Search

Harvesting of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is a challenging issue owing to the presence of ripe and unripe fruits on the same bunch. Although widely diffused,the manual collection is labor-demanding. Several machines for fully mechanized harvesting are available, but their sustainability is debatable. The use of a semi-mechanical approach can be an affordable solution. Within the 4-year demonstration project JatroMed, CREA-ING analyzed modified pickers mounting different type of rake. A first study carried out in Morocco was aimed at analyzing the applicability of the method and evaluating the efficiency of different combinations rake/beating speed. A commercial olive picker with pneumatic system was used. Two beating's speeds (S1 and S2) per three different rakes (R1, R2 and R3) were tested on cultivar Michoacan in order to determine the most suitable combination to harvest jatropha fruits. The number of fallen leaves was adopted as discriminating parameter for identifying the less damaging combination. Then the best rake-speed combination was tested also on JCL Max, QVP and Mali varieties.All the treatments (rake/speed) allowed to harvest the ripe fruits of the cultivar Michoacán. However, the combination R1-S1 showed the lowest number of fallen leaves and the treatment R3-S2 assured the highest percentage of unfallen unripe fruits. From these first evidences emerges that the semi-mechanical harvesting through rakes is suitable for the collection of ripe fruits of Jatropha and it is independent from the type of rake used. For a selective harvest, however, the integration of the system with the physiological traits of the variety is highlydesirable., Proceedings of the 24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-9 June 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 143-146

The application of membrane reactors has been widely studied for methane steam reforming and water gas shift using Pd-alloy membranes. The integration of reaction and separation allows obtaining higher conversion degrees, smaller reactor volumes and higher efficiencies compared with conventional systems. In the last decade, much thinner dense Pd-based membranes have been produced that can be used in membrane reactors. However, the thinner the membranes the higher the flux and the higher the effect of concentration polarization in packed beds. A reactor concept that can circumvent (or at least strongly reduce) concentration polarization is the fluidized bed membrane reactor configuration, and also can improve the heat transfer. Tecnalia and TU/e are involved in four European projects that are related to development of fluidized bed membrane reactors for hydrogen production using thin Pd-Ag (

According to International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the effect of human activities on changes in the climate is very likely to have been dominating natural variations especially in the past 50 years. On the short term, significant reductions of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions may be attained from energy savings. The transition towards a world economy based on energy supply via sustainable sources such as wind-, hydro- and solar energy, or nuclear power is therefore expected to be a lengthy process that cannot be expected to be solely responsible for the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations in this century. In this respect, novel concepts based on process intensification can help to reduce CO2 emissions and can lead the transition towards a more sustainable energy scenario. This introductory chapter briefs the organization of other chapters in the book.

The post-combustion technologies generally consist of chemical absorption systems that are operated at almost atmospheric pressure and with amine-based solvent. One of the most promising technologies is chemical looping combustion (CLC): the conversion is performed by using a solid metal (called oxygen carrier), which is alternatively oxidized and reduced by sequential contact with an air and a fuel stream. In this chapter, the CLC combustion technology is discussed. The description mainly concerns the different Oxygen Carriers (OCs) that have been studied and the main properties of the solid materials. The chapter presents the reactor concepts and the main operating conditions that have been studied and tested. It presents a literature review of the different power plants that have been designed and fully integrated with a CLC unit for efficient CO2 capture. The chapter discusses the CLC technology as possible solution for a carbon-free power production from fossil fuels.

This chapter discusses the application of membrane reactors for hydrogen production through autothermal reforming (ATR) reactions, with particular attention to the ATR of methane as fossil fuel and methanol and ethanol as biofuels. First the concept of ATR is explained, the catalysts used for such reactions are reported, and the traditional reactors are discussed. Afterwards, the membrane reactor concepts are discussed, and two possible configurations, namely the fluidized bed and the packed bed configuration, are discussed and compared. Modeling aspects of both reactors are introduced. Finally, the recent advances in membrane reactors for these reactions and future trends are discussed in the chapter.

This book addresses the application of process intensification to sustainable energy production, combining two very topical subject areas. Due to the increasing process of petroleum, sustainable energy production technologies must be developed, for example bioenergy, blue energy, chemical looping combustion, concepts for CO2 capture etc. Process intensification offers significant competitive advantages, because it provides more efficient processes, leading to outstanding cost reduction, increased productivity and more environment-friendly processes.

The biomass of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) can be used as fuel for combustion, but some problems may arise during the conversion process. In fact, the residues deriving from combustion have determined characteristics that may compromise the functionality of traditional power plants. In particular, the ash content and ash fusion point are respectively much higher and lower compared with that of traditional lignocellulosic crops such as poplar, eucalyptus, etc.. Different studies have been already performed worldwide in order to determine energetic potential and ash characteristics of giant reed. However, the results of these works indicate in many cases different values and discordant opinions, creating some doubts about the real potential and the real risks of this fuel. The aim of this study was to investigate the ash and energy features of arundo biomass in order to furnish evidence of the energy potential as well as the limits of this energy source., Proceedings of the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 1-4 June 2015, Vienna, Austria, pp. 193-194

Nanoporous ceramic supports for pore filled membranes were prepared on ceramic supports (α-Al2O3) with pore size of 100 nm by adding additional layers with different proportions of YSZ/γ-Al2O3 (ranging from 50% to 90% of YSZ) by dip-coating and the effect of different parameters in the preparation method have been investigated. The diffusion mechanisms of N2, He and CO2 through the supported nanoporous layers have been studied in detail with permeation measurements at a temperature range of 50–400 °C and pressure difference of 30–100 kPa. It was observed that as the amount of γ-Al2O3 in the nanoporous layers increases, the adsorption of CO2 is favored at low temperatures and pressures. Finally, a pore-filled Pd/YSZ/γ-Al2O3 (60 wt%YSZ-40 wt. γ-Al2O3) membrane was successfully prepared and its permeation performance was tested over 900 h at 500 and 550 C, showing relatively low ideal H2/N2 perm-selectivity of about 50 due to low hydrogen flux.

Introduction It is widely accepted that the problem of global warming will require a combination of solutions ranging from carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) through to improved carbon effi ciency of fossil fuels and (in the long term) widespread use of renewable energy sources. In particular, as energy costs increase, the advantage of high energy-conversion effi ciency becomes very important. In this respect, fuel cell (FC) systems (with signifi cantly higher conversion efficiency than other energy conversion devices, particularly at small sizes) will become more important and their market share will increase accordingly (further enhanced by reductions in manufacturing costs). However, for FCs overall to achieve higher effi ciency, the energy carrier for those FCs (mostly H 2 ) should also be produced at higher effi ciency. This can be achieved by using membrane reactors, devices that integrate separation and reaction in a single unit, thus reducing the amount of equipment required and circumventing certain thermodynamic limitations that affect conventional systems. In this chapter, the application of membrane reactors as innovative reformers for combined heat and power (CHP) systems will be discussed. An overview of actual CHP systems will be outlined fi rst, then the advantages and disadvantages of applying novel reformers will be highlighted, and fi nally an energy analysis of a micro-CHP system with conventional and membrane reformers will be presented.