Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the biogas production from mechanically treated barley straw and to perform a techno-economic analysis based on the costs assessment and on the results of biogas production. The structural changes of mechanically pretreated barley straw were observed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. Additionally, both green ZnO NPs prepared from red alga (Antithamnion plumula) extract and chemically prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM, surface area, and EDX. The results revealed that the biogas production was slightly improved by 14.9 and 13.2% when the barley straw of 0.4 mm was mechanically pretreated with 10 mg/L of both green and chemical ZnO NPs and produced 390.5 mL biogas/g VS and 385 mL biogas/g VS, respectively. On the other hand, the higher concentrations of ZnO NPs equal to 20 mg/L had an inhibitory effect on biogas production and decreased the biogas yield to 173 mL biogas/g VS, which was less than the half of previous values. It was also clear that the mechanically treated barley straw of 0.4 mm size presented a higher biogas yield of about 340 mL/g VS, in comparison to 279 mL biogas/g VS of untreated biomass. The kinetic study showed that the first order, modified Gompertz and logistic function models had the best fit with the experimental data. The results showed that the nanoparticles (NPs) of the mechanically treated barely straw are a suitable source of biomass for biogas production, and its yields are higher than the untreated barley straw. The results of the cost-benefit analysis showed that the average levelized cost of energy (LCOE), adopting the best treatments (0.4 mm + 10 mg/L ZnO), is 0.21 €/kWh, which is not competitive with the other renewable energy systems in the Egyptian energy market

Efficiency of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles with Different Pretreatments for Enhancing Biogas Yield of Macroalgae Ulva intestinalis Linnaeus

In this work, different pretreatment methods for algae proved to be very effective in improving cell wall dissociation for biogas production. In this study, the Ulva intestinalis Linnaeus (U. intestinalis) has been exposed to individual pretreatments of (ultrasonic, ozone, microwave, and green synthesized Fe3O4) and in a combination of the first three mentioned pretreatments methods with magnetite (Fe3O4) NPs, (ultrasonic-Fe3O4, ozone-Fe3O4 and microwave-Fe3O4) in different treatment times. Moreover, the green synthesized Fe3O4 NPs has been confirmed by FTIR, TEM, XRD, SEM, EDEX, PSA and BET. The maximum biogas production of 179 and 206 mL/g VS have been attained when U. intestinalis has been treated with ultrasonic only and when combined microwave with Fe3O4 respectively, where sediment were used as inoculum in all pretreatments. From the obtained results, green Fe3O4 NPs enhanced the microwave (MW) treatment to produce a higher biogas yield (206 mL/g VS) when compared with individual MW (84 mL/g VS). The modified Gompertz model (R2 = 0.996 was appropriate model to match the calculated biogas production and could be used more practically to distinguish the kinetics of the anaerobic digestion (AD) period. The assessment of XRD, SEM and FTIR discovered the influence of different treatment techniques on the cell wall structure of U. intestinalis

Optimization strategy of Co3O4 nanoparticles in biomethane production from seaweeds and its potential role in direct electron transfer and reactive oxygen species formation

Abstract In the present study, three process parameters optimization were assessed as controlling factors for the biogas and biomethane generation from brown algae Cystoceira myrica as the substrate using RSM for the first time. The biomass amount, Co3O4NPs dosage, and digestion time were assessed and optimized by RSM using Box-Behnken design (BBD) to determine their optimum level. BET, FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM, XPS, and TEM were applied to illustrate the Co3O4NPs. FTIR and XRD analysis established the formation of Co3O4NPs. The kinetic investigation confirmed that the modified model of Gompertz fit the research results satisfactorily, with R 2 ranging between 0.989–0.998 and 0.879–0.979 for biogas and biomethane production, respectively. The results recommended that adding Co3O4NPs at doses of 5 mg/L to C. myrica (1.5 g) significantly increases biogas yield (462 mL/g VS) compared to all other treatments. The maximum biomethane generation (96.85 mL/g VS) was obtained with C. myrica at (0 mg/L) of Co3O4NPs. The impacts of Co3O4NPs dosages on biomethane production, direct electron transfer (DIET) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also investigated in detail. The techno-economic study results demonstrate the financial benefits of this strategy for the biogas with the greatest net energy content, which was 2.82 kWh with a net profit of 0.60 USD/m3 of the substrate and was produced using Co3O4NPs (5 mg/L)

Influence of Poly (benzyl oleate-co-maleic anhydride) Pour Point Depressant with Di-Stearyl Amine on Waxy Crude Oil

An important problem for the oil industry is the deposition of paraffin on pipelines during the transit of crude oil and restart processes at low temperature. In this regard, the need for suitable methods of wax deposition has attracted substantial attention. Therefore, pour point depressants (PPDs) are considered a critical processing aid to modify the paraffin crystallization and improve the flow of waxy crude oil. The effect of pendants in comb-type copolymers on the ability of crude oil to flow in the cold is examined in the current study. Such PPDs were first created by the free radical polymerization of maleic anhydride with benzyl oleate to create the poly (benzyl oleate-co-maleic anhydride). The resultant copolymer was then aminated with alkyl amine (stearyl amine) (C18H39N) to form pendant alkyl amine chains. The esterified copolymers were structurally characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared, X-ray diffraction spectral analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, the potential interactions between PPD and waxes were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and light microscopy. The obtained PPDs, which are effective at a dose of 2000 ppm, were able to reduce the pour point by up to 3 °C. The viscosity and yield stress of the petroleum waxy crude oil were revealed by rheometer