Lignin and Other Aromatic Substances Released from Spruce Wood During Pressurized Hot-Water Extraction,Part 1: Extraction,Fractionation and Physico-Chemical Characterization

Ground spruce wood was extracted with pressurized hot water in an accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) at 170°C during 20, 60, and 100 min. Released aromatic substances (from 2.2 to 2.5% on wood basis) were isolated on XAD-7 resin and fractionated into lignin, oligomeric aromatic substances (OAS), and compounds insoluble in methanol (IMC). The separated aromatic fractions, and the ground wood before and after extraction, were characterized by physico-chemical methods (GC, GC-MS, HPLC-SEC, TG, DSC). The major part of the aromatic substances was oligomeric aromatic substances (OAS). This fraction increased significantly with the extraction time, while the yield of dissolved lignin increased only slightly with extraction time. Isolated lignins had a lower molar mass and differed considerably from spruce milled wood lignin (MWL). The isolated lignins were more stable against oxidative thermodegradation than spruce MWL. The UV-extinction coefficients at 280 nm were lower for the isolated lignins than for MWL.     

Flame Heights and Heat Transfer in Façade System Ventilation Cavities

The design of buildings using multilayer constructions poses a challenge for fire safety and needs to be understood. Narrow air gaps and cavities are common in many constructions, e.g. ventilated façade systems. In these construction systems flames can enter the cavities and fire can spread on the interior surfaces of the cavities. An experimental program was performed to investigate the influence of the cavity width on the flame heights, the fire driven upward flow and the incident heat fluxes to the inner surfaces of the cavity. The experimental setup consisted of two parallel facing non-combustible plates (0.8 × 1.8 m) and a propane gas burner placed at one of the inner surfaces. The cavity width between the plates ranged from 0.02 m to 0.1 m and the burner heat release rate was varied from 16.5 kW to 40.4 kW per m of the burner length. At least three repeated tests were performed for each scenario. In addition, tests with a single plate were performed. The flame heights did not significantly change for Q′/W < 300 kW/m² (where Q′ is the heat release rate per unit length of the burner and W is the cavity width). For higher Q′/W ratios flame extensions up to 2.2 times were observed. When the distance between the plates was reduced or the heat release rate was increased, the incident heat fluxes to the inner surface increased along the entire height of the test setup. The results can be used for analysing methodologies for predicting heat transfer and fire spread in narrow air cavities.     

Experimental evaluation of heat transfer coefficients between radiant ceiling and room

The heat transfer coefficients between radiant surfaces and room are influenced by several parameters: surfaces temperature distributions, internal gains, air movements.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the heat transfer coefficients between radiant ceiling and room in typical conditions of occupancy of an office or residential building. Internal gains were therefore simulated using heated cylinders and heat losses using cooled surfaces. Evaluations were developed by means of experimental tests in an environmental chamber.Heat transfer coefficient may be expressed separately for radiation and convection or as one total parameter, but this choice may lead to different considerations about thermal performance of the system. In order to perform correct evaluations, it is therefore extremely important to use the proper reference temperature.The obtained values confirm tendencies found in the literature, indicating limitations and possibilities of radiant ceiling systems improvement.     

NaAlH4 production from waste aluminum by reactive ball milling

Due to its thermodynamic properties and high reversibility, Ti doped sodium alanate is considered as a prototype hydrogen storage material. In this work we show how sodium alanate can be synthesized by reactive ball milling using aluminum particles obtained from recycled waste incineration slag. The synthesis was monitored with an in situ milling vial and characterized stepwise by PXD and DTA analyses. The sorption properties of the material were investigated using in situ synchrotron radiation PXD and volumetric analyses. A complete conversion of the starting reactants was obtained.     

Calculation of the yearly energy performance of heating systems based on the European Building Energy Directive and related CEN standards

According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) all new European buildings (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) must since 2006 have an energy declaration based on the calculated energy performance of the building, including heating, ventilating, cooling and lighting systems. This energy declaration must refer to the primary energy or CO₂ emissions.The European Organization for Standardization (CEN) has prepared a series of standards for energy performance calculations for buildings and systems. This paper presents related standards for heating systems. The relevant CEN-standards are presented and a sample calculation of energy performance is made for a small single family house, an office building and an industrial building in three different geographical locations: Stockholm, Brussels, and Venice.The additional heat losses from heating systems can be 10-20% of the building energy demand. The additional loss depends on the type of heat emitter, type of control, pump and boiler.     

Comparison of sparse point distribution models

This paper compares several methods for obtaining sparse and compact point distribution models suited for data sets containing many variables. These are evaluated on a database consisting of 3D surfaces of a section of the pelvic bone obtained from CT scans of 33 porcine carcasses. The superior model with respect to sparsity, reconstruction error and interpretability is found to be a varimax rotated model with a threshold applied to small loadings. The models describe the biological variation in the database and are used for developing robotic tools when automating labor-intensive procedures in abattoirs.     

Hemicellulose Hydrolysis in the Presence of Heterogeneous Catalysts

A prominent autocatalytic effect in the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses was observed in the presence of heterogeneous cation-exchange catalysts, Amberlyst 15 and Smopex 101. The kinetic models proposed were based on the reactivities of the non-hydrolysed sugar monomer units and the increase of the rate constant as the reaction progresses and the degree of polymerization decreases. General kinetic models were derived and the kinetic parameters, describing the autocatalytic effect, were determined by non-linear regression analysis. The kinetic model explained very well the overall kinetics, as well as the product distribution in the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses.     

Adsorption of glucosinolates to metal oxides, clay minerals and humic acid

Glucosinolates are thioglucosides produced by plants belonging to the Capparales order. Glucosinolates can upon hydrolysis be transformed into a variety of bioactive compounds with a potential to serve as naturally produced pesticides. This paper presents results on the adsorption of prop-2-enyl and benzyl glucosinolate to two metal oxides (amorphous aluminium hydroxide and goethite), two clay minerals (kaolinite and montmorillonite) and to humic acid at different initial concentrations and at pH 4 and 8. The results show that the glucosinolates are weakly adsorbed to the variable-charge minerals with K_d ranging from 0.00 to 1.85 L kg^− 1 and that adsorption was higher at pH 4 than 8 indicating that adsorption takes place by electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged glucosinolates and positive sites on the minerals. On the humic acid higher K_d values were observed for prop-2-enyl glucosinolate (7.22 and 12.3 L kg^− 1), indicating that hydrophobic interactions may take place between the glucosinolate and humic acid. On the montmorillonite anion exclusion was observed as an effect of the negatively charged glucosinolates being repelled from the negatively charged montmorillonite surface. Thus glucosinolates will be very mobile in the soil environment with the potential of leaching to ground and surface waters where the toxic hydrolysis products may be formed.     

Elementary nonlinear decoupling control of composition in binary distillation columns

Elementary nonlinear decoupling (END) is a model based control algorithm intended to decouple and linearize a nonlinear multivariable process in order to achieve better control than can be obtained by conventional decentralized linear feedback control. The application of END to the composition control of a theoretical binary distillation column illustrates that the quality achievable is very high.