Coal Oil Research Articles

Elemental characterization and source apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 in the western coastal area of central Taiwan

This study investigated seasonal variations in PM10 and PM2.5 mass and associated trace metal concentrations in a residential area in proximity to the crude oil refinery plants and industrial parks of central Taiwan. Particle measurements were conducted during winter, spring and summer in 2013 and 2014. Twenty-six trace metals in PM10 and PM2.5 were analyzed using ICP-MS. Multiple approaches of the backward trajectory model, enrichment factor (EF), Lanthanum enrichment and positive matrix fraction (PMF) were used to identify potential sources of particulate metals. Mean concentrations of PM10 in winter, spring and summer were 76.4 ± 22.6, 33.2 ± 9.9 and 37.4 ± 17.0 μg m(-3), respectively, while mean levels of PM2.5 in winter, spring and summer were 47.8 ± 20.0, 23.9 ± 11.2 and 16.3 ± 8.2 μg m(-3), respectively. The concentrations of carcinogenic metals (Ni, As and adjusted Cr(VI)) in PM10 and PM2.5 exceeded the guideline limits published by WHO. The result of EF analysis confirmed that Mo, Sb, Cd, Zn, Mg, Cr, As, Pb, Cu, Ni and V were attributable to anthropogenic emission. PMF analysis demonstrated that trace metals in PM10 and PM2.5 were from the similar sources, such as coal combustion, oil combustion and traffic-related emission, except for soil dust and crustal element emissions only observed in PM10 and secondary aluminum smelter only observed in PM2.5. Considering health-related particulate metals, the traffic-related emission and coal combustion for PM10 and PM2.5, respectively, are important to control for reducing potential carcinogenic risk. The results could aid efforts to clarify the impact of source-specific origins on human health.

Mechanochemical activation of coal from the Erkovetskoe deposit and its reactivity in a liquefaction process

The results of experimental studies on an increase in the reactivity of brown coal from the Erkovetskoe deposit upon hydrogenation under a low pressure of hydrogen (10 MPa) by crushing in a vibrating mill and a universal disintegrator activator (UDA) are reported. The high efficiency of the application of UDA technology to coal preparation at the stage of crushing, catalyst supporting, and coal–oil paste preparation on coal liquefaction by hydrogenation is demonstrated.

Historical reconstruction of anthropogenic mercury input from sedimentary records: Yeongsan Estuary, South Korea

The rapid economic growth of the Republic of Korea (S. Korea) within the last half-century has resulted in a pronounced increase in anthropogenic Hg emission from coal combustion, oil refining, cement production, and waste incineration. The record of increasing atmospheric sources have been investigated with a historical reconstruction of Hg accumulation in 30 sediment cores collected from the Yeongsan Estuary. Within the last several decades, this region has undergone severe anthropogenic alteration, including the construction of an estuarine dam forming the Yeongsan Lake, and installation of numerous seawalls that eliminated vast tidal flats and restricted estuarine circulation. Total mercury concentrations (T-Hg) measured in sediments deposited after 1980 (23.2 ± 9.6 ng g−1; n = 273), were significantly higher than those reported for pre-industrial sediments (i.e. background values: 8.6 ± 2.7 ng g−1; n = 274). An extensive survey of surface samples show that T-Hg concentrations are highest above the dam, with a gradient to lower values further offshore. The concomitant timing of enrichment of T-Hg within the sedimentary record and increased National emissions in Korea suggests that regional sources dominate the input to the Yeongsan Estuary. This indicates that with sufficient regional historic emission data, T-Hg might be utilized as a geochronologic tool to aid in corroborating traditional radioisotopic methods.

Hydrofining of Coal Tar Light Oil to Produce High Octane Gasoline Blending Components over γ-Al2O3- and η-Al2O3-Supported Catalysts

The effectiveness and suitability for hydroconversion of coal tar light oil (CTLO), a byproduct from the coal chemical industry, were studied over γ-Al2O3- and η-Al2O3-supported Ni–Mo and Co–Mo catalysts in a continuous fixed-bed reactor. This work focused on eliminating sulfur-, nitrogen-, and oxygen-containing heterocycles with a smaller loss of octane number and producing high octane gasoline blending components (HOGB) with high value. Ni–Mo catalysts showed better hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) activity than that of Co–Mo catalysts. In addition to active metal components, the overall performance of the catalyst was also closely associated with the type of support. Higher density of medium strength acid sites, better dispersion of active components, and weaker metal–support interaction jointly contributed to the higher activity of η-Al2O3-supported catalysts. Compared with γ-Al2O3, η-Al2O3-supported catalysts possessed more octahedrally coordinated Mo species, thus more highl...

The dynamic volatility spillover between European carbon trading market and fossil energy market

With the rapid spread of carbon trading in the world, the interaction of carbon prices and fossil energy prices has raised growing attention, but little research has discussed their time-varying correlation and dynamic volatility spillover. This paper employs the threshold dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model and the full Baba, Engle, Kraft and Kroner (BEKK) GARCH model to explore these issues, for the daily data of European carbon futures prices and the three fossil energy prices (coal, natural gas and Brent oil) from January 2 2008 to September 30 2014. The results indicate that, first, there is significant unidirectional volatility spillover from coal market to carbon market and from carbon market to natural gas market, whereas there exists no significant volatility spillover between carbon market and Brent oil market. Second, carbon market and fossil energy markets have significantly positive correlation across time. Specifically, among the three fossil fuels, coal market has the highest correlation with carbon market, followed by natural gas and Brent oil markets. Finally, as for the three fossil fuels, their price decrease may have stronger impact on carbon price volatility than their price increase with the same degree, while there is asymmetric impact of carbon price increase and decrease only on Brent oil price volatility. These results may help investors to well configure their portfolios and manage their investment risks, and help emission trading installations to join in carbon market in a cost-effective way.

Structure and properties of heavy organic residue from coal hydrogenation

On the basis of elementary analysis and 13C NMR spectroscopy, as well as the mean molecular mass and the degree of aromatic content, a structural model of bitumen (coal oil) that satisfies experimental data is formulated. The fragmentary composition of the model is determined: alkyl, naphthene, and aromatic components are present. On the basis of the PM6 quantum-chemical method, with geometric optimization of the electronic structure of a hypothetical bitumen molecule from coal hydrogenation, the interatomic distances and ionization potential are calculated. The IR spectrum is proposed. The uppermost occupied molecular orbital is identified. In the approximation of a supermolecule consisting of two molecules, the interplane distances and molecular-interaction energy are determined. The proposed method of investigating the structure and properties of complex organic systems may be used in the development of processing technologies for carbon-bearing materials.

Sedimentary Mechanism in the Coal and Oil Shale Bearing Succession Graben Basins: The Comparision between Fushun and Huangxian Basins, Eastern China

The association of coal and oil shale had been a hot topic for a long time. Various types of association of coal and oil shale can be found in one basin, for instance, the coal can act as the roof or floor or interlayer of the oil shale, etc. The most crucial factor for the formation of oil shale is stratification and seasonal blooming of lower plankton, while the final formation of the coal still need a hypoxia restored deposition environment. We take Huangxian and Fushun basins as typical examples to study the coal and oil shale sedimentary mechanisms controlled by the boundary fault. We found that the sedimentary mechanisms are different in different stages during the process of basin evolution. In the early stage, the association of coal and oil shale with thinner layers can be found. In the late part of early stage, thick layer coal seams and oil shale can be formed because of the relative stable faults. In the middle stage, thicker oil shale can be formed in deep lake and thicker coal seams can be formed in the lacustrine shore. In the late stage of basin evolution, the association of thickest coal seams and oil shale can be formed as the stable tectonic environment. Compared with the depression basin, more active fault and short cycle subsidence controlled by the episodic tectonic movements are the obvious characteristics. Higher rate of tectonic subsidence and a vast difference between sedimentary (peat-bearing) supply rate and accommodation space change rate are in favor of forming oil shale, and slower rate of tectonic subsidence is favor of forming coal. The study found that faulted structures obviously control the development, thickness and distribution characteristics of oil shale and coal. As mentioned the above, the episodic tectonic movement of continental rift basin controls the types and filling and evolution of deposits.

Vulnerability to drought-induced cavitation in shoots of two typical shrubs in the southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China

4 School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China Abstract: Salix psammophila and Caragana korshinskii are two typical shrubs in the southern Mu Us Sandy Land of China which are threatened by increasing water deficits related to climate change and large-scale human activities (e.g. coal mining and oil exploitation). In this study, we assessed their vulnerability to xylem embolism and the related anatomical traits in two-year-old regenerated shoots of these two shrubs to understand how they cope with drought environment. We also evaluated the in situ hydraulic safety margins to hydraulic failure from measurements of annual predawn and midday leaf water potentials. The results showed that S. psammophila stems had a higher water transport capacity than C. korshinskii stems. The stem xylem water potentials at 12%, 50% and 88% loss of conductivity were -1.11, -1.63 and -2.15 MPa in S. psammophila, respectively, and -1.37, -2.64 and -3.91 MPa in C. korshinskii, respectively. This suggested that C. korshinskii was more resistant to cavitation than S. psammophila. Compared with S. psammophila, C. korshinskii had shorter maximum vessel length, lower vessel density, smaller conductive area and higher wood density, which may contribute to its more resistant xylem. The in situ hydraulic safety margins indicated that even during the driest periods, both shrubs lived well above the most critical embolism thresholds, and the hydraulic safety margin was wider in C. korshinskii than in S. psammophila, suggesting that the regenerated shoots of both shrubs could function normally and C. korshinskii had greater hydraulic protection. These results provide the basis for an in-depth understanding of the survival, growth and functional behavior of these two shrubs under harsh and dry desert environments.

Low temperature pyrolysis properties and kinetics of non-coking coal in Chinese western coals

Chinese western low-rank coals known as for its favorable characteristics play a key role in the production of coal oil. In this work, based on the changes in element occurrence during low-temperature pyrolysis of coal, the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of coal at 400–500 °C temperatures with 10 °C/min heat rate were studied, which resulted in the drastically cracking of aliphatic groups. However, a significant amount of oxygen-containing functional groups were also found during coal pyrolysis at low temperature followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. According to the low-temperature thermal kinetics analysis of different coals, the activation energy of coking coal is higher than that of non-coking coals, and the activation of non-coking coals is relatively low under the same pyrolysis conditions. The objective of this work is to provide theoretical data about the pyrolysis characteristics of non-coking coal at low temperature and increase the non-coking coal proportion in coking proceeding.

Coal, oil, or clean energy: Which contributes most to the low energy efficiency in China?

The lack of energy efficiency in China is always of interest. This paper builds a total-factor energy efficiency framework which contains coal energy, oil energy, and clean energy, which emits fewer pollutants into the atmosphere when used. We study the “China Statistical Yearbook” and the “China Energy Statistical Yearbook” to identify which type of energy contributes most to low energy efficiency in China. Our conclusion is that the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) in China has been at a relatively low level without any significant improvement from 1998 to 2010. The efficiencies of coal and oil energy have improved moderately, while there is no obvious improvement in the efficiency of clean energy. Despite the moderately improved efficiency of coal energy, its relatively low level contributes most to the overall energy inefficiency because it is the main fuel used in China. Further, the lack of improvements in the efficiency of clean energy makes it another area of policy interest.

English

This paper deals with cement production optimization modeling using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the results was compared with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Pattern Search (PS). This optimization modeling took into account mixtures of primary fuel (mineral coal, pet-coke and heavy oil) and its alternative fuel which is agricultural waste (rice husk, sugar waste and ground shell). The optimization simulation models predict the cost benefit to the manufacturer using alternative fuel, environmental impact to world and finally the quality of the cement produced to the end user. Production cost for one ton of cement using PSO ($23 = 4945), GA ($33 = 7095), PS (38.2 = 8170). The oxides in this research work met standard cement specification: Silica Modulus (M.S-2.9), Alumina Modulus (M.A- 1.3), Lime Saturation factor (LSF-93.3%). The results show that the cost of cement production can be reduced by 30 to 70% with the use of alternative fuel (Rice husk, Sugar cane waste, ground nut shell) and without greatly affecting the final product.   Key words: Fuel mixture, energy consumption, cement cost, cement quality. &nbsp

Unconventional Heavy Oil Growth and Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Enormous global reserves of unconventional heavy oil make it a significant resource for economic growth and energy security; however, its extraction faces many challenges especially on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, and recently, social acceptability. Here, we question whether it makes sense to extract and use unconventional heavy oil in spite of these externalities. We place unconventional oils (oil sands and oil shale) alongside shale gas, coal, lignite, wood and conventional oil and gas, and compare their energy intensities and life cycle GHG emissions. Our results reveal that oil shale is the most energy intensive fuel among upgraded primary fossil fuel options followed by in situ-produced bitumen from oil sands. Lignite is the most GHG intensive primary fuel followed by oil shale. Based on future world energy demand projections, we estimate that if growth of unconventional heavy oil production continues unabated, the incremental GHG emissions that results from replacing conventional oil with heavy oil would amount to 4-21 Gt-CO2eq GtCO2eq over four decades (2010 by 2050). However, prevailing socio-economic, regional and global energy politics, environmental and technological challenges may limit growth of heavy oil production and thus its GHG emissions contributions to global fossil fuel emissions may be smaller.

Energy markets and CO2 emissions: Analysis by stochastic copula autoregressive model

We examine the dependence between the volatility of the prices of the carbon dioxide “CO2” emissions with the volatility of one of their fundamental components, the energy prices. The dependence between the returns will be approached by a particular class of copula, the SCAR (Stochastic Autoregressive) Copulas, which is a time varying copula that was first introduced by Hafner and Manner (2012) [1] in which the parameter driving the dynamic of the copula follows a stochastic autoregressive process. The standard likelihood method will be used together with EIS (Efficient Importance Sampling) method, to evaluate the integral with a large dimension in the expression of the likelihood function. The main result suggests that the dynamics of the dependence between the volatility of the CO2 emission prices and the volatility of energy returns, coal, natural gas and Brent oil prices, do vary over time, although not much in stable periods but rise noticeably during the period of crisis and turmoils.

Evaluation of changes in macerals and geochemical properties during hydrocarbon generation based on pyrolysis of lignite from Mainland China

In this study, we adopted thermal simulation to explore the changes of macerals compositions and trace elements in the coal oil processing. Using lignite for the thermal simulation, the changes of various parameters and trace elements in the thermal evolution were explored. The experimental results showed that the content of vitrinite decreased gradually with increasing thermal maturity, where both types of macerals components were developing into inertinite, mainly fusinite and semifusinite. The Pr/Ph value of lignite has decreasing trend under the thermal maturation process. Trace elements that have catalytic effect are Cr, Cu, and Zn; the relative contents of the three trace elements all have increasing trend with rising thermal maturation evolution. Lignite at simulated temperature of 350 °C has the highest yield of oil and gas. When Ro% is approaching nearly 1.37, there is better yield of oil and gas. From the simulations, it is known that the critical temperature of the lignite is near 350 °C and its corresponding Ro% is 1.37. The changes in the relative contents of the catalytic trace elements (Zn, Cu, Cr) and yield performance of oil and gas, approaching 350 °C temperature will be a turning point of thermal maturation.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from urban to rural areas in Nanjing: Concentration, source, spatial distribution, and potential human health risk

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have become a major type of pollutant in urban areas and their degree of pollution and characteristics of spatial distribution differ between various regions. We conducted a comprehensive study about the concentration, source, spatial distribution, and health risk of 16 PAHs from urban to rural soils in Nanjing. The mean total concentrations of 16 PAHs (∑16PAHs) were 3330ngg−1 for urban soils, 1680ngg−1 for suburban soils, and 1060ngg−1 for rural soils. Five sources in urban, suburban, and rural areas of Nanjing were identified by positive matrix factorization. Their relative contributions of sources to the total soil PAH burden in descending order was coal combustion, vehicle emissions, biomass burning, coke tar, and oil in urban areas; in suburban areas the main sources of soil PAHs were gasoline engine and diesel engine, whereas in rural areas the main sources were creosote and biomass burning. The spatial distribution of soil PAH concentrations shows that old urban districts and commercial centers were the most contaminated of all areas in Nanjing. The distribution pattern of heavier PAHs was in accordance with ∑16PAHs, whereas lighter PAHs show some special characteristics. Health risk assessment based on toxic equivalency factors of benzo[a]pyrene indicated a low concentration of PAHs in most areas in Nanjing, but some sensitive sites should draw considerable attention. We conclude that urbanization has accelerated the accumulation of soil PAHs and increased the environmental risk for urban residents.

Bubble Transport Mechanism: Indications for a gas bubble-mediated inoculation of benthic methanotrophs into the water column

The importance of methanotrophic microorganisms in the sediment and water column for balancing marine methane budgets is well accepted. However, whether methanotrophic populations are distinct for benthic and pelagic environments or are the result of exchange processes between the two remains an area of active research. We conducted a field pilot study at the Rostocker Seep site (Coal Oil Point seep field, offshore California, USA) to test the hypothesis that bubble-mediated transport of methane-oxidizing microorganisms from the sediment into the water column is quantifiable. Measurements included dissolved methane concentration showed a strong influence of methane seepage on the water-column methane distribution with strongly elevated sea surface concentrations with respect to atmospheric equilibrium (saturation ratio ~17,000%).Using Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (CARD FISH) analysis, aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) were detected in the sediment and the water column, whereas anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME-2) were detected exclusively in the sediment. Critical data for testing the hypothesis were collected using a novel bubble catcher that trapped naturally emanating seep gas bubbles and any attached particles approximately 15cm above the seafloor. Bubble catcher experiments were carried out directly above a natural bubble seep vent and at a nearby reference site, for which an “engineered” nitrogen bubble vent without sediment contact was created. Our experiments indicate the existence of a “Bubble Transport Mechanism”, which transports MOB from the sediment into the water column. In contrast, ANME-2 were not detected in the bubble catcher. The Bubble Transport Mechanism could have important implications for the connectivity between benthic and pelagic methanotrophic communities at methane seep sites.

Effect of water on the separation of phenol from model oil with choline chloride via forming deep eutectic solvent

Choline chloride (ChCl) was demonstrated to efficiently separate phenols from model oils by forming deep eutectic solvents (DESs). The DES way is a non-aqueous process that avoids the use of mineral alkalis and acids, and prevents the production of wastewater containing phenol. However, real oils, such as coal tar oil and liquefaction oil, consist of a small amount of water, and ChCl is a strong hygroscopic compound, which may influence the removal of phenol in real oil. In this work, the effect of water in mixtures of phenol and toluene (defined as model oils) on the separation of phenol by forming DES with ChCl was studied. The results indicated that water could interact with ChCl to form DES and the interaction between water and ChCl was stronger than that between phenol and ChCl. In the presence of water in model oils, the amount of ChCl should be increased to get the same phenol removal as that without water. Moreover, with water in model oils, the influence of temperature on the phenol removal was more negative. After the reuse of ChCl for four cycles with the presence of water, ChCl accumulated about 23% water and the removal efficiency of phenol decreased from 92% to 87%. To reduce the effect of water on phenol separation, an air drying method could be used to remove water in regenerated ChCl.

Reaction Kinetics Study on the Heating Stage of the Shenhua Direct Coal Liquefaction Process

Direct coal liquefaction in the heating stage of Shenhua Shendong bituminous coal was carried out in a 0.01 t/d continuous tubular facility with iron catalyst and hydrogenated anthracene and wash oil as solvent at a residence time (t) of 3.5–6.5 min and a reaction temperature (T) of 340–450 °C. The results show that when t = 3.5 min and T = 340 °C, a cracking reaction of coal occurs, while the oil yield was almost zero. As the residence time and temperature each increase, coal conversion and product yield exhibit different change patterns. Especially when t = 6.5 min and T = 450 °C: under these conditions, the coal conversion and oil yield reached 83.67 and 52.27 wt %, respectively. To investigate the liquefaction kinetics, a 8-lump reaction kinetic model which follow first-order irreversible reactions (r = ki dC/dt) was developed to estimate the rate constants. The results indicated that the model is perfectly valid for the heating stage, and the yield of oil and gas were mainly from coal other than preasphaltene (PAA).

Marine microbes rapidly adapt to consume ethane, propane, and butane within the dissolved hydrocarbon plume of a natural seep

AbstractSimple hydrocarbon gases containing two to four carbons (ethane, propane, and butane) are among the most abundant compounds present in petroleum reservoirs, and are introduced into the ocean through natural seepage and industrial discharge. Yet little is known about the bacterial consumption of these compounds in ocean waters. To assess the timing by which microbes metabolize these gases, we conducted a three‐phase study that tested and applied a radiotracer‐based method to quantify the oxidation rates of ethane, propane, and butane in fresh seawater samples. Phase 1 involved the synthesis of tritiated ethane, propane, and butane using Grignard reagents and tritiated water. Phase 2 was a systematic assessment of experimental conditions, wherein the indigenous microbial community was found to rapidly oxidize ethane, propane, and butane. Phase 3 was the application of this tritium method near the Coal Oil Point seeps, offshore California. Spatial and temporal patterns of ethane, propane, and butane oxidation down current from the hydrocarbon seeps demonstrated that >99% of these gases are metabolized within 1.3 days following initial exposure. The oxidation of ethane outpaced oxidation of propane and butane with patterns indicating the microbial community responded to these gases by rapid adaptation or growth. Methane oxidation responded the slowest in plume waters. Estimates based on the observed metabolic rates and carbon mass balance suggest that ethane, propane, and butane‐consuming microorganisms may transiently account for a majority of the total microbial community in these impacted waters.

Economic assessment of greenhouse gas reduction through low-grade waste heat recovery using organic Rankine cycle (ORC)

Low-grade waste heat recovery technologies reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels and improve overall efficiency. This paper presents the economic assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction through waste heat recovery using organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The ORC engine is one of the mature low temperature heat engines. The low boiling temperature of organic working fluid enables ORC to recover low-temperature waste heat. The recovered waste heat is utilized to produce electricity and hot water. The GHG emissions for equivalent power and hot water from three fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, and diesel oil—are estimated using the fuel analysis approach and corresponding emission factors. The relative decrease in GHG emission is calculated using fossil fuels as the base case. The total cost of the ORC system is used to analyze the GHG reduction cost for each of the considered fossil fuels. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to investigate the effect of the key parameter of the ORC system on the cost of GHG reduction. Throughout the 20-year life cycle of the ORC plant, the GHG reduction cost for R245fa is 0.02 $/kg to 0.04 $/kg and that for pentane is 0.04 $/kg to 0.05 $/kg. The working fluid, evaporation pressure, and pinch point temperature difference considerably affect the GHG emission.