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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 18755

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Nídia Caetano

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Department of Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), Porto, Portugal
Interests: biodiesel; bioethanol; biorefinery; energy storage systems; microalgae biorefineries; sustainable energy systems; waste valorization; wastewater treatment; waste-to-energy
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Prof. Dr. Alina M. Balu

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FQM-383 NANOVAL Group, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), CTRA. Nnal. IV-A, Km 396, E-14014 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: green chemistry; biomass valorization; heterogeneous catalysis; nanomaterials design
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Prof. Dr. Mário Costa †

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Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1000-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: conventional and alternative fuels; particulate and aerosol formation and abatement; heterogeneous processes; advances in diagnostic methods in combustion; gas turbines; small- and large-scale stationary combustion and power generation; new concepts
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Dr. Luisa Gouveia

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Bioenergy Unit, LNEG - National Laboratory of Energy and Geology, I.P., 1649-038 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: microalgae; wastewater treatment; biofuels; biofertilizers; biostimulants; biopesticides; bioplastics; bioactive compounds; food; feed from microalgae
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Dr. Obulisamy Parthiba Karthikeyan

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Visiting Research Scientist, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, USA
Interests: greenhouse gas; biomass; bioenergy; composting; bioengineering
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Dr. Teresa Mata

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Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), R. Dr. Roberto Frias S/N, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: sustainability assessment; sustainable energy systems; biofuels; microalgae; life cycle assessment; bio-refineries; waste valorization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the dawn of the human species, energy has been one of the fundamental engines of development. This continues to be true today, with most of the energy produced from fossil fuel sources, in particular oil, coal and natural gas. Extraction, transportation and energy generation has resulted not only in significant environmental impacts.

While renewable energy is usually considered environmentally friendly, its sustainability must be demonstrated, especially when produced from biomass sources, such as dedicated biomass, bio-oils, sugars and biowaste. Moreover, there is an ongoing effort towards the development of increasing circular economy models, instead of the conventional linear economy models. This movement has opened new opportunities for the sustainable production of energy from various sources, in particular from biowaste resulting from food production and consumption, a significant source of waste that needs to be properly treated instead of disposed of. Various potential valorization routes for energy generation are possible, either directly, through the production of electricity, or by the production of energy carriers such as biogas or other biofuels, coupled or not with the production of other products/compounds in a biorefinery perspective. Besides reducing the amount of waste that needs to be deposited in a landfill, thus, increasing the circularity of production systems, it generates value and increases the efficiency in the consumption of raw materials, a key aspect of more sustainable production systems.

This special issue of Sustainability, with the theme Sustainable Energy and Biorefineries from Biowastes, aims to publish research or review articles dealing with the energy valorization of biowaste from various sources, mainly for producing energy or energy carriers. The topics may include, but are not limited to, life cycle assessment (LCA) or sustainability assessment of biorefineries from biowastes; biowaste conversion to biofuels; microalgae cultivation using biowaste; biorefineries from biowastes; LCA or sustainability assessment of biofuels produced from biowastes; biowaste conversion processes as for example anaerobic digestion, hydrothermal liquefaction, or biowaste-to-energy and implementation and evaluation of circular economy models to obtain energy from biowaste.

Keywords

Biorefineries from biowastes;
Biowaste conversion processes for energy generation;
Biowaste conversion to biofuels;
Biowaste energy potential evaluation
Biowaste-To-Energy
Development of circular economy models for biowaste treatment for energy production.
LCA and/or sustainability assessment of biofuels produced from biowastes;
Life cycle assessment (LCA) and/or sustainability of biorefineries from biowastes

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of KOH Pretreatment on Lignocellulosic Waste for the Reduction of Nitrobenzene to Aniline without Metal

by Sarra Tadrent, Anissa Khelfa and Christophe Len

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4665; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114665 - 8 Jun 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2943

Abstract

A green reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline was carried out using lignocellulosic biomass as a hydrogen source in a subcritical polar protic solvent, such as water and alcohol. The method is simple to implement, inexpensive, and easily applicable on a larger scale. The present method does not demand elaborated experimental conditions nor any metal catalyst. Optimal conditions provided aniline with a 90% yield by reduction of nitrobenzene in the presence of sawdust impregnated by KOH in subcritical methanol at 240 °C for 6 h. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Biorefineries from Biowastes)

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14 pages, 18825 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Furfural Analogs as Sustainable Corrosion Inhibitors—Predictive Efficiency Using DFT and Monte Carlo Simulations on the Cu(111), Fe(110), Al(111) and Sn(111) Surfaces in Acid Media

by Hassan Bourzi, Rachid Oukhrib, Brahim El Ibrahimi, Hicham Abou Oualid, Youness Abdellaoui, Bouchra Balkard, Souad El Issami, Mustapha Hilali, Lahcen Bazzi and Christophe Len

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3304; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083304 - 18 Apr 2020

Cited by 65 | Viewed by 4992

Abstract

Nowadays, theoretical calculation tools have become powerful in predicting the behavior of corrosion inhibitors on the surface of metals and, therefore, avoiding energy consumption and the cost of experimental tests. This work aims to predict the inhibitory power of some furan derivatives on Cu (111), Fe (110), Al (111) and Sn (111) surfaces in acidic media. For this purpose, three furan derivatives—furan-2-carbaldehyde (FF1), 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (FF2) and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furoic acid (FF3)—have been selected to compare their intrinsic properties against corrosion as well as their behavior on iron (Fe), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and tin (Sn) surfaces in acid medium. Typically, the anti-corrosive properties of FF1, FF2 and FF3 were studied by using quantum chemical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Density Functional Theory (DFT), lowest unoccupied (E_LUMO) and highest occupied (E_HOMO) molecular orbital energies, energy gap (∆E), chemical hardness (η), softness (σ), electronegativity (χ), electrophilicity (ω) and nucleophilicity (ε) have been calculated and discussed. Theoretical vibrational spectra were also calculated to exhibit the functional groups in the selected chemicals. On the other hand, the adsorption behaviors of FF1, FF2 and FF3 were studied on the Fe(110), Cu(111), Al(111) and Sn(111) surfaces. As a result, the adsorption energies of all molecules are ordered as Fe(110) < Cu(111) < Al(111) < Sn(111) and FF3 seems to be more effective as a corrosion inhibitor due to the existence of both carboxylic acid and hydroxyl groups, which consist of favorable sites of adsorption into the metal surface. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Biorefineries from Biowastes)

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16 pages, 2292 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Biogas and Waste Fats Methyl Esters on NO, NO₂, CO, and PM Emission by Dual Fuel Diesel Engine

by Wojciech Golimowski, Paweł Krzaczek, Damian Marcinkowski, Weronika Gracz and Grzegorz Wałowski

Sustainability 2019, 11(6), 1799; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061799 - 25 Mar 2019

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4745

Abstract

The aim of this study was to perform a comparative analysis of the unit gas emission value in the exhaust of a dual fuel diesel engine. The results of the effects of a diesel engine’s applications in biogas plants and the method for calculating mass gas emissions per unit of produced electricity are shown. The test was performed using a two-cylinder, naturally aspirated, liquid-cooled diesel engine. The diesel engine powered a generator connected to the grid. The engine was fed with liquid fuels—waste cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME) and diesel fuel (DF)—and with a gas fuel, biogas (BG). The engine ran at a constant rotational speed (2000 rpm ± 30 rpm) with variable load. The gas analyzer measured the amount of CO, NO, NO₂, and PM (particulate matter) in exhaust gas. This gas content share was then converted to mass per engine generated energy unit. This experiment showed the effect of BG introduced to the intake manifold on fuel combustion, as well as an increase in CO and NO₂ emission and decrease in NO and PM. In terms of dependence of exhaust emissions on the type of liquid fuel used, the use of UCOME as opposed to diesel fuel resulted in PM reduction and increase of NO emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Biorefineries from Biowastes)

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17 pages, 2387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methane Production from Alginate-Extracted and Non-Extracted Waste of Laminaria japonica: Anaerobic Mono- and Synergetic Co-Digestion Effects on Yield

by Mohammed M.M. Osman, Xiaohou Shao, Deling Zhao, Amir K. Basheer, Hongmei Jin and Yingpeng Zhang

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051269 - 27 Feb 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4694

Abstract

This study investigated the potentiality of methane production from alginate-extracted (AEWLJ) and non-extracted (NAEWLJ) waste of Laminaria japonica through batch anaerobic fermentation in mono- and co-digestion with rice straw (RS) at different mixing ratios. Optimal C/N ratio was demonstrated, and system stability was monitored in terms of the total ammonia nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids, and pH throughout the digestion period. The results show that the combination of AEWLJ/RS at 67% mixing ratio generated the highest biogas yield of 247 NmL/gVS, which was 36% higher than the AEWLJ alone. The synergetic effect was clearly observed leading to an increase in the total methane yield up to 78% and 88%, respectively, for arrays of AEWLJ/RS and NAEWLJ/RS. The kinetic model showed a high coefficient of determination (R² ≥ 0.9803) when the modified Gompertz model was applied to predict methane production. These outcomes support the possibility of an integrated biorefinery approach to attain value-added products in order to achieve circular economies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Biorefineries from Biowastes)

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