Online visualization of German power plants and their production

Maps are used for centuries to visualize geographical or topological information and nowadays, with modern technology, we can create interactive maps that allow us to display and access additional information. Some of them have even become part of our daily life, such as, almost real-time traffic information. Furthermore, maps are often used to display data of population densities, temperatures and spatial distribution of geographical phenomenon. Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy ISE decided to build an interactive map that shows the locations of all power plants listed on the European Energy Exchange (EEX). Since July 2014, the Fraunhofer ISE has been providing interactive charts on electricity production and other related information about electricity and power generation in Germany. These charts became very popular and widely used by people from different professions, namely scientists, politicians, journalists as well as online/printed media. Due to the high popularity of these interactive energy charts, an interactive map has been added to the Energy Charts data visualization portal to make the framework more informative and interesting for users. The map has several search options and levels of detail for searching different power plant locations, technical data, and connectivity to the high voltage transmission lines. Furthermore, this new visualization framework is interconnected with the existing energy charts. The dynamic linking, brushing and filtering technique in both map and energy charts have enhanced the framework by an additional layer providing more visibility and information on the selected power plants

Serum ferritin levels, socio-demographic factors and desferrioxamine therapy in multi-transfused thalassemia major patients at a government tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Beta thalassemia is the most frequent genetic disorder of haemoglobin synthesis in Pakistan. Recurrent transfusions lead to iron-overload manifested by increased serum Ferritin levels, for which chelation therapy is required.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The study was conducted in the Pediatric Emergency unit of Civil Hospital Karachi after ethical approval by the Institutional Review Board of Dow University of Health Sciences. Seventy nine cases of beta thalassemia major were included after a written consent. The care takers were interviewed for the socio-demographic variables and the use of Desferrioxamine therapy, after which a blood sample was drawn to assess the serum Ferritin level. SPSS 15.0 was employed for data entry and analysis.</p> <p>Of the seventy-nine patients included in the study, 46 (58.2%) were males while 33 (41.8%) were females. The mean age was 10.8 (± 4.5) years with the dominant age group (46.2%) being 10 to 14 years. In 62 (78.8%) cases, the care taker education was below the tenth grade. The mean serum Ferritin level in our study were 4236.5 ng/ml and showed a directly proportional relationship with age. Desferrioxamine was used by patients in 46 (58.2%) cases with monthly house hold income significant factor to the use of therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The mean serum Ferritin levels are approximately ten times higher than the normal recommended levels for normal individuals, with two-fifths of the patients not receiving iron chelation therapy at all. Use of iron chelation therapy and titrating the dose according to the need can significantly lower the iron load reducing the risk of iron-overload related complications leading to a better quality of life and improving survival in Pakistani beta thalassemia major patients.</p> <p>Conflicts of Interest: None</p

Analysis of Energy Use and Energy Savings: A Case Study of a Condiment Industry in India

Electric motors and boilers lead the industrial components which consume the largest portion of energy in an industry. This study explores the energy audit data of the condiment industry in India. The study mainly focuses on the estimation of the load factor, energy use, energy savings and annual bill savings with payback period of the electric motors of the plant. During the audit, it was found that there were several motors running under loaded conditions despite non-availability of variable speed drives installed in the plant. Therefore, variable speed drives are recommended to be installed to save energy by reducing the motors speed by up to 60%. According to the estimation, about 276 MWh, 551 MWh and 827 MWh electrical energy can be saved for 20%, 40% and 60% speed reduction of the motors using variable speed drives, respectively, where in most of the cases the payback period remains below 1 year. Furthermore, some suggestions are made to improve the poor power factor of running motors by using capacitor banks to save the reactive power. Besides, an estimation of energy saving is performed with a 2-ton capacity boiler. Since, there was no heat recovery system in the boiler; an air-preheater is suggested to be installed at the end of flue gas exhausting path of the boiler with the purpose of saving 68 tons of fuel per annum and having a payback period of 12 months. Moreover, a digital monitoring system, namely, “The Smart Joules” has been proposed to be installed in the plant aiming at saving about 3–5% of total energy per annum and having a payback period of 19 months. Finally, a summarization is made concluding in the fact that about 90 MWh energy and 95 tons of fuel can be saved (excluding motor energy savings) per annum by implementing proposed measures with a payback period of 15 months