H2-Rich Syngas from Renewable Sources by Dual Fluidized Bed Steam Gasification of Solid Biomass

Steam gasification of solid biomass yields high quality producer gases that can be used for efficient combined heat and power production (CHP) and as a renewable resource for chemical syntheses. The dual fluidized bed steam gasification technology provides the necessary heat for steam gasification by circulating hot bed material that is heated in a second fluidized bed reactor by combustion of residual biomass char. The hydrogen content in producer gas of such gasifiers is about 40 vol% (dry basis). Addition of carbonates to the bed material and adequate adjustment of operation temperatures in the reactors allow selective transport of CO2 from gasification to combustion zone (Adsorption Enhanced Reforming – AER concept). An 8 MW (fuel power) CHP plant successfully demonstrates gasification in Guessing, Austria since 2002. A pilot plant (100 kW fuel power) has been recently operated to investigate the potential of the selective CO2 transport achieving a H2 content of 75 vol% (dry basis) in the producer gas. No significant increase in tar formation occurs despite the low gasification temperatures (600-700 °C). It can be shown, that the selective transport of CO2 yields high hydrogen contents in the producer gas and the possibility of operating at lower temperatures increases the efficiency of energy conversion

ЛЕВ ПАДАЛКА ЯК ДОСЛІДНИК ЗАПОРОЖЖЯ

Нові публікації останнього часу про формування ідейних та теоретичних засад української історичної науки дають підстави для переконливих висновків про тяглість і цілеспрямованість історіографічного процесу в Україні, а також про роль у ньому як окремих, справді видатних особистостей, так і істориків „другого плану”. Важливе значення для їх становлення мало навчання і залучення до наукової діяльності під егідою і за уважним сприянням фундаторів вітчизняної історичної науки. Переважну більшість серед них склали регіональні школи наукових досліджень, які ввели до наукового обігу величезний комплекс архівних джерел, даних топографії, археології, статистики, етнографії

A Cellular Automaton Framework for Infectious Disease Spread Simulation

In this paper, a cellular automaton framework for processing the spatiotemporal spread of infectious diseases is presented. The developed environment simulates and visualizes how infectious diseases might spread, and hence provides a powerful instrument for health care organizations to generate disease prevention and contingency plans. In this study, the outbreak of an avian flu like virus was modeled in the state of Tyrol, and various scenarios such as quarantine, effect of different medications on viral spread and changes of social behavior were simulated

Automatic Roof Plane Detection and Analysis in Airborne Lidar Point Clouds for Solar Potential Assessment

A relative height threshold is defined to separate potential roof points from the point cloud, followed by a segmentation of these points into homogeneous areas fulfilling the defined constraints of roof planes. The normal vector of each laser point is an excellent feature to decompose the point cloud into segments describing planar patches. An object-based error assessment is performed to determine the accuracy of the presented classification. It results in 94.4% completeness and 88.4% correctness. Once all roof planes are detected in the 3D point cloud, solar potential analysis is performed for each point. Shadowing effects of nearby objects are taken into account by calculating the horizon of each point within the point cloud. Effects of cloud cover are also considered by using data from a nearby meteorological station. As a result the annual sum of the direct and diffuse radiation for each roof plane is derived. The presented method uses the full 3D information for both feature extraction and solar potential analysis, which offers a number of new applications in fields where natural processes are influenced by the incoming solar radiation (e.g., evapotranspiration, distribution of permafrost). The presented method detected fully automatically a subset of 809 out of 1,071 roof planes where the arithmetic mean of the annual incoming solar radiation is more than 700 kWh/m2

High sensitive optical microelectronics sensors for the control or pollutants

10 páginas, 8 figuras.The determination of organic contaminants is done, nowadays, mostly by laboratory-based analytical techniques. This analytical methodology involves multistep time-consuming preparation procedures together with expensive and sophisticated techniques, that even leave unsolved problems (i.e. polar and non- volatile degradation compounds). Although the development of immunochemical kits, a few years ago, improved the performance of the result in the environment control, there is still a clear requirement for the development of sensors of small size, reliable, sensitive and selective, which can be operated in-situ and on-line and can be produced by a low cost technology.This research has been supported by the CICYT project TIC97-0594-C04.Peer reviewe

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthy blood donors from the state of Tyrol, Austria, in summer 2020.

BACKGROUND: Seroepidemiological studies provide important insight into the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2) in our society. We aimed to determine seropositivity of SARS-CoV‑2 antibodies and its cross-sectional correlates in a large cohort of blood donors. METHODS: In this observational cohort study, we tested healthy blood donors residing in Tyrol, Austria, for SARS-CoV‑2 antibodies using the Abbott SARS-CoV‑2 IgG chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. We estimated 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of seroprevalences using bootstrapping and tested for differences by participant characteristics using logistic regression. FINDINGS: Between 8 June and 4 September 2020, we screened 5345 healthy individuals at local blood donor sessions (mean age 42.7 years, SD 13.5 years, 46.7% female). Overall seroprevalence was 3.1% (95% CI 2.7-3.6%, 165 cases), which is 5.1-fold higher (95% CI 4.5-6.0%) than the case number identified by the health authorities in the state-wide testing program (0.6%; 4536 out of 757,634). Seroprevalence was higher in the district Landeck (16.6%, P < 0.001) and in individuals aged < 25 years (4.7%, P = 0.043), but did not differ by gender, blood types, or medication intake. The odds ratio for seropositivity was 2.51 for participants who had travelled to Ischgl (1.49-4.21, P = 0.001), 1.39 who had travelled to other federal states (1.00-1.93, P = 0.052), and 2.41 who had travelled abroad (1.61-3.63, P < 0.001). Compared to participants who had a suspected/confirmed SARS-CoV‑2 infection but were seronegative, seropositive participants more frequently reported loss of smell (odds ratio = 2.49, 1.32-4.68, P = 0.005) and taste (odds ratio = 2.76, 1.54-4.92, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: In summer 2020, SARS-CoV‑2 seroprevalence in Tyrolean blood donors was 3.1%. Our study revealed regional variation and associations with young age, travel history and specific symptoms