Reducing the risk level for pipelines transporting carbon dioxide and hydrogen by means of optimal safety valves spacing

In many countries where electricity generation is based on their natural resources of fossil fuels a need arises to implement new power engineering technologies that allow carbon dioxide capture. Simultaneously, efforts are made to find new energy carriers which, if fired, do not involve carbon dioxide emissions. Hydrogen is one of such fuels with this future potential which is now becoming increasingly popular. Obviously, this means that the two gases mentioned above – carbon dioxide and hydrogen – will be produced in large quantities in future, which in many cases will necessitate their transport over considerable distances. If a pipeline failure occurs, the transport of the gases may pose a serious hazard to people in the immediate vicinity of the leakage site. This paper presents an analysis of the possibility of reducing the level of risk related to pipelines transporting CO₂ and H₂ by means of safety valves. It is shown that for a 50 km long and a 0.4 m diameter pipeline transporting gas with the pressure of 15 MPa the individual risk level can be reduced from 1·10⁻⁴ to 6.5·10⁻⁷ for CO₂ and from 1·10⁻⁶ to 6·10⁻¹⁰ for H₂. The social risk can be diminished in similar proportions.     

Database for accidents and incidents in the fuel ethanol industry

The purpose of the present research is to collect information about accidents and incidents that have occurred at fuel ethanol facilities from 1998 to October 2014, and to keep complete unified records of them in a database. The developed database contains general information about the accident or incident, its sequence, mitigation measures, its causes and consequences for humans, environment and for the plant. Until now, this information is not available. The work consisted in gathering information from different documental sources and subsequent organization in a database. It complements the previous work made for biodiesel industry and fills the existing gap in the field of ethanol. Knowledge about this information enables us to manage plant risks, since the accidents that are more likely to occur and the main sources of risk can be easily identified. Also, it makes it possible to exchange information with interested third parties. Statistical analysis shows that accident frequency has an oscillatory behavior, rising in the last year. Fire is the most common type of accident, while equipment mechanical failure is the main cause of accident. Partial material loss has been identified as the most common consequence. Finally, some conclusions are obtained concerning to the importance of having an updated and complete accident and incident database.     

Influence of concentration distribution of hydrogen in air on measured flammability limits

There is a clear difference between exiting data on the measured flammability limits of hydrogen-air mixture. The non-uniformity of concentration distribution of hydrogen in air is a contributor to deviations of the upper flammability limit (UFL) and the lower flammability limit (LFL) measured in different experiments. This paper presents a numerical model to simulate the gas mixing process from start to stability, to predict the concentration distribution, and to research the influence of concentration distribution of hydrogen in air on measured UFLs and LFLs. The commercial software package Fluent was used to carry out the numerical simulation for the concentration distribution of hydrogen in air in the vessels with length-to-diameter ratios (L: D) of 1:1, 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1 respectively. Based on the numerical simulation and analysis, the influence of concentration distribution on measured flammability limits was demonstrated for hydrogen in air in the vessel. It is found that the deviations of measured flammability limits of hydrogen in air are the minimum in the vessel with length-to-diameter ratio of 1:1, and augment with the augmentation of vessel length-to-diameter ratio. Moreover, it is presented that the deviations of measured flammability limits of hydrogen in the center of the vessel are lower than that in the top and the bottom.     

Numerical simulation of premixed methane–air deflagration in a semi-confined obstructed chamber

In this paper, large eddy simulation coupled with a turbulent flame speed cloure (TFC) subgrid combustion model has been utilized to simulate premixed methane–air deflagration in a semi-confined chamber with three obstacles mounted inside.The computational results are in good agreement with published experimental data, including flame structures, pressure time history and flame speed. The attention is focused on the flame flow field interaction, pressure dynamics, as well as the mechanism of obstacle-induced deflagration. It is found that there is a positive feedback mechanism established between the flame propagation and the flow field. The pressure time history can be divided into four stages and the pseudo-combustion concept is proposed to explain the pressure oscillation phenomenon. The obstacle-induction mechanism includes direct effect and indirect effect, but do not always occur at the same time.     

Investigation of Nanoparticle Additives to Biodiesel for Improvement of the Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Compression Ignition Engine

Worldwide energy demand has been growing steadily during the past five decades and most experts believe that this trend will continue to rise. The amount of emitted harmful emission gases increases in parallel with increasing energy consumption. This increase has forced many countries to take various precautions, and various restrictions on emitted emissions have been carried. In this study, effects of addition of oxygen containing nanoparticle additives to biodiesel on fuel properties and effects on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated. Two different nanoparticle additives, namely MgO and SiO₂, were added to biodiesel at the addition dosage of 25 and 50 ppm. Fuel properties, engine performance, and exhaust emission characteristics of obtained modified fuels were examined. As a result of this study, engine emission values NO_x and CO were decreased and engine performance values slightly increased with the addition of nanoparticle additives.     

The Kinetics of Interesterfication on Waste Cooking Oil (Sunflower Oil) for the Production of Fatty Acid Alkyl Esters using a Whole Cell Biocatalyst (Rhizopus oryzae) and Pure Lipase Enzyme

Recent research and technology have provided promising outcomes to rely on biodiesel as the alternative and conventional source of fuel. The use of renewable sources constitutes the main stream of research. Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) was used for biodiesel production in this study. Lipase enzyme producing fungi Rhizopus oryzae 262 and commercially available pure lipase enzyme were used for comparative study in the production of FAAE. The whole cell biocatalyst and pure enzyme were immobilized using calcium alginate beads. It was prepared by optimizing with different molar ratios of calcium chloride and different percent sodium alginate. Entrapment immobilization was done for whole cell biocatalyst. PE was also immobilized by entrapment for the transesterification reaction. Four different solvents methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol were used as the acyl acceptors. The reaction parameters like temperature, molar ratio, reaction time, and amount of enzyme to be used were also optimized for methanol alone. The same parameters were adopted for the other acyl acceptors too. Among the different acyl acceptors, methanol whose reaction parameters were optimized showed maximum conversion of triglycerides to FAAE - 94% with PE and 84% with WCB. On the whole, PE showed better catalytic converting ability with all the acyl acceptor compared to WCB, further study, it was observed that three consecutive and reversible reactions occurred in the interesterification of triglycerides. So, a kinetic model based on Michaelis-Menten equation with competitive substrate inhibition was used to find the maximum reaction rate V_i for the four solvents using pure enzyme and WCB.     

双室微生物燃料电池处含银废水的产电性研究

以剩余污泥为阳极底,糖蜜废水为基质,Ag Cl废水为阴极电子受体,构建了双室微生物燃料电池(Two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell,简称MFCs),并研究了电池的产电特性、库仑效率及金属去除率.结果表明:Ag+不仅可以作为阴极电子受体,而且还能稳定产电,外电阻为1000Ω时,获得的最大电压为514.5 m V,最大功率密度为65.82 m W·m-2.在阴极实现了对废水中Ag+的去除,最大去除率可达71.6%,而且Ag+浓度为2000 mg·L-1时,回收金属银单质质量为197.66 g.在阳极对废水的处理效果也很显著,库仑效率最高为2.66%,COD去除率最大为81.22%.     

Influence of hypothyroidism on oxidative stress,c-Fos expression,cell cycle,and apoptosis in rats testes

The molecular basis of male reproduction for cross-regulation between androgen and thyroid hormone axes is still rudimentary. This study aims to define a possible mechanism of hypothyroidism-induced reproductive influence with respect to sex hormone, mineral, sperm motility, oxidative stress, c-Fos expression, cell cycle, and apoptosis in rat testes. The Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group (NS) and hypothyroidism group [1 ml/100g BW/day, 0.1% propylthiouracil (PTU)] by intragastric gavage for 60 days. Blood samples were collected to measure the serum levels. The epididymis was excised to measure sperm motility and testes were excised to measure mineral, oxidative stress, c-Fos expression, cell cycle, and apoptosis. After 60 days, body weight, relative testes weight, triiodothyronine, and total thyroxine were all significantly decreased, whereas thyroid stimulating hormone was increased in the hypothyroidism group. A significant increase in sex hormone level of estradiol (E2) and significant decreases in testosterone (T) and T/E2 ratio were observed following PTU treatment. And sperm quality was also significantly changed. There were significant decreases in the contents of calcium (Ca²⁺) and zinc (Zn²⁺). On the other hand, malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents significantly increased, whereas the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide content significantly decreased in hypothyroid rats. The mRNA and protein expressions of c-Fos decreased significantly. The cell percentage in G0/G1 phase increased significantly, whereas decreased significantly in S and G2/M phases. Also, a significant increase in testicular cell apoptosis was observed in hypothyroid-treated rats. These results suggested that hypothyroidism could affect reproductive function in the form of changed sex hormone levels, sperm motility and testicular Ca²⁺ and Zn²⁺, and enhanced oxidative stress leading to c-Fos abnormal expression and increased apoptosis.     

一株产电菌嗜根考克氏菌(Kocuria rhizophila)的分离及其产电性能优化

本研究以天津泰达污水处理厂污泥浓缩间的污泥为接种物,启动并运行了微生物燃料电池(MFCs).从富集的阳极生物膜上分离得到了一株纯培养的微生物菌种,命名为P2-A-5.研究发现,菌株P2-A-5的16S rDNA序列与菌株Kocuria rhizophila DC2201具有100%的同源性,结合该菌的形态特征和生理生化实验,将其归属为嗜根考克氏菌(Kocuria rhizophila).通过化学剂处理、底物种类和浓度的优化,进一步提高其在微生物燃料电池中的产电性能.结果表明,菌株K.rhizophila P2-A-5经0.5 mg·L-1溶菌酶处理45 min后,接种到以2.0 g·L-1海藻糖为底物的阳极液中运行MFCs,其功率密度达到314.8 m W·m-2,比优化前(74.9 m W·m-2)提高了320.3%.这是首次对K.rhizophila种内微生物产电性能及其在微生物燃料电池中应用的报道,其成果对于丰富产电微生物的多样性,挖掘更多具有高电化学活性的微生物菌种,提高其产电性能具有重要的理论意义.     

Cu(II), Fe(III) and Mn(II) combinations as environmental stress factors have distinguishing effects on Enterococcus hirae

Pollution by various heavy metals as environmental stress factors might affect bacteria. It was established that iron (Fe(III)), manganese (Mn(II)) and copper (Cu(II)) ion combinations caused effects on Enterococcus hirae that differed from the sum of the effects when the metals were added separately. It was shown that the Cu²⁺-Fe³⁺ combination decreased the growth and ATPase activity of membrane vesicles of wild-type E. hirae ATCC9790 and atpD mutant (with defective F_oF₁-ATPase) MS116. Addition of Mn²⁺-Fe³⁺ combinations within the same concentration range had no effects on growth compared to control (without heavy metals). ATPase activity was increased in the presence of Mn²⁺-Fe³⁺, while together with 0.2 mmol/L N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD), ATPase activity was decreased compared to control (when only 0.2 mmol/L DCCD was present). These results indicate that heavy metals ion combinations probably affect the FOF1-ATPase, leading to conformational changes. Moreover the action may be direct or be mediated by environment redox potential. The effects observed when Fe³⁺ was added separately disappeared in both cases, which might be a result of competing processes between Fe³⁺ and other heavy metals. These findings are novel and improve the understanding of heavy metals ions effects on bacteria, and could be applied for regulation of stress response patterns in the environment.