Water self-sufficiency with separate treatment of household rainwater and greywater

This paper is based on an academic work conducted by a group of students of the Engineering Project course within the Chemical Engineering Degree at the Engineering School of Barcelona. The objective of the exercise was to design a rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling system for a detached house and calculate the number of people that could be self-sufficient. Local rainfall, roof area for collecting rainwater and daily water consumption per inhabitant were considered. The effective amount of rainwater and purified greywater was also obtained. In this design, the rainwater is filtered, stored and preserved in a tank, and disinfected with UV light. A small quantity can be made drinkable. The greywater is filtered, treated in a biological reactor, flocculated, sedimented and finally disinfected with UV light.Postprint (published version

Ultrastable glasses portray similar behaviour to ordinary glasses at high pressure

Pressure experiments provide a unique opportunity to unravel new insights into glass-forming liquids by exploring its effect on the dynamics of viscous liquids and on the evolution of the glass transition temperature. Here we compare the pressure dependence of the onset of devitrification, Ton, between two molecular glasses prepared from the same material but with extremely different ambient-pressure kinetic and thermodynamic stabilities. Our data clearly reveal that, while both glasses exhibit different dTon/dP values at low pressures, they evolve towards closer calorimetric devitrification temperature and pressure dependence as pressure increases. We tentatively interpret these results from the different densities of the starting materials at room temperature and pressure. Our data shows that at the probed pressures, the relaxation time of the glass into the supercooled liquid is determined by temperature and pressure similarly to the behaviour of liquids, but using stability-dependent parametersPostprint (published version

Nueva guia metodológica de roadmapping para proyectos de innovación

Los mapas de rutas o itinerarios tecnológicos (“Roadmaps”) y su meTodología (“TRM, Technology Roadmapping”), son una herramienta de planificación de proyectos a medio/largo plazo de gran utilidad para cualquier tipo de empresas o estamentos, comprendiendo múltiples aspectos a tener en cuenta en la prospectiva de innovación de la empresa y su desarrollo en un periodo temporal. La diferencia entre un roadmap y un simple diagrama Pert o Gantt de planificación es que el primero va mucho más allá de una distribución de tareas o Acciones a desarrollar durante un cierto periodo de tiempo, la consistencia y la realización de un roadmap comporta (o debería comportar) una gran cantidad de información interna y externa a la organización a través de la cual debería definirse con la máxima precisión posible el futuro estado de aquella. En este artículo se propone una nueva guía metodológica de roadmapping para proyectos de innovación medio-largo plazo, consistiendo sus aspectos novedosos en: focalización de los diferentes conceptos básicos a tener en cuenta dentro de dos grandes visiones, la interna (“inside”) y la externa (“outside”); énfasis en la inclusión del estudio de la propiedad industrial propia y ajena; construcción del Roadmap a través de un proceso lógico en el que intervendrá la táctica y la estrategia. - - - - Roadmaps and their methodology (TRM, Technology roadmapping) are planning tools for medium-term and long-term projects which are useful to any business or corporation. Roadmaps cover many aspects that must be taken into account in a company's innovation forecasting and its development over time. The difference between a roadmap and a Gantt or Pert planning diagram is that the Roadmap is much more than a distribution of tasks or actions to be implemented over a period of time, the realization and subsequent implementation of a roadmap includes (or should include) a huge amount of internal and external information about the organization through which its future state should be defined as precisely as possible. This article proposes a new roadmapping methodology for innovation projects, its novel aspects being: focusing on different concepts considered from two broad points of view, the internal ("inside") and external ("outside") ones; emphasizing the inclusion in the study of the own and others’ industrial property; and the construction of the Roadmap through a logical process in which tactics and strategy are involved.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Innovación en pymes: metodología de selección de herramientas de inteligencia competitiva

In a highly competitive environment like this, systematic innovation in SMEs is crucial. Competitive Intelligence is particularly relevant to the promotion of an effective strategy of innovation in SMEs, for the early detection of competitive advantages, opportunities and market threats, in combination with a deep analysis of the value chain of the company, would bring the needed innovations. For the generation of them, there must be mechanisms to detect Competitive Intelligence in order to detect systematic and continuously opportunities to sustain and enhance their competitive priorities based on an innovation strategy. Such mechanism must take into account the special characteristics of SMEs, which usually are not aware or the importance of the CI and its scope, nor the resources requested to the creation of a specific CI, nor information management culture.In this paper we will lay the groundwork for a proposed new methodology for classifying and categorizing the CI proposals, that considers the enabling factors and barriers to innovation and implementation of CI in SMEs, deducted from the associated literature. The objective of this methodology is to allow the selection of the more suitable tools and techniques for each case, so that the CI selected for SMEs in particular will allow to meet the initial intelligence targets, to be implemented successfully, and to generate the pursued elements for successful innovation in the organization.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Proyectos de innovación a través de Roadmaps

Roadmaps and their methodology (TRM, Technology roadmapping) is a planning tool for medium - term and long - term projects which is useful to any business or corporation. Roadmaps cover many aspects that must be taken into account in a company's innovation forecasting and their development over time, such as opportunities to launch n ew products or to change existing ones, marketing, new markets, competitors, capabilities and skills, weaknesses, results exploitation, targets... The basic beginning information of the Roadmap is the result of research on internal and external factors o f the company by asking questions like: What do we produce? Who are we in our sector? What do we want to / can we achieve? What or who is our competition? What do we have and what should we have? This article deals with the historical development of roa dmapping and the current state of the art of their different methodologies as well as the clusters that generate them (EIRMA, Northwestern, Cambridge, Purdue, Nottingham...) and their distinguishing features . Los mapas de rutas o itinerarios tecnológicos (“Roadmaps”) y su metodología ( “TRM, Technology Roadmapping”), son una herramienta de planificación de proyectos a medio/largo plazo de gran utilidad para cualquier tipo de empresas o estamentos. Los “Roadmaps” comprenden múltiples aspectos a tener en cuenta en la prospectiva de innovación de la empresa y su desarrollo en un periodo temporal, tales como oportunidades de nuevos productos o variación de los ya existentes, comercialización, nuevos mercados , competidores, capacidades y habilidades, debilidades, explotación de resultados, hitos... La información básica de partida del Roadmap es el resultado de la investigación sobre los factores internos y externos de la empresa al realizarse preguntas como : ¿qué producimos ? ¿Quiénes somos en nuestro sector ? ¿Dónde queremos/podemos llegar ? ¿Con qué o con quién competimos ? ¿De qué disponemos y de qué deberíamos disponer? Este artículo trata del desarrollo histórico del “Roadmapping” y el estado del arte en la act ualidad de sus diferentes metodologías así como los centros o “clusters” generadores de éstas (EIRMA, Northwestern, Cambridge, Purdue, Nottingham,...) y sus características diferenciadoras .Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Innovation projects using roadmaps

Roadmaps and their methodology (TRM, Technology roadmapping) are a planning tool for medium and long-term projects which are useful to any business or corporation. Roadmaps cover many aspects that must be taken into account in a company's innovation forecasting and its development over time, such as opportunities to launch new products or to change existing ones, marketing, new markets, competitors, capabilities and skills, weaknesses, results exploitation, goals... The basic beginning information of the Roadmap is the result of research on internal and external factors of the company by asking questions like: What do we produce? Who are we in our sector? What do we want to / can we achieve? What or who is our competition? What do we have and what should we have? This article deals with the historical development of roadmapping and the state of the art of its different methodologies as well as the clusters that generate them (EIRMA, Northwestern, Cambridge, Purdue, Nottingham...) and their distinguishing features.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Proyectos de innovación a través de Roadmaps

Roadmaps and their methodology (TRM, Technology roadmapping) is a planning tool for medium - term and long - term projects which is useful to any business or corporation. Roadmaps cover many aspects that must be taken into account in a company's innovation forecasting and their development over time, such as opportunities to launch n ew products or to change existing ones, marketing, new markets, competitors, capabilities and skills, weaknesses, results exploitation, targets... The basic beginning information of the Roadmap is the result of research on internal and external factors o f the company by asking questions like: What do we produce? Who are we in our sector? What do we want to / can we achieve? What or who is our competition? What do we have and what should we have? This article deals with the historical development of roa dmapping and the current state of the art of their different methodologies as well as the clusters that generate them (EIRMA, Northwestern, Cambridge, Purdue, Nottingham...) and their distinguishing features . Los mapas de rutas o itinerarios tecnológicos (“Roadmaps”) y su metodología ( “TRM, Technology Roadmapping”), son una herramienta de planificación de proyectos a medio/largo plazo de gran utilidad para cualquier tipo de empresas o estamentos. Los “Roadmaps” comprenden múltiples aspectos a tener en cuenta en la prospectiva de innovación de la empresa y su desarrollo en un periodo temporal, tales como oportunidades de nuevos productos o variación de los ya existentes, comercialización, nuevos mercados , competidores, capacidades y habilidades, debilidades, explotación de resultados, hitos... La información básica de partida del Roadmap es el resultado de la investigación sobre los factores internos y externos de la empresa al realizarse preguntas como : ¿qué producimos ? ¿Quiénes somos en nuestro sector ? ¿Dónde queremos/podemos llegar ? ¿Con qué o con quién competimos ? ¿De qué disponemos y de qué deberíamos disponer? Este artículo trata del desarrollo histórico del “Roadmapping” y el estado del arte en la act ualidad de sus diferentes metodologías así como los centros o “clusters” generadores de éstas (EIRMA, Northwestern, Cambridge, Purdue, Nottingham,...) y sus características diferenciadoras .Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Taphonomic Criteria for Identifying Iberian Lynx Dens in Quaternary Deposits

For decades, taphonomists have dedicated their efforts to assessing the nature of the massive leporid accumulations recovered at archaeological sites in the northwestern Mediterranean region. Their interest lying in the fact that the European rabbit constituted a critical part of human subsistence during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. However, rabbits are also a key prey in the food webs of Mediterranean ecosystems and the base of the diet for several specialist predators, including the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). For this reason, the origin of rabbit accumulations in northwestern Mediterranean sites has proved a veritable conundrum. Here, we present the zooarchaeological and taphonomic study of more than 3000 faunal and 140 coprolite remains recovered in layer IIIa of Cova del Gegant (Catalonia, Spain). Our analysis indicates that this layer served primarily as a den for the Iberian lynx. The lynxes modified and accumulated rabbit remains and also died at the site creating an accumulation dominated by the two taxa. However, other agents and processes, including human, intervened in the final configuration of the assemblage. Our study contributes to characterizing the Iberian lynx fossil accumulation differentiating between the faunal assemblages accumulated by lynxes and hominins

Tratamiento de aguas industriales residuales mediante destilación fría sólido líquido

El gran consumo de agua que se produce en todo proceso industrial y su posterior desecho, no siempre admitido en la Estación Depuradora de Aguas Residuales (EDAR), por alto contenido en Demanda Química de Oxígeno (DQO), hace que se replantee y busquen nuevas soluciones. La alternativa a la destilación por calor, generalmente acompañada con sistemas de vacío, filtrado, controles complicados; es la ofrecida por la destilación fría sólido líquido, que permite concentrar un fluido mediante técnicas de frio, en combinación con regulación hidráulica. Se ofrece así menor consumo energético, menor inversión y una instalación sencilla. Con este procedimiento físico, se consigue separar el agua contenida en el efluente, en forma de hielo por un lado y el concentrado por otro. La aplicación a las aguas residuales, procedentes de industrias de lavado u otras, ha sido uno de los logros de esta técnica, al ver que el agua retirada en forma de hielo estaba libre de impurezas y a la vez se obtenía el concentrado deseado. El reciclado del agua es otra de las ventajas. En el desarrollo del artículo se muestra esquemáticamente el proceso tecnológico de la destilación sólido líquido, con valores experimentales, y datos tanto cualitativos como cuantitativos.Postprint (published version