Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Highly Efficient Sulfonic MCM-41 Catalyst for Furfural Production: Furan-Based Biofuel Agent

Significance Statement

Biomass, which is an important source of renewable energy offer advantages in terms of non-emission of greenhouse gases, ready availability and versatility in producing different organic materials. The conversion of biomass to biofuels such as furfural via xylose dehydration in the presence of an acidic catalyst has been extensively studied due to the multifarious capabilities of furfural. However, investigations need to be extended due to the fact that the conversion process may take a long time and sometimes, the acid catalysts used may face certain challenges due to high limits in reusability and unfavorable conversion process.

Researchers led by Professor Chanatip Samart from Thammasat University in Thailand studied the characteristics of a sulfonic-based functionalized MCM-41 catalyst SO₃H-MCM-41 for the production of furfural from xylose monomers. The research work which is now published in the journal, Fuel carried on further investigations on its hydrophobic and porous nature towards performances on xylose dehydration.

Being known, that the level of acidity presence, in the catalyst directly affects the rate at which xylose is being converted, the authors added acidic sites on the SO₃-MCM-41 catalyst, with the first obtained as propyl sulfonic acid catalyst PrSO₃H-MCM-41 and the second, methyl propyl sulfonic acid catalyst MPrSO₃H-MCM-41. The functional methyl group of MPrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst was investigated in order to verify its influence on performance, while its pore size diameter was controlled by using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a templating agent and another, by increasing the temperature to 50⁰C.

With the use of ammonia-temperature programmed desorption analyses, the authors found a higher presence of acid density in MPrSO₃-MCM-41 catalyst compared to that of PrSO₃H-MCM-41. However, a lower density was observed in the former.

The methyl propyl sulfonic acid catalyst at a certain increase in reaction temperature (140, 155 and 170°C) and reaction time led to an increase in the rate of xylose dehydration. However, the optimum yield and selectivity of furfural was observed in reaction time and temperature of 2h and 155°C with values of 68.6 and 71.9% respectively. The MPrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst also had a higher rate of xylose dehydration and turn over frequency TOF compared to PrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst as the turn over frequency increased from 5.47h^-1 to 8.15h^-1. This result indicates that the higher acid density of MPrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst resulted to a higher turnover frequency values.

They also showed that reduced pore diameter of the MPrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst led to a higher yield and selectivity of furfural with values greater than 90 and 93% respectively. Moreover, continual use of the MPrSO₃H-MCM-41 catalyst for a period of three cycles at the optimal reaction process still showed a better xylose dehydration but the furfural yield and selectivity decreased drastically.

The authors in this study were able to develop an alkyl sulfonic-based catalyst which has a high efficiency in xylose dehydration and selectivity of furfural.

About The Author

Dr. Chanatip Samart is currently Assistant Professor at Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University and Assistant Dean in Graduate Study, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University. He received the B.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry from King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL). After that, he recieved the Master and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, from Kasetsart University. He was appointed lecturer in Department of Chemistry, Thammasat University in year 2006.

He was deputy Dean, and Head of Chemistry Department in year 2009 and 2012, respectively. He received the award of outstanding young researcher from Thammasat University in year 2009. He is a member of Chemical Society of Thailand, American Chemical Society, and The Chemical Society of Japan. His research interest is biomass conversion, catalysis and surface modification.

Journal Reference

S. Kaiprommarat¹, S. Kongparakul¹, P. Reubroycharoen², G. Guan³, C. Samart¹, Highly efficient sulfonic MCM-41 catalyst for furfural production: Furan-based biofuel agent, Fuel 174 (2016) 189–196.

Show Affiliations

1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
2. Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
3. North Japan Research Institute of Sustainable Energy (NJRISE), Hirosaki University, Aomori 030-0813, Japan

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Scale Up the Collection Area of Luminescent Solar Concentrators Towards Metre-Length Flexible Waveguiding Photovoltaics

Significance Statement

Luminescent solar concentrators are largely dependent on concentration factor. The derived concentration factor values from previous research are always less than one; hence, various methods have been implemented in view of increasing the value of the concentration factor. The methods which rely on the application of large area luminescent solar collectors have also failed in producing solar factors greater than one. The cylindrical geometry of luminescent solar concentrators which offers greater potential compared with that of the planar geometry have also not almost been extensively studied before.

A new study led by professors Luís D. Carlos and Rute Ferreira from University of Aveiro in Portugal provided a new method for the fabrication of long-length fibre wave guiding luminescent solar concentrators with the use of an optical fibre manufacturing facility to obtain cylindrical large-area luminescent solar concentrators based on bulk-coated and hollow-core plastic optical fibres. The work was published in the journal, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications.

The authors fabricated in semi-industrial fibre manufacturing facility a length of approximately 2.5m bulk plastic optical fibres with di-ureasil, doped with either rhodamine 6G (RhdG) or Eu(tta)₃.2H₂O, coupled with another fabrication of PMMA-based hollow-core plastic optical fibres with di-ureasil [d-U(600)] or tripodal tri-ureasil [t-U(5000)] and doped with rhodamine or Eu(tta)₃.2H₂O. They further provided optical characterization of the surface and edges of the fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators.

The authors showed similarities using emission spectra of fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators collected at the fiber surface for the hollow-core and bulk-coated plastic optical fibres. Observations of the excitation spectrum at the optical active centers show a large ocerlap with that of AM1.5G within the region available for DS conversion. Also the luminescent solar concentrators with tripod tri-ureasil have high values of absolute emission quantum yield above 0.85.

A small value of refractive index contrast in the Eu(tta)₃.2H₂O -based fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators resulted to a trapping efficiency of approximately 73% compared with that of the rhodamine-based which has a larger trapping efficiency of approximately 80%. The refractive index contrast was due to the difference between refractive index values of the PMMA and hybrid layer.

However, absorption losses were predominant in hollow-core geometry despite their higher trapping efficiency. After some further considerations, it was said that light propagation of the fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators also depends on the absorption spectra of the hybrid and PMMA layers.

Low values of PMMA attenuation coefficient values for both Eu(tta)₃.2H₂O- and rhodamine-based fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators indicated that light propagation may occur in total length of bulk-coated fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators while light is expected to travel at a shorter length for hollow-core fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators due to hybrids’ attenuation.

This study was able to achieve a high optical conversion efficiency of 72.4% and a concentration factor of 12.3 for the hollow-core fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators. Maximum optical conversion efficiency and concentration factor for bulk-coated fibre waveguiding luminescent solar concentrators were 0.6% and 6.5 respectively.

The increased conversion efficiency and high value of concentration factor compared with previous reported ones verifies the approach used by the authors in developing lightweight and flexible high-performance waveguiding photovoltaics.

About The Author

Luís António Dias Carlos got his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Évora, Portugal, in 1995 working on photoluminescence of polymer electrolytes incorporating lanthanide salts. Currently, he is Full Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Aveiro and vice-director of the CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (Portugal). He is member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

His current research interests include luminescent nanothermometers, luminescent solar concentrators, organic-inorganic hybrids for green photonics (solid-state lighting and integrated optics), and luminescent/magnetic nanoparticles, as new probes for multimodal imaging. He has published around 390 papers and 6 international patents, which have received ca. 12000 citations (Hirsch’ index h of 55), and co-guest editor of a RSC book on Nanoscale Thermometry (Nanoscience & Nanotechnology series) and special issues of the Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2010) and of the Journal of Luminescence (2015).

He is editor of Physica B – Condensed Matter, associate editor of the Journal of Luminescence and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Coordination Chemistry, Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology and Journal of Rare Earths.

About The Author

Maria Rute de Amorim e Sá Ferreira André (born 1974) got her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Aveiro, Portugal in 2002 and the Agregação in Physics in 2012, from University of Aveiro. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at Department of Physics (University of Aveiro), coordinates the research Line Information and Communication technology’’ of CICECO – Aveiro Institute of materials.

She has published around 290 papers, which have received ca. 7200 citations (Hirsch’ index h of 43). Her scientific interests include optoelectronic properties of hybrid materials and semiconducting nanoparticles for lighting, integrated optics and energy conversion.

Reference

Correia, S.F.H.^1,2, Lima, P.P.¹, Pecoraro, E.³, Ribeiro, S.J.L.³, André, P.S.⁴, Ferreira, R.A.S.¹, Carlos, L.D.¹ Scale Up the Collection Area of Luminescent Solar Concentrators Towards Metre-Length Flexible Waveguiding Photovoltaics, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 24 (2016) 1178-1193.

Show Affiliations

1. Department of Physics and CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
2. Instituto de Telecomunicações, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
3. UNESP – Institute of Chemistry, São Paulo State University, Araraquara-SP, Brazil
4. Department of Electric and Computer Engineering and Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: A Dynamic Programming Approach for Modeling Low-Carbon Fuel Technology Adoption Considering Learning-by-doing effect

Significance Statement

Most governments around the world are trying to reduce the dependency on petroleum fuels and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, by implementing various policies and regulations including adoption of low-carbon fuel technologies in current transportation fuel portfolios. To replace petroleum-based fuel consumption in transportation, an advanced biofuels such as cellulosic biofuels was introduced.

Dr. Yuche Chen and colleagues proposed an economical way of using cellulosic biofuels by establishing an analytical framework to investigate the least-cost cellulosic biofuel technology adoption while considering the learning by doing modeling effect. The research work is now published in Applied Energy.

Cellulosic biofuels are fuels produced from non-edible cellulosic biomass, such as woody crops, or agricultural residues, they have the advantages of producing low-carbon emissions based on lifecycle assessment and of not competing with food crops for land use. There is need for government guidance to ensure enough cellulosic biofuel is produced to develop the technology and to achieve the aim of low-carbon fuel in transportation. To economically promote cellulosic biofuels, the government should know the appropriate timing and approach. However, knowing the appropriate time to promote cellulosic biofuels can be challenging.

The authors introduced dynamic programming and learning by doing modeling approaches to tackle the issue of appropriate timing. The proposed framework was applied in a case study to explore the most economical pathway for California to develop a solid cellulosic biofuel industry under its low carbon fuel standard.

They observed that petroleum-based fuels gasoline and diesel, have 60% higher prices compared with those of sugarcane, ethanol and biodiesel. The biodiesel production significantly increase and remains at a 20% blend rate in the diesel fuels category for all modeling years. The team pointed out that high market penetration of zero Emission Vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle can lead to a lower production of cellulosic ethanol. The research team also found that learning capabilities in cellulosic biofuels have a significant impact on the overall fuel pathway and adoption of cellulosic biofuels.

This was the first study of its kind to use both dynamic Programming and learning by doing modeling approaches to study transportation energy problems. Their results confirmed that reducing the transportation greenhouse gas emissions requires an approach and the cellulosic biofuel plays a vital role.

About The Author

Dr. Yuche Chen is a senior research scientist at United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), United States Department of Energy’s only national lab dedicated to renewable energy research. He actively involves in research development and implementation activities in both vehicle systems analysis and infrastructure analysis. His research addresses transitions to a sustainable transportation system with focuses on alternative fuels, as well as advanced vehicle technologies such as connected and automated vehicles.

Before joining NREL, Chen was a research scientist at Texas A&M Transportation Institute within Texas A&M University System and served as the academic lead for Environmental and Emissions Research Facility. He has also worked for The International Council on Clean Transportation, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), California Air Resource Board, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has a Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, Davis; a Master’s degree in Statistics and a Master’s degree in Agricultural & Resource Economics both from University of California, Davis, a Master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University, China; and a bachelor’s degree in Transportation Engineering from Central South University, China.

Reference

Yuche Chen¹, Yunteng Zhang², Yueyue Fan², Kejia Hu³, Jianyou Zhao⁴, A Dynamic Programming Approach for Modeling Low-Carbon Fuel Technology Adoption Considering Learning-by-doing effect, Applied Energy 185 (2017) 825–835.

Show Affiliations

¹ College of Transportation Engineering & The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

² University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA.

³ Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.

⁴ School of Automobile, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China.

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: A Longitudinal Quantitative-Qualitative Systems Approach to the Study of Transitions toward a Low Carbon Society

Significance Statement

To address the challenges of climate change, the dissemination of carbon neutral technologies will be required with the accompanying formation of new socio-technical systems. It is only through association with human agency, social structures and organization that technology attains its functionality. A socio-technical system is defined as a cluster of elements that includes technology, regulation, user practices and markets, cultural meaning, infrastructure, maintenance networks, and supply networks. It is for this reason that a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationship between technological systems and social systems is imperative if the intended technological change is to be a part of the solution to the problem of climate change. The process of technical change must be considered in its institutional and social context. Simon Robertson from University of New South Wales in Australia proposed a systems approach for an integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis of low carbon transition pathways. The paper is now published in peer-reviewed, Journal of Cleaner Production.

The socio-technical approach, according to the author, is well-equipped to examine the co-evolution of the social and technical aspects of the system under consideration with regard to ‘who’ and ‘how’ parameters of the transition. Notwithstanding the requirement for the contextualisation of technology, socio-technical studies concerned with low carbon pathways have a propensity to describe, qualitatively, transitions that are essentially concerned with quantitative objectives, such as emissions reduction target fulfillment. Due to this inability to consider quantitative elements within the qualitative analysis, the author argues that the established socio-technical approach is found to be deficient to the extent that only general assertions can be made as to the mitigation potential of the proposed green technologies. Such a deficiency results in the ‘what’ parameter remaining generic rather than specific. He postulates that this poses a significant limitation to the resolution quality of low carbon transition policy recommendations given the critical importance for quantity certainty when developing greenhouse gas mitigation policies.

In order to address this deficiency, the author expounds an interdisciplinary approach that integrated the quantitative tool of Life Cycle Assessment and the qualitative Socio-technical Scenario tool. The integrated quantitative-qualitative methodology, with its what-who-how disposition, affords a higher degree of resolution to the proposed transition policy recommendations. Ultimately, the integrated methodology provides greater quantity certainty in respect to the development of appropriate low carbon transition pathways and the suite of policy instruments to be employed. In addition to the suite of transition policy recommendations, the integrated methodology provides an order of implementation. This capacity of the integrated methodology improves the probability of sustaining the inertia of the transition via a process of sequencing the transition policies in order to concert the effects of each policy measure. This innovative, integrated quantitative-qualitative methodology is highly applicable to both government and industry concerned with strategic transition management.

About The Author

Simon Robertson’s principal research focus is the development of original, innovative, interdisciplinary approaches for the study of sustainability transition pathways. Awarded a Bachelor of Technology, a Master of Environmental Management (recipient of the Orica-Harding University Prize, University of New South Wales), and a Doctorate in Environmental Policy and Management, he applied his significant interdisciplinary knowledge to successfully develop an integrated quantitative and qualitative tool for the analysis of sustainability transition pathways. Simon’s interdisciplinary tool was a world first to cross-pollinate the distinct disciplinary inquiries of environmental engineering (i.e., Life Cycle Assessment) and sustainability transition theory (i.e., Multi-Level Perspective). In addition to the development of interdisciplinary approaches for the study of sustainability transitions, his research also focuses on the efficacy of ‘green’ technologies through process-based life cycle assessment.

Simon’s research interests span all aspects of sustainability across multiple disciplines. With diverse expertise in environmental engineering, the sociology of science and technology, and in political ecology, his research continues to engage with multi-faceted, complex issues from transitioning towards low-carbon societies to the socio-environmental nexus of natural
resource management.

Journal Reference

Simon Robertson, A Longitudinal Quantitative Qualitative Systems Approach to the Study of Transitions toward a Low Carbon Society, Journal of Cleaner Production 128 (2016) 221-233.

Faculty of Science/Faculty of Arts and Social Science, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia.

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