Advances in the thermo-chemical production of hydrogen from biomass and residual wastes: Summary of recent techno-economic analyses.

This article outlines the prospects and challenges of hydrogen production from biomass and residual wastes, such as municipal solid waste. Recent advances in gasification and pyrolysis followed by reforming are discussed. The review finds that the thermal efficiency of hydrogen from gasification is ~50%. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) from biomass varies from ~2.3-5.2 USD/kg at feedstock processing scales of 10 MWth to ~2.8-3.4 USD/kg at scales above 250 MWth. Preliminary estimates are that the LCOH from residual wastes could be in the range of ~1.4-4.8 USD/kg, depending upon the waste gate fee and project scale. The main barriers to development of waste to hydrogen projects include: waste pre-treatment, technology maturity, syngas conditioning, the market for clean hydrogen, policies to incentivize pioneer projects and technology competitiveness. The main opportunity is to produce low cost clean hydrogen, which is competitive with alternative production routes.

A review on advanced catalytic co-pyrolysis of biomass and hydrogen-rich feedstock: Insights into synergistic effect, catalyst development and reaction mechanism.

The depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the growing demand for alternative energy sources are the main drivers of biomass and carbonaceous waste utilization. Particularly, non-edible lignocellulosic biomass is the most attractive renewable feedstock due to its abundance. Pyrolysis of biomass produces highly oxygenated compounds with oxygen content >35 wt%. The cost-effective elimination of oxygen from the pyrolysis oil is the most challenging task impeding the commercialization of biomass to biofuel processes. The effective hydrogen/carbon ratio in biomass pyrolysis oil is low (0.3), requiring external hydrogen supply to produce hydrocarbon-rich oils. Exploiting hydrogen-rich feedstock particularly, solid waste (plastic, tyre and scum) and other low-cost feedstock (lubricant oil, methane, methanol, and ethanol) offer an eco-friendly solution to upgrade the produced bio-oil. Multi-functional catalysts that are capable of cleaving oxygen, promoting hydrogen transfer and depolymerisation must be developed to produce hydrocarbon-rich oil from biomass. This review compares catalytic co-pyrolysis studies based on zeolites, mesoporous silica and metal oxides. Furthermore, a wide range of catalyst modifications and the role of each feedstock were summarised to give a complete picture of the progress made on biomass co-pyrolysis research and development.

A review on the production of renewable aviation fuels from the gasification of biomass and residual wastes.

This article reviews the production of renewable aviation fuels from biomass and residual wastes using gasification followed by syngas conditioning and Fischer-Tropsch catalytic synthesis. The challenges involved with gasifying wastes are discussed along with a summary of conventional and emerging gasification technologies. The techniques for conditioning syngas including removal of particulate matter, tars, sulphur, carbon dioxide, compounds of nitrogen, chlorine and alkali metals are reported. Recent developments in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, such as new catalyst formulations are described alongside reactor technologies for producing renewable aviation fuels. The energy efficiency and capital cost of converting biomass and residual wastes to aviation fuels are major barriers to widespread adoption. Therefore, further development of advanced technologies will be critical for the aviation industry to achieve their stated greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2050.

IMRT for adjuvant radiation in gastric cancer: a preferred plan?

PURPOSE: To assess the potential advantage of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) over conformal planning for postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with gastric carcinoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty patients who had undergone treatment planning with conformal beam arrangements for 4500 cGy adjuvant radiotherapy between 2000 and 2001 underwent repeat planning using IMRT techniques. Conformal five-field plans were compared with seven- to nine-field coplanar sliding-window IMRT plans. For each patient, the cumulative dose-volume histograms and organ-dose summaries (without distributions or digitally reconstructed radiographs) were provided to two independent, "blinded" GI radiation oncologists. The oncologists indicated which plan provided better planning target volume coverage and critical organ sparing, any safety concerns with either plan, and which plan they would choose to treat the patient. RESULTS: In 18 (90%) of 20 cases, both oncologists chose the same plan. Cases with disagreement were given to a third "blinded" reviewer. A "preferred plan" could be determined in 19 (95%) of 20 cases. IMRT was preferred in 17 (89%) of 19 cases. In 4 (20%) of 20 IMRT plans at least one radiation oncologist had safety concerns because of the spinal cord dose (3 cases) or small bowel dose (2 cases). Of 42 ratings, IMRT was thought to provide better planning target volume coverage in 36 (86%) and better sparing of the spinal cord in 31 (74%) of 42, kidneys in 29 (69%), liver in 30 (71%), and heart in 29 (69%) of 42 ratings. The median underdose volume (1.7 vs. 4.1 cm3), maximal dose to the spinal cord (36.85 vs. 45.65 Gy), and dose to 50% of the liver (17.29 vs. 27.97), heart (12.89 vs. 15.50 Gy), and left kidney (15.50 vs. 16.06 Gy) were lower with IMRT than with the conformal plans. CONCLUSION: Compared with the conformal plans, oncologists frequently preferred IMRT plans when using dose-volume histogram data. The advantages of IMRT plans include both improved planning target volume coverage and improved sparing of critical organs. We are currently studying organ motion in the upper abdomen as a prerequisite to using IMRT for actual patient treatment.

Serum tumor markers.

Monoclonal antibodies are used to detect serum antigens associated with specific malignancies. These tumor markers are most useful for monitoring response to therapy and detecting early relapse. With the exception of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), tumor markers do not have sufficient sensitivity or specificity for use in screening. Cancer antigen (CA) 27.29 most frequently is used to follow response to therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Carcinoembryonic antigen is used to detect relapse of colorectal cancer, and CA 19-9 may be helpful in establishing the nature of pancreatic masses. CA 125 is useful for evaluating pelvic masses in postmenopausal women, monitoring response to therapy in women with ovarian cancer, and detecting recurrence of this malignancy. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma, sometimes is used to screen highly selected populations and to assess hepatic masses in patients at particular risk for developing hepatic malignancy. Testing for the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) is an integral part of the diagnosis and management of gestational trophoblastic disease. Combined AFP and beta-hCG testing is an essential adjunct in the evaluation and treatment of nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, and in monitoring the response to therapy. AFP and beta-hCG also may be useful in evaluating potential origins of poorly differentiated metastatic cancer. PSA is used to screen for prostate cancer, detect recurrence of the malignancy, and evaluate specific syndromes of adenocarcinoma of unknown primary.