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Thermodynamic Research on Inorganic Materials for Sustainable Processes and Applications

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 8523

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre, Åbo Akademi University, Henrikinkatu 2, 20500 Turku, Finland
Interests: metallurgical thermodynamics; extractive metallurgy; recycling; energy materials; circular economy; electrochemistry; chalcogenide and intermetallic materials; sulfosalts and sulfates characterizations; metallurgical engineering; metals; renewable energy
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Interests: thermodynamic modeling; process simulation of pyrometallurgical process; hydrogen reduction kinetics; steelmaking process; recycling of industrial waste
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Helsinki, Finland
Interests: combustion technology; waste-to-energy; thermodynamic modeling; inorganic chemistry; sulfates and chlorides; alkali/alkaline earth salts; melts, recycling of industrial waste; metallurgical thermodynamics; circular economy; metals, renewable energy

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20500 Turku, Finland
Interests: alternative energy; ceramic materials; inorganic materials; inorganic chemistry; bio-active materials; recycling; circular economy; materials science and engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Clean energy supply shortage is becoming increasingly a concern with economic development and population growth. To address this issue, extensive databases of inorganic materials targeting the advancement of clean energy and materials technologies need to be developed.

Many efforts on energy materials research have been recently made, leading to encouraging progress towards higher performance energy applications. However, the high temperature industrial waste heat recovery poses a challenge for the selection of inorganic thermoelectric materials. The unique combination of high temperature, low heat-flux, and large surface area of waste heat generation in industrial processes such as pyrometallurgical processes means active material cost is the main obstacle. In general, the continuing search for high-performance and cost-effective energy storage and conversion materials involves the determination of thermal stabilities, phase transformations, phase equilibria with coexisting phases, and thermodynamic properties.

In the combustion processes of biomass, municipal wastes and industrial side streams fouling, slagging, and corrosion emanating from inorganic impurities are costly and threaten the long-term operation of power plants. To control the problematic inorganic materials deposition on the surfaces of superheater and boiler tubes, experimental and thermodynamic modeling of inorganic phases such as sulfates and chlorides in the combustion processing temperature conditions are required.

The special topic on “Thermodynamic Research on Inorganic Materials for Sustainable Processes and Applications” aims to frame a comprehensive discussion and data sharing on inorganic materials research that enable the advancement of the clean energy and materials technology. In view of this, we welcome original and review papers of researchers in both industry and academia in the areas, but not be limited to;

  • experiments on phase formation/synthesis and determination of thermal stabilities, transformations, and melting of inorganic materials
  • comprehensive review on phase equilibria and thermodynamic investigation
  • characterization of new energy conversion and storage inorganic materials
  • thermodynamic modeling of problematic inorganic phases in the waste combustion processes
  • fouling, slagging, and corrosion related issues in the combustion of biomass, municipal waste and industrial side streams
  • emission control pertaining to the renewable energy industries
  • cost-effective thermoelectric materials for industrial heat and energy recoveries
  • high-performance and cost-effective thermoelectric materials in the automotive industry
  • lightweight inorganic materials for energy efficiency

Papers providing perspective on technical challenges or broader inorganic materials technology challenges toward energy sustainability are also welcome.

Dr. Fiseha Tesfaye
Dr. Minkyu Paek
Prof. Dr. Daniel K. Lindberg
Prof. Leena Hupa
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Inorganic materials 
  • Energy materials 
  • Experimental techniques for inorganic materials research 
  • Thermodynamic modeling and Phase diagrams 
  • Thermoelectric materials 
  • Inorganic impurities in renewable energy power plants 
  • Lightweight inorganic materials for energy efficiency 
  • Refractories 
  • Ceramic materials 
  • Circular economy in the energy industry 
  • Recycling of thermoelectric materials 
  • Emission control in the energy sector 
  • Energy efficient processes

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3392 KiB  
Article
Thermal Analysis and Optimization of the Phase Diagram of the Cu-Ag Sulfide System
by Fiseha Tesfaye, Daniel Lindberg, Dmitry Sukhomlinov, Pekka Taskinen and Leena Hupa
Energies 2022, 15(2), 593; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020593 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2147
Abstract
Thermal stabilities of selected ternary phases of industrial interest in the Ag-Cu-S system have been studied by the calorimetric and electromotive force techniques. The ternary compounds Ag1.2Cu0.8S (mineral mackinstryite) and AgCuS (mineral stromeyerite) were equilibrated through high-temperature reaction of [...] Read more.
Thermal stabilities of selected ternary phases of industrial interest in the Ag-Cu-S system have been studied by the calorimetric and electromotive force techniques. The ternary compounds Ag1.2Cu0.8S (mineral mackinstryite) and AgCuS (mineral stromeyerite) were equilibrated through high-temperature reaction of the pure Cu2S and Ag2S in an inert atmosphere. The synthesized single solid sample constituting the two ternary phases was ground into fine powders and lightly pressed into pellets before calorimetric measurements. An electrochemical cell incorporating the two equilibrated phase and additional CuS as a cathode material was employed. The measurement results obtained with both techniques were analyzed and thermodynamic properties in the system have been determined and compared with the available literature values. Enthalpy of fusion data of the Ag-richer solid solution (Ag,Cu)2S have also been determined directly from the experimental data for the first time. The thermodynamic quantities determined in this work can be used to calculate thermal energy of processes involving the Ag-Cu-S-ternary phases. By applying the obtained results and the critically evaluated literature data, we have developed a thermodynamic database. The self-developed database was combined with the latest pure substances database of the FactSage software package to model the phase diagram of the Ag2S-Cu2S system. Full article
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18 pages, 9976 KiB  
Article
Pyrolysis of Municipal Sewage Sludge to Investigate Char and Phosphorous Yield together with Heavy-Metal Removal—Experimental and by Thermodynamic Calculations
by Naeimeh Vali, Lars-Erik Åmand, Aurélie Combres, Tobias Richards and Anita Pettersson
Energies 2021, 14(5), 1477; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14051477 - 8 Mar 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2807
Abstract
Sewage sludge is regarded as a potential source for soil fertilizer However, the direct utilization of sewage sludge in agricultural land is restricted since it also contains heavy metals, pathogens, and toxic compounds. Pyrolysis of the sewage sludge destroys the organic pollutants and [...] Read more.
Sewage sludge is regarded as a potential source for soil fertilizer However, the direct utilization of sewage sludge in agricultural land is restricted since it also contains heavy metals, pathogens, and toxic compounds. Pyrolysis of the sewage sludge destroys the organic pollutants and partly volatilizes the heavy metals. In this study, pyrolysis of sewage sludge was carried out in order to determine the optimum residence time and temperature to recover the phosphorous and remove heavy metals from the resultant sewage sludge char (SSC). Pyrolysis was conducted on dried sewage sludge (DSS) by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and high-temperature oven with an N2-atmosphere. Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (MP-AES) was used to determine the concentration of P and trace elements in the resulting solid char fraction. A combination of chemical fractionation (step-by-step leaching) of the DSS and thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were utilized to estimate the availability of phosphorous and removal of heavy metals in the SSC fraction at different temperatures. The results from the thermodynamics calculation were in line with the measured chemical composition of the SSC. Furthermore, the energy contents of the SSC obtained at different temperatures were measured. The pyrolysis evaluation results indicate that phosphorous was enriched in the char, while lead, zinc, and cadmium were significantly removed. Full article
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15 pages, 2007 KiB  
Article
The Equilibrium Phase Formation and Thermodynamic Properties of Functional Tellurides in the Ag–Fe–Ge–Te System
by Mykola Moroz, Fiseha Tesfaye, Pavlo Demchenko, Myroslava Prokhorenko, Nataliya Yarema, Daniel Lindberg, Oleksandr Reshetnyak and Leena Hupa
Energies 2021, 14(5), 1314; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14051314 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2560
Abstract
Equilibrium phase formations below 600 K in the parts Ag2Te–FeTe2–F1.12Te–Ag2Te and Ag8GeTe6–GeTe–FeTe2–AgFeTe2–Ag8GeTe6 of the Fe–Ag–Ge–Te system were established by the electromotive force (EMF) method. [...] Read more.
Equilibrium phase formations below 600 K in the parts Ag2Te–FeTe2–F1.12Te–Ag2Te and Ag8GeTe6–GeTe–FeTe2–AgFeTe2–Ag8GeTe6 of the Fe–Ag–Ge–Te system were established by the electromotive force (EMF) method. The positions of 3- and 4-phase regions relative to the composition of silver were applied to express the potential reactions involving the AgFeTe2, Ag2FeTe2, and Ag2FeGeTe4 compounds. The equilibrium synthesis of the set of phases was performed inside positive electrodes (PE) of the electrochemical cells: (−)Graphite ‖LE‖ Fast Ag+ conducting solid-electrolyte ‖R[Ag+]‖PE‖ Graphite(+), where LE is the left (negative) electrode, and R[Ag+] is the buffer region for the diffusion of Ag+ ions into the PE. From the observed results, thermodynamic quantities of AgFeTe2, Ag2FeTe2, and Ag2FeGeTe4 were experimentally determined for the first time. The reliability of the division of the Ag2Te–FeTe2–F1.12Te–Ag2Te and Ag8GeTe6–GeTe–FeTe2–AgFeTe2–Ag8GeTe6 phase regions was confirmed by the calculated thermodynamic quantities of AgFeTe2, Ag2FeTe2, and Ag2FeGeTe4 in equilibrium with phases in the adjacent phase regions. Particularly, the calculated Gibbs energies of Ag2FeGeTe4 in two different adjacent 4-phase regions are consistent, which also indicates that it has stoichiometric composition. Full article
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