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Renewable Fuels Research and Sustainable Energy Transition
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Renewable Fuels Research and Sustainable Energy Transition

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Pollution Prevention, Mitigation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 May 2024 | Viewed by 3822

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Timothy H. Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining 314400, China
Interests: combustion; biofuels; waste to energy; internal combustion engines; hydrogen; diesel; gasoline
Dr. Weihua Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: combustion process in diesel engines; application of alternative fuels; spray characteristics of fuels; emissions of IC engines

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon neutrality is defined as the state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, with many countries declaring this a milestone to reach by 2050. This poses a massive challenge, as over 84% of global energy production still comes from fossil fuels. While change is necessary, it is not possible to convert to only renewables overnight. There must be a transition in how fuels are utilized and how much to use before the final goal can be grasped. Whether it be partially supplementing diesel with alcohols or producing syngas for power plants, advances in technology that can provide stable and concrete steps should be implemented to steadily reduce the amount of fossil fuels used globally. Eventually, some of this technology may not be used anymore, but it will have served an extremely important role in this transitional time period.

This Special Issue encourages academic and industrial researchers to contribute their original research articles on ongoing developments and findings in the areas of sustainable and renewable fuels for internal combustion engines, gas turbines, and other power generation methods. In addition, reviews on the plethora of new research directions and renewable fuels are also welcome. This Special Issue will provide readers with an overview of the latest research and technological developments, allowing them to understand and contribute to the continuously changing landscape of power generation and utilization.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Timothy H. Lee
Dr. Weihua Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • renewable fuels
  • sustainability
  • carbon neutrality
  • biofuels
  • internal combustion engines
  • gas turbines
  • power generation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2895 KiB  
Article
Ammonia as a Marine Fuel towards Decarbonization: Emission Control Challenges
by Georgia Voniati, Athanasios Dimaratos, Grigorios Koltsakis and Leonidas Ntziachristos
Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15565; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115565 - 02 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1151
Abstract
Decarbonization of the maritime sector to achieve ambitious IMO targets requires the combination of various technologies. Among alternative fuels, ammonia (NH3), a carbon-free fuel, is a good candidate; however, its combustion produces NOx, unburnt NH3 and N2 [...] Read more.
Decarbonization of the maritime sector to achieve ambitious IMO targets requires the combination of various technologies. Among alternative fuels, ammonia (NH3), a carbon-free fuel, is a good candidate; however, its combustion produces NOx, unburnt NH3 and N2O—a strong greenhouse gas (GHG). This work conducts a preliminary assessment of the emission control challenges of NH3 application as fuel in the maritime sector. Commercial catalytic technologies are applied in simulated NH3 engine exhaust to mitigate NH3 and NOx while monitoring N2O production during the reduction processes. Small-scale experiments on a synthetic gas bench (SGB) with a selective-catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst and an ammonia oxidation catalyst (AOC) provide reaction kinetics information, which are then integrated into physico-chemical models. The latter are used for the examination of two scenarios concerning the relative engine-out concentrations of NOx and NH3 in the exhaust gas: (a) shortage and (b) excess of NH3. The simulation results indicate that NOx conversion can be optimized to meet the IMO limits with minimal NH3 slip in both cases. Excess of NH3 promotes N2O formation, particularly at higher NH3 concentrations. Engine-out N2O emissions are expected to increase the total N2O emissions; hence, both sources need to be considered for their successful control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Fuels Research and Sustainable Energy Transition)
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12 pages, 918 KiB  
Article
Probing the Pyrolysis Process of Rice Straw over a “Dual-Catalyst Bed” for the Production of Fuel Gases and Value-Added Chemicals
by Ikram Uddin, Muhammad Sohail, Muhammad Ijaz Hussain, Norah Alhokbany, Juan Amaro-Gahete and Rafael Estévez
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11057; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411057 - 14 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1136
Abstract
Rice straw is an agricultural byproduct primarily produced in Asian regions. It is crucial to discover an effective method for converting this waste into chemicals that can be utilized to substitute goods derived from fossil fuels. Pyrolysis serves as an interesting procedure to [...] Read more.
Rice straw is an agricultural byproduct primarily produced in Asian regions. It is crucial to discover an effective method for converting this waste into chemicals that can be utilized to substitute goods derived from fossil fuels. Pyrolysis serves as an interesting procedure to obtain bio-oil from this rice straw. The composition of the bio-oil obtained after the pyrolysis procedure contains a small quantity of value-added chemicals in addition to various gas components in the gas product. Therefore, the development of catalytic systems that improve this pyrolytic reaction is mandatory. Herein, the design of a dual catalyst bed (CEM/ZSM-5) that catalyzes the volatiles that it releases has been developed. The highest output of 42.1 wt.% of bio-oil, 29.9 wt.% of gases and 28.0 wt.% of bio-char was obtained. Nevertheless, the inclusion of single zeolites to biomass yields biofuel outputs of 42.8 wt.%, gas yields of 27.7 wt.%, and a bio-char yielding of 29.5 wt.%. Additionally, the addition of cement to biomass results in a bio-oil yield of 40.4 wt.% and 30.5 wt.% of gas, along with 29.1 wt.% of char. Regarding pyrolysis gas products, the H2 yield in the produced biogas was increased from 35.9 mL/g to 45.7 mL/g, and the CH4 output was increased from 21.1 mL/g to 27.4 mL/g. The bioenergy output was evaluated employing GC-FID and GC-MS (gas and biofuel). The dual catalytic bed had a significant impact on the contents of the generated biofuel, increasing the quantity of hydrocarbons and other value-added compounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Fuels Research and Sustainable Energy Transition)
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16 pages, 491 KiB  
Article
Shea Butter Oil Biodiesel Synthesized Using Snail Shell Heterogeneous Catalyst: Performance and Environmental Impact Analysis in Diesel Engine Applications
by Akinola David Ogunsola, Modiu O. Durowoju, Oyetola Ogunkunle, Opeyeolu T. Laseinde, S. M. Ashrafur Rahman and Islam Md Rizwanul Fattah
Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8913; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118913 - 31 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1072
Abstract
The implementation of biodiesel in internal combustion engines has been observed to enhance engine performance and mitigate the discharge of toxic gaseous emissions from the engine. In this research, Shea Butter Oil Biodiesel (SBOB) was used to operate a diesel engine to analyze [...] Read more.
The implementation of biodiesel in internal combustion engines has been observed to enhance engine performance and mitigate the discharge of toxic gaseous emissions from the engine. In this research, Shea Butter Oil Biodiesel (SBOB) was used to operate a diesel engine to analyze the performance and emissions characteristics. Shea Butter Oil Biodiesel (SBOB) was blended with petroleum diesel in ratios 0:100 (B0), 25:75 (B25), 50:50 (B50), 75:25 (B75), and 100:0 (B100). The torque, brake power (BP), and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of the engine were determined. Gaseous emissions from the engine’s combustion were characterized using the BOSEAN BH-4S portable multi-gas detector, while the organic emissions compositions were detected and quantified using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The fuel properties of SBOB and its blends were found to be within the range of acceptable standards. However, the carbon content, sulphur content, heating value, and ash content of the blends decreased from 0.68 to 0.12 wt %, 0.04 to 0.00 wt %, 44.2 to 34.2 MJ/kg, and 0.020 to 0.010 wt %, respectively. The engine torque, brake power, BTE, and engine vibrations were found to reduce when the biodiesel blends were used. Besides the diesel fuel, the biodiesel blend, B25, produced the best engine performance characteristics with 8.50 Nm torque, 1780.95 W BP, and 90.29% BTE. The B100 produced the lowest concentrations of carbon emissions, viz. 520 ppm CO and 1.0% CO2. The NO and NO2 concentrations were found to increase for all the biodiesel blends used. The NO and NO2 concentrations were measured as 230 ppm and 210 ppm for B0, respectively, and 250 ppm and 235 ppm for B25, respectively. The research showed that SBOB has improved engine performance and lowered the emissions profile of CO and CO2 compared with petroleum diesel. The GCMS analysis confirmed that some harmful organic compounds were present in the emissions profile obtained from the exhaust samples of the diesel engine at various compositions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Fuels Research and Sustainable Energy Transition)
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