Rail vs truck transport of biomass

This study analyzes the economics of transshipping biomass from truck to train in a North American setting. Transshipment will only be economic when the cost per unit distance of a second transportation mode is less than the original mode. There is an optimum number of transshipment terminals which is related to biomass yield. Transshipment incurs incremental fixed costs, and hence there is a minimum shipping distance for rail transport above which lower costs/km offset the incremental fixed costs. For transport by dedicated unit train with an optimum number of terminals, the minimum economic rail shipping distance for straw is 170 km, and for boreal forest harvest residue wood chips is 145 km. The minimum economic shipping distance for straw exceeds the biomass draw distance for economically sized centrally located power plants, and hence the prospects for rail transport are limited to cases in which traffic congestion from truck transport would otherwise preclude project development. Ideally, wood chip transport costs would be lowered by rail transshipment for an economically sized centrally located power plant, but in a specific case in Alberta, Canada, the layout of existing rail lines precludes a centrally located plant supplied by rail, whereas a more versatile road system enables it by truck. Hence for wood chips as well as straw the economic incentive for rail transport to centrally located processing plants is limited. Rail transshipment may still be preferred in cases in which road congestion precludes truck delivery, for example as result of community objections.     

Mechanism of the thermal decomposition of nitrates from graphite furnace mass spectrometry studies

A basically new mechanism of the thermal decomposition of solids is proposed to explain the mass spectral observations of gaseous molecules of CoO, CuO, Cu₂O, NiO, PbO and Mg(OH)₂ during the low-temperature decomposition of the anhydrous and hydrated nitrates of these metals. The mechanism consists of two stages: congruent gasification of all reaction products irrespective of their saturated vapor pressure and subsequent condensation of the low-volatility species (oxides and hydroxides). The partial pressures of these species at the appearance temperatures calculated from this theory for the first stage of the process (1–50 mPa) are in agreement with the detection limits of the quadrupole mass spectrometers used in these experiments. The proposed mechanism is supported by other available data obtained by thermal analysis.     

不同常压流化床煤气化方案的模型预测 Ⅰ. 模型建立及验证

为评价不同气化方案对常压流化床气化的影响，从化学动力学角度并结合化学平衡建立了流化床气化模型，该模型考虑了煤热解和气化所经历的各反应过程。模型预测结果与文献报道的试验数据吻合较好，气化组分的平方误差和在10%左右，表明该模型可以用来预测各种气化方案对常压流化床气化的气化过程、生成煤气组分和气化效率等方面的影响。     

Comparison of yellow poplar pretreatment between NREL digester and sunds hydrolyzer

Single-stage cocurrent dilute acid pretreatments were carried out on yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) sawdust using an as-installed and short residence time modified pilot-scale Sunds hydrolyzer and a 4-L bench-scale NREL digester (steam explosion reactor). Pretreatment conditions for the Sunds hydrolyzer, installed in the NREL process development unit (PDU), which operates at 1 t/d (bone-dry t) feed rate, spanned the temperature range of 160 – 210°C, 0.1 – 1.0% (w/w) sulfuric acid, and 4-10-min residence times. The batch pretreatments of yellow poplar sawdust in the bench-scale digester were carried out at 210 and 230°C, 0.26% (w/w) sulfuric acid, and 1-, 3-, and 4-min residence times. The dilute acid prehydrolysis solubilized more than 90% of the hemicellulose, and increased the enzymatic digestibility of the cellulose that remained in the solids. Compositional analysis of the pretreated solids and liquors and mass balance data show that the two pretreatment devices had similar pretreatment performance.     

Coordinating California’s efforts to promote waste to alcohol production

Alcohol fuels produced from biomass can improve air quality, enhance energy security, create employment opportunities, and reduce waste disposal problems. Opportunities in California exist to produce alcohols from waste streams from various sectors of the economy. Government agencies have promoted waste-to-alcohol activities, but efforts have been inconsistent and intermittent. Often these efforts have been hindered by contradictory but mandate-driven policies. A prudent approach to coordinate statewide efforts includes the development of an integrated statewide policy to examine barriers that impede private sector business efforts to produce alcohols from biomass. A multi-agency task force to promote research, development, commercialization, and marketing efforts for biomass-produced alcohols is desirable. The views and opinions contained in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the California Energy Commission, its staff, management, or the State of California.     

Overwhelming electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction of zinc-nitrogen-carbon from biomass resource chitosan via a facile carbon bath method

Developing high efficiency and low cost electrocatalysts is critical for the enhancement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is the fundamental for the development and commercialization of renewable energy conversion technology. Herein, zinc-nitrogen-carbon (Zn-N-C) was prepared by using biomass resource chitosan via a facile carbon bath method. The obtained Zn-N-C delivered a high specific surface area (794.7 cm²/g) together with pore volume (0.49 cm³/g). During the electrochemical evaluation of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), Zn-N-C displayed high activity for ORR with an onset potential E₀ = 0.96 V_RHE and a half wave potential E_1/2 = 0.86 V_RHE, which were more positive than those of the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C benchmark catalyst (E₀ = 0.96 V_RHE and E_1/2 = 0.81 V_RHE). In addition, the Zn-N-C catalyst also had a better stability and methanol tolerance than those of the Pt/C catalyst.     

Pulverized coal plasma gasification

A number of experiments on the plasma-vapor gasification of brown coals of three types have been carried out using an experimental plant with an electric-arc reactor of the combined type. On the basis of the material and heat balances, process parameters have been obtained: the degree of carbon gasification (_c), the level of sulfur conversion into the gas phase (_s), the synthesis gas concentration (CO+Hz) in the gaseous products, and the specific power consumption for the gasification process. The degree of gasification was 90.5-95.0%, the concentration of the synthesis gas amounted to 84.7–85.7%, and the level of sulfur conversion into the gas phase was 94.3–96.7%. Numerical study of the process of plasma gasification of coals was carried out using a mathematical model of motion, heating, and gasification of polydisperse coal particles in an electric-arc reactor of the combined type with an internal heat source (arc). The initial conditions for a conjugate system of nonlinear differential equations of the gas dynamics and kinetics of a pulverized coal stream interacting with the electric arc and oxidizer (water vapor) agree with the initial conditions of the experiments. The computation results satisfactorily correlate with the experimental data. The mathematical model can be used for the determination of reagent residence time and geometrical dimensions of the plasma reactor for the gasification of coals.Nomenclature c _i volume concentration of components (kmol m^–3) - x longitudinal coordinate (m) - f _i source members, determined by variation of the ith component due to chemical reactions in unit volume in unit time (kmol m^–3s^–1) - velocity (m s^–1) - M _s ash mass in one particle (kg) - C _D particle drag coefficient - 3.14 - r _s particle radius (m) - d particle diameter (m) - density (kg m^–3) - C _p heat capacity of components (J mol^t– K^–1) - Q _j thermal effect of reaction (J kmol^–1) - E_j activation energy of reaction - N _l volume concentration of particles of thelth fraction (m^–3) - T temperature (K) - emissivity factor of coal particles - 5.67 × 10^–8, blackbody emissivity coefficient (W m^–2 K^–4) - P pressure (Pa) - S reactor cross section (m²) - D reactor diameter (m) - V reactor volume (m³) - L _R reactor length (m) - F _W friction force on the wall (N) - f _g friction coefficient - residence time (s) - Nu Nusselt number - Re Reynolds number - Pr Prandtl number - thermal conductivity of gas (J m^– s^–1 K^–1) - R 8.3 × 10³, universal gas constant (J kmol K^–1) - µ _i molecular mass of component (kg kmol^–1) - dynamic viscosity coefficient of gas (kg m^–1 s^–1) - thermal efficiency of plasma reactor - q_arc specific heat flow from arc (W m^–3) - P ₁ heat supplied in vapor at T = 405 K (W) - P ₂ heat loss to wall (W) - P ₃ heat loss in the gas and slag separator chamber (W) - P ₄ heat loss in the synthesis gas oxidation chamber (W) - P ₅ heat loss in the slag catcher (W) - P ₆ heat carried away in the off-gas (W) - P heat input of arc (W) - P _arc electric power of arc (W) - Q_sp specific power consumption (kw Hr kg^–1) - d _w specific heat flow to wall (W m^–2) - _c degree of carbon gasification (%) - _s level of sulfur conversion into gas phase (%)     

生物质在流化床中的空气-水蒸气气化研究

以流化床为反应器，对生物质的空气-水蒸气气化特性进行了研究。考察了一些主要参变量，如温度 (700 ℃～900 ℃)、水蒸气/生物质比(0～4.04)、空气当量比(0.19～0.27)以及生物质粒度(0.2 mm～0.9 mm)等对气化结果的影响。在实验研究的条件范围内，生物质产气率在1.43 m3/kg～2.57 m3/kg范围内变化，产气的低热值在6 741 kJ/m3～9 143 kJ/m3范围内变化。实验结果表明：较高的气化温度有利于氢的产生；但气化温度过高会使气体热值下降；与常规的空气气化相比，水蒸气的加入使生物质气化产气率显著提高，但水蒸气加入量过多使气化温度下降，产气率和产气热值降低；生物质颗粒粒度的大小对产气组分的分布和产气率均有影响，较小颗粒的生物质会产生较多的CH4、CO和较少的CO2。