As global attention is increasingly focused on developing sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel sources, Applied Analytics is committed to helping producers meet their goals. For your next analyzer application consider Applied Analytics; with hundreds of installations around the globe, Applied Analytics has helped countless companies manage their operation with the most advanced process analyzers in the world.
Hydrogen is anticipated to play a crucial role in the renewable economy due to its remarkable flexibility. From mundane options like being incorporated into natural gas for heating, to modern, cutting-edge technologies like fusion, hydrogen can be found somewhere along the way.
Most hydrogen today is produced through the steam reformation of methane into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. These methane reforming reactors rely on accurate process measurements to ensure the reaction is occurring at peak performance and minimizes any waste.
Applied Analytics’ APG-710 is an analyzer that is specifically designed to meet this challenge. With its Wheatstone-bridge-utilizing thermal conductivity sensor, the APG-710 delivers superior accuracy with minimal delay in receiving results.
Diesel is arguably the backbone of the global economy, from trucks, to ships, to electric generators, diesel makes the world run. Until recently, fuels for diesel engines could only be refined from crude oil. However, recent advances have now enabled the production of renewable diesel, also known as green diesel, that is made from renewable sources.
By hydrotreating fatty acids sourced from sustainable sources such as oil crops and animal tallow, refiners can create a renewable fuel that can be used in existing engines without the need for the engine to be modified. The fuel is both stable and non-corrosive unlike earlier green options such as biodiesel.
However, the tradeoff with these new, clean fuel sources is that the hydrotreating operations required to produce renewable diesel are significantly more challenging than hydrotreating traditional crude oil products. In particular, there are significantly higher levels of oxygen that must be removed from the fuel during this unit operation. This combined with the multiple pathways that the hydrotreating can occur under, makes this operation uniquely challenging.
Fortunately, the design team at Applied Analytics have worked to develop solutions that meet and exceed the requirements for this operation. AAI’s Microspec MCP-200 process analyzer utilizes non-dispersive infrared technology to quantify the levels of CO, CO2, and moisture inside any process. This, coupled with the APG-710, enables plant operators to have a complete picture of the hydrotreating reactions.
Renewable natural gas or RNG is produced by upgrading methane-containing off-gas from landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, anerobic digestors, and even livestock. The upgrading typically includes the removal of acid gases like H2S and CO2, the elimination of moisture, and the addition of odorants prior to being released to a pipeline.
The hydrogen sulfide removal is a particularly challenging process to monitor. The low pressures that these streams typically operate at, combined with the requirement to remove almost all H2S eliminates many online analyzers as viable options.
The OMA-300-UV with its Zeta spectrometer is specifically designed for these challenging measurements. With its ½ nanometer resolution combined with its ability to see deep into the ultraviolet spectrum, the Zeta spectrometer can see H2S where it absorbs UV light the strongest. This feature is a capability that many systems on the market simply do not possess and enables the Zeta to detect even low levels of hydrogen sulfide.
Capturing carbon dioxide may prove to be an important tool for extending the life of both legacy power plants and chemical plants, while ensuring that CO2 emission goals are met. There are many proposals for this method but the one discussed below will focus on capturing carbon after combustion from legacy plants.
In this process, CO2 is captured from the stack gas typically using either an amine or selexol unit. After this separation, the CO2 is then dried and compressed. Once this has been completed the CO2 can be sent to underground salt caverns for storage, or used for other purposes such as enhanced oil extraction.
While this process has the potential to limit CO2 emissions, improve oil extraction, and extend the lifespan of legacy plants, the operation is energy intensive. Monitoring CO2 levels at all phases of the operation: post combustion, post separation, and post compression will provide the plant with crucial information regarding the efficiency of this operation. This will help to ensure costly losses due to plant inefficiencies are kept to a minimum.
Applied Analytics’ MicroSpec MCP-200 is an ideal solution for this application. Its straightforward and effective design enables it to measure CO2 levels without the need for moving parts that could otherwise fail or require costly maintenance.
According to Standard & Poor’s by 2030 1 in 4 new vehicles will be electric. This is on top of other trends, such as renewable energy production, that will require increased production of lithium-ion batteries.
In order to meet this new demand, manufacturers must overcome the challenges associated with producing these batteries. Moisture is one of these challenges that is particularly troublesome. The electrodes of these batteries are formed, in part, by preparing a slurry of electronically active material. The presence of moisture in this process can not only negatively impact the slurry, but also create impurities that damage the newly manufactured battery cell.
Applied Analytics can help firms actively prevent these issues by helping them to monitor their process in real time with the OMA-300-InGaAs process analyzer, enabling them to detect and eliminate moisture before it is too late.