Chemistry for control of by-products in Smart Energy Carrier conversion

Challenge: Pollutants monitoring and control

Objectives:

  • Compile inventories of pollutants emitted from the combustion of SECs in practical systems.
  • Increase understanding of the kinetics of combustion by-product for a sustainable use of SECs.
  • Assess control strategies for the mitigation of pollutant formation and emission.
  • Develop tools to detect and quantify chemical, physical and morphological properties of combustion-generated pollutants, particularly of particulate matter.

Detailed description of the WG2 activities can be found here (extract from the Action’s Memorandum of Understanding)

Summary of Work Group 2 Activities

The chemistry for control of by-products in Smart Energy Carrier (SEC) conversion has been considered in Working Group 2, with control of pollutants as the main challenge envisaged. A number of activities related to the main pollution drawbacks arising from the combustion of SECs have been considered, including: the evaluation of pollutants emitted from the combustion of SECs in practical systems, study both from experimental and kinetic modelling points of view of the formation and destruction of pollutants during SECs combustion, with the aid of valuable diagnostic tools to properly characterize the different pollutants, and the assessment of suitable control strategies for minimizing pollutants generation or to avoid pollutants emission.

Main achievements in this area can be deduced from the publications of the action partners and include, among others:

–  Pollutant generation: A substantial progress in the characterization of the pollutant emissions generation under combustion conditions, involving characterization of soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), but also oxy-PAH and S-PAH through different of techniques and in a number of experimental devices, ranging from laboratory reactors to flames and even under practical combustion devices. For specific cases, also evaluation of the toxicity of novel pollutants has been addressed

  Trace species: Advances in the understanding of the role of trace species in combustion processes, mainly on the final emission of pollutants, but also on the inhibition or promotion of the new SECs that may be used extensively in the next future, such as specific biomass feedstocks or residues, and shale gas or biogas, among others.

New research areas or topics: such as that related to the study of non-hydrocarbon energy carriers, such as ammonia. In this regard, a number of initiatives have arised in the last part of the action, and results are very promising, and suggest that a feasible combustion of ammonia or ammonia mixtures may be possible, if appropriate conditions and devices are used. However, the present results clearly indicate that more efforts are needed in this regard.

The main results resulting from the activities of WG2 are reported in:

  • Proceedings of the 1st General Meeting of SMARTCATs COST Action
  • Proceedings of the 2nd General Meeting of SMARTCATs COST Action
  • Proceedings of the 3rd General Meeting of SMARTCATs COST Action
  • Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Smart Energy Carriers
  • FUEL Special Issue (2018)
  • Energy&Fuel Special Issue
  • FUEL Special Issue (2019)

and in the Proceedings of Topical and co-organized workshops in the framework of Work Groups 1/2/5:


 ➡ Proceedings of all Action Activities and Special issue are part of the Final Action Report

Marìa Alzueta

Working Group Leader

Universidad de Zaragoza Aragon Institute for Engineering Research Zaragoza, Spain

e-mail: uxue@unizar.es

Marìa Albian

Working Group Vice-Leader

Instituto de Carboquímica (ICB) – Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Zaragoza, Spain

e-mail: Mabian@unizar.es