Energetica India Magazine March 2022

energetica INDIA- Mar_2022 53 BIOENERGY Working principle of solar thermal biomass pyrolysis (Source: Chintala et al. 2017) Need of solar based pyrolysis Biomass pyrolyzers are mainly relies on fossil fuels to ob- tain desired heat for conversion of biomass into value added products. Most particularly, where energy resources are not available, biomass combustion is practiced for providing en- ergy to pyrolyzer may results in emission of greenhouse gas- es. Thermochemical conversion system needs a large infra- structure and huge capacity reactor to manage the organic waste. Unfortunately, a large-scale infrastructure or reactors may not prefer in economically developing nations, require large source of fossil fuel which is not economically practi- cal. Therefore, there is need to develop a solar thermal based pyrolysis system for biofuel production. In case of solar bio- mass pyrolysis, energy in the form of heat is concentrated on a reactor to achieve requisite carbonization temperature. For example, a tubular or box type reactor made of stain- less-steel material act as an absorber, which is placed at a focus point of sunlight, such as concentrate parabola, solar chimney, Fresnel, etc. which delivers several salient benefits such as; • Self-sustainable biofuel production technique • No need of external commercial energy • No operational cost • Uniform biofuel production • No need of skilled trainer for operation • Easy for construction • One time capital investment • No environmental pollution • Yield biochar, bio-oil, and syngases • Biochar can be used as an soil amendment to improve the soil fertility • Biochar would be used as an competent material for coal, having a slightly similar heating value • Biochar can also use in various environmental applica- tions such as in waste water treatment, in fuel cell or super capacitor for energy storage application • Bio-oil can be used thermal application usually in fur- nace, boiler, etc. • Bio-oil can also use in making paints, chemicals, etc. • Syngases have also some combustible gas composition contain some percentage of methane, hydrogen, etc. which can be burnt for heat generation • Biochar can effectively use in carbon sequestration and mitigation of greenhouse gas emission. Conclusion: Over all, solar thermal pyrolysis open a new window to the researchers, scientific community, and in front of entrepre - neurs for sustainable biofuel production. All the three prod- ucts of pyrolysis i.e., bio-oil (liquid), biochar (solid) and py- rolytic (syngases) gas could be used efficiently in different sectors including transportation and industrial heating and power applications. Reference: Chintala, V., Kumar, S., Pandey, J. K., Sharma, A. K., & Kumar, S. (2017). Solar thermal pyrolysis of non-edible seeds to biofuels and their feasibility assessment. Energy Conversion and Management, 153, 482-492. Applications of Bio-fuels Solar thermal pyrolysis mainly gives three end products such as biochar, bio-oil, and syngases which having many environ- mental applications such as;