Traffic flow development at North European company level with respect of China and Russia

The aim of the thesis is to analyze traffic flows and its development from North European companies` point of view to China and Russia using data from logistics questionnaire. Selected North European companies are large Finnish and Swedish companies. The questionnaire was sent via email to the target group. The study is based on the answers got from respondent companies from years 2006, 2009 and 2010. In the thesis Finnish Talouselämä newspaper and Swedish Affärsdata are used as a database to find the target companies for the survey. Respondents were most often logistics managers in companies. In the beginning of the thesis concepts of transportation logistics is presented, including container types, trade terms, axel loads in roads and in railways. Also there is information about warehousing types and terminals. After that, general information of Chinese and Russian transportation logistics is presented. Chinese and Russian issues are discussed in two sections. In both of them it is analyzed economic development, freight transport and trade balance. Some practical examples of factory inaugurations in China and Russia are presented that Finnish and Swedish companies have completed. In freight transport section different transportation modes, logistics outsourcing and problems of transportation logistics is discussed. The results of the thesis show that transportation flows between Europe and China is changing. Freight traffic from China to European countries will strengthen even more from the current base. When it comes to Russia and Europe, traffic flows seem to be changing from eastbound traffic to westbound traffic. It means that in the future it is expected more freight traffic from Russia to Europe. Some probable reasons for that are recent factory establishments in Russia and company interviews support also this observation. Effects of the economic recession are mainly seen in the lower transportation amounts in 2009.

Kansainliiton tilastojulkaisut

Kansainliiton tilastojulkaisujen kokoelmaan kuuluu Kansainliiton julkaisemia tilastosarjoja ja vähäisessä määrin muita julkaisuja vuosilta 1920-1946. Tilastojen aiheina ovat mm. maailmankauppa, maksutase ja valuuttakysymykset. Kokoelmaan kuuluvia sarjoja ovat esimerkiksi Statistical year-book of the League of Nations, Review of world trade ja Memorandum on balance of payments and foreign trade balances. Kokoelmaan kuuluvat sarjat eivät ole täydellisiä. Kansainliitto (engl. League of Nations, ransk. Société des Nations) perustettiin ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen tehtävänään aseistariisunta ja valtioiden välisen yhteistyön edistäminen. Kansainliitto lopetti toimintansa 1946, jolloin sen tehtävät siirtyivät juuri perustetulle YK:lle.

Vegetation and CO2 balance in an abandoned harvested peatland in Aitoneva, southern Finland

Tiivistelmä: Kasvillisuus ja CO2-tase käytöstä vapautuneella turvetuotantoalueella Kihniön Aitonevalla

CO2-päästötaseenhallinta terästeollisuudessa

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää hiilidioksiditaseen hallintamenetelmää Rautaruukin toiminnoille päästökaupan olosuhteissa. Taseenhallintamenetelmä sisältää päästöjen laskennan sekä päästöoikeuksien hallintaan liittyviä asioita. EU:n laajuisen päästökaupan reunaehdot määrittelee päästökauppadirektiivi ja sen antama päästöjen seurantaa ja raportointia koskeva monitorointiohje. Työssä on tarkasteltu hiilidioksidipäästöhistoriaa ja laskentamenetelmiä niiden Rautaruukin toimipaikkojen kohdalta, joiden oletetaan kuuluvan EU:n päästökaupan piiriin. Toimipaikoista on tarkasteltu erityisesti Raahen ja Koverharin terästehtaita, sillä ne muodostavat merkittävimmän osuuden konsernin Suomen toimipaikkojen hiilidioksidipäästöistä. Muita tarkasteltavia toimipaikkoja ovat Hämeenlinnan ja Dalsbrukin valssaamot Suomessa, Smedjebackenin terästehdas ja Boxholmin valssaamo Ruotsissa, Mo i Ranan terästehdas ja Profilerin valssaamo Norjassa sekä Nedstaalin valssaamo Hollannissa. Kustannustehokkaan ja hallitun päästökaupankäynnin perustaksi yritystasolla tarvitaan päästötaseenhallintamenetelmä, jonka avulla voidaan määrittää syntyneet päästöt komission monitorointiohjeen vaatimalla tavalla, arvioida tulevia päästömääriä sekä hallita päästökaupankäyntiä. Päästökaupanhallintaan sisältyviä asioita ovat saadut ilmaiset päästöoikeudet, ostettavien tai myytävien oikeuksien määrä, kaupankäynnin ajankohta, päästöoikeuksien erilaiset hankintamahdollisuudet, päästöoikeuksien hinnanmuodostus ja riskienhallinta.

Production of magnesium carbonates from serpentinites for CO2 mineral sequestration : optimisation towards industrial application

Global warming is one of the most alarming problems of this century. Initial scepticism concerning its validity is currently dwarfed by the intensification of extreme weather events whilst the gradual arising level of anthropogenic CO2 is pointed out as its main driver. Most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from large point sources (heat and power production and industrial processes) and the continued use of fossil fuels requires quick and effective measures to meet the world’s energy demand whilst (at least) stabilizing CO2 atmospheric levels. The framework known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – or Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) – comprises a portfolio of technologies applicable to large‐scale GHG sources for preventing CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Amongst them, CO2 capture and mineralisation (CCM) presents the highest potential for CO2 sequestration as the predicted carbon storage capacity (as mineral carbonates) far exceeds the estimated levels of the worldwide identified fossil fuel reserves. The work presented in this thesis aims at taking a step forward to the deployment of an energy/cost effective process for simultaneous capture and storage of CO2 in the form of thermodynamically stable and environmentally friendly solid carbonates. R&D work on the process considered here began in 2007 at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. It involves the processing of magnesium silicate minerals with recyclable ammonium salts for extraction of magnesium at ambient pressure and 400‐440⁰C, followed by aqueous precipitation of magnesium in the form of hydroxide, Mg(OH)2, and finally Mg(OH)2 carbonation in a pressurised fluidized bed reactor at ~510⁰C and ~20 bar PCO2 to produce high purity MgCO3. Rock material taken from the Hitura nickel mine, Finland, and serpentinite collected from Bragança, Portugal, were tested for magnesium extraction with both ammonium sulphate and bisulphate (AS and ABS) for determination of optimal operation parameters, primarily: reaction time, reactor type and presence of moisture. Typical efficiencies range from 50 to 80% of magnesium extraction at 350‐450⁰C. In general ABS performs better than AS showing comparable efficiencies at lower temperature and reaction times. The best experimental results so far obtained include 80% magnesium extraction with ABS at 450⁰C in a laboratory scale rotary kiln and 70% Mg(OH)2 carbonation in the PFB at 500⁰C, 20 bar CO2 pressure for 15 minutes. The extraction reaction with ammonium salts is not at all selective towards magnesium. Other elements like iron, nickel, chromium, copper, etc., are also co‐extracted. Their separation, recovery and valorisation are addressed as well and found to be of great importance. The assessment of the exergetic performance of the process was carried out using Aspen Plus® software and pinch analysis technology. The choice of fluxing agent and its recovery method have a decisive sway in the performance of the process: AS is recovered by crystallisation and in general the whole process requires more exergy (2.48–5.09 GJ/tCO2sequestered) than ABS (2.48–4.47 GJ/tCO2sequestered) when ABS is recovered by thermal decomposition. However, the corrosive nature of molten ABS and operational problems inherent to thermal regeneration of ABS prohibit this route. Regeneration of ABS through addition of H2SO4 to AS (followed by crystallisation) results in an overall negative exergy balance (mainly at the expense of low grade heat) but will flood the system with sulphates. Although the ÅA route is still energy intensive, its performance is comparable to conventional CO2 capture methods using alkanolamine solvents. An energy‐neutral process is dependent on the availability and quality of nearby waste heat and economic viability might be achieved with: magnesium extraction and carbonation levels ≥ 90%, the processing of CO2‐containing flue gases (eliminating the expensive capture step) and production of marketable products.

Liquid-phase alcohol promoted methanol synthesis from CO2 and H2

Methanol is an important and versatile compound with various uses as a fuel and a feedstock chemical. Methanol is also a potential chemical energy carrier. Due to the fluctuating nature of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar, storage of energy is required to balance the varying supply and demand. Excess electrical energy generated at peak periods can be stored by using the energy in the production of chemical compounds. The conventional industrial production of methanol is based on the gas-phase synthesis from synthesis gas generated from fossil sources, primarily natural gas. Methanol can also be produced by hydrogenation of CO2. The production of methanol from CO2 captured from emission sources or even directly from the atmosphere would allow sustainable production based on a nearly limitless carbon source, while helping to reduce the increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Hydrogen for synthesis can be produced by electrolysis of water utilizing renewable electricity. A new liquid-phase methanol synthesis process has been proposed. In this process, a conventional methanol synthesis catalyst is mixed in suspension with a liquid alcohol solvent. The alcohol acts as a catalytic solvent by enabling a new reaction route, potentially allowing the synthesis of methanol at lower temperatures and pressures compared to conventional processes. For this thesis, the alcohol promoted liquid phase methanol synthesis process was tested at laboratory scale. Batch and semibatch reaction experiments were performed in an autoclave reactor, using a conventional Cu/ZnO catalyst and ethanol and 2-butanol as the alcoholic solvents. Experiments were performed at the pressure range of 30-60 bar and at temperatures of 160-200 °C. The productivity of methanol was found to increase with increasing pressure and temperature. In the studied process conditions a maximum volumetric productivity of 1.9 g of methanol per liter of solvent per hour was obtained, while the maximum catalyst specific productivity was found to be 40.2 g of methanol per kg of catalyst per hour. The productivity values are low compared to both industrial synthesis and to gas-phase synthesis from CO2. However, the reaction temperatures and pressures employed were lower compared to gas-phase processes. While the productivity is not high enough for large-scale industrial operation, the milder reaction conditions and simple operation could prove useful for small-scale operations. Finally, a preliminary design for an alcohol promoted, liquid-phase methanol synthesis process was created using the data obtained from the experiments. The demonstration scale process was scaled to an electrolyzer unit producing 1 Nm3 of hydrogen per hour. This Master’s thesis is closely connected to LUT REFLEX-platform.

Modelling growth and nitrogen balance of barley under ambient and future conditions

Selostus: Ohran kasvun ja typpidynamiikan mallintaminen nykyisissä ja tulevaisuuden olosuhteissa

Effect of anionic salts in concentrate mixture on some blood and urine minerals, acid-base balance and feed intake of dry pregnant cows on grass silage based feeding with high calcium intake

Selostus: Kationi-anionitasapaino ummessaolevien lypsylehmien säilörehuruokinnassa kalsiumin saannin ollessa runsas

The effects of prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures and elevated CO2 levels on the growth, yield and dry matter partitioning of field-sown meadow fescue

Selostus: Kohotetun lämpötilan ja kohotetun CO2-pitoisuuden vaikutukset peltoon kylvetyn nurminadan kasvuun, satoon ja kuiva-aineen jakautumiseen