Life-cycle assessment of hydrogen technologies with the focus on EU critical raw materials and end-of-life strategies

We present the results of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) for the manufacturing and end-of-life (EoL) phases of the following fuel-cell and hydrogen (FCH) technologies: alkaline water electrolyser (AWE), polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolyser (PEMWE), high-temperature (HT) and low-temperature (LT) polymer-electrolyte-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), together with the balance-of-plant components. New life-cycle inventories (LCIs), i.e., material inputs for the AWE, PEMWE and HT PEMFC are developed, whereas the existing LCI for the LT PEMFC is adopted from a previous EU-funded project. The LCA models for all four FCH technologies are created by modelling the manufacturing phase, followed by defining the EoL strategies and processes used and finally by assessing the effects of the EoL approach using environmental indicators. The effects are analysed with a stepwise approach, where the CML2001 assessment method is used to evaluate the environmental impacts. The results show that the environmental impacts of the manufacturing phase can be substantially reduced by using the proposed EoL strategies (i.e., recycled materials being used in the manufacturing phase and replacing some of the virgin materials). To point out the importance of critical materials (in this case, the platinum-group metals or PGMs) and their recycling strategies, further analyses were made. By comparing the EoL phase with and without the recycling of PGMs, an increase in the environmental impacts is observed, which is much greater in the case of both fuel-cell systems, because they contain a larger quantity of PGMs.     

Integrated standalone hybrid solar PV,fuel cell and diesel generator power system for battery or supercapacitor storage systems in Khorfakkan,United Arab Emirates

Renewable energy resources play a very important rule these days to assist the conventional energy systems for doing its function in the UAE due to high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy demand. In this paper, the analysis and performance of integrated standalone hybrid solar PV, fuel cell and diesel generator power system with battery energy storage system (BESS) or supercapacitor energy storage system (SCESS) in Khorfakkan city, Sharjah were presented. HOMER Pro software was used to model and simulate the hybrid energy system (HES) based on the daily energy consumption for Khorfakkan city. The simulation results show that using SCESS as an energy storage system will help the performance of HES based on the Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The HES with SCESS has renewable fraction (68.1%) and 0.346 $/kWh LCOE. The HES meets the annual AC primary load of the city (13.6 GWh) with negligible electricity excess and with an unmet electrical load of 1.38%. The reduction in GHG emissions for HES with SCESS was 83.2%, equivalent to saving 814,428 gallons of diesel.     

Modeling,design, and optimization of a cost‐effective and reliable hybrid renewable energy system integrated with desalination using the division algorithm

People in the Middle East are facing the problem of freshwater shortages. This problem is more intense for a remote region, which has no access to the power grid. The use of seawater desalination technology integrated with the generated energy unit by renewable energy sources could help overcome this problem. In this study, we refer a seawater reverse osmosis desalination (SWROD) plant with a capacity of 1.5 m³/h used on Larak Island, Iran. Moreover, for producing fresh water and meet the load demand of the SWROD plant, three different stand‐alone hybrid renewable energy systems (SAHRES), namely wind turbine (WT)/photovoltaic (PV)/battery bank storage (BBS), PV/BBS, and WT/BBS are modeled and investigated. The optimization problem was coded in MATLAB software. Furthermore, the optimized results were obtained by the division algorithm (DA). The DA has been developed to solve the sizing problem of three SAHRES configurations by considering the object function's constraints. These results show that this improved algorithm has been simpler, more precise, faster, and more flexible than a genetic algorithm (GA) in solving problems. Moreover, the minimum total life cycle cost (TLCC = 243 763$), with minimum loss of power supply probability (LPSP = 0%) and maximum reliability, was related to the WT/PV/BBS configuration. WT/PV/BBS is also the best configuration to use less battery as a backup unit (69 units). The batteries in this configuration have a longer life cycle (maximum average of annual battery charge level) than two other configurations (93.86%). Moreover, the optimized results have shown that utilizing the configuration of WT/PV/BBS could lead to attaining a cost‐effective and green (without environmental pollution) SAHRES, with high reliability for remote areas, with appropriate potential of wind and solar irradiance.     

Influence of bunch maturation and chemical precursors on acrylamide formation in starchy banana chips

The present study investigated the effect of ripening stages and chemical precursors on acrylamide formation in deep-fried chips of five plantains and one cooking banana. The highest level of acrylamide was found in the cooking banana, followed by False Horn plantain and French plantain, respectively. French plantain hybrids exhibited a significantly lower (P < 0.05) level of acrylamide when compared to French plantain. The ripening stage demonstrated a positive Pearson correlation (P < 0.05, r = 0.57) with acrylamide formation. As ripening progressed, the levels of glucose and fructose significantly increased (P < 0.05) and showed a positive correlation with acrylamide formation (r = 0.85 and 0.96, respectively). The level of the amino acid asparagine during ripening was not correlated with acrylamide formation. In contrast, the level of histidine, arginine, iso-leucine and cystine during ripening was positively correlated (P < 0.05, r > 0.60) with acrylamide formation in fried chips. The higher level of TP was significantly related (P < 0.05) to the lower level of acrylamide (r = −0.62). The reduced levels of carotenoid isomers, except lutein, during fruit ripening were positively correlated (P < 0.05) with acrylamide formation, especially trans-BC (r = 0.72) and 9-cis-BC(r = 0.64).     

Design and computational analysis of a metal hydride hydrogen storage system with hexagonal honeycomb based heat transfer enhancements-part A

In this study, design and performance analysis is carried out for a 10 kWh metal hydride based hydrogen storage system. The system is equipped with distinctive aluminium hexagonal honeycomb based heat transfer enhancements (HTE) having higher surface area to volume ratio for effective heat transfer combined with low system weight addition. The system performance was studied under different operating conditions. The optimum absorption condition was achieved at 35 bar with water at room temperature as heat transfer fluid where up to 90% absorption was completed in 7200 s. The performance of the reactor was observed to significantly improve upon the addition of the HTE network at a minimal system weight penalty.     

地表水中石油类监测存在的问题与对策

为使我国地表水中石油类检测过程更具可操作性和推广性,使各实验室石油类检测结果更具可对比性和量值溯源性,本文从地表水中石油类样品采集、样品检测及标准物质选取等三个方面对当前国内外相关标准中规定内容进行了汇总梳理,得出目前采用的样品采集方法均难以保证样品代表性、各种检测方法关注点不同且各有利弊、标准物质的选取对最终测定结果有较大影响的结论。为解决上述难题,建议开展以下3方面工作:(1)研发一种符合地表水中石油类赋存状况的水样采集器;(2)将地表水环境质量标准中"石油类"指标分为"低沸点挥发性石油类"和"高沸点半挥发性石油类"指标分别检测;(3)分流域或河流开展石油类标准物质研制工作。     

Structure development and dielectric properties of Zn-doped Pb([Mg,Fe],W)O3 perovskite ceramics

Ceramic samples of a pseudo-binary system Pb(Mg_1/2W_1/2)O₃-Pb(Fe_2/3W_1/3)O₃ (PMW-PFW) were prepared by solid-state reaction. In addition, their compositions were modified by 20 mol% Pb(Zn_1/2W_1/2)O₃ (PZW) doping in order to investigate the role of zinc in the perovskite formation and dielectric properties. The perovskite contents were ≥95.1% at the overall composition range, except for a significantly low value of 79.0% at 0.8PFW-0.2PZW. The extension of sintering time for PMW accelerated superstructure formation, resulting in the ordering factor increased up to 0.40 after 12 hours heat treatment. The maximum dielectric constant values increased with increasing PFW fractions. In comparison, the phase transition temperatures decreased sharply (by up to 161°C) at low concentrations of PFW, followed by mild changes (by up to 47°C) afterward. The dielectric constant spectra were analyzed in terms of diffuseness characteristics, which reflected the phase transition modes quite well.     

Soft Matter Technology at KIT: Chemical Perspective from Nanoarchitectures to Microstructures

Bioinspiration has emerged as an important design principle in the rapidly growing field of materials science and especially its subarea, soft matter science. For example, biological cells form hierarchically organized tissues that not only are optimized and designed for durability, but also have to adapt to their external environment, undergo self‐repair, and perform many highly complex functions. Being able to create artificial soft materials that mimic those highly complex functions will enable future materials applications. Herein, soft matter technologies that are used to realize bioinspired material structures are described, and potential pathways to integrate these into a comprehensive soft matter research environment are addressed. Solutions become available because soft matter technologies are benefitting from the synergies between organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, and materials science.     

A rate-dependent constitutive model for brittle granular materials based on breakage mechanics

Modeling the rate-dependent mechanical behavior of brittle granular materials is of interest to defense applications, civil and mining engineering, geology, and geophysics. In particular, granulated ceramics in armor systems play a significant role in the overall dynamic material response of ceramics, particularly in their penetration resistance. This paper presents a rate-dependent constitutive model for brittle granular materials based on a recent reformulation of breakage mechanics theory. The rate-dependency is introduced via the overstress theory of viscoplasticity. The proposed formulation incorporates the effects of relative density and particle grading on strength and porous compaction/dilation, and is capable of tracking their evolution. The model is devised with internal variables linked to underlying dissipative micromechanisms including configurational reorganization, particle breakage and frictional dissipation. A strategy for calibrating model parameters and required experiments are described. The impact of loading rate on shear strength and grading evolution are explored through a sensitivity analysis. The presented model is capable of capturing several key features of the experimentally observed behavior of brittle granular materials including stress-, rate- and density-dependent stress-strain and volume change responses, the competition between dilation and breakage-induced compaction, the evolving particle grading due to particle breakage, and the evolution toward a critical (steady) state under shearing. A possible application of this micromechanics-inspired modeling framework involves integrating it into rate-dependent models for ceramics to assist in improving the impact performance of next-generation ceramics.