Role of hydrogen in future North European power system in 2060

The Balmorel model has been used to calculate the economic optimal energy system configuration for the Scandinavian countries and Germany in 2060 assuming a nearly 100% coverage of the energy demands in the power, heat and transport sector with renewable energy sources. Different assumptions about the future success of fuel cell technologies have been investigated as well as different electricity and heat demand assumptions. The variability of wind power production was handled by varying the hydropower production and the production on CHP plants using biomass, by power transmission, by varying the heat production in heat pumps and electric heat boilers, and by varying the production of hydrogen in electrolysis plants in combination with hydrogen storage. Investment in hydrogen storage capacity corresponded to 1.2% of annual wind power production in the scenarios without a hydrogen demand from the transport sector, and approximately 4% in the scenarios with a hydrogen demand from the transport sector. Even the scenarios without a demand for hydrogen from the transport sector saw investments in hydrogen storage due to the need for flexibility provided by the ability to store hydrogen. The storage capacities of the electricity storages provided by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were too small to make hydrogen storage superfluous.     

Effects of compression on water distribution in gas diffusion layer materials of PEMFC in a point injection device by means of synchrotron X-ray imaging

In this study, ex-situ experiments performed with a point injection device are conducted to evaluate water distributions in gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials which serve as porous transport media in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this regard, GDL samples manufactured by SGL Group are placed into the point injection device and visualized by means of synchrotron X-ray radiographic and tomographic imaging. The resulting image data undergoes a coordinate transformation that ascertains water agglomerations in GDL pores with regard to their radial displacements from the injection point. In this way, water transport in two different GDL samples possessing the same structural characteristics, but with unique compression rates, are investigated in terms of in-plane water distribution. The radial displacement analysis indicated that the pore saturation of the compressed GDL is higher in both the micro porous layer (MPL) region and the carbon fiber substrate region than that of the uncompressed GDL. The water agglomerations in the uncompressed GDL are predominantly observed in the vicinity of the injection point, indicating a limited in-plane transport. Conversely, in the compressed case water accumulations are detected far from the injection point, even at the edge of the GDL, pointing out that compression promotes the in-plane transport. Prior to the ex-situ experiments, both GDL samples have undergone an ageing procedure to mimic realistic cell operating conditions.     

Incentives for energy efficiency in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme

This paper explores the incentives for energy efficiency induced by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for installations in the energy and industry sectors. Our analysis of the National Allocation Plans for 27 EU Member States for phase 2 of the EU ETS (2008–2012) suggests that the price and cost effects for improvements in carbon and energy efficiency in the energy and industry sectors will be stronger than in phase 1 (2005–2007), but only because the European Commission has substantially reduced the number of allowances to be allocated by the Member States. To the extent that companies from these sectors (notably power producers) pass through the extra costs for carbon, higher prices for allowances translate into stronger incentives for the demand-side energy efficiency. With the cuts in allocation to energy and industry sectors, these will be forced to greater reductions; thus, the non-ET sectors like household, tertiary, and transport will have to reduce less, which is more in line with the cost-efficient share of emission reductions. The findings also imply that domestic efficiency improvements in the energy and industry sectors may remain limited since companies can make substantial use of credits from the Kyoto Mechanisms. The analysis of the rules for existing installations, new projects, and closures suggests that incentives for energy efficiency are higher in phase 2 than in phase 1 because of the increased application of benchmarking to new and existing installations and because a lower share of allowances will be allocated for free. Nevertheless, there is still ample scope to further improve the EU ETS so that the full potential for energy efficiency can be realized.

Matrix Transformation in Boron Containing High-Temperature Co–Re–Cr Alloys

An addition of boron largely increases the ductility in polycrystalline high-temperature Co–Re alloys. Therefore, the effect of boron on the alloy structural characteristics is of high importance for the stability of the matrix at operational temperatures. Volume fractions of ε (hexagonal close-packed—hcp), γ (face-centered cubic—fcc) and σ (Cr₂Re₃ type) phases were measured at ambient and high temperatures (up to 1500 °C) for a boron-containing Co–17Re–23Cr alloy using neutron diffraction. The matrix phase undergoes an allotropic transformation from ε to γ structure at high temperatures, similar to pure cobalt and to the previously investigated, more complex Co–17Re–23Cr–1.2Ta–2.6C alloy. It was determined in this study that the transformation temperature depends on the boron content (0–1000 wt. ppm). Nevertheless, the transformation temperature did not change monotonically with the increase in the boron content but reached a minimum at approximately 200 ppm of boron. A probable reason is the interplay between the amount of boron in the matrix and the amount of σ phase, which binds hcp-stabilizing elements (Cr and Re). Moreover, borides were identified in alloys with high boron content.     

Homogenized model for fluid-structure interaction of the pressurized water reactor core internals during blowdown

A method for the numerical simulation of the pressurized water reactor core internal's behaviour during a blowdown accident is described, by which the motion of the reactor core and the interaction of the fuel elements with the core barrel and the coolant medium is calculated. Furthermore, some simple models for the support columns, lower and upper core support and the grid plate are provided. In order to investigate the global core motion during the blowdown accident, the core model describes the coupled fluid-rod motion with Homogenization methods. The heterogeneous fluid-rod mixture thus is treated as a special continuum with anisotropic material properties. Furthermore, the core model considers elastical rod forces against bending and axial straining and the direct interaction of neighbouring fuel elements, which is a highly nonlinear process due to the finite gaps. Because this effect is very important, two simulation models have been developed and are compared. All these models have been implemented into the blowdown code FLUX-4. With the new code version FLUX-5 the PWR-blowdown is parametrically investigated.     

Aging effect of atmospheric pressure plasma jet treated polycaprolactone polymer solutions on electrospinning properties

In previous work, an atmospheric pressure plasma jet was applied to successfully improve the electrospinnability of poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) which enabled the fabrication of beadless nanofibers. In this paper, we report the aging effect of the plasma treatment to evaluate the robustness of the developed process. For this purpose, plasma-treated PCL polymer solutions with different exposure time were stored for 1 and 8 days and the aged solutions were analyzed in terms of conductivity, viscosity, surface tension, pH, and polymer molecular weight. During storage, the surface tension and acidity of the plasma-treated solutions were maintained constant. However, the viscosity was found to be significantly lower after 8 days which was attributed to PCL degradation. Electrospinning of all stored PCL solutions resulted in the generation of beadless PCL nanofibers. The plasma treatment effects were thus found to be highly stable over time and capable of producing high-quality PCL nanofibers up to 8 days. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48914.     

Influence of drying conditions on colour,betacyanin content and antioxidant capacities in dried red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

In this study, drying of red-fleshed dragon fruit at different temperatures (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C) and air velocities (1.0 and 1.5 m s⁻¹) was conducted under the specific humidity of 25 g H₂O kg⁻¹ dry air. The results showed that drying at higher temperatures resulted in shorter drying times. However, temperature and air velocity did not significantly affect the total betacyanin contents and antioxidant capacities in dried products. Seven betacyanins identified by LC-MS were betanin, isobetanin, phyllocactin, isophyllocactin, betanidin 5 –O-(6′O-3-hydroxybutyryl)-β-glucoside, isobetanidin 5 –O-(6′O-3-hydroxybutyryl)-β-glucoside and decarboxylated phyllocactin. In addition, the temperature increased the isomerisation of betacyanins. The most preferable condition for preserving the colour and betacyanin contents of red-fleshed dragon fruit was the drying at a temperature of 80 °C and air velocity of 1.5 m s⁻¹ since it could shorten the drying time and give a bright red colour to the dried product as well as it had no significant impact on the betacyanins.     

Clearance of FGF‐23 during continuous renal replacement therapy

FGF‐23 is a 32 kDa protein that is a key regulator of phosphorus and vitamin D metabolism. Emerging evidence also demonstrates that FGF‐23 increases within 24 hours of acute kidney injury (AKI) and may be associated with adverse clinical outcomes. We conducted this study to evaluate FGF23 clearance during continuous veno‐venous hemofiltration (CVVH) in critically ill patients with AKI. We demonstrate that plasma clearance of FGF‐23 during CVVH is ～11 mL/min and the mean sieving coefficient is 0.27 ± 0.1. Future studies will need to clarify FGF‐23's role in adverse outcomes among AKI patients, and whether therapies aimed at reducing FGF‐23 levels may be beneficial.