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Ammonia production through more efficient technologies can be achieved using exergy analysis. Ammonia production is one of the most important but also one of most energy consuming processes in the chemical industry. Based on a panel of solutions previously developed, this study helps to identify potential areas of improvement using an exergy analysis that covers all aspects of conventional ammonia synthesis and separation. The total internal and external exergy losses are calculated as 3,152 and 6,364 kJ/kg, respectively. The process is then divided into five main functional blocks based on their exergy losses. The reforming block contains the largest exergy loss (3,098 kJ/kg) and thus the largest potential for improvement including preheating cold feed through an economizer, developing technology towards isobaric mixing, and pressure drop reduction in the secondary reformer as the main contributors to the irreversibility (1,302 kJ/kg) in this block. The second largest exergy loss resides in the ammonia synthesis block (3,075 kJ/kg) where solutions such as reduced temperature rise across the compressor, proper compressor isolation, reducing undesired components such as argon in the reactor feed, and using lower temperatures for reactor outlet streams, are proposed to decrease the exergy losses. Throttling process in the syngas separator is the key contributing mechanism for the irreversibility (1,635 kJ/kg exergy losses) in the gas upgrading block. The exergy losses in the residual ammonia removal block (833 kJ/kg exergy losses) are mainly due to the stripper and the absorber column where a modified column design might be helpful. The highest exergy loss in the preheating block belongs to the compressors (518 kJ/kg exergy losses) where a lower inlet temperature and better system isolation could help to reduce losses.

Abstract Anaerobic digestion of animal by-products was investigated in batch and semi-continuously fed, reactor experiments at 55 °C and for some experiments also at 37 °C. Separate or mixed by-products from pigs were tested. The methane potential measured by batch assays for meat- and bone flour, fat, blood, hair, meat, ribs, raw waste were: 225, 497, 487, 561, 582, 575, 359, 619 dm 3 kg −1 respectively, corresponding to 50–100% of the calculated theoretical methane potential. Dilution of the by-products had a positive effect on the specific methane yield with the highest dilutions giving the best results. High concentrations of long-chain fatty acids and ammonia in the by-products were found to inhibit the biogas process at concentrations higher than 5 g lipids dm −3 and 7 g N dm −3 respectively. Pretreatment (pasteurization: 70 °C, sterilization: 133 °C, and alkali hydrolysis (NaOH) had no effect on achieved methane yields. Mesophilic digestion was more stable than thermophilic digestion, and higher methane yield was noticed at high waste concentrations. The lower yield at thermophilic temperature and high waste concentration was due to ammonia inhibition. Co-digestion of 5% pork by-products mixed with pig manure at 37 °C showed 40% higher methane production compared to digestion of manure alone.

A methodology for the sizing of domestic hot water heating and storage systems is defined, by assuming an extreme operating condition cycle composed of only two parts, a water consumption period and a system repositioning period. In both parts to respond to the extreme hot water demanding conditions, the heating is always on. The subsequent exergy analysis of this domestic hot water production system compares the irreversibility and the exergy efficiency of the water storage and the tankless situation. To carry out such analysis, some basic assumptions were made: a constant temperature heat source, a short duration operating cycle and a constant thermal energy supply. Under these circumstances it is shown that the hot water storage system leads to lower exergy losses while the tankless system is more exergy efficient, but requiring a higher instantaneous thermal power input. The use of the joule effect electricity, as the system heat source, be it a water storage one or a tankless one, maximizes the system irreversibility losses and minimizes the system exergy efficiency. The tankless system, with the joule effect electricity heat source is the worst situation.

ON 16 NOVEMBER 2000, the final report of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) was launched in London, in the presence of South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela. This represented a remarkable milestone in the history of dam policy and politics. During its two-year existence, WCD had conducted the most extensive review of research and evidence regarding the planning, impacts, and management of large dams. It had engaged with numerous stakeholders around the globe. It also made comprehensive recommendations about how to improve dam planning and management.

Hot water heat stores with stratification are a common technology used in solar energy systems and reuse of waste heat. Adding a PCM module at the top of the water tank would give the system higher storage density, and compensate heat loss in the top layer. The work presented here includes experimental results and numerical simulation of the system using an explicit finite-difference method. Experiments and simulations were carried out using different cylindrical PCM modules. With only 1/16 of the volume of the store being PCM, 3/16 of water at the top of the store was held warm for 50% to 200% longer and the average energy density was increased by 20% to 45%. Furthermore, these 3/16 of water were reheated by the heat from the module after being cooled down in only 20 min.

The aim of this report is to demonstrate and evaluate the potential of tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata) to avoid GHG emissions and obtain lower economic costs in marginal areas of Spain. Our research built scenarios based on experimental plots (2 and 3 years growth) in 3 locations of Spain with completely different climate conditions (provinces of Girona, Soria and Palencia). In our experiences, we achieved an adequate establishment and biomass production, and assumed a rank of biomass yields until the end of the life cycle that is usually accepted to be about 15 years in many other studies in United States, Argentina and Eastern Europe where tall wheatgrass is extensively cultivated in marginal areas for sheep livestock production. Using our experimental plots and statistical information for economic inputs costs, we built 5 different scenarios per region considering a large range of biomass yields of tall wheatgrass. The analysis included a comparison with annual grasses economic costs calculated for a wide range of biomass yields of a previous study. We estimated GHG emissions savings for tall wheatgrasses and used our previous study (which had GHG emissions savings as well). Savings were calculated replacing natural gas electricity with electricity from biomass combustion in real power plants in Spain. In a wide range of yields, the results suggest that marginal areas might present a better performance with tall wheatgrass compared to annual winter grasses (cereals whole plant cuttings), thus producing biomass yields with higher GHG savings and lower economic costs at the farm level. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 217-229

Abstract Portugal’s performance concerning the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) strategy, with particular focus on perspectives for the Northern Region based on the current status of integrated municipal waste management systems in that region, was evaluated. Legal documents, official reports and the market were analyzed. The 2015 national installed capacity of waste treatment technologies, from which the high calorific value fraction (HCVF) for RDF production is obtained, is not far from what was predicted for 2013. However, only around 11% of the HCVF had such destiny and the amount of effectively produced RDF was only 30% of the material sent to RDF production (around 30 kt). In Northern Portugal, no RDF production plant was in operation in 2015; the amount of HCVF was estimated to range from 105 to 204 kt for 2015 and around 2.4 times more is expected in 2020. The strategy laydown for RDF failed so far, and thus, low diversion of waste from landfills is observed, mostly due to low landfill taxes and low HCVF quality, resulting in RDF being non-competitive with the imported higher quality product from countries with very high landfilling fees. Moreover, co-incineration and dedicated recovery solutions are scarce. In the Northern region, the HCVF may be treated in the existing municipal waste incinerator or the RDF might be recovered in new dedicated plants, receiving also non-hazardous waste fractions from other origin. Overall, to ensure a sustainable municipal waste management, the intensification of the reuse, preparation for reuse and recycling of waste components from source segregated collection must be significantly promoted.

The olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) is a by-product (with a high organic load) derived from the production of the olive oil. The OMW steam reforming (OMWSR) process was studied herein, aiming to decrease the environmental damage of such effluents; simultaneously, the waste is economically and energetically valorized with the H-2 production. Several Ni-containing catalysts were prepared and tested to compare their performances for the OMWSR using a synthetic OMW effluent; still, stability tests were also carried out. The materials were extensively characterized: thermogravimetric analysis, temperature programmed oxidation/reduction, temperature-programmed desorption of CO2/NH3, chemisorption of H-2, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and physical adsorption-desorption of N-2 at-196 & DEG;C. Amongst the materials tested, the Ni-Ru/SiO2 sample stood out, exhibiting high catalytic performance: at 400 & DEG;C, the H-2 yield (> 8 mol(H2)& BULL;mol(OMW)(-1)) and conversion of total organic carbon (asymptotic to 75%) were high during all the 24 h of the long-term test, with only a small deactivation being noticed.

The drought prone North-West Bangladesh is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly because of less water availability in the dry period and high water requirement for crop production. Improved understanding of recent changes in crop water demand in the dry season is important for the water resources management in the region. A study was carried out to determine the potential impacts of recent climate change during last three decades on trends of water requirements of Boro rice. The reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo), potential crop water requirement (∑ETC), effective rainfall during the crop growing period (ER), potential irrigation requirement for crop evapotranspiration (∑ETC − ER) and net irrigation requirement of Boro rice were estimated using observed daily climate data in the CropWat model for the period of 1980 to 2013 for four North-West districts. Significant decreasing trends of ETo were observed in most of the dry months due to increasing relative humidity and decreasing wind-speed and sun-shine hours. The results showed decreasing trends of potential crop water requirement, i.e. the total crop evapotranspiration (∑ETC), of Boro rice due to decreasing reference crop evapotranspiration and shorter crop growing periods. The variations in trends of potential irrigation requirement for crop evapotranspiration (∑ETC − ER) found among different districts, are mainly linked to variations in trends of changes in effective rainfall. The net irrigation requirement of Boro rice has decreased, by 11% during the last three decades at an average rate of −4.4 mm year−1, instead of decreasing effective rainfall, mainly because of high rate of decrease of crop evapotranspiration (−5.9 mm year−1). Results indicate that a warming climate does not always result in higher agricultural water use and that climate change can also result in reduced water demands because of changes in humidity, wind-speed and sun-shine hours.