In order to improve the volumetric solar absorption and thermoelectric generation efficiency, this study investigated the photothermal and thermoelectric performance of carbon nanotube (CNT) nanofluids combined with copper foams (PPI = 10, 15, and 20). Under 650–950 mW/cm2 illumination and 200–600 ppm nanofluids concentrations, temperature was measured at different depths. Temperature differences increase with the illumination intensity due to enhanced thermal conductivity and Brownian motion. Copper foams accelerate heat transfer to deeper regions, raising temperatures at 15 mm while slightly reducing surface temperatures. At PPI = 15, the system exhibites the highest temperature difference and open-circuit voltage, and its performance is 25–45% higher than that of the systems with other PPIs. Moderate pore density balances heat conduction and convective enhancement, which provides guidance for optimizing metal foam and nanofluids hybrid systems for efficient solar thermoelectric energy conversion.
Thermoacoustic instabilities have been one of the major concerns in combustors. Given the relationship between the oscillation behaviour and combustion characteristics, strategies for combustion control have considerable potential for modulating these oscillations. In this study, we experimentally investigated the effects of co-flow conditions on self-excited thermoacoustic oscillations driven by a laminar premixed fuel-rich flame in a Rijke tube, aiming to identify the mechanisms governing changes in oscillation behaviour and to clarify the driving mechanism of the oscillation under laminar flame conditions. The co-flow conditions were varied by changing air co-flow strength and oxygen concentration in the N2-O2 co-flow. Oscillation behaviour was characterised by the oscillation eigenfrequency (feigen) and amplitude. The thermal and combustion characteristics were examined using the tube-end temperature and global OH*, CH* and C2* chemiluminescence signals. Flame modes were identified from high-speed flame images using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and the local flame-pressure coupling was quantified using a windowed POD based local coupling coefficient to reveal the oscillation driving mechanism. The nonlinear dynamical properties of the system were analysed using the Wayland method and recurrence analysis. The results demonstrated that the co-flow conditions can modify feigen and suppress self-excited oscillations. The oscillation amplitude was found to be more sensitive to changes in combustion characteristics and strongly correlated with the overall oxygen-fuel relationship. The oscillations induced by laminar flames were primarily driven by the local flame-root fluctuations rather than by global heat release fluctuations. Changes in equivalent average sound speed, originating from variations in temperature conditions, were found to play a dominant role in affecting feigen, with the equivalent-average-sound-speed model predicting feigen within 1 %. These findings support the control of eigenfrequency and amplitude through ventilation and oxygen conditioning in practical combustors.
Bioaerosols can be effectively entrapped within the porous structure of HVAC filters. Nonetheless, conventional filters do not inactivate accumulated/multiplied microorganisms on the filter media, increasing the risk of pathogen release downstream. To address this challenge, this study presents a fanless, energy-efficient technology for the thermal disinfection of filters. During disinfection, buoyancy-driven flow transfers heat to the filter, eliminating the need for recirculating fans and the reliability and maintenance concerns associated with elevated-temperature operation. The system consists of two identical parallel units, each containing a MERV 11 filter and tubular heating elements. To reduce the temperature non-uniformity inherent to natural convection, three system configurations were experimentally investigated over a range of heater set-point temperatures. The configurations differed in filter housing design and the arrangement of heating elements. A literature-based thermal criterion of 65 °C for 10 min was used to determine the required disinfection time and energy. Moreover, the filtration performance and flow resistance of the system were evaluated using an ASHRAE 52.2-compliant wind tunnel at three air velocities (0.5, 0.75, and 1 m/s). The results revealed that the optimal configuration substantially reduces thermal non-uniformity across the filter, enabling the entire filter to reach the disinfection condition within approximately 35 min, with an energy demand of 0.10 kWh. Furthermore, flow characterization tests indicated that the presence of heating elements and duct modifications does not significantly affect filtration efficiency and results in a minor increase in pressure drop during normal filtration operation.
We analyze a vertical coaxial borehole heat exchanger (CBHE) using two dimensionless numbers. One dimensionless number, Nr, characterizes the heat flow from the rock to the flowing fluid in the annulus and the other, Nw, characterizes the insulation between the flowing fluids in the inner tube and the annulus. Based on an analytical solution for a CBHE, the outlet temperature and the heat production are expressed as weighted sums of two temperature differences. It is shown that the outlet temperature, the heat production, and the weighting functions have four regimes defined by the two dimensionless numbers. High outlet temperature and high heat production take place in two different regimes. An optimal operation of the CBHE, which gives a reasonable heat production and a noticeable increase in the fluid temperature, is when 2<Nr<10 and Nw≪1. The use of these dimensionless numbers allows for easy comparison of different design configurations and operational scenarios in the engineering of CBHEs. A plot of the different operational conditions in terms of mass flow rate becomes nearly a straight line when Nr and Nw are represented as log10 values. The number Nw gives an upper boundary for the heat conductivity of the inner tube to be insulating, or alternatively, a lower boundary on the actual mass flow rate. An approximate solution of the equation for a CBHE is derived and compared with the exact solution. It allows for the estimation of the mass flow rate that gives the maximum outlet temperature.
Thermally inert structures (like concrete and cement components) are commonly present in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and affect the fire spread behavior. In this study, five different plan area fractions (0, 0.04, 0.09, 0.16, and 0.25) and five different spacings (5.9–17.5 cm, with a 2.9 cm increment) of thermally inert structure distributions in discrete fuels were investigated, with each experimental case repeated three times. The results showed that increasing the plan area fraction caused a non-monotonic variation in the rate of fire spread (ROS). As the plan area fraction increased, the ROS changed by 3.8 %, 13.3 %, −7.4 %, and −34.9 %, while the peak heat flux changed by −27.0 %, −38.7 %, −48.1 %, and −76.5 %, respectively. Increasing the spacing from 5.9 cm to 11.7 cm led to a maximum ROS increase of 40.0 %, followed by a decline, whereas the peak heat flux consistently increased by up to 87.8 % as the spacing widened to 17.5 cm. During most of the analyzed preheating stage, the contribution of radiation was higher than that of convection, whereas convective heat transfer exhibited a marked enhancement at ignition. Based on the distribution patterns of thermally inert structures, two semi-empirical models for radiative heat flux and ROS were developed to describe their influence within the experimental range.
Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) exhibit exceptional properties that render them highly suitable for high-speed aircraft surfaces, including superior convective heat transfer, lightweight strength, and aerodynamic characteristics. Despite the fact that multi-morphology TPMS structures outperform their single-unit counterparts, existing research has predominantly focused on mechanical properties, neglecting an in-depth analysis of convective heat transfer. This study introduces a pioneering parametric design approach for multi-morphology TPMS structures, utilizing interpolation functions to ensure uniform pore distribution across topological transitions. We meticulously designed four multi-morphology TPMS structures of different scales: Gyroid-gyroid-Gyroid, Primitive-primitive-Primitive, Gyroid-primitive-Gyroid, and Primitive-gyroid-Primitive. These were then subjected to extensive convective heat-transfer experiments and simulation comparisons with single-morphology Gyroid and Primitive structures. The experimental and simulation results exhibited high consistency, revealing differences in convective heat-transfer performance among various TPMS structures. Specifically, under flow rates ranging from 0.5-5 m/s, the Gyroid-gyroid-Gyroid structure demonstrated the optimal convective heat-transfer coefficient, with improvements of 13.9–23.5%, 42.9–58.1%, 29.8–41.6%, 5.3–13.8%, and 25.6–33.7% compared to the Gyroid, Primitive, Primitive-primitive-Primitive, Gyroid-primitive-Gyroid, and Primitive-gyroid-Primitive models, respectively. However, when considering all evaluation metrics comprehensively, the Gyroid-primitive-Gyroid structure exhibited the highest comprehensive heat-transfer performance, with increases of 20.3–43.7%, 134.3–294.8%, 8.7–30.1%, 31.5–100.1%, and 58.4–134.4% compared to the Gyroid, Primitive, Primitive-primitive-Primitive, Gyroid-gyroid-Gyroid, and Primitive-gyroid-Primitive models, respectively. This study not only contributes to advancing the widespread application of TPMS structures in the thermal management industry but also holds potential for bringing new technological breakthroughs in high-tech fields such as aerospace.
Sulfur and chlorine contaminants in syngas contribute to equipment scaling, fouling, and corrosion, and also pose environmental concerns as precursors to various toxic and carcinogenic compounds. This study investigates the distribution of sulfur and chlorine among the products of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) gasification in a two-stage pyrolysis–gasification system under different process conditions. RDF samples were gasified under both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, with varying catalyst loadings in the secondary reactor. For sulfur, the fraction remaining in the solid residue and the fraction released as H₂S and COS were determined, and a mass balance normalized to 100% of the sulfur present in the RDF was calculated. For chlorine, the yields in the solid residue, liquid condensate, and syngas were measured and likewise balanced to 100% of the chlorine contained in the RDF. Under oxygen-free conditions, the majority of both sulfur and chlorine remained in the solid residue. Increasing the airflow rate reduced the fraction of sulfur and chlorine retained in the residue, primarily due to the decreased yield of solid residue, while the change of their concentrations in the residue remained was not significant. Higher airflow rates also led to a rapid increase in the unaccounted chlorine fraction (relative to the 100% mass balance), suggesting the formation of chlorine species other than chlorides detectable by argentometric titration. However, GC–MS analysis did not reveal the presence of chlorinated organic compounds in the liquid phase. Catalyst loading under pyrolysis conditions reduced the tar content in the syngas and enhanced the H₂ concentration but also affected the release and distribution of chlorine and sulfur between the liquid condensate and the syngas. The discrepancy between the sum of measured yields and the theoretical 100% mass balance, particularly for chlorine under oxidizing conditions, highlights the need for further experimental investigation and provides a basis for future research.
Photovoltaic systems installed in coastal and arid areas are increasingly subjected to extreme environmental stressors such as salt-laden winds, high relative humidity, dust storms, and intense solar heating, which hasten soiling, salt crystallization, optical losses, corrosion risk, and performance degradation. This study provides a complete comparison of bifacial floating photovoltaic (FPV) and ground-mounted photovoltaic (GPV) systems operating in the same harsh coastal circumstances in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The power generation capability of both systems was experimentally monitored, and deposited dust and salt samples were collected from the front and rear surfaces of FPV modules and the front surface of GPV modules. An advanced characterization framework comprising scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV–Vis absorbance analysis was used to identify the morphology, elemental composition, functional groups, crystallinity, and optical behavior of the accumulated deposits. The FPV and GPV systems delivered peak power outputs of 466 W and 225 W, respectively, while the net daily electrical energy reached 1525 Wh/day for FPV and 903 Wh/day for GPV. Overall, FPV improved peak power output and net daily electrical energy by 107% and 68.88%, respectively. The results revealed distinct soiling mechanisms: sea-salt compounds such as NaCl, MgCl2, and CaSO4 dominated the FPV surfaces, whereas silicate-rich mineral dust and organic matter were more prevalent on GPV surfaces. FTIR analysis showed stronger carbonyl absorption at approximately 1720–1735 cm−1 on the FPV front surface, while stronger C–O stretching at approximately 1050–1120 cm−1 was observed for GPV deposits. XRD analysis revealed a high crystalline peak for the FPV front surface at 2θ ≈ 31.8°, with an intensity of approximately 45,600 a.u. and interlayer spacing of 2.81 Å, nearly seven times higher than that of GPV, confirming intense marine aerosol crystallization. The findings also reveal that FPV systems gain from improved power output under coastal conditions however face more salt crystallization and corrosion-related concerns, whereas GPV systems are more heavily influenced by dust adherence and optical shadowing. The study provides useful guidance for site-specific PV design, anti-soiling coatings, and corrosion-resistant materials for improving PV resilience under coastal extreme weather conditions.
The agrifood sector is characterized by high energy intensity; consequently, integrating renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels can substantially contribute to global decarbonization. Among renewables, bioenergy from residual biomass emerges as a promising pathway to enhance the environmental sustainability of the agrifood sector. Nevertheless, the energy recovery potential of such residues is often insufficient to meet a relevant share of the producers’ energy demand, primarily due to the seasonal nature of production and the limited quantity of available feedstock. Therefore, this study emphasizes the relevance of coupling bioenergy with other renewable energy sources, selected according to local resource availability, to substantially reduce the environmental impact of energy consumption within the agrifood sector. The analysis is carried out by developing a comprehensive and dynamic mixed-integer linear programming model to optimize the operation of hybrid energy systems. To evaluate its applicability and robustness, the model is applied to simulate the hourly operation of multiple generation technologies using real load profiles from two real-world agrifood industries, for which integrated bioenergy–solar systems are designed. The results show that the proposed approach provides an effective tool for optimizing the operation of complex energy systems and for identifying optimal renewable-based system capacities while accounting for their temporal variability and fluctuations.
To mitigate the adverse health and environmental impacts of soot emissions from combustion, this study combines experimental measurements with numerical simulations to investigate the effects of H2 and CO2/H2O addition on soot formation in ethylene laminar diffusion flames. Experimentally, a two-color pyrometry method was employed to map the two-dimensional distributions of temperature and soot volume fraction. Numerically, a detailed model incorporating PAH-based soot dynamics, gas-phase chemistry, and heat and mass transfer was applied. Results indicate that: The experimental results show good agreement with the simulations. Among the operating conditions examined, the combined addition of H2 and CO2 exerted the strongest inhibitory effect, reducing peak temperature and soot volume fraction by 16% and 58%, respectively. In contrast, simple dilution with hydrogen was considerably less effective than modifying the oxygen-enriched atmosphere. Notably, under identical oxygen-enriched conditions, the chemical effect of hydrogen reduced soot-related radiation and heat loss, leading to a slight temperature increase of 0.58%. Mechanistic analysis of intermediate species reveals that the H2+CO2 synergy broadly suppresses soot formation pathways. For the H2+H2O case, while nucleation and condensation rates are moderately enhanced, the OH oxidation rate is significantly promoted, resulting in net soot inhibition. Sensitivity analysis further identifies key reaction channels: H2+CO2 synergy inhibits the generation of A1 by consuming OH through R149 (upstream regulation), but also suppresses A1 formation by weakening R393 (i-C4H5 + C2H2 = A1 + H) (downstream regulation). Whereas R148 (H + H2O → H2+OH) dominates the inhibiting effect when H2O is present alongside H2. These findings provide valuable guidance for the development of carbon-free fuel combustion strategies aimed at reducing particulate emissions.
Natural convection is an effective heat withdrawal mechanism in various engineering systems, including electronic systems and electrical components. However, only rather limited experimental data are available in relation to thermal management and passive cooling of electrical grid components. The study presents a comprehensive experimental and computer investigation of natural convection cooling of a horizontal edgewise-oriented bar (conductor) indirectly heated by an electric current and addresses the air flow and temperature distribution above the bar. A coupled thermal-electromagnetic CFD-based simulation model was built in ANSYS Fluent and Maxwell tools. Numerical results were analysed and compared to experimental data obtained in a certified laboratory, aimed at the investigation of a thermal plume and velocity wake above the heated bar within a mockup enclosure. The experimental data revealed a complex, asymmetric, and unsteady behaviour of the wake, which was not predicted by the simulation models. The mean position of the wake in the experimental data was distinct by about 50 mm compared to the computer simulations. However, the analysis showed that the simulated surface temperatures correlated very well with the experimental data with less than a 3% error. The k–ε turbulence model, among others, provided simulation results closest to the experimental data, even though the wake width was underpredicted by around 38% and the peak value of the air temperature was overpredicted by approximately 9 K.
Corrugated plate heat exchangers (CPHEs) feature compactness and high thermal efficiency. However, they often suffer from severe flow maldistribution when the number of plates is high or when mixed chevron angles are used. To address this limitation, a novel CPHE configuration featuring variable-depth corrugations (CPHE1) is proposed. This design establishes discrete non-contact regions, providing a new design pathway for controlling flow distribution and reducing hydraulic resistance. Computational fluid dynamics is adopted to examine the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the modified configuration in comparison with a conventional design (CPHE2). The numerical approach is validated against experimental studies from the literature. The results show that CPHE1 yields up to 2.5 times lower friction factors (f) while maintaining comparable heat transfer effectiveness. Moreover, the ratio of heat transfer rate to pumping power increases by up to 2.44 times, indicating a significant improvement in thermo-hydraulic performance. The flow maldistribution is also investigated, demonstrating that the proposed variable-depth corrugation design achieves noticeably improved flow uniformity. New correlations for the Nusselt number (Nu) and f of CPHE1 are developed from the present findings.
This study evaluates the energy performance of membrane-assisted radiant cooling integrated with solar photovoltaic generation for thermal comfort in naturally ventilated school buildings in hot and humid climates using a parametric EnergyPlus analysis. While previous studies have shown the potential of radiant cooling, its application in hot and humid climates remains limited due to the risk of surface condensation. The present study performs a parametric building-scale assessment of membrane-assisted radiant cooling under experimentally reported sub-dew-point operating conditions using EnergyPlus simulations. Literature-informed operational ranges associated with sub-dew-point operation were adopted based on previous experimental studies. Thermal comfort was evaluated using the Extended Predicted Mean Vote model. Allowing radiant panel surface temperatures up to 5 °C below the dew-point reduces discomfort hours. Parametric simulations suggest that inlet-water temperatures 10 °C or more below the dew-point may approach thermal comfort conditions similar to those of conventional air-conditioning under the evaluated operating scenarios, while reducing discomfort hours by 7% and cooling-energy use by 34%. Solar photovoltaic generation supplies 65%-100% of the cooling-energy demand across the evaluated cases. Overall, the evaluated membrane-assisted radiant cooling scenarios with solar PV integration indicate the potential to improve thermal comfort while reducing cooling energy demand in naturally ventilated school buildings in hot-humid climates.
The anomalous volume expansion of supercooled aqueous solutions during freezing raises fundamental questions about the underlying microstructural evolution, yet its atomic-scale origin remains unclear. A 32.5 wt% urea aqueous solution (UE32) is the standard working fluid in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems for diesel vehicles. At 233 K, ten experiments gave a mean freezing expansion of 7.44% with a sample standard deviation of 0.47 percentage points. Such expansion may cause structural failure in cold-region applications. This study combines molecular dynamics (MD), sequential thermo-mechanical finite element analysis, and macroscopic experiments. MD reveals a ‘loose-packing’ mechanism in which urea rejected by the growing ice lattice obstructs complete ice-network coalescence and creates a lower-density heterogeneous structure. This non-ideal behaviour is represented by the signed density deviation Δρ(T) = ρMD(T)−ρideal(T), with R2 = 0.991; at 262 K the signed relative density deficit is −2.75% (magnitude 2.75%). The continuum model predicts a volumetric expansion of 7.17%. Its absolute difference from the experimental mean is 0.27 percentage points, corresponding to a relative deviation of 3.63%; the prediction lies within one experimental standard deviation. Pressure tests show that the integrated expansion chamber limits the equilibrium pressure to approximately 0.505 MPa, while finite element analysis predicts a 99.6% reduction in the maximum PA66 wall stress relative to the rigid reference model. The combined MD, thermo-mechanical finite-element, and experimental results support the proposed loose-packing mechanism and validate the multiscale framework under the investigated cooling and single-freezing conditions
Traditional thermoelectric power generation systems suffer from problems such as low heat transfer efficiency and concentrated thermal stress. Existing thermosyphon-thermoelectric generation technologies are mainly limited to low-temperature waste heat recovery and physical nested designs, with insufficient research on medium-to-high temperature heat sources and deep coupling. To address this, this paper proposes a Gravity-Driven Medium-Temperature Separated Thermosiphon-Thermoelectric Generation Coupled System(G-MSTS-TEGS). By separating the evaporator and condenser sections and combining a phase change working fluid (Dowtherm A) cycle with a heat pipe-enhanced heat transfer mechanism, the system achieves a synergistic optimization of heat flux density and the Seebeck effect. The experimental system consists of heating module, liquid storage tank, thermoelectric power generation systems, and cooling unit, and explores the system’s startup characteristics, temperature distribution, and heat transfer performance under varying heating power and collector installation angles. The results show that: the thermal equilibrium time of the system significantly shortens as the heating power (0-3KW) increases, with the maximum output power reaching 66.7 W and the highest thermoelectric conversion efficiency of 2.22% the temperature distribution inside the collector is uniform (temperature difference < 15°C), with localized surface temperature fluctuations but overall controllable (150-180°C) as the angle increases, the system startup time increases, the power generation capability of the system enhances, and the system’s thermal adaptability improves both the boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients increase with power, and the total thermal resistance decreases. This research provides a novel technological pathway for medium-to-high temperature waste heat recovery and lays the experimental foundation for the integration and optimization of thermoelectric coupled systems.
Arch-firing furnaces often struggle to balance sufficiently low NOx emissions and efficient burnout. A staged arch-firing configuration integrating deep air staging, coal reburning, and flue gas recirculation can address this challenge. Previous coal reburning studies were largely focused on high-volatile coals, without investigations reported for arch-firing furnaces designed to burn low-volatile coals such as anthracite. In order to confirm the usability of anthracite reburning in a 600 MW staged arch-firing furnace and meanwhile evaluate impacts of some key reburning factors on the low-NOx combustion characteristics, numerical simulations of the in-furnace airflow, pulverized-coal combustion, and NO production were carried out by varying the reburning residence time (τ = 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 s) and reburning jet temperature (T = 224, 376, and 526 °C), respectively. The observed low-temperature and extremely low-NO conditions in the reburning area confirmed the NO-reduction effectiveness of the anthracite reburning. As τ increased, all of the main flame penetration, combustion intensity in the lower chamber, and reburning function first strengthened and then weakened. Among the four τ cases, τ = 0.9 s achieved the lowest NOx emissions while τ = 1.1 s gave the best burnout. With τ fixing at 0.9 s, increasing T also led to a non-monotonic change in the reburning function, with the best low-NOx combustion performance (i.e., NOx emissions of 477 mg/m3 at 6% oxygen and a fly-ash carbon of 4.7%) appearing at T = 376 °C. Compared with (i) its predecessor furnace without reburning and (ii) the baseline staged arch-firing furnace prior to this study, here the optimized configuration achieved NOx reductions of 47.3% and 12.2%, respectively, and simultaneously elevated burnout. The gained results in this study have a good application prospect for arch-firing furnaces seeking a sufficiently low-NOx and high-burnout trade-off.
The escalating climate crisis and concerns over environmental degradation have intensified the global search for sustainable alternatives to conventional fossil fuels. This paper presents a comprehensive, comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of sixteen alternative and two conventional fuels to quantify and contrast their environmental performance. The fuels assessed in this study include diesel, gasoline, natural gas, propane, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), kerosene, naphtha, methane, ethanol, methanol, butanol, soy biodiesel, biogas, hydrogen, synthetic gas, formic acid, and dimethyl ether (DME). The analysis is conducted using a standardized well-to-wheel (WTW) system boundary, adhering to ISO 14040/14044 guidelines. The functional unit for comparison is defined as 1 MJ of delivered fuel energy. The CML-IA baseline (v3.06) midpoint methodology is employed within the SimaPro 9.5 software environment, utilizing the Ecoinvent 3.9 database. The eight key environmental impact categories are utilized to assess the selected fuels. The findings reveal a stark contrast between fossil-derived fuels and renewable alternatives. Fossil fuels, particularly diesel global warming potential (GWP: 2.90 kg CO2-eq/MJ) and gasoline (GWP: 2.47 kg CO2-eq/MJ), consistently exhibited the highest environmental burdens across nearly all impact categories, including GWP, ADP, toxicity, and acidification. In contrast, renewable fuels demonstrated significantly superior performance. Hydrogen (produced via renewable pathways) has emerged as the most sustainable option, with a near-zero impact profile across all categories (GWP: 0.003 kg CO2-eq/MJ). Biogas (GWP: 0.53 kg CO2-eq/MJ) and formic acid (GWP: 0.29 kg CO2-eq/MJ) have also showed exceptionally low environmental footprints. Consequently, no single fuel represents a flawless solution, but a multi-criteria assessment reveals clear leaders. Hydrogen, biogas, and formic acid consistently emerge as the most promising sustainable options for decarbonizing the energy and transport sectors.
This study presents the modelling and simulation of the production of phase change materials (PCM) from non-edible fats. To achieve this aim triacyl glycerides are sequentially hydrolysed in the presence of sodium hydroxide, followed by an acidification with sulfuric acid for sodium extraction in continuous flow. The process is modelled with Aspen Plus framework using a plug-low reactor (PFR). The primary objective is to develop a scalable model that enables the optimization of PCM production from animal fat through computational simulation. The proposed model operates under continuous flow conditions, making it particularly suitable for industrial applications. To assess its accuracy and applicability, the simulation results are systematically compared with experimental data, achieving a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.98, indicating an excellent fit with actual values. Plug-flow reactors are commonly used in industry due to their ideal axial non-mixing characteristics, which minimize back −mixing and support high conversion rates with low byproduct formation due to process intensification (Novel Process Windows). The simulation is based on non-random two-liquid thermodynamic model to accurately mimic the system behaviour. This study provides a useful tool for understanding the sequential reaction kinetics PFR reactors, to be used for future applications in the production of biomass-based PCM.
