The document analyzes the production of biofuels from the agricultural waste Phragmites Australis (common reed). It discusses biomass and biofuels, categorizes biomass materials, describes the properties and growth of common reed, and outlines the experimental analysis, materials and methods, results, and conclusions of studying common reed as a biofuel feedstock. The analysis found that common reed has a moisture content of 7.0%, volatile content of 74%, and ash content of 26%. NaOH pretreatment was found to be a suitable method for converting common reed into biofuels like lignocellulosic butanol.

1. Supervised by:
Professor Mehmood Ali
mehmood@neduet.edu.pk
Environmental Engineering Department
N.E.D. UET KARACHI
Prepared By:
Abu Umeer (EN-22/2018-19)
u.ahmed8@yahoo.com
Subject:
En-515 Air Pollution ControlEN-22/2018-19
1
Bio fuel production via Agri Waste (Phragmites Australis)
04-Oct-19

2. Contents
1. Introduction
2. Fuels
3. Categories of biomass material
4. Phragmites Australis ( common reed)
5. Properties of Phragmites
6. Analysis
7. Materials and methods
8. Results
9. conclusion
10. References
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3. • The supply of sustainable energy, in order to reduce the dependence on fossil sources and to address climate change, is
becoming a global priority.
• Biomass is a suitable and renewable primary energy resource that can provide a substantial contribution to meet future energy
demand in a sustainable way.
• The usage of biomass can provide heat, electricity, chemicals, as well as alternative transportation fuels such as bioethanol or
biodiesel.
• In particular, a great attention has been dedicated to the production of second generation bioethanol.
INTRODUCTION
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4. There are three major forms of fossil fuels:
a. coal
b. oil
c. gas.
(Biomass is a) non-fossilized and biodegradable organic material originating from plants, animals and
microorganisms.
Two categories
of Fuels are.
1. Fossil Fuels. 2. Biomass
• The main function of the fuels is to provide thermal energy, which is used directly in the form of heat
or transformed into other forms of energy.
Fuels
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5. 1. Virgin wood: from forestry, from wood processing.
2. Energy crops: high yield crops grown specifically for
energy applications.
3. Agriculture residues: residues from agriculture harvesting and
processing.
4. Food waste: from food and drink manufacture, preparation and
processing, postconsumer waste, animal waste.
5. Municipal solid waste (MSW) Industrial waste and co-products from manufacturing and
industrial processes.
There are five basic categories of material:
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6. Phragmites Australis
Common Reed
Found worldwide.
It’s a broad-leafed grass.
Grows from 5 to 15 feet high.
Bio fuels:
Fuels derived from biomass
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7. • Lake environments offer a good availability of lignocellulosic biomass such as common reed (Phragmites Australis), which is a
perennial grass that grows in wetlands or near inland waterways.
• or its fast growing properties, Phragmites Australis is becoming to be regarded as a promising source of renewable energy.
• common reed’s processing residues can be used as a feedstock for the production of cellulosic ethanol, giving an added value to
rural economy.
Phragmites
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8. The most important properties relating to the thermal conversion of
biomass are as follows:
Moisture
content
Ash content
Volatile
matter
content
Elemental
composition
Heating value
Bulk density
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9. • Feedstock analysis is a vital part of a process.
• It gives information that is needed for a rational design or better understanding of a process.
 The analysis of biomass starts with reduction in the sample size from a large representative one.
 Then a sequence of tests as below could be carried out to determine different thermophysical properties of the biomass.
https:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128129920000236
1. Ultimate analysis
2. Proximate analysis
a. Moisture content b. Ash content c. Volatile content d. Fixed carbon
3. Extractive: polar (water) and nonpolar (organic)
4. Holocellulose
5. Hemicellulose
6. Lignin
7. Other analyses: chromatographic, spectroscopic, microscopic, and thermal analysis.
Analysis
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10. Ultimate (Elemental) Analysis
• Ultimate analysis gives the elemental composition of a fuel.
• Its determination is relatively difficult and expensive compared to proximate analysis.
The following American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards are available for determination of the ultimate
analysis of biomass components:
l Carbon, hydrogen: E-777 for refuse-derived fuels (RDF)
l Nitrogen: E-778 for RDF
l Sulfur: E-775 for RDF
l Moisture: E-871 for wood fuels
l Ash: D-1102 for wood fuels.
https:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128129920000236
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11. Proximate Analysis
 Proximate analysis gives the gross composition of the biomass and hence it is relatively easy to measure.
 one can do this without any elaborate set up or expensive analytical equipment.
 The moisture and ash determined in proximate analysis refer to the same moisture and ash determined in ultimate analysis.
 However, the fixed carbon in proximate analysis is different from the carbon in ultimate analysis.
 In proximate analysis, it does not include the carbon in the volatile matter and is often referred to as the char yield after
devolatilization.
https:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128129920000236
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12. Materials and Methods
• Feedstock
 Phragmites Australis residues were kindly provided from Dr Zainul-Abdin @ (Institute of sustainable halophyte utilization)
University of Karachi.
 The Average moisture content was equal to 6.95%.
 The common reed was first chipped down to a final size of 1–2 cm and it was then stored in the dark.
 The raw material was characterized according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO, USA)
analytical methods for biomass in order to evaluate its composition.
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13. 04-Oct-19EN-22/2018-19 13

14. For rapid, high-speed grinding of small samples from 50 to 100g. Stainless steel or hard-faced blade rotates at speeds up to 12,000
rpm.
Mechanical—grinding: Samples were ground with a high-speed grinder hard-faced blade and was powdered.
The mechanically ground Phragmites Australis was then poured into china dish.
Mechanical—grinding
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15. Moisture content & Dry solids:
 Water is present in naturally occurring biomass and has a profound effect in its
behavior.
 A knowledge of the moisture content is used as a guide to the classification.
 The oven-drying method is the definitive method of measuring the moisture
contents of stuff.
 The moisture content of a sample is defined as
the mass of water in the sample expressed as a percentage of the
dry mass, usually heating at 105 C,
i.e. moisture content,
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16. Volatile Solids/ Fixed Solids:
 This method is for the
determination of fixed and
volatile solids ignited at
550°C.
 The residue that is ignited
is obtained from solid
matter suspended in
sample.
 The residue is ignited to
constant weight at 550°C.
 The remaining solids
represent the fixed solids.
while the weight lost on
ignition is the volatile
solids.
 ‘‘Fixed solids’’ is the term
applied to the residue of
total, suspended, or
dissolved solids after
heating to dryness for a
specified time at a specified
temperature. The weight
loss on ignition is called
‘‘volatile solids.’’
 The range for the method is
up to 20,000 mg/L.
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17. PROPERTIES OF PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS
PHRAGMITES (LEAVES)
GREEN
SAMPLE-1
(25.2g) SAMPLE-2 (9.9g) SAMPLE-3 (10.5g) SAMPLE-4 (13.05g) AVERAGE
MOISTURE (105 ċ) 6.07% 8.08% 7.80% 7.58% 7.38%
DRY SOLIDS 94% 92.80% 92.19% 94.41% 93.33%
VOLATILE CONTENT (550 ċ) 70.50% 70.90% 71.38% 67.16% 69.99%
ASH CONTENT 29.48% 29.05% 29.05% 32.83% 30.10%
PHRAGMITES (LEAVES) GREEN
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18. PROPERTIES OF PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS
STEM (BROWN)
SAMPLE-1
(18.51g) SAMPLE-2 (7.98g) SAMPLE-3 (15.17g) SAMPLE-4 (9.56g) AVERAGE
MOISTURE (105 ċ) 5.99% 6.89% 9.29% 7.90% 7.52%
DRY SOLIDS 94% 93.22% 90.70% 92.05% 92.49%
VOLATILE CONTENT
(550 ċ) 80.40% 79.94% 61.11% 75.22% 74.17%
ASH CONTENT 19.36% 20.05% 38.80% 24.77% 25.75%
Phragmites/ Common Reed STEM (BROWN)
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19. Sieve No. Weight Retained (grm)
Number
Opening
(mm)
sample 1 (25.2184
gram)
sample 2 (25.3505
gram)
sample 3 (24.7849
gram)
sample 4 (25.0503
gram)
4 4.76 0.53 1.37 0 0.22
10 2 8.83 7.88 5.33 4.26
20 0.841 4.48 1.25 3.05 1.39
40 0.42 5.75 5.72 7.15 5.08
80 0.177 4.21 6.33 6.09 8.42
100 0.149 1.12 1.8 1.02 2.14
200 0.074 0.91 1.1 0.73 1
pan 0 0.4 0.59 0.09 0.25
Before Oven Dry After Oven Dry
Sieve Analysis
Source: Performed by a group of undergrad @ Civil dept N.E.D UET.
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20. Conclusion
• The COD of the shredded Phragmites Australis was 586 ± 77.3 mg COD/g Phragmites Australis;
• TS and Moisture content were 93% and 7.0%, respectively
• The Volatile content and Ash content were 74% and 26% respectively.
• The invasive phragmites, as well as the potential energy crop switchgrass, both exhibit potential as feedstocks for
lignocellulosic butanol production.
• NaOH pretreatment is a suitable method for both grasses, however the two crops react differently to the proposed pretreatment
method.
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21. EN-22/2018-19 21
References
• https:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128129920000236
• Chapter 14 Analytical Techniques
• Abideen Z, Ansari R, Khan MA. 2011. Halophytes: Potential source of ligno-cellulosic biomass for ethanol production.
Biomass Bioenergy,
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290259939
• http://my.ejmanger.com/ejeb/
• www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
• Sustainable Ethanol Production from Common Reed (Phragmites Australis) through Simultaneous Saccharification and
Fermentation
• Naik, S.N.; Goud, V.V.; Rout, P.K.; Dalai, A.K. Production of first and second generation
biofuels: A comprehensive review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2010, 14, 578–597.
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22. Thank You
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