Energy sustainability in the transport sector using synthetic fuels in series hybrid trucks with RCCI dual-fuel engine

The restructuring of the economy post-COVID 19 coupled to the drive towards Net Zero carbon dioxide emissions means we must rethink the way we use transport fuels. Fossil-carbon based fuels are ubiquitous in the transport sector, however there are alternative synthetic fuels that could be used as drop-in or replacement fuels. The main hurdles to achieving a transition to synthetic fuels are the limited availability of low-cost carbon dioxide at an appropriate purity, the availability of renewable hydrogen and, in the case of hydrocarbons, catalysts that are selective for small and particular chain lengths. In this paper we will consider some of the alternative fuels and methods that could reduce cost, both economically and environmentally. We recommend that increased effort in the rapid development of these fuels should be a priority in order to accelerate the possibility of achieving Net Zero without costly infrastructure changes. As ground transportation offers a more straightforward approach legislatively, we will look at oxygenated organic fuels as an alternative drop-in replacement for hydrocarbons.

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Snapshot of photovoltaics − February 2018

EPJ Photovoltaics ◽

10.1051/epjpv/2018004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Arnulf Jäger-Waldau

Keyword(s):

Cost Reduction ◽

World Wide ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Electricity Sector ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Solar Photovoltaic ◽

Solar Pv ◽

Synthetic Fuels ◽

Main Driver ◽

Significant Cost Reduction

Solar photovoltaic electricity generation is the fastest growing power generation source world-wide. The significant cost reduction of solar PV over the last decade, and the zero fuel cost volatility have increased the attractiveness. In 2017, the newly installed solar PV power of over 90 GW was more than all the world-wide cumulative installed PV capacity until the mid of 2012. China was again the main driver behind this strong growth with more than 50 GW of annual installations in 2017. Apart from the electricity sector, renewable energy sources for the generation of heat and environmental friendly synthetic-fuels for the transport sector will become more and more important in the future.

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Global Transportation Demand Development with Impacts on the Energy Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a Climate-Constrained World

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12203870 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (20) ◽

pp. 3870 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Siavash Khalili ◽

Eetu Rantanen ◽

Dmitrii Bogdanov ◽

Christian Breyer

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Synthetic Fuels ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Transportation Demand ◽

Final Energy Demand

The pivotal target of the Paris Agreement is to keep temperature rise well below 2 °C above the pre-industrial level and pursue efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 °C. To meet this target, all energy-consuming sectors, including the transport sector, need to be restructured. The transport sector accounted for 19% of the global final energy demand in 2015, of which the vast majority was supplied by fossil fuels (around 31,080 TWh). Fossil-fuel consumption leads to greenhouse gas emissions, which accounted for about 8260 MtCO2eq from the transport sector in 2015. This paper examines the transportation demand that can be expected and how alternative transportation technologies along with new sustainable energy sources can impact the energy demand and emissions trend in the transport sector until 2050. Battery-electric vehicles and fuel-cell electric vehicles are the two most promising technologies for the future on roads. Electric ships and airplanes for shorter distances and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels for longer distances may appear around 2030 onwards to reduce the emissions from the marine and aviation transport modes. The rail mode will remain the least energy-demanding, compared to other transport modes. An ambitious scenario for achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is applied, also demonstrating the very high relevance of direct and indirect electrification of the transport sector. Fossil-fuel demand can be reduced to zero by 2050; however, the electricity demand is projected to rise from 125 TWhel in 2015 to about 51,610 TWhel in 2050, substantially driven by indirect electricity demand for the production of synthetic fuels. While the transportation demand roughly triples from 2015 to 2050, substantial efficiency gains enable an almost stable final energy demand for the transport sector, as a consequence of broad electrification. The overall well-to-wheel efficiency in the transport sector increases from 26% in 2015 to 39% in 2050, resulting in a respective reduction of overall losses from primary energy to mechanical energy in vehicles. Power-to-fuels needed mainly for marine and aviation transport is not a significant burden for overall transport sector efficiency. The primary energy base of the transport sector switches in the next decades from fossil resources to renewable electricity, driven by higher efficiency and sustainability.

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Electric vehicle recycling 2020: Key component power electronics

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x18759191 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 311-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Winfried Bulach ◽

Doris Schüler ◽

Guido Sellin ◽

Tobias Elwert ◽

Dieter Schmid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Electronics ◽

Electric Vehicle ◽

Significant Rise ◽

Raw Material ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Recycling Process ◽

Greenhouse Gas Reduction ◽

Weee Recycling ◽

Gold Silver ◽

In Series

Electromobility will play a key role in order to reach the specified ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in the German transport sector of 42% between 1990 and 2030. Subsequently, a significant rise in the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) is to be anticipated in future. The amount of EVs to be recycled will rise correspondingly after a delay. This includes the recyclable power electronics modules which are incorporated in every EV as an important component for energy management. Current recycling methods using car shredders and subsequent post shredder technologies show high recycling rates for the bulk metals but are still associated with high losses of precious and strategic metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium and tantalum. For this reason, the project ‘Electric vehicle recycling 2020 – key component power electronics’ developed an optimised recycling route for recycling power electronics modules from EVs which is also practicable in series production and can be implemented using standardised technology. This ‘WEEE recycling route’ involves the disassembly of the power electronics from the vehicle and a subsequent recycling in an electronic end-of-life equipment recycling plant. The developed recycling process is economical under the current conditions and raw material prices, even though it involves considerably higher costs than recycling using the car shredder. The life cycle assessment shows basically good results, both for the traditional car shredder route and the developed WEEE recycling route: the latter provides additional benefits from some higher recovery rates and corresponding credits.

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The effects of natural gas composition on conventional dual-fuel and reactivity-controlled compression ignition combustion in a heavy-duty diesel engine

International Journal of Engine Research ◽

10.1177/1468087420984044 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 146808742098404

Author(s):

Vinícius B Pedrozo ◽

Xinyan Wang ◽

Wei Guan ◽

Hua Zhao

Keyword(s):

Natural Gas ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Dual Fuel ◽

Nox Emissions ◽

Compression Ignition ◽

Heavy Duty ◽

Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition ◽

Actuation System ◽

Methane Slip

The use of natural gas (NG) in dual-fuel heavy-duty engines has the potential to reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector when compared to the conventional diesel engines. However, NG composition and methane slip are of interest because both can adversely affect the benefits of NG as an alternative fuel, especially when considering GHG emissions. Therefore, this study experimentally investigated the effects of NG fuel properties on the performance and emissions of both conventional dual-fuel and reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engine operations. Three different gas mixtures were selected to simulate typical NG compositions available in the world market, with methane numbers (MN) of 80.9, 87.6 and 94.1. These fuels were tested in a single-cylinder compression ignition engine operating at 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 MPa net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP). A high-pressure common rail system allowed for the use of various diesel injection strategies while a variable valve actuation system enabled the effective compression ratio to be adjusted via late intake valve closing (LIVC). The RCCI combustion was found to be more sensitive to changes in MN than the conventional NG-diesel dual-fuel operation. The gas mixture with the lowest MN reduced both total unburned hydrocarbons emissions and methane slip at the expense of higher nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. The effects of MN on the net indicated efficiency were more significant at 0.6 MPa IMEP, yielding differences of up to 4.9% between the RCCI operations with the lowest and highest MN fuels. Overall, this work revealed that the combination of the RCCI combustion and LIVC can achieve up to 80% lower methane slip and NOx emissions and relatively higher net indicated efficiency than the conventional dual-fuel regime, independent of the NG composition.

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ANN Prediction of Performance and Emissions of CI Engine Using Biogas Flow Variation

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14102910 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 2910

Author(s):

Adhirath Mandal ◽

Haengmuk Cho ◽

Bhupendra Singh Chauhan

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Artificial Neural Network ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Regression Coefficient ◽

Experimental Results ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Dual Fuel ◽

Alternate Fuel ◽

Ci Engine ◽

Artificial Neural

Compression ignition (CI) engines are popular in the transport sector because of their high compression ratio. However, in recent years, it has become a major concern from an environmental point of view because of the emission and depleting fossil fuel. The advanced combustion concept has been a popular research topic in the CI engine. Low-temperature combustion with alternate fuel has helped in reducing the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and soot emission of the engine. Biogas is a popular substitute of energy especially deduced from biomass because of its clean combustion properties, as well it being a renewable energy source compared to non-renewable diesel resources. In experiments with dual fuel, i.e., conventional diesel and alternate fuel (biogas) were carried out through them. In the present study, an artificial neural network model was used to estimate emissions and check the attributes of performance. Different algorithms and training functions were used to train the models. However, the best training algorithm was Levenberge Marquardt and the training function was Tansig (Hyperbolic tangent sigmoid) and Logsig (logarithmic sigmoid), which showed the best result with regression coefficient (R > 0.98) and Mean square error (MSE < 0.001). The best model was trained by evaluating MSE and regression coefficient. Experimental results and artificial neural network (ANN) prediction showed that the experimental results were similar to each other and lie at the same intervals. The ANN model helped in predicting experimental data that were earlier difficult to experimentally perform using interpolation and extrapolations. It was observed that there was an increase in Brake Specific Energy Consumption (BSEC) and a decrease in Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) with improved biogas flow rate and reduced NOx emission in the combustion chamber. Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions increase linearly with the increase in biogas flow rate, whereas smoke opacity decreases. It could be concluded that this study helps in understanding the effect of dual fuel (diesel-biogas) combustion under different load conditions of the engine with the help of ANN, which could be a substitute fuel and help to protect the environment.

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New technologies of enhanced plastic for use in rail vehicles to reduce noise emissions

Combustion Engines ◽

10.19206/ce-2017-424 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 171 (4) ◽

pp. 145-149

Author(s):

Włodzimierz STAWECKI ◽

Jerzy MERKISZ ◽

Maciej BAJERLEIN ◽

Pawel DASZKIEWICZ

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

New Technologies ◽

Polymeric Materials ◽

Polymer Materials ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Scale Production ◽

Reinforced Plastics ◽

Rail Vehicles ◽

In Series ◽

The One

The article presents an overview of modern plastics for use in rail vehicles. The analysis of plastics and composites in the constructional aspect was analyzed. The trends in the development of polymer materials, technologies and constructions used in the manufacture of vehicles, on the one hand, are determined by the technical and economic requirements of industry and, on the other, by the continued emphasis on reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Further development will be subject to pre-impregnation techniques, particularly in the form of different types of reinforcement. Full use of the advantages of reinforced polymer materials in vehicle production will only be achieved when further optimization of the resin properties and development of automation will result in the widespread use of composite components in series production. Observing the trends and pace of development, it is possible to predict that there are still restrictions on the use of polymeric materials in the transport sector, such as relatively high prices, technological constraints and the hindering automation of large-scale production. Modern construction and material solutions, in particular those using reinforced plastics, are primarily designed to reduce vehicle weight and have better noise and vibration damping properties. Rail vehicles are becoming more environmentally friendly at the time and travel comfort is higher.

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Microscopic versus process parameters in heavy-oil upgrading

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010012223x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 366-367

Author(s):

V.A. Munoz ◽

R.J. Mikula ◽

C. Payette ◽

W.W. Lam

Keyword(s):

Molecular Weight ◽

Liquid Fuels ◽

Chemical Components ◽

Heavy Oils ◽

Synthetic Fuels ◽

High Hydrogen ◽

Optical Texture ◽

Polar Groups ◽

Anisotropic Character ◽

Planar Molecules

The transformation of high molecular weight components present in heavy oils into useable liquid fuels requires their decomposition by means of a variety of processes. The low molecular weight species produced recombine under controlled conditions to generate synthetic fuels. However, an important fraction undergo further recombination into higher molecular weight components, leading to the formation of coke. The optical texture of the coke can be related to its originating components. Those with high sulfur and oxygen content tend to produce cokes with small optical texture or fine mosaic, whereas compounds with relatively high hydrogen content are likely to produce large optical texture or domains. In addition, the structure of the parent chemical components, planar or nonplanar, determines the isotropic or anisotropic character of the coke. Planar molecules have a tendency to align in an approximately parallel arrangement to initiate the formation of the nematic mesophase leading to the formation of anisotropic coke. Nonplanar highly alkylated compounds and/or those rich in polar groups form isotropic coke. The aliphatic branches produce steric hindrance to alignment, whereas the polar groups participate in cross-linking reactions.

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The Shikani HME: A New Tracheostomy Heat and Moisture Exchanger

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00107 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (9) ◽

pp. 2921-2929

Author(s):

Alan H. Shikani ◽

Elamin M. Elamin ◽

Andrew C. Miller

Keyword(s):

Ex Vivo ◽

Moisture Loss ◽

Speaking Valve ◽

Time Zero ◽

In Series ◽

Turbulent Airflow ◽

The Difference ◽

Loss Efficiency ◽

Heat And Moisture ◽

Lung Simulation

Purpose Tracheostomy patients face many adversities including loss of phonation and essential airway functions including air filtering, warming, and humidification. Heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) facilitate humidification and filtering of inspired air. The Shikani HME (S-HME) is a novel turbulent airflow HME that may be used in-line with the Shikani Speaking Valve (SSV), allowing for uniquely preserved phonation during humidification. The aims of this study were to (a) compare the airflow resistance ( R airflow ) and humidification efficiency of the S-HME and the Mallinckrodt Tracheolife II tracheostomy HME (M-HME) when dry (time zero) and wet (after 24 hr) and (b) determine if in-line application of the S-HME with a tracheostomy speaking valve significantly increases R airflow over a tracheostomy speaking valve alone (whether SSV or Passy Muir Valve [PMV]). Method A prospective observational ex vivo study was conducted using a pneumotachometer lung simulation unit to measure airflow ( Q ) amplitude and R airflow , as indicated by a pressure drop ( P Drop ) across the device (S-HME, M-HME, SSV + S-HME, and PMV). Additionally, P Drop was studied for the S-HME and M-HME when dry at time zero (T 0 ) and after 24 hr of moisture testing (T 24 ) at Q of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 L/s. Results R airflow was significantly less for the S-HME than M-HME (T 0 and T 24 ). R airflow of the SSV + S-HME in series did not significant increase R airflow over the SSV or PMV alone. Moisture loss efficiency trended toward greater efficiency for the S-HME; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions The turbulent flow S-HME provides heat and moisture exchange with similar or greater efficacy than the widely used laminar airflow M-HME, but with significantly lower resistance. The S-HME also allows the innovative advantage of in-line use with the SSV, hence allowing concurrent humidification and phonation during application, without having to manipulate either device.

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