Original Article
T. Oyegoke; E. Obadiah; Y. S. Sardauna MOHAMMED; O. Alao BAMIGBALA; O. A. Oluwarotimi OWOLABI; T. Tongshuwar GEOFFREY; A. Oyegoke; A. Onadeji
Abstract
Increasing energy demand and fossil fuel dependency have increased interest in bioethanol production in recent years. The use of conventional saccharine and starchy materials for ethanol production is prohibitive as it is a threat to food security. As such, rice husk poses to be of great value, providing ...
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Increasing energy demand and fossil fuel dependency have increased interest in bioethanol production in recent years. The use of conventional saccharine and starchy materials for ethanol production is prohibitive as it is a threat to food security. As such, rice husk poses to be of great value, providing a means to utilize waste. This study assessed the economic viability of bioethanol production from rice husk waste, which entails capital and manufacturing cost estimation, and profitability of this process. Further cost optimization studies were carried to determine the material cost, government subsidy, and tax potential to maximize the overall financial benefit (i.e., ROI and net profit) of the bioethanol production. Findings from this study indicated that transforming rice husk into bioethanol would not be economically feasible due to negative net profit (i.e., a loss on investment) obtained from its profitability analysis. Further studies indicated that the project was susceptible to the raw material cost, subsidy, and tax rate. Result obtained from the optimization studies indicates that if the rice husk sales as low as 1.38 US$/kg, and Government introduced 25% subsidy and tax-free policy on bioethanol production, the project would yield a net worth of US$ 5 million per annum, payback period of 5.5 years, and a return on investment of 16.1%. Therefore, this study recommends introducing a subsidy and tax-waiver policy for biofuels production to encourage investors and promote cleaner fuels in emerging nations.
Original Article
R. Alayi; Syed R. Seydnouri; M. Jahangeri; A. Maarif
Abstract
Given the decline of non-renewable energy sources, trying to find new technologies and ways to supply energy and reduce fuel consumption is one of the top priorities of the world. One of the new technologies is fuel cell technology, which has received very little attention in Iran so far, and there is ...
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Given the decline of non-renewable energy sources, trying to find new technologies and ways to supply energy and reduce fuel consumption is one of the top priorities of the world. One of the new technologies is fuel cell technology, which has received very little attention in Iran so far, and there is a need to study this technology more and more carefully, especially in combination with renewable energy sources in order to help energy decision-makers. Therefore, in the present work, for the first time, a hybrid wind-solar-fuel cell system for residential use in Yazd, located in the hot and dry climate of Iran, has been simulated using HOMER software. The aim is to find an optimal economic system to supply 15 kWh of electricity per day and to assess the impact of uncertainties, sensitivity analysis was performed on the intensity of solar radiation and wind speed. The simulation results show that the most economical system consists of a fuel cell, is based on wind turbine and solar cell, and has a total NPC, LCOE and LCOH of $ 23,674, $ 0.824 per kilowatt-hour, and $ 254.4 per kilogram, respectively. Also, not using the battery will lead to a 33.6 percent increase in the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. For wind speeds of more than 8 meters per second, the results show that the optimal system with a fuel cell only includes wind turbines, and therefore increasing the intensity of solar radiation has no effect on the results.
Original Article
F. Salek; M. Rahnama; H. Eshghi; Meisam Babaie; M. M. Naserian
Abstract
In this study, a solar driven alkaline electrolyzer producer of hydroxy gas is proposed which is integrated with photovoltaic panels with single-axis north-south solar tracking system. The main novelty of this work is providing transient analysis of integration of alkaline electrolyzer to the PV panels ...
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In this study, a solar driven alkaline electrolyzer producer of hydroxy gas is proposed which is integrated with photovoltaic panels with single-axis north-south solar tracking system. The main novelty of this work is providing transient analysis of integration of alkaline electrolyzer to the PV panels equipped with solar tracking system. Furthermore, the transient model of the alkaline electrolyzer is employed to calculate its operating temperature, hydroxy production rate and the other operational parameters at various hours of the day. The electrolyzer and PV panels with tracking system are modelled in EES software. It is assumed that the system is installed in Shahrood city, therefore, the geographical data this city is used for seasonal analysis. The effective area of electrolyzer electrodes and PV panels is also assumed to be fixed at 0.25m2 and 50m2, respectively, in this study. Based on the results, employment of solar tracking system resulted in significant increment of PV panels power absorption rate resulting in power increment up to 4.2kW in summer. On the other hand, the transient analysis of the proposed alkaline electrolyzer showed that the maximum operating temperature of which reaches 80oC at around 12 AM in the summer cause of achieving maximum electrical current peak in summer. Therefore, an efficient cooling system should be employed in summer for decrement of alkaline electrolyzer temperature. The proposed system is capable of producing 7.6m3/day, 10.4m3/day, 7.2m3/day and 4.1m3/day hydroxy gas in spring, summer, fall, and winter, consecutively.