Particulate number and NOx trade-off comparisons between HVO and mineral diesel in HD applications

The increase in worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and costs for fossil fuels are forcing fuel suppliers and engine manufacturers to consider more sustainable alternatives for powering internal combustion engines. One very promising equivalent to mineral diesel fuel is hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as it is highly paraffinic and offers similar combustion characteristics. This fuel offer the potential of not requiring further engine hardware modification together with correspondingly lower exhaust gas emissions and better fuel consumption than mineral diesel. In this paper the spray and combustion characteristics of HVO and its blends are investigated and compared with mineral diesel (European standard). Evidence of the reported reductions in NOx emissions has proven contradictory with some researchers reporting large reductions, whilst others measured no differences. This paper reports the results from comparison of three different experimental tests methods using diesel/HVO binary fuel blends. The macroscopic spray characteristics have been investigated and quantified using a constant volume spray vessel. Engine performance and exhaust emissions have also been characterised using a HD diesel engine in its original configuration (mineral diesel fuel-ready) and then in a recalibrated configuration optimised for HVO fuel. The results show that the engine injection control and also the fuel quality can influence the formation of NOx and particulate matter significantly. In-particular a potential pilot injection proved highly influential upon whether NOx emissions were reduced or not. When optimising the fuel injection, a reduction in NOx emissions of up to 18% or reductions of PN of up to 42–66% were achieved with simultaneous savings in fuel consumption of 4.3%

The potential of decarbonising rice and wheat by incorporating carbon capture, utilisation and storage into fertiliser production

This paper aims to evaluate the reduction on greenhouse gas emissions in rice and wheat and their supply chains by incorporating carbon capture, utilisation, and storage into fertiliser production mainly from ammonia process, which is the section of fertiliser that produces the most carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gas emissions of these grains without carbon capture, utilisation and storage are provided from the results of life cycle assessment in the literatures. After that, a carbon dioxide emission from fertiliser production is quantified. The alternative considered for utilisation is enhanced oil recovery and it is compared with conventional way of oil production. The effect of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage in greenhouse gas reduction are presented in term of rice and wheat’s supply chains to make people conscious about the use and optimisation of food. The reduction of greenhouse gas is around 6-7% in rice supply chain e.g. rice milk, spoons of uncooked rice and 14-16% in wheat supply chain e.g. pasta, one slice of bread. Although the alternative with carbon dioxide storage demonstrates marginally higher greenhouse gas reduction, enhanced oil recovery may offer economic incentive from additional oil production that could reduce the cost of rice and wheat

Investigation of equilibrium and dynamic performance of SrCl2-expanded graphite composite in chemisorption refrigeration system

This work experimentally investigated adsorption equilibrium and reaction kinetics of ammonia adsorption/desorption on the composite of strontium chloride (SrCl2) impregnated into expanded graphite, and also discussed the potential influence of the addition of expanded graphite on the SrCl2-NH3 reaction characteristics. The measured and analysed results can be very useful information to design the system and operating conditions using the similar chemisorption composites. Equilibrium concentration characteristics of ammonia within the studied composite were measured using the heat sources at 90 °C, 100 °C and 110 °C for the decomposition process, where the degree of conversion achieved 50%, 78% and 96% respectively. Therefore, the equilibrium equation reflecting the relationship between temperature, pressure and concentration was developed, and a pseudo-equilibrium zone was found, which should be useful information to setup the system operating condition for the desired global transformation. It was suspected that the addition of expanded graphite altered the reaction equilibrium due to the pore effect and the salt-confinement. The concept of two-stage kinetic model was proposed and kinetic parameters were determined by fitting experimental data. The developed kinetic equations can predict dynamic cyclic performance of a reactive bed in similar geometric structure with reasonable accuracy. Such a chemisorption cycle using the SrCl2-expnaded graphite (mass ratio 2:1) composite can be used for cooling application, and the maximum SCP value can be achieved as high as 656 W/kg at t = 2.5 min, and the COP can be 0.3 after one hour of synthesis process under the condition of Tev = 0 °C, Tcon = 20 °C, Theat = 110 °C

A comparative life cycle assessment of marine power systems

Despite growing interest in advanced marine power systems, knowledge gaps existed as it was uncertain which configuration would be more environmentally friendly. Using a conventional system as a reference, the comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) study aimed to compare and verify the environmental benefits of advanced marine power systems i.e. retrofit and new-build systems which incorporated emerging technologies. To estimate the environmental impact attributable to each system, a bottom-up integrated system approach was applied, i.e. LCA models were developed for individual components using GaBi, optimised operational profiles and input data standardised from various sources. The LCA models were assessed using CML2001, ILCD and Eco-Indicator99 methodologies. The estimates for the advanced systems were compared to those of the reference system. The inventory analysis results showed that both retrofit and new-build systems consumed less fuels (8.28% and 29.7% respectively) and released less emissions (5.2–16.6% and 29.7–55.5% respectively) during operation whilst more resources were consumed during manufacture, dismantling and the end of life. For 14 impact categories relevant to global warming, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation and PM/respiratory inorganic health issues, reduction in LCIA results was achieved by retrofit (2.7–6.6%) and new-build systems (35.7–50.7%). The LCIA results of the retrofit system increased in ecotoxicity (1–8%), resource depletion (1–2%) and fossil fuel depletion (17.7–161.9%). Larger magnitude of increase was shown by the new-build system in ecotoxicity (90–93.9%) and fossil fuel depletion (391.3%) as a result of handling additional scrap. Relative contribution of significant components towards environmental impact remained profound for the retrofit system (i.e. more than 84% for all impact categories) and became more prominent for the new-build system (approximately 99% for 18 impacts). For retrofit and new-build systems respectively, changes in fuel consumption quantity by ±10% and ±20% varied (i) ecotoxicity and land use by no means, (ii) fossil fuel depletion by 0.95–1.50 and 4.81–5.01 times assessed by CML2001 (or 0.95–1.50 and 5.12–5.32 times assessed by Eco-Indicator99); and (iii) the remaining impact categories by 0.65–1.37 and 0.34–0.92 times. The new-build system showed the greatest mitigation potential in 18 impact categories. The retrofit system was more environmentally friendly than the reference system. Appropriate life cycle management was warrant to avoid burden shifting whilst alleviating the environmental burdens at the same time

Investigating the implications of a new-build hybrid power system for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ships from a sustainability perspective – A life cycle assessment case study

Marine transport has been essential for international trade. Concern for its environmental impact was growing among regulators, classification societies, ship operators, ship owners, and other stakeholders. By applying life cycle assessment, this article aimed to assess the impact of a new-build hybrid system (i.e. an electric power system which incorporated lithium ion batteries, photovoltaic systems and cold-ironing) designed for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ships. The study was carried out based on a bottom-up integrated system approach using the optimised operational profile and background information for manufacturing processes, mass breakdown and end of life management plans. Resources such as metallic and non-metallic materials and energy required for manufacture, operation, maintenance, dismantling and scrap handling were estimated. During operation, 1.76 × 108 kg of marine diesel oil was burned, releasing carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide which ranged 5–8 orders of magnitude. The operation of diesel gensets was the primary cause of impact categories that were relevant to particulate matter or respiratory inorganic health issues, photochemical ozone creation, eutrophication, acidification, global warming and human toxicity. Disposing metallic scrap was accountable for the most significant impact category, ecotoxicity potential. The environmental benefits of the hybrid power system in most impact categories were verified in comparison with a conventional power system onboard cargo ships. The estimated results for individual impact categories were verified using scenario analysis. The study concluded that the life cycle of a new-build hybrid power system would result in significant impact on the environment, human beings and natural reserves, and therefore proper management of such a system was imperative

Trigeneration integrated with absorption enhanced reforming of lignite and biomass

A technical investigation of an innovative trigeneration integrated with absorption enhanced reforming (AER) of lignite and biomass is carried out using the ECLIPSE process simulator. The system includes an internal combustion engine, an AER gasifier, a waste heat recovery and storage unit and an absorption refrigerator. The whole system is operated in the following sequence: The AER gasifier is used to generate hydrogen using lignite and biomass; the hydrogen generated is used to run the engine which drives a generator to produce electricity. Additionally, the heat recovery unit collects waste heat from the engine and is used to supply hot water and space heating. Furthermore, the waste heat is used to operate the absorption refrigerator. The electricity, heat and cooling can be used to meet the energy requirements for the households in a village, a resident building or a commercial building, or a supermarket. Within the study, the effects of lignite mixed with three different types of biomass (straw, willow and switch grass) on the system performance are investigated and the results are compared. The results show that it is feasible to use an AER system to reform the low quality fuels lignite and biomass to generate a cleaner fuel – hydrogen to replace fossil fuels (diesel or natural gas) and to fuel an engine based trigeneration system; the system works with high efficiencies and with a potential of carbon capture from the sorbent-regeneration process that would benefit the environment

Electricity-assisted thermochemical sorption system for seasonal solar energy storage

The present paper investigated the seasonal solar thermal energy storage (SSTES) using solid-gas thermochemical sorption technology that has inherently combined function of heat pump and energy storage. The thermochemical reactions that can discharge heat at a higher temperature usually requires a relatively higher desorption temperature during charging process, which could be problematic to efficiently recover solar energy in high-latitude regions like the UK when using the most mature and economic solar thermal collector (flat-plate or evacuated tube type). The present work studied two hybrid concepts where an electric-driven compressor or an electric heater was introduced to supplement the thermochemical desorption process in terms of pressure rise and temperature lift, respectively, when the available solar heat was not sufficiently high. The SrCl2-8/1NH3 chemisorption was selected from 230 ammonia-chemisorption reactions due to its suitable adsorption/desorption temperature and large energy storage density. The performance of two hybrid systems using SrCl2-8/1NH3 chemisorption were evaluated and compared to determine the optimal solution. The results revealed that the hybrid thermochemical sorption with a compressor substantially improved the storage capacity compared to that with electric heater. With a compression ratio of 4, the SSTES system with 20 m2 solar collector under the weather condition of Newcastle upon Tyne can store 3226.8 kWh chemisorption heat in summer by charging 4465.4 kWh solar heat and 848.2 kWh electricity, indicating 60.7% storage efficiency; the corresponding energy density based on the overall system volume is 147.3 kWh/m3. Because of using the renewable solar heat and low carbon intensity electricity in summer, the proposed hybrid SSTES system has noteworthy reduction on carbon emission compared to gas boiler and conventional heat pump