Experimentelle Analyse der Stabilisierungseigenschaften von abgehobenen eingeschlossenen nicht-vorgemischten Drallflammen

Gegenstand dieser Arbeit war die experimentelle Untersuchung einer eingeschlossenen, abgehobenen, nicht-vorgemischten Drallflamme durch Verwendung einer neuartigen Airblast-Düse. Für die zeitaufge-löste Bestimmung aller drei Geschwindigkeitskomponenten wurde eine Messkampagne unter Verwendung eines kommerziellen 3-D LDA Systems durchgeführt. Konzentrations- und Temperaturmessungen im Feld wurden zum besseren Verständnis der komplexen turbulenten chemischen Interaktion auch durchgeführt

Sustainability Tools for the Assessment of Construction Materials and Buildings

The construction industry, contributing to about 9% of the European Union's GDP, has played a significant influential role in the development of the energy strategy of Europe and is also anticipated to be an important contributor in its successful implementation (EC, 2016). Holistic sustainability assessment tools that are able to evaluate and optimise the environmental performance of construction materials and buildings are considered a key for the development of advanced building designs and use of sustainable building materials and elements and green energy- efficient systems that will raise high the sustainability level of the European built environment. The aim of this work is the thorough explanation of the standardised LCA methodology, and the introduction of the approach of EcoHestia, a comprehensive building sustainability assessment tool. In view of that, the current legislation addressing the construction industry, as well as the state-of-the- art Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools that are used for the sustainability assessment and optimisation of construction materials and buildings are also presented. Furthermore, through the employment of EcoHestia, the environmental impact of a case study building is defined, also providing a detailed breakdown of the contribution of each construction material in the overall environmental performance of the building. The analysis of the results has not only determined on the construction materials of the building that are most harmful to the natural resources and the environment, but also showcased the effectiveness and added value of utilizing this approach in moving forward towards a more sustainable green building sector

Integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for sustainable constructions

The construction industry and the scientific community continue to seek for innovative approaches that can estimate the level of sustainability to be achieved at the end of the project from the early design stages. One of the tools developed for this purpose is Building Information Modelling (BIM), which represents the state- of- the- art tool for bringing together different expertise and achieving optimal designs at an early design stage for the maximisation of their impact. However, the level of the prospect of this tool has not been fully exploited. This paper integrates BIM with an established methodology for assessing a product's or a system's environmental performance- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)- in an attempt to maximise the benefits from this synergy and achieve the most sustainable constructions. The impact from the integration of these two valuable tools is presented for a water supply system using case studies for a range of different materials. Comparison of a modern Vernetztes Polyethylen (VPE) water supply system against two systems made from traditional materials (steel and copper) was made. The results of this study show that a VPE water supply system performs 87% better than the steel system, and 88% better than a copper water supply system in terms of climate change, while the carbon dioxide emissions released during the production of a VPE system are almost the one tenth of traditional materials water supply systems

Comparative study on catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis of olive mill solid wastes

In this study, catalytic and non-catalytic fast pyrolysis of dried olive husk and olive kernels was carried out. A bubbling fluidised bed reactor was used for the non-catalytic processing of the solid olive wastes. In-situ catalytic upgrading of biomass fast pyrolysis vapours was performed in a fixed bed bench-scale reactor at 500 °C, for catalyst screening purposes. A maximum bio-oil yield of 47.35 wt.% (on dry biomass) was obtained from non-catalytic fast pyrolysis at a reaction temperature of 450 °C, while the bio-oil yield was decreased at 37.14 wt.% when the temperature was increased to 500 °C. In the case of the fixed bed unit tests, the highest liquid (52.66 wt.%) and organics (30.99 wt.%) yield was achieved with the use of the non-catalytic silica sand. Depending on the catalytic material, the liquid yield ranged from 47.03 to 43.96 wt.% the organic yield from 21.15 to 16.34 wt.% on dry biomass. Solid products were increased from 28.23 wt.% for the non-catalytic run to 32.81 wt.% on dry biomass, when MgO (5% Co) was used

Types of Corruption in Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in Ibadan, Nigeria

Corruption is a phenomenon that manifests in various types and forms especially among operators of Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs). Many actions of the operators which constitute corrupt practices often tend to be overlooked in spite of their grave consequences for the success SMEs in Nigeria. The fight against corruption in Nigeria is more concentrated in the formal sector. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate various forms in which corrupt practices are carried out among Small and Micro Enterprises in Ibadan, Nigeria. Business owners, their employees, apprentices and consumers constituted the study population. Primary data were collected using questionnaire administered on 200 business owners, 150 employees and 150 apprentices randomly chosen in five business districts in Ibadan; and the conduct of 10 in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants. Quantitative data were analysed at uni-variate level using simple percentages and frequencies while qualitative data were content analysed. Findings from the study revealed that corrupt practices were rampant among actors in SMEs and the common types of corrupt practices included stealing (60%), deception of customers (78.4%), tax evasion (62%), sale of fake products (76%), sale of expired products (65.2%), tampering with measurement scales (69.6%), bribery (82.4%), and poor service delivery (73%). The study concludes that the level of corruption in SMEs calls for concern and government should extend the fight against corruption to the informal sector in Nigeria

Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? An analysis of the local-level plans of 327 cities in the EU

Cities across the globe recognise their role in climate mitigation and are acting to reduce carbon emissions. Knowing whether cities set ambitious climate and energy targets is critical for determining their contribution towards the global 1.5 °C target, partly because it helps to identify areas where further action is necessary. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the mitigation targets of 327 European cities, as declared in their local climate plans. The sample encompasses over 25% of the EU population and includes cities of all sizes across all Member States, plus the UK. The study analyses whether the type of plan, city size, membership of climate networks, and its regional location are associated with different levels of mitigation ambition. Results reveal that 78% of the cities have a GHG emissions reduction target. However, with an average target of 47%, European cities are not on track to reach the Paris Agreement: they need to roughly double their ambitions and efforts. Some cities are ambitious, e.g. 25% of our sample (81) aim to reach carbon neutrality, with the earliest target date being 2020.90% of these cities are members of the Climate Alliance and 75% of the Covenant of Mayors. City size is the strongest predictor for carbon neutrality, whilst climate network(s) membership, combining adaptation and mitigation into a single strategy, and local motivation also play a role. The methods, data, results and analysis of this study can serve as a reference and baseline for tracking climate mitigation ambitions across European and global cities

How Are the Smart Readiness Indicators Expected to Affect the Energy Performance of Buildings: First Evidence and Perspectives

In 2018, the European Commission adopted the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) concept in the recast of the directive on the energy efficiency of buildings. The set of SRIs is a measure of the intelligence of buildings systems, and its promotion is expected to contribute to the energy savings of the building sector. These indicators are relatively new and were developed only at the beginning of last decade, within European standards. This study introduces and elaborates on these indicators, as delivered in the final report of the European Commission. Some first results, which are obtained using a tool developed by the European Commission, are also presented. The work identifies gaps and perspectives for improvement of this system, as well as predicting the evolution of its implementation in the coming years, through specific numerical scenarios