Characterisation and utilisation of residue fromproduction of biodiesel as energy source in Brazil

Sammanfattning: In the present study a thorough characterisation of biomass residue obtained from bio diesel production is done. The experiments are performed in the State University of Campinas in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It also investigates the feasibility to carry out thermo chemical energy conversion processes like pyrolysis and gasification on the biomass residues. The residue obtained after oil extraction from the seeds of Jatropha curcas and glycerol – a by product of bio diesel production process are the samples characterised. The samples are subjected to proximate analysis, calorimetry and TGA- thermo gravimetric analysis to characterise. Moreover a literature survey of thermo chemical process likes pyrolysis and gasification is carried out. It was found that in the test sample of Jatropha curcas residue the volatiles are in a range of 67-70 wt%, fixed carbon content 18-21 wt% and ash 6-13 wt%. The average calorific power of the three Jatropha curcas residue samples was 20.5 MJ/Kg, 20.63 MJ/Kg and 21.24 MJ/Kg respectively. While in case of glycerol it was 25.60 MJ/m3. The maximum weight loss for Jatropha curcas residue occurs in the temperature range of 330-350 0C and for glycerol it is in range of 285-3000C. It was concluded that it is technically and economically feasible to gasify the residue of Jatropha curcas owing to it high calorific power and volatile matter content. Jatropha curcas residue also has a high ash content so special design consideration should be made to handle ash while designing its gasification system. In case of glycerol, technically, it can be gasified to convert it into high value products but it is necessary further study in order to determine if it is economically feasible.