Electricity Producers Research Articles

The pioneer plant concept: co-production of electricity and added-value products from coal

Although technologies have been developed for the clean, efficient use of coal for power generation, there exist some barriers to their adoption and implementation. These technologies are essentially based upon coal gasification, which also provides a route for the synthesis of chemicals and fuels from coal. An overview is given of commercial experience of power generation by integrated gasification combined-cycle, and chemicals production. Against this background, a “Pioneer Plant” concept is described that can facilitate the introduction of advanced technologies through the co-production of power and added-value products in a single plant. The term “Pioneer” in this context reflects the nature of a first-of-a-kind plant that integrates existing technologies from the utility and petrochemical industries. The potential technical, economic, and greenhouse gas reduction advantages that can be realized through the development of an integrated, multiplex operation are discussed.

アジアのエネルギー需要と課題

In recent years, the Asia/Pacific region, above all Asia, has achieved a remarkable economic growth, and played the role of a growth center in the world. Given Asia's vast areas and huge populations, a higher economic growth should have a massive impact on its total energy demand. However, Asia's energy resources are by far smaller than the world's average in either current production or per-population reserves terms. The emerging economies in Asia require the stable supply of energy kept flowing from outside the region for the sustainable development. What's sending Asia's energy demand up is the strong demand for the secondary energy such as electricity and petroleum products. Judging from greater domination of electricity, rural electrification, and advancing motorization in the years to come, the strong demand is likely to become stronger. Particularly, to better meet the high electricity growth, huge projects are planned for power development and transmission/distribution grid construction. The problem is whether the international community can fully afford necessary funds for such projects. Asian factors, like heavy coal dependence in meeting its primary energy demand and enormous populations, are causing many subjects to be solved, not to mention air pollution but acid rain now spreading region-wide and global environmental problem.

Biomass energy for India: An overview

Biomass is the fourth largest energy source in the world and the first in India. Every year, plants store 10 times the present annual consumption of energy. However, most of this energy is used inefficiently due to technological and economic constraints. The study of biomass energy is of particular importance for India in view of the extreme dependence of most rural areas on local energy resources. Also, the high rate of population growth, rising prices of commercial energy carriers, viz. electricity, gas, and petroleum products, suggest that biomass energy consumption will increase. However, biomass energy suffers from problems of accessibility (forests, hydro-electric power), high labour input and less flexibility in use, although they can be processed into many forms. It is about such problems, their identification, the possibilities for solution and the formulation of policies that this study has been written.

Effect of cyanide on the photo-electrochemical response of n-CdSe/Fe(CN)4−/3−6 electrolytic cell

PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL cells based on cadmium chalco-genide electrodes in an aqueous ferrocyanide electrolyte1–9 provide a model system for studying the fundamental processes associated with photo-induced interfacial charge transfer, and also hold the promise of converting solar energy to electricity and useful chemical products with high efficiency. Licht9 has suggested that it is possible to devise n-CdSe/[Fe(CN)3−/4−6]aq cells with a maximum solar-energy conversion efficiency of 16.4%, which derives from an open-circuit photovoltage of ∼1.2 V, a value that approaches the thermodynamic limiting value for a semiconductor with a bandgap of 1.7 eV. Licht suggested that improvements in energy conversion efficiency are possible by modifying the electrolyte so as to prevent chemical modification of the semiconductor surface while optimizing the equilibrium concentrations of critical solution species. Here we report that addition of KCN to a ferro/ferricyanide electrolyte does not prevent surface modification on either the (11&2macr;0) face of n-CdX (where X is S or Se) or the (0001) face of n-CdS. We show instead that the current-voltage response observed by Licht is due to a hidden negative ΔG in the system associated with the thermodynamically 'downhill' oxidation of CN−, which accounts for as much as 700 mV of the reported 'open circuit' photovoltage.

A Study on Energy-Load Management in Residential and Commercial Sectors

Energy-load management in residential and commercial sectors is defined as systems management for improving energy-load characteristics of electricity, town-gas and petroleum refinery products. The energy-load characteristics include load factor and amount of energy consumpion. This study aims to estimate how much the load characteristics of the three sorts of energy can be modified in the residential and commercial sectors when various measures for energy-load management are introduced in presumably appropriate manners. An energy demand model is developed, by utilizing a variety of statistics open to the public, upon assumption that the energy-load management causes substitution among various apparatous used for space-cooling, space-heating, and water-heating in those sectors. Simulation studies by using the model make the change in energy-load characteristics and then the effect of load management clear quantitatively. Furthermore, practicability of the desirable measures and resultant scenarios is discussed.

Energy conservation in Singapore

Singapore is a highly industrialized city-state with no natural energy resources. The capacity of its oil refineries exceeds many times that required by local demand. The surplus of refined products is re-exported either directly or by fueling ships and aircraft using Singapore as a port of call. Half of the domestically consumed oil goes for generating electricity, the rest is used mainly for industry and motor transport. Energy policy is implemented by several government departments under the overall guidance of the Energy Co-ordination Committee. There are no subsidies for energy users and the prices of electricity and petroleum products are allowed to rise as dictated by the market. However, there are stiff penalties for excessive or inefficient use of electricity and even more far-reaching provisions aimed at discouraging ownership and usage of automobiles. The latter include a rapidly escalating registration fee for older and larger motor cars, and a special registration fee levied to permit entry to the central city area during business hours (aimed at encouraging the use of public transport by commuters). These provisions might appear draconian to an outsider, but they are necessary and are applied judiciously so as not to hurt the economy. They are also effective, as evidenced by the steady decrease of the energy content in the annual increments of the GNP. A publicity and educational campaign aimed at gaining public acceptance for this energy conservation policy has become a permanent feature of Singaporean life.

Energy consumption in Israeli industry and agriculture

Energy consumption in Israeli industry and agriculture is analyzed for the years 1968-77. The consumption of electricity and petroleum products is treated separately. The other productive factors, such as capital stock and manpower, are also considered. The outputs are evaluated in terms of total revenues, added values and exports. Outputs per employed person and per unit of energy are calculated for each of the 18 major industrial branches. It is found that, for the typical year 1975, the revenues produced per unit of energy vary by a factor of more than 100 from the most to the least energy-intensive industry. The corresponding variation for manpower is only a factor of 4. It is concluded that the increase in energy consumption is reflected in increased productivity. Agriculture, including water consumption, is also analyzed along these same lines.

L'énergie dans le monde intertropical

The energy in tropical lands. Low is the consumption of energy in tropical lands : one tenth of the world. In the rural lands, fuelwood and charcoal are used by some industries and, above all, by peasants for cooking their food ; towns ask also for electricity and petroleum products, used by transports and for generating power. Some countries, as Venezuela, Nigeria and Indonesia, give a lot of oil and export it. But all the others have to import energy, especially petroleum products which have became very expensive : so, their economic situation is difficult. Alone, some countries have important disponibilités of energy.

The Plasma Production of Ferromolybdenum — Process Development and Economics

The production of ferromolybdenum by the plasma decomposition of molybdenite concentrate to molybdenum and sulfur is used to illustrate the industrial application of plasmas to metallurgical processes. This process has stringent requirements for very high sulfur elimination (<0.15% S in the product) and low specific energy consumption in order to be competitive with the conventional process (roasting to the oxide, followed by thermite reduction). Direct-current transferred arcs appear to offer the most promising approach to the design of commercial reactors for this application. Following a brief review of the development work on the thermal decomposition of molybdenite, a process flowsheet and the results of an economic assessment for a commercial plant are presented. The latter show the relative cost breakdown between key process units. The sensitivity of costs to factors such as scale of operation, specific energy consumption and electricity prices, raw materials, gas system (recycle versus once-through), and product recovery is illustrated. It is concluded that, while the plasma generator/reactor may be the technical heart of the overall process, industrial development programs must consider the capital and operating costs of a complete plant, including peripheral equipment and product marketing, as well as the duration, cost, and risk associated with the development project.