Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Low Btu Producer Gas -- A Fuel Of The Past And A Fuel Of The Future, Lee Carter

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

A prime purpose of this paper is to give conscious emphasis to an important type of coal gasification, one that does not demand hundreds of millions of dollars to launch an experimental program but instead is essentially ready to use after a reasonable and straightforward engineering check-out of the local coal sources and the prospective gas demand.

That type of coal gasification results in low Btu producer gas. This paper deals with its history, its technology and its economics. In the light of that information, the future of low Btu producer gas in America then is assessed.

Effective Utilization Of Energy From Biomass Residues In Agricultural Applications, Harry W. Parker

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Biomass is one of the more attractive alternative energy sources. Use of existing biomass residues within the farm and ranch economy can be accomplished with a minimum of organizational problems since the producer, processor, and consumer may be the same person or organization. The major task is to provide potential agricultural biomass users with accurate cost estimates for the energy made available from the biomass, and contemporary technology for its utilization.

Specific examples are given with regard to powering irrigation well engines with cotton gin trash via a producer gas generator, and conversion of harvested mesquite wood to digestible energy …

Methane Production From Livestock Wastes By Anaerobic Digestion, Panos Kokoropoulos, Harlan H. Bengtson

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Increasing interest is being shown in anaerobic digestion as a process for both waste treatment and energy production. In this paper an experimental procedure for investigation of anaerobic digestion of livestock wastes is described, and data from experimental work is presented and analyzed. A model of anaerobic digestion is developed which includes conversion of soluble COD to volatile suspended solids by growth of microorganisms and solubilization of volatile suspended solids to soluble COD by enzymes. This model is used for the analysis of the experimental data.

Comparison Of Stirred And Immobilized Cell Reactors For Ethanol Production, Oliver C. Sitton, J. L. Gaddy

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Biomass can be converted to sugars by hydrolysis with enzymes or mineral acids. These sugars can be converted into a number of chemical intermediates in biological reactors. Biological reactions are generally slow and selection of the most efficient reactor is important in these applications.

Immobilized cell reactors allow high cell densities and high throughput by attaching microorganisms to a fixed support. This paper compares the rate of production of ethanol from glucose by Saccharomyces Cerevisiae in a packed column and a stirred reactor.

Continuous stirred reactor studies showed a washout rate of .27 hr^-1. The optimum rate of …

Wood As An Energy Source In The Tennessee Valley Region, Richard L. Doub

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

TVA has been working with wood energy production systems for only a short time, but we have been involved with forest development for many years, and our experience has led us to believe in the viability of using wood for energy production. Commercial forests of the Tennessee Valley region (125 watershed counties, plus another 76 counties where TVA provides Power) occupy some 30.5 million acres. The annual total tree growth from these lands is about 2.3 billion cubic feet of wood-equivalent to 38 million tons of coal in heat value. Conventional forest products now consume some 580 million cubic feet …

Gasification Of Municipal Solid Waste In A Fluidized Bed Reactor, Craig W. Mosley, Radon Tolman

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Results of pilot plant municipal solid waste gasification studies conducted at the Adolph Coors Company, Golden, Colorado, are presented. The nominal one ton per hour, 150 psig, fluidized bed gasification system was operated during 1973- 1974 using steam and air as oxidants and fluidizing media. These studies show the feasibility of a one-stage, air blown, fluid bed MSW conversion system.

University Of Missouri--Rolla Wood Energy Research, Yildirim Omurtag, V. J. Flanigan, Nathan E. Welch

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The overall objective of this project is to conduct a research and development program which will lead to the early commercialization of wood gasification technology to process wood residues typical of those found in the Ozark region.

Energy Recovery From Organic Residues By Fluidized-Bed Combustion, V. F. Batson, L. G. Gale, W. L. Hurt, J. W. Stallings, C. M. Young

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The merits and drawbacks of energy recovery from organic residues by means of fluidized-bed combustion are discussed. A series of analytical laboratory tests are suggested as a means of analyzing potential fuels for combustion. Finally, a number of potential fuels are described, along with problems which may be encountered in the commercial application of energy recovery from the sample fuels.

Burning Wood As A Supplement To Solid Waste, Andrew R. Banta, William P. Smith

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The University of Kansas at Lawrence uses natural gas and oil to generate steam for heating and other campus needs. The projected price increase of these fuels has led to a study of burning solid waste and wood. This study discusses the technical and economic considerations of burning wood. Topics included are sources and availability, collection and transportation, preparation and burning, and environmental effects. It is concluded that sufficient wood is available; truck transport is the only feasible option; drying some wood is desirable; and that the burning can be done separately or directly with the solid waste.

Energy From Swine Manure, J. R. Fischer, E. L. Iannotti, D. M. Sievers

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

This paper discusses results of anaerobically digesting swine manure. Facts and figures are given on utilization of the energy from the anaerobic digester. Design parameters and some of the biochemical changes that occur during digestion are also given.

Cellulase Production By Fermentation With Trichoderma Viride On Cellulose And Wood Wastes, Nguyen Huu Kho

Doctoral Dissertations

"Cellulase production by the fungus Trichoderma viride QM 6a and the use of this cellulase for cellulose hydrolysis were studied using Solka Floc cellulose and waste wood (oak) as substrates. The fermentation produced higher enzyme concentration solutions with media containing additional amounts of soy peptone and KH₂PO₄.

The kinetics of fermentation in fermentors and shake flasks of Solka Floc and sawdust were investigated, and equations were selected to express the relationship of the rates of growth and enzyme production with cell mass, enzyme concentration and substrate remaining in the media.

Agitation and aeration decrease the enzyme …

Variable Elimination For Optimization With Difficult Explicit Inequality Constraints, R. C. Kelahan, J. L. Gaddy

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Nucleate Boiling Of N-Pentane, N-Hexane And Several Mixtures Of The Two From Various Tube Arrays, K. W. Wall, Efton Park

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Vapor Pressures For The System Isobutane-Isobutylene-N-Butane, José A. Martünez-Ortiz, David B. Manley

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

New experimental vapor pressures for the ternary system composed of Isobutane-isobutylene-n-butane from 40 to 160 °F and 20 to 160 psia are presented. The data have an estimated average accuracy of 0.04%. The pure component data are compared with existing data from the literature. © 1978, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Nucleate Boiling Heat Transfer Of Liquid Nitrogen From Plasma Deposited Polymer Coated Surfaces, Donald L. Warner, Efton Park, Kenneth G. Mayhan

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In certain cases, nucleate boiling heat transfer from polymerized tetrafluoroethylene coated surfaces was more than five times the rate of heat transfer found for uncoated surfaces at a given temperature difference. It was also found that for the polymer coated surfaces the transition from nucleate to film boiling was much slower than for uncoated surfaces. © 1978.

The Effects Of Interstage Backmixing On The Design Of A Multicomponent Distillation Column, Gary D. Loud, Raymond C. Waggoner

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Interstage back mixing is encountered as entrainment in many distillation columns. Bidirectional back mixing is common in liquid-liquid extraction. These effects, which reduce the effectiveness of a separation process, may interfere with its operation even to the extent of shutdown. The design engineer and process operator need to recognize the effects of back mixing and must quantify them to take effective countermeasures. A procedure is developed which describes the effects of interstage bidirectional back mixing in multistage separations. It is implemented on an existing simulation for multicomponent distillation and is used to show the effect of back mixing on product …

5th Annual Umr-Dnr Conference On Energy -- Entire Proceedings, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

This volume is a collection of refereed papers presented at the Fifth Annual UMR-DNR Conference on Energy held at the University of Missouri--Rolla on the dates of October 10 - 12, 1978.

Guided by the President's goal of energy independence by 1980, the UMR-DNR Conference on Energy organized in 1974 with the purpose of providing social scientists, scientists and engineers a means for rapid communication of their most recent research results in the field of energy and to offer solutions to the energy related problems of local government, business, industry and the general public. Since that time, there has been …

Direct Solution Of The Isothermal Gibbs-Duhem Equation For Multicomponent Systems, José A. Martinez-Ortiz, David B. Manley

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The numerical solution of the relative volatility form of the isothermal Gibbs-Duhem equation for multicomponent systems Is carried out by a relaxation technique for two ternary systems at five different temperatures. This direct method of solution eliminates calculating and differentiating the excess Gibbs free energy as required by other indirect methods. © 1978, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Introductory Remarks, Dudley Thompson

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

No abstract provided.

Energy Conservation And U.S. Farm Production Patterns, Angelos Pagoulatos

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Energy conservation practices in crop production would not substantially reduce energy use. Substantial reductions of energy would imply major structural changes in terms of extensive systems of crop production. The tradeoffs between land and energy for future desired crop outputs are derived.

Stability Of Premixed H₂/O₂/N₂ Combusting Turbulent Jets, H. F. Nelson

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Experimental measurements and theoretical predictions of the stability of hydrogen-air-nitrogen premixed turbulent flames have been carried out. The turbulent flame is theoretically modeled using finite rate chemical kinetics and a well-stirred reactor. The model contains a free parameter, which is evaluated by comparing the theoretical predictions to experimental results. A hydrogen flame stability experiment was carried out and the results were compared to the theory. The theory and experiment were found to agree, if the free parameter in the theory varied as the reciprocal of the turbulent jet radius squared.

Current State-Of-The-Art Of Electrochemical Batteries From A Users Point Of View, John G. Wolter, John A. Gilbert, James V. Leonard

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

This paper will present a description of some of the battery types (couples) on the market, energy densities, and recycle lives. The possibility that some of these could be used in the transportation industry will be explored. Speculation of future battery development will be discussed.

Steam Raising With Low-Btu Gas Generators And Potential For Other Applications, Robert Owen Williams, John R. Goss, Brian C. Horsfield, Robert Hodam

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

A pilot plant gas producer was installed at a Walnut processing plant to recover usable energy from cracked walnut shell. The shell was converted to a low-Btu fuel gas (producer gas) and this was used to replace natural gas in a steam boiler. Longterm continuous operation of the producer has yet to be achieved due to mechanical inadequacies of the fuel feed and grate systems. These problems are a result of special fuel characteristics of walnut shell, which are being further investigated on a laboratory scale gasifier. It is expected that component changes and/or fuel preparation can facilitate satisfactory long …

Economic Incentives In The Exploration, Extraction And Refining Of Crude Oil, Angelos Pagoulatos, David Debertin, Emilio Pagoulatos

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

A simultaneous econometric model consisting of 37 stochastic equations and 3 identities which captures the decisions affecting the supply of new discoveries, the size of proven reserves, the production out of reserves, the demands and supplies of refined products and the imports of crude oil and refined products, is estimated. Simulation with the econometric model analyzed the effect of alternative pricing policies on domestic oil production, consumption and imports.

Theoretical And Empirical Approaches To The Analysis Of Opec, Albert L. Danielsen

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Formal theoretical models of world oil price determination have been developed in recent years. In addition, some empirical estimates of expected future prices have been proposed. This paper explains how exhaustible resource and cartel theory are integrated into the opitmal control framework. Some empirical studies in the optimal control tradition are surveyed and evaluated.

The Energy Needs Of The Developing Countries, Vaman Rao

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The energy needs of the developing countries are enormous. They will grow with the passage of time as the pace of economic development accelerates and those countries enter the industrial epoch. The sheer physical non-availability of coal and petroleum to most of them makes it obligatory to choose an unconventional resource as an energy-base. The nuclear fission is the only option now available which is feasible, less-expensive and plentiful. Solar and fusion may be the ultimate sources in the steady state, when appropriate technologies are developed.

The Impact Of Changing Net Returns On Minimum Energy Requirements For Grain Farms, James B. Kliebenstein, Robert M. Finley, Douglas C. Farthing

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

With sources of energy more restricted and higher priced, optimal combinations of enterprises must logically be considered on the basis of energy efficiency. One method of ascertaining this efficiency is to optimize solutions for given levels of income on the basis of energy used (e.g., the objective function was in terms of energy kilocalories). In general, soybeans were most feasible at lower levels of income regardless of farm size and labor circumstance. As income levels increased, double-cropping (wheat soybeans) was first substituted and finally corn at highest income levels.

4th Annual Umr-Dnr Conference On Energy -- Entire Proceedings, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

No abstract provided.

Coal Gasification And Its Alternatives, Robert L. Huffman

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

This paper presents the importance and need for coal gasification to the homeowner in light of the available alternatives. The status of coal gasification and announced projects are outlined citing the regulatory and financial problems which have caused unnecessary and unreasonable delays. Present energy systems are compared showing the efficiency and cost advantages of natural gas to the consumer over electricity. Energy projections stress the importance of coal and nuclear energy for the future. In this regard, utilization of U.S. coal resources for coal gasification and electric power generation are compared. These comparisons show that synthetic gas from coal is …

The Operator’S Guide For Minimizing Energy Costs, Charles Dare, Frank A. Gerig

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The consumption of petroleum by transportation activities is increasing despite the finite limits on its supply. This paper concentrates on the motor vehicle driver, his driving habits, and guides to reduced fuel consumption which would enable the individual to curtail wasteful practices with respect to vehicle operation.