Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
77 <br />SYNGAS OUT <br />M <br />SIFICATION ZONE <br />LTING ZONE <br />:ONTROLLEQ <br />AIR <br />HEATING SYSTEM <br />Figure B -11. Cross - Section of a Plasma Arc Furnace 13 <br />1.3 Biological Fuel Production <br />Producing a "fuel" product from organic materials in waste by biological processes is <br />termed biological fuel production. Typically, this fuel product takes the shape of <br />combustible gas or liquid formed when organic material in waste breaks down. <br />Decomposition of the organic portion of waste by microorganisms in the absence of <br />oxygen, known as "anaerobic digesting," creates methane (CH4) and other gases in <br />combination with about half the energy of natural gas. This biogas can be used as a <br />fuel and burned for energy or power production directly. It can also be refined to <br />produce a pipeline - quality gas that is almost pure methane and further processed <br />into a liquid fuel like methanol. <br />1.3.1 Cellulosic Ethanol <br />Ethyl alcohol, ethanol, is a biofuel that is usually produced from sugar or starch but <br />can be produced from wood, grasses, or other cellulose containing material, <br />including the organic portion of solid waste. This is referred to as cellulosic ethanol. <br />It is chemically identical to ethanol from other sources, such as corn starch or sugar, <br />but has the advantage that the feedstock is lignocellulose raw material that is highly <br />abundant and diverse. (The word "cellulosic" simply refers to the source material.) <br />However, it differs in that it requires a greater amount of processing to make the <br />sugar monomers available to the microorganisms that are typically used to produce <br />ethanol by fermentation. <br />13 Geoplasma, Atlanta, GA. <br />GBB/C08027 -01 B -14 August 15, 2008 <br />