Universität Stuttgart
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Item Open Access Global potentials and costs of synfuels via Fischer-Tropsch process(2023) Buchenberg, Patrick; Addanki, Thushara; Franzmann, David; Winkler, Christoph; Lippkau, Felix; Hamacher, Thomas; Kuhn, Philipp; Heinrichs, Heidi; Blesl, MarkusThis paper presents the potentials and costs of synthetic fuels (synfuels) produced by renewable energy via PEM water electrolysis and the subsequent Fischer-Tropsch process for the years 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050 in selected countries across the globe. The renewable energy potential was determined by the open-source tool pyGRETA and includes photovoltaic, onshore wind, and biomass. Carbon dioxide is obtained from biomass and the atmosphere by direct air capture. The potentials and costs were determined by aggregating minimal cost energy systems for each location on a state level. Each linear energy system was modelled and optimised by the optimisation framework urbs. The analysis focused on decentralised and off-grid synthetic fuels’ production. The transportation costs were roughly estimated based on the distance to the nearest maritime port for export. The distribution infrastructure was not considered since the already-existing infrastructure for fossil fuels can be easily adopted. The results showed that large amounts of synthetic fuels are available for EUR 110/MWh (USD 203/bbl) mainly in Africa, Central and South America, as well as Australia for 2050. This corresponds to a cost reduction of more than half compared to EUR 250/MWh (USD 461/bbl) in 2020. The synfuels’ potentials follow the photovoltaic potentials because of the corresponding low levelised cost of electricity. Batteries are in particular used for photovoltaic-dominant locations, and transportation costs are low compared to production costs.Item Open Access A model-based framework for the assessment of energy-efficiency and CO2-mitigation measures in multi-cylinder paper drying(Stuttgart : Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Energiewirtschaft und Rationelle Energieanwendung, 2022) Godin, Hélène; Radgen, Peter (Prof. Dr.-Ing.)Thesis on the effect of energy-efficiency and CO2-mitigation measures in multi-cylinder paper drying.Item Open Access Optimal design of experiments to improve the characterisation of atrazine degradation pathways in soil(2021) Chavez Rodriguez, Luciana; González‐Nicolás, Ana; Ingalls, Brian; Streck, Thilo; Nowak, Wolfgang; Xiao, Sinan; Pagel, HolgerContamination of soils with pesticides and their metabolites is a global environmental threat. Deciphering the complex process chains involved in pesticide degradation is a prerequisite for finding effective solution strategies. This study applies prospective optimal design (OD) of experiments to identify laboratory sampling strategies that allow model‐based discrimination of atrazine (AT) degradation pathways. We simulated virtual AT degradation experiments with a first‐order model that reflects a simple reaction chain of complete AT degradation. We added a set of Monod‐based model variants that consider more complex AT degradation pathways. Then, we applied an extended constraint‐based parameter search algorithm that produces Monte‐Carlo ensembles of realistic model outputs, in line with published experimental data. Differences between‐model ensembles were quantified with Bayesian model analysis using an energy distance metric. AT degradation pathways following first‐order reaction chains could be clearly distinguished from those predicted with Monod‐based models. As expected, including measurements of specific bacterial guilds improved model discrimination further. However, experimental designs considering measurements of AT metabolites were most informative, highlighting that environmental fate studies should prioritise measuring metabolites for elucidating active AT degradation pathways in soils. Our results suggest that applying model‐based prospective OD will maximise knowledge gains on soil systems from laboratory and field experiments.Item Open Access Roadmap to neutrality - what foundational questions need answering to determine one’s ideal decarbonisation strategy(2022) Buettner, Stefan M.Considering increasingly ambitious pledges by countries and various forms of pressure from current international constellations, society, investors, and clients further up the supply chain, the question for companies is not so much whether to take decarbonisation action, but what action and by when. However, determining an ideal mix of measures to apply ‘decarbonisation efficiency’ requires more than knowledge of technically feasible measures and how to combine them to achieve the most economic outcome: In this paper, working in a ‘backcasting’ manner, the author describes seven aspects which heavily influence the composition of an ‘ideal mix’ that executive leadership needs to take a (strategic) position on. Contrary to previous studies, these aspects consider underlying motivations and span across (socio-)economic, technical, regulatory, strategic, corporate culture, and environmental factors and further underline the necessity of clarity of definitions. How these decisions influence the determination of the decarbonisation-efficient ideal mix of measures is further explored by providing concrete examples. Insights into the choices taken by German manufacturers regarding several of these aspects stem from about 850 responses to the ‘Energy Efficiency Index of German Industry’. Knowledge of the status quo, and clarity in definitions, objectives, time frames, and scope are key.Item Open Access Lab-scale investigation of palm shell char as tar reforming catalyst(2020) Chen, Yen-Hau; Schmid, Max; Chang, Chia-Chi; Chang, Ching-Yuan; Scheffknecht, GünterThis research investigated the application of palm shell char as a catalyst for the catalytic steam reforming of tar after the sorption enhanced gasification (SEG) process. The catalytic activities of palm shell char and metal-supported palm shell char were tested in a simulated SEG derived syngas with tar model compounds (i.e., toluene and naphthalene) at a concentration of 10 g m-3 NTP. The results indicated that palm shell char had an experimentally excellent catalytic activity for tar reforming with toluene and naphthalene conversions of 0.8 in a short residence time of 0.17 s at 900 °C. A theoretical residence time to reach the complete naphthalene conversion was 1.2 s at 900 °C for palm shell char, demonstrating a promising activity similar to wood char and straw char, but better than CaO. It was also found that potassium and iron-loaded palm shell chars exhibited much better catalytic activity than palm shell char, while the parallel reaction of gasification of K-loaded palm shell char influenced the conversion with its drastic mass loss. Moreover, contrary to CaO, palm shell char presented relatively low selectivity to benzene, and its spontaneous gasification generated extra syngas. In summary, the present study demonstrated that the low-cost material, palm shell char, can successfully be used as the tar-reforming catalyst after SEG process.Item Open Access Steam-oxygen fluidized bed gasification of sewage sludge(2023) Schmid, Max; Scheffknecht, Günter (Univ.-Prof. Dr. techn.)Sewage sludge is a residue that is generated unavoidably by the population. On a first sight, sewage sludge may be a hazardous waste that requires safe disposal. By looking closer, it is recognized as secondary resource. The mineral fraction contains valuable elements such as phosphorous, which can be retrieved as secondary raw material. This thesis focuses on the organic fraction, which is a renewable fuel and carbon source and can be used to substitute fossil carbon in fuels and chemicals. The first step in converting sewage sludge to renewable goods is syngas production via gasification. The experimental work of this thesis demonstrated the feasibility of synthesis gas production from sewage sludge by steam-oxygen fluidized bed gasification. It was shown that the process works reliably in the investigated 20 kW scale and that the syngas contains high H2 and CO concentrations and is thus suitable for synthesis of fuels and chemicals. The impurities NH3, H2S, COS and tar species, including heterocyclic species such as pyridine, were measured in considerable concentrations in the syngas. Small amounts of limestone bed additive enabled cracking of heavy tars and partial capture of H2S and COS. It was further found that the cold gas efficiency increases with rising gasification temperature due to improved tar and char conversion at higher temperatures. The typical operation temperature 850 °C requires an oxygen ratio of 0.33, obtaining a cold gas efficiency of 63 %. Moreover, the H2/CO-ratio could be controlled efficiently by altering the steam to carbon ratio, as steam promotes the water gas shift reaction in the gasifier to achieve the desired stoichiometry for synthesis, however, resulting in higher energy demand for steam provision. The experimental results can be utilized for process design, e.g., for a TRL 7-demonstrator. Furthermore, a gasifier model was developed and an integrated process chain was simulated to assess the conversion of sewage sludge to synthetic natural gas (SNG) with and without inclusion of power-to-gas through electrolysis. The total efficiency of the conversion including own consumption for the case without electrolysis was 51 % with a carbon utilization of 33 %. These values could be enhanced by inclusion of power-to-gas. It was predicted that the produced SNG has a CH4-concentration of between 0.81 m3 m 3 and 0.84 m3 m 3 and nitrogen concentrations of up to 0.16 m3 m 3 originating from fuel-bound nitrogen. The simulations on process integration showed that up to 20% of the sewage sludge feed can be dried by heat integration. This implies that also external heat sources have to be used for drying. Overall, the steam-oxygen gasification proved to be an efficient and technically feasible process for sewage sludge treatment and can be considered as an alternative to fluidized bed incineration for future mono-treatment plants.Item Open Access A bidirectional wireless power transfer system with integrated near-field communication for e-vehicles(2024) Ye, Weizhou; Parspour, NejilaThis paper presents the design of a bidirectional wireless power and information transfer system. The wireless information transfer is based on near-field technology, utilizing communication coils integrated into power transfer coils. Compared with conventional far-field-based communication methods (e.g., Bluetooth and WLAN), the proposed near-field-based communication method provides a peer-to-peer feature, as well as lower latency, which enables the simple paring of a transmitter and a receiver for power transfer and the real-time updating of control parameters. Using the established communication, control parameters are transmitted from one side of the system to another side, and the co-control of the inverter and the active rectifier is realized. In addition, this work innovatively presents the communication-signal-based synchronization of an inverter and a rectifier, which requires no AC current sensing in the power path and no complex algorithm for stabilization, unlike conventional current-based synchronization methods. The proposed information and power transfer system was measured under different operating conditions, including aligned and misaligned positions, operating points with different charging powers, and forward and reverse power transfer. The results show that the presented prototype allows a bidirectional power transfer of up to 1.2 kW, and efficiency above 90% for the power ranges from 0.6 kW to 1.2 kW was obtained. Furthermore, the integrated communication is robust to the crosstalk from the power transfer and misalignment, and a zero BER (bit error rate) and ultra-low latency of 15.36 µs are achieved. The presented work thus provides a novel solution to the synchronization and real-time co-control of an active rectifier and an inverter in a wireless power transfer system, utilizing integrated near-field-based communication.Item Open Access Porosity and permeability alterations in processes of biomineralization in porous media - microfluidic investigations and their interpretation(Stuttgart : Eigenverlag des Instituts für Wasser- und Umweltsystemmodellierung der Universität Stuttgart, 2022) Weinhardt, Felix; Class, Holger (apl. Prof. Dr.-Ing)Motivation: Biomineralization refers to microbially induced processes resulting in mineral formations. In addition to complex biomineral structures frequently formed by marine organisms, like corals or mussels, microbial activities may also indirectly induce mineralization. A famous example is the formation of stromatolites, which result from biofilm activities that locally alter the chemical and physical properties of the environment in favor of carbonate precipitation. Recently, biomineralization gained attention as an engineering application. Especially with the background of global warming and the objective to reduce CO2 emissions, biomineralization offers an innovative and sustainable alternative to the usage of conventional Portland cement, whose production currently contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions. The most widely used method of biomineralization in engineering applications, is ureolytic calcium carbonate precipitation, which relies on the hydrolysis of urea and the subsequent precipitation of calcium carbonate. The hydrolysis of urea at moderate temperatures is relatively slow and therefore needs to be catalyzed by the enzyme urease to be practical for applications. Urease can be extracted from plants, for example from ground jack beans, and the process is consequently referred to as enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (ECIP). Another method is microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP), which uses ureolytic bacteria that produce the enzyme in situ. EICP and MICP applications allow for producing various construction materials, stabilizing soils, or creating hydraulic barriers in the subsurface. The latter can be used, for example, to remediate leakages at the top layer of gas storage reservoirs, or to contain contaminant plumes in aquifers. Especially when remediating leakages in the subsurface, the most crucial parameter to be controlled is its intrinsic permeability. A valuable tool for predicting and planning field applications is the use of numerical simulation at the scale of representative elementary volumes (REV). For that, the considered domain is subdivided into several REV’s, which do not resolve the pore space in detail, but represent it by averaged parameters, such as the porosity and permeability. The porosity describes the ratio of the pore space to the considered bulk volume, and the permeability quantifies the ease of fluid flow through a porous medium. A change in porosity generally also affects permeability. Therefore, for REV-scale simulations, constitutive relationships are utilized to describe permeability as a function of porosity. There are several porosity-permeability relationships in the literature, such as the Kozeny-Carman relationship, Verma-Pruess, or simple power-law relationships. These constitutive relationships can describe individual states but usually do not include the underlying processes. Different boundary conditions during biomineralization may influence the course of porosity-permeability relationships. However, these relationships have not yet been adequately addressed. Pore-scale simulations are, in principle, very well suited to investigate pore space changes and their effects on permeability systematically. However, these simulations also rely on simplifications and assumptions. Therefore, it is essential to conduct experimental studies to investigate the complex processes during calcium carbonate precipitation in detail at the pore scale. Recent studies have shown that microfluidic methods are particularly suitable for this purpose. However, previous microfluidic studies have not explicitly addressed the impact of biomineralization on hydraulic effects. Therefore, this work aims to identify relevant phenomena at the pore scale to conclude on the REV-scale parameters, porosity and permeability, and their relationship. Contributions: This work comprises three publications. First, a suitable microfluidic setup and workflow were developed in Weinhardt et al. [2021a] to study pore space changes and the associated hydraulic effects reliably. This paper illustrated the benefits and insights of combining optical microscopy and micro X-ray computed tomography (micro XRCT) with hydraulic measurements in microfluidic chips. The elaborated workflow allowed for quantitative analysis of the evolution of calcium carbonate precipitates in terms of their size, shape, and spatial distribution. At the same time, their influence on differential pressure could be observed as a measure of flow resistance. Consequently, porosity and permeability changes could be determined. Along with this paper, we published two data sets [Weinhardt et al., 2021b, Vahid Dastjerdi et al., 2021] and set the basis for two other publications. In the second publication [von Wolff et al., 2021], the simulation results of a pore-scale numerical model, developed by Lars von Wolff, were compared to the experimental data of the first paper [Weinhardt et al., 2021b]. We observed a good agreement between the experimental data and the model results. The numerical studies complemented the experimental observations in allowing for accurate analysis of crystal growth as a function of local velocity profiles. In particular, we observed that crystal aggregates tend to grow toward the upstream side, where the supply of reaction products is higher than on the downstream side. Crystal growth during biomineralization under continuous inflow is thus strongly dependent on the locally varying velocities in a porous medium. In the third publication [Weinhardt et al., 2022a], we conducted further microfluidic experiments based on the experimental setup and workflow of the first contribution and published another data set [Weinhardt et al., 2022b]. We used microfluidic cells with a different, more realistic pore structure and investigated the influence of different injection strategies. We found that the development of preferential flow paths during EICP application may depend on the given boundary conditions. Constant inflow rates can lead to the development of preferential flow paths and keep them open. Gradually reduced inflow rates can mitigate this effect. In addition, we concluded that the coexistence of multiple calcium carbonate polymorphs and their transformations could influence the temporal evolution of porosity-permeability relationships.Item Open Access Using GRACE data to study the impact of snow and rainfall on terrestrial water storage in Northeast China(2020) Qian, An; Yi, Shuang; Chang, Le; Sun, Guangtong; Liu, XiaoyangWater resources are important for agricultural, industrial, and urban development. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of rainfall and snowfall on variations in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in Northeast China from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity satellite data, GlobSnow snow water equivalent product, and ERA5-land monthly total precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth data. This study revealed the main composition and variation characteristics of TWS in Northeast China. We found that GRACE provided an effective method for monitoring large areas of stable seasonal snow cover and variations in TWS in Northeast China at both seasonal and interannual scales. On the seasonal scale, although summer rainfall was 10 times greater than winter snowfall, the terrestrial water storage in Northeast China peaked in winter, and summer rainfall brought about only a sub-peak, 1 month later than the maximum rainfall. On the interannual scale, TWS in Northeast China was controlled by rainfall. The correlation analysis results revealed that the annual fluctuations of TWS and rainfall in Northeast China appear to be influenced by ENSO (EI Niño-Southern Oscillation) events with a lag of 2-3 years. In addition, this study proposed a reconstruction model for the interannual variation in TWS in Northeast China from 2003 to 2016 on the basis of the contemporary terrestrial water storage and rainfall data.Item Open Access Measuring circularity in cities : a review of the scholarly and grey literature in search of evidence-based, measurable and actionable indicators(2023) Kapoor, Kartik; Amydala, Nikhil Sayi; Ambooken, Anubhav; Scheinberg, AnneCircularity in cities is key to Earth’s sustainable and resource-efficient future. In contrast to the broad framework of circular economy, circularity is a technical concept associated with avoiding disposal and prolonging the useful life of products and materials, and thereby extracting fewer resources. In search of metrics and indicators to measure the impacts of circular processes in cities in real time, the authors reviewed the literature on the circular economy and circularity, in search of evidence-based circularity indicators suitable for cities to use to benchmark the environmental and climate benefits of six waste prevention cascades. This paper reports on a systematic literature review using the PRISMA protocol to screen, evaluate, and review published and grey literature sources. From more than 15,000 papers screened, after application of criteria, fewer than 25 papers were found that presented evidence-based, measurable, and actionable indicators or indicator sets for benchmarking the performance of circular processes in cities. The authors concluded that the practical commitment to evidence-based tracking of circularity (in cities) is weak. Practical progress towards a circular economy and physical and economic circularity will require stakeholders to strengthen and test the very small number of indicators and indicator sets that are relevant and useful for cities and regions to use for measuring their progress towards becoming more circular, and increase evidence-based monitoring for circularity and the circular economy.