'Ook buiten Europa duurzaam vissen'

Waar nu buitenlandse megaschepen vissen voor de West-Afrikaanse kust, zouden de landen dat over vijftien jaar met hun eigen vloot moeten doen. Dan moet er nog wel wat te vangen zijn. Het wordt tijd dat Nederland zich daar eens voor gaat inzetten, vindt Petra Spliethoff

Ash formation and deposition in coal and biomass fired combustion systems: Progress and challenges in the field of ash particle sticking and rebound behavior

The purpose of this paper is to review the present knowledge on ash formation, ash particle transport and deposition during solid fuel combustion, with emphasis on particle sticking and rebound behavior. A substantial part of the fuel can be inorganic, forming inorganic vapors and ash particles. The impaction of solid, molten or partially molten particles on surfaces is dependent on the particle and surface characteristics. For instance, a particulate deposit might capture incoming particles or be removed due to erosion, while a molten layer will collect all impacting particles, no matter if they are sticky or not. The main properties affecting the particle stickiness are the viscosity and surface tension for silicate-rich ashes. On the contrary, the stickiness of salt-rich ashes – typical for herbaceous biomass and wood- or waste-based fuels – is often described using the liquid melt fraction. Furthermore, the particle kinetic energy and the angle of impaction, are crucial parameters. If all kinetic energy is dissipated during the impact, the particle will remain on the surface. This review presents an overview of major ash forming elements found in biomass and coal, and discusses the heterogeneity of particles’ inorganic composition. Ash transport and deposition mechanisms as well as their mathematical description are given and discussed, together with composition- and temperature-depended models for the estimation of ash particle and deposit properties. These properties are essential in order to describe the particle sticking and rebound behavior. Ash particle sticking and rebound criteria can be divided into three main groups, based on either: (1) the particle melt fraction, (2) the particle viscosity, or (3) the energy dissipation of a particle, upon impaction. Sticking criteria are presented, their required parameters are discussed and typical particle and surface properties found in combustion systems, are summarized. Eight different sticking criteria are implemented in a computational fluid dynamics code and computations are compared against measurements from an entrained flow reactor. Uniform sized soda-lime glass particles are applied instead of inhomogeneous fly ash particles, since soda-lime glass is known to behave similar to coal fly ash. Best agreement for the deposition rates on a clean tube is achieved using a criterion based on the work of Srinivasachar et al. [1]. In this model, the sticking and rebound threshold, is a function of the particle kinetic energy, the angle of impaction, and, the particle viscosity. Particularly, the particle viscosity is confirmed as a key parameter for silicate-rich ashes. It should be calculated using temperature- and composition-dependent correlations, being aware that there is a significant scattering in the results from such models and that the models are often only valid in narrow compositional ranges, and cannot be used outside these. A mechanistic model is used to explain results from glass particle experiments and their dependence on the particle kinetic energy. Therefore, the impaction process is subdivided in four steps, and the energy dissipation of each step is calculated. These theoretical considerations show that the contact angle of a molten droplet with the substrate is of minor importance, and that the majority of depositing particles are dominated by the work of deformation against viscosity, rather than surface tension effects. This review underlines the importance of the particle viscosity, and its accurate prediction for silicate-rich ashes. The proposed criterion is able to predict the sticking of small, solid particles below 10 µm diameter, as it is often observed in literature. Also, it is crucial to consider the surface structure and stickiness, in order to predict deposition rates in solid fuel-fired systems. Biomass ashes and their stickiness are more difficult, due to a different ash particle chemistry, compared to coal ashes. Salt-rich particles and their stickiness are controlled by the amount of liquid phase. Here, a link between the viscosity and amount of liquid phase is a promising approach, and should be addressed in future work. Furthermore, the viscosity of different ash particles – silicate-, salt- or Ca-rich – should preferentially be modeled from the chemical and physical structure instead of an empirical fitting procedure between fuel chemistry and viscosity measurements

Monitoring of tumor radio frequency ablation using derivative spectroscopy

Despite the widespread use of radio frequency (RF) ablation, an effective way to assess thermal tissue damage during and after the procedure is still lacking. We present a method for monitoring RF ablation efficacy based on thermally induced methemoglobin as a marker for full tissue ablation. Diffuse reflectance (DR) spectra were measured from human blood samples during gradual heating of the samples from 37 to 60, 70, and 85°C. Additionally, reflectance spectra were recorded real-time during RF ablation of human liver tissue ex vivo and in vivo. Specific spectral characteristics of methemoglobin were extracted from the spectral slopes using a custom optical ablation ratio. Thermal coagulation of blood caused significant changes in the spectral slopes, which is thought to be caused by the formation of methemoglobin. The time course of these changes was clearly dependent on the heating temperature. RF ablation of liver tissue essentially led to similar spectral alterations. In vivo DR measurements confirmed that the method could be used to assess the degree of thermal damage during RF ablation and long after the tissue cooled

Disturbed eating at high altitude: influence of food preferences, acute mountain sickness and satiation hormones

Purpose: Hypoxia has been shown to reduce energy intake and lead to weight loss, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim was therefore to assess changes in eating after rapid ascent to 4,559m and to investigate to what extent hypoxia, acute mountain sickness (AMS), food preferences and satiation hormones influence eating behavior. Methods: Participants (n=23) were studied at near sea level (Zurich (ZH), 446m) and on two days after rapid ascent to Capanna Margherita (MG) at 4,559m (MG2 and MG4). Changes in appetite, food preferences and energy intake in an ad libitum meal were assessed. Plasma concentrations of cholecystokinin, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, gastrin, glucagon and amylin were measured. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) was monitored, and AMS assessed using the Lake Louis score. Results: Energy intake from the ad libitum meal was reduced on MG2 compared to ZH (643±308 vs. 952±458kcal, p=0.001), but was similar to ZH on MG4 (890±298kcal). Energy intake on all test days was correlated with hunger/satiety scores prior to the meal and AMS scores on MG2 but not with SpO2 on any of the 3days. Liking for high-fat foods before a meal predicted subsequent energy intake on all days. None of the satiation hormones showed significant differences between the 3days. Conclusion: Reduced energy intake after rapid ascent to high altitude is associated with AMS severity. This effect was not directly associated with hypoxia or changes in gastrointestinal hormones. Other peripheral and central factors appear to reduce food intake at high altitud

A LAGRANGIAN PARTICLE CFD POST-PROCESSOR DEDICATED TO PARTICLE ADHESION/DEPOSITION

In the past few years the use of biomass in power plants has grown dramatically. As a result of this action fouling and slagging in co-firing biomass facilities have turned out to play a critical role in the efficiency of such facilities. Efficient and effective methods are therefore needed to control fouling to an acceptable level and to prevent economic losses due to reduced furnace thermal efficiency, increased maintenance or even unscheduled outages. Numerical prediction of the impact of deposit properties has proved itself to be a successful strategy to both evaluate changes in the facility performance and to investigate possible solutions to minimize fouling as well. TU Delft and ECN started a project to monitor and control fouling in furnaces co-firing biomass with coal by means of numerical simulations and experiments. Numerical investigations are based on the development of a novel in-house code to track solid particles post-processing gas phase CFD data. These have been calculated using commercial codes such as FLUENT, CINAR and CFX. The Lagrangian Particle Post- Processor code ( P3 ) strategy and numerical results are presented here. Numerical simulation compare fairly well to the available experimental data for glass particles

Ephemerality of discrete methane vents in lake sediments

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas whose emission from sediments in inland waters and shallow oceans may both contribute to global warming and be exacerbated by it. The fraction of methane emitted by sediments that bypasses dissolution in the water column and reaches the atmosphere as bubbles depends on the mode and spatiotemporal characteristics of venting from the sediments. Earlier studies have concluded that hot spots—persistent, high-flux vents—dominate the regional ebullitive flux from submerged sediments. Here the spatial structure, persistence, and variability in the intensity of methane venting are analyzed using a high-resolution multibeam sonar record acquired at the bottom of a lake during multiple deployments over a 9 month period. We confirm that ebullition is strongly episodic, with distinct regimes of high flux and low flux largely controlled by changes in hydrostatic pressure. Our analysis shows that the spatial pattern of ebullition becomes homogeneous at the sonar's resolution over time scales of hours (for high-flux periods) or days (for low-flux periods), demonstrating that vents are ephemeral rather than persistent, and suggesting that long-term, lake-wide ebullition dynamics may be modeled without resolving the fine-scale spatial structure of venting.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (1045193)United States. Department of Energy (DE-FE001399