Simulation of Sugarcane Residues Co-Gasification (Vinasse-Straw-Bagasse) for Different Equivalence Ratios and Gasifying Agents

This study evaluates the co-gasification of the main residues of the sugarcane industry (vinasse, bagasse and straw), in order to recover their energy and give an appropriate destination, making them suitable for use as fuel gas (syngas). To verify the feasibility of energy conversion through gasification, thermodynamic equilibrium model for gasification process was carried out and verified by literature available data. The gasification parameters for different gasification agents and equivalence ratio values were then obtained, such as: syngas composition and energy content, operating temperature, production rate and conversion efficiency. For equivalence ratios (ER) between 0.35 and 0.4 and temperatures around 750 °C, the quality of the syngas obtained is better, but a higher energy content is obtained in ER values of 0.2. There is a high H2/CO ratio for the gasifying agent formed by air and steam, and when using oxygen-enriched air, there is a change in the ER value that generates better syngas quality (to 0.3–0.35) and an increase in its energy content. There is also a possible better return on investment in a thermoelectric plant for the lowest ER values, which can increase gains by up to 21.4% and decrease the installation’s payback. The results indicate that the co-gasification of the waste is feasible, allowing a better use of its energy potential.

Size-dependent strong metal-support interaction in TiO2 supported Au nanocatalysts

The strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) has long been studied in heterogonous catalysis on account of its importance in stabilizing active metals and tuning catalytic performance. As a dynamic process taking place at the metal-support interface, the SMSI is closely related to the metal surface properties which are usually affected by the size of metal nanoparticles (NPs). In this work we report the discovery of a size effect on classical SMSI in Au/TiO2 catalyst where larger Au particles are more prone to be encapsulated than smaller ones. A thermodynamic equilibrium model was established to describe this phenomenon. According to this finding, the catalytic performance of Au/TiO2 catalyst with uneven size distribution can be improved by selectively encapsulating the large Au NPs in a hydrogenation reaction. This work not only brings in-depth understanding of the SMSI phenomenon and its formation mechanism, but also provides an alternative approach to refine catalyst performance.

Characterization of Atmospheric PM2.5 Inorganic Aerosols Using the Semi-Continuous PPWD-PILS-IC System and the ISORROPIA-II

A semi-continuous monitoring system, a parallel plate wet denuder and particle into liquid sampler coupled with ion chromatography (PPWD-PILS-IC), was used to measure the hourly precursor gases and water-soluble inorganic ions in ambient particles smaller than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) for investigating the thermodynamic equilibrium of aerosols using the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic equilibrium model. The 24-h average PPWD-PILS-IC data showed very good agreement with the daily data of the manual 5 L/min porous-metal denuder sampler with R2 ranging from 0.88 to 0.98 for inorganic ions (NH4+, Na+, K+, NO3−, SO42−, and Cl−) and 0.89 to 0.98 for precursor gases (NH3, HNO3, HONO, and SO2) and slopes ranging from 0.94 to 1.17 for ions and 0.87 to 0.95 for gases, respectively. In addition, the predicted ISORROPIA-II results were in good agreement with the hourly observed data of the PPWD-PILS-IC system for SO42− (R2 = 0.99 and slope = 1.0) and NH3 (R2 = 0.97 and slope = 1.02). The correlation of the predicted results and observed data was further improved for NH4+ and NO3− with the slope increasing from 0.90 to 0.96 and 0.95 to 1.09, respectively when the HNO2 and NO2− were included in the total nitrate concentration (TN = [NO3−] + [HNO3] + [HONO] + [NO2−]). The predicted HNO3 data were comparable to the sum of the observed [HNO3] and [HONO] indicating that HONO played an important role in the thermodynamic equilibrium of ambient PM2.5 aerosols but has not been considered in the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic equilibrium model.

Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste: Thermodynamic Equilibrium Analysis Using Gibbs Energy Minimization Method and CFD Simulation of a Downdraft Gasifier

Millions of tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) are generated annually, posing dramatic threats to our environment. To reduce its environmental impact, MSW can be segregated and thermochemically converted into clean syngas (CO and H2) fuel via gasification process. The feasibility of Gasification of MSW depends on its composition and quantity. In this work, assessment of the gasification metric of MSW is conducted under steam (H2O) as gasification moderator in a pilot scale 20kW gasifier. The characteristic of local MSW are experimentally determined using Flash 2000 organic analyzer (CHNS-O), the thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and bomb calorimeter following ASTM standards and arriving to molar formula of MSW. A thermodynamic equilibrium model based on Gibbs energy minimization method is used for the steam gasification of MSW to assess the composition of syngas. Using the baseline operating condition from the thermodynamic equilibrium model, a reactive high fidelity numerical model of a downdraft gasifier is developed to gain more fidelity. Result of gasification efficiency of thermodynamic model is 64% while reactive model gives 7% additional efficiency. Nonetheless, the stipulated efficiency and the high-quality syngas produced via the steam gasification of MSW suggest the viability of the process scale up.

Increasing Compressed Gas Energy Storage Density Using CO2–N2 Gas Mixture

This paper demonstrates a new method by which the energy storage density of compressed air systems is increased by 56.8% by changing the composition of the compressed gas to include a condensable component. A higher storage density of 7.33 MJ/m3 is possible using a mixture of 88% CO2 and 12% N2 compared to 4.67 MJ/m3 using pure N2. This ratio of gases representing an optimum mixture was determined through computer simulations that considered a variety of different proportions from pure CO2 to pure N2. The computer simulations are based on a thermodynamic equilibrium model that predicts the mixture composition as a function of volume and pressure under progressive compression to ultimately identify the optimal mixture composition (88% CO2 + 12% N2). The model and simulations predict that the optimal gas mixture attains a higher energy storage density than using either of the pure gases.