Utilization of peanut shells waste biomass for energy purposes

David Enrique Murcia Higuera

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The current dependency on fossil fuels represents one of the biggest challenges for the coming generations. The emissions associated to its usage, are among the main contributors to the global warming phenomena and are considered as the major greenhouse gasses. The present Thesis is focused one of the oldest sources of energy; biomass, as an alternative to conventional sources of energy in Senegal. In this particular case the peanut shells were selected, due to its high peanuts’ production in Senegal, abundancy of residual shells as well as their poor nutritional value for usage as a source of feed for livestock. According to the statistical yearbook of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2017 the production of peanuts in Senegal was 915,000 t, produced on 940,000 hectares, thus every year Senegal generates approximately 274,500 t of peanut shells (30% of the peanuts’ weight (Perea-Moreno et al., 2018)), which are commonly disposed in landfills or burned in open air. This indicates the potential of the peanuts shells as an alternative fuel for Senegal. To evaluate the mentioned potential, the main physical and chemical tests were performed; firstly, properties such as calorific value, ash content, emissions and chemical characteristics (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Sulphur) were evaluated. Secondly, physical and mechanical properties (moisture content, dimensions, mechanical durability and bulk density) were analyzed in three forms of the material (loose peanut shells, briquettes and pellets). The obtained results showed good overall quality of peanut shell’s based biofuels, and the standard limits were fulfilled for the majority of parameter. However, the ash content was found to be significantly higher comparing to the requirements and literature. Thirdly, a linear regression model was elaborated to predict the production of peanuts in the next 20 years, used to calculate the potential energy production over the same period. The results indicate an approximate electricity generation of 900 MWh per year.

Keywords

pellets, Senegal, renewable energy, peanut shells, solid biofuel, calorific value, ash content, briquettes

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 26. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Bc. Ing. Tatiana Ivanova, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Sustainable Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics