An Investigation of the Techno-Economic and Environmental Aspects of Process Heat Source Change in a Refinery

This study of process heat source change in industrial conditions has been developed to aid engineers and energy managers with working towards sustainable production. It allows for an objective assessment from energetic, environmental, and economic points of view, thereby filling the gap in the systematic approach to this problem. This novel site-wide approach substantially broadens the traditional approach, which is based mostly on “cheaper” and “cleaner” process heat sources’ application and only takes into account local changes, while neglecting the synergic effect on the whole facility’s operations. The mathematical model employed assesses the performance change of all the affected refinery parts. The four proposed aromatic splitting process layouts, serving as a case study, indicate feasible heat and condensate conservation possibilities. Although the estimated investment needed for the most viable layout is over €4.5 million, its implementation could generate benefits of €0.5–1.5 million/year, depending on the fuel and energy prices as well as on the carbon dioxide emissions cost. Its economics is most sensitive to the steam to refinery fuel gas cost ratio, as a 10% change alters the resulting benefit by more than €0.5 million. The pollutant emissions generated in the external power production process contribute significantly to the total emissions balance

Imaging of photoassimilates transport in plant tissues by positron emission tomography

The current findings show that positron emission tomography (PET), primarily developed for medical diagnostic imaging, can be applied in plant studies to analyze the transport and allocation of wide range of compounds labelled with positronemitting radioisotopes. This work is focused on PET analysis of the uptake and transport of 2-deoxy-2-fluoro[18F]-D-glucose (2-[18F]FDG), as a model of photoassimilates, in tissues of giant reed (Arundo donax L. var. versicolor) as a potential energy crop. The absorption of 2-[18F]FDG and its subsequent transport in plant tissues were evaluated in both acropetal and basipetal direction as well. Visualization and quantification of the uptake and transport of 2-[18F]FDG in plants immersed with the root system into a 2-[18F]FDG solution revealed a significant accumulation of 18F radioactivity in the roots. The transport rate in plants was increased in the order of plant exposure through: stem > mechanically damaged root system > intact root system. PET analysis in basipetal direction, when the plant was immersed into the 2-[18F]FDG solution with the cut area of the leaf of whole plant, showed minimal translocation of 2-[18F]FDG into the other plant parts. The PET results were verified by measuring the accumulated radioactivity of 18F by direct gamma-spectrometry

Sawfly genomes reveal evolutionary acquisitions that fostered the mega-radiation of parasitoid and eusocial Hymenoptera

International audienceThe tremendous diversity of Hymenoptera is commonly attributed to the evolution of parasitoidism in the last common ancestor of parasitoid sawflies (Orussidae) and wasp-waisted Hymenoptera (Apocrita). However, Apocrita and Orussidae differ dramatically in their species richness, indicating that the diversification of Apocrita was promoted by additional traits. These traits have remained elusive due to a paucity of sawfly genome sequences, in particular those of parasitoid sawflies. Here, we present comparative analyses of draft genomes of the primarily phytophagous sawfly Athalia rosae and the parasitoid sawfly Orussus abietinus. Our analyses revealed that the ancestral hymenopteran genome exhibited traits that were previously considered unique to eusocial Apocrita (e.g., low transposable element content and activity) and a wider gene repertoire than previously thought (e.g., genes for CO2 detection). Moreover, we discovered that Apocrita evolved a significantly larger array of odorant receptors than sawflies, which could be relevant to the remarkable diversification of Apocrita by enabling efficient detection and reliable identification of hosts