01054 Transport and reaction characteristics in flue gas desulfurization

15 Environment (pollution, health protection, safety) 04/01045 operations

National

Emission

Standards

for benzene

waste

Anon. Federal Register, 2003, 68, (25), 6082. USEPA promulgated amendments to national emission standards for benzene waste operations as a direct final rule, along with a parallel proposal to be used as a basis for final action in the event EPA received any adverse comments on the direct final amendments. Since one adverse comment was received concerning one provision, USEPA is withdrawing the corresponding parts of the direct final rule. These adverse comments will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the parallel proposal published 12 November 2002.

04101046 Next generation cleaning systems

integrated

electrostatic

gas

Chang, J.-S. Journal of Electrostatics, 2003, 51, (3-4), 273-291. Air pollution can be composed of many materials, such as: particulate matter (PM); acid gases such as SO,, NO,, HCl, etc.; greenhouse gases such as CO,, N,O,, PFC’s etc.; ozone depletion substances such as Freon, Halon, etc.; volatile organic compounds such as TCE, TCA, toluene, xylene, etc.; and toxic gases such as Hg, dioxins, etc. These pollutants normally are mixed. To eliminate them, an integrated system is currently used, depending on a fuel used for combustion sources or composition of wastes in incinerators. For PM, new guidelines will be changed from the existing PM10 to PM2.5 within the next few years, hence, all electrostatic precipitator (ESP) designs must be adjusted to the new emission limits. A new computer ESP analysis and design code will be introduced for the conversion of existing PM10 ESP to PM2.5 ESP as well as optimizing of the design of advanced electrostatic proportion techniques based on two-stage ESPs and an ESP integrated to gaseous pollution control systems. For a gaseous pollution control technique by a nonthermal plasma system, current on-going electron beam, pulsed corona and corona radical shower pilot plant tests and industrial demonstrations were critically reviewed and next generation integrated electrostatic pollution control systems are proposed for combustion generated pollution and air cleaning.

04JO1047 Russian behaviour under the Kyoto Protocol

in the market for permits

Holtsmark, B. CIimare Policy, 2003, 3, (4), 399-415. After the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and the extension of national quotas in the Bonn and Marrakesh agreements, meagre environmental effects and a low price of emission permits are likely to be the outcome of implementation. This paper attempts to analyse this scenario, mainly in relation to the Russian case and discusses the basis of certain key assumptions the strategic options open to the supply side of the permit market and Russia’s potentially incompatible interests as a producer of oil and gas on the one hand and a dominating seller of emission permits under the Kyoto Protocol on the other. The analysis shows that Russian oil and gas interests are likely to boost Russia’s inclination to sell permits, ultimately resulting in lower permit prices.

04/01046 Safety aspects of oxide fuels for transmutation and utilization in accelerator driven systems Maschek, W. et al. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2003, 320, (l-2), 147155. General safety aspects of fuels under development for accelerator driven systems (ADS) are reviewed and discussed. These fuels should allow a maximization of transmutation and incineration rates, which excludes fertile UOz as a component or matrix. The accumulated knowledge on data, phenomena and scenarios of fast reactors with (U,Pu)Oz oxide fuels and sodium cooling serves as background for this review. For future ADS both the reactor system itself, the fuel and the coolant are innovative compared to traditional critical fast reactors. For the fuel, these boundary conditions lead to many open questions, starting from basic thermal physical, thermal mechanical and irradiation data to the behaviour under transient conditions. The choice of fuel naturally has a significant impact on whole core behaviour and safety too, including the influence on related neutronics parameters, on failure propagation and disruption behaviour under accident conditions. Key safety issues are discussed and a first assessment of phenomena and scenarios is given. Areas of research and technology in which further work is required to resolve important safety issues are highlighted.

04101049

Safety goals for a fusion

reactor

Saji, G. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2003, 69, (l-4), 631-636. The author proposes a new concept of fusion safety goals, which extends a framework of the International Nuclear Event Scales (INES), and incorporates medium risk characteristics of fusion power plants. Quantitative health objectives (QHOs) after a release of radioactive tritium and activated tokamak dust are incorporated with master risk curves. It is shown that one of the most favourable safety advantage of a fusion reactor is in its benign hazard characteristics, in which land contamination, equivalent to that experienced in the Chernobyl

136

Fuel and Energy Abstracts

March 2004

accident, envisaged, agriculture

can be physically excluded. although it is prudent restriction.

No evacuation of the public is to be prepared for potential

04/01050 Safety issues on laser megajoule facility Joyer, M. et al. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2003, 69, (l-4), 625-629. The Laser Megajoule (LMJ) is a facility dedicated to inertial confinement fusion experiments. Building construction phase should start in the first half of year 2003. Use of a deuterium-tritium mixture in the experiments and high neutron yield generation induces hazards such as contamination of equipments inside the target chamber and activation of materials. Calculations have been undertaken to estimate dose rates levels in the facility. Optimization is under development on ALARA principle basis to reduce activation and workers exposure. Decontamination is an other important safety issue for LMJ; different processes are available and have to be considered (lasers, foams . ..). Radioactive wastes will be generated and their disposal has to be taken into account.

04/01051 reducing

Technology growth curves: global COP emissions

a new approach

to

MacKenzie, J. J. Energy Policy, 2003, 31, (12). 1183-1187. An alternative approach to relying on fixed national caps and deadlines for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and alleviating global warming is offered. The new proposal relies instead on a universal logistic growth curve to establish, for each year, the minimum fraction of each country’s emissions that can arise from non-fossil fuels. Since developing countries presently rely more (i.e. greater percentage) on non-fossil sources, the proposed will tend to require the developed countries to take actions earlier to increase their efficiency and the use of non-fossil energy.

04/01052 The market for tradable GHG permits Kyoto Protocol: a survey of model studies

under the

Springer, U. Energy Economics, 2003, 25, (5), 527-551. This paper gathers results from 25 models of the market for tradable greenhouse gas (GHG) emission permits under the Kyoto Protocol. Due to diverging projections of emissions growth and different modelling approaches, the model results differ substantially. The average market volume is approximately US%17 and USS33 billion under global trading and Annex B trading, respectively. Including noncarbon GHG lowers compliance costs and permit prices. In the absence of the US, permit demand roughly equals ‘hot air’ from the former Soviet Union. These countries can increase their revenues from selling permits by restricting supply, which raises the permit price.

04/01053 The solid state partitionin of contaminant metals and As in river channel sediments o the minin affected Tisa drainage basin, northwestern Romania an 2 eastern B Hungary Bird, G. et al. Applied Geochemistry, 2003, 18, (lo), 1583-1595. The solid state partitioning of metals and As in river channel sediments has been investigated along an 828 km study reach comprising the rivers Lapus, Somes and Tisa, using a four-stage sequential extraction procedure (SEP) that identified four chemical phases: (1) exchangeable, (2) Fe and Mn oxides, (3) organic matter/sulfides and (4) restdual. Peak total concentrations of As (240 mg kg- ), Cd (95 mg kg- ), Cu (24,500 mg kg-‘) and Pb (21,100 mg kg- ) were found in the River Lapus immediately downstream of Baiut base-metal mine, with Zn concentrations (23,000 mg kg-‘) peaking 2 km further downstream. Contaminant metals and As within samples close to Baiut mine were largely bound to sulfides (>92%). Just 10 km downstream from Baiut mine, however, Cd and Zn were found to be environmentally significant due to their strong association with the exchangeable phase (73 and 47%, respectively). Lead was found to be predominantly associated with Fe and Mn oxides (71%) but concentrations in the residual phase were relatively high in the upper Tisa. Copper was more evenly distributed between the four phases than the other four elements analysed. Elevated metal and As concentrations were found in the rivers Lapus and Somes downstream of polluted tributaries, but sites on the River Tisa had total metal concentrations below Dutch guideline values. The implications of the river sediment metal partitioning results on the environment are considered in light of Cd and Zn ‘exchangeable hotspots’ at sites on the Lapus and Somcs Rivers.

04lO1054 Transport desulfurization

and reaction

characteristics

Yan, Y. et al. International Journal of Thermal 943-949. The transport and reaction characteristics formation process in flue gas desuifurization theoretically and experimentally. The transport were described by the Thiele number incorporating chemical reaction resistance and the diffusion show that the conversion rate at the end of the

Sciences, of

in flue gas 2003, 42, (lo),

the product layer were investigated and reaction processes the influence of the resistance. The results process decreased with

16 Fuel science and technology (fundamental science, analysis, instrumentation) increasing Thiele number and increased with increasing temperature and porosity. The conversion rate also depends on the pore geometry and pore size distribution.

04/01055 Variations in organic matter composition in sediments from Lake Huguang Maar (Huguangyan), south China during the last 66 ka: implications for environmental and climatic change Fuhrmann, A. et al. Organic Geochemistry, 2003, 34, (ll), 1497-1515. This study presents a continuous and long-term palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic record from a lacustrine sediment core (Lake Huguang Maar) at the northern coast of the South China Sea, extending back to about 68 cal ka BP. A comprehensive ecosystem analysis was provided from the opportunity to combine organic geochemical and palynological data. Several climatically induced changes to the flora and fauna have been recognized. From 68 to 58 and 48 to 40.5 cal ka BP, relatively depleted 613CTOC (-31.3 to -25.0X) and 613 values of mid- and long-chain n-alkanes (-34.3 to -30.2%0), as well as high percentages of tropical pollen, indicate a vegetation dominated by subtropical/tropical forest (C, plants). An expansion of a mixed C3/C4 open grassland between 58 and 48 and particularly after 40.5 cal ka BP mirrors drier climatic conditions, in conjunction with a lowering of atmospheric COz concentrations; 6’?roc (-24.1 to -16.8560) and S13C values of n-alkyl lipids (-28.9 to -24.1%0) are heavier, higher percentages of non-arboreal pollen were observed and the wood/grass lignin index (WGLI) from open pyrolysis (Py-CC) indicates a higher input of grass lignin. Abundant oxidized terrigenous particles that resulted from increased fire activity and/or greater erosion rates are a further hint of enhanced dryness. The clear drop in moisture availability suggests that this site is sensitive in fluctuations of the summer and winter monsoon activity in accordance with other proxy records in south-east Asia. The response of the aquatic ecosystem is documented by an extremely large 6°C shift of algal-derived botryococcenes from -35.4 to -6,20/m, which records a change towards a bicarbonate carbon source at low dissolved CO2 concentrations.

16 FUEL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Fundamental science, an,alysis, instrumentation

Li, H. and Zhang, J. Fuel, 2003, 82, (11) 1387-1397. Precipitated wax, shear and thermal history have pronounced effects on viscosity and rheological behavior of waxy crudes. On the basis of mechanism of waxy crude rheology, a shear-rate-dependent viscosity model has been developed by applying theory of suspension rheology. This model is characterized by its capability to predict viscosities of crude oils with various thermal and shear history and beneficiated with pour-point-depressants (PPD). Once viscosities at only two temperatures above the wax appearance temperature and apparent viscosities at one temperature in the non-Newtonian regime are known, viscosities or apparent viscosities at any temperatures above the gel point can be predicted by using the model together with the concentration of precipitated wax at that specified temperature. Verification by using 3458 viscosity data points ranging from 5 to 2900 mPa s from 33 virgin crudes and 14 PPD-beneficiated crudes with various thermal and shear history shows that the model predicts viscosities with an absolute average deviation of 7.43%. Furthermore parameters of rheological models such as the consistency coefficient K and the flow behaviour index n of the power law model may be obtained by regressing predicted viscosity data and corresponding shear-rates.

04/01057 A new approach for simulating aerodynamic vibrations of structures in a wind tunnel-development of an experimental system by means of hybrid vibration technique M.

et

al.

Journal

of

Wind

Engineering

and

Industrial

2003. 91, (11), 1419-1440. The present paper describes a newly proposed technique for simulating aerodynamic vibration of structures, which is referred to as the hybrid vibration technique or HVT. This technique is a combination of step-

Aerodynamics,

04/01056 An analysis of the electrical characteristics DSC under inhomogeneous solar illumination

of

Muto, J. and Suzuki, M. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2003, 19, (2), 265-272. A simple model to describe the dye sensitized solar cell (DSC) is presented in which simultaneous occurrence of diffusion and charge transfer processes, power loss due to inhomogeneous excitation resulted from absorption of the dye and the electrolyte, and power gain due to the direct excitation (not via dye molecules) of semiconductor particles are taken into consideration. About 35% and 2.2% decrease in power is estimated for the dye and the electrolyte absorption, respectively, while 2.9% increase of power is obtained by the direct excitation of TiOz at maximum power point (MPP) under AM1.5 solar illumination. Some numerical results are also presented to demonstrate the influence of the material parameters for the cell characteristics.

04/01059 Anthropogenic and natural exer y losses (exergy balance of the Earth’s surface and atmosp 1 ere) Szargut, J. T. Energy, 2003, 28, (1 l), 1047-1054. Natural exergy losses connected with the absorption of solar radiation by the Earth have been calculated. The exergy income caused by the radiation exchange between the Earth and the cosmic space has also been considered. The exergy losses occurring near the Earth’s surface have been distinguished because they represent the most accessible natural resources of exergy. The term ‘natural losses of utilizable exergy’ has been proposed. These losses have been compared with the anthropogenic ones caused by the activity of humankind. The positive impact of the natural exergy losses has been pointed out: they were a main cause of the formation of the terrestrial natural environment, of the non-renewable natural resources of fuels, and of the generation of stable dissipative structures in form of living beings.

04/01060 buildings

04101056 A generalized model for predicting nonNewtonian viscosity of waxy crude8 as a function of temperature and precipitated wax

Kanda,

by-step computer calculation and measurement of the aerodynamic force acting on a model structure in a wind tunnel test. Even though the HVT can be applied effectively, problems still exist with respect to obtaining accurate simulations. These problems include response delay in controlling the model behaviour and the inertia force component present in the measured aerodynamic force. Techniques for compensating for response delay and for eliminating inertia force from measured aerodynamic force are applied to a developed system based on HVT simulations of aerodynamic vibration of elastic structures and structures exhibiting elasto-plastic behaviour are performed by means of the newly developed system. The effectiveness of the techniques for compensating for the response delay and eliminating the inertia force can be confirmed from the results of the simulations. In addition, the possibility and applicability of HVT is indicated.

Application for summer

of fuuy control conditions

in naturally

ventilated

Eftekhari, M. M. and Marjanovic, L. D. Energy and Buildings, 2003, 35, (7), 645-655. The objective of this work is to develop a fuzzy controller for naturally ventilated buildings. Approximate reasoning has proven to be in many cases more successful control strategy than classically designed controlled scheme. In this paper the process of designing a supervisory control to provide thermal comfort and adequate air distribution inside a single-sided naturally ventilated test room is described. The controller is based on fuzzy logic reasoning and sets of linguistic rules in forms of IF-THEN rules are used. The inputs to the controller are the outside wind velocity, direction, outside and inside temperatures. The output is the position of the opening. A selection of membership functions for input and output variables are described and analysed. The control strategy consisting of the expert rules is then validated using experimental data from a naturally ventilated test room. The test room is located in a sheltered area and air flow inside the room, the air pressures and velocities across the openings together with indoor air temperature and velocity at four locations and six different levels were measured. Validation of the controller is performed in the test room by measuring the air distribution and thermal comfort inside the room with no control action. These data are then compared to the air temperature and velocity with the controller in action. The initial results are presented here, which shows that the controller is capable of providing better thermal comfort inside the room.

04/01061 Application of reflectance micro-infrared spectroscopy in coal structure studies Hacura, A. et al. Analytical 324326. FTIR micro-scale analysis ize individual petrographic microscope made it possible single individual grain of particular macerals without coals. For this purpose the Fuel

and Bioanalytical

Chemistry,

2003, 375, (2),

of organic matter was applied to charactercomponents of coal. The use of an IR to study and compare different parts of a vitrinite. This method enables analysis of the need for previous separation from polished grainy micro-sections of coal were

and

Energy

Abstracts

March 2004

137