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Membrane-based technologies for biogas upgrading: a review
Global warming caused by increasing CO2 atmospheric levels is calling for sustainable fuels. For instance, biomethane produced by biogas upgrading is a promising source of green energy. Technologies to upgrade biogas include chemical absorption, water scrubbing, physical absorption, adsorption, cryogenic separation and membrane separation. Historically, water scrubbing was preferred because of the simplicity of this operation. However, during the last decade, membrane separation stood out due to its promising economic viability with investment costs of 3500–7500 €/(m3/h) and operational costs of 7.5–12.5 €/(m3/h). Here we review biogas upgrading by membrane separation. We discuss gas permeation, membrane materials, membrane modules, process configurations and commercial biogas plants. Polymeric materials appear as most adequate for membranes aimed to upgrade biogas. Concerning membrane modules, hollow fibers are the cheapest (1.5–9 €/m2). Multistage configurations provide high methane recovery, of 99%, and purity, of 95–99%, compared to single-stage configurations.
Journal Article
Innovative ex-situ biological biogas upgrading using immobilized biomethanation bioreactor (IBBR)
Biogas, which typically consists of about 50–70% of methane gas, is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic waste and wastewater. Biogas is considered an important energy resource with much potential; however, its application is low due to its low quality. In this regard, upgrading it to natural gas quality (above 90% methane) will broaden its application. In this research, a novel ex-situ immobilized biomethanation bioreactor (IBBR) was developed for biologically upgrading biogas by reducing CO2 to CH4 using hydrogen gas as an electron donor. The developed process is based on immobilized microorganisms within a polymeric matrix enabling the application of high recirculation to increase the hydrogen bioavailability. This generates an increase in the consumption rate of hydrogen and the production rate of methane. This process was successfully demonstrated at laboratory-scale system, where the developed process led to a production of 80–89% methane with consumption of more than 93% of the fed hydrogen. However, a lower methane content was achieved in the bench-scale system, likely as a result of lower hydrogen consumption (63–90%). To conclude, the IBBRs show promising results with a potential for simple and effective biogas upgrading.
Journal Article
A review of thermochemical upgrading of pyrolysis bio‐oil: Techno‐economic analysis, life cycle assessment, and technology readiness
Technologies for upgrading fast pyrolysis bio‐oil to drop‐in fuels and coproducts are under development and show promise for decarbonizing energy supply for transportation and chemicals markets. The successful commercialization of these fuels and the technologies deployed to produce them depend on production costs, scalability, and yield. To meet environmental regulations, pyrolysis‐based biofuels need to adhere to life cycle greenhouse gas intensity standards relative to their petroleum‐based counterparts. We review literature on fast pyrolysis bio‐oil upgrading and explore key metrics that influence their commercial viability through life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno‐economic analysis (TEA) methods together with technology readiness level (TRL) evaluation. We investigate the trade‐offs among economic, environmental, and technological metrics derived from these methods for individual technologies as a means of understanding their nearness to commercialization. Although the technologies reviewed have not attained commercial investment, some have been pilot tested. Predicting the projected performance at scale‐up through models can, with industrial experience, guide decision‐making to competitively meet energy policy goals. LCA and TEA methods that ensure consistent and reproducible models at a given TRL are needed to compare alternative technologies. This study highlights the importance of integrated analysis of multiple economic, environmental, and technological metrics for understanding performance prospects and barriers among early stage technologies. We review technologies under development for upgrading fast pyrolysis bio‐oil through prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno‐economic analysis (TEA) at different technology readiness levels. Predicting the projected performance of early‐stage technology at scale‐up through models can guide decision‐making to ensure meeting energy policy goals. However, LCA and TEA methods used need to ensure consistent and reproducible metrics at a given technology readiness level to compare alternative technologies.
Journal Article
CTA+: an Italian program to enhance the Southern Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory
The “CTA+” is a research program proposed by INAF, INFN, and Italian universities, in the context of the Italian Resilience and Recovery Plan (PNRR). The program, led by INAF, is aimed at enhancement of the Southern Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO-S) site to be constructed at Paranal, Chile. The approved and funded program has formally begun on January 1st, 2023, and must be completed no later than December 31st, 2025. The main goal is the construction of two Large Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and 5 Small Sized Telescopes (SSTs) at the CTAO-S. In addition, a R&D program is foreseen to improve the technology for a future upgrade of the CTAO southern site. The baseline design of the mechanical structure of the foreseen LSTs will be based on the design of the northern site LSTs, apart from some changes to be compliant with the CTAO-S environmental specifications. In particular, the cameras will be almost identical to those of the northern LSTs. The procurement and the production of cameras sub-system has already begun though industrial contracts supervised by the CTA+ management, led by University of Siena, Politecnico di Bari and INFN. In this talk the current status and the main objectives of the project will be presented, with focus on the scientific implication and improvement achievable thanks to the CTA+ program.
Journal Article
Octahedral Cluster Complex of Molybdenum as Oil-Soluble Catalyst for Improving In Situ Upgrading of Heavy Crude Oil: Synthesis and Application
Heavy oil resources are attracting considerable interest in terms of sustaining energy demand. However, the exploitation of such resources requires deeper understanding of the processes occurring during their development. Promising methods currently used for enhancing heavy oil recovery are steam injection methods, which are based on aquathermolysis of heavy oil at higher temperatures. Regardless of its efficiency in the field of in situ upgrading of heavy oil, this technique still suffers from energy consumption and inefficient heat transfer for deeper reservoirs. During this study, we have developed a molybdenum-based catalyst for improving the process of heavy oil upgrading at higher temperature in the presence of water. The obtained catalyst has been characterized by a set of physico-chemical methods and was then applied for heavy oil hydrothermal processing in a high-pressure reactor at 200, 250 and 300 °C. The comparative study between heavy oil hydrothermal upgrading in the presence and absence of the obtained molybdenum-based oil soluble catalysts has pointed toward its potential application for heavy oil in situ upgrading techniques. In other words, the used catalyst was able to reduce heavy oil viscosity by more than 63% at 300 °C. Moreover, our results have demonstrated the efficiency of a molybdenum-based catalyst in improving saturates and light hydrocarbon content in the upgraded oil compared to the same quantity of these fractions in the initial oil and in the non-catalytically upgraded oil at similar temperatures. This has been explained by the significant role played by the used catalyst in destructing asphaltenes and resins as shown by XRD, elemental analysis, and gas chromatography, which confirmed the presence of molybdenum sulfur particles in the reaction medium at higher temperatures, especially at 300 °C. These particles contributed to stimulating hydrodesulphurization, cracking and hydrogenation reactions by breaking down the C-heteroatom bonds and consequently by destructing sphaltenes and resins into smaller fractions, leading to higher mobility and quality of the upgraded oil. Our results add to the growing body of literature on the catalytic upgrading of heavy oil in the presence of transition metal particles.
Journal Article
Evaluation of biogas upgrading technologies and future perspectives: a review
Biogas is acknowledged as one of the foremost bioenergy to address the current environmental and energy challenges being faced by the world. Commonly, biogas is used for applications like cooking, lighting, heat and power production. To widen the scope of biogas application, like transportation, natural gas grid injection and substrate for the production of chemicals and fuel cells, mainly CO
2
, H
2
S and other impurities need to be removed by various upgrading technologies. It is an important process to produce biomethane with above 90% methane. There are various physico-chemical (adsorption, absorption, cryogenic and membrane separations) and biological (in situ and ex situ) processes for biogas upgradation, and each process is site and case specific. The aim of the present paper is to thoroughly evaluate the existing and emerging biogas upgrading technologies. Analysis of each technology with respect to basis of operations, energy requirement, methane purity and recovery and cost economics has been carried out. A thorough analysis has been done on the major hurdles and the research gaps in this sector. For a wider and successful implementation of the biogas upgradation technology, the trends in research and development (R&D) such as development of efficient biogas upgrading technologies, adsorbents, reduction in cost and methane loss have been thoroughly evaluated.
Journal Article
Evaluation of Slum Upgrading Interventions - Methodological Approaches
This work addresses slums definition according to UN-Habitat, and provides some objectives of impact evaluation of slum upgrading projects. The main objective is to clarify the importance behind the slum upgrading projects (interventions), through over viewing the slum upgrading interventions and their main characteristics then summarize methodology of evaluation studies. This paper gives an overview of counterfactual question, qualitative and quantitative methodologies discusses main strategies to control bias in Quasi-experimental approaches, and provides a summary about common past evaluation challenges and recommendations which can be applied to future work.
Journal Article
Materials, fuels, upgrading, economy, and life cycle assessment of the pyrolysis of algal and lignocellulosic biomass: a review
Climate change issues are calling for advanced methods to produce materials and fuels in a carbon–neutral and circular way. For instance, biomass pyrolysis has been intensely investigated during the last years. Here we review the pyrolysis of algal and lignocellulosic biomass with focus on pyrolysis products and mechanisms, oil upgrading, combining pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion, economy, and life cycle assessment. Products include oil, gas, and biochar. Upgrading techniques comprise hot vapor filtration, solvent addition, emulsification, esterification and transesterification, hydrotreatment, steam reforming, and the use of supercritical fluids. We examined the economic viability in terms of profitability, internal rate of return, return on investment, carbon removal service, product pricing, and net present value. We also reviewed 20 recent studies of life cycle assessment. We found that the pyrolysis method highly influenced product yield, ranging from 9.07 to 40.59% for oil, from 10.1 to 41.25% for biochar, and from 11.93 to 28.16% for syngas. Feedstock type, pyrolytic temperature, heating rate, and reaction retention time were the main factors controlling the distribution of pyrolysis products. Pyrolysis mechanisms include bond breaking, cracking, polymerization and re-polymerization, and fragmentation. Biochar from residual forestry could sequester 2.74 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per ton biochar when applied to the soil and has thus the potential to remove 0.2–2.75 gigatons of atmospheric carbon dioxide annually. The generation of biochar and bio-oil from the pyrolysis process is estimated to be economically feasible.
Journal Article
Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters
The burgeoning literature on global value chains (GVCs) has recast our understanding of how industrial clusters are shaped by their ties to the international economy, but within this context, the role played by corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to evolve. New research in the past decade allows us to better understand how CSR is linked to industrial clusters and GVCs. With geographic production and trade patterns in many industries becoming concentrated in the global South, lead firms in GVCs have been under growing pressure to link economic and social upgrading in more integrated forms of CSR. This is leading to a confluence of \"private governance\" (corporate codes of conduct and monitoring), \"social governance\" (civil society pressure on business from labor organizations and non-governmental organizations), and \"public governance\" (government policies to support gains by labor groups and environmental activists). This new form of \"synergistic governance\" is illustrated with evidence from recent studies of GVCs and industrial clusters, as well as advances in theorizing about new patterns of governance in GVCs and clusters.
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