Editor: Sankar Chakma

Ultrasound Technology for Fuel Processing

eBook: US $59 Special Offer (PDF + Printed Copy): US $101
Printed Copy: US $71
Library License: US $236
ISBN: 978-981-5049-85-5 (Print)
ISBN: 978-981-5049-84-8 (Online)
Year of Publication: 2023
DOI: 10.2174/97898150498481230101

Introduction

Ultrasound Technology for Fuel Processing is a comprehensive reference guide that explores the application of sonochemistry and ultrasound waves in the intensified processing of fuels. The book focuses on the cavitation phenomenon, which generates extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and pressures, within the cavitation bubbles, leading to significant enhancements in chemical reactions and overall process yields.

Key features of the book include comprehensive coverage of ultrasound fuel processing, with the inclusion of information about several new processing techniques, detailed references, and a focus on sustainability enhancing petrochemical technologies.

Key highlights of the book include:

Key Topics:

  • - The basics of ultrasound technology, including its history, acoustic wave origin, and process parameters influencing cavitation thresholds.
  • - Green hydrogen production through sonolysis of water and the influence of various parameters on hydrogen yield.
  • - Pre-treatment methods for biofuel production, exploring both conventional and novel green methods.
  • - Ultrasound-based techniques to enhance alternative energy production (biocrude, biogas, and bioethanol).
  • - Biodiesel synthesis using ultrasound-microwave synergy for enhanced processing rates.
  • - Intensified approaches in sonochemistry, including the use of cavitation, fundamentals of sonochemical reactors, and operational guidelines for maximizing biodiesel yields.
  • - Enhanced oil recovery and crude oil upgradation using ultrasound and cavitation techniques, focusing on cracking heavy hydrocarbon molecules.
  • - Ultrasound-assisted chemical and bio-desulfurization processes.

Ultrasound Technology for Fuel Processing provides an in-depth understanding of the principles and applications of ultrasound in fuel processing, offering valuable insights for researchers, faculty, and professionals in fuel processing technology and related areas in industrial, petroleum and chemical engineering.

Audience: Engineering Professionals and Students, Postgraduate researchers in Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering

Foreword

Energy security is a major present-day global issue. As fossil fuel sources are drying up, there is an urgent need to explore alternate sources of energy. Climate change risk due to GHG emissions and global warming is also a global challenge. Green fuels in gaseous and liquid forms offer a simultaneous solution to both problems of energy security and climate change. Alcoholic biofuels such as bioethanol or biobutanol and biodiesel have emerged as potential green liquid transportation fuels. Gaseous biofuels of biogas and biohydrogen can substitute the conventional CNG in vehicles. Blending of petroleum fuels with liquid biofuels is being practised in several developed and developing economies. In addition to achieving a carbon-neutral fuel, this technique can also reduce the economic burden of oil import in developing countries like India. Despite voluminous research and literature in the areas of green fuels, extensive commercial implementation has not been achieved. Major causes leading to these effects are the high cost of substrates, and production techniques that are energy-intensive and lengthy. Intensification of the production processes is a possible solution for these issues. Ultrasound and cavitation have emerged as effective techniques for the intensification of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes. The application of ultrasound and cavitation in fuel processing has also been a research-intensive area. Essentially, ultrasound and cavitation are new techniques for introducing energy into the processing system. These techniques make energies available on extremely small spatial and temporal scales. Marked enhancement in process kinetics, yield, and efficiency has been observed with the application of ultrasound.

Ultrasound Technology for Fuel Processing is an attempt to bring out the state-of-the-art status of ultrasound-assisted and enhanced fuel processes – with special emphasis on green fuels. The authors of this monograph have touched upon almost all aspects – from fundamental to applied – of ultrasound-assisted fuel processing. Starting with the basic principles of ultrasound and cavitation, the authors have included distinct chapters on biohydrogen, biomass pretreatment, solid waste treatment, 2G/3G liquid fuels from biomass, microbes and microalgae. Other topics such as biodesulfurization, biofuel synthesis with hydrodynamic cavitation, enhanced oil recovery and crude oil upgradation have also been explicitly covered through individual chapters.

I am absolutely sure that a comprehensive collection of expertise from diverse facets of fuel processing in this monograph will be a versatile single source of information to the students and researchers of the multidisciplinary fraternity of biorefineries and chemical/petrochemical engineering. In recent years, many books and monographs have been published in the area of ultrasound, cavitation, sonochemistry, and ultrasound-assisted processes. However, this monograph is perhaps the first of its kind that exclusively addresses applications of ultrasound and cavitation for fuel processing. This monograph could also be a good reference book for undergraduate/graduate level courses on process engineering and intensification.

I have known the editor of this monograph, Dr. Sankar Chakma, for many years since he joined the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati as an M. Tech. student. I heartily commend him on his efforts in collating and compiling expertise on ultrasound-assisted fuel processing and presenting it in a methodical and articulate manner. I feel convinced that this monograph will prove to be a valuable and lasting contribution to the area of fuel processing.

Vijayanand Suryakant Moholkar
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Guwahati - 781 039, Assam, India


FOREWORD II

I have known the author Sankar Chakma since his doctoral program and I am well familiar with his interests in the field of ultrasound and cavitationally induced transformations. He developed a keen interest in sonochemistry and cavitation during his early stage of research in the subject and used to frequently interact with me personally and professionally. Sankar has made a significant contribution to the understanding of the mechanism of ultrasound-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and reactions such as transesterification for biofuel synthesis. He has extensively investigated the mechanisms of sono-hybrid processes coupling with the numerical simulation of bubble dynamics. He has made a crucial contribution to the understanding of the basic mechanics of sono-hybrid processes for mineralization of emerging pollutants with the identification of links between chemistry and physics which has resulted in a major process intensification.

I am indeed honoured to write a foreword to this book “Ultrasound Technology for Fuel Processing” edited by Sankar Chakma. I have gone through the contents of the book chapters and have observed that the chapters are organized in a logical sequence, in terms of topics covered in the book and the methodological approach when ultrasound is used in fuel synthesis and processing. The area of ultrasound and cavitation has been hugely exploited in the field of synthesis of alternative fuels and renewable fuel options such as biofuels (in the form of bioethanol, biohydrogen, biodiesel, etc.). The up-gradation of fuels as well as enhanced oil recovery from the non-producing crude oil wells by sending sound waves through the various zones in the natural reservoirs which essentially reduce the effects of boundary layers in oil-water system and also between the oil and solid surface of the pores has been a well-studied area and has shown huge potential. This book will provide all the necessary information from the basic concept of ultrasound and cavitation to its applications in various fields of fuel processing technology. For example, chapters 1 and 2 describe factors that influence sonochemistry and that of hydrogen gas using the sonolysis route, chapters 3 to 6 provide ultrasound-integrated hybrid techniques for the pretreatment of biomasses for enhancing the process yield, chapters 7 and 8 describe the biodiesel production through the transesterification route using cavitation, and chapters 9 to 12 describe the success in enhanced oil recovery and further crude oil processing for upgradation and purification. Thus, the information and knowledge shared in this book will be helpful for the general public, business leaders, regulatory/policy makers and scientists.

My best wishes to the authors and readers of this wonderful book!

Aniruddha B. Pandit
Vice-Chancellor and Professor
Institute of Chemical Technology
Mumbai, India