Advanced Flame Monitoring and Emission Prediction through Digital Imaging and Spectrometry

This thesis describes the design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a prototype instrumentation system for burner condition monitoring and NOx emissions prediction on fossil-fuel-fired furnaces. A review of methodologies and technologies for burner condition monitoring and NOx emissions prediction is given, together with the discussions of existing problems and technical requirements in their applications. A technical strategy, incorporating digital imaging, UV-visible spectrum analysis and soft computing techniques, is proposed. Based on these techniques, a prototype flame imaging system is developed. The system consists mainly of an optical and fibre probe protected by water-air cooling jacket, a digital camera, a miniature spectrometer and a mini-motherboard with associated application software. Detailed system design, implementation, calibration and evaluation are reported. A number of flame characteristic parameters are extracted from flame images and spectral signals. Luminous and geometric parameters, temperature and oscillation frequency are collected through imaging, while flame radical information is collected by the spectrometer. These parameters are then used to construct a neural network model for the burner condition monitoring and NOx emission prediction. Extensive experimental work was conducted on a 120 MWth gas-fired heat recovery boiler to evaluate the performance of the prototype system and developed algorithms. Further tests were carried out on a 40 MWth coal-fired combustion test facility to investigate the production of NOx emissions and the burner performance. The results obtained demonstrate that an Artificial Neural Network using the above inputs has produced relative errors of around 3%, and maximum relative errors of 8% under real industrial conditions, even when predicting flame data from test conditions not disclosed to the network during the training procedure. This demonstrates that this off the shelf hardware with machine learning can be used as an online prediction method for NOx

Multidrug resistant tuberculosis co-existing with aspergilloma and invasive aspergillosis in a 50 year old diabetic woman: a case report

Aspergilloma and invasive aspergillosis coexisting with multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the same patient is a rare entity. We report a 50 year old South Indian woman, a diabetic, who presented to us with complaints of productive cough and hemoptysis for the past 2 months. She was diagnosed to have pulmonary tuberculosis 2 years ago for which she took irregular treatment. Lung imaging showed features of a thick walled cavity in the right upper lobe with an indwelling aspergilloma. She underwent a right lung upper lobe resection. Biopsy and culture of the resected specimen showed the coexistence of Aspergillus fumigatus and multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 2 blood cultures grew Aspergillus fumigatus. She was successfully treated with Voriconazole and anti tuberculous therapy against MDR-TB

Modelling the impacts of agricultural management practices on river water quality in Eastern England

Agricultural diffuse water pollution remains a notable global pressure on water quality, posing risks to aquatic ecosystems, human health and water resources and as a result legislation has been introduced in many parts of the world to protect water bodies. Due to their efficiency and cost-effectiveness, water quality models have been increasingly applied to catchments as Decision Support Tools (DSTs) to identify mitigation options that can be introduced to reduce agricultural diffuse water pollution and improve water quality. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to the River Wensum catchment in eastern England with the aim of quantifying the long-term impacts of potential changes to agricultural management practices on river water quality. Calibration and validation were successfully performed at a daily time-step against observations of discharge, nitrate and total phosphorus obtained from high-frequency water quality monitoring within the Blackwater sub-catchment, covering an area of 19.6 km2. A variety of mitigation options were identified and modelled, both singly and in combination, and their long-term effects on nitrate and total phosphorus losses were quantified together with the 95% uncertainty range of model predictions. Results showed that introducing a red clover cover crop to the crop rotation scheme applied within the catchment reduced nitrate losses by 19.6%. Buffer strips of 2 m and 6 m width represented the most effective options to reduce total phosphorus losses, achieving reductions of 12.2% and 16.9%, respectively. This is one of the first studies to quantify the impacts of agricultural mitigation options on long-term water quality for nitrate and total phosphorus at a daily resolution, in addition to providing an estimate of the uncertainties of those impacts. The results highlighted the need to consider multiple pollutants, the degree of uncertainty associated with model predictions and the risk of unintended pollutant impacts when evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation options, and showed that high-frequency water quality datasets can be applied to robustly calibrate water quality models, creating DSTs that are more effective and reliable

Methodology and applications of city level CO2 emission accounts in China

China is the world's largest energy consumer and CO2 emitter. Cities contribute 85% of the total CO2 emissions in China and thus are considered as the key areas for implementing policies designed for climate change adaption and CO2 emission mitigation. However, the emission inventory construction of Chinese cities has not been well researched, mainly owing to the lack of systematic statistics and poor data quality. Focusing on this research gap, we developed a set of methods for constructing CO2 emissions inventories for Chinese cities based on energy balance table. The newly constructed emission inventory is compiled in terms of the definition provided by the IPCC territorial emission accounting approach and covers 47 socioeconomic sectors, 17 fossil fuels and 9 primary industry products, which is corresponding with the national and provincial inventory. In the study, we applied the methods to compile CO2 emissions inventories for 24 common Chinese cities and examined uncertainties of the inventories. Understanding the emissions sources in Chinese cities is the basis for many climate policy and goal research in the future

An Integrated Biorefinery Concept for Conversion of Sugar Beet Pulp into Value-added Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Intermediates

Over 8 million tonnes of sugar beet are grown annually in the UK. Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is the main by-product of sugar beet processing which is currently dried and sold as a low value animal feed. SBP is a rich source of carbohydrates, mainly in the form of cellulose and pectin, including D-glucose (Glu), L-arabinose (Ara) and D-galacturonic acid (GalAc). This work describes the technical feasibility of an integrated biorefinery concept for fractionation of SBP and conversion of these monosaccharides into value-added products. SBP fractionation is initially carried out by steam explosion under mild conditions to yield soluble pectin and insoluble cellulose fractions. The cellulose is readily hydrolysed by cellulases to release Glu that can then be fermented by a commercial Yeast strain to produce bioethanol with a high yield. The pectin fraction can be either fully hydrolysed, using physico-chemical methods, or selectively hydrolysed, using cloned arabinases and galacturonases, to yield Ara-rich and GalAc-rich streams. These monomers can be separated using either Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC) or ultrafiltration into streams suitable for subsequent enzymatic upgrading. Building on our previous experience with transketolase (TK) and transaminase (TAm) enzymes, the conversion of Ara and GalAc into higher value products was explored. In particular the conversion of Ara into L-gluco-heptulose (GluHep), that has potential therapeutic applications in hypoglycaemia and cancer, using a mutant TK is described. Preliminary studies with TAm also suggest GluHep can be selectively aminated to the corresponding chiral aminopolyol. Current work is addressing upgrading of the remaining SBP monomer, GalAc, and modelling of the biorefinery concept to enable economic and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

英領西インド糖業と1897年王立西インド委員会

This essay examines the condition of the British West India Sugar Industry at the end of the nineteenth century, by referring to the Report of the West India Royal Commission of 1897. It was appointed to enquire into the condition and prospects of the British West Indies and to suggest means calculated to restore the prosperity of those colonies. Such colonies as Barbados, Antigua and St. Kitts-Nevis produced virtually nothing else than sugar. These were still sugar monoculture colonies at the end of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, by the 1890s, Grenada and Jamaica had built up substantial alternative industries. But there were colonies in the state of extreme depression. The sugar-cane industries in such colonies as St. Vincent and Tobago were threatened with serious reduction or extinction. Many sugar estates are being abandoned and thrown out of cultivation. Alternative industries have not built up. That caused distress among the working class. Especially to these depressed colonies the Commission recommended the settlement of the laborers on small plots of land as peasant proprietors, so as to allow them to establish their own subsistence

Producing work-ready graduate for the construction industry

While educating building professionals is an essential component of the construction education sector, producing work-ready graduates to meet the construction industry requires greater effort. The factors that influence graduate students’ successful transition into the competitive construction environment need to be further explored. This study investigates these factors through a literature review and interviews six experts in academia who have industry experience. The findings of this study show that factors such as ‘team-working skills’ and ‘communication skills’ are the two top factors for producing work ready graduates for the construction industry. The findings can help academia to understand the important factors for producing work-ready graduates for the construction industr