Nano porous systems for storing hydrogen-based clean fuel

Rapid growth in population, Concerns about the industrial revolution, environmental and energy issues are growing, and are urging the use of clean, renewable energy sources to ameliorate the dire situation. Hydrogen is an ideal synthetic fuel because it is light, very broad, and is an oxidation product (water), i.e. environmentally friendly, but storage problems remain [1-3].

Achieving the Carbon-Neutral Production of Magnesia and Silica Products Using a HCl-Based Process in Serpentine Feedstock

Magnesia is mainly produced from carbonate sources (magnesite (MgCO3)), and seawater brines (MgCl2). The calcination of magnesite and the precipitation of brine using quicklime (CaO) are processes that have significant CO2 footprints, even before considering the burning of hydrocarbons required to meet the energy demand. There are also significant amounts of silica-based magnesia raw materials available worldwide, such as serpentine, dunite, and olivine. It is possible to produce synthetic MgO of high purity using a HCl-based process. HCl can be fully recycled and reused. If a carbon-neutral heating source such as electricity, synthetic fuel, or plasma is used for the pyrohydrolysis process, the result is the production of MgO via a carbon-neutral process.

Remote Renewable Hubs for Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuel Production

This paper studies the economics of carbon-neutral synthetic fuel production from renewable electricity in remote areas where high-quality renewable resources are abundant. To this end, a graph-based optimisation modelling framework directly applicable to the strategic planning of remote renewable energy supply chains is proposed. More precisely, a hypergraph abstraction of planning problems is introduced, wherein nodes can be viewed as optimisation subproblems with their own parameters, variables, constraints and local objective. Nodes typically represent a subsystem such as a technology, a plant or a process. Hyperedges, on the other hand, express the connectivity between subsystems. The framework is leveraged to study the economics of carbon-neutral synthetic methane production from solar and wind energy in North Africa and its delivery to Northwestern European markets. The full supply chain is modelled in an integrated fashion, which makes it possible to accurately capture the interaction between various technologies on an hourly time scale. Results suggest that the cost of synthetic methane production and delivery would be slightly under 150 €/MWh (higher heating value) by 2030 for a system supplying 10 TWh annually and relying on a combination of solar photovoltaic and wind power plants, assuming a uniform weighted average cost of capital of 7%. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis is also carried out in order to assess the impact of various techno-economic parameters and assumptions on synthetic methane cost, including the availability of wind power plants, the investment costs of electrolysis, methanation and direct air capture plants, their operational flexibility, the energy consumption of direct air capture plants, and financing costs. The most expensive configuration (around 200 €/MWh) relies on solar photovoltaic power plants alone, while the cheapest configuration (around 88 €/MWh) makes use of a combination of solar PV and wind power plants and is obtained when financing costs are set to zero.

Separation of Water from Mixtures Containing Formaldehyde, Water, Methanol, Methylal, and Poly(oxymethylene) Dimethyl Ethers by Pervaporation

In this work, pervaporation experiments were carried out, in which water was separated from mixtures containing formaldehyde, water, methanol, methylal, and poly(oxymethylene) dimethyl ethers (OME). This separation is interesting for new production processes for the synthetic fuel OME. Five commercial membranes were studied: two zeolite membranes (Type NaA and Type T from Mitsui & Co.) and three PVA-based polymer membranes (PERVAP 4100, PERVAP 4101, and PERVAP 4102 from DeltaMem AG). The membrane flux and the composition of the permeate have been measured. The zeolite membranes were tested at 343 K and 7 mbar permeate pressure and the polymer membranes were tested at 353 K and 2 mbar permeate pressure. The investigated mixtures are inherently reactive, as formaldehyde reacts both with water and methanol. The zeolite membranes could only be used once, whereas the polymer membranes showed no significant degradation in a repeat experiment.

Determination of Physicomechanical Characteristics of the Cement Mortar with Added Fiberglass Waste Treated with Hydrogen Plasma

Solving the environmental problems and the economic aspects of the construction sector represent a global priority. The considerable quantities of raw materials and the energy consumed by this sector make it one of the most polluting economic activities. Fiberglass in various forms is widely used in the construction sector. In the manufacturing process and during the usage of fiberglass products, a significant amount of indestructible waste results, negatively impacting the environment. An innovative solution for utilizing this type of waste is the treatment with hydrogen plasma. This process results in two products: the first in the gaseous state used to obtain synthetic fuel and the second in solid-state, named slag. The composition of solid waste contains chemical compounds that can increase their strength if used as additives in mortars or concretes. This study presents the laboratory tests on mortars, in which a part of the cement amount was replaced with the solid component resulting from the plasma treatment of glass fiber waste. The results showed that replacing a part of the cement with these materials is a solution that minimizes the ecological footprint of the buildings.

MODERN ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SYNTHETIC FUEL

The article discusses the possibilities of solving the problem of using connected petroleum gas using GTL technologies. The most important difference between hydrocarbon products of Fisher-Tropsh synthesis and petroleum products is that they do not contain sulfur, nitrogen, and in some cases aromatic compounds, which determines their environmental importance. Synthetic oil is a mixture of normal and isostrotic hydrocarbons C5-C19used for processing in paraffin and motor fuels, as a rawmaterial for the chemical and petrochemical industries, or as a commercial product.Key words:synthesis gas, utilization, GTL technologies, Euro-5, synthetic fuel, reactor, torch, catalyst

Oxygen-Blown Gasification of Pulp Mill Bark Residues for Synthetic Fuel Production

Synthetic fuel production via gasification of residual biomass streams from the pulp and paper industry can be an opportunity for the mills to enable improved resource utilization and at the same time reduce the production of excess heat. This paper summarizes initial oxygen-blown gasification experiments with two bark residues from a European pulp and paper mill, i.e., a softwood bark and a hardwood bark. The gasification process was characterized by measuring syngas yields and process efficiency to find optimum operating conditions. In addition, impurities in the syngas and ash behavior were characterized. Maximum yields of CO and H2 were obtained from softwood bark and amounted to approximately 29 and 15 mol/kg fuel, respectively. Optimum cold gas efficiency was achieved at an oxygen stoichiometric ratio of λ = 0.40 and was approximately 76% and 70% for softwood bark and hardwood bark, respectively. Increased λ had a reducing effect on pollutants in the syngas, e.g., higher hydrocarbons, NH3, HCl, and soot. The situation for sulfur species was more complex. Evaluation of the bark ashes indicated that slag formation could start already from 800 °C. Furthermore, a non-intrusive laser diagnostics technique gave rapid feedback on the millisecond scale. Measured syngas temperature and water content were in good agreement with the applied reference methods.