We utilize process modeling to assess the energy and economic feasibility of a generic solar refinery which converts carbon dioxide and water into fuels.

Experimental and technoeconomic analysis of a catalytic process for the conversion of whole biomass into jet fuel.

We show that localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) can enhance the catalytic activities of different oxide-supported Au catalysts for the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction. Oxide-supported Au catalysts showed 30 to 1300% higher activity for RWGS under visible light compared to dark conditions. Au/TiO 2 catalyst prepared by deposition-precipitation (DP) method with 3.5 nm average Au particle size showed the highest activity for the RWGS reaction. Visible light is converted into chemical energy for this reaction with up to a 5 % overall efficiency. A shift in the apparent activation energy (from 47 kJ/mol in dark to 35 kJ/mol in light) and apparent reaction order with respect to CO 2 (from 0.5 in dark to 1.0 in light) occurs due to the LSPR. Our kinetic results indicate that the LSPR increases the rate of either the hydroxyl hydrogenation or carboxyl decomposition more than any other steps in the reaction network.

Size-controllable Au nanodot arrays (50, 63, and 83 nm dot size) with a narrow size distribution (± 5%) were prepared by a direct contact printing method on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. Titania was added to the Au nanodots using TiO(2) sols of 2-3 nm in size. This created a precisely controlled Au nanodot with 110 nm of TiO(2) overcoats. Using these precisely controlled nanodot arrays, the effects of Au nanodot size and TiO(2) overcoats were investigated for photoelectrochemical water splitting using a three-electrode system with a fiber-optic visible light source. From UV-vis measurement, the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak energy (ELSPR) increased and the LSPR line width (Γ) decreased with decreasing Au nanodot size. The generated plasmonic enhancement for the photoelectrochemical water splitting reaction increased with decreasing Au particle size. The measured plasmonic enhancement for light on/off experiments was 25 times for the 50 nm Au size and 10 times for the 83 nm Au nanodot size. The activity of each catalyst increased by a factor of 6 when TiO2 was added to the Au nanodots for all the samples. The activity of the catalyst was proportional to the quality factor (defined as Q = E(LSPR)/Γ) of the plasmonic metal nanostructure. The enhanced water splitting performance with the decreased Au nanodot size is probably due to more generated charge carriers (electron/hole pair) by local field enhancement as the quality factor increases.

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Novel aqueous-phase processing (APP) techniques can thermochemically convert cellulosic biomass into chemicals and liquid fuels. Here, we evaluate these technologies through process design and simulation, and from a techno-economic and environmental point of view. This is the first peer-reviewed study that conducts such an assessment taking into account different biomass pretreatment methods, process yields, product slates, and hydrogen sources, as well as the historical price variation of a number of core commodities involved in the production. This paper undertakes detailed process simulations for seven biorefinery models designed to convert red maple wood using a set of APP technologies into chemicals (e.g. furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural and gamma-valerolactone) and liquid fuels (e.g. naphtha, jet fuel and diesel). The simulation results are used to conduct a well-to-wake (WTW) lifecycle analysis for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and minimum selling price (MSP) calculations based on historical commodity price data from January 2010 to December 2015. An emphasis has been given towards aviation fuels throughout this work, and the results have been reported and discussed extensively for these fuels. It is found that the WTW GHG emissions and the MSP of jet fuel vary across the different refinery configurations from 31.6-104.5 gCO 2 e per MJ (64% lower and 19% higher, respectively, than a reported petroleum-derived fuel baseline) and $1.00-6.31 per gallon ($0.26-1.67 per liter, which is 61% lower and 146% higher, respectively, than the average conventional jet fuel price of the above time frame). It has been shown that the variation in the estimated emissions and fuel selling prices is primarily driven by the choice of hydrogen source and the relative production volumes of chemicals to fuels, respectively. The latter is a consequence of the fact that the APP chemicals considered here have a higher economic value than the liquid transportation fuels, and that their production is less carbon intensive compared to these fuels. However, the chemical market may get saturated if they are produced in large quantities, and increasing biofuel production over that of chemicals can help the biorefinery benefit under renewable fuel programs. Broader contextRenewable liquid fuels from biomass are a potential alternative to petroleum-derived fuels to address anthropogenic climate change. To date, renewable fuel production consists primarily of biodiesel and ethanol. Yet, the physical and chemical properties of these fuels are not compatible with a number of applications including aviation. Aviation needs drop-in biofuels that can seamlessly integrate with the existing infrastructure. The deployment of these fuels, however, has been impeded by high production costs driven primarily by high feedstock costs, low fuel yields and/or energy-intensive conversion processes. In our analysis, through detailed process design and simulation of biorefinery scenarios for a novel thermochemical conversion process, we find that the economic...

The objective of the North East Pacific Time-Integrated Undersea Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) is to establish a permanent, subsea observatory surrounding the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate. To achieve this objective, a special power distribution system is designed to provide continuous power to science equipment, vehicles, and laboratories located as deep as 5 km below the water surface. The NEPTUNE power system is significantly different from terrestrial power systems in many aspects and it requires different switching, protection, and control strategies. In this paper, we address the design of system switching and fault isolation equipment.

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