Thermodynamic analysis of H2 production by oxidative steam reforming of butanol-ethanol-water mixture recovered from Acetone:Butanol:Ethanol fermentation

Thermodynamic equilibrium analysis has been adopted for oxidative steam reforming of butanol-ethanol mixture (B-E) as renewable source obtained from Acetone:Butanol:Ethanol (ABE) fermentation to produce H₂ by using Gibbs free energy minimization method. The effects of pressure (1–10 atm), temperature (573–1473 K), steam/fuel molar feed ratio (f_O1 = 9 and 12), O₂/fuel molar feed ratio (f_O2 = 0–3), and B-E mixture compositions (50–90%B) on equilibrium compositions of H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄, and carbon are performed. The maximum H₂ yield (65.456% for f_O2 = 0 and 58% for f_O2 = 0.75) has been achieved at f_O1 = 9, 90% B mixture, 1 atm, and 973 K. The yields of CO, CO₂, and CH₄ with respect to maximum H₂ are 53.390%, 44.384%, and 2.225% for f_O2 = 0, and 45.677%, 53.269%, and 1.053% for f_O2 = 0.75, respectively. Energy required per mol of H₂, thermal and exergy efficiencies for the process are also evaluated to utilize the potential of B–E mixture for H₂ production.     

An analysis of SOFC/GT CHP system based on exergetic performance criteria

In this study, we first consider developing a thermodynamic model of solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine combined heat and power (SOFC/GT CHP) system under steady-state operation using zero-dimensional approach. Additionally, energetic performance results of the developed model are compared with the literature concerning SOFC/GT hybrid systems for its reliability. Moreover, exergy analysis is carried out based on the developed model to obtain a more efficient system by the determination of irreversibilities. For exergetic performance evaluation, exergy efficiency, exergy output and exergy loss rate of the system are considered as classical criteria. Alternatively, exergetic performance coefficient (EPC) as a new criterion is investigated with regard to main design parameters such as fuel utilization, current density, recuperator effectiveness, compressor pressure ratio and pinch point temperature, aiming at achieving higher exergy output with lower exergy loss in the system. The simulation results of the SOFC/GT CHP system investigated, working at maximum EPC conditions, show that a design based on EPC criterion has considerable advantage in terms of entropy-generation rate.     

Experimental analysis,hybridization and exergetic investigation of an absorption refrigeration unit

In this work, an experimental and theoretical investigation of a frozen and hot water production unit with direct gas absorption is developed. Water/ammonia couple is used.A particular interest is given to the system performances evaluation such as exergetic efficiency and total exergy loss. Parameters analyzed are coefficients of performance, irreversibility and exergetic efficiency.Results show that the machine can reach a COP up to 65% and exergetic efficiency up to 18% for a working temperature and a condensation temperature of 120 °C and 18 °C, respectively. These performances decrease for a condensation temperature of 37 °C and 47 °C. Indeed, the engine is less efficient and presents more irreversibility, which is major in the pre-absorber and the absorber.An improvement of the machine cycle is proposed, in order to adapt it to low grade heat sources, using a compressor upstream of the pre-absorber. Performances of the new hybrid cycle are better than those of the real cycle.     

Energetic and exergetic aspects of cotton stalk production in establishing energy policies

Exergy analysis is important for energy resource utilization, because exergy, which is a way to a sustainable future, is a part of the energy analysis. Exergy analysis starts to play a role in several countries in developing energy policy. This paper deals with the exergetic assessment of the cotton stalk (CS) production. In this regard, Turkey, which is one of the eight countries producing 85% of the world's cotton, is given as an application country first. Energy and exergy relations used in the analysis are then presented. Finally, the Turkish CS production in 2003 is evaluated using energy and exergy analyses method, while the results obtained are discussed. The values for the net energy and exergy gained are obtained to be about 49,146 and 59,395 MJ/ha, respectively. Turkey's total energy and exergy are estimated to be 75.45 and 81.87 PJ. It may be concluded that this amount of energy is equal to 7.77% and 2.38% of Turkey's primary energy production and consumption in the same year, respectively. The overall mean energy and exergy efficiencies of the cotton production in the year studied are found to be 33.06% and 33.12%, respectively. It is also expected that the results of this study will be helpful in developing highly applicable and productive planning for energy policies.     

Energetic and economic evaluation of a poplar cultivation for the biomass production in Italy

The cultivation of crops for biomass production on good soils allows to reduce surplus production of food crops and increase the sustainability of energy production from the environmental point of view. The short rotation forestry (SRF), is only at a preliminary study level in Italy but, is already a reality in North Europe where was already developed an high planting density (6000–8000 cuttings ha^-1) technique and a whole mechanization of plantation and biomass harvest.On the basis of this cultivation technique, it was realized as an energetic and economic evaluation of a poplar SRF in Northern Italy. In detail, they were considered data of poplar growth in a plantation for the production of two-year whips in Western Po Valley considering SRF duration of 8 years and a biomass (20 t ha⁻¹ D.M.) harvest every 2 years. Indeed it was assumed to operate on a plantation in production (12.5% of the surface replanted every year) with a spacing 3.00 × 0.4 m (6700 cutting per hectare) that allows the use of conventional tractors.In this computing system it was pointed out a ratio between output and input energy of 13 and a cost of 80 € t⁻¹ of D.M. Nevertheless a positive energetic balance, the economic sustainability of poplar SRF depends, due to the present monopolistic energy management in the same countries, on political choices of chip price or public subventions to the producers.     

Energetic and exergetic performance evaluation of the quadruple-effect evaporator unit in tomato paste production

Quadruple-effect evaporator units are commonly used in food focus area in sector is evaporative unit. It consumes about 60% of total energy input. The present study evaluates the performance of quadruple-effect evaporator unit (QEEU) by using exergy analysis based on actual operational data. A tomato paste factory is chosen for the analysis. The highest exergy destruction/loss occurs in the first effect with 158.2 kW, 52.7% of exergy input in first effect. Steam temperature should be decreased in order to decrease exergy destruction in first effect. Also, third effect achieves the highest exergy efficiency with 93.3%. Exergetic improvement potential of each effect varies between 0.3 kW and 83.6 kW. The highest and lowest exergetic improvement potential occurs in first and third effect of QEEU system, respectively. Exergetic improvement potential is equals to 52.80%, 11.10%, 6.73% and 69.8% of exergy loss/destruction from the first effect to the last effect, respectively. Total exergetic improvement potential is achieved as 128 kW (55% of total exergy loss/destruction) in QEEU system. It is expected that analyses result provide important information for designer and/or resources of multiple effect evaporator unit.     

Hydrogen production from swine manure biogas via steam reforming of methane (SRM) and water gas shift (WGS): A ecological,technical, and economic analysis

Inadequate management of swine manure can lead to contamination of watercourses, groundwater, soil, and air, representing a risk to the sustainability and expansion of pig farming as an economic activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of this waste for the production of hydrogen from swine manure biogas through steam reforming and water gas shift processes. In this study, calculations of ecological, exergetic and economic efficiencies were carried out. The ecological efficiency, pollution indicator and energy efficiency of the process were, respectively, 93.73%, 19.15 and 79.06%, showing the viability from an ecological standpoint. This is an 8-year plant payback with a hydrogen production cost of $0.14/kWh, in a production scenario of 8760 h/year, showing an exergetic efficiency of 76%. The results from these analyses demonstrates that this type of hydrogen production is an attractive economic route. The results from these analyses have shown that this hydrogen production technology has great economic potential and presents high exegetic yield.     

Exergetic Comparative Analysis of Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide Two-Stage Cycles for Simultaneous Cooling and Heating

The paper deals with the comparative analysis of the performance of cooling and heating systems operating with NH3 （ammonia） or CO2 （carbon dioxide）, both natural refrigerants. The study is based on the exergetic analysis that points out the location and the magnitude of a system malfunction. Both systems, with NH3 or CO2 operate in two stages. The exergetic analysis gives the direction of the structural optimization. The exergetic analysis has shown that the best structural schematic is not the same for the two agents. The exergetic analysis points out that the largest exergy destruction in the CO2 cycle is due to the throttling process and offers solutions to diminish it.     

Dispatch strategy and model for hybrid photovoltaic and trigeneration power systems

The advent of small scale combined heat and power (CHP) systems has provided the opportunity for in-house power backup of residential-scale photovoltaic (PV) arrays. These hybrid systems enjoy a symbiotic relationship between components, but have large thermal energy wastes when operated to provide 100% of the electric load. In a novel hybrid system is proposed here of PV-trigeneration. In order to reduce waste from excess heat, an absorption chiller has been proposed to utilize the CHP-produced thermal energy for cooling of PV-CHP system. This complexity has brought forth entirely new levels of system dynamics and interaction that require numerical simulation in order to optimize system design. This paper introduces a dispatch strategy for such a system that accounts for electric, domestic hot water, space heating, and space cooling load categories. The dispatch strategy was simulated for a typical home in Vancouver and the results indicate an improvement in performance of over 50% available when a PV-CHP system also accounts for cooling. The dispatch strategy and simulation are to be used as a foundation for an optimization algorithm of such systems.     

Energetic and exergetic performance evaluations of a geothermal power plant based integrated system for hydrogen production

In this paper, we propose an integrated system aiming for hydrogen production with by-products using geothermal power as a renewable energy source. In analyzing the system, an extensive thermodynamic model of the proposed system is developed and presented accordingly. In addition, the energetic and exergetic efficiencies and exergy destruction rates for the whole system and its parts are defined. Due to the significance of some parameters, the impacts of varying working conditions are also investigated. The results of the energetic and exergetic analyses of the integrated system show that the energy and exergy efficiencies are 39.46% and 44.27%, respectively. Furthermore, the system performance increases with the increasing geothermal source temperature and reference temperature while it decreases with the increasing pinch point temperature and turbine inlet pressure.     

联合循环热电冷三联供系统的热经济性分析

燃气—蒸汽联合循环的热电冷三联供系统是一种崭新的能量供应系统,它实现了能量的梯级利用。本文在联合循环的热电冷三联供系统基础上,从总热效率、效率和经济效率三个方面并结合具体实例对系统进行了热经济性计算和分析。     

几种供热热源的特点与能耗分析

介绍了热电联产、区域锅炉房、分散燃气锅炉房、单户式燃气炉和地下水源热泵等主要供热热源的特点,对比分析了各种热源形式供热系统的一次能源消耗量,并提出了供暖热源选择的优先顺序,为不同现状下新旧建筑的供热方式提供建议。     

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) of the production of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO)

The paper assesses the life cycle of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO). Such life cycle involves 4 stages: 1) collection, 2) pre-treatment, 3) delivery and 4) transesterification of UCO. Generally, UCO is collected from restaurants, food industries and recycling centres by authorised companies. Then, UCO is pre-treated to remove solid particles and water to increase its quality. After that, it is charged in cistern trucks and delivered to the biodiesel facility to be then transesterified with methanol to biodiesel.     

Energy analysis of in-series biohydrogen and methane production from organic wastes

Biohydrogen production has been coupled in some cases to other energy production technologies in order to overcome its modest energy gains. Anaerobic digestion, when used for methane recovery, has long been regarded as an energy recovery technology. We determined the energy potential from the coupling of either semi-continuous or batch hydrogen lab-scale bioreactors to a methanogenic stage. All processes were performed in solid substrate fermentation mode using the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes as first fed.     

Thermodynamic analysis of steam reforming and oxidative steam reforming of propane and butane for hydrogen production

Thermodynamic analyses of cracking, partial oxidation (POX), steam reforming (SR) and oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of butane and propane (for comparison) were performed using the Gibbs free energy minimization method under the reaction conditions of T = 250–1000 °C, steam-to-carbon ratio (S/C) of 0.5–5 and O₂/HC (hydrocarbon) ratio of 0–2.4. The simulations for the cracking and POX processes showed that olefins and acetylene can be easily generated through the cracking reactions and can be removed by adding an appropriate amount of oxygen. For SR and OSR of propane and butane, predicted carbon formation only occurred at low S/C ratios (<2) with the maximum level of carbon formation at 550–650 °C. For the thermal-neutral conditions, the TN temperatures decrease with the increase of the S/C ratio (except for O/C = 0.6) and the decrease of the O/C ratio. The simulated results for SR or OSR of propane and butane are very close under the investigated conditions.     

An analysis of the legal and market framework for the cogeneration sector in Croatia

Following a strategic orientation towards sustainable development, the Government of the Republic of Croatia has changed its energy legislation and has put forward a framework for the systematic development and increased use of renewable energy sources and cogeneration. This paper focuses on changes in the regulatory context relevant to the cogeneration sector and also analyses the impact of energy market transition on cogeneration viability in municipal district heating, industry, services and the residential sector. Particular attention has been paid to the expected changes of heat, electricity and gas prices. We present a simple model for quantitative prediction of the cogeneration system profitability at different power levels under given national circumstances. Our findings support a need for a strong institutional support for initial penetration of the micro-cogeneration technologies into the Croatian energy system.     

Exergoenvironmental analysis of a steam methane reforming process for hydrogen production

Steam methane reforming (SMR) is one of the most promising processes for hydrogen production. Several studies have demonstrated its advantages from the economic viewpoint. Nowadays process development is based on technical and economical aspects; however, in the near future, the environmental impact will play a significant role in the design of such processes. In this paper, an SMR process is studied from the viewpoint of overall environmental impact, using an exergoenvironmental analysis. This analysis presents the combination of exergy analysis and life cycle assessment. Components where chemical reactions occur are the most important plant components from the exergoenvironmental point of view, because, in general, there is a high environmental impact associated with these components. This is mainly caused by the exergy destruction within the components, and this in turn is mainly due to the chemical reactions. The obtained results show that the largest potential for reducing the overall environmental impact is associated with the combustion reactor, the steam reformer, the hydrogen separation unit and the major heat exchangers. The environmental impact in these components can mainly be reduced by improving their exergetic efficiency. A sensitivity analysis for some important exergoenvironmental variables is also presented in the paper.     

Exergetic analysis of carbon dioxide vapour compression refrigeration cycle using the new fundamental equation of state

The purpose of this paper is to present exergy charts for carbon dioxide (CO₂) based on the new fundamental equation of state and the results of a thermodynamic analysis of conventional and trans-critical vapour compression refrigeration cycles using the data thereof. The calculation scheme is anchored on the Mathematica platform. There exist upper and lower bounds for the high cycle pressure for a given set of evaporating and pre-throttling temperatures. The maximum possible exergetic efficiency for each case was determined. Empirical correlations for exergetic efficiency and COP, valid in the range of temperatures studied here, are obtained. The exergy losses have been quantified.     

Thermodynamic analysis of steam reforming of ethanol and glycerine for hydrogen production

In the past few years there has been a growing interest in environmentally clean renewable sources for hydrogen production. In this context new technologies have been developed for ethanol and glycerine reforming. Hydrogen production varies significantly according to the operating conditions such as pressure, temperature and feed reactants ratio. The thermodynamic analysis provides important knowledge about the effects of those variables on the process of ethanol and glycerine reforming. The present work was aimed at analyzing the thermodynamic steam reforming of ethanol and glycerine, using Gibbs free energy minimization using actual temperature and pressure data found in the literature. The nonlinear programming model was implemented in GAMS^® and the CONOPT2 solver was used to solve the equations. The ideality in gaseous phase and the formation of solid carbon was considered. The methodology used reproduced the most relevant papers involving experimental studies and thermodynamic analysis.