Commercial Energy Production Research Articles

Deutelio approach to fusion energy with the Polomac

Deutelio is a private initiative promoting an alternative path to fusion energy. The Tokamak research line pursued worldwide since 1970 met several difficulties, heavily jeopardising the objective of commercial energy production from fusion before 2050, as a support to the global effort towards Net Zero Emissions. As a result, new plasma magnetic confinement concepts, such as Stellarators or overlooked alternatives like the poloidal confinement are being pursued to achieve more efficiency and better performance. The Polomac is a poloidal magnetic configuration where the outboard magnetic lines are deviated aside together with the plasma, to open some accesses to the dipole coils located inside the plasma. These accesses, called magnetic tunnels, are used to support, feed and cool the dipole coil. They avoid the impact with plasma which led to abandon past poloidal experiments, despite their good stability and confinement efficiency. The poloidal confinement can achieve Deuterium-Tritium reactor conditions with a magnetic field 3 times weaker than the Tokamak, in steady state rather than pulsed. With the same high field as in the Tokamak the poloidal confinement can achieve Deuterium-Deuterium reaction, thus avoiding the development of the breeding blanket to produce the Tritium. This paper presents the Polomac system, explains the development strategy of Deutelio through a small prototype focused to tune and assess the magnetic tunnels, and describes the possibility of deuterium-deuterium reaction.

Modeling and validation of a water-cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS)

High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) have garnered interest for use in commercial energy production and for providing high temperature process heat for industrial applications. One of the passive safety systems suggested for decay heat removal in accident conditions is known as the Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS). Two steady-state experimental data sets with varying Reynolds numbers (Re = 2490, 10279) conducted with the TAMU RCCS experimental facility were modeled and simulated using the computational fluid dynamics code STAR-CCM + and the TRACE system thermal hydraulics code for code validation. It was found that both the CFD and system code models showed good agreement with respect to the global conditions of the internal flow within the RCCS. Comparisons of the local temperature measurements showed that the TRACE code tended to overpredict temperatures toward the bottom of the RCCS cooling panel but showed good agreement above the midpoint of the RCCS risers. The CFD model found significant thermal stratification and recirculation in the Low Reynolds case due to the asymmetric heating profile applied to the riser panel. The bottom and lower manifold geometries of the RCCS design were also found to produce asymmetrical flow conditions which led to differences in local riser temperatures.

The Spatio-Temporal of NO2Density Weighting in The Region of Malang, East Java Province, Indonesia

The paper aimed to present the spatio-temporal of NO2Density Weighting during the period April 2022 – March 2023 (1 year) with weighting model in The Region of Malang, East Java Province, Indonesia. It is based on the remote sensing data of Sentinel-5p provided by ESA Copernicus Product. The data have been processed into the following indicators: low, small, and intermediate of NO2density weighting. During the analysed period, low weight has continuously no constant, so that in the month of November 2022 there are mostly 3470.11 ha in Malang Region Area of which in this region part are raised about 95.83 %. Intermediate weight has significant reduction from 2926.96 ha in the month of July 2022 to 929.39 ha in the month of March 2023, therefore health plant increased considering the reduced area of NO2. As a conclusion, The Region of Malang is very closely developed commercial household, industrial processed, and energy production. Therefore, the Malang Region Government needs to be firm regarding the cultivation of protected areas such as green open space with various types of plant in it. In addition, the local government is also expected to always control industrial activities both on a factory and home scale.

The Zap Energy approach to commercial fusion

Zap Energy is a private fusion energy company developing the sheared-flow-stabilized (SFS) Z-pinch concept for commercial energy production. Spun out from the University of Washington, these experimental and computational efforts have resulted in devices with quasi-steady DD fusion yields above 109 per pulse. These devices support scaling toward energy breakeven on existing devices as well as beyond to commercially relevant engineering fusion gains. This article discusses the strategy behind Zap's development path, which is derived directly from the engineering and scientific elegance of the confinement method. Without need for external confinement or heating technologies, the SFS Z pinch relies on plasma self-organization. This compact magnetic confinement technology could, in turn, provide the basis for a cost-effective fusion power plant, vastly reduced in complexity from its competitors.

Recent achievements in R&D on fibre optics current sensor for ITER

ITER is expected to achieve new milestones on the way to commercial fusion energy production. This will be still a research machine where numerous diagnostic systems are deployed, both already used on existing tokamaks and developed specifically for burning plasma operation. One of the innovative diagnostics is the Fibre Optics Current Sensor (FOCS). This paper describes recent results of the ITER FOCS development, concentrating on the front-end design. The FOCS sensing fibre, likely acrylate coated, will be located directly on the external surface of the vacuum vessel. During operation, it will be exposed to temperatures of 100–110 °C and multi-MGy level total radiation doses, while during vacuum vessel baking intervals the temperature will be 200–210 °C with low levels of radiation. Such temperatures are outside the nominal range for acrylate coatings even for acrylate coatings specially designed for high temperature applications. We provide experimental results that indicate that acrylate coated fibres FOCS fibres nevertheless can survive ITER environment without critical degradation and attribute this to the system design, for which the fibre operates in an inert gas (neon) atmosphere.

Recent advances in agroforestry systems and their impact on agricultural development

Agroforestry contributes to soil health and the breakdown of hazardous chemicals, which helps to keep the environment in balance. In agricultural forestry, environmental factors play an important role. Agroforestry uses a variety of methods, including tree breeding and genetic exchange, to create new plant varieties. Agroforestry also plays an important role in the recycling of waste water through efficient treatment water plants. Agroforestry systems for cacao are critical to ensuring that the right number of pants can be grown for each variety. Cacao can help alleviate symptoms of depression, stress, high blood pressure, and heart disease if consumed in the correct amounts. Soils have the ability to replenish themselves at times, resulting in the growth of new trees. Growth can be stunted or even stunted completely in soils with poor drainage, too much water, or not enough water at all. There is no doubt that agroforestry methods such as the taungya system and silvopastoral system can help trees grow. By preserving sustainable development, we can use biofuels to power large industrial and commercial energy production facilities.

The Impact of Air Pollution on Pulmonary Diseases: A Case Study from Brasov County, Romania

Air pollution is considered one of the most significant risk factors for human health. To ensure air quality and prevent and reduce the harmful impact on human health, it is necessary to identify and measure the main air pollutants (sulfur and nitrogen oxides, PM10 and PM2.5 particles, lead, benzene, carbon monoxide, etc.), their maximum values, as well as the impact they have on mortality/morbidity rates caused by respiratory diseases. This paper aims to assess the influence of air pollution on respiratory diseases based on an analysis of principal pollutants and mortality/morbidity data sets. In this respect, four types of data are used: pollution sources inventory, air quality data sets, mortality/morbidity data at the local and national level, and clinical data of patients diagnosed with different forms of lung malignancies. The results showed an increased number of deaths caused by respiratory diseases for the studied period, correlated with the decreased air quality due to industrial and commercial activities, households, transportation, and energy production.

Terrestrial ecological risk analysis via dietary exposure at uranium mine sites in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona, USA)

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently included uranium (U) on a list of mineral commodities that are considered critical to economic and national security. The uses of U for commercial and residential energy production, defense applications, medical device technologies, and energy generation for space vehicles and satellites are known, but the environmental impacts of uranium extraction are not always well quantified. We conducted a screening-level ecological risk analysis based on exposure to mining-related elements via diets and incidental soil ingestion for terrestrial biota to provide context to chemical characterization and exposures at breccia pipe U mines in northern Arizona. Relative risks, calculated as hazard quotients (HQs), were generally low for all biological receptor models. Our models screened for risk to omnivores and insectivores (HQs>1) but not herbivores and carnivores. Uranium was not the driver of ecological risk; arsenic, cadmium, copper, and zinc were of concern for biota consuming ground-dwelling invertebrates. Invertebrate species composition should be considered when applying these models to other mining locations or future sampling at the breccia pipe mine sites. Dietary concentration thresholds (DCTs) were also calculated to understand food concentrations that may lead to ecological risk. The DCTs indicated that critical concentrations were not approached in our model scenarios, as evident in the very low HQs for most models. The DCTs may be used by natural resource and land managers as well as mine operators to screen or monitor for potential risk to terrestrial receptors as mine sites are developed and remediated in the future.

Synthesis of N doped NiZnCu-layered double hydroxides with reduced graphene oxide on nickel foam as versatile electrocatalysts for hydrogen production in hybrid-water electrolysis

Water splitting is limited by the high theoretical potential of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode, which can reduce the energy efficiency. Nevertheless, replacing sluggish oxygen evolution by ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR), urea oxidation reaction (UOR), hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR)) of low theoretical potential is an energy-saving approach. In this paper, a new bifunctional catalyst of N doped NiZnCu-layered double hydroxides with reduced graphene oxide on nickel foam (N–NiZnCu LDH/rGO) is synthesized. To validate its electrochemical performance and stability, a two-electrode electrolyzer is constructed (N–NiZnCu LDH/rGO||N–NiZnCu LDH/rGO). Experiments show that at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, the voltages of AOR, UOR, and HzOR are 0.489 V, 1.305 V, and 0.010 V with a high stability (over 3000 CV cycles), which are much better than those of Pt/C||IrO2. This study demonstrates N–NiZnCu LDH/rGO can replace precious metals for commercial hydrogen energy production in the hybrid-water electrolysis, and can be employed for treatment of industrial wastewater.

DETERMINATION OF WEIBULL PARAMETERS AND ANALYSIS OF WIND POWER POTENTIAL IN COASTAL AND NON-COASTAL SITES IN AKWA IBOM STATE

The wind power potential and its viability for commercial energy production across two sites Eket (Latitude 4033’N & Longitude 7058’E) and Uyo (Latitude 5°18’53.7’’N & Longitude 7059’39.29’’E) in Akwa Ibom State were investigated. Using data obtained from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (MIMET) for both locations for a period of four years (2010-2013), a statistical analysis was performed. The Weibull Distribution Function was used to determine the monthly and yearly wind speed. Resulting from the analysis, the values of the average wind speed, the average daily wind power, the shape parameter (k) and the scale factor(c) were obtained to be 6.7 m/s and 4.3 m/s, 0.91 MW and 0.25 MW, K~ 5.4 and 2.1, and c ≈ 8.8 m/s and 4.6 m/s respectively, for Eket and Uyo. Also, the annual electricity generation was projected to be 40.88 MWh& 10.80 MWh respectively, for Eket and Uyo. The Weibull distribution can be relied on for accurate prediction of wind energy output and resulting from the predicted values, Eket a coastal area was assessed to be viable for commercial wind power production compared to Uyo a non-coastal area. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i3.36

Influence of volcanic tephra on photovoltaic (PV)-modules: an experimental study with application to the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Iceland

Large volcanic eruptions may lead to significant tephra dispersion, crossing borders and affecting distant and industrial societies in various ways. While the effects of volcanic ash clouds on the aviation industry have been recognized, damaging effects on the photovoltaic energy sector are poorly investigated. Here we describe the influence of volcanic tephra deposition on photovoltaic (PV) modules that we experimentally analyzed and evaluated. A systematic set of experiments was conducted under controlled conditions using an artificial light source and measuring the electrical power generated from the PV-modules with the aim to determine the dependency of the amount of tephra covering a module and its subsequent loss in power production (measured in voltage and current) as well as the influence of the tephra grain size. We find that a mass of fine tephra has a stronger influence on the PV-modules power generation than the same mass of coarser particles. An application to the fine-grained 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland and the resulting ash-cloud reveals that the power produced by PV-modules in continental Europe might have been affected significantly. Deposits were thick enough to cause complete failures of PV-modules up to a distance of about 300 km downwind. Although this distance is largely over the ocean in this particular case, our results imply that similar and larger eruptions of other volcanoes elsewhere might harm commercial or private energy production at distances of hundreds to thousands of kilometers from the volcano. Given that volcanic eruptions are frequent and the fact that the PV-industry is growing rapidly, negative impacts are expected in the future, requiring close tephra dispersion monitoring and PV-maintenance strategies.

Potentials of crop residues for commercial energy production in China: A geographic and economic analysis

China has become increasingly dependent on the international energy market owing to the rapid growth of demand for energy. To develop renewable energy and thus strengthen energy security for the future, it is important to consider the potential of crop residues. This paper contributes to this topic by mobilizing up-to-date statistical and remote-sensing data and by carrying out a geographic and economic analysis. Its assessment shows that China's total output of crop residues in 2010 amounted to 729 million tons, and the quantity could be used for commercial energy production is between 147 and 334 million tons, depending on the competition power of the commercial energy production relative to the traditional uses of crop residues. The analysis also shows that the distribution of crop residues in China is highly uneven. By taking into account the densities of crop residues available for energy production at the grid-cell level, the transportation cost constraints, and the economy-of-scale requirements of energy plants, this study further assesses the geographic distribution of the suitability for establishing crop residue based power plants and bioenergy plants in China.

Accelerators for Inertial Fusion Energy Production

Since the 1970s, high energy heavy ion accelerators have been one of the leading options for imploding and igniting targets for inertial fusion energy production. Following the energy crisis of the early 1970s, a number of people in the international accelerator community enthusiastically began working on accelerators for this application. In the last decade, there has also been significant interest in using accelerators to study high energy density physics (HEDP). Nevertheless, research on heavy ion accelerators for fusion has proceeded slowly pending demonstration of target ignition using the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a laser-based facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A recent report of the National Research Council recommends expansion of accelerator research in the US if and when the NIF achieves ignition. Fusion target physics and the economics of commercial energy production place constraints on the design of accelerators for fusion applications. From a scientific standpoint, phase space and space charge considerations lead to the most stringent constraints. Meeting these constraints almost certainly requires the use of multiple beams of heavy ions with kinetic energies >1 GeV. These constraints also favor the use of singly charged ions. This article discusses the constraints for both fusion and HEDP, and explains how they lead to the requirements on beam parameters. RF and induction linacs are currently the leading contenders for fusion applications. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both options. We also discuss the principal issues that must yet be resolved.

Concept for Eritrea’s Sustainable Economic Development Red Sea, the Natural Dam of Eritrea

The Danakil Depression is located in Eritrea, a few kilometers inland from the Red Sea coast and sinks 120 meters below sea level. This concept paper attempts to explore Eritrea's ability to develop a hydroelectric and potable water generation capacity from the Red Sea. Unlike many countries with access to seas and oceans, Eritrea is endowed with a natural hydro dam because of its geographical location and topography. The Red Sea can be used as a resource for the production of energy as hydro dam and potable water source through desalination. The availability of cheap, clean and environmentally safe energy and water sources will enable the country to eliminate poverty and stop environmental degradation, thus contributing to reduce or minimize the global warming problem. Index Terms—Danakil-depression, economics, Eritrea, hydroelectric-power, red sea I. I NTRODUCTION Eritrea is a young nation, only 20 years old since it achieved its independence in 1993. It is located in the Horn of Africa, bordered in the north and west by Sudan, in the south by Ethiopia and Djibouti, and in the east by the Red Sea Fig. 1. It has an estimated population of about 5.9 million and a total land area of some 12.2 million hectares. Its annual population growth is estimated at 2.9 percent (1). Eritrea is a poor country and faces economical and environmental challenges. Both challenges lead to wide spread poverty for the population. The economic challenges relate to resource constraints to meet the national demand for commercial energy production and inadequate water resources needed for agriculture, mining manufacturing, or service industries (2). The environmental challenges stem from the global warming phenomenon, due to the expansion of the Sahara desert which causes frequent drought across the Sub-Saharan Sahel region. The economic challenge also contributes to wide spread deforestation and overgrazing for subsistence, exposing the barren land to water and wind erosions (3). Subsistence crop production and cattle keeping are the two most important economic activities in Eritrea (4). However, these traditional production methods and livestock populations used in much of the country contribute heavily to land degradation and soil erosion. Desertification due to overgrazing and soil erosion is common in many parts of the country. Energy requirements also put a lot of pressure on the

Evaluation of a method to reduce the redeposition of hydrogenated coatings containing carbon and tungsten in fusion reactors

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project will be the first experimental fusion reactor with the objective to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for commercial energy production. Erosion of materials by physical sputtering is the most fundamental of plasma–surface interactions in fusion reactor devices. Carbon and tungsten materials planned to be used in ITER divertor will be subjected to erosion, which produces local redeposition of mixed layers. Tritium retention in mixed materials is the major concern due to the limits imposed for safety reasons by nuclear licensing. The scavenging effect to reduce the redeposition phenomenon has been reported in low-pressure technical plasmas. In the present work, the minimization of co-deposits of hydrogenated C/W coatings by the injection of scavenger particles is analyzed.

Fusion Energy Research for ITER and Beyond

AbstractThe achievement in the last two decades of controlled fusion in the laboratory environment is opening the way to the realization of fusion as a source of sustainable, safe and environmentally responsible energy. The next step towards this goal is the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which aims to demonstrate net fusion energy production on the reactor scale. This paper reviews the current status of magnetic confinement fusion research in view of the ITER project and provides an overview of the main remaining challenges on the way towards the realization of commercial fusion energy production in the second half of this century.

Bioenergy, Green Energy. Biomass and Biofuels

Modern bioenergy is commercial energy production from biomass for industry, power generation, or transport fuels. Bioenergy is an inclusive term for all forms of biomass and biofuels. Green energy is an alternate term for renewable energy that is the energy generated from sources that are considered environmentally friendly. The term biofuel is referred to as liquid or gaseous fuels for the transport sector that are predominantly produced from biomass. Bioethanol is a petrol additive/substitute. It is possible that wood, straw, and even household wastes may be economically converted to bioethanol. Bioethanol is derived from alcoholic fermentation of sucrose or simple sugars, which are produced from biomass by hydrolysis process. Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative liquid fuel that can be used in any diesel engine without modification.

Microseismic imaging of a geothermal reservoir stimulation

Exploitation of geothermal heat energy from rocks at depths of several km has been the goal of vari-ous projects since the mid-1970s. To exploit the energy in these deep rocks poses technical challenges in drilling, well completion, creation of the heat exchange reservoir at depth, and control of seismicity. In spite of the difficulties, what are now known as enhanced/engineered geothermal systems (EGS) offer almost limitless clean energy, so it is not surprising that this technology continues to attract investors. However, commercial energy production from the greatest potential resource, hot rock at depths >5 km or temperatures >200°C, remains elusive.

Development of multifilamentary niobium–titanium and niobium–tin strands for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER) device should demonstrate the scientific and technological possibility of commercial fusion energy production in large scale in order to solve the worldwide energy problem in the future. The superconducting magnet system is the key part of the ITER device to supply high magnetic fields for confining the deuterium–tritium plasma. The multifilament NbTi and Nb3Sn strands with high quality have been studied to meet the specifications of superconducting strands for fabricating poloidal field coils (PF) and toroidal field coils (TF). For NbTi strands with 8306 filaments, Jc of 2910Amm−2 (4.2K, 5T, 0.1μVcm−1) has been obtained by a conventional process. The proposed process could be used for fabrication of long strands with a unit length more than 5000m. By an internal tin process the multifilamentary Nb3Sn strands with a diameter of 0.79mm and a unit length longer than 5000m have been successfully fabricated. The highest non-Cu Jcn (12T, 4.2K, 0.1μVcm−1) value of 1249Amm−2 has been obtained. The n-value of Nb3Sn strands is larger than 20 and the residual resistance ratio (RRR) value lies between 150 and 220. The formation of the Nb3Sn superconducting phase together with the evolution of microstructure has been investigated by neutron diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the properties of NbTi and Nb3Sn strands have already met basically the specifications proposed by the ITER program.

HDR economic modelling: HDRec software

HDRec (Hot Dry Rock economic) is a cost-benefit analysis program for geothermal projects that combines economic aspects with the technical characteristics of the surface installations and the hydrogeological and thermal properties of the subsurface. Investment and operation costs are evaluated and related to the revenues gained from electricity sales. The program also accounts for discounted cash flows when determining the characteristic financial parameters, as well as the time dependency of operation costs, and the reduction in income ensuing from decreasing reservoir temperatures. It is also possible to factor in the expense incurred for maintenance or refurbishment during production, as well as the cost of dismantling the system when exploitation ends. A simple tax model is also incorporated in the economic calculations. The characteristic financial parameters can be referenced to the start of exploration, or to the beginning and end of commercial energy production. A description is given of the workflow of the HDRec program, followed by an example of its application to a dataset representing conditions in the Upper Rhine Valley of France and Germany. The paper also provides a sensitivity analysis of the influence of the parasitic power demand of pumps and of different subsurface heat exchange areas between boreholes. Finally, a scenario is proposed for optimizing the economic performance of the system using the latest information on the characteristics of the Soultz-sous-Forêts reservoir.