Valorization of Albedo Orange Peel Waste to Develop Electrode Materials in Supercapacitors for the Electric Industry

This work proposes the use of albedo of orange peel in generation of carbon for applications in supercapacitors. For this, a comparison of compositional and electrochemical properties present in the carbons obtained of albedo, flavedo, and the complete orange peel was carried out. The morphology and composition of carbons obtained were analyzed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The synthetized carbons were not subjected to the activation process by chemical compounds to relate only the properties of orange peel parts with their electrochemical behaviour. All samples were tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The carbon obtained of albedo presented a superior specific capacitance (210 F/g) of the rest samples. The value of albedo-based carbon capacitance is comparable with works presented in the literature that used a whole orange peel with chemical activators. In this way, it is possible to obtain large capacitances using only a part of orange peel (albedo). Thus, the importance of this study is that the albedo can be proposed as a material applied to electrodes for supercapacitors while the flavedo can be used in food industry or for oil extraction.

Marketing advantages and sustainable competitiveness through branding for the supply chain of Islamic country

Purpose Branding plays a vital role in the success of every organization and even industry. In Islamic countries, every organization must consider Sharia rules while strategy making. Nowadays, the supply chain is considered a major tool of branding and marketing. After an extensive literature review, it has been found that the studies that test the marketing advantages (MAs) and sustainable competitiveness through branding are scarce. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between branding and MAs and mediating the role of sustainable competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach This is a quantitative study. An instrument was adopted, and data were collected. The researchers tested the hypotheses from the survey data from 179 electronic organizations. The data ware analyzed through structural equation modeling to examine the proposed hypothesis of this study. Findings The findings indicate that the relationship among dimensions of branding attitude and MAs were supported (expect reliability). Additionally, this study also revealed that a sustainable competitive variable plays a substantial role as a mediating variable in those relationships. Research limitations/implications This study is a cross-sectional survey. Consequently, the limited sample size from the electric industry may affect the power of generalizability. The next study may be demonstrated for other industries to respect the nature of the branding and MAs among the managerial staff of other industries. Practical implications This study will help managers to understand how to use the supply chain as branding for their MAs through sustainable competitiveness. Originality/value This study adds practical value to the literature on sustainable competitive, branding and MA and supply chain. The study shows that sustainable competitiveness has varying mediating effects on industry value.

Toxicity test for Fuller’s earth contaminated with dielectric oil using eisenia foetida earthworms and soils with different carbon contents

Fuller’s earth is an adsorbent material used in the electric industry for dielectric oil regeneration. The high amount of polyaromatic hydrocarbons removed from oil and adsorbed in the Fuller’s earth makes this material a hazardous waste. It is necessary to implement a toxicity test and apply a suitable treatment to safely dispose of this waste in a landfill or repurpose it for reuse. In this paper, the toxicity of Fuller’s earth contaminated with dielectric oil is assessed before and after treatment. The toxic potential of the Fuller’s earth and the dielectric oil extracted through decontamination processes was evaluated in two types of soil with different carbon contents, analyzing the effects on the test organisms, Eisenia Foetida earthworms. These tests showed that decontaminated Fuller’s earth is non-toxic, and that the toxicity of the contaminated Fuller’s earth, or its extracts after treatment, represented by the median lethal concentration (LC50) depends significantly on the type of soil used.

Energy Storage as a System Resource

The origins of the electric industry can be traced back to the invention of the battery. However, Energy Storage Systems (ESS) have never been considered as a part of the electricity supply chain. Even though there has been an increase of government mandated storage investments in power grids, market driven investments are still lacking sustainable business models. Now, with the possibility that cost reductions of the technology make it viable for widespread utilization, multiple efforts have been devoted by the academia and industry to design its incorporation into electricity markets. A large majority of the proposals have been devoted to develop mechanisms for their incorporation in ancillary services markets or for arbitrage, considering storage as another market player, both still with little success in providing sustainable benefits to energy consumers and investors alike. In this paper, we demonstrate that Large Scale Energy Storage excels when incorporated as a service provider in electricity markets. Our proposal considers ESS as a grid resource, available to the ISO to achieve the optimal mix of resources in the day ahead dispatch. We demonstrate that in the Colombian system, a large ESS used in this manner may achieve high benefit-cost ratios. The results also indicate that current market designs need to evolve in order to take better advantage of energy storage and renewable energy resources.

EXAMINING EPIRA AND ITS EFFECT ON TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES OF THE TOP FIVE PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES: SFA AND DEA APPROACHES

Electric Industry. After two decades of EPIRA’s enactment, it is essential to assess where in the Distribution Sector, the reform’s trajectory has stalled. The study aimed to examine and assess the technical and operational efficiencies of the top five electric private distribution utilities (PDUs) in the Philippines under the regulatory policy. Methodology: This is a causal-comparative study using a panel data structure on technical and operational efficiencies of the top five PDUs in the Philippines from 1995 to 2014, employing quantitative measurement. This study used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as the non-parametric test while Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) as the parametric approach. Main Findings: Using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model showed that the implementation of EPIRA (post-EPIRA: 2001 to 2014) made the top five electric private distribution utilities in the Philippines more technically efficient in their operations than without the reform (pre-EPIRA: 1995 to 2000). It was also noted that PDUs with bigger franchise areas and older in existence were technically efficient in their operations than their smaller and younger PDUs counterpart, respectively. Applications: This study will enhance public awareness in the various assessment of regulatory policy arenas in PEI. Moreover, this study will also render useful insights into the management of DUs in the Philippines. Novelty/Originality of this study: An up-to-date empirical analysis of the situation to substantiate the claim of the reform’s efficiency in the Philippines is lacking in the literature. This paper is thus providing a comprehensive theoretical debate by examining some indications of EPIRA's efficiency in the Distribution Sector in the Philippines.