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At least 811 records · Page 45

Sustainable Lactic Acid Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock for sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. Among emerging bioproducts, lactic acid has attracted significant interest because of its growing application in many industries (e.g., packaging, medical, and pharmaceutical). In this study, BioSTEAM—an open-source platform—was leveraged for the design, simulation, and evaluation (via techno-economic analysis, TEA, and life cycle assessment, LCA) of lignocellulosic lactic acid biorefineries. With a minimum product selling price (MPSP) between 1.38 and 1.91 kg –1 (5th–95th percentiles, baseline at 1.57 kg –1 ), the biorefinery was capable of producing market-competitive lactic acid (market price between 1.7 and 2.1 kg –1 ), and its performance could be further enhanced (e.g., MPSP down to 1.09 kg –1 , global warming potential of 2.79 kg CO 2 -eq·kg –1 , and fossil energy consumption of 31.7 MJ·kg –1 ) with advancements in key technological parameters (fermentation yield and separation process conversions) and optimization in process operation. Sensitivity analyses focused on the fermentation unit (across titer, yield, and productivity; neutral vs low-pH fermentation) and feedstock characteristics (carbohydrate content and price) were also included to quantify their impact on the sustainability of the biorefinery. Overall, this research highlights the ability of agile TEA/LCA to screen promising biorefinery designs, prioritize research needs, and establish a road map for the continued development of bioproducts and biofuels.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

2015 Wind Technologies Market Report

This annual report--now in its tenth year--provides a detailed overview of developments and trends in the U.S. wind power market, with a particular focus on 2015. The report begins with an overview of key installation trends and then covers an array of industry and technology trends. The report also discusses project performance, wind turbine prices, project costs, operations and maintenance expenses, and prices paid for wind power in the United States. The report examines policy and market factors impacting the domestic wind power market and provides a preview of possible near-term market developments, expenses, and prices paid for wind power in the United States. The report examines policy and market factors impacting the domestic wind power market and provides a preview of possible near-term market developments.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

A distributed cellulosic biorefinery system in the US Midwest based on corn stover

Corn stover supply chains in a distributed biorefinery system are explored here. The distributed cellulosic biorefinery uses pre-processed and densified cellulosic feedstock from a geographically separated facility (a depot) as raw material. A network of small-scale depot facilities supplies pre-processed feedstock to a distributed biorefinery. Depot facilities are assumed to be located at existing grain elevators, while distributed biorefineries are located adjacent to coal-fired power plants in areas with high gasoline consumption (urban areas) in the Midwest. The county level corn stover projections in 2022 by the US Billion-Ton Update report (2011) are used to estimate ethanol selling price and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the ethanol fuel. The supply chain for each distributed biorefinery is determined by minimizing the ethanol selling price. Approximately ten distributed biorefineries based on corn stover could be established in the Midwest. Over 700 individual depot facilities participate in supplying the distributed biorefinery systems which collectively can produce greater than 12 hm3 of ethanol (3.3 billion gallons) per year. Ethanol selling price in the distributed system ranges from US$\$ $0.66 to US$\$ $1.03 per liter. Some distributed biorefineries are economically competitive with a centralized biorefinery. However, not every region can support a distributed biorefinery system due to inadequate corn stover availability. Cradle-to-gate GHG emissions of ethanol in the distributed systems are 22.1–46.6 g CO 2 per MJ. The external energy consumption in the depot facilities is the major GHG source. Optimizing process energy use in the depot facility is required to reduce both operation costs and GHG emissions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Microgrid to enable optimal distributed energy retail and end-user demand response

In the face of unprecedented challenges in environmental sustainability and grid resilience, there is an increasingly held consensus regarding the adoption of distributed and renewable energy resources such as microgrids (MGs), and the utilization of flexible electric loads by demand response (DR) to potentially drive a necessary paradigm shift in energy production and consumption patterns. However, the potential value of distributed generation and demand flexibility has not yet been fully realized in the operation of MGs. This study investigates the pricing and operation strategy with DR for a MG retailer in an integrated energy system (IES). Based on co-optimizing retail rates and MG dispatch formulated as a mixed integer quadratic programming (MIQP) problem, our model devises a dynamic pricing scheme that reflects the cost of generation and promotes DR, in tandem with an optimal dispatch plan that exploits spark spread and facilitates the integration of renewables, resulting in improved retailer profits and system stability. Main issues like integrated energy coupling and customer bill reduction are addressed during pricing to ensure rates competitiveness and customer protection. By evaluating on real datasets, the system is demonstrated to optimally coordinate storage, renewables, and combined heat and power (CHP), reduce carbon dioxide emission while maintaining profits, and effectively alleviate the PV curtailment problem. Finally, the model can be used by retailers and MG operators to optimize their operations, as well as regulators to design new utility rates in support of the ongoing transformation of energy systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Techno-economic prospects for producing Fischer-Tropsch jet fuel and electricity from lignite and woody biomass with CO 2 capture for EOR

This work explores the prospective techno-economic performance of facilities that produce low- and net-negative-carbon liquid transportation fuels and electricity with CO 2 capture for enhanced oil recovery. The lignite and biomass-to-jet fuel process is based on KBR’s TRIG gasifier, Rectisol (for sulfur removal and CO 2 capture), fixed-bed low temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of liquid fuels, and Brayton/Rankine combined cycles to convert synthesis/refining off-gases and waste heat to electricity. This work leverages a recent, highly-detailed assessment of a prospective first-of-a-kind (FOAK) demonstration facility to develop highly detailed Aspen Plus process simulations for nine prospective N th -of-a-kind (NOAK) plant equipment configurations. Component-level capital costs from the FOAK study are scaled and adjusted to reflective prospective learning-by-doing to estimate capital costs for the NOAK designs. NOAK plant economic performance is found to be largely insensitive to variations in plant configurations and electricity output fraction, but biomass input fraction significantly affects profitability. Facilities that consume only carbon–neutral biomass, with no lignite co-feed, have significantly net-negative carbon emissions and the most favorable prospective economics when carbon emissions are priced. For these facilities, the crude oil price required for plant economic viability falls rapidly from $\$$100/bbl as carbon emission prices increase above $\$$120/tonne CO 2eq . In general, plants that co-fire lignite with biomass are less profitable (than 100% biomass plants) due to their higher net greenhouse gas emissions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

The value of concentrating solar power in ancillary services markets

Ancillary services, such as spinning reserves, can provide grid reliability and contribute to profitability of an energy resource. We exercise an existing dispatch optimization model to estimate the profitability of a concentrating solar power plant by incorporating the sale of spinning reserves in the ancillary service market using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's System Advisor Model to simulate operations within a 72-h rolling horizon framework. Assuming a price-taker approach with day-ahead energy and spinning reserve prices from both the California Independent System Operator and the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, we find that selling spinning reserves in addition to electric energy increases plant profitability by up to 7% with perfect knowledge of day-ahead pricing and solar resource availability. Here, this finding suggests that spinning reserve markets provide significant value streams to concentrating solar power plants that can leverage thermal energy storage to offer reliable production in the short-to-medium term.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Incorporation of market signals for the optimal design of post combustion carbon capture systems

Recent studies have shown that fossil generators equipped with post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) systems are needed to reduce the cost of deep decarbonization. Such generators need to be flexible and responsive to grid conditions, particularly in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) environment. In this work, we evaluate the net present value (NPV) of retrofitting an existing natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) unit with a flexible PCC system while incorporating market signals from a high VRE grid. We use our industrial partner’s NGCC configuration as representative of existing NGCC units and Svante’s rapid-temperature swing adsorption (TSA) for PCC. Because of its ability to rapidly startup/shutdown and ramp-up/ramp-down, the chosen capture technology is very attractive for load-following operations. For a given set of market signals, we formulate a two-stage stochastic multi-period optimization problem, under the price-taker assumption, to simultaneously optimize the design of the capture system and operation of the entire plant. Rigorous models for the NGCC unit, PCC system, and compression system are developed using commercial process simulators and validated with either plant or vendor data. For computational tractability, we develop surrogate/reduced-order models for use in the optimization problem. The surrogate model for the NGCC plant is constructed by linearizing the rigorous dynamic model at 75% load, while data-driven nonlinear surrogate models for the capture and compression systems are constructed using simulation data from the rigorous models. The optimization problem, formulated as a mixed integer bilinear program, is implemented in the IDAES® integrated platform and solved to global optimality using Gurobi 9.5. Using this formulation, we determine the profitability of retrofitting an existing NGCC unit with the chosen capture system for multiple regions in the U.S. under two scenarios with different carbon prices. Importantly, the results show that the optimal decision strongly depends on the region and on the carbon price, thereby demonstrating the importance of the inclusion of market signals in the design process.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Techno-economic analysis of hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel production from pennycress oilseed

Commercial production of jet fuel from biobased feedstocks is still encumbering, mainly due to their high production cost and competition with food resources. Pennycress oilseed is a potential jet fuel feedstock which can be supplied at a lower price compared to similar oilseeds, such as soybean and canola. However, the technoeconomics of pennycress-based jet fuel production needs to be evaluated. The objective of this study was to assess the technical feasibility and costs of hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel (HRJ) production from pennycress. The production capacity was considered to be 18.9 million L/yr (5 million gal/yr). The analysis considered pennycress grain handling and conditioning, oil extraction and conversion to HRJ and byproducts, i.e., LPG, naphtha and green diesel, through hydroprocessing technology, as well as pennycress meal processing as boiler fuel and wastewater treatment. Total investment for establishing the HRJ biorefinery at the selected capacity was estimated to be 90.8 million USD. Minimum selling price (MSP) of HRJ was estimated to be 1.2 USD/L, which was comparable to the MSP of HRJ from similar oilseeds, including soybean and canola. It could also be further reduced by supplying pennycress grain at a lower price, increasing the oil content and increasing the production capacity of the biorefinery. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research would help establish the performance targets needed to reach the economic viability of HRJ production from pennycress at the commercial scale.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Optimizing workplace charging facility deployment and smart charging strategies

This study introduces a workplace charging (WPC) optimization model that maximizes the total satisfied electric miles of employees’ plug-in electric vehicles, subject to a given annual budget. The model optimizes both planning decisions of charger number and power levels and operation decisions of charging spot assignment and charging schedule for the given temporal distribution of charging demands and varied electricity prices. Results of experiments based on national average travel data indicate that the actual WPC strategy varies by budget level. Through optimization, the strategy could reduce impacts of the varied electricity price by shifting charging schedules to periods when electricity prices are low. Also, the model is expanded to study the trade-off between providing WPC and addressing consequence of degraded charging service by including the per-mile shadow cost of unsatisfied charging demand. Finally, we observe that their relative competitiveness mainly depends on the actual shadow cost of WPC.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Evaluation of food waste disposal options by LCC analysis from the perspective of global warming: Jungnang case, South Korea

Highlights: > Various food waste disposal options were evaluated from the perspective of global warming. > Costs of the options were compared by the methodology of life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis. > Carbon price and valuable by-products were used for analyzing environmental credits. > The benefit-cost ratio of wet feeding scenario was the highest. - Abstract: The costs associated with eight food waste disposal options, dry feeding, wet feeding, composting, anaerobic digestion, co-digestion with sewage sludge, food waste disposer, incineration, and landfilling, were evaluated in the perspective of global warming and energy and/or resource recovery. An expanded system boundary was employed to compare by-products. Life cycle cost was analyzed through the entire disposal process, which included discharge, separate collection, transportation, treatment, and final disposal stages, all of which were included in the system boundary. Costs and benefits were estimated by an avoided impact. Environmental benefits of each system per 1 tonne of food waste management were estimated using carbon prices resulting from CO{sub 2} reduction by avoided impact, as well as the prices of by-products such as animal feed, compost, and electricity. We found that the cost of landfilling was the lowest, followed by co-digestion. The benefits of wet feeding systems were the highest and landfilling the lowest.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Distributed energy management for community microgrids considering phase balancing and peak shaving

Here, a distributed energy management for community microgrids considering phase balancing and peak shaving is introduced. In each iteration, the house energy management system (HEMS) installed in each house minimises its electricity costs and the costs associated with the discomfort of customers due to deviations in indoor temperature from customers’ set points. At the community level, the microgrid central controller (MCC) schedules the distributed energy resources (DERs) and energy storage based on the received load profiles from customers and the forecast energy price at the point of common coupling. The MCC updates the energy price for each phase based on the amount of unbalanced power between generation and consumption. The updated energy price and unbalanced power for each phase are distributed to the HEMSs on corresponding phases. When the optimisation converges, the unbalanced power of each phase is close to zero. Meanwhile, the schedules of DERs, energy storage systems and the energy consumption of each house are determined by the MCC and HEMSs, separately. Specifically, the phase balancing and peak shaving are considered in the proposed distributed energy management model. The effectiveness of the proposed distributed energy management has been illustrated by case studies.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Operating-Envelopes-Aware Decentralized Welfare Maximization for Energy Communities

We propose an operating-envelope-aware, prosumer-centric, and efficient energy community that aggregates individual and shared community distributed energy resources and transacts with a regulated distribution system operator (DSO) under a generalized net energy metering tariff design. To ensure safe network operation, the DSO imposes dynamic export and import limits, known as dynamic operating envelopes, on end-users' revenue meters. Given the operating envelopes, we propose an incentive-aligned community pricing mechanism under which the decentralized optimization of community members' benefit implies the optimization of overall community welfare. The proposed pricing mechanism satisfies the cost-causation principle and ensures the stability of the energy community in a coalition game setting. Numerical examples provide insights into the characteristics of the proposed pricing mechanism and quantitative measures of its performance.

distributed energy resources aggregation↗

DLMP of Competitive Markets in Active Distribution Networks: Models, Solutions, Applications, and Visions

Traditionally, the electric distribution system operates with uniform energy prices across all system nodes. However, as the adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) propels a shift from passive to active distribution network (ADN) operation, a distribution-level electricity market has been proposed to manage new complexities efficiently. In addition, distribution locational marginal price (DLMP) has been established in the literature as the primary pricing mechanism. The DLMP inherits the LMP concept in the transmission-level wholesale market but incorporates characteristics of the distribution system, such as high $R/X$ ratios and power losses, system imbalance, and voltage regulation needs. The DLMP provides a solution that can be essential for competitive market operation in future distribution systems. This article first provides an overview of the current distribution-level market architectures and their early implementations. Next, the general clearing model, model relaxations, and DLMP formulation are comprehensively reviewed. The state-of-the-art solution methods for distribution market clearing are summarized and categorized into centralized, distributed, and decentralized methods. Then, DLMP applications for the operation and planning of DERs and distribution system operators (DSOs) are discussed in detail. Finally, visions of future research directions and possible barriers and challenges are presented.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Analysis of Residential Demand Response and Double-Auction Markets

Demand response and dynamic pricing programs are expected to play increasing roles in the modern Smart Grid environment. While direct load control of end-use loads has existed for decades, price driven response programs are only beginning to be explored at the distribution level. These programs utilize a price signal as a means to control demand. Active markets allow customers to respond to fluctuations in wholesale electrical costs, but may not allow the utility to control demand. Transactive markets, utilizing distributed controllers and a centralized auction can be used to create an interactive system which can limit demand at key times on a distribution system, decreasing congestion. With the current proliferation of computing and communication resources, the ability now exists to create transactive demand response programs at the residential level. With the combination of automated bidding and response strategies coupled with education programs and customer response, emerging demand response programs have the ability to reduce utility demand and congestion in a more controlled manner. This paper will explore the effects of a residential double-auction market, utilizing transactive controllers, on the operation of an electric power distribution system.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Mean-Variance Optimization-Based Energy Storage Scheduling Considering Day-Ahead and Real-Time LMP Uncertainties

In this letter, a new mean-variance optimization-based energy storage scheduling method is proposed with the consideration of both day-ahead (DA) and real-time (RT) energy markets price uncertainties. It considers the locational marginal price (LMP) forecast uncertainties in the DA and RT markets. The energy storage arbitrage risk associated with the LMP forecast uncertainty is explicitly modeled through the variance component in the objective function. The quadratic term of this variance is transformed into a second-order cone constraint using the charging and discharging power complementarity of the energy storage system. Finally, the proposed model is formulated as a mixed-integer conic programming problem. Numerical case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model for energy storage scheduling considering price uncertainty.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Deliverable Flexible Ramping Products Considering Spatiotemporal Correlation of Wind Generation and Demand Uncertainties

Flexible ramping products (FRPs) have been implemented by several independent system operators (ISOs) to procure adequate flexible resources. Currently, system operators estimate the system level ramping requirements ignoring the spatiotemporal correlations among various uncertainty sources. This leads to overestimates/underestimates of ramping requirements. In addition, the explicit FRPs model considers only the generation ramping limitation. Other security constraints, such as the transmission limits, are not considered, which leads to deliverability issues of FRPs. To deal with these shortcomings of current FRPs models, this paper proposes a deliverable FRPs based on a distributionally-robust chance constrained multi-interval optimal power flow (DRCC-MIOPF) considering the spatiotemporal correlation of wind power and demand uncertainties endogenously. Furthermore, an asymmetrical affine policy (AAP) is proposed to leverage generation flexibility and mitigate the uncertainty in different directions. The pricing mechanism of the FRPs is proposed using a novel uncertainty-contained locational marginal price (U_LMP) which is derived from the proposed AAP-DRCC-MIOPF model. New components representing the price of FRPs are added into the traditional LMP formulation. Finally, the PJM 5-bus, IEEE 39-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems case studies validate the proposed FRPs approach. The payment of uncertain demand and wind power on FRPs are analyzed.

electricity market↗

Impacts of management practices on bioenergy feedstock yield and economic feasibility on Conservation Reserve Program grasslands

Abstract Perennial grass mixtures planted on Conservation Reserve Program ( CRP ) land are a potential source of dedicated bioenergy feedstock. Long‐term nitrogen (N) and harvest management are critical factors for maximizing biomass yield while maintaining the longevity of grass stands. A six‐year farm‐scale study was conducted to understand the impact of weather variability on biomass yield, determine optimal N fertilization and harvest timing management practices for sustainable biomass production, and estimate economic viability at six CRP sites in the United States. Precipitation during the growing season was a critical factor for annual biomass production across all regions, and annual biomass production was severely reduced when growing season precipitation was below 50% of average. The N rate of 112 kg ha −1 produced the highest biomass yield at each location. Harvest timing resulting in the highest biomass yield was site‐specific and was a factor of predominant grass type, seasonal precipitation, and the number of harvests taken per year. The use of N fertilizer for yield enhancement unambiguously increased the cost of biomass regardless of the harvest timing for all six sites. The breakeven price of biomass at the farmgate ranged from $37 to $311 Mg −1 depending on the rate of N application, timing of harvesting, and location when foregone opportunity costs were not considered. Breakeven prices ranged from $69 to $526 Mg −1 when the loss of CRP land rental payments was included as an opportunity cost. Annual cost of the CRP to the federal government could be reduced by over 8% in the states included in this study; however, this would require the biomass price to be much higher than in the case where the landowner receives the CRP land rent. This field research demonstrated the importance of long‐term, farm‐scale research for accurate estimation of biomass feedstock production and economic viability from perennial grasslands.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗