Dünnschicht‐Photovoltaik in Deutschland

Prospects for thin‐film PV in Germany Due to the German Energy Supply Act the photovoltaics market will continue to grow in Germany. The predicted fall in costs will require companies to implement a continuous improvement in efficiency while at the same time reducing process costs. This must be achieved by a constant increase in research performance. The aim here is the fastest possible reduction in power generation costs into or below the range of costs which can be reached with conventional energy carriers. In this respect the German industrial and research landscape is very well set up. Industry aspires to covering 12% of power requirements throughout Europe in by 2020 by means of photovoltaics [5]. At the present time in Germany less than 1% of power requirements is covered. For Germany the prospects are very good for taking up a leading role globally in thin‐film photovoltaics alongside the established crystalline silicon technology.     

A high blood level in the venous chamber and a wet‐stored dialyzer help to reduce exposure for microemboli during hemodialysis

During hemodialysis (HD), microemboli develop in the blood circuit of the apparatus. These microemboli can pass through the venous chamber and enter into the patient's circulation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to reduce the risk for exposure of microemboli by altering of the treatment mode. Twenty patients on chronic HD were randomized to a prospective cross‐over study of three modes of HD: (a) a dry‐stored dialyzer (F8HPS, Fresenius, steam sterilized) with a low blood level in the venous chamber (DL), (b) the same dialyzer as above, but with a high level in the venous chamber (DH), and (c) a wet‐stored dialyzer (Rexeed, Asahi Kasei Medical, gamma sterilized) with a high blood level (WH). Microemboli measurements were obtained in a continuous fashion during 180 minutes of HD for all settings. A greater number of microemboli were detected during dialysis with the setting DL vs. WH (odds ratio [OR] 4.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.03–4.11, P < 0.0001) and DH vs. WH (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.17–1.19, P < 0.0001) and less for DH vs. DL (OR 0.290, 95% CI 0.288–0.293, P < 0.0001). These data indicate that emboli exposure was least when using WH, greater with DH, and most with DL. This study shows that using a high blood level in the venous chamber and wet‐stored dialyzers may reduce the number of microemboli.     

Structurally Based Assessment of the Influence of Fluorides on the Characteristics of Continuous Casting Powder Slags

The use of fluorides in continuous casting powder leads to the desired reduction of melting temperature to less than 1573 K (1300 °C) as well as to lowering the viscosity below 10 dPas. With an equilateral use of alkalis, the tendency to form volatile fluorine compounds rises. The effect of these components on the structure of the casting slags can be described with the NBO/T-ratio. Should the full effect of fluorides to be used for structural modification of the slags, the other components have to be inhibited by compound formation so as to prevent them from forming gaseous fluoride. If the fluoride content in the continuous casting slag is represented by means of fluorspar, the influence on the NBO/T-ratio can be described with the impact factor 4.0.     

Influence of sulfate solution concentration on the formation of gypsum in sulfate resistance test specimen

The sulfate concentration, which is required to form gypsum from portlandite, was derived from thermodynamical calculations and experimental measurements. The obtained results were compared to the sulfate concentrations in laboratory solutions that are commonly used to test the performance of concrete exposed to sulfate attack and also to sulfate concentrations that can be expected under field conditions. It was derived that the formation of gypsum can strongly affect the performance of binders in the tests, but has a less marked impact under most field conditions. An SEM investigation of mortar bars that were exposed to different sulfate concentrations supports the suggestion made.     

Microforming and investigation of parameter interactions

Microforming processes are significantly influenced by several process parameters. The research work covered in this paper investigates the interactions of some of these parameters and their impacts on the forming process. The impairment of formability and cavity filling are some typical results caused by miniaturizing the geometrical dimensions of the extruded form feature. The impact of an interaction on the forming result will be shown exemplarily with the temperature—pin diameter-interaction in more detail for a backward extrusion process. Additionally, the hardness distribution within the forming area will be investigated.     

Perceiving speed—The color can matter

This study focuses on examining color effects of perceived speed in an individual noncompetitive sport context, treadmill running. In addition, the presence of individual trends for color effects are inspected by observing the connection of color effects in a sport‐specific video rating task with those found in an individual color association task. For this, 32 participants rated the perceived running speed of 48 videos depicting runners on a treadmill at seven different speed settings. Furthermore, participants rated a range of additional sport‐specific performance parameters. The runners in the video were shown wearing either a red, blue, or gray jersey, gray being used to strengthen the cover story. As a secondary task, the participants performed a modified Stroop task to assess implicit color associations. The results showed a significant color effect for speed; runners depicted in red were perceived as running at higher speeds compared to blue. No significant color effects were found for the other sport‐specific parameters. Finally, there was no significant covariate effect of the modified Stroop task for the speed perception color effect. These findings indicate that, in situations in which speed must be judged, red might be perceived as going faster.     

Extended CFD/DEM model for the simulation of circulating fluidized bed

The Euler–Lagrange approach combined with a deterministic collision model, so-called discrete element method, is investigated. In this work, the physical values of fluid and particle phases are determined in separated grids. The proposed procedure allows the variation of the fluid grid resolution independent of the particle size and consequently improves the calculation accuracy. A validation study has been performed to assess the results obtained from an in-house CFD/DEM code and a quasi-2D spouted–fluidized bed of Plexiglas®. The results suggest that the extended CFD/DEM model can predict accurately the particles motion and the pressure gradients in the bed. In view of the high computing cost, special emphasis is put on an effective program design such as the application of the multi-grid method and the parallel calculation. Hence, the influence of increasing the processor numbers (up to 36) on the calculation efficiency of the extended CFD/DEM model will be analysed. Finally, the improved CFD/DEM model is applied to simulate relevant engineering equipments but in small scale with relative large particles and thus less number of particles. In this context, the hydrodynamic behaviour of gas–solid flow in a 3D circulating fluidized bed with a particle separator (cyclone) will be estimated.