Techno-economic evaluation of amine-reclamation technologies and combined CO2/SO2 capture for Australian coal-fired plants

CSIRO's patented CS-Cap process aims at reducing the costs of amine-based post-combustion capture by combining SO2 and CO2 capture using one absorbent in a single absorber column. By avoiding the need for a separate flue gas desulfurization unit, the process offers potential savings for power plants requiring CO2 capture. High-level cost estimates based on lab and pilot data are presented for two amine reclamation techniques i.e. thermal reclamation and reactive crystallisation. Only regeneration via reactive crystallisation reduces CS-Cap costs below base case FGD/SCR-PCC. Cost estimations suggest a potential reduction of 38–44% in the total plant cost when using the CS-Cap process compared to base case. However, the amine reclaimer operating cost governs the overall cost of the CS-Cap process and is highly sensitive to sulfur content. A 50% reduction is observed when SO2 levels reduce from 700 to 200 ppm. Comparing levelised cost of electricity and CO2 avoided costs for CS-Cap against our base case, low sulfur brown coal has a slight (5–7%) cost advantage; however, confirmation requires pilot data on amine recovery. © 202

Trends in Use of Referral Hospital Services for Care of Sick Newborns in a Community-based Intervention in Tangail District, Bangladesh

The Projahnmo-II Project in Mirzapur upazila (sub-district), Tangail district, Bangladesh, is promot\uading care-seeking for sick newborns through health education of families, identification and referral of sick newborns in the community by community health workers (CHWs), and strengthening of neo\uadnatal care in Kumudini Hospital, Mirzapur. Data were drawn from records maintained by the CHWs, referral hospital registers, a baseline household survey of recently-delivered women conducted from March to June 2003, and two interim household surveys in January and September 2005. Increases were observed in self-referral of sick newborns for care, compliance after referral by the CHWs, and care-seeking from qualified providers and from the Kumudini Hospital, and decreases were observed in care-seeking from unqualified providers in the intervention arm. An active surveillance for illness by the CHWs in the home, education of families by them on recognition of danger signs and counsel\uadling to seek immediate care for serious illness, and improved linkages between the community and the hospital can produce substantial increases in care-seeking for sick newborns

Life cycle based greenhouse gas emission assessment from ferroalloy production

Ferroalloys are defined as iron-bearing alloys with a high proportion of one or more other elements typically manganese, chromium, silicon, molybdenum and nickel. Ferroalloys are mainly used by the iron and steel industry and ferroalloy production is closely related to steel production. The leading ferroalloy-producing countries in 2008 were, in decreasing order of production, China, South Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. These countries accounted for 77% of world ferroalloy production. The major ferroalloys are ferrochromium (FeCr), (ferro)-silicomanganese (FeSiMn or often referred to as SiMn), ferrosilicon (FeSi), ferromanganese (FeMn), ferronickel (FeNi), ferromolybdenum, ferrotitanium, ferrotungsten and ferrovanadium. The increased emphasis on sustainability in recent years has seen the value chains for the production of materials including metals, come under close scrutiny. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been developed to assist in this task, particularly in regard to assessing environmental impacts of these value chains. Despite the significance of the ferroalloy industry, there have been very few LCAs of ferroalloy production reported in the literature. The study described in this paper uses LCA methodology to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of ferroalloy production, in particular, FeMn, SiMn and FeSi, and to update the GHG footprints of FeCr and FeNi previously estimated. This paper has been prepared assuming ferroalloy production is based in Tasmania with some broader Australian comparisons. Comparisons with other studies have also been presented

Status of specific energy intensity of copper: Insights from the review of sustainability reports

There are a range of major industry factors placing upward pressure on the energy intensity of primary copper production. Copper ore grades are declining, mines are becoming deeper and deposits are becoming more complex. However, at the same time the individual processes employed during mining, mineral processing and metal production are becoming more efficient. Given these competing trends, a good question to ask: has the rate of innovation by engineers and the research community been exceeding the upward pressure on energy intensity created by trends at the mine-sites

Greenhouse gas emission assessment of bio-coke from wood for application as bioanode in aluminium production

In aluminium reduction cells, carbon anodes are used for electrolysis. Petroleum coke is the primary source of material used in the manufacture of these anodes. There is a trend of falling quality of petroleum coke and the level of impurities is also increasing. This is particularly concerning to the aluminium industry because this reduces the anode performance, contributes to corrosive gases in the exhaust stream, and contaminates the aluminium metal product. These supply issues, combined with an increased awareness and preparedness to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, opens the aluminium industry to the possibility of replacing fossil-based carbon anodes with low ash, renewable carbon based biocoke. The biocoke is to be used for making anodes known as 'bio-anodes' (de Vries et al., 2009). Our research has highlighted that viable anode grade petroleum coke requires a density of 800 kg/m3. This is possible using a CSIRO patented technology of bio-coke making. This process requires high temperature pyrolysis of wood under mechanical compressive force

Selected Environmental Impact Indicators Assessment of Wind Energy in India Using a Life Cycle Assessment

This study focuses on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of an onshore wind farm in India. The study is conducted on 10 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines situated in the Karnataka state of India. Following the ISO 14044 standard, SimaPro LCA software is used to model the process. The functional unit is chosen as 1 MWh sent out electricity. The results of the life cycle-based emissions of wind farm are compared with those of the coal power plant. The global warming potential is found to be 11.3 g CO2-eq/MWh for wind power, which is 98.8% lower than that for the coal power plant. A comparison of data available in SimaPro LCA software was carried out with data in GaBi software. There is a small difference between the two databases. This may be due to different boundary and inclusion of input items. Steel, aluminium, and concrete contributed 86%, 84%, 84% and 85% of total CO2, NOx, SO2 and PM2.5 emissions, respectively. Recycling the materials of a wind turbine at the end of its life can reduce the environmental impact. Higher capacity factors can increase the electricity generation with reduced environmental impact. A 22% increase in capacity factor can reduce environmental impact by 19%. In addition, the increase in the life of wind turbines reduces the environmental impact, as a wind turbine only has a few moving parts and requires minimum regular maintenance

Assessment of Materials and Rare Earth Metals Demand for Sustainable Wind Energy Growth in India

Wind energy is an alternative energy generation from non-renewable energy resources. The turbine is used to exploit wind energy. Different components of a wind turbine necessitate different materials and metals. There is a dependency of the materials on foreign countries. To avoid future problems regarding the availability of these materials in India, it is necessary to forecast the quantity and the price of the materials and metals. Thus, this study mainly focuses on the estimation of the raw materials, rare earth, and critical metals used in manufacturing the wind turbine. Two wind turbines of 1.65 MW and 3.45 MW capacity, 78 m and 94 m hub height are considered for the study. The major raw materials are steel, aluminum, copper, cast iron, fiber glass with epoxy resin, and ceramic/glass. The requirement of rare earth elements (Nd) depends on the type of wind turbine direct drive or geared, and the type of generator used in the direct-drive wind turbine. The results estimated the requirement of materials and rare earth elements and the expected price in the future for 100% wind energy production in India

Selected Environmental Impact Indicators Assessment of Wind Energy in India Using a Life Cycle Assessment

This study focuses on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of an onshore wind farm in India. The study is conducted on 10 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines situated in the Karnataka state of India. Following the ISO 14044 standard, SimaPro LCA software is used to model the process. The functional unit is chosen as 1 MWh sent out electricity. The results of the life cycle-based emissions of wind farm are compared with those of the coal power plant. The global warming potential is found to be 11.3 g CO2-eq/MWh for wind power, which is 98.8% lower than that for the coal power plant. A comparison of data available in SimaPro LCA software was carried out with data in GaBi software. There is a small difference between the two databases. This may be due to different boundary and inclusion of input items. Steel, aluminium, and concrete contributed 86%, 84%, 84% and 85% of total CO2, NOx, SO2 and PM2.5 emissions, respectively. Recycling the materials of a wind turbine at the end of its life can reduce the environmental impact. Higher capacity factors can increase the electricity generation with reduced environmental impact. A 22% increase in capacity factor can reduce environmental impact by 19%. In addition, the increase in the life of wind turbines reduces the environmental impact, as a wind turbine only has a few moving parts and requires minimum regular maintenance