A Proposal to Mitigate Energy Consumption through the Sustainable Design Process in Tunis

The main objective of this paper is to assess the energy efficiency of residential buildings in Tunis. To this end, three complementary studies were carried out at different levels. Initially, a diagnosis of the building’s adaptability to climate change at urban and architectural scales was established. The methodology adopted was based on indicators obtained following a cross-reference of environmental assessment tools. This made it possible to highlight the lacunary factors related to thermal comfort. According to this finding, the second research was set up to focus on outdoor thermal comfort. The methodology adopted is based on numerical simulations and calculations of comfort indices. The results demonstrated the importance of specific morphological indicators at the urban scale. Finally, the third research is interested in the architectural scale to assess the building’s thermal comfort and energy consumption. It was performed through numerical simulations. The results demonstrated the impact of specific physical indicators on buildings’ thermal comfort and energy behavior. Ultimately, this research highlighted the gap factors in urban and architectural design in Tunis. It detected the most significant physical and morphological indicators to be considered for sustainable urban design

Alkali poisoning of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3

[EN] Fe (2 wt%)-Cu (1.5 wt%)-ZSM-5 SCR catalyst contacted 1.5 wt% of Na and 1.8 wt% of K in order to simulate poisoning by species more specifically contained in exhaust gases from exhaust gases of diesel engines and power plants. Poisoning agents do not cause loss of surface area nor pore occlusion. XRD and SEM results showed that alkali metals introduction did not deteriorate the crystallinity and morphology of zeolite crystals. However, a significant loss of surface acidity was observed upon alkali-poisoned catalysts causing a dramatic deactivation of the NH3-SCR of NO reaction. Na-doped catalyst showed higher low-temperature SCR activity, while potassium has a stronger deactivation effect on Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 than sodium beyond 400 degrees C.Jouini, H.; Mejri, I.; Martinez-Ortigosa, J.; Cerrillo, JL.; Petitto, C.; Mhamdi, M.; Blasco Lanzuela, T.... (2022). Alkali poisoning of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3. Research on Chemical Intermediates. 48(8):3415-3428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-022-04768-93415342848

Voltage Stability Control of Electrical Network Using Intelligent Load Shedding Strategy Based on Fuzzy Logic

As a perspective to ensure the power system stability and to avoid the vulnerability leading to the blackouts, several preventive and curative means are adopted. In order to avoid the voltage collapse, load shedding schemes represent a suitable action to maintain the power system service quality and to control its vulnerability. In this paper, we try to propose an intelligent load shedding strategy as a new approach based on fuzzy controllers. This strategy was founded on the calculation of generated power sensitivity degree related to those injected at different network buses. During the fault phase, fuzzy controller algorithms generate monitor vectors ensuring a precalculated load shedding ratio in the purpose to reestablish the power balance and conduct the network to a new steady state

On the performance of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3: the influence of preparation method

[EN] The selective catalytic reduction of NO with ammonia (NH3-SCR) in the presence of H2O was studied over a series of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared by solid-state ion exchange (SSIE), aqueous ion exchange and impregnation methods. The prepared samples were characterized by various techniques (ICP-AES, N-2 physisorption at 77K, XRD, STEM-EDX, XPS, H-2-TPR and DRS UV-vis) to investigate the effect of the preparation method on the activity, texture, structure and metal speciation of the studied catalysts. It was found that the aqueous ion exchange method induced a significant metal loss during the preparation procedure but without any activity deterioration of the catalyst which encloses highly dispersed metal species. The catalysts prepared by SSIE and impregnation showed the highest metal contents and a large number of oxide aggregates leading to an activity decline at high reaction temperatures due to the ammonia oxidation phenomenon.Financial support by the MINECO of Spain through the Severo Ochoa (SEV-2016-0683) and CTQ2015-68951C3-1-R projects is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank the Electron Microscopy Service of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for STEM experiments. J. Martinez-Ortigosa (SEV-2012-0267-02) is grateful to Severo Ochoa Program for a predoctoral fellowship.Jouini, H.; Martinez-Ortigosa, J.; Mejri, I.; Mhamdi, M.; Blasco Lanzuela, T.; Delahay, G. (2019). On the performance of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3: the influence of preparation method. Research on Chemical Intermediates. 45(3):1057-1072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-018-3658-81057107245

Ce-promoted Fe–Cu–ZSM-5 catalyst: SCR-NO activity and hydrothermal stability

Fe–Cu–ZSM-5 and Ce–Fe–Cu–ZSM-5 solids prepared using solid-state ion exchange method (SSIE) were tested in the NH–SCR of NO reaction and were characterized using N physisorption at 77 K, MAS Al magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, EPR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy coupled to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in order to follow the effect of Ce addition on the textural and structural properties of Fe–Cu–MFI system as well as the detection of the changes in local environment and state of iron and copper species, and the degradation of the zeolite texture and structure after a severe aging treatment at 850 °C for 5 h. Fresh Ce-promoted sample showed better NO conversion up to 450 °C than unpromoted Fe–Cu–ZSM-5 catalyst. An activity loss was observed on aged catalysts, but remaining less pronounced for the catalyst containing Ce. The changes in catalyst structure and texture did not occur during aging, while a probable migration of metal active species and change in their coordination has occurred.Financial support by the MINECO of Spain through the Severo Ochoa (SEV-2016-0683) and RTI2018-101784-B-I00 projects is gratefully acknowledgedPeer reviewe

An unusual presentation of celiac disease in adult patient

Abstract Pyoderma gangrenosum is among the exceptional extra‐intestinal manifestations of celiac disease. We report a case of a 52‐year‐old patient who presented with pyoderma gangrenosum that turned out to be the initial presentation of celiac disease

Understanding the Catalytic Deactivation upon Hydrothermal Aging at 850 °C of WO3/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 Catalyst for Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO by NH3

A WO/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was prepared using the solid state ion exchange method (SSIE) and its performance for the Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH (NH-SCR of NO) was investigated. The study shows that the tungsten addition can slightly improve the high temperature catalytic activity of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5. The influence of hydrothermal aging at 850 °C for 5 h on the structural and textural properties of WO/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 was also studied in this paper. The XRD and FE-SEM measurements did not indicate a breakdown of the zeolite structure upon steam treatment for both aged catalysts. The aged W-base catalyst demonstrates a lower deactivation and better catalytic activity for NO reduction than the bimetallic catalyst after hydrothermal aging despite the lower acidic properties as shown by FTIR-Pyr spectroscopy owing to the presence of tungsten oxide crystallites. The “severe” stage of aging occurring in the absence of W led to the formation of copper oxide agglomerates detected using STEM and H-TPR techniques being responsible for the deterioration of SCR activity of the aged Fe-Cu-ZSM-5.The authors thank the Microscopy Service of the Universitat Politècnica de València for its assistance in sample characterization. Teresa Blasco acknowledge the financial support of the Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria d’Innovació, Universitats Ciència y Societat Digital (Prometeo/2021/077) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEV-2016-0683-19-2). Alessandra de Marcos-Galán thanks the predoctoral grant PRE2019-090465

Understanding the Catalytic Deactivation upon Hydrothermal Aging at 850 °C of WO3/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 Catalyst for Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO by NH3

A WO3/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was prepared using the solid state ion exchange method (SSIE) and its performance for the Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH3 (NH3-SCR of NO) was investigated. The study shows that the tungsten addition can slightly improve the high temperature catalytic activity of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5. The influence of hydrothermal aging at 850 °C for 5 h on the structural and textural properties of WO3/Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 was also studied in this paper. The XRD and FE-SEM measurements did not indicate a breakdown of the zeolite structure upon steam treatment for both aged catalysts. The aged W-base catalyst demonstrates a lower deactivation and better catalytic activity for NO reduction than the bimetallic catalyst after hydrothermal aging despite the lower acidic properties as shown by FTIR-Pyr spectroscopy owing to the presence of tungsten oxide crystallites. The “severe” stage of aging occurring in the absence of W led to the formation of copper oxide agglomerates detected using STEM and H2-TPR techniques being responsible for the deterioration of SCR activity of the aged Fe-Cu-ZSM-5

Alkali poisoning of Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3

Fe (2 wt%)-Cu (1.5 wt%)-ZSM-5 SCR catalyst contacted 1.5 wt% of Na and 1.8 wt% of K in order to simulate poisoning by species more specifically contained in exhaust gases from exhaust gases of diesel engines and power plants. Poisoning agents do not cause loss of surface area nor pore occlusion. XRD and SEM results showed that alkali metals introduction did not deteriorate the crystallinity and morphology of zeolite crystals. However, a significant loss of surface acidity was observed upon alkali-poisoned catalysts causing a dramatic deactivation of the NH-SCR of NO reaction. Na-doped catalyst showed higher low-temperature SCR activity, while potassium has a stronger deactivation effect on Fe-Cu-ZSM-5 than sodium beyond 400 °C