Sustainable energy-water-food nexus integration and optimisation in eco-industrial parks

Fouladi, Jamileh; AlNouss, Ahmed; Al‐Ansari, Tareq

doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2021.107229

Cited by 29 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The top of the column, which contains mostly carbon dioxide and ammonia, exits the loop, while the bottom stream is mixed with the top of the stripper and delivered to the ammonium carbamate production reactor. The urea and ammonia synthesis methods were designed using technology licensors for urea and ammonia processes along with literature investigations for urea and ammonia …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Techno-Economic and Sustainability Assessment of Value-Added Products Generated from Biomass Gasification: An Energy–Water–Food Nexus Approach

AlNouss

Alherbawi

McKay

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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The intrinsic dependency between energy−water−food (EWF) resources is becoming more obvious with the growing demand for these resources. As such, it is necessary to develop assessment tools that adequately quantify the interlinkages between EWF systems and the surrounding environment and identify synergies and trade-offs that may exist. Meanwhile, biomass can be regarded as a potential replacement capable of lowering ecological footprint and resource scarcity in a variety of applications. Gasification is a favored method for biomass valorization, where the produced gas mixture is used to run power plants and generate clean energy. Furthermore, it can also be utilized in chemical industries to replace natural gas in the generation of ammonia and methanol. Assessing the strategy of various biomass utilization represents a rich research subject that can be tackled from an EWF Nexus standpoint, enabling quantifying the biomass utilization implications on the EWF systems. The economic feasibility of using biomass gasification feedstock for poly-generation of various products is examined in this study. Aspen Plus software is used to simulate three alternative gasification processes to generate the best characteristics for each application route. Furthermore, a sustainability index is used to assess the impact of each application route on EWF systems and to support financial decisions. The simulation results are incorporated into a linear programming optimization model to determine the best biomass utilization approaches considering economic feasibility and resource preservation. The optimization results demonstrate that steam gasification with syngas end-use for methanol production (95%) and power production (5%) are the most feasible biomass utilization routes, with an overall collective objective function of 997%, net water generation of 4.39, net food of zero, and net energy production of 1.78 × 10 −15 .

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Techno-Economic and Sustainability Assessment of Value-Added Products Generated from Biomass Gasification: An Energy–Water–Food Nexus Approach

AlNouss

Alherbawi

McKay

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

Self Cite

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“…Political and institutional dimensions of the nexus debate would reflect the role of urban government in the management of waste management challenges globally. Fouladi et al [70] have developed an energywater-food (WEF) framework to capture the trade-offs and synergies between sustainability dimensions within an industrial park. The trade-offs between the costs and environmental emissions while synergies between the use of biomass for energy production and climate change mitigation are identified.…”

Section: Towards Nexus and Integrated Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circularity in the Management of Municipal Solid Waste – A Systematic Review

Khatiwada

Golzar

Mainali

et al. 2021

Environmental and Climate Technologies

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Municipal solid waste (MSW) management has emerged as one of the major environmental challenges globally. The consequences of inappropriate waste management are manifold and the trend would continue if immediate interventions are not taken for its reversion amid rapid urbanization and current consumption patterns of individuals. The concept of circular economy (CE) can contribute to a paradigm shift in the transformation of the traditional linear approach that does not favour reuse, recycle, recovery concept. Modern and proven waste management practices with collection systems, recycling facilities, sanitary landfills, and waste-to-energy (WtE) and nutrient recovery offer opportunities to improve urban environment through the valorization of waste and by-products in a CE. This study scrutinizes the existing literature on the assessment of circularity and helps to develop a unified circularity framework in the management of MSW in cities. Key aspects such as tools for measuring circularity, nexus and trade-offs, and conditions in promoting CE are discussed. Finally, this paper elucidates the need for circularity, including enablers and inhibitors for promoting circularity in the management of MSW with a case study in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.

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“…This potential for biogas generation could be translated as well to a source of renewable natural gas, which has specific composition requirements that demand high-tech sensors to assure its quality no matter its origin, as those developed in [15,16]. Due to their potential for resource recovery and the further implications in the water-food-energy nexus, WWTPs have been a research focus from different areas of Sensors 2022, 22, 1857 2 of 20 expertise: from modelling and engineering design [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] to process dynamics, simulation and integration [25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Optimisation Algorithms for Centralised Anaerobic Co-Digestion in a Real River Basin Case Study in Catalonia

Palma-Heredia

Verdaguer

Puig

et al. 2022

Sensors

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Anaerobic digestion (AnD) is a process that allows the conversion of organic waste into a source of energy such as biogas, introducing sustainability and circular economy in waste treatment. AnD is an intricate process because of multiple parameters involved, and its complexity increases when the wastes are from different types of generators. In this case, a key point to achieve good performance is optimisation methods. Currently, many tools have been developed to optimise a single AnD plant. However, the study of a network of AnD plants and multiple waste generators, all in different locations, remains unexplored. This novel approach requires the use of optimisation methodologies with the capacity to deal with a highly complex combinatorial problem. This paper proposes and compares the use of three evolutionary algorithms: ant colony optimisation (ACO), genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimisation (PSO), which are especially suited for this type of application. The algorithms successfully solve the problem, using an objective function that includes terms related to quality and logistics. Their application to a real case study in Catalonia (Spain) shows their usefulness (ACO and GA to achieve maximum biogas production and PSO for safer operation conditions) for AnD facilities.

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Sustainable energy-water-food nexus integration and optimisation in eco-industrial parks

Cited by 29 publications

References 42 publications

Integrated Techno-Economic and Sustainability Assessment of Value-Added Products Generated from Biomass Gasification: An Energy–Water–Food Nexus Approach

Integrated Techno-Economic and Sustainability Assessment of Value-Added Products Generated from Biomass Gasification: An Energy–Water–Food Nexus Approach

Circularity in the Management of Municipal Solid Waste – A Systematic Review

Comparison of Optimisation Algorithms for Centralised Anaerobic Co-Digestion in a Real River Basin Case Study in Catalonia

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