Optimization of use of waste in the future energy system

Alternative uses of waste for energy production become increasingly interesting when considered from two perspectives, that of waste management and the energy system perspective. This paper presents the results of an enquiry into the use of waste in a future energy system. The analysis was performed using the energy system analysis model, Balmorel. The study is focused on Germany and the Nordic countries and demonstrates the optimization of both investments and production within the energy systems. The results present cost optimization excluding taxation concerning the use of waste for energy production in Denmark in a 2025 scenario with 48% renewable energy. Investments in a range of waste conversion technologies are facilitated, including waste incineration, co-combustion with coal, anaerobic digestion, and gasification. The most economically feasible solutions are found to be incineration of mixed waste, anaerobic digestion of organic waste, and gasification of part of the potential RDF (refuse derived fuel) for CHP (combined heat and power) production, while the remaining part is co-combusted with coal. Co-combustion mainly takes place in new coal-fired power plants, allowing investments to increase in comparison with a situation where only investments in waste incineration are allowed.     

Changes in the Profiles of Metabolites Originating from Protein Degradation During Ripening of Dry Cured Ham

Ripening of dry cured ham involves a high number of complex enzymatic and chemical reactions. Due to long processing time, there is a need for analytical methods that can be applied to monitor the ripening in optimization of process conditions and development of new products. In this study, nontargeted metabolite analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) was employed to determine the ripening rates at different water activities in small-scale laboratory experiments and to follow the progress of the ripening of hams from a dry cured ham production facility. Approximately 1000 metabolites were detected. Of these, 90–95% had molecular masses below 800 Da, and more than 60% below 500 Da. In the order of 150 metabolites were putatively annotated. In addition to free amino acids and muscle metabolites, the nontargeted analysis revealed the time profiles of di- and tripeptides, as well as a high number of compounds generated by further conversion of amino acids, muscle metabolites and probably lipids. Statistical processing of the data sets showed that the metabolite profiles changed with the storage time, and that ripening of fresh and unsalted, dried meat, generated other profiles than salted samples. In conclusion, our approach represents a simple and efficient tool for comparison of process conditions and to follow the time course of the ripening, useful in product development and process optimization.     

Living in the lab: an analysis of the work in eight living laboratories set up in care homes for technology innovation

Examinations of living labs are scarce even though the approach is increasingly used as an opportunity to bring design activities into real-life use context and consequently facilitate cooperations between designers and users in future technology innovation. Furthermore, examinations of living labs that focus on the people living in the labs do not exist. This paper presents a study of eight living labs set up in care homes for innovation in health technologies and focuses on the work carried out by care workers, service staff, residents and management, i.e. people living and working in the labs. The analysis reveals a comprehensive system of work carried out by people living and working in the labs and identifies that linking the lab-work-system to the ongoing existing work-system is a major challenge. The study demonstrates that the work of people living and working in the labs is critical to the success of living labs and recommends greater focus on work balance, user gains and collaborative innovation in living lab theories and methods.     

Photodegradation of Rhodamine 6G by Amorphous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Films Grown on Polymethylmethacrylate by Magnetron Sputtering

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was deposited on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) substrates by magnetron sputtering using a Compact Planar Magnetron sputtering device at different flow rate ratios of O₂/Ar. The deposited TiO₂ on PMMA substrates were characterized using X-ray Diffraction analysis, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, UV-Visible Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). These techniques confirm the deposition of a chemically stable amorphous TiO₂ layer on the PMMA surface. Photocatalytic activity of the amorphous TiO₂ layers were tested via photodegradation of Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) dye solution. The samples were able to degrade 18–27% of the Rh6G solution after the initial 25 minutes of UV irradiation and complete degradation of Rh6G was observed after 7 hours of UV irradiation.     

Understanding the impact of cross-group friendship on interactions with novel outgroup members.

We examined the cognitive processes that might account for the impact of cross-group friendship on novel intergroup situations. Study 1 demonstrated that closeness with outgroup members predicts an association of the outgroup with the self, both in terms of the group itself and the personality traits stereotypically associated with the group. In Studies 2 and 3, we manipulated the accessibility of either a same-group friendship or cross-group friendship. Participants who described a cross-group friend exhibited a greater association of the friend's ethnicity with the self, and this association mediated the effects of friendship accessibility on positive expectations for intergroup contact (Study 2) and adaptive hormonal responses during a real interaction with a novel outgroup member (Study 3). These findings imply that cross-group friendship improves novel intergroup experiences to the degree that outgroups become associated with the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

14C sample preparation for AMS microdosing studies at Lund University using online combustion and septa-sealed vials

The Department of Physics at Lund University is participating in a European Union project called EUMAPP (European Union Microdose AMS Partnership Programme), in which sample preparation and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements of biological samples from microdosing studies have been made. This paper describes a simplified method of converting biological samples to solid graphite for ¹⁴C analysis with AMS. The method is based on online combustion of the samples, and reduction of CO₂ in septa-sealed vials. The septa-sealed vials and disposable materials are used to eliminate sample cross-contamination. Measurements of ANU and Ox I standards show deviations of 2% and 3%, respectively, relative to reference values. This level of accuracy is sufficient for biological samples from microdosing studies. Since the method has very few handling steps from sample to graphite, the risk of failure during the sample preparation process is minimized, making the method easy to use in routine preparation of samples.