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Organic Waste/Resources to Energy and Value added Product

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 March 2016) | Viewed by 25463

Special Issue Editor

School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Interests: biomass and agri-residue processing and conversion; renewable and cleaner energy technologies; boiler design; design and assessment of advanced energy systems; life cycle analysis and thermodynamic optimization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is the backbone of modern civilization. To have a sustainable world, we must diversify our resources and find alternative sources of these commodities. Also, there is no such thing as waste. The theme of this Special Issue is that “waste” is “a co-product of a process looking for an opportunity." This Special Issue features recent research papers in the field of waste to energy and resource recovery (WTERR). We would like to explore all aspects of the on-going discussion on waste to energy and resource recovery: its management, the role and needs of different actors, and WTERR technologies' and policies' impacts on societies. Our main interest is in studies that advance our knowledge and inform the development of next-generation technologies and solutions.

Prof. Dr. Animesh Dutta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Pre-treatment and characterization

  • Thermo-chemical conversion

  • Biochemical conversion

  • Chemical conversion

  • Emerging conversion technologies

  • Emissions, Residues Mitigation and Prevention

  • Life Cycle Thinking and Eco-conception

  • Economy, Market, Policy and Social Acceptance

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

2697 KiB  
Article
Hydrothermal Conversion of Neutral Sulfite Semi-Chemical Red Liquor into Hydrochar
by Ramy Gamgoum, Animesh Dutta, Rafael M. Santos and Yi Wai Chiang
Energies 2016, 9(6), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9060435 - 03 Jun 2016
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5895
Abstract
Hydrochar was produced from neutral sulfite semi-chemical (NSSC) red liquor as a possible bio-based solid fuel for use in power generation facilities. Hydrothermal conversion (HTC) experiments were conducted using a fixed liquor-to-water volume ratio of 1:8 and reaction time of 3 h. Solutions [...] Read more.
Hydrochar was produced from neutral sulfite semi-chemical (NSSC) red liquor as a possible bio-based solid fuel for use in power generation facilities. Hydrothermal conversion (HTC) experiments were conducted using a fixed liquor-to-water volume ratio of 1:8 and reaction time of 3 h. Solutions were processed using different chemical additives, pH and temperature conditions to determine the optimum conditions required for producing a high energy content solid fuel. The hydrochar samples produced were analyzed by ultimate, thermogravimetric (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses to determine physicochemical properties that are important for utilization as a fuel. The residual process liquids were also analyzed to better understand the effect of HTC process conditions on their properties. It was determined that the optimum conditions for producing a solid fuel was at a reaction temperature of 250 °C, in the presence of acetic acid at pH 3. The maximum energy content (HHV) of the hydrochar produced from red liquor at this condition was 29.87 MJ/kg, and its ash content was 1.12 wt.%. This result reflects the effect of increasing reaction temperature on the physicochemical characteristics of the hydrochar. The increase of HTC temperature significantly reduces the ash content of the hydrochar, leads to a significant increase in the carbon content of the hydrochar, and a reduction in both the oxygen and hydrogen content. These effects suggests an increase in the degree of condensation of the hydrochar products, and consequently the formation of a high energy content material. Based on TGA and FTIR analyses, hydrochars prepared at high HTC temperature showed lower adsorbed moisture, hemicellulose and cellulose contents, with enrichment in content of higher temperature volatiles, such as lignin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Waste/Resources to Energy and Value added Product)
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2436 KiB  
Article
Foliage and Grass as Fuel Pellets–Small Scale Combustion of Washed and Mechanically Leached Biomass
by Jan Hari Arti Khalsa, Frank Döhling and Florian Berger
Energies 2016, 9(5), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9050361 - 11 May 2016
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6979
Abstract
The high contents of disadvantageous elements contained in non-woody biomass are known to cause problems during small and large scale combustion, typically resulting in a higher risk of slagging, corrosion, and increased emissions. Mechanically leaching the respective elements from the biomass through a [...] Read more.
The high contents of disadvantageous elements contained in non-woody biomass are known to cause problems during small and large scale combustion, typically resulting in a higher risk of slagging, corrosion, and increased emissions. Mechanically leaching the respective elements from the biomass through a sequence of process steps has proven to be a promising solution.The florafuel process used here is comprised of size reduction followed by washing and subsequent mechanical dewatering of the biomass. Densification of the upgraded biomass into standardized pellets (Ø 6mm) enables an application in existing small-scale boilers. The presented combustion trials investigated the performance of pellets made from leached grass, foliage and a mixture of both in two small-scale boilers (<100 kWth) with slightly different technology (moving grate versus water-cooled burner tube) during a 4-h measurement period. Emissions were in accordance with German emissions standards except for NOx (threshold is 0.50 g/m3) in the case of pure grass pellets (0.51 g/m3) and particulate matter (PM) in all but one case (foliage, 13–16 mg/m3). An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) unit installed with one of the boilers successfully reduced PM emission of both the grass and mixture fuel below the threshold of 20 mg/m3 (all emission values refer to 13 vol.% O2, at standard temperature and pressure (STP)). Bottom ash composition and grate temperature profiles were analyzed and discussed for one of the boilers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Waste/Resources to Energy and Value added Product)
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1887 KiB  
Article
Generation of Hydrogen, Lignin and Sodium Hydroxide from Pulping Black Liquor by Electrolysis
by Guangzai Nong, Zongwen Zhou and Shuangfei Wang
Energies 2016, 9(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9010013 - 25 Dec 2015
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6508
Abstract
Black liquor is generated in Kraft pulping of wood or non-wood raw material in pulp mills, and regarded as a renewable resource. The objective of this paper was to develop an effective means to remove the water pollutants by recovery of both lignin [...] Read more.
Black liquor is generated in Kraft pulping of wood or non-wood raw material in pulp mills, and regarded as a renewable resource. The objective of this paper was to develop an effective means to remove the water pollutants by recovery of both lignin and sodium hydroxide from black liquor, based on electrolysis. The treatment of a 1000 mL of black liquor (122 g/L solid contents) consumed 345.6 kJ of electric energy, and led to the generation of 30.7 g of sodium hydroxide, 0.82 g of hydrogen gas and 52.1 g of biomass solids. Therefore, the recovery ratios of elemental sodium and biomass solids are 80.4% and 76%, respectively. Treating black liquor by electrolysis is an environmentally friendly technology that can, in particular, be an alternative process in addressing the environmental issues of pulping waste liquor to the small-scale mills without black liquor recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Waste/Resources to Energy and Value added Product)
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1551 KiB  
Article
Solar Dryer Application for Olive Oil Mill Wastes
by Irene Montero, María Teresa Miranda, Francisco José Sepúlveda, José Ignacio Arranz, Carmen Victoria Rojas and Sergio Nogales
Energies 2015, 8(12), 14049-14063; https://doi.org/10.3390/en81212415 - 12 Dec 2015
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5462
Abstract
Global waste production has raised recently due to numerous agricultural and industrial activities. Among other actions devoted to waste reduction, revaluation seems to be the most advantageous one from an environmental and economic point of view. In the olive oil sector, by-product management [...] Read more.
Global waste production has raised recently due to numerous agricultural and industrial activities. Among other actions devoted to waste reduction, revaluation seems to be the most advantageous one from an environmental and economic point of view. In the olive oil sector, by-product management (namely olive pomace, olive mill wastewater, and sludge residue) poses serious problems for companies, with the energy use of these wastes being a feasible option to solve these problems. Due to their high moisture content, drying constitutes the main stage for a possible bio-fuel conversion. This research work deals with the analysis of drying for the three main wastes from olive oil by using a prototype dryer. This equipment has different working regimes depending on the kind of convection (natural or forced for passive and active mode, respectively), the incidence of solar radiation on the product (indirect or mixed type) and the use of an additional system for energy supply (hybrid type). From the results, it could be said that all the wastes were suitable for solar drying. However, drying conditions were different for each case. Olive pomace and olive mill wastewater showed promising results for solar drying application in mixed active mode. Concerning sludge residue, its special physical structure could employ the use of turners for drying, in order to improve heat transfer to the product. Moreover, hybrid active mode enabled a considerable reduction in drying time, being an aspect to take into account for its use during low solar radiation or at night time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Waste/Resources to Energy and Value added Product)
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