Volatile Organic Compound Emissions when Drying Wood Particles at High Dewpoints

Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during drying of wood particles for particleboard manufacture, or for production of refined biofuels, is a potential environmental problem. The aim of this work is to study the emissions of VOCs during drying, and the influence on the emissions by different drying parameters.The experiments have mainly been done in a batch fluidized bed dryer, but measurements have also been done in a, pilot scale, continuous fluidized bed dryer. The parameters studied are air flow rate through the bed, air temperature, air dewpoint, and bed height. Since the present trend in biofuels and particle drying is towards very high dewpoints during drying, some measurements have been made at dewpoints up to 95℃, corresponding to a water content of 3.2 kg water per kilogram dry air. The emissions have been measured in two different ways,online during drying with a flame ionization detector and through wood analyses of the terpene content in the wood particles before and after drying. Substantial work has been made in developing the latter method as well as developing the drying equipment to be able to produce a wide range of conditions of the drying medium. It was shown that the VOCs emitted, during wood particle drying, mainly consist of terpenes. The behavior of the emissions was typical, at first contact with the drying gas a sharp peak in the release rate was detected. After that,the release rate stabilizes and declines slowly to a point where the material temperature increases and results in a second small peak in the release rate. Typically 80%-90% of the initial terpene content in the material was emitted during drying to low moisture content and it is not possible to significantly influence this release by changing the drying conditions. Up to 50% of the emitted terpenes are released during a very short period after contact with the drying medium. This fact could be utilized by employing a 2-step drying process. The fact that the VOC concentration in the inert gas gets much higher when drying at higher dewpoints could be taken into consideration when dealing with closed loop applications where the inert gas after the dryer is burnt.

Using dynamic dewpoint isotherms to determine the optimal storage conditions of inert dust-treated hard red winter wheat

Water-solid interactions play a key role in determining the efficacy of inert dusts. The critical water activity(Awc) for phase transition in amorphous materials is an important characteristic of amorphous inert dusts used as grain protectants. As water activity(Aw) rises above Awc, amorphous dusts undergo a transition from glassy or vitreous state to rubbery state. Such a transition induces dramatic changes in material properties, texture and structure, and hence impact their performance as grain protectants. Full Dynamic Dewpoint Isotherms(DDI) of a synthetic amorphous zeolite intended for grain protection were generated using the Vapor Sorption Analyzer(VSA) to determine Awcby investigating the relationship between moisture content and Awat constant temperatures. Sorption experimental data was fitted using three sorption isotherm models: Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer(GAB), Double Log Polynomial(DLP),and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller(BET). DLP model was the best model to estimate zeolite and wheat sorption isotherms. Full sorption isotherms of zeolite and wheat obtained at 25, 35, and 45 °C clearly showed the hysteresis phenomenon. The hysteresis loops were of type H3 for wheat, and of type H4 for zeolite powder. The intensity of hysteresis remained unchanged for wheat. However, the intensity of hysteresis decreased with increasing temperatures during water adsorption by porous zeolite powder. Monolayer moisture content values for each sorption direction were provided only by GAB and BET models and indicated a decrease in monolayer moisture content with an increase in temperature. The net isosteric heats of sorption and the differential enthalpy of zeolite estimated by the Clausius–Clapeyron equation and determined graphically decreased with increasing moisture content. Conversely, differential entropy of zeolite decreased with increasing zeolite moisture content. The optimal moisture content of inert dust for grain treatment was dependent on wheat moisture content and wheat storage temperature. This is the first time that a synthetic amorphous dust is being investigated for grain protection.Our results recommend the application of inert dusts at the optimal moisture content to mitigate moisture migration within the system "wheat-dust", thus ensuring dust maximal efficacy.

Economic Evaluation of Hydraulic Fracturing in a Gas Condensate Reservoir Operating below Dewpoint

Hydraulic fracturing is among the approaches used to optimize production from a gas condensate reservoir. A detailed economic analysis is required to evaluate the profitability and feasibility of hydraulic fracturing as an optimization option in a gas condensate reservoir operating below dewpoint. The objective of this research is to evaluate the economic benefits derivable from the use of hydraulic fracturing to improve gas and liquid recovery from a gas condensate reservoir operating below dewpoint. This research considers the use of four profit indicators to ascertain the profitability of hydraulic fracturing in a gas condensate reservoir operating below dewpoint by increasing the fracture halflength, fracture width and fracture permeability. The production data of the reservoir was obtained and the economic calculations done on excel spreadsheet and plots generated. The four profit indicators considered in the research are Net Present Value, Payout, Discounted Cash Flow Rate of Return and Profit per Dollar Invested. The economic justification was done by carrying out a comparative economic analysis from the result obtained when the reservoir of study was unfractured with that obtained when the reservoir was fractured at various fracture parameters. The economic analysis was done considering a royalty and tax rate of 18.5% and 30% respectively and a gas price of $2/MSCF and condensate price of $30/bbl. This is done so as to find out if the additional cost of hydraulic fracturing can be offset by the recovery from the reservoir when its pressure declined below dewpoint. The result obtained showed that the additional recovery due to hydraulic fracturing by increasing the fracture halflength, fracture width and fracture permeability was not enough to justify the application of hydraulic fracturing when the reservoir pressure declined below dewpoint.

Impacts of CO2 and H2S on the risk of hydrate formation during pipeline transport of natural gas

Evaluation of maximum content of water in natural gas before water condenses out at a given temperature and pressure is the initial step in hydrate risk analysis during pipeline transport of natural gas, The impacts of CO2 and ELS in natural gas on the maximum mole-fractions of water that can be tolerated during pipeline transport without the risk of hydrate nucleation has been studied using our novel thermodynamic scheme. Troll gas from the North Sea is used as a reference ease, it contains very negligible amount of CO2 and no H2S. Varying mole-fractions of CO2 and INS were introduced into the Troll gas, and the effects these inorganic impurities on the water tolerance of the system were evaluated. It is observed that CO2 does not cause any distinguishable impact on water tolerance of the system, but H2S does. Water tolerance decreases with increase in concentration of H2S. The impact of ethane on the system was also investigated. The maximum mole-fraction of water permitted in the gas to ensure prevention of hydrate formation also decreases with increase in the concentration of C2H6 like H2S. H2S has the most impact, it tolerates the least amount of water among the components studied.

Effects of Bentonite,Hydrogel and Biochar Amendments on Soil Hydraulic Properties from Saturation to Oven Dryness

Effects of hydrogel, bentonite, and biochar as soil amendments on soil hydraulic properties and improving water availability from saturation to oven dryness were investigated. Soils were mixed with hydrogel (0.10%, 0.25%, and 0.50%), bentonite (0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.5%), and biochar (1.0%, 2.5%, and 5.0%) as soil amendments (weight:weight). Three methods (extended multistep outflow (XMSO), evaporation (EVA), and WP4 dewpoint potentiometer) were used to measure soil hydraulic properties from saturation to oven dryness. The cumulative XMSO results were more uniform across all the applied pressure steps for the amended soils. The EVA exhibited a shorter linear decrease during the first evaporation stage and a lower evaporation rate during the second evaporation stage. The WP4 results also exhibited that soil amendments increased the soil water content of the amended soils at low matric potentials. The results of soil water retention curves revealed that the unamended soil retained less water at any matric potential compared to the amended soils. Soil hydraulic conductivity decreased with increasing amount of soil amendments. The saturated hydraulic conductivity was higher for the unamended soil than the soils amended w计h 2.5% bentonite, 0.50% hydrogel, and 5.0% biochar by 11, 3, and 18 times, respectively. These results suggested that soil amendments improved soil water retentivity, which confirmed the appropriateness of these soil amendments for potential use in sandy soil improvements. However, field experiments and economical perception studies should be considered for further investigation.