Alternative Energy in Nigeria

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INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The need for energy accessibility and sustainability in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. The US National Intelligence Council Report (2012) projected that projected by 2030, the global demand for energy would have increased by 50%. A common indicator Human Development Index (HDI) used as a goal for sustainable energy developmen t, is a critical factor in determining the dimensions of the human well -being. A correlation of HDI value with energy production over the last three decades for Nigeria shows a negative slope as opposed to other developing/developed countries (Adediran, 20 19).

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This shows an urgent energy policy in our national development path. As reflected on the Sustainable Development Goal 7(affordable and clean energy) set by the UN towards 2030, this calls for a need in increase in accessibility to alternative energy s ources which are renewable and sustainable as they play a major role in green technology; one of which is the production of bioethanol from biomass.

Biomass feedstock can generally be divided into two sources: starch/food crops and lignocellulose materials .

The former, usually called the 1 st generation biofuel, has shown low degree of sustainability due to their competition with world food supply. Hence, the 2 nd generation biofuel emerged from lignocellulose materials. They are relatively cheap and do not compete with food. They are further divided into three categories: virgin biomass ( e.g. trees, bushes, etc. ), waste biomass ( e.g. Sugarcane bagasse, waste newsp aper, etc.) and energy crops ( e.g. Elephant grass, switch grass, etc.) . The population of Nigeria according to the United States Census Bureau (2019) is estimated to be over 178.

5 million people. Waste generation rate in Nigeria is estimated at 0.65 -0.95 kg/capita/day which gives an average of 42 million tonnes of wastes generated annually (Ike at al., 2018). Waste biomass, a form of\nlignocellulose material constitutes about 18% of that and is e mer ging as an attractive option in the choice of raw materials for ethanol production due to reduction in feedstock cost as they constitute a bulk of wastes generated annually.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The cost of bioethanol production from lignocellulose biomass in current technologies is relatively high. Apparently, low yield is one of the main challenges contributing to the economic ineffectiveness of the process. The two major factors contributing to this is the choice of feedstock and the process route of production. Bioethanol production consists majorly of four processes: pre -treatment, hydrolysis , fermentation , and ethanol recovery and separation . The complexity and variability of lignocellulose biomass physicochemical structures hinder the hydrolysis of cellulose present in biomass to biofuels. Shadbadhr (2017) also reported that the hydrolysis of cellulose into fermentable sugars is still the main barrier in commercial -scale cellulosic ethanol production due to high cost of enzymes and low efficiency of the process caused by product inhibition. Various research studies have been conducted on specific processes in the production of bioethanol to inc rease efficiency of production on industrial scale.

However, challenges are met during the choice of processes in production. While some technologies have interesting advantages, they are associated with certain drawbacks. The choice of feedstock also is a major barrier to production efficiency. The purpose of the biomass feedstock is to obtain maximum amount of fermentable sugars from cellulose which is further processed to give ethanol. However, different biomass have different physio – chemical structures including surface area , pure volume, etc. that affect the viability of sugar extraction from them. Lignocellulose materials which have high lignin content are not usually\npreferred because lignin is the st ructural backbone that surrounds the cellulose and hemicellulose and inhibits hydrolysis of the biomass. Also, availability of feedstock is a critical factor in determining the overall economics of the process when implemented.

1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY

Efforts have been made in modifying the production of bioethanol from lignocellulose materials considering the required capital and operating cost of running the production. However, low yield is unconventionally still a major problem that affect the production process. An optimal process configuration will be drawn out and justified with a cost analysis based on previous research carried out.

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this project will be to develop a mathematical optimization model for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulose materials. Route decisions will be based on:

Selection of biomass feedstock
Selection of pretreatment technology
Selection of fermentation/hydrolysis route.
Selection of ethanol separation and recovery process.

The selection of feedstock will be done using a specific process route. This is to know the optimal emerging feedstock that can be used . A model will be developed after determining the optimal process route for bioethanol production. This would be used for simulation work using DWSIM and Scilab to determine the best realistic conditions the process would undergo. Thereafter, an optimal proc ess configuration will be selected based on economic\nanalysis while also still considering realistic operational and capacity limits. Optimal operation and design variables will be determined to maximize ethanol production. At the end of this project, an optimal process route for a specific feedstock will be developed to produce bioethanol from lignocellulose biomass with maximum effort to associate the output to realistic conditions on an industrial scale.

1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY

For the purpose of the project, the following will be obtained:

Optimal selection of feedstock for the production of bioethanol based on feedstock properties and tendency of generating high yield of fermentable sugars.
Development of a mathematical model for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulose materials .
Optimal process configuration of the model based on optimization of process parameters.
Cost analysis of the above process configuration in response to the viability of the development of the process facility .

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

From a preliminary view, it may seem that the scope of this study is broad . As a result of that , a complete optimization and cost configuration of the whole process route may not be provided. As such, a specific unit operation that is critical in the overall economics of the process may be selected and a proper optimization and cost analysis will be carried out on that unit operation . Sourcing of data may also be an issue as different research studies have been carried out at different conditions and feedstock. So, it may be rigid i ntegrating these results into the required objective of this study.