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Ascher S, Gordon J, Bongiovanni I, Watson I, Hermannsson K, Gillespie S, Sarangi S, Biakhmetov B, Bhargava PC, Bhaskar T, Krishna BB, Pandey A, You S. Trigeneration based on the pyrolysis of rural waste in India: Environmental impact, economic feasibility and business model innovation. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 921:170718. [PMID: 38331270 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Pyrolysis-based waste-to-bioenergy development has the potential to resolve some of the major challenges facing rural communities in India such as poor electrification, household air pollution, and farmland degradation and contamination. Existing understanding and analysis of the economic feasibility and environmental impact of bioenergy deployment in rural areas is limited by parameter uncertainties, and relevant business model innovation following economic evaluation is even scarcer. This paper uses findings from a new field survey of 1200 rural households to estimate the economic feasibility and environmental impact of a pyrolysis-based bioenergy trigeneration development that was designed to tackle these challenges. Based on the survey results, probability distributions were constructed and used to supply input parameters for cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment. Monte Carlo simulation was applied to characterise the uncertainties of economic feasibility and environmental impact accounting. It was shown that the global warming potential of the development was 350 kg of CO2-eq per capita per annum. Also, the survey identified a significant mismatch between feedstock prices considered in the literature and prices asked for by the surveyed villagers. The results of the cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment were then applied to propose two novel business models inspired by the Business Model Canvas, which had the potential to achieve up to 90 % economic profitability and result in a benefit-cost ratio of 1.35-1.75. This is the first study achieving combined environmental and economic analysis and business model innovation for rural bioenergy production in developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Ascher
- James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Jillian Gordon
- Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK.
| | - Ivano Bongiovanni
- Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
| | - Ian Watson
- James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Kristinn Hermannsson
- Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change, School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Steven Gillespie
- School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, Dumfries DG1 4ZL, UK
| | | | | | - Preeti Chaturvedi Bhargava
- Aquatic Toxicology Lab, Environmental Toxicology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Vishvigyan Bhawan, 31, M.G. Marg, Lucknow 226001, India
| | - Thallada Bhaskar
- Material Resource Efficiency Division (MRED), CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun 248005, Uttarakhand, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR-HRDC Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nagar, Ghaziabad 210002, India
| | - Bhavya B Krishna
- Material Resource Efficiency Division (MRED), CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun 248005, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Ashok Pandey
- Sustainability Cluster, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248 007, India; Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow 226001, India; Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, South Korea
| | - Siming You
- James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK.
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Zhang Y, Wei D, Lv P, Liu Z, Cheng T, Wang B. Fine particles removal of pyrolysis gasification flue gas from rural domestic waste: Laboratory research, molecular dynamics simulation, and applications. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 236:116732. [PMID: 37495065 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Chinese rural domestic waste has increased considerably with the modernization of agriculture and urbanization. Pyrolysis gasification is a common high-temperature waste treatment method. However, this method is usually accompanied by a large amount of particle emission. In this study, a rural domestic waste pyrolysis gasification station in Gansu Province, Northwest China, was selected for research. The particle emission characteristics of this station were analyzed, and the results showed that the original particle removal technologies were inefficient in fine particles. Hence, a new method of fine particle treatment, i.e., Cloud-Air-Purifying (CAP) technology, was explored herein. In CAP, fine particles grow in size via heterogeneous condensation in a supersaturated water vapor environment and are then collected efficiently using a supergravity field. A laboratory-scale pyrolysis gasifier and CAP equipment were built. Moreover, the CAP removal efficiency for particles generated from four typical rural domestic waste categories was studied. The results showed that CAP technology considerably increased the efficiency of fine particle removal. However, the removal efficiency for particles released owing to the incineration of wood was only ∼75%. This was because the tar substances formed during wood pyrolysis were attached to the surface of escaping particles, which led to a decrease in their hydrophilicity and particle condensation growth. To address this issue, the improvement in particle hydrophilicity using different surfactants was studied via molecular dynamic simulations. When the increase in water molecule adsorption, surface polarity, and the solid-liquid interaction energy for different surfactants were compared, alkylphenol ethoxylate (OP10) proved to be the most effective surfactant. Finally, the improved CAP technology combined with OP10 was applied to the on-site pyrolysis gasification flue gas treatment. Long term monitoring of the proposed technology revealed that particle removal efficiency remained >94%, exhibiting excellent fine particle removal. The successful application of the proposed technology demonstrates its potential for further application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumeng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China; College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China.
| | - Di Wei
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China
| | - Pengfei Lv
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China
| | - Zhenkun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China
| | - Teng Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China
| | - Bo Wang
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education) and Engineering Research Center of Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, PR China.
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Nandhini R, Berslin D, Sivaprakash B, Rajamohan N, Vo DVN. Thermochemical conversion of municipal solid waste into energy and hydrogen: a review. ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS 2022; 20:1645-1669. [PMID: 35350388 PMCID: PMC8945873 DOI: 10.1007/s10311-022-01410-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The rising global population is inducing a fast increase in the amount of municipal waste and, in turn, issues of rising cost and environmental pollution. Therefore, alternative treatments such as waste-to-energy should be developed in the context of the circular economy. Here, we review the conversion of municipal solid waste into energy using thermochemical methods such as gasification, combustion, pyrolysis and torrefaction. Energy yield depends on operating conditions and feedstock composition. For instance, torrefaction of municipal waste at 200 °C generates a heating value of 33.01 MJ/kg, while the co-pyrolysis of cereals and peanut waste yields a heating value of 31.44 MJ/kg at 540 °C. Gasification at 800 °C shows higher carbon conversion for plastics, of 94.48%, than for waste wood and grass pellets, of 70-75%. Integrating two or more thermochemical treatments is actually gaining high momentum due to higher energy yield. We also review reforming catalysts to enhance dihydrogen production, such as nickel on support materials such as CaTiO3, SrTiO3, BaTiO3, Al2O3, TiO3, MgO, ZrO2. Techno-economic analysis, sensitivity analysis and life cycle assessment are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajendran Nandhini
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, 608002 India
| | - Don Berslin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, 608002 India
| | - Baskaran Sivaprakash
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, 608002 India
| | - Natarajan Rajamohan
- Chemical Engineering Section, Faculty of Engineering, Sohar University, 311 Sohar, Oman
| | - Dai-Viet N. Vo
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang Malaysia
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Multi-objective optimization of an integrated biomass waste fixed-bed gasification system for power and biochar co-production. Comput Chem Eng 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2021.107457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Characteristics of Aerosol Formation and Emissions During Corn Stalk Pyrolysis. ENERGIES 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/en13225924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The inevitable emission of aerosols during pyrolysis can negatively affect the downstream process and even pollute the environment. In this work, the characteristics of aerosols were investigated during corn stalk pyrolysis at 400–900 °C. The effects of other operation conditions on the aerosol emissions were also probed with online and offline instruments. Results show the yield of aerosol presents a regular change with temperature in a wide range ratio of 3.4–8.7 wt.%. The aerosol size distribution reveals a unimodal form mainly in the 1.1–2.1 μm accumulation range and the maximum emission achieved is about 35 mg/g for SR and SP at 500 °C. Nevertheless, SL gives about 34 mg/g at 600 °C. High temperature promotes the decomposition of polymers into partciles with small diameter (less than PM1.0). The microtopography of aerosol presents spherical droplets, elongated-like liquid and solid particles that form heterogenous or homogeneous aggregations, that also happen on account of collisions. Aerosols contain mostly organic matter, a small amount of salt and over 50% of volatile organic carbon molecules (VOCs) in the total organic carbon (OC). Proper gas flow, high vapor concentration and longer path way boost the yield of bio-oil and reduce the emission of aerosols. The direct contact is beneficial for adequate extraction, but also causes additional solvent emissions.
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