• Energy Research

Experimental investigation on the removal of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) using calcium oxide (CaO) was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at temperature ranging from 300 to 1173 K, and the original HCN ...

Transition and decarbonization of the energy sector require the utilization of new technologies and energy sources. Higher penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources implies following ; the installation of energy storages, to store electricity excess, and enhanced system efficiency. This electricity surpluses that will occur more often in the future energy system, could be effectively utilized for the production of alternative fuels. Most of the alternative fuels that are considered for future application are already known chemicals or products, nowadays used for other purposes. Another great advantage of some alternative fuels lies in their possibilities to act as an energy carrier. This feature might be crucial while discussing their utilization potential and further development. Fuels which can simultaneously be used for power generation and as an energy carrier will have a more important role in the future and are likely to be utilized on a greater scale. Renewable energy source like biomass, on the other hand, is already widely used and their role in the future system is not questionable. Even though, significant increment in their consumption raises serious concerns about their sustainability. For this reason, new approaches to upgrading biomass products were presented. In these new approaches, demands for biomass are partially satisfied by some other type of feedstock (i.e. waste) and obtained characteristics of derived products are enhanced. In this work, the Authors tried to review alternative fuel characteristics, alongside their utilization and production opportunities. In the end, the Authors emphasized the importance of a more comprehensive approach toward this topic in order to come up with the optimal and most appropriate solutions and successfully prevail existing barriers.

Integration of energy, water and environment systems is essential in the multidisciplinary concept of sustainable development, as they represent the basic life needs of mankind. Therefore, problems arising from the sustainable development concept need to be carefully addressed to preserve the energy, water and environment resources for future generations. This article discusses some of the latest developments in three main areas of sustainability themes, namely energy, water and environment, that emerged from three Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) conferences held in 2018. As such, it acts as an editorial paper for the virtual special issue of the Journal of Environmental Management, dedicated to the SDEWES2018 conferences.

Abstract Pyrolysis is the key step in biomass thermochemical conversion process. The network model can accurately predict the pyrolysis process but generally cannot incorporate the combustion and gasification sub-models due to its complexity. This paper used the Bio-CPD model to predict the pyrolysis products of softwood and hardwood respectively; based on the predicted results, two empirical-simple forms of pyrolysis models were further optimized. The ultimate kinetic parameters obtained are suitable for biomass pyrolysis at high heating rate. For softwood, after being optimized, the apparent frequency factor and E/R of single rate are 4.3106e + 07 s−1, 10042 K respectively. While for two-competing rates model, the parameters are, α1 = 0.75, α2 = 0.89, A1 = 7992 s−1, E1/R = 7000 K, A2 = 8.3e + 09 s−1, E2/R = 14520 K, respectively. The numerical simulation of biomass pyrolysis and combustion process were performed by using CFD code Ansys Fluent. The results reveal that the release of volatile predicted by the default parameters have a delay compared with the actual process and is not appropriate for biomass simulation, while the optimized parameters in two simple models are accurate enough to simulate the biomass pyrolysis at high heating rate (103–105 K/s).

The sulfation process during biomass combustion and cofiring, by converting KCl into K2SO4, can affect particulate matter (PM) formation, ash deposition, and corrosion in a furnace. In this study, the effects of temperature, SO2 concentration, O2 concentration, and oxy-combustion atmosphere on the sulfation and PM formation were investigated in an entrained flow reactor. Results show that the particle size distribution (PSD) of PM10 from biomass combustion is bimodal and that PM10 is dominated by PM1.0 consisting of KCl and K2SO4. Enhanced sulfation by SO2 addition generally increases the particle size of PM1.0 and the K2SO4 content in PM1.0, but its effect on PM1.0–10 is marginal. The effect of sulfation on PM1.0 formation strongly depends on the temperature: at high temperature (e.g., 1300 °C), sulfation is not favorable, thereby having negligible influence on PM1.0 formation; while at moderate temperature (e.g., 1100 °C), sulfation is significantly promoted, resulting in a larger size and higher yield ...

Transformation of nitrogen, sulfur, and chlorine during straw pyrolysis at temperatures from 35 to 1450 °C was investigated by using the coupled thermogravimetry−differential scanning calorimetry−mass spectrometry (TG-DSC-MS) techniques and compared with that of coal. The characteristics of the residual solid char from the straw were analyzed using x-ray diffraction (XRD). Results show that all the nitrogen species (HCN, NH3, HNCO, and CH3CN), chloric species (HCl and Cl2), and sulfur species (SO2, H2S and COS) began to release from straw from 200 °C, compared with 350 °C for the case of coal. Most of the gaseous species from the straw were released in the form of a sharp peak, compared with the coal which has a much wider peak. NH3 and HNCO were the primary nitrogen species for both straw and coal; however for the straw the amount of NH3 released was much higher than that of HNCO. Sulfur species from the straw pyrolysis are sparse, and there was only a little COS released. During coal pyrolysis no COS wa...

AbstractIn lignite-fired power plants, the high water content of lignite (35-40%) is responsible for significant reductions in boiler efficiency due to the large amounts of heat loss experienced through water evaporation during coal combustion. Installation of a water condensation device in the outlet of the desulfurization absorption tower can recover substantial amounts of water and latent heat from the flue gas that containing saturated steam. In the present study, a pilot test platform was built into a 600MW lignite-fired power plant, and a 50,000m3/h flue gas flow was been extracted and cooled by 5°Cduring the test. Using our theoretical model for this energy efficiency innovation, the test results demonstrate that 129.5GJ/h of latent heat can be recovered and 61.6t/h condensate water can be collected from the flue gas (2,500,000m3/h) for the600MWlignite-fired power plant. The wet flue gas desulphurization system (wet FGD) consumes the supplemental water of 60-80 t/h for this power plant. Consequently, the water recovery quantity of 73 t/h demonstrate that zero net water consumption can be achieved by returning the recovered water back into wet FGD.

Future 100% renewable energy systems will have to integrate different sectors, including provision of power, heating, cooling and transport. Such energy systems will be needed to mitigate the negative impacts of economic development based on the use of fossil fuels, but will rely on variable renewable energy resources. As two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to fossil fuel combustion, decarbonization of energy systems is imperative for combating the climate change. Integrating future energy systems with CO2 capture and utilization technologies can contribute to deep decarbonization. As these technologies can be operated flexibly, they can be used to balance the grid to allow for high levels of variable renewable energy in the power mix. The captured CO2 can be either utilized as a feedstock for various value-added applications in the chemical industry and related sectors such as the food and beverage industries. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art literature on CO2 capture and utilization technologies, with an emphasis on their potential integration into a low-carbon, high-renewables penetration grid. The potential market size for CO2 as raw material is also elaborated and discussed. The review paper provides an insight to the development and the technological needs of different energy system sectors, as well the limitations, challenges and research gaps to the integration of the variable renewable energy sources and flexible carbon capture and utilization technologies.