Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of pineapple leaves utilization in Costa Rica

Pineapple production around the world creates large amounts of wasted organic residue, mainly in the form of pineapple leaves. Current management practices consist of in situ decomposition or in situ burning, both of which cause proliferation of flies and air pollution, respectively. The research conducted aims to develop a utilization process for this residue. Considering that pineapple leaves are rich in carbohydrates and other nutrients, a simple biological process involving a two-step procedure for juice production and ethanol fermentation has been developed to convert the leaves into renewable fuel and spent yeasts for animal feed. The liquid fraction extracted from the leaves is used as the nutrients to culture a yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus, for ethanol and yeast protein production. In Costa Rica, one of the major pineapple producing countries in the world, the studied process can produce 92708 and 64859 tons of bioethanol and spent yeast per year respectively, from its 44500 hectares of pineapple plantation. This techno-economic analysis indicates that a regional biorefinery with the capacity to produce 50000 metric tons per year of ethanol could have a short payback period of 4.72 years. The life cycle analysis further demonstrates the advantages of the studied biorefining concept over the current practice of open burning.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería de Biosistema

Production of renewable fuel and value-added bioproducts using pineapple leaves in Costa Rica

Pineapple, Ananas comosus, is one of the most important cash crops in Costa Rica with more than 44,500 ha of plantation. The pineapple industry contributes approximately 1.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Costa Rica. Pineapple cultivation generates a large amount of plant residues (250 metric tons per hectare of wet plant residues mainly leaves). Current practices of the field residue handing include direct burning, in situ decomposition and removal of residue before planting, which are neither economically sound nor environmentally friendly. New approaches are urgently needed to utilize the residues and improve sustainability of pineapple production in Costa Rica. This study developed a simple, efficient process to convert the pineapple plant leaves into bioethanol, spent yeast proteins, and fibrous material (pulp). The residue was first treated by a mechanical extruder to generate juice and fibrous material. The juice was fermented by a yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus, to produce ethanol and spent yeast proteins. Under the selected process conditions, the plant leaves (125 tons fresh weight per year) from 1 ha can generate 2.1 tons of bio-ethanol, 1.55 tons of spent yeast biomass, and 11.65 tons of dry fibrous material. The mass and energy balance analysis concluded that using the studied process, the pineapple plant leaves from 44,500 ha of pineapple plantation in Costa Rica can produce 93,043, 68,975, and 518,425 tons of bioethanol, spent yeast, and fibrous material per year, respectively. The amount of bioethanol is able to replace approximately 8.51% of transportation fossil fuel consumption in Costa Rica.Michigan State University/[]/MSU/Estados UnidosNational Natural Science Foundation of China/[31701533]/NSFC/ChinaProgram of Study Abroad for Young Scholars/[gxgwfx 2018036]//Estados UnidosUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería de Biosistema

Limit setting and coverage checks in a search for contact interactions

When analyzing data in particle physics there are two different statistical lenses that people use: Bayesian and frequentist. The core of Bayesian statistics is the subjective belief that a certain result is true or falls within a certain interval while the core of frequentist statistics is the frequency, or amount of times, that the experiments show a result to be true or to fall within a certain interval. Because of how different they are, in order for both Bayesians and frequentists to agree upon the results, there must be a way to reconcile the two--which comes in the form of coverage checks. Throughout the past year I have been finding how good the coverage is for our method of limit setting while searching for contact interactions as a model of quark-lepton compositeness, and with a beta of 0.000558 and beta = 1/lambda^2, the coverage is 99.8% and the median interval of the limit is 33.3 TeV \u3c Lambda \u3c 50.8 TeV

Setting Limits on Lambda for Contact Interactions

We will be setting limits on lambda, the energy scale where contact interactions may be observed, on contact interactions in the dilepton channel. Our primary background is from Drell-Yan, and to improve the accuracy of the limit, we are using an innovative new method that looks at contact interactions and Drell-Yan in combination and sets the limits on lambda directly, instead of finding and setting limits based on cross-sections. Previously, we treated contact interactions as a separate process from Drell-Yan. The problem with that method is because some models predict destructive interference, and that can cause our distribution to actually be less than the Standard Model prediction, which cannot be analyzed because there can never be an event that creates a negative number of particles. Our solution to this is by treating the Drell-Yan and contact interaction samples as a single sample and setting a Bayesian limit directly on lambda

Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Pineapple Leaves Utilization in Costa Rica

Pineapple production around the world creates large amounts of wasted organic residue, mainly in the form of pineapple leaves. Current management practices consist of in situ decomposition or in situ burning, both of which cause the proliferation of flies and air pollution, respectively. The research conducted aims to develop a utilization process for this residue. Considering that pineapple leaves are rich in carbohydrates and other nutrients, a simple biological process involving a two-step procedure for juice production and ethanol fermentation has been developed to convert the leaves into renewable fuel and spent yeasts for animal feed. The liquid fraction extracted from the leaves is used as the nutrients to culture yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus, for ethanol and yeast protein production. In Costa Rica, one of the major pineapple-producing countries in the world, the studied process can produce 92,708 and 64,859 tons of bioethanol and spent yeast per year, respectively, from its 44,500 hectares of pineapple plantation. This techno-economic analysis indicates that a regional biorefinery with the capacity to produce 50,000 metric tons per year of ethanol could have a short payback period of 4.72 years. The life cycle analysis further demonstrates the advantages of the studied biorefining concept over the current practice of open burning

Homelessness Among Minorities

To investigate how legal institutions treat minorities, we researched how homelessness is more likely in minorities such as people of color and the LGBT community, due to the prevalence of discrimination (racism, homophobia, and transphobia). We took a deeper glance into the reasons why homelessness rates are higher among minorities and found that it was because of the lack of economic and social support for those minorities. At first, discrimination was the cause for federal discouragement, but then federal discouragement became the foundation for discrimination. Thus this toxic cycle facilitates itself throughout generation by generation. Homophobia and transphobia reach the homes of families all throughout America, creating environments that are unwelcoming and unhealthy for children who happen to be born as LGBT. As for racism, discrimination reaches a local scale, be they racist or unwelcoming. As a result, some POC families may struggle economically, and some LGBT children who are unfortunately outed to their parents may be kicked out or disowned. These are two specific cases in which homelessness is a potential outcome, and the unfortunate reality is because it all comes down to discrimination. The treatment of minorities affects our everyday lives because it is important to know to respect diversity. Especially at a school such as IMSA, where the student and staff population is so diverse, and because high school students make up the future government, learning how the the government is currently treating minority groups is crucial. The UNSDG goal we are addressing is reduced inequalities. This goal intends to lift many people out of poverty by making all opportunities of equal chance for all people, no matter the difference. Our research supports this goal by trying to make the facts of homelessness in the LGBT community known to the world so we can continue to make strides for equality every day. The sources of our data include Williams Institute, True Colors United, USNDG page on Inequality and NCHE