Microsoft Word - 8bove.docx CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS VOL. 50, 2016 A publication of The Italian Association of Chemical Engineering Online at www.aidic.it/cet Guest Editors: Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus, Eliseo Ranzi Copyright © 2016, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l., ISBN 978-88-95608-41-9; ISSN 2283-9216 Assessment of the Energy Potential of Agricultural Residues in Non-Interconnected Zones of Colombia: Case Study of Chocó and Putumayo Katherine Rodríguez Cáceres*, Francy G. Blanco Patiño, Julián A. Araque Duartea, Viatcheslav Kafarov Research Center for Sustainable Development in Industry and Energy – CIDES. Industrial University of Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia. lkrodca@gmail.com The non-interconnected zones (ZNI, for its initials in Spanish) of Colombia correspond to regions that are not connected to the national system of generation and transmission of electricity. They are characterized by low population density and long distance from urban centers with difficulty access. However, in these regions there are a wide availability of resources in residual biomass from agricultural, industrial and forestry activities, which are not being given proper and productive use. The objective of this research was to evaluate the energy potential of crop residues of two departments in Colombia: Chocó and Putumayo, in order to know the energy potential of the waste for possible use in conversion thermochemical or biological process. For this study, the crops with greater crop area and annual production were selected in the two departments for a total of nine crop residues. One sampling of each of these residues was collected to determine the Residue to Product Ratio (RPR) and to analyze their calorific value. As a result, the potential of crop residues in Chocó and Putumayo was estimated corresponds to an energy potential of 397 GJ/y or 67.7 MWh. 1. Introduction Despite the serious efforts already made, today an estimated 1.2 billion people – 17% of the global population – remain without electricity (IEA, 2015). The climatic and geographical conditions prevent easy access to rural or isolated areas; this hinders the extension of power grids to these places. An alternative to this problem are the renewable energy sources which are increasingly the source of electricity for isolated systems in rural areas (IEA, 2015). The physicochemical characteristics of biomass make it an attractive source to be harnessed energy (Escalante, et al., 2010). So far, many studies in different countries have conducted for the assessment of availability of residual biomass. Scarlat, et al. (2011) assessed the availability of residual biomass of agricultural and forest crops suitable for bioenergy production in Romania. Crop yield, variation multi-annual yield, environmental and economic constraints and competitive uses were taken into account to estimate agricultural residues. A similar study was developed by Shonhiwa, (2013) who explored the magnitude of biomass available for energy production using thermochemical conversion technologies in Zimbabwe. On the other hand, Iye E., et al. (2013) assessed the availability of agricultural residues in Nigeria based in 6 areas; three scenarios were studied considering the collection and availability of biomass percentage. Moreover, Roberts J., et al. (2015) assessed the energy potential of residual biomass derived from herbaceous and horticultural crops, and urban forests in the Party of General Pueyrredón, Argentina. In Colombia, several studies were carried out to characterize residues from agriculture, animal, forestry and municipal solid waste in order to assess its energy potential (Escalante, et al., 2010; González, et al., 2014). Due to its location in the tropics, Colombia has comparative advantages in the production of agricultural and forest biomass and its potential is sufficient to satisfy the energy demands (CORPOEMA, 2010). According to Atlas of the Energy Potential of Biomass Residual in Colombia (2010), more than 71 million tons of agricultural residual biomass are produced annually, which represent energy potential about 331,000 TJ DOI: 10.3303/CET1650059 Please cite this article as: Rodriguez Caceres K., Blanco Patino F., Araque Duarte J., Kafarov V., 2016, Assessment of the energy potential of agricultural residues in non-interconnected zones of colombia: case study of chocó and putumayo, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 50, 349-354 DOI: 10.3303/CET1650059 349 annually. These agricultural residues correspond to crops of rice, corn, banana, sugar cane, coffee, panela cane, oil palm and plantain (Escalante, et al., 2010). However, for the future implementation of bioenergy projects and electrification is necessary to assess the energy potential with representative data and updated of the isolated areas. 1.1 Study area In Colombia, the Non - Interconnected Zones (ZNI, for its initials in Spanish) correspond to regions that are not connected to the national system of generation and transmission of electricity. The ZNI cover 17 departments and correspond to 52 % of the national territory. They are characterized by low population density, long distance from urban centers with difficulty access and for its great wealth of natural resources. Nevertheless, the main difficulty in these areas is that the electrical service is not permanent or is null (Flórez, et al., 2009; Franco, et al., 2008). Figure 1 shown in light gray ZNI and dark gray departments of present study. Actually, there are about 201,742 users attended and 215,568 kW installed of operational capacity, of which 2,600 kW are installed using renewables (IPSE, 2015). Colombia has a Program of rational and efficient use of energy and other forms of non - conventional energy (PROURE, for its initials in Spanish) which defines as goal for 2020 a 30 % of non - conventional energy sources in the ZNI. (MME- PROURE, 2010). In isolated zones, is more likely implement energization projects based on non - conventional energy sources and is one of the most important niche markets for these energies and to mitigate the high level of poverty. Most departments of ZNI have a wide availability of resources in residual biomass from agricultural, industrial and forestry activities, which are not being given proper and productive use (CORPOEMA, 2010). Figure 1: Map of the study areas. Source: Adapted from Monthly Report from the Provision of Energy Service Power in Localities without Telemetry Systems of ZNI (IPSE, 2015). 1.2 The present study The aim of this study is estimate the amount of biomass residues generated in harvesting of the most representative crops of Chocó and Putumayo and assess its energy potential in order to know the available for energy production using thermochemical or biological conversion. 2. Methodology 2.1 Crop selection For this study, the crops with greater crop area and annual production were selected in the departments of Chocó and Putumayo according to data supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The crop residues selected were: leaves and buds of sugarcane, plantain leaves, plantain stem, corn stover, 350 banana leaves, banana stem, pruning of borojó, palmetto leaves and palmetto stem. Borojó (Borojoa patinoi) is an endemic fruit of the rainforests of Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Panama that is listed for approval as novel food in the European Union (Chaves, et al., 2015). Alto Baudó (Chocó) and Orito (Putumayo) were selected as sampling sites because they have easy access and have large areas of crops study. A random sampling of each of these residues was performed in a space of about 1 ha in order to determine the Residue to Product Ratio (RPR) and the calorific value. The sampling site, crops, annual production and the type of residue are listed in Table 1. 2.2 Residue to product ratio The amount of residue was calculated by Eq. (1). Where CR is the crop residue [t], A is the cultivated area [ha/y], Y is the crop yield [t production/ha cultivated] and RPR is the Residue to Product Ratio [t residue/t product]. = ∗ ∗ (1) For this study, were taken data available in the Information and Communication Network of the Agricultural Sector – AGRONET for the year 2012 (AGRONET). The RPR of different crops varies significantly from country to country and even region to region (Kemausuor, et al., 2014; Angelis-Dimakis, et al., 2011; Iye, et al., 2013), therefore this study considered of great importance to know the values of RPR representative of the study sites. These values were calculated from the ratio of the weight of the residue generated at harvest and weight of the main product. 2.3 Estimation energy potential The energy potential was calculated using Eq. (2) based on the model proposed by Orduz (2011). Where EP is the energy potential [TJ/y] CR is dry crop residue [t], Fdr is the fraction of dry residue [t dry residue/t wet residue], LVH is lower heating values [TJ/t] and AR is the residue availability factor. LVH values were obtained using the formula Dulong. Table 1: Data of production, crops and residues selected for each department. Source: a: Statistical Yearbook of the Agricultural Sector 2012 (MINAGRICULTURA, 2013). b,c: These crops were not sampled. = ∗ ∗ ∗ (2) There are different types of energy potential that can be calculated taking into account competing uses of the residue, collection costs, accessibility, etc., (Batidzirai, B., et al., 2012; Shonhiwa, C., 2013). In this study was calculated the technical energy potential considering a residue availability factor of 0.5. 3. Results 3.1 Residue to product ratio (RPR) RPR values calculated for this research were compared with other studies (Table 2). It is observed that the RPR values obtained for plantain stem from Chocó and Putumayo are similar to those reported in the Atlas Residual Biomass in Colombia (Escalante, et al., 2010). By contrast, RPR values obtained for corn and sugarcane residues, 2.32 y 0.18 respectively, show a difference compared to the values reported in the Atlas (0.93 and 3.75, respectively). Although the above values are calculated in the same country, the difference Sampling location Crops Crop residues Production (t/y)a Samples Department Village Chocó Alto Baudó Plantain 1 Leaves 133,263 3 Stem 3 Alto Baudó Banana Leaves 5,531 3 Stem 3 Alto Baudó Cornb Stover 18,623 --- Alto Baudó Borojó Pruning 6,277 3 Putumayo Orito Plantain 2 Leaves 39,709 3 Stem Orito Sugarcanec Leaves and buds 7,618 --- Orito Palmetto Leaves 494 3 Stem 3 351 depends on various parameters such as geographic region, the moisture content at the time of sampling, crop yield, weather conditions, etc. (Kemausuor, et al., 2014; Angelis-Dimakis, et al., 2011; Iye, et al., 2013). On the other hand, RPR values for residues of sugarcane and corn are similar to those reported by Cardoen (2015), Hiloidhari (2014) y Kemausuora (2014). RPR values for palmetto and borojó residues were not found in other studies. Table 2: Residue to product ratio of present study and other studies. Crops Residues RPR (tresidue/tproduct) Chocó Putumayo MME, 2010 Cardoen, et al., 2015 Hiloidhari, et al., 2014 Kemausuora, et al., 2014 Plantain Leaves 0.35 0.33 --- --- --- 0.50b Stem 3.91 4.16 5 --- --- --- Banana Leaves 0.35 ---- --- 3 --- --- Stem 5.6 ---- 5 --- --- --- Corn Stover 2.32 ---- 0.93 1.60 2a 1.59a Borojó Pruning 0.12 ---- --- --- --- --- Sugarcane Leaves and buds ---- 0.18 3.75 0.13 0.05 --- Palmetto Leaves ---- 5.07 --- --- --- --- Stem ---- 8.66 --- --- --- --- a: values for corn stalk, b: plantain leaves and steam. Therefore, to assess the energy potential is of great importance calculating the RPR from the data obtained in the study area so that the results are representative. 3.2 Energy Potential As shown in Table 3, both departments generated 829 t/y of residue in 2012. The assumption here is that only 50 % residues can be available for energy generation. Therefore, 415 t of residue is left in the field for soil conservation and in other areas a small proportion of this is used as animal feed. Accordingly, the two departments contribute an energy technical potential of 397 GJ/y corresponding to 67.7 MWh. Plantain and corn of Chocó are the major contributors of crop energy potential given as shown in Figure 2. They contribute 58 % and 23 % respectively. This indicates that the plantain in Chocó is the most representative crop, in terms of amount residue and energy potential annually, with a contribution of 566 t/y and 231 GJ/y, respectively as shown in Table 3. Regarding the leaves and buds of sugarcane and pruning Borojó the lowest energy potential with a value of 1.9 GJ/y and 2.7 GJ/y is observed. Figure 2: Energy potential of the crop residues selected. Plantain 1: 231 GJ 58% Banana: 9.4 GJ 2% Corn: 89.7 GJ 23% Borojó: 2.7 GJ 1% Plantain 2: 53.3 GJ 13% Sugarcane 1.9 GJ 1% Palmetto: 8.5 GJ 2% 352 Table 3: Technical energy potential of crop residues by department. Source: Own calculations, except a: Statistical Yearbook of the Agricultural Sector 2012 (MINAGRICULTURA, 2013). 4. Conclusions The energy potential of agricultural residues in two departments of ZNI in Colombia was estimated. Most of RPR values calculated in this research are close to other comparative studies. The results show that 829 t /y of agricultural residues generated in 2012 offer 397 GJ/y of energy. This amount of residues currently not being utilized and can be collected without compromising agricultural and environmental biomass requirements and competitive uses. Of the two departments of study, Chocó produces the largest volume of residue from the plantain crop, which generates an energy potential of 231 GJ/y equivalents to 41.4 MWh. The plantain is the most representative crop in terms of tonnes of residue and annual energy potential. Acknowledgments The authors thank the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (COLCIENCIAS) for financial support to this project and the Colombian Network of Knowledge on Energy Efficiency, also, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for information on crops and their properties provided. Reference Angelis-Dimakis A., Biberacher M., Dominguez J., Fiorese G., Gnansounou E., Robba M., 2011, Methods and tools to evaluate the availability of renewable energy sources. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15. AGRONET (Information and Communication Network of the Agricultural Sector), 2014, Statistics: agricultural figures accessed 26.06.2014. Batidzirai, B., Smeets, E. & Faaij, A., 2012, Harmonising bioenergy resource potentials—Methodological lessons from review of state of the art bioenergy potential assessments. 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Administration notebooks, 22, 219-245. Bogotá, Colombia. Village Crop Crop residue Areaa (ha) RPR (t residue/ t product) Residue generated (t/y) Dry residue fraction LVH (GJ/t) Energy Potential (GJ) Alto Baudó (Chocó) Plantain Leaves 16,134 0.35 45.0 0,20 12.12 53.0 Stem 3.91 521.1 0,06 10.91 178.0 Banana Leaves 807 0.35 1.9 0,17 11.37 1.8 Stem 5.6 31.0 0,04 11.66 7.5 Corn Stover 15,518 2.32 43.2 0,29 14.12 89.7 Borojó Pruning 1,464 0.12 0.8 0,56 12.75 2.7 Orito (Putumayo) Plantain Leaves 5,294 0.33 13.2 0,20 10.47 13.8 Stem 4.16 165.2 0,04 10.87 39.5 Sugarcane Leaves and buds 2,238 0.18 1.4 0,22 12.85 1.9 Palmetto Leaves 351 5.07 2.5 0,27 12.01 4.0 Stem 8.66 4.3 0,17 12.68 4.5 353 Franco C., Dyner I., Hoyos S., 2008, Energy Contribution to the Development of Non-interconnected Isolated Communities: A Case of Application of System Dynamics and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Colombian Southwest. Journal Dyna. 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