the need for technical assessment of pelletisation of biomass waste at industrial production level. The misuse of environmentally friendly and sustainable energy resources and lack of compressed biomass energy products that could enhance fuel quality needs to be addressed. This study intends to determine the energy output from tenary combination of the biomass fuel pellets consisting of rice husks, African birch sawdust, corncobs and their varying mixtures bond with aqueous extract of C. populnea (Cp) and M. esculenta (Me). The combustion characteristics of pellets produced from Rice Husk, African Birch Sawdust, Corncob and their blends (M, M1, M2, M3 and M4) were conducted by the development of an analytical protocol. Pellet admixtures were prepared at each binder ratio of 10% of bulk weight of RH, ABS, corncob and their various blends in the ratios 1:1:1 (M), 1:2:3 (M1), 2:1:3 (M2), 3:1:2 (M3) and 2:3:1 (M4), respectively. The Bulk Density (BD), Ash Contents (AC), Heat Release Rate (HRR) and Calorific Value (CV) of the pellets were measured using established procedures. The result revealed that combustion characteristics of fuel pellets made from Corncob and Blend ratio of 1:2:3 bound with Manihot esculenta gel were enhanced and the fuel pellets possessed sufficient calorific values suitable for energy applications. It was recommended that massive production of fuel pellets from biomass wastes for small and medium scale energy systems could give a positive development to agrarian and rural areas in Nigeria where there is a lot of these resources and lack of stable electrical supply.

Crude oil and its derivative products are categorized as unrenewable energy. It is widely used in daily life and considered to be an important fuel resource. Many efforts have been done to overcome energy crisis by finding an alternative energy resources. One of alternative energy is bio-mass energy. Indonesia as an agrarian country, produces many agricultural product wastes but their uses are still rarely, one of which is cassava shield wastes. The aims of this research are: (1) to use cassava skin waste to produce bio-briquettes, (2) to determine the composition of raw material and adhesive agents to yield the best heating value of bio-briquettes. This research will eventually decrease the pollution and give added value of cassava skin wastes. The manufacture process began with carbonization of cassava skin, crushed it into desired particulate sizes, and then mixed it with the adhesive agent (tapioca/sago) with the compositions of 100:10; 100:20; 100:30; and 100:40 w/w. The results show by using tapioca agent as an adhesive, the water contents of bio-briquettes are 8.0479-8.643%, ash contents are 16.1092-18.5093%, loss of ignition are 83.0326-86.4499%, and the heating values are 5243.1234-537.4715 cal./g. The best quality of bio- briquettes produced is on the composition of charcoal and adhesive agent of 100:30 w/w for both tapioca and sago as adhesive agents. Their heating values fulfill the standard solid fuel and its textures are fine and less breakable.

Advancement of thermochemical conversion and the potential of biomasses for production of clean energy: A review

Biomass materials are been considered as a useful and important raw material for energy production for different countries including India. Biomass materials originated from agricultural and kitchen waste have several benefits; considering these benefits it offers different advantageous uses like the production of cooking gas, generation of power and the conversion into value-added recycled items. By efficient and effective utilization of agricultural and kitchen waste for above mentioned purposes may be a good solution for waste management. Waste biomass has the ability to generate renewable power, cooking gas, etc. and it also has the possibilities to generate services for rural youths in different countries like India, other Asian and African countries. At present, global development is an agenda but this has several disadvantages due to human and industrial activities that are directly and indirectly related to challenges of human health, the health of our planet and its ecosystems. Agricultural waste and kitchen wastes are available in plenty; therefore, the focus is to be given to the use of these wastes into alternative fuels to minimize environmental pollution. Around the world, in many countries including India, this waste biomass is maybe one of the best choices for clean energy production, especially for modern energy applications like bioenergy power plants and biomass gasifiers that produce biogas. In principle, they use a significant amount of waste biomass (food waste, agriculture residue and forestry biomass). It is expected that till 2040, biomass waste-based power generation will increase five to six times than present power generation and this will contribute to the reliable power supply in the rural areas. Therefore, to support modern biomass-based technologies, the use of agricultural and kitchen waste for bioenergy should be increased; as of now, these supplies are limited due to high costs and low finance support. This is a fully developed resource, its utilization has not only the potential to provide common benefits like electricity generation and biogas production but its use can also reduce the required dumping area. We can also diminish the chances of air, water, and soil contamination and ecological health. Subsidies and incentives schemes are promoted by India’s Ministry of Renewable Energy to use waste as a renewable energy source and to encourage technologies based on biomass waste utilization. All the aspects of clean energy production from agricultural and kitchen waste biomass are reviewed and discussed in this chapter.

A research on using biomass waste as an energy source for metal foundry process was conducted. The process was started with carbonizing to produce biomass charcoal. Carbonizing process was conducted by indirect heating system or dry distillation at 700°C. Used biomass raw material came from some plant parts including three twigs of kandri (Bridelia monoica); jati (Tectona grandis); sonokeling (Dalbergia latifolia); kersen (Muntingia calabura); luwingan (Ficus hispida); acacia (Acacia denticulosa); cassava stem (Manihot utilissima); and reeds (Imperata cylindrica). Analyses were conducted by using standards of ASTM D.3173, ASTM D.3174, ASTM D.3175, and ASTM D.5865. The biggest fixed carbon value of 79.59% was obtained from acacia biomass charcoal and the biggest calorific value was obtained from jati twigs biomass charcoal. The biggest yield was obtained by using kandri tree twigs with value of 17.18%. Biomass charcoal functional test was conducted with metal foundry process by using steel scrap raw material with cupola furnace. The functional test results showed that biomass charcoal could be used as secondary energy source in form of particle with optimal size of −40+60 mesh. Temperature in the cupola was able to reach 1700°C with additional biomass charcoal powder.

Supercapacitors (SCs) have emerged as critical components in applications ranging from transport to wearable electronics due to their rapid charge-discharge cycles, high power density, and reliability. This review offers an analysis of recent strides in supercapacitor research, emphasizing pivotal developments in sustainability, electrode materials, electrolytes, and 'smart SCs' designed for modern microelectronics with attributes such as flexibility, stretchability, and biocompatibility. Central to this discourse are two dominant electrode materials: carbon materials (CMs), primarily in electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), and pseudocapacitive materials, involving oxides/hydroxides, chalcogenides, metal-organic frameworks, conductive polymers and metal nitrides such as MXene. Despite EDLCs' historical use, challenges such as low energy density persist, with heteroatom introduction into the carbon lattice seen as a solution. Concurrently, pseudocapacitive materials dominate recent studies, with efficiency enhancement strategies, such as the creation of hybrids based on different types of materials, surface structural engineering and doping, under exploration. Electrolyte innovation, especially the shift towards gel polymer electrolytes for flexible SCs, and the harmonization of electrode materials with SC designs are highlighted. Emphasis is given to smart SCs with novel attributes such as self-charging, self-healing, biocompatibility, and environmentally conscious designs. In summary, the article underscores the drive in sustainable supercapacitor research to achieve high energy and power density, steering towards SCs that are efficient and versatile and involving bioderived/biocompatible SC materials. This brief review is based on selected recent references, offering depth combined with an accessible overview of the SC landscape.

Fast depletion of fossil fuel and other non-renewable energy resources with their negative environmental impact have raised the quest for eco-friendly and sustainable energy resources. Sustainable energy resources such as solar and wind energy are periodical. Therefore, such energy resources can only be effectively utilized with advanced energy storage technology. Currently, various energy storage technologies such as batteries and supercapacitors are available with various energy storage properties. For instance, batteries are characterized with high energy and low power density. On the other hand, supercapacitors are low energy and high power density devices. The high power density of supercapacitors results to their faster charging and discharging capability compared to batteries. While batteries can accommodate higher energy compared to supercapacitors. Therefore, to obtain single energy storage material/device with both high energy and power density is a challenge in the energy storage sector. However, various efforts have been made to address this challenge through combinations of various materials or devices. For instance, carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes have been extensively studied in design of supercapacitors for high energy storage density. While supercapacitors and batteries have been hybridized on the effort to obtain energy storage device with both high energy and power density for advanced energy storage technology. Therefore, this review looks into the contribution of carbon-based nanomaterials in improving energy storage density of supercapacitors and their hybridization with batteries as the way forward to obtain energy storage materials/devices with both high energy and power density for advanced energy storage technology.

Environmental pollution is one of the major disadvantages of fossil fuel and their derivatives, but alternative energy resources have performed better in this area. A well-known example within these alternative energy sources that can increase total available energy for human’s consumption is biomass, and it has been proven to be the most important renewable energy source. Its benefits include reduced emission, ease of growth (agricultural materials), more available when compared to non-renewable sources of energy and can be directly used by local methods. Biomass wastes heating is a major energy generation process. Processes that use heat on biomass wastes to generate energy are termed thermochemical conversion processes. The use of wood that store chemical energy in cooking is as far back as the creation of the world. Thermochemical conversion of biomass releases products which are extremely best when compared with other renewable energy source finding usefulness in automobile, power, chemical, production, and biomaterials industries. Pyrolysis is a heating process whereby carbon-based matter (organic material) such as lignocellulosic agricultural waste is heated to 450 °C and above in a non-O2 atmosphere, e.g., N2 atmosphere. Oxygen or air supports biomass combustion to generate heat, steam, and electricity. Gasification occurs at > 650 °C; it is a method of converting biomass waste into energy with the sole purpose of generating syngas useful for combustion, heating, and electricity generation. Liquefaction is a method of converting coal/biomass to petroleum through series of chemical reactions. Bio-oil, syngas, and char are useful products with stored chemical energy obtained from via thermochemical conversion. Biochemical conversion of biomass refers to the gradual and continuous release of biofuel from biomass waste through the activity of microorganisms and enzymes. Thermal and biochemical conversions are suitable processes to tap unused energy in largely available lignocellulosic biomass wastes to reduce reliance on the use of non-renewable fossil fuels as source of energy.

Sustainable and renewable energy from biomass wastes in palm oil industry: A case study in Malaysia

Renewable and clean forms of energy are one of the major needs at present. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC’s) offers unambiguous advantages over other renewable energy conversion methods. Production of energy resources while minimizing waste is one of the best ways for sustainable energy resource management practices. The application of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) may represent a completely new approach to wastewater treatment with the production of sustainable clean energy. The increase in energy demand can be fulfilled by Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) in the future. In recent years, researchers have shown that MFCs can be used to produce electricity from water containing glucose, acetate, or lactate. Studies on electricity generation using organic matter from wastewater as substrate are in progress. Waste biomass is a cheap and relatively abundant source of electrons for microbes capable of producing electrical current outside the cell. Rapidly developing microbial electrochemical technologies, such as microbial fuel cells, are part of a diverse platform of future sustainable energy and chemical production technologies. In the present investigation to study the two wastewater samples, municipal wastewater from nearby areas of Guntur (A.P.) and Dairy waste from Guntur (A.P.) were used as substrates in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) to generate electricity. Along with electricity generation, the MFCs can successfully help in treating the same sewage samples. The parameters like pH, TS, TSS, TDS, BOD, and COD were analyzed for all two samples. The COD removal efficiency of the MFCs was analyzed using the standard reflux method. All the MFCs were efficient in COD removal. 50%, 75%, and 85% COD removal was observed after 10, 15, and 30 days respectively of operation of MFCs with municipal waste as substrate.

The reduction of greenhouse gases in the automobile and industrial sectors has been a focus of global concern due to their adverse effects on the environment. This has led to a search for clean, green, and sustainable biobased energy sources. Green energy sources have a positive effect on the environment. Lignocellulosic waste biomass from various agro‐processing and industrial sources has a strong potential for mitigating energy crises in the future, supplying green energy produced by biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes. Amongst all of the biofuels, biohydrogen is a promising option. It has a high energy content and can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass by microbial fermentation processes. In this review, recent advances in various aspects of biohydrogen production from lignocellulosic biomass‐like processes are described. Future challenges and opportunities for hydrogen production from waste are summarized critically. Bioeconomic perspectives on biohydrogen production from waste biomass are explained. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Biomass waste contributes 14% of the total global energy. And 15-20% of the coal-fine waste from coal mines are deposited in the rivers, ponds, etc., unused, which leads to resource wastage and environmental pollution. The present study aims utilizing biomass and coal-fine waste for producing biomass-coal briquettes without using a binding material. Three different average sizes 50, 134.3, and 199.7μm of biomass mixture (bagasse, groundnut shell, and woodchips) and coal-fines were used to make different ratios of biomass and coal mixture briquettes. Then, it is subjected to proximate, scanning electron microscope/elemental (SEM/EDX) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) to understand its property. Proximate analysis results revealed that the biomass waste has the low ash, sensible fixed carbon, and high volatile matter content. A briquette of biomass: coal = 7:1 ratio 50-μm particle size case was chosen for SEM/EDX and TGA analysis since it holds reasonable fixed carbon value comparatively. SEM analysis revealed irregular surfaces, cracks, cavities and longitudinal cracks, veins distribution all around, ups and shallows on the surface and it is the most favorable condition for fuel combustion since oxidant reaches the core of the fuel with less resistant. TGA reconfirms the spontaneous burning characteristics of the entire volatiles and fixed carbon. EDX analysis shows that the carbon and potassium are the two major elements present in the tested briquettes.