Energy and cost savings from pipe insulation on domestic, pumped storage (split), solar water heating systems in Australia and New Zealand

Appropriate pipe insulation on domestic, pumped storage (split), solar water heating systems forms an integral part of energy conservation measures of well engineered systems. However, its importance over the life of the system is often overlooked. This study outlines the findings of computer modelling to quantify the energy and cost savings by using pipe insulation between the collector and storage tank. System sizes of 270 Litre storage tank, together with either selectively surfaced, flat plate collectors (4m2 area), or 30 evacuated tube collectors, were used. Insulation thicknesses of 13mm and 15mm, pipe runs both ways of 10, 15 and 20 metres and both electric and gas boosting of systems were all considered. The TRNSYS program was used to model the system performance at a representative city in each of the 6 climate zones for Australia and New Zealand, according to AS/NZS4234 – Heat Water Systems – Calculation of energy consumption and the ORER RECs calculation method. The results show:  Energy savings from pipe insulation are very significant, even in mild climates such as Rockhampton. Across all climates zones, savings ranged from 0.16 to 3.5GJ per system per year, or about 2 to 23 percent of the annual load.  There is very little advantage in increasing the insulation thickness from 13 to 15mm. For electricity at 19c/kWh and gas at 2 c/MJ, cost savings of between $27 and $100 per year are achieved across the climate zones. Both energy and cost savings would increase in colder climates with increased system size, solar contribution and water temperatures.  The pipe insulation substantially improves the solar contribution (or fraction) and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), as well as giving small savings in circulating pump running costs in milder climates. Solar contribution increased by up to 23 percent points and RECs by over 7 in some cases.  The study highlights the need to install and maintain the integrity of appropriate pipe insulation on solar water heaters over their life time in Australia and New Zealand.

Changes in quality and bioactivity of native food during storage

Australian native foods have long been consumed by the Indigenous people of Australia. There is growing interest in the application of these foods in the functional food and complementary health care industries. Recent studies have provided information on the health properties of native foods but systematic study of changes in flavour and health components during processing and storage has not been done. It is well known that processing technologies such as packaging, drying and freezing can significantly alter the levels of health and flavour compounds. However, losses in compounds responsible for quality and bioactivity can be minimised by improving production practices. This report outlines research developed to provide the native food industry with reliable information on the retention of bioactive compounds during processing and storage to enable the development of product standards which in turn will provide the industry with scientific evidence to expand and explore new market opportunities globally.

Influence of site, storage and steaming on Eucalyptus nitens log-end splitting

Key message Log-end splitting is one of the single most important defects in veneer logs. We show that log-end splitting in the temperate plantation species Eucalyptus nitens varies across sites and within-tree log position and increases with time in storage. Context Log-end splitting is one of the single most important defects in veneer logs because it can substantially reduce the recovery of veneer sheets. Eucalyptus nitens can develop log-end splits, but factors affecting log-end splitting in this species are not well understood. Aims The present study aims to describe the effect of log storage and steaming on the development of log-end splitting in logs from different plantations and log positions within the tree. Methods The study was conducted on upper and lower logs from each of 41 trees from three 20–22-year-old Tasmanian E. nitens plantations. Log-end splitting was assessed immediately after felling, after transport and storage in a log-yard, and just before peeling. A pre-peeling steam treatment was applied to half the logs. Results Site had a significant effect on splitting, and upper logs split more than lower logs with storage. Splitting increased with tree diameter breast height (DBH), but this relationship varied with site. The most rapidly growing site had more splitting even after accounting for DBH. No significant effect of steaming was detected. Conclusion Log-end splitting varied across sites and within-tree log position and increased with time in storage.

Laboratory analyses for evaluation of platelet disorders and platelet concentrates

High quality of platelet analytics requires specialized knowledge and skills. It was applied to analyze platelet activation and aggregation responses in a prospective controlled study of patients with Finnish type of amyloidosis. The 20 patients with AGel amyloidosis displayed a delayed and more profound platelet shape change than healthy siblings and healthy volunteers, which may be related to altered fragmentation of mutated gelsolin during platelet activation. Alterations in platelet shape change have not been reported in association with platelet disorders. In the rare Bernard-Soulier syndrome with Asn45Ser mutation of glycoprotein (GP) IX, the diagnostic defect in the expression of GPIb-IX-V complex was characterized in seven Finnish patients, also an internationally exceptionally large patient series. When measuring thrombopoietin in serial samples of amniotic fluid and cord blood of 15 pregnant women with confirmed or suspected fetal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, the lower limit of detection could be extended. The results approved that thrombopoietin is present already in amniotic fluid. The application of various non-invasive means for diagnosing thrombocytopenia (TP) revealed that techniques for estimating the proportion of young, i.e. large platelets, such as direct measurement of reticulated platelets and the mean platelet size, would be useful for evaluating platelet kinetics in a given patient. Due to different kinetics between thrombopoietin and increase of young platelets in circulation, these measurements may have most predictive value when measured from simultaneous samples. Platelet autoantibodies were present not only in isolated autoimmune TP but also in patients without TP where disappearance of platelets might be compensated by increased production. The autoantibodies may also persist after TP has been cured. Simultaneous demonstration of increased young platelets (or increased mean platelet volume) in peripheral blood and the presence of platelet associated IgG specificities to major glycoproteins (GPIb-IX and GPIIb-IIIa) may be considered diagnostic for autoimmune TP. Measurement of a soluble marker as a sign of thrombin activation and proceeding deterioration of platelet components was applied to analyze the alterations under several stress factors (storage, transportation and lack of continuous shaking under controlled conditions) of platelet products. The GPV measured as a soluble factor in platelet storage medium showed good correlation with an array of other measurements commonly applied in characterization of stored platelets. The benefits of measuring soluble analyte in a quantitative assay were evident.

Studies in crystal engineering: Effect of fluorine substitution in crystal packing and topological photodimerization of styryl coumarins in the solid state

Styryl coumarins generally yield centrosymmetric (alpha-mode, anti-HT) photodimers when subjected to irradiation in the solid state, However, the substitution of fluorine dramatically alters the packing mode and steers the molecules 4-(4-fluorostyryl)coumarin 1 and 4-(2-fluorostyryl)coumarin 2 to form a stereospecific photodimer, beta-mode, syn-HH across the styrenic double bond (yield 78-85%). The stereochemistry of the photodimer 2a has been established by X-ray crystallography. There is no evidence for the presence of C-H ... F interactions. The true nature of the weak atom-atom interactions called into play when fluorine is substituted is not clear, It is observed that the fluoro substituted compounds have greater crystal density than the corresponding unsubstituted ones.

Three-Dimensional Nanoarchitecture of BiFeO3 Anchored TiO2 Nanotube Arrays for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Solar Energy Conversion

Here, we report the synthesis of TiO2/BiFeO3 nano-heterostnicture (NH) arrays by anchoring BiFeO3 (BFO) particles on on TiO2 nanotube surface and investigate their pseudocapacitive and photoelectrochemical properties considering their applications in green energy fields. The unique TiO2/BFO NHs have been demonstrated both as energy conversion and storage materials. The capacitive behavior of the NHs has been found to be significantly higher than that of the pristine TiO2 NTs, which is mainly due to the anchoring of redox active BFO nanoparticles. A specific capacitance of about 440 F g(-1) has been achieved for this NHs at a current density of 1.1 A g(-1) with similar to 80% capacity retention at a current density of 2.5 A g(-1). The NHs also exhibit high energy and power performance (energy density of 46.5 Wh kg(-1) and power density of 1.2 kW kg(-1) at a current density of 2.5 A g(-1)) with moderate cycling stability (92% capacity retention after 1200 cycles). Photoelectrochemical investigation reveals that the photocurrent density of the NHs is almost 480% higher than the corresponding dark current and it shows significantly improved photoswitching performance as compared to pure TiO2 nanotubes, which has been demonstrated based the interfacial type-II band alignment between TiO2 and BFO.

SMO: An Integrated Approach to Intra-array and Inter-array Storage Optimization

The polyhedral model provides an expressive intermediate representation that is convenient for the analysis and subsequent transformation of affine loop nests. Several heuristics exist for achieving complex program transformations in this model. However, there is also considerable scope to utilize this model to tackle the problem of automatic memory footprint optimization. In this paper, we present a new automatic storage optimization technique which can be used to achieve both intra-array as well as inter-array storage reuse with a pre-determined schedule for the computation. Our approach works by finding statement-wise storage partitioning hyper planes that partition a unified global array space so that values with overlapping live ranges are not mapped to the same partition. Our heuristic is driven by a fourfold objective function which not only minimizes the dimensionality and storage requirements of arrays required for each high-level statement, but also maximizes inter statement storage reuse. The storage mappings obtained using our heuristic can be asymptotically better than those obtained by any existing technique. We implement our technique and demonstrate its practical impact by evaluating its effectiveness on several benchmarks chosen from the domains of image processing, stencil computations, and high-performance computing.

On erasure coding for distributed storage and streaming communications

The work presented in this thesis revolves around erasure correction coding, as applied to distributed data storage and real-time streaming communications.

First, we examine the problem of allocating a given storage budget over a set of nodes for maximum reliability. The objective is to find an allocation of the budget that maximizes the probability of successful recovery by a data collector accessing a random subset of the nodes. This optimization problem is challenging in general because of its combinatorial nature, despite its simple formulation. We study several variations of the problem, assuming different allocation models and access models, and determine the optimal allocation and the optimal symmetric allocation (in which all nonempty nodes store the same amount of data) for a variety of cases. Although the optimal allocation can have nonintuitive structure and can be difficult to find in general, our results suggest that, as a simple heuristic, reliable storage can be achieved by spreading the budget maximally over all nodes when the budget is large, and spreading it minimally over a few nodes when it is small. Coding would therefore be beneficial in the former case, while uncoded replication would suffice in the latter case.

Second, we study how distributed storage allocations affect the recovery delay in a mobile setting. Specifically, two recovery delay optimization problems are considered for a network of mobile storage nodes: the maximization of the probability of successful recovery by a given deadline, and the minimization of the expected recovery delay. We show that the first problem is closely related to the earlier allocation problem, and solve the second problem completely for the case of symmetric allocations. It turns out that the optimal allocations for the two problems can be quite different. In a simulation study, we evaluated the performance of a simple data dissemination and storage protocol for mobile delay-tolerant networks, and observed that the choice of allocation can have a significant impact on the recovery delay under a variety of scenarios.

Third, we consider a real-time streaming system where messages created at regular time intervals at a source are encoded for transmission to a receiver over a packet erasure link; the receiver must subsequently decode each message within a given delay from its creation time. For erasure models containing a limited number of erasures per coding window, per sliding window, and containing erasure bursts whose maximum length is sufficiently short or long, we show that a time-invariant intrasession code asymptotically achieves the maximum message size among all codes that allow decoding under all admissible erasure patterns. For the bursty erasure model, we also show that diagonally interleaved codes derived from specific systematic block codes are asymptotically optimal over all codes in certain cases. We also study an i.i.d. erasure model in which each transmitted packet is erased independently with the same probability; the objective is to maximize the decoding probability for a given message size. We derive an upper bound on the decoding probability for any time-invariant code, and show that the gap between this bound and the performance of a family of time-invariant intrasession codes is small when the message size and packet erasure probability are small. In a simulation study, these codes performed well against a family of random time-invariant convolutional codes under a number of scenarios.

Finally, we consider the joint problems of routing and caching for named data networking. We propose a backpressure-based policy that employs virtual interest packets to make routing and caching decisions. In a packet-level simulation, the proposed policy outperformed a basic protocol that combines shortest-path routing with least-recently-used (LRU) cache replacement.

Faecal indicator organisms in frozen prawn products. Pt. 2. Survival of the organisms during freezing and frozen storage

The rate of survival of different types of faecal indicator organisms like Escherichia coli, enterococci etc. during freezing and frozen storage has been studied. Peeled and deveined prawns inoculated with a mixed culture of the above organisms were subjected to freezing and storage at -10̊F and examined for over four months.

An introduction to the trapping of clusters with ion traps and electrostatic storage devices

This paper presents an introduction to the application of ion traps and storage devices for cluster physics. Some experiments involving cluster ions in trapping devices such as Penning traps, Paul traps, quadrupole or multipole linear traps are briefly discussed. Electrostatic ion storage rings and traps which allow for the storage of fast ion beams without mass limitation are presented as well. We also report on the recently developed mini-ring, a compact electrostatic ion storage ring for cluster, molecular and biomolecular ion studies.

Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage

Fossil fuel power generation and other industrial emissions of carbon dioxide are a threat to global climate1, yet many economies will remain reliant on these technologies for several decades2. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in deep geological formations provides an effective option to remove these emissions from the climate system3. In many regions storage reservoirs are located offshore4, 5, over a kilometre or more below societally important shelf seas6. Therefore, concerns about the possibility of leakage7, 8 and potential environmental impacts, along with economics, have contributed to delaying development of operational CCS. Here we investigate the detectability and environmental impact of leakage from a controlled sub-seabed release of CO2. We show that the biological impact and footprint of this small leak analogue (<1 tonne CO2 d−1) is confined to a few tens of metres. Migration of CO2 through the shallow seabed is influenced by near-surface sediment structure, and by dissolution and re-precipitation of calcium carbonate naturally present in sediments. Results reported here advance the understanding of environmental sensitivity to leakage and identify appropriate monitoring strategies for full-scale carbon storage operations.

A novel sub-seabed CO2 release experiment informing monitoring and impact assessment for geological carbon storage

Carbon capture and storage is a mitigation strategy that can be used to aid the reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This process aims to capture CO2from large point-source emitters and transport it to a long-term storage site. For much of Europe, these deep storage sites are anticipated to be sited below the sea bed on continental shelves. A key operational requirement is an understanding of best practice of monitoring for potential leakage and of the environmental impact that could result from a diffusive leak from a storage complex. Here we describe a controlled CO2release experiment beneath the seabed, which overcomes the limitations of laboratory simulations and natural analogues. The complex processes involved in setting up the experimental facility and ensuring its successful operation are discussed, including site selection, permissions, communications and facility construction. The experimental design and observational strategy are reviewed with respect to scientific outcomes along with lessons learnt in order to facilitate any similar future.

Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage

Fossil fuel power generation and other industrial emissions of carbon dioxide are a threat to global climate1, yet many economies will remain reliant on these technologies for several decades2. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in deep geological formations provides an effective option to remove these emissions from the climate system3. In many regions storage reservoirs are located offshore4, 5, over a kilometre or more below societally important shelf seas6. Therefore, concerns about the possibility of leakage7, 8 and potential environmental impacts, along with economics, have contributed to delaying development of operational CCS. Here we investigate the detectability and environmental impact of leakage from a controlled sub-seabed release of CO2. We show that the biological impact and footprint of this small leak analogue (<1 tonne CO2 d−1) is confined to a few tens of metres. Migration of CO2 through the shallow seabed is influenced by near-surface sediment structure, and by dissolution and re-precipitation of calcium carbonate naturally present in sediments. Results reported here advance the understanding of environmental sensitivity to leakage and identify appropriate monitoring strategies for full-scale carbon storage operations.

Insight into the key aspects of the regeneration process in the NOx storage reduction (NSR) reaction probed using fast transient kinetics coupled with isotopically labelled (NO)-N-15 over Pt and Rh-containing Ba/Al2O3 catalysts

For the first time, the coupling of fast transient kinetic switching and the use of an isotopically labelled reactant (15NO) has allowed detailed analysis of the evolution of all the products and reactants involved in the regeneration of a NOx storage reduction (NSR) material. Using realistic regeneration times (ca. 1 s) for Pt, Rh and Pt/Rh-containing Ba/Al2O3 catalysts we have revealed an unexpected double peak in the evolution of nitrogen. The first peak occurred immediately on switching from lean to rich conditions, while the second peak started at the point at which the gases switched from rich to lean. The first evolution of nitrogen occurs as a result of the fast reaction between H2 and/or CO and NO on reduced Rh and/or Pt sites. The second N2 peak which occurs upon removal of the rich phase can be explained by reaction of stored ammonia with stored NOx, gas phase NOx or O2. The ammonia can be formed either by hydrolysis of isocyanates or by direct reaction of NO and H2.

The study highlights the importance of the relative rates of regeneration and storage in determining the overall performance of the catalysts. The performance of the monometallic 1.1%Rh/Ba/Al2O3 catalyst at 250 and 350 °C was found to be dependent on the rate of NOx storage, since the rate of regeneration was sufficient to remove the NOx stored in the lean phase. In contrast, for the monometallic 1.6%Pt/Ba/Al2O3 catalyst at 250 °C, the rate of regeneration was the determining factor with the result that the amount of NOx stored on the catalyst deteriorated from cycle to cycle until the amount of NOx stored in the lean phase matched the NOx reduced in the rich phase. On the basis of the ratio of exposed metal surface atoms to total Ba content, the monometallic 1.6%Pt/Ba/Al2O3 catalyst outperformed the Rh-containing catalysts at 250 and 350 °C even when CO was used as a reductant.