Electricity Generation from Low and Medium Temperature Industrial Excess Heat in the Kraft Pulp and Paper Industry

The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60–140 °C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

Thermodynamic properties and phase equilibria in alloys of Bi—Tm system

The thermochemical properties of the melts of the Bi—Tm system at a temperature of 1100 K in the range of compositions 0 ≤ xTm ≤ 0,2 were determined for the first time by the calorimetry method. It is established that the minimum value of the enthalpy of mixing of these liquid alloys is equal to –75,7 ± 0,5 kJ / mol at xTm = 0,65. = = –150,7 ± 16,7 kJ / mol, = –230,9 ± 21,8 kJ / mol. The activities of the components and molar particles of associates were calculated according to the model of an ideal associated solution (IAR), using data on the thermochemical properties of melts of the Bi—Tm system. It was found that the activities of the components in these metallic solutions show very large negative deviations from ideal solutions with a high content of TmBi and Tm2Bi associates. The obtained dependences of the first i i melts of the Bi—Tm system on temperature showed a large steepness of the Bi Bi curve in contrast to the gradual decrease of exothermic values Tm of Tm. This indicates large changes in the structure of the Bi atom with increasing temperature. Excess integral and partial Gibbs energies of Bi-Tm system melt mixing calculated from component activities The absolute values of G in the whole concentration range are smaller than H (G min = –41,8 kJ / mol at xTm = 0,58), and the function G of is more asymmetric, which is caused by the entropy contribution (entropy of mixing of the studied melts is negative, and Smin min = −30,5 J / mol ∙ K at xTm = 0,65). Keywords: thermochemical properties, compounds, melts, Bi, Tm.

Nonlinear approximation of wildfire front temperature on MODIS data for sub-pixel analysis of burning

An improved approach to evaluate thermal anomalies characteristics using the pixel-based analysis of the MODIS imagery was proposed. The approach allows us to improve the accuracy in estimating characteristics of active combustion zones comparing to the standard Dozier method. We used the imagery of active wildfires in Siberian forests from the MODIS radiometer acquired in the spectral ranges of 3.930–3.990 and 10.780–11.280 mm (bands 21 and 31, respectively). Nonlinear exponential function was used to describe the approximation of the temperature of combustion zones. Available data of field and numerical experiments were used for validating of the approximation accuracy. Nonlinear approximation of wildfire front temperature allows to determine the portion of the active pixel of the MODIS image with the given temperature excess comparing to the temperature of background cover. This improves the accuracy in extracting of active burning zones as well as in classifying the heat release rate at the sub-pixel level of analysis.

Exploitation of Excess Low-Temperature Heat Sources from Cogeneration Gas Engines

The chapter presents an innovative technical solution for the use of low-temperature excess heat from the combined heat and power (CHP) of gas engines using gas or liquid fuel for district heating, building heating or industry. The primary fuel efficiency of CHP gas engines for heat production can be significantly increased by using the low-temperature excess heat of the exhaust gasses and the cooling system of the CHP gas engine, which are released into the environment thereby also reducing CO2 emissions. District heating hot water systems generally work with higher temperatures of the heating water, which is transported to the heat consumer via the supply line, and the cooled heating water is returned to the CHP gas engine via the return line. In order to make use of the excess low-temperature heat of the exhaust gasses and the cooling system of the CHP gas engine, a condenser must be installed in the exhaust pipe in which the water vapor contained in the exhaust gasses condenses and a mixture of water and glycol is heated, which later leads to the evaporator of the high-temperature heat pump (HTHP). The cooled heating water is returned from the heat consumer via the district heating return pipe to a condenser of one or more HTHPs connected in series, where it is reheated and then sent to a CHP gas engine, where it is reheated to the final temperature. The Aspen plus software package is used to run a computer simulation of one or more HTHPs connected in series and parallel to the district heating system and to demonstrate the economics of using the excess heat from the exhaust gasses and the cooling system of the CHP gas engine.

Sporulation environment drives phenotypic variation in the pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus causes more than 300,000 life-threatening infections annually and is widespread across varied environments with a single colony producing thousands of conidia, genetically-identical dormant spores. Conidia are easily wind-dispersed to new environments where they can germinate and, if inhaled by susceptible hosts, cause disease. Using high-throughput single-cell analysis via flow cytometry we analyzed conidia produced and germinated in nine environmentally- and medically-relevant conditions (complete medium, minimal medium, high temperature, excess copper, excess iron, limited iron, excess salt, excess reactive oxygen species, and limited zinc). We found that germination phenotypes vary among genetically-identical individuals, that the environment of spore production determines the size of spores and the degree of germination heterogeneity, and that the environment of spore production impacts virulence in a Galleria mellonella host.

Thermal biology of two sympatric Lacertids lizards (Lacerta diplochondrodes and Parvilacerta parva) from Western Anatolia

Sympatric lizard species differing in morphology present convenient models for studying the differentiation in thermal behavior and the role of morphological differences in thermal biology. Here we studied the thermal biology of two sympatric lizard species which occur together sympatrically in western Anatolia, Frig Valley. These two species differ in body size, with the larger Lacerta diplochondrodes and smaller Parvilacerta parva. Field body temperatures of the individuals belonging to both species were recorded in the activity period. Additionally, several environmental parameters including solar radiation, substrate temperature, air temperature and wind speed were also monitored to investigate the relative effect of these abiotic parameters on thermal biology of the two species. The field body temperature and temperature excess (difference between body and substrate temperature) of two species while being relatively close to each other, showed seasonal differences. Solar radiation, substrate temperature and air temperature were the main effective factors on thermal biology in the field. Additionally, although body size did not have a direct significant effect on body temperature or temperature excess, the interaction between body size and wind were effective on temperature excess. In conclusion, our study partially supports the conservation of thermal biology of related lizard species.

The dependence of the boson peak on the thickness of Cu50Zr50 film metallic glasses

In this study, intensive calculations were performed to investigate the behavior of the low-temperature excess heat capacity of Cu50Zr50 ultrathin film metallic glasses.

Study on slagging characteristics and prevention of biomass briquette

It is a high efficiency，energy-saving and emission reduction measure to replace coal with biomass briquette fuel in a layer combustion furnace, but in the combustion process, the serious slagging problem has been restricted the promotion of biomass fuel. By analyzing the combustion characteristics of biomass briquette, the ash fusion characteristics and slagging mechanism, combined with the combustion characteristics of a layer combustion furnace, the important influence of key combustion parameters (furnace temperature, excess air, fuel layer thickness) on the slagging in the furnace is obtained, which provides a scientific basis for taking measures to prevent and control the slagging in the design and operation of the biomass briquette layer combustion furnace.

The Potential of Depleted Oil Reservoirs for High-Temperature Storage Systems

HT-ATES (high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage) systems are a future option to shift large amounts of high-temperature excess heat from summer to winter using the deep underground. Among others, water-bearing reservoirs in former hydrocarbon formations show favorable storage conditions for HT-ATES locations. This study characterizes these reservoirs in the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and quantifies their heat storage potential numerically. Assuming a doublet system with seasonal injection and production cycles, injection at 140 °C in a typical 70 °C reservoir leads to an annual storage capacity of up to 12 GWh and significant recovery efficiencies increasing up to 82% after ten years of operation. Our numerical modeling-based sensitivity analysis of operational conditions identifies the specific underground conditions as well as drilling configuration (horizontal/vertical) as the most influencing parameters. With about 90% of the investigated reservoirs in the URG transferable into HT-ATES, our analyses reveal a large storage potential of these well-explored oil fields. In summary, it points to a total storage capacity in depleted oil reservoirs of approximately 10 TWh a−1, which is a considerable portion of the thermal energy needs in this area.

Studying the large-scale effect of leaf thermoregulation using an Earth system model

Plants have the ability to regulate heat and water losses. This process also known as leaf thermoregulation helps to maintain the leaf temperature within an optimal range. In a number of laboratory and field experiments, the leaf temperature has been found to deviate substantially from the ambient temperature. In the present study, we address the question of whether the negative correlation between the leaf temperature excess and the ambient air temperature, which is characteristic of leaf thermoregulation, constitutes a robust feature at larger scales, across a broad range of atmospheric conditions and canopy characteristics. To this end, we developed a new dual-source canopy layer energy balance scheme (CEBa) and implemented it into JSBACH, the land component of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology's Earth system model (MPI-ESM). The approach calculates the temperature and humidity in the ambient canopy air space, the temperature of the ground surface, and the temperature of the leaf as well as the energy and moisture fluxes between the different compartments. Here leaf thermoregulation is investigated using different modeling approaches, namely a zero-dimensional instantaneous solution of the energy balance as well as offline FLUXNET site experiments and coupled global simulations. With the help of the simulations at the site-level, we can show that the model is capable of reproducing the effect of leaf thermoregulation even though the simulated signal at the canopy scale is less pronounced than indicated by measurements at the leaf scale. However, on a global scale and over longer-timescales, this negative correlation is only simulated in idealized setups that neglect limitations on the plant available water, and even then, the signal is less pronounced than indicated by the short-term observations of individual leaves. When accounting for moisture limitations, we predominantly find positive correlations between leaf temperature excess and the ambient air temperature.