Sustainability of biofuels in Latin America: Risks and opportunities

Several Latin American countries are setting up biofuel programmes to establish alternative markets for agricultural commodities. This is mainly triggered by the current success of Brazilian bioethanol production for the domestic market and for export. Furthermore, the global biofuel market is expected to increase due to ambitious biofuel programmes in the EU and in the USA. Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Guatemala are focusing on bioethanol production from sugarcane whereas biofuel production in Argentina is based on soy biodiesel. Recent developments of the biofuel sector take place extremely rapid especially in Argentina, which became one of the five largest biodiesel producers in the world in 2008. Till date no specific biofuel sustainability certification systems have been implemented in Latin American, as well as on global level. This fact and the predominant use of food crops for biofuel production raise concerns about the sustainability of biofuel production related to environmental and social aspects. This paper provides an overview of the hotspots of conflicts in biofuel production in Latin America. It investigates presently available sustainability tools and initiatives to ensure sustainable biofuel production in Latin America. Finally, it provides an outlook on how to integrate sustainability in the Latin American biofuel sector.     

Progress in the Synthesis of Nanocrystalline BaTiO3 Powders for MLCC

Future improvements in the development of highly volume-efficient multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) require manufacturing processes that allow for a reduced dielectric thickness well below 1 μm. Obviously, such thin dielectric layers can only be produced if nanosized dielectric powders are applied and deposited by techniques more advanced than tape casting and screen printing. These processes require high-purity, homogeneous, weakly agglomerated ultrafine powders. Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in the synthesis of nanocrystalline BaTiO₃-based powders for use in MLCC. The present review article aims to summarize the present state of the art with respect to some of the technically and industrially most relevant preparation routes, including methods based on solid-state reactions and, more importantly, solution-based approaches.     

21世纪城市设计和开放空间规划中的浪漫主义精神

人类文明发展史上每一次价值观的改变,都会引起新的城市设计和开放空间规划思想和手法的产生.1 8世纪浪漫主义思想的产生,是文化思想发展史上一次重要的转折,它对同时期的景观设计领域,也产生了重要的影响.以往的园林,代表的是内部实体与外在形式创造性的统一,而21世纪的景观设计语言,必须为人与人之间或人与自然之间的相互关系,提供现实主义层面的反映.浪漫主义,是对应于21世纪人类价值观的设计思想和手法的一个探索性回答.     

Expression of SLC26A9 in Airways and Its Potential Role in Asthma

SLC26A9 is an epithelial anion transporter with a poorly defined function in airways. It is assumed to contribute to airway chloride secretion and airway surface hydration. However, immunohistochemistry showing precise localization of SLC26A9 in airways is missing. Some studies report localization near tight junctions, which is difficult to reconcile with a chloride secretory function of SLC26A9. We therefore performed immunocytochemistry of SLC26A9 in sections of human and porcine lungs. Obvious apical localization of SLC26A9 was detected in human and porcine superficial airway epithelia, whereas submucosal glands did not express SLC26A9. The anion transporter was located exclusively in ciliated epithelial cells. Highly differentiated BCi-NS1 human airway epithelial cells grown on permeable supports also expressed SLC26A9 in the apical membrane of ciliated epithelial cells. BCi-NS1 cells expressed the major Cl⁻ transporting proteins CFTR, TMEM16A and SLC26A9 in about equal proportions and produced short-circuit currents activated by increases in intracellular cAMP or Ca²⁺. Both CFTR and SLC26A9 contribute to basal chloride currents in non-stimulated BCi-NS1 airway epithelia, with CFTR being the dominating Cl⁻ conductance. In wtCFTR-expressing CFBE human airway epithelial cells, SLC26A9 was partially located in the plasma membrane, whereas CFBE cells expressing F508del-CFTR showed exclusive cytosolic localization of SLC26A9. Membrane localization of SLC26A9 and basal chloride currents were augmented by interleukin 13 in wild-type CFTR-expressing cells, but not in cells expressing the most common disease-causing mutant F508del-CFTR. The data suggest an upregulation of SLC26A9-dependent chloride secretion in asthma, but not in the presence of F508del-CFTR.     

On upgrading the numerics in combustion chemistry codes

A method of updating and reusing legacy FORTRAN codes for combustion simulations is presented using the DAEPACK software package. The procedure is demonstrated on two codes that come with the CHEMKIN-II package, CONP and SENKIN, for the constant-pressure batch reactor simulation. Using DAEPACK generated code, analytical derivative calculations, sparsity pattern information, and hidden discontinuity information can be obtained for the models of interest. This information can be easily integrated with different solvers giving the modeler great flexibility in selecting the best solution procedure. Using the generated code, the CONP code was connected to three different solvers, and the SENKIN code was connected to two different solvers. The effect of model formulation, analytical derivatives, sparsity, and sensitivity equation solution method were analyzed for three large kinetic mechanisms for methane, acetylene, and n-heptane. For the n-heptane model, with 544 species and 2446 reactions, a factor of 10-speed improvement over the original solution procedure was found using analytical derivatives and sparse linear algebra. For sensitivity calculations, for a small number of parameters, a factor of 55 improvement over the original solution procedure was found for the n-heptane problem. Upon closer examination of results, no one method is found to always be superior to other methods, and selection of the appropriate solution procedure requires an examination of the specific kinetic mechanism, which is easily conducted using DAEPACK generated code.     

Evolution of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steels Made from Water-Atomized Ferritic Powder

Nano-structured oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels produced from a 410L stainless steel powder prepared by water-atomization was studied. The influences of Ti content and milling time on the microstructure and the mechanical properties were analysed. It was found that the ODS steels made from the Si bearing 410L powder contained Y–Ti–O, Y–Ti–Si–O, Y–Si–O, and TiO₂ oxides. Most nanoparticles produced after 80 h of milling were aggregated nanoparticles; however, after 160 h of milling, most aggregated nanoparticles dissociated into smaller individual nanoparticles. Perfect mixing of Y and Ti was not achieved even after the longer milling time of 160 h; instead, the longer hours of milling rather resulted in Si incorporation into the Y–Ti–O rich nanoparticles and a change in the matrix morphology from an equiaxed microstructure to a tempered martensite-like microstructure. The overall micro-hardness of the ODS steel increased with the increase of milling time. After 80 and 160 h, the microhardnesses were over 400 HV, which primarily resulted from the finer dispersed nanoparticles and in part to the formation of martensitic phases. Tensile strength of the 410L ODS steels was comparable with that of ODS steel produced from gas-atomized powder.     

Prediction of Glass Forming Ability Through High Throughput Calculation

In this work, high throughput calculation (HTC) is used to identify composition regions with good glass forming ability (GFA) in the Al-Cu-Zr, Cu-Ni-Zr, Cu-Ti-Zr, Cu-Ni-Ti-Zr, Al-Cu-Ni-Ti-Zr, Mg-Ca-Cu, and Mg-Ca-Ni systems. The predicted composition regions agree well with those observed by experiments in the ternary systems, while less satisfactory agreement is found in the Cu-Ni-Ti-Zr quaternary and the Al-Cu-Ni-Ti-Zr quinary systems. The possible causes that lead to the deviation in the higher order systems are discussed. The major advantage of the HTC method used in this study is that it is simple and can be easily applied to multicomponent systems. The color maps of liquidus temperature and solidification range obtained by HTC provide a valuable guidance to the experimentalists, thus they can focus on the composition regions with high potential of forming bulk metallic glasses, avoid unnecessary trial-and-error test and save time and cost. This approach can also be combined with other criteria to filter compositions with better GFA.     

Dishwashing behaviour of European consumers with regard to the acceptance of long programme cycles

Since the introduction of the energy label for household dishwashers in the EU, manufacturers have been incentivised to reduce resource consumption and increase the energy efficiency of their appliances. Technological progress has led to very efficient programmes with cleaning cycles of 3 to 4 h or longer. The European Commission recently initiated a revision of the energy label and Ecodesign requirements, leading to their adjustment to the state of the art and to actual usage patterns. The University of Bonn was tasked with investigating dishwashing habits in Europe. An online survey was conducted in 11 countries of the EU with more than 5000 participants. The survey focused on the choice of programme, attitudes towards energy-saving programmes and practices and the willingness to apply them. It appears that consumers are willing to apply energy-saving practices and to use energy-saving programmes, but the acceptance of long cycles that take more than 2 h is low, which stands in contradiction to the fact that 19% of all dishwashing cycles are run in the Eco programme, which takes more than 2 h in most cases. The percentage of people who understand that long cycles can be energy-efficient is smaller than the percentage of those who do not believe this. The statements of the participants are contradictory regarding the importance of saving energy and of programme duration. The results of the survey point out the importance of better consumer education and better communication by manufacturers, consumer organisations and legislation.     

Special Section of BPMDS’2016: Business Processes in a Connected World

Software and Systems Modeling -