Development of high pressure membraneless alkaline electrolyzer

A technology for cyclic generation of hydrogen and oxygen using electrodes made of variable valency material that does not need the use of separating ion-exchange membranes is presented. The technological solution enables to fabricate electrolyzers for uninterrupted producing high-pressure hydrogen with reduced energy intensity of the production. The total work for compressing 1 m³ of hydrogen and 0.5 m³ of oxygen has been estimated. Results of investigation of influence of discrete supply of DC current to the electrolysis cell, in order to improve the processes of gas evolution and to simplify the power systems of the electrolysis plant, have been considered. There is also considered an electrolysis installation equipped with a thermosorption compressor in which LaNi₅ is used as a hydride-forming compound. The comparative characteristics of the developed electrolyzer and the currently used hydrogen generators are given.     

基于滚动摩擦作用下玉米颗粒在模拟筒仓卸料中的力链分析（网络首发、推荐阅读）

针对颗粒滚动摩擦作用对筒仓中玉米颗粒的力链空间分布进行研究，通过EDEM离散元软件建立筒仓模型与仿真玉米颗粒模型进行卸粮仿真模拟，并与筒仓卸料实验作流态对比，验证模型与仿真结果的准确性。通过对模拟仓进行切片观察和数据处理，对比分析了不同摩擦情况下力链的细观参数随时间演化规律。模拟结果表明：颗粒间摩擦系数越大，卸粮完成的最终时间越长；颗粒间滚动摩擦系数越小，颗粒由整体流转变为管状流的时间越早。对于有漏斗的筒仓来说，减小颗粒间摩擦会改变整体流和管状流之间的极限，从而增加产生管状流的面积。标准滚动摩擦系数下玉米颗粒在卸料过程中会出现起拱-塌陷效应；减小滚动摩擦，玉米颗粒卸料较稳定，未出现起拱的应力突增、以及拱塌陷的应力衰减；增大颗粒间滚动摩擦不但会增加拱效应，且出现成拱高度距离漏斗口更高。     

An infinite chain, {[Ni(tn)2]3[Fe(CN)4(μ-CN)2]2}n,a new catalyst for electrochemical-driven water splitting and photochemical-driven hydrogen evolution from water under blue light

A new catalyst for both water reduction and oxidation, based on an infinite chain, {[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n, is formed by the reaction of NiCl₂, 1,3-propanediamine (tn) and K₃ [Fe(CN)₆]. {[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n can electro-catalyze hydrogen evolution from a neutral aqueous buffer (pH 7.0) with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 1561 mol of hydrogen per mole of catalyst per hour (H₂/mol catalyst/h) at an overpotential (OP) of 837 mV {[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n also can electro-catalyze O₂ production from water with a TOF of ～45 mol O₂ (mol cat)^?1s^?1 at an OP of 591 mV. Under blue light (λ = 469 nm), together with CdS nanorods (CdS NRs) as a photosensitizer, and ascorbic acid (H₂A) as a sacrificial electron donor, {[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n can photo-catalyze hydrogen generation from an aqueous buffer (pH 4.0) with a turnover number (TON) of 11,450 mol H₂ per mole of catalyst (mol of H₂ (mol of cat)^?1) during 10 h irradiation. The average of apparent quantum yield (AQY) is as high as 40.96% during 10 h irradiation. Studies indicate that {[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n exists in two forms: a cyano-bridged chain ({[Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₄ (μ-CN)₂]₂}_n) in solid, and a salt ([Ni(tn)₂]₃ [Fe(CN)₆]₂) in aqueous media; Catalytic reaction occurs on the nickel center of [Ni(tn)₂]²⁺, and the introduction of [Fe(CN)₆]^3- can improve the catalytic efficiency of [Ni(tn)₂]²⁺ for H₂ or O₂ generation. We hope these findings can afford a new method for the design of catalysts for both water reduction and oxidation.     

煤炭资源型城市转型模式研究：以徐州贾汪区为例

煤炭资源型城市为我国经济发展提供了重要的资源和能源支持,研究资源型城市转型的经验模式对调整区域经济结构、确保社会稳定和改善生态环境具有重要的实践意义。本文采用文献综述法和实证分析法,研究我国东部煤炭资源枯竭型城市转型所面临的共性难题,并以徐州贾汪区转型探索经历为例,总结城市转型的"徐州贾汪区模式",主要包括放大正向外部效应、长期坚持矿地融合、大力建设矿区社会生态系统恢复力三条路径。研究结果表明,煤炭城市转型发展的共性问题相互联系、相互影响,是一个系统性难题,必须引入系统性思维。我国东部矿区普遍人口密集,农业发达、沉陷积水是最主要的共性特征,煤炭开采产生的社会问题、经济问题、生态问题、环境问题基本相同,转型发展模式值得互鉴。     

Authenticity green coffee bean species and geographical origin using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics

To prevent the adulteration of agricultural resources and provide a solution to enhance the green coffee bean supply chain, authentication using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique was investigated. Partial least square with discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) models combined with various preprocessing methods were built from NIR spectra of 153 Vietnamese green coffee samples. The model combined with the standard normal variate and the first order of derivative yielded excellent performance in predicting coffee species with the error cross-validation of 0.0261. PLS-DA model of mean centre and first-order derivative spectra also yielded good performance in verifying geographical indication of green coffee with the error of 0.0656. By contrast, the predicting abilities of post-harvest methods were poor. The overall results showed a high potential of the NIRS in online authentication practices.     

Hydrogen supply scenarios for a climate neutral energy system in Germany

A climate neutral energy system in Germany will most likely require green hydrogen. Two important factors, that determine whether the hydrogen will be imported or produced locally from renewable energy are still uncertain though - the import price for green hydrogen and the upper limit for photovoltaic installations. To investigate the impact of these two factors, the authors calculate cost optimized climate neutral energy systems while varying the import price from 1.25 €/kg to 5 €/kg with unlimited import volume and the photovoltaic limit from 300 GW to unlimited. In all scenarios, hydrogen plays a significant role. At a medium import price of 3.75 €/kg and photovoltaic limits of 300–900 GW the hydrogen supply is around 1200 to 1300 TWh with import shares varying from 60 to 85%. In most scenarios the electrolysis profile is highly correlated with the photovoltaic power, which leads to full load hours of 1870 h–2770 h.     

Green Measurements for Software Product Based on Sustainability Dimensions

Software is a central component in the modern world and vastly affects the environment’s sustainability. The demand for energy and resource requirements is rising when producing hardware and software units. Literature study reveals that many studies focused on green hardware; however, limited efforts were made in the greenness of software products. Green software products are necessary to solve the issues and problems related to the long-term use of software, especially from a sustainability perspective. Without a proper mechanism for measuring the greenness of a particular software product executed in a specific environment, the mentioned benefits will not be attained. Currently, there are not enough works to address this problem, and the green status of software products is uncertain and unsure. This paper aims to identify the green measurements based on sustainable dimensions in a software product. The second objective is to reveal the relationships between the elements and measurements through empirical study. The study is conducted in two phases. The first phase is the theoretical phase, where the main components, measurements and practices that influence the sustainability of a software product are identified. The second phase is the empirical study that involved 103 respondents in Malaysia investigating current practices of green software in the industrial environment and further identifying the main sustainability dimensions and measurements and their impact on achieving green software products. This study has revealed seven green measurements of software product: Productivity, Usability, Cost Reduction, Employee Support, Energy Efficiency, Resource Efficiency and Tool Support. The relationships are statistically significant, with a significance level of less than 0.01 (p = 0.000). Thus, the hypothesised relationships were all accepted. The contributions of this study revolve around the research perspectives of the measurements to attain a green software product.     

Valorisation of potato wastes

Potato processing industry has a high degree of discarding, which currently has low added value being used primarily for animal feed. However, potato wastes offer a broad range of interesting components such as antioxidants, starch, protein or fibre with potential applications in the food and non-food industries. The recovery of these high valuable fractions using efficient multistage and multiproduct processes could be of great interest. This short review provides a general overview on the integral valorisation of potato wastes, offering an updated vision of the main residual parts generated during potato harvesting and processing, the high valuable obtained components focusing on the bioactive ones and the potential of the emerging extraction techniques over conventional ones. In addition, innovative applications are discussed to highlight the scientific and applied interest of these underutilised and undervalued fractions and to emphasise the integral valorisation of raw materials.