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Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be used to produce clean energy from organic wastes. Various biomasses for MFCs can be used as biofuel materials. Moss (Bryophyta) is a source of biomass materials and can be used as an alternative fuel for microbial fuel cells. In this study, moss-enriched MFCs were produced by using moss as a biofuel source and aluminum and silver as an electrode. As a result of the good electrochemical performance of the metal electrodes (aluminum and silver), higher power density than previous studies involving moss was obtained, with the highest power density in this study being 20 mW/m2. Moreover, in this study, bacterial activity, biofilm formation, soil utilization, pH change, and corrosion were investigated in MFCs and the effects of MFC on power density were discussed. The addition of soil increased the corrosion rate and internal resistance while reducing the power density. As a result of the addition of soil, the power density dropped to 16.13 mW/m2. The corrosion rate was lower than industrial corrosion. Changes in pH confirmed that organic material dissolved and chemical reactions took place. Scanning electron microscope (SEM)-Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyzes showed the presence of Bacillus and Coccus bacteria species on the electrode surfaces. These bacteria were acted as biocatalysts by forming a biofilm on the electrode surfaces.

Biodiesel, in its neat or blended form with petrodiesel, is widely accepted alternative fuel for diesel engines. Although biodiesel is presumably associated with lower CO2, HC, and PMs emissions, it suffers from its own drawbacks including higher viscosity, lower volatility, lower heating value, and higher NOx emissions. In order to address these shortcomings and to meet stringent emission norms, diesel/biodiesel additives have attracted more attention recently owing to their ability to improve engine performance and mitigate hazardous emissions. While discrete emissions analysis could provide useful information on environmental impacts associated with various fuel additives, decision-making on such basis would be very difficult or even impossible since different fuel additives may have different positive/negative effects on pollutants generated during combustion process. This issue becomes even more serious in multi-objective optimization studies due to the fact that considering all emission indices for finding a global optimal point would be very complex as a result of conflicting objectives. Moreover, exhaust gas emission analysis does not consider environmental impacts caused in fuel production process. Discrete emissions analysis also lacks weighting in decision-making procedure since the level and degree of harmfulness of pollutants may not be comparable. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been recognized as a valuable tool to address these challenges through systematical evaluation of potential environmental impacts of fuel additives. Accordingly, this paper was aimed at comprehensively reviewing and mechanistically discussing the effects of various diesel/biodiesel additives including metal-based, oxygenated, antioxidant, cold flow improver, lubricity improver, and cetane number improver additives as well as engine operating parameters like engine load, engine speed, EGR, and injection timing on both regulated and non-regulated emissions. Moreover, the environmental impacts of various diesel/biodiesel additives by incorporating an LCA approach was also critically discussed.

Shale gas is essentially non-traditional natural gas (NG). Shale gas can be considered an unusual alternative energy source. Shale gas production is a method of obtaining the NG trapped between deep underground rocks. Shale gas production is not economical, except for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods. Advanced analysis of shale gaseous samples can be done using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and other modern testing methods. The Orsat apparatus includes three absorption pipettes containing chemical solutions that absorb gases. Absorbents are a 33% by weight aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for carbon dioxide (CO2), alkali pyrogallol for oxygen (O2) and ammoniacal cuprous for carbon monoxide (CO) measurement. Oxygen is absorbed in alkaline pyrogallol or in a chromous solution. Shale gas can be analyzed best gas chromatographically. The capillary column can be separated from all the hydrocarbons and their isomers by alumina, which is used as a stationary phase...

Petroleum coke is often shortened as pet coke. Petroleum coke or pet coke is a product obtained from oil of all kinds during the oil refining process. Petroleum coke is a carbon-rich solid ...

Hydrocarbon compounds are formed by carbon and hydrogen elements. The higher heating values (HHVs) of the hydrocarbon compounds can be calculated based on the carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) contents of the chemical structures. HHVs (MJ / kg) as a function of the carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) fractions of N-saturated hydrocarbons can be calculated by the following equation: HHV = 0.303 (C)+ 1.423 (H) According to this Equation, the HHV is a function of the percentages of the carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) of pure n-saturated hydrocarbon compounds. This Equation represents the correlation obtained by means of regression analysis. It is found that the calculated values shows mean difference of 0.18%. The correlation coefficient is 0.9955. HHVs as a function of the iodine value (IV) and the saponification value (SV) of fatty acids can be calculated by the following equation: HHV(MJ/kg) = 49.43 − 0.015(IV)−0.041(SV). © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Bioenergy is an effective energy form used by developing countries. It covers about 38% of the energy consumed primarily obtained from the biomass in about 13% of the world. Due to the energy production costs, much attention has currently been paid on alternative bioenergy sources in the developing countries. Biofuels may be used instead of fossil fuels to produce power, heat, and/or some chemicals. Its production with local resources suggests a reproducible alternative streamlining the economic and social improvement in developing countries, in case the bioenergy projects are established economically viable and well planned with local cooperation. Biofuels are important resources which can take place with fossil-based fuels. Generally speaking, biofuels offer several benefits such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, regional social and structural development, sustainability in energy provision, and agricultural development. In this study, a life cycle analysis of a full-scale biogas plant was conducted. In the life cycle analysis, the ecological effects of the biogas process, the by-products from the biogas production, and the cogeneration unit where the electricity generation is performed are evaluated quantitatively according to the ISO 14040. The functional unit of the plant was designed for 30 tons per day big cattle manure, 5 tons per day poultry manure, and 15 tons per day cheese whey of industrial biogas plant.

Heavy oil is less expensive than light crude oil, but heavy oil is more expensive to obtain light oil products. Conventional light crude oil resources are decreasing, therefore heavy oil resources will be needed more in the future. There are huge differences from field to field for heavy oil deposits. In terms of final productive use, heavy oil is considered as an unconventional resource. Heavy oil upgrading depends on four important factors: catalyst selection, heavy oil classification, process design, and production economics. Heavy and extra-heavy oils are unconventional reservoirs of oil. Globally, 21.3% of total oil reserves are heavy oil. Heavy oil is composed of long chain organic molecules called heavy hydrocarbons. The thermal degradation of the heavy hydrocarbons in heavy oil generates liquid and gaseous products. All kinds of heavy oils contain asphaltenes, and therefore are considered to be very dense material. The most similar technologies for upgrading of heavy oils are pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis, thermal and catalytic cracking, and hydrocracking. The amount of liquid products obtained from pyrolysis of heavy oil was dependent on the temperature and the catalyst. Pyrolytic oil contains highly valuable light hydrocarbons as gasoline and diesel components range. The constant increase in the use of crude oils has raised prices of the most common commercial conventional products and consequently seeking for new alternative petroleum resources, like some unconventional oil resources, becomes an interesting issue. The mass contents of gasoline, diesel, and heavy oil in the crude oil are 44.6%, 38.3%, and 17.1%, respectively. The gasoline yield from the heavy oil catalytic (Na2CO3) pyrolysis is higher than the diesel efficiency for all conditions. The yield of gasoline products increases with increasing pyrolysis temperature (from 230°C to 350°C) and percentage of catalyst (from 5% to 10%). The yields of gasoline-like product are from 21.5% to 39.1% in 5% catalytic run and from 32.5% to 42.5% in 10% catalytic run. The yields of diesel-like product are from 9.3% to 29.8% in 5% catalytic run and from 15.5% to 33.7% in 10% catalytic run. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

In this study, the kinetics of chemical reaction was studied based on the correlation between the rate of degradation of glucose by the microalgae and the rate of hydrogen gas formation. Bio-photol...

The environmental impacts of petroleum are often negative because they are toxic to almost all lifestyles, and there is a possibility of causing climate change. Oil pollution in the air and in the water can be toxic and dangerous to the human body. Preliminary researchers have thoroughly studied and discussed the methods of treatment of oily wastewater. Removing oily wastewater from the oil without damaging the environment is an important problem for the oil industry. The three-phase solid, water, and oil blends can be separated from each other when a continuous oil–water separator system is used. Oil contaminated wastewater is generally treated by gravity sedimentation, coagulation, flotation, coagulation composite flotation, demulsification, membrane separation, flocculation treatment, chemical precipitation, and biological treatment and filtration.

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of domestic petroleum demand volatilities on economic growth in Saudi Arabia. It is suggested to use the strategy statistical tools and estimation techniques necessary to achieve this aim. A demand and supply strategy can be developed to predict the demand for petroleum products correctly. The econometric analysis showed that the annual rate of increase in domestic oil demand was almost doubled compared with the average annual income growth rate (GDP), which was 4.93 and 2.46% per annum. Despite the rapid technological progress of renewable alternative energy sources, crude oil still accounts for 40.6% of the globally produced energy. Oil price changes determine the inflation rate and unemployment level, which have influenced the growth rate of the economy and led to government austerity measures.

Although Saudi Arabia is producing high gross national income per year in the Jeddah city, the sewage treatment and disposal systems does not meet the needs of people sufficiently. The disp...

Sewage sludge is obtained from wastewater treatment in sewage treatment plants. The sludge consists of two basic forms, sludge and secondary sludge, also known as activated sludge in the case of activated sludge process. Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) or only sewage can be a solid, semi-solid, or liquid muddy residue. It contains mainly proteins, sugars, detergents, phenols, and lipids and also includes toxic and hazardous organic and inorganic pollutants source. Sewage is a mixture of domestic and industrial wastes that contains above 99% water. It is produced by residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial establishments. Sludge is semi-solid slurry and can be produced as sewage sludge from wastewater treatment processes. The sludge consists of a wide range of harmful substances such as dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, absorbed and extracted chlorine derivatives, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols and their derivatives, phthalate, and othe...

Sarier, Mehmet/0000-0002-8656-7416 WOS:000398017900007 PubMed: 28340803 Background. Ureteral stent insertion during kidney transplantation is a matter of debate. Stenting has been proven to reduce the risk of surgical complications. In addition, it has been reported to increase risks such as urinary tract infections especially after operation. Ureteral stent colonization (USC) is known to play a role in the pathogenesis of stent related-infections. The aim of this study was (1) to assess the frequency of USC and values of urine cultures in identifying colonizing bacteria; (2) to assess the importance of indwelling time for USC in live-donor renal transplant recipients; and (3) to evaluate the biomarker role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on USC. Methods. A total of 107 live-donor kidney transplant patients were included in the study (76 men and 31 women). The mean age was 43.7 years, and average indwelling time of the ureteral stent was 24.7 days. Patients were divided into three groups according to indwelling stent time as group 1: 15 to 21 days (3rd week), group 2: 22 to 28 days (4th week), and group 3: 29 to 35 days (5th week). The decision to remove the stent was primarily based on clinical judgment. Ureteral stents were removed with the use of flexible cystoscopy. Midstream urine for urine culture and blood samples for NLR were taken prior to stent removal. The removed stents were divided into three parts and taken for bacteriological investigation. Results. Of 107 patients, USC was detected in 24 (22.4%) patients, whereas urinary proliferation was observed in 8 (7.4%) patients. The most common microorganisms found in USC was the Enterecoccus species. The most common microorganisms in urinary culture were Enterecoccus spp. and Klebsiella pnemoniae. All patients with isolated microorganisms in the urine had USC (P < .001). On the other hand, proliferation in urinary culture was observed only in 30% of patients. Urine culture was not significant in identification of USC (P = .063). The three patient groups that were determined according to indwelling stent time were compared in terms of USC, proliferation in urine culture, and NLR. The highest incidence of USC was found in group 3 (44%) and the least in group 2 (11%) (P < .05). No significant difference was found between the groups in terms of urine culture (P = .546). Although no significant difference was found between groups 1 and 2 in NLR values (P = .755), NLR was significantly higher in group 3 (P = .026). Conclusions. Colonization is common in ureteral stents inserted in live-donor kidney transplant patients, although routine urine culture is insufficient in identfying this colonization. The most common microorganism detected in ureteral stent colonization was Enterecoccus spp. The 4th week was the most convenient time for stent removal time in terms of USC among the 3rd, 4th, and 5th weeks. In addition, increased NLR might have value as a biomarker for USC.

The aim of this study was to determine the quality and applications of liquid oil produced by thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of polystyrene (PS) plastic waste by using a small pilot scale pyrolysis reactor. Thermal pyrolysis produced maximum liquid oil (80.8%) with gases (13%) and char (6.2%), while catalytic pyrolysis using synthetic and natural zeolite decreased the liquid oil yield (52%) with an increase in gases (17.7%) and char (30.1%) production. The lower yield but improved quality of liquid oil through catalytic pyrolysis are due to catalytic features of zeolites such as microporous structure and high BET surface area. The liquid oils, both from thermal and catalytic pyrolysis consist of around 99% aromatic hydrocarbons, as further confirmed by GC-MS results. FT-IR analysis further showed chemical bonding and functional groups of mostly aromatic hydrocarbons, which is consistent with GC-MS results. The produced liquid oils can be suitable for energy generation and heating purposes after the removal of acid, solid residues and contaminants. Further upgrading of liquid oil and blending with diesel is required for its potential use as a transport fuel.

Algae are mainly composed of lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids. Microalgae can be converted into liquid and gaseous products by direct liquefaction, pyrolysis, and supercritical water pyrolysis. The effect of pyrolysis temperature on the yield of bio-oil from algae samples was reviewed. The yield of bio-oil from pyrolysis of the samples increased with temperature. In general, microalgae bio-oils are of higher quality than bio-oil from woody biomass. The yield of bio-oil from pyrolysis of the microalgae increased with temperature. The yields of hydrogen from microalgae biomass by pyrolysis and supercritical water pyrolysis increase with increasing of temperature. In general, in the supercritical water pyrolysis temperature is higher than that of pyrolysis and the yield of hydrogen from the supercritical water pyrolysis is higher than that of the pyrolysis. Algal oil from microalgae also is the promising and sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production.

Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) is a biowaste formed during wastewater treatment and the sewage sludge can be obtained from industrial wastewater treatment system. The sewage sludge contains a variety of organic and inorganic compounds, mainly lipids, proteins, sugars, detergents, and phenols. The MSS contains a significant amount of lipid fraction characterized as oils, greases, fats, and long-chain fatty acids. The average yield of methyl esters from the MSS lipids is 24%. The total average of saturated fatty acids reaches as high as 55.0%. Palmitic acid (37.5%) was the major saturated fatty acid, followed by stearic acid (12.0%). Oleic acid (29.0%) was the major unsaturated fatty acid, followed by linoleic acid (6.2%). The optimum production of biodiesel is faced with huge challenges. The main challenges are collecting and drying the sludge, separating lipids, microbial processing, optimum production of biodiesel and product separation, soap formation, maintaining product quality, bioreactor desi...

Date or date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a flowering plant species with edible sweet fruit. The date species widely grow in the tropical and subtropical territories in the worldwide. The date palm is one of the most cultivated palms around the world. The date fruits are composed of carbohydrates, dietary fibers, protein, lipids, some vitamins, and mineral matter. Carbohydrates (73–85% by weight) in date fruits can be converted to sugars by hydrolysis process, and the sugars are converted to bioethanol with anaerobic fermentation by the action of micro-organisms. The theoretical productivity of bioethanol was found as 261.5 kg per ton dates palm. The cost of sugar production from dates palm is less expensive than the cost of other sugar sources. The vegetable oil contents of different date seeds were obtained within the percentage range of 5–13. Biodiesel can be obtained from date seed oil. The pyrolytic products obtained from the seeds contain volatile materials, fixed carbon, moisture conten...

Electricity is mainly used for cooling, desalination, industrial, and domestic needs in Saudi Arabia. Natural gas, diesel oil, crude oil, and heavy fuel oil are used for electricity generation in the Kingdom. More than 70% of Saudi’s electricity is consumed for air conditioning and cooling, and the summer demand is about twice the winter demand. Today, 65% of world’s electricity is produced by steam turbine generators by burning fossil fuels, whereas 100% of Saudi’s electricity is generated from fossil energy sources. Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) regulates the electricity and water desalination industry in Saudi Arabia. The country has 30 desalination plants and drinking water demand increases year after year. More than 60% of the water consumed in households is provided from desalinated sea water, and the rest comes from the groundwater aquifers. Desalinated water consumption increases approximately 14% per year. Desalination is a very costly process and is not sustainab...

The aim of the present study is to investigate the importance of biofuels in the near future. A large number of research projects in the field of biofuels have been carried out. Biomasses can be converted into primarily liquid products in the presence of a reducing reagent, e.g., carbon monoxide or hydrogen. The main biofuels from biomasses are bioethanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen, biogas, and charcoal. The main biofuels are bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel, vegetable oils, biomethanol, pyrolysis oils, biogas, synthesis gas, and biohydrogen. The two major ethanol producers are the United States and Brazil followed by the European Union and China. The two major biodiesel producers are the European Union and Indonesia followed by Brazil and the United States. While the share of biofuels will become 5.0% the total automotive fuel consumption in 2020, it will increase to 11.8% in 2050. Liquid biofuels, especially ethanol and biodiesel, hold promise for the future. There is a worldwide interest in susta...

The aim of this study is to investigate the microalgae production technologies and production costs. Biofuels production costs can vary widely by feedstock, conversion process, scale of production, and region. Microalgae will become the most important biofuel source in the near future. Microalgae are unique photosynthetic organisms given that they accumulate storage lipids in substantial quantities and thrive in high-salinity water. Photosynthetic growth requires light, carbon dioxide (CO2), water, and inorganic salts. Temperature must remain generally within 20–30°C. During photosynthesis, algae use solar energy to fix CO2 into algal biomass, so the water used to cultivate algae must be enriched with CO2. Microalgae can potentially be employed for the production of biofuels in an economically effective and environmentally sustainable manner.

Currently, biodiesel is mainly produced from conventionally grown edible oils such as soybean, rapeseed, sunflower, and palm. To obtain biodiesel from edible oils is currently not economically feas...

The higher heating values were studied from different lignin types obtained from wood and non-wood lignocellulosic biomass samples. The differences of higher heating values in wood and non-wood biomass were analyzed using repeated experimental measures. Typically, five different lignin samples were obtained from hazelnut shell, olive husk, walnut shell, spruce wood (a softwood), and beech wood (a hardwood) in this study. The proximate analysis and thermal analysis with heat content are the most important data for the characterization of biomass lignin. The higher heating value (HHV) of lignin available from biomass by burning ranges from 22.2 MJ/kg to 28.5 MJ/kg. There are mainly three types of lignin. Lignin from beech wood can be considered as type I lignin. Lignins obtained from spruce wood, hazelnut shell, and olive husk may be considered as type II lignin. Lignin obtained from walnut could be considered as type III lignin.

Depletion of fossil fuel resources and stringent emission mandates has spurred the search for improved diesel engines performance and cleaner combustion. One of the best approaches to solve these issues is to use biodiesel/diesel additives. The effects of biodiesel/diesel additives on the performance and emissions of diesel engines were comprehensively reviewed throughout this article. The additives reviewed herein were classified into five categories, i.e., oxygenated additives, metallic and non-metallic based additives, water, antioxidants, and polymeric-based additives. The effects of each category on the engine performance (i.e., brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc) and brake thermal efficiency (bte)) and emissions (i.e., CO, NO x , HC, and PM) were exclusively summarized and discussed. Furthermore, various strategies used for adding water like water-diesel emulsion, direct water injection, and adding water into the inlet manifold were illustrated and their pros and cons were completely scrutinized. Finally, opportunities and limitations of each additive considering both engine performance and combustion benignity were outlined to guide future research and development in the domain.

Oil price volatility shows the degree of rise or fall in oil prices over time. The price of crude oil is highly influenced by the fluctuations in supply–demand gap and global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plays an important role in the global oil supply and demand. The oil price volatility depends on the combined effects of invariant and variable factors. Invariant factors include feedstock prices, exploration costs, drilling costs, chemical composition of oil, production costs, distribution costs, marketing costs, and packaging and storage costs, while the variable factors include global economic activity, level of production, level of consumption, exchange value of the US dollar ($), current supply and demand, geopolitical reasons, weather-related developments, and political events. Supply factors have played a more important role than demand factors in driving the 50% drop in the oil price between mid 2014 and early 2015....

Unconventional hydrocarbon applications have been growing rapidly in recent years. Unconventional oil can be produced from oil sands, oil shale, extra heavy oil, gas to liquids (GTL), and other liquids. Conventional fossil energy will not be enough to meet the continuously increasing need for energy in the future. In this case, renewable energy sources will become important. Conventional oil sources are currently preferred because they are less expensive than unconventional sources. New technologies are being developed to reduce unconventional oil production costs.

Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) comes from wastewater treatment plant. Sewage sludge is a waste formed during treatment of wastewater. Wastewater sludge contains a variety of organic and inorganic compounds. The sewage sludge contains mainly lipids, proteins, sugars, detergents, and phenols. Sewage sludge also includes toxic and hazardous organic and inorganic pollutants sources. The MSS contains a significant amount of lipid fraction characterized as oils, greases, fats, and long-chain fatty acid originating from domestic and industrial sludge. The MSS contains a low density of lipids. Activated MSS is a potential source of biodiesel. The MSS is subjected to the pretreatment processes before lipid extraction. The optimum production of biodiesel is faced with huge challenges. The main challenges are collecting the sludge, separating lipids, microbial processing, optimum production of biodiesel and product separation, soap formation, maintaining product quality, bioreactor design, economics of biodie...

Energy may be transformed from one form to another, but its total magnitude remains the same. There is a relationship between the shaking energy and the swing energy/wind energy, because the wind often causes shaking in nature. A lift force is generated by adding a swirl flow on circular cylinders. Lifting force is proportional to the vortex of power. In simple terms a vortex generator (VG) is a device that creates a turbulence or vortex of fluid due to its shape. Electric power has more than 100 methods of production. Energy made from the vibrating wind farms could be much cheaper. Bladeless wind turbines generate electricity by shaking, not spinning. If you compare a bladeless wind turbine to a conventional wind turbine with similar energy generation, the bladeless wind turbine would cost significantly less, around 45% less. As the sticks vibrate, that movement is converted into electricity by an alternator. It is a great way of transmitting energy from a fluid source to a structure. Vibration e...

Crude oils are composed of hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules, which are separated through the process of refining and small quantities of oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, nickel, and c...

Hydrogen is not a primary fuel. It must be produced from water with either fossil or renewable energy sources. Thermochemical conversion processes, such as pyrolysis, gasification, and steam gasification, are available for converting the biomass to a more useful energy. Hydrogen can be generated from carbon-neutral biomasses or carbon-free energy sources such as electric, solar, and wind energy. In this way, the use of hydrogen could eventually eliminate harmful gas emissions from the energy sector. Vehicles and stationary power generation fuelled by hydrogen are zero-emission devices at the point of use, with consequential local air-quality benefits. Hydrogen is clean and a high-energy content of fuel. Hydrogen is a peaceful energy carrier for all countries. Raw material resources of fossil fuels geographically did not distribute homogenously in the world. However, the most important source of hydrogen is water, which is almost not dependent on geography. This advantage in the development of the ...

The city of Makkah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosts millions of Muslim worshippers every year. As a consequence, the municipal solid waste (MSW) quantities become enormous. City landfills receive about 2.4 thousand tons of MSW every day, whilst during the months of fasting (Ramadan) and Pilgrimage (Hajj), these quantities become 3.1 and 4.6 thousand tons per day respectively. Currently, there is no waste-based biorefinery or waste-to-energy (WTE) facility existing in KSA to treat different fractions of MSW as a source of renewable energy production and a solution to landfill waste problems. Therefore, the waste-based biorefinery, if developed in Makkah city, including WTE technologies such as anaerobic digestion (AD), transesterification, pyrolysis and refuse derived fuel (RDF) can be able to treat around 87.8% of the total MSW. The remaining 12.2% of MSW fraction can be recycled. The waste-based biorefinery, along with the recycling approach, can generate savings of about 87.6 million Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) from carbon credits. Similarly, a total net revenue of 758 million SAR can be generated from landfill diversion (530.4 million SAR) and electricity generation (288.5 million SAR). Moreover, 1.95 million barrels of oil and 11.2 million MCF of natural gas can be saved with a cost savings of 485.5 million SAR. Collectively, the waste-based biorefinery and recycling can reduce the global warming potential (GWP) of 1.15 million Mt.CO2 eq.

Energy is an essential input for social development and economic growth. The socioeconomic impacts on a local economy arising from providing power through renewable resources instead of conventiona...

Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter and producer. Saudi Arabia is the largest oil-consuming nation in the Middle East. Gasoline and diesel fuel in the Kingdom cost about 16 cents and 6 cen...

The objectives of this study are (a) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the transportation sector, including energy consumption by all subsectors and (b) to study the key factors that driv...

Bioenergy is a renewable energy source made from biomass, which are organic materials such as plants and animals. Until enough biomass resources to ensure energy demand in the world is available, t...

Biogas is produced by anaerobic (oxygen free) digestion of organic materials such as sewage sludge, animal waste, and municipal solid wastes (MSW). As sustainable clean energy carrier biogas is an ...

Hydrogen can be produced from biomass materials via thermochemical conversion processes such as pyrolysis, gasification, steam gasification, steam-reforming, and supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of biomass. In general, the total hydrogen-rich gaseous products increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature for the biomass sample. The aim of gasification is to obtain a synthesis gas (bio-syngas) including mainly H2 and CO. Steam reforming is a method of producing hydrogen-rich gas from biomass. Hydrothermal gasification in supercritical water medium has become a promising technique to produce hydrogen from biomass with high efficiency. Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in the supercritical water (SCW) is a promising technology for utilizing wet biomass. The effect of initial moisture content of biomass on the yields of hydrogen is good.

Oil shale is a complex fossil material that is composed of organic matter and mineral matrix. The thermal decomposition of the organic matter generates liquid and gaseous products. Oil shale is a porous rock containing kerogen, an organic bituminous material. Kerogen is a solid mixture of organic compounds that is found in certain sedimentary rocks. The kerogen can be pyrolyzed and distilled into petroleum-like oil. Oil shale and bituminous materials are suitable for obtaining petroleum-like products. The process designed in this study has the ability to control unwanted volatile materials. The mineral matter is removed from oil shale before pyrolysis. The pyrolysis of the oil shale is performed in a retort. The temperature at which the kerogen decomposes into usable hydrocarbons begins at 300°C, but the decomposition proceeds more rapidly and completely at higher temperatures. Decomposition takes place most quickly at a temperature between 475 and 525°C. Shale oil from oil shale consists of the h...

Vegetable oils and animal fats comprise of triglycerides which are formed by fatty acids. Some fatty acids, particularly those having the unsaturated bond are not easy to purify. For this reason, it is not possible to determine exactly the higher heating values (HHVs) of unsaturated fatty acids experimentally via the correct way. HHVs of fatty acids can be determined based on carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) contents in their chemical formula, experimentally HHVs can be determined relatively easily by using common laboratory equipment. The HHVs (MJ/kg) of the fatty acids as a function of percentages of the C, H, and O can be calculated from: According to this equation, the HHV is a function of the percentages of the C, H, and O of the dry and ash-free basis (daf). This equation represents the correlation obtained by means of regression analysis. It is found that the calculated values show mean difference of 0.30%. The correlation coefficient is 0.9917.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the fourth largest natural gas (NG) reserves in the world. One third of these reserves are located in the Ghawar region of Eastern Province. NG production is controlled tightly due to close conjunction with oil production until recently. KSA’s NG production of 85 billion cubic meters in 2015 from 70 billion cubic meters in 2008 sets an average annual increase of 2.7%. More than half of the annual KSA’s NG production has been accompanied by gas. The Saudi Gas Initiative (SGI) aims to increase foreign investment in the NG development sector through petrochemicals, power generation, and gas development while integrating with salt water desalination. The barriers in the success of motor fuel policies include high initial capital costs, lack of information or skills, less market acceptance, technology limitations, and financing risks. This article aims to review the potential of NG as an alternative to oil and coal in KSA in meeting the country’s high energy requirements.

Despite the low percentage of trace level sulfur in natural gas (NG), its use as a jet fuel for reduction from the ultra level is very important. Clean and efficient NG as a fuel has major advantages and importance. If the sulfur content of natural gas will decrease in how much it is substantially upgraded. The main problems and difficulties encountered method of removing minor amounts of sulfur remaining in gases after conversion of the major portion of the sulfur content of the gas to elemental sulfur by the Claus or Stretford methods, or any method. Low-quality NG contains hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, but is not suitable for treatment using current conventional gas treating methods due to economic and environmental challenges. To remove sulfur from natural gas as the most common on the Claus process is applied. However, the Claus process itself is not sufficient for removal of sulfur in the ultra level. The tail gas from the Claus reaction is then passed through a catalytic h...

Millions of Muslims from all over the world visit the Holy Cities of Saudi Arabia: Makkah and Madinah every year to worship in form of Pilgrimage (Hajj) and Umrah. The rapid growth in local population, urbanization, and living standards in Makkah city along with continually increasing number of visitors result in huge municipal solid waste generation every year. Most of this waste is disposed to landfills or dumpsites without material or energy recovery, thus posing substantial environmental and health risks. The municipal plastic waste is the second largest waste stream (up to 23% of total municipal waste) that is comprised of plastic bottles, water cups, food plates, and shopping bags. The sustainable disposal of plastic waste is challenging task due to its clogging effects, very slow biodegradation rates, and presence of toxic additives and dyes. Pyrolysis is one of the promising waste-to-energy technology for converting municipal plastic waste into energy (liquid fuel) and value-added products...

Kernel oil of sweet cherry seed (Prunus avium L.) was extracted with hexane in a Soxhlet extractor. Sweet cherry kernel oil contains more than 87% unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (43.7% by weight), linoleic acid (41.8% by weight), and linolenic acid. The biodiesel from kernel oil of sweet cherry seed in itself is not significantly different from biodiesel produced from common vegetable oils.

This study deals with the pyrolysis of waste tires supplied from the transport industry. The base material of tire is latex, which is derived from natural rubber trees. Nowadays rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is a fast-growing tropical tree crop, which is being cultivated for latex and ultimately for tire production. Waste tires can be recycled for energy and valuable materials in many ways; however tire burning is the most common practice for heat generation. In recent years, the catalytic conversion of waste tires through pyrolysis into liquid, solid, and gas products was investigated. Liquids product was produced from the catalytic pyrolysis of waste tire at high temperature (up to 600°C) using sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) as a catalyst. Thermo-physical characteristics of the produced liquid samples showed that up to 85% of the produced oil can be used in internal combustion engines. Gasoline and diesel fuel contents in the liquid products are 45% and 40%, respectively. The gas chromatographic (GC) a...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has rich geothermal energy resources. In Saudi Arabia, the studies on geothermal resources exploration were started in 1980. Saudi Arabia is among the most geothermally ...

Distillation is a unit operation of separating the components from a liquid mixture by selective evaporation and condensation. To obtain a pure liquid by distillation of a mixture must be applied in this process, numerous consecutive. Multistage distillation usually preferred instead of a single stage distillation. Fractional distillation is an example of a multistage distillation. Industrial-scale productions in all multistage or multitray distillation are applied. The composition of crude varies with its origin or geographical location. The contents of crude oil can be separated into different fractions with a series of fractional distillation processes.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) mainly comprises organics, paper, glass, plastics, metals, wood, etc. Rapid industrialization, high population growth rate, and fast urbanization have resulted in increased levels of pollution and MSW in Saudi Arabia. The amount of waste has been steadily increasing due to increasing human population and urbanization. Recovery refers to materials removed from the waste stream for the purpose of recycling and/or composting. There are various options available to convert solid waste to energy. Mainly, the following types of technologies are available: (1) sanitary landfill, (2) incineration, (3) pyrolysis, (4) gasification, and (5) anaerobic digestion. An integrated MSW disposal policy comprises (1) reduction of MSW source, (2) reuse of MSW, (3) recycling of MSW, (4) landfill and gas-to-energy conversion, and (5) MSW-to-energy conversion. Traditionally, MSWs have been disposed in landfills. Landfill is the most inexpensive waste disposal option. The main MSW disposal poli...

In recent years, attention has been given to obtaining methane gas from natural gas hydrates (NGHs) sediment; but its production, economics, and safety are still far away from being commercially viable for many years, and so more research is needed. NGHs are nonstoichiometric crystalline solid compounds that form from mixtures of water molecules and light weight natural gases such as methane, ethane, propane, and carbon dioxide. They are formed in specific thermodynamic conditions, low temperatures (5–15°C) and high pressures (2–3 MPa), and are found in (a) onshore polar regions beneath permafrost and (b) offshore deep-sea sediments. Methane, NG, is the cleanest fossil fuel and its huge amounts in NGHs have carbon quantities more than double of all fossil fuels. The methods that have been proposed for NG extraction from NGHs include: (a) depressurization, (b) thermal stimulation, and (c) chemical inhibitor injections. The authors review the potential of methane gas from NGHs as an unconventional s...

Charcoal products can be produced from biomass sources such as charcoal from wood, woody agricultural products, the biogenic fraction of municipal wastes, nut shells, etc. The liquid and gaseous fractions obtained from biomass are a valuable fuel source; however, the solid fraction (charcoal) has the recovery potential of carbon black or as carbon adsorbent after applying an activation step. Charcoal is produced by slow heating wood (carbonization) in airtight ovens or retorts, in chambers with various gases, or in kilns supplied with limited and controlled amounts of air. Charcoal has the potential to improve soil properties, crop productivity, and carbon sequestration in soil. The most interesting temperature range for the production of the pyrolysis products is between 625 and 775 K. The charcoal yield decreased gradually from 43.5 to 31.0% for the walnut shell and from 38.3 to 25.4% for the spruce wood with an increase of temperature from 550 to 1150 K. The charcoal yield decreases as the temp...