1. |
- Aragon-Briceno, Christian, et al.
(author)
-
Integration of hydrothermal carbonization treatment for water and energy recovery from organic fraction of municipal solid waste digestate
- 2022
-
In: Renewable energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-1481 .- 1879-0682. ; 184, s. 577-591
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anaerobic digestion is an efficient way of using a wet fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) for energy purposes as it can produce biogas. The moisture content of the digestate after application of mechanical dewatering is still high, and the amount of heat needed for drying is significant. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a process that can potentially offer great benefits by improved mechanical dewatering and valorization of the digestate into a better quality solid fuel. This study focuses on the determination of the optimum HTC process conditions to recover water from the MSW digestate. Different process conditions as temperature (180, 200, and 230 °C) and residence time (30, 60, and 120 min) were tested. Furthermore, a mass and energy balance was carried out and a process model in Aspen Plus was built. Results showed that HTC treatment increased the water recovery (40–48%) during the dewatering process compared with the original feedstock (18%). The process model showed a positive energy balance of 110 kWh per ton of MSW digestate treated with an electrical efficiency of 23.9%.
|
|
2. |
- Upreti, Tanvi, 1987-, et al.
(author)
-
On the Device Physics of High-Efficiency Ternary Solar Cells
- 2022
-
In: Solar RRL. - : Wiley-V C H Verlag GMBH. - 2367-198X. ; 6:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mixing a third compound into the active layer of an organic bulk heterojunction solar cell to form a ternary system has become an established way to improve performance. Various models, based on different assumptions regarding the active layer morphology and the energetics, have been proposed but there is neither consensus on the applicability of the various assumptions to different experimental systems, nor on the actual device physics of these, mostly qualitative, models. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are used to investigate the role of morphology and relative energy levels of the constituent materials. By comparing with experimental current–voltage characteristics, a consistent picture arises when the (minority) third compound is predominantly incorporated between the other (majority) compounds and has energy levels that are intermediate to those of the binary host. Even if morphologically imperfect, the resulting energy cascade promotes charge separation and reduces recombination, leading to higher fill factors and short-circuit current densities. The open-circuit voltage sits between that of the binary extremes, in agreement with data from an extensive literature review. This leads to selection criteria for third compounds in terms of energetics and miscibility that promote the formation of a cascade morphology in real and energy space.
|
|
3. |
- Wang, Shule, 1994-, et al.
(author)
-
A machine learning model to predict the pyrolytic kinetics of different types of feedstocks
- 2022
-
In: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904 .- 1879-2227. ; 260, s. 115613-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An in-depth knowledge of pyrolytic kinetics is vital for understanding the thermal decomposition process. Numerous experimental studies have investigated the kinetic performance of the pyrolysis of different raw materials. An accurate prediction of pyrolysis kinetics could substantially reduce the efforts of researchers and decrease the cost of experiments. In this work, a model to predict the mean values of model-free activation energies of pyrolysis for five types of feedstocks was successfully constructed using the random forest machine learning method. The coefficient of determination of the fitting result reached a value as high as 0.9964, which indicates significant potential for making a quick initial pyrolytic kinetic estimation using machine learning methods. Specifically, from the results of a partial dependence analysis of the lignocellulose-type feedstock, the atomic ratios of H/C and O/C were found to have negative correlations with the pyrolytic activation energies. However, the effect of the ash content on the activation energy strongly depended on the organic component species present in the lignocellulose feedstocks. This work confirms the possibility of predicting model-free pyrolytic activation energies by utilizing machine learning methods, which can improve the efficiency and understanding of the kinetic analysis of pyrolysis for biomass and fossil investigations.
|
|
4. |
- Wang, Shule, 1994-, et al.
(author)
-
Effect of hydrothermal carbonization pretreatment on the pyrolysis behavior of the digestate of agricultural waste : A view on kinetics and thermodynamics
- 2022
-
In: Chemical Engineering Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1385-8947 .- 1873-3212. ; 431, s. 133881-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anaerobic digestion is the most promising disposal methods to treat organic waste. Also, a feasible management is necessary for the resulted digestate. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) combination with pyrolysis could be a proper solution to use for the treatment of digestate. In this study, the effect of an HTC on the pyrolysis of the digestate of agricultural waste (AWD) was investigated, focusing on the kinetic and thermodynamic aspects. Three model-free methods, including Friedman, KAS, and OFW methods, were used to evaluate the kinetic performance of the total and pseudo pyrolytic reactions of AWD and its hydrochar. Furthermore, kinetic predictions were made to provide more information for further studies. It was found that the HTC treatment decreased the activation energy ranges of the pyrolysis of AWD from 182.9-274.43 kJ/mol to 144.59-205.20 kJ/mol by using the Friedman method. For a more thorough understanding of the effect of HTC treatment on the pyrolysis of AWD, the pyrolysis reactions of AWD and its hydrochar were divided into two pseudoreactions using the Fraser-Suzuki deconvolution method. The mean activation energy of the deduced pseudo 2 pyrolytic reaction of hydrochar was 175.64 kJ/mol, which was 28.11 kJ/mol less than that of AWD. In addition, the Delta H(double dagger )values of the pseudo 2 reactions of AWD and its hydrochar were 197.97 and 169.68 kJ/mol, respectively. The results of kinetic isothermal predictions suggested that the peak temperature for the further research and application of the pyrolysis of AWD and its hydmchar should not be lower than 450 degrees C.
|
|
5. |
- Wang, Shule, 1994-, et al.
(author)
-
Novel carbon-negative methane production via integrating anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis of organic fraction of municipal solid waste
- 2022
-
In: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904 .- 1879-2227. ; 252, s. 115042-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is vital to reaching the desired climate goals. This study proposed a novel process combining anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, catalytic reforming and methanation (APRM) to produce biomethane and to capture carbon emission from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The evaluation of the process was conducted by using modelling software and techno-economic analysis. The process modelling and evaluation result showed that 151.4 kg CH4 and 355.64 kg stored carbon emission can be produced from 1 ton dry matter of OFMSW with an energy efficiency of 0.40. 6.74 MJ electricity was required to capture 1 kg of CO2 via the proposed process. The energy balance of the pyrolysis reaction was investigated. The sensitivities of the pyrolysis temperatures, dewatering technologies and conversion of catalytic reforming on the process performance were analyzed. The result also indicated a positive net profit when using the APRM process to treat the OFMSW based on the calculation of operating expenses and revenue, when the CO2 negativity can be sold as commodity.
|
|
6. |
- Wang, Shule, 1994-, et al.
(author)
-
Renewable hydrogen production from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste through a novel carbon-negative process concept
- 2022
-
In: Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-5442 .- 1873-6785. ; 252
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is one of the prevailing negative carbon emission technologies. Ensuring a hydrogen economy is essential to achieving the carbon-neutral goal. In this regard, the present study contributed by proposing a carbon negative process for producing high purity hydrogen from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). This integrated process comprises anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, catalytic reforming, water-gas shift, and pressure swing adsorption technologies. By focusing on Sweden, the proposed process was developed and evaluated through sensitivity analysis, mass and energy balance calculations, techno-economic assessment, and practical feasibility analysis. By employing the optimum operating conditions from the sensitivity analysis, 72.2 kg H2 and 701.47 kg negative CO2 equivalent emissions were obtained by treating 1 ton of dry OFMSW. To achieve these results, 6621.4 MJ electricity and 325 kg of steam were utilized during this process. Based on this techno-economic assessment of implementing the proposed process in Stockholm, when the negative CO2 equivalent emissions are recognized as income, the internal rate of return and the discounted payback period can be obtained as 26% and 4.3 years, respectively. Otherwise, these values will be 13% and 7.2 years.
|
|
7. |
- Wen, Yuming, et al.
(author)
-
H2-rich syngas production from pyrolysis of agricultural waste digestate coupled with the hydrothermal carbonization process
- 2022
-
In: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904 .- 1879-2227. ; 269, s. 116101-116101
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A novel process to produce a H2-rich syngas from a high moisture-containing agricultural waste digestate is proposed. This process combines the use of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), dewatering, pyrolysis, and catalytic reforming. Due to the feature of the high moisture content in the digestate, the effect of the HTC and dewatering on the process performance is of interest, and four scenarios were considered. Furthermore, three pyrolytic temperatures were chosen to understand the effect of pyrolysis conditions on the produced H2-rich syngas. A life cycle assessment was conducted to investigate the environmental impact of the proposed process. Results show that the application of HTC technology, increases the process efficiency, produces less syngas from one ton of digestate, lowers the cumulative energy demand and the negative carbon emissions. When the dewatering technology is used, the syngas yield is promoted but the H2 concentration in the syngas is reduced. The H2 to CO molar ratio reaches the maximum value of 9.2 when using a 450 ˚C pyrolysis temperature, by only using HTC. When the combining process of HTC and dewatering is used, it results in the highest process efficiency, but the smallest relative negative CO2 equivalent emissions by treating one ton of dry digestate.
|
|
8. |
- Wen, Yuming, et al.
(author)
-
Pyrolysis of engineered beach-cast seaweed : Performances and life cycle assessment
- 2022
-
In: Water Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0043-1354 .- 1879-2448. ; 222
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The blooming of beach-cast seaweed has caused environmental degradation in some coastal regions. Therefore, a proper treating and utilizing method of beach-cast seaweed is demanded. This study investigated the potential of producing power or biofuel from pyrolysis of beach-cast seaweed and the effect of the ash-washing process. First, the raw and washed beach-cast seaweeds (RS and WS) were prepared. Thereafter, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), bench-scale pyrolysis experiment, process simulation, and life cycle assessment (LCA) were conducted. The TG results showed that the activation energies of thermal decomposition of the main organic contents of RS and WS were 44.23 and 58.45 kJ/mol, respectively. Three peak temperatures of 400, 500, and 600 degrees C were used in the bench-scale pyrolysis experiments of WS. The 600 degrees C case yielded the most desirable gas and liquid products. The bench-scale pyrolysis experiment of RS was conducted at 600 degrees C as well. Also, an LCA was conducted based on the simulation result of 600 degrees C pyrolysis of WS. The further process simulation and LCA results show that compare to producing liquid biofuel and syngas, a process designed for electricity production is most favored. It was estimated that treating 1 ton of dry WS can result in a negative cumulative energy demand of -2.98 GJ and carbon emissions of -790.89 kg CO2 equivalence.
|
|