A Ford Taurus fueled by ethanol in New York City .

Raizen , Brazil : harvesting and processing plants to produce biofuels . Photo © Paulo Fridman ( https :// creativehub . shell . com ).

Another type of valve found in a biogas plant is the ‘ slam shut ’ isolation valve . Desponia , for example , has developed their butterfly valves to be used at such a plant . Earlier this year , Ampo Service supplied fifteen highly engineered valves to La Rabida Energy Park in Andalusia .

Here , advanced biofuels ( 2G ) are produced from used cooking oils . This refinery was previously designed to remove sulfur from fossil fuels , but has since then been repurposed into a new installation where sustainable diesel ( hydrobiodiesel ) is produced from vegetable oil , vegetable residues and animal fats unintended for human consumption .

Pros and cons

Bioenergy is a somewhat controversial industry . Is it worth supporting , given recent advances in wind , solar , storage and green hydrogen ? Using wood as a biomass can lead to deforestation , meaning less absorption of CO 2

. The land taken up by growing biomass is competitive with food production . The potential for abuse is considerable : subsidies granted for forest residues have been used to cut down whole trees ².

Traditional burning of biomass to produce heat , as practiced in poor countries , is polluting and harmful to health . But modern bioenergy production , with proper safeguards and using advanced technology such as carbon capture and scrubbing to reduce emissions , has its place in the circular economy . It is only logical to recycle landfill gas , to prevent it seeping into the atmosphere , or to recycle residues and waste to create biofuels .

Is Algae a Viable Fuel Source ?

In the past decade , algae have been viewed as a promising biomass from which to produce energy . However , investment has greatly diminished because of the perceived drawbacks and costs . Although algae grow fast and can easily be turned into oil , they require vast quantities of water , and there are high costs and difficulties of oil extraction . Among companies that have closed their algae operations are Algenol , while Shell and Chevron discontinued their R & D programmes . However , Totalenergies and Veolia are building a demo biofuel facility near Marseille , France , which will harness algae to produce oil by 2025 . Reliance Industries is working to convert sunshine ,

CO 2 and seawater into bio-oil .

Other organizations are taking up the challenge , using new technology to improve productivity . The USA ’ s National Renewable Energy Laboratory uses medium temperature and low pH to more extract lipids from the algae to further process them into biodiesel . Indian Institute of Technology , Delhi has designed different models of biofilm reactors to cultivate microalgae .

REFERENCE

1 . https :// www . iea . org / reports / bioenergy

2 . www . fern . org / publications-insight / new-eu-biomassrules-a-crushing-defeat-for-forests-pushed-by-eumember-states-2653 located in Saitama Prefecture , which went into operation in February 2022 . Weltec assisted McCulla Transport in expanding its plant in Lisburn , UK , and supplied stainless-steel technologies to a plant in Taiwan .

Another leading supplier is Wärtsilä , which formed its Wärtsilä Biogas Solutions division in 2019 . It is supplying the world ’ s second-largest plant ( in Burghaun near Fulda , Germany ), capable of liquefying biomethane and synthetic methane as LNG for use as transportation fuel . Recently it supplied Transwaste ( Hull , UK ) with technology for a plant that will turn municipal waste into gas . In 2023 the Baltics ’ first biogas plant fired with household and commercial biowaste will go into operation . Built by BioWOIMA Finland Oy in Tallinn , it will produce biomethane for the natural gas network and fuel for CNG-powered vehicles .

Valves

In biomass treatment processes , various types of valves can be used depending on the specific application and requirements . Valve selection depends on factors such as the type of biomass being treated , operating conditions , pressure and temperature requirements , and the desired flow control characteristics .

In anaerobic digestion , micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in environments without oxygen . The process is used for waste management and fuel production . Anaerobic digestion gate valves are used in this process . For this purpose , Orbinex has come out with their EB-series of bi-directional knife gate valve technology , which is suited for slurry feedstock and digestate applications .

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