Studio e Analisi di configurazioni impiantistiche di tipo Virtual Power Plant

Questo lavoro rappresenta una analisi tecnico-pratica di strategie impiantistiche di tipo Virtual Power Plant. L'obiettivo della presente attività è quello di studiare, attraverso l'uso del codice EnergyPLAN, il comportamento di un sistema energetico complesso alle variazioni di penetrazione di Fonti di Energia Rinnovabile. Pertanto, sono state eseguite delle simulazioni di opportuni sistemi energetici, puntando sull'ottimizzazione della risposta della generazione al carico elettrico. Le simulazioni effettuate hanno evidenziato le capacità degli impianti proposti, di promuovere tali tipologie impiantistiche, capaci di limitare alcune problematiche connesse all'implementazione delle Fonti di Energia Rinnovabile nei comparti della generazione tradizionale

Persona offesa e modalità di audizione protetta: verso lo statuto del testimone vulnerabile

Il d.lgs. n. 212/2015, di attuazione della Direttiva 2012/29/UE, valorizza il ruolo della persona offesa nel processo penale, in una prospettiva inedita per il nostro sistema. Numerose sono le modifiche a tutela della vittima durante la sua audizione, sia nel corso delle indagini, sia nell’incidente probatorio, che nel dibattimento. Tuttavia, al potenziamento di tutela, imposto dalla direttiva europea, non corrisponde l’estensione delle modalità protette nel dibattimento ai testimoni maggiorenni non vittime, ma vulnerabili.The legislative decree n. 212 of 2015, implementing the Directive 2012/29/EU, enhances the role of the victim in criminal process, in a new perspective for our system. There are several changes to protect the victim during his hearing, both in the course of the investigation and in the trial. However, to the strengthening of the victim protection, imposed by the European directive, it is not corresponded the extension of the protected mode in the trial to adult witnesses not victims, but vulnerable

Direct solar air heating in linear concentrating collectors assisted by a turbocharger for industrial processes: theoretical analysis and experimental characterization

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorEnergy demand of industry has a relevant share of global energy consumption. The larger portion of industrial demand is heating, mainly provided from fossil fuels. The concerns about pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions, together with the fossil fuels scarcity encourage the research efforts toward environmentally sustainable energy sources and among them, solar energy is widely available. Among solar thermal technologies, linear concentrating collectors represent a suitable solution for providing industrial process heat in the medium temperature range. A heat transfer fluid, as thermal oil, or water, is generally adopted to evacuate heat from the solar receivers and to deliver it to thermal processes, contributing to complexity, cost, and even environmental impact. In this thesis the direct air heating inside concentrating solar collector is investigated as a promising solution for industrial processes requiring hot air in the medium temperature range, aiming at low installation and maintenance costs. Although uncommon, the theoretical analysis carried out revealed the feasibility of direct air heating at atmospheric pressure either in a parabolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors within a limited range of design and operating conditions. The high pumping power required to blow air through the receivers arises as one of the main constraints, becoming unsustainable at medium and large scale. To overcome this limitation, an innovative layout is proposed using an automotive turbocharger to configure an original open-to-atmosphere solar Brayton cycle with null power efficiency. The compressor increases the air pressure before solar heating inside the receivers, minimizing the pumping power consumption. The turbine placed at the receiver outlet recovers the compressing and the pumping power, releasing hot air at between 300 °C and 400 °C for its usage in the thermal process. The maximum allowable temperature of evacuated standard receivers, indicated as 600 °C by most of the manufacturers, limits the inlet turbine temperature. No substantial mechanical excess of power at the common turbine and compressor shaft is expected. Instead, turbocharger freewheeling enables to blow air through the solar receivers without auxiliary energy consumption, eventually delivering the hot air with an overpressure for pumping to the user. To support the proposal, a first small-scale experimental prototype of the turbo-assisted solar air heater is designed and installed, using Linear Fresnel collectors and a low-capacity turbocharger. The experimental results allow the thermal and mechanical characterization of the solar collector and the turbocharger, besides tuning and validating the numerical model implemented. They corroborate the practical viability of the concept and indicates relevant features and critical aspects for scaling up to industrial size. A detailed quasi-steady numerical model is developed, including technical features of commercial linear Fresnel collectors and off-the-shelf turbochargers. Daily and yearly assessments of several medium-scale facilities are obtained considering the typical meteorological year of the selected location. The results allow identifying the relevant design and operating parameters and their effect on the performances of the turbo-assisted solar air heater. By combining theoretical and experimental approaches this thesis establishes the framework for the development, design, optimization, and operation of the innovative technology proposed, opening the possibility to its application to several industrial sectors.La demanda energética de la industria tiene una participación relevante en el consumo energético mundial. La mayor parte de la demanda industrial es calor, principalmente obtenido a partir de combustibles fósiles. Las preocupaciones sobre las emisiones de gases contaminantes y de efecto invernadero, junto con la escasez de combustibles fósiles, fomentan los esfuerzos de investigación hacia fuentes de energía ambientalmente sostenibles, entre las cuales, la energía solar se encuentra ampliamente disponible. Entre las tecnologías solares térmicas, los colectores de concentración lineal representan una solución adecuada para proporcionar calor de proceso industrial en el rango de media temperatura. Generalmente se adopta un fluido caloportador, como aceite térmico o agua, para evacuar el calor de los receptores solares y entregarlo al proceso térmico, contribuyendo a la complejidad, costo, e incluso impacto ambiental. En esta tesis se investiga el calentamiento directo de aire en colectores solares de concentración como una solución prometedora para procesos industriales que requieran aire caliente en el rango de media temperatura, con el objetivo de reducir los costos de instalación y mantenimiento. Aunque poco común, el análisis teórico realizado revela la viabilidad del calentamiento directo del aire a presión atmosférica tanto en colectores cilindro-parabólicos como en colectores Fresnel lineales dentro de un rango limitado de condiciones de diseño y operación. La alta potencia de bombeo necesaria para soplar aire a través de los receptores es una de las principales limitaciones, volviéndose insostenible a mediana y gran escala. Para superar esta limitación, se propone un diseño innovador que utiliza un turbocompresor de automóvil para configurar un ciclo Brayton solar abierto a la atmósfera con una eficiencia energética nula. El compresor aumenta la presión del aire antes del calentamiento solar en los receptores, minimizando el consumo de energía de bombeo. La turbina, colocada en la salida del receptor, recupera la potencia de compresión y bombeo, liberando aire caliente entre 300 °C y 400 °C para su uso en el proceso térmico. La temperatura máxima permitida de los receptores estándar evacuados, indicada como 600 °C por la mayoría de los fabricantes, limita la temperatura de entrada de la turbina, por lo que no se espera un exceso mecánico de potencia sustancial en la turbina común y el eje del compresor. En cambio, el turbocompresor permite soplar aire a través de los receptores solares sin consumo de energía auxiliar de bombeo. Si existiera un exceso, estará disponible para el bombeo hasta el usuario. Para apoyar la propuesta, se diseña e instala un primer prototipo experimental de pequeña escala del calentador de aire solar turbo-asistido, utilizando colectores lineales Fresnel y un turbocompresor de baja capacidad. Los resultados experimentales permiten la caracterización térmica y mecánica del colector solar y el turbocompresor, además de ajustar y validar los modelos numéricos implementados. Los ensayos corroboran la viabilidad práctica del concepto e indican características relevantes y aspectos críticos para escalar al tamaño industrial. Se desarrolla un modelo numérico cuasi-estacionario detallado, que incluye las características técnicas de los colectores Fresnel lineales comerciales y los turbocompresores estándar. Se obtienen evaluaciones diarias y anuales de varias instalaciones de mediana escala considerando el año meteorológico típico de la ubicación seleccionada. Los resultados permiten identificar los parámetros de diseño y funcionamiento relevantes y su efecto sobre el rendimiento del calentador de aire solar turbo-asistido. Combinando enfoques teóricos y experimentales, esta tesis establece el marco para el desarrollo, diseño y operación de la tecnología innovadora propuesta, abriendo la posibilidad de su aplicación a varios sectores industriales, apuntando a la descarbonización y transición industrial sustentable.This research was supported by the Industrial Ph.D. project “Producción directa de aire a alta temperatura y a presión turboalimentada en colectores solares de concentración” (BOCM Reference IND2017/AMB7769) funded by “Comunidad de Madrid”, Spain (Orden 3779/2017 of October 17th 2017, by “Consejero de Educación e Investigación”, pubblished on “BOCM. 252, of October 23th 2017.)Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Mecánica y de Organización Industrial por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Eduardo A. Rincón Mejía.- Secretario: José Miguel Cardemil Iglesias.- Vocal: José González Aguilaré Migue

The Progressive Transformation of Class Actions in California

This Comment traces the evolution of class actions in California, from 1850 to the present. The progressive transformation of judicial response the class actions, from procedural the remedial, will be discussed

Fibronectin Contributes To Notochord Intercalation In The Invertebrate Chordate, Ciona Intestinalis

Background: Genomic analysis has upended chordate phylogeny, placing the tunicates as the sister group to the vertebrates. This taxonomic rearrangement raises questions about the emergence of a tunicate/vertebrate ancestor. Results: Characterization of developmental genes uniquely shared by tunicates and vertebrates is one promising approach for deciphering developmental shifts underlying acquisition of novel, ancestral traits. The matrix glycoprotein Fibronectin (FN) has long been considered a vertebrate-specific gene, playing a major instructive role in vertebrate embryonic development. However, the recent computational prediction of an orthologous “vertebrate-like” Fn gene in the genome of a tunicate, Ciona savignyi, challenges this viewpoint suggesting that Fn may have arisen in the shared tunicate/vertebrate ancestor. Here we verify the presence of a tunicate Fn ortholog. Transgenic reporter analysis was used to characterize a Ciona Fn enhancer driving expression in the notochord. Targeted knockdown in the notochord lineage indicates that FN is required for proper convergent extension. Conclusions: These findings suggest that acquisition of Fn was associated with altered notochord morphogenesis in the vertebrate/tunicate ancestor

CubeSat Measures World's First Ice Cloud Map to Support Climate Research

Virginia Diodes, Inc. received NASA SBIR Awards to fund research and development for a lesser developed region of the electromagnetic spectrumterahertz waves. Their work led to funding from NASA ESTO, and the resulting CubeSat (named IceCube) captured the worlds first ice cloud map, which will contribute to our understanding of Earths climat

Groundwater Variability Across Temporal and Spatial Scales in the Central and Northeastern U.S.

Depth-to-water measurements from 181 monitoring wells in unconfined or semi-confined aquifers in nine regions of the central and northeastern U.S. were analyzed. Groundwater storage exhibited strong seasonal variations in all regions, with peaks in spring and lows in autumn, and its interannual variability was nearly unbounded, such that the impacts of droughts, floods, and excessive pumping could persist for many years. We found that the spatial variability of groundwater storage anomalies (deviations from the long term mean) increases as a power function of extent scale (square root of area). That relationship, which is linear on a log-log graph, is common to other hydrological variables but had never before been shown with groundwater data. We describe how the derived power function can be used to determine the number of wells needed to estimate regional mean groundwater storage anomalies with a desired level of accuracy, or to assess uncertainty in regional mean estimates from a set number of observations. We found that the spatial variability of groundwater storage anomalies within a region often increases with the absolute value of the regional mean anomaly, the opposite of the relationship between soil moisture spatial variability and mean. Recharge (drainage from the lowest model soil layer) simulated by the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model was compatible with observed monthly groundwater storage anomalies and month-to-month changes in groundwater storage

Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Water Storage with GRACE and Future Gravimetry Missions

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has demonstrated that satellite gravimetry can be a valuable tool for regional to global water cycle observation. Studies of ice sheet and glacier mass losses, ocean bottom pressure and circulation, and variability of water stored on and in the land including groundwater all have benefited from GRACE observations, and the list of applications and discoveries continues to grow. As the mission approaches its tenth anniversary of launch on March 12,2012, it has nearly doubled its proposed lifetime but is showing some signs of age. In particular, degraded battery capacity limits the availability of power in certain orbital configurations, so that the accelerometers must be turned off for approximately one month out of six. The mission managers have decided to operate the spacecrafts in a manner that maximizes the remaining lifetime, so that the longest possible climate data record is available from GRACE. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that there will be a data gap between GRACE and the GRACE Follow On mission, currently proposed for launch in 2016. In this presentation we will describe recent GRACE enabled science, GRACE mission health, and plans for GRACE Follow On and other future satellite gravimetry missions