The impact of CHP generation on CO2 emissions

The combined generation of heat and power (cogeneration) is praised by many as a technique for reducing the emissions of CO₂ in industrialized nations. This is generally true but not always. In this article we discuss the impact of some major variables on the CO₂ emission reduction capacity of cogeneration. Two sets of variables are predominant: the characteristics of the CHP process and the composition of the electricity generation sector. We highlight the interaction between the two sets of variables with the help of diagrams.     

Differences in the structure of copper active sites for decomposition and selective reduction of nitric oxide with hydrocarbons and ammonia

Cu ion co-ordination-location in zeolites of MFI, erionite, mordenite matrices has been determined and the activity of the individual Cu sites compared for NO decomposition and its selective reduction by hydrocarbons or ammonia. It appears that Cu ions in the vicinity of one framework Al (site II), able to form stable Cu⁺-dinitrosyl complexes, and abundant in MFI structure, are responsible for high activity in NO decomposition. The Cu ions neighbouring two framework Al atoms (site I), and forming mostly mononitrosyl complexes, which dominate in erionite structure, provide a high activity in selective reduction of NO.     

Development of damage in a 2D woven C/SiC composite under mechanical loading: I. Mechanical characterization

An investigation has been undertaken to determine the damage mechanisms and the associated mechanical response of a 2D reinforced composite of carbon fibers in an SiC CVI-processed matrix subjected to uniaxial tensile and compressive loadings at room temperature. Under tension loading, an extended non-linear stress/strain response was evidenced and related to a multi-stage development of damage involving transverse matrix microcracking, bundle/matrix and inter-bundle debonding as well as thermal residual stress release. This tensile behavior proved to be damageable-elastic with respect to a fictitious thermalstress-free origin of the stress/strain axis lying in the compression domain. In compression, after an initial stage involving closure of the thermal microcracks present from processing, the composite displayed a linear-elastic behavior until failure. The extent of damage over the material was characterized quantitatively at the microscale by the decrease of the average transverse microcrack spacing and at the macroscale by the decrease of both the longitudinal Young's modulus and the in-plane Poisson's ratio.     

Preparation of ultra fine nickel-copper bimetallic powder for BME-MLCC

The preparation of ultra fine nickel-copper bimetallic powder with two-stage chemical reduction method was investigated. Reductive sugar and hydrazine hydrate were employed as reducing agent in different reductive stage, respectively. Reaction of CuSO₄·5H₂O with reductive sugar at 70 °C gives cuprous oxide and copper particles, then as-prepared mixture and nickelous hydroxide were reduced by hydrazine hydrate, and nickel-copper powder having excellent dispersibility was prepared. Influences of nickel added on composition and dispersibility of powder were studied. TG/DTG/DTA of nickel-copper powder, which is stable in room temperature, were discussed with thermal analyzer. Relation of nickel content to oxidation temperature was investigated. Ni-Cu bimetallic powder particles have a fully coated structure when nickel content is up to 30%. As-prepared nickel-copper powder was applied in base metal electrode-multilayer ceramic capacitor (BME-MLCC). The end termination has high adhesion force, fairly good densification, low resistivity, excellent solderibility behavior and resistance behavior to soldering.     

An evaluation of possible EU air transport emissions trading scheme allocation methods

The European Commission has been requested by member states to study the incorporation of air transport into their existing emissions trading scheme (ETS). Only CO₂ is to be included, at least initially.     

货运调车场减速顶噪声及治理的探讨

铁路货物运输枢纽的调车场中，驼峰调车是主要的调车手段，为提高生产效率和确保安全，沿驼峰下滑道布置的减速器（减速闸，减速顶）的噪声是调车场噪声的主要声源之一，本文通过对昆明东站铁路降噪工程的观测试验项目，探讨了减速顶噪声的特性及治理措施。     

Use of chemical variation and predation as plant defenses byEncelia farinosa against a specialist herbivore

Larvae of the monophagous herbivore,Trirhabda geminata, selectively eat particular plants and plant parts of its natural host,Encelia farinosa. Measurements of leaf damage and larval positions on branches through time support this observation. Time-lapse movie photography revealed that larvae are sufficiently mobile to search most of a plant in a 48-hr period and that aggregations were the result of larval activity and not directly the result of oviposition. Experiments withT. geminata larvae on artificial diets containing a range of natural concentrations of chemical extracts fromE. farinosa leaves showed that the larvae grew significantly slower and had a lower overall survivorship at the high concentration. Combining the results of all choice tests, larvae appeared unable to distinguish between high- and low-concentration agar diets. Considered individually, larval preferences for natural production concentrations changed as the season progressed. Early-season larvae preferred low-concentration leaves, while late-season larvae preferred high-concentrations. Measurements of chemical and nitrogen content of leaves selected by larvae in the field confirmed this pattern. Percent parasitism in field-collected larvae increased with season as the larval population decreased. This combination of slowed growth and increasing parasitism and predation is a putative defense strategy ofEncelia farinosa to prevent adaptation by a specialist herbivore to the total range of compounds elaborated.     

A novel methanol-tolerant Ir-Se chalcogenide electrocatalyst for oyxgen reduction

A novel methanol-tolerant oxygen-reduction catalyst, Iridium-selenium (Ir-Se) chalcogenide, was synthesized by chemical precipitation in an organic solvent. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis confirmed that the synthesized Ir-Se chalcogenide had a chemical formula of Ir₄Se. This chalcogenide showed strong catalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and a high methanol tolerance. It was found that most of the oxygen could be directly reduced to water through a four-electron pathway with less than 10% hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) being produced during the ORR. The improvement in catalytic activity of the Ir-Se chalcogenide in comparison with that of pure Ir might be attributed to the effect of a bimetallic interaction.     

A simplified cascade current‐source inverter interconnected to a single‐phase three‐wire distribution system and its application to electric energy storage systems with batteries

A novel current source inverter system interconnected to the single‐phase grid is proposed. It has the same construction as the conventional three‐phase current source inverter that is interconnected to the single‐phase three‐wire distribution system. Though the proposed circuit has no output transformer, it can be equivalently performed as the single‐phase double cascade inverter by diverting the pole transformer in the utility system. By controlling the appropriate scheme, the output currents can be obtained as the five‐level waveforms and their distortions can be decreased sufficiently. It is applied to the interactive electric energy storage system with batteries and the basic discharging characteristics are discussed experimentally. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(2): 50–61, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10380     

用熔融还原的方法从浸钒渣中提镓——碳饱和情况下的熔融还原过程

用通用旋转组合设计的方法得到了浸钒渣在饱和碳的熔融还原过程中镓的还原提取率与温度,时间及CaO的加入量关系的非线性数学模型。用非线性优化的方法并综合考虑Fe,Mn的回收,得到了最优的工艺条件及结果;用Langmuir—Knudsen方程推算了镓在铁液中的理论挥发量与时间的关系,与由本模型得到的关系式是一致的。