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Abstract. The impact of multiphase reactions involving nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and aromatic compounds was simulated in this study. A mechanism (CAPRAM 2.4, MODAC Mechanism) was applied for the aqueous phase reactions, whereas RACM was applied for the gas phase chemistry. Liquid droplets were considered as monodispersed with a mean radius of 0.1 µm and a liquid content (LC) of 50 µg m-3. The multiphase mechanism has been further extended to the chemistry of aromatics, i.e. reactions involving benzene, toluene, xylene, phenol and cresol have been added. In addition, reaction of NO2 with dissociated hydroxyl substituted aromatic compounds has also been implemented. These reactions proceed through charge exchange leading to nitrite ions and therefore to nitrous acid formation. The strength of this source was explored under urban polluted conditions. It was shown that it may increase gas phase HONO levels under some conditions and that the extent of this effect is strongly pH dependent. Especially under moderate acidic conditions (i.e. pH above 4) this source may represent more than 75% of the total HONO/NO2 - production rate, but this contribution drops down close to zero in acidic droplets (as those often encountered in urban environments).

The variability of large scale wind power generation at high penetration levels has a significant impact on the secure and economic operation of onshore power systems. Grid bottlenecks, high gradients and wasting of wind energy can be avoided using local Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with dedicated power and capacity. The storage type considered in this study is an adiabatic compressed air energy storage (ACAES). This paper presents a comparison of different ESS applications aiming both to increase the profit of the power plant operator in selling the electricity into the electricity market and to support the intermittent electricity production of the wind park. This contribution presents the investigation methodology and discusses computation results for a region in Germany.

AbstractChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

Environmental problems that seriously affect both natural systems and social development of human beings have drawn extensive attention from governing authorities all around the world, and become an urgent issue to be addressed. Ports play a significant role in the international shipping which inevitably influence the global environment. Thus, the concept of green port is developed to mitigate the negative impacts of inappropriate port operations on environment. This paper analyzes the current status of green port development worldwide. An evaluation model for quantitative measurement of green port development is established based on the Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework. The weight of each index composing the evaluation model is calculated through an analytical hierarchy process method, and the evaluation results of the investigated ports with respect to each index are aggregated using an evidential reasoning approach. The evaluation model is further demonstrated through a comparative analysis of five major ports in China. The novel model developed along with the methods applied in this paper can provide significant insights for the comparative evaluation on the development of green ports in other countries and/or regions, as well as a powerful tool to conduct self-assessment of green port development. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.

Carbon black (CB) additives commonly used to increase the electrical conductivity of electrodes in Li-ion batteries are generally believed to be electrochemically inert additives in cathodes. Decomposition of electrolyte in the surface region of CB in Li-ion cells at high voltages up to 4.9 V is here studied using electrochemical measurements as well as structural and surface characterizations. LiPF6 and LiClO4 dissolved in ethylene carbonate:diethylene carbonate (1:1) were used as the electrolyte to study irreversible charge capacity of CB cathodes when cycled between 4.9 V and 2.5 V. Synchrotron-based soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SOXPES) results revealed spontaneous partial decomposition of the electrolytes on the CB electrode, without applying external current or voltage. Depth profile analysis of the electrolyte/cathode interphase indicated that the concentration of decomposed species is highest at the outermost surface of the CB. It is concluded that carboxylate and carbonate bonds (originating from solvent decomposition) and LiF (when LiPF6 was used) take part in the formation of the decomposed species. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements and transmission electron microscopy results, however, did not show formation of a dense surface layer on CB particles. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any

ABSTRACTA novel design for a high temperature SOFC, based on lamellar electrode-electrolyte segments obtained by solidification of an oxidic eutectic melt on an electrolyte substrate is presented. Such “composite” electrodes contain NiO or MnO - 8Y-ZrO2 lamellae, which after reduction / oxidation yield electrode-electrolyte lamellae with 1–2 μm width and a vertical dimension of> 100 μm, depending upon the amount of eutectic melt solidified on a polycrystalline substrate. The nucleation of the eutectic on a polycrystalline substrate followed by a semi-directional crystallization of the two phases yields a gradient of 3-phase boundaries over the height of such an electrode, with the number of 3-phase boundaries increasing towards the substrate.

AbstractThe key element in the characterization, assessment and development of geothermal energy systems is the resource type. Throughout the past 30 years many resource type schemes and definitions were published, based on temperature and thermodynamic properties. An alternative possibility to cataloging geothermal energy systems is by their geologic characteristics, referred to as geothermal plays. Applied to worldwide case studies, a new catalog is developed based on the effects of geological controls and structural plate tectonic positions on thermal regime and heat flow, hydrogeologic regime, fluid dynamics, fluid chemistry, faults and fractures, stress regime, and lithological sequence. Understanding geologic controls, especially of geothermal plays without surface expression, allows the comparison with hydrocarbon reservoirs through their ratio of porosity and permeability. This analog has implications on site-specific, first class exploration strategies and reservoir improvement through technologies specifically suitable for unconventional sustainable energy reservoirs. This article aims to introduce geothermal plays to a wide geoscientific community and to initiate a geologically based cataloging of geothermal resources. With this new catalog of geothermal plays, it will be ultimately possible to transfer lessons learned not only within one specific catalog type, but also technology from geothermal plays to unconventional hydrocarbon plays and vice versa.