Environmental management of industrial decarbonization with focus on chemical sectors: A review

Design and Application of Joule Heating Processes for Decarbonized Chemical and Advanced Material Synthesis

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations keep increasing at intensifying rates due to rising energy and material demands. The chemical production industry is a large energy consumer, responsible for up to 935 Mt of CO2 emissions per year, and decarbonization is its major goal moving forward. One of the primary sources of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the chemical sector is associated with the production and use of heat for material synthesis, which conventionally was generated through the combustion of fossil fuels. To address this grand challenge, Joule heating has emerged as an alternative heating method that greatly increases process efficiency, reducing both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In this Review, we discuss the key concepts that govern these Joule heating processes including material selection and reactor design, as well as the current state-of-the-art in the literature for employing these processes to synthesize commodity chemicals along with advanced materials such as graphene, metal species, and metal carbides. Finally, we provide a perspective on future research avenues within this field, which can facilitate the widespread adoption of Joule heating for decarbonizing industrial processes.

A supplementary assessment system of AQI-V for comprehensive management and control of air quality in chemical industrial parks

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the dominant pollutants in industrial parks. However, they are not generally considered as part of the air quality index (AQI) system, which leads to a biased assessment of pollution in industrial parks. In this study, a supplementary assessment system of AQI-V was established by analyzing VOCs characteristics with vehicle-mounted PTR-TOFMS instrument, correlation analysis and the standards analysis. Three hourly and daily scenarios were considered, and the hierarchical parameter setting was further optimized by field application. The hourly and daily assessments revealed the evaluation factors for the discriminability of different air quality levels, practiced value for regional air quality improvement, and the reservation of general dominant pollutants. Finally, the universality testing in ZPIP successfully recognized most of the peaks, with 54.76%, 38.39% and 6.85% for O₃, VOCs and NO₂ as the dominant pollutant, and reflected the daily ambient air quality condition, together with the dominant pollutant. The AQI-V system with VOCs sub-index is essential for air quality evaluation in industrial parks, which can further provide scientific support to control the pollution of VOCs and the secondary pollutant, therefore significantly improve the air quality in local industrial parks.

Chemoselective derivatisation and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry for the determination of hydroxyl functional groups within complex bio-oils

Bio-oils are a renewable alternative resource for the production of fine chemicals and fuels. Bio-oils are characterised by a high content of oxygenated compounds with a diverse array of different chemical functionalities. Here, we performed a chemical reaction to transform the hydroxyl group of the various components in a bio-oil prior to characterisation with ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (UHRMS). The derivatisations were first evaluated using twenty lignin-representative standards with different structural features. Our results indicate a highly chemoselective transformation of the hydroxyl group despite the presence of other functional groups. Mono- and di-acetate products were observed in acetone-acetic anhydride (acetone-Ac₂O) mixtures for non-sterically hindered phenols, catechols and benzene diols. Dimethyl sulfoxide-Ac₂O (DMSO-Ac₂O) reactions favoured the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols and the formation of methylthiomethyl (MTM) products of phenols. The derivatisations were then performed in a complex bio-oil sample to gain insights into the hydroxyl group profile of the bio-oil. Our results indicate that the bio-oil before derivatisation is composed of 4500 elemental compositions containing 1-12 oxygen atoms. After the derivatisation in DMSO-Ac₂O mixtures, the total number of compositions increased approximately five-fold. The reaction was indicative of the variety of hydroxyl group profiles within the sample in particular the presence of phenols that were ortho and para substituted, non-hindered phenols (about 34%), aromatic alcohols (including benzylic and other non-phenolic alcohols) (25%), and aliphatic alcohols (6.3%) could be inferred. Phenolic compositions are known as coke precursors in catalytic pyrolysis and upgrading processes. Thus, the combination of chemoselective derivatisations in conjunction with UHRMS can be a valuable resource to outline the hydroxyl group profile in elemental chemical compositions in complex mixtures.

A New Approach to Energy Transition in Morocco for Low Carbon and Sustainable Industry (Case of Textile Sector)

Morocco has resolutely committed to the green transition of its economy by opting for industry decarbonation, which now imposes itself as an essential access criterion to foreign markets. Intending to include energy efficiency in the leading players in energy-intensive industries, this paper has the main objective of contributing to a better understanding of the decarbonation plans potential impact, taking the example of solar energy integrating opportunities as an action for a thrifty, sustainable, and low carbon Moroccan industry. Indeed, the paper focuses on the industrial textile sector, such as the energy-intensive industry. This sector is the first employer and the most important industrial activity; it is also an icon and the oldest industry in Morocco. This study examines the energy, economic and environmental fallout, evaluating the productions, the investment and the CO2 emissions limit. Besides, the energy industrial sector is characterized by a strong dependence on fossil imports, which increases the energy factor and price. In this regard, several geographical sites and factories were studied under six climatic regional conditions, proposing the most optimal and sustainable configurations for each location and present models with scopes and levels of energy and environment gains and investments that can inspire the sector actors. Then the present work must install concepts by inspiring local factories, accompanying the national vision, and resizing the industrial ecology. In this paper, a power of 8.88 MW is the total power installed, which provides an annual total of 8484.65 tonnes of CO2, with an average payback time between 2.6 years and 4.5 years, and attractive economic parameters, with an LCOE of 0.034 $/kWh and $181,863 for the NPC, those outputs shows the importance of environmental gains that the generalization of this strategic vision can achieve.

Non-Isolated DC-DC Converters in Fuel Cell Applications: Thermal Analysis and Reliability Comparison

An alternative energy source that has appeared beyond expectations and has seen a lot of progress is the fuel cell. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is chosen for analysis and requires a DC-DC boost converter as an interface between the fuel cell and the load to provide a high-gain regulated voltage. Although great effort towards developing different converter topologies has been made during recent decades, less attention has been devoted to the reliability and thermal performance assessment of the present converters. In this paper, five non-isolated DC-DC converters are analyzed in terms of both thermal behavior and reliability. The temperature estimation of semiconductor devices as a critical part of the thermal analysis has been made via a detailed thermal model and the reliability is evaluated by means of a power cycling test. Finally, a performance score has been attributed using the TOPSIS ranking methodology and considering all the criteria (e.g., the number of components and cost) at the same time. The results indicated that the floating interleaved boost converter is always at the top of the list, even if the weight of the indicators is changed. When the weight of the cost criterion is higher than the reliability criterion, the multi-switch boost converter will be in second place. If the weight of the reliability criterion is greater than cost, the interleaved and multi-switch converter are ranked second and third, respectively. Additionally, the Cuk converter with a closeness coefficient of zero is always associated with the most unfavorable performance.

Just transition pathways of energy decarbonization under the global environmental changes

The decarbonization and the transition pathways from fossil fuels to green energy technologies in the era of global climatic change, poses great challenges. An effective management tool of all parameters related to a just transition plan could minimize the effects on local communities and maximize the long-term benefits creating conditions for the enhancement of regional sustainable development. For this reason, this paper develops a conceptual model for the evaluation of crucial aspects related to decarbonization projects, through a questionnaire to survey a sample of locals from a coal dependent region. A methodology based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to investigate a set of ten hypotheses which describe possible relationships between the aspects of the conceptual model. Although, respondents agree with the need for a change in the current fossil fuel resource management system, they do not regard that the decarbonization will have a positive effect on the sustainability of the coal-dependent region. Also, respondents who support such changes they do not believe that the climate change has serious impacts on humanity and natural ecosystems. In general, the outcomes of the analysis highlight that a just coal transition is not an easy process and it might cause disruptions to the societies. A just transition plan should be a result of effective public dialogue with the active participation of all stakeholder groups, which will be directly or indirectly affected by the major changes of decarbonization.