Solar energy with chemical storage for cogeneration of electric power and heat

U.S.A. energy use by the year 2000 is estimated to be 116–130 quads, compared to 82 quads for 1978. Solar energy, utilized both at the individual residence-building level plus power plant level, along with all other conventional and new energy sources, will be needed to meet future energy demand. In order to make maximum utilization of energy sources to meet national energy-conservation and energy-economic policy, a power plant of the future must cogenerate electrical energy and heat medium, whether it burns fossil fuel or uses solar energy.A solar energy Central Receiver-AHS Chemical Storage cogeneration power plant can be configured to give complete flexibility for day-night and seasonal load combinations, with work efficiencies up to 46 per cent. Such a plant, as a stand-alone or network station, is a real possibility in the not too distant future. Electrical energy and heat medium produced therefrom will be competitive with fossil fuel powered generating plants.A 100 MWe Central Receiver-AHS Cycle cogeneration power plant is discussed in detail; cycle analysis, preliminary cost estimates, and unit energy costs are discussed.     

Behavior setting utilization by emotionally disturbed college students.

Examined the relationship between personality variables and the use of social settings using 25 male and 21 female emotionally disturbed college students. Data were gathered from MMPI scores, clinical judgments of mental health professionals, and the Activity Record. The latter instrument was used to determine Ss' use of a variety of naturally occurring behavior settings during a typical day. A factor analysis yielded a structure which generally supported the hypothesis of interrelations among personality variables and use of behavior settings. As predicted, factors of action-oriented behavior emerged. It would appear that knowledge of personality variables and clinical judgments can be used to predict use of social behavior settings and, conversely, that the behavior settings used by a S are an indication of personality and type of psychopathology. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abundances, depositional fluxes, and homologue patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls in dated sediment cores from the Pearl River Delta, China

Despite the recent efforts to investigate the distribution and fate of persistent organic pollutants in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, very little was known about the temporal change of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environmental ecosystem of China. In this study, three dated sediment cores collected from the Pearl River Delta of southern China were analyzed for a large suite of PCB congeners, from which the temporal profiles of PCB abundances, fluxes, and homologue patterns were constructed. The sedimentary inventories of total PCBs at the sampling sites ranged from 480 to 1310 ng/cm2, at the low end of the worldwide figures. Although production and use of PCBs have been banned or highly restricted in China since the early 1980s, the fluxes of total PCBs continued to increase in the Pearl River Delta sediments. There was a concurrent increase of PCB fluxes and gross domestic product per capita in the region from 1980 to 1997, and a decline of agricultural land use was evident at the same time. Apparently, large-scale land transform since the early 1980s as well as emissions from the PCB-containing electrical equipments were responsible for the sharp rise of PCB fluxes in the recent sediments. The difference in the PCB homologue patterns from 1940 to the mid-1970s was probably indicative of the different timelines of PCB usage in Macao/Hong Kong and mainland China and the differenttypes of technical PCBs commercially used. PCBs were detectable in sediments deposited well before the time frame when production of PCBs began (before 1930) and were relatively enriched in the less chlorinated homologue groups (3Cl and 4Cl PCBs), suggesting the downward mobility of lightly chlorinated PCB congeners in the sediment column.     

Tissue distribution of perfluorinated chemicals in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from the Dutch Wadden Sea

Perfluorinated acids (PFAs) are today widely distributed in the environment, even in remote arctic areas. Recently, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has been identified in marine mammals all over the world, but information on the compound-specific tissue distribution remains scarce. Furthermore, although longer perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) are used in industry and were shown to cause severe toxic effects, still little is known on potential sources or their widespread distribution. In this study, we report for the first time on levels of longer chain PFCAs, together with some short chain PFAs, perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and perfluorobutanoate (PFBA), in liver, kidney, blubber, muscle, and spleen tissues of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from the Dutch Wadden Sea. PFOS was the predominant compound in all seal samples measured (ranging from 89 to 2724 ng/g wet weight); however, large variations between tissues were monitored. Although these are preliminary results, it is, to our knowledge, the first time that PFBS could be found at detectable concentrations (2.3 +/- 0.7 ng/g w wt) in environmental samples. PFBS was only detected in spleen tissue. PFCA levels were much lower than PFOS concentrations. The dominant PFCA in all tissues was PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid), and concentrations generally decreased in tissues for all other PFCA homologues with increasing chain length. No clear relationship between PFOS levels in liver and kidney was observed. Furthermore, hepatic PFDA (perfluorodecanoic acid) levels increased with increasing body length, but in kidney tissue, PFDA levels showed an inverse relationship with increasing body length. These data suggest large differences in tissue distribution and accumulation patterns of perfluorinated compounds in marine organisms.     

电喷汽油机燃用醇汽油混合燃料的试验研究

研究了多点电喷汽油机燃用醇汽油混合燃料的性能。研究结果表明:在汽油机参数未做任何调整的情况下,醇汽油混合燃料发动机的动力性与汽油机相比有所降低,燃料经济性改善,有效热效率提高。随醇类燃料体积分数的增大,CO排放明显改善,THC排放略有升高,NOx排放的变化不明显。醇汽油混合燃料发动机的醛类排放物明显升高,汽油机的未燃甲醇排放较高,未燃乙醇排放变化不明显。     

Is biological treatment a viable alternative for micropollutant removal in drinking water treatment processes?

In western societies, clean and safe drinking water is often taken for granted, but there are threats to drinking water resources that should not be underestimated. Contamination of drinking water sources by anthropogenic chemicals is one threat that is particularly widespread in industrialized nations. Recently, a significant amount of attention has been given to the occurrence of micropollutants in the urban water cycle. Micropollutants are bioactive and/or persistent chemicals originating from diverse sources that are frequently detected in water resources in the pg/L to μg/L range. The aim of this review is to critically evaluate the viability of biological treatment processes as a means to remove micropollutants from drinking water resources. We first place the micropollutant problem in context by providing a comprehensive summary of the reported occurrence of micropollutants in raw water used directly for drinking water production and in finished drinking water. We then present a critical discussion on conventional and advanced drinking water treatment processes and their contribution to micropollutant removal. Finally, we propose biological treatment and bioaugmentation as a potential targeted, cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to existing processes while critically examining the technical limitations and scientific challenges that need to be addressed prior to implementation. This review will serve as a valuable source of data and literature for water utilities, water researchers, policy makers, and environmental consultants. Meanwhile this review will open the door to meaningful discussion on the feasibility and application of biological treatment and bioaugmentation in drinking water treatment processes to protect the public from exposure to micropollutants.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in birds of prey from Northern China

Birds of prey from Northern China (Beijing area) were examined for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). A total of 47 specimens from eight different species were analyzed. Muscle and liver were analyzed separately for each bird. Kidneys were pooled by species. Common kestrels exhibited the highest PBDE levels (mean muscle and liver concentrations of 12300 and 12200 ng/g lipid weight, respectively), with maxima in an individual bird of 31700 in muscle and 40900 ng/g lw in liver. Congener profiles differed between some species, but were generally dominated by the more brominated congeners (e.g., BDE-153, -209, -183, -207). BDE-209 was especially elevated compared to other published reports. Interspecies differences in congener concentrations and profiles may be due to diet, behavior, or biotransformation capacities. BDE-209 was detected in 79.4% of the samples. Common kestrels contained the highest BDE-209 levels (mean/maxima of 2150/6220 in muscle and 2870/12200 ng/g lw in liver). BDE-209 was the dominant congener in tissues from some buzzards, scops owls, and long-eared owls. It was the second most abundant congener in common kestrels. The remarkable levels and dominance of BDE-209 may relate to significant production, usage, or disposal of deca-containing products in China. These observations reinforce the growing view that organisms using terrestrial food chains may have greater exposure to BDE-209.     

Development of a rapid method based on front face fluorescence spectroscopy for the monitoring of egg freshness: 1—evolution of thick and thin egg albumens

In this preliminary study, the intrinsic fluorescence of thick and thin egg albumens was evaluated as a possible rapid method for the monitoring of egg freshness. The fluorescence emission spectra of tryptophan residues (excitation: 290 nm; emission: 305–430 nm) of proteins and fluorescent Maillard reaction products (excitation: 360; emission: 380–580 nm) were recorded directly on thick and thin albumen samples within 2–3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 29 days of storage. Principal component analysis (PCA) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) were applied to the spectra data sets. Considering tryptophan fluorescence spectra recorded on thick egg albumen, correct classification was observed for 62.8 and 54.3% for the calibration and the validation sets, respectively. Better classification was obtained from thin egg albumen since 67.3 and 69.1% of samples were correctly classified. Considering fluorescent Maillard reaction products, the similarity map determined by the principal components (PCs) 1 and 2 showed a discrimination of eggs as a function of their storage time on both thick and thin albumens. The percentage of samples correctly classified into four groups by the FDA was 97.4 and 91.4% for the calibration and validation thick albumen samples, respectively. It was concluded that fluorescent Maillard reaction products could be considered as fingerprints that may allow the discrimination between fresh and aged eggs.