Publication

Abstract : Selection of the most suitable biomass material for bio-fuel generation is a complex and multi-criteria decision problem as it engages many conflicting criteria which have to be assessed simultaneously. In the past, researchers have used subjective weighing techniques, which question the reliability of the approach. In this study, two objective weighing methods such as Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Entropy are used to calculate the weights of evaluating criteria and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is applied to select the suitable biomass material. This study considered six biomass alternatives such as lemongrass (A1), hard wood (A2), rice husk (A3), wheat straw (A4), rice straw (A5), and switch grass (A6), and seven important criteria such as volatile matter, fixed carbon, moisture and ash content, lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose have been evaluated. Both the approaches show that switch grass has been the best alternative for yielding more bio-oil while rice straw is seen as the worst preferred option among the selected biomass materials. These approaches are systematic having simple computational procedure for determination of complete ranking of biomass materials. At the end of the study, the prediction is also validated by conducting pyrolysis experiments and characterization study. The experimental findings are identical and indicating a strong correlation between MCDM approach and real-time study.