Hybrid Bioreactor for Reduction of Capital Costs

A bioreactor with first and second containers has translucent sidewalls housing a plurality of planar membranes over which a slurry of water and photosynthetic microorganisms flows. A light collector is mounted adjacent a gap between the first and second containers for receiving incident light and conveying the light through optical waveguides, such as fibers, to distributors. The distributors are mounted in the first and second containers near a lower end of the substrates so that photons incident on the optical waveguides are conveyed through the optical waveguides to the light distributors and then to the lower ends of the substrates where light passing through the translucent sidewalls is less intense

Expression of IGF2R, IGF2, TGFß, and uPAR in a rat model of obesity /

Includes vita.We tested the hypothesis that induction of obesity in lean Long Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) and obesity-prone Otsuka Long Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) would cause the insulin growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R) and factors it regulates, including insulin growth factor 2 (IGF2), transforming growth factor beta (TGFB), and urokinaseplasminogen receptor (uPAR) to be changed in expression away from a pro-angiogenic state. This would arise from an increase in IGF2R and TGFB, and a decrease in IGF2 and uPAR. LETO and OLETF rats were raised from age 4 to 32 weeks, with each strain subdivided into a control diet (CON) and high fat diet (HFD) group. We also raised a cohort of OLETF HFD rats which either underwent weight control interventions (exercise training (EX) or calorie restriction (CR)) or did not undergo intervention (sedentary (SED)). Interventions began at age 20 weeks and continued until 32 weeks. We found significant increases in both body weight and body fat percentage, and in decrease in capillarity in both biceps brachii (BB) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscle, in comparing non-obese to obese animals (p less than 0.05). When examining diet and strain induction of obesity, we found significant increases in body weight and body fat percentage from control lean animals, but with no significant change in capillarity. We did not observe any significant effects on body weight or body fat percentage in EX or CR relative to SED. We observed multiple significant changes in skeletal and adipose feed arteries with obesity induction on IGF2R, IGF2, TGF, and uPAR. However, most of these changes did not occur in accordance with our hypothesis. Overall, we find LETO and OLETF rats to be a viable model for examining mechanisms driving changes in tissue capillarity in obesity, and that the IGF2R system we proposed does not appear to agree with the data. We propose that the IGF2R system is moderated in a static-toproangiogenic state during obesity, and decreases in overall capillarity are driven by other mechanisms.Dr. Harold Laughlin, Dissertation Supervisor.|Includes vita.Includes bibliographical references

Hybrid System for Enhancing Algal Growth using Vertical Membranes

A method for enhancing gas-to-liquid transfer rate and algal growth using vertical membranes suspended over a pond, wherein the membranes are formed of fibers. An aqueous solution is applied to the top edges of the membranes through a series of headers. The membranes are exposed to a stream of gas containing soluble gas species as the aqueous solution migrates downwardly through the membranes by virtue of gravity-assisted capillary action. The aqueous solution collects the soluble gases from the gas stream, thus promoting the growth of photosynthetic organisms on the membranes and in the pond. The membranes facilitate a gradual introduction of the aqueous solution into the pond at a preferred rate of about 1.3 gallons per minute per linear foot of membrane for optimizing the transfer soluble species from gaseous phase to aqueous phase without rapidly acidifying the pond and harming the phototrophic organisms

Sulphur-Tolerant Anode for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

An anode for a solid oxide fuel cell. The anode is not harmed by sulfur-containing compounds, nor is its resistance increased thereby. The anode has two layers, including a “protective” layer (A) and a layer (B) that oxidizes molecular hydrogen The protective layer has a diffusion rate for molecular hydrogen that exceeds its diffusion rate for sulfur-containing compounds, and has an oxidation rate for sulfur-containing compounds that exceeds its oxidation rate for molecular hydrogen. The first anode layer can be selected fro the group of Lanthanum Strontium Titanate (LST) and Lanthanum Strontium Vanadate (LSV), and the second anode layer is made of Gadolinium Doped Cerium oxide (GDC) and nickel. The first layer can include Yttria Stabilized Ziroonia (YSZ), and the second layer can include YSZ interspersed throughout the layer as a separate phase

Membrane Electrostatic Precipitator

A membrane is used as a collection substrate in an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). Possible material choices include fibers in the form of woven mats, screens made from stainless steel wires or fiber reinforced polymer composite membranes. The membranes have a tensile bias applied during operation, and have impulse tensile force applied during a dust removal step. By combining a dry ESP membrane field with wet-film cleaning field, it may be possible to improve collection efficiencies both by reducing turbulence and eliminating re-entrainment losses due to rapping. Through implementation of new materials that resist hostile ESP environments, the invention enhances the possibility of using novel technologies, such as pulsed corona and others, suitable for removal of molecules such as NOx and SOx, which is very important for meeting proposed PM2.5 EPA emissions regulations

RELAP5/MOD3.2 Assessment Using CHF Data from the KS-1 and V-200 Experiment Facilities

The RELAP/MOD3.2 computer code has been assessed using rod bundle critical heat flux data from the KS-1 and V-200 facilities. This work was performed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s International Nuclear Safety Program, and is part of the effort addressing the capability of the RELAP5/MOD3.2 code to model transients in Soviet-designed reactors. Designated VVER Standard Problem 7, these tests addressed one of the important phenomena related to VVER behavior that the code needs to simulate well, core heat transfer. The code was judged to be in minimal agreement with the experiment data, consistently overpredicting the measured critical heat flux. It is recommended that a model development effort be undertaken to develop a critical heat flux model for RELAP5 that better represents the behavior in VVER rod bundles

Membrane Laminar Wet Electrostatic Precipitator

A laminar flow, wet electrostatic precipitator (ESP) with planar collecting electrodes preferably made of membranes, such as a woven silica fiber. The collecting electrodes are spaced close to planar discharge electrodes to promote laminar flow (Re\u3c2300). Charging electrodes are positioned upstream of the wet ESP to charge the particulate entering the wet ESP to promote collection. The wet ESP is preferably downstream from a conventional turbulent dry ESP for collecting a substantial portion of the larger particulate in the gas stream prior to the gas stream entering the wet ESP

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Process and Apparatus

Conveying gas containing sulfur through a sulfur tolerant planar solid oxide fuel cell (PSOFC) stack for sulfur scrubbing, followed by conveying the gas through a non-sulfur tolerant PSOFC stack. The sulfur tolerant PSOFC stack utilizes anode materials, such as LSV, that selectively convert H2S present in the fuel stream to other non-poisoning sulfur compounds. The remaining balance of gases remaining in the completely or near H2S-free exhaust fuel stream is then used as the fuel for the conventional PSOFC stack that is downstream of the sulfur-tolerant PSOFC. A broad range of fuels such as gasified coal, natural gas and reformed hydrocarbons are used to produce electricity

Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO₂ Mitigation

This process is unique in photosynthetic carbon sequestration. An on-site biological sequestration system directly decreases the concentration of carbon-containing compounds in the emissions of fossil generation units. In this process, photosynthetic microbes are attached to a growth surface arranged in a containment chamber that is lit by solar photons. A harvesting system ensures maximum organism growth and rate of CO2 uptake. Soluble carbon and nitrogen concentrations delivered to the cyanobacteria are enhanced, further increasing growth rate and carbon utilization