• Energy Research

The valorization of residual biomass plays today a decisive role in the concept of “circular economy”, according to which each waste material must be reused to its maximum extent. The collection and energy valorization at the local level of biomass from forest management practices and wildfire prevention cutting can be settled in protected areas to contribute to local decarbonization, by removing power generation from fossil fuels. Despite the evident advantages of bioenergy systems, several problems still hinder their diffusion, such as the need to assure their reliability by extending the operating range with materials of different origin. The Italian project “INNOVARE—Innovative plants for distributed poly-generation by residual biomass”, funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), has the main scope of improving micro-cogeneration technologies fueled by biomass. A micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) unit was chosen as a case study to discuss pros and cons of biomass-powered cogeneration within a national park, especially due to its flexibility of use. The availability of local biomasses (woodchips, olive milling residuals) was established by studying the agro-industrial production and by identifying forest areas to be properly managed through an approach using a satellite location system based on the microwave technology. A detailed synergic numerical and experimental characterization of the selected cogeneration system was performed in order to identify its main inefficiencies. Improvements of its operation were optimized by acting on the engine control strategy and by also adding a post-treatment system on the engine exhaust gas line. Overall, the electrical output was increased by up to 6% using the correct spark timing, and pollutant emissions were reduced well below the limits allowed by legislation by working with a lean mixture and by adopting an oxidizing catalyst. Finally, the global efficiency of the system increased from 45.8% to 63.2%. The right blending of different biomasses led to an important improvement of the reliability of the entire plant despite using an agrifood residual, such as olive pomace. It was demonstrated that the use of this biomass is feasible if its maximum mass percentage in a wood matrix mixture does not exceed 25%. The project was concluded with a real operation demonstration within a national park in Southern Italy by replacing a diesel genset with the analyzed and improved biomass-powered plant and by proving a decisive improvement of air quality in the real environment during exercise.

The valorization of residual biomass plays today a decisive role in the concept of “circular economy”, according to which each waste material must be reused to its maximum extent. The collection and energy valorization at the local level of biomass from forest management practices and wildfire prevention cutting can be settled in protected areas to contribute to local decarbonization, by removing power generation from fossil fuels. Despite the evident advantages of bioenergy systems, several problems still hinder their diffusion, such as the need to assure their reliability by extending the operating range with materials of different origin. The Italian project “INNOVARE—Innovative plants for distributed poly-generation by residual biomass”, funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), has the main scope of improving micro-cogeneration technologies fueled by biomass. A micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) unit was chosen as a case study to discuss pros and cons of biomass-powered cogeneration within a national park, especially due to its flexibility of use. The availability of local biomasses (woodchips, olive milling residuals) was established by studying the agro-industrial production and by identifying forest areas to be properly managed through an approach using a satellite location system based on the microwave technology. A detailed synergic numerical and experimental characterization of the selected cogeneration system was performed in order to identify its main inefficiencies. Improvements of its operation were optimized by acting on the engine control strategy and by also adding a post-treatment system on the engine exhaust gas line. Overall, the electrical output was increased by up to 6% using the correct spark timing, and pollutant emissions were reduced well below the limits allowed by legislation by working with a lean mixture and by adopting an oxidizing catalyst. Finally, the global efficiency of the system increased from 45.8% to 63.2%. The right blending of different biomasses led to an important improvement of the reliability of the entire plant despite using an agrifood residual, such as olive pomace. It was demonstrated that the use of this biomass is feasible if its maximum mass percentage in a wood matrix mixture does not exceed 25%. The project was concluded with a real operation demonstration within a national park in Southern Italy by replacing a diesel genset with the analyzed and improved biomass-powered plant and by proving a decisive improvement of air quality in the real environment during exercise.

The valorization of residual biomass plays a decisive role in the actual implementation of the concept of “circular economy”, according to which each waste material must be reused at its highest level in order to reduce the impact of human activities on the biosphere. The Italian project “INNOVARE - Innovative plants for distributed poly-generation by residual biomass”, funded by the local Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), involves the synergic activities of research institutes and industrial companies to pursue the aim of improving micro-cogeneration technologies fueled by biomass, in order to provide effective solutions of short-range biomass-to-energy chains, characterized by high overall efficiency and flexibility. A place for operational demonstration is chosen in the Municipality of Laurino, in the Cilento National Park, located in the Campania region, in the South of Italy. Main problems today still hindering a sustainable use of energy systems powered by biomass in various contexts are related the resource availability over a continuous time scale and to the necessity of extending their operating range in the absence of faults, to assure reliability. Within the project INNOVARE, a micro combined heat and power (mCHP) unit produced and marketed by the Italian Company CMD, the CMD ECO20 system, made of a gasifier, a syngas cleaning system and a spark ignition (SI) internal combustion engine (ICE) working as a co-generator, is chosen as the case study to assess the whole study. The availability of local biomasses is established by studying the agro-industrial production and by identifying forest areas to be properly managed through an original approach using the satellite location system based on the microwave technology. Woodchip from wood maintenance and olive-pomace from oil mills are also identified as possible feedstock for the system. A detailed experimental characterization of the selected cogeneration system is performed in order to identify its main inefficiencies. Numerical models of each component, validated against experimental data, are developed and used to optimize the performance of the whole conversion process. An improvement of the 5.8% on the electrical power is reached by identifying the optimal spark timing strategy. The waste heat recovery loop is modified in order to have at disposal the excess heat when the request for thermal load gets lower than the production capacity of the plant, with an increase in reliability even in the absence of thermal users. The positive development of the planned activities will have important effects at European level, by contributing to the diffusion of renewables, especially in areas where their penetration has been limited by the use of systems powered by non-programmable sources, in line with the principal current priorities of the European 2030 Climate & Energy Framework. Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 834-848

The valorization of residual biomass plays a decisive role in the actual implementation of the concept of “circular economy”, according to which each waste material must be reused at its highest level in order to reduce the impact of human activities on the biosphere. The Italian project “INNOVARE - Innovative plants for distributed poly-generation by residual biomass”, funded by the local Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), involves the synergic activities of research institutes and industrial companies to pursue the aim of improving micro-cogeneration technologies fueled by biomass, in order to provide effective solutions of short-range biomass-to-energy chains, characterized by high overall efficiency and flexibility. A place for operational demonstration is chosen in the Municipality of Laurino, in the Cilento National Park, located in the Campania region, in the South of Italy. Main problems today still hindering a sustainable use of energy systems powered by biomass in various contexts are related the resource availability over a continuous time scale and to the necessity of extending their operating range in the absence of faults, to assure reliability. Within the project INNOVARE, a micro combined heat and power (mCHP) unit produced and marketed by the Italian Company CMD, the CMD ECO20 system, made of a gasifier, a syngas cleaning system and a spark ignition (SI) internal combustion engine (ICE) working as a co-generator, is chosen as the case study to assess the whole study. The availability of local biomasses is established by studying the agro-industrial production and by identifying forest areas to be properly managed through an original approach using the satellite location system based on the microwave technology. Woodchip from wood maintenance and olive-pomace from oil mills are also identified as possible feedstock for the system. A detailed experimental characterization of the selected cogeneration system is performed in order to identify its main inefficiencies. Numerical models of each component, validated against experimental data, are developed and used to optimize the performance of the whole conversion process. An improvement of the 5.8% on the electrical power is reached by identifying the optimal spark timing strategy. The waste heat recovery loop is modified in order to have at disposal the excess heat when the request for thermal load gets lower than the production capacity of the plant, with an increase in reliability even in the absence of thermal users. The positive development of the planned activities will have important effects at European level, by contributing to the diffusion of renewables, especially in areas where their penetration has been limited by the use of systems powered by non-programmable sources, in line with the principal current priorities of the European 2030 Climate & Energy Framework. Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 834-848

Oil spills are adverse events that may be very harmful to ecosystems and food chain. In particular, large sea oil spills are very dramatic occurrence often affecting sea and coastal areas. Therefore the sustainability of oil rig infrastructures and oil transportation via oil tankers are linked to law enforcement based on proper monitoring techniques which are also fundamental to mitigate the impact of such pollution. Within this context, in this study a meaningful showcase is analyzed using remotely sensed measurements collected by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operated by the COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) constellation. The showcase presented refers to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil incident that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It is one of the world's largest incidental oil pollution event that affected a sea area larger than 10,000 km2. In this study we exploit, for the first time, dual co-polarization SAR data collected by the Italian CSK X-band SAR constellation showing the key benefits of HH-VV SAR measurements in observing such a huge oil pollution event, especially in terms of the very dense revisit time offered by the CSK constellation.

Oil spills are adverse events that may be very harmful to ecosystems and food chain. In particular, large sea oil spills are very dramatic occurrence often affecting sea and coastal areas. Therefore the sustainability of oil rig infrastructures and oil transportation via oil tankers are linked to law enforcement based on proper monitoring techniques which are also fundamental to mitigate the impact of such pollution. Within this context, in this study a meaningful showcase is analyzed using remotely sensed measurements collected by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operated by the COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) constellation. The showcase presented refers to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil incident that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It is one of the world's largest incidental oil pollution event that affected a sea area larger than 10,000 km2. In this study we exploit, for the first time, dual co-polarization SAR data collected by the Italian CSK X-band SAR constellation showing the key benefits of HH-VV SAR measurements in observing such a huge oil pollution event, especially in terms of the very dense revisit time offered by the CSK constellation.