Advances in Repurposing and Recycling of Post-Vehicle-Application Lithium-Ion Batteries

Increased electrification of vehicles has increased the use of lithium-ion batteries for energy storage, and raised the issue of what to do with post-vehicle-application batteries. Three possibilities have been identified: 1) remanufacturing for intended reuse in vehicles; 2) repurposing for non-vehicle, stationary storage applications; and 3) recycling, extracting the precious metals, chemicals and other byproducts. Advances in repurposing and recycling are presented, along with a mathematical model that forecasts the manufacturing capacity needed for remanufacturing, repurposing, and recycling. Results obtained by simulating the model show that up to a 25% reduction in the need for new batteries can be achieved through remanufacturing, that the sum of repurposing and remanufacturing capacity is approximately constant across various scenarios encouraging the sharing of resources, and that the need for recycling capacity will be significant by 2030. A repurposing demonstration shows the use of post-vehicle-application batteries to support a semi-portable recycling platform. Energy is collected from solar panels, and dispensed to electrical devices as required. Recycling may be complicated: lithium-ion batteries produced by different manufacturers contain different active materials, particularly for the cathodes. In all cases, however, the collecting foils used in the anodes are copper, and in the cathodes are aluminum. A common recycling process using relatively low acid concentrations, low temperatures, and short time periods was developed and demonstrated

Identification of a suitable SNP for allele-specific silencing of the disease-causing gene in SCA1 patients in South Africa

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-132).Spinocerebellar ataxia 1 (SCA1) is part of a broader group of dominant neurodegenerative disorders caused by an unstable CAG trinucleotide repeat. There is no known cure for this disease and symptoms worsen progressively culminating in death. The disease-causing mutation in SCA1 occurs in the ATXN1 gene. The function of the gene product (the ataxin-1 protein) is unknown, however; the protein has been linked to RNA processing in the cell. The first part of this study followed on a 1997 report of two founder haplotypes in the Mixed Ancestry SCA1 families in the Western Cape of South Africa, using microsatellites. The aim was to narrow the region investigated in the previous study, and confirm the existence of founder haplotypes using a SNP-based haplotype. The SNPbased haplotype was constructed using 4 SNPs in individuals from 5 different families of Mixed Ancestry origin from the Western Cape and the two founder events were confirmed. The SNP-based haplotype also shows the existence of a minimum common interval and indicates regions of possible break-points which may be useful in determining the extent and origins of the two haplotypes. The second aim of the study was to preferentially silence the mutant transcript of the ATXN1 gene by targeting a single nucleotide difference. Two of the SNPs genotyped for the SNP-based haplotype were found to be heterozygous in over half of the patient cohort. Eight shRNA effector molecules were screened against short target sequences incorporating one of these SNPs. Results are promising, with significant discrimination achieved between the wild-type and mutant alleles by targeting this SNP. This study has shown that RNAi may be developed as a beneficial therapeutic technique for a subset of SCA1 patients in South Africa

The Effects of Sex on Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Following Noxious Input

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are often the result of traumatic accidents resulting in polytrauma. Pain input from associated injuries has been shown to negatively impair locomotor recovery and foster the development of neuropathic pain. In these studies, rats receiving uncontrollable nociceptive stimulation twenty-four hours after SCI show impaired locomotor recovery, increased cell death, and increased lesion volume. Historically, this research has focused exclusively on male animals. However, with more females sustaining spinal cord injuries, it is important to determine whether females are at risk of developing similar detrimental effects in response to pain input. This was examined using female rats given a moderate contusion at T12. The next day, animals were treated with one of two pain models. Animals received either six minutes of variable intermittent shock (VIS) to the tail or nothing, or an intradermal injection of capsaicin (3%) or vehicle. Locomotor recovery was assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) method, and scores were evaluated each day for the first week following injury, then on day 10 and once a week after. Further locomotor recovery was assessed on day 28 with additional behavioral tests (beam and ladder, girdle, von Frey filament testing). Animals were then sacrificed and perfused, and the spinal cord collected for histological analysis. Only animals that received shock showed a significant detriment to locomotor recovery when assessed using the BBB method. Capsaicin treatment did not affect long-term recovery, suggesting that the effect of pain input on secondary injury is variably affected by sex

A study of the mysticism of Plotinus and Augustine

Three major subjects are the concern of this study: Mysticism, Plotinus, and St. Augustine, any one of which would allow elaborate investigation. Here, we have made no attempt to deal with any one of these comprehensively, but have been concerned only to make a comparative analysis of the mysticisms of Plotinus and Augustine. The writer\u27s interest in Plotinus stems from the fact that Plotinus is both a first-rate philosopher and a mystic, being generally regarded as the father of Western mysticism. The significance of Augustine in the history of Western Civilization and the fact that he is both a convert from neo-Platonism and a mystic make him an apt subject for comparison with Plotinus. Both men carried their first principles to their logical conclusions so effectively that even today one can detect overtones of their fundamental theses reoccurring within the various systems of contemporary philosophy and theology. Admitting an appreciation for mysticism, the writer finds it difficult to accept a mysticism-for-the-sake-of-mysticism, but is rather attracted to mysticisms of the type of Plotinus and Augustine\u27s---mysticisms that are clearly metaphysically related and also suggest a meaning for ordinary human experiences

The effect of elevated water content on ethanol combustion

Ethanol is currently being considered as a potential alternative to traditional fuels. However, the fuel offers a low return in terms of energy output per dollar invested when compared to fossil fuels. More than 1/3 of the cost associated with bio-ethanol production is devoted to distillation and water removal. This study seeks to validate the use of hydrous ethanol as a practical fuel to be used in lieu of fossil fuels or anhydrous ethanol. Success would reduce the production cost associated with ethanol fuel. Hydrous ethanol was burned in a swirl-stabilized combustor, air is introduced at a constant flow rate through a dump diffuser, and fuels ranging from 0%-40% water by volume was tested for practicality. A stable flame was achieved with up to 35% water and the Lean Blow Out limit was determined for these fuels. Fuels ranging from 0% to 20% water were tested in greater detail. This included thermal mapping of the flame, exhaust temperature measurements, exhaust NOx, CO2, and O2 measurement, as well as CH* and OH* imaging of the low-flame region. Equivalence ratio was varied to include test points at 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.1. This range provides insight into flame behavior at extremely lean, lean, stoichiometric, and rich test conditions. Results revealed that exhaust heat rate, combustion efficiency, and combustor thermal efficiency were not affected negatively by elevated water content. However, flame temperature decreased as a result of water addition, particularly in the low flame region. CH*/OH* emissions in the low-flame region were also reduced due to the parasitic heat load of water vaporization and local quenching. The practical consequence of burning hydrous fuel was reduced exhaust temperature. This negative consequence, coupled with the desirable consequence of increased mass flow rate, did not appreciably affect the net exhaust heat rate. Reduced peak temperatures lead to exhaust NOx reductions. In conclusion, this study reveals that ethanol with proof as low as 140 behaves as a practical fuel and is recommended as a means of increasing the economic return when using ethanol as fuel in situations where increased volumetric consumption of the fuel is acceptable