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Book review
David A. Tillman and N. Stanley Harding, Fuels
of Opportunity: Characteristics and uses in combustion
systems (2004, Elsevier Ltd, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands) 312 pages, ISBN:0-08-044162-9
Fuels of Opportunity: Characteristics and uses in
combustion systems presents “detailed updated information
on fuel characterisation approaches and fuel utilisation
technologies”. It will be “essential reading for professional
mechanical and chemical engineers involved in energy
generation/energy use, along with fuel specialists and
operations managers”. When I read this I thought, “Yes,
this is going to be good!”
Unfortunately the deeper I examined the book; the more
disappointed I became with it. I really wanted to like it but
kept finding things which I was not happy with. It’s not that
such a book is not needed. As the authors rightly say, the
scope for using opportunity fuels is large and getting larger.
I guess I was hoping for more and better.
Potential users of opportunity fuels really need a much
more comprehensive account. They need to know what has
been used, and what were the benefits and pitfalls. They
need to know what might be used in the future and, most
importantly, what are the crucial issues arising from their
use. In my opinion, this book only goes part way towards
meeting these requirements.
The book is based almost entirely on US practice, which
is not surprising since the authors are eminent, US-based
professionals, and much work on these types of fuels has
been, and continues to be, carried out in the US. However, if
the authors are hoping for significant sales in other parts of
the world I suggest it is too heavily focussed on what is
going on, or perhaps more correctly, what has gone on, in
the US.
Although the authors recognise that the scope of
opportunity fuels is very large I still feel that the selection
of what has been discussed is too limited and there is too
little critical comment offered concerning plant operational
issues. It is the likely overall technical and economic
impacts of non-design fuels which are vital to plant
operators.
There also seems to be some confusion over what
constitutes an opportunity fuel. The use of woody biomass
in boilers specifically designed for this material cannot
possibly be described as the use of an opportunity fuel, (see
4.3 Page 156). Likewise, the use of spent pulping liquors
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2005.07.014
and pulp mill sludge is described in plant designed
specifically to burn it.
A further important omission, certainly from the
European standpoint, is that in the chapter on the use of
woody biomass no reference is made to its carbon-neutral
nature or to the impact on electricity generation of the
Large Combustion Plant Directive now in force in Europe.
One of the main uses of biomass in Western Europe is to
address greenhouse gas emissions but this is not
mentioned. Even if the jury is still out in parts of the
USA on global warming, surely some mention of it should
be made if sales outside the US are contemplated.
The Conclusions sections are, in many cases, too
general and can be in fact misleading. For example to
state that “Orimulsion has no operational disadvantages
relative to coal or oil, and can be fired within
environmental regulations” (page 81) is misleading to
say the least for a number of reasons. The high sulphur
and vanadium levels are cause for concern and no
mention is made of the possible environmental effects of
Orimulsion spills especially at sea. And which regulations
do the authors refer to?
A similar lack of clarity is found on page 260, where
for tyre-derived fuels it is stated that “Zinc emissions
are higher with the TDF blends, but are not above
regulated limits”. What are the limits and where are
they in force?
The format of the book is reminiscent of a series of
technical reports which have been ‘cut and pasted’ and
re-issued as a hardback book. This view is reinforced on
page 259 (chapter 6) where the conclusions are listed as
bullet points here but nowhere else. Chapter and headings
descriptions are overly long and lack consistency. It is not
really necessary to repeat the phrase ‘opportunity fuel’ in
almost every title or heading. Space could have been saved
if the references were shown in a smaller font size. The
quality of reproduction and some of the scenes depicted in
the photographs are rather poor, there are four shots of
lorries loading or unloading something—it is not clear
what!—see Figs. 1.3 (page 9); 4.10 (page 163); 4-15 (page
176); 6-7 (page 253).
Fig. 4-13 (page 172) is a CFD plot which is reproduced in
black and white and is thus rendered virtually meaningless.
In truth, the plots look as if they have been copied from files
in Excel spread sheets. Table 2.18 (page 71) the unit (8F) is
missing from the right hand column. Other typos were
identified but are not listed.
Fuel 85 (2006) 574–575
www.fuelfirst.com
Book review / Fuel 85 (2006) 574–575 575
Despite suggestions by the authors, my overall concern
remains that it is not very clear for whom this book is
intended. If it is to guide operations managers then it could
be misleading and some of the extensive correlation plots
and equations seem unnecessary. However, if it is for the
technical specialist, then the information seems to me to be
too broad-brush. I suspect much of the information
contained in the book could be obtained either from the
internet, the technical press or by attending conferences.
Priced at £92, I cannot see too many takers for this
book—which is a shame as the authors have, I am sure, put a
lot of effort into it. However, more is needed; it appears to
have been rushed into print and needs expanding, further
critical editing and proof reading in order to make it as good
as I had hoped it would be.
Alan Thompson
Nottingham Fuel and Energy Centre, School of Chemical,
Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of
Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG27 2RD, UK
E-mail address: [email protected]
Received 6 July 2005; Accepted 12 July 2005
Available online 15 August 2005
