Investigation of Eichornia Natans, Pistia Stratiotes and Nymphaea Lotus in Relation to Their Calorific Values and Elemental Composition for Efficient Biofuel Utilization

The relationship between the high heating values (HHVs) and the elemental contents of some freshwater biomass were studied. The results obtained from the ultimate analysis show that the HHVs of the freshwater biomass is a function of total carbon and hydrogen contents but, a weak function of oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. Analyses of the experimental results shows that, the HHVs of the biomass tested are not linearly related to their total hydrogen contents but, directly related to their total Carbon contents. HHV’s calculated from theoretical correlations using the elemental contents of C, H, N, S and O compared well with that of the American Standard of Testing Materials (ASTM) results and also in good agreement with the widely reported values in the acceptable range of 17-21 MJ/kg.