Abdul-Sattar Nizami is a PhD student (2008-2011) with Dr. Jerry D Murphy in a project “GreenGrass: Developing grass for sustainable renewable energy and value added products” funded by Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the National Development Plan. The collaborating institutions are Teagasc Grange, Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). Mr. Nizami holds his master degree in Environmental Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden and B.Sc (Hons) degree in Environmental Sciences from the Punjab University, Pakistan.

Project Brief:

The initial aims of the project were to:

• Undertake a literature review of all aspects of the grass biomethane system

• Identify appropriate anaerobic digestion technologies suitable for grass/grass silage digestion;

A number of reactor systems were designed, fabricated and are now situated in the Biofuels Laboratory. These systems include for:

• A Sequential Batch Leach-Bed Reactor coupled with Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB).

• A Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR).

The objectives of the project are:

• Determine the potential biogas/CH₄ production per unit of energy crop;

• Compare performance data for differing digester designs.

Publications:

AS Nizami, JD Murphy; “What is the optimal digester configuration for producing grass biomethane?” submitted to Renewable Energy, December 2008.

AS Nizami, N E Korres, JD Murphy; “A review of the integrated process for the production of grass biomethane,” submitted to Environmental Science and Technology, May 2009 (in communication).

NE Korres, A Singh, AS Nizami, JD Murphy. Is grass biomethane the most sustainable indigenous European transport biofuel? Submitted to Renewable Energy, September 2009.

A Singh, D Pant, NE Korres, AS Nizami, S Prasad and JD Murphy; “Key issues in life cycle assessment (LCA) of ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass: A review” submitted to Bioresource Technology, September, 2009.

JD Murphy, B Smyth, AS Nizami , T Thamsiriroj, A Singh, N Korres; “The potential for biomethane as a transport fuel in Ireland,” In: Biofuels Directive to bio based Transport Systems in 2020, IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Subtask Policy and Implementation Workshop, Dresden, Germany, June 2-5, 2009.

NE Korres, CO’Brien, B Smyth, AS Nizami, T Thamisirioj, R Schulte, JD Murphy; “A preliminary analysis of energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biomethane production as a transport fuel from grass/silage. A case study for Ireland,” Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Conference, Goteborg, Sweden, 31 May – 4 June 2009.