Algae- most promising alternative renewable energy source available. It decreases the need for fossil fuels and thus makes our environment healthier. Algae oil is produced as much faster as 30 times than other biomass feedstock while its producing amount is up to 300 times more resulting 600 tons of bio-diesel per day which will produce 200MW of electricity per hour.
MAJOR COMPONENTS IN ALGAE BIO-DIESEL POWER PLANT:
1. Algae plantation
2. Algae oil extraction and bio-diesel plant
3. Internal combustion power plant
Continuous Algae production utilizing the photobioreactors is a highly reliable method for producing high density monocultures of marine and fresh water algae. The total control of all parameters are automatically controlled via a PLC, making the device dramatically reduce the labor requirements and eliminates handling problems. The photobioreactors work by recirculating algae, nutrients, water and CO2 through transparent tubes to maximize the amount of light reaching the algal cells, the short light field maximizes this process; thereby enhancing the photosynthesis process. There are two major types of extraction namely
* Mechanical extraction
* Chemical Extraction
The chemical extraction methods for algae extraction is done mainly using Chemical Solvents such as Benzene, Hexane. Other chemical methods include soxhlet extraction and supercritical fluid extraction. The mechanical extraction methods include the Ultrasonic Extraction.
The Essay on Accidents, Incidents and Fatalities in a Chemical/Refinery Plant
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have found recurring causes of accidents in the chemical industry and petroleum refineries, which include lack of process hazards analysis (PHA), poor analysis of process condition, use of improper or badly-designed chemical equipment, and training and operator error (Belke, 2007). ...
Internal combustion engines are constructed from one or more cylinders, each sealed at one end and open at the other, in which close fitting pistons can move up and down. The engine derives its power from the burning of a compressed air-fuel mixture in each of the cylinders in succession. The fuel is ignited when the piston is at the top of its stroke and the expansion of the burning gas drives the piston downwards. The reciprocating motion of the pistons is converted to rotary movement by a crankshaft which delivers motive power to the desired application, in this case a generator.
Air or an air-fuel mixture is introduced into the cylinder when the piston is at its lowest point and a flywheel on the crankshaft provides the momentum to drive the piston upwards to compress it. The piston and connecting rod in a reciprocating engine form a large mass which is accelerated from zero to a very high speed and decelerated back to zero again with every revolution of the engine (100 times per second in an engine operating at 6000 rpm).
This places immense forces on the moving parts of the engine.
CONCLUSION:
Therefore, based on the comparisons made over other power plants and the advantages of the algal biodiesel power plant, we conclude that algal biodiesel is one of the most promising green fuel because of its potential as a renewable and sustainable fuel source for the electric power generation.
