International Workshop on Public Education, Training, and
Community Outreach for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and
Storage July 30 - 31, 2014 Decatur, Illinois, USA
Prof. Ranjan R. Pradhan (PhD)
Proprietor, Indocan Technology Solutions (Canada)
C. V. Raman College of Engineering
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Climate change and our project
Concept of the project
Implementation of the project
Characterization of the Product from the
project
Overview on our Regional CCUS education
and outreach efforts
Conclusion
What are we missing in our
existing practices?
500 MW thermal power plant generates about 8000 tons of
CO2 per day
Forest land needed to capture this emission
A hectare of pine forest can capture about 1 ton carbon dioxide
/ year,
We need about 29200 sq km land or roughly 20 % of total area
of Illinois for a 500MW thermal Power Plant
The scale of CO2 disposal need
far exceeds CO2 utilization
The dilemma!
Either Restrict the growth & promotion of
thermal power plants
OR
Facilitate adequate forest coverage to
compensate for the emissions
Neither of the above can be acceptable for India,
We need to look for feasible alternates for low
carbon economy & support mandates similar to
Kyoto protocol
How do we Address related Global Climate
Change / Warming
CDR
(Carbon Dioxide
Removal)
SRM
(Solar Radiation
Management)
We are trying to establish means for Low
carbon Economy (CDR)
CDR (Carbon dioxide removal)
Must be Sustainable Carbon Capture For Thermal
Power Plants
Thermal power plants, though a developmental need
for India is a major GHG polluter (Thermal power
plants contribute 25 % of the global GHG emission)
If can be captured at a reasonable cost, it can be a
good alternative to utilize the abundantly available
coal resources in India.
Potential Alternates of
Low Carbon Economy (thermal Energy
Two major possible CDR technologies (In context of India)
Microalgae-based Capture
Technology
Sustainable
Geological Sequestration
Technology
Social problems
Safe
No need to transport CO2
Untested on large scale
Need to transport CO2 to
sequestration site
Generates biomass
Coupled with wastewater
treatment
No additional revenue expected
Not Coupled with oil recovery
$ = carbon credit + nutrient
credit + biomass
$ = carbon credit ?
Algae CDR Concept
500 MW power plant generating about
8000 tons of CO2 per day is a huge resource if can be utilized
The amount of CO2 sequestered in Algae Biomass
Sequestration Calculated as a unit of Tons/ Acre/Year
#Carbon Content Assumed in Biomass is ~ 50 %
Carbon to CO2 : 1 kg of carbon is equivalent to 3.6 kg of CO2
1 mole of carbon give 1 mol of CO2, Molecular wt of C = 12 &
CO2 is 44, So Molar ratio = 44/12 = 3.6
Every ton of Microlgal Biomass would be
generated by capturing 1.8 ton of CO2
( #Knowledge Reference, National Forest Assessments, Food
and Agriculture Organization of United Nations,
http://www.fao.org/forestry/17111/en/
Microbial Biomass is a Bonus
(in addition to capture)!
Key Players
End Use of Algae
Seambiotic
Food additives, Fish feed and biofuels
MBD
Algae oil
Linc Energy
Biodiesel, Fertilizers and power.
Trident Exploration
Electricity
RWE energy
Biogas plant
Glenturret Whisky
distillery
NALCO, India
Animal feed for cattle and Shellfish
farms
Biorefinery Value Chain
Algae based Process /
Technology Flow Bacterial
NALCO – CPP
Flue Gas
@ 135 °C
12 – 15 % CO2
Flue gas is
processed to
make Suitable
for
Sequestration
Application
Biomass Value
Chain and
Utilization
Technologies
Mass
Cultivation
System
Operation
aided with
flue gas
Biomass
Recovery
System &
Quantification
Concept Implementation
Carbon Sequestration Pilot Cum
Demonstration Plant NALCO, CPPAngul, Odisha, India
Construction of Ponds :
Flugas Supply line from Duct of Unit – 7 and 8
Ducts from Unit 7 & 8
Heat exchanger, scrubber
& cooling tower erected
MICROALGAE SELCTION
GROWTH CURVE OF MICROALGAE IN COMMERCIAL
MEDIA(BATCH1,BATCH2,BATCH3)
GROWTH CURVE OF
MICROALGAE IN
400
T
LOBORATORY (Strain 2)
350
U
300
R 250
B 200
I 150
D 100
NTU
I 50
T 0
0
Y
300
250
T
U
R
B
I
D
I
T
Y
200
150
100
50
0
0
5
10
TIME
Time - Days
2 TIME4- Days 6
8
15
20
Recovered Algal Biomass
Potential
•Plants can tolerate less CO2 ( ~ 450
PPM)
•Plants growth has been increased
by three times by enhancing CO2
conc. to about 450 ppm
•Algae can tolerate higher CO2
Conc (> 20 % CO2 OR 200,000 ppm)
•Algae growth rate can be enhanced
upto 10 – 20 times with enhanced
CO2 in lab scale
Thermal
characterization of
algae biomass and
algae oil
Process Conclusion
Algae – A Promising & Future Biomass from Flue gas:
Each gram of algae will capture 1.8 gm of CO2.
Current Pilot cum Demonstration plant generates at the rate of
20 – 30 tons of Biomass per acre /year ( Equivalent to
36 – 54 tons CO2 capture / acre / year)
With an algal cultivation system the equivalent forest land
requirement can be reduces by a factor of 10, as more than 10 times
biomass can be generate, and depending on the end use, the carbon
sequestration may be valued further.
Applications
Biorefinery - Materials
A biorefinery is a facility that
integrates biomass conversion
processes and equipment to
produce fuels, power, and
chemicals from biomass. The
biorefinery concept is analogous
to today's petroleum refineries,
which produce multiple fuels
and products from petroleum..
Applications
Biorefinery - Energy
Algal Biomass to Energy Content:
1. Direct Firing
Biomass have heating values that fall in the range of 14–19
MJ/kg (6,040–8,200 BTU/lb);
Coal ranges from 17–30 MJ/kg (7,300–1,3000 BTU/lb)
2. Biogas
Methane yield of 0.24 m3 per kg (4.0 ft3 per lb) VS added
1 tonne (1000kg) wet Algae (~50% dry content)
99.2 m3CH4 x 10 kWh m-3CH4 = 992 kWh
1 m3 CH4 = 1 litre diesel fuel
3. Biodiesel ( 20 – 40 % lipid content)
Challenges yet to be addressed
Land availability near power plant
Retrofitting algae systems in existing power plants
Economic viability demonstration in India
Industrial perception
Encouraging Socio Economic and Awareness of CCS
with microalgae
Major issues to drive policy decisions for Algal Technology
1. Climate change mandate
2. Vast land use change in India.
(Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change –IPCC reported land
use change is one of the major contributor to carbon emission,
i.e. equivalent to 25% of all the fossil fuel and cement plants
emission combined)
3. India is rightly place for the technology to evolve –
a) Optimum Climate and more than 340 days of sunshine
b) Large number of coal based power plants being built
c) Carbon dioxide is a very useful resource for algae industry
& should not be wasted
d) Algal biomass will initiate a new resource for biorefinery
value chain





The ministry of 'environment and forests' (Govt. of
India) is now ministry of ‘Environment, Forests and
climate change',
Establishment of 1st Pilot cum Demonstration Plant
in the country for CO2 Sequestration by Algae
Inclusive National Education Policy
Inclusive Regional Education policy
Local Environmental Associations and NGO
Future Students
Sara Volz Student of
Colorado Springs,
Colorado, accepted the
top prize a $100,000
scholarship for her
alternative-energy
research
Conclusion
CO2 can be a huge resource for alternate
Materials and Energy (Biorefinery)
Microbial Biomass Generation can be a potential
Carbon Capture and Storage Mechanism
Questions ?
Thank you
www.ranjanpradhan.com
www.indocantechnologysolutions .com
Amount of Algae harvested during the year 2013-14 ( 1st harvest during last week of March'2014)
Answer: 48 Kg from one cultivation pond / batch
Amount of Carbon dioxide sequestered during the above period ( for the year 2013-14)
Answer: 86.4 Kg in one cultivation pond / batch
Calculation:
1. Carbon Content Assumed in Biomass is ~ 50 %
( Referance : Knowledge Reference, National Forest Assesments, Food and
Agriculture Organization of United Nations, http://www.fao.org/forestry/17111/en/
2. Carbon to Amount CO2
1 mole of carbon give 1 mol of CO2
Molcular wt of C = 12 & CO2 is 44
So Molar ratio = 44/12 = 3.6 ( 1 kg of carbon is equivalent to 3.6 kg of CO2)
3. Sequestration of CO2
48kg biomass / 2 = 24 kg carbon @ 50 % carbon content
24 kg Carbon = 24 x 3.6 = 86.4 kg CO2
Therefore : of Carbon dioxide sequestered during the above period ( for the year 2013-14)
= iii)
The amount of CO2 sequestered in-Tons/ Acre/Year
Answer:
20 ton / acre / batch
Calculation for Per Acre:
The cultivation and algae production reported is for one pond
One pond is 3000 square feet area.
One acre is 43560 sq. ft area ie. 14.52 times size of cultivation algae area
Therefore sequastration per acre is 86.4 x 14.52 = 1254.528 kg OR about 1.25 ton
Calculation for Per Acre per year:
The reported 48 kg batch was harvested in a production period of 22 days.
For in year ie 365 days period there can be 365 / 24 = ~ 16 batches
For 16 batches 1.25 x 16 = 20 tons
We can calculate Biogas based on the carbon content of the Algae
1000 kg wet Algae
Water content = 480 kg
Solids content = 520 kg dry matter (52%TS)
Organic dry matter =322 kg dry matter (32%ODM)
50% carbon content in the ODM
Carbon in 1000kg of wet Algae
= 322 x 50 / 100) kg C
= 161 kg C
If % of carbon biodegraded is 60%
Then 161 x 60 /100 = 96.6 kg C converted to biogas
From Buswell, 55% CH4 and 45% CO2
Weight of methane carbon (CH4 –C) 96.6 x 0.55 = 53.13 kg C
Weight of methane (CH4 ) 53.13 x 16/12 =70.88 kg CH4
1 mol gas at STP = 22.4 litres
16g CH4 = 22.4 litres
70880g CH4 = 70880/16 mols = 4430 mols CH4
4430 x 22.4 = 99232 litres CH4 = 99.2 m3 CH4 m3 CH4 m3 CO2 m3 CH + 81.4 m
CO = 180.6 m 1000 kg residual waste = 99.2 m biogas
Energy value of methane and Algae
1m3 methane = 36 MJ
1 kWh = 3.6 MJ
1m3 CH4 = 10 kWh
1 tonne (1000kg) wet Algae
99.2 m3CH4 x 10 kWh m-3CH4 = 992 kWh
1 Sq KM = 100 Hactars