Technical and economic analysis of solvent-based lithium-ion electrode drying with water and NMP

Processing lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrode dispersions with water as the solvent during primary drying offers many advantages over N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). An in-depth analysis of the comparative drying costs of LIB electrodes is discussed for both NMP- and water-based dispersion processing in terms of battery pack $/kWh. Electrode coating manufacturing and capital equipment cost savings are compared for water vs. conventional NMP organic solvent processing. A major finding of this work is that the total electrode manufacturing costs, whether water- or NMP-based, contribute about 8–9% of the total pack cost. However, it was found that up to a 2?×?reduction in electrode processing (drying and solvent recovery) cost can be expected along with a $3–6?M savings in associated plant capital equipment (for a plant producing 100,000 10-kWh Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) batteries) using water as the electrode solvent. This paper shows a different perspective in that the most important benefits of aqueous electrode processing actually revolve around capital equipment savings and environmental stewardship and not processing cost savings.     

Life cycle cost analysis of alternative vehicles and fuels in Thailand

High crude oil prices and pollution problems have drawn attention to alternative vehicle technologies and fuels for the transportation sector. The question is: What are the benefits/costs of these technologies for society? To answer this question in a quantitative way, a web-based model (http://vehiclesandfuels.memebot.com) has been developed to calculate the societal life cycle costs, the consumer life cycle costs and the tax for different vehicle technologies. By comparing these costs it is possible to draw conclusions about the social benefit and the related tax structure. The model should help to guide decisions toward optimality, which refers to maximum social benefit. The model was applied to the case of Thailand. The life cycle cost of 13 different alternative vehicle technologies in Thailand have been calculated and the tax structure analyzed.     

基于微生物和纳米TiO2的双负载 核壳水凝胶的制备和性能

摘要：设计了能同时利用微生物和光催化剂，分步逐级降解有机污染物的多功能双负载核壳水凝胶，核为聚乙烯醇（PVA）和羟乙基纤维素（HEC）包覆酵母菌（YE），壳为海藻酸钠（SA）和钙离子（Ca2+）负载纳米二氧化钛（TiO2 NPs）。采用SEM观察形貌可知，核壳结构清晰可辩，显微镜照片和荧光标记照片证明了核中YE的存在，XRD分析结果证明了壳中TiO2 NPs的负载，同时FTIR、XPS验证了核壳结构的分子间存在着相互作用力。并且在不同负载量下，研究了核壳水凝胶对亚甲基蓝（MB）染料去除的分步降解效果，壳中TiO2 NPs负载量越高，对MB的降解最高，可达96.65%； YE负载量的增加而MB的降解率先增大后减小，最高可达92.15%。在循环降解4次后，对MB染料的降解率仍有68.97%。本研究为分步多次降解多种有机污染物，提供并拓展了研究思路和新方法。     

Combined effect of microwave and ultrasonication treatments on the quality and stability of sugarcane juice during cold storage

The main objective of this study was to investigate the combined effect of microwave (MW) treatment (2450 MHz for 120 s), ultrasonication (US) (24 KHz, 20 °C for 20 min) and combined treatment (MW-US) on the quality and stability of sugarcane juice (SCJ) during 21 days of storage at 4 °C. The effect of the treatments and storage time on physicochemical, bioactive compounds (total phenolic, flavonoids and ascorbic acid content) and microbial analysis of SCJ. No significant (P < 0.05) changes were observed in °Brix, while there was an increase in pH and a decrease in titratable acidity in all treatments. Compared to US and MW, MW-US treatments was more effective in preserving colour attributes, total phenolic and flavonoids contents, ascorbic acid and antioxidant capacities of the SCJ during storage. The results regarding the microbial count indicate that more microbial safety and longer shelf life was achieved by MW-US. MW-US treatment is an effective technology for improving the safety and shelf life of SCJ by minimising quality changes, retaining bioactive compounds and reducing microbial growth during storage.     

Development of a low-carbon,healthy and innovative value-added riceberry rice product through life cycle design

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Life cycle assessment was applied to a riceberry rice product to support decisions on the development of an innovative, healthy, and low-carbon product...     

Assessing environmentally sustainable practices of smallholder highland farmers: a case study of maize production in Northern Thailand

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Promotion of sustainable maize production in Northern Thailand, the country’s largest maize-producing region, is crucial to securing the supply...     

Logistics cost analysis of rice straw for biomass power generation in Thailand

The logistics of the fuel supply have a large impact on the economy of a biomass power generation facility, especially for low density biomass fuels like straw. A detailed cost analysis of a typical rice straw logistics process for two baling options in three regions of Thailand shows that the costs for all logistics operations vary from a minimum of 18.75 USD/t for small rectangular bales in the Northern region of Thailand to maximum 19.89 USD/t for large rectangular bales in the North-eastern region. The difference in costs is not very significant due to the higher ownership and operating costs of the equipment for using large rectangular bales; however, the specific fuel consumption cost is substantially lower by around 17.5% and a total transport cost reduction is about 31.5%. Analysis of the logistics economies of scale for projected power plant capacities of 2-35 MW_e showed that each doubling the capacity of the energy facility increases the specific costs of the logistics operations only by around 4% in all regions.     

Embedded passive components in advanced 3D chips and micro/nano electronic systems

Microsystem Technologies - Electronic devices are shrinking day by day, while the speed and reliability is increasing. At the same time, IC designs and micro/nano electronic systems are becoming...