Life cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel as transportation fuel in rural India

Since 2003 India has been actively promoting the cultivation of Jatropha on unproductive and degraded lands (wastelands) for the production of biodiesel suitable as transportation fuel. In this paper the life cycle energy balance, global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential and land use impact on ecosystem quality is evaluated for a small scale, low-input Jatropha biodiesel system established on wasteland in rural India. In addition to the life cycle assessment of the case at hand, the environmental performance of the same system expanded with a biogas installation digesting seed cake was quantified. The environmental impacts were compared to the life cycle impacts of a fossil fuel reference system delivering the same amount of products and functions as the Jatropha biodiesel system under research. The results show that the production and use of Jatropha biodiesel triggers an 82% decrease in non-renewable energy requirement (Net Energy Ratio, NER = 1.85) and a 55% reduction in global warming potential (GWP) compared to the reference fossil-fuel based system. However, there is an increase in acidification (49%) and eutrophication (430%) from the Jatropha system relative to the reference case. Although adding biogas production to the system boosts the energy efficiency of the system (NER = 3.40), the GWP reduction would not increase (51%) due to additional CH₄ emissions. For the land use impact, Jatropha improved the structural ecosystem quality when planted on wasteland, but reduced the functional ecosystem quality. Fertilizer application (mainly N) is an important contributor to most negative impact categories. Optimizing fertilization, agronomic practices and genetics are the major system improvement options.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of a free rising droplet

A toluene droplet rising in a continuous aqueous phase is studied both experimentally and numerically. The experiments have been performed in a small scale, high-speed measuring unit with a high magnification device to image the process in all details. Numerical simulations are performed with the aid of the level set method implemented in the commercial CFD tool COMSOL Multiphysics 3.3a by COMSOL AB. A new technique for quantitative comparison of experimental and numerical results with respect to the droplet shape is presented. Both terminal velocity and droplet shape in experiments and simulations are found to be in excellent agreement. Based on the experimental and numerical data obtained, an improvement of an existing terminal velocity correlation is suggested. The adjusted correlation can be used for the design and optimisation of liquid-liquid extraction units.     

Hydroprocesssing of light gas oil — rape oil mixtures

Two series of experiments of hydroprocessing of light gas oil - rape oil mixtures were carried out. The reactor feed was composed of raw material: first series — 10 wt.% rape oil and 90 wt.% of diesel oil; second series — 20 wt.% rape oil and 80 wt.% of diesel oil.     

Sequential enzymatic quantification of two sugars in a single microchannel

This paper presents the implementation of a multiple analyte enzyme assay, based on the sequential injection of the different enzyme solutions, in an electrokinetic driven microfluidic chip. The assay methodology for the simultaneous quantification of d-glucose and d-fructose was reported in previous publications but here the real integration of both enzyme assays was achieved. When assays were executed separately, good reproducibility was observed with average CV values of 5.2% and 4.5% for the d-glucose and d-fructose assay, respectively. Next, the assays for the quantification of d-glucose and d-fructose were integrated simultaneously on chip, where each assay was executed consecutively in the same microreactor by applying a specific sequence of potentials at the reservoirs. This article proves the integration of a sequential based quantification approach in continuous microfluidic chips with electrokinetic actuation.     

Variance reduction for fixed-source Monte Carlo calculations in multiplying systems by improving chain-length statistics

For a fixed-source calculation in a multiplying system, the variance in the neutron-chain length can create an unstable calculation and a neutron flux with high variance. In this paper an analytical frame is derived to calculate a priori the variance of the neutron flux in a simple model of a fixed-source calculation. This method is then used to find better variance reduction techniques not only for this simplified problem, but also for general cases.     

Motivational profiles from a self-determination perspective: The quality of motivation matters.

The present research complements extant variable-centered research that focused on the dimensions of autonomous and controlled motivation through adoption of a person-centered approach for identifying motivational profiles. Both in high school students (Study 1) and college students (Study 2), a cluster analysis revealed 4 motivational profiles: a good quality motivation group (i.e., high autonomous, low controlled); a poor quality motivation group (i.e., low autonomous, high controlled); a low quantity motivation group (i.e., low autonomous, low controlled); and a high quantity motivation group (i.e., high autonomous, high controlled). To compare the 4 groups, the authors derived predictions from qualitative and quantitative perspectives on motivation. Findings generally favored the qualitative perspective; compared with the other groups, the good quality motivation group displayed the most optimal learning pattern and scored highest on perceived need-supportive teaching. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants in animals representing different trophic levels of the North Sea food Web

The levels of individual PBDE congeners were investigated in the invertebrate species whelk (Buccinum undatum), seastar (Asterias rubens), and hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus), the gadoid fish species whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and cod (Gadus morhua), and the marine mammal species harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). These species are all important representatives of different trophic levels of the North Sea food web. All six major PBDE congeners detected (BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154) are most prevalent in the commercial Penta-BDE formulation. There is no evidence for the occurrence of the Octa-BDE formulation in the North Sea food web, since its dominant congener, BDE183, was never detected. BDE209, the main congener (> 97%) in the Deca-BDE formulation, was detected only in a minority of the samples and always in concentrations around the limit of detection. Since BDE209 is often the major BDE congener in sediments from the area, the main reason for its low concentrations in biota from the North Sea seems to be a relatively low bioaccumulation potential. This can either be due to a low uptake rate of the very large molecule or a relatively rapid excretion after biotransformation. Since all invertebrates investigated are sentinel species, they are highly representative for the area of capture. The highest lipid-normalized concentrations of PBDEs in the invertebrates occurred near the mouth of the river Tees at the East coast of the UK. The geographical distribution of the PBDEs can be explained by the residual currents in the area. The direction of these currents differs between the summer and the winter season as a result of the presence or absence of vertical summer stratification of the deeper waters north of the Dogger Bank. Summer stratification results in the development of a density-driven bottom water current formed after the onset of vertical stratification of the water column in May leaving the UK coast near Flamborough Head toward the Dogger Bank. In winter, the residual currents run in a more southerly direction and follow the UK coastline. The distribution pattern of the PCBs and p,p'-DDE in the invertebrates was entirely different from that of the PBDEs, which could be expected, since the use of these organochlorines in western Europe peaked in the 1960s and 1970s but has been forbidden more than two decades ago, whereas the production and use of the penta-BDE formulation is of a more recent origin. The higher trophic levels of the North Sea food web were represented by the predatory gadoid fish species whiting and cod and the marine mammal species harbor seal and harbor porpoise. The lipid-normalized levels of the six major PBDE congeners in fish were similar to the levels in the invertebrates, but a biomagnification step in concentrations of generally more than an order of magnitude occurred from gadoid fish to marine mammals. Based on the limited number of samples, no differences could be observed between harbor seal and harbor porpoise. In summary, the results in three species of sentinel invertebrates from a network of stations covering a major part of the North Sea basin showed that the estuary of the river Tees at the UK East coast is a major source for tri- to hexa-PBDEs. Throughout the food-chain, the most marked increase in (lipid-normalized) levels of all six PBDE congeners occurred from predatory (gadoid) fish to marine mammals, agreeing with the transition from gill-breathing to lung-breathing animals. This has serious consequences for the route of elimination of POPs, since their elimination from the blood into the ambient seawater via the gill-membrane is no longer possible.     

Processing radio frequency ultrasound images: a robust method for local spectral features estimation by a spatially constrained parametric approach

Spectral estimation is a major component in studies aiming at characterizing biological tissues through the analysis of backscattered radio frequency (RF) ultrasonic signals and images. However, conventional spectral estimation techniques yield a well-known trade-off between spatial resolution and variance. The backscattered signals are stochastic by nature, so short-term local analysis results in a high variance of the estimates, which cannot efficiently be reduced through conventional spatial averaging. We address this issue by describing a spectral estimation technique that reduces the variance of the estimates (by smoothing the local estimates in spectrally homogeneous regions) while preserving spectral discontinuities (i.e., the smoothing is not performed across regions with different spectral contents). The proposed approach is set in a Bayesian framework and is based on local autoregressive (AR) estimation, constrained by smoothness priors. These smoothness priors are introduced through a Markov random field in which the associated potential functions are nonquadratic, allowing thereby to preserve discontinuity. The method is validated on simulated RF images and tested on echocardiographic images acquired in vivo. The results are compared to the estimates provided by the conventional Burg technique. These results clearly demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to improve spectral estimation in terms of variance reduction and discontinuity detection.