Electrochemical, H2O2-Boosted Catalytic Oxidation System

An improved water-sterilizing aqueous-phase catalytic oxidation system (APCOS) is based partly on the electrochemical generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This H2O2-boosted system offers significant improvements over prior dissolved-oxygen water-sterilizing systems in the way in which it increases oxidation capabilities, supplies H2O2 when needed, reduces the total organic carbon (TOC) content of treated water to a low level, consumes less energy than prior systems do, reduces the risk of contamination, and costs less to operate. This system was developed as a variant of part of an improved waste-management subsystem of the life-support system of a spacecraft. Going beyond its original intended purpose, it offers the advantage of being able to produce H2O2 on demand for surface sterilization and/or decontamination: this is a major advantage inasmuch as the benign byproducts of this H2O2 system, unlike those of systems that utilize other chemical sterilants, place no additional burden of containment control on other spacecraft air- or water-reclamation systems

CO2-dosering bij roos onder verschillende temperaturen en belichtingniveaus : vervolgonderzoek kwantificering van CO2-effecten op productie en kwaliteit bij roos

Uit eerder onderzoek van PPO bleek dat met een hogere CO2-dosering en meer assimilatiebelichting een hogere productie van een betere kwaliteit kon worden gerealiseerd. De gegevens uit dat onderzoek werden gebruikt om een groeimodel voor groente (ECP) te valideren. Omdat het ECP-productiemodel niet geschikt bleek te zijn voor roos, is een vervolgonderzoek gestart om een dynamisch productiemodel te ontwikkelen specifiek voor roos. Zo kan de teler de productie en kwaliteit sturen door middel van drie "knoppen": CO2, licht en temperatuur. In deze publicatie staat een beschrijving van dit vervolgonderzoek. Twee CO2-concentraties (700 en 1400 ppm), twee lichtintensiteiten (3750 en 7100 lux), drie teelttemperaturen (17, 20 en 23°C) en twee gewasleeftijden (een jonge aanplant en een twee jaar oud gewas van ‘Indian Femma’) zijn onderling gecombineerd in 6 verschillende afdelingen. Daarnaast zijn twee extra afdelingen in gebruik genomen, waarin door middel van koelen met behulp van verneveling geprobeerd is CO2-verlies door ventilatie te vermindere

The influence of sediment diagenesis and aluminium on oxygen isotope exchange of diatom frustules

The oxygen isotope composition of diatom frustules, δ18Odiatom, is thought to reflect the isotopic composition of the ambient seawater at the time of biomineralization. However, the δ18Odiatom can be overprinted due to the susceptibility of silanol groups (both external and internal) to isotope exchange. Here, using high-resolution imaging, we investigate what factors may influence this post-mortem isotopic alteration during the initial stages of diagenesis in the sediment. A diatomaceous clay was incubated with 18O-enriched seawater with fresh diatom detritus placed at the sediment–water interface (SWI) and at depth in the sediment. NanoSIMS analysis showed that the fresh diatom detritus as well as fossil frustules became significantly enriched in 18O, and that a relationship between Al-content and 18O-exchange could be observed. To further study the potential role of Al as an inhibitor of oxygen exchange, we measured Al on the surface of fossil frustules and performed additional incubations of diatom detritus in seawater with various concentrations of dissolved Al. The presence of Al-rich material bound to the surface of fossil frustules did not reduce the extent of 18O-enrichment in the underlying silica. However, exposure of diatoms detritus to dissolved Al, which led to a significant increase in frustule Al/Si ratio and a homogenously distributed Al in the frustule valve, significantly lowered the amount of 18O-enrichment. We hypothesize that Al incorporated into the silica structure can slow down 18O exchange while Al present as surface contaminants (clays or other aluminosilicates) has no inhibitory role

Plasma for Electrification of Chemical Industry: a Case Study on CO2 Reduction

Significantly increasing the share of (intermittent) renewable power in the chemical industry is imperative to meet increasingly stricter limits on CO2 exhaust that are being implemented within Europe. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of a plasma process that converts input CO2 into a pure stream of CO to aid in renewable energy penetration in this sector. A realistic process design is constructed to serve as a basis for an economical analysis. The manufacturing cost price of CO is estimated at 1.2 kUS$/ton CO. A sensitivity analysis shows that separation is the dominant cost factor, so that improving conversion is currently more effective to lower the price than e.g. energy efficiency.</p

Substance use risk profiles and associations with early substance use in adolescence

We examined whether anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, sensation seeking, and impulsivity (i.e., revised version of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale) would be related to the lifetime prevalence and age of onset of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use, and to polydrug use in early adolescence. Baseline data of a broader effectiveness study were used from 3,783 early adolescents aged 11–15 years. Structural equation models showed that hopelessness and sensation seeking were indicative of ever-used alcohol, tobacco or cannabis and for the use of more than one substance. Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of hopelessness had a higher chance of starting to use alcohol or cannabis at an earlier age, but highly anxiety sensitive individuals were less likely to start using alcohol use at a younger age. Conclusively, early adolescents who report higher levels of hopelessness and sensation seeking seem to be at higher risk for an early onset of substance use and poly substance use

Process intensification education contributes to sustainable development goals: Part 2

Achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals requires industry and society to develop tools and processes that work at all scales, enabling goods delivery, services, and technology to large conglomerates and remote regions. Process Intensification (PI) is a technological advance that promises to deliver means to reach these goals, but higher education has yet to totally embrace the program. Here, we present practical examples on how to better teach the principles of PI in the context of the Bloom's taxonomy and summarise the current industrial use and the future demands for PI, as a continuation of the topics discussed in Part 1. In the appendices, we provide details on the existing PI courses around the world, as well as teaching activities that are showcased during these courses to aid students’ lifelong learning. The increasing number of successful commercial cases of PI highlight the importance of PI education for both students in academia and industrial staff.We acknowledge the sponsors of the Lorentz’ workshop on“Educating in PI”: The MESA+Institute of the University of Twente,Sonics and Materials (USA) and the PIN-NL Dutch Process Intensi-fication Network. DFR acknowledges support by The Netherlands Centre for Mul-tiscale Catalytic Energy Conversion (MCEC), an NWO Gravitationprogramme funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sci-ence of the government of The Netherlands. NA acknowledges the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)- TRR 63¨Integrierte Chemische Prozesse in flüssigen Mehrphasen-systemen¨(Teilprojekt A10) - 56091768. The participation by Robert Weber in the workshop and thisreport was supported by Laboratory Directed Research and Devel-opment funding at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).PNNL is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for theUS Department of Energy by Battelle under contract DE-AC05-76RL0183

Process intensification education contributes to sustainable development goals : part 1

In 2015 all the United Nations (UN) member states adopted 17 sustainable development goals (UN-SDG) as part of the 2030 Agenda, which is a 15-year plan to meet ambitious targets to eradicate poverty, protect the environment, and improve the quality of life around the world. Although the global community has progressed, the pace of implementation must accelerate to reach the UN-SDG time-line. For this to happen, professionals, institutions, companies, governments and the general public must become cognizant of the challenges that our world faces and the potential technological solutions at hand, including those provided by chemical engineering. Process intensification (PI) is a recent engineering approach with demonstrated potential to significantly improve process efficiency and safety while reducing cost. It offers opportunities for attaining the UN-SDG goals in a cost-effective and timely manner. However, the pedagogical tools to educate undergraduate, graduate students, and professionals active in the field of PI lack clarity and focus. This paper sets out the state-of-the-art, main discussion points and guidelines for enhanced PI teaching, deliberated by experts in PI with either an academic or industrial background, as well as representatives from government and specialists in pedagogy gathered at the Lorentz Center (Leiden, The Netherlands) in June 2019 with the aim of uniting the efforts on education in PI and produce guidelines. In this Part 1, we discuss the societal and industrial needs for an educational strategy in the framework of PI. The terminology and background information on PI, related to educational implementation in industry and academia, are provided as a preamble to Part 2, which presents practical examples that will help educating on Process Intensification

The development of personality and problem behaviour in adolescence

Contains fulltext : 55045.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Universiteit Utrecht, 24 november 2006Promotores : Meeus, W.H.J., Engels, R.C.M.E. Co-promotores : Hale, W.W., Raaijmakers, Q.A.W.199 p

The interplay of early adolescents' depressive symptoms, aggression and perceived parental rejection: A four-year community study

This study of early adolescents from the general population examined the direction of effects adolescents' depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection have on one another in a longitudinal study. Over a four-year period, data were collected yearly from 940 early adolescents (50.6% boys and 49.4% girls) who completed self-report questionnaires of depressive symptoms, aggressive behaviors, and perceived parental rejection. The longitudinal relationships of adolescent reported depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection were tested in multi-group structural equation models. The findings of this study demonstrate that adolescents' depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection can be viewed as two unidirectional effects models that work in tandem: adolescents' depressive symptoms longitudinally predicting perceived parental rejection and, in turn, perceived parental rejection longitudinally predicting adolescents' aggression. Additionally, the strength of these effects diminished as the adolescents grew older and the effects were similar for both adolescent boys and girls