Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Plant in Tower Configuration with and Without Thermal Energy Storage (TES)

Despite the big deployment of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, their environmental evaluation is still a pending issue. In this paper, a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) of a CSP tower plant with molten salts storage in a baseload configuration is carried out and compared with a reference CSP plant without storage. Results show that the plant with storage has a lower environmental impact due to the lower operational impact. The dependence on grid electricity in a CSP tower plant without storage increases its operation stage impact. The impact of the manufacturing and disposal stage is similar in both plants. When analyzed in detail, the solar field system and the thermal energy storage (TES) and heat transfer fluid (HTF) systems are the ones with higher impact. Within the storage system, the molten salts are those with higher impact. Therefore, in this study the impact of the origin of the salts is evaluated, showing that when the salts come from mines their impact is lower than when they are synthetized. Results show that storage is a key element for CSP plants not only to ensure dispatchability but also to reduce their environmental impact.This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España (RTI2018-093849-B-C31) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (RED2018-102431-T). This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme

Análise antropológica das vivências do paciente Covid - 19 na UCI: do medo à gratidão

La pandemia provocada por el coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, ha puesto en jaque tanto al sistema sanitario como a la sociedad en general. Metodología: estudio cualitativo con enfoque micro-etnográfico y descriptivo de las vivencias y experiencias de pacientes diagnosticados de Covid-19 que precisaron ingreso en UCI, mediante la entrevista abierta semi-estructurada. Los participantes fueron dos pacientes que no precisaron medidas respiratorias invasivas, un varón de 66 años y una mujer de 57 años. Resultados: del análisis en profundidad del discurso emergieron 5 dimensiones principales con 23 subdimensiones. Las principales dimensiones fueron: vivencias relacionadas con la Covid-19; vivencias relacionadas con la estancia en UCI; medios de comunicación como fuente de información; redes de apoyo; y, perspectivas de futuro. Conclusiones: el miedo a lo desconocido agravado por la infodemia y las imágenes “apocalípticas” de una realidad distópica ha inoculado en los pacientes una sensación de fragilidad nunca antes sentida. La expresión de miedo percibida en estos pacientes diagnosticados de Covid-19 e ingreso en UCI es de auténtico terror. La despersonalización relacionada con los EPIs y la deshumanización como consecuencia del aislamiento y restricción de visitas han supuesto un retroceso en los avances de la humanización sanitaria y de los cuidados centrados en la persona.The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has put both the health system and society at large in check. Methodology: qualitative study with micro-ethnographic and descriptive approach of the life experiences and experiences of patients diagnosed with Covid-19 who required admission to the ICU, through the semi-structured open interview. The participants were two patients who did not require invasive respiratory measures, a 66-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman. Results: In-depth discourse analysis emerged 5 main dimensions with 23 subdimensions. The main dimensions were: life experiences related to the Covid-19; life experiences related to the stay in ICU; media as a source of information; support networks; and, future perspectives. Conclusions: the fear of the unknown aggravated by infodemia and the "apocalyptic" images of a dystopian reality has injected in the patients a sensation of fragility never before felt. The expression of perceived fear in these patients diagnosed with Covid-19 and admission to the ICU is of real terror. Depersonalization related to IPEs and dehumanization as a result of isolation and restriction of visits have set back advances in health humanization and people-centred care.A pandemia provocada pelo coronavírus SARS-Cov-2 pôs em xeque tanto o sistema de saúde como a sociedade em geral. Metodologia: estudo qualitativo com enfoque microetnográfico e descritivo das vivências e experiências de pacientes diagnosticados de Covid-19 que precisaram ingresso em UCI, mediante a entrevista aberta semi-estruturada. Os participantes foram dois pacientes que não precisaram de medidas respiratórias invasivas, um homem de 66 anos e uma mulher de 57 anos. Resultados: da análise em profundidade do discurso emergiram 5 dimensões principais com 23 subdimensions. As principais dimensões foram: vivencias relacionadas com a Covid-19; vivências relacionadas com a estadia em UCI; meios de comunicação como fonte de informação; redes de apoio; e, perspectivas de futuro. Conclusões: o medo do desconhecido agravado pela infodemia e as imagens "apocalípticas" de uma realidade distópica inoculou nos pacientes uma sensação de fragilidade nunca antes sentida. A expressão de medo percebida nestes pacientes diagnosticados de Covid-19 e entrada na UCI é de verdadeiro terror. A despersonalização relacionada com os EPIs e a desumanização como consequência do isolamento e restrição de visitas implicaram um retrocesso nos avanços da humanização sanitária e dos cuidados centrados na pessoa

Photovoltaic energy balance estimation based on the building integration level

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).The photovoltaic module building integration level affects the module temperature and, consequently, its output power. In this work, a methodology has been proposed to estimate the influence of the level of architectural photovoltaic integration on the photovoltaic energy balance with natural ventilation or with forced cooling systems. The developed methodology is applied for five photovoltaic module technologies (m-Si, p-Si, a-Si, CdTe, and CIGS) on four characteristic locations (Athens, Davos, Stockholm, and Würzburg). To this end, a photovoltaic module thermal radiation parameter, PVj, is introduced in the characterization of the PV module technology, rendering the correlations suitable for building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications, with natural ventilation or with forced cooling systems. The results show that PVj has a significant influence on the energy balances, according to the architectural photovoltaic integration and climatic conditions

Improvement of Phase Change Materials (PCM) Used for Solar Process Heat Applications

The high intermittency of solar energy is still a challenge yet to be overcome. The use of thermal storage has proven to be a good option, with phase change materials (PCM) as very promising candidates. Nevertheless, PCM compounds have typically poor thermal conductivity, reducing their attractiveness for commercial uses. This paper demonstrates the viability of increasing the PCM effective thermal conductivity to industrial required values (around 4 W/m·K) by using metal wool infiltrated into the resin under vacuum conditions. To achieve this result, the authors used an inert resin, decoupling the specific PCM material selection from the enhancement effect of the metal wools. To ensure proper behavior of the metal wool under standard industrial environments at a broad range of temperatures, a set of analyses were performed at high temperatures and an inert atmosphere, presenting a thorough analysis of the obtained results.The research leading to these results has received funding from CDTI in the project Innterconecta Thesto (ITC-20111050). The work partially funded by the by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España (RTI2018-093849-B-C31-MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (RED2018-102431-T). Dr. Cabeza would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to her research group GREiA (2017 SGR 1537). GREiA is certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme

Manejo de la inmunosupresión en pacientes trasplantados de riñón con COVID19. Estudio multicéntrico nacional derivado del registro COVID de la Sociedad Española de Nefrología

Introduction: SARS CoV2 infection has had a major impact on renal transplant patients with a high mortality in the first months of the pandemic. Intentional reduction of immunosuppressive therapy has been postulated as one of the cornerstone in the management of the infection in the absence of targeted antiviral treatment. This has been modified according to the patient`s clinical situation and its effect on renal function or anti-HLA antibodies in the medium term has not been evaluated.Objectives: Evaluate the management of immunosuppressive therapy made during SARS-CoV2 infection, as well as renal function and anti-HLA antibodies in kidney transplant patients 6 months after COVID19 diagnosis.Material and methods: Retrospective, national multicentre, retrospective study (30 centres) of kidney transplant recipients with COVID19 from 01/02/20 to 31/12/20. Clinical variables were collected from medical records and included in an anonymised database. SPSS statistical software was used for data analysis.Results: renal transplant recipients with COVID19 were included (62.6% male), with a mean age of 57.5 years. The predominant immunosuppressive treatment prior to COVID19 was triple therapy with prednisone, tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid (54.6%) followed by m-TOR inhibitor regimens (18.6%). After diagnosis of infection, mycophenolic acid was discontinued in 73.8% of patients, m-TOR inhibitor in 41.4%, tacrolimus in 10.5% and cyclosporin A in 10%. In turn, 26.9% received dexamethasone and 50.9% were started on or had their baseline prednisone dose increased. Mean creatinine before diagnosis of COVID19, at diagnosis and at 6 months was: 1.7 +/- 0.8, 2.1 +/- 1.2 and 1.8 +/- 1 mg/dl respectively (p < 0.001). 56.9% of the patients (N = 350) were monitored for anti-HLA antibodies. 94% (N = 329) had no anti-HLA changes, while 6% (N = 21) had positive anti-HLA antibodies. Among the patients with donor-specific antibodies post-COVID19 (N = 9), 7 patients (3.1%) had one immunosuppressant discontinued (5 patients had mycophenolic acid and 2 had tacrolimus), 1 patient had both immunosuppressants discontinued (3.4%) and 1 patient had no change in immunosuppression (1.1%), these differences were not significant.Conclusions: The management of immunosuppressive therapy after diagnosis of COVID19 was primarily based on discontinuation of mycophenolic acid with very discrete reductions or discontinuations of calcineurin inhibitors. This immunosuppression management did not influence renal function or changes in anti-HLA antibodies 6 months after diagnosis