Search

In this work, polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a phase change material (PCM) was incorporated with palygorskite (Pal) clay to develop a novel form-stable composite PCM (F-SCPCM). The Pal/PEG(40 wt%) composite was defined as F-SCPCM and characterized using SEM/EDS, FT-IR, XRD, DSC, and TGA techniques. The DSC results revealed that the F-SCPCM has a melting temperature of 32.5[degrees]C and latent heat capacity of 64.3 J/g for thermal energy storage (TES) applications. Thermal cycling test showed that the F-SCPCM had good cycling thermal/chemical stability after 500 cycles. The TGA data proved that that both cycled and non-cycled F-SCPCMs had considerable high thermal durability. Consequently, the created F-SCPCM could be considered as an additive material for production of green construction components with TES capability., INTRODUCTION Indubitably, rapid social development and fossil energy consumption rising is making the energy crisis increasingly serious. Thermal energy storage (TES) is one of the most essential techniques that allow [...]

Hydrogen and natural gas are promising alternatives to fossil fuels in combustion engines for sustainable environment. Consumption of fossil fuels is a matter of growing concern that needs to be dealt with seriously for a sustainable, better tomorrow as fossil fuels have dreadful implications on the environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need across the globe to quest for environmentfriendly alternative fuels, which can power internal combustion engines. Moreover, regulated and unregulated emissions from engines have been affecting human health and the environment. In this review article, hydrogen in combination with natural gas along with diesel as a pilot fuel is investigated. The impactsof exhaust gas recirculation with hydrogen and natural gas are also discussed. It is observed from the review that an H2 proportion of up to 5–30% is beneficial in combination with natural gas as well with other alternative fuels. The further increase in the hydrogen proportion create the problem of backfiring, knocking as well as increasing the NOx emissions. The transportation and storage are the biggest problems with the hydrogen fuel. Among the alternatives, gaseous fuels have great importance, and they need proper attention for inclusion in the CI engine as a fuel used in dual-fuel mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future supply of energy to meet growing energy demand of rapidly exapanding populations is based on wide energy resources, particularly the renewable ones. Among all resources, lignocellulosic biomasses such as agriculture, forest, and agro-industrial residues are the most abundant and easily available bioresource for biorefineries to provide fuels, chemicals, and materials. However, pretreatment of biomass is required to overcome the physical and chemical barriers that exist in the lignin-carbohydrate composite and pretreatment facilitate the entry of biocatalysts for the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars and other by-products. Therefore, pretreatment of the biomass is necessary prerequisite for efficient hydrolysis of lignocelluloses into different type of fermentable sugars. The physiochemical, biochemical and biological pretreatment methods are considered as most promising technologies for the biomass hydrolysis and are discussed in this review article. We also discussed the recent advancements and modern trends in pretreatment methods of lignocelluloses conversion into ethanol with special focus on fermentation methods.