A Seminar by NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative

1. A Seminar by NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative NUSNNI Purification & Bottling Technology for Biogas to Make it Vehicular Fuel Date : 30 March 2009 (Monday) Time : 11.00am – 12.00nn Venue : EA-06-05 Seminar room, Faculty of EngineeringSpeaker: A/Prof. Virendra Kumar VijayCentre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technlogy, Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016, India.Email: vkvijay@rdat.iitd.ernet.in Abstract In view of increasing international prices of crude petroleum and global warming most of the countries have started planning for bio-fuels for their energy security and sustainable development. Like biodiesel and ethanol, enriched biogas can be a promising fuel for running internal combustion engines. Biogas comprises of 60-65% methane, 35-40 % carbon dioxide, 0.5-1.0 % hydrogen sulfide and traces of water vapour. In such situations, removing carbon dioxide and compressing it into cylinders makes it easily usable for transport applications, i.e. buses, three wheelers, tractors, pick up vans etc and also for stationary applications at various remote locations. Since CNG ( Compressed Natural Gas) technology has already been into use and therefore, bio-methane(enriched biogas) which is nearly same as CNG, can be used for all applications for which CNG is being used. A variety of processes are available for enrichment i.e. removing CO2, H2S and water vapour. Biogas purification and bottling technology has been designed and developed at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi based on physical absorption using water. A maximum of 99 % CO2 removal is observed when compressed biogas is fed into the scrubber and pressurized water is sprayed from top in counter-current action. Enriched biogas is made moisture free by passing it through filters after that it is compressed up to 200 bar pressure. Compressed gas is stored in readily available CNG cylinders. This technology has wide scale application in large dairies, sewage treatment plants and places where biodegradable biomass waste is available for biogas generation and can replace petroleum fuels in vehicles at large scale. About the Speaker Dr V.K.Vijay is currently the Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and working on renewable energy systems particularly on bio energy in rural areas. He has more than 60 research papers and 6 books to his credit related to biogas, renewable energy and environment. He has developed low cost technology on biogas purification and bottling, which has got a patent and able to transform the energy sector in rural areas. He has been conferred more than national 11 awards for his contributions in research and teaching. ~ All are welcome ~ Contact Person: Steffen Ng Tel: 6516-4265 Email: nningcw@nus.edu.sg