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In the present work, an experimental study on a lab-scale adsorption refrigerator, based on activated carbon/ethanol working pair is reported. An extensive testing campaign has been carried out at the CNR ITAE laboratory, with multiple aims. First, the performance has been evaluated in terms of both COP and Specific Cooling Power (SCP), under different boundary conditions, including both air conditioning and refrigeration applications. Attractive SCPs, up to 180 W/kg and 70 W/kg for air conditioning and refrigeration, respectively, were measured. Under the same conditions, COP between 0.17 and 0.08 were obtained. In addition, different management strategies, namely, heat recovery between adsorbers and re-allocation of phase durations, were evaluated to identify their influence on the system. Both strategies confirmed the possibility of increasing COP and SCP up to 40% and 25%, respectively. Moreover, a design analysis based on the experimental results has been carried out, to suggest possible improvements of the system. The obtained results demonstrated the possibility of employing a non-toxic refrigerant like ethanol reaching performance comparable with other harmful refrigerants like ammonia and methanol.

AbstractThermally treated silicon rich oxides (SRO) used as starting material for the fabrication of silicon nanodots represent the basis of tunable bandgap nanostructured materials for optoelectronic and photonic applications. The optical modelization of such materials is of great interest, as it allows the simulation of reflectance and transmittance (R&T) spectra, which is a powerful non destructive tool in the determination of phase modifications (clustering, precipitation of new phases, crystallization) upon thermal treatments. In this paper, we study the optical properties of a variety of as‐deposited and furnace annealed SRO materials. The different phases are treated by means of the effective medium approximation. Upon annealing at low temperature, R&T spectra show the precipitation of amorphous silicon nanoparticles, while the crystallization occurring at temperatures higher than 1000 °C is also clearly identified, in agreement with structural results. The existing literature on the optical properties of the silicon nanocrystals is reviewed, with attention on the specificity of the compositional and structural characteristics of the involved material. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Kinetic modelling, molecular modelling, and experimental determination of the initial reaction velocity of lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis were combined to study the effect of the alcohol substrate to catalytic activity. The model system consisted of methanol or ethanol at varying concentrations, vinyl acetate as ester substrate 15.2% (v/v), toluene as organic solvent, water at a controlled thermodynamic activity of 0.09, and C. antarctica lipase B as enzyme. For both alcohol substrates, the initial reaction velocity increased sharply at low concentrations and reached a maximum at 0.7% (v/v) for methanol and 2% (v/v) for ethanol. For higher concentrations, the reaction rate decreased to a level of 74% and 60% of the peak value, respectively, due to substrate inhibition. The concentration dependency was described by a kinetic model, including a ping-pong bi-bi mechanism and competitive inhibition by the alcohol, and confirmed previous observations that methanol is more efficiently inhibiting the enzyme than ethanol. However, if the initial reaction velocity was expressed in terms of thermodynamic activity of the two alcohol substrates, the maximum of initial reaction velocity was similar for methanol (a MeOH(max)=0.19) and ethanol (a EtOH(max)=0.21). This was confirmed by molecular modelling which resulted in similar KM (0.22 and 0.19) and Ki values (0.44 and 0.49) for methanol and ethanol, respectively, if expressed in thermodynamic activities. Thus, the experimentally observed difference between methanol and ethanol is not due to differences in interaction with the enzyme but is a consequence of the thermodynamics of the substrate-solvent mixture. For low concentrations in toluene, the activity coefficient of methanol is 40% higher than the activity coefficient of ethanol (γ MeOH=8.5, γ EtOH=6.1).

The paper presents the preliminary results of an on-going research activity concerning the application of ANN (Artificial Neural Network) for on-line identification of potential harmful states in power systems (contingency screening). The necessity of on-line Static Security Assessment with a good degree of confidence and the evaluation of indices for successive indications to power system operators of possible remedial actions is deeply felt in the new context of liberalized electrical energy markets. The paper addresses primarily the use of ANN for contingency screening. It describes and reports the activity for choosing the most suitable ANN structure and training the ANN for a realistic power system. The chosen ANNs are then trained and used to assess the security state of a larger power system representing an equivalent model of the Italian HV grid.

In this work, we introduce the possibility to use a low cost, biodegradable material for temporary energy storage devices. Here, we report the use of biologically derived organic electrodes composed of gelatin ad graphene. The graphene was obtained by mild sonication in a mixture of volatile solvents of natural graphite flakes and subsequent centrifugation. The presence of exfoliated graphene sheets was detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. The homogeneous dispersion in gelatin demonstrates a good compatibility between the gelatin molecules and the graphene particles. The electrical characterization of the resulting nanocomposites suggests the possible applications as materials for transient, low cost energy storage device. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Biomass for energy production has been extensively studied in the recent years. To overcome some constraints imposed by the chemical-physical properties of the biomass, several pretreatments have been proposed. Torrefaction is one of the most interesting pretreatments because torrefied biomass holds a wide range of advantages over raw biomass. The devolatilization of water and some oxygenated compounds influences the increase in the calorific value on both a mass and volumetric basis. The increase in the density reduces the transportation costs. Moreover, the decreased moisture content increases the resistance of biomass to biological degradation, thus facilitating its storage for long periods. Under torrefaction conditions, approximately 10-40 wt% of the initial biomass is converted into volatile matter including liquid and non-condensable combustible gases.1,2 The energy efficiency of the process could greatly benefit the exploitation of the energy content of these products. Recent studies and technological solutions have demonstrated the possibility to realize polygeneration systems that integrate torrefaction/pyrolysis to a combustion process with the aim of obtaining torrefied material/biochar and/or energy from biomass. Some examples include Pyreg, Pyreg-Aactor GT3, TorPlant, and Top Process.4 The identification of the main volatiles produced under torrefaction regime is useful for the optimization of the operating conditions of the integrated system. The integrated process raises some concerns when biomass from phytoremediation and wood from demolition and construction activities are used as feedstock because they could contain potential toxic elements (PTEs). During the torrefaction treatment, the fate of PTEs should be controlled in order to avoid their release in the gas phase and to evaluate the extent of their concentration in the torrefied biomass. The present work aims at studying torrefaction as an eco-sustainable process for the combined production of a solid biofuel with improved characteristics with respect to the starting material and a combustible vapor phase, embedded in the gas carrier flow, to be directly burned for energy recovery. Herein, torrefaction tests on Populus nigra L. branches from phytoremediation, and demolition wood were conducted at three temperatures, 250, 270 and 300 °C, at a holding time of 15 min. The energetic content of torrefied materials was determined. At the same time, the fate of the heavy metals (Cd, Pb, and Zn) in the raw biomass at different torrefaction temperatures was studied, and their mobility in the torrefied biomass was investigated and compared to the mobility in the raw biomass.

Gaseous CO2 concentrations and concomitant air temperatures were measured within a CO2-emitting valley-mofette in Central Italy. 'Il Bossoleto' is a bowl-shaped, 5 in deep depression with several active CO2 vents that continuously emit high amounts of dry CO2 gas. Using a meteorological measurement mast, air temperatures and CO2 concentrations were recorded every 40 cm, from the bottom up to a vertical elevation of 6.4 m. The data reveal a transient, natural CO2 gas lake with three daily phases: a stratified, a homogeneous (up to 80% CO2) and an empty gas phase. The stratified gas lake builds up during the evening and night hours. After solar irradiation in the early morning, the lake evolves over a short time period into two distinct layers: at the bottom, a 2-2.6 m high homogenous gas lake with CO2 concentrations up to 80% and on top of it a gas layer with low CO2 concentrations. Due to infrared absorption by CO2 the temperatures inside the homogenous lake rises up to 60 degrees C (greenhouse effect). During the morning hours thermal heating leads to a collapse and complete emptying of the gas lake within tens of minutes, leaving Bossoleto free of CO2 during the day. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) modern and fossil eggshells and guano samples collected from ornithogenic soils in Terra Nova Bay (Victoria Land, Ross Sea) were processed for carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios with the aim of detecting past penguin dietary changes. A detailed and greatly expanded Adélie penguin dietary record dated back to 7,200 years BP has been reconstructed for the investigated area. Our data indicate a significant dietary shift between fish and krill, with a gradual decrease from past to present time in the proportion of fish compared to krill in Adélie penguin diet. From 7,200 to 2,000 years BP, δ(13)C and δ(15)N values indicate fish as the most eaten prey. The dietary contribution of lower-trophic prey in penguin diet started becoming evident not earlier than 2,000 years BP, when the δ(13)C values reveal a change in the penguin feeding behavior. Modern eggshell and guano samples reveal a major dietary contribution of krill but not a krill-dominated diet, since δ(13)C values remain much too high if krill prevail in the diet. According to the Holocene environmental background attested for Victoria Land, Adélie penguin dietary shifts between fish and krill seem to reflect penguin paleoecological responses to different paleoenvironmental settings with different conditions of sea-ice extension and persistence. Furthermore, Adélie penguin diet appears to be particularly affected by environmental changes in a very specific period within the breeding season, namely the egg-laying period when penguin dietary and feeding habit shifts are clearly documented by the δ(13)C of eggshell carbonate.