Publications
107 results found
Samaroo N, Koylass N, Guo M, et al., 2020, Achieving absolute sustainability across integrated industrial networks - a case study on the ammonia process, GREEN CHEMISTRY, Vol: 22, Pages: 6547-6559, ISSN: 1463-9262
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- Citations: 10
Jing R, Wang J, Shah N, et al., 2020, Emerging supply chain of utilising electrical vehicle retired batteries in distributed energy systems
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Increasing electric vehicles (EV) penetration leads to significant challenges in EV battery disposal. Reusing retired batteries in distributed energy systems (DES) offers resource-circular solutions. We propose an optimisation framework to model the emerging supply chains and design strategies for reusing the retired EV batteries in DES. Coupling a supply chain profit-allocation model with a DES design optimisation model, the framework maximises the whole chain profit and enables fair profit distribution between three interactive sectors, i.e., EV, DES, dismantling and recycle (D&R) sectors. Our research highlights the system implications of retired batteries on DES design and new modelling insights into incentive policy effectiveness. Our case study suggests significant potential value chain profits (2.65 million US$) achieved by deploying 10.7 MWh of retired batteries in the DES application with optimal retired battery price of 138 US$/kWh. The revenue support on D&R sector is suggested as a promising incentive scheme than tariff support.</jats:p>
Jaggai C, Imkaraaz Z, Samm K, et al., 2020, Towards greater sustainable development within current Mega-Methanol (MM) production, GREEN CHEMISTRY, Vol: 22, Pages: 4279-4294, ISSN: 1463-9262
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- Citations: 16
Robles I, O'Dwyer E, Guo M, 2020, Waste-to-Resource value chain optimisation: Combining spatial, chemical and technoeconomic aspects, Water Research, Vol: 178, ISSN: 0043-1354
Due to complex composition of carbohydrates, lipid, protein, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, wastewater (WW) and organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW) represent nutrient and carbon rich resources. Conventionally, value chains in the waste sector have considered OFMSW and WW as unwanted by-products as opposed to potential valuable resources. Full exploitation of these resources calls for a value chain transformation towards proactive resource recovery. This study focuses on the waste supply chain optimisation to recover value added products from OFMSW.The research leads to a systems-modelling approach, which integrates spatial data analyses, mathematical mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimisation and technology performance evaluation to inform the design of waste-to-resource value chains. A UK based study on OFMSW is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach. The study captures variation in OFMSW quantity and composition, incorporating over 600 existing anaerobic digestion (AD) operational plants in the UK, while potential sites for new waste-recovery facilities are identified, accounting for transportation and logistics, using a GIS-based analysis. Key outcomes are analysed (technology type, size, location, logistical connections), placing emphasis on the need to consider the value of the resource recovery potential over the lifetime of an AD or thermochemical treatment facility in the design process. Such an approach offers a promising pathway for tackling the open challenges currently hindering the waste-to-resource transformation.
Sadeek S, Chan TL, Ramdath R, et al., 2020, Life Cycle Inventory and Assessment Datasets on the Operational Sustainability of the Ammonia Process, DATA IN BRIEF, Vol: 30, ISSN: 2352-3409
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- Citations: 6
Sadeek S, Chan TL, Ramdath R, et al., 2020, The influence of raw material availability and utility power consumption on the sustainability of the ammonia process, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH & DESIGN, Vol: 158, Pages: 177-192, ISSN: 0263-8762
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- Citations: 13
Guo M, van Dam KH, Touhami NO, et al., 2020, Multi-level system modelling of the resource-food-bioenergy nexus in the global south, Energy, Vol: 197, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0360-5442
To meet the demands for resources, food and energy, especially in fast developing countries in the Global South, new infrastructure investments, technologies and supply chains are required. It is essential to manage a transition that minimises the impacts on global environmental degradation while benefits local socio-economic development. Food-bioenergy integration optimising natural capital resources and considering wider environmental and socio-economic sustainability offers a way forward. This study presents an integrative approach enabling whole systems modelling to address the interlinkage and interaction of resource-food-bioenergy systems and optimise supply chains considering poly-centric decision spaces. Life cycle sustainability assessment, optimisation, agent-based modelling and simulation were coupled to build an integrated systems modelling framework applicable to the resource-food-bioenergy nexus. The model building blocks are described before their applications in three case studies addressing agricultural residues and macro-fungi in the Philippines, sugar cane biorefineries in South Africa, and Nipa palm biofuel in Thailand. Our case studies revealed the great potential of untapped biomass including agricultural waste and non-food biomass grown on marginal lands. Two value chain integration case studies – i.e. straw-fungi-energy in Philippines and sugar-energy in Africa – have been suggested as sustainable solutions to recover waste as value-added products to meet food and energy security. Case studies highlight how an integrative modelling framework can be applied to address multi-level questions, taking into account decision-making at different levels, which contribute to an overall sustainability goal.
O'Dwyer E, Chen K, Wang H, et al., 2020, Optimisation of wastewater treatment strategies in eco-industrial parks: technology, location and transport, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol: 381, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 1385-8947
The expanding population and rapid urbanisation, in particular in the Global South, areleading to global challenges on resource supply stress and rising waste generation. A transformation to resource-circular systems and sustainable recovery of carbon-containing andnutrient-rich waste offers a way to tackle such challenges. Eco-industrial parks have thepotential to capture symbioses across individual waste producers, leading to more effectivewaste-recovery schemes. With whole-system design, economically attractive approaches canbe achieved, reducing the environmental impacts while increasing the recovery of high-valueresources. In this paper, an optimisation framework is developed to enable such design,allowing for wide ranging treatment options to be considered capturing both technologicaland financial detail. As well as technology selection, the framework also accounts for spatial aspects, with the design of suitable transport networks playing a key role. A range ofscenarios are investigated using the network, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of theproblem. The need to incorporate the impact of resource recovery at the design stage isshown to be of particular importance.
Zhuang R, Wang X, Guo M, et al., 2020, Waste-to-hydrogen: Recycling HCl to produce H<sub>2</sub> and Cl<sub>2</sub>, APPLIED ENERGY, Vol: 259, ISSN: 0306-2619
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- Citations: 14
Tao Y, Ersahin ME, Ghasimi DSM, et al., 2020, Biogas productivity of anaerobic digestion process is governed by a core bacterial microbiota, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, Vol: 380, ISSN: 1385-8947
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- Citations: 61
Upcraft T, Guo M, 2020, Phytoremediation value chains and modeling, SUSTAINABLE REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL AND GROUNDWATER: MATERIALS, PROCESSES, AND ASSESSMENT, Editors: Hou, Publisher: BUTTERWORTH-HEINEMANN, Pages: 325-366, ISBN: 978-0-12-817982-6
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- Citations: 3
Upcraft T, Johnson R, Finnigan T, et al., 2020, Protein from Renewable Resources: Mycoprotein Production from Agricultural Residues, Editors: Pierucci, Manenti, Bozzano, Manca, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 985-990
Durkin A, Millan-Agorio M, Guo M, 2020, Process Systems Design Framework for Resource Recovery from Wastewater, Editors: Pierucci, Manenti, Bozzano, Manca, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 1039-1044
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- Citations: 1
Robles I, Guo M, 2020, Development of Systems Modelling Framework for Waste-to-Resource Transformation, Editors: Pierucci, Manenti, Bozzano, Manca, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 1597-1602
Kong Q, Kuriyan K, Shah N, et al., 2019, Development of a responsive optimisation framework for decision-making in precision agriculture, Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol: 131, ISSN: 0098-1354
Emerging digital technologies and data advances (e.g. smart machinery, remote sensing) not only enable Agriculture 4.0 to envisage interconnected agro-ecosystems and precision agriculture but also demand responsive decision-making. This study presents a mathematical optimisation model to bring real-time data and information to precision decision-support and to optimise short-term farming operation. To achieve responsive decision-support, we proposed two meta-heuristic algorithms i.e. a tailored genetic algorithm and a hybrid genetic-tabu search algorithm for solving the deterministic optimisation. The developed responsive optimisation framework has been applied to a hypothetical case study to optimise sugarcane harvesting in the KwaZulu Natal region in South Africa. In comparison with the optimal solutions derived from the exact algorithm, the proposed meta-heuristic methods lead to near optimal solutions (less than 5% from optimality) and significantly reduced computational time by over 95%. Our results suggest that the tailored genetic algorithm enables rapid solution searching but the solution quality on sugarcane harvesting cannot compete with the exact method. The hybrid genetic-tabu search algorithm achieved a good trade-off between computational time reduction and solution optimality, demonstrating the potential to enhance responsive decision making in precision sugarcane farming. Our research highlights the development of the responsive optimisation framework combining mixed integer linear programming and hybrid meta-heuristic search algorithms and its applications in real-time decision-making under Agriculture 4.0 vision.
O'Connor D, Zheng X, Hou D, et al., 2019, Phytoremediation: Climate change resilience and sustainability assessment at a coastal brownfield redevelopment, ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL, Vol: 130, ISSN: 0160-4120
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- Citations: 50
Duan M, O'Dwyer E, Stuckey D, et al., 2019, Wastewater-to-resource- Design of a sustainable phosphorus recovery system, ChemistryOpen, Vol: 8, Pages: 1109-1120, ISSN: 2191-1363
To enable more sustainable wastewater treatment processes, a transition towards resource recovery methods that have minimal environmental impact while being financially viable is imperative. Phosphorus (P) is a finite resource that is being discharged into the aqueous environment in excessive quantities. As such, understanding the financial and environmental effectiveness of different approaches for removing and recovering P from wastewater streams is important to reduce the overall impact of wastewater treatment. In this study, a process-systems modelling framework for comprehensively evaluating these approaches in terms of both economic and environmental impacts is developed. Applying this framework, treatment pathways are designed, simulated and analysed to determine the most suitable approaches for P removal and recovery. The purpose of this methodology is not only to assist with plant design, but also to identify the principal economic and environmental factors acting as barriers to implementing a given technology, incorporating the impact of waste recovery. The results suggest that the chemical and ion-exchange approaches studied deliver sustainable advantages over biological pathways, both economically and environmentally, with each possessing different strengths. The assessment methodology developed enables a more rational and environmentally sound wastewater plant design approach to be taken.
Calvo-Serrano R, Guo M, Pozo C, et al., 2019, Biomass Conversion into Fuels, Chemicals, or Electricity? A Network-Based Life Cycle Optimization Approach Applied to the European Union, ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, Vol: 7, Pages: 10570-10582, ISSN: 2168-0485
Adeogba E, Barty P, ODwyer E, et al., 2019, Waste-to-resource transformation: Gradient boosting modeling for organic fraction municipal solid waste projection, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol: 7, Pages: 10460-10466, ISSN: 2168-0485
Food and garden waste are important components of organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW), representing carbon and nutrient rich resources composed of carbohydrates, lipid, protein, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Despite progressive diversion from landfill, over 50% of landfilled MSW is biodegradable, causing greenhouse gas emissions. In conventional waste management value chains, OFMSW components have been regarded as byproducts as opposed to promising resources with energy and nutrient values. Full exploitation of waste resources calls for a value chain transformation toward proactive resource recovery and waste commoditization. This requires robust projection of OFMSW composition and supply variability. Gradient boosting models are developed here using historical socio-demographic, weather, and waste data from U.K. local authorities. These models are used to forecast garden and food OFMSW generation for each of the 327 U.K. local authorities. The developed methods perform particularly well in forecasting garden waste due to a greater link to measurable environmental variables. The research highlights the key influences in waste volume prediction and demonstrates the difficulty in transferring models to local authorities without training data. The predictive performance and spatial granularity of model projections offer a promising approach to inform decision-making on future waste recovery facilities and OFMSW commoditization.
Durkin A, Taptygin I, Kong Q, et al., 2019, Scale-up and sustainability evaluation of biopolymer production from citrus waste offering carbon capture and utilisation pathway, ChemistryOpen, Vol: 8, Pages: 668-688, ISSN: 2191-1363
Poly(limonene carbonate) (PLC) has been highlighted as an attractive substitute to petroleum derived plastics, due to its utilisation of CO2 and bio-based limonene as feedstocks, offering an effective carbon capture and utilisation pathway. Our study investigates the techno-economic viability and environmental sustainability of a novel process to produce PLC from citrus waste derived limonene, coupled with an anaerobic digestion process to enable energy cogeneration and waste recovery maximisation. Computational process design was integrated with a life cycle assessment to identify the sustainability improvement opportunities. PLC production was found to be economically viable, assuming sufficient citrus waste is supplied to the process, and environmentally preferable to polystyrene (PS) in various impact categories including climate change. However, it exhibited greater environmental burdens than PS across other impact categories, although the environmental performance could be improved with a waste recovery system, at the cost of a process design shift towards energy generation. Finally, our study quantified the potential contribution of PLC to mitigating the escape of atmospheric CO2 concentration from the planetary boundary. We emphasise the importance of a holistic approach to process design and highlight the potential impacts of biopolymers, which is instrumental in solving environmental problems facing the plastic industry and building a sustainable circular economy.
Durkin A, Taptygin I, Kong Q, et al., 2019, Scale-up and sustainability evaluation of biopolymer production from citrus waste offering carbon capture and utilisation pathway, ChemistryOpen, Vol: 8, Pages: 668-688, ISSN: 2191-1363
Invited for this month's cover picture is the group of Dr Miao Guo from Department of Chemical Engineering at the Imperial College London (UK). The cover picture shows modelling research on the co-polymerisation of waste-sourced limonene oxide with CO2 to produce poly(limonene carbonate), which offers a sustainable pathway to achieve carbon capture and utilisation. A computational approach to process design was integrated with sustainability evaluation to model this synthetic pathway and identify the environmental-damaging and performance-limiting steps for further improvement. Our research highlights the potential of closed-loop manufacturing systems with waste recovery, which is instrumental in building a sustainable circular economy.
Durkin A, Taptygin I, Kong Q, et al., 2019, Front Cover: Scale‐up and Sustainability Evaluation of Biopolymer Production from Citrus Waste Offering Carbon Capture and Utilisation Pathway (ChemistryOpen 6/2019), ChemistryOpen, Vol: 8, Pages: 657-657, ISSN: 2191-1363
Sharifzadeh M, Sadeqzadeh M, Nejadghaffar Borhani T, et al., 2019, The multiscale challenges of biomass fast pyrolysis and bio-oil upgrading: review of the state of art and future research directions, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Vol: 71, Pages: 1-80, ISSN: 1873-216X
Biomass fast pyrolysis is potentially one of the cheapest routes toward renewable liquid fuels. Its commercialization, however, poses a multi-scale challenge, which starts with the characterization of feedstock, products and reaction intermediates at molecular scales, and continues with understanding the complex reaction network taking place in different reactor configurations, and in the case of catalytic pyrolysis and upgrading on different catalysts. In addition, crude pyrolysis oil is not immediately usable in the current energy infrastructure, due to undesirable properties such as low energy content and corrosiveness as a result of its high oxygenate content. It, therefore, needs to be upgraded and fractionated to desired specifications. While various types of pyrolysis reactors and upgrading technologies are under development, knowledge transfer and closing the gap between theory and application requires model development. In-depth understanding of the reaction mechanisms and kinetics should be combined with the knowledge of multi-scale transport phenomena to enable design, optimization, and control of complex pyrolysis reactors. Finally, underpinning economic and environmental impacts of biofuel production requires expanding the system boundaries to include the overall process and supply chain. The present contribution aims at providing a comprehensive multi-scale review that discusses the state of the art of each of these aspects, as well as their multi-scale interactions. The study is mainly focused on fast pyrolysis, although reference to other types of pyrolysis technologies is made for the sake of comparison and knowledge transfer.
Xu J, Upcraft T, Tang Q, et al., 2019, Hydrogen Generation Performance from Taihu Algae and Food Waste by Anaerobic Codigestion, ENERGY & FUELS, Vol: 33, Pages: 1279-1289, ISSN: 0887-0624
Mazur C, Hoegerle Y, Brucoli M, et al., 2019, A holistic resilience framework development for rural power systems in emerging economies, Applied Energy, Vol: 235, Pages: 219-232, ISSN: 0306-2619
Infrastructure and services within urban areas of developed countries have established reliable definitions of resilience and its dependence on various factors as an important pathway for achieving sustainability in these energy systems. However, the assessment, design, building and maintenance of power systems situated in rural areas in emerging economies present further difficulties because there is no a clear framework for such circumstances. Aiming to address this issue, this paper combines different visions of energy-related resilience both in general and under rural conditions in order to provide a robust practical framework for local and international stakeholders to derive the right actions in the rural context of emerging economies. An in-depth review is implemented to recompile information of resilience in general, in energy systems and in rural areas in particular, and a number of existing frameworks is also consulted. In order to acknowledge the particular circumstances and identify the important factors influencing the resilience of rural electrification in emerging economies, a holistic rural power system resilience framework is developed and presented. This consists of twenty-one indicators for technical resilience, eight indicators for social resilience, and thirteen indicators for economic resilience. This framework can be used by system owners and operators, policy makers, NGOs and communities to ensure the longevity of power systems. This work also paves the way for the creation of appropriate and effective resilience standards specifically targeted for application in these regions - aiming to achieve the delivery of global and local sustainability goals.
Wang X, Yang W, Noor S, et al., 2019, Blockchain-based smart contract for energy demand management, 10th International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE), Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 2719-2724, ISSN: 1876-6102
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- Citations: 38
van Dam KH, Feng B, Wang X, et al., 2019, Model-based decision-support for waste-to-energy pathways in New South Wales, Australia, Editors: Kiss, Zondervan, Lakerveld, Ozkan, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 1765-1770, ISBN: 978-0-12-819940-4
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- Citations: 1
Noor S, Yang W, Guo M, et al., 2018, Energy Demand Side Management within micro-grid networks enhanced by blockchain, APPLIED ENERGY, Vol: 228, Pages: 1385-1398, ISSN: 0306-2619
Gao C, Zhao M, Huang Z, et al., 2018, Hydrogen consumption capacity assessment and its inhibition in the dry anaerobic digestion process from food waste, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol: 10, Pages: 053104-053104
Zhao M, Yang L, Guo M, et al., 2018, High-solids fermentation of food wastes for biogas recovery by using horizontal anaerobic reactor, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol: 10, Pages: 043106-043106
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