Search results for "Fuel Technology"
showing 10 items of 323 documents
Nanoconfined mixed Li and Mg borohydrides as materials for solid state hydrogen storage
2012
Abstract Several mixtures of LiBH4 and Mg(BH4)2 borohydrides in different stoichiometric ratios (1:0, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 0:1), prepared by high energy ball milling, have been investigated with X-ray powder diffraction and thermal programmed desorption (TPD) volumetric analysis to test the dehydrogenation kinetics in correlation with the physical mixture composition. Afterwards mixed and unmixed borohydrides were dispersed on high specific surface area ball milled graphite by means of the solvent infiltration technique. BET and statistical thickness methods were used to characterize the support surface properties, and SEM micrographs gave a better understanding of the preparation techniques. It …
Vacuum-Deposited 2D/3D Perovskite Heterojunctions
2019
Low-dimensional (quasi-) 2D perovskites are being extensively studied in order to enhance the stability and the open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells. Up to now, thin 2D perovskite layers on the surface and/or at the grain boundaries of 3D perovskites have been deposited solely by solution processing, leading to unavoidable intermixing between the two phases. In this work, we report the fabrication of 2D/3D/2D perovskite heterostructures by dual-source vacuum deposition, with the aim of studying the interaction between the 3D and 2D phases as well as the charge transport properties of 2D perovskites in neat 2D/3D interfaces. Unlike what is normally observed in solution-processed 3D…
Assigning ionic properties in perovskite solar cells; a unifying transient simulation/experimental study
2021
Kinetic modelling has proven to be essential to understand the time and spatial dependence of charge carriers in solar cells. Traditional drift–diffusion simulations have generally been employed to describe static steady-state conditions, whereas recently the transient counterpart has been able to reveal more detailed information regarding carrier kinetics. In addition to customary electron and hole dynamics, perovskite materials are known to also be strongly affected by the displacement of lattice vacancies, charged atoms or even entire molecules. Such ionic motion transpires on vastly different time scales compared to free charges and are generally not straightforward to simultaneously ac…
Thickness-dependent properties of ultrathin bismuth and antimony chalcogenide films formed by physical vapor deposition and their application in ther…
2021
This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project No 1.1.1.1/16/A/257. J. A. acknowledges the ERDF project No. 1.1.1.2/1/16/037. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017 TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2 . The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also form a part of an ongoing study.
Semi-continuous feeding and gasification of alfalfa and wheat straw pellets in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor
2015
Abstract Small scale air-blown fluidized bed gasification of alfalfa and wheat straw pellets were conducted for semi-continuous solid feeding and range of operating conditions varied due to the modifications in equivalence ratio (ER) (0.20–0.35) achieved both by varying solid and air input. Alfalfa pellets displayed an improvement in several gasification variables such as gas lower heating value (∼4.1 MJ/Nm3), specific gas yield (1.66 Nm3/kg), cold gas efficiency (∼42%) and carbon conversion efficiency (∼72%) as ER maximized to 0.35 which was found optimum for this feedstock for the present course of experiments. Gasification parameters of wheat straw pellets on the other hand were characte…
Numerical modeling and validation of hydrothermal liquefaction of a lignin particle for biocrude production
2021
Abstract Lignin liquefaction process under catalyst-free conditions in a temperature range from 573 K to 647 K is investigated with this mathematical model. Based on the theoretical understanding of the physical and chemical processes of the liquefaction process in subcritical temperatures, a comprehensive mathematical model for the decomposition of lignin by hydrolysis reaction pathway is developed on the results of a series of batch experiments. The model consists of four main sections. They are liquefaction of lignin particle, oily film, and inorganic (ash) layer formation behavior during the liquefaction, kinetic model to model further liquefaction process of initial products, and the l…
Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from date stones by physical activation with steam
2008
Abstract Activated carbons are produced from wastes of Algerian date stones by pyrolysis and physical activation in the presence of water vapor into a heated fixed-bed reactor. The effect of pyrolysis temperature and activation hold time on textural and chemical surface properties of raw date stones and carbon materials produced are studied. As expected, the percentage yield decreases with increase of activation temperature and hold time. The characterization of carbon materials is performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nitrogen adsorption (BET). Results show the presence of cellulose and hemicellulose in …
Enamine-based hole transporting materials for vacuum-deposited perovskite solar cells
2020
In a short period of time, the rapid development of perovskite solar cells attracted a lot of attention in the science community with the record for power conversion efficiency being broken every year. Despite the fast progress in power conversion efficiency there are still many issues that need to be solved before starting large scale commercial applications, such as, among others, the difficult and costly synthesis and usage of toxic solvents for the deposition of hole transport materials (HTMs). We herein report new enamine-based charge transport materials obtained via a simple one step synthesis procedure, from commercially available precursors and without the use of expensive organomet…
Stabilizing organic photocathodes by low-temperature atomic layer deposition of TiO2
2017
Organic semiconductor light absorbers are receiving attention for their potential application in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells for renewable fuels generation. Key to their advancement is precise control of the interfaces between charge-selective contacts, absorber layers, and electrocatalysts, while maintaining compatibility with an aqueous electrolyte environment. Here we demonstrate a new process for low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO2 onto a P3HT:PCBM polymer blend surface for stable high-performance organic PEC photocathodes. This ALD TiO2 layer provides three key functions: (1) formation of an electron-selective contact to the polymer to enable photovoltage and pho…
Assessing energy forecasting inaccuracy by simultaneously considering temporal and absolute errors
2017
Abstract Recent years have seen a growing trend in wind and solar energy generation globally and it is expected that an important percentage of total energy production comes from these energy sources. However, they present inherent variability that implies fluctuations in energy generation that are difficult to forecast. Thus, forecasting errors have a considerable role in the impacts and costs of renewable energy integration, management, and commercialization. This study presents an important advance in the task of analyzing prediction models, in particular, in the timing component of prediction error, which improves previous pioneering results. A new method to match time series is defined…