A Novel Approach to Legacy Donations with Long-Term Benefits Supported by Mathematical Analysis

A novel approach to legacy donations, called the “Master Fund Strategy,” is proposed. Potential long-term financial benefits for both donor and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) when compared to a “Traditional Fund Strategy” are established through mathematical analysis and computer simulations, providing nonprofit marketing and fundraising professionals an alternative way to lock in bequest funding. In particular, formulas are developed for computing relevant financial quantities associated with the two strategies. Conditions are presented under which the Master Fund Strategy is better than the Traditional Fund Strategy, in the sense that there is a point in time when the net present value of the distributions to the NPO under the Master Fund Strategy exceeds that of a Traditional Fund Strategy and continues to do so beyond that point. These analytical results are obtained under the assumption that the investment rates of return and the fund payouts rates are known constants; however, formulas for relaxing these restrictions are also developed and the consequences are examined with Monte Carlo simulations

A Novel Approach to Legacy Donations with Long-Term Benefits Supported by Numerical Illustrations

Philanthropic donors face challenges in matching the causes to which they donate, the time horizon—and thus impact—of their donations, and the charitable vehicles they choose for making contributions. Wealthier donors may elect to create their own foundations and customize their charitable support. Less wealthy donors have limited choices: they may contribute to a nonprofit\u27s current operations or to existing nonprofit endowments. We present a novel approach for making charitable donations, blending aspects of each of these strategies. Our approach has potential long-term financial benefits, allows donors to control their charitable donations in a convenient and easy-to-implement manner, can be established through an existing nonprofit organization, expands opportunities for more donors because it requires a smaller corpus contribution with lower management costs than creating a foundation, provides tax savings in the United States and other countries (e.g., the UK, Canada, and Australia) comparable to other planned giving vehicles, and may be implemented during one\u27s lifetime using donor advised funds or as part of a legacy plan through the donor\u27s estate documents, which is when the long-term benefits accrue

Development of on-demand low temperature electrolysers and their systems

Industrial alkaline electrolysers were electrochemically characterised and analysed on an internal combustion engine. These electrolysers exhibited low efficiencies, low gas flowrates and subsequently zero change in engine emissions due to the poor design and build. An improved alkaline electrolyser was designed, built and tested exhibiting improved efficiency/gas output compared to the industrial electrolysers and an improved reduction in emissions. The increased power consumption of the electrolyser results in a rise in electrode degradation which is responsible for the decrease in electrode lifetime. A method for prolonging the electrode lifetime is proposed through a metallic “oxygen-getter”. Implementation of this has shown to prevent cathodic corrosion of the electrode material and thus reduces oxide layer formation. Electrode lifetime in an alkaline electrolyser increased, but the commercial trend is shifting towards the more attract PEM technology for electrolysis due to higher current densities, ability to handle variable input loads and non-caustic liquid requirement. A commercial on-demand PEM electrolyser was tested and system designed for integration with an existing hydrogen refuelling station at the University of Birmingham. This mimicked the case for a distributed hydrogen system where the hydrogen is produced onsite for fuel cell vehicles resulting in a carbon neutral fuel

Cost-effective design of the alkaline electrolyser for enhanced electrochemical performance and reduced electrode degradation

An alkaline electrolyser was developed and characterized. Three different metals, working as the electrode, were analysed using electrochemical methods to determine the best electrochemical performance. The performance of the Stainless Steel (SS316) electrode and the nickel electrode is much better than that of the conventional iron electrode. Degradation analysis of the electrode materials highlighted the need for the material to be durable and resistant to corrosion from an alkaline environment. Through SEM and mass analysis, it is shown that Nickel exhibits the strongest long-term resistance to surface and electrochemical performance degradation, when compared with Mild Steel (Iron) and SS316

Production methods of stacks and hydrogen with associated costs

There are currently approximately 50 million tonnes of hydrogen produced annually. This figure is expected to rise over the coming decades with the growth of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is currently and predominately used in industry to produce ammonia, hydrogenation of fats and pharmaceutical manufacture. All of these industries will continue to use hydrogen gas, so there will be an increased demand on the volume of hydrogen produced each year if the hydrogen economy is to succeed as an alternative form of energy. Consequently, hydrogen would need to be sourced from more than a single production pathway, and yet be sustainable. Each production pathway has unique benefits and disadvantages, such as cost of production and the purity of hydrogen produced. As a result, new sustainable methods of producing hydrogen are being researched for optimisation and commercialisation. In this article, the authors examine traditional and new routes to production techniques and costs that are associated with them.Published versio

Types of hydrogen use in transportation and hydrogen refuelling stations

Hydrogen has immense potential as an energy vector. Once produced and stored the energy contained can be exploited in energy generation. This exploitation is thought to be able to rival more traditional methods of energy generation such as coal and gas powered power stations. Typically, hydrogen is expected to be deployed in fuel cells; however, there exist options in combusting the hydrogen to release the stored energy. Early markets and economic demand will force the first steps of hydrogen technology. At present road vehicles are seen as the technology of choice, with early adopters keen to take up this technology as the authors move forward to a low carbon future. Parallel to this is the need to have such an infrastructure to support deployment. In this article, they look at a few of the key areas where hydrogen is in transportation and discuss the infrastructure that is required to support the technology.Published versio

WORKSHOP: Stop lecturing about active learning: integrating good teaching practices into AAEE conference sessions

Although the research favouring active learning strategies over traditional instruction is compelling, many conference presentations nevertheless take a very didactic approach. Indeed, much of the research presented at AAEE Conferences describes different modifications we have made to students’ traditional learning experiences to make them more engaging and effective. Inspired by the session of the same name held at this year’s American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference, in this workshop we will explore different strategies for implementing active learning approaches in our conference presentations. Additionally, we will workshop suggestions for alternative presentation formats for future AAEE conferences. OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP In this workshop, we will brainstorm, share, and discuss different techniques for making our AAEE presentations more engaging and audience-focused. These will then be compiled and subsequently shared with the AAEE community. ACTIVITIES In both plenary and small-group discussions, participants will have opportunities to brainstorm, share, and build on different ideas for making conference presentations more interactive and engaging. Discussion will also focus on how different contextual issues can inform which strategies are most effective in different situations. TARGET AUDIENCE Any researcher considering presenting at AAEE or other conferences in the future. OUTCOMES Participants will be more familiar with a greater repertoire of skills and strategies for making their conference presentations more engaging. Conversely, AAEE will develop a clearer understanding of delegates’ preferences regarding presentation formats

Feasibility of an oxygen-getter with nickel electrodes in alkaline electrolysers

Alkaline electrolysis is the long-established technology for water splitting to produce hydrogen and has been industrially used since the nineteenth century. The most common materials used for the electrodes are nickel and derivatives of nickel (e.g. Raney nickel). Nickel represents a cost-effective electrode material due to its low cost (compared to platinum group metals), good electrical conductivity and exhibits good resistance to corrosive solutions. The steady degradation of the nickel electrodes over time is known as a result of oxide layer formation on the electrode surface. Reducing oxide layer growth on the electrode surface will increase the efficiency and lifetime of the electrolyser. Titanium has a higher affinity to oxygen than nickel so has been introduced to the electrolyser as a sacrificial metal to reduce oxide layer formation on the nickel. Two identical electrolysers were tested with one difference: Cell B had titanium chips present in the electrolyte solution, whilst Cell A did not have titanium present. SEM results show a reduction of 16 % in the thickness of the Cell B oxide layer on nickel compared to the Cell A nickel, which is supported by the large increase in oxide layer build-up on the titanium in Cell B. EDX on the same samples showed on average a 59 % decrease in oxygen on the Cell B nickel compared to Cell A. XPS surface analysis of the same samples showed a 17 % decrease in the oxygen on Cell B nickel. These results support the hypothesis that adding titanium to an alkaline electrolyser system with nickel electrodes can reduce the oxide layer formation on the nickel

Electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene via redox-mediated chronoamperometry

Anilines are important feedstocks for pharmaceuticals, dyes, and other materials, but traditional approaches to their syntheses usually lack selectivity and environmental sustainability. Here, we describe the selective reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline under mild conditions, using water as the ultimate source of the required protons and electrons. We describe the electrochemical cell assembly, and detail steps for electrochemical reduction followed by organic extraction and analysis of the extracts using NMR

Design for On-Site Hydrogen Production for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Refueling Station at University of Birmingham, U.K.

In April 2008, the University of Birmingham launched the first permanent Hydrogen Refuelling Station in the UK. This enabled the refuelling of the only at the time fleet of Hydrogen Hybrid Fuel Cell Vehicles (HHFCV) in the UK. To maintain the low emissions ethos, the ultra-high purity “Green” hydrogen for the refuelling station was supplied off site, from a third party contractor. The University aims to be the first campus in the UK that is carbon neutral and this project scopes to produce “Green” hydrogen on-site to power the fleet of HHFCVs. Electrolysis is currently the only commercial method for producing ultra-high purity hydrogen without the need for, what could prove to be very costly, additional purification steps. Working in collaboration with ITM Power, a HPac Model electrolyser has been installed to produce electrolytic hydrogen on-site (up to 1.25 kgH2/day). The HPac uses PEM technology, which eliminates the need for hazardous alkaline substances, to produce hydrogen. The input requirements are ASTM Type 2 de-ionised (DI), water and 240 V power supply. Hydrogen is produced at pressures up to 15 bar [1]. However, there is a need to incorporate this unit within the existing hydrogen infrastructure incorporating 350 bar Air Product refuelling station. An integrated delivery system has been designed and initial results are presented herein