The DUST^2 Project: A source-to-sink investigation of the modern dust system in southwestern North America

<p>The DUST^2 project is a new Critical Zone Thematic Cluster funded by the US National Science Foundation.  DUST^2, an abbreviation for Dust across a Desert-Urban-Summit Transect, will study the modern dust system in southwestern North America, from source to sink using a combination of methods.  Previous work has demonstrated that arid lands in the southwestern US are significant sources of mineral dust.  The amount of dust emitted increased notably following European settlement, and climate models predict future increases in dust emission in response to climate warming.  This dust is transported to the north and east by the wind, particularly during the springtime and coincident with the passage of strong frontal systems.  The properties of this natural dust are altered as it mixes with anthropogenic aerosols sourced from industry and other activities along the densely populated Wasatch Front in northern Utah.  Eventually, this dust is delivered to mountain ranges at the eastern border of the Basin and Range as well as in the Rocky Mountains.  There, dust impacts the albedo of snowpack, triggering changes in snowmelt timing and magnitude.  Dust also influences the developmental trajectories of mountain soils and alters the nutrient status of mountain ecosystems.  The six primary investigators of the DUST^2 project, along with an array of additional staff and students, will study this dust system with field and lab-based methods focused on dust emitting landscapes, dust transport modeling, dust collection in urban and mountain settings, snow monitoring and snowmelt modeling, and investigation of dust-influenced soils coupled with analysis and modeling of the cycling of dust-derived nutrients.  A major goal of this project is to incorporate researchers beyond those responsible for establishing the overall project framework.  Anyone interested in learning about ways to collaborate or become involved with the DUST^2 effort should contact a member of the project leadership team listed as authors on this abstract.</p>

Study of the thermodynamic efficiency of solid fuel preparation systems of a thermal power plant based on an exergy analysis of the operation of subsystems

Own energy consumption needs at combined heat and power plant depends on the type and installed capacity of the main and auxiliary equipment installed on-site, as well as the type of the fuel and combustion method used. The coal dust preparation system, in turn, is the most energy- intensive part of coal mining. Therefore, methods for improving the operation of the fuel path of a combined heat and power plant and the technology for producing coal dust are very relevant. The present study proposes a comprehensive methodology for determining the thermodynamic efficiency of solid fuel preparation systems at combined heat and power plant 2 (CHP-2) in the city of Temirtau of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Outdated equipment is operated at the CHP and there is virtually no automation of technological processes related with the solid fuel preparation system. The scientific novelty of the work is the theoretical study and analysis of the thermodynamic efficiency of an individual dust preparation system with an intermediate hopper when grinding coal. The thermal and thermodynamic calculations based on the determination of exergy efficiency for individual units of the dust system and the system as a whole allow to propose means to increase the efficiency of the coal industry and give recommendations to reduce energy costs for the plant’s own needs. As a recommendation to reduce energy costs for the preparation of coal dust, the installation of a crushing press with a studded surface is proposed, which allows grinding large pieces of coal to optimal sizes (25 mm) in the absence of preliminary crushing of the material on-site. An automation scheme for the entire dust preparation system is proposed, including automation of the operation of the intermediate coal dust bin. Automatic control of the supply of coal dust from the intermediate hopper allows to determine the exact fuel consumption of the steam boiler, which were not permissible under the previous conditions of the dust system due to the use of a semi-mechanical method of regulating the supply of coal dust to the boiler.

Design and Implementation of Cloud-Dust Based Intelligent System

In the paper, design and Implementation of cloud-dust based intelligent system is proposed. For achieving applications of intelligent system, such as records, surveillance, assessments, predictions, diagnosis, prescription, scheduling and fool-proofing checks, an architecture named Cloud-Dust is developed. The intelligent system is separated into the cloud system and the dust system. The dust system contains (1) Wireless sensors network (2) Features extraction circuits (3) Intelligent computing circuits (4) Embedded system. It can play a role as real-time preprocessor very well, just like an intelligent agent. However, the cloud system contains (1) Cloud database (2) Intelligent computing engine (3) Ubiquitous human-machine-interface. It can flexibly use computing resources and integrate information from many different dust systems. By the experiments, we can find the advantages of the cloud-dust based intelligent system. It meets the both needs of real-time and integration for intelligent systems. So it is necessary to develop the cloud-dust based system for design and implementation of the intelligent system.

Design Based on PLC Programming Control De-Dust System

In this paper, The article applies the principle of the PLC programmable controller control, according to the process requirements of de-dusting program design the ladder diagram system of dust-free workshop control program, using the advantages of PLC control system full, which make the function more powerful and make the design andthe operating system more simple.