Combined Decarbonization of Electrical Energy Generation and Production of Synthetic Fuels by Renewable Energies and Fossil Fuels

Power generation from renewable energy sources and fossil fuels are integrated into one system. A combination of technologies in the form of a carbon capture utilization (CCU)-combined power station is proposed. The technology is based on energy generation from fossil fuels by a coal power plant with CO₂ recovery from exhaust gases, and pyrolysis of natural gas to hydrogen and carbon, completed by reverse water-gas shift for the conversion of CO₂ to CO, which will react with hydrogen in a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for synthetic diesel. The carbon from the pyrolysis can replace other fossil carbon or can be sequestered. This technology offers significant CO₂ savings compared to the current state of technology and makes an environmentally friendly use of fossil fuels for electricity and fuel sectors possible.     

In Situ Measurements of Settling Velocity near Baimao Shoal in Changjiang Estuary

At the South Branch of the Changjiang Estuary near Baimao Shoal, two in situ approaches were used to estimate the settling velocity, ws, of suspended, fine-grained sediments. The first approach was used when the current was less than 1.5??m/s and was based on measurements from an optical backscatter sensor (OBS-3A) and a laser in situ scattering and transmissometer (LISST-100, Type C). A modification, using the measured ratio of volume concentration for each floc size class to the total volume concentration as a weighting factor. To improve a previously published approach, a better algorthim was implemented to estimate ws. Results of the modified approach (0.4 to 4.6??mm/s) are about twice those of the original approach, which assumes that all sizes of flocs have the same floc density. The second approach used the Rouse equation to estimate the depth-averaged ws when the current was strong and nearly steady around maximum ebb. Results from the second approach show a much greater depth-averaged ws (4–8.5??mm/s). This is attributed to the large bed shear stresses (between 3 and 3.6?Pa) bringing large sediments into the water column.     

Surfactant effects on gas absorption in a coke-oven gas treatment process

The effect of organic impurities in industrial stripped coal water (SCW) on the absorption of CO₂ was measured experimentally. Removal of these impurities via activated carbon showed a marked improvement in interphase mass transfer of a vertical wetted-wall column absorber. However, this benefit was not found in a stirred-cell absorber, in which a different flow pattern from that in wetted-wall column absorber is expected. An ad hoc systematic study on the effects of three deliberately added surfactants on gas absorption by pure water in three different absorbers with different flow patterns was thereafter conducted. The experimental results reveal that absorption deterioration also prevails only in a vertical, wetted-wall column absorber and the reduction in liquid phase mass transfer by the addition of surfactant can be satisfactorily correlated with surface pressure of solutions. This indicates that the effect of the industrial impurities in SCW on gas absorption may successfully be simulated under the same flow pattern by a surfactant solution with the same surface pressure. A possible modification of the existing coke-oven gas (COG) treatment process for the benefit of absorption enhancement was finally proposed.     

Energy function analysis of dynamic programming neural networks

All analytical examination of the energy function associated with a dynamic programming neural network is presented. The analysis is carried out in two steps. First, the locations and numbers of the minimum states for different components of the energy function are investigated in the extreme cases. A clearer insight into the energy function can be gained through the minimum states of different components. Secondly, the locations of the minimum states of the energy function using different parameter values are derived. It is shown that the minimum states can reside in regions which are regarded as valid solutions with certain conditions. Examples and simulation results are given to justify the validity of the theories developed.     

Spray Drying of Biopharmaceuticals: Stability and Process Considerations

Spray drying represents an elegant one-step process for producing biopharmaceutical formulations with unique particle characteristics. However, the full potential of spray drying of therapeutic/proteins/peptides has yet to be fully exploited. The reluctance of utilizing spray drying for formulation development may stem from the fact that the process oftentimes subjects the therapeutic actives to temperatures in excess of 100°C, which is a concern for thermally labile drugs as spray drying was performed primarily on co-current spray dryer in a single-stage mode. In this review we discuss the respective dehydration mechanisms of spray drying and the appropriate formulation strategies that can be taken to minimize detrimental effects on biomolecules.     

Support vector classification of proteomic profile spectra based on feature extraction with the bi-orthogonal discrete wavelet transform

Automatic classification of high-resolution mass spectrometry data has increasing potential to support physicians in diagnosis of diseases like cancer. The proteomic data exhibit variations among different disease states. A precise and reliable classification of mass spectra is essential for a successful diagnosis and treatment. The underlying process to obtain such reliable classification results is a crucial point. In this paper such a method is explained and a corresponding semi automatic parameterization procedure is derived. Thereby a simple straightforward classification procedure to assign mass spectra to a particular disease state is derived. The method is based on an initial preprocessing stage of the whole set of spectra followed by the bi-orthogonal discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for feature extraction. The approximation coefficients calculated from the scaling function exhibit a high peak pattern matching property and feature a denoising of the spectrum. The discriminating coefficients, selected by the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test are finally used as features for training and testing a support vector machine with both a linear and a radial basis kernel. For comparison the peak areas obtained with the it ClinProt-System ¹ [33] were analyzed using the same support vector machines. The introduced approach was evaluated on clinical MALDI-MS data sets with two classes each originating from cancer studies. The cross validated error rates using the wavelet coefficients where better than those obtained from the peak areas².     

Ausgleich der Volatilität der Erneuerbaren Energien mittels Wärmespeichern auf Salzbasis

To compensate for the volatility of renewable energies, solutions beyond fossil reserve power plants are needed. One approach is salt-based heat storage with phase change materials (PCM). In order to achieve economic efficiency, ambitious targets are required. A sensible and latent heat storage system for the temperature range around 400 °C based on salts and thermal oils with high development potential is presented.