Sequential pyrolysis and catalytic low temperature reforming of wheat straw

Aim of the work is the implementation of a low temperature reforming (LT reforming) unit downstream the Haloclean pyrolyser in order to enhance the heating value of the pyrolysis gas. Outside the focus of this work was to gain a synthesis gas quality for further use. Temperatures between 400 °C and 500 °C were applied. A commercial pre-reforming catalyst on a nickel basis from Südchemie was chosen for LT reforming. As biogenic feedstock wheat straw has been used. Pyrolysis of wheat straw at 450 °C by means of Haloclean pyrolysis leads to 28% of char, 50% of condensate and 22% of gas. The condensate separates in a water phase and an organic phase. The organic phase is liquid, but contains viscous compounds. These compounds could underlay aging and could lead to solid tars which can cause post processing problems. Therefore, the implementation of a catalytic reformer is not only of interest from an energetic point of view, it is generally interesting for tar conversion purposes after pyrolysis applications. By using a fixed bed reforming unit at 450–490 °C and space velocities about 3000 l/h the pyrolysis gas volume flow could be increased to about 58%. This corresponds to a decrease of the yields of condensates by means of catalysis up to 17%, the yield of char remains unchanged, since pyrolysis conditions are the same. The heating value in the pyrolysis gas could be increased by the factor of 1.64. Hydrogen concentrations up to 14% could be realised.

Contract specificity and its performance outcomes

Governance theories, such as transaction cost economics, argue that systematic deviations from an attribute–governance alignment should influence performance. This article investigates the performance implications of contract specificity for the procurement of information technology products. The authors argue that parties choose a level of contract specificity that economizes on both the ex ante contracting costs and the ex post transaction costs and that deviations between the observed and the predicted levels of contract specificity are an important determinant of these transaction costs. The authors test the hypotheses using a comprehensive archival data set of information technology transactions and employ a two-step estimation procedure. First, they estimate the “predicted” level of contract specificity, which accounts for key transactional attributes. Second, they study the consequences of deviating from this predicted level of contractual specificity. The results provide the first explicit demonstration of the trade-off between ex ante contracting costs and ex post transaction problems and suggest that parties need to economize jointly on these costs when choosing the governance form.

The problems of corruption in Post-Soviet Ukraine's Higher Education sector

This article provide an in-depth examination into how the existence of "informal" work practices, in a particular location, namely, the higher education system in Ukraine impacts the everyday lives of a specific population group, namely, students. The article provides a comprehensive overview of corruption in post-Soviet education systems, suggesting some historical and contemporary reasons for its current scale. In particular, the article focuses on students' experiences of corruption, first, exploring the difficulties that many individuals face when trying to gain access to the higher education system, and second, outlining students' experiences while progressing through the course. The article's concluding section examines the wider outcome of these processes on Ukrainian society as a whole as well as the impacts on individual students.

Corruption in the post-Soviet workplace: the experiences of recent graduates in contemporary Ukraine

While Ukraine was bestowed market economy status by the European Union in 2005 its labour market still endures many structural problems. By exploring the experiences of young graduate employees this article highlights the difficultly in obtaining work within Ukraine's labour market and the problems they face once they have secured employment. Rather than seeing the development of a transparent labour market the collapse of the command economy has seen a relatively closed system develop. The article demonstrates how many jobs are secured through the use of connections or the demanding, and payment, of bribes.The situation does not improve once graduates obtain long-term employment. Interviewees discuss the lack of job security, the informal payment of wages and the lack of legal protection from corrupt employer practices. The article has broader resonance outside of the Ukrainian case study as the discussion of workplace corruption highlights how the issue is concerned with much more than simply cash based transactions and how those that endure it are likely to turn to the informal economy for employment.