EN-fuels from solid waste biomass by thermo-catalytic reforming

Intermediate pyrolysis describes a process of converting feedstock by heating it up in the absence of oxygen under moderate, “intermediate” conditions. Typical conditions are a residence time for solids between 5 to 30 minutes, low heating rates and temperatures between 350 °C - 450 °C. Due to these conditions intermediate pyrolysis has remarkable advantages regarding the feedstock, compared to other processes based on flash pyrolysis. Large particles, like pellets or chips can be used. Dry matter content can be below 50% from a technical point of view. For economic reasons the dry matter should be more than 70 % to avoid using energy mainly for drying. However, this dry matter is still very low compared to the requirements of most flash pyrolysis reactors. Another advantage is the use of variable and heterogeneous feedstock, preferably residue and waste biomass. The feedstock can vary from agricultural residues, biogas digestate, municipal and industrial biowaste to sewage sludge. The latest development of the intermediate pyrolysis technology is Fraunhofer UMSICHT´s Thermo-Catalytic Reforming process (TCR®). It is a novel process for the production of char, gas, and bio-oils with improved properties. One significant innovation of TCR® is the integrated downstream catalytic reforming step. This multi-patented technology enables the high quality of the final products carbonisate, syngas, and oil. The robustness of the process permits the utilization of various biogenic feedstocks. The yield of the products depends on the chemical properties of the feedstocks, whereas the quality and characteristics of the products are due the robustness of the process, largely independent of the feedstocks. With the focus on the TCR® oil there is one unique selling point: The oil is thermally stable and therefore distillable. This is the basis for other thermal upgrading processes like e.g. hydro-treatment. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the TCR® oil is a basic prerequisite for usage in the fossil petrol processing industry. This includes, among other applications, combined heat and power (CHP) plants. Additional unique properties are the low water content, the low total acid number, and the high heating value. The high quality of the crude TCR®-oil can be further improved to EN fuel quality by distillation and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). For hydrodeoxygenation sulfonated NiMo catalyst at temperatures of around 370 °C and a pressures in the range of 140 bar and with LHSV of 0.3 per hour were applied. The resulting products showed full properties of standard hydrocarbon fuels. A separation into diesel and petrol fraction by rectification demonstrated, that both fractions met the fossil fuel standards (EN 228 and EN 590). Through hydrotreating the hydrogen content was increased and the oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen content was significant lowered or respectively removed in an efficient way with a yield over 85 %. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Diffractive optics fabricated by direct write methods with an electron beam

State-of-the-art diffractive optics are fabricated using e-beam lithography and dry etching techniques to achieve multilevel phase elements with very high diffraction efficiencies. One of the major challenges encountered in fabricating diffractive optics is the small feature size (e.g. for diffractive lenses with small f-number). It is not only the e-beam system which dictates the feature size limitations, but also the alignment systems (mask aligner) and the materials (e-beam and photo resists). In order to allow diffractive optics to be used in new optoelectronic systems, it is necessary not only to fabricate elements with small feature sizes but also to do so in an economical fashion. Since price of a multilevel diffractive optical element is closely related to the e-beam writing time and the number of etching steps, we need to decrease the writing time and etching steps without affecting the quality of the element. To do this one has to utilize the full potentials of the e-beam writing system. In this paper, we will present three diffractive optics fabrication techniques which will reduce the number of process steps, the writing time, and the overall fabrication time for multilevel phase diffractive optics

Thermo-Catalytic Reforming (TCR)–An important link between waste management and renewable fuels as part of the energy transition

The significant progress in energy demands and limited fossil fuel sources, together with environmental concerns, have enforced the study of green, renewable, and sustainable energy sources. Biomass and its residues can be converted into valued fuels and chemicals through advanced thermal conversion technologies. Pyrolysis has been used for a long time for charcoal formation, while intermediate and fast pyrolysis technologies have become of considerable interest in recent years. This substantial interest is because these processes provide different bio-products (synthesis gas, bio-oil and biochar), which can be used directly in numerous applications or as a sustainable energy carrier. This paper investigates an overview of the fundamentals of Thermo-Catalytic Reforming (TCR) technology which is a novel intermediate pyrolysis process combined with a post catalytic reforming unit. This study also identifies the TCR process's features and advantages compared to other pyrolysis technologies, followed by a technical scale unit and the transfer of intermediates in final products. Finally, the treatment of effluents, heat management and implementation of such technologies are discussed. This paper shows how a continuous pyrolysis/reforming plant has been developed and established based on targeted reactor design and in conjunction with preventing major effluent streams, which could have a major impact on the technology's commercial success. Along with two major European projects (To-Syn-Fuel and GreenFlexJET), the TCR technology shall help to overcome the dependency on fossil crude oil and fuels

The impact of inflammation on bone mass in children

Bone is a dynamic tissue. Skeletal bone integrity is maintained through bone modeling and remodeling. The mechanisms underlying this bone mass regulation are complex and interrelated. An imbalance in the regulation of bone remodeling through bone resorption and bone formation results in bone loss. Chronic inflammation influences bone mass regulation. Inflammation-related bone disorders share many common mechanisms of bone loss. These mechanisms are ultimately mediated through the uncoupling of bone remodeling. Cachexia, physical inactivity, pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as iatrogenic factors related to effects of immunosuppression are some of the common mechanisms. Recently, cytokine signaling through the central nervous system has been investigated for its potential role in bone mass dysregulation in inflammatory conditions. Growing research on the molecular mechanisms involved in inflammation-induced bone loss may lead to more selective therapeutic targeting of these pathological signaling pathways