Effective Spectral Emissivity of Gas Turbine Blades for Optical Pyrometry

Turbine blade temperature measurements are important for monitoring the turbine engine performance to protect the hot components from damage due to excess temperatures. However, the reflected radiation from the blades and the surrounding environment complicate the blade temperature measurements by optical pyrometers. This study characterizes the effect of the reflected radiation on the effective spectral emissivity of a three-dimensional turbine blade in a confined turbine space for optical pyrometry temperature measurements. The effective spectral emissivity distribution on a threedimensional blade was numerically determined for various wavelengths (0.8-15.0 lm) and actual blade surface emissivities for a specified turbine blade model. When the actual spectral emissivity of the blade surface is assumed to be 0.5, the effective spectral emissivity varies from 0.5 to 0.538 at the longer wavelength of 10.0 lm and further increases from 0.5 to 1.396 at the shorter wavelength of 0.9 lm. The results show that the effective emissivity distributions at shorter wavelengths differ greatly from those at longer wavelengths. There are also obvious differences between the effective spectral emissivity and the actual surface emissivity at shorter wavelengths. The effect of the effective emissivity on the temperature measurement accuracy, when using the optical pyrometry, was also investigated for various wavelengths (0.8-15.0 lm). The results show that the radiation reflected from the blades has less effect on the temperature measurements than on the effective emissivity, especially at the shorter wavelengths of 0.8-3.0 lm. However, the temperature measurements still need to be corrected using the effective spectral emissivity to improve the temperature calculation accuracy. This analysis provides guidelines for choosing the optimum measurement wavelengths for optical pyrometry in turbine engines

Performance Assessment of Sintered Metal Fiber Filters in Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit

A long-term test was performed in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) hot gas filtration facility using sintered metal candle filters. The operating temperature and pressure were maximum 55°C and 0.28 MPa, respectively. Specific particle sampling systems were used to measure the particle size and concentration directly at high temperature. The range of inlet particle concentration is from 150 to 165 mg/Nm3. The outlet particle concentration is in the range of 0.71–2.77 mg/Nm3 in stable operation. The filtration efficiency is from 98.23% to 99.55%. The inlet volume median diameter and the outlet volume median diameter of the particle are about 1 μm and 2.2 μm, respectively. The cake thickness is calculated based on the equation of Carman-Kozeny. The effects of operating parameters including face velocity, gas cleaning pressure, pulse duration, and maximum pressure drop were investigated. The optimal operating conditions and cleaning strategies were determined. The results show that sintered metal fiber filters are suitable for industrial application due to the good performance and high efficiency observed

Evaluating Communities’ Willingness to Participate in Ecosystem Conservation in Southeast Tibetan Nature Reserves, China

Southeast Tibet is significant in maintaining key ecological functions and providing irreplaceable ecosystem services but is also extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the impacts of human activities. Understanding the attitudes of local residents toward ecosystem conservation is considered essential for nature resource management. We therefore aimed to conduct an evaluation framework under hypothetical scenarios to measure communities’ willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Second, this study determined the underlying factors that might affect local’s willingness to participate and then compared the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to work (WTW) for different types of nature reserves. We found that income, education, community attachment, and acceptance of a payment scheme are significant factors determining the average amount that residents are willing to pay for ecosystem conservation, while their income, acceptance of a work scheme, and education are significant factors influencing the average service time that residents are willing to devote to work. Our results revealed that community residents have considerable willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation, which points not only to the great value attached to the ecosystem service function of Southeast Tibet nature but also suggests that people’s willingness to participate is influenced by a conglomeration of socio-economic characteristics and their previous experience. The information herein can be used to implement conservation planning that involves community co-management and policymaking for sustainable development and will be beneficial to the dynamic conservation and adaptive management of Tibetan nature reserves

Evaluating Communities' Willingness to Participate in Ecosystem Conservation in Southeast Tibetan Nature Reserves, China

Southeast Tibet is significant in maintaining key ecological functions and providing irreplaceable ecosystem services but is also extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the impacts of human activities. Understanding the attitudes of local residents toward ecosystem conservation is considered essential for nature resource management. We therefore aimed to conduct an evaluation framework under hypothetical scenarios to measure communities’ willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Second, this study determined the underlying factors that might affect local’s willingness to participate and then compared the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to work (WTW) for different types of nature reserves. We found that income, education, community attachment, and acceptance of a payment scheme are significant factors determining the average amount that residents are willing to pay for ecosystem conservation, while their income, acceptance of a work scheme, and education are significant factors influencing the average service time that residents are willing to devote to work. Our results revealed that community residents have considerable willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation, which points not only to the great value attached to the ecosystem service function of Southeast Tibet nature but also suggests that people’s willingness to participate is influenced by a conglomeration of socio-economic characteristics and their previous experience. The information herein can be used to implement conservation planning that involves community co-management and policymaking for sustainable development and will be beneficial to the dynamic conservation and adaptive management of Tibetan nature reserves.</jats:p

Evaluating Communities&rsquo; Willingness to Participate in Ecosystem Conservation in Southeast Tibetan Nature Reserves, China

Southeast Tibet is significant in maintaining key ecological functions and providing irreplaceable ecosystem services but is also extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the impacts of human activities. Understanding the attitudes of local residents toward ecosystem conservation is considered essential for nature resource management. We therefore aimed to conduct an evaluation framework under hypothetical scenarios to measure communities&rsquo; willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Second, this study determined the underlying factors that might affect local&rsquo;s willingness to participate and then compared the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to work (WTW) for different types of nature reserves. We found that income, education, community attachment, and acceptance of a payment scheme are significant factors determining the average amount that residents are willing to pay for ecosystem conservation, while their income, acceptance of a work scheme, and education are significant factors influencing the average service time that residents are willing to devote to work. Our results revealed that community residents have considerable willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation, which points not only to the great value attached to the ecosystem service function of Southeast Tibet nature but also suggests that people&rsquo;s willingness to participate is influenced by a conglomeration of socio-economic characteristics and their previous experience. The information herein can be used to implement conservation planning that involves community co-management and policymaking for sustainable development and will be beneficial to the dynamic conservation and adaptive management of Tibetan nature reserves

Immune Cell Infiltration in the Microenvironment of Liver Oligometastasis from Colorectal Cancer: Intratumoural CD8/CD3 Ratio Is a Valuable Prognostic Index for Patients Undergoing Liver Metastasectomy

Background: A comprehensive investigation into immune cell infiltration provides more accurate and reliable prognostic information for patients with colorectal liver oligometastases (CLO) after liver metastasectomy. Methods: Simultaneous detection of the immune constituents CD3+, CD8+, Foxp3+ T, and &alpha;-SMA+ cells in the liver oligometastasis of 133 patients was conducted using a four-colour immunohistochemical multiplex technique. Immune cells were quantified, and tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) ratios were subsequently calculated. Correlation analysis was performed using Pearson&rsquo;s correlation. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for TIL ratios were analysed using the Kaplan&ndash;Meier method and Cox regression models. Results: Significantly fewer CD3+, CD8+, and Foxp3+ T cells were observed in the intratumoural region than in the peritumoural region of liver metastases. CD3+, CD8+, Foxp3+ T, and &alpha;-SMA+ cells showed significantly positive correlations with each other both in the intratumoural and peritumoural regions of liver metastases. Only the CD8/CD3 TIL ratio demonstrated a positive correlation between intratumoural and peritumoural regions of liver metastases (r = 0.541, p &lt; 0.001). Patients with high intratumoural CD8/CD3 ratios had significantly longer 3-year RFS (59.0% vs. 47.4%, p = 0.035) and 3-year OS rates (83.3% vs. 65.8%, p = 0.007) than those with low intratumoural CD8/CD3 ratios. Multivariate analyses revealed that the intratumoural CD8/CD3 ratio was independently associated with RFS (HR = 0.593; 95% CI = 0.357&ndash;0.985; p = 0.043) and OS (HR = 0.391; 95% CI = 0.193&ndash;0.794; p = 0.009). Conclusion: These findings offer a better understanding of the prognostic value of immune cell infiltration on liver oligometastasis from colorectal cancer