Hydrogen carriers: Production,transmission, decomposition,and storage

Recognizing the potential role of liquid hydrogen carriers in overcoming the inherent limitations in transporting and storing gaseous and liquid hydrogen, a complete production and use scenario is postulated and analyzed for perspective one-way and two-way carriers. The carriers, methanol, ammonia and toluene/MCH (methylcyclohexane), are produced at commercially viable scales in a central location, transmitted by rail or pipelines for 2000 miles, and decomposed near city gates to generate fuel-cell quality hydrogen for distribution to refueling stations. In terms of the levelized cost of H₂ distributed to the stations, methanol is less expensive to produce ($1.22/kg-H₂) than MCH ($1.35/kg-H₂) or ammonia ($2.20/kg-H₂). Levelized train transmission cost is smaller for methanol ($0.63/kg-H₂) than ammonia ($1.29/kg-H₂) or toluene/MCH system ($2.07/kg-H₂). Levelized decomposition cost is smaller for ammonia ($0.30–1.06/kg-H₂) than MCH ($0.54–1.22/kg-H₂) or methanol ($0.43–1.12/kg-H₂). Over the complete range of demand investigated, 10–350 tpd-H₂, the levelized cost of H₂ distributed to stations is aligned as methanol « ammonia ~ MCH. With pipelines at much larger scale, 6000 tpd-H₂, the levelized cost decreases by ~1 $/kg-H₂ for ammonia and MCH and much less for methanol. Methanol is a particularly attractive low-risk carrier in the transition phase with lower than 50-tpd H₂ demand.     

First experimental results of intrinsic torque on EAST

Direct measurements of the intrinsic torque profile in L-mode plasmas on the EAST tokamak have been performed using the balanced neutral beam injection. Co-and counter-current neutral beams are modulated to balance the intrinsic and externally injected torques, which result in the rotation profile close to zero and flat. The experimental results show that the intrinsic torque derived from momentum balance equations is found to be in the co-current direction, peaked in the plasma edge and negligibly small in the core.     

松木颗粒热解与高温蒸汽气化半焦产率及形貌特征分析

以成型松木颗粒为原料，进行低温热解，研究了热解温度和升温速率对生成的松木半焦产率及官能团的影响。以试验得到的松木半焦进行蒸汽气化试验，对比分析了温度对半焦重整气化形貌特征、比表面积和平均孔径的影响。研究表明：随着热解温度升高，松木半焦脂肪族结构峰消失转化为烃等小分子物质及气化气，进而降低半焦产率。升温速率升高，半焦产率呈先下降后升高的趋势，在800℃升温速率为30K/min时半焦产率最低。不同温度热解和蒸汽气化对比试验表明，温度相对较低时（500℃）热解和蒸汽气化半焦孔隙结构相近，随着温度的升高，蒸汽气化半焦结构发生明显变化，900°C时出现了更小的孔道结构且比表面积增加明显。蒸汽引入使松木半焦和水蒸气发生热解反应的同时发生了脱氢反应，气化半焦形貌出现熔融和烧结现象。     

Tailoring cotton fabric with wettability gradient and anisotropic penetration of liquid by spray coating

Abstract

Comfort has been one of the most important features of clothing, particularly for sportswear, which requires an effective transport of heat and moisture from the inner to the outer side of clothing. We herein report the use of a simple technique of spray coating and commercially available water repellents for a one-sided hydrophobic and self-initiated one-way water transport cotton fabric. The highlight of this work is the simplicity of the process and choice of chemicals that can be adopted easily by any textile finishing industry. On this fabric, water was able to diffuse and penetrate the fabric structure in one direction from the hydrophobic to the hydrophilic side but was unable to go the opposite direction. The directional transport improved with smaller droplets and lower add-on achievable by higher air pressure and longer distance of spray coating. From moisture management tests, the best result was obtained with the spray coating of Phobol NB-NH at an air pressure of 3.0?kgf/cm² and a distance of 120?cm. Phobol NB-NH gave better result of transport and overall comfort properties than Phobotex RSY.     

Characterization of the ash deposits along deep-cooling of the exhaust gas in coal-fired power plants

Ash deposition and condensation of acid vapors under deep-cooling of exhaust gas in a 1000 MW ultra-supercritical power plant were investigated. X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and laser particle size analyzers were employed to characterize the components, elements and particle size distribution of deposits at different metal wall temperatures. The results show that the deposits formed at the metal wall temperatures of 40 °C–60 °C were much thicker than the deposits at 70 °C–90 °C from the perspectives of the morphology and thickness. Fluorides and chlorides were observed in deposits formed at the metal wall temperatures of 40 °C–60 °C. Thin deposits were composed of Al-Si oxides and simple sulfates when the metal wall temperatures were 70 °C–90 °C. The dew-point temperatures of water, HCl and HF vapors were around 40 °C, 60 °C, and 60 °C, respectively. Basic ferric, aluminum and calcium sulfates, which were acted as traps to absorb the condensate and fly ash. Hydration played an important role in the growth of deposits formed at the metal wall temperature of 40 °C–60 °C.     

Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery

Electrospun carbon fibers are featured with abundant electroactive sites but large mass transport resistances as the electrodes for vanadium redox flow battery. To lower mass transport resistances while maintaining large specific areas, electrospun carbon fibers with different structural properties, including pore size and pore distribution, are prepared by varying precursor concentrations. Increasing the polyacrylonitrile concentration from 9 wt% to 18 wt% results in carbonized fibers with an average fiber diameter ranging from 0.28 μm to 1.82 μm. The median pore diameter, in the meantime, almost linearly increases from 1.32 μm to 9.05 μm while maintaining the porosity of higher than 82%. The subsequent electroactivity evaluation and full battery testing demonstrate that the mass transport of vanadium ions through the electrode with larger fiber diameters are significantly improved but not scarifying the electrochemical activity. It is shown that the flow battery with these electrodes obtains an energy efficiency of 79% and electrolyte utilization of 74% at 300 mA cm⁻². Hence, all these results eliminate the concern of mass transport when applying electrospun carbon fibers as the electrodes for redox flow batteries and guide the future development of electrospun carbon fibers.     

Water transport according to temperature and current in PEM water electrolyzer

Recently, various studies have been conducted on hydrogen energy as a means of replacing conventional fuels. Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) are being studied as a means of producing hydrogen for renewable energy. The PEMWE can be operated over a wider range than other types of water electrolyzers and can be connected to a renewable energy source, such as solar or wind. However, further studies are required because the water accompanying the hydrogen in the cathode presents a problem regarding hydrogen purity and storage. The phenomenon of water transport which is occurred on the PEMWE is analyzed by electro-osmotic drag and diffusion in the membrane. Electro-osmotic drag coefficients which are calculated by mass flow rate of discharged water with hydrogen are compared to the results of previous studies. The results of Electro-osmotic drag coefficient are different from previous studies at each operating condition. This difference is considered to be caused by the capacity of PEMWE such as active area and the number of cell.     

Synthesis of photoluminescent SiC-SiOx nanowires using coal tar pitch as carbon source

SiC-SiOx nanowires (NWs) with core-shell and chain-bead structures were synthesized via a catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route without Ar gas, using silicon and coal tar pitch powders as raw materials. The SiC-SiOx NWs with sharp tips formed by solid-vapor between Si (s) and CO (g) or C (s) and SiO (g), liquid-vapor between Si (l) and CO (g), and vapor-vapor between SiO (g) and CO (g) growth process along the [111] direction. The NWs were several millimeters in length, and the average diameters of the chains and beads were 40–90 nm and 325 nm, respectively. The obtained NWs had good blue-green photoluminescence property owing to the stacking faults and amorphous SiOx. This novel CVD route is simple, low cost and suitable for large-scale production.     

High quality sapphire crystal by advanced chemical transport process

Single crystal sapphire was synthesized by chemical transport of Al-O generated by the reaction of polycrystalline Al₂O₃ ceramic and carbon. Using C-axis oriented polycrystalline Al₂O₃ ceramics as a seed crystal in the deposition temperature range, a C-axis sapphire crystal (Φ5xL35 mm) was grown at a temperature range of 700–1000 °C, and the growth rate in the C-axis direction was about 3.5 mm/h. The transmittance in the visible to infrared region of the synthesized sapphire is a theoretical value (transmission loss is lower than 0.1 %/cm), and the absorption edge was less than 200 nm (the band gap is 6.2 eV), which is shorter than the absorption edge (240 nm) of the commercially available single crystal (band gap 5.2 eV) synthesized by the Czochralski method. The dislocation density in this material was extremely low, and it was confirmed by lattice image observation that it was a high-quality single crystal with very few defects.     

Influence of the porous transport layer properties on the mass and charge transfer in a segmented PEM electrolyzer

A titanium Porous Transport Layer (PTL) is usually used at the anode side of PEM water electrolyzers to ensure both the gas/water transport and the electric charges transfer. In this paper, four different sintered Ti powder PTLs were characterized to determine some properties, such as the pore size distribution, the porosity, and the permeability. Their influence on the electrolysis performance was investigated by using a 30 cm² segmented cell which allowed measuring the current density distribution, while controlling temperature and pressure conditions. For a better understanding, in-situ techniques such as the Polarization Curves and the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) were used. A local characterization of mass transport limitations caused by oxygen saturation was carried out, paying special attention to the pressure influence when using a PTL with very small pores. The results showed that current density heterogeneities can be explained by microstructure changes along the PTL. The optimal geometric characteristics of the PTL depend not only on the operating conditions such as current density, pressure, and temperature but also on the catalyst layer properties. A new model for the constriction resistance between the catalyst layer and the PTL was proposed.