Author Archive: Jim Lane

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The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Dynamic Understanding of Waste-to-Energy Futures

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Dynamic Understanding of Waste-to-Energy Futures

July 28, 2025 |

Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is a complex system influenced by technical, economic, environmental, and societal factors. This presentation highlights the innovative need for models that address the socio-technical complexity of WtE, not just its technical aspects. “Participatory system dynamic modelling” is introduced as a key tool to foster consensus and facilitate strategy implementation among all stakeholders. The […]

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Hain’t We Growed Up Yet? The Digest Turns 18: Reflections on the bioeconomy journey

Hain’t We Growed Up Yet? The Digest Turns 18: Reflections on the bioeconomy journey

July 25, 2025 |

By Huckleberry Finn (mostly) Special to The Digest You don’t know about me, Huck Finn, without you have read The Digest or Mr. Mark Twain before, but that ain’t no matter. Mr. Jim started the Digest 18 years ago today with not much more’n two readers and a notion about that folks could use a […]

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The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Alcohol Combustion in CI Engines

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Alcohol Combustion in CI Engines

July 24, 2025 |

This presentation highlights ethanol/methanol for off-road decarbonization, despite their low ignitability for compression ignition. Pilot injections are key, creating a flame kernel to ignite main sprays. Ethers improve ignitability but reduce efficiency in single-fuel blends, lowering NOx. Methanol port injection struggles with vaporization, causing liquid entry and weak combustion. Notably, active pre-chamber jets achieve diesel-like […]

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Awakening Brünhilde: Anellotech heads to Japan to complete the plastics redemption quest

Awakening Brünhilde: Anellotech heads to Japan to complete the plastics redemption quest

July 24, 2025 |

Once, “Made in Japan” meant cheap. Post‑war trinkets and tinny radios. Disposable goods from a defeated nation. Today, it means something else entirely: precision, patience, and enduring quality — a symbol of how a fallen power can reforge itself through discipline. And now, in an irony almost Wagnerian, that same label carries the banner for […]

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The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to DNS/LES and Modeling of SAF Flame Stabilization

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to DNS/LES and Modeling of SAF Flame Stabilization

July 23, 2025 |

High-fidelity simulations are crucial for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) combustion modeling. DNS of aero-combustors shows premixed flames dominate heat release, with edge flames re-igniting extinction regions via coupled deflagration and ignition. Crucially, edge flames cause turbulent kinetic energy back-scatter, missed by current LES models. New constrained Deep Neural Network models significantly improve multi-modal combustion predictions. […]

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The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Mixing-Controlled Compression-Ignition Combustion with Low-Lifecycle-CO2 Fuels

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Mixing-Controlled Compression-Ignition Combustion with Low-Lifecycle-CO2 Fuels

July 22, 2025 |

This project de-risks Ducted Fuel Injection (DFI) for heavy-duty engine decarbonization with Low-Lifecycle-CO2 Fuels (LLCFs). The first-ever DFI retrofit for a production multi-cylinder engine was successfully implemented. Initial DFI testing revealed substantial NOx reductions (up to 80%) but significant soot increases (up to 1370%), indicating the need for further optimization. A robust mechanical alignment technique […]

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Return of The Rubik’s Cube: Higher Blends the Simple Solution to Match Up RVOs, SREs, E15, Tax Credits, & RINS

Return of The Rubik’s Cube: Higher Blends the Simple Solution to Match Up RVOs, SREs, E15, Tax Credits, & RINS

July 21, 2025 |

by Doug Durante, Executive Director, Clean Fuels Development Coalition Special to The Digest The only way to ensure the long term health of the biofuel (RFS) program is with more biofuels. That is because the construct of the RFS allows RINS and SREs to eat away at the volumes, which by definition, would make the […]

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The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Alcohol Spray and Hydrogen Jet Experiments and Modeling

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Alcohol Spray and Hydrogen Jet Experiments and Modeling

July 21, 2025 |

This project supports off-road engine decarbonization via methanol and hydrogen, emphasizing injection challenges. Methanol experiments reveal significant plume collapse and accelerated inter-plume regions under flash-boiling, with slow evaporation causing potential wall wetting. Hydrogen jet studies show complex shockwave structures and substantial local cooling. These findings highlight key difficulties for CFD modeling and injector optimization. The […]

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The Pure Player: XCF Global Pursues a Winning Hand in SAF

The Pure Player: XCF Global Pursues a Winning Hand in SAF

July 21, 2025 |

Somewhere near Virginia City. The sun sets blood-red over the Nevada desert. A wind kicks up the dust along a broken rail spur. Inside the Old SAF Hotel—half saloon, half mirage—the lamps flicker as the dealer fans a fresh deck. At the felt-covered table, the chairs are full tonight. There’s Wyatt Earp, eyes sharp as […]

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Liquid CO2 and low temperature applications

Liquid CO2 and low temperature applications

July 21, 2025 |

By Sam A. Rushing, President, Advanced Cryogenics, Ltd. Special to The Digest By far, cryogenic freezing of food products is the hallmark of low temperature applications for the commodity. My personal experience with respect to low temperature applications for the commodity have been the lion’s share of the merchant work, in the past with the […]

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