Cutting the cost of carbon capture: a case for carbon capture and utilization

A significant part of the cost for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is related to the compression of the captured CO2 to its supercritical state, at 150 bar and typically 99% purity. These stringent conditions may however not always be necessary for specific cases of Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU). In this manuscript, we investigate how much the parasitic energy of an adsorbent-based carbon capture process may be lowered by utilizing CO2 at 1 bar and adapting the final purity requirement for CO2 from 99% to 70% or 50%. We compare different CO2 sources: the flue gases of coal-fired or natural gas-fired power plants and ambient air. We evaluate the carbon capture performance of over 60 nanoporous materials and determine the influence of the initial and final purity on the parasitic energy of the carbon capture process. Moreover, we demonstrate the underlying principles of the parasitic energy minimization in more detail using the commercially available NaX zeolite. Finally, the calculated utilization cost of CO2 is compared with reported prices for CO2 and published costs for CCS

Relativistic Harmonic Oscillator Revisited

The familiar Fock space commonly used to describe the relativistic harmonic oscillator, for example as part of string theory, is insufficient to describe all the states of the relativistic oscillator. We find that there are three different vacua leading to three disconnected Fock sectors, all constructed with the same creation-annihilation operators. These have different spacetime geometric properties as well as different algebraic symmetry properties or different quantum numbers. Two of these Fock spaces include negative norm ghosts (as in string theory) while the third one is completely free of ghosts. We discuss a gauge symmetry in a worldline theory approach that supplies appropriate constraints to remove all the ghosts from all Fock sectors of the single oscillator. The resulting ghost free quantum spectrum in d+1 dimensions is then classified in unitary representations of the Lorentz group SO(d,1). Moreover all states of the single oscillator put together make up a single infinite dimensional unitary representation of a hidden global symmetry SU(d,1), whose Casimir eigenvalues are computed. Possible applications of these new results in string theory and other areas of physics and mathematics are briefly mentioned.Comment: 41 pages, 2 figures, LaTe

Reduced coherence in double-slit diffraction of neutrons

In diffraction experiments with particle beams, several effects lead to a fringe visibility reduction of the interference pattern. We theoretically describe the intensity one can measure in a double-slit setup and compare the results with the experimental data obtained with cold neutrons. Our conclusion is that for cold neutrons the fringe visibility reduction is due not to decoherence, but to initial incoherence.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, 2 figure

Why the Universe Started from a Low Entropy State

We show that the inclusion of backreaction of massive long wavelengths imposes dynamical constraints on the allowed phase space of initial conditions for inflation, which results in a superselection rule for the initial conditions. Only high energy inflation is stable against collapse due to the gravitational instability of massive perturbations. We present arguments to the effect that the initial conditions problem {\it cannot} be meaningfully addressed by thermostatistics as far as the gravitational degrees of freedom are concerned. Rather, the choice of the initial conditions for the universe in the phase space and the emergence of an arrow of time have to be treated as a dynamic selection.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figs. Final version; agrees with accepted version in Phys. Rev.

Decoherence and entropy of primordial fluctuations II. The entropy budget

We calculate the entropy of adiabatic perturbations associated with a truncation of the hierarchy of Green functions at the first non trivial level, i.e. in a self-consistent Gaussian approximation. We give the equation governing the entropy growth and discuss its phenomenology. It is parameterized by two model-dependent kernels. We then examine two particular inflationary models, one with isocurvature perturbations, the other with corrections due to loops of matter fields. In the first model the entropy grows rapidely, while in the second the state remains pure (at one loop).Comment: 28 page

The General Correlation Function in the Schwinger Model on a Torus

In the framework of the Euclidean path integral approach we derive the exact formula for the general N-point chiral densities correlator in the Schwinger model on a torusComment: 17 pages, misprints corrected, references adde

Pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial agents in anuric patients during continuous venovenous haemofiltration

Background. The optimal drug dosing in anuric patients undergoing continuous haemofiltration is a difficult task. More pharmacokinetic data is needed to derive practical guidelines for dosage adjustments. Methods. Drug elimination of various antimicrobial agents (amikacin, amoxycillin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin flucloxacillin, imipenem, netilmicin, penicillin G, piperacillin, sulphamethoxazole, tobramycin, vancomycin) was studied in 24 patients with acute renal failure treated by pump-assisted continuous venovenous haemofiltration (CVVH). Concentrations of serial blood and ultrafiltrate samples were determined by HPLC or by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Total body clearance (CL) and haemofilter clearance (CLf) rates were determined by standard model-independent equations. Data from published literature on fractions not bound to proteins (fu), non-renal drug clearance fractions (Qo) and normal clearance values (CLn) were used to derive a pharmacokinetic model, taking into account drug removal by ultrafiltration and by non-renal clearance. Results. A total of 37 treatment periods was studied. Blood flow through the haemofilters was 100 ml/min resulting in an average ultrafiltrate flow rate (UFR) of 13.2±4.6 (range 3.2-22.1) ml/min. Acceptable correlations of calculated and measured haemofilter clearances and total body clearances were obtained. Conclusions. Total body clearance in anuric patients during CVVH is predictable from drug properties, which are generally known. The individual dosage requirements may be calculated by multiplying Qo+fu UFR/CLn with the dose considered appropriate in the absence of renal impairmen

Collapse, outflows and fragmentation of massive, turbulent and magnetized prestellar barotropic cores

Stars and more particularly massive stars, have a drastic impact on galaxy evolution. Yet the conditions in which they form and collapse are still not fully understood. In particular, the influence of the magnetic field on the collapse of massive clumps is relatively unexplored, it is thus of great relevance in the context of the formation of massive stars to investigate its impact. We perform high resolution, MHD simulations of the collapse of hundred solar masses, turbulent and magnetized clouds, using the adaptive mesh refinement code RAMSES. We compute various quantities such as mass distribution, magnetic field and angular momentum within the collapsing core and study the episodic outflows and the fragmentation that occurs during the collapse. The magnetic field has a drastic impact on the cloud evolution. We find that magnetic braking is able to substantially reduce the angular momentum in the inner part of the collapsing cloud. Fast and episodic outflows are being launched with typical velocities of the order of 3-5 km s$^{-1}$ although the highest velocities can be as high as 30-40 km s$^{-1}$. The fragmentation in several objects, is reduced in substantially magnetized clouds with respect to hydrodynamical ones by a factor of the order of 1.5-2. We conclude that magnetic fields have a significant impact on the evolution of massive clumps. In combination with radiation, magnetic fields largely determine the outcome of massive core collapse. We stress that numerical convergence of MHD collapse is a challenging issue. In particular, numerical diffusion appears to be important at high density therefore possibly leading to an over-estimation of the number of fragments.Comment: accepted for publication in A&