Bibliometric Analysis; Characteristics and Trends of Refuse Derived Fuel Research

Production and emission characterization of briquette for sustainable development: MSW transformation

Global community is increasingly alarmed by resource depletion and environmental pollution. In light of pressing environmental concerns and depletion of finite resources, the surge in fossil fuel usage has sparked twin crises: dwindling fossil fuel reserves and escalating environmental pollution. The current study introduces a novel approach to minimize waste by transforming it into briquettes suitable for large-scale production. Production of briquettes involves multiple stages, including collection, drying, crushing, screening, blending, compacting, and storage. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate and investigate the physico-mechanical and emission properties of briquettes produced with readily available organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) such as food and garden waste. The physical, mechanical, and elemental characteristics such as calorific value, moisture content, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon, density, compressive strength, and SEM-EDAX were determined. A combustibility test along with emission and water boiling test was also carried out. The MSW briquettes were prepared in a densification system at 130 °C temperature and 20 MPa. The study's conclusion suggests that the MSW briquette with lignin content of 25-30%, calorific value of 22.53 MJ/kg, compressive strength of 14.517 N/mm2, and density of 1124.12 kg m-3 could be used to retain energy and lessen the harmful effects of climate change while also enhancing sustainability. Flue gas emissions from burning MSW briquettes in a biomass stove were examined in this study using flue gas analyzer and smoke meter. Furthermore, the generated briquettes exhibit a density of 1124.12 kg m-3 which is on par with coal, making them suitable for co-firing in boilers. Likewise, the determined parameters are compared with the biomass briquettes and firewood. Further investigation is required to elevate its quality and economic potential.

Production and characterisation of solid waste-derived fuel briquettes from mixed wood wastes and waste pet bottles

Wood waste and waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles are two of the solid wastes posing severe challenges to waste management facilities and constituting nuisance to humans and the environment in Nigeria due to poor management. These wastes could be utilized to produce solid biofuels for various energy applications to reduce CO2 emissions. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the potential of converting these wastes locally into solid waste-derived fuels (SWDF) briquettes in a bid to present an alternative approach to managing them. Four types of SWDF briquettes were produced from mixed wood waste and waste PET bottles in blend ratios of 100:0, 60:40, 50:50, and 40:60 using a screw press briquetting machine with single extrusion die. The effect of PET plastic amount on different properties, such as net calorific value, ash content, durability, and density, of the produced briquettes was investigated. In addition, obtained results were compared with the quality standards of densified fuels specified by the European Pellet Council. to ascertain the quality of the produced SWDF briquettes. The results revealed that the SWDF briquettes made only from mixed wood waste exhibited the lowest calorific value (17.15 MJ/kg) and highest ash content (2.74 %), while the SWDFs made from blends of mixed wood waste and PET bottles had higher calorific values (17.85-20.77 MJ/kg) and lower ash contents (1.05-1.37 %). Moreover, except for density and chlorine content (<750 kg/m3 and <0.03 wt% respectively), all the produced SWDFs complied with the quality standards of densified fuels specified by the European Pellet Council. These results suggest that these blends could yield SWDFs with improved quality and combustion properties, and could present a new way of managing these solid wastes.

Global Progress in Oil and Gas Well Research Using Bibliometric Analysis Based on VOSviewer and CiteSpace

Studies related to oil and gas wells have attracted worldwide interest due to the increasing energy shortfall and the requirement of sustainable development and environmental protection. However, the state of oil and gas wells in terms of research characteristics, technological megatrends, article-produced patterns, leading study items, hot topics, and frontiers is unclear. This work is aimed at filling the research gaps by performing a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 6197 articles related to oil and gas wells published between 1900 and 2021. VOSviewer and CiteSpace software were used as the main data analysis and visualization tools. The analysis shows that the annual variation of article numbers, interdisciplinary numbers, and cumulative citations followed exponential growth. Oil and gas well research has promoted the expansion of research fields such as engineering, energy and fuels, geology, environmental sciences and ecology, materials science, and chemistry. The top 10 influential studies mainly focused on shale gas extraction and its impact on the environment. More studies were produced by larger author teams and inter-institution collaborations. Elkatatny and Guo have greatly contributed to the application of artificial intelligence in oil and gas wells. The two most contributing institutions were the Southwest Petr Univ and China Univ Petr from China. The People’s Republic of China, the US, and Canada were the countries with the most contributions to the development of oil and gas wells. The authoritative journal in engineering technology was J Petrol Sci Eng, in environment technology was Environ Sci Technol, in geology was Aapg Bull, and in materials was Cement Concrete Res. The keyword co-occurrence network cluster analysis indicated that oil well cement, new energy development, machine learning, hydraulic fracturing, and natural gas and oil wells are the predominant research topics. The research frontiers were oil extraction and its harmful components (1992–2016), oil and gas wells (1997–2016), porous media (2007–2016), and hydrogen and shale gas (2012–2021). This paper comprehensively and quantitatively analyzes all aspects of oil and gas well research for the first time and presents valuable information about active and authoritative research entities, cooperation patterns, technology trends, hotspots, and frontiers. Therefore, it can help governments, policymakers, related companies, and the scientific community understand the global progress in oil and gas well research and provide a reference for technology development and application.