Best examples of anaerobic digestion are with ___
Solid waste from cows, chicken, and pigs
Process of anaerobic digestion
Microbes decompose the waste in a low oxygen (anaerobic) environment and produce methane
How much biogas can be yielded from 1 ton of manure
200-400 m3
How much of the biogas yielded from 1 ton of manure is methane
50-75%
Microbes that produce methane
Methanogens
Are methanogens the only bacteria involved in producing methane
No (mixture of bacteria is complex and poorly understood)
Stages of anaerobic digestion
- Hydrolysis
- Acidogenesis
- Acetogenesis
- Methanogenesis
Pyrolysis
Overused word to describe many different processes from straight burning to making bioliquids
In the industry, pyrolysis is the process of ____
Producing bio-oil
Bio-oil examples
Oils, acids, water, odd compounds
How is the pyrolysis process controlled
Under high heat (but gasification is minimized)
How is the bio-oil collected from the pyrolysis process
Vapors are collected and allowed to condense to liquids (the bio-oil)
Is the process of pyrolysis understood
No. Varying outcomes depending on the technology used
Fischer-Tropsch process
A German invention that produces liquid fuel from solid
Original starting material of the Fischer-Tropsch process
Coal
__ and __ are required for the Fischer-Tropsch process
Pressure and temperature
Chemical conversion in Fischer-Tropsch process
Chemical conversion of gasification gases (H2 and CO) to alkanes in the presence of a catalyst
Typical catalysts of chemical conversion of gasification gases in the Fischer-Tropsch process
Metals like cobalt and iron
Length of alkanes resulting from chemical conversion in the Fischer-Tropsch process
Variable
Small alkane chain
Gas (methane)
How many carbons in a small alkane chain
1
Big alkane chain
Waxy
How many carbons in a big alkane chain
35
“Sweet zone” of alkane length
5 to 16 carbons
