ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ

Course Outlines

CHEM ENG 7048 - Biofuels, Biomass and Wastes

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2020

Fundamental concepts in understanding biofuels/bioenergy systems; renewable feedstocks, their production, availability and attributes for biofuel/bioenergy production; types of biomass derived fuels and energy; thermochemical conversion of biomass to heat, power and fuel; biochemical conversion of biomass to fuel; environmental aspects of biofuel production; economics and life-cycle analysis of biofuel; value adding of biofuel residues; case studies on biofuel production.

Open All
  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code CHEM ENG 7048
    Course Biofuels, Biomass and Wastes
    Coordinating Unit School of Chemical Eng and Advanced Materials(Ina)
    Term Semester 2
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 4 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Assessment Assignments, project and final examination
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Philip Kwong

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

     
    1 Describe the nature and principle of different biomass energy extraction systems and know how to choose the suitable biomass fuels for different bio-energy applications;
    2 Address the desirable features of these biomass energy sources and their advantages over traditional fuels such as coal and oil; and
    3 Identify their limited scope in terms of suitable sites, dependence on the elements, capital costs, and cost effectiveness compared with traditional sources.

     
    The above course learning outcomes are aligned with the Engineers Australia .
    The course is designed to develop the following Elements of Competency: 1.1   1.2   1.3   1.4   1.5   1.6   2.1   2.2   2.3   3.2   3.3   

    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    		 1-3
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    		 1-3
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    		 3
  • Learning Resources
    Recommended Resources
    Demirbas, A., 2009, Biofuels securing the planet’s future energy needs, Energy Conversion and Management 50, 2239-2249.

    Demirbas, A., 2001, Biomass resource facilities and biomass conversion processing for fuels and chemicals, Energy Conversion and Management 42, 1357-1378.

    Sami, M., Annamalai, K., Wooldridge, M., 2001, Co-firing of coal and biomass fuel blends, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 27,171-214.

    Demirbas, A., 2004, Combustion characteristics of different biomass fuels, Progress of Energy and Combustion Science 30, 219–230.

    Nussbaumer, T., 2003, Combustion and co-combustion of biomass: Fundamentals, technologies, and primary measures for emission reduction, Energy and fuels 17, 1510- 1512.

    de Nevers, N., Air pollution control engineering (2nd edition), McGraw-Hill.

    Meier D. and Faix, O., 1999, State of the art of applied fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic materials- a review, Bioresource Technology, 68, 71-77.

    Ni, M., Leung, D.Y.C., Leung, M.K.H. and Sumathy, K., 2006, An overview of hydrogen production from biomass, Fuel Processing Technology 87, 461-472.

    Kirubakaran, V., Sivaramakrishnan, R., Nalini, R., Sekar, T., Premalatha, M. and Subramanian, P., 2009, A review on gasification of biomass, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 13, 179-186.

    Chynoweth D.P., Owens, J.M., and Legrand, R., 2001, Renewable methane from anaerobic digestion of biomass, Renewable Energy 22, 1-8.

    Gunaseelan, V. N., 1997, Anaerobic digestion of biomass for methane production: A review, Biomass and Bioenergy 13, 83-114.

    Cheng, H. and Hu, Y., 2010, Municipal solid waste (MSW) as a renewable source of energy: Current and future practices in China, Bioresource Technology 101, 3816-3824.

    Pavlas, M., Touš, M., Bébar, L. and Stehlík, P., 2009, Waste to energy-  An evaluation of the environmental impact, Applied Thermal Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.10.019

    Demirbas, A., 2009, Political, economic and environmental impacts of biofuels: A review, Applied Energy 86, S108-S117.
    Online Learning
    A range of online resources will be provided via MyUni.