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Aufgrund des weiter steigenden Bedarfs an erneuerbaren Kraftstoffen wird im „Heat-to-Fuel“ (dt. Wärme zu Kraftstoff) Konzept an einer Reihe an innovativen neben bereits etablierten Technologien geforscht. Das Ziel ist, aus Biomasse CO2-neutrale Kraftstoffe zu gewinnen. Zwei Hauptwege liefern die Rohprodukte zur Erzeugung von Treibstoffen: Gaserzeugung und hydrothermale Verflüssigung (engl. hydrothermal liquefaction). Beide dieser Technologien generieren Abwasser mit Resten an Kohlenstoffverbindungen, aus welchen Wasserstoff als Wertstoff gewonnen werden kann.In dieser Arbeit wird die weltweit erste kontinuierliche Versuchsanlage im Labormaßstab vorgestellt, welche das Verfahren des katalytischen Reformierens in wässriger Lösung (en. aqueous phase reforming) nutzt. In einem Reaktor mit 666 g platinbeschichtetem Aktivkohlekatalysator in einer Festbettschüttung werden bis zu 44 kg∙h-1 Abwasser reformiert. Das Produktgas, reich an Wasserstoff und Kohlendioxid, kann anschließend zur Aufbereitung von Bio-Rohöl aus der hydrothermalen Verflüssigung oder zur Fischer-Tropsch-Synthese verwendet werden.Nach dem Aufbau wurden Inbetriebnahmeversuche mit 0,5 % Glycolsäure durchgeführt. Anschließend wurde der automatisierte Betrieb demonstriert, und der Einfluss verschiedener Betriebszustände auf die Reformierung eines synthetisch hergestellten, repräsentativen Einsatzstoffes untersucht.Ein Produktgasstrom von bis zu 312 Nl∙h-1 mit 69 % H2 und 27 % CO2 konnte erzielt werden. Ein deutlicher Anstieg von Umsatz und Gasproduktion bei erhöhten Temperaturen und reduzierten Drücken konnte gezeigt werden. Ein ununterbrochener Betrieb von 100 h wurde demonstriert.Weitere Einsatzlösungen und Katalysatoren können jetzt mit geringem Bedarf an ständiger Überwachung untersucht werden., In this thesis, the world’s first continuous laboratory-scale process demonstration unit is presented. With a capacity of 44 kg∙h-1 the aqueous phase reforming reactor converts the organic compounds in the residual water from liquefaction or synthesis to a hydrogen rich gas stream. This is achieved via a fixed bed of 666 g platinum coated activated carbon catalyst. The product gas can then be used for upgrading a biocrude from hydrothermal liquefaction or in a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis plant.After construction, commissioning tests on a 0.5 wt% glycolic acid feed were conducted. Subsequently, the automated operation was demonstrated, and the performance of the reactor was investigated over a series of parameter variations on a synthetic mixture representative of real effluent.A product gas flow of up to 312 Nl∙h-1 was achieved with 69 % H2 and 27 % CO2 content. A significant increase of conversion and gas production was shown with increased temperatures and decreased pressures. 100 hours of continuous operation were demonstrated successfully.Further feeds and catalysts can now be studied with this plant at a low level of necessary supervision during the test runs.

The demand for industrially produced cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) has been growing since 2012, when CelluForce Inc. opened its inaugural demonstration plant with a production capacity of 1 tonne per day. Currently, there are 10 industrial CNC producers worldwide, each producing a unique material. Thus, academic researchers and commercial users alike must consider the properties of all available CNCs and carefully select the material which will optimize the performance of their desired application. To support these efforts, this article presents a thorough characterization of four new industrially produced CNCs including sulfated CNCs from NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd. (in cooperation with InnoTech Alberta and Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.) and Melodea Ltd., as well as carboxylated CNCs from Anomera Inc. and Blue Goose Biorefineries Inc. These materials were benchmarked against typical lab-made, sulfated CNCs. While all CNCs were similar in size, shape, crystallinity, and suspension quality, the sulfated CNCs had a higher surface charge density than their carboxylated counterparts, leading to higher colloidal stability. Additionally, significant differences in the rheological profiles of aqueous CNC suspensions, as well as CNC thermal stability and self-assembly behavior, were observed. As such, this article highlights both the subtle and significant differences between five CNC types and acts as a guide for end-users looking to optimize the performance of CNC-based materials.

In this paper, the experimental activity was carried out on five pulverized coals with different particle sizes taken from the industrial demonstration plant of SE-Gasifier Pulverized Coal Gasification in Nanjing, China. Flow properties of pulverized coal including powder cohesion, angle of internal friction and tensile strength were determined by the rotational shear cell accessory of Freeman FT4 Powder Rheometer. These pulverized coal samples were further discharged from a bench-scale discharge system and an industrial device in the SE gasification industrial plant. The effects of mean particle size, fine contents and hopper pressure on the flow properties and the discharge of pulverized coal were discussed. The tensile strength was used to correlate with the feeding characteristics of pulverized coal and proved to be an effective indicator to describe the powder feeding performance. A combination of a continuum approach and a particle–particle approach was therefore built to predict the tensile strength. The model, considered the elastic deformation, was further modified by taking into account the effect of particle size distribution. The predicted tensile strengths were compared with those obtained from the Mohr-Coulomb approach, giving errors mostly below ±25%. It was therefore considered as a valuable way to provide reference for the evaluation of feeding characteristics of pulverized coal for entrained-flow gasification.

2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD) has great potential for diverse industries, including chemical, cosmetics, agriculture, and pharmaceutical areas. However, its industrial production and usage are limited by the fairly high cost of its petro-based production. Several bio-based 2,3-BD production processes have been developed and their economic advantages over petro-based production process have been reported. In particular, many 2,3-BD-producing microorganisms including bacteria and yeast have been isolated and metabolically engineered for efficient production of 2,3-BD. In addition, several fermentation processes have been tested using feedstocks such as starch, sugar, glycerol, and even lignocellulose as raw materials. Since separation and purification of 2,3-BD from fermentation broth account for the majority of its production cost, cost-effective processes have been simultaneously developed. The construction of a demonstration plant that can annually produce around 300 tons of 2,3-BD is scheduled to be mechanically completed in Korea in 2019. In this paper, core technologies for bio-based 2,3-BD production are reviewed and their potentials for use in the commercial sector are discussed.

In the industrial world, physical borders between men and machines are vanishing because of the collaborative tasks imposed by the new productive methods. Clearly, this poses safety issues which were not present in classical plants. For example, safety problems naturally arise in the case of autonomously guided industrial vehicles because, for obvious service needs, they share their workspace with human coworkers: only limited physical protections can be adopted. In this context, a speed planner has been recently proposed for the management of the laser guided vehicles operating in automatic warehouses. Such planner does not only generate efficient trajectories, but it also ensures that they are safe. This work describes, after a brief survey on the safety management in automatic warehouses, the tests which were carried out for the experimental validation of the planner. Tests were first executed in a demonstration plant appositely designed and, later, in a real warehouse by considering actual operating conditions. The validation campaign in the production plant lasted several months, thus allowing the acquisition of a consistent amount of statistical data.

This study investigates the production of biodiesel from activated sludge of milk processing plant as a low cost feedstock. The method involves lipid extraction, refining and optimization of biodiesel from activated sludge under laboratory conditions. These results were scaled up to a pilot plant was analyzed. In the laboratory study, the sludge yielded 18.81 wt% of crude lipid. It is degummed and dewaxed to get refined oil that is used for the production of biodiesel. The optimal reaction parameters were 0.8 wt% catalyst; a temperature of 55 °C; 6:1 methanol to oil molar ratio for 40 min. The process is scaled up to a prototype demonstration plant with a batch size of 10 kg. The dried sludge yielded 16.2 ± 1.3 wt% and 13.64 ± 0.8 wt% of crude lipid and biodiesel respectively. Biodiesel made in pilot plant is compared with ASTM standards. Keywords: Activated sludge, Extraction, Biodiesel, Scale up

Knowledge development and diffusion through demonstration plants are necessary to progress the development of sustainable technologies, yet current literature lacks detailed insights into which knowledge types are critical in facilitating this progress, and what the roles of different knowledge types are. We draw on knowledge-based theory and investigate four Swedish demonstration plants for advanced biofuels using case-study research. The findings underscore the need for and production of domain-specific, procedural and general knowledge to progress sustainable technology towards commercialization, with each type having a rather specific role and purpose. However, in the plants studied, there is a tendency to focus strongly on the generation of technical, domain-specific knowledge at the expense of procedural knowledge. This deficiency frequently creates problems since a lack of procedural knowledge on how to commoditize and commercialize technologies hinders efforts to move past the demonstration stage to large-scale commercialization. Based on these findings, the paper proposes novel approaches for dealing with these problems, and for managing knowledge more generally.

For the first time a full CCU chain for the production of the e-fuel dimethyl ether (DME) from captured CO2 and electrolytically produced H2 was demonstrated in the European project ALIGN-CCUS. In addition to the development, construction and operation of the Power-to-DME plant, the demonstration comprised also the successful use of DME as a fuel for peak and back-up power generation (Power-to-DME-to-Power) and of OME (polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers, which can be produced from DME) as a fuel for passenger cars. Detailed and comprehensive comparative techno-economic analyses of Power-to-Fuel processes and Life Cycle Assessment following a “cradle-to-grave” approach provided the basis for the evaluation of the technology chain. Both objectives - to present the potential of CCU regarding climate protection and to demonstrate its benefit and socio-economic value as an element for large-scale energy storage and sector coupling - have been achieved.

[EN] Feasibility of an AnMBR demonstration plant treating urban wastewater (UWW) at temperatures around 25-30 degrees C was assessed during a 350-day experimental period. The plant was fed with the effluent from the pretreatment of a full-scale municipal WWTP, characterized by high COD and sulfate concentrations. Biodegradability of the UWW reached values up to 87%, although a portion of the biodegradable COD was consumed by sulfate reducing organisms. Effluent COD remained below effluent discharge limits, achieving COD removals above 90%. System operation resulted in a reduction of sludge production of 36-58% compared to theoretical aerobic sludge productions. The membranes were operated at gross transmembrane fluxes above 20 LMH maintaining low membrane fouling propensities for more than 250 days without chemical cleaning requirements. Thus, the system resulted in net positive energy productions and GHG emissions around zero. The results obtained confirm the feasibility of UWW treatment in AnMBR under mild and warm climates., The authors are grateful to the European Commission for the cofinancing of the LIFE MEMORY project (LIFE13 ENV/ES/001353) and the staff of Aguas de Alcazar for their collaboration.

MEng (Chemical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus Dry coal processing is fast becoming favoured as a fine coal beneficiation technique. The decline in suitable good-quality coal, as well as the ongoing decrease in usable process water, makes dry beneficiation of the fine coal fraction even more crucial. Dry coal beneficiation is relatively young with most of the methods still in the developmental phase. Additionally, many of the dry processing options available are better suited for coarser (+6 mm) and also easy-to-beneficiate feed. Air winnowing for fine particles is established in both agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, which indicates that the method can be used to separate smaller coal particles on a density basis and therefore, may prove effective in the coal industry as well. A proof of concept study was conducted using computer-based simulations and physical experiments. The modelling and simulation of the system were used to assist with the design and optimization of separation unit, while the physical experiments served as a validation of the method and findings. The initial winnowing unit, consisted of a closed box through which a horizontal air stream was developed. Coal particles were dropped into the air stream and displaced horizontally across a distance (x), depending on the particle size and density, thus actuating a separation based on these two parameters. The modelling was done using basic equations of motion in an iterative process to obtain an initial estimate of the particle displacement. The results obtained indicate that a separation chamber with a height of 0.6 m and a length of 1 m would be sufficient to separate any -6 mm particle, using the airflow velocity range of 10 m·s⁻¹ to 30 m·s⁻¹. At this stage, the width of the chamber is not important due to the assumption that there is no sideways movement. The simulation in Star CCM+ confirmed the findings of the model and provided a virtual representation of the separation using streamlines. This aided in the determination of both the airflow pattern and the particle displacement tracking. The airflow pattern indicates that there is a possibility of backflow developing in the bottom of the separation chamber, with low-velocity eddies forming over time. This could possibly influence the separation and may need further investigation. The tracer test was conducted using cube-shaped particles and from the results, a baseline for the separation was established in the form of three prediction matrices. The matrices can be used to determine the displacement of any -6 mm particle provided that the density and airflow velocity is known. The matrices were used to test the capability of the unit in terms of size and density separation. The results obtained show that tracer particles can be separated into three distinct size classes with some overlap observed. The density separation proves sufficient, with efficiency values (EPM) of 0.16 and 0.17 at density cut-points of 1500 kg·m⁻³ and 1700 kg·m⁻³, respectively. After the tracer test confirmed that it was possible to separate particles by size and predict the density cut-point with some degree of accuracy, a coal test was conducted as a final validation of the method. Low-density coal (average density ± 1400 kg·m⁻³) from Mozambique was used for this experiment since the aim is to achieve good separation at a relatively low-density cut. The coal sample was prepared using the RhoVol analyser (developed by DebTec) and the experiment was conducted to determine the capability of the winnowing unit. The coal tests prove that size separation can be achieved at an airflow velocity of 21 m·s⁻¹ and the density cut-point can also be predicted by using prediction matrices. The results show efficiency values (EPM) of 0.11 and 0.09 at density cut-points of 1400 kg·m⁻³ and 1500 kg·m⁻³ respectively. The data obtained from the study indicates that air winnowing can be used to separate fine coal particles based on both size and density. However, in order to achieve an efficient density separation, a narrow size range distribution of 2:1 is required (Patil & Parekh, 2011). The prediction matrices were proved to be accurate to some degree and overall the method delivers promising results. With some improvements to the model, simulation, method and design, the separation efficiency can also be improved. The next phase of testing will include upscaling the process to a demonstration plant, optimizing the current unit and testing the method on different qualities of coal. This will result in the culmination of the research conducted on the method of winnowing thus far. Masters

In order to assess the environmental feasibility of anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology for urban wastewater (UWW) treatment at ambient temperature, a demonstration plant was operated within the LIFE MEMORY project ( http://www.life-memory.eu/en/ ). This plant incorporates full-scale hollow-fiber membrane modules and was fed with the effluent from the pre-treatment of the “Alcazar de San Juan” WWTP (Alcazar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Spain). Because of the dimensions of this plant, the system can be regarded as a previous step to the scale-up of AnMBR technology for full-scale UWW treatment. High-energy recovery potentials were achieved treating medium-/high-loaded UWW at mild/hot temperatures (up to 0.47 kWh/m3permeate), while dissolved methane was a key factor affecting carbon footprint. Results showed that the feasibility of AnMBR performance is significantly enhanced, treating medium to high organic loading rates, implementing fouling control methods to reduce operating expenses, increasing the recovery of dissolved methane from the effluent, and establishing technologies and/or effluent management plans for nutrients recovery.

The Calcium Looping (CaL) process is a promising technology for post-combustion CO2 capture from fossil-fired power plants and carbon intense industry. Within a CaL system, a limestone based sorbent stream is forced to circulation between two interconnected circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactors. The main part of the CO2, contained in the flue gas stream is absorbed by CaO within the carbonator, whereas it is released during regeneration in the oxy-fired calciner. The feasibility of this technology was proven by numerous experimental investigations in semi-industrial scale. The next step in the development of this technology is expected to be a demonstration plant in the scale of approximately 20 MWth. The focus of this paper is the determination of the heat and mass balances and the assessment of the operability of a newly designed 20 MWth CaL demonstration plant. The investigations are based on a steady-state process model, which has been validated by experimental data from 1 MWth pilot tests. The aspect of solid entrainment during part load operation are addressed. In the present design case, a stable operation of the demonstration plant at 40 % equivalent carbonator load is feasible without additional flue gas recirculation.

A path and strategy toward demonstration plant (DEMO) to achieve net electric power generation and to establish various technologies for successive commercial plants will be shown based on the Japan’s action plan for fusion energy development. It is clear that the fusion power plants may not be realized without a lot of technological innovations. Required innovations to attain the commercial plant as a final target of the DEMO plant are considered and variety of novel innovations introduced in previous reactor designs in Japan have been reviewed in order to prove a possible path to the fusion power plants.

For more than 50 years the pebble-bed High Temperature Reactor (HTR) has been under development in Germany. Forschungszentrum Julich (FZJ), Aachen University (RWTH), industrial companies and other organizations were involved in this task, which was for about two decades something like a national showcase. For more than ten years before the German decision to shut down all nuclear power plants in Germany, there was a strong decrease in the interest of HTR-related activities. Reasons include the lack of competitiveness of HTRs for electricity production only in a well-developed grid, the poor performance of the German demonstration plant THTR and the rise in the general ’German Angst’. The remaining HTR activities, including experimental study of dust behavior and the development of the HTR Code Package (HCP), will come to an end in the near future. In this paper, we summarize the German experience in fuel fabrication and qualification, the performance of AVR and THTR, the HTR-Modul concept, economic aspects of HTR, competition and/or complementarities to LWR, the statement of “inherent HTR safety” and the development of large components for turbine, steam generator, blower, and bearings. Lessons learned and remaining challenges will be addressed.

Mass balance and partitioning of inorganic trace pollutants have been evaluated at the largest oxy-Pulverised Coal Combustion (oxy-PCC) demonstration plant to date owned by Fundacion Ciudad de la Energia (CIUDEN). Results reveal that the concentration of gaseous SO 2 , B, Se, F, and HCl increases progressively in the CO 2 -rich flue gas along the depuration train. This results in negative retention efficiencies of these types of pollutants and in the enrichment of trace elements in the oxy-fly ashes (oxy-FAs). These two factors affected the MB closure for highly volatile S, Cl, and F, and moderately volatile with high condensation potential B, As, and Se over the oxy-PCC and whole installation. This first experience has lead us to focusing further work on 1) elucidating the behaviour of inorganic trace pollutants in the CO 2 -rich flue gas after a number of CO 2 -rich flue gas re-circulations back to the boiler; and 2) investigating the speciation and leaching potential of inorganic trace pollutants, especially F, retained in the oxy-FAs in order to establishing remediation actions if required.