Nuclear neutrino energy spectra in high temperature astrophysical environments

Astrophysical environments that reach temperatures greater than $\sim$ 100 keV can have significant neutrino energy loss via both plasma processes and nuclear weak interactions. We find that nuclear processes likely produce the highest-energy neutrinos. Among the important weak nuclear interactions are both charged current channels (electron capture/emission and positron capture/emission) and neutral current channels (de-excitation of nuclei via neutrino pair emission). We show that in order to make a realistic prediction of the nuclear neutrino spectrum, one must take nuclear structure into account; in some cases, the most important transitions may involve excited states, possibly in both parent and daughter nuclei. We find that the standard technique of producing a neutrino energy spectrum by using a single transition with a Q-value and matrix element chosen to fit published neutrino production rates and energy losses will not accurately capture important spectral features.Comment: 11 pages, 17 figure

Predicted photoreflectance signatures on QD selective contacts for hot carrier solar cells

The CO2 emission of our present energy transformation processes, based mainly on burning fossil fuels, is possibly the main cause of global climatic change. The photovoltaic conversion of solar energy is a clean way of producing which for sustainability should (and most probably will) become a major source of electricity. The sun is a huge resource but relatively diluted and it is reasonable to expect that only high efficiency extraction can be cost effective for mass exploitation. New concepts are neccessary such as hot carrier solar cells

The Maximum Entropy Production Principle: Its Theoretical Foundations and Applications to the Earth System

The Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle has been remarkably successful in producing accurate predictions for non-equilibrium states. We argue that this is because the MEP principle is an effective inference procedure that produces the best predictions from the available information. Since all Earth system processes are subject to the conservation of energy, mass and momentum, we argue that in practical terms the MEP principle should be applied to Earth system processes in terms of the already established framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, with the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium at the appropriate scales

Is it possible to obtain cosmic accelerated expansion through energy transfer between different energy densities?

The equation of state of an energy density may be significantly modified by coupling it to another energy density. In the light of this observation we check the possibility of producing cosmic accelerated expansion in this way. In particular we consider the case where matter is converted to radiation (or vice versa by particle physics processes). We find that cosmic accelerated expansion can be obtained in this way only if an intermediate state with negative equation of state forms during the conversion.Comment: To be published in Physics of the Dark Univers

Optimization for the design of subsystems of energy-producing processes

Bakalářská práce se zabývá návrhem spalovacího roštu. Klíčovým faktorem při návrhu je výhřevnost odpadu, která byla modelována na základě analýzy dat z reálného provozu. Cílem je navrhnout spalovací rošt, který by byl schopen efektivně fungovat i při změnách zmíněné výhřevnosti. Za použití scénářů převádíme tento problém do matematické formulace, která je následně implementována do programovacího prostředí GAMS. Výsledkem je stanovení parametrů spalovacího roštu.This bachelor thesis focuses on the design of a combustion grate. The key factor is the lower heating value of waste, which has been modelled based on the data obtained from a real combustion grate. The goal is to develop a combustion grate, which will function effectively whilst changing the lower heating values. Possible scenarios of the problem are mathematically formulated and implenented in GAMS enviroment. The outcome of this work are the parameters of the combustion grate.

Real and Virtual Photon Structure

The structure of real and virtual photons has been studied in electron-proton scattering processes producing di-jet events at HERA by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations. Data have been compared to next-to-leading order QCD calculations and to the predictions of Monte Carlo generators based on the DGLAP and CCFM formalisms for describing the parton dynamicsComment: Proceedings 'QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions', Recontres de Morion

Improved hydrogen gas production in microbial electrolysis cells using inexpensive recycled carbon fibre fabrics

Growing energy demands of wastewater treatment have made it vital for water companies to develop less energy intensive processes for treating wastewater if net zero emissions are to be achieved by 2050. Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) have the potential to do this by treating water and producing renewable hydrogen gas as a product, but capital and operational costs have slowed their deployment. By using recycled carbon fibre mats, commercially viable MECs can brought closer to reality, where recycled carbon fibre anode MECs treating real wastewater (normalised ~3100 L d−1) were producing 66.77 L H2 d−1 while graphite felt anode MECs produced 3.65 L H2 d−1 per 1 m3 reactor, anodes costing £5.53 m−2 and £88.36 m−2 respectively, resulting in a total anode cost saving of 93%. This could incentivise the development of larger pilot systems, opening the door for generating greater value and a more sustainable wastewater treatment industry

Economics of polysilicon process: A view from Japan

The production process of solar grade silicon (SOG-Si) through trichlorosilane (TCS) was researched in a program sponsored by New Energy Development Organization (NEDO). The NEDO process consists of the following two steps: TCS production from by-product silicon tetrachloride (STC) and SOG-Si formation from TCS using a fluidized bed reactor. Based on the data obtained during the research program, the manufacturing cost of the NEDO process and other polysilicon manufacturing processes were compared. The manufacturing cost was calculated on the basis of 1000 tons/year production. The cost estimate showed that the cost of producing silicon by all of the new processes is less than the cost by the conventional Siemens process. Using a new process, the cost of producing semiconductor grade silicon was found to be virtually the same with any to the TCS, diclorosilane, and monosilane processes when by-products were recycled. The SOG-Si manufacturing processes using the fluidized bed reactor, which needs further development, shows a greater probablility of cost reduction than the filament processes