Chemical Processes

Chemical processes that convert waste biomass into industrial chemicals, fuels, and animal feed. Also processes that convert waste biomass, such as municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, plastic, tires, and agricultural residues to useful products, including hydrogen, ethanol, and acetic acid. What are some technical chemistry used behind these conversions? How these productions affect industry, environment and our society?

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Biomass as we know today

The very term biomass (Greek bio meaning life + maza meaning mass) means non-fossil & bio-decomposable organic matter with plants, animals or microorganisms origin. So typically the biomass has products, byproducts, residues and waste from agriculture, forestry and related industries as well as the non-fossil bio waste from various industrial as well as municipal solid wastes. Biomass today also includes gases & liquids recovered from decompose of non-fossil & biodegradable organic matter (typically gassifier products). Biomass is cheapest source of the renewable energy where solar energy is trapped in chemical form by photosynthesis during the growth of plant and the organic matter has moved in the foods chain (A.D. Little).

So we can call the photosynthesis (The Carbon fixation reaction used for electrochemical reduction of the atmospheric carbon dioxide) and fundamental process of the creation of bio energy. Nowadays waste biomass is considered to be consisting of many things in single word agricultural residues to municipal sewage sludge, industry bio-sludge, manure etc. So with the help of technology those waste are converted in range of chemicals ranging alcohol, fuels or industrial chemicals, (ketones and org. acids....