Análise econômica do uso de célula a combustível para acionamento de ônibus urbano

O aquecimento global e o agravamento da qualidade de vida da população causado principalmente pela queima de combustíveis fósseis (petróleo, diesel, gasolina), que emite milhões de toneladas de poluentes ao meio ambiente, é um dos focos principais da atualidade. Além disso, a certeza de que os combustíveis fósseis são bens esgotáveis abre margem para mais pesquisas em energias limpas, particularmente para os veículos automotores. Neste sentido tem recebido particular atenção a tecnologia de célula a combustível, que pode ser aplicada para o transporte urbano e corrobora para a melhoria da atual situação ambiental do planeta. As células a combustível surgem como tecnologias realmente promissoras para a geração de energia e embora já existam diversos protótipos e estudos no mundo, ainda são inviáveis comercialmente, fator este que pode ser contornado, com a evolução tecnológica e a possibilidade de produção em série, num futuro próximo. Dentre as diversas tecnologias hoje existentes, as células PEM (membrana de troca protônica) são as mais indicadas e fazem parte dos protótipos de veículos automotores em desenvolvimento, pois combina durabilidade, alta eficiência, tem rápido acionamento e opera em temperaturas relativamente baixas. Essa dissertação tem como objetivo a análise econômica comparando um ônibus movido com célula a combustível com um ônibus movido com motor de combustão interna. Além disso, foi calculada a eficiência ecológica para a produção do hidrogênio a partir de processos de reforma a vapor de gás natural, reforma a vapor de etanol, eletrólise por turbina eólica e eletrólise com energia de água vertida em hidroelétrica.The global warming is decreasing the life quality of population caused mainly by burning of fossil fuels (oil, diesel, gasoline) that emit millions of tons of pollutants to the environment. Besides, the certainty that those fossil fuels are non-renewable resources allows more researches in cleaner energy, and particularly in vehicles. This way, fuel cell has received particular attention because it can be applied in urban transport and improves the actual environmental situation of the world. The fuel cells appear like a promising technology for energy generation. Although there are a lot of prototypes and researches in the world, its commercialization is impracticable, although it can be changed over the technological evolution and an additional production, in a near future. Among several technologies in the present, the PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is the most appropriated and take part of prototypes of vehicles in progress, because it combines durability, high efficiency, good response at room temperatures and it works at relatively low temperatures. The purpose of this dissertation was performes an economic analysis, comparing buses moved by fuel cells and buses moved by internal combustion engine. Furthermore was developed an ecological efficiency of hydrogen produced by natural gas, ethanol, electrolyse by wind turbine and hydrogen by hydroelectric power plant.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Aspectos técnico, econômicos e ecológicos de processos de produção de hidrogênio

As sucessivas crises no setor energético e o aquecimento global têm incentivado pesquisadores a desenvolverem estudos em tecnologias eficientes, e em fontes renováveis, para a geração de energia limpa, que substituam as fontes tradicionais utilizadas atualmente. O hidrogênio é uma importante alternativa para a redução dos impactos ambientais causados pelas emissões de gases provenientes da utilização dos combustíveis de origem fóssil, desde que seja produzido de forma sustentável. Dentre os principais processos de produção de hidrogênio, encontram-se os processos eletrolíticos, fotolíticos e termoquímicos. Neste trabalho de tese foram realizados estudos técnicos, econômicos e ecológicos de processos de produção de hidrogênio, via reforma a vapor de etanol, gás natural e biogás, via eletrólise da água com energia proveniente de fontes renováveis (eólica, fotovoltaica e hidrelétrica) e a partir de algas. Em uma primeira etapa, são apresentadas as considerações iniciais e uma revisão bibliográfica dos processos. Em sequência, é feita a determinação das eficiências energéticas de cada processo de produção de hidrogênio, onde se evidencia, como mais eficiente, a eletrólise utilizando eletricidade de água vertida que seria vertida em hidrelétricas (80%), e menos eficiente, a eletrólise utilizando eletricidade de plantas fotovoltaicas (11,8%). Posteriormente, é realizada análise econômica da produção de hidrogênio e são determinados os custos, em US$/kWh, para cada processo. Neste caso, obteve-se que o processo mais viável é a reforma a vapor de etanol e o menos viável é a eletrólise utilizando eletricidade de plantas fotovoltaicas. Finaliza-se o trabalho de tese com o estudo de impactos ambientais, onde são determinadas as eficiências ecológicas ( ) dos diferentes processos estudados ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)The successive crisis in the energy sector and the global warming have instigated researchers to develop studies in efficient technologies and renewable sources for clean energy generation able to substitute the no-renewable energy sources used presently. The hydrogen as fuel is an important alternative for the reductions of the environmental impact caused by pollutant gas emissions from the no-renewable energy sources utilization; if is produced in a sustainable route. Among the major hydrogen productions process stand the electrolytic, photolytic and thermochemical processes. In this work are conducted technical, economic and ecological studies of the hydrogen production processes through route of steam reforming of ethanol, natural gas and biogas, through the water electrolysis with energy from renewable sources (eolic, photovoltaic and from hydroelectric) and finally through the hydrogen production by algae. Firstly are presented the initial considerations and a literature review regarding the process in study. Subsequently, a technical study for the determination of the energetic efficiency is developed for each hydrogen production process; where was determined as most efficient process, the water electrolysis with hydroelectric energy (80$/kWh, for each process. As result was obtained that, the most viable process is the ethanol steam reforming and as least viable, the water electrolysis with photovoltaic energy. Finally, was conducted an ecological study, where were determined the ecological efficiencies ( ) of the processes. The biogas steam reforming and the photobiology process using the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae outstand as ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below

The benefits of ethanol use for hydrogen production in urban transportation

The purpose of this paper is to describe the benefits of sugar cane ethanol in Brazil, appointing the productivity of this type of fuel based on hectares of plantation, its carbon dioxide cycle and the contribution to reduce the greenhouse effect. In the following step the uses of ethanol for hydrogen production by steam reforming is analyzed and some comparison with natural gas steam reforming is performed. The sugar cane industry in Brazil, in a near future, in the hydrogen era, could be modified according to our purpose, since besides the production of sugar, and ethylic and anhydric alcohol, Brazilian sugar cane industry will also be able to produce biohydrogen. Fuel cells appear like a promising technology for energy generation. Among several technologies in the present, the PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is the most appropriate for vehicles application, because it combines durability, high power density, high efficiency, good response and it works at relatively low temperatures. Besides that it is easy to turn it on and off and it is able to support present vibration in vehicles. A PEMFC's problem is the need of noble catalysts like platinum. Another problem is that CO needs to be in low concentration, requiring a more clean hydrogen to avoid fuel cell deterioration. One part of this paper was developed in Stockholm, where there are some buses within the CUTE (clean urban transport for Europe) project that has been in operation with FC since January 2004. Another part was developed in Guaratinguetá, Brazil. Brazil intends to start up a program of FC buses. As conclusion, this paper shows the economical analysis comparing buses moved by fuel cells using hydrogen by different kinds of production. Electrolyze with wind turbine, natural gas steam reforming and ethanol steam reforming.Ethanol Hydrogen Fuel cell Urban buses Economical analyses

Tar reduction in downdraft biomass gasifier using a primary method

This work present a novel primary method, for tar reduction in downdraft gasification. The principle of this new technology is to change the fluid dynamic behaviour of the mixture, formed by pyrolysis product and gasification agent in combustion zone; allowing a homogeneous temperature distribution in radial direction in this reaction zone. To achieve the change in the fluid dynamic behaviour of the mixture; the entry of gasification agent to combustion zone is oriented by means of wall nozzles in order to form a swirl flow. This modification in combination with the extension of the reduction zone, will allow, to increases the efficiency of the tar thermal cracking inside the gasifier and the extension of the Boudouard reactions. Consequently, the quantity of tar passing through the combustion zone without cracking and the concentration of tar in the final gas, decrease significantly in relation with the common value obtained for this type of reactor, without affecting significantly the heating value of the producer gas. In this work is presented a new design for 15 kW downdraft gasification reactor, with this technology implemented, the tar content obtained in the experiments never overcome 10 mg/Nm3, with a lower heating value of 3.97 MJ/Nm3

Hydrogen production by biogas steam reforming: A technical, economic and ecological analysis

Fuel cells are electrochemical energy conversion devices that convert fuel and oxidant electrochemically into electrical energy, water and heat. Compared to traditional electricity generation technologies that use combustion processes to convert fuel into heat, and then into mechanical energy, fuel cells convert the hydrogen and oxygen chemical energy into electrical energy, without intermediate conversion processes, and with higher efficiency. In order to make the fuel cells an achievable and useful technology, it is firstly necessary to develop an economic and efficient way for hydrogen production. Molecular hydrogen is always found combined with other chemical compounds in nature, so it must be isolated. In this paper, the technical, economical and ecological aspects of hydrogen production by biogas steam reforming are presented. The economic feasibility calculation was performed to evaluate how interesting the process is by analyzing the investment, operation and maintenance costs of the biogas steam reformer and the hydrogen production cost achieved the value of 0.27 US$/kWh with a payback period of 8 years. An ecological efficiency of 94.95%, which is a good ecological value, was obtained. The results obtained by these analyses showed that this type of hydrogen production is an environmentally attractive route. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Energetic Valorization

In 2019, Chile generated 20 million tons of waste, 79% of which was not properly disposed of, thereby providing an attractive opportunity for energy generation in advanced thermochemical conversion processes. This study presents a techno-economic and environmental assessment of the implementation of Waste-Integrated Gasifier-Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (WIG-GTCC) technology as an alternative for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) treatment. The studied case assesses the conversion of 14.61 t·h−1 of MSW, which produces a combustible gas with a flow rate of 34.2 t·h−1 and LHV of 5900 kJ·kg−1, which, in turn, is used in a combined cycle to generate 19.58 MW of electrical power. The proposed economic assessment of the technology uses the energy generation processes as a reference, followed by a model for an overall economic evaluation. The results have shown that the profit could be up to USD 24.1 million, and the recovery of investment between 12 and 17 years would improve the environmental impacts of the current disposal technology. The WIG-GTCC has the most efficient conversion route, emitting 0.285 kg CO2eq/kWh, which represents 48.21% of the potential yield of global warming over 100 years (GWP100) of incineration and 58.51% of the GWP100 of the standard gasification method. The WIG-GTCC would enable the energetic valorization of MSW in Chile, eliminate problems associated with landfill disposal, and increase opportunities for decentralized electricity generation

Bioenergia: desenvolvimento, pesquisa e inovação

Com 27 trabalhos produzidos por pesquisadores do Instituto de Pesquisa em Bioenergia (Bioen), da Unesp, este livro oferece uma ampla visão sobre as áreas que compõem o segmento. Seu principal objetivo é contribuir para melhorar a compreensão dos vários aspectos da bioenergia, em especial no Brasil, que figura entre os países com maior nível de desenvolvimento tecnológico no setor. Os artigos abordam uma série abrangente de questões relacionadas à bioenergia, como a construção genética das plantas de cana-de-açúcar visando ao aumento de produtividade, a disseminação de sementes para estimular a propagação de espécies com potencial energético, etapas de produção de bioenergia, usos do combustível e seus efeitos nos diversos tipos de motores. Agrupados por assunto, os textos estão distribuídos em cinco partes: Biomassa para bioenergia; Produção de biocombustíveis; Utilização de bioenergia; Biorrefinaria, alcoolquímica e oleoquímica e Sustentabilidade dos biocombustíveis