EVALUATION OF THE COMBUSTION PROCESS OF COFFEE HUSK SAMPLES IN A DROP TUBE FURNACE (DTF)

Thermal conversion processes that use coffee husk are an alternative to solve the environmental problems of disposal and waste burning in open places and avoid greenhouse gases emissions. The present study evaluates in natura coffee husk samples and residues obtained from a combustion process in a Drop Tube Furnace (DTF). Such an evaluation consists in understanding the efficiency of the burning process, therefore the activation energies (Ea) of the combustion process for both samples were determined. The isoconversional kinetic method (Model Free Kinetics) was used for the determination of the Ea values of the samples. The Ea values of the main stages of the combustion process (devolatilization and carbonization) for both samples were compared. Thermogravimetric (TG) and Derivative Thermogravimetric (DTG) data at five heating rates (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 oC min-1) were used for the determination of hemicellulose, cellulose and residual lignin. SEM (Scanning Electronic Microscopy) images and EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) analysis were applied as complementary techniques in the combustion process. The results show that for both samples the Ea values were higher for the carbonization step than for devolatilization. The Ea values for the stages of devolatilization and carbonization for the residues were 33 and 15% lower than those for the in natura coffee husk samples. The lower Ea values in both steps for the residues are indicative of a reduction in the complexity of the reaction mechanism, which can be a parameter for the evaluation of the biomass combustion process. According to the SEM images, the residues showed exploded surfaces caused by the combustion process, whereas in the in natura samples a denser and robust structure was observed. The ash formed after the combustion process in the thermobalance was also evaluated by SEM and EDS analyses and showed a more homogenous structure with tiny particles in comparison with the in natura coffee husk samples. The EDS analysis confirmed the presence of precursor elements in the samples, such as potassium and other inorganic materials, which were intensified after the combustion process

THE CALCIUM LOOPING CYCLE STUDY FOR CAPTURING CARBON DIOXIDE APPLIED TO THE ENERGY GENERATION

The calcium looping process (Ca-L) is a promising technology to reduce of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when applied in energy generation systems. Ca-based materials (usually limestone) are used in this process as CO2 sorbents. Thus, the CO2 capture occurs by the reversible reaction between calcium oxide (CaO) and CO2, resulting in the calcium carbonate form (CaCO3). Compared to other technologies applied to carbon sequestration process, the Ca-L offers additional advantages such: the use of fluidized bed technology that is already well established; this process occurs at high temperature, and the excess of heat generated can be recovered; the cost of limestone sorbents is low because of its wide availability. However, in the applying the Ca-L process is essential to understand the mechanism and the effect of partial pressure of CO2 in both, calcination and carbonation processes; to investigate the effect of sintering and to evaluate the sorbent activity decay. In this paper, empirical technique such as thermogravimetry is applied to investigate the reactivity of dolomite as CO2 sorbent. The effect of CO2 high concentrations in both calcination/carbonation processes is also investigated

Counting Giant Gravitons in AdS_3

We quantize the set of all quarter BPS brane probe solutions in global AdS_3 \times S^3 \times T^4/K3 found in arxiv:0709.1168 [hep-th]. We show that, generically, these solutions give rise to states in discrete representations of the SL(2,R) WZW model on AdS_3. Our procedure provides us with a detailed description of the low energy 1/4 and 1/2 BPS sectors of string theory on this background. The 1/4 BPS partition function jumps as we move off the point in moduli space where the bulk theta angle and NS-NS fields vanish. We show that generic 1/2 BPS states are protected because they correspond to geodesics rather than puffed up branes. By exactly quantizing the simplest of the probes above, we verify our description of 1/4 BPS states and find agreement with the known spectrum of 1/2 BPS states of the boundary theory. We also consider the contribution of these probes to the elliptic genus and discuss puzzles, and their possible resolutions, in reproducing the elliptic genus of the symmetric product.Comment: 47 pages; (v2) references and minor clarifications adde

STUDY OF THERMAL DECOMPOSITION AND IGNITION TEMPERATURE OF BAGASSE, COAL AND THEIR BLENDS

In Brazil, due to its availability, sugar cane bagasse has a high potential for power generation. The knowledge of ignition behavior, as well as the knowledge of the chemical kinetics, in of fuels combustion process is important features in boilers projects and in the stability of the combustion process control. The aim of this study is to investigate the thermal behavior of sugar cane bagasse, coal and their blends. The methodology proposed by Tognotti et al. (1985) was applied to determine the ignition temperature for all samples. Ignition temperatures were 256oC for neat bagasse and 427oC for neat coal, and 275oC for both blends (50-50% and 25-75%). The Model-Free Kinetics was applied to determine the apparent activation energy (Eα) of the thermal decomposition of sugar cane bagasse. For the two major events of mass loss of bagasse which correspond to the thermal decomposition of organic matter (mainly hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin), average values of Eα were obtained for both combustion and pyrolysis processes. In synthetic air atmosphere, the Eα were 170.8±26.3 kJ⋅mol-1 and 277.8±58.6 kJ⋅mol-1, while in nitrogen atmosphere, the Eα were 185.0 ± 11.4 kJ⋅mol-1 and 82.1±44.4 kJ⋅mol-1. The results obtained can be explained by synergistic effects when both bagasse and coal were blended, changing the fuel reactivity

Accelerated test execution using GPUs

As product life-cycles become shorter and the scale and complexity of systems increase, accelerating the execution of large test suites gains importance. Existing research has primarily focussed on techniques that reduce the size of the test suite. By contrast, we propose a technique that accelerates test execution, allowing test suites to run in a fraction of the original time, by parallel execution with a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Program testing, which is in essence execution of the same program with multiple sets of test data, naturally exhibits the kind of data parallelism that can be exploited with GPUs. Our approach simultaneously executes the program with one test case per GPU thread. GPUs have severe limitations, and we discuss these in the context of our approach and define the scope of our applications. We observe speed-ups up to a factor of 27 compared to single-core execution on conventional CPUs with embedded systems benchmark programs

A topological limit of gravity admitting an SU(2) connection formulation

We study the Hamiltonian formulation of the generally covariant theory defined by the Lagrangian 4-form L=e_I e_J F^{IJ}(\omega) where e^I is a tetrad field and F^{IJ} is the curvature of a Lorentz connection \omega^{IJ}. This theory can be thought of as the limit of the Holst action for gravity for the Newton constant G goes to infinity and Immirzi parameter goes to zero, while keeping their product fixed. This theory has for a long time been conjectured to be topological. We prove this statement both in the covariant phase space formulation as well as in the standard Dirac formulation. In the time gauge, the unconstrained phase space of theory admits an SU(2) connection formulation which makes it isomorphic to the unconstrained phase space of gravity in terms of Ashtekar-Barbero variables. Among possible physical applications, we argue that the quantization of this topological theory might shed new light on the nature of the degrees of freedom that are responsible for black entropy in loop quantum gravity.Comment: Appendix added where moldels leading to boundary degrees of freedom are constructed. This version will appear in PRD

Modeling Life as Cognitive Info-Computation

This article presents a naturalist approach to cognition understood as a network of info-computational, autopoietic processes in living systems. It provides a conceptual framework for the unified view of cognition as evolved from the simplest to the most complex organisms, based on new empirical and theoretical results. It addresses three fundamental questions: what cognition is, how cognition works and what cognition does at different levels of complexity of living organisms. By explicating the info-computational character of cognition, its evolution, agent-dependency and generative mechanisms we can better understand its life-sustaining and life-propagating role. The info-computational approach contributes to rethinking cognition as a process of natural computation in living beings that can be applied for cognitive computation in artificial systems.Comment: Manuscript submitted to Computability in Europe CiE 201

Accelerator performance analysis of the Fermilab Muon Campus

Fermilab is dedicated to hosting world-class experiments in search of new physics that will operate in the coming years. The Muon g-2 Experiment is one such experiment that will determine with unprecedented precision the muon anomalous magnetic moment, which offers an important test of the Standard Model. We describe in this study the accelerator facility that will deliver a muon beam to this experiment. We first present the lattice design that allows for efficient capture, transport, and delivery of polarized muon beams. We then numerically examine its performance by simulating pion production in the target, muon collection by the downstream beam line optics, as well as transport of muon polarization. We finally establish the conditions required for the safe removal of unwanted secondary particles that minimizes contamination of the final beam.Comment: 10 p

Holography in asymptotically flat space-times and the BMS group

In a previous paper (hep-th/0306142) we have started to explore the holographic principle in the case of asymptotically flat space-times and analyzed in particular different aspects of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) group, namely the asymptotic symmetry group of any asymptotically flat space-time. We continue this investigation in this paper. Having in mind a S-matrix approach with future and past null infinity playing the role of holographic screens on which the BMS group acts, we connect the IR sectors of the gravitational field with the representation theory of the BMS group. We analyze the (complicated) mapping between bulk and boundary symmetries pointing out differences with respect to the AdS/CFT set up. Finally we construct a BMS phase space and a free hamiltonian for fields transforming w.r.t BMS representations. The last step is supposed to be an explorative investigation of the boundary data living on the degenerate null manifold at infinity.Comment: 31 pages, several changes in section 3 and 7 and references update