Coal desulfurization by aqueous chlorination

A method of desulfurizing coal is described in which chlorine gas is bubbled through an aqueous slurry of coal at low temperature below 130 degrees C., and at ambient pressure. Chlorinolysis converts both inorganic and organic sulfur components of coal into water soluble compounds which enter the aqueous suspending media. The media is separated after chlorinolysis and the coal dechlorinated at a temperature of from 300 C to 500 C to form a non-caking, low-sulfur coal product

Commissioning of the cryogenic safety test facility PICARD

The sizing of cryogenic safety relief devices requires detailed knowledge on the evolution of the pressure increase in cryostats following hazardous incidents such as the venting of the insulating vacuum with atmospheric air. Based on typical design and operating conditions in liquid helium cryostats, the new test facility PICARD, which stands for Pressure Increase in Cryostats and Analysis of Relief Devices, has been constructed. The vacuum-insulated test stand has a cryogenic liquid volume of 100 liters and a nominal design pressure of 16 bar(g). This allows a broad range of experimental conditions with cryogenic fluids. In case of helium, mass flow rates through safety valves and rupture disks up to about 4 kg/s can be measured. Beside flow rate measurements under various conditions (venting diameter, insulation, working fluid, liquid level, set pressure), the test stand will be used for studies on the impact of two-phase flow and for the measurement of flow coeffcients of safety devices at low temperature. This paper describes the operating range, layout and instrumentation of the test stand and presents the status of the commissioning phase

Ethical attribute and brand concept congruity enhances brand evaluations

Purpose: This research examines to what extent congruity between ethical attributes (i.e., product attributes with positive implications for the environment, human rights, social issues, and animal welfare) and brand concept (i.e., the unique meaning associated with a brand in consumers’ minds) influences consumers’ evaluations of brands offering ethical attributes. Design/methodology/approach: Four studies involving North American consumers empirically tested the moderation effect of brand concept on consumer evaluations of ethical attributes and the mediating role of perceived congruity. Findings: This research finds an interactive effect of ethical attribute type and brand concept on brand evaluations, such that congruent ethical attribute-brand concept pairings (i.e., a utilitarian [symbolic] ethical attribute offered by a brand with a utilitarian [symbolic] brand concept) result in more favorable brand evaluations (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 4). Consumers’ perceptions of congruity between ethical attributes and brand concepts mediate this interactive effect (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, a positive congruity effect of ethical attributes and brand concepts emerges at higher levels of conspicuous brand consumption (Study 4). Practical implications: For marketing managers, findings indicate that brands gain from ethical attribute introductions only when these attributes are congruent with the brand concept. In addition, brands benefit to a greater extent from offering congruent ethical attributes when brand consumption is conspicuous. Originality/value: The findings of this research contribute to the literature on the effect of ethical attributes on consumers’ responses to brands and highlight the importance of brands’ choice of ethical attributes

Communicating brand biographies effectively: the role of communication source

Although brands increasingly disseminate their brand biographies through brand sources, this research shows that this practice can decrease brand attitudes and consumer preferences. A brand source activates consumers’ persuasion knowledge, increasing negative thoughts and impeding narrative transportation into the brand biography. This research furthermore demonstrates that the negative impact of a brand source in the dissemination of brand biographies depends on self-congruence, such that a detrimental effect on consumer attitudes and preferences occurs when the brand biography is incongruent with consumer's self-concept, but is mitigated when the brand biography is self-congruent. These findings suggest that the dissemination of brand biographies by brand sources requires consideration of source and congruence effects

When Should Private Label Brands Endorse Ethical Attributes?

Ethical attributes (i.e., product attributes that reflect social and environmental issues) do not always increase product evaluations and choice. This article examines whether ethical attributes differentially affect evaluations of retailers’ private label brands (PLBs) and manufacturers’ national brands (NBs). Two experiments show that ethical attributes enhance consumer evaluations of PLBs (but not NBs) in the presence of extrinsic cues signalling high quality (i.e., high price). In the context of extrinsic cues signalling low quality, (i.e., low price), an ethical attribute hurts PLB (but not NB) evaluations. This effect is mediated by consumers’ product quality perceptions. A third experiment replicates these effects of ethical attribute presence on PLB evaluations in the context of retailer reputation serving as an extrinsic cue, and shows a moderating effect of consumers’ resource synergy beliefs. Overall, these results suggest that PLBs benefit from offering ethical attributes in the context of higher-priced PLBs or higher retailer reputation

DEMIX Method Ranks COPDEM and FABDEM as Top 1'' Global DEMs

We present a practical approach to inter-compare a range of candidate digital elevation models (DEMs) based on pre-defined criteria and statistically sound ranking approach. The presented approach integrates the randomized complete block design (RCBD) into a novel framework which has been named the DEMIX wine contest. Ranking a collection of wines or a set of DEMs from a given set of candidates leads to a mathematically similar problem. The method presented provides a flexible, statistically sound and customizable tool for evaluating the quality of any raster - in this case a DEM - by means of a ranking approach, which takes into account a confidence level, and can use both quantitative and qualitative criteria. The users can design their own criteria for the quality evaluation in relation to their specific needs. The application of the wine contest to six 1'' global DEMs, considering a wide set of study sites, covering different morphological and landcover settings, highlights the potentialities of the approach. We used a suite of criteria relating to the differences in the elevation, slope, and roughness distributions compared to reference DEMs aggregated from 1-5 m lidar-derived DEMs to 1 second DEM. Results confirmed significant superiority of COPDEM and its derivative FABDEM as the overall best 1'' global DEMs. They are slightly better than ALOS, and clearly outperform NASADEM and SRTM, which are in turn much better than ASTER