Environmental assessment of the citrus fruit production in Sicily using LCA

Citrus production is one of the most important sectors of the Sicilian agriculture. In particular, Sicilian orange production is of the best quality producing mainly pigmented or blood oranges (cvv. Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinello). No other region in the Mediterranean area or on the American Continent produces, on a large scale, blood oranges

Life cycle assessment interpretation and improvement of the Sicilian artichokes production

This paper presents the results obtained from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of Sicilian artichokes (Cynara scolymus) with the aim of reducing impacts, interpreting the results, suggesting possible improvements and enriching the sustainability knowledge already existing in the agro food field. Artichokes represent one of the excellent Italian agricultural products even if still not well-known and not appreciated despite their nutritional and functional quality. According to FAOSTAT (2013) data, Italy is the world leader in artichokes production, grown mainly in the central and southern regions of Italy, in particular in Sicily, Apulia and Sardinia. In particular, among all the Italian regions, Sicily, which is highly suited for this type of cultivation, is ranked first in terms of quantity produced: the reason for this lies in the excellent combination of climate and geological conformation of the soils. The study was conducted in accordance with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006), with the functional unit of 1 ha of land and, as the system boundaries being the phases of: pre-implantation preparation of the field; artichoke implantation; and harvesting. The most impacting phases are those related with the consumption of fuel and fertilizers as well as with the use of the PVC pipes for irrigation. Possible improvements could be the use of methanol instead of the naphtha (reduction of the total damage of about 13%) and the possibility of recycling the PVC pipes once the field is dismantled (furthermore reduction of the damage of about 3%)

comparison between thermal energy and acoustic emission for the fatigue behavior of steels

Abstract The paper is focused on the study of fatigue materials, using an energy approach, with the support of two different non-destructive techniques. Indeed, the analysis of the energy behavior was conducted by the simultaneous application of Acoustic Emission (AE) and Thermography (TH). The purpose of the paper was to compare and integrate the results obtained by the two methodologies to assess the fatigue behavior of materials. The experimental tests were carried out on flat steel specimens of steels commonly used for metal carpentry either under static loading or under sequences of increasing cyclic loading. The results allow to define the fatigue limit either by the thermography or by the acoustic emission and they are encouraging to continue the comparison and the integration between the two energetic methodologies

Angle resolved IBIC analysis of 4H-SiC Schottky diodes

We present a new experimental procedure based on the ion beam induced charge collection (IBIC) to characterise semiconductor detectors and devices. It consists in measuring the charge collection efficiency (q) as a function of the angle of incidence (eta) of a strongly penetrating MeV ion beam focussed onto a partially depleted semiconductor detector. The unidimensional model based on the drift-diffusion model derived from the Shockley-Ramo-Gunn's theorem gives the theoretical background to fit the eta(alpha) curve and to estimate both the extension of the depletion layer, the dead layer thickness and the minority carrier diffusion length. To illustrate the analytical capability of this technique, a 2 MeV proton beam was focussed at different incident angles onto a 4H-SiC Schottky diode; the experimental results and the theoretical approach are presented and discussed. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V

Photocurrent study of beta-ray priming in CVD diamond

Priming by X-rays or by beta-rays is generally needed in order to qualify CVD diamond for nuclear detection or for dosimetry. The priming effect is usually attributed in filling the hole traps, which are responsible for the charge collection efficiency of the detector. Emptying the filled traps can be easily detected by Thermoluminescence (TL), which is considered to be a measure of the absorbed dose. In this work, we prove that below-gap photocurrent (BGPC) can also be used in the same way and it is dominated by the optical detrapping of holes from the same centers. Time dependence of this beta-rays induced persistent photocurrent (PPC), which in fact, depends only on the total number of photons impinging onto the sample. In fact, at long times or for large number of photons, the photocurrent approaches to the same limit of PC for a null dose. The hole trapping centers distribution seems to extend from 1.25 to 2.5 eV valence band

Ion and X-ray micro-beam induced charge collection and their applications in CVD diamond detector characterisation

We have used a micrometer size X-ray beam generated from a synchrotron light source at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble and a 2 MeV proton micro-beam at the Italian National Laboratory (LNL) of Legnaro to image the electronic transport properties of a CVD diamond detector developed within the CERN RD42 collaboration. The focused X-rays or protons are scanned over the device surface, and the induced current or charge pulse is measured and plotted on two dimensional maps. Due to the polycrystalline nature of the material, the maps are not homogeneous and both the techniques show structures ascribable to diamond grains. It was found that the uniformity of the maps depends on the lateral scale (binning) and on the analytical depth of the micro-probes

Lateral IBIC analysis of GaAs Schottky diodes

Abstract Charge collection efficiency (CCE) profiles of a semi-insulating (SI) gallium arsenide LEC (Liquid Encapsulated Czochralski) Schottky diode have been investigated by lateral Ion Beam Induced Charge collection (IBIC) technique. A focussed 2.4 MeV proton microbeam was scanned over the cleaved surface of a SI-GaAs diode and the charge collection efficiency was evaluated as a function of the ion beam position at different bias voltages. By fitting the CCE profiles with the equations derived by the Shockley–Ramo–Gunn's theorem, drift lengths of electrons and holes were obtained. Experimental results are consistent with previous OBIC (Optical Beam Induced Current) and SP (Surface Potential) measurements and confirm the model based on the formation of a Mott barrier due to the enhanced electron capture cross section in high field conditions

Micro-IL and micro-PIXE studies of rich diamond meteorites at Legnaro nuclear microprobe

Abstract A combination of micro-ionoluminescence (micro-IL) and micro-PIXE was used to characterize diamond grains inside a type of meteorites known as ureilites. Ureilites are a group of achondrites unique in containing relatively large amounts of carbon occurring as diamond, graphite or lonsdaleite. A shock origin for ureilitic diamonds has been widely accepted though an exact knowledge of the conditions during high-pressure graphite conversion is not yet achieved. Micro-IL is a very powerful technique for material investigation and particularly for diamond analysis. Using this technique we were able to identify the occurrence of the diamond phase inside carbon meteoritic inclusions and to perform micro-PIXE analysis on single diamond grains. In fact, IL in low nitrogen content diamonds is dominated by A-band emission (centered at about 2.9 eV) and so, considering only IL monochromatic map at such a spectral band, it was possible to identify them. By making measurements directly on the meteorites, contamination during chemical extraction processes was avoided and it was possible to study not only the diamond phase, but also its distribution inside carbon inclusions