Kinetics Modelling of

Natural gas contains high amounts of impurities that are important to remove for commercial usage. One of these impurities are known to be carbon dioxide and it is the main culprit in degrading the gas. It reduces the energy content of natural gas has as well as speeds up corrosion in pipelines and equipment. There are several methods in the removal of this gas one being chemical absorption where the usage of amines are incorporated. In this project, kinetics modelling of blended amine solution of aqueous N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) were studied where its behavior was simulated using MATLAB. Determining the reaction rate kinetics and the equilibrium constants enabled us the determination of liquid bulk concentration for the overall system. The kinetics at five different temperatures were observed; 303K, 308K, 313K, 318K and 323K for blended amine solution of different MDEA concentrations (1.0 and 1.5 kmol/m3) and DEA concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 kmol/m3). The Arrhenius relation, activation energy and reaction rate coefficients were obtained showed promising results at three different randomly selected temperatures; 303K, 308K and 323K, where the condition is at its best at 323K at 0.999952193kmol/m3 of MDEA concentration and 0.999912787kmol/ m3 of DEA concentration. This concludes that the kinetic model developed is valid thus can be further enhanced using different and more sophisticated software to ensure best operating conditions for the solution

Comparing Online and Offline Knowledge Networks of Carbon Capture and Storage

© 2017 The Authors. This paper examines the complex ecosystem of organisations involved in the proposed role out of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK. Through analysis of interview and twitter data, it focuses on the flow of knowledge flows within online and offline networks, highlighting how in this case, CCS retains a niche audience, with communication and information flows concentrated with industry and stakeholder networks at a local and regional scale, as opposed to reaching broader national policy makers, and the wider publics. This brings a unique insight into the construction of networks across intersecting sectors of this critical technology and highlights how for successful implementation CCS, actors may need to reach out beyond their existing network

Influence of Vertical Ground Motions on the Seismic Fragility Modeling of a Bridge-Soil-Foundation System

This paper explores the effects of vertical ground motions (VGMs) on the component fragility of a coupled bridged-soil-foundation (CBSF) system with liquefaction potential, and highlights the unique considerations on the demand and capacity model required for fragility analysis under VGMs. Optimal intensity measures (IMs) that account for VGMs are identified. Moreover, fragility curves that consider capacity change with fluctuating axial force are derived. Results show that the presence of VGMs has a minor effect on the failure probabilities of piles and expansion bearings, while it has a great influence on fixed bearings. Whether VGMs have an impact on column fragilities depends on the design axial load ratio. Finally, more accurate fragility surfaces are derived, which are compared with results of conventional fragility curves. This study highlights the important role that VGMs play in the selection of optimal IMs, and the capacity and fragility representation of certain components of CBSF systems

Consumer responses to a future UK food system

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe research exploring consumer responses to potential changes in food-related practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change.Design/methodology/approach– Six focus groups explored consumer responses to measures to intended to mitigate the emissions from, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These included: meat reduction, greater reliance on seasonal British food, meal replacement tablets, laboratory grown meat, communal eating houses, genetically modified food and food waste. Practice theory provided the lens to interpret the changes to meanings, competences and materials associated with food consumption.Findings– Changes that could be assimilated within existing competencies were viewed more positively, with lack of competence a key barrier to accommodating change. At present, climate change and sustainability do not influence purchasing decisions. Policy measures delivering multiple benefits (“win-wins”), of which environmental performance may be one, stand an improved chance of establishing more sustainable practices than those focusing exclusively on environmental drivers.Originality/value– Awareness of the role of sustainable food systems in the context of anthropogenic climate change is growing. Whilst scientific and technological research explores methods for reducing emissions and building resilience in food supply chains to changes in climate, there is comparatively little study of how consumers perceive these proposed “solutions”. This research provides a comprehensive overview of consumer responses to potential changes in eating practices related to climate change mitigation and adaptation and is of value to policy makers, academics and practitioners across the food supply chain.</jats:sec

Drawing inferences for high‐dimensional linear models: A selection‐assisted partial regression and smoothing approach

Drawing inferences for high‐dimensional models is challenging as regular asymptotic theories are not applicable. This article proposes a new framework of simultaneous estimation and inferences for high‐dimensional linear models. By smoothing over partial regression estimates based on a given variable selection scheme, we reduce the problem to low‐dimensional least squares estimations. The procedure, termed as Selection‐assisted Partial Regression and Smoothing (SPARES), utilizes data splitting along with variable selection and partial regression. We show that the SPARES estimator is asymptotically unbiased and normal, and derive its variance via a nonparametric delta method. The utility of the procedure is evaluated under various simulation scenarios and via comparisons with the de‐biased LASSO estimators, a major competitor. We apply the method to analyze two genomic datasets and obtain biologically meaningful results.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151307/1/biom13013.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151307/2/biom13013-sup-0001-SuppData.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151307/3/biom13013_am.pd