Energy recovery and economy aspects of steam-explosion pretreatment in waste phytomass management

Steam-explosion pretreatment allows lowering of the natural resistance of plant material to subsequent biodegrading processes, such as anaerobic fermentation. This is achieved by a complex of cavitation forces that disintegrate rigid lignocellulose structures and liberate labile organic matter during a quick release of phytomass from a steam-pressurized reactor back to the atmospheric pressure. Hydrolyzing reactants or catalysts may increase the effect; however, the management of chemicals raises financial and environmental concerns. The current state of knowledge was reviewed to identify promising designs and reengineering that would enable subsequent transfer into the commercial scale in order to reverse the current trend of phytomass waste management – landfilling. In an effort to achieve profitability, it has been concluded that further development should focus on a deeper interconnection of the apparatus with associated technology units, reuse of waste heat from the subsequent biogas combustion, widening the range of processing parameters, reuse of nutrients, and utilization of the ballast organic matter.     

Assessment of the Superheater Ash Fouling Using a Numerical Model of the Superheater

ABSTRACT

Superheaters are high-temperature cross-flow heat exchangers. Steam flows inside the tubes, and the flue gas outside in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the tubes. However, they differ very substantially from the other heat exchangers operating at low temperatures. Superheaters are characterized by complex flow system and high tube walls temperature. Superheaters are among the most exposed to damaging pressure elements of steam boilers. Damage to the superheater causes about 40% of emergency shutdowns of boilers. The paper presents the boiler superheater model with distributed parameters, which is used to determine on-line the degree of superheater fouling by ash.     

Non‐parametric probabilistic forecasts of wind power: required properties and evaluation

Predictions of wind power production for horizons up to 48–72 h ahead comprise a highly valuable input to the methods for the daily management or trading of wind generation. Today, users of wind power predictions are not only provided with point predictions, which are estimates of the conditional expectation of the wind generation for each look‐ahead time, but also with uncertainty estimates given by probabilistic forecasts. In order to avoid assumptions on the shape of predictive distributions, these probabilistic predictions are produced from non‐parametric methods, and then take the form of a single or a set of quantile forecasts. The required and desirable properties of such probabilistic forecasts are defined and a framework for their evaluation is proposed. This framework is applied for evaluating the quality of two statistical methods producing full predictive distributions from point predictions of wind power. These distributions are defined by a number of quantile forecasts with nominal proportions spanning the unit interval. The relevance and interest of the introduced evaluation framework are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disclosure: Chaotic implementation thwarts intention of directive

Jan Willem Langeraar of Ecofys and Rolf de Vos of Greenprices argue that, as well as the Guarantee of Origin (see Refocus, Jul/Aug 2003, p. 62), European harmonisation is also needed for the mandatory disclosure of the fuel mix (legislation to be implemented before July 1st 2004). This they claim is needed foremost in the monitoring of the environmental quality of power generation. A harmonised way of collecting information will guarantee transparency and - in the end - establish the consumer's trust. There are several initiatives currently on the table. The implementation of the disclosure in Austria shows what the harmonisation could look like.     

pH-dependant structural and morphology evolution of Ni(OH)2 nanostructures and their morphology retention upon thermal annealing to NiO

Nickel hydroxide nanosheets, nanobelts and nanorods were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of the precipitates obtained at different pH values. The morphology and crystal structure of the products could be controlled simply by adjusting the pH value at precipitation. Interconnected nanosheets of hexagonal β-Ni(OH)₂ with thickness around 10–20 nm were formed at pH ∼ 11, whereas nanobelts with typical widths around 40–80 nm, and nanorods with diameters around 50–60 nm of phase pure α-Ni(OH)₂ containing intercalated sulphate ions were obtained in the pH range ∼9.5–8.5. Thermal annealing of the hydroxides at 500 °C yielded cubic phase NiO with morphologies similar to their hydroxide precursors. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis were used to characterize the as-prepared products. The role of pH in controlling the phase and morphology of the products was discussed.     

Migration of Mineral Oil into Noodles from Recycled Fibres in the Paperboard Box and the Corrugated Board Transport Box as well as from Printing Inks: A Case Study

From the toxicological evaluation of mineral oils as used in offset printing inks by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), a specific migration limit of 0.6 mg/kg in food can be derived. Experimental packs for taglioline (fine noodles) were investigated, aiming at respecting this limit. This ended with four conclusions. First, during the 65 day test (shelf life of 2 years), the transport box of corrugated board contaminated the bottom packs in the box with 6.1 mg/kg mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and had the potential of contaminating all the 10 packs on average at about 10 mg/kg. Second, the migration from an improved recycled paperboard (five times less mineral oil than average) still amounted to 4.9 mg/kg, indicating that optimization of recycling is not promising to respect the 0.6 mg/kg limit. Third, a printing ink containing 3 g/kg MOSH (about 100 times less than conventional offset inks) still contaminated the taglioline with 0.6 mg/kg MOSH. Finally, the taglioline were contaminated with 2.5 mg/kg MOSH already before packing, illustrating that there are other sources of mineral oil violating the 0.6 mg/kg limit. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mass spectrometry-based quantification of myocardial protein adducts with acrolein in an in vivo model of oxidative stress

Acrolein (ACR) exposure leads to the formation of protein-ACR adducts. Protein modification by ACR has been associated with various chronic diseases including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report an analytical strategy that enables the quantification of Michael-type protein adducts of ACR in mitochondrial proteome samples using liquid chromatography in combination with tandem mass spectrometry and selected ion monitoring (LC-MS/MS SRM) analysis. Our approach combines site-specific identification and relative quantification at the peptide level of protein-ACR adducts in relation to the unmodified protein thiol pool. Treatment of 3-month-old rats with CCl(4) , an established in vivo model of acute oxidative stress, resulted in significant increases in the ratios of distinct ACR-adducted peptides to the corresponding unmodified thiol-peptides obtained from proteins that were isolated from cardiac mitochondria. The mitochondrial proteins that were found adducted by ACR were malate dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] flavoprotein 1, cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIb isoform 1, ATP synthase d chain, and ADP/ATP translocase 1. The findings indicate that protein modification by ACR has potential value as an index of mitochondrial oxidative stress.