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Production of biodiesel from yellow grease (waste cooking oil and waste animal fats) is fast emerging as a promising alternative to address the twin challenges before the biodiesel industry today-fluctuation in prices of vegetable oil and the food versus fuel debate. Yellow grease has a high percentage of free fatty acids (FFA) and proves to be an unsuitable feedstock for biodiesel production from commercially viable alkali-catalyzed production systems due to saponification problems.“Green” methodologies based on heterogeneous solid acid catalyzed reactions have the potential to simultaneously promote esterification and transesterification reactions of yellow grease to produce biodiesel without soap formation and offer easy catalyst separation without generation of toxic streams. This paper presents kinetic studies for the conversion of model yellow grease feeds to biodiesel using a heteropolyacid supported on alumina (HSiW/Al2O3) using a batch autoclave. Three model yellow grease feeds were prepared using canola oil with added FFA such as palmitic, oleic and linoleic acid. A pseudo homogeneous kinetic model for the parallel esterification and transesterification was developed. The rate constants and activation parameters for esterification and transesterification reactions for the model yellow grease feeds were determined. The rate constants for esterification are higher than the transesterification rate constants. The kinetic model was validated using the experimental biodiesel data obtained from processing a commercial yellow grease feed. The kinetic model could be used to design novel processes to convert various low-value waste oils, fats and non-food grade oils to sustainable biodiesel. Keywords: Yellow grease, Canola oil, Free fatty acids, Heteropolyacid, Kinetics for esterification and transesterification

AbstractHere, we present the results of evaluation of solar energy potential and photovoltaic (PV) module performance from actual data measured over a period of more than 2 years in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. To allow estimation of solar energy potentials and durability of PV systems in the Gobi Desert area, a data acquisition system, including crystalline silicon (c‐Si), polycrystalline silicon (p‐Si) modules, and two sets of precision pyranometers, thermometers, and anemometer, was installed at Sainshand City in October 2002. This system measures 23 parameters, including solar irradiation and meteorological parameters, every 10 min. High output gain was observed due to operation at extremely low ambient temperatures and the module performance ratios (PRs) were high (>1·0) in winter. In summary, the present study showed that a PV module with a high temperature coefficient, such as crystalline silicon, is advantageous for use in the Gobi Desert area. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

上下方向に単調和振動をする水平面上におかれた非反発性物体の運動解析を振動加速度の大きい範囲に対してまず行なった。次に二れの延長として個々のものは反発性てある鍋球で形成された層の運動について検討した。この場合には, 衝撃を受けて鋼球群の充てん構造が変化する二とおよび反発によってランダムに運動をする層上部の鋼球群が下部層の運動を抑制するという働きによって, 層の大部分は規則正しい運動をすることが認められた。そこでこれに対する上下方向の運動方程式として非反発性物体の場合をも包含したかたちの式を提示し, 実教によりこれを確かめた。このよ5な検討結果は主として振動ミルによる粉砕現象を検討するさいの基礎として役立つものと思われる。

AbstractShipbuilding is an energy-intensive industrial sector that produces a significant amount of waste, pollution and air emissions. However, the International Maritime Organization concentrates only on reducing emissions during the operational phase. In order to completely phase out emissions from the shipping industry, a life-cycle approach must be taken. The study implemented the proposed transdisciplinary energy management framework in a Bangladeshi shipyard. The framework aims to support shipyard decision makers in making rational and optimized decisions to make shipyards sustainable, while maintaining good product quality and reducing relative cost. This is achieved by applying the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution methods to identify optimal solutions. In addition to making shipyards more sustainable, the framework can enhance both the business and socio-economic prospects of the shipyard and promote the reputation of the shipyard and improve its competitiveness and, in line with this, lead to the promotion of nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for States. The implementation of the framework shows that the political and legal discipline, the social criteria and the implementation of ISO 14001 and cyber security were the most important criteria and options for the yard's decision makers.

China’s research on and specific implementation of energy saving for buildings are mainly concentrated in urban areas, but according to 2016 statistics, the rural population accounts for 42.65% of the total population, so rural housing has considerable energy-saving potential. However, the degree of attention to the energy consumption of rural houses needs to be improved. Regarding the research on and implementation of passive energy-saving strategies for residences, compared with centralized urban high-rise residences, rural residences mainly have independent courtyards, with a flexible layout and easier transformation. In this study, a system that uses the common cold lanes in traditional villages and buildings’ exterior walls was constructed, and the indoor spaces of courtyard buildings in southern Shaanxi were completely passively cooled in summer. This system can be completely separated from the supply of artificial energy by relying on the accumulation and buoyancy effects of air in patios and cold lanes and the hot-pressure ventilation in buildings to cool the buildings and greatly improve indoor ventilation efficiency. As the building is ventilated and cooled, the air wall formed in the system can effectively prevent direct contact between the outdoor and indoor temperatures and reduce the impact of thermal wall radiation on the interior. In previous studies on the passive design of courtyard houses, scholars considered the effect of thermal wall radiation on indoor temperature in simulations. Therefore, in this study, we also separately calculated whether to consider the difference between the situation with and without wall heat radiation (WHR) when simulating thermal conversion. The final results show that when the cooling system was adopted, the annual cooling load of the whole building was 4786.494 kW·h without WHR. However, with WHR, the cooling load reduction was 2989.128 kW·h, a difference of 1797.336 kW·h.

In order to study the effect of burst temperature on the coolant flow channel restriction, burst tests of fuel bundles were performed. Each bundle consisted of 49 rods (7×7 rods), and bursts were conducted in flowing steam. Burst temperature was changed by changing the internal gas pressure in rods. After the burst, the ballooning behavior of each rod and the degree of coolant flow area restriction in the bundle were measured. Maximum swelling of rod occurs when the burst temperature is around α and α+β phase boundary, and this phenomenon is almost the same as that in single rod burst tests. Maximum coolant flow area restriction is also observed in this condition.

Abstract Ti-doped ZnO (ZnO/Ti) thin films were grown on indium tin oxide substrates by a facile electrodeposition route. The morphology, crystal structure and resistive switching properties were examined, respectively. The morphology reveals that grains are composed of small crystals. The (002) preferential growth along c-axis of ZnO/Ti could be observed from structural analysis. The XPS study shows the presence of oxygen vacancies in the prepared films. Typical bipolar and reversible resistance switching effects were observed. High R OFF/R ON ratios (approximately 14) and low operation voltages within 100 switching cycles are obtained. The filament theory and the interface effect are suggested to be responsible for the resistive switching phenomenon.