Platinum Group Metals: A Review of Resources, Production and Usage with a Focus on Catalysts

The major applications of PGMs are as catalysts in automotive industry, petroleum refining, environmental (gas remediation), industrial chemical production (e.g., ammonia production, fine chemicals), electronics, and medical fields. As the next generation energy technologies for hydrogen production, such as electrolysers and fuel cells for stationary and transport applications, become mature, the demand for PGMs is expected to further increase. Reserves and annual production of Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, and Pt have been determined and reported. Based on currently available resources, there is around 200 years lifetime based on current demand for all PGMs, apart from Pd, which may be closer to 100 years. Annual primary production of 190 t/a for Pt and 217 t/a for Pd, in combination with recycling of 65.4 t/a for Pt and 97.2 t/a for Pd, satisfies current demand. By far, the largest demand for PGMs is for all forms of catalysis, with the largest demand in auto catalysis. In fact, the biggest driver of demand and price for Pt, Pd, and Rh, in particular, is auto emission regulation, which has driven auto-catalyst design. Recovery of PGMs through recycling is generally good, but some catalytic processes, particularly auto-catalysis, result in significant dissipation. In the US, about 70% of the recycling stream from the end-of-life vehicles is a significant source of global secondary PGMs recovered from spent auto-catalyst. The significant use of PGMs in the large global auto industry is likely to continue, but the long-term transition towards electric vehicles will alter demand profiles.

A Structured Approach to Recover Valuable Compounds from Agri-food Side Streams

Food side streams contain useful compounds such as proteins, sugars, polyphenols, and amino acids that might get discarded during processing. The concentration of these components may be low (e.g., fruit side streams are mainly composed by water, around 90%, while polyphenol content in rapeseed meal is less than 3% dry weight) and therefore effective separation techniques should be evaluated. The aim of this review is to identify the different process steps (like pretreatment, volume reduction, phase change, solid removal, purification, and formulation) required to recover high-value products from agri-food residues. It reviews different plant-based byproducts as sources (cereal bran, fruit pomace, oilseed meals, fruit wastewater) of valuable compounds and discusses the relevant technologies required for processing (such as extraction, adsorption, crystallization, drying, among others). A structured approach to design recovery processes presented focused on high purity products. This work demonstrates that multiple high-value products can be recovered from a single agri-food side stream depending on the processing steps and the origin source (strong and soft structures and wastewater).

Sustainable Optimal Design Based on the Upgrade Demand of Macau's Traditional Stalls

With the development of the city’s economy, Macau’s traditional stalls have been unable to meet the current needs. This design research is based on the current status of traditional stalls that are difficult to store, single functional structure, and old-style appearance, combined with the current new requirements of Macau for building a smart city. Foldable solar photovoltaic panels, mobile stall-type 5G base stations, and live broadcast equipment that echo the trend of the frontline proposed sustainable and optimized designs for upgrading and transformation, echoing the current hotly discussed “stalling economy”, and promoting the economy after the epidemic through optimized design recovery. At the same time, it also provides feasible reference suggestions for the future design of Macau stalls.

EVALUASI HEURISTIC DESAIN ANTARMUKA (INTERFACE) WEBSITE PEMASARAN UNIVERSITAS XYZ

<p><em>This research was conducted to improve user comfort and maintain business strategy amid increasingly widespread e-commerce competition. The researcher evaluated the interface of the XYZ University website with the Heuristic method of Nielsen and Molich, as an approach in evaluating a human-machine system (man-machine system) related to ease of use (usability).</em></p><p><em>The study was conducted by evaluating the XYZ University website marketing interface, based on ten studies related to user convenience, namely feedback, metaphor, navigation, consistency, prevention, memory, efficiency, design, recovery and help. Interfaces that correspond to the study points are recorded and sampled accordingly, as well as if there is an interface that is not in accordance with the study points, it will be recorded and examples of things that are not appropriate are taken. The results of this study are in the form of a summary of recommendations for improving the interface design of the XYZ University website.</em></p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><em> </em><em>heuristic evaluation, interface, design, website</em></p>