Indoor temperature changes in retrofit homes

The behavioral response (e.g. changes in indoor temperatures, attention to window and door openings) to residential technical efficiency improvements (e.g. attic insulation, storm windows) is an important and largely unresolved issue. Although there is considerable discussion concerning the extent to which households take back some of the energy savings due to technical efficiency improvements in increased comfort, there is almost no empirical evidence on the subject.Detailed electricity billing data (from mid-1981 to mid-1983) were analyzed for 79 households that received financial assistance from the Bonneville Power Administration to retrofit their homes in mid-1982. The mean retrofit expenditure in these homes was $1900; the mean reduction in annual electricity use was 4700 kWh, of which 83% was due to reductions in space heating electricity use. Analysis of the electricity billing data suggests that these households increased their indoor temperature settings after retrofit by almost 1 °F on average. This temperature increase led to an estimated average loss of almost 600 kWh of electricity saving. In other words, roughly 10% of the energy saving due to retrofit was taken back in terms of increased comfort. These results concerning changes in indoor temperatures should be viewed cautiously because of limitations in the analytical method and the large variation across households.     

Butyltin Species and Inorganic Tin in Water and Sediment of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers

Water and sediment samples from 29 locations in the Detroit and St. Clair rivers were analyzed for the highly toxic tri-n-butyltin (Bu₃Sn⁺) species and for the less toxic di-n-butyltin (Bu₂Sn²⁺) and n-butyltin (BuSn³⁺) species and inorganic tin. In general, locations sampled in the St. Clair River were less contaminated with butyltin species than those in the Detroit River. Inorganic tin and BuSn³⁺ were detected in over 90% of all subsurface water samples, while Bu₂Sn²⁺ and Bu₃Sn⁺ were detected in 45 and 28% of the same samples, respectively. The highest concentration ofBu₃Sn⁺ in subsurface water, 5.9 × 10^?10 mol Sn/L, was at the mouth of the Ecorse River, a tributary of the Detroit River. The three butyltin species and inorganic tin were also detected in 23–46% of all sediment samples. The highest concentrations of Bu₃Sn⁺ in sediment were found close to the mouths of the River Rouge, another tributary of the Detroit River, and the Ecorse River, and were 6.2 × I0^–7 and 1.7 × I0^–7 mol Sn/kg dry weight, respectively, for the top 2 cm of sediment.     

Responses of Dairy Cows to Exogenous Bovine Growth Hormone Administered During Early Lactation

Bovine growth hormone was administered to eight Holstein cows during two 10-d periods (commencing 20 and 60 d postpartum). Treatments involved daily subcutaneous injection of excipient (control) or of 50 IU growth hormone. Feed intake and yields of milk and milk components were measured during the last 5 d of treatment. In the first injection period, milk yield of treated cows was 6% greater than that of controls (36.2 kg/d). Fat content of milk was increased by treatment with the result that fat yield was elevated by 25%. Protein content was not altered. In the second period, milk yield increased by 12%, but composition of milk was not changed. As a result, milk energy secretion was increased by a similar amount in each treatment period (4.4 versus 4.5 Mcal/d). Feed intake was not changed in either period. During early lactation the ability of cows to increase milk yield in response to exogenous growth hormone may be limited by the supply of glucose for lactose synthesis rather than by ability to mobilize body reserves in support of lactation.     

Spontaneous emulsification aspect of enhanced oil recovery

Recent studies have suggested the possibility of spontaneous emulsification as a mechanism for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The discussions have, however, remained essentially qualitative. A study was therefore undertaken to estimate quantitatively the contribution of spontaneous emulsification as an EOR mechanism. The tests were conducted on several bulk liquid/liquid systems as well as by displacement experiments in unconsolidated synthetic sand packs. Spontaneous emulsification was found to be a mechanism for EOR: the estimated extra contribution to EOR due to this mechanism was found to be significant in laboratory scale displacement experiments. Tertiary recovery was always greater when spontaneous emulsification was evident than otherwise. Results of tests on bulk liquid/liquid systems indicate that the occurrence or absence of spontaneous emulsification can be correlated with the values of ‘partition parameter’. It may be concluded that higher oil recoveries may be achieved in chemical EOR processes where interface mass transfer (and the accompanying spontaneous emulsification) occurs. The evaluation of efficiency of residual oil mobilisation through the capillary number theory (with and without spontaneous emulsification) is also discussed. Displacement tests with spontaneously emulsifying systems showed that residual oil left behind a conventional waterflood was mobilised in a range of capillary numbers much less than that which applies to low-tension waterfloods.     

MASS TRANSFER IN GAS-SPARGED POROUS ELECTRODES

The electrochemical limiting current method was used to measure mass transfer coefficients with cocurrent upward gas-liquid flow in packed bed electrodes. Liquid-solid and overall gas-solid coefficients were determined from limiting current data in the presence of inert or reactive gas flows with the use of a plug flow model. The presence of inert gas flow increased mass transfer coefficients over those in single-phase flow by a factor of up to 1.7. As a result of boundary layer penetration by gas bubbles, sparging with reactive gas increased mass transfer rates by a factor of up to 3.5.     

CAFTURE AND RECYCLE OF BYPASSING BUBBLE GAS IN A FLUIDIZED BED: THE “BUBBLE EATER”

The bubble eater is a device which can sense, capture, and recycle bubble gas in a bubbling fluidized bed. The theory describing the enhancement of reactant gas conversion are presented and illustrated by means of a numerical example.     

MODELING LIQUID MASS TRANSFER IN HIGEE SEPARATION PROCESS

Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Professor Richard S.H. Mah. Hsien-Hsin Tung is now affiliated with Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

Penetration theory is used to describe the liquid mass transfer in Higee separation process. Within a possible range of effective areas, it is shown that the predicted mass transfer coefficients are in reasonable agreement with the estimated mass transfer coefficients. The estimated coefficients were calculated from the experimental data and the possible effective areas. Hence it is concluded the penetration theory is generally applicable to describe liquid mass transfer in Higee separation process. The comparison also suggests that liquid mixing at the junctions of packing materials may be more complete in Higee process than in traditional process.     

The Effects of Cyclic Terminal Groups in 4-Aminoazo-benzene and Related Azo Dyes: Part 21—pKa Values of Some Monoazo Dyes Derived from

Basicity values have been determined for series of monoazo dyes incorporating a pyrrolidino or a piperidino moiety. In general, the pK_a value is found to decrease as the donor capacity of the terminal nitrogen atom decreases.The basicities of the 4'-substituted piperidinoazobenzenes decrease as the electron withdrawing strength of the 4'-substituent increases. However, the pK_a values of the related pyrrolidino compounds appear to be insensitive to the substituent.     

THE QUEST FOR WORLD CLASS IT CAPABILITY IT Is Key to Achieving Quality Goals

In today's competitive world, many organizations are pursuing total quality improvement programs, and as a result of these initiatives, are seeking to define world class capabilities. The organizations with these aspirations are trying to improve product and service quality, business process quality, or delivered quality, and are becoming aware that information technology is playing a more substantial role in realizing these quality goals.