UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

MAY 2010

PROGRAMME BEng (Hons.) Chemical and Renewable Engineering

MODULE NAME Energy Engineering

DATE Friday MODULE CODE CHE 4006Y(5)

07 May 2010

TIME 09.30 – 12.30 Hrs DURATION 3 hours

NO. OF 7 NO. OF QUESTIONS 4

QUESTIONS SET TO BE ATTEMPTED

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

There are 3 sections in this paper: Section A, Section B and Section C

Section A consists of 3 questions. Question 1 is compulsory and answer any other

one question from this section.

Section B consists of 2 questions Answer any 1 questions from Section B.

Section C consists of 2 questions Answer any 1 questions from Section C.

Tables and graphs are provided.

USE SEPERATE ANSWER BOOKS FOR EACH SECTION.

 ENERGY ENGINEERING – CHE 4006Y

SECTION A

Answer any one other question from this Section.

Use separate answer books for each Section.

Question 1 (COMPULSORY)

a) To calculate damage costs, an impact pathway analysis (IPA) is carried out.

Outline the principal steps involved in an IPA. [7 marks]

b) A study was carried out by a group of LCA experts on comparing four

alternative strategies for energy recovery from MSW downstream of Material
Recovery (MR) within the ‘‘Integrated’’ Waste Management Systems (WMS)
framework, namely:

1. combust the MR residue ‘‘as is’’ in a grate combustor;

2. remove the organic, ‘‘wet’’ fraction by sifting the MR residue ahead of

combusting it in a grate combustor; the wet fraction is bio-stabilized and
then landfilled;

3. produce RDF with aerobic bio-stabilization of the whole MR residue

ahead of sifting, and then feed RDF to a dedicated fluidized bed
combustor;

4. produce RDF by first removing the organic fraction by sifting and then
feed RDF to a dedicated fluidized bed combustor; the organic fraction is
bio-stabilized and then landfilled.

The comparison between the different strategies is made using the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) methodology, which is a well-known technique for the evaluation
of the environmental load of a product, a process, or an activity. The analysis
proceeds from whatever is left downstream of MR carried out by selective waste
collection, as shown in the figure below.

…/cont’d next page

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Question 1 (Cont’d)

The inventory Table 1 includes a wide array of pollutants, ranging from typical
combustion products like carbon monoxide or nitrogen oxides to acid gases, heavy
metals and organo-chlorine compounds like dioxins and furans, at the stack of WTE
plants.

…/cont’d next page

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 ENERGY ENGINEERING – CHE 4006Y

Question 1 (Cont’d)

Table 1: Emissions from strategies 1, 2, 3 and 4

…/cont’d next page

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 ENERGY ENGINEERING – CHE 4006Y

Question 1 (Cont’d)
Table 1(continued)

SOF: stabilized organic fraction

…/cont’d next page

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Question 1 (Cont’d)

(i) Draw an inventory table showing the total emissions of each pollutant for the
different strategies under study. [4 marks]
(ii) Conduct an impact analysis of the four strategies. [16 marks]
(iii) Normalized the results obtained in (ii) for each strategy. [6 marks]
(iv) State which environmental problem contributes the most in each strategy.
Justify your answer. [2 marks]
Note: Equivalency factors and global figures for common environmental
problems are provided

Question 2

a) If you are to design a WTE facility, outline the key issues that need to be taken
into consideration. [5 marks]

b) 100 tonnes per day of wood biomass, having a moisture content of 20% and a
heating value of 19MJ/kg and an ash content of 5% (on a dry basis), is to be
incinerated. 80% of excess air is required for complete combustion and a
minimum temperature of 500oC is required for effective burnout. Assume 2%
radiation heat loss and a humidity of 0.0055 kg/kg dry air, as well as, exit
temperature to be 1000oC. Calculate:

(i) Total heat generated (kJ/h) [3 marks]

(ii) Total air required (kg/h) [3 marks]

(iii) Total water due to combustion (kg/h) [2 marks]

(iv) Total water in flue gas (kg/h) [2 marks]

Note: graphs are provided for this question

Question 3

a) Outline the kinetics involved in the gasification of biomass [8 marks]

b) Explain why refractories are used in furnace construction? [3 marks]

c) What are the factors affecting biomass pyrolysis? [4 marks]

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SECTION B

Answer any ONE QUESTION from this section.

Use separate answer books for this Section.

Question 4

(a) Differentiate between back-pressure steam turbine, condensing extracting

steam turbine, condensing turbine and bagasse integrated gasification-gas
turbine. [4 marks]

(b) Describe the two fundamental types of cogeneration system. [2 marks]

(c) The heat and power requirement of a chemical processing plant was estimated
to be 80.4 ktoe and 80 ktoe respectively. It was proposed to evaluate the
efficiency of energy production for the plant by using a combined heat and
power (CHP) system and to compare it with that of a conventional system
where the heat and power requirements would be generated separately.

(i) The thermal efficiency for electricity generation of the CHP system was
40%. The waste heat, equivalent to 60% of the input energy was passed
through a waste heat recovery system having an efficiency of heat
recovery of 67%. Electrical energy in the conventional system was
generated in a power station having a thermal efficiency of 38% and the
heat requirement was raised separately in a boiler having an efficiency
of 82%. Calculate and compare the energy input and efficiency of energy
generation for the CHP system and that of the conventional system.

(ii) Suppose that the heat requirement of the plant is doubled with the CHP
system configuration mentioned in part (i) remaining the same and all
surplus heat is to be generated by using an extra boiler having the same
efficiency as that of the conventional system. Calculate the new overall
efficiencies of the CHP and the conventional system. Comment on the
result obtained making reference to the overall efficiency obtained in
part (i).

(iii) Give two advantages and two limitations of using the CHP system
compared to that of the conventional system for the chemical processing
plant. [19 marks]

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Question 5

(a) Application of fluidised bed combustion for solid waste incineration is an

alternative method to ‘mass-burn’ technology. Give a brief description of these
two types of combustion technology. Give four major limitations of fluidised
bed combustion. What are the major advantages for using fluidised bed
incineration from the point of view of environmental protection?
[8 marks]

(b) There exist a number of alternative energy resources that can be used for
energy generation. However, not all of them are commercially exploitable.

(i) Suppose you have been appointed as an energy consultant and assigned
to perform a resource assessment of the potential of an energy resource
as well as to propose a developmental framework, suggest a strategic
approach that you would adopt for the assessment.

(ii) Suggest typical guidelines that you will use in assessing the energy
resources.

(iii) Illustrate your answer by taking the generation of bagasse electricity as

an example.
[17 marks]

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SECTION C
Answer any ONE QUESTION from this section.
Use separate answer books for this Section.
Question 6

(a) Give an overview of the various technologies available to convert biomass into
secondary solid, liquid and gaseous energy sources. You may give your answer
as a schematic diagram or in a descriptive form. [4 marks]

(b) Explain how the overall energy cycle is closed when energy is recovered from
biomass through anaerobic digestion. Support your answer with equations.
Given Gibbs free energy: CO2 = -394 kJ/mol; H2O = -237kJ/mol;
CH2O = -153kJ/mol; CH4 = -51kJ/mol. [4 marks]

(c) (i) Describe and explain the metabolic steps involved in the anaerobic
digestion of organic matter. Illustrate your answer with a schematic
diagram. [6 marks]

(ii) An anaerobic digestion plant processes 80 tons/day of organic wastes

with chemical formula C19.31H30.05O11.44N. Estimate the amount of
methane and carbon dioxide in terms of kg that can be produced on a
daily basis according to the following equation. What is the percentage
composition of the biogas in terms of CH4 and CO2?

 4a − b − 2c − 3d   4a + b − 2c − 3d   4a − b + 2c + 3d 
C a H b Oc N d +   H 2O →  CH 4 +  CO2 + dNH 3
 4   8   8 
RMM: C = 12.01, H = 1.01, O = 16.00 [8 marks]

(d) The main types of engines available for power production are the gas-diesel,
ignition oil engine, fuel cell and gas turbine. For a plant of medium capacity
producing 50 kWe, state which engine you would choose and justify your
choice based on capacity, environmental implications and costs. [3 marks]

Question 7
(a) Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, can be used as a transport fuel, mainly as a
biofuel additive for gasoline. It can be produced synthetically or by
fermentation.

(i) Explain and distinguish how ethanol is produced by fermentation from

sacchariferous materials and amylaceous materials. Support your
answer with equations. [5 marks]

(ii) State five advantages and five disadvantages of using ethanol as a

source of fuel. [5 marks]
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Question 7a (Cont’d)

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(iii) A plant processes 10 tons of molasses per day. The molasses contain 45%
fermentable sugar, C12H22O11. Assuming that the fermentation has an
efficiency of 85%, calculate the theoretical daily yield of ethanol in kg.
RMM: C = 12.01, H = 1.01, O = 16.00 [5 marks]

(b) (i) Explain the steps in the production of biodiesel from oil based on
transesterifcation. What are the side reactions and why should they be
avoided? Support your answer with equations. [5 marks]

(ii) The figure below shows a ternary equilibrium phase diagram for FAME
(Fatty Acids Methyl Ester), methanol, and glycerol. Briefly explain the
triangular diagram, and explain how phase separation is represented on
the diagram. Determine the composition of the upper and lower layers
of the mixture M. [5 marks]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

/ph

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