Fuel Communications最新文献

{"title":"Thermal-emission assessment of building ceilings from agro-industrial wastes","authors":"Joseph O Dirisu ,&nbsp;Sunday O Oyedepo ,&nbsp;Ojo Sunday Isaac Fayomi ,&nbsp;Olufunmilayo O. Joseph ,&nbsp;Esther T. Akinlabi ,&nbsp;Philip O. Babalola ,&nbsp;Nduka E. Udoye ,&nbsp;Oluseyi O. Ajayi ,&nbsp;Abraham K. Aworinde ,&nbsp;Solomon O. Banjo ,&nbsp;K.M Oluwasegun","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100042","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100042","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Most of the building ceiling tiles used today from studies, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composite ceilings, cardboard, plywood, particleboard, are flame friendly. Except for asbestos, which is confirmed to emit asbestosis, cancer from asbestos; already warned by the Environmental Protection Agencies and other health standard organizations. Studies have shown inherent harmful elements associated with the use of PVC Ceiling composite, plant-based ceiling, and asbestos, which propagate noxious emission at the instance of fire; their widespread use is quite enormous. The noxious behaviour during an inferno is a representation of the elemental make-up of these ceiling materials. Moreover, their vulnerability due to emission and combustion threat call for alternative materials with eco-friendly constituents for building ceiling applications. Problems associated with these building ceilings during fire include noxious gaseous emissions; fuel for the flame from ignition from other roof frame structures; after flame effect of inhaling poisonous gasses against the recommended exposure limit of 35 ppm by the World Health Organization (WHO). Flame retardance is credited to asbestos. However, for other ceiling tiles, some of the challenges of high heat flux, high thermal conductivity, and combustibility tendencies, are still current issues. The undesirable side effects of using ceiling tiles have necessitated a replacement with suitable flame retardant and eco-friendly influences. This is made to bear by appropriate material selection and by employing industrial wastes and agricultural wastes coupled with suitable binders to solve flame propagation challenges. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a flame retardant ceiling composite that will solve the identified anomalies in the existing ceiling tiles in the market in building industries. The developed materials are tested for thermal and emission characteristics to ascertain their integrity by employing advanced test equipment. The result shows that there are low values in thermal conductivity of the developed building ceiling samples. Sample 2 has the lowest value compared to the developed and existing ceiling tiles, much &lt; 0.0802 W/mK, which is a desirable property in ceiling application. Low thermal diffusivity is required to suppress flame propagation. This is exhibited by sample 1, with a value of 0.85 × 10⁻⁸ m²/s as the lowest amongst developed ceiling samples The result showed null and negligible SO₂ detection for all samples. The three samples' time to attain pre-set temperature varies in the ascending order of sample 1 at 24 min, sample 3 at 37 min, and sample 2 at 42 min. Sample 3, _0.6Aldr_0.34Cmt_0.05G_0.01OBS<strong>;</strong> Sample 2, _0.6Aldr_0.32Cmt_0.05G_0.03OBS and sample 1, _0.6Aldr₀.₃Cmt_0.05G_0.05OBS are in","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100042"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052021000352/pdfft?md5=1e42836e2c85dc3e2ded328f65cefb9c&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052021000352-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89146937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Small hydropower as a source of clean and local energy in Nigeria: Prospects and challenges","authors":"Collins O. Ugwu ,&nbsp;Paul A. Ozor ,&nbsp;C. Mbohwa","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Just as the need for air is inevitable in our everyday existence, energy is consumed in every sector of any nation at every second. Due to the increase in technological advancements and high population growth rate, among other factors, in the world today, there is the need for more energy than in the past centuries. Therefore, one of the best solutions to address this issue of increasing energy demand in Nigeria is harnessing the enormous small hydropower potential sites that is scattered in many parts of the nation. It is unfortunate that out of over 278 potential sites with 734.3 MW potential capacity, Nigeria has yet explored only 37.0MW. It is noteworthy that the SHP scheme has its own challenges especially in developing nations. For instance, it is reported to have high capital investment. This challenge is offset by the fact that it incurs little operation and maintenance costs. It has very high payback ratio which proves it to be a cheap source of energy. Furthermore, it is a clean and local source of energy that is reliable, affordable and predictable due to the consistency in the availability of water in rivers and its ability to be integrated with existing projects. Such multi-purpose schemes that can be integrated with the SHP schemes while guaranteeing its primary function include; irrigation network, drinking water reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants, etc. It also has the potential to create many job opportunities and also enhance women development.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100046"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266605202100039X/pdfft?md5=e976ac047bbac35b172831114e286a28&pid=1-s2.0-S266605202100039X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73464177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performance of multi-walled CNTs suspended with hydrocarbon refrigerant (R600a) and lubricating oil in vapour compression refrigeration system","authors":"T.O Babarinde ,&nbsp;D.M Madyira ,&nbsp;P.M Mashinini ,&nbsp;G.T Marangwanda","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100036","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A single evaporator household refrigerator with a total volume of 70 L is used to evaluate multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanolubricant as a drop-in replacement for pure lubricant. Continuous running on the refrigerator is done with varying concentrations of multi-walled CNTs nanolubricant and different mass charges of R600a. The results show that using R600a with multi-walled CNTs nanolubricant concentration of 0.4 g/L to 0.6 g/L and a charge of 50 g to 60 g more result in a decreased pull downtime and evaporator temperature of -8 and -11 °C, respectively. Using 0.4 g/L multi-walled CNTs nanolubricant and 50 g of R600a, the lowest electric energy usage is attained. Higher refrigeration is attained with this combination. The pull-down time is lower and also the power consumption of the refrigerator is lower than those of pure lubricant in the refrigerator by about 25.9 %, 20.2 %, and 13.7 % for 50 g, 60 g, and 70 g, respectively, while using multi-walled CNTs nanolubricant of 04 g/L to 0.6 g/L. Finally, the proposed multi-walled CNTs nanolubricant appears to be a good choice for replacing pure lubricant in the refrigerator.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100036"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052021000297/pdfft?md5=527fc3923014c1e0d13e658aa1edc2ab&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052021000297-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81344792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Review on the recent advances on ammonia combustion from the fundamentals to the applications","authors":"Ayman M. Elbaz,&nbsp;Shixing Wang,&nbsp;Thibault F. Guiberti,&nbsp;William L. Roberts","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100053","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100053","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As a fueling vector, ammonia is gaining more interest for future power generation, transportation and heating systems. Compared to typical hydrocarbons, ammonia's low reactivity characteristics and higher NOx emissions limit its practical implementation. However, the current need for decarbonization of the energy sector puts ammonia as an energy vector and carrier at the far front, making overcoming the challenges of ammonia utilization necessary. In late 2018, Kobayashi <em>et al</em>. presented a review article on the science and technology of ammonia combustion. In continuing their effort, this review is aimed towards giving the most recent updates in ammonia combustion. The article starts with the importance of ammonia as an energy carrier and covers the fundamentals of ammonia combustion. We then present recent activities for addressing the low ammonia reactivity and its impact on NOx emissions. In addition, the chemical kinetics of ammonia oxidation is presented through a discussion of recently proposed chemical kinetics mechanisms. This section emphasizes the role of crucial reaction differences, the updates in the NOx and De-NOx pathways, NH_i recombination reactions and H₂NO chemistry. Towards utilising ammonia in gas turbines and industrial applications, this review discusses recent efforts and various NO mitigation strategies. This work systematically summarizes the fundamentals of ammonia-based combustion and its application. It serves as a reference for the transition of ammonia into future practical applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100053"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266605202200005X/pdfft?md5=53c2768498ac622e54b63800c801a619&pid=1-s2.0-S266605202200005X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78266842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Laminar flame speed of ethanol/ammonia blends–An experimental and kinetic study","authors":"Pelé Ronan ,&nbsp;Brequigny Pierre ,&nbsp;Mounaim-Rousselle Christine ,&nbsp;Dayma Guillaume ,&nbsp;Halter Fabien","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Blending bio-ethanol with ammonia is an interesting approach to reach carbon-neutrally combustion systems. As a fundamental parameter, laminar flame speed for different blends of ethanol/ammonia is explored using the spherical expanding flame technique under constant pressure conditions. A comparison to the few recent literature experimental results is proposed. An empirical correlation is developed to estimate the laminar flame speed of any ammonia/ethanol mixture as a function of the equivalence ratio at 1 bar and 423 K. Some simulation results are also provided to compare kinetics mechanisms accuracy to experimental data and identify the most relevant sensitive reactions. Two mechanisms are compared, one from the literature and another from the fusion of two mechanisms originally developed for pure ethanol and pure ammonia respectively. One major conclusion is that none of these mechanisms allows sufficient agreement with experimental data and more in-depth studies are still needed to provide high accurate kinetics mechanisms for ethanol/ammonia mixture. Sensitivity analysis highlights an important difference between the sensitive reactions with pure ammonia and ethanol blends. The key role of carbon reactions HCO(+<em>M</em>)&lt;=&gt;<em>H</em>+CO(+<em>M</em>) and CO+OH&lt;=&gt;CO₂+<em>H</em> on the laminar flame speed is shown for blends containing more than 50% of ethanol.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100052"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052022000048/pdfft?md5=a3f853f769dd45b1b5d7fe6b6f25968b&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052022000048-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88312299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical modelling of the coal phase-out through ammonia and biomass co-firing in a pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor","authors":"João Sousa Cardoso ,&nbsp;Valter Silva ,&nbsp;José Antonio Mayoral Chavando ,&nbsp;Daniela Eusébio ,&nbsp;Matthew J. Hall","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100055","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2022.100055","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The co-firing of ammonia (NH₃) with coal has raised awareness, boosting NH₃ research and development on its use and deployment as a sustainable fuel. Recent advancements point towards the co-firing of coal with biomass and NH₃ as a state-of-art strategy to phase-out coal from coal-based power stations. The implementation of NH₃ to the coal-biomass fuel mix allows not only to decarbonize coal-fired processes but also reduces biomass exploration costs to avoid feedstock availability disruption while increasing the power station production efficiency. Moreover, such a strategy brings an alternative player into the environmentally friendly power mix portfolio, accelerating the coal phase-out from electricity production. However, the use of NH₃ for power generation still presents some research gaps. Thus, this study delivers a 2D Eulerian-Lagrangian numerical model to describe the co-firing of coal with biomass and NH₃ in a pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor. The numerical model is validated against experimental data on coal and biomass combustion to assess the model's accuracy. The coal, biomass, and NH₃ co-firing ratios are varied to the point where coal is gradually reduced from the fuel mix, and its effect on the combustion processes is broadly investigated to determine the biomass and NH₃ impact on the reactor's emissions. Overall, the use of both biomass and NH₃ showed to broadly reduce carbon and NO emissions from coal-fired energy systems, emphasizing the potential addressed to biomass as an alternative to coal and NH₃ as an effective carbon-neutral fuel of the future.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100055"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052022000073/pdfft?md5=48ef04008fbe14b862ae091389d104bf&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052022000073-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88480918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Passive heating in thermally compliant office building: Validated and simulated scenarios","authors":"Mouatassim Charai,&nbsp;Othmane Horma,&nbsp;Ahmed Mezrhab,&nbsp;Mohammed Amine Moussaoui","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100026","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This work aims at answering the question–to what extent thermally compliant buildings are involved in ensuring the winter indoor thermal comfort of occupants in cold semi-arid climates in Morocco. Real-time monitoring of a new-built university building located in eastern Morocco was conducted. The good agreement between the measured and simulated temperatures of the case study building confirmed the accuracy of the developed model. Thereafter, the thermal performance of different external wall configurations was investigated. The results show that compliant buildings guarantee better comfort conditions in winter by passively increasing the indoor air temperature by up to 2 °C, resulting in a maximum percentage of dissatisfaction of less than 13%. The winter discomfort hours based on a temperature set point of 16 °C are reduced by 95% compared to typical buildings. Moreover, the thermal compliance of buildings significantly reduces the daily air temperature amplitude, leading to a periodic dynamic behaviour without peak loads, which could be effective for the building energy management. The efficacy of earthen walls in regulating indoor temperatures was also confirmed due to the excellent thermal inertia of earth. For optimum winter comfort (20 °C), the implementation of the Moroccan building energy code shows up to 72% of reduction in heating demand when applied to conventional buildings.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100026"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100026","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77866557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An optical investigation of dual fuel and RCCI pilot ignition in a medium speed engine","authors":"Menno Merts ,&nbsp;Saeed Derafshzan ,&nbsp;Jari Hyvönen ,&nbsp;Mattias Richter ,&nbsp;Marcus Lundgren ,&nbsp;Sebastian Verhelst","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100037","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Driven by the Paris agreement and tightening IMO regulations, the marine sector is focusing on lowering engine emissions and moving to low-carbon fossil or renewable fuel such as methane. The dual-fuel concept allows the usage of methane as main energy-source in diesel engines. A small pilot diesel injection acts as an ignition source for the premixed methane. It was investigated how NO_x formation, mainly taking place during combustion of the pilot fuel, could be minimized.</p><p>To better understand the process of ignition of a pilot injection in dual-fuel engines, optical research has been performed on a medium speed dual fuel marine engine. A unique Bowditch 200 mm single cylinder setup enabled high speed recordings of natural luminescence. Both Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) and Conventional Dual Fuel (CDF) combustion was investigated. The RCCI combustion was created by an early pilot injection, allowing a long mixing time. The CDF cases had a late injection timing.</p><p>In RCCI operation the higher degree of premixing was recognized by combustion luminescence starting further away from the injector, at a varying location. The diluted pilot combustion generated a limited brightness. The heat release profile was Gaussian/bell-shaped, without the typical diesel premixed peak. In CDF operation the recorded images show that combustion follows the shape of the diesel injector jet. The heat release profile was showing a strong initial peak, resembling the premixed peak known from conventional diesel combustion. This heat release peak in CDF combustion, correlated to NO_x emissions, is absent in RCCI mode.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100037"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052021000303/pdfft?md5=db491168f72fde251944c759f02bd180&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052021000303-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81174809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Waste reduction and utilization strategies to improve municipal solid waste management on Nigerian campuses","authors":"Collins O. Ugwu ,&nbsp;Chigbogu G. Ozoegwu ,&nbsp;Paul A. Ozor ,&nbsp;Ndukwe Agwu ,&nbsp;C. Mbohwa","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Universities bear the important responsibility of training capable individuals and imbibing into the society plans, programs and policies that are sustainable. However, they have failed to live up to this expectation/responsibility in developing nations like Nigeria. As a result, various publication domains like the Elsevier, Engineering village, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, Springer books, Research gate, etc. were explored to understand different approaches by various authors on the strategies of managing solid waste generated in universities around the world so as to recommend better strategies for managing the solid wastes generated in Nigerian universities for a sustainable development. The solid wastes that are prevalent in most studies reviewed include organic, plastic, polythene, paper/cardboard, e-waste, metal/cans, sanitary, wood, leather/textiles, glass/bottle, polystyrene food pack, medical and rubber. However, there are four major categories that pose the most challenges to the environment, the atmosphere, the entire populace and during all stages of management because they contribute the most percentage both by volume and weight. They include: organic, paper, polythene and plastic. Consequently, the strategies for the four major categories were discussed in this work. Some of the strategies include prevention of the generation of avoidable wastes, reduction of the generated waste through recovery, reuse of the recovered wastes, recycling of the recyclables, composting of organic wastes for energy/electricity generation, and eventual disposal at sanitary landfills. The strategies were based on the principles of the Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) approach (3Rs) of an efficient and effective sustainable waste management, viz; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100025"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052021000182/pdfft?md5=37ddf2992863bb24e87f2e4ce79f3e8d&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052021000182-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90963084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Less severe reaction conditions to produce levulinic acid with reduced humins formation at the expense of lower biomass conversion: Is it economically feasible?","authors":"Jean Felipe Leal Silva,&nbsp;Adriano Pinto Mariano,&nbsp;Rubens Maciel Filho","doi":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100029","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100029","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Esters of levulinic acid constitute a promising class of renewable fuel additives that improve the cold properties of diesel and reduce soot emissions. However, the production of levulinic acid via thermolysis of biomass has low selectivity, a problem that compromises both yield and reactor operability, with impacts on cost. The main undesirable byproducts of this process are called humins, a dark insoluble residue. This work proposes and simulates an alternative reactor arrangement based on experimental results and analyzes reaction conditions via design of experiments to determine the factors that influence humins formation in the production of levulinic acid from sugarcane bagasse. Results indicate that a high residence time in hydrolysis increases humins formation, and a high temperature was found to deteriorate selectivity even further. Therefore, a high catalyst loading combined with low residence time and temperature is required to decrease losses. Considering the limitations of the simulated model, the conditions that minimize humins formation led to yields of 109 kg of furfural (from hemicelluloses) and 74 kg of levulinic acid (from cellulose) per dry tonne of sugarcane bagasse, with the production of 58 kg of humins. Results of economic analysis demonstrated that if humins disposal is associated with a high cost, low biomass conversion is required to yield a promising economic result, even though this might compromise the yield of levulinic acid and furfural. On the other hand, if value-added applications for humins become available, a similar conclusion applies if their production compromises reactor operability.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100556,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Communications","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100029"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666052021000224/pdfft?md5=2afb614f2cec018fc03047217b42468c&pid=1-s2.0-S2666052021000224-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73238348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}