Development of a biomechanical energy harvester

© 2009 Li et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Energy Efficiency Analysis: Biomass-to-Wheel Efficiency Related with Biofuels Production, Fuel Distribution, and Powertrain Systems

BACKGROUND: Energy efficiency analysis for different biomass-utilization scenarios would help make more informed decisions for developing future biomass-based transportation systems. Diverse biofuels produced from biomass include cellulosic ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters, methane, hydrogen, methanol, dimethyether, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and bioelectricity; the respective powertrain systems include internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles based on gasoline or diesel ICEs, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, sugar fuel cell vehicles (SFCV), and battery electric vehicles (BEV). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a simple, straightforward, and transparent biomass-to-wheel (BTW) analysis including three separate conversion elements--biomass-to-fuel conversion, fuel transport and distribution, and respective powertrain systems. BTW efficiency is a ratio of the kinetic energy of an automobile's wheels to the chemical energy of delivered biomass just before entering biorefineries. Up to 13 scenarios were analyzed and compared to a base line case--corn ethanol/ICE. This analysis suggests that BEV, whose electricity is generated from stationary fuel cells, and SFCV, based on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with an on-board sugar-to-hydrogen bioreformer, would have the highest BTW efficiencies, nearly four times that of ethanol-ICE. SIGNIFICANCE: In the long term, a small fraction of the annual US biomass (e.g., 7.1%, or 700 million tons of biomass) would be sufficient to meet 100% of light-duty passenger vehicle fuel needs (i.e., 150 billion gallons of gasoline/ethanol per year), through up to four-fold enhanced BTW efficiencies by using SFCV or BEV. SFCV would have several advantages over BEV: much higher energy storage densities, faster refilling rates, better safety, and less environmental burdens

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION

Moderate electric treatment (MET) is based on the growth of pores in cell membranes as a result of electric field applications. In this study, effects of MET applications on yield and quality of pomegranate juice production were investigated. MET was applied to whole pomegranate fruits between 10 and 60 V/cm voltage gradients for 15 s in a pilot scale continues drum-type MET system. Pomegranate juice yields were increased by 2.11-6.99% with electrical treatment. The highest total phenolics were determined at 60 V/cm applications and the highest anthocyanin, antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid, a value and total color differences were determined at 10 V/cm applications. The electrical treatment significantly decreased the viscosity of juice. It was concluded that MET application could be applied as a pretreatment in pomegranate juice production. Practical ApplicationsJuice extraction is a slow and highly energy-consuming step in the production of fruit juices; thus, various methods have been tried to improve efficiency. And there is an additional effect on juice yield caused by the electric current. Moderate electric treatment (MET) is effective in destroying cellular membranes and different types of electroporation units could be used for the structure of fruits or vegetables and also according to the production method. Through this study, a high potential of MET for the yield and functional improvement of pomegranate juices was found. The drum-type MET system which was used in the study can be used for whole materials without significant temperature increases. In addition, MET treatments can be used to increase the press yield as a nonthermal application and it will eliminate heat exposures, and also drum-type MET system can be adapted to the industrial production lines

Why Solar Energy Makes Sense in Georgia

Richard Perez, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York-Albany. Richard Perez has been associate editor of Solar Energy Journal since1995, and has published more than 120 articles and reports on solar radiation, renewable energy applications, and day lighting. He and his team advise the National Renewable Energy Lab on solar radiation profiles of the U.S. Richard built and lives in a passive solar photovoltaic home, and in 2000 received a U.S. patent for “Load Controller and Method to Enhance Effective Capacity of Photovoltaic Power Supply.” Perez earned a doctorate in atmospheric science from UAlbany (1983) and a diploma of advanced studies in external geophysics from the University of Paris (1978).Nuri Demirdoven, Ph.D., Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company. Nuri is a member of McKinsey’s Electric Power & Natural Gas Practice and co-leads McKinsey Global Solar Initiative. He primarily serves global energy and materials clients focusing on electric power utilities, independent power developers and renewable energy OEMs. Nuri has been with McKinsey in Houston over 5 years. Prior to McKinsey Nuri worked with Air Liquide in France. Nuri holds a MS in Technology& Policy and PhD in Physical Chemistry both from MIT.Anthony Coker, Sr. Director of Strategic Partners, Suniva, Inc. Anthony is responsible for solutions development, key customer relationships and global product certifications. He is also a board member of with Technology Association of Georgia’s Smart Grid Society. Anthony has held management, sales, marketing and engineering roles with GE Plastics, Dow Corning/Hemlock Semiconductor, Accenture, Software AG, ITW Chemtronics, and Davy Powergas/McKee. He holds a BChE from Georgia Tech and has pursued an executive MBA at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.Runtime: 91:31 minutes.The speakers will cover Southeastern solar resources, environmental and operating conditions, economic proposition and technology fit and availability

CUTANEOUS SEBACEOUS GLAND CARCINOMA IN THE POSTAURICULAR REGION

Carcinomas of the sebaceous glands of the skin are uncommon. These tumours metastasize frequently. A case of cutaneous sebaceous carcinoma localized in the postauricular region is presented with its exceptional large size and very poor prognosis

Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 and respiratory distress syndrome

We present a patient born at 31 weeks gestation with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) which did not respond to surfactant. He also developed hyponatremia, hyperkalemia and dehydration with increased sweat electrolytes despite high levels of serum aldosterone, thus systemic pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA-1) diagnosis was made. Systemic PHA-1 is caused by mutations of amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) genes. Because ENaC is a rate-limiting step for sodium absorption by epithelial cells, not only of the renal tubule but also of the lung epithelium, patients with PHA-1 with pulmonary symptoms have sometimes been reported. However, our patient appears to be the second reported human case of both neonatal RDS and PHA-1, and the first description, with increased sweat electrolytes, of a premature baby with systemic PHA-1 and RDS