Surface Segmental Mobility and Adhesion—Effects of Filler and Molecular Mass

The adhesion of thin films of poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) on glass slides in contact with tape has been measured as a function of thickness, molecular mass, and amount of silica-based filler. In all cases studied the polymer thin-film, tape-peel tests resulted in linear force-velocity plots. The best-fit lines were extrapolated to find the fracture energies at zero velocity. For thin layers of rubbery PMA on glass slides the PMA-tape fracture energies were found to decrease (from 55-20 J/m²) with increasing PMA thickness (50-1000 nm). Thin films made from glassy poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were found to have no thickness dependence and much higher fracture energies (∼ 140 J/m²). The effect of PMA molecular mass was found to be smaller than the effect of film thickness. Including silica in the films at low levels dramatically increased the fracture energies, with a maximum (182 J/m²) found with 5.2% silica. With larger amounts of silica, the fracture energy declined significantly.     

A silica long base tiltmeter with high stability and resolution

In order to be able to provide valuable data in multiparameter measurement field operations, tiltmeters need to have a noise level better or equal than 10(-9) rad for a period range from a few minutes to a few years and a long term stability ranging from 10(-7) to 10(-8) rad/yr. Tiltmeter measurements should also be as much as possible insensitive to thermal disturbances, by taking great care of the horizontality of the base line tube first. Secondly, thermal responses have been assessed. We also took great care of the coupling of our tiltmeters with the bedrock. We've designed a long base tiltmeter with sensors in silica which has a low dilatation coefficient. The linear variable displacement transducer is based on coil coupling (powered by an alternative voltage). Finally we show the results of two 100 m silica water tube tiltmeters which were installed in a mine in the French Vosges massif in the framework of a hydrology research project. These instruments show a remarkably good stability (6.5x10(-9) rad/month) and a low noise level (of the order of 10(-11) rad). Toroidal and spheroidal free modes of the Earth were observed after the two last major earthquakes on Sumatra.     

A neural network approach for remaining useful life prediction utilizing both failure and suspension histories

Artificial neural network (ANN) methods have shown great promise in achieving more accurate equipment remaining useful life prediction. However, most reported ANN methods only utilize condition monitoring data from failure histories, and ignore data obtained from suspension histories in which equipments are taken out of service before they fail. Suspension history condition monitoring data contain useful information revealing the degradation of equipment, and will help to achieve more accurate remaining useful life prediction if properly used, particularly when there are very limited failure histories, which is the case in many applications. In this paper, we develop an ANN approach utilizing both failure and suspension condition monitoring histories. The ANN model uses age and condition monitoring data as inputs and the life percentage as output. For each suspension history, the optimal predicted life is determined which can minimize the validation mean square error in the training process using the suspension history and the failure histories. Then the ANN is trained using the failure histories and all the suspension histories with the obtained optimal predicted life values, and the trained ANN can be used for remaining useful life prediction of other equipments. The key idea behind this approach is that the underlying relationship between the inputs and output of ANN is the same for all failure and suspension histories, and thus the optimal life for a suspension history is the one resulting in the lowest ANN validation error. The proposed approach is validated using vibration monitoring data collected from pump bearings in the field.     

Solid oxide fuel cell operating on liquid organic hydrogen carrier-based hydrogen – making full use of heat integration potentials

Our contribution demonstrates the technological potential of coupling Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC)-based hydrogen storage and hydrogen-based Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) operation. As SOFC operation creates waste heat at a temperature level of more than 600 °C, clever heat transfer from the SOFC operation to the LOHC dehydrogenation process is possible and results in an overall efficiency of 45% (electric output of SOFC vs. lower heating value of LOHC-bound hydrogen). Moreover, we demonstrate that LOHC vapour does not harm the operational stability of a typical 150 W SOFC short stack. By operating the stack with LOHC-saturated hydrogen, operation times of more than 10 years have been simulated without noticeable degradation of SOFC performance.     

Glucose metabolism in lactating cows in response to isoenergetic infusions of propionic acid or duodenal glucose

A bibliographical study showed that increasing supplies of glucogenic nutrients lead to a curvilinear increase in milk and protein yield. Increased post-hepatic glucose availability may be involved in the increase in milk yield. In the present experiment, 5 dairy cows were arranged in a 5 x 5 Latin square design to compare the respective effects of 2 amounts of either duodenal glucose or ruminal propionic acid (C3) on glucose metabolism. Treatment consisted of a grass silage-based diet supplemented with glucogenic nutrients infused into the rumen as a mixture of volatile fatty acids (control) or C3 (6.5 and 13 mol/d) or as glucose (3.4 and 6.9 mol/d) infused into the duodenum. Treatments were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous and contained 100 and 115% of energy and protein requirements, respectively, according to the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Glucose appearance rate (Ra) tended to increase with the level of infusions of both glucogenic materials and with the high dose of duodenal glucose. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentration increased with the infusion of glucogenic materials compared with the control and was significantly higher with glucose than with C3 treatments. This experiment did not indicate whether the increased Ra was the key mechanism to increased milk yield because milk yield only tended to increase and the standard error for Ra was high. With the high dose of glucose infused into the duodenum, the Ra increase was greater than the increased lactose production in milk. Because of that connection, IGF-I may also be involved by favoring the glucose utilization by the mammary gland.     

Syngas production by non-catalytic reforming of biogas with steam addition under filtration combustion mode

Biogas conversion to syngas (mainly H₂ and CO) is considered an upgrade method that yields a fuel with a higher energy density. Studies on syngas production were conducted on an inert porous media reactor under a filtration combustion mode of biogas with steam addition, as a non-catalytic method for biogas valorization. The reactor was operated under a constant filtration velocity of 34.4 cm/s, equivalence ratio of 2.0, and biogas concentration of 60 vol% Natural Gas/40 vol% CO₂, while the steam to carbon ratio (S/C) was varied between 0.0 and 2.0. Total volumetric flow remained constant at 7 L/min. Combustion wave temperature and propagation rate, product gas composition, reactants conversion as well as H₂ and CO selectivity were measured as a function of S/C ratio. Chromatographic parameters, method validation and measurement uncertainty were developed and optimized. It was observed that S/C ratio of 2.0 gave optimal results under studied conditions for biogas conversion, leading to maximum concentrations of 10.34 vol% H₂, 9.98 vol% CO and highest thermal efficiency of 64.2% associated with a modified EROI of 46.3%, which considered energy consumption for steam supply. Conclusions indicated that the increment of the steam co-fed with the reactants favored the non-catalytic conversion of biogas and thus resulted in an effective fuel upgrading.     

All-trans retinoic acid is increased in the acute phase-related hyporetinemia during Escherichia coli mastitis

Blood vitamin A profiles, including concentrations of retinol and its active metabolite retinoic acid, were assessed during the peripartum period and during experimentally induced Escherichia coli mastitis in heifers. Serum retinol decreased in all animals in the immediate postpartum period and normalized within 1 wk after parturition. No significant changes were detectable in the concentrations of retinoic acid isomers during puerperium. Following intramammary E. coli infusion, all cows showed moderate symptoms of systemic disease besides the local signs of inflammation. The presence of a systemic acute-phase reaction was documented by fever, increase in serum amyloid A, and decrease in serum albumin. Retinol concentration in serum also decreased spectacularly during coliform mastitis, and the decline was clearly related to the timing of the acute-phase response. Moreover, a significant increase of all-trans retinoic acid, mirrored by a lowering of 13-cis retinoic acid, was detected during the same time period. The 9-cis isomer of retinoic acid was present in all samples, but it remained below the quantification limit. Results confirmed the decrease in serum retinol during the peripartum period of dairy cows. Furthermore, the study established that profound changes in vitamin A metabolism occur during the acute-phase reaction of coliform mastitis in heifers. The bovine infection model reproduced the acute phase-related hyporetinemia, as previously observed in humans and rats. In addition, all-trans retinoic acid was found to be the most abundant circulating acid isomer during mastitis, providing an indication for a possible key role of all-trans retinoic acid in the modulation of the immune response.     

Enhancing methanol oxidation with a TiO2-modified semiconductor as a photo-catalyst

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is currently one of the most promising alternative power sources because of its high energy, simple design and operation. However, the DMFC still faces several problems, such as sluggish methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction, as well as a high methanol crossover. In other areas of study, it is well-known that methanol can be photocatalytically oxidized by wide band gap semiconductors under solar illumination. Methanol has been used in photocatalytic water splitting to enhance the performance of photo-electrochemical cells (PECs). Therefore, by combining photocatalytic and electro-catalytic mechanisms, methanol is expected to promote a new type of photo-assisted DMFC. In this work, the semiconductor TiO₂ was used as a photo-catalyst in a PEC using a methanol solution. A TiO₂ P25 suspension was cast onto carbon paper and then dried at 80 °C for 60 min. The photo-electrochemical measurements were carried out in a 3-arm electrochemical cell, using Pt wire as the counter electrode and Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode. Linear scan voltammetry (LSV) was carried out using a 20 V/400 mA potentiostat. The current densities of the electrode were monitored with and without simulated solar illumination. From the investigation, the current density of the TiO₂ electrode under solar illumination was higher than it was without solar illumination. However, the value is low due to the low activity of TiO₂ under visible light illumination. Further studies were carried out by combining TiO₂ with a carbon material and a noble metal alloy to maximize the current density. This modified photo-catalyst can be utilized in a new photo-assisted DMFC to produce higher electricity.     

Greenhouse gas emission savings of ground source heat pump systems in Europe: A review

An overview is presented on the last decade of geothermal heating by ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) in Europe. Significant growth rates can be observed and today's total number of GSHP systems is above 1 million, with an estimate of about 1.25 million mainly used for residential space heating in 2011. These systems are counted among renewable energy technologies, though heat pump operation typically consumes electricity and thus only a fraction of the energy produced is actually greenhouse gas (GHG) emission free. Consequently, only in the most mature markets of the Scandinavian countries and in Switzerland, calculated emission savings reach more than 1% compared to standard heatings. However, Sweden shows that more than 35% is possible, with about one third of these systems in Europe concentrated in this country. Our calculations demonstrate the crucial role of country-specific heating practices, substituted heat mix and primary electricity mix for country-specific emission savings. For the nineteen European countries studied in 2008, 3.7 Mio t CO₂ (eq.) are saved in comparison to conventional practice, which means about 0.74% on average. This reveals that many countries are at an early stage with great potential for the future, but even if the markets would be fully saturated, this average would barely climb to about 30%. These numbers, however, take the current conditions as reference, and when extrapolated to the future can be expected to improve by greener electricity production and increased heat pump performance.