82 research outputs found
Analysis of clean coal technology in Nigeria for energy generation
Abstract: An analysis of clean coal technologies for the recovery of energy from Nigerian coals was carried out. The coal mines studied are Onyeama, Ogwashi, Ezimo, Inyi, Amasiodo, Okaba, Lafia-Obi, Owukpa Owukpa, Ogboyoga and Okpara. The estimated reserves of the ten coal deposit amount to 2.1 Gt, which is about 84 % of the total coal reserves of the country 2.5 Gt of coal Nigeria. The key clean coal technologies studied are Ultra-Supercritical Combustion (USC), Supercritical-Fluidised Bed Combustion (FBC), Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Coal bed Methane (CBM) and the results were compared with conventional subcritical pulverised fuel combustion (PF). The total potential energy recovery from these technologies are: PF 5800 TWh, FBC 7250 TWh, IGCC 7618 TWh, and USC 8519 TWh. This indicates an increase of about 31% in the total electricity generation if USC technology is used instead of the conventional sub-critical PF technology..
Determination of Optimum Conditions for the Production of Activated Carbon Derived from Separate Varieties of Coconut Shells
Activated carbons were produced from coconut shells of tall and dwarf tree varieties. The activated carbon from the tall tree variety was initially synthesized using 1 M concentration of each of ZnCl2, H3PO4, and KOH solutions. From the adsorptive tests conducted using methylene blue solution, the activated carbon produced with H3PO4 gave the best absorbance and adsorptive performance. Coconut shells of dwarf tree variety were then obtained and treated with same mass of coconut shells of the tall tree variety using varied concentrations of the acid in order to determine whether the optimum concentration and temperature for producing carbon black from the coconut shells are distinct or similar for both varieties. The process was also modelled using the Differential Response Method (DRM) in order to determine the yields and adsorptive performances of the activated carbons by varying the carbonization temperature and concentration. The results from experiment and the developed mathematical model were both found to be in agreement giving the optimum concentration of phosphoric acid and pH for producing activated carbon to be 0.67 M and 2.07 for the tall tree variety and 1 M and 1.98 for the dwarf variety at optimum temperatures in the range of 450–575°C and 575°C, respectively
Three-Dimensional FDTD Simulation of Biomaterial Exposure to Electromagnetic Nanopulses
Ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic pulses of nanosecond duration, or
nanopulses, have been recently approved by the Federal Communications
Commission for a number of various applications. They are also being explored
for applications in biotechnology and medicine. The simulation of the
propagation of a nanopulse through biological matter, previously performed
using a two-dimensional finite difference-time domain method (FDTD), has been
extended here into a full three-dimensional computation. To account for the UWB
frequency range, a geometrical resolution of the exposed sample was ,
and the dielectric properties of biological matter were accurately described in
terms of the Debye model. The results obtained from three-dimensional
computation support the previously obtained results: the electromagnetic field
inside a biological tissue depends on the incident pulse rise time and width,
with increased importance of the rise time as the conductivity increases; no
thermal effects are possible for the low pulse repetition rates, supported by
recent experiments. New results show that the dielectric sample exposed to
nanopulses behaves as a dielectric resonator. For a sample in a cuvette, we
obtained the dominant resonant frequency and the -factor of the resonator.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Improved high-fidelity transport of trapped-ion qubits through a multi-dimensional array
We have demonstrated transport of Be+ ions through a 2D Paul-trap array that
incorporates an X-junction, while maintaining the ions near the motional
ground-state of the confining potential well. We expand on the first report of
the experiment [1], including a detailed discussion of how the transport
potentials were calculated. Two main mechanisms that caused motional excitation
during transport are explained, along with the methods used to mitigate such
excitation. We reduced the motional excitation below the results in Ref. [1] by
a factor of approximately 50. The effect of a mu-metal shield on qubit
coherence is also reported. Finally, we examined a method for exchanging energy
between multiple motional modes on the few-quanta level, which could be useful
for cooling motional modes without directly accessing the modes with lasers.
These results establish how trapped ions can be transported in a large-scale
quantum processor with high fidelity.Comment: 16 page
Improving mechanical and thermal properties of graphite–aluminium composite using Si, SiC and eggshell particles
Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
Mutations in succinate dehydrogenase B (SDHB) enhance neutrophil survival independent of HIF-1α expression.
status: publishe
Differential roles for the oxygen sensing enzymes PHD1 and PHD3 in the regulation of neutrophil metabolism and function
Background Neutrophils are essential in the early innate immune response to pathogens. Harnessing their antimicrobial powers, without driving excessive and damaging inflammatory responses, represents an attractive therapeutic possibility. The neutrophil population is increasingly recognised to be more diverse and malleable than was previously appreciated. Hypoxic signalling pathways are known to regulate important neutrophil behaviours and, as such, are potential therapeutic targets for regulating neutrophil antimicrobial and inflammatory responses. Methods We used a combination of in vivo and ex vivo models, utilising neutrophil and myeloid specific PHD1 or PHD3 deficient mouse lines to investigate the roles of oxygen sensing prolyl hydroxylase enzymes in the regulation of neutrophilic inflammation and immunity. Mass spectrometry and Seahorse metabolic flux assays were used to analyse the role of metabolic shifts in driving the downstream phenotypes. Results We found that PHD1 deficiency drives alterations in neutrophil metabolism and recruitment, in an oxygen dependent fashion. Despite this, PHD1 deficiency did not significantly alter ex vivo neutrophil phenotypes or in vivo outcomes in mouse models of inflammation. Conversely, PHD3 deficiency was found to enhance neutrophil antibacterial properties without excessive inflammatory responses. This was not linked to changes in the abundance of core metabolites but was associated with increased oxygen consumption and increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) production. Conclusions PHD3 deficiency drives a favourable neutrophil phenotype in infection and, as such, is an important potential therapeutic target
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