Carbon sequestration through CO2 injection into a formation is an effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, a one-dimensional long reactor was constructed to simulate the CO2 injection process under various sediment temperatures, pressures, and flow rates. The formation of CO2 hydrate and the resulting blockages were investigated in detail through a series of indoor experiments. Due to the increasing driving force for CO2 hydrate formation, reducing sediment temperature and increasing sediment pressure can cause hydrate blockage to form near the injection end, leading to an increase in CO2 injection pressure and a reduction in the storage range. Furthermore, CO2 injection rate has a substantial impact on the pattern of hydrate blockage. A lower injection rate facilitates full contact between CO2 gas and pore water, which helps to increase the formation and blockage degree of CO2 hydrates, thereby decreasing the amount of CO2 injection. The experimental in... [more]

The implementation of CO2 huff-n-puff in unconventional oil reservoirs represents a green development technology that integrates oil recovery and carbon storage, emphasizing both efficiency and environmental protection. A rational well selection method is crucial for the success of CO2 huff-n-puff development. This paper initially identifies eight parameters that influence the effectiveness of CO2 huff-n-puff development and conducts a systematic analysis of the impact of each factor on development effectiveness. A set of factors for well selection decisions is established with seven successful CO2 huff-n-puff cases. Subsequently, the influencing factors are classified into positive, inverse, and moderate indicators. By using an exponential formulation, a method for calculating membership degrees is calculated to accurately represent the nonlinearity of each parameter’s influence on development, resulting in a dimensionless fuzzy matrix. Furthermore, with the oil exchange ratio serving... [more]

An accurate wind shear model is an important prerequisite in extrapolating the wind resource from lower heights to the increasing hub height of wind turbines. Based on the 1-year dataset (collected in 2014) consisting of 15-minute intervals collected at heights of 2, 10, 50, 100, and 150 m on an anemometer tower in northern China, the present study focuses on the time-varying relationship between the wind shear coefficient (WSC) and atmospheric stability and proposes a wind shear model considering atmospheric stability. Through the relationship between Monin−Obukhov (M-O) length and gradient Richardson number, the M-O length is directly calculated by wind data, and the WSC is calculated by combining the Panofsky and Dutton (PD) models, which enhances the engineering practicability of the model. Then, the performance of the model is quantified and compared with two alternative methods: the use of annual average WSC and the use of stability change WSC extrapolation. The analysis demonstr... [more]

In this paper, the possibility of combining electrocoagulation (EC), ultrasound, and the addition of zeolite for wastewater treatment was investigated for the first time. The following combinations of hybrid processes were tested: electrocoagulation with zeolite (ECZ), simultaneous electrocoagulation with zeolite and ultrasound (ECZ+US), and two-stage electrocoagulation with zeolite and ultrasound (US+Z - EC), carried out with three different electrode materials. The results show that the simultaneous assistance of ultrasound in the ECZ leads to a lower increase in pH, while the temperature increase is higher. Regarding the COD, the assistance of ultrasound is only useful for Zn electrodes in the two-stage US+Z - EC, while the reduction in voltage consumption occurs for Fe and Al electrodes. Ultrasonic assistance caused more damage to the anodes, but anode consumption was reduced for Al and Zn electrodes. The total amount of zeolite that can be recovered is between 55−97%, and recovery... [more]

The feasibility of an adsorbent material like biochar (BC) depends on its regeneration capacity and its ability to achieve high removal efficiencies on real wastewater (WW) effluents. In this study, the regeneration capacity of the Pinus patula BC previously used in the removal of Indigo Carmine from water was evaluated. The regeneration technique that resulted in the highest desorption efficiency was a thermo-chemical method that consisted of heating the spent BC in a stove at 160 °C for 45 min followed by regeneration with ethanol (C2H6O) at a concentration of 75% for 6 h. Through this regeneration method, it was found that Pinus patula BC could be used in seven consecutive adsorption−desorption cycles. The feasibility of this BC was also assessed by evaluating the adsorbent’s efficiency in real textile WW. Under optimal operational conditions (solution pH = 3, BC dose = 13.5 g/L, and BC particle size = 300−450 µm), the highest removal efficiencies in terms of colour and dissolved or... [more]

Textiles are often used to protect people from cold environments. While most garments are designed for temperatures not far below 0 °C, very cold regions on the earth near the poles or on mountains necessitate special clothing. The same is true for homeless people who have few possibilities to warm up or workers in cooling chambers and other cold environments. Passive insulating clothing, however, can only retain body heat. Active heating, on the other hand, necessitates energy, e.g., by batteries, which are usually relatively heavy and have to be recharged regularly. This review gives an overview of energy-self-sufficient textile solutions for cold environments, including energy harvesting by textile-based or textile-integrated solar cells; piezoelectric sensors in shoes and other possibilities; energy storage in supercapacitors or batteries; and heating by electric energy or phase-change materials.

A series of experiments has been conducted to investigate the tribological properties of a TiN film sliding against GCr15 steel balls in ambient air, low vacuum and high vacuum environments. Various friction loads and sliding velocities were also applied. The TiN film displays a steady-state friction stage after the running-in stage in all the above environments, while the durations of running-in stages are different. The steady-state friction coefficients of the TiN film were around 0.56 in ambient air and 0.3 in the high vacuum environment (1 × 10−5 mbar). In the low vacuum (1 × 10−2 mbar) environment, a low friction coefficient (around 0.19) was attained for all the friction tests on TiN film, irrespective of the applied load and sliding velocity. In the meantime, it was noticed that the applied loads and the sliding velocities would change the duration of the running-in stage before reaching the low friction coefficient. It is revealed by the analysis of wear tracks that the metal... [more]

Many studies have used fractal theory to characterize pore structure distribution heterogeneity through mercury intake curves. However, there is relatively little research on the fractal model calculation of mercury removal curves. In this study, a high-pressure mercury intrusion test is used to describe the pore and fracture distribution heterogeneity (PFDH). The fractal physical meaning of the mercury removal curve was determined by calculating the change in the curve’s fractal dimension value. The results are as follows. (1) According to mercury removal efficiency and porosity, samples can be divided into types A (mercury removal efficiency above 35%) and B (mercury removal efficiency below 35%). In general, type A sample belongs to micro-pore-developed types, and type B samples belong to the macro-pore-developed type. (2) The Menger model (M) represents the complexity of a specific surface area, while the Sierpinski model (S) represents the roughness of the pore volume. Among all t... [more]

Due to the impact of global warming and climate change, more and more people are starting to have a clearer understanding and vigilance about greenhouse gases. To prevent further deterioration of the global environment, this study examines the coefficients of performance of 21 currently available refrigerants with very low global-warming potential and zero ozone-depleting potential under evaporation temperatures of 10, −20, −40, and −60 °C and condensation temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 °C, respectively. It is found that the use of pure refrigerant in a two-stage refrigeration system to replace the single-stage refrigeration system, in addition to mixing it into an appropriate mixture, can effectively improve the performance coefficient of the refrigeration system. For single-stage vapor compression refrigeration systems, R1234ze(Z), R601, and R1233zd(E) have the best refrigeration performances among the environmentally friendly refrigerants studied, while R441A performs the worst for... [more]

With the ongoing amendment of the EU legislation on the treatment of urban wastewater, stricter requirements for the removal of pollutants are expected, which calls for the need for innovative wastewater treatment technologies. Biological systems are still the first choice. A survey of typical bioreactors applied in wastewater treatment is presented. The wastewater treatment objective, biochemical environment, and microbial growth are selected as the main criteria for the classification of these bioreactors. Hydraulic and kinetic aspects are considered, along with the advantages and drawbacks of these bioreactors regarding the selection of the appropriate type of reactor; as well, details regarding the operation of reactors are mentioned. The aim of this paper is to provide operators and designers with a brief overview of the selected traditional and advanced processes, reactors, and technologies for nutrient removal from municipal wastewater. The possibilities and limitations in compl... [more]

Micropollutants belong to various groups of chemicals. One of the most diverse and large group of them are pharmaceuticals. The presence of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater poses a significant challenge to water quality and environmental health. This paper provides an overview of recent advancements in the removal of pharmaceuticals from water, focusing on various treatment processes and their effectiveness in eliminating micropollutants. Through a review of the literature, including studies on ozonation, UV irradiation, sulfate radical-based technologies, and photocatalytic processes, insights into degradation mechanisms and optimal conditions for their removal are synthesized. Additionally, with new legislation mandating the monitoring of selected micropollutants and the implementation of quaternary treatment in wastewater treatment plants, the paper discusses prospects for future research and recommendations for effective pharmaceutical removal. Key actions include conducting c... [more]

River and lake dredging projects inevitably produce significant quantities of wastewater and sediment. This accumulation results in dredged soil with high moisture content, characterized by low strength, rendering it unsustainable for use. To facilitate environmentally friendly utilization of wastewater and sediment, solidifying agents and basalt fibers are introduced to solidify the wastewater within the dredged sediment. This process transforms the wastewater, sediment, solidifying agents, and basalt fibers into a novel, strengthened material. This transformation allows for their application as stabilized soil for engineering endeavors. Indoor experiments and scanning electron microscope analyses were performed to examine the deformation characteristics of fiber-stabilized soil and analyze its micro-mechanisms. Research findings suggest that as the curing age increases, the curing agent’s reaction becomes more comprehensive. Fibers have the potential to ameliorate soil damage. The pr... [more]

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New substances and particles appearing in the environment following technological development pose new challenges for separation methods. Moreover, the growing amount of waste also forces us to look for environmentally friendly solutions. One way to create filtration structures with the desired properties is to combine known techniques, thanks to which the advantages of one technique complement the deficiencies and disadvantages of another. Combining the melt-blowing and solution-blowing processes seems to be promising. Fibres created from melt-blowing will provide mechanical strength, while solution-blowing will allow the introduction of nanofibres into the structure with unique filtration and functional properties. Both methods enable working with biodegradable polymers, so the resulting filter can also be environmentally friendly after operation. Our research aimed to check whether combining two fibre production techniques (melt-blown and solution-blowing) is possible and how the jo... [more]

Today’s environmental challenges, marked by escalating pollution levels, climate change and diminishing natural resources, urgently require innovative solutions, particularly in waste and wastewater management [...]

This Special Issue, titled “Sustainable Development Processes for Renewable Energy Technology II: An Overview”, presents a collection of papers in the field of sustainable development in the mineral resource sector, detailing the “seamless” process of transforming energy production into the use of renewable sources [...]

Large-scale deployment of CO2 capture, transport, and storage (CCTS) requires the rolling-out of extensive value chains. In this study, we present the development, design, techno-economic, environmental, and regulatory analysis of four pioneering chains that capture and condition CO2 from existing European industrial plants and their multi-modal transport to selected ports in Northern Europe. The pioneering chains can avoid between 65% and 87% of the industrial emissions, including scope 3, with a cost of CO2 avoided ranging between 100 and 300 euro/tCO2. The economic and environmental performance of the CCTS chains are substantially affected by the geographic location of the industrial emitters and the CO2 volumes to be transported. The analysis relies on the assumption that the four industrial plants would be early movers. While, in the future, technology maturation and infrastructure development are expected to reduce costs and emissions associated with the CCTS chain, this study q... [more]

Wider application of BiVO4 (BVO) for photocatalytic water treatment is primarily limited by its modest photocatalytic effectiveness, despite its appropriately narrow band gap for low-cost, sunlight-facilitated water treatment processes. In this study, we have photomodified an isotype BVO, consisting of a tetragonal zircon and monoclinic scheelite phase, with Fe (Fe@BVO) and Ag (Ag@BVO) ionic precursors under UV illumination in an aqueous ethanol solution in order to assess their effect on the opto-electronic properties and effectiveness for the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Fe@BVO failed to demonstrate enhanced effectiveness over pristine BVO, whereas all Ag@BVO achieved improved CIP degradation, especially 1% Ag@BVO. At pH 4 and 6, 1% Ag@BVO demonstrated nearly 24% greater removal of CIP than BVO alone. Photomodification with Fe created surface oxygen vacancies, as confirmed by XPS and Mott−Schottky analysis, which facilitated improved electron mobility, although no distinct Fe-cont... [more]

In recent years, the drilling technology applied to deep and ultra-deep formations has developed rapidly, but the drilling speed for hard formations is low. Therefore, it is very important to study the drilling methods for deep and hard strata. Particle pulsed jet drilling is a new drilling method based on particle jet impact drilling technology and high-pressure pulsed water jet impact drilling technology. In this paper, the mathematical models of the shear layer amplification coefficient and wave velocity are established based on a similar network theory, and the motion equations of a single particle and particle swarm are established according to the motion of particles in a pulsed jet environment. Then, based on the self-designed particle jet impact rock-breaking experimental platform, the numerical simulation results are compared, analyzed, and verified. The results show that the rock-breaking efficiency increases with the increase in the average velocity of the particle pulsed je... [more]

The main obstacles to scaling up membrane distillation (MD) on a commercial level are membrane fouling and temperature polarization. Therefore, in this study, the significance of the pulsation feed flow phenomenon was used for membrane distillation (DCMD) polarization, and comparisons were made using steady-state feed flow. Two different Hertz and amplitudes of pulsation feed flow trends were used in DCMD using different sources of water, including distilled water, seawater, and wastewater. Compared to steady-state feed flow, the results revealed that flux was enhanced for seawater once the operating flow became turbulent, and it enhanced even more once the flow rate was increased and the turbulence flow was moved. For wastewater, pulsation in the feed flow had an impact on delaying the beginning of the flux decline point and enhancing the overall freshwater recovery. In both pulsation feed flows (1 and 2 Hertz), the results also revealed a deficiency in fouling and an improvement in t... [more]

Municipal and industrial wastewater discharge is a longstanding environmental problem that pollutes water bodies, affecting both the landscape and human health. In the department of Sucre, Colombia, nearby urban sewage is discharged into the Arroyo Grande de la Sabana, and only Sincelejo city has a treatment system in place. Therefore, it is critical to identify effective treatment methods for removing contaminants from water. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a constructed wetland (CW) with horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) planted with Thalia geniculata for treating wastewater from the Arroyo Grande de la Sabana in Sucre, Colombia. The study investigated the effectiveness of a constructed wetland planted with Thalia geniculata for treating wastewater from the Arroyo Grande de la Sabana in Sucre, Colombia. Two different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 3 and 5 days were tested, and the plant population density was analyzed to determine the better adaptat... [more]

Despite that previous research exists, there is a need for further research on the quantitative aspects of this Nexus. Existing Water-Energy-Environment Nexus management tools and frameworks are based on indicators aiming to model the whole system, analyze the involved resources, and test potential management strategies. The environmental, social, and economic consequences of actions already taken and ongoing projects require important focus because of the strong relationship between water and energy supply, and that both are key issues for society’s development and sustainability. The present research focuses on the indicators that the Water-Energy-Environment Nexus tools and frameworks use to analyze the whole problem. Existing tools often require large amounts of data, becoming a time-consuming process that lowers the capacity to evaluate the political problems of high pollutants. With the aim of accelerating time evaluation, this research builds an indicator to rapidly evaluate the... [more]

Challenges associated with mesophilic digestate (MD) involve volume, odor, and pathogens, which effective post-digestion treatments can address. The efficiency of MD post-treatment can be enhanced by conditioning with ferric chloride (FeCl3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and polymer. This study aimed to observe the effect of combined chemical conditioning on volume reduction, phosphorus (P) release, odor, and pathogen reduction potential for MD. MD was conditioned with polymer only, polymer and FeCl3 at pH adjusted to 8.0 with lime (Ca(OH)2), and a blend of polymer, FeCl3, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at pH 8.0. The results show that adding all three chemicals improved post-treatment efficiency at 2.1 kg/t DS FeCl3, 2.1 kg/t DS polymer, and 600 mg/L H2O2 at pH 8.0, compared with polymer or dual conditioning. At the combined dose, cake solid content, centrate P removal, and odor reduction capability improved compared with raw MD by 20%, 99%, and 66%, respectively. Combined chemical treatme... [more]

The background of “dual carbon” is accelerating low-carbon transformation in the energy field, and oil field enterprises are facing challenges in energy conservation and emissions reduction for sustainable development. However, oil field gathering and transfer station systems, which are crucial components of the onshore transportation system, face challenges in energy conservation and emissions reduction. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the carbon emissions of oil field gathering and transfer station systems. To improve the accuracy of carbon emission prediction for the system, this study proposes an improved GA-decision tree (IGA-decision tree) algorithm. First, chaotic mapping was introduced to initialize the population, ensuring a uniform distribution of initial particles in the search space and enhancing population diversity. Second, the firefly perturbation strategy was employed to avoid the problem of genetic algorithms becoming trapped in local optima during the later stag... [more]

Hydrogen vehicles, encompassing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), are pivotal within the UK’s energy landscape as it pursues the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. By markedly diminishing dependence on fossil fuels, FCEVs, including hydrogen vehicles, wield substantial influence in shaping the circular economy (CE). Their impact extends to optimizing resource utilization, enabling zero-emission mobility, facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources, supplying adaptable energy storage solutions, and interconnecting diverse sectors. The widespread adoption of hydrogen vehicles accelerates the UK’s transformative journey towards a sustainable CE. However, to fully harness the benefits of this transition, a robust investigation and implementation of safety measures concerning hydrogen vehicle (HV) use are indispensable. Therefore, this study takes a holistic approach, integrating quantitative risk assessment (QRA) and an adaptive decision-making trial and evaluation laborat... [more]