scholarly journals A Comprehensive Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the Use of Hydrochar Pellets in Combined Heat and Power Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9026
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi ◽  
G. Venkatesh ◽  
Maria Sandberg ◽  
Samieh Eskandari ◽  
Stephen Joseph ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Solid Wastes ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Ecosystem Quality ◽  
Environmental Damages ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has been seen as a potentially beneficial process for converting wet biomass into value-added products. It is, however, necessary to overcome the challenges associated with handling the powdered form of hydrochar—a solid product of the HTC process—by controlling the formation of dust and facilitating smoother transportation and distribution in a potentially wide marketplace. In this paper, the authors investigate the environmental consequences of different alternatives for using hydrochar pellets produced from mixed sludges from pulp and paper mills in Sweden, using the environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA). Two scenarios for possible end-uses of hydrochar in combined heat and power (CHP) plants as a source of energy (heat and electricity) were assessed. In these scenarios, hydrochar pellets were assumed to be combusted in CHP plants, thereby avoiding the use of combustible solid wastes (Scenario A) and coal (Scenario B), respectively, to recover energy in the form of electricity and heat. The environmental damages to Human Health, Ecosystem Quality, Climate Change, and Resources are evaluated based on 1 tonne of dry sludge as the functional unit. The results from this analysis illustrate that Scenario B, in which hydrochar replaces coal, offers the greatest reduction in all the environmental damage characterizations, except the Resources category. The displacement of energy-based coal due to hydrochar combustion contributed most significantly to the environmental damages wrought by the system—ranging from 52% in Resources to 93% in Ecosystem Quality. Overall, the results highlight that the application of hydrochar pellets for energy recovery to offset waste- and coal-based energy sources has great environmental benefits. The favorability of sludge hydrochar over solid wastes as fuel for CHP plants may be counter-intuitive at first, since HTC is an energy-intensive process, but when accounting for the necessity of dependence on imports of wastes for instance, the hydrochar pellet may well emerge as a good option for CHPs in Sweden.

Biomass from agriculture in small-scale combined heat and power plants – A comparative life cycle assessment

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 1572-1581 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kimming ◽  
C. Sundberg ◽  
Å. Nordberg ◽  
A. Baky ◽  
S. Bernesson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Comparative Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment of Biomass-based Combined Heat and Power Plants

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 908-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Guest ◽  
Ryan M. Bright ◽  
Francesco Cherubini ◽  
Ottar Michelsen ◽  
Anders Hammer Strømman
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Combined Heat And Power

scholarly journals Comparative life cycle assessment of mini combined heat and power plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 01045
Author(s):  
E. N. Sosnina ◽  
O. V. Masleeva ◽  
E. V. Kryukov ◽  
N. I. Erdili
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Diesel Engines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Environmental Study ◽  
Atmospheric Air ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
Harmful Substances

The article presents the results of an environmental study of the mini combined heat and power plants (mini-CHPs) life cycle with gas engines operating on natural gas and biogas, and with diesel engines. The calculation of material and energy flows, the environmental impact on the atmospheric air, water basin and soil has been carried out. The largest mass of harmful substances in wastewater has been observed with the account of the life cycle assessment (LCA) for the mini-CHPs in biogas, the smallest mass in diesel mini-CHPs. During the operation of biogas, gas piston and diesel PI, significant greenhouse gas emissions have taken place because of the fuel combustion. The article considers the issues of thermal pollution in the environment. It has been revealed that the life cycle of the bioenergy installations has a maximum impact on the environment, with the account of the fuel combustion in mini-CHPs with diesel engines. Biogas mini-CHPs have a greater advantage considering the processes of the operation and fuel combustion. The conducted research can help in choosing the type of the engine when designing a mini-CHP.

scholarly journals Case study of a water bioengineering construction site in Austria. Ecological aspects and application of an environmental life cycle assessment model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. von der Thannen ◽  
S. Hoerbinger ◽  
C. Muellebner ◽  
H. Biber ◽  
H. P. Rauch
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil And Water

AbstractRecently, applications of soil and water bioengineering constructions using living plants and supplementary materials have become increasingly popular. Besides technical effects, soil and water bioengineering has the advantage of additionally taking into consideration ecological values and the values of landscape aesthetics. When implementing soil and water bioengineering structures, suitable plants must be selected, and the structures must be given a dimension taking into account potential impact loads. A consideration of energy flows and the potential negative impact of construction in terms of energy and greenhouse gas balance has been neglected until now. The current study closes this gap of knowledge by introducing a method for detecting the possible negative effects of installing soil and water bioengineering measures. For this purpose, an environmental life cycle assessment model has been applied. The impact categories global warming potential and cumulative energy demand are used in this paper to describe the type of impacts which a bioengineering construction site causes. Additionally, the water bioengineering measure is contrasted with a conventional civil engineering structure. The results determine that the bioengineering alternative performs slightly better, in terms of energy demand and global warming potential, than the conventional measure. The most relevant factor is shown to be the impact of the running machines at the water bioengineering construction site. Finally, an integral ecological assessment model for applications of soil and water bioengineering structures should point out the potential negative effects caused during installation and, furthermore, integrate the assessment of potential positive effects due to the development of living plants in the use stage of the structures.

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