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Generating energy from banana peel

  • April 24, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Generating energy from banana peel

Subject: Science & Tech

Section: Biotechnology

Context- Dried banana peel has a hydrogen content of 5%, and 33% is carbon.

Concept-

  • Biomass is a catch-all term for organic waste material of plant and animal origin.
  • It is a rich source of both hydrogen and carbon — our dried banana peel has a hydrogen content of 5%, and 33% is carbon.
  • The Swiss group uses pyrolysis, wherein organic matter is decomposed using small bursts of intense heat under inert conditions.
  • Here decomposition of a kilogram of banana peel powder — liberating 100 litres of hydrogen gas.
  • This short burst of photothermal energy also produces 330 grams of biochar, a solid residue that is rich in carbon.
  • If the biomass had been burnt, gaseous carbon would have escaped as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
  • However Pyrolysis ensures that carbon remains sequestered as a solid.

Pyrolisis:

  • Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures in an inert atmosphere.
  • It involves a change in chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements pyro “fire” and lysis “separating”.
  • It is most commonly used in the treatment of organic materials. It is one of the processes involved in charring wood.
  • It is considered as the first step in the processes of gasification or combustion.

About Biochar:

  • Biochar is a high-carbon, fine-grained residue that is currently produced through modern pyrolysis processes (direct thermal decomposition of biomass in the absence of oxygen and preventing combustion).
  • It produces a mixture of solids (the biochar proper), liquid (bio-oil), and gas (syngas) products.
  • Biochar may increase soil fertility of acidic soils (low pH soils), increase agricultural productivity, and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases.

Benefits of biochar:

  • Biochar has other uses too — apart from safekeeping carbon, biochar has several uses in agriculture.
  • Agricultural leftovers such as rice husk are a major source of biomass, and the biochar it forms has significant mineral content. Adding it to soil enriches plant nutrients.
  • The porous nature of biochar makes it suitable for remediation — the adsorption of toxic substances in polluted soils – thus reducing the potency of contaminants in the soil.
Generating energy from banana peel Science and tech
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