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AbstractThe aim is to develop a catalysed water-based capture process, avoiding the energy intensive steam stripping steps necessary with amine solvents. The naturally occurring zinc metallo-enzyme carbonic anhydrase/hydratase (CAH) can concentrate CO2 using a reversible hydration/dehydration cycle at neutral pH and at ambient temperatures. Some tripodal complexes of zinc (II)–[zinc-itrilo-tris(2-benzimidazoyl-methyl-6-sulfonic acid, (zinc-L1S), and zinc-tris(2-benzimidazoylmethyl)-amine, (zinc-LI)], and also cadmium (II), cobalt (II) and other metals complexed to these tripodal ligands have been prepared, and show activity that mimics the CAH catalytic process–hydration of CO2 to bicarbonate followed by the reverse dehydration of the bicarbonate to regenerate CO2 in a pH dependent mechanism. The thermal stability of these complex catalysts has been demonstrated by Differential Thermo-Gravimetric (DTG) studies to above 200 °C. A process for fast absorption/desorption is proposed.

Abstract Light-induced plating (LIP)of Ni/Cu presents a potentially lower-cost alternative to screen-printed Ag for silicon solar cell metallization. This paper presents results of self-annealing and post-plating rapid thermal processing (RTP) of plated Cu finger microstructure, texture and resistance. It is shown that the plated Cu conductors, if not thermally-annealed immediately after plating, self-anneal with time resulting in grain growth and increased (200) to (111) grain texture which occurs with increased tensile stress. Post-plating RTP annealing enables fast annealing and stable Cu fingers with a low ratio of (200) to (111) grain texture. These findings have important implications for plated finger adhesion and highlight the importance of annealing after plating for reliable Cu plated metallization.

Abstract: Drawing on evidence from a mixed methods retrofit intervention trial of the homes of low-income, older and frail people in Victoria, Australia, this study explored practices of heating and keeping warm in terms of equity and health. In most homes, heating restrictions led to inadequate indoor temperatures. Adaptation practices increased householder resilience, however, some technical responses presented safety risks. Low-cost retrofits did not eliminate underheating and had little effect on householder practices. The study highlights that a promotion of no-cost energy saving activities acknowledges the adaptive capacity of individuals. However, failure to address material and technical conditions and the vulnerability of older people may lead to unintended health risks.

Abstract Potential energy from fluid flow of small rivers or irrigations could be extracted become electricity by using screw turbine. This turbine is promising because the advantages of ultra-low head and fish friendly.Experimental performance of screw turbine for ultra-low head hydro resource is presented in this paper. The screw turbine with anoutside diameter of 142 mm and the water flowrate of 1.2 l/s with the head of 0.25 m, can produce maximum power 1.4 W with 49% efficiency at 22 o angle of inclination. This turbine has one blade screw and screw turbine experiment apparatus is made by using locally available materials. The screw turbine has shown good potential to be used for low head micro hydro-electric installations. This paper reports on a performance analysis based on the experimental data collected from different performance tests carried out on some inclination angle position of screw turbine prototype.

Abstract In this research, intake runner length, and valve timing are varied individually and simultaneously over a range of values to capitalize the induction pressure waves to boost volumetric efficiency. 1-D model of the stock engine built in Ricardo Wave software is validated with 90% accuracy against experimental test results. The volumetric efficiency of the engine is boosted by an average of 3.2% over the speed range of the engine when infinitely variable runner lengths are used. When only two variations in runner length are used, the volumetric efficiency has boosted by around 1.4% on average. On the other hand, when infinitely variable valve timings along with two variations in runner lengths are used, the volumetric efficiency has boosted by an average of 7.78 %. Due to the existence of two different runner lengths, the span of variations required in valve timing is reduced further optimizing the volumetric efficiency. However, to ensure feasibility of the design, manufacturing, assembly and operation, it is better to use only two valve timings. The co-presence of only two different runner lengths and two different valve-opening timings, the average boost of 5.40 % in volumetric efficiency throughout the operating speed range of the engine is encountered.

Abstract: Natural ventilation can be used in residential buildings in several Australian climatic zones and well-designed windows have the potential to facilitate indoor thermal comfort by allowing occupants to control volumetric outdoor airflow and indoor air velocities. Top-hung window is one of the most popular window types in Australia. This paper investigates the effect of the attributes of top-hung windows (i.e. window length, aspect ratio, height above the ground, window opening angle and the fly screen porosity) and outdoor air conditions (i.e. outdoor air temperature, wind speed and direction) on indoor thermal comfort during cross ventilation using CFD simulations. The Taguchi method was used to design the simulation scenarios and analysis of variance was used to determine the most significant factors influencing thermal comfort optimisation so as to reduce the number of CFD simulation cases. For the range of parameters considered and a particular case study building, results show that outdoor air temperature, window height and window opening angle are the most important factors influencing indoor thermal comfort in this room. The optimal window configurations for indoor thermal comfort of the case study building are also identified using a signal-to-noise ratio analysis.

Abstract This paper reports findings from a preliminary study into the stacking characteristics of asphaltenes extracted from an oil sand and two petroleum vacuum residues. The stacking morphology was examined using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The stacking parameters of the three samples including the average stacking number, the average interlayer spacing and the average layer size were estimated. The results showed that the asphaltenes extracted from the petroleum vacuum residues possessed higher stacking numbers with smaller interlayer spacing as compared to the asphaltene from the oil sand. This indicates that the intermolecular forces of the petroleum vacuum residue asphaltenes are stronger than that of the oil sand. The average layer size across the samples is ca. 0.9 nm, implying the average PAH size of 6∼7 fused rings for all samples.

Abstract The structural stratification and chemistry evolution of the ash deposits formed on a probe during pf combustion of Zhundong lignite in a drop tube furnace operating at 1673 K was investigated. The ash deposits formed on the probe maintained at different temperatures for varying deposition times were then analysed using SEM-EDS. Results showed that the ash deposits formed in the first hour were composed of fine ash particles less than 25 μm and rich in Ca, Ca/S, and Fe, indicating that lime, anhydrite, and hematite were responsible for initiating the ash deposition. As deposition time increased, large irregular particles rich in Si, Al, and Na subsequently deposited on top of the layer of these fine ash particles. Moreover, the S/Ca ratio of the Ca-bearing ash particles increased as the deposit time on the probe increased, indicating that calcium sulphation reaction occurred on the probe. As the probe temperature increased from 823 K to 1023 K, the structure and chemistry of these deposits remained similar, however, the S/Ca ratio of the Ca-bearing ash particles increased, confirming that increasing the probe temperature promoted the sulphation reaction of calcium and helped sulphur capture.