scholarly journals Integration of a Solar Parabolic Dish Collector with a Small-Scale Multi-Stage Flash Desalination Unit: Experimental Evaluation, Exergy and Economic Analyses

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11295
Author(s):  
Ali Babaeebazaz ◽  
Shiva Gorjian ◽  
Majid Amidpour

In this study, a small-scale two-stage multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination unit equipped with a vacuum pump and a solar parabolic collector (PDC) with a conical cavity receiver were integrated. To eliminate the need for heat exchangers, a water circulation circuit was designed in a way that the saline feedwater could directly flow through the receiver of the PDC. The system’s performance was examined during six days in July 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., under two distinct scenarios of the MSF desalination operation under the vacuum (−10 kPa) and atmospheric pressure by considering three saline feedwater water flow rates of 0.7, 1 and 1.3 L/min. Furthermore, the performance of the solar PDC-MSF desalination plant was evaluated by conducting energy and exergy analyses. The results indicated that the intensity of solar radiation, which directly affects the top brine temperature (TBT), and the values of the saline feedwater flow rate have the most impact on productivity. The maximum productivity of 3.22 L per 5 h in a day was obtained when the temperature and saline feedwater flow rate were 94.25 °C (at the maximum solar radiation of 1015.3 W/m2) and 0.7 L/min, respectively, and the MSF was under vacuum pressure. Additionally, it was found that increasing the feedwater flow rate from 0.7 to 1.3 L/min reduces distillate production by 76.4% while applying the vacuum improves the productivity by about 34% at feedwater flow rate of 0.7 L/min. The exergy efficiency of the MSF unit was obtained as 0.07% with the highest share of exergy destruction in stages. The quality parameters of the produced distillate including pH, TDS, EC and DO were measured, ensuring they lie within the standard range for drinking water. Moreover, the cost of freshwater produced by the MSF plant varied from 37 US$/m3 to 1.5 US$/m3 when the treatment capacity increased to 8000 L/day.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Junquan Zhang ◽  
Ke Yang ◽  
Changsheng Peng

Air bubble has been proved that it can increase evaporation area and coefficient of mass transfer and heat transfer. Two-stage evaporation system can indirectly increase the contact area of water and vapor, reduce the volume of single evaporation system, and can also combine the multiple systems flexibly. So a new type of small scale two-stage photovoltaic-photothermal humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination system is designed, and the relationship between solar radiation and temperature is measured, and the water production capability of the system is investigated. The effect of water temperature, ambient temperature, air flow rate and air temperature on desalination performance is also investigated. The results showed that the rate of water production is positively correlated with sea water temperature, ambient temperature, gas flow rate and air temperature. And the gas temperature is positively correlated with the solar radiation intensity. When the ambient temperature is higher than 25 ℃, the cumulative amount of irradiation is 22.3 MJ/m2, the cumulative water production is 19.2 L/d, and 6.4 L/( m2∙d), the thermal efficiency is 0.66. The cost of water produced through the designed HDH system is 0.08 $/L.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sánchez ◽  
Miguel Rollán ◽  
Lourdes García-Rodríguez ◽  
Gonzalo S. Martínez

Abstract This paper presents the preliminary design and techno-economic assessment of an innovative solar system for the simultaneous production of water and electricity at small scale, based on the combination of a solar micro gas turbine (mGT) and a bottoming desalination unit. To assess this system, a design model is developed to select the main design parameters for two different desalination technologies, reverse osmosis (RO), and multi-effect distillation (MED), aiming to exploit the available electricity and waste heat from the turbine, respectively. The results show that, from a thermodynamic standpoint, it is possible to exceed 65% solar energy utilization if both electricity and waste heat are used to produce fresh water. Nevertheless, the better thermodynamic performance of the fully integrated system does not translate into a more economical production of water. Indeed, the cost of water turns out lower when coupling the solar microturbine and reverse osmosis units only (between 3 and 3.5 €/m3), while making further use of the available waste heat in a multi-effect distillation system rises the cost of water by 15%.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia Teresa Sponza ◽  
Cansu Doğanx

The scope of this study, is  1-butanol production from CO2 with S. elongatus PCC 7942 culture. The yields of 1-butanolproduced/CO2utilized have been calculated. The maximum concentration of produced 1- butanol is 35.37 mg/L and 1-butanolproduced/CO2utilized efficiency is 92.4. The optimum operational conditions were  30°C temperature, 60 W intensity of light, pH= 7.1, 120 mV redox potential, 0.083 m3/sn flow rate with CO2 and 0.5 mg/l dissolved O2 concentration. Among the enzymes on the metabolic trail of the production of 1-butanol via using S. elongatus PCC 7942 cyanobacteria. At maximum yield; the measured concentrations are 0.016 µg/ml for hbd; 0.0022 µg/ml for Ter and 0.0048 µg/ml for AdhE2. The cost analyses necessary for 1-butanol production has been done and the cost of 1 litre 1-butanol has been determined as maximum 1.31 TL/L.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Aruga

In this study, two operational methodologies to extract thinned woods were investigated in the Nasunogahara area, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Methodology one included manual extraction and light truck transportation. Methodology two included mini-forwarder forwarding and four-ton truck transportation. Furthermore, a newly introduced chipper was investigated. As a result, costs of manual extractions within 10 m and 20 m were JPY942/m3 and JPY1040/m3, respectively. On the other hand, the forwarding cost of the mini-forwarder was JPY499/m3, which was significantly lower than the cost of manual extractions. Transportation costs with light trucks and four-ton trucks were JPY7224/m3 and JPY1298/m3, respectively, with 28 km transportation distances. Chipping operation costs were JPY1036/m3 and JPY1160/m3 with three and two persons, respectively. Finally, the total costs of methodologies one and two from extraction within 20 m to chipping were estimated as JPY9300/m3 and JPY2833/m3, respectively, with 28 km transportation distances and three-person chipping operations (EUR1 = JPY126, as of 12 August 2020).


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4566
Author(s):  
Minsoo Choi ◽  
Wongwan Jung ◽  
Sanghyuk Lee ◽  
Taehwan Joung ◽  
Daejun Chang

This study analyzes the thermodynamic, economic, and regulatory aspects of boil-off hydrogen (BOH) in liquid hydrogen (LH2) carriers that can be re-liquefied using a proposed re-liquefaction system or used as fuel in a fuel cell stack. Five LH2 carriers sailing between two designated ports are considered in a case study. The specific energy consumption of the proposed re-liquefaction system varies from 8.22 to 10.80 kWh/kg as the re-liquefaction-to-generation fraction (R/G fraction) is varied. The economic evaluation results show that the cost of re-liquefaction decreases as the re-liquefied flow rate increases and converges to 1.5 $/kg at an adequately large flow rate. Three energy efficient design index (EEDI) candidates are proposed to determine feasible R/G fractions: an EEDI equivalent to that of LNG carriers, an EEDI that considers the energy density of LH2, and no EEDI restrictions. The first EEDI candidate is so strict that the majority of the BOH should be used as fuel. In the case of the second EEDI candidate, the permittable R/G fraction is between 25% and 33%. If the EEDI is not applied for LH2 carriers, as in the third candidate, the specific life-cycle cost decreases to 67% compared with the first EEDI regulation.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Istiak Hossain ◽  
Jan I. Markendahl

AbstractSmall-scale commercial rollouts of Cellular-IoT (C-IoT) networks have started globally since last year. However, among the plethora of low power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, the cost-effectiveness of C-IoT is not certain for IoT service providers, small and greenfield operators. Today, there is no known public framework for the feasibility analysis of IoT communication technologies. Hence, this paper first presents a generic framework to assess the cost structure of cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies. Then, we applied the framework in eight deployment scenarios to analyze the prospect of LPWAN technologies like Sigfox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and EC-GSM. We consider the inter-technology interference impact on LoRaWAN and Sigfox scalability. Our results validate that a large rollout with a single technology is not cost-efficient. Also, our analysis suggests the rollout possibility of an IoT communication Technology may not be linear to cost-efficiency.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2263
Author(s):  
Mahmood Ebadian ◽  
Shahab Sokhansanj ◽  
David Lee ◽  
Alyssa Klein ◽  
Lawrence Townley-Smith

In this study, an inter-continental agricultural pellet supply chain is modeled, and the production cost and price of agricultural pellets are estimated and compared against the recent cost and price of wood pellets in the global marketplace. The inter-continental supply chain is verified and validated using an integration of an interactive mapping application and a simulation platform. The integrated model is applied to a case study in which agricultural pellets are produced in six locations in Canada and shipped and discharged at the three major ports in Western Europe. The cost of agricultural pellets in the six locations is estimated to be in the range of EUR 92–95/tonne (CAD 138–142/tonne), which is comparable with the recent cost of wood pellets produced in small-scale pellet plants (EUR 99–109/tonne). The average agricultural pellet price shipped from the six plants to the three ports in Western Europe is estimated to be in a range of EUR 183–204 (CAD 274–305/tonne), 29–42% more expensive that the average recent price of wood pellets (EUR 143/tonne) at the same ports. There are several potential areas in the agricultural pellet supply chains that can reduce the pellet production and distribution costs in the mid and long terms, making them affordable supplement to the existing wood pellet markets. Potential economic activities generated by the production of pellets in farm communities can be significant. The generated annual revenue in the biomass logistics system in all six locations is estimated to be about CAD 21.80 million. In addition, the logistics equipment fleet needs 176 local operators with a potential annual income of CAD 2.18 million.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthikeyan Mariappan ◽  
Deyi Zhou

Agriculture is the main sources of income for humans. Likewise, agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. In India, Tamil Nadu regional state has a wide range of possibilities to produce all varieties of organic products due to its diverse agro-climatic condition. This research aimed to identify the economics and efficiency of organic farming, and the possibilities to reduce farmers’ suicides in the Tamil Nadu region through the organic agriculture concept. The emphasis was on farmers, producers, researchers, and marketers entering the sustainable economy through organic farming by reducing input cost and high profit in cultivation. A survey was conducted to gather data. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been used to test the hypothesis regards the cost and profit of rice production. The results showed that there was a significant difference in profitability between organic and conventional farming methods. It is very transparent that organic farming is the leading concept of sustainable agricultural development with better organic manures that can improve soil fertility, better yield, less input cost and better return than conventional farming. The study suggests that by reducing the cost of cultivation and get a marginal return through organic farming method to poor and small scale farmers will reduce socio-economic problems such as farmers’ suicides in the future of Indian agriculture.


2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (2) ◽  
pp. H894-H903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghassan S. Kassab

The branching pattern and vascular geometry of biological tree structure are complex. Here we show that the design of all vascular trees for which there exist morphometric data in the literature (e.g., coronary, pulmonary; vessels of various skeletal muscles, mesentery, omentum, and conjunctiva) obeys a set of scaling laws that are based on the hypothesis that the cost of construction of the tree structure and operation of fluid conduction is minimized. The laws consist of scaling relationships between 1) length and vascular volume of the tree, 2) lumen diameter and blood flow rate in each branch, and 3) diameter and length of vessel branches. The exponent of the diameter-flow rate relation is not necessarily equal to 3.0 as required by Murray's law but depends on the ratio of metabolic to viscous power dissipation of the tree of interest. The major significance of the present analysis is to show that the design of various vascular trees of different organs and species can be deduced on the basis of the minimum energy hypothesis and conservation of energy under steady-state conditions. The present study reveals the similarity of nature's scaling laws that dictate the design of various vascular trees and the underlying physical and physiological principles.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnsely S. Cyrus ◽  
G. B. Reddy

Constructed wetland systems have gained attention as attractive solutions for wastewater treatment. Wetlands are not efficient to treat wastewater with high concentrations of phosphorus (P). In order to remove high soluble P loads by wetland, sorbent beds can be added prior to the discharge of wastewater into wetlands. Sorption by sorbent materials is identified as a method for trapping excess P in wastewaters. In the present investigation, shale has been identified as a sorbent material for removal of phosphate (PO4-P) due to the cost effectiveness, stability and possibility of regeneration. The study focuses on the removal of PO4-P from wastewater using shale and the feasibility of using the P-sorbed material as slow-release fertilizer. Phosphorus sorption experiments were conducted by using shale (2 mm and 2–4.7 mm). Results indicate that Shale I (particle size = 2 mm) showed the highest sorption of PO4-P (500 ± 44 mg kg−1). Breakthrough point was reached within 10 h in columns with flow rates of 2 and 3 ml min−1. Lower flow rate of 1 ml min−1 showed an average residence time of about 2 h while columns with a higher flow rate of 3 ml min−1 showed a residence time of about 40 minutes. Variation in flow rate did not influence the desorption process. Since very low concentrations of PO4-P are released, Shale saturated with PO4-P may be used as a slow nutrient release source of P or as a soil amendment. The sorbent can also be regenerated by removing the sorbed PO4-P by using 0.1 N HCl.


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