Influence of oxidant agent on syngas composition: gasification of hazelnut shells through an updraft reactor

Thermophysical properties of engineering fluids have proven in the past to be essential for the design of physical and chemical processing and reaction equipment in the chemical, metallurgical, and allied industries, as they influence directly the design parameters and performance of plant units in the of, for example, heat exchangers, distillation columns, phase separation, and reactors. In the energy field, the search for the optimization of existing and alternative fuels, either using neutral or ionic fluids, is an actual research and application topic, both for new applications and the sustainable development of old technologies. One of the most important drawbacks in the industrial use of thermophysical property data is the common discrepancies in available data, measured with different methods, different samples, and questionable quality assessment. Measuring accurately the thermal conductivity of fluids has been a very successful task since the late 1970s due to the efforts of several schools in Europe, Japan, and the United States. However, the application of the most accurate techniques to several systems with technological importance, like ionic liquids, nanofluids, and molten salts, has not been made in the last ten years in a correct fashion, generating highly inaccurate data, which do not reflect the real physical situation. It is the purpose of this paper to review critically the best available techniques for the measurement of thermal conductivity of fluids, with special emphasis on transient methods and their application to ionic liquids, nanofluids, and molten salts

Il perfetto cortigiano, specchio della magnificenza perduta del Rinascimento italiano

descrizione del testo e della sua importanza nella costruzione di una cultura europea del Rinascimentodescription of the text and its importance in the construction of the European Renaissance cultur

Biomass gasification: the effect of equivalence ratio on syngas quality in the case of externally heated reactor

Biomass gasification is a thermal process that aiming at obtaining the possible best quality of the product gas, in terms of heating value and composition. The reaction temperature is one of the most important parameters affecting the syngas quality. Several experiments show a close link between the air mass injected within the reactor (the equivalence ratio) and the temperature reached. In the proposed paper we investigate the effect of varying the equivalence ratio in the case of an externally heated reac-tor, on the temperature distribution within the reactor, and on the syngas quality (i.e., composition and low heating val-ue)

Analysis on the coupling of biomass gasification processes with a parabolic trough concentrating solar plant

The energy needed from gasification processes to convert a solid fuel, the biomass, into a gaseous one is usually supplied by the partial oxidation of the fuel in the gasification reactor. However, the use of solar power as an external thermal input is attractive to improve the energy content and the quality of the product gas. Solar parabolic trough (PT) technology, using molten salt both as heat transfer fluid and thermal storage medium can provide an energy input to a gasification reactor in a stable and continuous way throughout the whole process. The gas produced by a reactor supplied by solar energy has a better quality in terms of Low Heat Value, “cold gas efficiency”, “carbon efficiency” and tar content. Molten salt, acting as thermal fluid in the heat exchanger within the reactor (in the place of hot gas) increases reliability and avoids unsafe service interruptions for the facility. At the same time, the abovementioned Concentrating Solar Plant (CSP) plant can benefit from the syngas. In particular this latter may be profitable for covering the CSP nocturnal losses, decreasing the use of fossil fuel, allowing power production in cogeneration to be used as heat for salts heating up, in order to have a power generation extension. To sum up, this paper investigates the benefits ensured by this coupling to both plant technologies and explains the method to be used in case of agro-industrial residuals used as feed

Il sesso dei libri. La dimensione del genere nel lavoro editoriale

L’articolo presenta una ricerca condotta sul ruolo delle donne nel mondo editoriale, comparto produttivo ampiamente caratterizzato dalla presenza delle lavoratrici, al punto che frequentemente l’editoria italiana è descritta come un settore dell’industria culturale “al femminile”, e sorretto dalle lettrici: sono donne le maggiori acquirenti di libri, sono donne le lettrici forti. Ciononostante, nell’offerta editoriale nazionale il numero di realtà specializzate in una produzione gender-oriented è irrisorio, lo spazio dedicato alle autrici nel dibattito culturale è assai limitato e la rappresentanza femminile nei ruoli dirigenziali delle case editrici è numericamente esigua. La ricerca qui presentata intende approfondire la natura della presenza femminile nelle case editrici, al fine di verificare se esista, o meno, una forma di segregazione orizzontale e verticale nel comparto editoriale.The Sex of the Books conducts a careful consideration about gender differences acting within editorial organizations, according to show how and why we can speak of horizontal and vertical occupational segregation in publishing industry. In spite of the high number of female workers, the glass ceiling - the unseen barrier that keeps women from getting ahead in business – acts in publishing organizations by the increasing feminization of some editorial functions, while the race to the top stops halfway, preventing women from go-getting