Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

Mohamed A. Hassaan, Antonio Pantaleo, Francesco Santoro, Marwa R. Elkatory, Giuseppe De Mastro, Amany El Sikaily, Safaa Ragab and Ahmed El Nemr
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Mohamed A. Hassaan: Marine Pollution Lab, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria 21556, Egypt
Antonio Pantaleo: Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bari University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Francesco Santoro: Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bari University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Marwa R. Elkatory: City for Scientific Research and Technological Applications, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
Giuseppe De Mastro: Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bari University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Amany El Sikaily: Marine Pollution Lab, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria 21556, Egypt
Safaa Ragab: Marine Pollution Lab, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria 21556, Egypt
Ahmed El Nemr: Marine Pollution Lab, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria 21556, Egypt

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-26

Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the biogas production from mechanically treated barley straw and to perform a techno-economic analysis based on the costs assessment and on the results of biogas production. The structural changes of mechanically pretreated barley straw were observed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. Additionally, both green ZnO NPs prepared from red alga ( Antithamnion plumula ) extract and chemically prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM, surface area, and EDX. The results revealed that the biogas production was slightly improved by 14.9 and 13.2% when the barley straw of 0.4 mm was mechanically pretreated with 10 mg/L of both green and chemical ZnO NPs and produced 390.5 mL biogas/g VS and 385 mL biogas/g VS, respectively. On the other hand, the higher concentrations of ZnO NPs equal to 20 mg/L had an inhibitory effect on biogas production and decreased the biogas yield to 173 mL biogas/g VS, which was less than the half of previous values. It was also clear that the mechanically treated barley straw of 0.4 mm size presented a higher biogas yield of about 340 mL/g VS, in comparison to 279 mL biogas/g VS of untreated biomass. The kinetic study showed that the first order, modified Gompertz and logistic function models had the best fit with the experimental data. The results showed that the nanoparticles (NPs) of the mechanically treated barely straw are a suitable source of biomass for biogas production, and its yields are higher than the untreated barley straw. The results of the cost-benefit analysis showed that the average levelized cost of energy (LCOE), adopting the best treatments (0.4 mm + 10 mg/L ZnO), is 0.21 €/kWh, which is not competitive with the other renewable energy systems in the Egyptian energy market.

Keywords: green ZnO nanoparticles; Antithamnion plumula; catalysis; barley straw; biogas; kinetic models; cost-benefits analysis; levelized cost of energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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