Chemical engineering is a broad field in terms of the scope of practice but the discipline has been united by a few intellectually coherent principles. Among them, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics and transport pheno...Chemical engineering is a broad field in terms of the scope of practice but the discipline has been united by a few intellectually coherent principles. Among them, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics and transport phenomena are often considered as the cornerstones, providing support for the design and operation of diverse chemical processes for power generation and production of industrial goods such as plastics, gasoline and ammonia. Traditionally, these industrial processes use fossil fuels as the raw materials and are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions. As fossil-energy-based processes are deemed phasing out , development of alternative routes with renewable energy and sustainable feedstock is calling for the expansion of the knowledge base such that eco-friendly chemical processes can be quantified, controlled and optimized with high precision. This article offers some perspectives on possible engineering developments to accelerate the paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.展开更多
Coal is still a major source of energy, also a major source of SO_2, NOx and CO_2 emission though. Removal of SO_2 and NOx doubled the cost of power generation, and capture of CO_2 is equivalent to double the market p...Coal is still a major source of energy, also a major source of SO_2, NOx and CO_2 emission though. Removal of SO_2 and NOx doubled the cost of power generation, and capture of CO_2 is equivalent to double the market price of power coal. The GCP （green coal power） is the power generated in coal-combustion with zero emission. The author indicates that it is possible to make coal-fired power plants emission free based on thermodynamic analysis and purposely designed experiments using SFG （simulated flue gases）. It is concluded in the study that all SO_2 and NOx in the post-combustion flue gas are reduced to inoffensive substances at temperature lower than 750 ℃ when contacting carbon and elemental sulfur is separated in succeeded cooling of flue gas at temperatures 200-400 ℃, and the ultrafine dusts are trapped in condensed water at temperature blow 100 ℃. Based on chemical engineering expertise the author is sure that the cost for removing acid gases is much lower than any clean coal technologies known to today. Instead of capture, the remained CO_2 is converted to CO in the second time contact with carbon at 900-950 ℃. CO is the raw material of chemical synthesis and, thus, CO_2 is stored in chemical products such as methanol, fertilizer, plastics, etc. The simple and low-cost processing allows GCP utilized in practice easily.展开更多
文摘Chemical engineering is a broad field in terms of the scope of practice but the discipline has been united by a few intellectually coherent principles. Among them, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics and transport phenomena are often considered as the cornerstones, providing support for the design and operation of diverse chemical processes for power generation and production of industrial goods such as plastics, gasoline and ammonia. Traditionally, these industrial processes use fossil fuels as the raw materials and are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions. As fossil-energy-based processes are deemed phasing out , development of alternative routes with renewable energy and sustainable feedstock is calling for the expansion of the knowledge base such that eco-friendly chemical processes can be quantified, controlled and optimized with high precision. This article offers some perspectives on possible engineering developments to accelerate the paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
文摘Coal is still a major source of energy, also a major source of SO_2, NOx and CO_2 emission though. Removal of SO_2 and NOx doubled the cost of power generation, and capture of CO_2 is equivalent to double the market price of power coal. The GCP （green coal power） is the power generated in coal-combustion with zero emission. The author indicates that it is possible to make coal-fired power plants emission free based on thermodynamic analysis and purposely designed experiments using SFG （simulated flue gases）. It is concluded in the study that all SO_2 and NOx in the post-combustion flue gas are reduced to inoffensive substances at temperature lower than 750 ℃ when contacting carbon and elemental sulfur is separated in succeeded cooling of flue gas at temperatures 200-400 ℃, and the ultrafine dusts are trapped in condensed water at temperature blow 100 ℃. Based on chemical engineering expertise the author is sure that the cost for removing acid gases is much lower than any clean coal technologies known to today. Instead of capture, the remained CO_2 is converted to CO in the second time contact with carbon at 900-950 ℃. CO is the raw material of chemical synthesis and, thus, CO_2 is stored in chemical products such as methanol, fertilizer, plastics, etc. The simple and low-cost processing allows GCP utilized in practice easily.
