Intellectual Property, Open Science and Research Biobanks

In biomedical research and translational medicine, the ancient war between exclusivity (private control over information) and access to information is proposing again on a new battlefield: research biobanks. The latter are becoming increasingly important (one of the ten ideas changing the world, according to Time magazine) since they allow to collect, store and distribute in a secure and professional way a critical mass of human biological samples for research purposes. Tissues and related data are fundamental for the development of the biomedical research and the emerging field of translational medicine: they represent the “raw material” for every kind of biomedical study. For this reason, it is crucial to understand the boundaries of Intellectual Property (IP) in this prickly context. In fact, both data sharing and collaborative research have become an imperative in contemporary open science, whose development depends inextricably on: the opportunities to access and use data, the possibility of sharing practices between communities, the cross-checking of information and results and, chiefly, interactions with experts in different fields of knowledge. Data sharing allows both to spread the costs of analytical results that researchers cannot achieve working individually and, if properly managed, to avoid the duplication of research. These advantages are crucial: access to a common pool of pre-competitive data and the possibility to endorse follow-on research projects are fundamental for the progress of biomedicine. This is why the "open movement" is also spreading in the biobank's field. After an overview of the complex interactions among the different stakeholders involved in the process of information and data production, as well as of the main obstacles to the promotion of data sharing (i.e., the appropriability of biological samples and information, the privacy of participants, the lack of interoperability), we will firstly clarify some blurring in language, in particular concerning concepts often mixed up, such as “open source” and “open access”. The aim is to understand whether and to what extent we can apply these concepts to the biomedical field. Afterwards, adopting a comparative perspective, we will analyze the main features of the open models – in particular, the Open Research Data model – which have been proposed in literature for the promotion of data sharing in the field of research biobanks. After such an analysis, we will suggest some recommendations in order to rebalance the clash between exclusivity - the paradigm characterizing the evolution of intellectual property over the last three centuries - and the actual needs for access to knowledge. We argue that the key factor in this balance may come from the right interaction between IP, social norms and contracts. In particular, we need to combine the incentives and the reward mechanisms characterizing scientific communities with data sharing imperative

Innovative combustion analysis of a micro-gas turbine burner supplied with hydrogen-natural gas mixtures

The author discusses in this paper the potential of a micro gas turbine (MGT) combustor when operated under unconventional fuel supplied. The combustor of C30 gas turbine is a reverse flow annular combustor. The CFD analysis of the reacting flow is performed with the 3D ANSYS-FLUENT solver. Specific computational experiments refer to the use of hydrogen - natural gas mixtures in order to define the optimal conditions for pilot and main injections in terms of combustion stability and NOx production. The author's methodology relies on an advanced CFD approach that compares different schemes like eddy dissipation concept, together with the flamelet-PDF based approach coupled with an accurate study of the turbulent chemistry interaction. Extended kinetic mechanisms are also included in the combustion model. Some test cases are examined to make a comparison of combustion stability and efficiency and pollutant production with high hydrogen / natural gas ratios

Ignition and combustion modelling in a dual fuel diesel engine

A numerical simulation of a single cylinder research diesel engine fuelled by natural gas and diesel oil in dual fuel mode was conducted to test the reaction mechanism presented by Li and Williams in Ref. [1] for methane ignition. The mechanism made of only 9 reactions can represent a good compromise between reduction of computational time and accuracy of results. Simulations reproduce test cases previously carried out experimentally and numerically with a simpler kinetic mechanism at three different premixed ratios (10%, 15% and 22%). Finally, a last case characterized by a supply of methane consistent with the typical load levels for this kind of engines (80%), was investigated only numerically. All the simulations were performed with the KIVA-3V solver on a geometry which includes open valve periods, intake and exhaust ducts. Through a comparison between experimental and numerical results, a calibration of the model has been performed and a quite good fitting of the models has been achieved

Numerical Analysis of Dual Fuel Combustion in a Medium Speed Marine Engine Supplied with Methane/Hydrogen Blends

Compression ignition engines will still be predominant in the naval sector: their high efficiency, high torque, and heavy weight perfectly suit the demands and architecture of ships. Nevertheless, recent emission legislations impose limitations to the pollutant emissions levels in this sector as well. In addition to post-treatment systems, it is necessary to reduce some pollutant species, and, therefore, the study of combustion strategies and new fuels can represent valid paths for limiting environmental harmful emissions such as CO2. The use of methane in dual fuel mode has already been implemented on existent vessels, but the progressive decarbonization will lead to the utilization of carbon-neutral or carbon-free fuels such as, in the last case, hydrogen. Thanks to its high reactivity nature, it can be helpful in the reduction of exhaust CH4. On the contrary, together with the high temperatures achieved by its oxidation, hydrogen could cause uncontrolled ignition of the premixed charge and high emissions of NOx. As a matter of fact, a source of ignition is still necessary to have better control on the whole combustion development. To this end, an optimal and specific injection strategy can help to overcome all the before-mentioned issues. In this study, three-dimensional numerical simulations have been performed with the ANSYS Forte® software (version 19.2) in an 8.8 L dual fuel engine cylinder supplied with methane, hydrogen, or hydrogen–methane blends with reference to experimental tests from the literature. A new kinetic mechanism has been used for the description of diesel fuel surrogate oxidation with a set of reactions specifically addressed for the low temperatures together with the GRIMECH 3.0 for CH4 and H2. This kinetics scheme allowed for the adequate reproduction of the ignition timing for the various mixtures used. Preliminary calculations with a one-dimensional commercial code were performed to retrieve the initial conditions of CFD calculations in the cylinder. The used approach demonstrated to be quite a reliable tool to predict the performance of a marine engine working under dual fuel mode with hydrogen-based blends at medium load. As a result, the system modelling shows that using hydrogen as fuel in the engine can achieve the same performance as diesel/natural gas, but when hydrogen totally replaces methane, CO2 is decreased up to 54% at the expense of the increase of about 76% of NOx emissions

Hydrogen/Diesel Combustion Analysis in a Single Cylinder Research Engine

The application of an alternative fuel such as hydrogen to internal combustion engines is proving to be an effective and flexible solution for reducing fuel consumption and polluting emissions from engines. An easy to use and immediate application solution is the dual fuel (DF) technology. It has the potential to offer significant improvements in carbon dioxide emissions from light compression ignition engines. The dual fuel concept (natural gas / diesel or hydrogen / diesel) represents a possible solution to reduce emissions from diesel engines by using low-carbon or carbon-free gaseous fuels as an alternative fuel. Moreover, DF combustion is a possible retrofit solution to current diesel engines by installing a PFI injector in the intake manifold while diesel is injected directly into the cylinder to ignite the premixed mixture. In the present study, dual fuel operation has been investigated in a single cylinder research engine. The engine run at two engine speeds (1500 and 2000 rpm), and hydrogen has been injected in the intake manifold in front of the entrance of the tumble intake port. The aim of the study is to compare the DF hydrogen combustion with the DF methane combustion. Premixed ratio up to 92 and 83 has been realized with methane and hydrogen, respectively. In-cylinder combustion pressures and pollutant emissions have been analysed. Finally, cycle resolved optical diagnostics have been applied to detect visible and infrared images from the combustion chamber

Solar-assisted micro gas turbine with humid air or steam-injected option

In the present work a low environmental impact, innovative, hybrid plant for the field of distributed energy is presented. The plant is obtained from the integration of a 30 kW micro gas turbine with a solar field and a bottoming ORC system. The plant is supplied with hydrogen fuel and is provided with steam injection to mitigate NO x formation. Furthermore, the cogeneration arrangement of the plant allows for flexibility in the choice between the production of electrical and thermal energy. A thermodynamic analysis of the plant was conducted and various organic fluids for the bottom ORC plant are tested. The feasibility of a single-stage Radial-Inflow Turbine (RIT) as expander for the ORC cycle is verified for various working fluids, with a two-step approach: a preliminary screening is carried out based on kinematic considerations; subsequently, a proper turbine preliminary design is developed for most interesting working fluids. Moreover, the combustion process resulting from the introduction of hydrogen fuel is studied by means of 3D CFD calculations and the effectiveness of the steam injection is verified. Finally, the off-design performance of the plant is investigated by means of a thermodynamic analysis. Results show that the novel plant achieves significant improvements in terms of power output and efficiency and fuel saving is achieved over several months thanks to the solar field and the ORC plant. The ORC working fluid is found to play a crucial role over plant performance and particularly over the feasibility of a single stage RIT, making working fluids with larger molecular weight preferable. Finally, CFD calculations proved the steam injection to be effective for NOx production reduction

COMBUSTOR – TURBINE STATOR INTERACTION IN HYDROGEN FUELLED MICRO GAS TURBINE

The current trend to global decarbonization induces the employment of alternative fuels in micro gas turbines. Among these fuels, hydrogen or hydrogen-enriched blends have been considered as one of the main attractive solutions for having fewer pollutant emissions with the same or better combustion performance compared to natural gas. Therefore, the effect of natural gas-hydrogen blended fuel on the combustion performance of a reverse flow combustor is performed by CFD numerical simulations. However, the enhanced flame speed of hydrogen can cause unstable phenomena that, in addition to the periodic unsteadiness of the stator – rotor interaction, lead to a performance decay. In this paper the effect that some critical combustion regimes exert on the combustor – stator interaction in a reverse flow burner are discussed. A preliminary assessment of flow analysis aims at the selection of the most appropriate turbulence model: the results of k-epsilon model, detached and large eddy simulation are compared. The turbulence – chemistry interaction is analyzed by means of a flamelet generated manifold scheme under the hypothesis of partially premixed combustion. The combined solution of Cequations allows identification of the fluctuations of the flame front location, which is considered the main origin of pulsating reacting flow

Comparison between hydrogen and syngas fuels in an integrated micro gas turbine/solar field with storage

In recent years, the use of alternative fuels in thermal engine power plants has gained more and more attention, becoming of paramount importance to overcome the use of fuels from fossil sources and to reduce polluting emissions. The present work deals with the analysis of the response to two different gas fuels—i.e., hydrogen and a syngas from agriculture product—of a 30 kW micro gas turbine integrated with a solar field. The solar field included a thermal storage system to partially cover loading requests during night hours, reducing fuel demand. Additionally, a Heat Recovery Unit was included in the plant considered and the whole plant was simulated by Thermoflex® code. Thermodynamics analysis was performed on hour-to-hour basis, for a given day as well as for 12 months; subsequently, an evaluation of cogeneration efficiency as well as energy saving was made. The results are compared against plant performance achieved with conventional natural gas fueling. After analyzing the performance of the plant through a thermodynamic analysis, the study was complemented with CFD simulations of the combustor, to evaluate the combustion development and pollutant emissions formation, particularly of NOx, with the two fuels considered using Ansys-Fluent code, and a comparison was made