Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

A novel solution towards zero waste in dairy farms: A thermodynamic study

of an integrated polygeneration approach
Muhammad Luqman a, Tareq Al-Ansari a, b, *
a
Division of Sustainable Development, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
b
Division of Engineering Management and Decision Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The rising global human population and per capita demands of needed resources in terms of water, energy and
Biomass food is an increasingly challenging dilemma, which increases in complexity when conceptualised in the context
Polygeneration of global climate change. Dairy products are essential foods that are nutritional and contribute towards overall
Wastewater reuse
food security. However, ongoing practices in dairy production, and more specifically dairy waste management,
Waste to energy
Food security
are environmentally challenging and hence need to be replaced by more sustainable solutions. From an envi­
Energy Water Food Nexus ronmental perspective, the waste output from dairy farms (methane, manure and wastewater) and the demands
of energy and clean water are amongst the most substantial. In this regard, a novel approach is presented to
address this issue, in which the focus is to utilise maximum wastes to fulfil (or at least reduce) the demands of a
dairy farm. Unique to this study, is a proposed polygeneration system that utilises the very low concentration of
methane in the barns, and utilises all the dairy farm wastes in an integrated manner. In addition, the system is
equipped with a hydrogen cycle which addresses social concerns regarding wastewater reuse for drinking pur­
poses. The proposed system is mainly composed of a combustion chamber, Rankine cycles, NH3-H2O Absorption
Cooling System, wastewater evaporator, water electrolyser and a fuel cell. A detailed thermodynamic analysis
reveals that the system produces 17 MW of electricity, 1350 m3/day of clean water, 15.62 kg/s of chilled water
and cooling capacity of 9,256 tons. In addition, the system utilises 864 tons/day of manure, 87.62 tons/day of
methane (saving ~1950 tons of CO2 equivalent daily) and recycles 793.2 m3/day of wastewater. The computed
overall energy efficiency of the system is 35.2%, while the overall exergy efficiency is 19.2%. Moreover, the
parametric analysis not only demonstrates that the system can perform stably in varying environmental condi­
tions, contrary to other systems, it demonstrates that the system favours harsher hot and humid environments.
Ultimately, these results demonstrate that dairy farms in such climates can be operated in a decentralised manner
with near zero-emissions and zero-wastes output.

resulted in a compounded challenge for sustainable development [6]. In

parallel, the exploitation of hydrocarbons has contributed towards
1. Introduction global warming and climate change [7,8], causing changes in natural
cycles, disturbed rain patterns, droughts, floods, storms, occurring
Planet Earth is continuously exposed to growing stresses due to the across the globe. Global environmental uncertainty can affect agricul­
exploitation of limited natural resources [1–3]. This trend has been on ture productivity posing a serious threat to food security [9], resource
rise since the advent of industrial revolution. Finite natural capital in the depletion and stresses on water and agricultural systems. According to
form of minerals and hydrocarbons has been exploited to produce the United Nations, 30% of the global human population lacks access to
various products and services required by growing global population. drinking water [10]. For these reasons, the Brundtland report [11]
Since the 1950′ s, the average annual rate of increase in global popula­ suggests that all sectors must initiate actions that address environmental
tion is approximately 1.64% [4], which corresponds to a 3-fold increase, concerns related to planet Earth, and to support sustainable develop­
from 2.5 billion in 1950 to approximately 7.7 billion in 2019 [5]. This ment for the sake of future generations. As such, many international
continuous increase in the global population compounded with the in­ agreements and initiatives have been developed, such as (but not limited
crease in per capita demand of energy, water and food resources has

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Luqman), [email protected] (T. Al-Ansari).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113753
Received 23 October 2020; Accepted 18 December 2020
Available online 7 January 2021
0196-8904/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Nomenclature T Temperature (◦ C or K)
To Ambient Temperature (◦ C or K)
ex Specific exergy (kJ/kg) Ẇ Work interaction rate (kW)
exch Specific chemical exergy (kJ/kg) xi Molefractionofspeciesi
exph Specific physical exergy (kJ/kg) ηen Energy efficiency
i
Ė Energy rate (kW) ηex Exergy efficiency
Ex
˙ Exergy rate (kW) Acronyms
Ex
˙ d Rate of exergy destruction (kW) ACS Absorption Cooling System
˙ Q
Ex Exergy rate related to heat transfer (kW) AFT Adiabatic Flame Temperature
Ex
˙ w Exergy rate related to work (kW) COP Coefficient of Performance
h Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg) EES Engineering Equation Solver
ṁ Mass flow rate (kg/s) HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning
Nx Number of moles of component “x” (moles) HX Heat Exchanger
P Pressure (kPa) IFCN International Farm Comparison Network
ORC Organic Rankine Cycle
Q̇ Rate of heat transfer (kW)
UHT Ultra High Treated
s Specific entropy (kJ/kg.K)
Ṡgen Entropy generation rate (kW/kg.K)

to): the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [12], the Toxic Substances aquifers. In general, these needs are fulfilled by establishing connections
Control Act [13] and the clean air act [14] by the government of the with the national grids. Dependence on national networks can result in a
USA, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) [15], the level of vulnerability which can manifest into cascade failures. More­
Kyoto Protocol [16], and the sustainable development goals set by the over, these national networks are generally characterised with an
United Nations [17]. environmental footprint depending on the source of energy and water in
Generally, the solutions to reduce the consumption of finite natural the grid. For instance, power production and its associated distribution
capital and to conserve the environment can include the minimisation of network correspond to nearly 75% of global GHG emissions, most PM
waste released to the environment through enhanced recycling within emissions and 66% of NOx emissions [29]. Furthermore, food produc­
systems, and the integration and efficient utilisation of abundantly tion systems produce huge quantities of waste in the form of organic
available renewable energy sources [18–20]. Although renewable en­ waste, wastewater, methane, amongst others, which have a significant
ergy sources are abundant in nature, they do have some disadvantages. environmental footprint [30].
For instance, solar energy is challenged by seasonality which cannot be In addition to food security, water security is also of vital concern for
ignored in designing its systems [21]. Similarly, biomass as a source of populations in water scarce regions. The challenge is exacerbated when
energy is available and it can occur in waste form. It also forms the coupled with a higher per capita water demand, as in the case of Guld
foundation for net negative carbon emissions (by application of carbon Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which are known to be amongst
capture technologies) [6,22]. However, associated limitations include: the most water scarce regions in the world, and per capita freshwater
maintaining their continuous supply is challenging; their high moisture demand is amongst the highest in the world (almost double to that of
content rendering them lower quality fuels (lower BTU); [21] and they global average) [31]. To ensure water security, some of the water
are comparatively scarce [23]. management practices include water source protection, point-of-use
With the continuous rise in global human population, there is a need water treatment, wastewater reuse, water conservation (reducing
to expand food production systems to ensure the food security, which water demands), desalination and managed aquifer recharge [32]. In the
imply a parallel demand increase in energy and water resources. Global water lifecycle, many methods to provide freshwater induce environ­
food production will require a 50% expansion to feed the growing mental concerns such as with the case of desalination due to its energy
population, which is expected to reach 9 billion in 2050 [24]. In this intensity and potential damage to the marine environment through
regard, global food production continues to increase in terms of yield brine discharge, and the need to treat wastewater prior to disposal. To
and production capacity. However, this increase in food production is address this challenge, the reuse of wastewater has the potential to
not uniform throughout the world. For instance, the average global in­ reduce freshwater demands and hence the reliance on external water
crease in wheat production from 1971 to 2016 was 1.7%, while the sources, whilst reducing the wastewater discharge to the environment.
average increase in wheat production in MENA region in the same However, the reuse of wastewater for potable purposes is challenged
period was 2.4%. Similarly, the average global increase in production of through public perception concerns in terms of its social acceptance
oranges from 1971 to 2016 was 2.3%, while the average increase in and/or the public health risk due to failure in quality [33]. Moreover,
production of oranges in MENA region in the same period was 3.1% the economic and environmental concerns related to wastewater treat­
[25]. The challenge for food security is especially important for coun­ ment are directly proportional to the quality of the water produced,
tries in arid climates where conventional food production is challenging. which in turn depends upon its end use. For these reasons and to ensure
Going forward, it is imperative that food systems intensify sustainably in water security, it is vital to develop integrated wastewater treatment and
order to meet food demands whilst adhering to environmental controls reuse mechanisms that address the economic, environmental and social
[26,27]. Currently, food production systems induce a high consumption concerns in parallel. In this study, wastewater is recycled for reuse
of resources, including freshwater and energy mostly made available within a hypothetical dairy farm to reduce reliance on external water
through hydrocarbons. As such, it is imperative to continue to meet food sources and wastewater discharge to the environment.
availability and nutritional targets whilst conserving resources [28]. In
arid countries with limited freshwater capacity, water is predominately
derived from either a network of desalinated water (utilisation of energy 1.1. Dairy farms
derived from hydrocarbons) or pumped from finite underground
Amongst various categories, foods derived from dairy provide

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M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

essential nutritional and energy content to mankind. In addition to fresh smaller quantities of emissions that are attributed to meat production
milk (pasteurised and UHT), dairy farms also produce cheese, yogurt, and processing. Moreover, as the scale of the farms expands, their
skimmed milk, flavoured milk, milk powder, amongst others. These environmental concerns increase accordingly. However, such farms also
dairy-derived foods contain proteins, fats and micronutrients, which are provide higher opportunity to handle the waste more conveniently in an
important for human health [34]. Moreover, consumption of dairy environmentally benign manner because waste generation is in a
products positively affects bone density [35] and gastrointestinal and confined space.
cardiovascular health [36]. Furthermore, these products, as nutritional In addition to freshwater and electricity, maintaining a stress-free
sources, are vital for growth and cognitive development of infants and Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) for cattle is necessary for efficient
children [37]. Furthermore, dairy farms also produce meat which is used production in dairy farms. In dairy cattle, the milk yield is highly
as a rich protein source. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) dependent upon THI, and hence needs to be in optimum range. This is
recommends for malnourished children to consume 25–33% of their even more challenging in arid climates. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the THI is
dietary protein content from dairy products [38]. To meet global dairy affected by many direct such as energy into the barn and heat generated
requirements, currently, there are approximately 116 million farms by the cows, and indirect factors such as water intake by cattle, and
worldwide with an average of 3.2 cows per farm [39]. However, there is quality and quantity of the feed consumed by cattle which affects their
a significant difference in herd size per farm in various countries/regions metabolism. Amongst the common practices for controlling the THI in
ranging from less than 10 cows in the dairy farms in Asia, Africa, parts of confined spaces/barns, is the use of evaporative cooling which reduces
Latin America and Eastern Europe [40], to hundreds of thousands of the temperature. This approach is generally effective in hot but less
cows per farm. However, with the expanding commercialisation in the humid climates, but fails in hot and humid climates due to the inability
global dairy sector, the number of dairy farms is actually reducing, of air to evaporate additional water and hence absorb higher quantities
whilst the average herd size per farm is growing [41]. For instance, the of latent heat. In some cases, it can have negative effects because of the
total number of registered dairy farms in Australia reduced from 21,994 corresponding increase in the THI due to increasing humidity levels
in 1979/80 to 5,213 in 2018/19, whilst the average herd size increased inside the barn caused by the addition of water in high temperatures,
from 93 in 1985 to 276 in 2018 with some farms operating a herd size of resulting in a reduced temperature reduction, thus leading to a relative
over 1000 [42]. Similar trends are also witnessed in the USA [43]. The humidity above the comfortable range. Therefore, to achieve the opti­
reason behind these trends, amongst others, is the economic profitability mum THI and thus best milk yield, there is a need to control both the
of the dairy farms, which is fundamentally related to the scale of the temperature and humidity inside the barn. This makes air-conditioning
farm; in general, larger farms tend to be more profitable. Some of the and not only cooling one of the most important needs of dairy farms
large-scale dairy farms in different regions of the world with their herd especially for arid climates.
sizes are illustrated in Table 1. Energy and water resource requirements in dairy farms vary
In most cases, dairy farms are not sustainable and produce a signif­ depending on the geographical location and available resources. Energy
icant environmental footprint. According to the Food and Agricultural resources are needed to maintain THI for efficient milk production, fulfil
Organisation of the United Nations, the dairy sector including milk fuel needs for different vehicles/machinery, water needs (desalination,
production, its processing and transportation and meat production water pumping), milking machines and processing factories, HVAC
contributes approximately 4.0% to the total global anthropogenic GHG needs and for other auxiliary equipment used in the dairy farms. Simi­
emissions [50]. From this, approximately 68%, which corresponds to larly, water resources are needed in the farm for cattle drinking pur­
2.7% of the total global anthropogenic GHG emissions, are attributed to poses, flushing and cleaning of barns and for the cooling of barns
the production of milk and its products, along with their processing and (evaporative cooling), amongst others. Failure in satisfying any of these
transportation. Furthermore, the global average GHG emissions per kg needs can significantly affect the milk production, and in some cases can
of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) at the farm gate is estimated to have long-term effects (e.g. water for drinking purposes and electricity
be around 2.4 kg CO2eq. However, this value varies between 1.3 and 7.5 shutdown of milking machines).
kg CO2eq. at different regions in the world, with the highest in the Sub-
Saharan Africa and the lowest in Europe and North America. The dif­ 1.2. Poly-generation systems
ference in these values corresponds to the development level in the re­
gions [50]. Moreover, Thoma et al. [51] reported that in the case of Efforts towards sustainable food production systems can be sup­
general fluid milk production in the USA, 72% of the GHG emissions ported by polygeneration systems, which strive towards the maximum
occur within the boundaries of the dairy farm, in which more than 50% utilisation of available renewable energy sources and the maximum
contribution is methane driven. There are many factors which recycling of wastes within the system. They also support decentralised
contribute to these dairy-sector associated environmental burdens. For operations thereby incorporating geographic flexibility independent of
instance, in most dairy farms, the flow of energy and water is linear national energy and water networks. In poly-generation systems, the
implying an inefficient utilisation of valuable resources which induce available energy is not used only as electricity, it can also fulfil various
environmental footprints (GHG emissions from production and distri­ other needs, such as clean fuels, clean water, space cooling, heating and
bution). In addition, there are significant quantities of dairy wastes air-conditioning, hot water, hot air, etc. This goal is accomplished by the
generated in the form of manure, methane, wastewater, etc, whilst a utilisation of high and low-grade thermal energy available in the system
portion of GHG emissions originates from the processing and trans­ which is otherwise lost. With this approach, besides fulfilling the
portation of milk and its associated products. There are also a relatively essential needs, the overall energy efficiency is also uplifted by the
utilisation of the output/waste of one sub-system as useful input to
Table 1 another sub-system within the same system. Furthermore, due to the
Numerous large-scale dairy farms along with their herd sizes. potential for operation in a decentralised manner, these systems are
Farm/company Herd size (cows) Country considered more resilient. In the case of dairy farms, the polygeneration
approach coupled with the philosophy of circular economy, has the
Baladna Food Industries [44] 20,000 State of Qatar
Mazoon Dairy [45] 25,000* Sultanate of Oman
potential to fulfil the electricity, water, HVAC and other needs through
Fair Oaks Farms [46] 36,000 United States of America the utilisation of wastes generated from within the farms. The vital in­
EkoNiva-APK [47] 99,500 Russian Federation puts to dairy farms in the form of electricity and water can be reduced,
Almarai [48] 170,000 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia waste (manure, methane, wastewater) output from the dairy farm can be
China Modern Dairy [49] 230,000 Peoples Republic of China
reduced, and the dairy farm can be made decentralised and hence more
*target herd size in 2026 resilient.

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M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Fig. 1. Numerous variables of thermodynamic importance in the case of dairy barns.

Considering the above, the objective of this study is to propose a commercial large-scale dairy farming in arid climates, the preferred
novel integrated system based on the concept of polygeneration for approach is to keep the herd inside the barns for 100% of its time (e.g.
commercial dairy farms which is capable of: 1) efficient utilisation of the Baladna dairy farm in the state of Qatar [44]). Contrary to the open-field
available resources; 2) minimisation of waste output (dairy manure, dairy farms; in the barns type dairy farms, the waste is generated in
wastewater and methane) by utilisation/recycling within the system; confined space and hence provides better control over its management.
and 3) reduction in the the dependence on national grids for electricity Although manure has been used traditionally as a fertiliser in agri­
and water. For this purpose, a polygeneration system is proposed which cultural fields, in most large-scale dairy farms, the fodder is not culti­
is driven by dairy manure and methane, uses wastewater and produces vated within the dairy farms, and as such, the possibility to utilise
electricity, freshwater, HVAC and cold water. Although some of the manure as a fertiliser to grow the animal feed is not always capitalised.
polygeneration and waste management systems discussed in literature In most cases, manure is exported out of the farm either in raw form or in
and those currently in use have demonstrated the utilisation of manure; the form of compost, each of which has its own environmental burden
most of these systems lack integrated solutions for wastewater recycling [52]. Therefore, with the availability of waste-to-energy technologies,
and utilisation of very-low concentration methane from within the manure can be utilised as a useful energy source within the dairy farms.
barns. On the contrary, the main focus in this study is to maximise the In this regard, many different processes of thermochemical and biolog­
utilisation of dairy manure and wastewater recycling with the maximum ical nature including gasification, pyrolysis and digestion are proposed
possible fulfilment of the most important needs of the dairy farms and implemented to produce various products from biomass waste
(water, electricity and HVAC to maintain THI) in an integrated manner. [53,54] and wastewater generated in dairy farms [55,56]. These pro­
Besides these, an important feature of this system is the integrated uti­ cesses can be installed inside or outside the dairy farms to produce
lisation of very low-concentration methane. Moreover, the system is electricity, heat, fuels, chemicals, etc. Depending upon the waste type,
designed in such a way that with increasing THI, the system performs intended product, technology available, economic aspects and envi­
better. This is contrary to the systems which fulfil the cooling needs by ronmental suitability, the process needed can be chosen to convert waste
the integration of the evaporative cooling process. The reason for this into useful products. For instance, the thermochemical processes spe­
ineffectiveness is the psychrometric limitation: the higher the humidity cifically pyrolysis is well suited to process dairy manure and straw to
in air, the smaller is it’s capability to evaporate water, and hence cool­ produce many value-added products including syngas and nutrients-rich
ing. Furthermore, although this system may not fulfil 100% of the needs products such as ash and biochar. However, restrictions to this process
of dairy farms in some geographic locations due to the higher demands exist such as choice of feedstock, capital and operational (due to energy
of certain inputs, it supports the transition towards decentralisation. The consumption) cost, and air and heat emissions which limit its wide range
proposed system is studied comprehensively using the conservation of applicability. Biochemical processes such as fermentation, aerobic and
mass and energy principles, and 2nd law of thermodynamics along with a anaerobic digestion, and composting are to some extent independent of
parametric analysis to investigate the performance of the system in the feedstock, economical and clean, although they require longer pro­
case of variations in the inputs. cessing time and have less control over its products. However, with
particular pre-treatments which are energy intensive or need specific
2. Literature review instruments, anaerobic digestion processing time can be decreased. In
addition, these processes ultimately result in some useful chemicals (e.g.
This study focuses on the technology driven aspects of food pro­ fuels and methane), and the remaining effluent which is in itself an
duction systems, specifically in the context of dairy farms with the environmental burden. This along with the very-low concentration of
objective of optimising production and minimising environmental bur­ methane in the barns, which cannot be captured and the wastewater
dens. The following section will consist of a review of dairy farm oper­ presents an opportunity for the development of an integrated approach
ations, waste management, and integrated multiple resources towards dairy waste management, which can collectively and efficiently
generation systems (cogeneration, trigeneration and polygeneration process the waste into value added products as seen in Fig. 2. This
systems). approach is particularly useful and adaptable in the case of barn type
dairy farms.
The conversion of waste to value added products [57] such as
2.1. Waste management in dairy operations
hydrogen and/or power, can be complimented by polygeneration sys­
tems that utilise harnessed energy efficiently (see Fig. 2). As with other
In the case of dairy farms, manure, methane and wastewater are the
renewable energy sources, biomass is considered a near carbon–neutral
main wastes generated which are toxic when released to the environ­
fuel upon utilisation [22]. As such, the advantages are manifold; ful­
ment. Dairy farms operate with different approaches depending upon
filling the farm’s needs, reducing their environmental burdens and
the geographical location, its climate conditions and the fodder man­
encouraging decentralisation. In this regard, Bai et al. [58,59] reported
agement plan; the herds are either housed and fed inside the barns for
an analysis of a two-stage solar gasifier in which pyrolysis of biomass
100% of their time or allowed to graze in open fields. In the case of

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M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Fig. 2. Waste generation in barns-type dairy farms and its possible routes.

(corn straw) was followed by gasification to produce syngas, which was their corresponding single/cogeneration systems (see Table 2) and
then used for electricity generation. In addition to manure and waste­ hence save energy and preserves the environment. In the design of food
water, it is necessary to identify solutions that effectively use the very production systems, the concept of polygeneration integrated with
low-concentration methane in the barns whose concentration cannot be
increased considerably because of ventilation needs to ensure dairy
cattle well-being. Although numerous methods are available to separate Table 2
methane from air [60], such as pressure swing adsorption, membrane Single and polygeneration energy efficiencies of few systems.
separation, and cryogenic separation; their performance at such low Authors Input Outputs Single- Polygeneration
concentrations coupled with their energy needs make them practically Energy generation Energy
infeasible in the case of commercial dairy farms. Sources Energy Efficiency
efficiency

Huang Biomass Electricity, 11.1 71.7

2.2. Integrated multiple resources generation systems: poly/ et. al. cooling, heating
multigeneration [75]
Malik et. Biomass + Electricity, 10 55
Traditionally, energy and water needs were fulfilled independently, al. geothermal drying, space
[76] cooling, gas
with a focus on single resource generation and most likely through liquification,
centralised operations. Analysing interlinkages between resources heated domestic
began through the cogeneration of energy and water through the use of water
low-grade heat in the power production cycles [61–63]. This was later Luqman Solar + Freshwater, 15 50
et. al. Wind electricity, hot
expanded into multi-resource generation (commonly known as multi/
[74] air for food
polygeneration) mainly due to the importance of energy security and drying,
environmental concerns. Some of the main useful outputs of these sys­ hydrogen,
tems are electricity, clean water, space cooling and district heating oxygen, heated
designed for a certain community [64,65], where such systems can also domestic water,
space cooling
support decentralisation. Studies in this regard have increased in recent Siddiqui Solar Electricity, 20 39
years at various dimensions: (1) thermodynamic analysis and design of et. al. cooling,
polygeneration systems [66–68]; (2) environmental analysis of poly­ [77] hydrogen, hot
generation systems [69–71]; and (3) optimisation studies of poly­ water
Al-Ali et. Solar + Electricity, 16 78
generation systems [72,73].
al. Geothermal space heating,
Polygeneration systems encourage the efficient utilisation of the [78] heated domestic
available energy by ensuring its distribution and use as per the form of water, heat for
energy required. This approach results in the reduction of numerous industrial
transformations and their accompanying energy losses in each trans­ applications,
cooling
formation. Moreover, the efficiency of these systems are higher than

5
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

waste utilisation can be placed at its core to fulfil its needs in an inte­ presented in Table 3.
grated manner, along with the reduction in their environmental bur­ Regarding dairy farms, one of the major limitations of the published
dens. In this way, the advantages are two-fold: (1) preserves the studies thus far is that most of the presented systems do not integrate
environment by utilisation/recycling of waste within the system; and (2) wastewater recycling, and do not provide any strategy to utilise very-
fulfils/supports the needs of the systems and enhances decentralisation. low concentration methane in the barns. Furthermore, a review of the
For instance, Luqman et al. [74] proposed a solar and wind energy literature indicates that polygeneration systems have only included
driven polygeneration system and established the thermodynamic waste biomass within the systems, and are yet to consider an integrated
viability of supporting a decentralised remotely settled community. The approach to recycling wastewater, methane and biomass in the form of
developed system produced freshwater, electricity, hot air for food manure in an integrated manner. As such, there is an opportunity to
drying, heated domestic water, space cooling, hydrogen and oxygen as address this gap in the context of dairy farm operations and waste
useful outputs. In addition, to enhance resiliency against day/night cy­
cles and varying weather conditions, a thermal energy storage (TES) and
an H2-O2 combustor were integrated that ensured two-fold security for Table 3
input energy. Similarly, Sezer et al [64] presented a solar and wind Summary of numerous studies regarding polygeneration.
energy driven polygeneration system that produced oxygen, hydrogen, Authors Resources Useful Outputs Energy Exergy
freshwater, electricity and refrigeration. The thermodynamic investi­ Used Efficiency Efficiency
gation of the whole system demonstrated an overall energy efficiency of [%] [%]
73.3% and an exergy efficiency of 30.6%. Gassner et. Biomass Syngas, 69 63
al. [86,87] electricity, heat
2.3. Biomass driven polygeneration systems Siddiqui et. Solar Electricity, 23.2 6.2
al. [88] desalination,
hydrogen
The abundance of organic wastes related to agriculture or food Victor et. al. Geothermal Electricity, 31 26
production systems and their high energy content has prompted the [89] refrigeration
development of methods to efficiently utilise these wastes [79–81]. In (food
preservation),
this context, many studies discussed utilisation of organic waste to
dehydration
power trigeneration and polygeneration systems. For instance, Luiz et al. AlZahrani et. Solar Electricity 66.35 38.51
[82] presented thermodynamic and exergo-economic optimisation al. [90]
analysis of a sugarcane bagasse driven polygeneration system which Gençer et. al. Solar Electricity, 36.5
provided electrical power, sugar and ethanol to a sugar mill. The anal­ [91] desalination,
hydrogen
ysis was based on thermodynamics and included the application of mass, Hogerwaard Solar Refrigeration, 28.4 27
energy and exergy balances along with principles of heat and mass et. al. [92] electricity,
transfer. Similarly, Huang et al. [75] presented a technoeconomic desalination,
analysis (using ECLIPSE) of a trigeneration system which produced domestic water
heating
power, cooling and heating and driven by biomass combustion. The
Islam et. al. Solar Desalination, 45.01
system produced electricity using an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and [93] electricity,
cooling through an Absorption Cooling System (ACS) with an overall oxygen,
energy efficiency of 71.7%. Moreover, the single generation efficiency of hydrogen,
the same system considering only electrical output was reported as domestic water
heating
11.1%. This very high difference in single generation and polygenera­ Siddiqui et. Solar Electricity, 39.1 38.7
tion efficiencies demonstrates the superiority of polygeneration over al. [77] cooling, water
single generation systems. heating,
hydrogen
Khalid et. al. Solar, Electricity, hot 91 34.9
2.4. Biomass and solar energy hybrid systems
[94] Biomass air, hot water
Azhar et. al. Solar, Industrial 13.93 17.97
Almost all renewable energy sources have inherently some limita­ [95] geothermal, heating,
tions regarding their continuous availability. For instance, the supply of ocean electricity, space
biomass feedstock can have disruptions, whilst solar energy is depen­ cooling,
desalination
dent upon day/night/weather, etc. To support system resilience against Khalid et. al. Solar, wind Electricity, fresh 26 26.8
such recurrent variations and to maximise the use of available sources, [96] water, heat,
many studies have revealed the possibility of using hybrid renewable hydrogen
energy sources. In this regard, Angrisani et al. [83] presented a biomass Bicer et. al., Solar, Electricity, space 11 28
[97] Geothermal cooling and
and solar energy driven hybrid cogeneration system, which included a
heating, heat for
Stirling engine and a fluidised bed biomass combustor with solar light power, drying air,
concentrated on the bed. Analysis of the system reported an energy ef­ water heating
ficiency of the system as 21%. Similarly, Bai et al. [84] investigated a Islam et. al. Solar Electricity, 51.33 40.32
solar and biomass energy based hybrid system which produced elec­ [98] oxygen,
hydrogen,
tricity and methanol by the solar thermal gasification of biomass. domestic water
Thermodynamic analysis of the system indicated an energy efficiency of heating
56.09% and an exergy efficiency of 54.86%. Moreover, Khan et al. [85] Ozlu et. al. Solar, wind Electricity, 43 65
presented a solar and dairy biomass energy driven trigeneration system [99] cooling, heating,
hydrogen
to fulfil a rural community’s needs of water, cooking fuel and electricity.
Ahmadi et. Solar, Ocean Electricity, 3.6 22.7
A technoeconomic analysis of the system using HOMER was conducted al. [100] hydrogen
for the gasification of biomass and a biogas engine to generate elec­ This study Dairy Electricity, fresh 35.18 19.17
tricity. In addition, electricity was also generated from PV modules in­ manure, water, air-
tegrated within the system and water was produced using a membrane methane conditioned air,
cold water
distillation unit. In addition to the above, a summary of related studies is

6
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

management. Development of such polygeneration systems will • To develop a system that satisfies various needs of the dairy farms
contribute towards a substantial improvement in waste management, including clean water, electricity and air-conditioning;
material efficiencies, decentralisation and resilience. Therefore, this • To analyse the proposed system thoroughly using thermodynamic’
study proposes a comprehensive dairy waste management system using principles (energy, exergy and entropy); and,
the polygeneration approach, which can operate stably in an uninter­ • To study the effects on the performance and outputs of the proposed
rupted manner. The system uses dairy manure, methane and wastewater system with variations in its inputs and environmental variables.
to produce electricity, freshwater, cold water and space cooling.
Furthermore, to present a solution to the social concerns regarding reuse 3. System Description
of wastewater, a hydrogen cycle is also integrated within the system.
Within this context, the specific goals of the current study include: Based on the requirements and outputs of a typical dairy farm in arid
regions discussed in section 1.1 and Fig. 2, the following system is
• To enhance the performance of a hypothetical dairy farm located in developed. The system comprises of a biomass combustor, steam power
an arid region characterised by a hot and arid climate; cycle with a High Pressure (HP) and a Low Pressure (LP) turbine,
• To propose a comprehensive dairy waste management system in the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), waste water lagoon(s), Ammonia-Water
form of manure and methane driven polygeneration system which based Absorption Cooling System (ACS), water electrolyser, fuel cell,
integrates wastewater recycling. Moreover, the system needs to be few heat exchangers, pumps and fans. A schematic of the proposed
flexible enough to distribute the available energy amongst its sub- system is illustrated in Fig. 3.
systems to meet the increased or decreased demands of specific The system is intended to minimise the waste output from the dairy
outputs, depending upon the weather conditions (ambient THI); farm and use the waste as a resource to fulfil the needs of a dairy farm
which includes electricity, clean and cold water, drinkable water, and

Fig. 3. Schematic of the proposed polygeneration system for integrated dairy waste management.

7
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

air-conditioning. With this integrated approach, the developed system reason for choosing the combustion as a method to convert manure into
not only promotes decentralisation and self-reliance, it also supports the thermal energy is because it is considered to be the most feasible method
transition towards a near-zero-waste system, especially if integrated to utilise the very-low concentration methane available in dairy barns.
with carbon capture technologies. The inputs to the combustion chamber are dairy manure and air coming
With this background, the available dairy manure and methane in from barns which has some methane in it. The limiting factor for tem­
the barns are used to power the whole system. The dairy manure (state perature of the gases exiting the combustion chamber is the adiabatic
03) is combusted in the presence of air (state 01) coming from barns, flame temperatures (AFT), which in turn controls the temperature of the
which has a low-concentration of methane and produces hot gases (state steam entering steam turbine [66].
04). The hot gases at state 04 are directed to the flow divider, which
provides flexibility to distribute (state 04 or state 05) the energy ac­
3.2. Rankine cycle
cording to the intended need. For instance, if there is more demand for
electricity, most of the energy is directed towards state 04, and if there is
In the Rankine cycle, there are two steam turbines: HP turbine and LP
more demand for space cooling, most of the energy should be directed
turbine. The purpose of boiler is served at HX-I where water is converted
towards state 05 (Eqs. (20) and (21)). After state 04, the hot gases are
into steam by receiving heat from hot gases on the other side of HX-I.
passed through the heat exchanger I (HX-I), where the thermal energy is
The steam is generated at a temperature of ~1163 K and at a pressure
exchanged with the water in the steam power cycle. The water (state 23)
of 20 MPa, which is fed into the HP turbine. The HP steam turbine, with
is heated (state 10) and enters the HP turbine, in which some of the
an assumed pressure ratio of 50, expands the steam to ~ 596 K and ~
energy is transformed into rotational kinetic energy (state 12) and later
400 kPa and produces ~12.2 MW of electrical power. The low-pressure
through an electrical generator into electrical energy (state 13). The
steam subsequently enters LP steam turbine and is expanded to ~354 K
low-pressure steam (state 11) leaving the HP turbine has two options
and ~27 kPa and produces an additional electrical power of ~4.7 MW.
depending upon the energy demand: either to go to the LP turbine
The steam exiting the LP steam turbine is condensed in HX-III and the
(state15) to produce electrical energy (state 18), or to go to the waste
wastewater evaporator. The condensed water exiting these two com­
water evaporator (state 14) bypassing the LP turbine. To avoid the back
ponents is pumped again to the HP turbine inlet pressure and subse­
flow of steam from state 14 to state 16 due to the relatively higher
quently sent to HX-I to convert it into steam and this closes the Rankine
pressure in state 14, a throttle valve is installed which makes the pres­
cycle.
sure at state 19 equal to state 16. These two streams then combine (state
20). This steam is then passed through HX-III where the steam is
condensed (state 20 – state 21) by transferring its heat to ambient air 3.3. Organic Rankine cycle
(state 24 – state 25). As the temperature of state 21 is still higher than the
ambient, this stream is passed through wastewater tanks to transfer its The temperature of combustion gases (state 08) exiting the ACS is
low-grade heat to the wastewater and support its evaporation. The water higher (~75 ◦ C at design conditions) than the ambient. Therefore, an
at state 22 is then pumped to the HP turbine pressure (state 23). In HX- organic Rankine cycle with isobutane as working fluid is integrated with
III, the hot air at state 25 has much lower relative humidity than the this stream through heat exchanger (HX-II) to utilise its energy content.
ambient air and hence has much more capacity to capture moisture. HX-II acts as boiler for the ORC. The fluid, which is superheated vapour
While passing through wastewater evaporators, it exchanges the heat at the exit (state 40) of HX-II is directed to a turbine where it is expanded
and results in the evaporation of water. The produced water vapours in to produce electrical energy (state 44). The fluid (state 41) then passes
wastewater tanks make the hot air saturated which is subsequently through a condenser and a pump (state 42) and the cycle continues. The
directed (state 26) towards the NH3-H2O Absorption Cooling System. electrical power generated from this ORC at design conditions is ~ 83.4
Lowering of temperature in the ACS serves two purposes: recovery of kW.
water (state 28) by dehumidification and provision of chilled air (state
27) which is utilised for space cooling. The chilled air at state 27 is used
3.4. Wastewater evaporator unit
for the purpose of space cooling, which is amongst the most important
needs of a dairy farm for efficient production. The water at state 28 is
In dairy farms, manure is usually collected by periodic flushing of
technically clean water which can be used for any application. However,
barns with water. The water and solid wastes (manure) are then sepa­
because of the prevailing social concerns in different demographic re­
rated by a physical process (i.e. filtering/sieving). The wastewater then
gions regarding the wastewater reuse, a portion (state 30 – based on the
enters the wastewater lagoons, and then the manure is sent for further
demand of drinking water) of this water is sent to the water electrolyser
processing (composting, drying, etc.). This wastewater (almost free of
which produces hydrogen (state 33) and oxygen (state 34). The elec­
solid particles) is evaporated in the proposed system in this study. As this
tricity (state 32) demand of electrolyser is met from within the system.
wastewater is free of solid wastes, the quantity of biomass left after
The produced hydrogen and oxygen are stored and used using the fuel
evaporation of water is negligible (especially in comparison with the
cell upon either the need of electricity (state 37) or water for drinking
manure separated in solid form), and hence not considered in the cal­
(state 38). The net energy used in the electrolyser and the fuel cell cycle
culations. The rational for its illustration in Figs. 2 and 3 is to elaborate
can be considered the cost of addressing the social aspect of sustain­
the possible route for its utilisation irrespective of its quantity.
ability in wastewater reuse for drinking purposes. Besides a solution to
social concerns, this electrolyser-fuel cell cycle also induces a degree of
resilience in the system by providing an energy storage method. To 3.5. Absorption cooling system
power the ACS, the gases at state 07 which is a mixture of gases leaving
the HX-I (state 06) and the gases coming directly from the combustion The Ammonia-water Absorption Cooling System is integrated into
chamber (state 05) are used. After leaving the ACS generator, the gases the system to serve two purposes: to recover water from saturated air by
at state 08 are passed through HX-II to power the ORC which minimises dehumidification process and to provide air-conditioning. The ACS is
the thermal energy losses with the exhaust gases (state 09). powered by low temperature gases (state 07 – state 08). In the evapo­
rator of the ACS, saturated air enters at a temperature of ~ 308 K and
3.1. Combustion chamber leaves at ~ 278 K thereby condensing huge quantities of water by
condensation. This water is clean and can be used in dairy farms.
In the system, dairy manure and methane in the air are the main Moreover, the chilled air at 278 K can be used for space cooling and
sources of energy which are harnessed through their combustion. The refrigeration needs in the dairy farm.

8
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

4. Methodology energy translates to the utilisation of approximately 17.5% of the HHV

of dairy biomass (as mentioned in Table 4) for its drying. Although this
Although this study is applicable to farms in most of the geographic energy is large, this can be provided by various means which are
locations, the design conditions considered refer to a location which is otherwise not used in the system. For instance, the abundantly available
characterised by hot and humid climate (e.g. coastal areas in the middle solar energy and the utilisation of waste heat in the system (e.g. at state
east). Therefore, the chosen ambient conditions are a temperature of 09 in Fig. 3). However, in this study, the pre-treatment processes are
35 ◦ C and relative humidity of 0.5 (50%). These conditions represent considered outside the system boundary and as such the dairy manure is
severe heat stress conditions for dairy cattle and are very common in assumed to be dried before entering the combustion chamber.
such geographic locations. Furthermore, the dairy farm under consid­
eration in this study is of barn type in which the cattle are kept inside the 4.2. Thermodynamic analysis
barns for 100% of their time and fed inside.
The system is thoroughly analysed using thermodynamic principles
including the application of mass, energy, exergy and entropy balances
4.1. Biomass pre-treatment along with the definitions of energy and exergy efficiencies. These
governing relationships are established for all the components and sub-
A significantly important concern in the thermochemical conversion systems used in the system to develop their respective thermodynamic
of biomass is the condition to which it is received and utilised. The models. These single component thermodynamic models are subse­
condition to which biomass is received is dependent on a series of pro­ quently integrated according to their specific inputs and outputs to
cesses comprising of pre-treatment encompassing its collection, solid­ develop a comprehensive thermodynamic model of the whole poly­
–liquid separation, solids’ drying, etc. Included in the pre-treatment generation system. In principal, this thermodynamic model is a set of
phase, needed to combust dairy manure effectively, is drying, which is equations which collectively govern the whole system. In addition to
important because of the energy related concerns. In general, the lower this thermodynamic model, there are few physical boundary conditions
the moisture content in manure, the higher the heating value and such as adiabatic flame temperature of biomass, ambient conditions that
combustion temperature (which is preferred because of environmental are an integral part of the analysis. The thermodynamic model of the
concerns and thermodynamic efficiency, boiler operations, etc.) whole system, together with the applicable physical boundary condi­
[101,102]. However, the quantity of energy needed to remove the tions is used for parametric analysis. In the parametric analysis, the
moisture also increases with the increased moisture removal. Therefore, focus is to evaluate the performance of the system and the effects on the
the solids and liquids are first separated by filtering/sieving or me­ outputs of the system with variations in inputs and environmental
chanical means and then sent to a dryer. Commercially, there are conditions. Development and solution of the thermodynamic models are
different types of dryers available which are classified based on different conducted using the Engineering Equations Solver (EES) software.
operational principles: natural solar drying or forced mechanical drying, According to the principle of conservation of mass, the mass entering
direct or indirect contact, air or steam drying, rotary or conveyer belt the system must either leave or accumulate within the system’s
type, etc. The energy consumed in the drying process is of two types: boundary [104]. This can be expressed mathematically in the following
thermal energy for moisture evaporation/extraction, and electrical en­ form (per unit time):
ergy for machine operations, fans, agitation/movement of biomass,
amongst others. However, thermal energy has the major contribution ṁin = ṁout + Δṁaccumulated (1)
which is represented by the following equation:
where, ṁ represents the mass flow rate of the specific stream. In the case
Q̇drying = ṁwater .(hsens + hlatent )/ηdryer of steady state conditions, there is no mass accumulation within the
boundary and therefore ṁin becomes equal to ṁout .
where, ṁwater is the quantity of moisture removed, hsens is the sensible Similarly, according to the principle of conservation of energy,
heat of water needed to raise the temperature of water from ambient which is also known as first law of thermodynamics, energy can trans­
temperature to the evaporation temperature, hlatent is the latent heat of form from one form to other but cannot be created or destroyed. For all
vaporisation of water at evaporation temperature and ηdryer is the effi­ the physical systems, this principle applied on the system’s boundary in
ciency of the dryer which depends upon the type of dryer. In general, rate form is mathematically represented by the following equality [104]:
hsens ≪ hlatent and hence neglected in many cases. With this simplification ∑ ∑
Q̇net − Ẇ net + ṁin hin − ṁout hout = ΔU̇ system (2)
and in the case of 100% efficient dryer (ideal case), the heat needed to
remove one kg of water from biomass is approximately 2600 kJ (specific
latent heat value plus sensible heat). In practical conditions, the energy where, Q̇ is the rate of heat transfer through the boundary, Ẇ is the work
efficiency of dryers is much lower resulting in a higher energy con­ interaction rate through the boundary, ΔU̇system is the change in the in­
sumption. Considering the steam tube dryer efficiency of 87.2% [103] ternal energy of the system and h represents the specific enthalpy of the
operating at 415 K, the energy needed to produce one kg of dry biomass stream. In the case of steady conditions, ΔU̇system is zero as there is no
from a biomass with 50% moisture content is 3000 kJ. This quantity of accumulation of energy within the system’s boundary.
As energy analysis alone is not sufficient for an accurate and
Table 4 comprehensive design of any system [105], an exergy analysis, which is
Ultimate and Proximate characteristics of dairy manure. fundamentally an alternative way of stating the 2nd law of thermody­
Moisture content % 25.3 namics is also conducted for the system under consideration. The spe­
cific exergy for any stream (state point) is stated by the following
Ash % 15.0
VM % 46.8
mathematical equation [106]:
FC % 13.0
C% 35.3
exi = exph ch
i + exi (3)
H% 3.1
N% 1.9 where, subscript i represents ith state point, exch is the specific chemical
O% 19.1
exergy and exph
i is the specific physical exergy of a state point and is
S% 0.42
Dry HHV [kJ/kg] 17,185 defined by the following equation:
Empirical formula CH1.06 N0.047 O0.405 S0.0045

9
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

exph
i = hi − ho − To (si − so ) (4) waste-to-energy conversion of choice. With this approach, the proposed
system consists of a biomass combustor, in which manure is combusted
where, s is the specific entropy and subscript o represents ambient with the needed air only from the barns. In this way, some of the very
conditions. low concentration methane present in the barns is also combusted and
Under the assumption of steady conditions, for any thermodynamic hence produces thermal energy which adds to the thermal energy pro­
system, the general exergy balance equation is mathematically duced from manure combustion. Ultimately, the carbon content from
expressed by the following equality [66]: methane in the barns is emitted in the atmosphere in the form of CO2
∑ ∑ instead of CH4, and hence reduces the global warming potential. In this
Ex ˙ Qi − Ex
˙ di = Ex ˙ Wi + ṁin exin − ṁout exout (5) study, combustion is assumed to proceed with stochiometric conditions
and is represented by the following chemical reaction:

Cc Hh Oo Nn Ss + Nair (O2 + 3.762N2 + 0.097CH4 )→NCO2 CO2 + NH2 O H2 O + NN2 N2 + NSO2 SO2 (11)

where, Ex
˙ d is the rate of exergy destroyed within the device i, Ex ˙ Qi
i
where Cc Hh Oo Nn Ss is the composition of manure, Nair is the stochio­
represents the exergy associated with heat transfer, Ex
˙ Wi is work related
metric number of moles of air, NCO2 , NH2 O , NN2 , and NSO2 represents the
exergy rate, ṁin exin represents the exergy transported by stream going
number of moles of CO2 , H2 O, N2 and SO2 respectively. Following
into the system while ṁout exout is the exergy transported out of the sys­
(Table 4) are the characteristics of manure, taken from [21]:
tem by mass flow. Ex ˙ Qi is estimated by the following expression:
The stochiometric balances of reactants and products for the gov­
( ) erning equation (11) are as follows:
˙ Qi = Q̇i 1 − To
Ex (6)
Tsi Carbon Balance : c + (0.097 × Nair ) = NCO2 (12)

where, Q̇i is the heat transfer rate, To represents the ambient tempera­ Hydrogen Balance : h + (4 × 0.097 × Nair ) = (2 × NH2 O ) (13)
ture and Tsi is either the source or sink temperature based on heat
penetration into the system or heat loss from the system respectively. Oxygen Balance : o + (2 × Nair ) = (2 × NCO2 ) + NH2 O + (2 × NSO2 ) (14)
Besides the exergy balance equation, the rate of exergy destroyed, which
can also be used for verification can be calculated by the following Nitrogen Balance : n + (2 × 3.762 × Nair ) = (2 × NN2 ) (15)
expression too [74]:
Sulphur Balance : s = NSO2 (16)
˙ di = To .Ṡgen
Ex i
(7)
where, c, h, o, n and s are the subscripts in the empirical formula of the
where, Ṡgeni is the rate of entropy generation within the system which dairy manure i.e. Cc Hh Oo Nn Ss . The resulting Air to Fuel Ratio (AFR) is
can be calculated using the entropy balance equation. The entropy found to be 9.037. Moreover, the combustion reaction is assumed to be
balance equation is established in mathematical form for any steady complete, i.e. stochiometric combustion implies that the resulting
state thermodynamic system is as follows [74]: products are chemically stable, and hence validates the consideration
( ) that the chemical exergies of the products are insignificant in compar­
∑ ∑ ∑ Q̇
Ṡgeni = ṁout sout − ṁin sin − (8) ison to their physical exergies at the output conditions of combustor, and
T can therefore be neglected in the study. Having said that, the only ma­
terials carrying a substantial quantity of chemical exergy in the com­
In addition, for quantitative evaluation of the system’s performance,
bustion equation are the manure and methane which are considered as
various efficiencies are defined. For instance, the overall energy effi­
fuels. The correlation used for chemical exergy of biomass (manure) is as
ciency of the whole system is defined as [66]:
follows (Song et. al. [107]).
Total energy recovered
ηen,ov = (9) exch
biomass = 1.047.HHV biomass (17)
Total energy input
while chemical exergy of methane is 52, 177 kJ/kg [106].
where, Total energy input is the sum of available input energies from all
the sources, and Total energy recovered is the energy recovered by all the
5. Analysis and assessment
useful outputs. Moreover, the exergetic efficiency of the system is also
evaluated similarly, with the only difference of substituting the energy
The presented system is analysed comprehensively through the
terms with exergy terms of the corresponding state point [66]. i.e.,
application of thermodynamic principles, including conservation of
Total exergy recovered mass and energy along with exergy and entropy balance equations
ηex,ov = (10)
Total exergy input applied on all the components. In addition, efficiencies in terms of en­
ergy and exergy for all the sub-systems and the whole system are ana­
lysed. Some of the main assumptions for design conditions considered in
4.3. Dairy manure and methane combustion
this study are as follows:
In this study, the combustion of manure and methane is chosen as the

10
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Table 5 Table 7
Energy balance equations for various components used in the system. Equations defining exergetic efficiencies of various components used in the
Sub-system Energy Balance Equations
system.
Sub-system Exergy Efficiency Equations
Combustion ṁbiomass .LHVbiomass + ṁCH4 .LHVCH4 + ṁair,in .hair,in =
Chamber ṁexhaust,out .hexhaust,out + Q̇loss,cc Combustion ṁexhaust,out .exexhaust,out − ṁair,in exair,in
ηex,cc =
Evaporator (ACS) Chamber ṁbiomass .exchbiomass + ṁCH4 .exCH4
ch
ṁ47 .h47 + ṁ26 .h26 = ṁ48 .h48 + ṁ27 .h27 + ṁ28 .h28 + Q̇loss,evap
Evaporator (ACS) ṁ26 .ex26 − (ṁ27 .ex27 + ṁ28 .ex28 )
Expansion Valve ṁin,expan .hin,expan = ṁout,expan .hout,expan ηex,evaporator =
(ṁ48 .ex48 − ṁ47 .ex47 )
Heat Exchanger ṁhot,in .hhot,in + ṁcold,in .hcold,in = ṁhot,out .hhot,out + Expansion Valve ṁout,expan .exout,expan
ηex,evaporator =
ṁcold,out .hcold,out + Q̇loss,HX ṁin,expan .exin,expan
Heat Exchanger ṁ .(excold,out − excold,in )
Electrolyser ηex,hx = cold
ṁin,water .hin,water + Ẇel,electrolysis = ṁH2 .HHVH2 + ṁO2 .HHVO2 + ṁhot .(exhot,in − exhot,out )
Electrolyser ṁH2 .exch
H2 + ṁO2 .exO2
ch
Q̇loss,electrolysis ηex,electrolyzer =
Fuel cell ṁin,water .exin,water + Ẇel,electrolysis
ṁH2 .HHVH2 + ṁO2 .HHVO2 = ṁout,water .hout,water + Ẇel,fc + Fuel cell ṁout,water .exout,water + Ẇel,fc
Q̇loss,fc ηex,fc =
ṁH2 .exch H2 + ṁO2 .exO2
ch

Pump ṁin,pump .hin,pump + Ẇpump,actual = ṁout,pump .hout,pump Pump ṁpump .(exout,pump − exin,pump )
ηex,pump =
Ẇpump,actual
Turbine ṁin,turbine .hin,turbine = ṁout,turbine .hout,turbine + Q̇loss,turbine + Ẇturbine Turbine Ẇturbine
ηex,turbine =
Humidification ṁair,in .hair,in + ṁvapors .hvapors = ṁair,humid .hair,humid ṁturbine .(exin,turbine − exout,turbine )
Humidification ṁvapors .exvapors
Dehumidification ṁair,in .hair,in = Q̇removed + ṁair,sat. .hair,sat + ṁwater .hwater ηex,humidification =
(Q̇lost,air + Q̇lost,21− 22 ).(1 − T0 /Tevaporation )
Fan ṁin,fan .hin,fan + Ẇfan = ṁout,fan .hout,fan Dehumidification
ηex,dehumidification =

ṁair,in .exair,in − ṁair,out. .exair,out + ṁwater .exwater

• Steady conditions exist in all the sub-systems. Q̇removed .(1 − T0 /Tevaporator )
Fan ṁfan .(exout,fan − exin,fan )
• The ambient conditions are assumed as: To = 308 K and Po = ηex,fan =
Ẇfan
101.325 kPa.
• Relative humidity of ambient air is 0.5 and density is 1.184 kg/m3
• Adiabatic flame temperature of the biomass is 1173 K. system, noting that in many cases the output of one sub-system is an
• Concentration of methane in air coming from barns is 2% (molar) i.e. input to another sub-system.
air composition becomes O2 + 3.762N2 + 0.097CH4 .
• Efficiency of electrical energy generators is assumed to be 0.95. 5.2. Exergy analysis
• Manure is dried before entering the combustion chamber.
• Chemical exergy of air, its constituents and combustion gases are Similarly, the exergy balance equations established for most of the
assumed as zero [106]. components used are mentioned in Table 6, and their corresponding
• Combustion reaction is stochiometric. definitions for exergetic efficiencies are listed in Table 7.
• Products of combustion are chemically stable.

5.3. System efficiencies

5.1. Energy analysis For quantitative assessment of the performance of the system, the
energy efficiency of the whole system is defined as:
The energy balance equations established for most of the compo­
nents used are stated in Table 5. These equations are subsequently Ėelectrical + Ėwater + Q̇cold,air + Q̇cold,water
ηen,ov = (18)
combined by defining the proper inputs and outputs to all the compo­ Ėmanure + Ėmethane
nents to represent the complete thermodynamic model of the whole
whereas, Q̇cold,air +Q̇cold,water is basically the total cooling capacity of the
Table 6 ACS. Furthermore, the system’s exergetic efficiency is defined in the
Exergy balance equations for various components used in the system. same manner with the only difference of replacing the energy terms with
Sub-system Exergy Balance Equations
exergy terms of the respective state point. i.e.,

Combustion ṁbiomass .exch ch

biomass + ṁCH4 .exCH4 + ṁair,in .exair,in = ṁexhaust,out .
˙ electrical + Ex
Ex ˙ water + Ex
˙ cold,air + Ėxcold,water
Chamber exexhaust,out
ηex,ov = (19)
˙ manure + Ex
Ex ˙ methane
Evaporator (ACS) ṁ47 .ex47 + ṁ26 .ex26 = ṁ48 .ex48 + ṁ27 .ex27 + ṁ28 .ex28 +
Ex
˙ d,evap
6. Results and discussion
Expansion Valve ṁin,expan .exin,expan = ṁout,expan .exout,expan + Ex
˙ d,expan
Heat Exchanger ṁhot,in .exhot,in + ṁcold,in .excold,in = ṁhot,out .exhot,out + The proposed dairy farm waste management polygeneration system
ṁcold,out .excold,out + Ex˙ d,HX
is studied through a thermodynamics perspective using the Engineering
Electrolyser ṁin,water .exin,water + Ẇel,electrolysis = ṁH2 .exch ch
H2 + ṁO2 .exO2 + Equation Solver (EES) software. The thermodynamic model is based on
Ex
˙ d,electrolyzer the principles of conservation of mass and energy, exergy and entropy
Fuel cell ṁH2 .exch
H2 + ṁO2 .exO2 = ṁout,water .exout,water + Ẇel,fc + Exd,fc
ch ˙ balance equations along with the energy and exergy efficiencies of all
Pump ṁin,pump .exin,pump + Ẇpump,actual = ṁout,pump .exout,pump + Ex
˙ d,pump the sub-systems used in the system. The mass flow rate, temperature,
Turbine ṁin,turbine .exin,turbine = ṁout,turbine .exout,turbine + Ex
˙ d,turbine + pressure, specific enthalpy, specific entropy, specific exergy, quality and
Ẇturbine power calculated at numerous state points in the polygeneration system
Humidification ṁair,in .exair,in + ṁvapors .exvapors + Q̇add .(1 − T0 /Tevaporation ) = at reference conditions are tabulated in Table 8.
ṁair,humid .exair,humid + Ex ˙ d,humidification Values for some of the important parameters in the system obtained
Dehumidification ṁair,in .exair,in = Q̇removed .(1 − T0 /Tevaporator ) + ṁair,out. .exair,out +
at design conditions are listed in Table 9. These values imply that the
ṁwater .exwater + Ex ˙ d,dehumidification anticipated dairy farm waste management scheme successfully manages
Fan ṁin,fan .exin,fan + Ẇfan = ṁout,fan .exout,fan + Ex
˙ d,fan the wastes in a dairy farm with a cattle strength of approximately 20,000
dairy cows estimated according to quantity of manure, and in addition

11
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Table 8
Thermophysical properties at numerous state points in the proposed system.
i ṁi [kg/s] Ti [K] Pi [kPa] hi [kJ/kg] si [kJ/kg.K] exi [kJ/kg] xi [-] Ẇi [kW]

0 — 308.2 101.3 — — — — —
1 90.37 308.2 101.3 806.1 7.04 413.9 — —
2 10 308.2 101.3 9664 8.238 7126 — —
3 100.4 1173 101.3 1423 6.753 575.9 — —
4 48.59 1173 101.3 1423 6.753 575.9 — —
5 51.79 1173 101.3 1423 6.753 575.9 — —
6 48.59 386.6 101.3 482.6 5.449 37.4 — —
7 100.4 792.4 101.3 967.7 6.122 315.2 — —
8 100.4 348.2 101.3 280.8 4.906 2.921 — —
9 100.4 325.1 101.3 252.6 4.822 0.5466 — —
10 10.69 1163 20,000 4300 7.261 2071 1 —
11 10.69 595.5 400 3113 7.646 765.8 1 —
12 — — — — — — — 12,457
13 — — — — — — — 12,208
14 0.01069 595.5 400 3113 7.646 765.8 1 —
15 10.68 595.5 400 3113 7.646 765.8 1 —
16 10.68 353.5 26.67 2647 7.887 225.9 1 —
17 — — — — — — — 4809
18 — — — — — — — 4713
19 0.01069 591.4 26.67 3113 8.893 381.7 1 —
20 10.69 353.7 26.67 2648 7.888 225.9 1 —
21 10.69 339.6 26.67 323.4 1.045 10.4 0.01936 —
22 10.69 324.6 26.67 215.3 0.722 1.69 0 —
23 10.69 326.6 20,000 240.6 0.7381 22.12 0 —
24 530 308.2 101.3 80.74 5.891 0 — —
25 530 348.7 101.3 122.9 6.02 2.524 — —
26 539.1 307.6 101.3 125.5 6.039 0.829 — —
27 523.5 278.2 101.3 18.58 5.677 3.765 — —
28 15.62 278.2 101.3 21.12 0.07625 6.549 0 —
29 15.62 278.2 101.3 21.12 0.07625 6.549 0 —
30 0.000156 278.2 101.3 21.12 0.07625 6.549 0 —
31 0.000156 280.2 20,000 48.93 0.1049 25.52 0 —
32 — — — — — — — 3.595
33 1.74E-05 280.2 20,000 3769 30.51 125,184 — —
34 0.000139 280.2 20,000 − 66.16 − 1.573 542.8 — —
35 1.74E-05 280.2 20,000 3769 30.51 125,184 — —
36 0.000139 280.2 20,000 − 66.16 − 1.573 542.8 — —
37 — — — — — — — 1.762
38 0.000156 280.2 20,000 48.93 0.1049 25.52 0 —
39 8.189 321.1 1000 317.6 1.391 64.86 0 —
40 8.189 341.2 1000 645.8 2.362 93.83 1 —
41 8.189 328.1 666.7 632.2 2.369 77.95 1 —
42 8.189 320.1 666.7 315 1.385 64.15 0 —
43 — — — — — — — 85.07
44 — — — — — — — 83.37

Table 9 Table 10
Values of outputs obtained at design conditions. Energy and exergy efficiencies of numerous components used in the system.
Description Values Sub-system Energy Efficiency Exergy Efficiency
[-] [-]
Daily dairy manure utilisation 864 tons/day
Daily methane utilisation from barns 87.62 tons/day Overall System 0.3518 0.1917
Daily wastewater recycled 793.2 m3/day Combustion Chamber 0.8112 0.532
Mass flow rate of biomass 10 kg/s Turbine - I 0.9819 0.8925
Electrical power output 17 MW Turbine - II 0.9666 0.8339
Daily freshwater production 1350 m3/day Turbine - III 0.7629 0.6542
Mass flow rate of chilled air 523.5 kg/s Electrolyzer 0.7 0.6253
Mass flow rate of chilled water 15.62 kg/s Fuel Cell 0.7 0.7836
Space cooling capacity 9,256 tons Condenser 0.5018 0
Mass flow rate of hydrogen 1.74E-05 kg/s Pump - I 1.0 0.8548
Pump - II 1.0 0.8261
Absorption Cooling System (COP) 0.7 0.196
fulfils some of the vital needs of the dairy farm in an environmentally Humidification 1.0 0.3146
benign manner. Moreover, the novel integration scheme of very low Heat Exchanger - I 0.95 0.8373
Heat Exchanger - II 0.95 0.9953
concentration methane in barns within the system resulted in reduction Heat Exchanger - III 0.9 0.5803
of GHG emissions by approximately 1950 tons of CO2 equivalent daily
(~711,750 tons of CO2 equivalent per year). Furthermore, the energy
and exergy efficiencies of numerous components used in the system are This is because it operates at high temperatures, and therefore due to the
tabulated in Table 10. large thermal difference with the ambient, loses a large quantity of heat
The presented analysis determines that the combustion chamber to the ambient. In addition, the quantity of energy flow in combustion
(CC) has the main contribution to the exergy destruction in the system. chamber is much higher than the other components in the system.

12
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

increases the humidity inside the barns especially if the ventilation is not
adequate, and ultimately the THI value inside the barns reaches to heat
stress conditions. For these reasons, evaporative cooling approach fails
in the commercial dairy farms located in the geographical regions
characterised by high temperatures and humidity especially in summers
(e.g. coastal areas in the middle east).
On the contrary, the system proposed in this study uses these harsh
environmental conditions for it’s benefit. In this study, for parametric
analysis, the range of relative humidity considered is 5% – 95%, which
encompasses the possible climate conditions throughout the year. Fig. 5
demonstrates that with the increase in ambient relative humidity, the
air-conditioning capacity of the system also increases which implies that
even at times of harsh weather, the conditions inside the barns will be in
a comfortable THI range and hence dairy production will be stable. This
increase in air-conditioning capacity is at the cost of net electrical output
which is understandable as the total available energy (manure and
Fig. 4. Exergy destruction rates in various components used in the system. methane) is constant. Furthermore, it is also observed that the overall
energy efficiency of the system demonstrates an increasing trend with
Regarding exergy destruction, the combustion chamber is followed by the increase in ambient relative humidity. This is because, with an in­
the ACS. This is because of the high total energy flow in the ACS, and its crease in ambient relative humidity, the system begins to utilise more of
low COP. The exergy destruction rates of numerous components in the its low-grade heat in the ACS which would have been wasted otherwise.
system are illustrated in Fig. 4. This is also proved from the exergy graphs where the overall exergetic
efficiency of the system demonstrates a decreasing trend despite the
6.1. Parametric studies increase in cooling capacity. The fundamental reason is that air-
conditioning is a low-exergy content output while electricity is a high-
Parametric studies are conducted for the proposed system to analyse exergy content output. Therefore, for the same total energy (electricity
its performance in varying environmental conditions and variations in plus the air-conditioning capacity), the total exergy of the outputs will
inputs. Effects of ambient humidity, ambient temperature, concentra­ decrease if the high-exergy content, i.e. electricity is compromised for
tion of methane in the barn and mass flow rate of manure on various lower-exergy content, i.e. air-conditioning.
outputs are considered. Ambient relative humidity also affects the quantities of wastewater
recycled and production of clean water and hydrogen as illustrated in
6.1.1. Effects of ambient relative humidity
Especially for arid regions, the ambient humidity is a critical
parameter in the case of dairy cattle because of its influence on the
Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) which is directly dependent on hu­
midity; the higher the humidity, the higher will be the THI value. In
addition, higher THI values correspond to heat stress conditions in
which the milk production of dairy cattle reduces significantly and can
also cause numerous other health issues for cattle. Therefore, it is
extremely important to maintain the THI value in a comfortable range.
On the contrary, in summers when both the temperature and humidity
are high, the THI values serves heat stress conditions. In commercial
dairy farms, amongst others, one approach to handle this issue is the use
of evaporative cooling inside the barns where water is sprayed resulting
in the reduction of temperature (latent heat of vaporisation of water).
However, this technique fails because of a few limitations: (1) when the
ambient relative humidity is high, i.e. when the air is near saturation, it
implies that there is insufficient capacity in ambient air to absorb more
Fig. 6. Effect of ambient relative humidity on wastewater recycled and pro­
vapours, and hence water cannot vaporise and therefore there is no
duction of freshwater and hydrogen.
substantial reduction in temperature; (2) Spraying of water ultimately

Fig. 5. Effect of ambient relative humidity on: (left) energy flow rates and overall energy efficiency of the system, and (right) exergy flow rates and overall exergy
efficiency of the system.

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M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Fig. 6. The quantity of wastewater recycled directly depends upon the

capacity of air to absorb moisture; the higher the moisture absorbing
capacity, the higher the quantity of wastewater recycled. Therefore,
when ambient relative humidity increases, the quantity of wastewater
recycled is reduced. On the contrary, the quantity of freshwater pro­
duced depends on the absolute humidity of the air leaving the waste­
water evaporator. The reduction in evaporation of wastewater also
results in a lower reduction of temperature of air in the wastewater
evaporator, and hence the saturated air leaving the wastewater evapo­
rator is at higher temperatures. This in turn implies that the total
moisture content, i.e. absolute humidity at the exit of wastewater
evaporator (state 26) is higher in this case. For this higher quantity of
total moisture, the freshwater produced is higher as the evaporator in
ACS is at constant temperature. This need for increased condensation
necessitates more energy, therefore, a higher portion of energy is
Fig. 8. Effect of ambient temperature on wastewater recycled and production
diverted towards ACS in flow divider-I. The control equation (20) for
of freshwater and hydrogen.
flow division at this stage is also determined using machine learning
which is mentioned in equation (21) below. This increase in freshwater
decreasing trend, while the air-conditioning capacity demonstrates an
produced with increase in ambient relative humidity also proves that the
increasing trend (with the sum of both almost constant). The reason is
performance of the system is improved with the increase in harshness
that when the ambient temperature increases, the difference between
(increase in To ,Φo ) of weather. The rate of hydrogen production follows
the ambient temperature and the maximum temperature ambient air
the rate of freshwater production because the quantity of water sent to
can achieve in HX-III (at state 25 starts) to decrease. This means that the
electrolyser is a constant percentage (assumed for design conditions) of
increase in the capacity of moisture retention by the air with the increase
the total freshwater produced which can be changed as and when
in temperature is reduced (maximum possible change in the absolute
needed (to fulfil drinking water needs).
humidity in these limits). For this reason, the total wastewater evapo­
ṁ4 = Pṁ3 (20) rated in the wastewater evaporator is reduced (Fig. 8), and also the
temperature of the saturated air leaving the wastewater evaporator is
where:
higher due to lesser evaporation. This higher temperature at state 26 in
P = f (To , Φo ) turn results in a higher demand of air-conditioning capacity in the ACS.
= a + bTo + cΦo + dTo 2 + eΦo 2 + fTo 3 + gΦo 3 + hTo Φo + iTo 2 Φo + jTo Φo 2 Furthermore, a higher air-conditioning in the ACS implies larger pro­
duction of freshwater and more quantity of chilled air. These increasing
(21)
trends in air-conditioning capacity, freshwater production and chilled
such that: air ultimately result in a higher overall energy efficiency. Although, such
a = − 95.07, b = 0.8894, c = 26.06, d = − 0.002717, e = − 1.867, increases are at the cost of reduction in electrical energy production, the
f = 0.000002721, g = − 0.1577, h = − 0.1605, i = 0.0002413, j = overall energy recovered by the whole system is higher. However, the
0.007262 overall exergy efficiency of the system decreases with increase in
At design conditions, P = 0.4841, i.e., approximately 48% of the ambient temperature. This is because, the replacement of higher exergy
energy available after combustion is diverted towards Rankine cycle, content output (electricity) with lower exergy content output (fresh­
while the remaining 52% is directed towards the ACS. water, chilled air, chilled water).
In addition to this, the quantity of fresh water produced (which is
6.1.2. Effects of ambient temperature chilled water) increases despite the reduction in wastewater evaporation
As with ambient humidity, ambient temperature is also one of the (Fig. 8). The reason is that freshwater production does not depend on the
most important parameters in the case of dairy farms as THI is directly quantity of wastewater evaporated; rather it depends on the tempera­
related to the temperature. In this study, for parametric analysis, the ture of saturated air at state 26, which increases with the increase in
range of ambient temperature considered is 0 ◦ C – 52 ◦ C, which en­ ambient temperature as explained above.
compasses the possible climate conditions throughout the year. Fig. 7
illustrates the effect of ambient temperature on energy and exergy 6.1.3. Effects of rate of biomass flow
contents of various outputs and the overall energy and exergy effi­ The rate of biomass flow is essentially the total available energy, and
ciencies of the system. The electrical energy produced demonstrates a in a sense represents the scale of the farm. In this study, for parametric

Fig. 7. Effect of ambient temperature on: (left) energy flow rates and overall energy efficiency of the system, and (right) exergy flow rates and overall exergy ef­
ficiency of the system.

14
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

Fig. 9. Effect of variation in daily flow rate of manure on: (left) energy flow rates and overall energy efficiency of the system, and (right) exergy flow rates and
overall exergy efficiency of the system.

Fig. 10. Effect of variation in daily flow rate of manure on (left) wastewater recycled and production of freshwater and hydrogen, and (right) methane usage and its
corresponding CO2 equivalent.

Fig. 11. Effect of variation in methane concentration in barns on: (left) energy flow rates and overall energy efficiency of the system, and (right) exergy flow rates
and overall exergy efficiency of the system.

analysis, the range of flow rate of biomass considered is 0 tons/day – reason for this range, is that 0% is the minimum possible concentration
1700 tons/day, which approximately represents a farm size (herd size) while the upper limit, i.e. 5% is the limitation because of safety con­
of 0 heads to 40,000 heads. As the total available energy increases, the siderations (approximately 5.5% is the explosion limit [108]). Fig. 11
mass flow rate of all the products also increase accordingly. These trends demonstrates that with increase in methane concentration, the energy
are visible in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Essentially, the flow rate of manure and exergy contents of the outputs are also increased. Similar to the
depends on the available quantity of manure, which is directly linked to effecct of biomass, this increase is essentially because of the increase in
the cattle herd size in a dairy farm, i.e. the scale of a dairy farm. As all the the total energy available to the system and hence the mass flow rates of
quantities are increasing proportionally (linear relationship), the overall all the outputs.
energy and exergy efficiencies of the system are constant. Fig. 12 demonstrates the same trends, i.e. increase in recycling of
wastewater, increase in production of freshwater and increase in
6.1.4. Effects of methane concentration hydrogen production. This is all driven by the increase in the total
To assess the effects of methane concentration in the air in barns, all available energy.
the other parameters are kept constant. In this study, for the parametric Fig. 13 illustrates the environmental benefits achieved by using air
analysis, the range of methane concentration considered is 0% – 5%. The from the barn in a combustion chamber. The higher the concentration of

15
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

drying of dairy manure and collection of methane from the barns re­
quires technological and engineering developments. Similarly, the water
evaporator requires development and is expected to present challenges
in terms of scaling, fouling, quality of produced water, etc. In addition,
these systems also require additional land area which requires further
consideration, although it can lead to land saving as the land occupied
by wastewater lagoons is expected to be reduced due to the rapid
recycling of water. Moreover, in such integrated systems, there could be
an enhanced level of risk of cascade failure because inputs and outputs
of various sub-systems are dependent on one another. Furthermore,
although such systems prove to be economically viable in the long-term
due to the saving of energy and water input costs, it can be challenging
in the short-term due to the additional capital and operating costs.

Fig. 12. Effect of methane concentration in barns on wastewater recycled and 8. Conclusion
production of freshwater and hydrogen.
Dairy products are considered important to fulfil food and nutritional
needs and contributes towards the global food security agenda. How­
ever, ongoing practices in dairy production, and in particular dairy
waste management presents significant environmental challenges which
need to be addressed. This study demonstrates a sustainable dairy pro­
duction system, which can serve as a basis for regions which are known
for their hot and humid climates, are water scarce and find maintaining
the THI challenging. In this regard, sustainable dairy farm management
in hot and humid climates is presented through a polygeneration
approach, the objectives of which are to maximise the use and recycling
of wastes in the form of manure, methane, and wastewater, whilst
satisfying essential dairy farm needs such as, electricity, clean water, air-
conditioning and cold water. In addition to reducing waste output, the
polygeneration approach reduces the dependency of the dairy farm on
external energy and water networks. Unique to this study, is that the
proposed polygeneration system utilises manure and methane as a
source of energy and recycles the wastewater generated in dairy farms.
Fig. 13. Effect of methane concentration in barns on reactants in combustion The utilisation of very low concentration methane in the barns is espe­
chamber and CO2 equivalent of methane used. cially important as it would have been difficult to use otherwise. In
addition, the system is equipped with a hydrogen cycle to fulfil two
methane in the air, the larger the environmental benefits. In a practical purposes: to inculcate resilience and to address the social concern
scenario, there is a limitation on increasing the concentration of related to the acceptance of wastewater reuse for drinking purposes. The
methane in the barn due to the considerations regarding safety (explo­ presented system is mainly composed of a biomass and methane com­
sion limits) and/or health of the dairy cattle. However, the highest bustion unit, Rankine cycles, an NH3-H2O Absorption Cooling System,
possible range of methane concentration within the health and safety wastewater evaporator, a water electrolyser and a fuel cell. The system is
approved range can be achieved by proper design of the barns. The analysed thermodynamically by applying mass, energy, exergy and en­
improved design may consider a reduction in flow of ventilation air to a tropy balance equations on all the components used. The analysis
level, which is needed just to fulfill the cooling requirements, noting that revealed that, at design conditions, the system produces 17 MW of
cooling can be achieved by a different design which does not require a electricity, 1350 m3/day of clean water, 15.62 kg/s of chilled water and
high rate of ambient air flow). cooling capacity of 9,256 tons. In addition, the system uses 864 tons/day
of dairy manure, 87.62 tons/day of methane and recycles 793.2 m3/day
6.2. Economic implications of wastewater. Moreover, the novel integration scheme of very low
concentration methane in barns within the system results in a reduction
It is envisaged that replacing the existing systems in dairy farms with of GHG emissions by approximately 1950 tons of CO2 equivalent daily
the proposed system will add to the capital, operational and mainte­ (~711,750 tons of CO2 equivalent per year). These results demonstrate
nance costs. However, in the long-term, it may prove to be a more that the system effectively reduces the environmental burdens of dairy
economical option depending on the price of the utilities, i.e. energy and farm through environmentally responsible waste management. The
water. Moreover, contrary to conventional cooling systems, which are overall energy efficiency of the system is found to be 35.2%, while the
inefficient in hot summers and thus result in reduced milk production, exergy efficiency of the system is 19.2%. In addition, the parametric
the proposed system effectively maintains the optimum temperature and analysis of the system not only demonstrates that the system can
humidity resulting in optimum milk production and potentially larger perform stably in varying environmental conditions, the system favours
annual revenue. Finally, if a carbon tax is imposed on agriculture sys­ harsher environment by the utilisation of higher ambient temperature
tems and dairy farms, the economic benefits could be even larger. and humidity for the benefit of the dairy farm. This outcome implies that
the system is not only applicable irrespective of the geographical loca­
7. Limitations tion, it has a higher performance in locations characterised by hot and
humid climates where the options are limited otherwise. In addition,
The proposed system and the analysis presented demonstrates these results encourage more efforts for advancing research and devel­
encouraging results, albeit with limitations. For instance, although most opment towards zero-emission and zero-waste large-scale commercial
of the sub-systems used are technologically well-developed, certain sub- dairy farming practices whilst satisfying nutritional needs in an envi­
systems require modification and re-engineering. For instance, the ronmentally benign manner. However, in addition to technical and

16
M. Luqman and T. Al-Ansari Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113753

scientific viability, there is a need to address the engineering challenges/ [12] Government of the United States of America. The Federal Water Pollution Control
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Declaration of Competing Interest doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2019.106513.
[27] Mahmood F, Al-Ansari TA. Design and thermodynamic analysis of a solar
powered greenhouse for arid climates. Desalination 2021;497:114769. https://
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
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interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence [28] Al-Thani NA, Govindan R, Al-Ansari T. Maximising nutritional benefits within the
the work reported in this paper. energy, water and food nexus. J Clean Prod 2020;266:121877. https://doi.org/
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Acknowledgement nexus: A review considering energy generation and consumption. Renew Sustain
Energy Rev 2019;105:71–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.01.049.
This research is supported by the Hamad Bin Khalifa University – a [30] Al-Ansari T, Korre A, Nie Z, Shah N. Development of a life cycle assessment tool
for the assessment of food production systems within the energy, water and food
member of Qatar Foundation – with scholarship number (210007571). nexus. Sustain Prod Consum 2015;2:52–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. spc.2015.07.005.
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