Techno-economic assessment of recycling acidic sludge project of reprocessing industries to value-added gaseous products using Plasmatron

Background: Plasmatron is a hydrocarbon reformer of fuels and heavy oil sludge with high efficiency in gasification operation. The gasification of acidic sludge (AS) was investigated to assess the technical and financial demands in a model. AS is a by-product of used motor oil (UMO) recycling industries with a large quantity that its reprocessing, refining, and re-refining operations are not performed in Iran. Methods: In this empirical study, the inventory of requirements for generating value-added gaseous products was tabulated based on the recent studies. To develop a techno-economic model, the costs of reactor configuration, equipment, and installation outlay, materials and product costs, facilities, staff salary, land and landscaping budget, and energy demand expenses were taken into consideration. Results: The initial requirements of the project in the screening step were identified and a framework of the economic model was provided to develop and identify the technical dimension of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. Conclusion: The findings expanded the technology and its technical demands for identification of screening step of project prior to competing for development and establishment. Keywords: Economic, Models, Costs, Gases, Recycling, Plasmatro

Multi-domain analysis and prediction of the light emitted by an inductively coupled plasma jet

Inductively coupled plasma wind tunnels are crucial for replicating hypersonic flight conditions in ground testing. Achieving the desired conditions (e.g., stagnation-point heat fluxes and enthalpies during atmospheric reentry) requires a careful selection of operating inputs, such as mass flow, gas composition, nozzle geometry, torch power, chamber pressure, and probing location along the plasma jet. The study presented herein focuses on the influence of the torch power and chamber pressure on the plasma jet dynamics within the 350 kW Plasmatron X ICP facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A multi-domain analysis of the jet behavior under selected power-pressure conditions is presented in terms of emitted light measurements collected using high-speed imaging. We then use Gaussian Process Regression to develop a data-informed learning framework for predicting Plasmatron X jet profiles at unseen pressure and power test conditions. Understanding the physics behind the dynamics of high-enthalpy flows, particularly plasma jets, is the key to properly design material testing, perform diagnostics, and develop accurate simulation modelsComment: 22 pages (including figures, appendix, and references); 13 figure

Assessment of gas-surface interaction modelling for lifting body re-entry flight design

Space re-entry is a challenging endeavor due to the harsh thermo-chemical environment around the vehicle. Heat flux being the reference parameter for Thermal Protection System (TPS) design, the total energy transfer can significantly increase due to the exothermic atomic recombination enhanced by TPS catalytic properties. The catalytic recombination coefficient modelling is critical for heat flux computation during TPS design. This work assesses the ability to determine the recombination coefficient at Von Karman Institute's (VKI) plasma wind tunnel (Plasmatron) as a step towards future validation of catalytic models : from a reference catalytic model development for enthalpy characterization of the facility, to the identification of the most influential parameters found in non-equilibrium boundary layers. Plasmatron test results encourage a flight extrapolation strategy development in order to link the catalysis measured on ground to the catalysis appearing in flight. The strategy, focused on off-stagnation point conditions, shall contribute to future post-flight activities of the CATalytic Experiment (CATE) on board of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). Relevant data from IXV and CATE are also presented, laying the foundation for for future developments at VKI

Assessment of gas-surface interaction modelling for lifting body re-entry flight design

Space re-entry is a challenging endeavor due to the harsh thermo-chemical environment around the vehicle. Heat flux being the reference parameter for Thermal Protection System (TPS) design, the total energy transfer can significantly increase due to the exothermic atomic recombination enhanced by TPS catalytic properties. The catalytic recombination coefficient modelling is critical for heat flux computation during TPS design. This work assesses the ability to determine the recombination coefficient at Von Karman Institute's (VKI) plasma wind tunnel (Plasmatron) as a step towards future validation of catalytic models : from a reference catalytic model development for enthalpy characterization of the facility, to the identification of the most influential parameters found in non-equilibrium boundary layers. Plasmatron test results encourage a flight extrapolation strategy development in order to link the catalysis measured on ground to the catalysis appearing in flight. The strategy, focused on off-stagnation point conditions, shall contribute to future post-flight activities of the CATalytic Experiment (CATE) on board of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). Relevant data from IXV and CATE are also presented, laying the foundation for for future developments at VKI.Postprint (published version

Assessment of gas-surface interaction modelling for lifting body re-entry flight design

Space re-entry is a challenging endeavor due to the harsh thermo-chemical environment around the vehicle. Heat flux being the reference parameter for Thermal Protection System (TPS) design, the total energy transfer can significantly increase due to the exothermic atomic recombination enhanced by TPS catalytic properties. The catalytic recombination coefficient modelling is critical for heat flux computation during TPS design. This work assesses the ability to determine the recombination coefficient at Von Karman Institute's (VKI) plasma wind tunnel (Plasmatron) as a step towards future validation of catalytic models : from a reference catalytic model development for enthalpy characterization of the facility, to the identification of the most influential parameters found in non-equilibrium boundary layers. Plasmatron test results encourage a flight extrapolation strategy development in order to link the catalysis measured on ground to the catalysis appearing in flight. The strategy, focused on off-stagnation point conditions, shall contribute to future post-flight activities of the CATalytic Experiment (CATE) on board of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). Relevant data from IXV and CATE are also presented, laying the foundation for for future developments at VKI.Postprint (published version

Partial oxidation and autothermal reforming of heavy hydrocarbon fuels with non-equilibrium gliding arc plasma for fuel cell applications

Non-thermal plasma fuel reforming technology has several advantages over traditional catalytic or thermal processes including fast start time, high productivity, relatively low electrical energy costs to operate. Several novel gliding arc plasma reformers were developed and investigated for the partial oxidation of several fuels including n-Tetradecane, Diesel, and JP-8 in the partial oxidation and autothermal reforming regimes. High conversion was achieved with efficiencies greater than 80 percent. The results show that gliding arc systems are capable of reforming heavy hydrocarbon fuels with high conversion efficiency and are an important piece of technology for on-board vehicular reforming systems that should be further developed and optimized.Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering -- Drexel University, 201

Analysis And Prediction Of Plasma Sprayed Alumina-Titania Coating Deposition Using Neural Computation

Coating deposition by plasma spraying involves a number of process variables, which contribute in a large way to the quality of the coating. During spraying, various operating parameters are determined mostly based on past experience. It therefore does not provide the optimal set of parameters for a particular objective. In order to obtain the best result with regard to any specific coating quality characteristic, accurate identification of significant control parameters is essential. Deposition efficiency of any coating is a characteristic which not only rates the effectiveness of the spraying method but also is a measure of the coatability of the material under study. This work is devoted to analyze the experimentally obtained results on the deposition efficiency of alumina-titania coatings made at different operational conditions. For this purpose, a statistical technique called Taguchi experimental design methd is used. Factors are identified according to their influence on the coating deposition. The most significant parameter is found. A prediction model using artificial neural network (ANN) is presented considering the significant factors. Inspired by the biological nervous system, an artificial neural network (ANN) approach is a fascinating computational tool, which can be used to simulate a wide variety of complex engineering problems such as deposition of ceramic coatings on metal substrates by plasma spraying. Prediction of deposition rate helps in selecting the optimum combination of process parameters and hence is essential in a plasma spray coating activity. This research shows that the use of a neural network model to simulate experiments with parametric design strategy is quite effective for prediction of wear response of materials within and beyond the experimental domain

Synthesis gas as a fuel for internal combustion engines in transportation

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).The adverse environmental impact of fossil fuel combustion in engines has motivated research towards using alternative low-carbon fuels. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in studying the combustion of fuel mixtures consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, referred to as syngas, which can be considered as a promising fuel toward cleaner combustion technologies for power generation. This paper provides an extensive review of syngas production and application in internal combustion (IC) engines as the primary or secondary fuel. First, a brief overview of syngas as a fuel is presented, introducing the various methods for its production, focusing on its historical use and summarizing the merits and drawbacks of using syngas as a fuel. Then its physicochemical properties relevant to IC engines are reviewed, highlighting studies on the fundamental combustion characteristics, such as ignition delay time and laminar and turbulent flame speeds. The main body of the paper is devoted to reviewing the effect of syngas utilization on performance and emissions characteristics of spark ignition (SI), compression ignition (CI), homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), and advanced dual-fuel engines such as reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines. Finally, various on-board fuel reforming techniques for syngas production and use in vehicles are reviewed as a potential route towards further increases in efficiency and decreases in emissions of IC engines. These are then related to the research reported on the behavior of syngas and its blends in IC engines. It was found that the selection of the syngas production method, choice of the base fuel for reforming, its physicochemical properties, combustion strategy, and engine combustion system and operating conditions play critical roles in dictating the potential advantages of syngas use in IC engines. The discussion of the present review paper provides valuable insights for future research on syngas as a possible fuel for IC engines for transport.Peer reviewe

Plasma assisted decomposition of methane and propane and cracking of liquid hexadecane

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityNon-thermal plasmas are considered to be very promising for the initiation of chemical reactions and a vast amount of experimental work has been dedicated to plasma assisted hydrocarbon conversion processes, which are reviewed in the fourth chapter of the thesis. However, current knowledge and experimental data available in the literature on plasma assisted liquid hydrocarbon cracking and gaseous hydrocarbon decomposition is very limited. The experimental methodology is introduced in the chapter that follows the literature review. It includes the scope and objectives section reflecting the information presented in the literature review and the rationale of this work. This is followed by a thorough description of the design and construction of the experimental plasma reformer and the precise experimental procedures, the set-up of hydrocarbon characterization equipment and the development of analytical methods. The methodology of uncertainty analysis is also described. In this work we performed experiments in attempt the cracking of liquid hexadecane into smaller liquid hydrocarbons, which was not successful. The conditions tested and the problems encountered are described in detail. In this project we performed a parametric study for methane and propane decomposition under a corona discharge for COx free hydrogen generation. For methane and propane a series of experiments were performed for a positive corona discharge at a fixed inter-electrode distance (15 mm) to study the effects of discharge power (range of 14 - 20 W and 19 – 35 W respectively) and residence time (60 - 240 s and 60 – 303 s respectively). A second series of experiments studied the effect of inter-electrode distance on hydrogen production, with distances of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 mm tested. The analysis of the results shows that both discharge power and residence time, have a positive influence on gaseous hydrocarbon conversion, hydrogen selectivity and energy conversion efficiency for methane and propane decomposition. Longer discharge gaps favour hydrogen production for methane and propane decomposition. A final series of experiments on corona polarity showed that a positive discharge was preferable for methane decomposition.Brunel School of Engineering and Desig

Deposition of SiC Derived from Desert Sand and Wood Charcoal by Plasma Processing

The basic aim of my project was to find a cheaper source of silicon carbide to use as coating on metal plates to increase their wear resistant properties. Silicon carbide has very high wear resistant properties so is ideal for coating on metal surface using plasma processing. The plasma process uses temperature of the order of 5000k and higher. So our target was to utilize this high temperature to fire a reaction between silica(sio2) and carbon to form silicon carbide. For silica we used sand and for carbon we used wood charcoal. Though the reaction was theoretically possible but at such high temperature we couldn’t be sure whether the chemical kinetics would follow the expected path. There was the risk of carbon behaving as reducing agent and converting alumina present in sand to aluminium.So we decided to perform the experiment in Plasma Laboratory at the Laser and Plasma Technology Division, BARC so that the project does not just remain a theory