Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Strategies for Lipid Production Improvement in Microalgae as a Biodiesel Feedstock

Significance Statement

As the transition to cleaner energy grows, researchers have been working endless hours to achieve green energy that is economically feasible. Microalgae accepted as a source of cleaner energy and can replace use of cultivated crops as food feedstock. Moreover, microalgae present a promising alternative source for the production of biodiesel, due to a high lipid content in microalgal cells. During the photosynthesis of microalgae, neutral lipids are accumulated as triacylglycerols in microalgal cells, improving lipid content in microalgal cells would lead to a sustainable development of microalgal biodiesel.

To induce microalgal lipid accumulation, it involves application of feasible strategies. Liandong  Zhu and colleagues wrote a recent review published in BioMed Research International, aimed to bridge the gap and to systematically concentrate on the main lipid induction strategies that can evidently promote microalgal lipid production.

The authors discussed two types of lipids, neutral lipids that serve as the energy reserves and polar lipids that are constituents of organelles and membranes. To improve the lipid production, external cultivation conditions, such as light intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide, nutrient starvation, salinity stress, and metal stress must be considered.

From the researchers’ observation, positive light intensity increases lipid accumulation functions only up to a limit while extremely high light intensity will cause photoinhibition, damaging the microalgal photosystems, and thus reduce lipid accumulation. The effect of the temperature is said to be same as light intensity in that it varies directly with temperature. The salinity stress created inside the cells results in increment in the lipid content, on the other hand nutrient starvation was found to be feasible and environmentally friendly approach for the control of the cell cycle to enhance lipid productivity.

This paper strategized on promoting microalgae lipid production and the authors identified the application of nutrient starvation as the most efficient strategy to work with and optimum lipid production can be achieved by combining strategies together.

The research undertaken is partially funded by TranAlgae. This is a network of relevant stakeholders within the algae industry in the Botnia-Atlantica region with the aim of implementing innovative solutions for the production of micro- and macroalgae biomass from waste streams at industrial scale. This study is said to provide stakeholders, authorities, and practitioners with the foundation for better understanding microalgal lipid induction strategies and their significances in practice.

About The Author

Dr. Liandong Zhu is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Technology of the University of Vaasa and Vaasa Energy Institute, Finland. Through Talent Program, he has also been selected as a professor in several leading Chinese universities. In January 2014 he graduated from the University of Vaasa as a doctor in the area of biofuels. He is also the recipient of the Åbo Akademi Award and Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Student Abroad.

His background is environmental engineering and his doctoral and current research resides in biodiesel production by integration of microalgae cultivation with wastewater treatment. Until now, he has published more than 50 papers in many esteemed peer-reviewed scientific journals, such as Water Research, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy, Bioresource Technology, Applied Energy, Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining (Biofpr) and Ecological Engineering. In total, the current impact factor (IF) of his papers has reached up to 101 points. According to Google Scholar, his papers have been well cited and the current H-index reaches 13. According to the Web of Science (ESI), three of his papers were marked as highly cited papers.

In addition, Dr. Zhu serves as the Lead Guest Editor of the BioMed Research International, Associate Editor of the JSM Environmental Science & Ecology and the reviewer for more than 40 journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, Energy, Applied Energy, etc.

Currently Dr. Zhu is working on TransAlgae project, receiving funding from EU’s Botnia-Atlantica Programme: http://ift.tt/2oTKlXK. Dr. Zhu’s previous research has also been well reported by two local Finnish newspapers (Pohjalainen and Ilkka) on their cover pages. Dr. Zhu’s research interests fall into the scopes of wastewater treatment, biofuels, waste recycling, and sustainable development. Dr. Zhu welcomes all kinds of cooperation in research, project application, publications and academic exchange or visits.

About The Author

Professor Zhaohua Li is the Dean of the School of Resources and Environmental Science. He was born in 1964 at Hubei Province in China, educated at China, the U.K. and Germany. His research spans including plant ecology, aquatic ecology, and environmental ecology. Professor Li is of broad members of Chinese Geographical Association and Chinese Association of Agricultural Resources and Zonning.

He received an Honorary of National Advanced Workers from Chinese government and more than 10 awards from Chinese ministries and Hubei Province. He has published 22 research works and 176 papers.

About The Author

Erkki Hiltunen is a Professor and Research Director of the Faculty of Technology of the University of Vaasa, Finland. He is also the leader of Renewable Energy Research Group of the Faculty of Technology of the University of Vaasa.

His research interests are renewable energy, environmental protection and sustainable development. He has published more than 80 articles in journals and conference proceedings.

Journal Reference

L.D. Zhu^1,2, Z. H. Li², and E. Hiltunen¹, Strategies for Lipid Production Improvement in Microalgae as a Biodiesel Feedstock, BioMed Research International, Volume 2016 (2016), Article ID 8792548, 8 pages.

Show Affiliations

1. Faculty of Technology, University of Vaasa and Vaasa Energy Institute, P.O. Box 700, 65101 Vaasa, Finland
2. Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-Resources and Faculty of Resources and Environmental Science, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Biorefinery as a Promising Approach to Promote Microalgae Industry: An Innovative Framework

Significance Statement

Microalgae, which grow in aquatic environments, are widely used as feedstock for traditional applications in cosmetics, pharmacy and nutrition sectors. In response to energy crisis, such as global warming and climatic changes, biofuels a renewable and alternative energy types have become the spotlight of research in an effort to search for sustainable development. Microalgae, which constitute lipids, carbohydrates and proteins in large amounts, have come under increased research interest with regard to the production of biofuels. The microalgae has advantages such as high photosynthetic efficiency, high lipid content, noncompetition for farmlands, and toleration to wastewaters during cultivation, applications appear to be strongly economically convenient only in conjunction with wastewater treatment.

Dr. Liandong Zhu from University of Vaasa in Finland mapped an innovative biorefinery for microalgae industry development in an effort to search for a better understanding of microalgae-based biofuel production scenarios and paths forward for microalgal research and commercialization. The research is now published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

Prior to this research, many studies have been carried out to analyze the economic feasibility of commercializing microalgae production for biofuel use. Commercialization of microalgae production as fuel is feasible from the technical point of view, but from the economical point of view, it is yet to reach an acceptable level. The author pointed out that large scale microalgae cultivation can only be achieved by combining technical breakthroughs and innovative pathways.

To make microalgae production more economical, the microalgae product market sizes and their values needs to be reviewed, that is the cost gap between microalgae biofuels and fossil fuels must be reduced or closed and also cater for the leftovers after high values of microalgae biofuels are produced.

He also suggested multi-production through microalgae biorefinery. The microalgae biorefinery which involve different system integration and engineering technologies will not only produce multiple products but also maximize the value derived from different microalgae components.

To examine the feasibility of this work, two assessments were carried out that is relative net energy ratio and cost-effective assessment. The net energy ratio is calculated from energy lifecycle assessment perspective as the ratio of total energy produced to the energy required for all relative plant construction and operation. And the higher the net energy ratio, the positive the biorefinery chain will be.

This study also mapped out an innovative frame work which includes cultivation technologies developed on the basis of the desired end product, exploring new markets for high values, integration of both traditional microalgal industry and biofuel corporate, and creating of policy beneficial to microalgal biofuel development.

Finally the author concluded in his study that high-value products can help drive the economy through systematic integration and engineering application in microalgae biorefinery.

About The Author

Dr. Liandong Zhu is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Technology of the University of Vaasa and Vaasa Energy Institute, Finland. Through Talent Program, he has also been selected as a professor in several leading Chinese universities. In January 2014 he graduated from the University of Vaasa as a doctor in the area of biofuels. He is also the recipient of the Åbo Akademi Award and Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Student Abroad.

His background is environmental engineering and his doctoral and current research resides in biodiesel production by integration of microalgae cultivation with wastewater treatment. Until now, he has published more than 50 papers in many esteemed peer-reviewed scientific journals, such as Water Research, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy, Bioresource Technology, Applied Energy, Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining (Biofpr) and Ecological Engineering. In total, the current impact factor (IF) of his papers has reached up to 101 points. According to Google Scholar, his papers have been well cited and the current H-index reaches 13. According to the Web of Science (ESI), three of his papers were marked as highly cited papers.

In addition, Dr. Zhu serves as the Lead Guest Editor of the BioMed Research International, Associate Editor of the JSM Environmental Science & Ecology and the reviewer for more than 40 journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, Energy, Applied Energy, etc.

Currently Dr. Zhu is working on TransAlgae project, receiving funding from EU’s Botnia-Atlantica Programme: http://ift.tt/2oTKlXK. Dr. Zhu’s previous research has also been well reported by two local Finnish newspapers (Pohjalainen and Ilkka) on their cover pages. Dr. Zhu’s research interests fall into the scopes of wastewater treatment, biofuels, waste recycling, and sustainable development. Dr. Zhu welcomes all kinds of cooperation in research, project application, publications and academic exchange or visits.

Journal References

Liandong Zhu^1,2, Biorefinery as a Promising Approach to Promote Microalgae Industry: An Innovative Framework, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41 (2015) 1376– 1384.

Zhu, Huo, Shakeel and Li , Algal biorefinery for sustainable development and the challenges. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Energy 169 November 2016 Issue EN4, Pages 179–186.

Show Affiliations

1. Faculty of Technology, University of Vaasa, FI65101 Vaasa, Finland
2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aalto University, FI00076 Espoo, Finland

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Benchmarking of five typical Meteorological year Datasets dedicated to Concentrated-PV Systems

Significance Statement

Accurate analysis of meteorological and pyranometric data for long-term prediction is the basis of the conception and development, so as decision-making for banks and investors, regarding solar energy conversion systems, either photovoltaic (PV) concentrated solar power (CSP) or concentrated photovoltaic (CPV). This has led to the development of methodologies for the generation of Typical Meteorological Years (TMY). A TMY is a customized weather dataset of one-year of meteorological data that aims at representing climatic conditions judged to be typical over a long-term period. A TMY dataset has 12 calendar months. The most representative block of monthly data for each calendar month is selected based on the smallest Filkenstein-Schafer distance measuring the difference of two cumulative distribution functions.

The “standard” method for solar energy conversion systems was proposed in 1978 by the Sandia Laboratory. In 2012, a new approach was proposed in the framework of the European project FP7 ENDORSE introducing the concept of “driver” time series defined by the user as a function of the pyranometric and meteorological relevant variables to improve the representativeness of the TMY datasets with respect the specific solar energy conversion system of interest.

Ana M. Realpe and colleagues from SOLAÏS, MINES ParisTech and NEOEN, in France benchmarked the classical Sandia method of TMY generation with innovative methods based on the driver concept, in the particular case of a given CPV system in a given site. The research work is now published in Energy Procedia.

According to the team, using 18-year data of the meteorological station Desert Rock (United States), five types of TMY were created using hourly and 1-minute data. The construction of the meteorological year is achieved by comparing the CDF of each block of data at a given month to the CDF of the concatenation of all blocks of data for this month over the long-term. The energy generation output of the concentrated photovoltaic system over the long-term 18-years period was the quantity used for the comparison between the different TMY datasets. The team used a simulation tool for each TMY as input to determine the yield of the concentrated photovoltaic system. Then two analyses were performed: one comparing the long-term average yield with the yield associated to the TMY datasets and another comparing the corresponding CDFs using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test Integral parameter (KSI), in order to measure the distance between two cumulative distribution functions.

The team found out that the monthly results obtained from the drivers, with hourly and 1-min data, are significantly better than those obtained with the Sandia method. The maximum annual deviations obtained with the Sandia method and with the drivers have no consistent pattern. From the monthly KSI test, the team observed that the maximum monthly deviations from the Sandia method approach exceed twice the deviations obtained by the drivers. Considering the annual KSI, the simplified and filtered drivers provide relative KSI values systematically less than 45 % from 8-year data.

Researchers were able to compare the innovative method which is based on driver concept, by using classical Sandia method as reference point. They found the driver concept to be more promising and efficient than the classical Sandia method.

About The Author

Ana Maria Realpe received her degree in Electrical Engineering from the Simon Bolivar University of Venezuela, in 2009. She carried out her research internship in the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy in Germany, about the development of an encapsulation technique for Compact Concentrated Modules (CCM) used in high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) systems. In 2011, she received her European Master’s degree in renewable energies (EUREC) from the Ecole MINES ParisTech in France, with a specialisation in hybrid systems at the Kassel University in Germany.

She joined SOLAÏS in 2012 where she has been continuously working in research and development projects with close collaboration with ARMINES / MINES ParisTech on various topics so as material assessment, mechanical structures and aerodynamic studies and solar resource analysis.

She is responsible of the innovation in SOLAÏS and leads the R&D activities related to the glare problematics regarding PV projects that may jeopardize the transportation safety (airports, networks of railways and motorways).

About The Author

Sébastien Pitaval is graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electrotechnique, d’Electronique, d’Informatique, d’Hydraulique et de Télécommunications (2000, Toulouse, France), with specialization in fluid mechanics and energy. He started his career working in the space industry, for Alcatel Space Industries then Thalès Alenia Space (2000-2008), occupying successive management positions for Herschel and Planck satellites: propelling system, Attitude and Orbit Control Systems (AOCS) then system integration.

His interest and convictions regarding renewable energies and his entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-create SOLAÏS in 2008. He developed R&D, Engineering and Export activities while setting up Corporate Social Responsability (CSR) within the company. He is also judicial expert at the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence (France).

About The Author

Christophe Vernay is graduated from Ecole Supélec (1997), a general engineering school in France. He started his career by working in the space industry, for Alcatel Space Industries (1998-2001), as a Research Engineer in Attitude and Orbit Control Systems (AOCS). Then, he worked in the Telecom industry for Nortel Networks then Alcatel-Lucent (2001-2010) on several positions, from the integration to the engineering of 3G and 4G systems. His interest and convictions regarding renewable energies led him to attend photovoltaic and wind-power courses in 2010 at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM), Paris. In 2011, he post-graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (ENSAM) with a specialized Master’s Degree in renewable energy.

He carried out its professional thesis in SOLAÏS, a French consulting company dedicated to photovoltaic, in collaboration with MINES ParisTech / Armines, about the characterizing of the measurements campaigns of the global irradiation. Since then, he is Technical Director in SOLAÏS, in charge of R&D, engineering, technical due diligence and commissioning.

Linkedin with publications 

About The Author

Prof. Philippe BLANC is graduated from the engineering school Telecom Bretagne (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications de Bretagne) and received his PhD degree from the MINES ParisTech in 1999 in the field of engineering sciences and applied mathematics. He has been working as a research engineer for Thales Alenia Space in signal and image processing and data fusion for Earth Observation systems and various projects where scientific support in signal and image processing, statistics, algorithmic prototyping and applied mathematics is required. He joined ARMINES / MINES ParisTech in 2007. He is working on the modelling of solar radiation and its assessment from in situ measurements or/and satellite images.

He is the head of the research group involved in renewable energy resource assessment within the research center Observation, Impacts, Energy. He has passed in 2015 his professoral habilitation (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) and is Professor at MINES ParisTech since then. In addition, he is currently a sub-task Leader of the Task 16 of the International Energy Agency program PVPS and associate editor for the Elsevier journal Solar Energy of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).

Online access to publications 

Reference

Ana M. Realpe¹, Christophe Vernay¹, Sébastien Pitaval¹, Camille Lenoir², Philippe Blanc³, Benchmarking of five typical Meteorological year Datasets dedicated to Concentrated-PV Systems, Energy Procedia 97 ( 2016 ) 108 – 115.

Show Affiliations

1. SOLAÏS, 400 avenue Roumanille, BP 309, F-06906 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France.
2. NEOEN, 4 rue Euler, 75008 Paris, France.
3. MINES ParisTech, PSL Resear University, O.I.E. – Center of Observation, Impacts, Energy, 1 Rue Claude Daunesse, CS 10207, F-06904 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France.

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Using Apparent Activation Energy as a Reactivity Criterion for Biomass Pyrolysis

Significance Statement

Understanding thermal properties of plant biomass will give insight to its industrial application, such as converting biomass efficiently into fuels or valuable chemicals. Biomass possesses three main building components; they are hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignin with different chemical reactivity. Identifying the kinetic properties of pyrolysis has been a challenge, previous work suggested the possibility of using thermal analysis techniques, such as thermogravimetric analysis.

A collaborative research between scientists at Aston University in the UK and Stellenbosch University in South Africa allowed Marion Carrier and colleagues to propose using the classical differential isoconversional analysis also called Friedman’s method to evaluate the activation energy dependency as a function of the conversion degree without any previous knowledge of the reaction model. The research paper is now published in peer-reviewed journal, Energy & Fuel.

They implemented a robust experimental guideline and MATLAB program to determine reliable apparent activation energy, a kinetic parameter that assesses the global reactivity of the chemically isolated biopolymers α-cellulose, holocellulose and lignin. A rigorous preparation method to conduct thermogravimetric experiments was used by the research team to minimize or correct systematic error in the temperature measurement that may affect determination of kinetic parameters.

The research team observed that the activation energy, Eα, dependencies obtained for the slow pyrolysis of the extractive-free Eucalyptus grandis, isolated α-cellulose and holocellulose remained constant for 0.05 < α < 0.80 and equal to 173 ± 10, 208 ± 11, and 197 ± 11 kJ/mol. According to the team, this confirmed the single-step nature of pyrolysis. They also found out large and significant variations in Eα for the Klason lignin from 174 ± 10 to 322 ± 11 kJ/mol in the conversion region of 0.05 and 0.79 and reported this trend for the first time. The team pointed out that non-monotonic nature of weight loss at low and high conversions had a direct consequence on the confidence levels of activation energy, Eα. The authors confirmed the Eα values obtained for α-cellulose and holocellulose in their work agree with values reported in the literature while Eα values for technical lignin pyrolysis were different which could be explained by different methods used in extraction as well as the occurrence of different lignin chemical structures. The model presented in this study is an important step forward to provide more accurate and reliable kinetic parameters of biomass pyrolysis.  

About The Author

Dr. Marion Carrier is a Marie Curie research fellow at the European Biomass Research Institute of Aston University, Birmingham (UK). She obtained degrees in Chemical engineering from CPE Lyon (MEng), in Analytical Science (MSc) and in Chemistry (PhD) from Claude Bernard University in Lyon (France). Trained as an interdisciplinary researcher, she has been applying her current skills and knowledge in the field of pyrolysis for the last 8 years at leading research organisations in France, South Africa, Chile and England.

Her research contributed to a wide range of research fields such as chemical mechanistic, pyrolysis chemical analysis, bioprocessing, thermochemical processing and soil sciences. Since October 2015, she joined Prof. Bridgwater’s team to pursue her research on molecular mapping of fast pyrolysis using fractionation and isotopic characterisation techniques along with molecular dynamics calculations.

About The Author

Dr. Lidia Auret is a senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). She obtained a BEng Chemical Engineering: Mineral Processing and a PhD in Extractive Metallurgical Engineering at Stellenbosch University.

Currently, she leads the research group of Process Monitoring which activities include the development of new process measurement systems (e.g. using image data to determine the efficiency of certain mineral processing units); research on novel methods with which to extract informative features from process data; and investigation into data-driven approaches for root cause analysis of abnormal behaviour on process plants.

About The Author

Prof. Anthony Bridgwater (BSc Tech, PhD, DSc., CEng. FIChemE, FIE) is a professor of chemical engineering and head of the European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University (UK). He has been working in bioenergy and biofuels since 1978, focussing on initially gasification for biofuels and later fast pyrolysis for direct production of liquids from biomass in high yields. He led the UK national centre of excellence in bioenergy and has participated in over 25 EC funded R&D projects.

About The Author

Prof. Hansie Knoetze (BEng, PhD) is the Dean Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University since 2012. He has been teaching and researching in interconnected disciplines such as Engineering Propelling Science, thermochemistry and separation; then promoting Research in the field of energy and environmental engineering with the emphasis on the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass, but also supporting progress in the understanding of the underlying thermodynamics and kinetics of the separation processes.

Reference

Marion Carrier¹, Lidia Auret², Anthony Bridgwater¹, and Johannes H. Knoetze², Using Apparent Activation Energy as a Reactivity Criterion for Biomass Pyrolysis, Energy Fuels 2016, 30, 7834 −7841.

Show Affiliations

1. Bioenergy Research Group, European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI), Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UnitedKingdom
2. Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602 Stellenbosch, South Africa

 

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Calculation of Solar Irradiation Prediction Intervals combining Volatility and Kernel Density Estimates

Significance Statement

The need for precise information on solar energy forecasting is of high importance to the energy demanding world as the reduced forecasting errors favor economic feasibility. Most of the previous techniques used in estimating solar energy forecasting solely depend on point forecasts. However, it was being discovered that both uncertainty and variability forecasting also play a major role in providing a long-time solar energy forecasting which would be of relevance for energy control.

Professor Juan R. Trapero from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain discussed ways at which solar energy forecasting could be improved. The technique he used incorporates that of an uncertainty forecast, associated with the previous single use of point forecasts to derive prediction intervals. The research work is now published in peer-reviewed journal, Energy.

The prediction interval involves the combination of a non-parametric approach, which is the kernel density estimation and the second, a parametric approach which involves the volatility forecast model with adaptation of a time-varying variance solution followed by generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic GARCH model and single exponential smoothing SES model estimations.

In the case study, global horizontal irradiance GHI data were provided by solar irradiance measurements for the Spanish Institute for Concentration Photovoltaics Systems. The author also employed a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average ARIMA model, which was estimated with that of GARCH model.

From the results observed, the SES model provided a better volatility forecast compared to the GARCH model. Further results revealed that despite a higher hit rate observed for the non-parametric kernel density estimation, a higher average interval width was observed as unconditional coverage test was not passed. The latter result negates a desired prediction interval forecasting.

The parametric models of the GARCH and SES, however, passed the independence test unlike the non-parametric kernel density estimation, but a low hit rate and failure to unconditional coverage test was discovered when considering the Christoffersen conditional coverage test p-value.

The combination of non-parametric kernel density estimation approach and a parametric model of the SES showed a close hit rate value to the desired coverage which did not implicate a higher interval width. All the Christoffersen tests passed successfully, making the combined approach the best method in achieving the desired confidence level with a lower average interval width.

This study with the aid of the combined parametric and non-parametric approach provides a reliable prediction interval for solar energy forecasting.

About The Author

Juan R. Trapero is with the department of Business Administration at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). He received the Ingeniero Industrial, M.B.A., and Ph.D. degrees from UCLM, Spain, in 2003, 2004, and 2008, respectively.

His research interests include system identification, forecasting and control, particularly applied to supply chain management and energy systems. He is one of the directors of the predictive analytics laboratory research group at UCLM.

Reference

Trapero, J.R. Calculation of Solar Irradiation Prediction Intervals combining Volatility and Kernel Density Estimates, Energy 114 (2016) 266-274.

University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Business Administration, Ciudad Real 13071, Spain.

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Compression Ignition of Low-Octane Gasoline: Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Significance Statement

The high need for control of greenhouse gas emissions is of importance due to the adverse effect it poses on health and environment. This is not far-fetched as the transport industry, despite its rule plays in society has contributed immensely to greenhouse gas emissions.

An improved vehicle technology which uses low-octane gasoline on the gasoline compression ignition engines offer various advantages compared with other vehicle technologies. It offers a lower ratio of octane compared with conventional gasoline engine, and in terms of energy efficiency and resourcefulness, a higher thermal efficiency compared to the conventional gasoline spark ignition engine and a demand balance between gasoline and diesel can also be achieved. Also, the ease in refinery process due to the use of low-octane gasoline is worthy to notice.

As various researches highlights the significant improvement of low-octane gasoline on gasoline compression ignition engines, a life cycle assessment of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in view of this vehicle technology would also give details on the impacts achieved during the refinery process.

Researchers led by Professor Fuquan Zhao from the State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy at Tsinghua University in China reported a life-cycle assessment on the application of low-octane gasoline on the gasoline compression ignition engines in view of finding its effect on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, followed by a comparison study with the conventional gasoline-spark ignition engines. The research work is now published in Applied Energy.

The authors considered a system boundary, well-to-wheel concept. The well-to-wheel concept had two phases; well-to-tank phase and tank-to-wheel phase coupled with evaluations on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions related with crude oil extraction, transportation, petroleum refining, products transportation for the former and vehicle use for the latter, based on relevant data. They also made use of a mass-based method for allocation of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the refinery process.

At the well-to-tank phase, lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions occurred in the refining process of the low-octane gasoline compared to the conventional gasoline. This was due to the non-existence of the isomerization and catalytic reforming units.

With consideration of vehicle fuel consumption rate of related data, low energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions was also attained for low-octane gasoline and its application on the gasoline compression ignition engine when observed in both phases of the well-to-tank and tank-to-wheel respectively.

Figure 1 Life cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions

Figure 2 The contributions of the WtT and TtW phases in reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions

Outcomes from the life cycle assessment indicated a lesser energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 24.6% and 22.8% for the low-octane gasoline on the gasoline compression ignition system compared to the conventional gasoline on spark ignition system, as Figure 1 shows. The WtT phase contributes to 29% of energy consumption reduction and 34% of GHG emissions reduction. The other 71% of energy consumption reduction and 66% of GHG emissions reduction are attributed to the TtW phase, as Figure 2 shows. The results indicate that both WtT and TtW phases play essential roles in realizing reductions in energy consumption and GHG emissions. Relatively, the TtW phase makes larger contributions.

The authors were able to show that low-octane gasoline on gasoline compression ignition engines would definitely lessen energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and provide a major improvement in vehicle technology.

About The Author

Prof. Fuquan (Frank) Zhao is the director of Tsinghua Automotive Strategy Research Institute (TASRI), the President of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISITA 2018-2020), and the member of Global Future Council on Mobility for the World Economic Forum.

Prof. Zhao joined Tsinghua University in 2013. Before, he worked more than 20 years in the automotive industry. He has been a leading author of more than 300 academic papers in English, Japanese and Chinese, written 5 books in English and Chinese, and led the development of about 20 vehicle models and 10 powertrain products.

His research is focus on strategy in fields of automotive industry development, corporate management and technology development roadmaps.

He holds Master and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Hiroshima University, Japan, and a Bachelor degree in Jilin University of Technology, China.

About The Author

Dr. Hao is the assistant researcher in Tsinghua Automotive Strategy Research Institute (TASRI). He is the contributing author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the 5th Assessment Report, the member of editorial Committee of China Automotive Energy Outlook and the member of editorial committee of Sustainable Automotive Energy System in China.

Dr. Hao is the journal reviewers of the following SCI journals: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Transport Policy, Energy Conversion and Management and Applied Mathematical Modeling.

His research field is mainly on automotive industry research, with focus on industrial development and planning, life cycle evaluation methods, technical strategy methodology, etc.

He holds Bachelor and PhD degrees in Department of Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University.

About The Author

Feiqi Liu is the doctoral candidate in Tsinghua Automotive Strategy Research Institute (TASRI). Her research interests are vehicle fleet carbon emissions and life cycle evaluation methods. She holds the Bachelor degree in School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University.

Journal Reference

Hao, H., Liu, F., Liu, Z., Zhao, F. Compression ignition of low-octane gasoline: Life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, Applied Energy 181 (2016) 391–398.

State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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Renewable Energy Global Innovations features: Optimal Design of Modular Cogeneration Plants for Hospital Facilities and Robustness Evaluation of the Results

Significance Statement

A cogeneration technique such as the combined heat and power generation offers prospects for emission of non-toxic gases which are in serious need for the energy demand world. Hence several research efforts have been conducted to obtain a desirable balance between energy supply and economic objectives.

Researchers from University of Naples Federico II in Italy proposed a new methodology which involves a coupled calculation algorithm to genetic optimization algorithm MOGA II and a multi-objective robust design optimization approach in order to determine the capabilities of an optimized combined heat and power plants in hospital facilities. The research work is now published in Energy Conversion and Management.

The calculation algorithm developed to the genetic optimization algorithm compares the specific load profiles of two Italian hospital facilities while considering the combined heat and power system-user interaction with the sole objective of increasing the total primary energy conversion and reducing the simple payback period. The multi-objective optimization approach which also involves robust design optimization involved a sensitivity analysis which accommodates certain uncertainties economic-wise and energy as well.

The authors implemented two management strategies in the calculation algorithm; maximum primary energy savings management MPESM logic and maximum profitability management MPM logic. They investigated load profiles of the two hospital facilities were the S. Paolo hospital in Naples and the second, Oncological Reference Center of Basilicata CROB.

Pareto optimal front solutions derived from the multi-objective optimization approach when using the MPSEM strategy in a hospital facility of S. Paolo showed that plant configurations which aid the overall energy savings favors the simple payback period. A multiple gas engine of two and three, gave an optimum relation between the energy and economic results. A reasonable Pareto optimal front solutions were observed in the total primary energy savings at a value greater than 16.5%, the simple payback period between 2.9- 4.6 years and engines between one to three with an electrical power range between 260-570KW for each. The MPM logic had a decreased efficiency in designing an optimized plant configuration.

The Pareto optimal front solutions when considering a hospital facility of CROB indicated a higher value of total primary energy savings at 18.2%, while the simple payback period is a little above 3 years with three combined heat and power engines of 440KW. With the use of MPM logic strategy, a decrease in total primary energy savings of 0.5% was discovered. Compared to that of S. Paolo hospital facility, that of CROB had a higher total primary savings value in all cases.

Results from the Pareto optimal solutions for the first multi-objective optimization approach used in the S. Paolo hospital indicated a higher economic sensitivity compared to the energetic sensitivity as standard deviation accounted up to 7% of its mean value ratios under 3% for total primary energy savings. The most stable plant design for the two hospital facilities was also provided.

However, the multi-objective robust design optimization in order to derive a last-longing solution economically and energetically, gave Pareto optimal solutions with standard deviation for a simple payback period less than 3.5% of its mean value, which reaches 7% of the total primary savings in hospital facility of S. Paolo. Pareto optimal solutions for the hospital facility in the CROB had a standard deviation of simple payback less than 2.5% of its mean value while reaching 6% of the total primary energy savings.

The optimization tool proposed in this study provides a reasonable approach for determining long-lasting performance for the combined heat and power plant while considering its effect on the economy and energy supply.

About The Author

Massimiliano Muccillo received his degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, in 2008, discussing a thesis addressing the study of the prototype of a variable valve actuation system for a motorcycle engine. He received his Ph.D degree in Engineering of Mechanical Systems at the University of Naples Federico II, in 2012, discussing a thesis addressing the use of the multi-objective approach for the optimization of cogeneration systems. Since 2012, he has been a Research fellow at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II.

His research interests include modeling, analysis and optimization of spark ignition reciprocating internal combustion, CHP systems and ORC systems. SAE member since 2012. ATI member since 2012. Author of about 25 scientific publications (13 SCOPUS). “Key Scientific Article contributing to the excellence in Energy research” by RENEWABLE ENERGY GLOBAL INNOVATIONS (http://ift.tt/2ndOosK) in 2014.

About The Author

Alfredo Gimelli associate Professor of Fluid Machines and Energy Systems at the Department of industrial Engineering of the University of Napoli Federico II (Italy). Scientific Council Member of the Industrial Engineering doctoral since 2012. Scientific Council Member of the Mechanical Engineering doctoral since 2008. Research interests are related to: – Internal Combustion Engines: Experiments and Modeling;- Energy Efficiency; – Renewable Energy: Biomass, CSP Thermodynamic Cycles and Syngas from Waste; – Combined Heat and Power; – Multi Objective Optimization; – ORC Power Plants. Graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Napoli (Italy) in 1994. Philosophic Doctor in Mechanical Engineering in 1999. SAE member since 2003. ATI member since 1997.

Author of more than 70 scientific publications (40 SCOPUS – 15 ISI journals) and 1 European Patent. ACA Noise&Vibration Award in 2005. “Key Scientific Article contributing to the excellence in Energy research” by RENEWABLE ENERGY GLOBAL INNOVATIONS (http://ift.tt/2ndOosK) in 2014. Scientific responsible of more than 10 research programs/projects/contracts. Creator and founder of a high-tech company in the renewable and energy saving technologies.

Reference

Gimelli, A., Muccillo, M., Sannino, R. Optimal Design of Modular Cogeneration Plants for Hospital Facilities and Robustness Evaluation of the Results, Energy Conversion and Management 134 (2017) 20–31.

DII – Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Napoli, Italy.

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