Department of Chemical Engineering

JNTUH College of Engineering Hyderabad (Autonomous)

III/IV Year B.Tech. II Semester
Subject: Renewable Energy (Professional Elective-II)
No. of Credits-3

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 SYLLABUS

UNIT I : INTRODUCTION

• World energy status, Current energy scenario in India, Environmental aspects of energy
utilization, Environment - Economy - Energy and Sustainable Development, Energy planning.
Classification of Energy resources, Advantages and Disadvantages of Non-Conventional source
of energy, Renewable energy resources - potentials -achievements – applications.

UNIT II : SOLAR ENERGY

• Basic concepts, Solar thermal systems – Flat plate and concentrating collectors, Solar passive
space - Solar heating and cooling techniques – Solar desalination – Solar Pond - Solar cooker -
Solar dryers-Solar furnaces - Solar pumping, Solar greenhouse- Solar thermal power plant –Solar
photo voltaic conversion – Solar cells –types of PV technologies, PV applications.

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 SYLLABUS

UNIT III : WINDENERGY

• Introduction-Background-Availability- wind power plants, Power from the wind, Wind energy
conversion systems, site characteristics, Wind turbines types – Horizontal and vertical axis-design
principles of wind turbine, Magnus effect- Performance. Wind energy Applications – New
developments - Safety and environmental aspects

UNIT IV : BIOMASS ENERGY

• Biomass – usable forms- composition- fuel properties – applications, Biomass resources, Biomass
conversion technologies - direction combustion - pyrolysis – gasification -anaerobic digestion,
Bioethanol and Biodiesel Production – Recent developments. Energy farming, Biogas technology
- Family biogas plants, Community and institutional biogas plants – design consideration –
applications.

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 SYLLABUS

UNIT V : OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

• Tidal energy – Wave energy – Open and closed OTEC Cycles – Small hydro – Geothermal energy
Fuel cell technology - types, principle of operation – applications. Hydrogen energy production -
Storage system.

Text Books:

• 1. Rai. G.D. “Non-Conventional Energy Sources”, Khanna Publishers, New Delhi, 1999.

• 2. Sukhatme. S.P. “Solar Energy”, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi,
1997.

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 Unit 1: Introduction

Energy: Energy is capacity to do work. Energy can be

changed from one form to another but it neither be created
nor be destroyed.

Energy sources can be divided into 3 types:

Primary Energy sources: It can be defined as sources which

provide a net supply of energy. The energy required to
obtain these fuels is much less than they produce by
combustion or nuclear reaction. The energy yield ratio is
very high. Ex: Coal, natural gas , oil & nuclear energy.

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 Unit 1: Introduction

Secondary Energy sources: It can be defined as

sources which produce no net energy. Ex: solar
energy, wind energy, water energy etc.

Supplementary Energy sources: It can be defined as

whose net energy yield is zero & those requiring
highest investment in terms of energy insulation
(thermal).

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 Energy Strategies

 The oil will fail to meet increasing demand before the year 2000, even if prices rise 50 percent
above current levels in real terms.

 Electricity from nuclear power is capable of making an important contribution to the global
energy supply although worldwide acceptance of it, on a sufficiently large scale.

 Coal has the potential to contribute substantially to future energy supplies.

 Natural gas reserves are large enough to meet projected demand provided the incentives are
sufficient to encourage the development of extensive & costly inter continental gas transportation
systems.

 Other fossil fuels such as oils sands, heavy oil & oil shale is very large, they are likely to supply
only small amounts of energy.

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 Energy Strategies

 The renewable energy resources utilization are likely to become increasingly important in the 21 st
century.

 Energy efficiency improvements, beyond the substantial energy conservation assumptions already
built into our analysis, can further reduce energy demand & narrow the prospective gaps b/w
energy demand & supply.

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 Energy sources

 The energy sources are categorized into two: 1) Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources &

2) Non-Commercial or Non-Conventional Energy Sources

Commercial or
Conventional
Energy Sources:

Major sources of Minor sources of energy (sun,

energy (Fossil fuels, wind, tides in the sea,
water power, Nuclear geothermal, fuel cells,
fission) thermoelectric generators)

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: COAL
Modern steam boilers burn coal in any of its forms as a primary fuel.

 The trees & plants falling into water decayed & produced peat bogs, this peat bogs buried under
the layers of silt.

 The soil pressure, heat & movement of the earth’s crust distilled off some of the bog’s gaseous
matter to form brown coal or lignite. Continuing subterrane reduces the gaseous content in coal to
form different ranks of coal.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: COAL

 The largest power station of India at the Korba thermal power station (Bilaspur district of M.P.)
500MW unit on 23 Mar1989.

 The second project in the series of super thermal power stations set up by the National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC).

 The gigantic complex has been set up in two stages. In the first stage: 3MW units of 200MW & in
the second stage: 3MWunits of 500MW. With the commissioning of the last 500MW units
ultimate capacity of 2100MW. The 500MW units generators have been provided by BHEL. The
whole project costed Rs. 1875 crore.

 M.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat & Goa are benefitted from the project.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: COAL

Disadvantages:

 Coal is abundant in the last 200years.

 It has low calorific value & its shipping is expensive.

 Coal is a pollutant, when it burnt produces carbon-dioxide, CO & ash.

 Extensive use of coal as energy source is likely to disturb the ecological balance of carbon-
dioxide.

 Environmental effect as the vegetations in the world would not be capable of absorbing such large
proportions of carbon-dioxide produced by burning large quantities of coal.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: OIL

 The refining petroleum or crude oil produces fuel oils. India is not particularly rich in petroleum
reserves.

 The potential oil bearing areas are located in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, West Bengal, Ganga
valley, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kutch, eastern & western coastal area in Tamil Nadu, A.P., &
Kerala. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep & in the continental shelves adjoining these
areas.

 Diesel power plants in India are installed in isolated places & the capacity is estimated as
0.35million kW i.e., is less than 2% of the total installed capacity in the country.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: GAS

 Gas is incompletely utilized at present due to high cost for the transportation & storage, compare
to oil. In the oil production huge quantities are burnt off because of the non-availability of ready
market.

 Gaseous fuels can be classified as:

(1) Gases of fixed composition such as acetylene, ethylene, methane etc.,

(2) Composite industrial gases such as producer gas, coke oven gas, water gas, blast furnace gas
etc.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: AGRICULTURE & ORGANIC WASTES

 Draw saw dust, bagasse, garbage, animal dung, paddy husk & cornstem accounting a major
energy consumption.

 The waste should be utilized near the source, in order to reduce the transportation cost.

 Appropriate equipment’s for burning, or extracting energy from the materials should be
developed to suit the local conditions & meet the requirements of the rural areas.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: WATER POWER

 Water power is developed by allowing water to fall under the force of

gravity for generating electrical power is implemented exclusively.

 Potential energy of water is converted into mechanical energy by using

prime moves known as hydraulic turbines. Further mechanical energy is
converted to electrical energy with the help of generators.

 The capital cost of hydroelectric power plants is higher but their

operating cost is low, as no fuel required in this case.

 The Dehar power house of Beas Sutlej (located on right bank of Sutlej
river) is equipped with 6units of 165MW each, which is the largest size
in the country.
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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: WATER POWER

 Water power does not create any pollution problem but the development rate is low due to the
following reasons:

(1) In developing a project it takes 6-10 years time for planning, investigation & construction.

(2) High capital investment is needed & some parts are derived from foreign sources.

(3) There are growing problems on relocation of villages involved, compensation for damage,
selecting the suitable resettlement area & environmental impact.

 To reduce the cost : a) development of low cost turbines & generators b) Using the appropriate
technology & tolerable substandard requirement & project civil work component at the beginning
stage.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: NUCLEAR POWER

 Modern theories of atomic structure, matter consists at minute particles known as atoms. These
atoms represent enormous concentration of binding energy.

 Controlled fission of heavier unstable atoms like U235, Th232 & artificial element Pu239 liberates
large amount of heat energy.

 The energy released by the complete fission of 1kg of U 235 is equal to the heat energy obtained by
burning 4500 tonnes of high grade coal or 2200 tons of oil.

 Nuclear fission is applicable in special heat exchangers for the production of steam which is then
used to drive turbogenerators as in the conventional power plants.

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 Commercial or Conventional Energy Sources: NUCLEAR POWER

Limitations:

 High capital cost of nuclear power plant,

 Availability of raw materials,

 Difficulties associated with disposal of radioactive waste.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: SOLAR

 Energy produced through the sunlight is called solar energy.

 Sun’s energy comes to earth in form of Light and Heat. This energy keeps the temperature of
earth’s atmosphere at normal level, so that living things can survive, the heat causes currents in
atmosphere (wind) and ocean (tide), causes the water cycle and generates photosynthesis in
plants.

 Solar energy can be utilized in two ways: 1) Thermally or 2) Photovoltaics.

 The solar photovoltaic cells are exposed to sunlight and in turn the electricity is produced.
Photovoltaic cells converts the sun light energy into electricity.

 The Solar energy’s potential is about 178 Billion MW, which is around 20,000 times more than
the world’s total energy demand. 20
 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: SOLAR

Applications:

 Solar Water Heating, Solar Cookers, Solar engine for water pumping, Street Lights,

 Solar drying of agricultural and animal products, Salt production by sea water evaporation,

 Heating and Cooling of Residential buildings, Solar Furnace, Solar distillation, Electric power
generation by Solar Ponds,

 Steam Generators heated by rotating reflectors and Photovoltaic cells.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND
Winds are caused from two main factors:

1) Heating & Cooling of the atmosphere which generates convection current.

2) The Rotation of Earth with respect to its atmosphere and its motion around the Sun.

 Wind Energy is an indirect source of Solar Energy. In India generally the wind speed is low.
Therefore attempts are being made for development of low speed, low cost wind mills.

 Special focus is on development of mill for water pumping which can operate at low wind speed
of 8 to 36 km/hr. Which can be utilized for providing drinking water in small rural area, irrigation
of small farms. In India high speed winds are available in coastal areas of Saurashtra, Rajasthan
and some parts of central India.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND

Wind Mill Types:

 1. Multi-blade type Wind Mill

1, 2, 3 comes under Horizontal axis wind mill
 2. Sail type Wind Mill

 3. Propeller type Wind Mill

 4. Savonius type Wind Mill

4, 5 comes under Vertical axis wind mill
 5. Darrieus type Wind Mill

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND
Characteristics of wind energy:

 It is a renewable source of energy.

 Wind power systems are non-polluting and has no adverse

effects of the environment.

 Wind energy systems avoids fuel provision and transport.

 On small scale of up to few kilowatts, it is less costly. On

large scale the costs are comparable with the costs of
conventional energy sources, but low cost can be achieved by
mass production.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND

Disadvantages:

 Availability of wind is fluctuating or irregular in nature.

 Unlike water energy, it requires storage means because of irregular nature.

 Wind energy systems are noisy in operation; a large unit can be heard many kilometers away.

 Large area is needed for installation of Wind Farms, for Electricity generation.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND

 It is used for operating water pumps for irrigation purposes, approximately 2756 wind pumps
were set up for this purpose.

 India has second position in wind power energy generation.

 Various organizations in our country:

1) CAZRI wind mill at Jodhpur (Rajasthan)

2) WP-2 water pumping wind mill, MP-1 Sail wind mill & 12 PU 500 wind mill at NAL
Bangalore.

3) Wind mills at Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute Bhavnagar (Gujarat).

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: WIND

4) Madurai wind mill at Madurai (Tamil Nadu).

5) Tayabji wind mill at Tilonia near Ajmer (Rajasthan).

6) Sholapur wind mill at Sholapur (MS).

 The Department of Non- convention Energy Sources (DNES) govt. of India has important
landmark in the country programmed towards utilization of renewable energy sources. Mainly
four wind farms: 1) Mandavi 1.15MW & Okha (Gujarat) 550kW, 2) Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu)
550kW, 3) Puri (Orissa) 550kW & 4) Deogarh (Maharashtra) 550kW.

 India has a potential of 20,000 MW of wind power. DNES plans to harness 400 MW of wind
energy during eighth plan period.
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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: BIO-MASS & BIO-GAS

 Bio-mass means Organic Matter. The Bio-mass is produced in nature

through Photosynthesis achieved by solar energy conversion. In
simplest form the reactions in the Photosynthesis can be represented
as:

 The above reaction, leads to the formation of carbohydrate stable at

low temperature & breaks at high temperature, releases an amount of
heat equal to 11,2,000 cal/mole (469kJ/mole).

 The bio-mass is used directly by burning or processing to produce

more convenient liquid & gaseous fuels. These are categories into
three:
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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: BIO-MASS & BIO-GAS
1) Bio-mass in its traditional solid mass. (e.g. Wood, agricultural residue etc.). This form is directly
burned to get energy.

2) Bio-Mass in its non-traditional form (converted into liquid form). In this category the bio-mass is
converted into liquid from such as ethanol & methanol, which can be used as liquid fuel in engines.

3) Bio-mass in fermented form. In this category bio-mass is fermented to obtain its gaseous fuel
called Bio-Gas. Bio-gas has 55-65% Methane, 30-40% and rest impurities containing , S and some

 Bio-mass resources: i) Concentrated waste- Municipal solids, sewage wood products, industrial
waste, manure of large lots. ii) Dispersed waste residue- crop residue, legging residue, disposed
manure. iii) Harvested bio-mass, stand by bio-mass, bio-mass energy plantation.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: BIO-MASS & BIO-GAS

Bio-gas:

1) The main source for production of bio-gas is wet cow dung (gobar) or wet livestock waste (or
even Human waste).

2) The bio-gas has a particular significance in India because of large cattle population, which is
about 250 million.

3) Some other sources of bio-gas are: Sewage, Crop residue, vegetable waste, poultry waste, algae
etc.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: OTEC

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) : This is also as indirect source of Solar Energy. The
tropical oceans absorb a large amount of solar energy.

The surface of ocean acts as collector of heat, while the temperature in the depths is 20-25 ºc lower.
This difference in temperature is used to obtain energy.

The surface water, which is heated, is used to heat some low boiling organic fluid such as ammonia,
propane, R-12, R-22, etc. Then the vapour produced will run the heat engine.

The exit vapour is condensed using cold ocean water of deeper regions.

Several such plants were build in France with capacity upto 7.5 MW.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: OTEC

The OTEC works in Closed Rankine Cycle. In India the DNES has proposed to set up a 1 MW
OTEC plant in Lakshadweep Island.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: TIDAL

The Tides in the sea are result of the universal gravitational effects of the Sun and Moon on the
Earth.

This causes a periodic rise and fall of the sea water level with daily rising and setting of the Sun and
Moon. This periodic rise & fall of the water level of sea is called tide.

These tides can be used to produce electricity which is known as Tidal power.

When the water is above the mean sea level it is called flood tide, and when it is below it’s called
ebb tide.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: TIDAL
To harness the power of tides, a dam is built near the coastal area. The dam has large gates to let the
water in and out. A low head hydraulic reversible Turbine is used which in turn generates electricity.

The tidal plant shown in figure is called as Single Basin Plant. The problem with such plants is that
it can not generate electricity continuously. To overcome this drawback, two basin plants can be
used. Due to the absence of cost effective technology, and unavailability of continuous tides, this
source of energy is not fully utilized.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: TIDAL

A tidal basin is formed, which is separated from the sea by the dam. With every tide, a difference in
water levels of the sea and the basin is obtained.

The basin is filled with water with high tide and emptied with low tide, with the water passing
through the Turbine.

The turbine is reversible type which can operate in both directions of rotation.

The turbine is coupled with a Generator, which generates Electricity

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: GEOTHERMAL

This energy is embedded within the Earth. The Earth has molten core and various volcanic activities
occurs in many places.

Due to the heat, the ground water is converted into steam and sometimes the hot water and steam
comes out naturally due to high pressure. For large scale use, we can bore holes (Steam Wells) for
upto 1000m, which will release the steam & hot water with temperature upto 200-300 ºc.

These steam can be used to operate steam turbine which will generate electricity

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: GEOTHERMAL

The water coming out of steam wells contains high amount of dissolved minerals, and the steam
contains these water molecules. So the moisture and solid particles needs to be separated out from
the steam before being fed to the steam turbine.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: HYDROGEN

The Hydrogen can play an important role as an alternative source of energy.

Its burning process is non-polluting and it can be used in the fuel cells too.

Hydrogen has highest energy content per unit of mass as compared to any other chemical fuels.

One of the most attractive feature of Hydrogen is that, it can be produced from water which is easily
& abundantly available in nature.

The problems with Hydrogen Energy are: 1. Hydrogen is not freely available in nature, it has to be
produced. 2. Technical problems in production of Hydrogen, its storage and transportation.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

It is defined as an electro-chemical device which continuously converts the fuel into electrical
energy.

The difference between a fuel cell and a battery is that, the battery generates electricity from the
energy which is stored in it.

While, the fuel cell generates electricity from fuel which is stored in an external tank.

So, a battery may become dead, while a fuel cell will run until the fuel supplied to it

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

Some types of fuel cell are: Hydrogen-Oxygen (H2, O2),

Hydrazine-Oxygen (N2H4, O2),

Carbon/Coal-Oxygen (C, O2),

Methane-Oxygen (CH4, O2).

Hydrogen-Oxygen fuel cells (Hydrox) are most efficient and highly developed cell among all. In
this two porous carbon or nickel electrodes are immersed in an electrolyte. The electrolyte is usually
30% KOH due to its high electrical conductivity and low corrosiveness.

In the fuel cells the prime requirement of electrolyte is that, it should not change as the cell
operates. 40
 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

The H2 fed at one end, is absorbed by electrode, which gives free electrons and it also reacts with
Hydroxyl ions (OH- ) of electrolyte to form H2O.

The free electrons travel from one electrode to another through external circuit, causing current.

These electrons reacts with the H2O and the O2 being fed from another side, and forms Hydroxyl
ions (OH- ).

The OH ions generated are consumed in the electrolyte and thus the electrolyte remains unaffected.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

−
+¿+ 2𝑒 ¿
𝐻2→ 2 𝐻
−
+¿+2 𝑂 𝐻 → 2 𝐻 2 𝑂 ¿
2𝐻
O

− −
𝑂+ 𝐻 2 𝑂+2 𝑒 →2 𝑂 𝐻

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

These type of cells operate at (or slightly above) the atmospheric pressure and at temperature of
about 90 ºc. These cells are also called as Low Pressure and Low temperature cells.

In high pressure cells the pressure may go upto 45 atmospheric and temperature may go upto 300
ºc. A single Hydrogen-Oxygen fuel cell produces an emf of 1.23 volts. By connecting more cells in
proper arrangement we can get higher values of voltage and power.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: FUEL CELL

Advantages:

1. It is a direct conversion process and does not involve a thermal process, so it has high
efficiency (38% - 60%).

2. The cell unit is small, light weight and requires low maintenance.

3. Fuel cells use may reduce the transmission losses.

4. Very low pollution and noise, it can easily be used in residential areas.

5. Drawbacks includes low voltage output, high initial costs and low service life.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: MHD

MHD: Magneto Hydro-Dynamic

The principle of MHD power generation is based on direct conversion of Thermal Energy into
Electrical Energy.

It is based on the Faraday’s principle: “When an electric conductor is moved across a magnetic
field, a voltage is induced in it which produces electric current.”

In MHD generation solid conductor is replaced by electrically conducting fluid, which may be
either an ionized gas or liquid metal.

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 Non - Conventional Energy Sources: MHD

As shown, Hot, partially ionised and compressed gas is

passed through a strong magnetic field in a duct, which
causes generation of electrical potential in the gas.

Electrodes placed at the two ends of the duct, pick up

the potential generated in the gas.

In this manner the Direct Current (DC) is obtained,

which can be later converted into AC using an inverter.
An experimental MHD plant of 5 MW is set up in
Tiruchirapalli.
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