Cascade utilization of lignocellulosic biomass to high-value products

This review on current US municipal solid waste-to-energy trends highlighted regional contrasts on technology adoption, unique challenges of each technology, commonly used decision support tools, and major operators. In US only 13% of MSW is used for energy recovery and 53% is landfilled. There are 86 WTE facilities that mostly use Mass-Burn and Refuse-Derived Fuel technologies and are concentrated in densely populated northeast (predominantly in New York) and the State of Florida. For the rest of the country most of the MSW ends up in landfills equipped with gas recovery, which is supplied to homes or used for electricity generation. However, there are many pilot and experimental systems based on advanced gasification and pyrolysis processes, which are viewed as potential technologies to respond to an issue of landfills nearing full capacity in various US states. These systems are viewed as “cleaner” (65% less toxic residue) than established mass burn technologies but not matured to commercialization due technical and cost hurdles. Operation and maintenance costs between $40-$100 per ton of MSW were reported for gasification systems. The heterogeneous nature of MSW, gas cleaning and air pollution controls are the main disadvantages. Key design and decision support tools used by the scientific community and major operators in US include: Techno-economic analysis, Life cycle sustainability assessment, and Reverse logistics modeling. A conclusion drawn from reviewed studies is that adoption of thermal WTE technologies in US could continue to increase, albeit slowly, in coastal and urban areas lacking suitable lands for new landfills.

A review on municipal solid waste-to-energy trends in the USA

Pyrolysis behavior and product distributions of biomass six group components: Starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, protein and oil

A review on the pyrolysis of algal biomass for biochar and bio-oil – Bottlenecks and scope

Adsorptive removal of cationic methylene blue and anionic Congo red dyes using wet-torrefied microalgal biochar: Equilibrium, kinetic and mechanism modeling

From the conventional use of biomass in the form of heating to the modern day use of biomass in the form of electricity generation and biofuel production, biomass has always been part of the evolution of mankind Modern day use of biomass is gradually becoming more complex, and engineering played an important role in defining different directions This review provides an overall view of biomass utilization through thermal treatment including combustion, pyrolysis, and gasification Efficient use of biomass with the desired output and minimizing the drawbacks are the core of the research, and marginal focus is being held on developing new techniques The variety of composition and uptake of different elements throughout the lifespan of biomass produces a mixture of results In general, it can be seen that the optimization was observed either in the form of chemical looping combustion to prevent greenhouse gas emission or in upgrading of bio-oil to produce biofuels The significant factor is the reaction co

A Combined Overview of Combustion, Pyrolysis, and Gasification of Biomass

Carbon conversion and stabilisation of date palm and high rate algal pond (microalgae) biomass through slow pyrolysis

Distributed Generation (DG) has become an essential part of the smart grids due to the widespread integration of renewable energy sources. Reactive power compensation is still one of most important research topics in smart grids. DG units can be used for reactive power compensation purposes, therefore we can improve the voltage profile and minimize power losses in order to improve the power quality. In this paper two methods will be used to accomplish the mentioned tasks; the first technique depends on the reactive power demand change of the proposed network loads, whereas the second technique uses an algorithm to control DG units according to the measured voltage values in the feeders to generate the needed reactive power. Both methods were applied to different scenarios of DG unit positions and different reactive power values of loads. The chosen DG unit is made up of a Type-4 wind farm which could be used as a general unit where it is able to control reactive power generation in a wider range separately from active power. The simulation results show that using these two methods, the voltage profile could be improved, power losses reduced and the power factor increased according to the placement of DG units.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/6/1399/pdf

Voltage Regulation and Power Loss Minimization in Radial Distribution Systems via Reactive Power Injection and Distributed Generation Unit Placement

Importance of date palms as a source of nutrition.

The electric power sector in countries suffering from crises and wars such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, etc., is among the most affected infrastructures. Since this sector plays a vital role in the economic growth and in improving people’s quality of life, the post-crisis reconstruction of this sector must take into account the requirements and concepts of sustainable development (SD) in addition to technical and economic considerations. This article discusses the role that renewable energy sources (RES) can play in achieving SD in the post-crisis reconstruction phase of the Syrian Electric Power Sector (SEPS) as a case study. Based on the available data, the study period was chosen from 2005 to 2017 and divided into two periods. In the first period (2005–2010), which is the pre-crisis period, the structure of the SEPS and its main characteristics were described while the adoption of RES solutions and SD concepts were investigated. In the second period (2011–2017), the crisis period, the satiation of the SEPS and impact of the crisis were evaluated. The challenges that faced the adoption of SD concepts and RES solution were also addressed at this stage. Based on analysis and comparison of the available data, several scenarios were discussed to evaluate the role of RES in achieving SD in the post-crisis reconstruction phase of the SEPS. EnergyPLAN software was used for the techno and socio-economic evaluation of these scenarios. Our results emphasize the importance of the adoption of RES solutions in the reconstruction phase, as these can help promote SD concepts (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the environment, increasing energy efficiency, creating jobs, etc.) and securing the electric supply of the SEPS while enhancing its stability.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6326/pdf

Vladimir Krepl

Papers

A Combined Overview of Combustion, Pyrolysis, and Gasification of Biomass

Carbon conversion and stabilisation of date palm and high rate algal pond (microalgae) biomass through slow pyrolysis

Voltage Regulation and Power Loss Minimization in Radial Distribution Systems via Reactive Power Injection and Distributed Generation Unit Placement

Importance of date palms as a source of nutrition.

The Role of Renewable Energies in the Sustainable Development of Post-Crisis Electrical Power Sectors Reconstruction