No. 9 May 2019

NEWSLETTER

of the

Fuel & Energy Research Forum

EDITOR’S NOTES: Welcome to our May edition of our newsletter. The main item in this issue is the report of our

3rd Annual Meeting which featured combined seminars from the Biomass and Waste and Fuel

Characterisation, Upgrading and Carbonisation Interest Groups. The event attracted a large

number of attendees and feedback on the varied topics was very positive.

We have already begun to prepare for our next biennial conference to be held in September 2020. It will be the first in our new series known as FERIA which will replace the older ECCRIA series. It will be the First European Conference on Fuel and Energy and its Applications.

A preliminary programme is included in this issue of the Inaugural Clean Energy Science Lecture

and Workshop on Combustion-Related Research. This is to be held in London on Monday 7th

October 2019. It is now 30 years since the formation of the FERF’s predecessor, the Coal Research Forum. The first issue of the Forum Newsletter was published in 1989 and its first editor was Nina Skorupska, who happens to be the Inaugural Clean Energy Science Lecturer. A copy of this newsletter is included in the current edition and may be of particular interest to our older members!

Contact Details: General Secretary

Dr David McCaffrey

The Fuel and Energy Research Forum

Tel: 01242-236973

E-mail: mail@tferf.org

Website: http://www.tferf.org

Newsletter Editor

Dr Alan Thompson

The Fuel and Energy Research Forum

Tel: 01332-514768

E-mail: alan.thompson5511@btinternet.com

Student Bursaries for 2019-2020

Travel and subsistence bursaries of up to £300 are on offer to bona-fide full-time students who

wish to attend appropriate National and International fuel and energy related conferences, (for

example, please see the Calendar of Fuel and Energy Research Events for details of future

conferences), and whose supervisor is a member of the Fuel and Energy Research Forum. To

apply, please send the abstract submitted to the conference with a brief supporting letter from

your supervisor together with details of the expected expenditure and other sources of funding

applied for, to:

Professor J.W. Patrick,

Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Engineering,

Faculty of Engineering,

The University of Nottingham,

Energy Technologies Building,

Innovation Park, Triumph Road,

Nottingham NG7 2TU

The requirements for eligibility for award of a bursary are that the recipient will submit a short

report about his or her impressions of the conference to the Newsletter Editor for inclusion in

the next edition. In addition, this report will provide some brief details of the beneficiary, their

topic of study and the reasons for wishing to attend the conference. Potential applicants should

see the template for these reports on the FERF website, http://www.tferf.org where such reports

must comply with these requirements.

Please note that these bursaries are only for travel and subsistence to attend the conference, (i.e.

not for conference or other fees). In addition, priority will be given to applicants who will be

attending the whole of a conference rather than one day of a multi-day event and will be using

the conference accommodation provided should this be required. It may not be possible to

fund all applications for bursaries or meet the request in full as this will depend on the funds

available at the time.

Applications can be made by PhD students of FERF Members for travel expenses to attend

the Inaugural Clean Energy Science Lecture, (see below).

---ooo---

THE FUEL AND ENERGY RESEARCH FORUM IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE ADVANCED POWER GENERATION TECHNOLOGY FORUM (APGTF)

THE BIOMASS AND FOSSIL FUEL RESEARCH ALLIANCE THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM CENTRES FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING

THE UK CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE RESEARCH CENTRE THE BRITISH FLAME RESEARCH COMMITTEE

THE INTERNATIONAL FLAME RESEARCH FOUNDATION THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE, BRITISH SECTION

THE IChemE CLEAN ENERGY SIG THE IoP COMBUSTION PHYSICS GROUP

THE RSC ENERGY SECTOR

WORKSHOP ON COMBUSTION-RELATED RESEARCH AND THE INAUGURAL CLEAN ENERGY SCIENCE

LECTURE

To be held at Mary Sumner House Westminster London SW1P 3RB Monday 7th October 2019

PROGRAMME 13.30 – 14.00 ARRIVAL FOR AFTERNOON SESSION tea coffee and biscuits 14.00 – 17.00 WORKSHOP ON COMBUSTION-RELATED RESEARCH 14.00 – 16.00 PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH PROJECTS 14.00 – 15.00 Presentation of BF2RA Projects Chaired by Dr Stuart Mitchell, BF2RA 14.00 – 14.20 The Performance of 11-12 Chromium Creep Strength Enhanced Ferritic,

(CSEF), Steels Robert Byrne Loughborough University 14.20 – 14.40 Corrosive Compounds from Biomass and Waste Combustion

Toyin Sanusi Cranfield University 14.40 – 15.00 Prediction of the Synergistic Effects of Degradation and Segregation in

Handling and Storage of Wood Pellets for Power Generation Susantha Dissanayake University of Greenwich

15.00 – 16.00 Presentation of CFEC Doctoral Training Projects

Chaired by Prof Robin Irons University of Nottingham

15.00 – 15.20 Impact of impurities on the rheological behaviour of Salt Rock for Underground Gas Storage in Salt Caverns Carla Martin Clave University of Nottingham

15.20 – 15.40 Mechanisms and mitigation of agglomeration during fluidized

bed combustion of biomass Jonathan Morris University of Sheffield.

15.40 – 16.00 Modelling of Advanced Low Emission Gas Turbine Burners

Andras Bagyinkski University of Sheffield.

16.00 – 17.00 THE CONCEPT OF AN ADVOCACY GROUP FOR THE PROMOTION OF CLEAN ENERGY ISSUES

Mr Greg Kelsall APGTF Followed by a discussion session 17.00 – 17.30 ARRIVAL FOR EVENING SESSION tea coffee and biscuits

17.30 – 18.30 THE INAUGURAL CLEAN ENERGY SCIENCE LECTURE

Evolution or Revolution: A Personal Journey of the UK Power Industry towards a Sustainable Future

Dr Nina Skorupska CBE FEI

Dr Nina Skorupska has been the Chief Executive of Renewable Energy Association, (REA), since 2013. She has over 30 years' experience in the energy industry working in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. She was the first female power station manager for RWE npower and her career in the RWE Group culminated as Chief Technical Officer and executive Board Member of RWE's Dutch business, Essent, delivering electricity and heat generation as well as leading new energy and sustainability developments. Nina is also currently a Board member of the European Renewable Energy Federation, (EREF), Renewable Energy Assurance Limited, (REAL), Transport for London, (TfL), and Deputy Chair of the Board of Women in Science and Engineering, (WISE), Campaign. She sits on a number of Advisory Groups including Carbon Trust, 10:10, Entrepreneurial Women in Renewable Energy, (EWIRE), and University of Nottingham Industrial Advisory Board for Energy. Nina has a BSc. in Chemistry from Newcastle upon Tyne and Ph.D in Coal Combustion. She is a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

18.30 – 20.00 RECEPTION AND BUFFET DINNER 20.30 EVENT CLOSES

The Event Organiser will be Dr David J.A.McCaffrey and the Event Co-ordinator Mrs Cathy Hill

---ooo---

Report on the FERF 3rd Annual Meeting and Biomass and Waste/Fuel

Characterisation, Upgrading and Carbonisation

Interest Groups Seminars, Aston University, 10th April 2019

Around 70 delegates began to gather at the very impressive Conference Aston

Building on the Aston University campus in Birmingham at 9.30.am. on 10th April for

the third FERF Annual Meeting and Interest Group Seminars. The joint seminars were

held by the “Biomass and Waste” and the “Fuel Characterisation, Up-grading and

Carbonisation” Interest Groups.

The delegates were welcomed to Conference Aston by Dr Katie Chong, who is the

Interest Group Co-ordinator for the Biomass and Waste Interest group. Katie gave a

brief outline of the European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) of which her group

is a part.

A change to the chairman of the first session was necessary as Professor Ed Lester from

the University of Nottingham, who is the Co-ordinator of the Fuel Characterisation,

Upgrading and Carbonisation Interest Group, was unable to attend. His place was

taken by Dr Orla Williams also of the University of Nottingham.

The first paper was entitled ““Utilisation of Miscanthus x giganteus Grown on Heavy

Metal Contaminated Land” and was presented by Dr Abby Samson of Lincoln

University. Abby began by explaining that there is a large area of arable land which is

not suitable for food production due to contamination by toxic metals such as zinc,

cadmium and lead. It was considered that energy crops might be a suitable way in

which this land could be made productive but it was not the intention to remediate the

quality of the contaminated soil. This was believed to be an unduly lengthy and

inefficient process.

Trials were carried out in the Bytom region of Poland and Miscanthus and two hybrids

known as GNT34 and GNT41 were included in the trials. It was found that the

miscanthus and hybrids all flourished in the contaminated land and produced high

yields.

This was followed by “Characterisation of Self-heating Events at the Macro Scale”

which was given by Dr Andrew Goddard of Freeland Horticulture Ltd. Andrew

defined self-heating as a process which occurs when a material generates sufficient

heat energy to provide an accelerating and unstable increase in material temperature

until the point of ignition.

Andrew indicated some data on the comparative ignition points of materials with

white phosphorus having the lowest ignition temperature (IT) of 35OC. Diesel oil had

an IT of 210OC, kerosene 220OC, paper 233OC, petrol 246OC, wood 300OC and coal

454OC.

Andrew then posed the question of what happens in between the materials being

heated and their ignition and he said that it was not fully understood despite much

investigative work having been done.

There are mathematical models of how fires progress, though it is becoming clear that

these are missing some important aspects because real systems develop is much more

complex behaviour.

Some key features are: oxidation reactions which are vital in generation of heat; the

key role of water and its movement. Heat transfer from the solid to the environment

is important and in many cases self-heating is preliminarily driven by a biological

process. Inorganic compounds can also contribute.

Andrew then showed a typical generalised heat-up curve for an organic material. It

consisted of a series of steps with the first being the physical loss of moisture. This is

followed by biological oxidation , first involving enzymes and mesophilic organisms

and then at a higher temperature thermophilic organisms. This is followed by chemical

oxidation and finally ignition.

There is a large number of materials which are susceptible to self-heating such as:-

fuels – coal, peat, woodchip and pellets; food materials – coffee powder, flour, many

others; materials such as latex gloves, tyre crumb, etc.; wastes – RDF, SRF, compost

oversize, many others; pipeline lagging; agricultural products – hay, straw; biosolids

from water treatment; spontaneous human combustion (really ?!! Ed.) and dust

explosions.

Dust explosions are the most energetic phenomenon and usually result in more serious

local impacts. These are very serious with immediate consequences. Such effects

include injury to workforce and fire fighters; damage to property; business disruption;

transportation disruption; impacts on local air quality and the general public. Also of

concern are fire water containment of surface and ground water and the long-term air

quality – release of particulates and chemicals.

In 2018, 58% of the waste fire incidents were attributable to waste transfer stations with

11% found on landfill sites. Material properties of concern in self-heating are particle

size, moisture content, porosity, reactivity and thermal conductivity. The EA main

concerns are grouped into three areas: your site; preventing fires and reducing the

impact of fires. It has become apparent that the material and the needs of specific

business types require some flexibility to operate within these three main principals.

These details will be written into a Fire Protection Plan (FPP) and become part of the

permit for the site activities.

Andrew summarised his talk by stating that dust is one of the most dangerous types

of self- combustion. Simple measures can greatly reduce the risk of combustion and

many early warning techniques are available. Be prepared for the worst case scenario

and move with the times – adopt new innovative methods – as existing procedures are

not necessary the best.

l the point of ignition.

By contrast to the previous paper, Dr Orla Williams of the University of Nottingham

gave a talk on the “Characterisation of Self-heating Events at the Meso Scale”. Orla

began by providing some background in the use of biomass pellets for power

generation and concentrated on the aspects of pellet storage. The current state of the

art has been developed by Drax Power and it uses biomass pellets typically produced

in the US or Canada. The pellets are transported to the UK in 50,000 tonne five hold

ships. Upon receipt at Drax site the pellets are held in large storage domes holding

80,000 tonnes which stand 50m high and in an inert atmosphere. Within the domes are

five thermocouple arrays to measure pile temperature in real time. Gas monitors

measure CO, CO2 and oxygen depletion in the dome head space.

Self-heating of biomass pellets is known to occur and can happen during transhipment

at sea. The process of self-heating in large quantities of biomass pellets is a complex

phenomenon and measurement of conditions within the piles is difficult. Sensors

generally involve hard wired devices placed inside the piles. Ideally what is required

is a device which can measure conditions throughout the whole life cycle of a biomass

pellet.

An approach currently being studied at the University of Nottingham involved the

use of remote measuring devices such as RFIDs. This involves a radio frequency

identification reader (RFID reader) which is a device used to gather information from

an RFID tag, which itself is used to track individual objects. Radio waves are used to

transfer data from the tag to a reader. RFID is a technology similar in theory to bar

codes.

RFiD sensor tags offer an opportunity to provide real time monitoring of temperature

and moisture in bulk materials. Under development are RFiD sensor tags and data

collection systems to measure real time conditions in transport. These will be assessed

using a flexible test rig to analyse different types of RFiD tag with biomass, coal and

refuse derived fuels. Also under development are gas monitoring sensor tags for early

detection of spontaneous combustion.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are a type of tracking system which use

smart barcodes to identify items or for payment purposes (contactless credit cards).

They utilise radio waves to transmit data from the tag to a reader, which then transmits

the data to a computer. There are two main types: active RFID – which include an on

board battery power supply and a passive RFID - which uses electromagnetic energy

transmitted by the reader to power the tag.

Newer RFID tags include sensors such as moisture, temperature, pressure. Passive

RFID sensor tags are available with two antennae one for powering the system and

one for data transmission. Their reliability and usability is not as proven as yet - with

RFID tags issues with communication distances and logging sensor data. For active

RFID tags they must not be used in biomass pellet storage due to fire risk associated

with the batteries.

Orla then described the biomass storage measurement rig. It is of 45 litre volume with

15 thermocouples continuously monitoring the temperature of the biomass pellets

within. TC data is collected by a computer. Operation is by filling the test rig with

white wood pellets. Compressed air is supplied at 16 l/min and up to 60OC to the test

rig. The experiments were conducted by MEng student Jaideep Sunnar during

February-March 2019.

Orla showed some data from the rig which showed how the pellets were heated up

from the hot air inlet. It was found that biomass pellets heated up slowly within the

box. Further experiments are required to look at impact of air moisture content on

heating rates. Other activities planned include calibration of RFID tags in test rig; the

incorporation of gas sensors into the rig to measure O2 content and an assessment of

the heating potential of other fuels such as RDF.

The fourth paper was presented by Dave Fisher, Raw Materials Development Manager

at British Steel, and was entitled “Carbon selection for an integrated steel works”. Dave

began by identifying the three components needed to make steel, namely iron ore, coal

and metallurgical coke. Iron ore, containing 20% to 70% iron is obtained as fines, lumps

and pellets, mainly from Brazil and Australia. Suitable coal is subject to a number of

different criteria and some coals have coking properties. Coal selection can be site

specific and the current coals are sourced from Australia and the USA. Metallurgical

coke is supplied in a range of sizes from 30mm to 90mm. with about 12% ash. As little

as possible is used in iron making and supplied currently are mainly from China.

Carbon types used in the iron making industry include carbonising coal, injection coal,

blast furnace coke and coke breeze. The carbonising coals are usually blends of up to

10 coals and are selected to provide the optimum properties. The Scunthorpe plant

uses five coals. Injection coal can be either blends or individual coals and some plants

use plastic, gas or petroleum coke. Blast furnace coke must be compatible in terms of

ash chemistry with the other components and of sufficient strength to support the

burden in the blast furnace. Coke breeze acts as a source of carbon.

In addition to the conventional analysis applied to the coals and cokes, there are also

some specific tests of importance for iron-making carbons. For the carbonising coals,

swelling properties, rheology, petrography and wall pressure are key parameters. For

injection coals, their grindability and inherent moisture are important properties. For

the blast furnace coke strength is important and for coke breeze size is of importance

Blast furnace coke must be sufficiently strong.

Armed with all of the relevant analytical detail Dave then described how the choice of

carbon selection is made. Firstly, it is made on value not price and also on its uses

elsewhere. The current and future availability of the carbon materials and any

chemical and environmental constraints also have to be considered.

Dave then showed a flow sheet entitled ‘Techno Economic Raw Material Modelling’

which enables British Steel to compare the relative costs of raw materials on the final

price of hot metal to the steel plant. A ‘New Material Selection Process’ diagram was

also presented which showed how new materials are evaluated from data sheets to

analysis and small and larger scale testing. If successful the nee material is added to

the approved list of suppliers to British Steel.

In conclusion, new materials have to have technical compatibility with the complete

ironworks bill of materials to ensure production and quality levels are maintained

within any legislative constraints. It must also add value to the business by reducing

hot metal cost or provide strategic value as a proven alternative.

Dr Alf Malmgren replaced Dr Gerry Riley as presenter of this paper which was entitled

“Fuel Combustion as Part of a Sustainable Energy Vision”. Alf began by summarising

the fuel mix in the UK in 2018. Coal and gas formed 74% of the mix with coal showing

a decline from 25% in 2009 to 12% in 2012. Over the same period gas increased from

49% to 63%. Renewables continue to increase but slowly and new nuclear is under

construction. Clean combustion is now regarded as being part of a sustainable energy

vision.

Pre-existing sustainable and low carbon fuel include dedicated biomass plants using

varieties of fluidised bed and grate technologies. Co-firing of biomass with coal has

been demonstrated at full-size plant scale at Tilbury, Drax and Lynemouth. These are

some of the largest decarbonisation projects in Europe with much of the fuel sourced

from managed forests in North America. Drax delivers carbon dioxide reductions of

about 15 million tonnes per year and Alf pointed out that RJM engineers had been

involved in all of the projects.

In 2017 a total of 5.73 Mt of eight different biomass fuels were combusted generating

827 MW and producing 4,226 GWh of power. The largest tonnage biomass was virgin

wood at 2.28 Mt and the lowest residues at 0.09Mt.

Fuels of most current interest were Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), Solid Recovered Fuel

(SRF) and SRF Plus. RDF is produced from various types of waste such as Municipal

Solid Waste (MSW), industrial waste or commercial waste. Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF)

is produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste, typically consisting of

combustible components of municipal solid waste (MSW) such as; biodegradable

waste; food and kitchen waste, green waste and paper. SRF Plus is a low carbon energy

pellet that is a mix of biogenic material (wood, paper, cloth) and plastics that cannot

be recycled. It offers potentially consistency, homogeneity, predictability, performance

and cost. SRF Plus contains paper and cardboard, hard plastics, soft plastics (thin

sheets) and woody biomass and small amounts of certain materials such as batteries

can be a problem.

RJM are involved in a world first application of SRF Plus at SUP Uskmouth in Wales.

It involves the conversion of a 363MWe coal-fired plant to fire 100% waste-derived fuel

(SRF Plus).and RJM were awarded the FEED contract by WSP in November 2018. The

project will deliver significantly reduced CO2 emissions and therefore a significant

reduction in carbon tax and the plan is for the power to make “green steel”. It is

claimed it “Addresses the global challenge of how to treat waste material in an

environmentally-responsible manner and use it to generate low carbon electricity”.

The challenge for using commercially available SRF in a conventional power station

are the development of the fuel/plant to make the fuel useable. These include SPF Plus

storage and preparation, its combustion, plant integrity, emissions and post

combustion ash.

The penultimate paper of this session was given by Dr Haresh Manyar of Queen’s

University Belfast and was entitled “Process Intensification using Catalysis for

Renewable Fuels and Chemicals”. Dr Manyar gave some background to his talk by

explaining that approximately 50% of globally produced crude petroleum is refined

into transportation fuels and the sharply rising use of a non-renewable feedstock has

a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

Bio-derived transportation fuels can gradually replace petroleum-derived fuels as well

as significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Doubling the share of renewables is

possible, cost-effective and economically beneficial, even as global energy demand

grows. Doing so is one of the main ways countries can meet their international climate-

change targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Manyar highlighted one of the ways of adding value to bio-derived fatty acid and

vegetable oils would be via direct catalytic hydrogenation. Sustainable production of

biomass derived renewable fuels and chemicals is a key future technology for

constraining global warming and replacing fossil resources. However, for sustainable

and economically viable biorefinery we need higher process efficiencies, better

catalysts and new chemical processes.

Currently the primary route for production of biodiesel is via transesterification of

vegetable oils, also known as Fatty acids methyl (or ethyl) ester (FAME). Biodiesel has

a distinct advantages as it is renewable, non-toxic and has lower sulfur and aromatic

content, and a higher combustion efficiency than petroleum diesel. However, biodiesel

also has disadvantages such as higher viscosity, higher cloud point and pour point,

higher nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions and lower energy density. It would be great

to make renewable fuel that has best of both: the advantages of biodiesel as well as the

properties like that of petroleum diesel. Direct hydrogenation of vegetable oils is an

attractive alternative for production of Green diesel.

The problem is that currently, EU waste cooking oil production is >1.1MT (scalable

with country population) but the UK converts waste oil from 47 countries currently,

i.e. a more than local market opportunity. The UK estimate of "lower value" fat, oil &

grease associated with drain disposal is 13% hydrocarbon content of domestic (1.8MT)

and commercial (1.3MT) of typical food waste disposed via drainage system (based on

WRAP figures). Supply of up to 16% (2030) of fuel for road transportation if all the EU

wastes and residues that are sustainably available if converted only to biofuels. The

issues are high energy processes, production of waste, low added value products and

oxygenated fuels.

Dr Manyar produced a large amount of data involving catalysis modelling, the

composition of vegetable oils, hydrogenation of oils, catalyst synthesis, performance

and reusability, effect of temperature, pressure and loading on performance.

A summary of the talk indicated that Pt-Re bimetallic catalysts have been shown to be

able to reduce plant oils and acids at low temperatures and moderate pressures for the

first time. At 130oC and 20 bar hydrogen, high yields of long chain alkanes (95-100%)

were achieved. It was possible to tune the product selectivity to obtain alkanes or

alcohols by the choice of catalysts used. The interaction between the Pt and Re was

found to be critical in forming active triglyceride hydrogenation catalysts. A suitable

two-site Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model for stearic acid hydrogenation with

surface reaction of the adsorbed acid as the rate-limiting step was developed.

The solution according to Dr Manyar is the valorization (I hate that word! Ed.) of waste

oils to biofuels and bioalcohols using novel QUCaT technologies. These include

hydrogenations in continuous flow reactors; low temperature and low H2 pressure

conditions; scale up to pilot plant in Oleon, Belgium using green catalyst Synthesis

technology.

The morning technical session closed and was followed by the Annual Meeting of

the FERF .

A G E N D A

i) Report of Year 2018 Annual Meeting

ii) Review of Actions

iii) Report by Chairman/Secretary

iv) Report by Treasurer

iv) Election for Vacancies on Executive Committee

vii) Any Other Business

SESSION 2B : REPORTS FROM INTEREST GROUP CO-ORDINATORS.

To include progress in their Interest Groups during the year 2018 :-

Combustion Dr. Gerry Riley.

Environment Prof. Bill Nimmo.

Biomass and Waste Dr. Katie Chong.

Electricity Generation and Storage Mr. Niall Moroney.

Carbon Capture and Storage Prof. Jon Gibbins.

Fuel Characterisation, Up-grading and Carbonisation Prof. Ed Lester.

The afternoon session was entitled “Waste not Want not” and was the seminar of the

Biomass and Waste Interest group chaired by Dr. Katie Chong, Aston University. Katie

is the Co-ordinator of the Biomass and Waste Interest Group.

The first paper of this session was entitled “High value aromatics from non-edible

vegetable oil” and was presented by Dr Paula Blanco-Sanchez of Aston University.

Paula began by outlining the conventional production methods for high value

aromatic compounds. Benzene, toluene and xylene are obtained by catalytic cracking

of naphtha whose source is from fossil fuels. 70% of global demand comes from

reformed naphtha, and the remaining 30% comes from ethylene plant pyrolysis

gasoline and coal liquids from coke ovens. None of these are renewable resources. In

addition, the global market for aromatics is growing between 5% and 10% per year in

a steady manner.

Commercial applications for benzene are in the synthesis of cumene, cyclohexane

(nylon industry), and ethylbenzene for styrene production. para-Xylene is used for

polyester fibres, resins and films, and other isomers for solvent applications. Toluene

is used as a solvent but mostly it is used in order to produce benzene and xylene.

Vegetable oils may be edible or non-edible. They all have three fatty acid groups

attached to a glycerol molecule. Different acid groups may be present in different

vegetable oils e.g. soybean oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, waste cooking oil, animal fats

such as lard and tallow, inedible fats such as castor oil, jatropha oil, and tall oil. The

choice of oil to process can be influenced by its means and ease of production, cost,

energy density, environmental impacts and other uses of the oil e.g. food.

Jatropha is a non-edible vegetable oil and they do not need extensive upkeep (fertility

and moisture demand) to provide high yields. It is a drought-tolerant crop. It can grow

in waste lands (lands inappropriate for food harvests) and is readily available in many

developing countries. It’s properties are that it has a high-energy content, is easy to

produce, does not contain any nitrogen or sulphur compounds so when combusted it

does not produce NOx or SOx.

6

Unlike biomass pyrolysis of non-edible oils produces unknown products are formed,

possibly as liquids with minor fractions of gases and some solids. Fast pyrolysis is used

as an upgrading route.

How will it be possible to increase or target BTX yields? The products distribution is

affected by the choice of feedstock but also catalytic cracking reaction conditions and

type of catalyst. Ideal catalysts include: Molecular sieve catalysts; Zeolite based: ZSM-

5 with variable Si/Al ratios and MCM-41 composite materials

To achieve aromatic yields above 50% it was necessary to use modified zeolite

catalysts: Ga/MCM-41, Zn/Na-ZSM-5, NiMo/ZSM-5; also combined composite

catalysts MCM-41/ZSM-5 or mesoporous materials AlSBA-15. Catalysts with lower

mesophase coating were also effective since the thin coating of a mesophase layer

allows reactants to access the micropores resulting in higher oil conversion and

aromatics yields. Also useful is if one is able to correlate the structure of the catalysts

(surface area, porosity, etc.) with BTX target products yields.

Conclusions and future work planned by Paula include investigations into other

potential non-edible oils and to achieve a detailed analysis of initial components in

from GC-MS; to obtain suitable catalysts and correlate their structure with potential

BTX yields as well as other high-value products; determine suitable pyrolysis

conditions for lab-scale bubbling fluidised bed test; and to understand the

fractionation routes of unsaturated fatty-acids contained in non-edible vegetable oil.

11

This was followed by Stuart Wagland of Cranfield University who presented some of

his work on “Landfill mining – a new source of opportunity”. Stuart began is talk by

asking the question “What is Enhanced Landfill Mining?” and then proceeded to

explain to us that it was “the safe exploration, conditioning, excavation and integrated

valorisation of landfilled waste streams as both materials (Waste-to-Material) and

energy (Waste-to-Energy), using innovative transformation technologies and

respecting the most stringent social and ecological criteria.” In other words-extracting

value from as multiple streams.

There is a need to consider the circular nature of ELFM in terms of the waste to energy

processes, the waste to material processes, the opportunity for chemical feedstock

processes and land restoration.

There has been established an EU-wide agenda with a European Landfill Mining

consortium (EURELCO) which currently has 58 members. Recent EU projects funded

in recognition of the importance of this topic include SMART GROUND; NEW MINE;

COCOON and RAW FILL. A second seminar was held in the EU parliament

(November 2018) (https://eurelco.org/2018/11/22/2nd-elfm-ep-seminar-shows-

landfill-directives-blind-spots/)

A simplistic overview of ex-situ mining. Is it a resource or a fuel? The materials

excavated are firstly divided into paper, plastics, textiles etc and soil/fines. The paper,

plastics and textiles fraction is then divided for reprocessing/recycling or goes into

waste-derived fuel (WDF). The soils and fines are either sent back to the landfill site or

metals may be extracted from them where appropriate. Key considerations include

whether there is a significantly increased proportion of soil/fines versus the fresh MSW

and whether surface contamination and degradation of recovered commodities has

occurred.

Stuart then gave data on the composition of various fractions and the processes used

to extract valuable metals from the fines.

In summary Stuart concluded that not all landfill sites are suitable for enhanced

landfill mining, for a combination of environmental, economic or practical reasons, but

some sites may require mining for other reasons (i.e. coastal sites in erosion zones).

High volumes of soil/fines need to be managed, however potential value exists within

them. Major challenges and costs involved in recovering metals to a high efficiency

and yield. Mining only for metals is unlikely to be economically viable. Direct

recycling of the remaining plastics/paper/textiles might not be economically viable due

to contamination and degradation and finally Advanced Thermal Treatment [ATT]

presents further opportunities for study.

Paper 3 of this session given by Dr Jude Onwudili’s paper was entitled “Recovery and

Application of Waste Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics (CFRP)”. Jude outlined the

background and properties of carbon fibre indicating that the worldwide demand for

carbon fibre was 38,000 tonnes in 2010 and expected to rise to 125,000 tonnes by 2020.

In terms of it’s properties, carbon fibre is fire-resistant/not flammable; it has a high

thermal conductivity in some forms; a low coefficient of thermal expansion and is non-

toxic. It is also biologically inert, x-ray permeable but relatively expensive. It is rigid

and has a high strength to weight ratio. It is corrosion and fatigue resistance and

exhibits electrical conductance. It has good tensile strength but is brittle.

Examples of the uses and subsequent CFRP waste generation were given. On a Boeing

787, 50% of the aircraft is composite, with 20% aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel

and 5% other materials; about 60-70% of the structural weight of Formula One cars

(e.g. McLaren Formula 1). Other uses included in aerospace e.g. satellite bodies and

sports equipment such as tennis rackets and golf clubs. Disposal of used carbon fibre

will be important in the future as between 6,000 and 8,000 airplanes are expected to

reach the end of their service life by 2030, which will generate significant amounts of

CFRP wastes.

Current disposal methods for waste carbon fibre need to address the around 3,000

tonnes of CRFP waste currently generated annually in Europe and UK. Landfilling is

not a good option as it will result in the loss of a valuable material and carbon fibre is

non-putrescible. Incineration is not a good option as carbon fibre is flame retardant,

hence large quantities of fuel would be required for its incineration. As carbon fibre is

often used as a reinforcement for plastics with thermosetting resins as binding agents

its possible recycling and reuse appears to be a viable option. The main routes for

recycling are mechanical, using a bulk ball mill with air-classification; thermal, mostly

combustion and pyrolysis which removes resins and plastics for energy recovery;

chemical which removes resins and plastics and solvolysis (hydrolysis, glycolysis and

alcoholysis).

The research aims of the work described were the recovery of carbon fibres from the

waste with minimal impact on physical properties for re-application and the recovery

of the resin as monomers (valuable chemical feedstock) or as fuel. The objectives of the

study were to look into the effect of solvents, temperature, type of catalyst and reaction

time on resin removal efficiency and the manufacture of composite materials and

testing them.

Analysis of the waste CRFP showed it to contain 80.3% C, 4.15% N, 2.05% H, 1.65% S

and 6.9% O. The availability of about 2.6 billion litres of waste ethylene glycol per year

is generated in the US alone; a large proportion of this comes from de-icing of

aeroplanes and from spent heat transfer fluids. It was decided to use this as a solvent

in a series of solvothermal experiments using a range of temperatures from 380OC to

400OC. Characterisation of the waste CRFP using TGA showed it to contain 61.5%

carbon fibre and 38.5% resin. Using a batch reactor and different ratios of water to

ethylene glycol and temperature, resin removal of between 49.0% and 97.6% was

achieved. Best resin removal rates were observed at 400OC and the use of ethylene

glycol was essential for high levels of resin removal. The reactions were analysed and

gas, liquid and solid was produced and analysed.

Comparison of the recovered carbon fibre with virgin carbon fibre showed it’s

properties to be similar. A series of carbon fibre/LDPE composites were made using

virgin and recovered carbon fibre and tested.

Jude summarised his presentation with the following conclusions:- using water alone,

a maximum of 49 wt% of resin was removed; with ethylene glycol alone, 92% of resin

removal was reached, higher percentages were reached by using EG/water mixtures;

the liquid residuals from the EG-promoted process could be valorised into fuel gas by

supercritical water gasification or refined into liquid fuel. LDPE’s mechanical

properties were improved when reinforced with RCF and commercial additives

(silane-based) did not work well with the RCF; maybe due to loss of surface active

groups compared to VCF.

Dr Andrew Welfle, from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the

University of Manchester, presented his paper entitled “Biomass and Waste Resource

Availability”. Andrew began by showing a table of the UK Bioenergy Roadmap versus

Biomass Demands. The bioenergy sector was divided into three categories, Bio-heat,

Bio-power and Bio-fuel. For each of the sectors Andrew provided information on the

Demand Trends and the Key Resource Demands. Time frames were Near Term (up to

2020), Mid Term (2020 to 2030) and Long Term (2030 to 2050).

For the Bio-heat sector the Demand Trends were (up to 2025) a gradual increase in

demand reflecting both increased traditional and specialist roles for bio-heat. From

2025 onwards there would be a Gradual decline in demand reflecting the targeted

focus on emerging alternative low carbon heat technologies. Bio-heat continuing

within specialist roles such as by industry. Key Resource Demands were wood-based

resources such as pellets and chips from now until 2050 with feedstocks for advanced

bioenergy technologies becoming more of an issue longer term.

In the Bio-power sector, up to 2025 there is predicted to be a sharp increase in demand

driven by increased & further conversion of conventional power plants to allow

cofiring with biomass. Beyond 2025 there is predicted to be a gradual decline in

demand as co-firing plants are expected to gradually close. However, there will be

continuing demand for bio-power systems contributing to balance peak energy

demands. Up to 2050 the Key Resource Demand will be for solid biomass resources

(wood, animal based, plant based, wastes) and the potential for growth of biogas.

In the Bio-fuel sector, up to 2025 there is expected to be a sharp increase in demand for

biofuels for the transport sector. However, beyond 2025, there is a high uncertainty for

the long-term biofuel sector, due to the potential emergence of alternative low carbon

technologies. Key Resource demands are currently for energy crops, a trend which is

predicted to continue towards 2050. However, mid to long-term demand for

lignocellulosic resources is expected to grow.

Andrew provided a large quantity of data involving different types of residues and

their potential application and concluded that the UK energy roadmap has strong

ambitions for bioenergy. However, domestic resource does not/will not balance

demand. There has been much debate about how to use the UK’s limited resources

and many studies have analysed availability of UK biomass resources. Wastes

represent a key target feedstock, although future availability will be highly influenced

by policy. Residues can provide readily available resource opportunity, but have

competing uses and mobilisation challenges. The dedication of UK lands to grow

bioenergy feedstocks may provide great opportunities, but needs much policy

support.

Prof. Jason Hallett of Imperial College spoke about some of his work which was

entitled “Ultra-low cost ionic liquids (ILs) for bio-refining of waste wood”. Jason

opened his talk with a question, this one being, “Why use ionic liquids for

lignocellulosic biofuels?”. The answer, according to Jason was that they increase

enzyme activity at minimal cost; there are several options (Kraft, ammonia,

organoSolv, etc.) and ionic liquids provide highest activity. However, they are

generally very expensive. Ionic liquids are just organic salts but have advantages over

organic solvents in that they can be designed for a specific function. They too have

disadvantages, the application must be logical and rational choices must be made.

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant plant biomass on earth, consisting of

roughly 40% glucose and of 30% other sugars, the remainder being lignin or minor

components. Major lignocellulosic feedstocks are agricultural residues, commercial

forests and wood waste. Using lignocellulose as a feedstock for producing bioethanol

has the potential to increase yields per land area and improve CO2 emission savings.

However, it has been difficult to develop cost effective processes for converting

lignocellulose into bioethanol. High capital and operating cost, especially in the pre-

treatment step, are major issues for cost-effective production of cellulosic or second

generation bioethanol.

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant plant biomass on earth, consisting of

roughly 40% glucose and of 30% other sugars, the remainder being lignin or minor

components. Major lignocellulosic feedstocks are agricultural residues, commercial

forests and wood waste. Using lignocellulose as a feedstock for producing bioethanol

has the potential to increase yields per land area and improve CO2 emission savings.

However, it has been difficult to develop cost effective processes for converting

lignocellulose into bioethanol. High capital and operating cost, especially in the pre-

treatment step, are major issues for cost-effective production of cellulosic or second

generation bioethanol.

Imperial College have developed an ionic solvent known as ionoSolv. The ionoSolv

process efficiently fractionates a wide variety of lignocellulosic plant biomass using

ultra-low-cost organic salts (ionic liquids). The main advantage is low capital

investment for the pre-treatment step leading to low-cost glucose of around $250/t.

The ionoSolv process uses low-cost ionic liquid solutions; solutions of organic salts

that are liquid at ambient temperature. The ionoSolv technology is unique in that the

solvent costs are in the range of common organic solvents (~$1.24/kg). A major

difference with other processes is that ionic liquids do not evaporate, which increases

safety and lowers capital expenditure. The main products of the ionoSolv pre-

treatment are separate fractions of cellulose, hemicellulose or furfural, lignin, and

acetic acid.

The ionic liquid solution is able to dissolve lignin and hemicellulose, while leaving the

glucose as a filterable solid in the form of cellulose. The cellulose can be hydrolysed to

glucose and directly fed into fermenters without lignin or inhibitors interfering with

speed of the conversion or the final yields. The lignin is recovered after addition of

water to the solvent and can be burned for heat and electricity. It can also be used as

chemical feedstock. The hemicellulose can be pre-extracted and fermented as a

separate C5 sugar stream, or isolated as furfural (current market value $1200/t). The

water added for isolating the lignin is evaporated (which will also recover the furfural

and acetic acid) and the ionic liquid reused. Since the ionoSolv process separates the

lignin at the pre-treatment stage and yields a separate glucose stream, it is possible to

add the ionoSolv process to existing 1G plants and produce bioethanol from grain,

sucrose and agricultural residue at the same time.

Jason then explained in some detail the benefits of the new Il system in terms of

economics, IL recovery and recycling, feedstock type and the option to treat metal-

containing wood. In conclusion, ionic liquids do not have to be expensive and targeted

applications are still possible. One must use common sense when designing IL

systems. In terms of delignification of biomass, it is a simple process and results in

stable, recoverable, recyclable solvents. High solids loadings possible and recycling

improves performance. It needs to be an economics-driven approach to solvent design

and can be application specific.

Dr Peter Hurst gave the final paper of the day which was entitled “Biorenewables from

gram to kilo: optimising feedstocks, improving processes and valorising by-products”.

Peter works at the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC), based at the University

of York, whose aim is to provide an open access scale-up R&D centre providing

partners with innovative ideas to convert plants, microbes and biowastes into high-

value products.

Peter explained that what made the BDC different was that with both biologists and

chemists, their team offers a unique combination of multi-disciplinary expertise

coupled with state-of-the-art pilot-scale processing capabilities in one coordinated

centre.

The BDC helps to bridge the gap between academia and industry in the research,

development and demonstration of bio-based innovations. The BDC has been

involved with commercial organisations where the projects are tailored to the needs

of each client. They also are involved in publically-funded grant activities and pre-

funded business support for SMEs located in Yorkshire. Since 2012 BDC has been

involved in over 350 bio-based projects and has more than 200 clients.

Peter then went on to describe some current EU funded work in which BDC were

partners. The H2020 project called Porous4App. There are five academic partners, four

SMEs and a multinational organisation.

It is a four year project to scale up a process developed at laboratory scale and to

identify and deliver a scale up route for the production from current gram scale to

pilot scale. It is also intended to produce prototype volumes, support business plan

data, support nano-safety testing and provide a vision of commercial scale production.

If successful the product will have potential applications in batteries and

heterogeneous catalysis.

The process involves taking starch, expanding it to produce a porous gel block, drying

the gel to produce a mesoporous starch, then carbonising it to produce a porous

carbon.

The base for the porous carbon is a polysaccharide such as alginic acid or starch. The

temperature of carbonisation dictates the surface area of the material. Depending on

the temperature of carbonisation a mass loss of up to 80% can be expected.

Quantities of 10 litres of gel were produced in a commercial processer. The drying

stage preserves the porous network and a range of options were explored. Freeze

drying was determined as the most suitable process using a method that had been

developed in a previous project to produce expanded polysaccharides. The problem

was that the largest off the shelf system handles only 1kg and with a three day method

per week output would be only 2kg. To produce 20kg of expanded polysaccharide

would take 9 weeks assuming no breakdowns.

It was clear that they needed to upscale the freeze dryer step which proved to be no

simple task. The freezer had to be of food grade specification and these were expensive

(£7k for a 20 litre batch). Also the use of a solvent is not compatible. Eventually they

managed to identify and negotiate a deal with a local freeze dryer manufacturer to dry

their material The company is Frozen in Time (www.freezedriers.com). They have a

capacity of 100 litres input (20 kg output) and also if required in future they can build

a bespoke unit.

For the carbonisation process they needed to design and build furnace. The resulting

equipment was manufactured by Carbolite and is of rotating tube furnace design with

an Inconel tube with screw auger. Due to the low heating rates the furnace is 4.4 metres

long.

Peter concluded that progress to date in this on-going project was that a pilot plant has

been developed to produce mesoporous carbons from polysaccharide sources.

Samples are currently undergoing testing at industrial partners IBERCAT (Catalyst

applications), VARTA Micro Innovation (Battery applications) and Johnson Matthey

(Catalyst and Battery applications).

Following some brief comments from the Chairman Industry, Dr Will Quick, in which

he expressed his satisfaction with the content, turnout, venue and organisation of the

event he thanks the delegates for attending and wished them a safe journey home.

---ooo---

Here’s a blast from the past!!

30 years ago the CRF Newsletter first appeared with Nina Skorupska as it’s first

editor!! I have included a copy for us oldies to reminisce over. Don’t worry it is only

6 pages short!!

---ooo---

Reports from the Technical Press

Links are presented with the most recent first. A longer section on newly reported

technical matters will be included in the next newsletter where more space will be

available.

Methane-consuming bacteria could be the future of fuel 9th May 2019, unattributed, ScienceDaily

Researchers have found that the enzyme responsible for the methane-methanol conversion in

methanotrophic bacteria catalyzes the reaction at a site that contains just one copper ion. This

finding could lead to newly designed, human-made catalysts that can convert methane -- a

highly potent greenhouse gas -- to readily usable methanol with the same effortless mechanism.

For more visit:- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190509142722.htm

Progress on £150m Billingham waste to energy project 9th May 2019, Oscar Lynch, Insider Media Ltd.

A proposed £150m waste to energy plant in Billingham has taken a step forward after Teesside

business Scott Bros signed a memorandum of understanding with technology provider Eqtec

and construction company Grupo Cobra to jointly develop the project. The plant will use

Eqtec's proprietary gasification technology to convert municipal waste into gas that can be used

for heat or electricity. Located at Haverton Hill, where Scott Bros already operates a recycling

centre, the plant will process an estimated 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, with a capacity of

up to 25 MW. Eqtec will act as lead developer and technology provider for the project,

providing its expertise to Spanish infrastructure giant Cobra to develop a full plan for the

engineering, procurement and construction and operation and maintenance of the plant.

For more visit:- https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/northeast/progress-on-billingham-

150m-waste-to-energy-project

UN Secretary-General calls for end to new coal plants after 2020 10th May, unattributed, BusinessGreen

UN chief Antonio Guterres tells Associated Press countries should stop building new

coal from next year or face 'total disaster' .Countries should call time on new coal-fired

power plants from next year, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared

in an interview warning inaction on climate change could bring "total disaster" to the

world. In an interview published yesterday by the Associated Press, Guterres said

countries must be prepared to "transform" their economies by moving away from

fossil fuels and embracing renewables and other green technologies such as electric

cars. For more visit:-

https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3075378/un-chief-calls-for-ban-on-new-

coal-plants-after-2020

Indians are addicted to cheap coal power and it’s killing them 9th May 2019, Iain Marlow and Rajesh Kumar Singh, The Economic Times,

When the massive coal-fired power plant next door to her home in New Delhi was firing at full

blast, Bala Devi would pull her saree tight against her face to try and protect her lungs. It was

a futile gesture. Towered over by red-and-white striped smoke stacks, Devi’s house in a poor

community of India’s capital is just too close to the sprawling plant. “The coal dust got mixed

in with the food,” said Devi, who regularly coughed up black phlegm in the mornings.

Mountains of unused coal and a fly ash pond the size of 500 football fields made her

neighborhood a particularly noxious part of the world’s most polluted mega-city. “We would

shut our doors and we swept the floors,” she said. “But still we fell ill.”

For more visit:- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/indians-are-

addicted-to-cheap-coal-power-and-its-killing-them/articleshow/69244869.cms

Scientists developing green fuels from industrial CO2 8th May 2019, unattributed, AirQualityNews.com

Scientists at Loughborough University have created a new chemical process which converts

CO2 emissions from industry into green fuels such as methanol, hydrogen and formic acid. The

team at Loughborough have developed several prototype electrochemical and

photoelectrochemical devices, powered by wind and solar and tested in lab settings, which

draws in polluted air from factories and power plants and convert the carbon dioxide into high-

energy, dense liquid fuel. The next phase of the research, which is supported by the EPSRC and

the Royal Society, will be to pilot and test the devices in an industrial setting.

For more information visit:-

https://airqualitynews.com/2019/05/08/scientists-developing-green-fuels-from-industrial-co2/

Plastic gets a do-over: Breakthrough discovery recycles plastic from the inside out 7th May 2019, ScienceDaily

Researchers have designed a recyclable plastic that can be disassembled into its constituent

parts at the molecular level, and then reassembled into a different shape, texture, and color

again and again without loss of performance or quality. For more visit:-

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190507110452.htm

New food waste plan offers green energy opportunities 7th May 2019, Farming UK

Scottish farmers are being encouraged to invest in anaerobic digestion as a new government

plan looks to ensure unavoidable household food waste is recycled. The new Food Waste

Reduction Action Plan (FWRAP) includes measures to ensure that households with access to

food recycling facilities are using them. The plans were unveiled by the Scottish government

and Zero Waste Scotland. Both highlight the food waste problem in Scotland. In 2014,

households threw away around 600,000 tonnes of food and drink waste. The scale of the issue

brings an opportunity for more anaerobic digestion plants to be built, particularly near urban

areas. For more visit:- https://www.farminguk.com/News/New-food-waste-plan-offers-green-

energy-opportunities_51939.html

China biomass power generation increases 16.7 pct in Q1 4th May 2019, XinHua.net

China's biomass sector generated 24.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity during the first

quarter of 2019, up 16.7 percent year on year, data from the National Energy Administration

showed. China added 970,000 kilowatts of biomass energy capacity during the first quarter,

bringing the total installed capacity to 18.78 million kilowatts. Biomass refers to biological

materials or organic materials which are renewable and sustainable and could be used as a fuel

source. China has striven to develop renewable energy including wind power and biomass

energy in recent years as the world's largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty

coal power toward cleaner fuels. For more visit:- http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-

05/04/c_138033208.htm

Fracking: Earthquakes are triggered well beyond fluid injection zones 2nd May 2019, unattributed, ScienceDaily

Using data from field experiments and computer modeling of ground faults, researchers have

discovered that the practice of subsurface fluid injection used in 'fracking' and wastewater

disposal for oil and gas exploration could cause significant, rapidly spreading earthquake

activity beyond the fluid diffusion zone. The results account for the observation that the

frequency of man-made earthquakes in some regions of the country surpass natural earthquake

hotspots.

For more visit:- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190502143353.htm

Clearing the way for cleaner air in China

1st May 2019, IEA Clean Coal Centre Newsletter

If we’re going to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees above preindustrial levels, as

laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement, it’s going to take a lot more than a transition to carbon-

neutral energy sources such as wind and solar. It’s going to require carbon-negative

technologies, including energy sources that actually reduce carbon dioxide levels in the

atmosphere. While most climate researchers and activists agree that carbon-negative solutions

will be needed to meet the goal set in Paris, so far most of these solutions have been viewed as

impractical in the near term, especially for large, coal-reliant countries like China. Now,

researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

(SEAS) and the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment, in collaboration

with colleagues from Tsinghua University in Beijing and other institutions in China, Australia,

and the U.S., have analyzed technical and economic viability for China to move toward carbon-

negative electric power generation. For more visit:-

https://www.iea-coal.org/clearing-the-way-for-cleaner-air-in-china/

Transforming waste heat into clean energy 1st May 2019, unattributed, ScienceDaily

Through a mechanism known as the Spin Hall effect, it has been shown that a voltage can be

generated by harnessing differences in spin populations on a metal contact attached to a

ferromagnetic material. Researchers used supercomputers to identify various forms of cobalt

oxide combined with nickel and zinc that show promise for thermoelectric generation by taking

advance of the Spin Hall effect. For more visit:-

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190501131342.htm

Four strategies to tackle the carbon footprint of plastic 2nd May 2019, Prachi Patel, Anthropocene

A new study published in Nature Climate Change explores ways to cut the carbon footprint of

plastic. In it, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara say that reducing the

carbon emissions from plastics would require four strategies at “an unprecedented scale and

pace”: the use of renewable energy, biologically-derived biodegradable plastics, more

recycling, and reducing the demand for plastic. Global plastic production has skyrocketed in

the past few decades. The world produced about 400 megatons of plastic in 2015. Only 18

percent of plastic waste is recycled, and about 58 percent goes to landfill. While the impact of

plastics on the ecosystem and human health have been studied, little attention has been paid

to the materials’ impact on climate change, Jiajia Zheng and Sangwon Suh write. For more

visit:- http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/reducing-the-carbon-footprint-of-

plastic-is-doable-but-not-easy/

Harnessing sunlight to pull hydrogen from wastewater 1st May 2019, unattributed, ScienceDaily

Hydrogen is a critical component in the manufacture of thousands of common products from

plastic to fertilizers, but producing pure hydrogen is expensive and energy intensive. Now, a

research team has harnessed sunlight to isolate hydrogen from industrial wastewater, doubling

the previous standard for splitting hydrogen from water in a scalable way. For more visit:-

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190501114611.htm?utm_source=feedburner&

utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Ffossil_fue

ls+%28Fossil+Fuels+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

Enviro groups call on UK to end subsidies for biomass 2nd May 2019, unattributed, Renewables Now.

Environmental groups today urged the UK government to “end its multi-billion pound subsidy

programme for wood-fired electricity generation”, saying that supporting biomass does not fit

a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) plan. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) released on

Thursday a report in which it claims that a net-zero GHG target by 2050 for the UK can be

achieved with known technologies and at an acceptable cost. For more visit:-

https://renewablesnow.com/news/enviro-groups-call-on-uk-to-end-subsidies-for-biomass-

652657/

Where one sector’s waste can be another’s fuel 7th May 2019, Preeti Mehra, The Hindu Business Line

The country needs to make far greater use of co-processing technology, says Preeti Mehra,citing

how, for instance, inorganic waste fires up cement making. When paper manufacturers in Vapi,

Gujarat, were asked by the state pollution control board to find a solution for the large amounts

of non-recyclable plastic waste that the industry generated, they were initially clueless. As

things stood, the waste was either finding its way to the landfill or piling up in the premises of

the mills. For more visit:-

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/specials/clean-tech/where-one-sectors-waste-can-be-anothers-fuel/article27061205.ece

Swansea’s EfW Planning Refusal “Major Error In Judgement” 8th May Darrel Moore

Swansea council’s planning committee’s refusal to grant planning permission for an energy-

from-waste (EfW) plant ‘major error in judgment”, says stakeholder engagement specialist. The

Biffa EfW plant, planned for a business park at Llansamlet, would process 21,000 tonnes of non-

hazardous waste that would otherwise go to landfill in Merthyr Tydfil. For more visit:-

https://ciwm-journal.co.uk/swanseas-efw-planning-refusal-major-error-in-judgement/

UK completes first coal-free week since Industrial Revolution 8 May 2019, source edie newsroom

The UK has just completed its first week without any domestic coal generation on the power

grid since before the Industrial Revolution, marking a significant milestone in its low-carbon

energy transition. For more visit:

https://www.edie.net/news/6/UK-completes-its-first-week-without-coal-power-generation-

since-the-Industrial-

Revolution/?utm_source=dailynewsletter,%20edie%20daily%20newsletter&utm_medium=em

ail,%20email&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter,%2085d44b7e16-

dailynewsletter_COPY_544

CCC boss: Net-zero before 2050 would be 'very risky' for UK economy 9 May 2019, source edie newsroom

The Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) chief executive Chris Stark has defended the body's

decision not to advise the Government on pathways which could create a net-zero carbon

economy before 2050, arguing that doing so would be "very risky" from a social and economic

perspective. For more visit:-

https://www.edie.net/news/6/net-zero-2050-very-

risky/?utm_source=dailynewsletter,%20edie%20daily%20newsletter&utm_medium=email,%2

0email&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter,%2085d44b7e16-

dailynewsletter_COPY_544

Germany agrees to end reliance on coal stations by 2038 28 January 2019, source edie newsroom

Germany has agreed to end its reliance on polluting coal power stations by 2038, in a long-

awaited decision that will have major ramifications for Europe's attempts to meet its Paris

climate change targets. For more visit:-

https://www.edie.net/news/11/Germany-agrees-to-end-reliance-on-coal-stations-by-

2038/?utm_source=dailynewsletter,%20edie%20daily%20newsletter&utm_medium=email,%2

0email&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter,%208fb8cdefe5-

dailynewsletter_COPY_474

---ooo---

RESEARCH UPDATES

Details of new RFCS coal-related projects starting in 2019 will be disseminated when available

CALENDAR OF FUEL AND ENERGY RESEARCH

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Date Title Location Contact

27th to 30th May 2019

27th European Biomass Conference and

Exhibition

Lisbon Congress Center, Lisbon,

Portugal

For more information visit:- http://www.eubce.com/

3rd to 7th June 2019 CCT 2019 Houston Houston, Texas, USA

For more information visit:- https://www.coalconferences.org/

20th June 2019 Rushlight Summer Showcase

The Victory Services Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, London

Clive Hall, Chief Executive Eventure Media Ltd 32 Elsynge Road, London, SW18 2HN E-mail : cjh@eventuremedia.co.uk

24th and 25th June 2019

7th World Congress and Expo on Green Energy

Barcelona, Spain

For information visit:- https://greenenergy.environmentalconferences.org/

9th and 19th September 2019

Conference on Renewable Energy and Climate

Change

London, Details tba

For more information visit:- https://10times.com/renewable-energy-uk

Wednesday 11th September

2019

The Challenges of

Electricity Generation

with Biomass and waste

Fuels

University of Leeds

For more information contact:- Mr Niall Moroney, Electricity Generation & Storage Interest Group Co-ordinator. Tel : 07468-715169 Niall.moroney@rwe.com

Monday

7th October 2019

The Inaugural Clean Energy Science Lecture,

“Evolution or Revolution: A Personal

Journey of the UK Power Industry towards

Mary Sumner

House,

Westminster,

London

For more information contact:-

Dr. David J.A.McCaffrey, General Secretary of the Fuel & Energy Research Forum, Tel : 01242-236973. E-mail : mail@tferf.org

a Sustainable Future” to be presented by

Dr Nina Skorupska CBE FEI and Workshop on Combustion-Related Research organise by the Fuel and Energy Research Forum in

association with the APGTF, BF2RA,

BFRC/IFRF, CCS&CFECPT,

UKCCSRC, CI-BS, IChemE CESIG, IoP

CPhG and the RSC ES

21st and 22nd October 2019

International Conference on Renewable,

Conventional Power and Green Technology

Grange Rochester Hotel, London,

For more information visit:- https://10times.com/renewable-conventional-power-and-green-technology

24th to 28th November 2019

International Conference on Coal Science &

Technology, (17th ICCS&T)

Krakow, Poland Project manager: Ms. Magdalena Rabiega Ph.: +48 12 651 90 70 E-mail: iccst2019@targi.krakow.pl

14th to 17th April 2020

12th European Conference on Industrial Furnaces

and Boilers, (INFUB012)

Porto, Portugal Prof. Albino Reis Rua Gago Coutinho, 185-187

4435-034 Rio Tinto

Portugal

Tel : +351 229 734 624 / +351 229 730 747

Fax : +351 229 730 746

E-mail : infub@infub.pt

Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th

September 2020

The 1st FERIA Conference, the

European Conference on Fuel and Energy

Research and Its Applications, the Successor to the ECCRIA Series of

Conferences.

Jubilee Campus, the University of

Nottingham.

Dr. David J.A.McCaffrey 1st FERIA Conference Chairman Tel : 01242-236973 E-mail : mail@tferf.org Dr. Robert Berry 1st FERIA Conference Secretary Tel : 0208-331-9401 E-mail : r.j.berry@gre.ac.uk