Entry and Exit in a Liberalised Market

We analyse the entry and exit activity in the UK airline markets in the post-liberalisation period and study the differential traits between traditional and low cost carriers. Alongside with the characteristics traditionally highlighted as determinants of entry (e.g., airport presence and network economies), we find that the existence of charter or seasonal operators, product differentiation opportunities and the level of quality provided by the incumbents are also relevant in explaining entry and/or exit. Despite the liberalisation policies, the contestability of important large markets still seems to be limited.

Weakly uniformly rotund Banach spaces

summary:The dual space of a WUR Banach space is weakly K-analytic

Effect of Temperature, Atmosphere and Metals on the Thermal Degradation of Printed Circuit Boards

The permanent expansion of the market of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and the shorter innovation cycles, lead to a faster replacement of these appliances, making EEE a fast-growing source of waste (WEEE). As stated in Directive 2012/19/EU1 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, the content of hazardous components in EEE is a major concern during the waste management phase, and recycling of WEEE is not currently undertaken to a sufficient extent, resulting in a loss of valuable resources.Support for this work was provided by: Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) (CTQ2008-05520 project); Valencian Community Government (Spain) (PROMETEO/2009/043/FEDER project)

Pirólisis y combustión de residuos electrónicos

Resumen de la comunicación presentada en el I Congreso de Estudiantes de Ingeniería Química de la Universidad de Alicante, 13-14 abril 2010.Los costes de producción cada vez menores y el aumento de la disponibilidad de equipos electrónicos de todo tipo, incluyendo teléfonos móviles, equipos de audio y vídeo y ordenadores personales, así como sus accesorios, unido a los avances en tecnología que hacen que estos productos queden rápidamente obsoletos, supone un problema de creciente importancia. A este respecto, la Directiva 2002/96/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo de 27 de enero de 2003 sobre residuos de aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos (RAEE) regula la gestión y eliminación de estos residuos por separado, promoviendo su reutilización, reciclado y recuperación.Las ayudas para la realización de este trabajo proceden de los proyectos CTQ2008-05520 de Ministerio de Educación, Prometeo/2009/043 y ACOM2009/135 de la Generalitat Valenciana

Kinetics of pyrolysis and combustion of pine needles and cones

A wide kinetic study has been carried out under different conditions in TG and TG–MS for each material, at different operating conditions. Runs were carried out at three different atmospheres: N2, N2:O2 4:1 and N2:O2 9:1. In addition to the dynamic runs carried out at constant heating rate, other runs were performed in an isothermal regime (constant heating rate until the set temperature is reached and then the set temperature is maintained constant). In addition, a study of the thermal decomposition for both materials was also carried out in a dynamic run using TG–MS in order to observe the evolution of the major compounds and to discuss the information that could be obtained. From the overall analysis of the data, schemes of reactions and kinetic values were calculated by integration of the differential equations and minimizing the squared differences between the experimental and calculated values. It is important to emphasise that the same set of parameters is proposed for the runs for each material, and depends on neither the heating rate in dynamic runs nor whether the run is carried out in a dynamic or isothermal mode.Support for this work was provided by Spanish MEC, research project CTQ2005-05262

Thermogravimetric Study of the Decomposition of Printed Circuit Boards from Mobile Phones

Paper submitted to the 19th International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis, Linz, Austria, 21-25 May 2012.Printed circuit boards (PCB) are particularly problematic to recycle because of the heterogeneous mix of organic material, metals, and glass fibre. More specifically, the presence of Fe and Cu can catalyze the debromination/hydrogenation reaction, accelerating the formation of chlorinated and brominated dioxins and furans.Ministry of Education and Science (Spain): CTQ2008-05520; Valencian Community Government (Spain): PROMETEO/2009/043/FEDER and ACOMP2011/224

Los aceites minerales pueden ser una alternativa al uso de acaricidas para el control de araña roja

Los aceites minerales pueden ser una alternativa muy interesante a los acaricidas para el control de la araña roja, Tetranychus urticae Koch, una plaga que actualmente está produciendo importantes daños en el cultivo de clementinas. Sin embargo, la información sobre la dosificación de estos productos y su eficacia sobre este fitófago es prácticamente inexistente. En este trabajo se evalúa en laboratorio la eficacia de cuatro productos comerciales, a cinco concentraciones diferentes, sobre huevos, protoninfas y adultos de T. urticae. Así mismo, se estudia cómo se depositan estos productos, con el fin de determinar una posible relación entre los parámetros que describen la deposición (recubrimiento, tamaño y densidad de los impactos) y la eficacia acaricida. El producto que produjo mayor área media de las deposiciones fue también el más eficaz para controlar a la araña roja en todos los estadios y con una menor concentración de producto comercial, alcanzando niveles de eficacia de 90-100 %. Los demás aceites consiguieron eficacias elevadas a partir de concentraciones al 1,5 -2,0 %. También se observó que al aumentar la concentración de producto comercial en el caldo, se incrementó el recubrimiento y el área media de los impactos. Los aceites minerales han mostrado un gran potencial para controlar la araña roja en condiciones de laboratorio. El siguiente paso será determinar su eficacia en condiciones de campoMineral oils could be an alternative to acaricides for the control of the red spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, which causes major damage to clementine crops. However, the information on the appropriate dosage of these products and their effectiveness on this pest is practically non-existent. The effectiveness of four commercial mineral oil products (containing 81.49-85% oil) at 5 different concentrations (0.5 -2.0%) was evaluated in a laboratory study using eggs, protonymphs and adults of T. urticae. The study also investigated the deposition of the products to determine whether there was a possible relationship between deposition parameters (coating, size and density) and acaricidal efficacy. The product with the highest average deposition area was also the most effective in mite control at all stages of development, and reached 90-100% efficacy at a low concentration of product. The other 3 oils were also highly efficient at concentrations of 1.5-2%. Increasing concentration of the commercial product increased both coating and average area of impact. Mineral oils have proved to have a huge potential for the control or the red spider mite under laboratory conditions. The next step will be evaluating its efficacy under field conditions

Thermal Degradation of Tetrabromobisphenol A: Emission of Polybrominated Dibenzo-P-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans and other Organic Compounds

Paper submitted to the 31st International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Compounds (Dioxin 2011), Brussels, Belgium, 21-25 August 2011.Brominated compounds are widely used as flame retardants in industrial operations. Due to their high efficiency, compatibility and small influence on mechanical properties, brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have a broad application area, mainly in the field of polymeric materials. Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is the most important BFR, representing around 60 % of BFR total production. The estimated global consumption of TBBPA was around 170000 metric tons for 2004.The authors thank the research project CTQ2008-05520 from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and research projects ACOMP2011/224 and PROMETEO/2009/043/FEDER from the Valencian Community Government (Spain) for the support provided

De novo synthesis of brominated dioxins and furans

On the basis of laboratory experiments with model mixtures (active carbon + CuBr2 at different loads), this work studies the formation of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) by de novo synthesis. For the different samples, the temperature of the maximum carbon oxidation rate was determined by thermogravimetric analysis, and a kinetic model was proposed for the degradation of the materials in an oxidizing atmosphere (synthetic air). The effect of the addition of different amounts of CuBr2 was studied, finding that its presence accelerates the degradation of the carbonaceous structure in the presence of oxygen. The thermal degradation of the samples in air is satisfactorily described by a first-order single-reaction model. In addition, combustion runs of one of the mixtures (consisting of activated carbon + 50 wt % CuBr2, pyrolyzed at 700 °C) were performed in a quartz horizontal laboratory furnace. The analysis of the emissions and the solid residue proved the formation of brominated dioxins and furans at 300, 400, and 500 °C, with a maximum yield at 300 °C (91.7 ng/g of total PBDD/Fs) and a higher bromination degree with increasing temperature.Support for this work was provided by the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain), Research Project Prometeo/2009/043/FEDER, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT), Research Project CTQ2008-05520

Emissions from the Pyrolysis and Combustion of Different Wastes

Paper submitted to the 7th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials (7th ISFR 2013), New Delhi, India, 23-26 October 2013.A comparison between different emission rates of various pollutants obtained from various wastes is presented. The studied wastes were the following: polyethylene, tyres, sewage sludge, polyvinyl chloride, cotton textiles, polyester textiles, meat and bone meals, varnish wastes, olive oil solid waste (pomace), waste lube oils, paper waste, tomato plant, pine needles and cones, mobile phones and automotive shredder residue. The decomposition of these wastes was studied in a horizontal laboratory scale reactor at 850 ºC in an inert and an oxidizing atmosphere, and the analysis of the pollutants evolved comprised several compounds such as light hydrocarbons, PAHs and PCDD/Fs.Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) (CTQ2008-05520 project) and Valencian Community Government (Spain) (PROMETEO/2009/043/FEDER project)