Sensitivity Analysis and Optimization of a Coal-fired Power Plant in Different Modes of Flue Gas Recirculation

AbstractIn a coal-fired power plant with flue gas recirculation, recirculation rate and coal input have a great effect on the performance of the power plant. In this paper, a 600 MW coal-fired boiler is taken as base case, the main parameters of the boiler are calculated at different recirculation rates and coal input conditions, an optimization is carried out and the optimum recirculation rate and coal input are reported. The results show that under optimum recirculation rate and coal input conditions, the net coal consumption rate can be reduced by 3.5g/(kW·h) at 575MW load; while it is 4.36g/(kW·h) and 5.11g/(kW·h), respectively, at 450MW load and 300MW load. Compared to the conventional flue gas recirculation system, the net coal consumption rate can be reduced by 2.31 g/(kW·h), 2.42 g/(kW·h) and 2.41 g/(kW·h), respectively, at 575MW, 450MW and 300MW load

New Insights into PI3K Inhibitor Design using X-ray Structures of PI3Kα Complexed with a Potent Lead Compound

Abstract Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase α is an attractive target to potentially treat a range of cancers. Herein, we described the evolution of a reported PI3K inhibitor into a moderate PI3Kα inhibitor with a low molecular weight. We used X-ray crystallography to describe the accurate binding mode of the compound YXY-4F. A comparison of the p110α–YXY-4F and apo p110α complexes showed that YXY-4F induced additional space by promoting a flexible conformational change in residues Ser773 and Ser774 in the PI3Kα ATP catalytic site. Specifically, residue 773(S) in PI3Kα is quite different from that of PI3Kβ (D), γ (A), and δ (D), which might guide further optimization of substituents around the NH group and phenyl group to improve the selectivity and potency of PI3Kα

Growth performance, organ-level ionic relations and organic osmoregulation of Elaeagnus angustifolia in response to salt stress

Elaeagnus angustifolia is one of the most extensively afforested tree species in environment-harsh regions of northern China. Despite its exceptional tolerance to saline soil, the intrinsic adaptive physiology has not been revealed. In this study, we investigated the growth, organ-level ionic relations and organic osmoregulation of the seedlings hydroponically treated with 0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl for 30 days. We found that the growth characteristics and the whole-plant dry weight were not obviously stunted, but instead, were even slightly stimulated by the treatment of 100 mM NaCl. In contrast, these traits were significantly inhibited by 200 mM NaCl treatment. Interestingly, as compared with the control (0 mM NaCl), both 100 and 200 mM NaCl treatments had a promotional effect on root growth as evidenced by 26.3% and 2.4% increases in root dry weight, respectively. Roots had the highest Na+ and Cl- concentrations and obviously served as the sink for the net increased Na+ and Cl-, while, stems might maintain the capacity of effective Na+ constraint, resulting in reduced Na+ transport to the leaves. K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations in three plant organs of NaCl-treated seedlings presented a substantial decline, eventually leading to an enormously drop of K+/Na+ ratio. As the salt concentration increased, proline and soluble protein contents continuously exhibited a prominent and a relatively tardy accumulation, respectively, whereas soluble sugar firstly fell to a significant level and then regained to a level that is close to that of the control. Taken together, our results provided quantitative measures that revealed some robust adaptive physiological mechanisms underpinning E. angustifolia’s moderately high salt tolerance, and those mechanisms comprise scalable capacity for root Na+ and Cl- storage, effectively constrained transportation of Na+ from stems to leaves, root compensatory growth, as well as an immediate and prominent leaf proline accumulation

The Systemic Evaluation and Clinical Significance of Immunological Function for Advanced Lung Cancer Patients

Background and objective The actual evaluation of immunological function is significant for studing the tumor development and devising a treatment in time. The aim of this study is to evaluate the immunological function of advanced lung cancer patients systematically, and to discuss the clinical significance. Methods The nucleated cell amounts of advanced lung cancer patients and the healthy individuals were counted. The immune cell subsets and the levels of IL-4, INF-γ, perforin and granzyme in CD8+T cells by the flow cytometry were measured. The proliferation activity and the inhibition ratio of immune cells to several tumor cell lines were evaluated by MTT assay. Results The absolute amounts and subsets of T, B, NK cells of advanced lung cancer patients were lower than the healthy individuals (P < 0.05); However, the proportion of regulatory T cells of advanced lung cancer patients (4.00±1.84)% was lower than the healthy individuals (1.27±0.78)% (P < 0.05). The positive rates of IFN-γ perforin, granzyme in CD8+T cells decreased while them in IL-4 did not in the advanced lung cancer patients compared to the healthy control group (P < 0.05). The proliferation activity of immune cells, the positive rate of PPD masculine and the inhibition ratio to tumor cells in the advanced lung cancer patients was lower than the healthy subsets obviously (P < 0.05). Conclusion There was a significant immune depression in the advanced lung cancer patients compared to the healthy individuals

Treatment of Livestock Odor and Pathogens with Ultraviolet Light

Livestock production systems are associated with aerial emissions of odor, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), other gases, and particular matter including airborne pathogens. Control of those emissions is needed to assure compliance with environmental regulations and long-term viability of the industry. The focus of this research is a novel approach to abatement of livestock odor and pathogens utilizing photocatalysis, i.e., UV irradiation in presence of TiO2 as a catalyst. A standard gas generation system was built and tested to generate ten odorous VOCs commonly defining livestock odors. These VOCs included methylmercaptan, ethylmercaptan, dimethylsulfide, butylmercaptan, acetic, propanoic, butyric, and isovaleric acid, p-cresol, and H2S. Our previous research established a reduction of VOCs with UV light only of 60~98% for sulfur VOCs and 91% for p-cresol, but only 20 to 45% removal for volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Titanium dioxide was used in the current research to catalyze UV reactions in the same gas mixtures of VOCs held in a small photoreactor. The reactor was designed to conduct controlled tests with UV light under dynamic (with airflows) conditions that facilitate experiments simulating exhaust from mechanically-ventilated barns. Six 10W lamps with characteristic bands at (185), 254, 312, 365 nm, respectively, and principle output at 254 nm were used as UV source in dynamic system. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers were used to sample VOCs before and after UV treatment and for transfer of samples to a gas chromatography and mass spectrometry olfactometry (GC-MS-O) system. Odor analysis was completed by a forced-choice dynamic-dilution olfactometer in the Olfactometry lab at ISU. Effectiveness of four different treatment options, i.e., UV254, UV185+254, UV254+TiO2, and UV185+254+TiO2 was assessed. Effect of light energy, catalyst presence and light wavelength was evaluated. More than 50% in chemical reduction was found for all VOCs tested with a treatment time of 18.5 second. A linearly positive correlation was found between the percent conversion of tested VOCs and light energy dose. TiO2 showed to greatly improve the treatment effectiveness on VOCs, VFAs in particular, no matter deep UV was used or not. However, when TiO2 was used, deep UV showed very little improvement in degrading VOCs tested, while significant improvement was observed when no TiO2 was used. Total odor reduction of 70% by certain energy level indicated the feasibility of odor mitigation by UV light. Continued work includes simultaneous inactivation of airborne pathogens with UV light