• Energy Research
• ES close
• CA close
• Energy Research close

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Kimaki jiko

The objective of this work is to valorise the discharges (rejections) of the Boukhedra iron ore mine (east of Algeria) as raw materials for the elaboration of the cement raw. The study concerns the development of different types of low impact environmental belite cements whose raw are exclusively mine rejections. The use of a low CaO / SiO2 ratio and the combination of quick cooling of clinker with adequate NaF and LiF mineralization in association with CaSO4, has led to the production of belite cement with high hydraulic reactivity comparable to that of ordinary Portland cements. The used mineralization plays also a positive role in improving performance in terms of firing of the raw, by lowering the clinker process temperatures of these cements, thus, enabling an additional gain in terms of environmental impact and energy consumption. This mineralization and the low LSF of these cements allows obtaining them at low burning temperatures 1150 °C and 1100 °C for the cement with 2%LiF. This is 350 °C lower to ordinary Portland cement. The addition of CaSO4, NaF and LiF to the clinkers makes the improvement of its clinkering possible. The effect of LiF seems to be the most significant followed by NaF and finally, CaSO4

The South African electricity supply industry (ESI) is dominated by a state-owned and vertically integrated utility, Eskom, which ranks seventh in the world in terms of size and electricity sales; 92% of electricity is generated from coal. Data is presented to provide a snapshot of the current situation (2002). The paper examines the rationale for reform and restructuring of the South African ESI.

The energy considered as waste heat in industrial furnaces owing to inefficiencies represents a substantial opportunity for recovery by means of thermal energy storage (TES) implementation. Although conventional systems based on sensible heat are used extensively, these systems involve technical limitations. Latent heat storage based on phase change materials (PCMs) results in a promising alternative for storing and recovering waste heat. Within this scope, the proposed PCM-TES allows for demonstrating its implementation feasibility in energy-intensive industries at high temperature range. The stored energy is meant to preheat the air temperature entering the furnace by using a PCM whose melting point is 885 °C. In this sense, a heat transfer model simulation is established to determine an appropriate design based on mass and energy conservation equations. The thermal performance is analysed for the melting and solidification processes, the phase transition and its influence on heat transference. Moreover, the temperature profile is illustrated for the PCM and combustion air stream. The obtained results prove the achievability of very high temperature levels (from 700 to 865 °C) in the combustion air preheating in a ceramic furnace; so corroborating an energy and environmental efficiency enhancement, compared to the initial condition presenting an air outlet at 650 °C.

At the 1972 Stockholm Conference, participating States expressed concern about the extent and consequences of air pollution, laying the groundwork for international legal cooperation to address it. The Action Plan for the Human Environment included the need to promote scientific observation of the atmosphere, and the principles set out in the Stockholm Declaration served, as in other areas of environmental international law, to articulate the response to the threats identified. Since that meeting, the evolution of international legal protection of the atmosphere has been marked by the implementation of three international regimes. The European regime on transboundary air pollution, inaugurated in 1979, was the first model of international cooperation in this field, and influenced subsequent developments in the regimes on ozone layer protection and climate change. Taking into account the foundational impetus that the Stockholm Conference provided for the development of these regimes, this paper analyses the evolution of international legal protection of the atmosphere in the fifty years since the Conference was held

Recycled polylactic acid (PLAr) was reinforced with treated nanocellulosic hemp fibers for biocomposite fabrication. Cellulosic fibers were extracted from hemp fibers chemically and treated enzymatically. Treated nanocellulosic fibers (NCF) were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Biocomposite fabrication was done with PLAr and three concentrations of treated NCF (0.1%, 0.25%, and 1% (v/v)) and then studied for thermal stability and mechanical properties. Increased thermal stability was observed with increasing NCF concentrations. The highest value for Young’s modulus was for PLAr + 0.25% (v/v) NCF (250.28 ± 5.47 MPa), which was significantly increased compared to PLAr (p = 0.022). There was a significant decrease in the tensile stress at break point for PLAr + 0.25% (v/v) NCF and PLAr + 1% (v/v) NCF as compared to control (p = 0.006 and 0.002, respectively). No significant difference was observed between treatments for tensile stress at yield.

Inter-turn winding faults in five-phase ferrite-permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance motors (fPMa-SynRMs) can lead to catastrophic consequences if not detected in a timely manner, since they can quickly progress into more severe short-circuit faults, such as coil-to-coil, phase-to-ground or phase-to-phase faults. This paper analyzes the feasibility of detecting such harmful faults in their early stage, with only one short-circuited turn, since there is a lack of works related to this topic in multi-phase fPMa-SynRMs. Two methods are tested for this purpose, the analysis of the spectral content of the zero-sequence voltage component (ZSVC) and the analysis of the stator current spectra, also known as motor current signature analysis (MCSA), which is a well-known fault diagnosis method. This paper compares the performance and sensitivity of both methods under different operating conditions. It is proven that inter-turn faults can be detected in the early stage, with the ZSVC providing more sensitivity than the MCSA method. It is also proven that the working conditions have little effect on the sensitivity of both methods. To conclude, this paper proposes two inter-turn fault indicators and the threshold values to detect such faults in the early stage, which are calculated from the spectral information of the ZSVC and the line currents.