The potential for renewable energy in industrial applications

To date, insufficient attention has been paid to the potential of renewable energy resources in industrial applications. Our analysis suggests that up to 21% of final energy demand and feedstock-use in the manufacturing industry sector could be of renewable origin by 2050, a five-fold increase over current levels in absolute terms. This estimate is considerably higher than other recent global scenario studies. In addition, if a 50% share of renewables in power generation is assumed, the share of direct and indirect renewable energy use rises to 31% in 2050. Our analysis further suggests that bioenergy and biofeedstocks can constitute three-quarters of the direct renewables use in this sector by 2050. The remainder is roughly evenly divided between solar heating and heat pumps. The potential for solar cooling is considered to be limited.While low-temperature solar process heat can reach cost-effectiveness today in locations with good insolation, some bioenergy applications will require a CO₂ price even on the longer term. Biomass feedstock for synthetic organic materials will require a CO₂ price up to USD 100/t CO₂, or even more if embodied carbon is not considered properly in CO₂ accounts. Future fossil fuel prices and bioenergy prices in addition to the development of feedstock commodity markets for biomass will be critical. Decision makers are recommended to pay more attention to the potential for renewables in industry. Finally, we propose the development of a detailed technology roadmap to explore this potential further and discuss key issues that need to be elaborated in such a framework.     

Impact of sourdough fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum FST 1.7 on baking and sensory properties of gluten-free breads

Sourdoughs were produced from buckwheat, oat, quinoa, sorghum, teff and wheat flour using the heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum FST 1.7 and added to a basic bread formulation of flour from the same grain type (20 % addition level). Dough rheology, textural (crumb hardness, specific volume) and structural bread characteristics (crumb porosity, cell volume, brightness) of sourdough-containing breads were compared to non-sourdough-containing breads (control). Changes in protein profiles as analysed with capillary electrophoresis were observed in all sourdoughs. Furthermore, sourdough addition led to decreased dough strength resulting in softer dough. No influences on specific volume and hardness on day of baking were found for gluten-free sourdough breads. The staling rate was reduced in buckwheat (from 8 ± 2 to 6 ± 2 N/day) and teff sourdough bread (13 ± 1 to 10 ± 4 N/day), however, not significantly in comparison with the control breads. On the contrary, in wheat sourdough bread, the staling rate was significantly reduced (2 ± 1 N/day) in comparison with control bread (5 ± 1 N/day). Sourdough addition increased the cell volume significantly in sorghum (+61 %), teff (+92 %) and wheat sourdough breads (+78 %). Therefore, crumb porosity was significantly increased in all gluten-free and wheat sourdough breads. Shelf life for sourdough breads was one (teff and oat), two (buckwheat, quinoa and sorghum) and 3 days (wheat) and was not prolonged by sourdough addition. The inferior aroma of breads prepared from the gluten-free flours was also not improved by sourdough addition.     

Characterization of an ammonia decomposition process by means of a multifunctional catalytic membrane reactor

Ammonia decomposition was studied in a multifunctional catalytic membrane reactor filled with Ruthenium catalyst and equipped with palladium-coated membranes. To characterize the system we measured NH₃ conversion, H₂ yield and its partial pressure, the internal and external temperatures of the reactor shell and the electric consumption under several NH₃ flow and pressure conditions. Experimental results showed that the combined effect of Ruthenium catalyst and palladium membranes allowed the reaction to reach the equilibrium in all the conditions we tested. At 450 °C the ammonia conversion resulted the most stationary, while at 7 bar the hydrogen yield was almost independent of both the ammonia flow and temperature. In addition, the experimental system used in this work showed high values of NH₃ conversion and H₂ permeation also without heating the ammonia tank and therefore renouncing to control the feeding gas pressure. When ultra-pure hydrogen is needed at a distal site, a reactor like this can be considered for in situ hydrogen production.     

Partial dehydration of cherry tomato at different temperature, and nutritional quality of the products

This study concerns the partial dehydration of cherry tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, var. Shiren) to obtain a product with 25% initial water content. Two kinds of dried tomatoes were obtained using a forced air oven at 40, 60 and 80 °C for different lengths of treatment. The first type was dehydrated after immersion of the fresh tomatoes in an aqueous solution of citric acid, sodium and calcium chloride (10:10:24 g/l); the second was obtained with no pre-treatment. The products were characterised by measuring their CIE L*a*b* colour parameters and levels of l-ascorbic acid, lycopene and β-carotene to evaluate thermal damage during processing under the different conditions. Moreover, water activity and the formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were also determined as an index of sugar heat degradation. Treatment with a dipping solution protected both the nutritional and chemical qualities of the partially dried cherry tomatoes. Temperature was directly related to browning, ascorbic acid loss and HMF formation, while no clear influence could be found for carotenoid degradation.     

Energy efficient semi-partitioned scheduling for embedded multiprocessor streaming systems

In this paper, we study the problem of energy minimization when mapping streaming applications with throughput constraints to homogeneous multiprocessor systems in which voltage and frequency scaling is supported with a discrete set of operating voltage/frequency modes. We propose a soft real-time semi-partitioned scheduling algorithm which allows an even distribution of the utilization of tasks among the available processors. In turn, this enables processors to run at a lower frequency, which yields to lower energy consumption. We show on a set of real-life applications that our semi-partitioned scheduling approach achieves significant energy savings compared to a purely partitioned scheduling approach and an existing semi-partitioned one, EDF-os, on average by 36 % (and up to 64 %) when using the lowest frequency which guarantees schedulability and is supported by the system. By using a periodic frequency switching scheme that preserves schedulability, instead of this lowest supported fixed frequency, we obtain an additional energy saving up to 18 %. Although the throughput of applications is unchanged by the proposed semi-partitioned approach, the mentioned energy savings come at the cost of increased memory requirements and latency of applications.     

Specific absorption rate and temperature elevation in a subject exposed in the far-field of radio-frequency sources operating in the 10-900-MHz range

The exposure of a subject in the far field of radiofrequency sources operating in the 10-900-MHz range has been studied. The electromagnetic field inside an anatomical heterogeneous model of the human body has been computed by using the finite-difference time-domain method; the corresponding temperature increase has been evaluated through an explicit finite-difference formulation of the bio-heat equation. The thermal model used, which takes into account the thermoregulatory system of the human body, has been validated through a comparison with experimental data. The results show that the peak specific absorption rate (SAR) as averaged over 10 g has about a 25-fold increase in the trunk and a 50-fold increase in the limbs with respect to the whole body averaged SAR (SARWB). The peak SAR as averaged over 1 g, instead, has a 30- to 60-fold increase in the trunk, and up to 135-fold increase in the ankles, with respect to SARWB. With reference to temperature increases, at the body resonance frequency of 40 MHz, for the ICNIRP incident power density maximum permissible value, a temperature increase of about 0.7 degrees C is obtained in the ankles muscle. The presence of the thermoregulatory system strongly limits temperature elevations, particularly in the body core.     

Nanosized Pt-perovskite catalyst for the regeneration of a wall-flow filter for soot removal from diesel exhaust gases

Topics in Catalysis - Perovskite-type catalysts have been investigated for diesel soot combustion: (i) the LaCr0.9O3?δ substoichiometric perovskite, (ii) K–La partially substituted...     

Mechanical Properties of Phosphate Glass Optical Fibers

In this work, step-index 40/125 μm diameter optical fibers produced from two slightly different lithium phosphate glasses were subjected to mechanical characterization. Tensile tests were carried out on fibers with gage length from 10 to 150 mm, allowing for the determination of the failure stress (ranging from ≈200 to 400 MPa) and the elastic modulus (60 GPa). Some tests were also performed with the fiber “immersed” in water; an important subcritical crack growth effect was pointed out, and a fatigue susceptibility parameter (n) equal to 11.4 was determined. The analysis of fracture mirror allows an estimated fracture toughness equal to 0.5 MPa m^0.5.     

Self-ordered nanostructures on patterned substrates

The formation of nanostructures during metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy on patterned (001)/(111)B GaAs substrates is reviewed. The focus of this review is on the seminal experiments that revealed the key kinetic processes during nanostructure formation and the theory and modelling that explained the phenomenology in successively greater detail. Experiments have demonstrated that V-groove quantum wires and pyramidal quantum dots result from self-limiting concentration profiles that develop at the bottom of V-grooves and inverted pyramids, respectively. In the 1950s, long before the practical importance of patterned substrates became evident, the mechanisms of capillarity during the equilibration of non-planar surfaces were identified and characterized. This was followed, from the late 1980s, by the identification of growth rate anisotropies (i.e. differential growth rates of crystallographic facets) and precursor decomposition anisotropies, with parallel developments in the fabrication of V-groove quantum wires and pyramidal quantum dots. The modelling of these growth processes began at the scale of facets and culminated in systems of coupled reaction–diffusion equations, one for each crystallographic facet that defines the pattern, which takes account of the decomposition and surface diffusion kinetics of the group-III precursors and the subsequent surface diffusion and incorporation of the group-III atoms released by these precursors. Solutions of the equations with optimized parameters produced concentration profiles that provided a quantitative interpretation of the time-, temperature-, and alloy-concentration-dependence of the self-ordering process seen in experiments.