HPS2 - Demonstration of Molten-Salt in Parabolic Trough Plants -Simulation Results from System Advisor Model

High-Performance-Solar-2 (HPS2) is a parabolic trough demo project that is being built by a European consortium of research institutions (German Aerospace Center DLR, University of Évora) and companies (TSK-Flagsol, Rioglass, innogy SE, Steinmüller Engineering, Yara, eltherm) on the Evora Molten Salt Platform (EMSP). The purpose of this plant is to demonstrate the viability of using molten salts as heat transfer fluid in parabolic trough power plants, while performing research and development on such technology. Commissioning of the power plant is foreseen for the end of 2020. Meanwhile, a theoretical study consisting of an annual simulation with NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM) has been performed to support consolidate the test plan of the platform with possible operation strategies to avoid freezing of the salts

Development of a Simple Methodology Using Meteorological Data to Evaluate Concentrating Solar Power Production Capacity

Evaluation of the Concentrating Solar Power capacity factor is critical to support decision making on possible regional energy investments. For such evaluations, the System Advisor Model is used to perform capacity factor assessments. Among the required data, information concerning direct normal irradiance is fundamental. In this context, the Engerer model is used to estimate direct normal irradiance hourly values out of global horizontal irradiance ground measurements and other observed meteorological variables. Model parameters were calibrated for direct normal irradiance measurements in Évora (Southern Portugal), being then applied to a network of 90 stations, part of the Portuguese Meteorological Service. From the modelled direct normal irradiance, and for stations that comprise 20 years of data, typical meteorological years were determined. Finally, to identify locations of interest for possible installations of Concentrating Solar Power systems, annual direct normal irradiance availabilities and the respective capacity factor, for a predefined power plant using the System Advisor Model, were produced. Results show annual direct normal irradiance availabilities and capacity factors of up to ~2310 kWh/m2 and ~36.2% in Castro Marim and in Faro, respectively. Moreover, this study supports energy policies that would promote Concentrating Solar Power investments in Southern Portugal (Alentejo and Algarve regions) and eastern centre Portugal (Beira Interior region), which have capacity factors above 30%

Asphalt mixtures produced with 100% reclaimed materials

The environmental and economic benefits of using Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) material in hot mix asphalt (HMA) applications could be pushed up to the limit, by producing totally recycled HMAs (100% RAP), but the performance of this alternative must be satisfactory. In fact, these mixtures could possibly present a lower performance due to the behaviour of the aged binder, which loses its lighter fractions with time. In order to improve the mixture properties, a binder rejuvenator should be used. Thus, in the present study, the utilization of a used motor oil as a rejuvenator was evaluated. This would allow the modification of the aged binder, restoring some of its original properties and promoting an adequate performance of the mixture. The optimal amount of oil was determined by conventional bitumen tests, using the achievement of a bitumen with a penetration grade above, as the selection criterion for the definition of the amount of oil. Once the amount of rejuvenator (oil) was defined, laboratory specimens were prepared and tested for water sensitivity, permanent deformation, stiffness and fatigue, in order to confirm that the totally recycled mixture will perform as good as a conventional mixture used for comparison purposes.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Avaliação do desempenho de misturas betuminosas temperadas

A diminuição do consumo de combustíveis e das emissões de gases com efeitos de estufa são um grande desafio da sociedade actual. No fabrico de misturas betuminosas desenvolveram-se recentemente diversas tecnologias para redução da temperatura de produção e aplicação em obra que promoveram a produção de misturas betuminosas temperadas (MBT). Inúmeros benefícios no uso das MBT têm potenciado o seu crescente desenvolvimento, destacando-se a redução das emissões no fabrico e a diminuição do combustível gasto nos queimadores. Na colocação em obra, as MBT garantem uma trabalhabilidade adequada à sua aplicação e compactação a menores temperaturas, reduzindo a produção de fumos, possibilitando o transporte a longas distâncias, alargando a época de pavimentação, e permitindo a sua aplicação a temperaturas atmosféricas inferiores. Neste trabalho compara-se o desempenho mecânico de uma mistura betuminosa (AC 14 Surf 50/70) produzida a temperaturas convencionais e a menores temperaturas (125 a 135 ºC), através da introdução de dois aditivos (Sasobit® e Cecabase®). Foram determinadas as propriedades dos ligantes base e modificados (penetração, anel e bola, viscosidade e reologia) para observação do comportamento, determinação das temperaturas de fabrico e aferição da percentagem de aditivo. A caracterização das misturas foi realizada inicialmente em laboratório (propriedades volumétricas, sensibilidade à água e resistência à deformação permanente), realizando-se em seguida um trecho experimental onde foram extraídos provetes para determinação das características anteriormente referidas, além do módulo de rigidez. Em comparação com a mistura convencional, conseguiu-se reduzir a temperatura das MBT cerca de 15 a 25 ºC mantendo idênticas propriedades volumétricas e mecânicas em laboratório, o que não se conseguiu no trecho devido a um problema de contaminação com o combustível usado no queimador

Transport of the smoke plume from Chiado’s fire in Lisbon (Portugal) sensed by atmospheric electric field measurements

The Chiado’s fire that affected the city centre of Lisbon (Portugal) occurred on 25th August 1988 and had a significant human and environmental impact. This fire was considered the most significant hazard to have occurred in Lisbon city centre after the major earthquake of 1755. A clear signature of this fire is found in the atmospheric electric field data recorded at Portela meteorological station about 8 km NE from the site where the fire started at Chiado. Measurements were made using a Benndorf electrograph with a probe at 1 m height. The atmospheric electric field reached 510 V/m when the wind direction was coming from SW to NE, favourable to the transport of the smoke plume from Chiado to Portela. Such observations agree with predictions using Hysplit air mass trajectory modelling and have been used to estimate the smoke concentration to be ~0.4 mg/m3. It is demonstrated that atmospheric electric field measurements were therefore extremely sensitive to Chiado’s fire. This result is of particular current interest in using networks of atmospheric electric field sensors to complement existing optical and meteorological observations for fire monitoring

FAAH rs324420 Polymorphism Is Associated with Performance in Elite Rink-Hockey Players

Funding Information: This research was supported by research found ICBAS-PDBiomedical Sciences-200203100 and Portuguese League Against Cancer—Northern Branch (LPCC-NRN).Genetic factors are among the major contributors to athletic performance. Although more than 150 genetic variants have been correlated with elite athlete status, genetic foundations of competition-facilitating behavior influencing elite performances are still scarce. This is the first study designed to examine the distribution of genetic determinants in the athletic performance of elite rink-hockey players. A total of 116 of the world’s top best rink-hockey players (28.2 ± 8.7 years old; more than 50% are cumulatively from the best four world teams and the best five Portuguese teams), who participated at the elite level in the National Rink-Hockey Championship in Portugal, were evaluated in anthropometric indicators/measurements, training conditions, sport experience and sport injuries history. Seven genetic polymorphisms were analyzed. Polymorphism genotyping was performed using the TaqMan® Allelic Discrimination Methodology. Rink-hockey players demonstrated significantly different characteristics according to sex, namely anthropometrics, training habits, sports injuries and genetic variants, such as Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) rs731236 (p < 0.05). The Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) rs324420 A allele was significantly associated with improved athletic performance (AA/AC vs. CC, OR = 2.80; 95% Cl, 1.23–6.35; p = 0.014; p = 0.008 after Bootstrap) and confirmed as an independent predictor among elite rink-hockey players (adjusted OR = 2.88; 95% Cl, 1.06–7.80; p = 0.038). Our results open an interesting link from FAAH-related biology to athletic performance.publishersversionpublishe

Evaluation of the rheological behaviour of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) modified binders

Several processes and products are available to produce warm mix asphalt (WMA). The use of those may reduce the mixing and compaction temperatures in relation to hot mix asphalt (HMA), ensuring a good performance of the pavement. Lower plant mixing temperatures mean reduction in fuel consumption and lower emissions, what may contribute to diminish odours and health problems. A laboratory study on the properties of the modified binders (using two commercial WMA additives—Sasobit® and Cecabase®) was carried out through conventional (penetration, softening point), dynamic viscosity and rheology (DSR) tests, in order to establish the optimum additive content. Stripping of binder from the aggregates is a reported problem in WMA. Thus, the affinity of the modified binders was assessed without encountering significant problems. It was also observed that only Sasobit® alters the viscosity of the binder. A maximum temperature reduction of 15°C was achieved using 4% of Sasobit® with a softer binder

Method for collecting relevant topics from twitter supported by Big Data

There is a fast increase of information and data generation in virtual environments due to microblogging sites such as Twitter, a social network that produces an average of 8, 000 tweets per second, and up to 550 million tweets per day. That's why this and many other social networks are overloaded with content, making it difficult for users to identify information topics because of the large number of tweets related to different issues. Due to the uncertainty that harms users who created the content, this study proposes a method for inferring the most representative topics that occurred in a time period of 1 day through the selection of user profiles who are experts in sports and politics. It is calculated considering the number of times this topic was mentioned by experts in their timelines. This experiment included a dataset extracted from Twitter, which contains 10, 750 tweets related to sports and 8, 758 tweets related to politics. All tweets were obtained from user timelines selected by the researchers, who were considered experts in their respective subjects due to the content of their tweets. The results show that the effective selection of users, together with the index of relevance implemented for the topics, can help to more easily find important topics in both sport and politics