WorldWideScience

Sample records for low-rank lignite slurries

  1. Synfuels from low-rank coals at the Great Plains Gasification Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollock, D.

    1992-01-01

    This presentation focuses on the use of low rank coals to form synfuels. A worldwide abundance of low rank coals exists. Large deposits in the United States are located in Texas and North Dakota. Low rank coal deposits are also found in Europe, India and Australia. Because of the high moisture content of lignite ranging from 30% to 60% or higher, it is usually utilized in mine mouth applications. Lignite is generally very reactive and contains varying amounts of ash and sulfur. Typical uses for lignite are listed. A commercial application using lignite as feedstock to a synfuels plant, Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Gasification Plant, is discussed

  2. Preparation and combustion of Yugoslavian lignite-water fuel, Task 7.35. Topical report, July 1991--December 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, C.M.; DeWall, R.A.; Ljubicic, B.R.; Musich, M.A.; Richter, J.J.

    1994-03-01

    Yugoslavia`s interest in lignite-water fuel (LWF) stems from its involvement in an unusual power project at Kovin in northern Serbia. In the early 1980s, Electric Power of Serbia (EPS) proposed constructing a 600-MW power plant that would be fueled by lignite found in deposits along and under the Danube River. Trial underwater mining at Kovin proved that the dredging operation is feasible. The dredging method produces a coal slurry containing 85% to 90% water. Plans included draining the water from the coal, drying it, and then burning it in the pulverized coal plant. In looking for alternative ways to utilize the ``wet coal`` in a more efficient and economical way, a consortium of Yugoslavian companies agreed to assess the conversion of dredged lignite into a LWF using hot-water-drying (HWD) technology. HWD is a high-temperature, nonevaporative drying technique carried out under high pressure in water that permanently alters the structure of low-rank coals. Changes effected by the drying process include irreversible removal of moisture, micropore sealing by tar, and enhancement of heating value by removal of oxygen, thus, enhancement of the slurry ability of the coal with water. Physical cleaning results indicated a 51 wt % reduction in ash content with a 76 wt % yield for the lignite. In addition, physical cleaning produced a cleaned slurry that had a higher attainable solids loading than a raw uncleaned coal slurry. Combustion studies were then performed on the raw and physically cleaned samples with the resulting indicating that both samples were very reactive, making them excellent candidates for HWD. Bench-scale results showed that HWD increased energy densities of the two raw lignite samples by approximately 63% and 81%. An order-of-magnitude cost estimate was conducted to evaluate the HWD and pipeline transport of Kovin LWF to domestic and export European markets. Results are described.

  3. Proceedings of the sixteenth biennial low-rank fuels symposium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    Low-rank coals represent a major energy resource for the world. The Low-Rank Fuels Symposium, building on the traditions established by the Lignite Symposium, focuses on the key opportunities for this resource. This conference offers a forum for leaders from industry, government, and academia to gather to share current information on the opportunities represented by low-rank coals. In the United States and throughout the world, the utility industry is the primary user of low-rank coals. As such, current experiences and future opportunities for new technologies in this industry were the primary focuses of the symposium

  4. Proceedings of the sixteenth biennial low-rank fuels symposium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-01-01

    Low-rank coals represent a major energy resource for the world. The Low-Rank Fuels Symposium, building on the traditions established by the Lignite Symposium, focuses on the key opportunities for this resource. This conference offers a forum for leaders from industry, government, and academia to gather to share current information on the opportunities represented by low-rank coals. In the United States and throughout the world, the utility industry is the primary user of low-rank coals. As such, current experiences and future opportunities for new technologies in this industry were the primary focuses of the symposium.

  5. Low-rank coal study : national needs for resource development. Volume 2. Resource characterization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-11-01

    Comprehensive data are presented on the quantity, quality, and distribution of low-rank coal (subbituminous and lignite) deposits in the United States. The major lignite-bearing areas are the Fort Union Region and the Gulf Lignite Region, with the predominant strippable reserves being in the states of North Dakota, Montana, and Texas. The largest subbituminous coal deposits are in the Powder River Region of Montana and Wyoming, The San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and in Northern Alaska. For each of the low-rank coal-bearing regions, descriptions are provided of the geology; strippable reserves; active and planned mines; classification of identified resources by depth, seam thickness, sulfur content, and ash content; overburden characteristics; aquifers; and coal properties and characteristics. Low-rank coals are distinguished from bituminous coals by unique chemical and physical properties that affect their behavior in extraction, utilization, or conversion processes. The most characteristic properties of the organic fraction of low-rank coals are the high inherent moisture and oxygen contents, and the correspondingly low heating value. Mineral matter (ash) contents and compositions of all coals are highly variable; however, low-rank coals tend to have a higher proportion of the alkali components CaO, MgO, and Na/sub 2/O. About 90% of the reserve base of US low-rank coal has less than one percent sulfur. Water resources in the major low-rank coal-bearing regions tend to have highly seasonal availabilities. Some areas appear to have ample water resources to support major new coal projects; in other areas such as Texas, water supplies may be constraining factor on development.

  6. Clean utilization of low-rank coals for low-cost power generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sondreal, E.A.

    1992-01-01

    Despite the unique utilization problems of low-rank coals, the ten US steam electric plants having the lowest operating cost in 1990 were all fueled on either lignite or subbituminous coal. Ash deposition problems, which have been a major barrier to sustaining high load on US boilers burning high-sodium low-rank coals, have been substantially reduced by improvements in coal selection, boiler design, on-line cleaning, operating conditions, and additives. Advantages of low-rank coals in advanced systems are their noncaking behavior when heated, their high reactivity allowing more complete reaction at lower temperatures, and the low sulfur content of selected deposits. The principal barrier issues are the high-temperature behavior of ash and volatile alkali derived from the coal-bound sodium found in some low-rank coals. Successful upgrading of low-rank coals requires that the product be both stable and suitable for end use in conventional and advanced systems. Coal-water fuel produced by hydrothermal processing of high-moisture low-rank coal meets these criteria, whereas most dry products from drying or carbonizing in hot gas tend to create dust and spontaneous ignition problems unless coated, agglomerated, briquetted, or afforded special handling

  7. Low-temperature carbonization plant for lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shiotsuki, Y

    1949-01-01

    The design and operational data of a low-temperature carbonization plant for Japanese lignite are described. The retort had a vertical cylinder with a capacity of about 10 tons per day. By continuous operation, in which a part of the gas produced was circulated and burned in the lignite zone, about 40 percent semicoke and 3 to 4 percent tar were obtained. From the tar the following products were separated: Low-temperature carbonization cresol, 18.3; motor fuel, 1.00; solvent, 9.97; cresol for medical uses, 11.85; and creosote oil, 32 percent.

  8. Scoping Studies to Evaluate the Benefits of an Advanced Dry Feed System on the Use of Low-Rank Coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rader, Jeff; Aguilar, Kelly; Aldred, Derek; Chadwick, Ronald; Conchieri, John; Dara, Satyadileep; Henson, Victor; Leininger, Tom; Liber, Pawel; Liber, Pawel; Lopez-Nakazono, Benito; Pan, Edward; Ramirez, Jennifer; Stevenson, John; Venkatraman, Vignesh

    2012-03-30

    The purpose of this project was to evaluate the ability of advanced low rank coal gasification technology to cause a significant reduction in the COE for IGCC power plants with 90% carbon capture and sequestration compared with the COE for similarly configured IGCC plants using conventional low rank coal gasification technology. GE’s advanced low rank coal gasification technology uses the Posimetric Feed System, a new dry coal feed system based on GE’s proprietary Posimetric Feeder. In order to demonstrate the performance and economic benefits of the Posimetric Feeder in lowering the cost of low rank coal-fired IGCC power with carbon capture, two case studies were completed. In the Base Case, the gasifier was fed a dilute slurry of Montana Rosebud PRB coal using GE’s conventional slurry feed system. In the Advanced Technology Case, the slurry feed system was replaced with the Posimetric Feed system. The process configurations of both cases were kept the same, to the extent possible, in order to highlight the benefit of substituting the Posimetric Feed System for the slurry feed system.

  9. The role of IGCC technology in power generation using low-rank coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Juangjandee, Pipat

    2010-09-15

    Based on basic test results on the gasification rate of Mae Moh lignite coal. It was found that an IDGCC power plant is the most suitable for Mae Moh lignite. In conclusion, the future of an IDGCC power plant using low-rank coal in Mae Moh mine would hinge on the strictness of future air pollution control regulations including green-house gas emission and the constraint of Thailand's foreign currency reserves needed to import fuels, in addition to economic consideration. If and when it is necessary to overcome these obstacles, IGCC is one variable alternative power generation must consider.

  10. Low-rank coal study: national needs for resource development. Volume 3. Technology evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-11-01

    Technologies applicable to the development and use of low-rank coals are analyzed in order to identify specific needs for research, development, and demonstration (RD and D). Major sections of the report address the following technologies: extraction; transportation; preparation, handling and storage; conventional combustion and environmental control technology; gasification; liquefaction; and pyrolysis. Each of these sections contains an introduction and summary of the key issues with regard to subbituminous coal and lignite; description of all relevant technology, both existing and under development; a description of related environmental control technology; an evaluation of the effects of low-rank coal properties on the technology; and summaries of current commercial status of the technology and/or current RD and D projects relevant to low-rank coals.

  11. The North Dakota lignite partnership

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porter, C.R.

    1998-01-01

    The State of North Dakota and the Lignite Energy Council have formed a government/industry partnership to promote the use of North Dakota lignite. The partnership provides funding and management for the Lignite Research, Development and Marketing Program. The program funds activities which preserve and enhance jobs and lignite production; ensure economic growth, stability and opportunity; and maintain a stable and competitive tax base. Funding is provided for activities in three areas: marketing feasibility studies, small research projects, and demonstration projects. Funding is derived from the state coal severance tax. Approximately $3,000,000 annually is appropriated from coal severance revenues for program activities. North Dakota is the ninth largest coal producing state, with lignite as the only rank of coal found in the state. Energy is the second largest economic sector in North Dakota, and it currently comprises over 12% of the state's total economic base. This paper reviews the North Dakota lignite industry and describes studies and projects which have received funding from the program

  12. Steam gasification of Bulmer coal in the presence of lignite ash

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Palmer, A.; Furimsky, E.

    1986-01-01

    Steam gasification of blends prepared from Balmer coal and the ash from combustion of Onakawana lignite was performed in a fixed bed reactor. The blends were prepared by co-slurrying followed by drying. In the presence of 20 wt% ash the gasification rate doubled at 830 and 930 C. Direct blending of coal and lignite resulted in an overall increase in carbon conversion at 830 C but had no effect at 930 C. 5 refs.

  13. Lignite Fuel Enhancement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Charles Bullinger; Nenad Sarunac

    2010-03-31

    Pulverized coal power plants which fire lignites and other low-rank high-moisture coals generally operate with reduced efficiencies and increased stack emissions due to the impacts of high fuel moisture on stack heat loss and pulverizer and fan power. A process that uses plant waste heat sources to evaporate a portion of the fuel moisture from the lignite feedstock in a moving bed fluidized bed dryer (FBD) was developed in the U.S. by a team led by Great River Energy (GRE). The demonstration was conducted with Department of Energy (DOE) funding under DOE Award Number DE-FC26-04NT41763. The objectives of GRE's Lignite Fuel Enhancement project were to demonstrate reduction in lignite moisture content by using heat rejected from the power plant, apply technology at full scale at Coal Creek Station (CCS), and commercialize it. The Coal Creek Project has involved several stages, beginning with lignite drying tests in a laboratory-scale FBD at the Energy Research Center (ERC) and development of theoretical models for predicting dryer performance. Using results from these early stage research efforts, GRE built a 2 ton/hour pilot-scale dryer, and a 75 ton/hour prototype drying system at Coal Creek Station. Operated over a range of drying conditions, the results from the pilot-scale and prototype-scale dryers confirmed the performance of the basic dryer design concept and provided the knowledge base needed to scale the process up to commercial size. Phase 2 of the GRE's Lignite Fuel Enhancement project included design, construction and integration of a full-scale commercial coal drying system (four FBDs per unit) with Coal Creek Units 1 and 2 heat sources and coal handling system. Two series of controlled tests were conducted at Coal Creek Unit 1 with wet and dried lignite to determine effect of dried lignite on unit performance and emissions. Wet lignite was fired during the first, wet baseline, test series conducted in September 2009. The second test series was

  14. Solubilization of low-rank coal by Trichoderma atroviride: Evidence for the involvement of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes by using C-14-labelled lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holker, U.; Schmiers, H.; Grosse, S.; Winkelhofer, M.; Polsakiewicz, M.; Ludwig, S.; Dohse, J.; Hofer, M. [University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany). Inst. of Botany

    2002-04-01

    The deuteromycete Trichoderma atroviride is able to solubilize lignite in dependence on a given carbon source for growth. When cultivated on media containing glutamate, this mold excreted a set of different enzymes with hydrolytic activity. Addition of lignite to the growth media induced the synthesis of extracellular lignite-specific esterase activity but no evidence has been provided for its direct involvement in the process of lignite solubilization. Hence, the basic capability of T. atroviride enzymes to degrade a variety of ester and ether bonds at the surface or within the bulky lignite structure was tested using coal following its direct labelling with C-14-alkyl iodide. The participation of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes in lignite degradation was assessed by measuring the release of C-14 radioactivity from selectively alkylated carboxylic and phenolic OH groups. T. atroviride cleaved both carboxylic esters using esterases and the phenolic ether bonds by using oxidative enzymes, most likely laccases.

  15. Liquid CO2/Coal Slurry for Feeding Low Rank Coal to Gasifiers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marasigan, Jose [Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States); Goldstein, Harvey [Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States); Dooher, John [Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2013-09-30

    This study investigates the practicality of using a liquid CO2/coal slurry preparation and feed system for the E-Gas™ gasifier in an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) electric power generation plant configuration. Liquid CO2 has several property differences from water that make it attractive for the coal slurries used in coal gasification-based power plants. First, the viscosity of liquid CO2 is much lower than water. This means it should take less energy to pump liquid CO2 through a pipe compared to water. This also means that a higher solids concentration can be fed to the gasifier, which should decrease the heat requirement needed to vaporize the slurry. Second, the heat of vaporization of liquid CO2 is about 80% lower than water. This means that less heat from the gasification reactions is needed to vaporize the slurry. This should result in less oxygen needed to achieve a given gasifier temperature. And third, the surface tension of liquid CO2 is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than water, which should result in finer atomization of the liquid CO2 slurry, faster reaction times between the oxygen and coal particles, and better carbon conversion at the same gasifier temperature. EPRI and others have recognized the potential that liquid CO2 has in improving the performance of an IGCC plant and have previously conducted systemslevel analyses to evaluate this concept. These past studies have shown that a significant increase in IGCC performance can be achieved with liquid CO2 over water with certain gasifiers. Although these previous analyses had produced some positive results, they were still based on various assumptions for liquid CO2/coal slurry properties.

  16. Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soncini, Ryan M.; Means, Nicholas C.; Weiland, Nathan T.

    2013-10-01

    Pyrolysis and gasification of combined low rank coal and biomass feeds are the subject of much study in an effort to mitigate the production of green house gases from integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems. While co-feeding has the potential to reduce the net carbon footprint of commercial gasification operations, the effects of co-feeding on kinetics and product distributions requires study to ensure the success of this strategy. Southern yellow pine was pyrolyzed in a semi-batch type drop tube reactor with either Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal or Mississippi lignite at several temperatures and feed ratios. Product gas composition of expected primary constituents (CO, CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}) was determined by in-situ mass spectrometry while minor gaseous constituents were determined using a GC-MS. Product distributions are fit to linear functions of temperature, and quadratic functions of biomass fraction, for use in computational co-pyrolysis simulations. The results are shown to yield significant nonlinearities, particularly at higher temperatures and for lower ranked coals. The co-pyrolysis product distributions evolve more tar, and less char, CH{sub 4}, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, than an additive pyrolysis process would suggest. For lignite co-pyrolysis, CO and H{sub 2} production are also reduced. The data suggests that evolution of hydrogen from rapid pyrolysis of biomass prevents the crosslinking of fragmented aromatic structures during coal pyrolysis to produce tar, rather than secondary char and light gases. Finally, it is shown that, for the two coal types tested, co-pyrolysis synergies are more significant as coal rank decreases, likely because the initial structure in these coals contains larger pores and smaller clusters of aromatic structures which are more readily retained as tar in rapid co-pyrolysis.

  17. The effect of lignite quality variation on the efficiency of on-line ash analyzers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Galetakis, Michael J. [Technical University of Crete, Dept. of Mineral Resources Engineering, University Campus, 73 100 Hania (Greece); Pavloudakis, Francis F. [Public Power Corporation SA, General Division of Mines, Kifisou and Dyrrahiou 89, 104 43 Athens (Greece)

    2009-12-01

    A sustainable coal industry needs to achieve a number of objectives including improvements in utilization of deposits, energy efficiency, and environmental performance during combustion. The ''Clean Coal Concept'' promises to combine the secure and low cost electricity supply offered by hard coal and lignite with adequate environmental precautions. In this context, modern quality control systems, which are greatly based on the on-line analyzers, play an important role in achieving sustainability targets. This paper examines the possibility of using commercial on-line analysis systems for monitoring the mineral matter content of low quality lignite mined from the lignite basin of Megalopolis, Peloponnese, Greece. The effect of the accuracy of the on-line analyzers to process control, when used for the characterization of low rank coals with complex and variable composition, is investigated by carrying out numerous bench- and pilot-scale trials. Pilot-scale trials were based on a dual energy gamma-ray transmission analyzer, which was installed on the conveyor belt that transports lignite from the mine pit to the homogenization stockyard. All measurement data were compared to data gathered during the realisation of similar trials in the lignite mines of Ptolemais Basin, Northern Greece. Results indicated that the accuracy of the on-line measurements was not satisfactory and did not allow lignite quality monitoring in real time. The achieved inferior accuracy of the on-line measurement's accuracy, compared to previous applications at other mining sites, was related to the intense variation of the mineral matter content of lignite and lignite composition, which distorted the calibration of the analyzer. The latter is based on certain assumptions regarding the average mass absorption coefficient of the organic and mineral matter contained in the lignite. Further experimental work is needed to investigate solutions for successful implementation of

  18. Assessment of low-rank (LRC) drying technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willson, W.G.; Young, B.C.; Irwinj, W.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that low-rank coals (LRCs), brown, lignitic, and subbituminous coals, represent nearly half of the estimated coal resources in the world. In many of the developing nations, LRCs are the only source of low-cost energy. LRCs are geologically younger than higher-rank bituminous coals and are typically present in thick seams with less cover (overburden) than bituminous coals, making them recoverable by low-cost strip mining. Current pit-head coal prices for LRCs range from a low of around $0.25 per MM Btus for subbituminous coals from the USA's Powder River Basin, to highs of around $1,00 for those that are more costly to mine. On the other hand, the pit-head price of bituminous coals in the USA range from a low of around $1 to over $2 per MM Btu. Unfortunately, this differential in favor of LRC is more than offset in distant markers where, until now, it has been considered a nuisance. Often less than half of its weight is combustible, the rest being water and ash. Thus the cost of hauling it any distance at all in its untreated dry bulk form is prohibitive. However, from a utilization aspect, LRCs have a lower fuel ration (fixed carbon to volatile matter) and are typically an order of magnitude more reactive than bituminous coals. Many LRCs, including the enormous reserves in Alaska, Australia, and Indonesia, also have extremely low sulfur contents of only a few tenths of a percent. Low mining costs, high reactivity, and extremely low sulfur content would make these coals premium fuel were it not for their high moisture levels, which range from around 25% w/w to over 60% w/w. High moisture creates a mistaken perception, among major coal importers, of inferior quality, and the many positive features of LRCs are overlooked

  19. Properties and potential of formed cokes derived from two Turkish lignites by carbonization of binderless briquettes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bayraktar, K.N.; Lawson, G.J.

    1984-09-01

    Two high-sulphur Turkish lignites were briquetted at room temperature under pressures of 113 or 212 MPa and the briquettes were carbonized to 1158-1173 K over special heating cycles. The lower-rank lignite gave a formed coke of superior mechanical strength, lower porosity and higher sulphur content than typical blast furnace cokes. The formed coke produced from the higher-rank lignite briquettes had slightly poorer mechanical strength, lower porosity and much higher ash yield and sulphur content than conventional cokes. The products were considered attractive for use in non-ferrous metallurgy. 38 references.

  20. Organic petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical features of the Achlada and Mavropigi lignite deposits, NW Macedonia, Greece

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koukouzas, Nikolaos [Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute for Solid Fuels Technology and Applications, Mesogeion Ave. 357-359, GR-15231 Halandri, Athens (Greece); Kalaitzidis, Stavros P. [Geological Services, BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, Central Queensland Office, Peak Downs Mine, Moranbah, QLD 4744 (Australia); Ward, Colin R. [School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 (Australia)

    2010-09-01

    The Achlada and Mavropigi lignite deposits in northern Greece provide the main coal source for the next generation of Greek power plants. A comparative characterization of these two lignite deposits is presented, covering the coal rank and the features of the maceral components, based on detailed coal petrography, and the mineralogical and geochemical features of the coals and their ashes, based on XRF and XRD analyses. The data are used to interpret the palaeoenvironments of the lignite beds, as well as factors that may affect their burnout behavior. Both deposits have a lignite C rank. The Mavropigi lignite is mainly a matrix lignite lithotype, whereas the Achlada deposit consists both of matrix and xylite-rich lithotypes. The Achlada lignite was formed in a fluviatile environment, mainly in the abandoned channels of a meandering river system during flooding periods; hence it is enriched in inorganic matter, with ash values > 30 wt.%. The Mavropigi lignite formed in a reed-marsh environment under limno-telmatic conditions, and displays ash values < 30 wt.%. The inorganic matter of the two deposits is different in composition due to the contrasting environments, and these differences should be taken into account in optimizing their utilization for power production. A preliminary assessment indicates that the Achlada lignite may have more favorable slagging and fouling properties than the Mavropigi lignite, although experimental studies are required for more solid conclusions to be reached. (author)

  1. Influence of the hydrothermal dewatering on the combustion characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ge, Lichao; Zhang, Yanwei; Xu, Chang; Wang, Zhihua; Zhou, Junhu; Cen, Kefa

    2015-01-01

    This study investigates the influence of hydrothermal dewatering performed at different temperatures on the combustion characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals with different coalification maturities. It was found that the upgrading process significantly decreased the inherent moisture and oxygen content, increased the calorific value and fixed carbon content, and promoted the damage of the hydrophilic oxygen functional groups. The results of oxygen/carbon atomic ratio indicated that the upgrading process converted the low-rank coals near to high-rank coals which can also be gained using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the combustion processes of upgraded coals were delayed toward the high temperature region, and the upgraded coals had higher ignition and burnout temperature. On the other hand, based on the higher average combustion rate and comprehensive combustion parameter, the upgraded coals performed better compared with raw brown coals and the Da Tong bituminous coal. In ignition segment, the activation energy increased after treatment but decreased in the combustion stage. The changes in coal compositions, microstructure, rank, and combustion characteristics were more notable as the temperature in hydrothermal dewatering increased from 250 to 300 °C or coals of lower ranks were used. - Highlights: • Typical Chinese lignites with various ranks are upgraded by hydrothermal dewatering. • Upgraded coals exhibit chemical compositions comparable with that of bituminous coal. • FTIR show the change of microstructure and improvement in coal rank after upgrading. • Upgraded coals exhibit difficulty in ignition but combust easily. • More evident effects are obtained for raw brown coal with relative lower rank.

  2. Effects of microwave irradiation treatment on physicochemical characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ge, Lichao; Zhang, Yanwei; Wang, Zhihua; Zhou, Junhu; Cen, Kefa

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Typical Chinese lignites with various ranks are upgraded through microwave. • The pore distribution extends to micropore region, BET area and volume increase. • FTIR show the change of microstructure and improvement in coal rank after upgrading. • Upgraded coals exhibit weak combustion similar to Da Tong bituminous coal. • More evident effects are obtained for raw brown coal with relative lower rank. - Abstract: This study investigates the effects of microwave irradiation treatment on coal composition, pore structure, coal rank, function groups, and combustion characteristics of typical Chinese low-rank coals. Results showed that the upgrading process (microwave irradiation treatment) significantly reduced the coals’ inherent moisture, and increased their calorific value and fixed carbon content. It was also found that the upgrading process generated micropores and increased pore volume and surface area of the coals. Results on the oxygen/carbon ratio parameter indicated that the low-rank coals were upgraded to high-rank coals after the upgrading process, which is in agreement with the findings from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Unstable components in the coal were converted into stable components during the upgrading process. Thermo-gravimetric analysis showed that the combustion processes of upgraded coals were delayed toward the high-temperature region, the ignition and burnout temperatures increased, and the comprehensive combustion parameter decreased. Compared with raw brown coals, the upgraded coals exhibited weak combustion characteristics similar to bituminous coal. The changes in physicochemical characteristics became more notable when processing temperature increased from 130 °C to 160 °C or the rank of raw brown coal was lower. Microwave irradiation treatment could be considered as an effective dewatering and upgrading process

  3. Low-rank coal research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weber, G. F.; Laudal, D. L.

    1989-01-01

    This work is a compilation of reports on ongoing research at the University of North Dakota. Topics include: Control Technology and Coal Preparation Research (SO{sub x}/NO{sub x} control, waste management), Advanced Research and Technology Development (turbine combustion phenomena, combustion inorganic transformation, coal/char reactivity, liquefaction reactivity of low-rank coals, gasification ash and slag characterization, fine particulate emissions), Combustion Research (fluidized bed combustion, beneficiation of low-rank coals, combustion characterization of low-rank coal fuels, diesel utilization of low-rank coals), Liquefaction Research (low-rank coal direct liquefaction), and Gasification Research (hydrogen production from low-rank coals, advanced wastewater treatment, mild gasification, color and residual COD removal from Synfuel wastewaters, Great Plains Gasification Plant, gasifier optimization).

  4. Structural degradation of Thar lignite using MW1 fungal isolate: optimization studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haider, Rizwan; Ghauri, Muhammad A.; Jones, Elizabeth J.; Orem, William H.; SanFilipo, John R.

    2015-01-01

    Biological degradation of low-rank coals, particularly degradation mediated by fungi, can play an important role in helping us to utilize neglected lignite resources for both fuel and non-fuel applications. Fungal degradation of low-rank coals has already been investigated for the extraction of soil-conditioning agents and the substrates, which could be subjected to subsequent processing for the generation of alternative fuel options, like methane. However, to achieve an efficient degradation process, the fungal isolates must originate from an appropriate coal environment and the degradation process must be optimized. With this in mind, a representative sample from the Thar coalfield (the largest lignite resource of Pakistan) was treated with a fungal strain, MW1, which was previously isolated from a drilled core coal sample. The treatment caused the liberation of organic fractions from the structural matrix of coal. Fungal degradation was optimized, and it showed significant release of organics, with 0.1% glucose concentration and 1% coal loading ratio after an incubation time of 7 days. Analytical investigations revealed the release of complex organic moieties, pertaining to polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and it also helped in predicting structural units present within structure of coal. Such isolates, with enhanced degradation capabilities, can definitely help in exploiting the chemical-feedstock-status of coal.

  5. Petrology, palynology and organic geochemistry of Eocene lignite of Matanomadh, Kutch Basin, western India: Implications to depositional environment and hydrocarbon source potential

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, Suryendu; Mathews, Runcie P.; Saraswati, Pratul K.; Banerjee, Santanu [Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (India); Singh, Bhagwan D.; Tripathi, Suryakant M.; Singh, Alpana [Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow (India); Mann, Ulrich [Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany). Institut fuer chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere

    2011-01-01

    Petrological, palynological and organic-geochemical investigations were undertaken to determine the source vegetation, depositional conditions and hydrocarbon source potential of Eocene Matanomadh lignites from Kutch Basin, western India. The maceral study reveals that studied lignites are rich in huminite (av. 63%) with sub-ordinate amount of liptinite (av. 19%) and low inertinite (av. 3%), along with low to moderately high associated mineral matters (av. 15%). The overall petrographic composition points to a lagoonal condition for the formation of these lignites. The mean huminite reflectance values (R{sub r}: 0.28-0.34%, av. 0.31%) as well as low Rock-Eval T{sub max} (av. 417 C) values for the seams, suggest brown coal or lignitic stage/rank for the studied lignites. The palynological assemblages, dominated by tropical angiospermic pollen, suggest prevalence of warm humid tropical climate during the deposition of these lignites. The total organic carbon (TOC) content of lignites ranges between 26 and 58 wt.%, whereas the TOC content of the associated carbonaceous shales is around 4 wt.%. The Hydrogen Index (HI) ranging from 23 to 452 mg HC/g TOC indicates that the lignite sequence has the potential to produce mixed oil and gaseous hydrocarbons on maturation. The major pyrolysis products of lignites, derived from Curie point pyrolysis-GC-MS, are straight chain aliphatics, phenols and cadalene-based C{sub 15} bicyclic sesquiterpenoids. The exclusive occurrence of C{sub 15} bicyclic sesquiterpenoids suggests that these compounds are derived from dammar resin of angiosperm plants, belonging to family Dipterocarpaceae. (author)

  6. Low frequency aeration of pig slurry affects slurry characteristics and emissions of greenhouse gases and ammonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvet, Salvador; Hunt, John; Misselbrook, Tom H

    2017-07-01

    Low frequency aeration of slurries may reduce ammonia (NH 3 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions without increasing nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. The aim of this study was to quantify this potential reduction and to establish the underlying mechanisms. A batch experiment was designed with 6 tanks with 1 m 3 of pig slurry each. After an initial phase of 7 days when none of the tanks were aerated, a second phase of 4 weeks subjected three of the tanks to aeration (2 min every 6 h, airflow 10 m 3  h -1 ), whereas the other three tanks remained as a control. A final phase of 9 days was established with no aeration in any tank. Emissions of NH 3 , CH 4 , carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and N 2 O were measured. In the initial phase no differences in emissions were detected, but during the second phase aeration increased NH 3 emissions by 20% with respect to the controls (8.48 vs. 7.07 g m -3  [slurry] d -1 , P emissions were 40% lower in the aerated tanks (2.04 vs. 3.39 g m -3  [slurry] d -1 , P emissions remained after the aeration phase had finished. No effect was detected for CO 2 , and no relevant N 2 O emissions were detected during the experiment. Our results demonstrate that low frequency aeration of stored pig slurry increases slurry pH and increases NH 3 emissions.

  7. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics of activated carbons produced from coals of different ranks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purevsuren, B; Lin, Chin-Jung; Davaajav, Y; Ariunaa, A; Batbileg, S; Avid, B; Jargalmaa, S; Huang, Yu; Liou, Sofia Ya-Hsuan

    2015-01-01

    Activated carbons (ACs) from six coals, ranging from low-rank lignite brown coal to high-rank stone coal, were utilized as adsorbents to remove basic methylene blue (MB) from an aqueous solution. The surface properties of the obtained ACs were characterized via thermal analysis, N2 isothermal sorption, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Boehm titration. As coal rank decreased, an increase in the heterogeneity of the pore structures and abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups increased MB coverage on its surface. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model, and adsorption capacity of MB ranged from 51.8 to 344.8 mg g⁻¹. Good correlation coefficients were obtained using the intra-particle diffusion model, indicating that the adsorption of MB onto ACs is diffusion controlled. The values of the effective diffusion coefficient ranged from 0.61 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 7.1 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹, indicating that ACs from lower-rank coals have higher effective diffusivities. Among all the ACs obtained from selected coals, the AC from low-rank lignite brown coal was the most effective in removing MB from an aqueous solution.

  8. Research on the thermal decomposition of Mongolian Baganuur lignite and Naryn sukhait bituminous coal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Ariunaa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The technical characteristics, elemental composition of the organic and mineral matters, ash melting behaviors and carbonization and gasification reactivities of coals from Baganuur and Naryn sukhait deposits were investigated. The results of proximate and ultimate analysis confirmed that the coal from Baganuur deposit can be graded as a low rank lignite B2 mark coal and Naryn sukhait coal is a bituminous G mark one. The carbonization and gasification experiments were performed using TGA apparatus and fixed bed quartz reactor. The data obtained with two experimental reactors showed that Baganuur lignite had lower thermal stability and much higher CO2 gasification reactivity at 950°C as compared to those for Naryn sukhait bituminous coal.Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 16 (42, 2015, 22-29

  9. Activity of coals of different rank to ozone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Kaminskii

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Coals of different rank were studied in order to characterize their activity to ozone decomposition and changes of their properties at interaction with ozone. Effects of coal rank on their reactivity to ozone were described by means of kinetic modeling. To this end, a model was proposed for evaluation of kinetic parameters describing coals activity to ozone. This model considers a case when coals surface properties change during interaction with ozone (deactivation processes. Two types of active sites (zones at the surface that are able to decompose ozone were introduced in the model differing by their deactivation rates. Activity of sites that are being deactivated at relatively higher rate increases with rank from 2400 1/min for lignite to 4000 1/min for anthracite. Such dependence is related to increase of micropores share in coals structure that grows from lignites to anthracites. Parameter characterizing initial total activity of coals to ozone decomposition also depends on rank by linear trend and vary between 2.40 for lignites up to 4.98 for anthracite. The proposed model could further be used in studies of coals oxidation processes and tendency to destruction under the weathering and oxidation conditions.

  10. Alkaloid-derived molecules in low rank Argonne premium coals.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Winans, R. E.; Tomczyk, N. A.; Hunt, J. E.

    2000-11-30

    Molecules that are probably derived from alkaloids have been found in the extracts of the subbituminous and lignite Argonne Premium Coals. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) have been used to characterize pyridine and supercritical extracts. The supercritical extraction used an approach that has been successful for extracting alkaloids from natural products. The first indication that there might be these natural products in coals was the large number of molecules found containing multiple nitrogen and oxygen heteroatoms. These molecules are much less abundant in bituminous coals and absent in the higher rank coals.

  11. An overview of underground coal gasification and its applicability for Turkish lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pekpak, E.; Yoncaci, S.; Kilic, M.G. [Middle East Technical Univ., Ankara (Turkey). Dept. of Mining Engineering

    2010-07-01

    Coal is expected to maintain its significance as an energy source for a longer time period than oil and natural gas. Environmental concerns have led to the development of clean coal technologies, such as coal gasification. Coal gasification can be used at either at surface or in underground coal gasification (UCG). UCG has several advantages over surface gasification and conventional mining such as rank low calorific value coals. Coal gasification also has the potential to contribute to the energy supply of a country. Most Turkish coals are lignite and UCG may enable diversification of energy sources of Turkey and may help decrease external dependency on energy. This paper presented a study that matched a UCG technique to the most appropriate (Afsin Elbistan) lignite reserve in Turkey. Two UCG techniques were presented, including the linked vertical well method, and the directional drilling-controlled retractable injection point (CRIP) method. The properties of coal seams and coal properties were also outlined. It was concluded that Cobanbey is the most preferable sector in the Elbistan Lignite Reserve for a pilot study, and that the linked vertical well method could be considered as a candidate method. 17 refs., 6 tabs., 1 fig.

  12. Natural desulfurization in coal-fired units using Greek lignite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konidaris, Dimitrios N

    2010-10-01

    This paper analyzes the natural desulfurization process taking place in coal-fired units using Greek lignite. The dry scrubbing capability of Greek lignite appears to be extremely high under special conditions, which can make it possible for the units to operate within the legislative limits of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. According to this study on several lignite-fired power stations in northern Greece, it was found that sulfur oxide emissions depend on coal rank, sulfur content, and calorific value. On the other hand, SO2 emission is inversely proportional to the parameter gammaCO2(max), which is equal to the maximum carbon dioxide (CO2) content by volume of dry flue gas under stoichiometric combustion. The desulfurization efficiency is positively correlated to the molar ratio of decomposed calcium carbonate to sulfur and negatively correlated to the free calcium oxide content of fly ash.

  13. Influence of chemical structure on carbon isotope composition of lignite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdenetsogt, Bat-Orshikh; Lee, Insung; Ko, Yoon-Joo; Mungunchimeg, Batsaikhan

    2017-04-01

    During the last two decades, a number of studies on carbon isotopes in terrestrial organic matter (OM) have been carried out and used to determine changes in paleoatmospheric δ13C value as well as assisting in paleoclimate analysis. Coal is abundant terrestrial OM. However, application of its δ13C value is very limited, because the understanding of changes in isotopic composition during coalification is relatively insufficient. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the chemical structure on the carbon isotope composition of lignite. Generally, lignite has more complex chemical structures than other higher rank coal because of the existence of various types of oxygen-containing functional groups that are eliminated at higher rank level. A total of sixteen Lower Cretaceous lignite samples from Baganuur mine (Mongolia) were studied by ultimate, stable carbon isotope and solid-state 13C CP/MAS NMR analyses. The carbon contents of the samples increase with increase in depth, whereas oxygen content decreases continuously. This is undoubtedly due to normal coalification process and also consistent with solid state NMR results. The δ13C values of the samples range from -23.54‰ to -21.34‰ and are enriched in 13C towards the lowermost samples. Based on the deconvolution of the NMR spectra, the ratios between carbons bonded to oxygen (60-90 ppm and 135-220 ppm) over carbons bonded to carbon and hydrogen (0-50 ppm and 90-135 ppm) were calculated for the samples. These correlate well with δ13C values (R2 0.88). The results indicate that the δ13C values of lignite are controlled by two mechanisms: (i) depletion in 13C as a result of loss of isotopically heavy oxygen-bounded carbons and (ii) enrichment in 13C caused by a loss of isotopically light methane from aliphatic and aromatic carbons. At the rank of lignite, coal is enriched in 13C because the amount of isotopically heavy CO2 and CO, released from coal as a result of changes in the chemical

  14. Properties and potential of formed cokes derived from two Turkish lignites by carbonization of binderless briquettes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bayraktur, K.N.; Lawson, G.J.

    1984-09-01

    Two high-sulphur Turkish lignites were briquetted at room temperature under pressures of 113 or 212 MPa and the briquettes were carbonized to 1158-1173 K over special heating cycles. The lowerrank lignite gave a formed coke of superior mechanical strength, lower porosity and higher sulphur content than typical blast furnace cokes. The formed coke produced from the higher-rank lignite briquettes had slightly poorer mechanical strength, lower porosity and much higher ash and sulphur content than conventional cokes. The products were considered attractive for use in non-ferrous metallurgy.

  15. Macedonian lignite - upgrading and evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musich, Mark A.; Young, Brian C.

    1997-01-01

    Macedonian lignites have a high moisture content, low heating value, and are friable, generating fines and dust. Macedonia has an urgent need to use indigenous solid fuel resources for domestic and industrial heating as well as metallurgical applications. The goal of this project was to evaluate the potential for beneficiating Macedonian lignite and producing high-quality briquettes for metallurgical use as well as domestic/industrial heating. Laboratory studies have shown that treating the Macedonian lignite fines by two physical processes-cleaning and carbonization-followed by pelletizing. can generate acceptable lump fuels for heating applications. Carbonizing the float-sink-cleaned lignite to reduce the volatile matter content and pelletizing the resultant char with starch produced strong pellets, which could be used as a home-heating fuel, the char having a heat content of 13,400 Btu/lb (31.2 MJ/Kg). However, additional work is required at the pilot scale to determine optimum briquetting conditions and production costs. (Author)

  16. Characteristics of Mae Moh lignite: Hardgrove grindability index and approximate work index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wutthiphong Tara

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to preliminarily study the Mae Moh lignite grindability tests emphasizing onHardgrove grindability and approximate work index determination respectively. Firstly, the lignite samples were collected,prepared and analyzed for calorific value, total sulfur content, and proximate analysis. After that the Hardgrove grindabilitytest using ball-race test mill was performed. Knowing the Hardgrove indices, the Bond work indices of some samples wereestimated using the Aplan’s formula. The approximate work indices were determined by running a batch dry-grinding testusing a laboratory ball mill. Finally, the work indices obtained from both methods were compared. It was found that allsamples could be ranked as lignite B, using the heating value as criteria, if the content of mineral matter is neglected. Similarly,all samples can be classified as lignite with the Hargrove grindability indices ranging from about 40 to 50. However, there isa significant difference in the work indices derived from Hardgrove and simplified Bond grindability tests. This may be due todifference in variability of lignite properties and the test procedures. To obtain more accurate values of the lignite workindex, the time-consuming Bond procedure should be performed with a number of corrections for different milling conditions.With Hardgrove grindability indices and the work indices calculated from Aplan’s formula, capacity of the roller-racepulverizer and grindability of the Mae Moh lignite should be investigated in detail further.

  17. Future of lignite resources: a life cycle analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qingsong; Liu, Wei; Yuan, Xueliang; Zheng, Xiaoning; Zuo, Jian

    2016-12-01

    Lignite is a low-quality energy source which accounts for 13 % of China's coal reserves. It is imperative to improve the quality of lignite for large-scale utilization. To further explore and analyze the influence of various key processes on the environment and economic costs, a lignite drying and compression technology is evaluated using an integrated approach of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs. Results showed that lignite mining, direct air emissions, and electricity consumption have most significant impacts on the environment. An integrated evaluation of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs showed that the most significant contributor to the environmental impacts and economic costs was the lignite mining process. The impact of transportation and wastewater treatment process on the environment and economic costs was small enough to be ignored. Critical factors were identified for reducing the environmental and economic impacts of lignite drying and compression technology. These findings provide useful inputs for both industrial practice and policy making for exploitation, processing, and utilization of lignite resources.

  18. Lignite microorganisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bulankina, M.A.; Lysak, L.V.; Zvyagintsev, D.G. [Moscow MV Lomonosov State University, Moscow (Russian Federation). Faculty of Soil Science

    2007-03-15

    The first demonstration that samples of lignite at a depth of 10 m are considerably enriched in bacteria is reported. According to direct microscopy, the abundance of bacteria was about 10{sup 7} cells/g. About 70% of cells had intact cell membranes and small size, which points to their anabiotic state. The fungal mycelium length was no more than 1 m. Lignite inoculation onto solid glucose-yeast-peptone medium allowed us to isolate bacteria of the genera Bacillus, Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, Micrococcus, Spirillum, and Cytophaga. Representatives of the genera Penicillium and Trichoderma were identified on Czapek medium. Moistening of lignite powder increased the microbial respiration rate and microbial and fungal abundance but did not increase their generic diversity. This finding suggests that the studied microorganisms are autochthonous to lignite.

  19. Aspects of combustion behaviour of coals from some New Zealand lignite-coal regions determined by thermogravimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benfell, K.E.; Beamish, B.B.; Rodgers, K.A. [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia). Dept. of Geology

    1997-08-25

    The papers describes how thermogravimetric analysis of five Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic New Zealand lignites demonstrate that their combustion behaviour is distinct from that of subbituminous coals and may be characterised by peak temperature of 377-416{degree}C, maximum rate of combustion of 25-31 wt% min{sup -1}, and temperature of char burnout 421-497{degree}C. These parameters reflect variation in thermal behaviour associated with both the organic and inorganic constituents of the coal. The information obtained is additional to that provided by proximate analysis; the latter is insufficient to predict the combustion behaviour of the coals relative to one another. A post-combustion thermal event is seen among the lignites as in other low-rank coals combusting below 600{degree}C, which appears to be related to the organic sulphur content of the coal.

  20. Predicting wear of hydrotransport pipelines in oil sand slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Been, J.; Lu, B.; Wolodko, J. [Alberta Research Council, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Kiel, D. [Coanda Research and Development Corp., Burnaby, BC (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    An overview of erosion and corrosion methods and techniques was presented. Wear to pipelines is influenced by slurry flow and chemistry; solids loading; and electrochemical interactions. While several experimental techniques have been developed to rank the performance of different pipeline materials, experiments do not currently provide accurate quantitative prediction of pipeline wear in the field. Rotating cylinder electrodes (RCE) and jet impingement methods are used to study the effect of flow velocity on corrosion rate. Slurry pot erosion-corrosion testers are used to rank materials for use in more dilute, less turbulent slurries. Coriolois slurry erosion testers are used to rank the erosion resistance of different pipeline materials. A pilot-scale flow loop is now being constructed by the Alberta Research Council (ARC) in order to replicate wet erosion phenomena in oil sands applications. The flow loop will be used to simulate the field conditions of oil sands pipelines and develop predictive wear data and models. Coulombic shear stress and characteristic wall velocities have been determined using a 2-layer model designed to represent flow as 2 distinct layers. To date, the flow loop pilot study has demonstrated that wear rates in smaller diameter flow loops are not significantly different than larger diameter field installations. Preliminary calculations have demonstrated that the flow loop can be used to accurately simulate the hydrodynamics and wear typically experienced in field slurry flows. 67 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

  1. Techno-economic analysis of lignite fuelled IGCC with CO{sub 2} capture. Comparing fluidized bed and entrained flow gasifiers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Guangjian; Wu, Zhen; Zhang, Haiying [North China Electric Power Univ., Beijing (China). School of Energy and Power Engineering

    2013-07-01

    Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants with pre-combustion capture of CO{sub 2} represent one of the most promising options for generating low-cost decarbonized power using bituminous coals. This work systematically quantify the effect of coal rank on the efficiency and economics of IGCC systems with CO2 capture and storage (CCS), with a special focus on comparison of systems using fluidized-bed gasifier (U-GAS) and entrained flow gasifier (Shell). It was found that the Shell IGCCs are little affect by low rank coal after pre-drying in terms of thermal efficiency and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is only increase by 2-6% for lignite cases with and without CCS compared with bituminous coal cases. The specific CO{sub 2} emissions of U-GAS gasifier based lignite fuelled IGCC with CCS is 198 g/kWhe, almost two times of shell gasifier cases, mainly due to lower carbon conversion in the gasifier and the higher methane in the raw gas of gasifier. However, the total capital cost and COE of U-Gas IGCCs are 15-20% less than that of Shell IGCCs because of lower capital cost of gasifier, coal drying units and air separate units per kWe.

  2. Bioprocessing of lignite coals using reductive microorganisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crawford, D.L.

    1992-03-29

    In order to convert lignite coals into liquid fuels, gases or chemical feedstock, the macromolecular structure of the coal must be broken down into low molecular weight fractions prior to further modification. Our research focused on this aspect of coal bioprocessing. We isolated, characterized and studied the lignite coal-depolymerizing organisms Streptomyces viridosporus T7A, Pseudomonas sp. DLC-62, unidentified bacterial strain DLC-BB2 and Gram-positive Bacillus megaterium strain DLC-21. In this research we showed that these bacteria are able to solubilize and depolymerize lignite coals using a combination of biological mechanisms including the excretion of coal solublizing basic chemical metabolites and extracellular coal depolymerizing enzymes.

  3. Very low conductivity self-hardening slurry for permanent enclosures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tallard, G.

    1997-01-01

    Attapulgite clay and ground blast furnace slag cement can form a low solids slurry which, after setting and curing, exhibits very low permeability and substantial strength. Compared to better known cement bentonite slurries, the conductivity is 3 orders of magnitude lower and the strength is four times higher at a similar solids content. Coefficients of permeability have been measured in the 10 -10 cm/sec. range. As a containment barrier, no chemical compound has had detrimental effects on the integrity of the material. Compatibility with leachates at a pH under 2 has been demonstrated. Compared to leachable Ordinary Portland Cement and to bentonite gel shrinkage in the presence of certain organic compounds, the attapulgite clay and the selected slag cement behave as remarkably inert. A number of successful applications as vertical barriers, trenched and by the vibrated beam method, have been installed at remedial sites. Applications by jet grouting have been implemented under utilities to provide continuity. The potential for placement of such materials to form horizontal barriers by jet grouting or frac-grouting/mud jacking techniques, offers the possibility of creating complete enclosures in soils. The purely mineral nature of these slurries ensures long term chemical stability necessary for permanent containment

  4. Biodegradation of photo-oxidized lignite and characterization of the products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiantao; Liu, Xiangrong; Yue, Zilin; Zhang, Yaowen

    2018-01-01

    Biodegradation of photo-oxidized Inner Mongolia lignite by pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied and the degradation percentage reached 56.27%, while the corresponding degradation percentage of the strain degrading raw Inner Mongolia lignite is only 23.16%. The degradation products were characterized. Proximate and ultimate analyses show that the higher oxygen content increased by photo-oxidation pretreatment maybe promoted the degradation process. Ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV) analysis of the liquid product reveals that it contains unsaturated structures and aromatic rings are the main structure units. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis indicates that the main components of the ethyl acetate extracts are low molecular weight organic compounds, such as ketones, acids, hydrocarbons, esters and alcohols. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) analysis of raw lignite, photo-oxidized lignite and residual lignite demonstrates that the absorption peaks of functional groups in residual lignite disappeared or weakened obviously. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis manifests that small holes appear in photo-oxidized lignite surface, which may be promote the degradation process and this is only from the physical morphology aspects, so it can be inferred from the tests and analyses results that the more important reason of the high degradation percentage is mostly that the photo-oxidation pretreatment changes the chemical structures of lignite.

  5. Comparison of physico-chemical properties of various lignites treated by mechanical thermal expression

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janine Hulston; Alan L. Chaffee; Christian Bergins; Karl Strauss [Monash University, Vic. (Australia). School of Chemistry and CRC for Clean Power from Lignite

    2005-12-01

    This study investigates how the Mechanical Thermal Expression (MTE) process affects the physico-chemical properties of low rank lignites sourced from Australia, Greece, and Germany. The MTE process was effective in reducing the moisture content of all three coals and resulted in significant Na reductions in both the Australian and German coals. However, the organic composition of the coals investigated remained relatively unaffected. Upon oven drying, all wet MTE products underwent significant shrinkage, the degree of which was dependent upon the temperature and pressure used during the MTE process. Upon rehydration, the oven-dried MTE products underwent significant swelling, which is most likely related to the chemical composition of the coals.

  6. A case study of PFBC for low rank coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jansson, S.A. [ABB Carbon AB, Finspong (Sweden)

    1995-12-01

    Pressurized Fluidized Combined-Cycle (PFBC) technology allows the efficient and environmentally friendly utilization of solid fuels for power and combined heat and power generation. With current PFBC technology, thermal efficiencies near 46%, on an LHV basis and with low condenser pressures, can be reached in condensing power plants. Further efficiency improvements to 50% or more are possible. PFBC plants are characterized by high thermal efficiency, compactness, and extremely good environmental performance. The PFBC plants which are now in operation in Sweden, the U.S. and Japan burn medium-ash, bituminous coal with sulfur contents ranging from 0.7 to 4%. A sub- bituminous {open_quotes}black lignite{close_quotes} with high levels of sulfur, ash and humidity, is used as fuel in a demonstration PFBC plant in Spain. Project discussions are underway, among others in Central and Eastern Europe, for the construction of PFBC plants which will burn lignite, oil-shale and also mixtures of coal and biomass with high efficiency and extremely low emissions. This paper will provide information about the performance data for PFBC plants when operating on a range of low grade coals and other solid fuels, and will summarize other advantages of this leading new clean coal technology.

  7. Characterization of North American lignite fly ashes. II. XRD Mineralogy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCarthy, G.J.; Johansen, D.M.; Thedchanamoorthy, A.; Steinwand, S.J.; Swanson, K.D.

    1988-01-01

    X-ray powder diffraction has been used to determine the crystalline phase mineralogy in samples of fly ash from each of the lignite mining areas of North America. The characteristic phases of North Dakota lignite fly ashes were periclase, lime, merwinite and the sulfate phases anhydrite, thenardite and a sodalite-structure phase. Mullite was absent in these low-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ ashes. Montana lignite ash mineralogy had characteristics of ND lignite and MT subbituminous coal fly ashes; mullite and C/sub 3/A were present and the alkali sulfates were absent. Texas and Louisiana lignite fly ashes had the characteristic mineralogy of bituminous coal fly ash: quartz, mullite, ferrite-spinel (magnetite) and minor hematite. Even though their analytical CaO contents were 7-14%, all but one lacked crystalline CaO-containing phases. Lignite fly ashes from Saskatchewan were generally the least crystalline of those studied and had a mineralogy consisting of quartz, mullite, ferrite spinel and periclase. Quantitative XRD data were obtained. The position of the diffuse scattering maximum in the x-ray diffractograms was indicative of the glass composition of the lignite fly ash

  8. Effect of biomass on burnouts of Turkish lignites during co-firing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haykiri-Acma, H.; Yaman, S. [Istanbul Technical Univ., Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Chemical Engineering Dept., 34469 Maslak, Istanbul (Turkey)

    2009-09-15

    Co-firing of some low quality Turkish lignites with woody shells of sunflower seed was investigated via non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis method. For this purpose, Yozgat-Sorgun, Erzurum-Askale, Tuncbilek, Gediz, and Afsin-Elbistan lignites were selected, and burnouts of these lignites were compared with those of their blends. Biomass was blended as much as 10 and 20 wt.% of the lignites, and heating was performed up to 900 C at a heating rate of 40 C/min under dry air flow of 40 mL/min. This study revealed that the same biomass species may have different influences on the burnout yields of the lignites. Burnouts of Erzurum-Askale lignite increased at any temperature with the increasing ratio of biomass in the blend, whereas burnout yields of other lignites decreased to some extent. Nevertheless, the blends of Turkish lignites with sunflower seed shell did not behave in very different way, and it can be concluded that they are compatible in terms of burnouts for co-combustion in a combustion system. Although the presence of biomass in the lignite blends caused to some decreases in the final burnouts, the carbon dioxide neutral nature of biomass should be taken into account, and co-combustion is preferable for waste-to-energy-management. (author)

  9. Effect of biomass on burnouts of Turkish lignites during co-firing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haykiri-Acma, H.; Yaman, S.

    2009-01-01

    Co-firing of some low quality Turkish lignites with woody shells of sunflower seed was investigated via non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis method. For this purpose, Yozgat-Sorgun, Erzurum-Askale, Tuncbilek, Gediz, and Afsin-Elbistan lignites were selected, and burnouts of these lignites were compared with those of their blends. Biomass was blended as much as 10 and 20 wt.% of the lignites, and heating was performed up to 900 deg. C at a heating rate of 40 deg. C/min under dry air flow of 40 mL/min. This study revealed that the same biomass species may have different influences on the burnout yields of the lignites. Burnouts of Erzurum-Askale lignite increased at any temperature with the increasing ratio of biomass in the blend, whereas burnout yields of other lignites decreased to some extent. Nevertheless, the blends of Turkish lignites with sunflower seed shell did not behave in very different way, and it can be concluded that they are compatible in terms of burnouts for co-combustion in a combustion system. Although the presence of biomass in the lignite blends caused to some decreases in the final burnouts, the carbon dioxide neutral nature of biomass should be taken into account, and co-combustion is preferable for waste-to-energy-management.

  10. Nonisothermal Thermogravimetric Analysis of Thai Lignite with High CaO Content

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pintana, Pakamon

    2013-01-01

    Thermal behaviors and combustion kinetics of Thai lignite with different SO3-free CaO contents were investigated. Nonisothermal thermogravimetric method was carried out under oxygen environment at heating rates of 10, 30, and 50°C min−1 from ambient up to 1300°C. Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) methods were adopted to estimate the apparent activation energy (E) for the thermal decomposition of these coals. Different thermal degradation behaviors were observed in lignites with low (14%) and high (42%) CaO content. Activation energy of the lignite combustion was found to vary with the conversion fraction. In comparison with the KAS method, higher E values were obtained by the FWO method for all conversions considered. High CaO lignite was observed to have higher activation energy than the low CaO coal. PMID:24250259

  11. Technology and use of lignite. Proceedings of the tenth biennial lignite symposium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kube, W. R.; Gronhovd, G. H. [comps.

    1979-01-01

    The symposium on the technology and use of lignite was sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the University of North Dakota, and held at Grand Forks, North Dakota, May 30-31, 1979. Twenty-one papers from the proceedings of this tenth biennial lignite symposium have been entered into EDB and ERA and three also into EAPA. The papers discuss lignite deposits in the USA, mining plans, gasification and in-situ gasification, and combustion in fossil-fuel power plants. (LTN)

  12. Low temperature coal depolymerization-liquefaction: conversion of a North Dakota lignite to a light hydrocarbon oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shabtai, J.; Yuan Zhang (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (USA). Dept. of Fuels Engineering)

    1989-10-01

    A new low temperature method of coal liquefaction is described which includes intercalation of the coal with FeCl{sub 3}, depolymerization under supercritical conditions, and hydroprocessing of the depolymerized product. Results indicate a high yield conversion of lignites to light hydrocarbon oils. 6 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

  13. Evaluation of radioactive emissions of lignite-fired power plants in Turkey using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bueke, Tayfun

    2013-01-01

    Radioactive emissions of 13 lignite-fired power plants in Turkey are of great concern to the public and to scientists alike. The purpose of this study is to evaluate these power plants, according to their radioactive emissions by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Control criteria are in particular 226 Ra, 232 Th, 40 K and 238 U emissions from the power plants. These control criteria are weighted according to the objective assessment. The calculations are repeated for three different objective assessments of control criteria namely the mortality risk coefficients for inhalation, ingestion, external exposure of 226 Ra, 232 Th, 40 K and 238 U. It has been calculated that the Can lignite-fired power plant is ranking first while the Soma-B plant is ranking last according to the radioactive emissions of the power plants when the average of three different objective control criteria are used in the calculations. (orig.)

  14. Effect of Particle Size Distribution on Slurry Rheology: Nuclear Waste Simulant Slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chun, Jaehun; Oh, Takkeun; Luna, Maria L.; Schweiger, Michael J.

    2011-01-01

    Controlling the rheological properties of slurries has been of great interest in various industries such as cosmetics, ceramic processing, and nuclear waste treatment. Many physicochemical parameters, such as particle size, pH, ionic strength, and mass/volume fraction of particles, can influence the rheological properties of slurry. Among such parameters, the particle size distribution of slurry would be especially important for nuclear waste treatment because most nuclear waste slurries show a broad particle size distribution. We studied the rheological properties of several different low activity waste nuclear simulant slurries having different particle size distributions under high salt and high pH conditions. Using rheological and particle size analysis, it was found that the percentage of colloid-sized particles in slurry appears to be a key factor for rheological characteristics and the efficiency of rheological modifiers. This behavior was shown to be coupled with an existing electrostatic interaction between particles under a low salt concentration. Our study suggests that one may need to implement the particle size distribution as a critical factor to understand and control rheological properties in nuclear waste treatment plants, such as the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford and Savannah River sites, because the particle size distributions significantly vary over different types of nuclear waste slurries.

  15. Lignite in North Dakota

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porter, C.R.

    1995-01-01

    The State of North Dakota and the lignite industry are working together in a partnership called the Lignite Research, Development and Marketing Program. The program provides funds and supports activities which: preserve and enhance jobs and lignite production; ensure economic growth, stability and opportunity; and maintain a stable and competitive tax base. Since 1987, 70 grants totaling $24 million have been awarded. Each program dollar has resulted in nearly five of matching dollars. These program investments have yielded returns for the state and industry, including an additional $20 million annually from by-products at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant; about $1 million annually from improved reclamation practices; and combustion options, which preserve 2,000 megawatts of existing generation capacity. Research activities have identified future opportunities, including: the SynCoal demonstration plant, requiring 800,000 tons per year of new production; new chemical feedstock by-products from Great Plains worth an additional $26 million annually; revised reclamation practices that could substantially reduce cost; and potential new markets for upgraded lignite of about 12 million tons annually. This program helps ensure a healthy future for the North Dakota lignite industry, which currently represents 10% of the state's total economic base. Such a program is important because it will encourage the development of new and better uses of North Dakota's most abundant resource--lignite coal

  16. Influence of Specific Surface of Lignite Fluidal Ashes on Rheological Properties of Sealing Slurries / Wpływ Powierzchni Właściwej Popiołów Fluidalnych z Węgla Brunatnego na Właściwości Reologiczne Zaczynów Uszczelniających

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stryczek, Stanisław; Wiśniowski, Rafał; Gonet, Andrzej; Złotkowski, Albert

    2012-11-01

    New generation fly ashes come from the combustion of coal in fluid-bed furnaces with simultaneous sulphur-removal from gases at ca. 850°C. Accordingly, all produced ashes basically differ in their physicochemical properties from the traditional silica ones. The aim of the laboratory analyses was determining the influence of specific surface and granular composition of fluidal ash on rheological properties of slurries used for sealing up the ground and rock mass media with hole injection methods, geoengineering works and cementing casing pipes in deep boreholes. Fluidal ash from the combustion of lignite contain active Puzzolan appearing in the form of dehydrated clayey minerals and active components activating the process of hydration ashes, i.e. CaO, anhydrite II and CaCO3. The ashes have a weak point, i.e. their high water diment, which the desired rheological properties related with the range of their propagation in the rock mass cannot not be acquired for injection works in the traditional sealing slurries technology. Increasing the water-to-mixture ratio should eliminate this feature of fluidal ashes. Laboratory analyses were performed for slurries based on metallurgical cement CEM III/A 32,5 having water-to-mixture ratios: 0.5; 0.6 ; 0.7 and 0.8; the fluidal ash concentration in the slurries was 30 wt.% (with respect to the mass of dry cement). Basing on the obtained results there were determined optimum recipes of sealing slurries in view of their rheological parameters which could be applied both in drilling technologies (cementing casing pipes, closing of boreholes, plugging) and in geoengineering works related with sealing up and reinforcing ground and rock mass media.

  17. Advanced Acid Gas Separation Technology for the Utilization of Low Rank Coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kloosterman, Jeff

    2012-12-31

    Air Products has developed a potentially ground-breaking technology – Sour Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) – to replace the solvent-based acid gas removal (AGR) systems currently employed to separate sulfur containing species, along with CO{sub 2} and other impurities, from gasifier syngas streams. The Sour PSA technology is based on adsorption processes that utilize pressure swing or temperature swing regeneration methods. Sour PSA technology has already been shown with higher rank coals to provide a significant reduction in the cost of CO{sub 2} capture for power generation, which should translate to a reduction in cost of electricity (COE), compared to baseline CO{sub 2} capture plant design. The objective of this project is to test the performance and capability of the adsorbents in handling tar and other impurities using a gaseous mixture generated from the gasification of lower rank, lignite coal. The results of this testing are used to generate a high-level pilot process design, and to prepare a techno-economic assessment evaluating the applicability of the technology to plants utilizing these coals.

  18. Low-Rank Sparse Coding for Image Classification

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Liu, Si; Xu, Changsheng; Ahuja, Narendra

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a low-rank sparse coding (LRSC) method that exploits local structure information among features in an image for the purpose of image-level classification. LRSC represents densely sampled SIFT descriptors, in a spatial neighborhood, collectively as low-rank, sparse linear combinations of code words. As such, it casts the feature coding problem as a low-rank matrix learning problem, which is different from previous methods that encode features independently. This LRSC has a number of attractive properties. (1) It encourages sparsity in feature codes, locality in codebook construction, and low-rankness for spatial consistency. (2) LRSC encodes local features jointly by considering their low-rank structure information, and is computationally attractive. We evaluate the LRSC by comparing its performance on a set of challenging benchmarks with that of 7 popular coding and other state-of-the-art methods. Our experiments show that by representing local features jointly, LRSC not only outperforms the state-of-the-art in classification accuracy but also improves the time complexity of methods that use a similar sparse linear representation model for feature coding.

  19. Low-Rank Sparse Coding for Image Classification

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu

    2013-12-01

    In this paper, we propose a low-rank sparse coding (LRSC) method that exploits local structure information among features in an image for the purpose of image-level classification. LRSC represents densely sampled SIFT descriptors, in a spatial neighborhood, collectively as low-rank, sparse linear combinations of code words. As such, it casts the feature coding problem as a low-rank matrix learning problem, which is different from previous methods that encode features independently. This LRSC has a number of attractive properties. (1) It encourages sparsity in feature codes, locality in codebook construction, and low-rankness for spatial consistency. (2) LRSC encodes local features jointly by considering their low-rank structure information, and is computationally attractive. We evaluate the LRSC by comparing its performance on a set of challenging benchmarks with that of 7 popular coding and other state-of-the-art methods. Our experiments show that by representing local features jointly, LRSC not only outperforms the state-of-the-art in classification accuracy but also improves the time complexity of methods that use a similar sparse linear representation model for feature coding.

  20. Beyond Low Rank: A Data-Adaptive Tensor Completion Method

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Lei; Wei, Wei; Shi, Qinfeng; Shen, Chunhua; Hengel, Anton van den; Zhang, Yanning

    2017-01-01

    Low rank tensor representation underpins much of recent progress in tensor completion. In real applications, however, this approach is confronted with two challenging problems, namely (1) tensor rank determination; (2) handling real tensor data which only approximately fulfils the low-rank requirement. To address these two issues, we develop a data-adaptive tensor completion model which explicitly represents both the low-rank and non-low-rank structures in a latent tensor. Representing the no...

  1. Germany's lignite industry in 2011; Die deutsche Braunkohlenindustrie im Jahr 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maassen, Uwe [Bundesverband Braunkohle, Koeln (Germany); Statistik der Kohlenwirtschaft e.V., Koeln (Germany); Schiffer, Hans-Wilhelm [RWE Aktiengesellschaft, Essen (Germany)

    2012-05-15

    From 2010 to 2011, Germany's domestic lignite output edged up 4.2% from 169.4 mill. t to 176.5 mill. t. This output is equivalent to a net calorific value of 54.4 mill. tce; of the total output, 157.4 mill. t, or some 90% was used in utility power plants for public supply. That was 3.6% more than in the previous year; 15.5 mill. t was input in the factories of the lignite-mining industry to make solid products, while 2.6 mill. t was used to generate electricity in mine-mouth power plants. Other sales of raw lignite and changes in stocks accounted for 1.0 mill. t. Lignite made a 24.9% contribution toward Germany's total power generation in 2011. In 2011, lignite had an 11.7% share in primary-energy consumption, giving it slot four in Germany's energy-consumption balance after mineral oil (34.0%), natural gas (20.4%) and hard coal (12.6%). Renewable resources cover 10.9, while nuclear energy accounts for 8.8% and other energy sources for 1.6%. With output of 54.4 mill. tce, lignite held a share of 38,5% in Germany's primary-energy production of some 141.3 mill. tce. The contributions made by the other energy carriers to primary-energy production in 2011 were as follows: 12.3 mill. tce hard coal, 13.1 mill. tce gas, 3.9 mill tce mineral oil, 49.5 mill. tce renewables, and 8.1 mill. tce other energy sources. Of the total electricity that Germany produced in 2011, 24,9% was accounted for by lignite. This means that lignite led the ranking of the most important input energies for electricity generation in 2011, followed by renewables with 19.9% hard coal with 18.6%, nuclear energy with 17.6% and gas with 13.7%. Other energy sources made a 5.3% contribution to total gross power generation. The most important ratios for the contributions made by the various lignite-mining areas to Germany's energy supply was shown. CO{sub 2} emissions from lignite rose 3.7% from 168.7 mill. t in 2010 to 175 mill. t in 2011. In the entire period from 1990 to 2011, a

  2. Germany's lignite industry in 2012; Die deutsche Braunkohlenindustrie im Jahr 2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maassen, Uwe [Bundesverband Braunkohle, Statistik der Kohlenwirtschaft e.V., Koeln (Germany); Schiffer, Hans-Wilhelm [RWE Aktiengesellschaft, Essen (Germany). CEA-W Allgemeine Wirtschaftspolitik/Wissenschaft

    2013-05-15

    From 2011 to 2012, Germany's domestic lignite output edged up to 5.1% from 176.5 mill. t to 185.4 mill. t. This figure is equivalent to a net calorific value of 57.2 mill. tce. Of the total output, 166.3 mill. t, or some 90%, was used in utility power plants for the public supply, i.e. 5.7% more than in the previous year. In addition, 15.1 mill. t was input in the factories of the lignite-mining industry to make solid products, while 3.0 mill. t was used to generate electricity in mine-mouth power plants. Other sales of raw lignite and changes in stocks accounted for 1.0 mill. t. Lignite made a 25.7% contribution toward Germany's total power generation in 2012. In 2012, lignite had a 12.1% share in primary-energy consumption balance after mineral oil (33.1%), natural gas (21.6%) and hard coal (12.2%). Renewable resources cover 11.6%, while nuclear energy accounts for 8.0% and other energy sources for 1.4%. With output of 57.2 mill. tce, lignite held a share of 38.4% in Germany's primary-energy production of some 149 mill. tce in 2012. The contributions made by other energy carriers to primary-energy production in 2012 were as follows: 11.1 mill. tce hard coal, 13.3 mill. tce gas, 3.8 mill. tce mineral oil, 54.0 mill. tce renewables, and 9.5 mill. tce other energy sources. Of the total electricity amount that Germany produced in 2012, 25.7% was accounted for by lignite. This means that lignite led the ranking of the most important input energies for electricity generation in 2012, followed by renewables with 22.1%, hard coal with 19.1%, nuclear energy with 16.1% and gas with 11.3%. Other energy sources made a 5.7% contribution to total gross power generation. The most important ratios for the contributions made by the various lignite-mining areas to Germany's energy supply are shown. CO{sub 2} emissions from lignite rose 5.1% from 173.9 mill. t in 2011 to 182.8 mill. t in 2012. In the total period from 1990 to 2012, a decline of 159.4 mill. t, or

  3. Lignite; Braunkohle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaltenbach, Erwin; Maassen, Uwe [Debriv e.V., Berlin und Koeln (Germany)

    2015-07-01

    The domestic lignite is the most important and in the foreseeable future, the only domestic energy resource that is available in large quantities and economically. It makes an essential contribution to secure and competitive energy supply and has a high regional as macroeconomic importance. The required guarantied capacity for the development of renewable energy, the lignite provides under competition conditions. The flexibility of the lignite power plants is in addition to security of supply and competitiveness, a strategic added value for a reliable power supply. [German] Die heimische Braunkohle ist die wichtigste und in ueberschaubarer Zukunft auch die einzige heimische Energieressource, die in grossen Mengen und wirtschaftlich zur Verfuegung steht. Sie leistet einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur sicheren und wettbewerbsfaehigen Energieversorgung und hat eine hohe regional- wie gesamtwirtschaftliche Bedeutung. Die fuer den Ausbau der erneuerbaren Energien notwendige gesicherte Leistung stellt die Braunkohle unter Wettbewerbsbedingungen zur Verfuegung. Die Flexibilitaet des Braunkohlenkraftwerksparks ist neben Versorgungssicherheit und Wettbewerbsfaehigkeit ein strategischer Zusatznutzen fuer eine sichere Stromversorgung.

  4. Evaluation of radioactive emissions of lignite-fired power plants in Turkey using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bueke, Tayfun [Mugla Sitki Kocman Univ., Mugla (Turkey). Dept. of Energy Systems Engineering

    2013-11-15

    Radioactive emissions of 13 lignite-fired power plants in Turkey are of great concern to the public and to scientists alike. The purpose of this study is to evaluate these power plants, according to their radioactive emissions by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Control criteria are in particular {sup 226}Ra, {sup 232}Th, {sup 40}K and {sup 238}U emissions from the power plants. These control criteria are weighted according to the objective assessment. The calculations are repeated for three different objective assessments of control criteria namely the mortality risk coefficients for inhalation, ingestion, external exposure of {sup 226}Ra, {sup 232}Th, {sup 40}K and {sup 238}U. It has been calculated that the Can lignite-fired power plant is ranking first while the Soma-B plant is ranking last according to the radioactive emissions of the power plants when the average of three different objective control criteria are used in the calculations. (orig.)

  5. Low-ranking female Japanese macaques make efforts for social grooming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurihara, Yosuke

    2016-04-01

    Grooming is essential to build social relationships in primates. Its importance is universal among animals from different ranks; however, rank-related differences in feeding patterns can lead to conflicts between feeding and grooming in low-ranking animals. Unifying the effects of dominance rank on feeding and grooming behaviors contributes to revealing the importance of grooming. Here, I tested whether the grooming behavior of low-ranking females were similar to that of high-ranking females despite differences in their feeding patterns. I followed 9 Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata fuscata adult females from the Arashiyama group, and analyzed the feeding patterns and grooming behaviors of low- and high-ranking females. Low-ranking females fed on natural foods away from the provisioning site, whereas high-ranking females obtained more provisioned food at the site. Due to these differences in feeding patterns, low-ranking females spent less time grooming than high-ranking females. However, both low- and high-ranking females performed grooming around the provisioning site, which was linked to the number of neighboring individuals for low-ranking females and feeding on provisioned foods at the site for high-ranking females. The similarity in grooming area led to a range and diversity of grooming partners that did not differ with rank. Thus, low-ranking females can obtain small amounts of provisioned foods and perform grooming with as many partners around the provisioning site as high-ranking females. These results highlight the efforts made by low-ranking females to perform grooming and suggest the importance of grooming behavior in group-living primates.

  6. Low-ranking female Japanese macaques make efforts for social grooming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurihara, Yosuke

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Grooming is essential to build social relationships in primates. Its importance is universal among animals from different ranks; however, rank-related differences in feeding patterns can lead to conflicts between feeding and grooming in low-ranking animals. Unifying the effects of dominance rank on feeding and grooming behaviors contributes to revealing the importance of grooming. Here, I tested whether the grooming behavior of low-ranking females were similar to that of high-ranking females despite differences in their feeding patterns. I followed 9 Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata fuscata adult females from the Arashiyama group, and analyzed the feeding patterns and grooming behaviors of low- and high-ranking females. Low-ranking females fed on natural foods away from the provisioning site, whereas high-ranking females obtained more provisioned food at the site. Due to these differences in feeding patterns, low-ranking females spent less time grooming than high-ranking females. However, both low- and high-ranking females performed grooming around the provisioning site, which was linked to the number of neighboring individuals for low-ranking females and feeding on provisioned foods at the site for high-ranking females. The similarity in grooming area led to a range and diversity of grooming partners that did not differ with rank. Thus, low-ranking females can obtain small amounts of provisioned foods and perform grooming with as many partners around the provisioning site as high-ranking females. These results highlight the efforts made by low-ranking females to perform grooming and suggest the importance of grooming behavior in group-living primates. PMID:29491896

  7. Externalities from lignite mining-related dust emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Papagiannis, A.; Roussos, D.; Menegaki, M.; Damigos, D.

    2014-01-01

    During the last three decades, several studies have been conducted in order to assess the external costs of electricity production from fossil fuels, especially coal and lignite. Nevertheless, these studies usually ignore the impacts generated by the upstream mining works. This paper contributes to existing literature and attempts to fill this gap by exploring the externalities of lignite mining owing to the emission of suspended particulate matter. To this end, a ‘bottom-up’ approach is implemented, using as case study the largest operational lignite surface mine at the Lignite Center of Western Macedonia (Greece). The results indicate that annual air pollution externalities of lignite mining are of the order of 3€/ton of lignite, which corresponds to around 5.0 €/MW h. The estimated costs are significantly lower, i.e. up to 80%, when dust deposition is considered in air dispersion models. In any case, these findings should be seen as a starting point for discussion owing to the lack of specific emission rates for Greek lignite mines. - Highlights: • Externalities from lignite mining-related dust emissions are 3 €/t of lignite. • Externalities of mining correspond to around 5.0 €/MW h. • Externalities are significantly lower, up to 80%, if dust deposition is considered. • There is lack of specific dust emission rates for lignite mining. • There are high discrepancies in existing dust emission rates for lignite mining

  8. Low-Rank Matrix Factorization With Adaptive Graph Regularizer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Gui-Fu; Wang, Yong; Zou, Jian

    2016-05-01

    In this paper, we present a novel low-rank matrix factorization algorithm with adaptive graph regularizer (LMFAGR). We extend the recently proposed low-rank matrix with manifold regularization (MMF) method with an adaptive regularizer. Different from MMF, which constructs an affinity graph in advance, LMFAGR can simultaneously seek graph weight matrix and low-dimensional representations of data. That is, graph construction and low-rank matrix factorization are incorporated into a unified framework, which results in an automatically updated graph rather than a predefined one. The experimental results on some data sets demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art low-rank matrix factorization methods.

  9. Neyveli lignite - a status overview

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tandon, G L

    1984-11-14

    The lignite mines of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation in Tamil Nadu in India are described: characteristics of the deposit; choice of mining method (surface mining); groundwater control; storm water control; overburden removal; mining equipment (bucket wheel excavators, belt conveyors and spreaders); generation of electric power; production of fertilizer; production of lignite briquettes and tar products. A second mine and thermal power plant are planned.

  10. Investigation of pre-drying lignite in an existing Greek power plant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agraniotis Michalis

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The application of lignite pre-drying technologies in next generation of lignite power plants by utilizing low pressure steam as a drying medium instead of hot recirculated flue gas - combined with thermal utilization of the vaporized coal moisture - is expected to bring efficiency increase of 2-4 percentage points in future lignite power plants compared with today’s state of the art. The pre-drying concept is of particular importance in Greek boilers firing lignite with a high water and ash content. The combustion of Greek predried lignite has been investigated experimentally and via numerical simulations in our previous research. This study focuses on the potential integration of a lignite pre-drying system in an existing Greek power plant with dry lignite co-firing thermal share of up to 30%. The radiative and convective heat fluxes to the boiler and the overall boiler heat balance is calculated for reference and dry lignite co-firing conditions by an in-house calculation code. The overall plant’s thermal cycle is then simulated using commercial thermal cycle calculation software. The net plant efficiency is in this way determined for reference and dry coal co-firing conditions. According to the simulation results the integration of a pre-drying system and the implementation of dry lignite co-firing may bring an efficiency increase of about 1.5 percentage points in existing Greek boilers. It is therefore considered as an important measure towards improving plant efficiency and reducing specific CO2 emissions in existing plants.

  11. The use of additive ceramic hollow spheres on cement slurry to prevent lost circulation in formation `X' having low pressure fracture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rita, Novia; Mursyidah, Syahindra, Michael

    2018-03-01

    When drilling, if the hydrostatic pressure is higher than formation pressure (fracture pressure) it will cause lost circulation during cementing process. To solve this problem, hydrostatic pressure of slurry can be decreased by lowering the slurry density by using some additives. Ceramic Hollow Spheres (CHS) is lightweight additive. This additive comes with low specific gravity so it can lowered the slurry density. When the low-density slurry used in cementing process, it can prevent low circulation and fractured formation caused by cement itself. Class G cement is used in this experiment with the standard density of this slurry is 15.8 ppg. With the addition of CHS, slurry density lowered to 12.5 ppg. CHS not only used to lower the slurry density, it also used to make the same properties with the standard slurry even the density has been lowered. Both thickening time and compressive strength have not change if the CHS added to the slurry. With addition of CHS, thickening time at 70 Bc reached in 03 hours 12 minutes. For the compressive strength, 2000 psi reached in 07 hours 07 minutes. Addition of CHS can save more time in cementing process of X formation.

  12. Low rank magnetic resonance fingerprinting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazor, Gal; Weizman, Lior; Tal, Assaf; Eldar, Yonina C

    2016-08-01

    Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) is a relatively new approach that provides quantitative MRI using randomized acquisition. Extraction of physical quantitative tissue values is preformed off-line, based on acquisition with varying parameters and a dictionary generated according to the Bloch equations. MRF uses hundreds of radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses for acquisition, and therefore high under-sampling ratio in the sampling domain (k-space) is required. This under-sampling causes spatial artifacts that hamper the ability to accurately estimate the quantitative tissue values. In this work, we introduce a new approach for quantitative MRI using MRF, called Low Rank MRF. We exploit the low rank property of the temporal domain, on top of the well-known sparsity of the MRF signal in the generated dictionary domain. We present an iterative scheme that consists of a gradient step followed by a low rank projection using the singular value decomposition. Experiments on real MRI data demonstrate superior results compared to conventional implementation of compressed sensing for MRF at 15% sampling ratio.

  13. Low Rank Approximation Algorithms, Implementation, Applications

    CERN Document Server

    Markovsky, Ivan

    2012-01-01

    Matrix low-rank approximation is intimately related to data modelling; a problem that arises frequently in many different fields. Low Rank Approximation: Algorithms, Implementation, Applications is a comprehensive exposition of the theory, algorithms, and applications of structured low-rank approximation. Local optimization methods and effective suboptimal convex relaxations for Toeplitz, Hankel, and Sylvester structured problems are presented. A major part of the text is devoted to application of the theory. Applications described include: system and control theory: approximate realization, model reduction, output error, and errors-in-variables identification; signal processing: harmonic retrieval, sum-of-damped exponentials, finite impulse response modeling, and array processing; machine learning: multidimensional scaling and recommender system; computer vision: algebraic curve fitting and fundamental matrix estimation; bioinformatics for microarray data analysis; chemometrics for multivariate calibration; ...

  14. THE COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGNITE BLENDS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Cheng Jun; Zhou Junhu; Cao Xinyu; Cen Kefa

    2000-01-01

    The combustion characteristics of lignite blends were studied with a thermogravimetric analyzer (t.g.a.), at constant heating rate.The characteristic temperatures were determined from the burning profiles.It was found that the characteristic times of combustion reaction moved forward, the ignition temperature dropped and the burnout efficiency slightly changed when blending lignites.The characteristic parameters of blends could not be predicted as a linear function of the average values of the individual lignites.when blending with less reactive coal, the ignition and burnout characteristics of lignite turned worse.

  15. Lignite industry in Greece within a world context: Mining, energy supply and environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kavouridis, Konstantinos

    2008-01-01

    Today coal covers 38% of global production and roughly 30% of the EU-25 power output. In 2005 domestic lignite with a share of 60.5% in power generation and accounting about 30% of primary energy consumption is currently the most important indigenous fuel of Greece. Greece, mining 70 Mt annually, is the second lignite producer in the EU and fourth in the world. Approximately 97% of the lignite used to supply the existing lignite-fired power plants of Greece is mined by Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC). Lignite as the base load fuel gives a competitive strength in PPC's and Greece's fuel mix. Due to lignite consumer prices in Greece are significantly below those in other comparable markets in EU-15. Extraction of lignite has a very long tradition. Significant achievements and large experience which has been gained during many years of mining operations place Greek lignite-mining industry in the leading position in Europe. The paper presents current state of Greek lignite industry, including operating mines, volume of production and other important production indicators as well as improvements in labor productivity and good results in industrial safety. The future of coal and specifically of Greek lignite will be crucially determined by environmentally compatible, i.e. low-CO 2 generation of electricity. Investment in modernization and renewal of the power plant fleet are the key to securing electricity supply and progress in preventing climate change

  16. Low-rank coal research. Quarterly report, January--March 1990

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1990-08-01

    This document contains several quarterly progress reports for low-rank coal research that was performed from January-March 1990. Reports in Control Technology and Coal Preparation Research are in Flue Gas Cleanup, Waste Management, and Regional Energy Policy Program for the Northern Great Plains. Reports in Advanced Research and Technology Development are presented in Turbine Combustion Phenomena, Combustion Inorganic Transformation (two sections), Liquefaction Reactivity of Low-Rank Coals, Gasification Ash and Slag Characterization, and Coal Science. Reports in Combustion Research cover Fluidized-Bed Combustion, Beneficiation of Low-Rank Coals, Combustion Characterization of Low-Rank Coal Fuels, Diesel Utilization of Low-Rank Coals, and Produce and Characterize HWD (hot-water drying) Fuels for Heat Engine Applications. Liquefaction Research is reported in Low-Rank Coal Direct Liquefaction. Gasification Research progress is discussed for Production of Hydrogen and By-Products from Coal and for Chemistry of Sulfur Removal in Mild Gas.

  17. Coal-water fuels - a clean coal solution for Eastern Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ljubicic, B.; Willson, W.; Bukurov, Z.; Cvijanovic, P.; Stajner, K.; Popovic, R.

    1993-01-01

    Eastern Europe currently faces great economic and environmental problems. Among these problems is energy provision. Coal reserves are large but cause pollution while oil and gas need to be used for export. Formal 'clean coal technologies' are simply too expensive to be implemented on a large scale in the current economic crisis. The promised western investment and technological help has simply not taken place, western Europe must help eastern Europe with coal technology. The cheapest such technology is coal-water fuel slurry. It can substitute for oil, but research has not been carried out because of low oil prices. Coal-water fuel is one of the best methods of exploiting low rank coal. Many eastern European low rank coals have a low sulfur content, and thus make a good basis for a clean fuel. Italy and Russia are involved in such a venture, the slurry being transported in a pipeline. This technology would enable Russia to exploit Arctic coal reserves, thus freeing oil and gas for export. In Serbia the exploitation of sub-Danube lignite deposits with dredging mining produced a slurry. This led to the use and development of hot water drying, which enabled the removal of many of the salts which cause problems in pulverized fuel combustion. The system is economic, the fuel safer to transport then oil, either by rail or in pipelines. Many eastern European oil facilities could switch. 24 refs

  18. Energy and water conservation at lignite-fired power plants using drying and water recovery technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Ming; Qin, Yuanzhi; Yan, Hui; Han, Xiaoqu; Chong, Daotong

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Pre-drying and water recovery technologies were used to conserve energy and water. • The energy and water conservation potential were analyzed with reference cases. • The air-cooling unit produces water when the water content of lignite is high enough. • Influences of main parameters on energy and water conservation were analyzed. - Abstract: Lignite is considered as a competitive energy raw material with high security of supply viewed from a global angle. However, lignite-fired power plants have many shortcomings, including high investment, low energy efficiency and high water use. To address these issues, the drying and water recovery technologies are integrated within lignite-fired power plants. Both air-cooling and wet-cooling units with three kinds of lignite as feeding fuel were analyzed quantitatively. Results showed that energy conservation and water conservation are obtained simultaneously. The power plant firing high moisture lignite becomes more environmental friendly with higher power generation efficiency and a lower water makeup rate than the one firing low moisture lignite. And further calculation revealed that the air-cooling unit needs no makeup water and even produces some water as it generates power, when the water carrying coefficient is higher than 40 g/MJ.

  19. The structure and pyrolysis product distribution of lignite from different sedimentary environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Peng; Zhang, Dexiang; Wang, Lanlan; Zhou, Yang; Pan, Tieying; Lu, Xilan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Carbon structure of three lignites was measured by solid "1"3C NMR. • Effect of carbon structure on pyrolysis product distribution was studied. • Tar yield is influenced by aliphatic carbon and oxygen functional group. • C1–C4 content of pyrolysis gas is related to CH_2/CH_3 ratio. - Abstract: Low-temperature pyrolysis is an economically efficient method for lignite to obtain coal tar and improve its combustion calorific value. The research on the distribution of pyrolysis product (especially coal tar yield) plays an important role in energy application and economic development in the now and future. Pyrolysis test was carried out in a tube reactor at 873 K for 15 min. The structure of the lignite was measured by solid "1"3C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The thermal analysis was analyzed by thermo-gravimetric (TG) analyzer. The results show that the pyrolysis product distribution is related to the breakage of branch structures of aromatic ring in lignites from different sedimentary environment. The gas yield and composition are related to the decomposition of carbonyl group and the breakage of aliphatic carbon. The tar yield derived from lignite pyrolysis follows the order: Xianfeng lignite (XF, 13.67 wt.%) > Xiaolongtan lignite (XLT, 7.97 wt.%) > Inner Mongolia lignite (IM, 6.30 wt.%), which is mainly influenced by the aliphatic carbon contents, the CH_2/CH_3 ratio and the oxygen functional groups in lignite. The pyrolysis water yield depends on the decomposition of oxygen functional groups. IM has the highest content of oxygen-linked carbon so that the pyrolysis water yield derived from IM is the highest (9.20 wt.%), and is far more than that from the other two lignites.

  20. Co-combustion of low rank coal/waste biomass blends using dry air or oxygen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haykiri-Acma, H.; Yaman, S.; Kucukbayrak, S.

    2013-01-01

    Biomass species such as the rice husk and the olive milling residue, and a low quality Turkish coal, Soma Denis lignite, were burned in a thermal analyzer under pure oxygen and dry air up to 900 °C, and differential thermal analysis (DTA) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) analysis profiles were obtained. Co-combustion experiments of lignite/biomass blends containing 5–20 wt% of biomass were also performed. The effects of the oxidizer type and the blending ratio of biomass were evaluated considering some thermal reactivity indicators such as the maximum burning rate and its temperature, the maximum heat flow temperature, and the burnout levels. FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) were used to characterize the samples, and the variations in the combustion characteristics of the samples were interpreted based on the differences in the intrinsic properties of the samples. - Highlights: ► Co-combustion of lignite/biomass blends. ► The effects of the oxidizer type and the blending ratio. ► Effects of intrinsic properties on combustion characteristics.

  1. Abundances of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 14 chinese and american coals and their relation to coal rank and weathering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, R.; Liu, Gaisheng; Zhang, Jiahua; Chou, C.-L.; Liu, J.

    2010-01-01

    The abundances of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the priority list of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) have been determined in 14 Chinese and American coals. The ranks of the samples range from lignite, bituminous coal, anthracite, to natural coke. Soxhlet extraction was conducted on each coal for 48 h. The extract was analyzed on a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The results show that the total PAH content ranged from 0.31 to 57.6 ??g/g of coal (on a dry basis). It varied with coal rank and is highest in the maturity range of bituminous coal rank. High-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs are predominant in low-rank coals, but low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs are predominant in high-rank coals. The low-sulfur coals have a higher PAH content than high-sulfur coals. It may be explained by an increasing connection between disulfide bonds and PAHs in high-sulfur coal. In addition, it leads us to conclude that the PAH content of coals may be related to the depositional environment. ?? 2010 American Chemical Society.

  2. Lignite boost for North. [Northern Ireland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clerkin, H.

    1986-01-01

    Reserves of lignite, estimated at around 500 million tonnes, have been discovered on the shores of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. The Government has granted a mining licence and planning permission to Burnett and Hallamshire Holdings to start work on the deposit. It is proposed to mine the lignite using opencast methods. Much of this deposit will be consumed in a purpose-built mine mouth power station with further reserves being dried in the approved processing plant to produce a range of industrial and domestic fuels. Carbonising the lignite may eliminate pollution. However, large scale investment will be required before Ireland's economy can switch to lignite.

  3. Catalytic cracking of lignites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seitz, M.; Nowak, S.; Naegler, T.; Zimmermann, J. [Hochschule Merseburg (Germany); Welscher, J.; Schwieger, W. [Erlangen-Nuernberg Univ. (Germany); Hahn, T. [Halle-Wittenberg Univ., Halle (Germany)

    2013-11-01

    A most important factor for the chemical industry is the availability of cheap raw materials. As the oil price of crude oil is rising alternative feedstocks like coal are coming into focus. This work, the catalytic cracking of lignite is part of the alliance ibi (innovative Braunkohlenintegration) to use lignite as a raw material to produce chemicals. With this new one step process without an input of external hydrogen, mostly propylene, butenes and aromatics and char are formed. The product yield depends on manifold process parameters. The use of acid catalysts (zeolites like MFI) shows the highest amount of the desired products. Hydrogen rich lignites with a molar H/C ratio of > 1 are to be favoured. Due to primary cracking and secondary reactions the ratio between catalyst and lignite, temperature and residence time are the most important parameter to control the product distribution. Experiments at 500 C in a discontinuous rotary kiln reactor show yields up to 32 wt-% of hydrocarbons per lignite (maf - moisture and ash free) and 43 wt-% char, which can be gasified. Particularly, the yields of propylene and butenes as main products can be enhanced four times to about 8 wt-% by the use of catalysts while the tar yield decreases. In order to develop this innovative process catalyst systems fixed on beads were developed for an easy separation and regeneration of the used catalyst from the formed char. (orig.)

  4. Lignite mining in India - technology highlights

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tandon, G L

    1984-01-01

    Figures for lignite production and its role in the Indian energy scene are presented. Lignite mining at Neyveli is described in detail, including: advance preparation of the overburden strata; modifications to bucket wheel excavators; tackling the sticky surface clays; ground water management; storm water control; tackling higher overburden-to-lignite ratios; materials handling; communications within the mine; the development of indigenous mining equipment; and ecology and environmental control.

  5. Effect of mineral oxides on slag formation tendency of Mae Moh lignites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anuwat Luxsanayotin

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Slagging is one of major ash deposition problems experienced in the boilers of coal–fired power plants especially theplants that use lignite, like Mae Moh lignites. The occurrence of slag is a complex phenomenon depending on several factorssuch as ash properties, furnace operating conditions, and coal properties. The main objective of this work is to study theeffect of mineral components in Mae Moh lignite on ash fusion temperatures (AFTs, which is commonly used as a keyindicator for slag formation tendency under pulverized combustion conditions. Two Mae Moh lignites from the coal seamsplanned to be used in the future were selected for the study to represent low CaO and high CaO lignite. The two lignites,namely K1 and K3, have 3.6 and 40.4 wt% CaO in ash, respectively. The AFT characterization shows that their initial deformationtemperatures (ITs were almost identical and considered as low for the typical flue gas temperature in the radiationsection of Mae Moh boilers, i.e. 1050-1100°C. These observed similar ITs were rather unexpected, especially for K1 consideringits sufficiently low base to acid (B/A ratios. The X-ray diffraction analyses evidently show the presence of illite, pyriteand anhydrite in K1, which explains the observed lower IT of the sample. Anhydrite, which is known to lower the ITs, is alsothe most abundant mineral in K3. Washing the lignite samples with HCl can significantly reduce CaO, MgO, and SO3 contentin the ash but not Fe2O3 as it is present in the form of pyrite. The addition of Al2O3, SiO2 and Fe2O3 can help increase AFTs ofthe studied samples. The Al2O3 addition gives the strongest effect on increasing AFTs, especially for the sample with lowAl2O3 content. When the CaO is added to the low CaO samples, the fluxing effect will initially occur. However, when the CaOcontent is higher than a critical value (i.e. CaO > 38%, the effect of its high melting point will dominate hence the AFTsincreased. Ternary phase diagrams

  6. Texture Repairing by Unified Low Rank Optimization

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiao Liang; Xiang Ren; Zhengdong Zhang; Yi Ma

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we show how to harness both low-rank and sparse structures in regular or near-regular textures for image completion. Our method is based on a unified formulation for both random and contiguous corruption. In addition to the low rank property of texture, the algorithm also uses the sparse assumption of the natural image: because the natural image is piecewise smooth, it is sparse in certain transformed domain (such as Fourier or wavelet transform). We combine low-rank and sparsity properties of the texture image together in the proposed algorithm. Our algorithm based on convex optimization can automatically and correctly repair the global structure of a corrupted texture, even without precise information about the regions to be completed. This algorithm integrates texture rectification and repairing into one optimization problem. Through extensive simulations, we show our method can complete and repair textures corrupted by errors with both random and contiguous supports better than existing low-rank matrix recovery methods. Our method demonstrates significant advantage over local patch based texture synthesis techniques in dealing with large corruption, non-uniform texture, and large perspective deformation.

  7. Innovative approach to ash radioactivitiy and health impacts of lignite power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bosevski, T.; Pop-Jordanova, N. [Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje (Macedonia)

    1998-12-31

    In Macedonia nearly 90% of the present electricity production utilizes domestic low-calorie lignite, and this is likely to continue for the next few decades. Local and global environmental impacts of fossil fuel utilization are considered. Some innovative extensions to standard methodologies of environmental risk assessment and management are considered. They involve ash radioactivity and psychosomatic health impacts from lignite power plants. Two extensions are proposed: one comprising complete radioactive chains when determining committed effective dose from lignite ash; the other by including the psychosomatic diseases, such as peptic ulcer and arterial hypertension, due to chronic stress induced by power plants during normal operation. 7 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

  8. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of ancient buried wood-II. Observations on the origin of coal from lignite to bituminous coal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatcher, P.G.; Breger, I.A.; Szeverenyi, N.; Maciel, G.E.

    1982-01-01

    Coalified logs ranging in age from Late Pennsylvania to Miocene and in rank from lignite B to bituminous coal were analyzed by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) utilizing the cross-polarization, magic-angle spinning technique, as well as by infrared spectroscopy. The results of this study indicate that at least three major stages of coalification can be observed as wood gradually undergoes transformation to bituminous coal. The first stage involves hydrolysis and loss of cellulose from wood with retention and differential concentration of the resistant lignin. The second stage involves conversion of the lignin residues directly to coalified wood of lignitic rank, during which the oxygen content of intermediate diagenetic products remains constant as the hydrogen content and the carbon content increases. These changes are thought to involve loss of methoxyl groups, water, and C3 side chains from the lignin. In the third major stage of coalification, the coalified wood increases in rank to subbituminous and bituminous coal; during this stage the oxygen content decreases, hydrogen remains constant, and the carbon content increases. These changes are thought to result from loss of soluble humic acids that are rich in oxygen and that are mobilized during compaction and dewatering. Relatively resistant resinous substances are differentially concentrated in the coal during this stage. The hypothesis that humic acids are formed as mobile by-products of the coalification of lignin and function only as vehicles for removal of oxygen represents a dramatic departure from commonly accepted views that they are relatively low-molecular-weight intermediates formed during the degradation of lignin that then condense to form high-molecular-weight coal structures. ?? 1982.

  9. Thermal dewatering of lignite: Phase III - final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Champagne, P J; Szladow, A J; Kybett, B D

    1981-01-01

    Phase III of this project extended the investigation of thermal dewatering on several lignite and peat samples at the temperature range up to 400 degrees C and investigated variables such as retention time, increased rates of heating and cooling, extent of trace element removal, effect of particle size and effect of dewatering under heavy and light oils. Lignites from three areas of Canada (Estevan and Coronach, Saskatchewan, and Onakawana, Ontario) and one peat sample (Garrick, Saskatchewan) were thermally dewatered. The equilibrium moisture values obtained for the dewatered products were as low as, or lower than those obtained in Phases I and II of this project (350 degrees C). However, the measured moisture contents of the thermally dewatered Saskatchewan lignites were somewhat higher than those measured in Phases I and II. The equilibrium moisture values and the moisture contents decreased with increasing temperature. An optimum balance between extent of dewatering and resulting steam pressures is obtained for a dewatering temperature between 300 and 350 degrees C. At these temperatures, residence times in the order of 15 minutes are required. (35 refs.)

  10. Changes of chemical properties of humic acids from crude and fungal transformed lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LianHua Dong; Quan Yuan; HongLi Yuan [China Agricultural University, Beijing (China). College of Biological Science

    2006-12-15

    The development of biological processes for fossil energy utilization has received increasing attention in recent years. There are abundance of lignite resources in China and the lignite, a low-grade coal, can be transformed by a Penicillium sp. After fungal transformation, the contents of humic acid and water-soluble humic material increased from 38.6% to 55.1%, and from less than 4.0% to 28.2%, respectively. The differences in chemical properties of crude lignite humic acid (aHA), fungal transformed lignite humic acid (bHA) and water-soluble humic material from fungal transformed lignite (WS) were studied. Elemental analysis and size exclusion chromatography showed that the N content of bHA increased by 47.36% compared with aHA, and the molecular mass of bHA was smaller than aHA. And the WS with the smallest molecular mass contained most content of N. The {sup 13}C NMR and FT-IR spectra of aHA and bHA showed that aHA contained more aromatic structure than bHA. 44 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.

  11. Slurry walls and slurry trenches - construction quality control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poletto, R.J.; Good, D.R.

    1997-01-01

    Slurry (panel) walls and slurry trenches have become conventional methods for construction of deep underground structures, interceptor trenches and hydraulic (cutoff) barriers. More recently polymers mixed with water are used to stabilize the excavation instead of bentonite slurry. Slurry walls are typically excavated in short panel segments, 2 to 7 m (7 to 23 ft) long, and backfilled with structural materials; whereas slurry trenches are fairly continuous excavations with concurrent backfilling of blended soils, or cement-bentonite mixtures. Slurry trench techniques have also been used to construct interceptor trenches. Currently no national standards exist for the design and/or construction of slurry walls/trenches. Government agencies, private consultants, contractors and trade groups have published specifications for construction of slurry walls/trenches. These specifications vary in complexity and quality of standards. Some place excessive emphasis on the preparation and control of bentonite or polymer slurry used for excavation, with insufficient emphasis placed on quality control of bottom cleaning, tremie concrete, backfill placement or requirements for the finished product. This has led to numerous quality problems, particularly with regard to identification of key depths, bottom sediments and proper backfill placement. This paper will discuss the inspection of slurry wall/trench construction process, identifying those areas which require special scrutiny. New approaches to inspection of slurry stabilized excavations are discussed

  12. The effect of the particulate phase on coal biosolubilisation mediated by Trichoderma atroviride in a slurry bioreactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oboirien, B.O.; Burton, S.G. [Bioprocess Engineering Research Unit, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 (South Africa); Cowan, D. [Bioprocess Engineering Research Unit, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 (South Africa); Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Belville (South Africa); Harrison, S.T.L.

    2008-02-15

    Low rank coal is currently under-utilised because of its low calorific value and high moisture and sulphur content. Its solubilisation by both bacterial and fungal cultures has been reported, the latter more commonly. Coal biosolubilisation processes have potential to convert low rank coal to either a clean, cost-effective energy source or complex aromatic compounds for biocatalytic conversion to value-added products. This can lead to an increased utilisation of low rank coal. In this study, the key variables of the slurry that affect biosolubilisation of low rank coal by Trichoderma atroviride in submerged culture were investigated. Results showed that the key operating variables that influence coal biosolubilisation in the slurry bioreactor are coal loading and particle size affecting available surface area. These factors affect the surface area available for coal biosolubilisation. The optimum coal loading occurred between 5 and 10% (w/v); an increase above this optimum led to inhibition of the fungal culture of T. atroviride (ES11) by fragmentation of the fungal mycelium. A decrease in particle size fraction led to an increase in the degree of coal solubilisation. Coal biosolubilisation was shown to increase 4-fold when particle size was decreased from 600-850 {mu}m to 150-300 {mu}m. A 28% biosolubilisation of coal of 150-300 {mu}m, characterised by a surface specific area of 2.17 cm{sup 2} g{sup -} {sup 1}, was measured as coal weight loss over 14 days at solids loading at 5%. This can be compared with a 7.8% coal weight loss at 600-850 {mu}m diameters (0.54 cm{sup 2} g{sup -} {sup 1}). Soluble phenolic compounds are not a significant product of the coal biosolubilisation process. The change in pH observed in the presence of both coal and fungi was independent of coal loading and was not directly related to the extent of coal solubilisation. While soluble intermediates were observed as total organic, further metabolism resulted in complete oxidation of a

  13. The future path of lignite production in the Balkan countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boussios, E.; Koikouzas, N.K.

    1997-01-01

    The future development of the European Union and Balkan lignite industry is examined in this paper. Lignite in some countries represents for the last decade by far the most important fuel for electricity generation. The economically recoverable lignite reserves of the Balkans (21.36 x 10 9 t) and Greece (4.0 x 10 9 t) are sufficient to meet their energy demand for the next decades (50-100 years). The Balkan countries intended to increase their lignite production, in the near future, as result of the increase of their primary energy demand and their efforts to meet their energy requirements by using domestic resources. Greece also plans to increase lignite production. On the contrary, the remaining of the European Union countries intend to decrease their lignite production. Nevertheless, the countries of Balkan region which are presently in a transition period to the market economy, have to deal with a decrease of people employed in the lignite mining industry. However, Balkan region seems to be the most promising area for the future development of the lignite industry in the enlarged EU, after making the following alterations in the lignite sector: Rehabilitation of the lignite open-pit mines, closure of the most underground mines, privatization of the most prosperous mines, modification of the existing technology, introduction of the 'clean' coal technology, etc. New opportunities for the development and modernization of the lignite industry in Balkan countries arise, after their possible entrance into the European Union, considering also that lignite is one of their most important indigenous energy source. For the necessary modernization of the lignite industry, development of collaborations for the capital and know-how transferring is required. (Author)

  14. Acoustic Monitor for Liquid-Solid Slurries Measurements at Low Weight Fractions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tavlarides, L. L.; Sangani, A.; Shcherbakov, A.; Lee, J. S.; Dievendorf, E.

    2003-01-01

    The principal objective of the project is to develop an acoustic probe for determining the weight fraction of particles in a flowing suspension. The suspension can be solid-liquid (S-L) or solid-gas-liquid (S-G-L). The work will include testing the theory of acoustic wave propagation in suspensions and demonstrating the application of the probe by installing it on a flow loop through which a suspension is flowing and determining the particle weight fraction. The signal from the probe must be processed such that the noise arising from the presence of gas bubbles is removed to yield an accurate estimate of the particle weight fraction. Particular attention will be given to testing suspensions with low particle weight fractions since slurries to be transported in nuclear waste processing will have low particle weight fractions. Originally, the probe was to be developed and tested at Syracuse University (SU) then installed and tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) for surrogate slurries from the Hanford Nuclear site. However, after discussions between SU and ORNL in June 2002 it was agreed that all tests would be conducted at SU

  15. Acoustic Monitor for Liquid-Solid Slurries Measurements at Low Weight Fractions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tavlarides, L. L.; Sangani, A.; Shcherbakov, A.; Lee, J. S.; Dievendorf, E.

    2002-01-01

    The principal objective of the project is to develop an acoustic probe for determining the weight fraction of particles in a flowing suspension. The suspension can be solid-liquid (S-L) or solid-gas-liquid (S-G-L). The work will include testing the theory of acoustic wave propagation in suspensions and demonstrating the application of the probe by installing it on a flow loop through which a suspension is flowing and determining the particle weight fraction. The signal from the probe must be processed such that the noise arising from the presence of gas bubbles is removed to yield an accurate estimate of the particle weight fraction. Particular attention will be given to testing suspensions with low particle weight fractions since slurries to be transported in nuclear waste processing will have low particle weight fractions. Originally, the probe was to be developed and tested at Syracuse University (SU) then installed and tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) for surrogate slurries from the Hanford Nuclear site. However, after discussions between SU and ORNL in June 2002 it was agreed that all tests would be conducted at SU

  16. Sustainable Mining Land Use for Lignite Based Energy Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudek, Michal; Krysa, Zbigniew

    2017-12-01

    This research aims to discuss complex lignite based energy projects economic viability and its impact on sustainable land use with respect to project risk and uncertainty, economics, optimisation (e.g. Lerchs and Grossmann) and importance of lignite as fuel that may be expressed in situ as deposit of energy. Sensitivity analysis and simulation consist of estimated variable land acquisition costs, geostatistics, 3D deposit block modelling, electricity price considered as project product price, power station efficiency and power station lignite processing unit cost, CO2 allowance costs, mining unit cost and also lignite availability treated as lignite reserves kriging estimation error. Investigated parameters have nonlinear influence on results so that economically viable amount of lignite in optimal pit varies having also nonlinear impact on land area required for mining operation.

  17. Low-rank quadratic semidefinite programming

    KAUST Repository

    Yuan, Ganzhao

    2013-04-01

    Low rank matrix approximation is an attractive model in large scale machine learning problems, because it can not only reduce the memory and runtime complexity, but also provide a natural way to regularize parameters while preserving learning accuracy. In this paper, we address a special class of nonconvex quadratic matrix optimization problems, which require a low rank positive semidefinite solution. Despite their non-convexity, we exploit the structure of these problems to derive an efficient solver that converges to their local optima. Furthermore, we show that the proposed solution is capable of dramatically enhancing the efficiency and scalability of a variety of concrete problems, which are of significant interest to the machine learning community. These problems include the Top-k Eigenvalue problem, Distance learning and Kernel learning. Extensive experiments on UCI benchmarks have shown the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. © 2012.

  18. Low-rank quadratic semidefinite programming

    KAUST Repository

    Yuan, Ganzhao; Zhang, Zhenjie; Ghanem, Bernard; Hao, Zhifeng

    2013-01-01

    Low rank matrix approximation is an attractive model in large scale machine learning problems, because it can not only reduce the memory and runtime complexity, but also provide a natural way to regularize parameters while preserving learning accuracy. In this paper, we address a special class of nonconvex quadratic matrix optimization problems, which require a low rank positive semidefinite solution. Despite their non-convexity, we exploit the structure of these problems to derive an efficient solver that converges to their local optima. Furthermore, we show that the proposed solution is capable of dramatically enhancing the efficiency and scalability of a variety of concrete problems, which are of significant interest to the machine learning community. These problems include the Top-k Eigenvalue problem, Distance learning and Kernel learning. Extensive experiments on UCI benchmarks have shown the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. © 2012.

  19. Weighted Discriminative Dictionary Learning based on Low-rank Representation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Heyou; Zheng, Hao

    2017-01-01

    Low-rank representation has been widely used in the field of pattern classification, especially when both training and testing images are corrupted with large noise. Dictionary plays an important role in low-rank representation. With respect to the semantic dictionary, the optimal representation matrix should be block-diagonal. However, traditional low-rank representation based dictionary learning methods cannot effectively exploit the discriminative information between data and dictionary. To address this problem, this paper proposed weighted discriminative dictionary learning based on low-rank representation, where a weighted representation regularization term is constructed. The regularization associates label information of both training samples and dictionary atoms, and encourages to generate a discriminative representation with class-wise block-diagonal structure, which can further improve the classification performance where both training and testing images are corrupted with large noise. Experimental results demonstrate advantages of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods. (paper)

  20. Low-rank coal study. Volume 4. Regulatory, environmental, and market analyses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-11-01

    The regulatory, environmental, and market constraints to development of US low-rank coal resources are analyzed. Government-imposed environmental and regulatory requirements are among the most important factors that determine the markets for low-rank coal and the technology used in the extraction, delivery, and utilization systems. Both state and federal controls are examined, in light of available data on impacts and effluents associated with major low-rank coal development efforts. The market analysis examines both the penetration of existing markets by low-rank coal and the evolution of potential markets in the future. The electric utility industry consumes about 99 percent of the total low-rank coal production. This use in utility boilers rose dramatically in the 1970's and is expected to continue to grow rapidly. In the late 1980's and 1990's, industrial direct use of low-rank coal and the production of synthetic fuels are expected to start growing as major new markets.

  1. Characterisation of lignite as an industrial adsorbent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ying Qi; Andrew F.A. Hoadley; Alan L. Chaffee; Gil Garnier [Monash University, Clayton, Vic. (Australia). Department of Chemical Engineering

    2011-04-15

    An alternative use of the abundant and inexpensive lignite (also known as brown coal) as an industrial adsorbent has been characterised. The adsorptive properties of two Victorian lignite without any pre-treatment were investigated using the cationic methylene blue dye as a model compound in aqueous solutions. Two commercial activated carbon products were also studied for comparison. The adsorption equilibrium of the four adsorbents was better described by the Langmuir isotherm model than the Freundlich model. The adsorption capacities of the two untreated lignite adsorbents, Loy Yang and Yallourn, calculated using Langmuir isotherms were 286 and 370 mg/g, respectively, higher than a coconut shell-based activated carbon (167 mg/g), but lower than a coal-based activated carbon (435 mg/g). Surface area results suggested that larger micropores and mesopores were important for achieving good methylene blue adsorption by the activated carbons. However, FTIR and cation exchange capacity analyses revealed that, for the lignite, chemical interactions between lignite surface functional groups and methylene blue molecules occurred, thereby augmenting its adsorption capacity. 63 refs., 3 figs., 7 tabs.

  2. Treatment of lignite tars, etc

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1936-08-07

    A process is described for treating tars such as lignite tar, shale tar, or peat tar, and similar tars, characterized by the fact that the tar is rectified to about 240/sup 0/C and the residue brought to a temperature above 50/sup 0/C after diluting with a product of the type of gasoline or ligroin at about 30/sup 0/C and treated with selective solvents preferably low-boiling phenols and eventually with water.

  3. Lignite As Contributory Factor to Regional Development of Greece

    OpenAIRE

    Ilias Kordas

    2006-01-01

    Lignite (brown coal) is Greece's most important energy mineral raw material. Lignite exploitation has made a highly significant contribution to the development of energy sector of Greece on past 50 years, and will, according to estimations, continue to supply energy for another 40 years. Greece is very rich in Lignite resources. The two main basins - from where Lignite is extracted by opencast mining - are a) in Western Macedonia (northen Greece) where is generated the 70% of the whole electr...

  4. A study relating to the conceptual design and cost estimates of the Saskatchewan Power Corporation lignite beneficiation process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Granatstein, D L; Champagne, P J; Szladow, A J

    1982-06-01

    The purpose is to provide technology for upgrading lignite to a cleaner fuel that is capable of improving utility plant operation and is more acceptable to the non-utility sector. Beneficiated lignite can provide a middle alternative between low-grade and high-grade fuels. The results for phase IV include a conceptual design for a lignite beneficiation plant and a marketing study for the product. The beneficiated lignite is cheaper to transport, easier to handle, cleaner, allows better plant operation with higher availability, reduced slagging and fouling, reduced sulphur, and lower operating and maintenance costs. 8 refs., 6 figs., 7 tabs.

  5. Manifold Based Low-rank Regularization for Image Restoration and Semi-supervised Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Lai, Rongjie; Li, Jia

    2017-01-01

    Low-rank structures play important role in recent advances of many problems in image science and data science. As a natural extension of low-rank structures for data with nonlinear structures, the concept of the low-dimensional manifold structure has been considered in many data processing problems. Inspired by this concept, we consider a manifold based low-rank regularization as a linear approximation of manifold dimension. This regularization is less restricted than the global low-rank regu...

  6. Tensor completion and low-n-rank tensor recovery via convex optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gandy, Silvia; Yamada, Isao; Recht, Benjamin

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we consider sparsity on a tensor level, as given by the n-rank of a tensor. In an important sparse-vector approximation problem (compressed sensing) and the low-rank matrix recovery problem, using a convex relaxation technique proved to be a valuable solution strategy. Here, we will adapt these techniques to the tensor setting. We use the n-rank of a tensor as a sparsity measure and consider the low-n-rank tensor recovery problem, i.e. the problem of finding the tensor of the lowest n-rank that fulfills some linear constraints. We introduce a tractable convex relaxation of the n-rank and propose efficient algorithms to solve the low-n-rank tensor recovery problem numerically. The algorithms are based on the Douglas–Rachford splitting technique and its dual variant, the alternating direction method of multipliers

  7. Evaluation of planarization performance for a novel alkaline copper slurry under a low abrasive concentration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Mengting; Liu Yuling; Yuan Haobo; Chen Guodong; Liu Weijuan

    2014-01-01

    A novel alkaline copper slurry that possesses a relatively high planarization performance is investigated under a low abrasive concentration. Based on the action mechanism of CMP, the feasibility of using one type of slurry in copper bulk elimination process and residual copper elimination process, with different process parameters, was analyzed. In addition, we investigated the regular change of abrasive concentration effect on copper and tantalum removal rate and within wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU) in CMP process. When the abrasive concentration is 3 wt%, in bulk elimination process, the copper removal rate achieves 6125 Å/min, while WIWNU is 3.5%, simultaneously. In residual copper elimination process, the copper removal rate is approximately 2700 Å/min, while WIWNU is 2.8%. Nevertheless, the tantalum removal rate is 0 Å/min, which indicates that barrier layer isn't eliminated in residual copper elimination process. The planarization experimental results show that an excellent planarization performance is obtained with a relatively high copper removal rate in bulk elimination process. Meanwhile, after residual copper elimination process, the dishing value increased inconspicuously, in a controllable range, and the wafer surface roughness is only 0.326 nm (sq < 1 nm) after polishing. By comparison, the planarization performance and surface quality of alkaline slurry show almost no major differences with two kinds of commercial acid slurries after polishing. All experimental results are conducive to research and improvement of alkaline slurry in the future. (semiconductor technology)

  8. Degradation/solubilization of Chinese lignite by Penicillium sp. P6

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yuan, H.L.; Yang, J.S.; Wang, F.Q.; Chen, W.X. [China Agricultural University, Beijing (China). Key Laboratory of Agro-Microbial Resource and Application, Ministry of Agrio, College of Biological Science

    2006-01-15

    Penicillium sp. P6, isolated from coal mine soil at the Qiantong colliery Liaoning Province, Northeast China, can degrade Chinese lignite in 36 h on a plate colony and in 48 h using a 4-day cultured cell-free filtrate. Results of elemental analysis and IR spectrometry indicated that solubilized products exhibited some alterations in comparison to the original lignite. The amount of fulvic acid extracted from the biodegraded lignite was high, and the molecular distribution of the humic acids from biodegraded lignite changed distinctively in comparison to which extracted from the control lignite, possibly due to the depolymerization associated with fungal biodegradation.

  9. Batched Tile Low-Rank GEMM on GPUs

    KAUST Repository

    Charara, Ali

    2018-02-01

    Dense General Matrix-Matrix (GEMM) multiplication is a core operation of the Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS) library, and therefore, often resides at the bottom of the traditional software stack for most of the scientific applications. In fact, chip manufacturers give a special attention to the GEMM kernel implementation since this is exactly where most of the high-performance software libraries extract the hardware performance. With the emergence of big data applications involving large data-sparse, hierarchically low-rank matrices, the off-diagonal tiles can be compressed to reduce the algorithmic complexity and the memory footprint. The resulting tile low-rank (TLR) data format is composed of small data structures, which retains the most significant information for each tile. However, to operate on low-rank tiles, a new GEMM operation and its corresponding API have to be designed on GPUs so that it can exploit the data sparsity structure of the matrix while leveraging the underlying TLR compression format. The main idea consists in aggregating all operations onto a single kernel launch to compensate for their low arithmetic intensities and to mitigate the data transfer overhead on GPUs. The new TLR GEMM kernel outperforms the cuBLAS dense batched GEMM by more than an order of magnitude and creates new opportunities for TLR advance algorithms.

  10. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) generated from lignite-fired power plants in Kosovo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasani, F.; Shala, F.; Xhixha, G.; Xhixha, M.K.; Hodolli, G.; Kadiri, S.; Bylyku, E.; Cfarku, F.

    2014-01-01

    The energy production in Kosovo depends primarily on lignite-fired power plants. During coal combustion, huge amounts of fly ash and bottom ash are generated, which may result in enriched natural radionuclides; therefore, these radionuclides need to be investigated to identify the possible processes that may lead to the radiological exposure of workers and the local population. Lignite samples and NORMs of fly ash and bottom ash generated in lignite-fired power plants in Kosovo are analyzed using a gamma-ray spectrometry method for the activity concentration of natural radionuclides. The average activity concentrations of 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th in lignite are found to be 36 ± 8 Bq kg −1 , 9 ± 1 Bq kg −1 and 9 ± 3 Bq kg −1 , respectively. Indications on the occurrence and geochemical behavior of uranium in the lignite matrix are suggested. The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in fly ash and bottom ash samples are found to be concentrated from 3 to 5 times that of the feeding lignite. The external gamma-ray absorbed dose rate and the activity concentration index are calculated to assess the radiological hazard arising from ash disposal and recycling in the cement industry. - Highlights: • NORMs in lignite combustion residues from CFPPs are studied. • Th/U indicates either low U uptake from host rocks and/or high leaching from peat. • The concentration factor of NORMs in fly and bottom ash samples are 3–5 times. • No 226 Ra enrichment is observed in fly ash while a depletion in bottom ash. • The reuse of fly ash in cement industry poses no significant radiological issue

  11. Drying grain using a hydrothermally treated liquid lignite fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bukurov, Z.; Cvijanovic, P.; Bukurov, M. [Univ. of Novi Sad (Yugoslavia); Ljubicic, B.R. [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States)

    1995-12-01

    A shortage of domestic oil and natural gas resources in Yugoslavia, particularly for agricultural and industrial purposes, has motivated the authors to explore the possibility of using liquid lignite as an alternate fuel for drying grain. This paper presents a technical and economic assessment of the possibility of retrofitting grain-drying plants currently fueled by oil or natural gas to liquid lignite fuel. All estimates are based on lignite taken from the Kovin deposit. Proposed technology includes underwater mining techniques, aqueous ash removal, hydrothermal processing, solids concentration, pipeline transport up to 120 km, and liquid lignite direct combustion. For the characterization of Kovin lignite, standard ASTM procedures were used: proximate, ultimate, ash, heating value, and Theological analyses were performed. Results from an extensive economic analysis indicate a delivered cost of US$20/ton for the liquid lignite. For the 70 of the grain-drying plants in the province of Vojvodina, this would mean a total yearly saving of about US $2,500,000. The advantages of this concept are obvious: easy to transport and store, nonflammable, nonexplosive, nontoxic, 30%-40% cheaper than imported oil and gas, domestic fuel is at hand. The authors believe that liquid lignite, rather than an alternative, is becoming more and more an imperative.

  12. Recovery of uranium from lignites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hurst, F.J.

    1980-01-01

    Uranium in raw lignite is associated with the organic matter and is readily soluble in acid (and carbonate) solutions. However, beneficiation techniques were not successful for concentrating the uranium or removing part of the reagent-consuming materials. Once the lignite was heated, the uranium became much less soluble in both acid and carbonate solutions, and complete removal of carbon was required to convert it back to a soluble form. Proper burning improves acid-leaching efficiency; that is, it reduces the reagent consumption and concentrates the uranium, thereby reducing plant size for comparable uranium throughput, and it eliminates organic fouling of leach liquors. Restrictions are necessary during burning to prevent the uranium from becoming refractory. The most encouraging results were obtained by flash-burning lignite at 1200 to 1300 0 C and utilizing the released SO 2 to supplement the acid requirement. The major acid consumers were aluminum and iron

  13. Low-pressure hydraulic technique for slurrying radioactive sludges in waste tanks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bradley, R.F.; Parsons, F.A.; Goodlett, C.B.; Mobley, R.M.

    1977-11-01

    Present technology for the removal of sludges from radioactive liquid waste storage tanks at the Savannah River Plant (SRP) requires large volumes of fresh water added through high-pressure (approx.3000 psig) nozzles positioned to resuspend and slurry the sludge. To eliminate the cost of storing and evaporating these large volumes of water (several hundred thousand gallons per tank cleaned), a technique was developed at the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) to use recirculating, radioactive, supernate solution to resuspend the sludge. The system consists in part of a single-stage centrifugal pump operating in the sludge at approx.100 psia. Recirculating supernate is drawn into the bottom of the pump and forced out through two oppositely directed nozzles to give liquid jets with a sludge-slurrying capability equal to that obtained with the present high-pressure system. In addition to eliminating the addition of large quantities of water to the tanks, the low-pressure recirculating technique requires only approximately one-sixth of the power required by the high-pressure system. Test results with clay (as a simulant for sludge) in a waste tank mockup confirmed theoretical predictions that jets with the same momentum gave essentially the same sludge-slurrying patterns. The effective cleaning radius of the recirculating jet was directly proportional to the product of the nozzle velocity and the nozzle diameter (U 0 D). At the maximum U 0 D developed by the pump (approx.14 ft 2 /s), the effective cleaning radius in the tank mockup was approx.20 feet

  14. THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION METHODS IN LIGNITE POWER PLANTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koroneos J. Christopher; Sakiltzis Christos; Rovas C. Dimitrios

    2008-01-01

    The green house effect is a very pressing issue of our times due to the big impact it will have in the future of life in our planet. The temperature increase of the earth which is the major impact of the greenhouse effect may change forever the climate and the way of life in many countries. It may lead to the reduction of agricultural production and at the end to famine, in several nations. The minimization of CO2 emissions and the introduction of new energy sources is the only solution to the catastrophe that is coming if inaction prevails. The objective of this work is to analyze the methods of the CO2 removal from the flue gases of power plants that use solid fuels. It is especially fit to the Greek conditions where the main fuel used is lignite. Three methods have been examined and compared thermodynamically. These are: (a) Removal of CO2 from the flue gas stream by absorption, (b) The combustion of lignite with pure oxygen and (c) The gasification of lignite. The lignite used in the analysis is the Greek lignite, produced at the Western Macedonia mines. The power plant, before carbon sequestration, has an efficiency of 39%, producing 330MW of electric power. After sequestration, the CO2 is compressed to pressures between 80-110 atm, before its final disposal. In the first method, the sequestration of CO2 is done utilizing a catalyst. The operation requires electricity and high thermal load which is received from low pressure steam extracted from the turbines. Additionally, electricity is required for the compression of the CO2 to 100 bars. This leads to a lower efficiency of the power plant by by 13%. In the second method, the lignite combustion is done with pure O2 produced at an air separation unit. The flue gasses are made up of CO2 and water vapor. This method requires electricity for carbon dioxide compression and the Air Separation unit, thus, the power plant efficiency is lowered by 26%. In the lignite gasification method, the products are a mixture of

  15. Bio-solubilization of Chinese lignite II: extra-cellular protein analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tao, Xiu-xiang; Pan, Lan-ying; Shi, Kai-yi; Chen-hui; Yin, Su-dong; Luo, Zhen-fu [China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou (China). School of Chemical Engineering and Technology

    2009-05-15

    A white rot fungus strain, Trichoderma sp. AH, was isolated from rotten wood in Fushun and used to study the mechanism of lignite bio-solubilization. The results showed that nitric acid pretreated Fushun lignite was solubilized by T. sp. AH and that extracellular proteins from T. sp. AH were correlated with the lignite bio-solubilization results. In the presence of Fushun lignite the extracellular protein concentration from T. sp. AH was 4.5 g/L while the concentration was 3 g/L in the absence of Fushun lignite. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of the extracelular proteins detected at least four new protein bands after the T. sp. AH had solubilized the lignite. Enzyme color reactions showed that extracelular proteins from T. sp. AH mainly consisted of phenol-oxidases, but that lignin decomposition enzymes such as laccase, peroxidase and manganese peroxidases were not present. 9 refs., 8 figs.

  16. Acid leaching of coal: to produce clean fuels from Turkish lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seferinoglu, Meryem [Mineral Research and Exploration Directorate (Turkey)], email: meryem_seferinoglu66@yahoo.com; Duzenli, Derya [Ankara Central Laboratory (Turkey)

    2011-07-01

    With the increasing concerns about the environment, energy producers and governments are looking at developing clean energy sources. However, Turkey has limited clean energy resources and is using low grade coal which has high sulphur content as an alternative energy source. The aim of this paper is to study the possibility of generating clean fuel from Edirne Lignite and to get a better understanding of chemical mechanisms involved in coal leaching with hydrofluoric acid (HF) solutions. Leaching was conducted on Edirne Lignite with HF solution at ambient temperature and the effects of parameters such as reaction time and concentration of acid solutions on the process were evaluated. The optimum conditions were found and it was shown that ash levels can be reduced from 28.9% to 10.5% and the calorific value increased by 500kcal/kg with the HF leaching method. This study demonstrated that the production of clean fuel from high sulphur lignite is possible.

  17. Low-rank and sparse modeling for visual analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Fu, Yun

    2014-01-01

    This book provides a view of low-rank and sparse computing, especially approximation, recovery, representation, scaling, coding, embedding and learning among unconstrained visual data. The book includes chapters covering multiple emerging topics in this new field. It links multiple popular research fields in Human-Centered Computing, Social Media, Image Classification, Pattern Recognition, Computer Vision, Big Data, and Human-Computer Interaction. Contains an overview of the low-rank and sparse modeling techniques for visual analysis by examining both theoretical analysis and real-world applic

  18. Low-rank sparse learning for robust visual tracking

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a new particle-filter based tracking algorithm that exploits the relationship between particles (candidate targets). By representing particles as sparse linear combinations of dictionary templates, this algorithm capitalizes on the inherent low-rank structure of particle representations that are learned jointly. As such, it casts the tracking problem as a low-rank matrix learning problem. This low-rank sparse tracker (LRST) has a number of attractive properties. (1) Since LRST adaptively updates dictionary templates, it can handle significant changes in appearance due to variations in illumination, pose, scale, etc. (2) The linear representation in LRST explicitly incorporates background templates in the dictionary and a sparse error term, which enables LRST to address the tracking drift problem and to be robust against occlusion respectively. (3) LRST is computationally attractive, since the low-rank learning problem can be efficiently solved as a sequence of closed form update operations, which yield a time complexity that is linear in the number of particles and the template size. We evaluate the performance of LRST by applying it to a set of challenging video sequences and comparing it to 6 popular tracking methods. Our experiments show that by representing particles jointly, LRST not only outperforms the state-of-the-art in tracking accuracy but also significantly improves the time complexity of methods that use a similar sparse linear representation model for particles [1]. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

  19. Low-rank matrix approximation with manifold regularization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhenyue; Zhao, Keke

    2013-07-01

    This paper proposes a new model of low-rank matrix factorization that incorporates manifold regularization to the matrix factorization. Superior to the graph-regularized nonnegative matrix factorization, this new regularization model has globally optimal and closed-form solutions. A direct algorithm (for data with small number of points) and an alternate iterative algorithm with inexact inner iteration (for large scale data) are proposed to solve the new model. A convergence analysis establishes the global convergence of the iterative algorithm. The efficiency and precision of the algorithm are demonstrated numerically through applications to six real-world datasets on clustering and classification. Performance comparison with existing algorithms shows the effectiveness of the proposed method for low-rank factorization in general.

  20. Solubilization of Australian lignites by fungi and other microorganisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Catcheside, D.E.A.; Mallett, K.J. (Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA (Australia). School of Biological Sciences)

    Lignites (brown coals) from the Latrobe Valley in Victoria are solubilized by {ital Coriolus versicolor}, {ital Phanerochaete chrysosporium}, and five other species known to be active on Leonardite and various acid-treated North America lignites. Run-of-mine coal from Morwell and Loy Yang is refractory but is soluble after pretreatment with acid. A weathered deposit at Loy Yang, like Leonardite, is susceptible to biosolubilization without pretreatment. The white rot fungi {ital Ganoderma applanatum}, {ital Perenniporia tephropora} ({ital Fomes lividus}), {ital Pleurotus ostreatus}, {ital Pycnoporus cinnabarinus}, {ital Rigidoporus ulmarius}, and {ital Xylaria hypoxylon} were found to be capable of solubilizing lignite. In contrast, brown rot fungi were weakly active or inactive under the same test conditions. Lignite-degrading fungi, actinomycetes, and other bacteria, including some active on untreated run-of-mine coal, were isolated from natural lignite exposures and mining sites. 15 refs., 5 tabs.

  1. Power generation from lignite coal in Bulgaria - problems and solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batov, S.; Gadjanov, P.; Panchev, T.

    1997-01-01

    The bulk of lignite coal produced in Bulgaria is used as fuel for the thermal power plants (TPP) built in Maritsa East coal field. A small part of it goes to production of briquettes and to fuel the auxiliary power plants of industrial enterprises. The total installed capacity of the power plants in the region of Maritsa East is 2490 MW, and the electric power generated by them is about 30% of the total power generated in the country. It should be noted that these power plants were subjected to a number of rehabilitations aiming to improve their technical and economic parameters. Irrespective of that, however, solution has still to be sought to a number of problems related to utilisation of the low-grade lignite coal for power generation. On the whole, they can be divided in the following groups: Those related to lignite coal mining can be referred to the first group. Lignite coal is mined in comparatively complicated mining and geological conditions characterized mainly by earth creep and deformation. The second group of problems is related to coal quality control. It is a fact of major significance that the quality indices of coal keep changing all the time in uneven steps without any definite laws to govern it. That creates hard problems in the process of coal transportation, crushing and combustion. The next group of problems concerns operation and upgrading of the power generation equipment. That applies especially to the existing boilers which bum low-grade fuel in order to improve their operation in terms of higher thermal efficiency, controllability, reliability, improved environmental indices, etc. An increasingly high importance is attached to environmental impact problems incident to lignite coal utilisation. Abatement of sulphur oxide emissions and dust pollution is a problem solution of which cannot wait. The possibilities for partial solution of the environmental problems through increasing the thermal efficiency of facilities at the thermal Power

  2. Biotechnological lignite conversion - a large-scale concept

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reich-Walber, M.; Meyrahn, H.; Felgener, G.W. [Rheinbraun AG, Koeln (Germany). Fuel Technology and Lab. Dept.

    1997-12-31

    Concerning the research on biotechnological lignite upgrading, Rheinbraun`s overall objective is the large-scale production of liquid and gaseous products for the energy and chemical/refinery sectors. The presentation outlines Rheinbraun`s technical concept for electricity production on the basis of biotechnologically solubilized lignite. A first rough cost estimate based on the assumptions described in the paper in detail and compared with the latest power plant generation shows the general cost efficiency of this technology despite the additional costs in respect of coal solubilization. The main reasons are low-cost process techniques for coal conversion on the one hand and cost reductions mainly in power plant technology (more efficient combustion processes and simplified gas clean-up) but also in coal transport (easy fuel handling) on the other hand. Moreover, it is hoped that an extended range of products will make it possible to widen the fields of lignite application. The presentation also points out that there is still a huge gap between this scenario and reality by limited microbiological knowledge. To close this gap Rheinbraun started a research project supported by the North-Rhine Westphalian government in 1995. Several leading biotechnological companies and institutes in Germany and the United States are involved in the project. The latest results of the current project will be presented in the paper. This includes fundamental research activities in the field of microbial coal conversion as well as investigations into bioreactor design and product treatment (dewatering, deashing and desulphurization). (orig.)

  3. Low temperature oxidation and spontaneous combustion characteristics of upgraded low rank coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, H.K.; Kim, S.D.; Yoo, J.H.; Chun, D.H.; Rhim, Y.J.; Lee, S.H. [Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-07-01

    The low temperature oxidation and spontaneous combustion characteristics of dried coal produced from low rank coal using the upgraded brown coal (UBC) process were investigated. To this end, proximate properties, crossing-point temperature (CPT), and isothermal oxidation characteristics of the coal were analyzed. The isothermal oxidation characteristics were estimated by considering the formation rates of CO and CO{sub 2} at low temperatures. The upgraded low rank coal had higher heating values than the raw coal. It also had less susceptibility to low temperature oxidation and spontaneous combustion. This seemed to result from the coating of the asphalt on the surface of the coal, which suppressed the active functional groups from reacting with oxygen in the air. The increasing upgrading pressure negatively affected the low temperature oxidation and spontaneous combustion.

  4. Design and performance of feed-delivery systems for simulated radioactive waste slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez, J.M. Jr.

    1983-02-01

    Processes for vitrifying simulated high-level radioactive waste have been developed at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) over the last several years. Paralleling this effort, several feed systems used to deliver the simulated waste slurry to the melter have been tested. Because there had been little industrial experience in delivering abrasive slurries at feed rates of less than 10 L/min, early experience helped direct the design of more-dependable systems. Also, as feed delivery requirements changed, the feed system was modified to meet these new requirements. The various feed systems discussed in this document are part of this evolutionary process, so they have not been ranked against each other. The four slurry feed systems discussed are: (1) vertical-cantilevered centrifugal pump system; (2) airlift feed systems; (3) pressurized-loop systems; and (4) positive-displacement pump system. 20 figures, 11 tables

  5. Trigeneration integrated with absorption enhanced reforming of lignite and biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yaodong Wang; Ye Huang; Anthony P. Roskilly [Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom). Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research

    2009-10-15

    A technical investigation of an innovative trigeneration integrated with absorption enhanced reforming (AER) of lignite and biomass is carried out using the ECLIPSE process simulator. The system includes an internal combustion engine, an AER gasifier, a waste heat recovery and storage unit and an absorption refrigerator. The whole system is operated in the following sequence: The AER gasifier is used to generate hydrogen using lignite and biomass; the hydrogen generated is used to run the engine which drives a generator to produce electricity. Additionally, the heat recovery unit collects waste heat from the engine and is used to supply hot water and space heating. Furthermore, the waste heat is used to operate the absorption refrigerator. The electricity, heat and cooling can be used to meet the energy requirements for the households in a village, a resident building or a commercial building, or a supermarket. Within the study, the effects of lignite mixed with three different types of biomass (straw, willow and switch grass) on the system performance are investigated and the results are compared. The results show that it is feasible to use an AER system to reform the low quality fuels lignite and biomass to generate a cleaner fuel - hydrogen to replace fossil fuels (diesel or natural gas) and to fuel an engine based trigeneration system; the system works with high efficiencies and with a potential of carbon capture from the sorbent-regeneration process that would benefit the environment. 25 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

  6. Technical Development of Slurry Three-Dimensional Printer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Cho-Pei; Hsu, Huang-Jan; Lee, Shyh-Yuan

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this paper is to review the technical development of slurry three-dimensional printer (3DP) which based on photo-polymerization and constrained surface method. Basically, slurry consists of ceramic powder, resin and photo-initiator. The light engines for solidifying the photo-curable slurry can be classified as laser, liquid crystal panel (LCD), digital light processing (DLP). The slurry can be reacted and solidified by selective ray according to the reaction spectrum of photo-initiator. Ceramic powder used in this study is zirconia oxide. Experimental results show that ceramic particle size affects the viscosity of slurry severely resulting in low accuracy and the occurrence of micro crack in the layer casting procedure. Therefore, the effect of particle size on the curability and accuracy of built green part is discussed. A single dental crown is proposed to be fabricated by these three light engines as a benchmark for comparison. In addition, the cost and the limitation are compared in the aspect of dental crown fabrication. Consequently, the lowest cost is LCD-type slurry 3DP system. DLP-type slurry 3DP can produce green body with the fastest fabrication time. The volumetric error of sintered part that made by these three fabrication methods is similar because the composition of slurry is the same.

  7. Biosolubilization of raw and gamma irradiated lignite by trichoderma asperellum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugoro, I.; Astuti, D.I.; Aditiawati, P.; Sasongko, D.

    2012-01-01

    Biosolubilization is a promising technology for converting solid coal to liquid oil by addition of microorganism. Aim of this research is to compare between gamma irradiated lignite (10 kGy) with raw lignite in biosolubilization by selected fungi Trichoderma asperellum. Treatments were A (MSS + gamma irradiated lignite 5% + T. asperellum) and B (MSS + raw lignite 5% + T. asperellum) with sub-merged culture. There were two parameters observed i.e. biosolubilization product based on absorbance value at λ 250nm and λ 450nm and metal analysis by neutron activation analysis (NAA). The highest biosolubilization will be analyzed by FTIR and GCMS. The results showed that biosolubilization of raw lignite (B) was higher than sterilized lignite (A) based on absorbance value at λ 250nm and λ 450nm . The metal of lignite was decreased after incubation. FTIR analysis showed that both of treatment had similar spectra on biosolubilization products. GCMS analysis showed that both of treatment had different number of hydrocarbon, i.e. C 6 - C 35 (A) and C 10 - C 35 (B) and dominated by aromatic acids, aliphatic and phenylethers. Both of treatment product had the potency as oil substituted but its recommended to deoxygenate for higher quality. (author)

  8. Protozoan predation in soil slurries compromises determination of contaminant mineralization potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Badawi, Nora; Johnsen, Anders R.; Brandt, Kristian K.; Sørensen, Jan; Aamand, Jens

    2012-01-01

    Soil suspensions (slurries) are commonly used to estimate the potential of soil microbial communities to mineralize organic contaminants. The preparation of soil slurries disrupts soil structure, however, potentially affecting both the bacterial populations and their protozoan predators. We studied the importance of this “slurry effect” on mineralization of the herbicide 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA, 14 C-labelled), focussing on the effects of protozoan predation. Mineralization of MCPA was studied in “intact” soil and soil slurries differing in soil:water ratio, both in the presence and absence of the protozoan activity inhibitor cycloheximide. Protozoan predation inhibited mineralization in dense slurry of subsoil (soil:water ratio 1:3), but only in the most dilute slurry of topsoil (soil:water ratio 1:100). Our results demonstrate that protozoan predation in soil slurries may compromise quantification of contaminant mineralization potential, especially when the initial density of degrader bacteria is low and their growth is controlled by predation during the incubation period. - Highlights: ► We studied the protozoan impact on MCPA mineralization in soil slurries. ► Cycloheximide was used as protozoan inhibitor. ► Protozoa inhibited MCPA mineralization in dilute topsoil slurry and subsoil slurry. ► Mineralization potentials may be underestimated when using soil slurries. - Protozoan predation may strongly bias the quantification of mineralization potential when performed in soil slurries, especially when the initial density of degrader bacteria is low such as in subsoil or very dilute topsoil slurries.

  9. Bioprocessing of lignite coals using reductive microorganisms. Final technical report, September 30, 1988--March 29, 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crawford, D.L.

    1992-03-29

    In order to convert lignite coals into liquid fuels, gases or chemical feedstock, the macromolecular structure of the coal must be broken down into low molecular weight fractions prior to further modification. Our research focused on this aspect of coal bioprocessing. We isolated, characterized and studied the lignite coal-depolymerizing organisms Streptomyces viridosporus T7A, Pseudomonas sp. DLC-62, unidentified bacterial strain DLC-BB2 and Gram-positive Bacillus megaterium strain DLC-21. In this research we showed that these bacteria are able to solubilize and depolymerize lignite coals using a combination of biological mechanisms including the excretion of coal solublizing basic chemical metabolites and extracellular coal depolymerizing enzymes.

  10. CT Image Sequence Restoration Based on Sparse and Low-Rank Decomposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gou, Shuiping; Wang, Yueyue; Wang, Zhilong; Peng, Yong; Zhang, Xiaopeng; Jiao, Licheng; Wu, Jianshe

    2013-01-01

    Blurry organ boundaries and soft tissue structures present a major challenge in biomedical image restoration. In this paper, we propose a low-rank decomposition-based method for computed tomography (CT) image sequence restoration, where the CT image sequence is decomposed into a sparse component and a low-rank component. A new point spread function of Weiner filter is employed to efficiently remove blur in the sparse component; a wiener filtering with the Gaussian PSF is used to recover the average image of the low-rank component. And then we get the recovered CT image sequence by combining the recovery low-rank image with all recovery sparse image sequence. Our method achieves restoration results with higher contrast, sharper organ boundaries and richer soft tissue structure information, compared with existing CT image restoration methods. The robustness of our method was assessed with numerical experiments using three different low-rank models: Robust Principle Component Analysis (RPCA), Linearized Alternating Direction Method with Adaptive Penalty (LADMAP) and Go Decomposition (GoDec). Experimental results demonstrated that the RPCA model was the most suitable for the small noise CT images whereas the GoDec model was the best for the large noisy CT images. PMID:24023764

  11. The development of the Ptolemais lignite deposit, present situation and future perspective of the electrical energy market (Greece)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kavourides, Kostas

    1997-01-01

    PPC is by far the major producer of solid fuels in Greece. Currently the known exploitable reserves of solid fuels, are 4,0 billions tones of lignite and 4 billion cubic meters of peat. Mining of Lignite in Greece started in 1951 at the Aliveri underground mine and was continued at the open cast mines at Ptolemais (1955) and Megalopolis (1919). For more than 45 years. PPC has successfully exploited the Greece Lignite deposit for the production of electricity in order to satisfy the demand in Greece. Today PPC produces 60 million tons of lignite and handles approximately 275 million cubic meters of masses (overburden, lignite and interculated) per year. Lignite is the main energy resource in Greece and its combustion provides 75-80% of the electrical energy consumed in Greece.The Lignite Center of Ptolemais - Amyndeon (LCP-A) operated by the Greece PPC is located in northern Greece, about 110 km west of the city of Thessaloniki. The lignite deposits under exploitation cover an area. of 120 km 2 including 4000 Mt of proven geological reserves and 2700 Mt of exploitable lignite under current economic and technological criteria. Today LCP-A manages six active mines which in 1997 have a rate of handling 245 mil cubic meter of material and producing approx. 48 mil for of lignite. The continuous mining method which employs BWES, conveyors and strackers is the principal mining method used in all the lignite mines at the Ptolemais-Amyndeon Lignite Center. The implementation of selective mining procedures as well as discontinuous and /or combined mining methods differentiates the mining technology at the LCP-A from the respective technology applied in Germany lignite mines. The quality properties suggest that the lignite deposits in Greece are among the world's worst quality deposits exploited for energy production, where approximately 2 kg of lignite are consumed per I kWh of generated power. The main advantages of PPC'S coal orientated development program are the following

  12. Low-rank coal research, Task 5.1. Topical report, April 1986--December 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-02-01

    This document is a topical progress report for Low-Rank Coal Research performed April 1986 - December 1992. Control Technology and Coal Preparation Research is described for Flue Gas Cleanup, Waste Management, Regional Energy Policy Program for the Northern Great Plains, and Hot-Gas Cleanup. Advanced Research and Technology Development was conducted on Turbine Combustion Phenomena, Combustion Inorganic Transformation (two sections), Liquefaction Reactivity of Low-Rank Coals, Gasification Ash and Slag Characterization, and Coal Science. Combustion Research is described for Atmospheric Fluidized-Bed Combustion, Beneficiation of Low-Rank Coals, Combustion Characterization of Low-Rank Fuels (completed 10/31/90), Diesel Utilization of Low-Rank Coals (completed 12/31/90), Produce and Characterize HWD (hot-water drying) Fuels for Heat Engine Applications (completed 10/31/90), Nitrous Oxide Emission, and Pressurized Fluidized-Bed Combustion. Liquefaction Research in Low-Rank Coal Direct Liquefaction is discussed. Gasification Research was conducted in Production of Hydrogen and By-Products from Coals and in Sulfur Forms in Coal.

  13. Task 27 -- Alaskan low-rank coal-water fuel demonstration project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-10-01

    Development of coal-water-fuel (CWF) technology has to-date been predicated on the use of high-rank bituminous coal only, and until now the high inherent moisture content of low-rank coal has precluded its use for CWF production. The unique feature of the Alaskan project is the integration of hot-water-drying (HWD) into CWF technology as a beneficiation process. Hot-water-drying is an EERC developed technology unavailable to the competition that allows the range of CWF feedstock to be extended to low-rank coals. The primary objective of the Alaskan Project, is to promote interest in the CWF marketplace by demonstrating the commercial viability of low-rank coal-water-fuel (LRCWF). While commercialization plans cannot be finalized until the implementation and results of the Alaskan LRCWF Project are known and evaluated, this report has been prepared to specifically address issues concerning business objectives for the project, and outline a market development plan for meeting those objectives.

  14. Lignite mining and electricity generation in Poland: The current state and future prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Widera, Marek; Kasztelewicz, Zbigniew; Ptak, Miranda

    2016-01-01

    This opinion paper presents the current state and future scenarios of Polish lignite mining. For many years, over 1/3 of domestic electricity, that is about 53–55 TWh, has been generated by lignite-fired power plants. Currently, with 63–66 million tons of extraction, Poland is the fourth lignite producer worldwide and the second in the European Union. There are three possible scenarios for the development of lignite mining in Poland by 2050. Unfortunately, despite the huge lignite resources, amounting to more than 23.5 billion tons, and great potential of the mining industry, the future of Polish lignite mining does not look optimistic from the economic point of view. This is associated with social and environmental problems, including the European Union's climate and energy policy. However, this may change in the event of a global economic crisis and unstable geopolitical conditions. Therefore, a new energy doctrine for Poland at least by 2050 is urgently needed. - Highlights: •Poland is one of the leaders in lignite production in the European Union. •Energy policy in Poland assumes a key role of lignite in energy mix. •Almost one-third of Polish electricity is currently generated from lignite. •For Polish lignite mining exist pessimistic, realistic and optimistic scenarios. •Extraction of lignite in Poland will gradually decrease in the coming decades.

  15. Overview of Neyveli lignite complex

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1984-09-01

    The growth and development of the Neyveli lignite complex in Tamil Nadu, India are discussed. A second lignite mine is being developed together with a second thermal power station and erection of transmission lines between Neyveli-Salem and Neyveli-Red Hills is under way. The contribution of power to Tamil Nadu has grown into an extremely valuable asset; exports have risen by 71% in the four years leading up to 1984 and company turn-over has increased 164% over the same period. Performance during 1983-84 is analysed in terms of production figures, productivity and capacity utilisation.

  16. Recovering low-turbidity cutting liquid from silicon slurry waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Tzu-Hsuan; Shih, Yu-Pei

    2014-04-30

    In order to recover a low-turbidity polyalkylene glycol (PAG) liquid from silicon slurry waste by sedimentation, temperatures were adjusted, and acetone, ethanol or water was used as a diluent. The experimental results show that the particles in the waste would aggregate and settle readily by using water as a diluent. This is because particle surfaces had lower surface potential value and weaker steric stabilization in PAG-water than in PAG-ethanol or PAG-acetone solutions. Therefore, water is the suggested diluent for recovering a low-turbidity PAG (sedimentation. After 50 wt.% water-assisted sedimentation for 21 days, the solid content of the upper liquid reduced to 0.122 g/L, and the turbidity decreased to 44 NTU. The obtained upper liquid was then vacuum-distillated to remove water. The final recovered PAG with 0.37 NTU had similar viscosity and density to the unused PAG and could be reused in the cutting process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Briquetting of Tuncbilek lignite fines by using ammonium nitrohumate as a binder

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yildirim, M.; Ozbayoglu, G. [Cukurova University, Adana (Turkey). Mining Engineering Dept.

    2004-03-01

    Results of experiments on the briquetting of Tuncbilek lignite fines using ammonium nitrohumate (anh), a low calorific value, young lignite-derived humic acid salt solution, are reported. The particulate material was blended with ammonium nitrohumate serving as the binder. In the briquetting tests, the effects of moisture content, pressure, binder content, nitrogen content and heat treatment were investigated. Durable briquettes, in terms of mechanical strength and water resistance, were produced with a 7% binder content at 10.5% moisture, following pressing at 1280 kg/cm{sup 2} and drying at 165{sup o}C for 1 h. The briqueues produced with ammonium nitrohumate had better combustion properties than run-of-mine samples; the contribution of the binder to smoke and sulphur emissions was very low and fine dust particles were negligible.

  18. Global sensitivity analysis using low-rank tensor approximations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Konakli, Katerina; Sudret, Bruno

    2016-01-01

    In the context of global sensitivity analysis, the Sobol' indices constitute a powerful tool for assessing the relative significance of the uncertain input parameters of a model. We herein introduce a novel approach for evaluating these indices at low computational cost, by post-processing the coefficients of polynomial meta-models belonging to the class of low-rank tensor approximations. Meta-models of this class can be particularly efficient in representing responses of high-dimensional models, because the number of unknowns in their general functional form grows only linearly with the input dimension. The proposed approach is validated in example applications, where the Sobol' indices derived from the meta-model coefficients are compared to reference indices, the latter obtained by exact analytical solutions or Monte-Carlo simulation with extremely large samples. Moreover, low-rank tensor approximations are confronted to the popular polynomial chaos expansion meta-models in case studies that involve analytical rank-one functions and finite-element models pertinent to structural mechanics and heat conduction. In the examined applications, indices based on the novel approach tend to converge faster to the reference solution with increasing size of the experimental design used to build the meta-model. - Highlights: • A new method is proposed for global sensitivity analysis of high-dimensional models. • Low-rank tensor approximations (LRA) are used as a meta-modeling technique. • Analytical formulas for the Sobol' indices in terms of LRA coefficients are derived. • The accuracy and efficiency of the approach is illustrated in application examples. • LRA-based indices are compared to indices based on polynomial chaos expansions.

  19. Studies of coal slurries property; Slurry no seijo ni kansuru kento

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kawabata, M.; Aihara, Y.; Imada, K. [Nippon Steel Corp., Tokyo (Japan); Nogami, Y.; Inokuchi, K. [Mitsui SRC Development Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Sakaki, T.; Shibata, M.; Hirosue, H. [Kyushu National Industrial Research Institute, Saga (Japan)

    1996-10-28

    It was previously found that the increase of slurry temperature provides a significant effect of slurry viscosity reduction for the coal slurry with high concentration of 50 wt%. To investigate the detailed influence of slurry temperature for the coal slurry with concentration of 50 wt%, influence of temperature on the successive change of apparent viscosity was observed at the constant shear rate. When the concentration of coal was increased from 45 wt% to 50 wt%, viscosity of the slurry was rapidly increased. When heated above 70{degree}C, the apparent viscosity decreased during heating to the given temperature, but it increased successively after reaching to the given temperature. The apparent viscosity showed higher value than that of the initial viscosity. The coal slurry with concentration of 50 wt% showed the fluidity of Newtonian fluid at the lower shear rate region, but showed the fluidity of pseudo-plastic fluid at the higher shear rate region. The slurry having high apparent viscosity by the successive change showed higher apparent viscosity with increasing the higher even by changing the shear rate. 1 ref., 4 figs.

  20. Change in surface characteristics of coal in upgrading of low-rank coals; Teihin`itan kaishitsu process ni okeru sekitan hyomen seijo no henka

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oki, A.; Xie, X.; Nakajima, T.; Maeda, S. [Kagoshima University, Kagoshima (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

    1996-10-28

    With an objective to learn mechanisms in low-rank coal reformation processes, change of properties on coal surface was discussed. Difficulty in handling low-rank coal is attributed to large intrinsic water content. Since it contains highly volatile components, it has a danger of spontaneous ignition. The hot water drying (HWD) method was used for reformation. Coal which has been dry-pulverized to a grain size of 1 mm or smaller was mixed with water to make slurry, heated in an autoclave, cooled, filtered, and dried in vacuum. The HWD applied to Loy Yang and Yallourn coals resulted in rapid rise in pressure starting from about 250{degree}C. Water content (ANA value) absorbed into the coal has decreased largely, with the surface made hydrophobic effectively due to high temperature and pressure. Hydroxyl group and carbonyl group contents in the coal have decreased largely with rising reformation treatment temperature (according to FT-IR measurement). Specific surface area of the original coal of the Loy Yang coal was 138 m{sup 2}/g, while it has decreased largely to 73 m{sup 2}/g when the reformation temperature was raised to 350{degree}C. This is because of volatile components dissolving from the coal as tar and blocking the surface pores. 2 refs., 4 figs.

  1. The optimized expansion based low-rank method for wavefield extrapolation

    KAUST Repository

    Wu, Zedong

    2014-03-01

    Spectral methods are fast becoming an indispensable tool for wavefield extrapolation, especially in anisotropic media because it tends to be dispersion and artifact free as well as highly accurate when solving the wave equation. However, for inhomogeneous media, we face difficulties in dealing with the mixed space-wavenumber domain extrapolation operator efficiently. To solve this problem, we evaluated an optimized expansion method that can approximate this operator with a low-rank variable separation representation. The rank defines the number of inverse Fourier transforms for each time extrapolation step, and thus, the lower the rank, the faster the extrapolation. The method uses optimization instead of matrix decomposition to find the optimal wavenumbers and velocities needed to approximate the full operator with its explicit low-rank representation. As a result, we obtain lower rank representations compared with the standard low-rank method within reasonable accuracy and thus cheaper extrapolations. Additional bounds set on the range of propagated wavenumbers to adhere to the physical wave limits yield unconditionally stable extrapolations regardless of the time step. An application on the BP model provided superior results compared to those obtained using the decomposition approach. For transversely isotopic media, because we used the pure P-wave dispersion relation, we obtained solutions that were free of the shear wave artifacts, and the algorithm does not require that n > 0. In addition, the required rank for the optimization approach to obtain high accuracy in anisotropic media was lower than that obtained by the decomposition approach, and thus, it was more efficient. A reverse time migration result for the BP tilted transverse isotropy model using this method as a wave propagator demonstrated the ability of the algorithm.

  2. Sustainable lignite mining and utilization. Developments in the Rhenish lignite-mining area; Nachhaltige Braunkohlegewinnung und -nutzung. Entwicklung im Rheinischen Revier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaertner, Dieter [RWE Power AG, Bergheim (Germany). Sparte Tagebaue

    2012-09-15

    Lignite is an essential module in the Rhenish mining area's economic power. Mini ng in a densely populated region like the Rhineland calls for keeping an eye equ ally on people, the environment and industry now and in the future. By considering all concerns and ensuring transparency in our approach to people, we have succeeded in obtaining public acceptance also for large-scale projects in an environment that is not always easy in Germany. RWE Power plans to use lignite in powe r generation and in upgrading operations for many decades to come, so that the company is systematically implementing the power-plant renewal programme with is planning for BoAplus as highly efficient next-generation lignite-based power plants. Research on CO{sub 2} utilization, flexibilization, energy storage and alternative uses of lignite are as much features of RWE Power's future-proof alignment in the Rhenish mining area as are further innovations in the opencast mines. Core aspects here include further automation in the deployment of main mine equipment, closely dovetailed with innovations in other operating units. Parallel restructuring of the operating units and the Lignite Approvals area are underpinning these measures. Innovations and their translation into technical progress will ensure the success of a measured energy turnaround both in Germany and throughout Europe. However, this requires dependable political conditions, so that an engineering spirit can go on being transformed into entrepreneurial action. (orig.)

  3. Sustainable lignite mining and utilization. Developments in the Rhenish lignite-mining area; Nachhaltige Braunkohlegewinnung und -nutzung. Entwicklung im Rheinischen Revier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaertner, Dieter [RWE Power AG, Bergheim (Germany). Opencast Mines Div.

    2012-03-15

    Lignite is an essential module in the Rhenish mining area's economic power. Mining in a densely populated region like the Rhineland calls for keeping an eye equally on people, the environment and industry now and in the future. By considering all concerns and ensuring transparency in our approach to people, we have succeeded in obtaining public acceptance also for large-scale projects in an environment that is not always easy in Germany. RWE Power plans to use lignite in power generation and in upgrading operations for many decades to come, so that the company is systematically implementing the power-plant renewal programme with is planning for BoAplus as highly efficient next-generation lignite-based power plants. Research on CO{sub 2} utilization, flexibilization, energy storage and alternative uses of lignite are as much features of RWE Power's future-proof alignment in the Rhenish mining area as are further innovations in the opencast mines. Core aspects here include further automation in the deployment of main mine equipment, closely dovetailed with innovations in other operating units. Parallel restructuring of the operating units and the Lignite Approvals area are underpinning these measures. Innovations and their translation into technical progress will ensure the success of a measured energy turnaround both in Germany and throughout Europe. However, this requires dependable political conditions, so that an engineering spirit can go on being transformed into entrepreneurial action. (orig.)

  4. Microstructure and properties of lignite tar and pitch. Part II

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walther, H

    1954-01-01

    Photomicrographs reveal the presence of crystalline wax which affects the working properties in lignite tars and pitch. The crystals are large needles after slow cooling and small after rapid cooling. The crystals are paraffinic in character. All samples were nonhomogeneous. Thus the properties of lignite tar and pitch are varied by the source of the lignite and history of the specimen, neither softening point nor dropping point seems to satisfactorily characterize these tars. The samples exhibit thixotropic behavior characteristic of a structural viscosity and show hysteresis loops on varying the working rate. The variations have hindered use of lignite tars and pitches except where solubility in a solvent such as coal tar oil can be used to advantage.

  5. Lignite mining in India - thirty years of rich experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tandon, G L

    1984-11-01

    Exploration of the huge deposits of lignite at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu commenced in 1961 by the opencast method by deploying continuously operating machinery such as bucket-wheel excavators, spreaders and high-speed belt conveyor systems. Adoption of this mining technology to suit the peculiar site conditions at Neyveli has led to many modifications in the equipment and has enriched the experience of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation. This has also made it possible for NLC to formulate schemes for exploration and exploitation of lignite deposits occurring elsewhere in the country.

  6. Lignite mining in India - thirty years of rich experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tandon, G L

    1984-11-01

    Exploitation of the huge deposits of lignite at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu commenced in 1961 by opencast method by deploying continuously operating machinery such as bucket-wheel excavators, headers and high speed belt conveyor systems. Adoption of this mining technology to suit the peculiar site conditions at Neyveli has led to many modifications in the equipment and has enriched the experience of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation. This has also made it possible for NLC to formulate schemes for exploration and exploitation of lignite deposits occurring elsewhere in the country.

  7. Natural radioactivity releases from lignite power plants in Southwestern Anatolia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yaprak, G.; Guer, F.; Cam, F.; Candan, O.

    2006-01-01

    The Mugla basin is one of the most productive lignite basins in Southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. Mining activities started in 1979 and total reserves were estimated during exploration at 767.5 million tonnes. Total mean annual lignite production of the Mugla basin is estimated at about 10 million tonnes per year. Most of the lignite production supplies three thermal power plants (Yatagan 630 MW, Yenikoey 420 MW, Kemerkoey 630 MW) with a total capacity of 1680 MW. It is well known that the lignite contains naturally occurring primordial radionuclides arising from the uranium and thorium series as well as from 4 0K. Lignite burning is, therefore, one of the sources of technologically enhanced exposure to humans from natural radionuclides. The investigation reported here deals with the determination of the 2 26Ra, 2 32Th and 4 0K concentrations in the lignite feeding 3 thermal power plants in Mugla region and in the product ash. Samples of lignite feeding the power plants and fly and bottom ashes produced in the same power plants were collected over a period of 1 year and therefore systematic sampling allowed for the determination of mean representative values for the natural radioactivity content of above materials and also estimation of the radioactivity releases to the environment. Furthermore, grid soil sampling within 10-15 km around the power plants allowed for the mapping of the surface soil activity of natural radionuclides. Dosimetric calculations from terrestrial gamma radiation for the population living around the power plants were performed based on the guidance of UNSCEAR 2000 report

  8. Robust Visual Tracking Via Consistent Low-Rank Sparse Learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu

    2014-06-19

    Object tracking is the process of determining the states of a target in consecutive video frames based on properties of motion and appearance consistency. In this paper, we propose a consistent low-rank sparse tracker (CLRST) that builds upon the particle filter framework for tracking. By exploiting temporal consistency, the proposed CLRST algorithm adaptively prunes and selects candidate particles. By using linear sparse combinations of dictionary templates, the proposed method learns the sparse representations of image regions corresponding to candidate particles jointly by exploiting the underlying low-rank constraints. In addition, the proposed CLRST algorithm is computationally attractive since temporal consistency property helps prune particles and the low-rank minimization problem for learning joint sparse representations can be efficiently solved by a sequence of closed form update operations. We evaluate the proposed CLRST algorithm against 14 state-of-the-art tracking methods on a set of 25 challenging image sequences. Experimental results show that the CLRST algorithm performs favorably against state-of-the-art tracking methods in terms of accuracy and execution time.

  9. A lignite-geothermal hybrid power and hydrogen production plant for green cities and sustainable buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kilkis, B. [Baskent University, Ankara (Turkey). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

    2011-02-15

    Turkey is rich in both geothermal energy and lignite reserves, which in many cases, are co-located. This condition makes it feasible to utilize both lignite and geothermal energy in a hybrid form for combined power heat, and cold generation, which may lead to optimally energy and exergy efficient, environmentally benign, and economically sound applications. This paper presents a novel concept of hybrid lignite-geothermal plant for a district energy system and hydrogen production facility in Aydin with special emphasis on high performance, green buildings and green districts. In this concept, lignite is first introduced to a partially fluidized-bed gasifier and then to a fluidized-bed gas cleaning unit, which produces synthetic gas and finally hydrogen. The by-products, namely char and ash are used in a fluidized-bed combustor to produce power. Waste heat from all these steps are utilized in a district heating system along with heat received from geothermal production wells after power is generated there. H{sub 2}S gas obtained from the separator system is coupled with hydrogen production process at the lignite plant. Absorption cooling systems and thermal storage tanks complement the hybrid system for the tri-generation district energy system. On the demand side, the new, green OSTIM OSB administration building in Ankara is exemplified for greener, low-exergy buildings that will compound the environmental benefits.

  10. Role of Neyveli lignite in the energy map of India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Srinivasaraghavan, S

    1984-08-01

    For more than two decades, about 35% of the energy demand of Tamil Nadu, a region of southern India, has been provided by Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC). NLC was founded as a company by the Indian government in 1956 and it comprises a lignite mine, a thermal power station, a briquetting and carbonisation plant; a fertilizer plant, a process steam plant, and a clay washing plant. The extent of the Neyveli lignite field, the production capacity of the three mines, and the linkage and utilisation of lignite are all considered. Future perspective plans beyond the seventh five year plan are reviewed. The use of coke and fertilizer by the chemical industries is outlined, and ecology and environmental control are discussed.

  11. State of the art on phase change material slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Youssef, Ziad; Delahaye, Anthony; Huang Li; Trinquet, François; Fournaison, Laurence; Pollerberg, Clemens; Doetsch, Christian

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► A bibliographic study on PCM slurries. ► Clathrate Hydrate slurry, Microencapsulated PCM Slurry, shape-stabilized PCM slurries and Phase Change Material Emulsions. ► Formation, thermo-physical, rheological, heat transfers properties and applications of these four PCS systems. ► The use of thermal energy storage and distribution based on PCM slurries can improve the refrigerating machine performances. - Abstract: The interest in using phase change slurry (PCS) media as thermal storage and heat transfer fluids is increasing and thus leading to an enhancement in the number of articles on the subject. In air-conditioning and refrigeration applications, PCS systems represent a pure benefit resulting in the increase of thermal energy storage capacity, high heat transfer characteristics and positive phase change temperatures which can occur under low pressures. Hence, they allow the increase of energy efficiency and reduce the quantity of thermal fluids. This review describes the formation, thermo-physical, rheological, heat transfer properties and applications of four PCS systems: Clathrate hydrate slurry (CHS), Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials Slurry (MPCMS), shape-stabilized PCM slurries (SPCMSs) and Phase Change Material Emulsions (PCMEs). It regroups a bibliographic summary of important information that can be very helpful when such systems are used. It also gives interesting and valuable insights on the choice of the most suitable PCS media for laboratory and industrial applications.

  12. Low ranks make the difference : How achievement goals and ranking information affect cooperation intentions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poortvliet, P. Marijn; Janssen, Onne; Van Yperen, N.W.; Van de Vliert, E.

    This investigation tested the joint effect of achievement goals and ranking information on information exchange intentions with a commensurate exchange partner. Results showed that individuals with performance goals were less inclined to cooperate with an exchange partner when they had low or high

  13. Sparse/Low Rank Constrained Reconstruction for Dynamic PET Imaging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xingjian Yu

    Full Text Available In dynamic Positron Emission Tomography (PET, an estimate of the radio activity concentration is obtained from a series of frames of sinogram data taken at ranging in duration from 10 seconds to minutes under some criteria. So far, all the well-known reconstruction algorithms require known data statistical properties. It limits the speed of data acquisition, besides, it is unable to afford the separated information about the structure and the variation of shape and rate of metabolism which play a major role in improving the visualization of contrast for some requirement of the diagnosing in application. This paper presents a novel low rank-based activity map reconstruction scheme from emission sinograms of dynamic PET, termed as SLCR representing Sparse/Low Rank Constrained Reconstruction for Dynamic PET Imaging. In this method, the stationary background is formulated as a low rank component while variations between successive frames are abstracted to the sparse. The resulting nuclear norm and l1 norm related minimization problem can also be efficiently solved by many recently developed numerical methods. In this paper, the linearized alternating direction method is applied. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is illustrated on three data sets.

  14. Lignite chemical conversion in an indirect heat rotary kiln gasifier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatzilyberis Kostas S.

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The results on the gasification of Greek lignite using two indirect heat (allothermal pilot rotary kiln gasifiers are reported in the present work. The development of this new reactor-gasifier concept intended for solid fuels chemical conversion exploits data and experience gained from the following two pilot plants. The first unit A (about 100 kg/h raw lignite demonstrated the production of a medium heating value gas (12-13 MJ/Nm3 with quite high DAF (dry ash free coal conversions, in an indirect heat rotary gasifier under mild temperature and pressure conditions. The second unit B is a small pilot size unit (about 10 kg/h raw lignite comprises an electrically heated rotary kiln, is an operation flexible and exhibits effective phase mixing and enhanced heat transfer characteristics. Greek lignite pyrolysis and gasification data were produced from experiments performed with pilot plant B and the results are compared with those of a theoretical model. The model assumes a scheme of three consecutive-partly parallel processes (i. e. drying, pyrolysis, and gasification and predicts DAF lignite conversion and gas composition in relatively good agreement with the pertinent experimental data typical of the rotary kiln gasifier performance. Pilot plant B is currently being employed in lime-enhanced gasification studies aiming at the production of hydrogen enriched synthesis gas. Presented herein are two typical gas compositions obtain from lignite gasification runs in the presence or not of lime. .

  15. The differences between soil grouting with cement slurry and cement-water glass slurry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Mingting; Sui, Haitong; Yang, Honglu

    2018-01-01

    Cement slurry and cement-water glass slurry are the most widely applied for soil grouting reinforcement project. The viscosity change of cement slurry is negligible during grouting period and presumed to be time-independent while the viscosity of cement-water glass slurry increases with time quickly and is presumed to be time-dependent. Due to the significantly rheology differences between them, the grouting quality and the increasing characteristics of grouting parameters may be different, such as grouting pressure, grouting surrounding rock pressure, i.e., the change of surrounding rock pressure deduced by grouting pressure. Those are main factors for grouting design. In this paper, a large-scale 3D grouting simulation device was developed to simulate the surrounding curtain grouting for a tunnel. Two series of surrounding curtain grouting experiments under different geo-stress of 100 kPa, 150 kPa and 200 kPa were performed. The overload test on tunnel was performed to evaluate grouting effect of all surrounding curtain grouting experiments. In the present results, before 240 seconds, the grouting pressure increases slowly for both slurries; after 240 seconds the increase rate of grouting pressure for cement-water glass slurry increases quickly while that for cement slurry remains roughly constant. The increasing trend of grouting pressure for cement-water glass is similar to its viscosity. The setting time of cement-water glass slurry obtained from laboratory test is less than that in practical grouting where grout slurry solidifies in soil. The grouting effect of cement-water glass slurry is better than that of cement slurry and the grouting quality decreases with initial pressure.

  16. Ameliorative properties of lignite fly ash in reclaiming saline and alkali soils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mahalingam, P K

    1973-08-01

    Statistical analysis of the yield of rice grain and straw reveals that there is a significant increase in the yield of grain and straw due to the application of lignite fly ash over controls and application of lignite fly ash either at 5 tons or 10 tons per acre was on par with gypsum application at 5 tons/acre. Maximum yield was recorded in treatment with 5 tons of daincha plus 5 tons of lignite fly ash per acre. This is due to the combined effect of green manure and lignite fly ash. 4 references, 3 tables.

  17. Reweighted Low-Rank Tensor Completion and its Applications in Video Recovery

    OpenAIRE

    M., Baburaj; George, Sudhish N.

    2016-01-01

    This paper focus on recovering multi-dimensional data called tensor from randomly corrupted incomplete observation. Inspired by reweighted $l_1$ norm minimization for sparsity enhancement, this paper proposes a reweighted singular value enhancement scheme to improve tensor low tubular rank in the tensor completion process. An efficient iterative decomposition scheme based on t-SVD is proposed which improves low-rank signal recovery significantly. The effectiveness of the proposed method is es...

  18. Development of economical and high efficient desulfurization process using low rank coal; Teitankadotan wo mochiita ankana kokoritsu datsuryuho no kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takarada, Y; Kato, K; Kuroda, M; Nakagawa, N [Gunma University, Gunma (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Roman, M [New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Tokyo, (Japan)

    1997-02-01

    Experiment reveals the characteristics of low rank coal serving as a desulfurizing material in fluidized coal bed reactor with oxygen-containing functional groups exchanged with Ca ions. This effort aims at identifying inexpensive Ca materials and determining the desulfurizing characteristics of Ca-carrying brown coal. A slurry of cement sludge serving as a Ca source and low rank coal is agitated for the exchange of functional groups and Ca ions, and the desulfurizing characteristics of the Ca-carrying brown coal is determined. The Ca-carrying brown coal and high-sulfur coal char is mixed and incinerated in a fluidized bed reactor, and it is found that a desulfurization rate of 75% is achieved when the Ca/S ratio is 1 in the desulfurization of SO2. This rate is far higher than the rate obtained when limestone or cement sludge without preliminary treatment is used as a desulfurizer. Next, Ca-carrying brown coal and H2S are caused to react upon each other in a fixed bed reactor, and then it is found that desulfurization characteristics are not dependent on the diameter of the Ca-carrying brown coal grain, that the coal is different from limestone in that it stays quite active against H2S for long 40 minutes after the start of the reaction, and that CaO small in crystal diameter is dispersed in quantities into the char upon thermal disintegration of Ca-carrying brown coal to cause the coal to say quite active. 5 figs.

  19. Liquefaction of Warukin Formation Coal, Barito Basin, South Kalimantan on Low Pressure and Low Temperature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edy Nursanto

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Research focusing on the quality of coal in Warukin Formation has been conducted in coal outcrops located on Tabalong area, particularly in 3 coal seams, namely Wara 120 which consists of low rank coal (lignite. Meanwhile, coals in seam Tutupan 210 and Paringin 712 are medium rank coal (sub-bituminous. Coal liquefaction is conducted in an autoclave on low pressure and temperature. Pressure during the process is 14 psi and temperature is 120oC. Catalyst used are alumina, hydrogen donor NaOH and water solvent. Liquefaction is conducted in three times variables of 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes. This process shows following yield : Wara seam 120: 25.37% - 51.27%; Tutupan seam 210: 3.02%-15.45% and seam Paringin 712:1.99%-11.95%. The average result of yield shows that coals in seam Wara has higher yield conversion than coals in seam Tutupan and Paringin.

  20. Efficient Low Rank Tensor Ring Completion

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Wenqi; Aggarwal, Vaneet; Aeron, Shuchin

    2017-01-01

    Using the matrix product state (MPS) representation of the recently proposed tensor ring decompositions, in this paper we propose a tensor completion algorithm, which is an alternating minimization algorithm that alternates over the factors in the MPS representation. This development is motivated in part by the success of matrix completion algorithms that alternate over the (low-rank) factors. In this paper, we propose a spectral initialization for the tensor ring completion algorithm and ana...

  1. Tensor Factorization for Low-Rank Tensor Completion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Pan; Lu, Canyi; Lin, Zhouchen; Zhang, Chao

    2018-03-01

    Recently, a tensor nuclear norm (TNN) based method was proposed to solve the tensor completion problem, which has achieved state-of-the-art performance on image and video inpainting tasks. However, it requires computing tensor singular value decomposition (t-SVD), which costs much computation and thus cannot efficiently handle tensor data, due to its natural large scale. Motivated by TNN, we propose a novel low-rank tensor factorization method for efficiently solving the 3-way tensor completion problem. Our method preserves the low-rank structure of a tensor by factorizing it into the product of two tensors of smaller sizes. In the optimization process, our method only needs to update two smaller tensors, which can be more efficiently conducted than computing t-SVD. Furthermore, we prove that the proposed alternating minimization algorithm can converge to a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker point. Experimental results on the synthetic data recovery, image and video inpainting tasks clearly demonstrate the superior performance and efficiency of our developed method over state-of-the-arts including the TNN and matricization methods.

  2. Transformation of heavy metals in lignite during supercritical water gasification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Guifang; Yang, Xinfei; Chen, Shouyan; Dong, Yong; Cui, Lin; Zhang, Yong; Wang, Peng; Zhao, Xiqiang; Ma, Chunyuan

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The transformations of heavy metals during lignite SCWG were investigated. • The risks of heavy metals in lignite and residues after SCWG were evaluated. • The effects of experimental conditions on corrosion during SCWG were studied. - Abstract: Transformation characteristics of heavy metals during lignite supercritical water gasification (SCWG) were studied. A sequential extraction procedure (modified Tessier method) was used to selectively extract different fractions of Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, Cu, Ni, and Zn. Heavy metals transformed into more stable fractions after SCWG. For Pb, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Zn, SCWG reduced the bioavailability and the risks posed by heavy metals in lignite. Under the experimental conditions, the conversion rates for Pb and Cd were 16.0%–25.2% and 16.3%–23.4%, respectively, whereas those for Mn, Cu, and Zn were much lower. Solid products enriched with Pb, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Zn were obtained after SCWG; the contents of these metals varied slightly in the liquid products under different experimental conditions. Excess Cr and Ni that did not originate from lignite were found in the residues, owing to reactor corrosion during lignite SCWG. Higher temperatures alleviated corrosion, whereas higher pressures and equivalence ratios (ER) had the opposite effect. None of the heavy metals were detected in the gas phase under the experimental conditions used in the present study. The correlation between the distributions of heavy metals and the experimental conditions were also studied. The transformation pathways of Pb, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Zn during SCWG were deduced according to the experimental results.

  3. Robust Visual Tracking via Online Discriminative and Low-Rank Dictionary Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Tao; Liu, Fanghui; Bhaskar, Harish; Yang, Jie

    2017-09-12

    In this paper, we propose a novel and robust tracking framework based on online discriminative and low-rank dictionary learning. The primary aim of this paper is to obtain compact and low-rank dictionaries that can provide good discriminative representations of both target and background. We accomplish this by exploiting the recovery ability of low-rank matrices. That is if we assume that the data from the same class are linearly correlated, then the corresponding basis vectors learned from the training set of each class shall render the dictionary to become approximately low-rank. The proposed dictionary learning technique incorporates a reconstruction error that improves the reliability of classification. Also, a multiconstraint objective function is designed to enable active learning of a discriminative and robust dictionary. Further, an optimal solution is obtained by iteratively computing the dictionary, coefficients, and by simultaneously learning the classifier parameters. Finally, a simple yet effective likelihood function is implemented to estimate the optimal state of the target during tracking. Moreover, to make the dictionary adaptive to the variations of the target and background during tracking, an online update criterion is employed while learning the new dictionary. Experimental results on a publicly available benchmark dataset have demonstrated that the proposed tracking algorithm performs better than other state-of-the-art trackers.

  4. A New Direction of Cancer Classification: Positive Effect of Low-Ranking MicroRNAs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Feifei; Piao, Minghao; Piao, Yongjun; Li, Meijing; Ryu, Keun Ho

    2014-10-01

    Many studies based on microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles showed a new aspect of cancer classification. Because one characteristic of miRNA expression data is the high dimensionality, feature selection methods have been used to facilitate dimensionality reduction. The feature selection methods have one shortcoming thus far: they just consider the problem of where feature to class is 1:1 or n:1. However, because one miRNA may influence more than one type of cancer, human miRNA is considered to be ranked low in traditional feature selection methods and are removed most of the time. In view of the limitation of the miRNA number, low-ranking miRNAs are also important to cancer classification. We considered both high- and low-ranking features to cover all problems (1:1, n:1, 1:n, and m:n) in cancer classification. First, we used the correlation-based feature selection method to select the high-ranking miRNAs, and chose the support vector machine, Bayes network, decision tree, k-nearest-neighbor, and logistic classifier to construct cancer classification. Then, we chose Chi-square test, information gain, gain ratio, and Pearson's correlation feature selection methods to build the m:n feature subset, and used the selected miRNAs to determine cancer classification. The low-ranking miRNA expression profiles achieved higher classification accuracy compared with just using high-ranking miRNAs in traditional feature selection methods. Our results demonstrate that the m:n feature subset made a positive impression of low-ranking miRNAs in cancer classification.

  5. Combustion of uraniferous lignites in fluidized bed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morales, G.; Gasos, P.

    1985-01-01

    In this paper a description of the continuous fluid bed combustion pilot plant unit, installed in the Junta de Energia Nuclear facilities, is presented. Besides, this paper deals with some of the studies carried out in the pilot plant aimed at the recovery of uranium from lignites, high in sulfur and ashes, coming from Calaf basin (Barcelona). These studies include the recovery of the heating value of these lignites and the reduction of environmental effect of SO 2 . Based on these studies an application exercise is presented. 9 references, 5 figures, 5 tables

  6. Perspectives of the German lignite industry 2014; Perspektiven der deutschen Braunkohlenindustrie 2014

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hartung, Matthias; Milojcic, George [DEBRIV, Koeln (Germany)

    2014-11-01

    The decision to phase out nuclear energy and gradually realign the electricity system towards more renewables in the future required some extensive changes to electricity generation transmission. One of the issues to be considered is what role lignite can play in the transformation of the electricity system and what application is offered to Germany and its regions. However, lignite has some stable factors and their development is fairly predictable. Domestic lignite is one such example. Beyond its familiar attributes, 'secure, competitive and economically important for the regions', 'flexibility' is a key word that indicates a new dimension for the German lignite industry.

  7. Ice slurry applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kauffeld, M. [Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Moltkestr. 30, 76133 Karlsruhe (Germany); Wang, M.J.; Goldstein, V. [Sunwell Technologies Inc., 180 Caster Avenue, Woodbridge, L4L 5Y (Canada); Kasza, K.E. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States)

    2010-12-15

    The role of secondary refrigerants is expected to grow as the focus on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions increases. The effectiveness of secondary refrigerants can be improved when phase changing media are introduced in place of single-phase media. Operating at temperatures below the freezing point of water, ice slurry facilitates several efficiency improvements such as reductions in pumping energy consumption as well as lowering the required temperature difference in heat exchangers due to the beneficial thermo-physical properties of ice slurry. Research has shown that ice slurry can be engineered to have ideal ice particle characteristics so that it can be easily stored in tanks without agglomeration and then be extractable for pumping at very high ice fraction without plugging. In addition ice slurry can be used in many direct contact food and medical protective cooling applications. This paper provides an overview of the latest developments in ice slurry technology. (author)

  8. Foreseen development of mining of lignite; Przewidywany rozwoj gornictwa wegla brunatnego

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kozlowski, Z. [Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw (Poland). Dept. of Geo-engineering, Mining and Geology

    2004-07-01

    The future of activity in Poland's lignite sector will be determined by the demand for this fuel, which will in turn result from mining possibilities and economic competitiveness of the fuel in relation to other sources of electrical energy. The paper discusses all these factors and presents a framework programme for the development of Poland's lignite sector until 2040 (in detail) and further ahead to 2075, called the 'Agreement of manufacturers of lignite'. 4 refs., 5 tabs.

  9. JV Task 98 - Controlling Mercury Emissions for Utilities Firing Lignites from North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steven Benson

    2007-06-15

    This project compiled and summarized the findings and conclusions of research, development, and demonstration projects on controlling mercury from lignite coals. A significant amount of work has been conducted since 1994 on mercury in lignite, mercury measurement in flue gases, sorbent, sorbent enhancement additives, oxidation agent development, and full-scale demonstration of mercury control technologies. This report is focused on providing the lignite industry with an understanding of mercury issues associated with the combustion of lignite, as well as providing vital information on the methods to control mercury emissions in coal-fired power plants.

  10. Eocene Yegua Formation (Claiborne group) and Jackson group lignite deposits of Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hook, Robert W.; Warwick, Peter D.; Swanson, Sharon M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Warwick, Peter D.; Karlsen, Alexander K.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Valentine, Brett J.

    2011-01-01

    The lignite deposits within the upper Eocene Yegua Formation (Claiborne Group) and the overlying Jackson Group are among the coal resources that were not quantitatively assessed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) program in the Gulf Coastal Plain coal province. In the past, these lignite-bearing stratigraphic units often have been evaluated together because of their geographic and stratigraphic proximity (Fisher, 1963; Kaiser, 1974; Kaiser et al., 1980; Jackson and Garner, 1982; Kaiser, 1996) (Figures 1, 2). The term “Yegua-Jackson trend“ is used informally herein for the lignite-bearing outcrops of these Late Eocene deposits in Texas. Lignite beds in the Yegua-Jackson trend generally are higher both in ash yield and sulfur content than those of the underlying Wilcox Group (Figure 2). Recent studies (Senkayi et al., 1987; Ruppert et al., 1994; Warwick et al., 1996, 1997) have shown that some lignite beds within the Yegua-Jackson trend contain partings of volcanic ash and host elevated levels of trace elements that have been identified as potentially hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the United States Clean Air Amendments of 1990. Lignite beds within the Yegua Formation are thin (less than or equal to 6 ft) and laterally discontinuous in comparison with most Wilcox Group deposits (Ayers, 1989a); in contrast, the Jackson Group lignite beds range up to 12 ft in total thickness and are relatively continuous laterally, extending nearly 32 mi along strike.

  11. Production of fuels out of lignite and lignocelluloses; Herstellung von Brennstoffen aus Braunkohle und Lignozellulose

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naundorf, W.; Schroeder, H.W.; Trommer, D. [TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany)

    2001-12-01

    The acceptance towards solid fuels will increase again if its ease of use is improved, the production costs remain low for extended periods of time, and high thermal efficiencies as well as low pollutant emissions are achieved. These demands can only be met by optimal fuel processing and the use of modern fuel engineering which applies, if possible, continuous and controlled fuel and air feed technology. Two fuels are introduced which are produced out of lignite and lignocelluloses by compaction or by balling granulation. Considering the improvement of combustion properties, remarkable synergy effects occur due to this raw material combination. Lignocelluloses act as an ignition auxillary. Lignite functions as a binding agent, increases the fuels' fire resistance, and guarantees a long, sustained combustion with an excellent combustion rate. (orig.)

  12. Slurry reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuerten, H; Zehner, P [BASF A.G., Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Germany, F.R.)

    1979-08-01

    Slurry reactors are designed on the basis of empirical data and model investigations. It is as yet not possible to calculate the flow behavior of such reactors. The swarm of gas bubbles and cluster formations of solid particles and their interaction in industrial reactors are not known. These effects control to a large extent the gas hold-up, the gas-liquid interface and, similarly as in bubble columns, the back-mixing of liquids and solids. These hydrodynamic problems are illustrated in slurry reactors which constructionally may be bubble columns, stirred tanks or jet loop reactors. The expected effects are predicted by means of tests with model systems modified to represent the conditions in industrial hydrogenation reactors. In his book 'Mass Transfer in Heterogeneous Catalysis' (1970) Satterfield complained of the lack of knowledge about the design of slurry reactors and hence of the impossible task of the engineer who has to design a plant according to accepted rules. There have been no fundamental changes since then. This paper presents the problems facing the engineer in designing slurry reactors, and shows new development trends.

  13. Activated-Lignite-Based Super Large Granular Slow-Release Fertilizers Improve Apple Tree Growth: Synthesis, Characterizations, and Laboratory and Field Evaluations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yafu; Wang, Xinying; Yang, Yuechao; Gao, Bin; Wan, Yongshan; Li, Yuncong C; Cheng, Dongdong

    2017-07-26

    In this work, lignite, a low-grade coal, was modified using the solid-phase activation method with the aid of a Pd/CeO 2 nanoparticle catalyst to improve its pore structure and nutrient absorption. Results indicate that the adsorption ability of the activated lignite to NO 3 - , NH 4 + , H 2 PO 4 - , and K + was significantly higher than that of raw lignite. The activated lignite was successfully combined with the polymeric slow-release fertilizer, which exhibits typical slow-release behavior, to prepare the super large granular activated lignite slow-release fertilizer (SAF). In addition to the slow-release ability, the SAF showed excellent water-retention capabilities. Soil column leaching experiments further confirmed the slow-release characteristics of the SAF with fertilizer nutrient loss greatly reduced in comparison to traditional and slow-release fertilizers. Furthermore, field tests of the SAF in an orchard showed that the novel SAF was better than other tested fertilizers in improve the growth of young apple trees. Findings from this study suggest that the newly developed SAF has great potential to be used in apple cultivation and production systems in the future.

  14. Expansion of Neyveli lignite mines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kasturi, T S

    1982-06-01

    This paper describes activities at Neyveli lignite mines in the Tamil Nadu region of India. The equipment used, in mining and materials handling is described. Problems encountered in the conveyor transport system are described, and the solutions finally adopted are presented.

  15. Enhancing Low-Rank Subspace Clustering by Manifold Regularization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Junmin; Chen, Yijun; Zhang, JiangShe; Xu, Zongben

    2014-07-25

    Recently, low-rank representation (LRR) method has achieved great success in subspace clustering (SC), which aims to cluster the data points that lie in a union of low-dimensional subspace. Given a set of data points, LRR seeks the lowest rank representation among the many possible linear combinations of the bases in a given dictionary or in terms of the data itself. However, LRR only considers the global Euclidean structure, while the local manifold structure, which is often important for many real applications, is ignored. In this paper, to exploit the local manifold structure of the data, a manifold regularization characterized by a Laplacian graph has been incorporated into LRR, leading to our proposed Laplacian regularized LRR (LapLRR). An efficient optimization procedure, which is based on alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), is developed for LapLRR. Experimental results on synthetic and real data sets are presented to demonstrate that the performance of LRR has been enhanced by using the manifold regularization.

  16. Water extraction from high moisture lignite by means of efficient integration of waste heat and water recovery technologies with flue gas pre-drying system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Xiaoqu; Yan, Junjie; Karellas, Sotirios; Liu, Ming; Kakaras, Emmanuel; Xiao, Feng

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Energy-saving potential of FPLPS in different cold-ends and lignite types is evaluated. • Water-saving of FPLPS is realized through recovery of water extracted from lignite. • Integrations of low pressure economizer and spray tower with FPLPS are proposed. • Thermodynamic and economic performances of different schemes are investigated. - Abstract: The flue gas pre-dried lignite-fired power system (FPLPS) integrates the fan mill flue gas dryer with an open pulverizing system and yields an increase of the boiler efficiency. Particularly, the dryer exhaust gas contains a large amount of vapor removed from high moisture lignite, which exhibits great potential for waste heat and water recovery. Two available options are considered to realize the extraction of water from lignite: the low pressure economizer (LPE) for water-cooled units and the spray tower (SPT) integrated with heat pump for air-cooled units. This paper aims at evaluating the energy saving and water recovery potentials of the FPLPS integrated with both schemes. Results showed that the plant efficiency improvement of the FPLPS at base case varied from 1.14% to 1.47% depending on the moisture content of raw lignite. The water recovery ratio and plant efficiency improvement in the optimal LPE scheme were 39.4% and 0.20%, respectively. In contrast, 83.3% of water recover ratio and 110.6 MW_t_h heat supply were achieved in the SPT system. Both schemes were economically feasible with discounted payback periods of around 3 years. Moreover, parametric analysis was conducted to examine the economic viability of both schemes with different lignite types and market factors.

  17. Conductivity and electrochemical performance of LiFePO4 slurry in the lithium slurry battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Caimei; Chen, Yongchong; Liu, Dandan; Zhang, Ping

    2017-06-01

    Lithium slurry battery is a new type of energy storage technique which uses the slurry of solid active materials, conductive additions and liquid electrolyte as the electrode. The proportion of conductive addition and the active material has significant influence on the conductivity and electrochemical performance of the slurry electrode. In the present work, slurries with different volume ratios of LiFePO4 (LFP) and Ketjenblack (KB) were investigated by the electrochemical workstation and charge-discharge testing system (vs. Li/Li+). Results show that the conductivity of the slurry increases linearly with the addition of KB, and the measured specific capacity of the slurry reaches its theoretical value when the volume ratio of KB to LFP is around 0.2. Based on this ratio, a slurry battery with higher loading of LFP (19.1 wt.% in the slurry) was tested, and a specific capacity of 165 mAh/g at 0.2 mA/cm2 and 102 mAh/g at 5 mA/cm2 was obtained for LFP.

  18. System and method for slurry handling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, Raymond Douglas; Oppenheim, Judith Pauline

    2015-12-29

    A system includes a slurry depressurizing system that includes a liquid expansion system configured to continuously receive a slurry at a first pressure and continuously discharge the slurry at a second pressure. For example, the slurry depressurizing system may include an expansion turbine to expand the slurry from the first pressure to the second pressure.

  19. Differential-thermal analysis of irradiated lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chichek, F.; Eyubova, N.

    2006-01-01

    Full text: In this theme our purpose is to explain thermo-differential analysis of lignites irradiated. During experiment Caraman Ermenek (washed), Caraman Ermenek (crude), Nevshehir (crude), Slopi (crude), Trakya Harman (washed) lignite coals were used. Five of five kinds of coal samples with 3mm and 1gr of each sample were obtained. Then they were filled into the Tubes after having dried total 25 samples with 1 gr at 1000 degrees temperature for one hour. Air in the tubes was pumped out and closed. Coal samples in vacuum medium were irradiated by gamma rays of Co60 at 5.5 kGy, 19.2 kGy, 65.7 kGy, 169.6 kGy, 411.2 kGy doses to the normal conditions. Then differential thermal analysis was carried out both in original and the samples irradiated. Argon gas was used to make inert medium in the camera. T=200-8500 degrees temperature was selected. At the experiment done from 1000-1300 degrees temperatures too great endothermic reaction pick was begun to form by being observed thermal changings. At 3000-4200 degrees temperature exothermic reaction picks and at 7000 degrees parallel exothermic reaction picks were observed. Initial endothermic and exothermic reaction picks in five lignite samples were observed like a sharp curve. At the end coal irradiated samples were compared with original coal samples. At the result of experiment it was revealed that in comparison with original coal samples coal samples irradiated form exothermic and endothermic curves at very reaction pick and temperature intervals of these pick were large. Besides loss of weight was observed to begin at low temperatures in samples irradiated and especially momentary weight loss at some heats in the rang of known temperatures was observed in the coal Slopi contain in bitumen. Because of heat the weigh loss in the non irradiated samples forms parabolic curve and because of heat the weight loss in the samples irradiated forms stepped curves. It has shown that the coal irradiated can be easily departed by

  20. Use of INAA for investigation of emission of elements in combustion of Polish lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janczyszyn, J.; Loska, L.; Pohorecki, W.; Wagner, M.

    2002-01-01

    Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been applied for the determination of trace elements content in samples of Polish lignite and its ash. Pairs of results, for lignite and ash, and respective ash contents were used for calculation of the percentage of element remaining in ash after the lignite combustion. (author)

  1. Effects of lignite application on ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from cattle pens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Jianlei, E-mail: su@unimelb.edu.au [Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 (Australia); Bai, Mei [Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 (Australia); Shen, Jianlin [Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125 (China); Griffith, David W.T. [Department of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522 (Australia); Denmead, Owen T. [Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 (Australia); Hill, Julian [Ternes Agricultural Consulting Pty Ltd, Upwey, VIC 3158 (Australia); Lam, Shu Kee; Mosier, Arvin R. [Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 (Australia); Chen, Deli, E-mail: delichen@unimelb.edu.au [Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 (Australia)

    2016-09-15

    Beef cattle feedlots are a major source of ammonia (NH{sub 3}) emissions from livestock industries. We investigated the effects of lignite surface applications on NH{sub 3} and nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) emissions from beef cattle feedlot pens. Two rates of lignite, 3 and 6 kg m{sup −2}, were tested in the treatment pen. No lignite was applied in the control pen. Twenty-four Black Angus steers were fed identical commercial rations in each pen. We measured NH{sub 3} and N{sub 2}O concentrations continuously from 4th Sep to 13th Nov 2014 using Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) NH{sub 3} analysers and a closed-path Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analyser (CP-FTIR) in conjunction with the integrated horizontal flux method to calculate NH{sub 3} and N{sub 2}O fluxes. During the feeding period, 16 and 26% of the excreted nitrogen (N) (240 g N head{sup −1} day{sup −1}) was lost via NH{sub 3} volatilization from the control pen, while lignite application decreased NH{sub 3} volatilization to 12 and 18% of the excreted N, for Phase 1 and Phase 2, respectively. Compared to the control pen, lignite application decreased NH{sub 3} emissions by approximately 30%. Nitrous oxide emissions from the cattle pens were small, 0.10 and 0.14 g N{sub 2}O-N head{sup −1} day{sup −1} (< 0.1% of excreted N) for the control pen, for Phase 1 and Phase 2, respectively. Lignite application increased direct N{sub 2}O emissions by 40 and 57%, to 0.14 and 0.22 g N{sub 2}O-N head{sup −1} day{sup −1}, for Phase 1 and Phase 2, respectively. The increase in N{sub 2}O emissions resulting from lignite application was counteracted by the lower indirect N{sub 2}O emission due to decreased NH{sub 3} volatilization. Using 1% as a default emission factor of deposited NH{sub 3} for indirect N{sub 2}O emissions, the application of lignite decreased total N{sub 2}O emissions. - Graphical abstract: Lignite application substantially decreased NH{sub 3} emissions from cattle feedlots and increased

  2. JV Task - 129 Advanced Conversion Test - Bulgarian Lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michael Swanson; Everett Sondreal; Daniel Laudal; Douglas Hajicek; Ann Henderson; Brandon Pavlish

    2009-03-27

    achieved, a heating value very close to that needed to fire a gas turbine would be achieved; however, some operational issues associated with utilizing recycled syngas or carbon dioxide as the transport gas would also have to be resolved. Use of a coal with a quality similar to the core samples provided earlier in the test program would also improve the gasifier performance. Low cold-gas efficiencies on the order of 20% calculated for oxygen-blown tests resulted in part from specific difficulties experienced in trying to operate the pilot-scale TRDU on this very high-ash lignite. These low levels of efficiency are not believed to be representative of what could be achieved in a commercial KRB transport gasifier. Combustion tests were also performed in the EERC's circulating fluidized-bed combustor (CFBC) to evaluate this alternative technology for use of this fuel. It was demonstrated that this fuel does have sufficient heating value to sustain combustion, even without coal drying; however, it will be challenging to economically extract sufficient energy for the generation of steam for electrical generation. The boiler efficiency for the dried coal was 73.5% at 85% sulfur capture (21.4% moisture) compared to 55.3% at 85% sulfur capture (40% moisture). Improved boiler efficiencies for this coal will be possible operating a system more specifically designed to maximize heat extraction from the ash streams for this high-ash fuel. Drying of the coal to approximately 25% moisture probably would be recommended for either power system. Fuel moisture also has a large impact on fuel feedability. Pressurized gasifiers generally like drier fuels than systems operating at ambient pressures. The commercially recommended feedstock moisture for a pressurized transport reactor gasifier is 25% moisture. Maximum moisture content for a CFB system could be approximately 40% moisture as has been demonstrated on the Alstom CFB operating on Mississippi lignite. A preliminary economic

  3. Weakly intrusive low-rank approximation method for nonlinear parameter-dependent equations

    KAUST Repository

    Giraldi, Loic; Nouy, Anthony

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a weakly intrusive strategy for computing a low-rank approximation of the solution of a system of nonlinear parameter-dependent equations. The proposed strategy relies on a Newton-like iterative solver which only requires evaluations of the residual of the parameter-dependent equation and of a preconditioner (such as the differential of the residual) for instances of the parameters independently. The algorithm provides an approximation of the set of solutions associated with a possibly large number of instances of the parameters, with a computational complexity which can be orders of magnitude lower than when using the same Newton-like solver for all instances of the parameters. The reduction of complexity requires efficient strategies for obtaining low-rank approximations of the residual, of the preconditioner, and of the increment at each iteration of the algorithm. For the approximation of the residual and the preconditioner, weakly intrusive variants of the empirical interpolation method are introduced, which require evaluations of entries of the residual and the preconditioner. Then, an approximation of the increment is obtained by using a greedy algorithm for low-rank approximation, and a low-rank approximation of the iterate is finally obtained by using a truncated singular value decomposition. When the preconditioner is the differential of the residual, the proposed algorithm is interpreted as an inexact Newton solver for which a detailed convergence analysis is provided. Numerical examples illustrate the efficiency of the method.

  4. Weakly intrusive low-rank approximation method for nonlinear parameter-dependent equations

    KAUST Repository

    Giraldi, Loic

    2017-06-30

    This paper presents a weakly intrusive strategy for computing a low-rank approximation of the solution of a system of nonlinear parameter-dependent equations. The proposed strategy relies on a Newton-like iterative solver which only requires evaluations of the residual of the parameter-dependent equation and of a preconditioner (such as the differential of the residual) for instances of the parameters independently. The algorithm provides an approximation of the set of solutions associated with a possibly large number of instances of the parameters, with a computational complexity which can be orders of magnitude lower than when using the same Newton-like solver for all instances of the parameters. The reduction of complexity requires efficient strategies for obtaining low-rank approximations of the residual, of the preconditioner, and of the increment at each iteration of the algorithm. For the approximation of the residual and the preconditioner, weakly intrusive variants of the empirical interpolation method are introduced, which require evaluations of entries of the residual and the preconditioner. Then, an approximation of the increment is obtained by using a greedy algorithm for low-rank approximation, and a low-rank approximation of the iterate is finally obtained by using a truncated singular value decomposition. When the preconditioner is the differential of the residual, the proposed algorithm is interpreted as an inexact Newton solver for which a detailed convergence analysis is provided. Numerical examples illustrate the efficiency of the method.

  5. Petrological, geochemical and isotopic characteristics of lignite and calcified lignite from mining area Pesje, Velenje Basin, Slovenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrabec, Mirijam; Markič, Miloš; Vrabec, Marko; Jaćimović, Radojko; Kanduč, Tjaša

    2014-05-01

    Lignite (organic rich) and calcified lignite (inorganic rich) samples from excavation field -50c mining area Pesje, Velenje Basin, Slovenia were investigated. During geological and structural mapping lignite and calcified lignite samples were systematically taken for determination of their petrological, geochemical and isotopic characteristics. Lignite is composed of fine detritical gelified matrix. At least five different types of calcified lignite were recognized forming laminations, calcifications after wood, petrified wood and complete replacements of lignite with carbonate. All measured parameters so far indicate geochemical processes during sedimentation of the Velenej Basin. After macroscopic description samples were split to organic and inorganic component (Ward, 1984) and powdered in an agate mortar for geochemical and isotopic analyses. Major and trace elements (As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Sb, Se, Th, U, Zn) in these samples were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) using k-0 standardization method (Jaćimović et al, 2002). The isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen was determined using a Europa 20-20 continuous flow IRMS ANCA-SL preparation module. A 1 mg amount of a sample was weighed in a tin capsule for carbon and 10 mg for nitrogen analysis. Samples for carbon analyses were pretreated with 1 M HCl to remove carbonates. Carbonate samples from carbonate-rich strata and calcified xylite were first roasted at 450 deg C (Krantz et al., 1987). Three miligrams of carbonate sample was transformed into CO2 by reaction with anhydrous H3PO4 at 55 deg C under vacuum (McCrea, 1950) and measured with GV 2003 isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Measured isotopic composition of oxygen as VPDB values was recalculated to the VSMOW reference standard to enable the comparison with data from other coal basins. SEM/EDXS of carbonate rich sediments was performed with JEOL JSM 5800 electron microanalyzer scanning electron microscope

  6. Multi-Label Classification Based on Low Rank Representation for Image Annotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiaoyu Tan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Annotating remote sensing images is a challenging task for its labor demanding annotation process and requirement of expert knowledge, especially when images can be annotated with multiple semantic concepts (or labels. To automatically annotate these multi-label images, we introduce an approach called Multi-Label Classification based on Low Rank Representation (MLC-LRR. MLC-LRR firstly utilizes low rank representation in the feature space of images to compute the low rank constrained coefficient matrix, then it adapts the coefficient matrix to define a feature-based graph and to capture the global relationships between images. Next, it utilizes low rank representation in the label space of labeled images to construct a semantic graph. Finally, these two graphs are exploited to train a graph-based multi-label classifier. To validate the performance of MLC-LRR against other related graph-based multi-label methods in annotating images, we conduct experiments on a public available multi-label remote sensing images (Land Cover. We perform additional experiments on five real-world multi-label image datasets to further investigate the performance of MLC-LRR. Empirical study demonstrates that MLC-LRR achieves better performance on annotating images than these comparing methods across various evaluation criteria; it also can effectively exploit global structure and label correlations of multi-label images.

  7. Speech Denoising in White Noise Based on Signal Subspace Low-rank Plus Sparse Decomposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    yuan Shuai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new subspace speech enhancement method using low-rank and sparse decomposition is presented. In the proposed method, we firstly structure the corrupted data as a Toeplitz matrix and estimate its effective rank for the underlying human speech signal. Then the low-rank and sparse decomposition is performed with the guidance of speech rank value to remove the noise. Extensive experiments have been carried out in white Gaussian noise condition, and experimental results show the proposed method performs better than conventional speech enhancement methods, in terms of yielding less residual noise and lower speech distortion.

  8. Low-rank driving in quantum systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkey, R.S.

    1989-01-01

    A new property of quantum systems called low-rank driving is introduced. Numerous simplifications in the solution of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation are pointed out for systems having this property. These simplifications are in the areas of finding eigenvalues, taking the Laplace transform, converting Schroedinger's equation to an integral form, discretizing the continuum, generalizing the Weisskopf-Wigner approximation, band-diagonalizing the Hamiltonian, finding new exact solutions to Schroedinger's equation, and so forth. The principal physical application considered is the phenomenon of coherent populations-trapping in continuum-continuum interactions

  9. Powerful boost for Indian lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1985-06-01

    The Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) of India has begun the first phase of an expansion program that will open a second mine and boost lignite production in Tamil Nadu to nearly five times its present level within the next 15 years. Mining conditions at Neyveli are particularly difficult. The harsh abrasive overburden strata present severe and strenuous conditions; sticky and marshy surface clays, the presence of groundwater aquifers, the cyclonic and monsoonal climate and high stripping ratios are other problems. The overburden is drilled and blasted; in areas of sticky topsoil, non-stick liners for the buckets etc. are used. Adequate safeguards and infrastructure are being developed to deal with differing strata conditions. The conveyor transport system features slow, wider belt conveyors, changeover from fixed type roller to freely hanging garland type, interlinking of benches and specially designed drive heads. The groundwater aquifers are continuously depressurized by grid pumping from a series of pumps; boreholes have been sunk to 120 m.

  10. Potentials and limitations of spatial and demographic development in Kosovo-Metohija lignite basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Spasić Nenad

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The initial research carried out for the purpose of elaborating the Spatial Plan for Kosovo-Metohija Lignite Basin indicated the need to address numerous conflicts and opposing interests in the area concerned. This required the Plan to focus on harmonizing the economic, social and spatial aspects of developing a mining-energy-industrial system (hereinafter MEIS and its surroundings, devising the new ways for the protection of local population interests and use of novel approaches in dealing with the environmental consequences of lignite exploitation and processing. The area wherein Kosovo-Metohija lignite deposits are found is replete with diverse conflicting interests, including insufficient and uneven development, extremely large overall and especially agrarian population density (among the highest in Europe, unemployment and a sizable portion of the grey economy, low level and quality of services of public interest, ethnic conflicts and polarization, etc. The environmental effects of MEIS activities in a situation of this kind were revealed by the early stages of research in all segments of economic, social and spatial development, along with a high degree of environmental degradation. The main conflict in the Plan area is the one between mining and agriculture, i.e. open pit lignite mining and high-fertility soil covering lignite deposits. The conflict is additionally aggravated by the remarkable density of agricultural population on this territory and high selling prices of the land. Therefore, a substantial part of the Plan’s propositions was related to the conditions of settlement and infrastructure relocation, population resettlement and measures to relieve the tensions and prevent the outbreak of potential conflicts in implementing the Plan. The Spatial Plan is conceived as a complex and comprehensive document defining the framework, basic principles, starting points and measures tackling the numerous development conflicts, spatial

  11. Sulfomethylated lignite salt as a sacrifical agent in oil recovery processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kudchadker, M.V.; Weiss, W.J.

    1978-02-07

    A process is described for recovering petroleum from oil reservoirs by secondary recovery methods. The process involves injecting via an injection well into the reservoir an aqueous solution of sulfomethylated lignite salt as a sacrificial agent to inhibit the deposition of surfactant and polymer on the reservoir matrix. The process is conducted by first injecting the lignite salt into the formation through the injection well and following it with either a polymer or a surfactant solution, which also may contain the lignite salt. The polymer or surfactant would then be followed by a drive fluid, such as water, to push the chemicals and oil to the production well. (18 claims)

  12. Comparison and analysis of organic components of biogas slurry from eichhornia crassipes solms and corn straw biogas slurry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Q.; Li, Y. B.; Liu, Z. H.; Min, J.; Cui, Y.; Gao, X. H.

    2017-11-01

    Biogas slurry is one of anaerobic fermentations, and biomass fermentation biogas slurries with different compositions are different. This paper mainly presents through the anaerobic fermentation of Eichhornia crassipes solms biogas slurry and biogas slurry of corn straw, the organic components of two kinds of biogas slurry after extraction were compared by TLC, HPLC and spectrophotometric determination of nucleic acid and protein of two kinds of biogas slurry organic components, and analyzes the result of comparison.

  13. The effects of a spray slurry nozzle on copper CMP for reduction in slurry consumption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Da Sol; Jeong, Hae Do [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Hyun Seop [Tongmyong University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-12-15

    The environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing has been a big social problem, like greenhouse gas emission. Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), a wet process which consumes chemical slurries, seriously impacts environmental sustain ability and cost-effectiveness. This paper demonstrates the superiority of a full-cone spray slurry nozzle to the conventional tube-type slurry nozzle in Cu CMP. It was observed that the spray nozzle made a weak slurry wave at the retaining ring unlike a conventional nozzle, because the slurry was supplied uniformly in broader areas. Experiments were implemented with different slurry flow rates and spray nozzle heights. Spray nozzle performance is controlled by the spray angle and spray height. The process temperature was obtained with an infrared (IR) sensor and an IR thermal imaging camera to investigate the cooling effect of the spray. The results show that the spray nozzle provides a higher Material removal rate (MRR), lower non-uniformity (NU), and lower temperature than the conventional nozzle. Computational fluid dynamics techniques show that the turbulence kinetic energy and slurry velocity of the spray nozzle are much higher than those of the conventional nozzle. Finally, it can be summarized that the spray nozzle plays a significant role in slurry efficiency by theory of Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL).

  14. The effects of a spray slurry nozzle on copper CMP for reduction in slurry consumption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Da Sol; Jeong, Hae Do; Lee, Hyun Seop

    2015-01-01

    The environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing has been a big social problem, like greenhouse gas emission. Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), a wet process which consumes chemical slurries, seriously impacts environmental sustain ability and cost-effectiveness. This paper demonstrates the superiority of a full-cone spray slurry nozzle to the conventional tube-type slurry nozzle in Cu CMP. It was observed that the spray nozzle made a weak slurry wave at the retaining ring unlike a conventional nozzle, because the slurry was supplied uniformly in broader areas. Experiments were implemented with different slurry flow rates and spray nozzle heights. Spray nozzle performance is controlled by the spray angle and spray height. The process temperature was obtained with an infrared (IR) sensor and an IR thermal imaging camera to investigate the cooling effect of the spray. The results show that the spray nozzle provides a higher Material removal rate (MRR), lower non-uniformity (NU), and lower temperature than the conventional nozzle. Computational fluid dynamics techniques show that the turbulence kinetic energy and slurry velocity of the spray nozzle are much higher than those of the conventional nozzle. Finally, it can be summarized that the spray nozzle plays a significant role in slurry efficiency by theory of Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL).

  15. Radioactivity of Yatagan lignites and their ash

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cicek, F.; Mustafaev, I.; Aliyev, C.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: One of harmful factor of Environmental impact of coal combustion is radiation pollution of Environment. The natural radioisotopes - uranium, thorium and potassium and products of their radioactive destruction contains of radionuclides. These radionuclides in composition of fly ash are thrown to atmosphere from coal combustion furnaces. The concentration of radioisotopes in composition of coals changes in the wide ranges: from 3 up to 520 Becquerel per kilogram (Bq/kg) for Uranium-238 and from 3 up to 320 Bq/kg for thorium-232. The radioactive pollution degree of environment depends on radioisotopes content of initial fuels. In this connection at the estimation of outlook and exploitation of coal mines it is necessary to determine of radioisotopes concentration in coals. That is why investigation of radioisotopes concentration of Turkish lignites has great importance. In this work the radionuclide content of Yatagan lignites and their ash, taken from Gekova thermal Electro station have been studied. The total radiation background generated by these samples was investigated by using of dosimeters 8P-5, CRP-88H, PYB-OIP. Radionuclides content of samples was determined in the Institute of Geology Azerbaijan national Academy of Sciences by using of highly sensitivity gamma-spectrometer CAPU-2, designed by Special Constructor Buro G eophysika . The plant allows to determine the radioisotopes content of solid and liquid samples with highly reliability. It has been established that in sample of lignite uranium content (on the radium equivalent) is 68 Bq/kg, potassium-149 Bq/kg and thorium is absent. The total radioactivity of lignite sample is 79,7 Bq/kg. In the ash sample uranium content is 266 Bq/kg, potassium-188 Bq/kg, and total activity reach to 300 Bq/kg. The possibility of application of purification erection for radionuclides from smoke gases of coal combustion is discussed

  16. Ash content of lignites - radiometric analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leonhardt, J.; Thuemmel, H.W.

    1986-01-01

    The quality of lignites is governed by the ash content varying in dependence upon the geologic conditions. Setup and function of the radiometric devices being used for ash content analysis in the GDR are briefly described

  17. Slurry discharge management-beach profile prediction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bravo, R.; Nawrot, J.R. [Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering

    1996-11-01

    Mine tailings dams are embankments used by the mining industry to retain the tailings products after the mineral preparation process. Based on the acid-waste stereotype that all coal slurry is acid producing, current reclamation requires a four foot soil cover for inactive slurry disposal areas. Compliance with this requirement is both difficult and costly and in some case unnecessary, as not all the slurry, or portions of slurry impoundments are acid producing. Reduced costs and recent popularity of wetland development has prompted many operators to request reclamation variances for slurry impoundments. Waiting to address slurry reclamation until after the impoundment is full, limits the flexibility of reclamation opportunities. This paper outlines a general methodology to predict the formation of the beach profile for mine tailings dams, by the discharge volume and location of the slurry into the impoundment. The review is presented under the perspective of geotechnical engineering and waste disposal management emphasizing the importance of pre-planning slurry disposal land reclamation. 4 refs., 5 figs.

  18. An Enhanced Factor Analysis of Performance Degradation Assessment on Slurry Pump Impellers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shilong Sun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Slurry pumps, such as oil sand pumps, are widely used in industry to convert electrical energy to slurry potential and kinetic energy. Because of adverse working conditions, slurry pump impellers are prone to suffer wear, which may result in slurry pump breakdowns. To prevent any unexpected breakdowns, slurry pump impeller performance degradation assessment should be immediately conducted to monitor the current health condition and to ensure the safety and reliability of slurry pumps. In this paper, to provide an alternative to the impeller health indicator, an enhanced factor analysis based impeller indicator (EFABII is proposed. Firstly, a low-pass filter is employed to improve the signal to noise ratios of slurry pump vibration signals. Secondly, redundant statistical features are extracted from the filtered vibration signals. To reduce the redundancy of the statistic features, the enhanced factor analysis is performed to generate new statistical features. Moreover, the statistic features can be automatically grouped and developed a new indicator called EFABII. Data collected from industrial oil sand pumps are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method is able to track the current health condition of slurry pump impellers.

  19. Mercury capture by selected Bulgarian fly ashes: Influence of coal rank and fly ash carbon pore structure on capture efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostova, I.J.; Hower, J.C.; Mastalerz, Maria; Vassilev, S.V.

    2011-01-01

    Mercury capture by fly ash C was investigated at five lignite- and subbituminous-coal-burning Bulgarian power plants (Republika, Bobov Dol, Maritza East 2, Maritza East 3, and Sliven). Although the C content of the ashes is low, never exceeding 1.6%, the Hg capture on a unit C basis demonstrates that the low-rank-coal-derived fly ash carbons are more efficient in capturing Hg than fly ash carbons from bituminous-fired power plants. While some low-C and low-Hg fly ashes do not reveal any trends of Hg versus C, the 2nd and, in particular, the 3rd electrostatic precipitator (ESP) rows at the Republika power plant do have sufficient fly ash C range and experience flue gas sufficiently cool to capture measurable amounts of Hg. The Republika 3rd ESP row exhibits an increase in Hg with increasing C, as observed in other power plants, for example, in Kentucky power plants burning Appalachian-sourced bituminous coals. Mercury/C decreases with an increase in fly ash C, suggesting that some of the C is isolated from the flue gas stream and does not contribute to Hg capture. Mercury capture increases with an increase in Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and micropore surface area. The differences in Hg capture between the Bulgarian plants burning low-rank coal and high volatile bituminous-fed Kentucky power plants suggests that the variations in C forms resulting from the combustion of the different ranks also influence the efficiency of Hg capture. ?? 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

  20. Mercury capture by selected Bulgarian fly ashes: Influence of coal rank and fly ash carbon pore structure on capture efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kostova, I.J.; Hower, J.C.; Mastalerz, M.; Vassilev, S.V. [University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Center of Applied Energy Research

    2011-01-15

    Mercury capture by fly ash C was investigated at five lignite- and subbituminous-coal-burning Bulgarian power plants (Republika, Bobov Dol, Maritza East 2, Maritza East 3, and Sliven). Although the C content of the ashes is low, never exceeding 1.6%, the Hg capture on a unit C basis demonstrates that the low-rank-coal-derived fly ash carbons are more efficient in capturing Hg than fly ash carbons from bituminous-fired power plants. While some low-C and low-Hg fly ashes do not reveal any trends of Hg versus C, the 2nd and, in particular, the 3rd electrostatic precipitator (ESP) rows at the Republika power plant do have sufficient fly ash C range and experience flue gas sufficiently cool to capture measurable amounts of Hg. The Republika 3rd ESP row exhibits an increase in Hg with increasing C, as observed in other power plants, for example, in Kentucky power plants burning Appalachian-sourced bituminous coals. Mercury/C decreases with an increase in fly ash C, suggesting that some of the C is isolated from the flue gas stream and does not contribute to Hg capture. Mercury capture increases with an increase in Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and micropore surface area. The differences in Hg capture between the Bulgarian plants burning low-rank coal and high volatile bituminous-fed Kentucky power plants suggests that the variations in C forms resulting from the combustion of the different ranks also influence the efficiency of Hg capture.

  1. The lignite industry and regional development. Interactions exemplified by the Rhenish mining area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kulik, Lars; Voigt, Jens

    2013-01-01

    Even in times of globalised markets, the German lignite industry retains its local and regional roots. Viewed against this background, the relationship between lignite industry and regional actors, and the interactions between the two play a major role in the perspectives for this branch of Germany's energy sector. Today, the links between the lignite industry and regional bodies are those of a partnership at eye-level. This type of relationship between the industry and regional actors has led to new forms and methods of cooperation at various levels. This is particularly evident in the efforts to re-shape the regional structure, develop the structure of townships and strengthen the economic structure with lignite playing an important role and new partners which are gaining in importance. (orig.)

  2. Validation of a FBC model for co-firing of hazelnut shell with lignite against experimental data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kulah, Gorkem [Middle East Technical University, Department of Chemical Engineering, 06531 Ankara (Turkey)

    2010-07-15

    Performance of a comprehensive system model extended for modelling of co-firing of lignite and biomass was assessed by applying it to METU 0.3 MW{sub t} Atmospheric Bubbling Fluidized Bed Combustor co-firing lignite with hazelnut shell and validating its predictions against on-line temperature and concentration measurements of O{sub 2}, CO{sub 2}, CO, SO{sub 2} and NO along the same test rig fired with lignite only, lignite with limestone addition and lignite with biomass and limestone addition. The system model accounts for hydrodynamics; volatiles release and combustion, char combustion, particle size distribution for lignite and biomass; entrainment; elutriation; sulfur retention and NO formation and reduction, and is based on conservation equations for energy and chemical species. Special attention was paid to different devolatilization characteristics of lignite and biomass. A volatiles release model based on a particle movement model and a devolatilization kinetic model were incorporated into the system model separately for both fuels. Kinetic parameters for devolatilization were determined via thermogravimetric analysis. Predicted and measured temperatures and concentrations of gaseous species along the combustor were found to be in good agreement. Introduction of biomass to lignite was found to decrease SO{sub 2} emissions but did not affect NO emissions significantly. The system model proposed in this study proves to be a useful tool in qualitatively and quantitatively simulating the processes taking place in a bubbling fluidized bed combustor burning lignite with biomass. (author)

  3. Coal waste slurries as a fuel for integrated gasification combined cycle plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lutynski Marcin A.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes recent development in integrated gasification combined cycle technology and lists existing and planned IGCC plants. A brief outlook on the IGCC gasification technology is given with focus on entrained-flow gasifiers where the low-quality coal waste slurry fuel can be used. Desired properties of coal and ash for entrained-flow gasifiers are listed. The coal waste slurries, which were deposited at impoundments in Upper Silesian Coal Basin, were considered as a direct feed for such gasifiers. The average ash content, moisture content and lower heating value were analysed and presented as an average values. Entrained-flow commercial gasifiers can be considered as suitable for the coal slurry feed, however the ash content of coal slurries deposited in impoundments is too high for the direct use as the feed for the gasifiers. The moisture content of slurries calculated on as received basis meets the requirements of entrained-flow slurry feed gasifiers. The content of fines is relatively high which allow to use the slurries in entrained-flow gasifiers.

  4. Robust Visual Tracking Via Consistent Low-Rank Sparse Learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu; Liu, Si; Ahuja, Narendra; Yang, Ming-Hsuan; Ghanem, Bernard

    2014-01-01

    and the low-rank minimization problem for learning joint sparse representations can be efficiently solved by a sequence of closed form update operations. We evaluate the proposed CLRST algorithm against 14 state-of-the-art tracking methods on a set of 25

  5. Cheap carbon sorbents produced from lignite by catalytic pyrolysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuznetsov, B.N.; Schchipko, M.L. [Inst. of Chemistry of Natural Organic Materials, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation)

    1995-12-01

    Some data are presented describing the new technology of carbon sorbent production from powdered lignite in the installation with fluidized bed of catalyst. It was shown the different types of char products with extended pore structure and high sorption ability can be produced from cheap and accessible lignite of Kansk-Achinsk coal pit in pilot installation with fluidized bed of Al-Cu-Cr oxide catalyst or catalytically active slag materials. In comparison with the conventional technologies of pyrolysis the catalytic pyrolysis allows to increase by 3-5 times the process productivity and to decrease significantly the formation of harmful compounds. The latter is accomplished by complete oxidation of gaseous pyrolysis products in the presence of catalysts and by avoiding the formation of pyrolysis tars - the source of cancerogenic compounds. The technology of cheap powdered sorbent production from lignites makes possible to obtain from lignite during the time of pyrolysis only a few seconds char products with porosity up to 0.6 cm{sup 3} /g, and specific surface area more than 400 m{sup 3} /g. Some methods of powdered chars molding into carbon materials with the different shape were proved for producing of firmness sorbents. Cheap carbon sorbents obtained by thermocatalytic pyrolysis can be successfully used in purification of different industrial pollutants as one-time sorbent or as adsorbents of long-term application with periodic regeneration.

  6. Differential-thermal analysis of irradiated lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chichek, F; Eyubova, N.

    2006-01-01

    Full text: In this theme our purpose is to explain thermo-differential analysis of lignite's irradiated. During experiment Caraman Ermenek (washed), Caraman Ermenek (crude), Nevshehir (crude), Slopi (crude), Trakya Harman (washed) lignite coals were used. Five of five kinds of coal samples with 3mm and 1 gr of each sample were obtained. Then they were filled into the Tubes after having dried total 25 samples with 1 gr at 1000C temperature for one hour. Air in the tubes was pumped out and closed. Coal samples in vacuum medium were irradiated by gamma rays of Co-60 at 5.5 kGy, 19.2 kGy, 65.7 kGy, 169.6 kGy, 411.2 kGy, doses to the normal conditions. At the end coal irradiated samples were compared with original coal samples. At the result of experiment it was revealed that in comparison with original coal samples coal samples irradiated from exothermic and endothermic curves at very reaction pick and temperature intervals of these pick were large. Besides loss of weight was observed to begin at low temperatures in samples irradiated and especially momentary weight loss at some heats in the rang of known temperatures was observed in the coal Slopi contain in bitumen. Because of heat the weight loss in the non irradiated samples forms parabolic curve and because of heat the weight loss in the samples irradiated forms stepped curves. It was shown that the coal irradiated can be easily departed by heat because of the chemical structure in comparison the original one.

  7. Rheology of tetraphenylborate precipitate slurry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goren, I.D.; Martin, H.D.; McLain, M.A.

    1985-01-01

    The rheological properties of tetraphenylborate precipitate slurry were determined. This nonradioactive slurry simulates the radioactive tetraphenylborate precipitate generated at the Savannah River Plant by the In-Tank Precipitation Process. The data obtained in this study was applied in the design of slurry pumps, transfer pumps, transfer lines, and vessel agitation for the Defense Waste Processing Facility and other High Level Waste treatment projects. The precipitate slurry behaves as a Bingham plastic. The yield stress is directly proportional to the concentration of insoluble solids over the range of concentrations studied. The consistency is also a linear function of insoluble solids over the same concentration range. Neither the yield stress nor the consistency was observed to be affected by the presence of the soluble solids. Temperature effects on flow properties of the slurry were also examined: the yield stress is inversely proportional to temperature, but the consistency of the slurry is independent of temperature. No significant time-dependent effects were found. 4 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs

  8. Distribution and correlation of the natural radionuclides in a coal mine of the West Macedonia Lignite Center (Greece).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsikritzis, L I; Fotakis, M; Tzimkas, N; Kolovos, N; Tsikritzi, R

    2008-02-01

    The distribution and correlation of six natural nuclides in the West Macedonia Lignite Center, Northern Greece were studied. Fifty-five samples of lignite, aged from 1.8 to 5 million years, and corresponding steriles, beds of marls, clays and sands alternating with the lignite, were collected perpendicular to the mine benches and measured spectroscopically. The mean concentrations of (238)U and (226)Ra in lignites were found to be higher than that in steriles since these nuclides are associated with the organic material of lignite, whereas (238)U/(226)Ra equilibrium was not observed in either lignites or steriles. Finally, the ratio (226)Ra/(228)Ra in lignites was approximately double of that in steriles, confirming the affinity of the (238)U series with the coal matrix in contrast to the (232)Th series. No correlation was found between radionuclide concentrations and the depth of the sample, nor with the ash content of lignite.

  9. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) generated from lignite-fired power plants in Kosovo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasani, F; Shala, F; Xhixha, G; Xhixha, M K; Hodolli, G; Kadiri, S; Bylyku, E; Cfarku, F

    2014-12-01

    The energy production in Kosovo depends primarily on lignite-fired power plants. During coal combustion, huge amounts of fly ash and bottom ash are generated, which may result in enriched natural radionuclides; therefore, these radionuclides need to be investigated to identify the possible processes that may lead to the radiological exposure of workers and the local population. Lignite samples and NORMs of fly ash and bottom ash generated in lignite-fired power plants in Kosovo are analyzed using a gamma-ray spectrometry method for the activity concentration of natural radionuclides. The average activity concentrations of (40)K, (226)Ra and (232)Th in lignite are found to be 36 ± 8 Bq kg(-1), 9 ± 1 Bq kg(-1) and 9 ± 3 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Indications on the occurrence and geochemical behavior of uranium in the lignite matrix are suggested. The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in fly ash and bottom ash samples are found to be concentrated from 3 to 5 times that of the feeding lignite. The external gamma-ray absorbed dose rate and the activity concentration index are calculated to assess the radiological hazard arising from ash disposal and recycling in the cement industry. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The German lignite industry. Historical development, resources, technology, economic structures and environmental impact. Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2017-05-01

    Lignite has a key role to play in the transformation of the energy system due to its specific structural features in terms of industry, company history, policy, economics, the environment and regional structures. Understanding these structural features of the German lignite industry is an important requirement for classifying the significance of the lignite industry up to now and for the redesigning of this industrial sector. From these environmental, economic and regulatory structural characteristics, which are interwoven in a variety of ways, the incentives arise for the mining and power plant operators to react to energy price signals or energy policy steering. The aim of this research study is to define these structural features, to compile comprehensively the basic data and information that is not always transparently available, to understand the interactions, to enable the navigation of issues that are partly very complex, and to classify into the long-term developments that are especially important for political and social processes. In 2016 approx. 12 percent of German primary energy consumption was met using lignite. At the same time, lignite has the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the fossil fuels; it currently accounts for approx. 19 percent of Germany's total greenhouse gas emissions as well as approx. 46 percent of the total CO2 emissions of the electricity sector. As a result of the mining of lignite and its conversion into electricity, substantial adverse impacts beyond the entry of greenhouse gases into the Earth's atmosphere arise for other environmental media. These impacts include half of Germany's mercury emissions, approx. a third of its sulfur dioxide emissions and approx. a tenth of its nitrogen oxide emissions. Lignite mining in open-cast mines takes up a substantial amount of landscape and soil and requires huge interventions in the water balance. Relatively high costs arise for the recultivation and rehabilitation of the open

  11. Appraisal of Hydrologic Information Needed in Anticipation of Lignite Mining in Lauderdale County, Tennessee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parks, William Scott

    1981-01-01

    Lignite in western Tennessee occurs as lenses or beds at various stratigraphic horizons in the Coastal Plain sediments of Late Cretaceous and Tertiary age. The occurrence of this lignite has been known for many decades, but not until the energy crisis was it considered an important energy resource. In recent years, several energy companies have conducted extensive exploration programs in western Tennessee, and tremendous reserves of lignite have been found. From available information, Lauderdale County was selected as one of the counties where strip-mining of lignite will most likely occur. Lignite in this county occurs in the Jackson and Cockfield Formations, undivided, of Tertiary age. The hydrology of the county is known only from regional studies and the collection of some site-specific data. Therefore, in anticipation of the future mining of lignite, a plan is needed for obtaining hydrologic and geologic information to adequately define the hydrologic system before mining begins and to monitor the effects of strip-mining once it is begun. For this planning effort, available hydrologic, geologic, land use, and associated data were located and compiled; a summary description of the surface and shallow subsurface hydrologic system was prepared: the need for additional baseline hydrologic information was outlined; and plans to monitor the effects of strip-mining were proposed. This planning approach, although limited to a county area, has transferability to other Coastal Plain areas under consideration for strip-mining of lignite.

  12. Robust subspace estimation using low-rank optimization theory and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Oreifej, Omar

    2014-01-01

    Various fundamental applications in computer vision and machine learning require finding the basis of a certain subspace. Examples of such applications include face detection, motion estimation, and activity recognition. An increasing interest has been recently placed on this area as a result of significant advances in the mathematics of matrix rank optimization. Interestingly, robust subspace estimation can be posed as a low-rank optimization problem, which can be solved efficiently using techniques such as the method of Augmented Lagrange Multiplier. In this book,?the authors?discuss fundame

  13. The thar lignite project in the Sindh province, Pakistan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hofmann, L. [RWE Power International, RE GmbH, Mining Dept., Koeln (Germany); Dittrich, W. [RWE Power International, RE GmbH, Mechanical and Electrical Dept., Koeln (Germany)

    2005-05-01

    A prospective area of the known lignite deposit located in the Thar region was investigated with regard to the future development of an opencast mine. For this purpose, a bankable feasibility study was prepared that evaluates all relevant facts and additional exploration activities. The study includes among others: Geological report; Opencast mine planning; Equipment and infrastructure planning; Assessment of staff requirements; Conceptual design of the power station; Anticipation of environmental aspects; Bankable costing for lignite mining and power generation. In conclusion, the development of an opencast mine and the construction of a 1000 MW power station are feasible in technical and economic terms. For the mine, the shovel/truck method was proposed since it offers cost advantages. For the power station, a closed cooling circuit and pre-drying of the lignite was recommended due to water shortage in the Thar desert. The resulting prices for power generation are usual market costs in Pakistan. (orig.)

  14. Transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in soil columns following applications of raw and separated liquid slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Heidi Huus; Enemark, Heidi L.; Olsen, Annette

    2012-01-01

    to determine the effectiveness of different slurry separation technologies to remove oocysts and other pathogens, as well as whether application of separated liquid slurry to agricultural land may represent higher risks for ground water contamination as compared to application of raw slurry.......The potential for transport of viable Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts through soil to land drains and groundwater was studied using simulated rainfall and intact soil columns which were applied raw slurry or separated liquid slurry. Following irrigation and weekly samplings over a four week period......, C. parvum oocysts were detected from all soil columns regardless of slurry type and application method although recovery rates were low (liquid slurry leached 73% and 90% more oocysts compared with columns with injected and surface applied raw slurry, respectively...

  15. Overview of slurry pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gandhi, R L

    1982-01-01

    Slurry pipelines have proven to be a technically feasible, environmentally attractive and economic method of transporting finely divided particles over long distances. A pipeline system normally consists of preparation, pipeline and utilization facilities and requires optimization of all three components taken together. A considerable amount of research work has been done to develop hydraulic design of a slurry pipeline. Equipment selection and estimation of corrosion-erosion are considered to be as important as the hydraulic design. Future applications are expected to be for the large-scale transport of coal and for the exploitation of remotely located mineral deposits such as iron ore and copper. Application of slurry pipelines for the exploitation of remotely located mineral deposits is illustrated by the Kudremukh iron concentrate slurry pipeline in India.

  16. Environmental assessment of no remedial action at the inactive uraniferous lignite ashing sites at Belfield and Bowman, North Dakota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-06-01

    The Belfield and Bowman sites were not included on the original congressional list of processing sites to be designated by the Secretary of Energy. Instead, the sites were nominated for designation by the Dakota Resource Council in a letter to the DOE (September 7, 1979). In a letter to the DOE (September 12, 1979), the state of North Dakota said that it did not believe the sites would qualify as processing sites under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) because the activities at the sites involved only the ashing of uraniferous lignite coal and the ash was shipped out of state for actual processing. Nevertheless, on October 11, 1979, the state of North Dakota agreed to the designation of the sites because they met the spirit of the law (reduce public exposure to radiation resulting from past uranium operations). Therefore, these sites were designated by the Secretary of Energy for remedial action. Because of the relatively low health impacts determined for these sites, they were ranked as low priority and scheduled to be included in the final group of sites to be remediated.

  17. Environmental assessment of no remedial action at the inactive uraniferous lignite ashing sites at Belfield and Bowman, North Dakota

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-06-01

    The Belfield and Bowman sites were not included on the original congressional list of processing sites to be designated by the Secretary of Energy. Instead, the sites were nominated for designation by the Dakota Resource Council in a letter to the DOE (September 7, 1979). In a letter to the DOE (September 12, 1979), the state of North Dakota said that it did not believe the sites would qualify as processing sites under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) because the activities at the sites involved only the ashing of uraniferous lignite coal and the ash was shipped out of state for actual processing. Nevertheless, on October 11, 1979, the state of North Dakota agreed to the designation of the sites because they met the spirit of the law (reduce public exposure to radiation resulting from past uranium operations). Therefore, these sites were designated by the Secretary of Energy for remedial action. Because of the relatively low health impacts determined for these sites, they were ranked as low priority and scheduled to be included in the final group of sites to be remediated

  18. Tile Low Rank Cholesky Factorization for Climate/Weather Modeling Applications on Manycore Architectures

    KAUST Repository

    Akbudak, Kadir; Ltaief, Hatem; Mikhalev, Aleksandr; Keyes, David E.

    2017-01-01

    Covariance matrices are ubiquitous in computational science and engineering. In particular, large covariance matrices arise from multivariate spatial data sets, for instance, in climate/weather modeling applications to improve prediction using statistical methods and spatial data. One of the most time-consuming computational steps consists in calculating the Cholesky factorization of the symmetric, positive-definite covariance matrix problem. The structure of such covariance matrices is also often data-sparse, in other words, effectively of low rank, though formally dense. While not typically globally of low rank, covariance matrices in which correlation decays with distance are nearly always hierarchically of low rank. While symmetry and positive definiteness should be, and nearly always are, exploited for performance purposes, exploiting low rank character in this context is very recent, and will be a key to solving these challenging problems at large-scale dimensions. The authors design a new and flexible tile row rank Cholesky factorization and propose a high performance implementation using OpenMP task-based programming model on various leading-edge manycore architectures. Performance comparisons and memory footprint saving on up to 200K×200K covariance matrix size show a gain of more than an order of magnitude for both metrics, against state-of-the-art open-source and vendor optimized numerical libraries, while preserving the numerical accuracy fidelity of the original model. This research represents an important milestone in enabling large-scale simulations for covariance-based scientific applications.

  19. Tile Low Rank Cholesky Factorization for Climate/Weather Modeling Applications on Manycore Architectures

    KAUST Repository

    Akbudak, Kadir

    2017-05-11

    Covariance matrices are ubiquitous in computational science and engineering. In particular, large covariance matrices arise from multivariate spatial data sets, for instance, in climate/weather modeling applications to improve prediction using statistical methods and spatial data. One of the most time-consuming computational steps consists in calculating the Cholesky factorization of the symmetric, positive-definite covariance matrix problem. The structure of such covariance matrices is also often data-sparse, in other words, effectively of low rank, though formally dense. While not typically globally of low rank, covariance matrices in which correlation decays with distance are nearly always hierarchically of low rank. While symmetry and positive definiteness should be, and nearly always are, exploited for performance purposes, exploiting low rank character in this context is very recent, and will be a key to solving these challenging problems at large-scale dimensions. The authors design a new and flexible tile row rank Cholesky factorization and propose a high performance implementation using OpenMP task-based programming model on various leading-edge manycore architectures. Performance comparisons and memory footprint saving on up to 200K×200K covariance matrix size show a gain of more than an order of magnitude for both metrics, against state-of-the-art open-source and vendor optimized numerical libraries, while preserving the numerical accuracy fidelity of the original model. This research represents an important milestone in enabling large-scale simulations for covariance-based scientific applications.

  20. Physio-Microstructural Properties of Aerated Cement Slurry for Lightweight Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salem, Talal; Hamadna, Sameer; Darsanasiri, A. G. N. D.; Soroushian, Parviz; Balchandra, Anagi; Al-Chaar, Ghassan

    2018-01-01

    Cementitious composites, including ferrocement and continuous fiber reinforced cement, are increasingly considered for building construction and repair. One alternative in processing of these composites is to infiltrate the reinforcement (continuous fibers or chicken mesh) with a flowable cementitious slurry. The relatively high density of cementitious binders, when compared with polymeric binders, are a setback in efforts to introduce cementitious composites as lower-cost, fire-resistant, and durable alternatives to polymer composites. Aeration of the slurry is an effective means of reducing the density of cementitious composites. This approach, however, compromises the mechanical properties of cementitious binders. An experimental program was undertaken in order to assess the potential for production of aerated slurry with a desired balance of density, mechanical performance, and barrier qualities. The potential for nondestructive monitoring of strength development in aerated cementitious slurry was also investigated. This research produced aerated slurries with densities as low as 0.9 g/cm3 with viable mechanical and barrier qualities for production of composites. The microstructure of these composites was also investigated. PMID:29649163

  1. Double shell slurry low-temperature corrosion tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Divine, J.R.; Bowen, W.M.; McPartland, S.A.; Elmore, R.P.; Engel, D.W.

    1983-09-01

    A series of year-long tests have been completed on potential double shell slurry (DSS) compositions at temperatures up to 100 0 C. These tests have sought data on uniform corrosion, pitting, and stress-corrosion cracking. No indication of the latter two types of corrosion were observed within the test matrix. Corrosion rates after four months were generally below the 1 mpy (25 μm/y) design limit. By the end of twelve months all results were below this limit and, except for very concentrated mixtures, all were below 0.5 mpy. Prediction equations were generated from a model fitted to the data. The equations provide a rapid means of estimating the corrosion rate for proposed DSS compositions

  2. Nonlocal low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition for spectral CT reconstruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Shanzhou; Yu, Gaohang; Ma, Jianhua; Wang, Jing

    2018-02-01

    Spectral computed tomography (CT) has been a promising technique in research and clinics because of its ability to produce improved energy resolution images with narrow energy bins. However, the narrow energy bin image is often affected by serious quantum noise because of the limited number of photons used in the corresponding energy bin. To address this problem, we present an iterative reconstruction method for spectral CT using nonlocal low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition (NLSMD), which exploits the self-similarity of patches that are collected in multi-energy images. Specifically, each set of patches can be decomposed into a low-rank component and a sparse component, and the low-rank component represents the stationary background over different energy bins, while the sparse component represents the rest of the different spectral features in individual energy bins. Subsequently, an effective alternating optimization algorithm was developed to minimize the associated objective function. To validate and evaluate the NLSMD method, qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted by using simulated and real spectral CT data. Experimental results show that the NLSMD method improves spectral CT images in terms of noise reduction, artifact suppression and resolution preservation.

  3. Low-rank coal research. Final technical report, April 1, 1988--June 30, 1989, including quarterly report, April--June 1989

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1989-12-31

    This work is a compilation of reports on ongoing research at the University of North Dakota. Topics include: Control Technology and Coal Preparation Research (SO{sub x}/NO{sub x} control, waste management), Advanced Research and Technology Development (turbine combustion phenomena, combustion inorganic transformation, coal/char reactivity, liquefaction reactivity of low-rank coals, gasification ash and slag characterization, fine particulate emissions), Combustion Research (fluidized bed combustion, beneficiation of low-rank coals, combustion characterization of low-rank coal fuels, diesel utilization of low-rank coals), Liquefaction Research (low-rank coal direct liquefaction), and Gasification Research (hydrogen production from low-rank coals, advanced wastewater treatment, mild gasification, color and residual COD removal from Synfuel wastewaters, Great Plains Gasification Plant, gasifier optimization).

  4. FY1995 development of economical and high efficient desulfurization process using low rank coal; 1995 nendo teitankadotan wo mochiita ankana kokoritsu datsuryuho no kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    The objective of this study is to develop a new efficient desulfurization technique using a Ca ion-exchanged coal prepared from low rank coal and calcium raw material as a SO{sub 2} sorbent. Ion-exchange of calcium was carried out by soaking and mixing brown coal particles in milk of lime or slurry of industrial waste from concrete manufacture process. About 10wt% of Ca was easily incorporated into Yallourn coal. The ion-exchanged Ca was transformed to ultra-fine CaO particles upon pyrolysis of coal. The reactivity of CaO produced from Ca-exchanged coal to SO{sub 2} was extraordinary high and the CaO utilization of above 90% was easily achieved, while the conversion of natural limestone was less than 30% under the similar experimental conditions. High activity of Ca-exchanged coal was appreciably observed in a pressurized fluidized bed combustor. Ca-exchanged coal was quite effective for the removal of hydrogen sulfide. (NEDO)

  5. Medical ice slurry production device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasza, Kenneth E [Palos Park, IL; Oras, John [Des Plaines, IL; Son, HyunJin [Naperville, IL

    2008-06-24

    The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing sterile ice slurries for medical cooling applications. The apparatus is capable of producing highly loaded slurries suitable for delivery to targeted internal organs of a patient, such as the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, pancreas, and others, through medical size diameter tubing. The ice slurry production apparatus includes a slurry production reservoir adapted to contain a volume of a saline solution. A flexible membrane crystallization surface is provided within the slurry production reservoir. The crystallization surface is chilled to a temperature below a freezing point of the saline solution within the reservoir such that ice particles form on the crystallization surface. A deflector in the form of a reciprocating member is provided for periodically distorting the crystallization surface and dislodging the ice particles which form on the crystallization surface. Using reservoir mixing the slurry is conditioned for easy pumping directly out of the production reservoir via medical tubing or delivery through other means such as squeeze bottles, squeeze bags, hypodermic syringes, manual hand delivery, and the like.

  6. French pollution and German lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foos, Jacques

    2015-01-01

    After having recalled that the German energy transition is based on a complete shutting down of nuclear power stations to replace them by renewable energy sources on the one hand, and by coal (lignite, i.e. the dirtiest coal) and gas on the other hand to compensate the intermittency of the former ones, this article notices that pollution peaks occurred in France when an eastern of north-eastern wind was blowing, and not in case of western wind. The author then wanders whether this pollution comes from Germany, and more particularly from the releases of lignite-fuelled power stations. Then, the author comments the high level of pollution associated with coal extraction and exploitation in Germany, causing thousands of deaths and resulting in lung diseases or cancers, myocardial infractions. The author then makes a parallel between, on the one hand, the ignorance of this German pollution and, on the other hand, evacuation measures around Fukushima for a radioactivity which the author considers as less dangerous in terms of life expectancy

  7. Rheology of oil sands slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chow, R.; Zhou, J. [Alberta Research Council, Edmonton, AB (Canada). Mineral Oil Sands Unit; Wallace, D. [Dean Wallace Consulting Inc., Beaumont, AB (Canada)

    2006-07-01

    This study focused on integrating rheology and colloid science to improve recovery of bitumen in surface mined oil sands. Factors that influence recovery, such as conditions of particle interaction, solids concentration and shear rate, were reviewed. In an effort to understand the rheological behaviour of clay-in-water suspensions, an elaborate procedure was developed to separate an inter-bedded clay layer from a site at Albian Sands Energy Inc. The variables were water chemistry, solids concentration, and shear rate. The research study was conducted at the Alberta Research Council with the support of the CONRAD Extraction Group. A controlled stress rheometer was used to provide the quantitative evaluations of the clay slurry properties. The research results indicate that the viscoelastic properties of the slurry are highly influenced by the shear history of the slurry, solids content, calcium concentration, and sample aging. Shear thinning behaviour was observed in all slurry samples, but the slurry viscosity increased with test time for a given shear rate. In order to classify the slurries, a method was developed to distinguish the gel strength. The slurries were then classified into 3 distinct patterns, including no gel, weak gel and strong gel. The evolution of the experimental protocols were described along with the current stability maps that correlate the domains of the gel strength according to the solids concentration, calcium ion content, and shear rate. It was concluded that the rheological properties of oil sands slurries influence bitumen recovery in commercial surface-mined oil sands operations. tabs., figs.

  8. Low-Rank Linear Dynamical Systems for Motor Imagery EEG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wenchang; Sun, Fuchun; Tan, Chuanqi; Liu, Shaobo

    2016-01-01

    The common spatial pattern (CSP) and other spatiospectral feature extraction methods have become the most effective and successful approaches to solve the problem of motor imagery electroencephalography (MI-EEG) pattern recognition from multichannel neural activity in recent years. However, these methods need a lot of preprocessing and postprocessing such as filtering, demean, and spatiospectral feature fusion, which influence the classification accuracy easily. In this paper, we utilize linear dynamical systems (LDSs) for EEG signals feature extraction and classification. LDSs model has lots of advantages such as simultaneous spatial and temporal feature matrix generation, free of preprocessing or postprocessing, and low cost. Furthermore, a low-rank matrix decomposition approach is introduced to get rid of noise and resting state component in order to improve the robustness of the system. Then, we propose a low-rank LDSs algorithm to decompose feature subspace of LDSs on finite Grassmannian and obtain a better performance. Extensive experiments are carried out on public dataset from "BCI Competition III Dataset IVa" and "BCI Competition IV Database 2a." The results show that our proposed three methods yield higher accuracies compared with prevailing approaches such as CSP and CSSP.

  9. Desulfurization of organic sulfur from lignite by an electron transfer process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Demirbas, A. [Selcuk University, Konya (Turkey). Dept. for Chemical Engineering

    2006-10-15

    This study is an attempt to desulfurize organic sulfur from lignite samples with ferrocyanide ion as the electron transferring agent. Effect of temperature, particle size and concentration of ferrocyanide ion on desulfurization from the lignite samples has been investigated. The desulfurization process has been found to be continuous and gradually increases with increase of temperature from 298 to 368 K. The particle size has no significant impact on sulfur removal from the lignite samples. Particle size has no profound impact on the amount of sulfur removal. The desulfurization reaction has been found to be dependent on the concentration of potassium ferrocyanide. Gradual increase in the concentration of potassium ferrocyanide raised the magnitude of desulfurization, but at a higher concentration, the variation is not significant.

  10. Comparison of different eigensolvers for calculating vibrational spectra using low-rank, sum-of-product basis functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclerc, Arnaud; Thomas, Phillip S.; Carrington, Tucker

    2017-08-01

    Vibrational spectra and wavefunctions of polyatomic molecules can be calculated at low memory cost using low-rank sum-of-product (SOP) decompositions to represent basis functions generated using an iterative eigensolver. Using a SOP tensor format does not determine the iterative eigensolver. The choice of the interative eigensolver is limited by the need to restrict the rank of the SOP basis functions at every stage of the calculation. We have adapted, implemented and compared different reduced-rank algorithms based on standard iterative methods (block-Davidson algorithm, Chebyshev iteration) to calculate vibrational energy levels and wavefunctions of the 12-dimensional acetonitrile molecule. The effect of using low-rank SOP basis functions on the different methods is analysed and the numerical results are compared with those obtained with the reduced rank block power method. Relative merits of the different algorithms are presented, showing that the advantage of using a more sophisticated method, although mitigated by the use of reduced-rank SOP functions, is noticeable in terms of CPU time.

  11. Low rank approximation methods for MR fingerprinting with large scale dictionaries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Mingrui; Ma, Dan; Jiang, Yun; Hamilton, Jesse; Seiberlich, Nicole; Griswold, Mark A; McGivney, Debra

    2018-04-01

    This work proposes new low rank approximation approaches with significant memory savings for large scale MR fingerprinting (MRF) problems. We introduce a compressed MRF with randomized singular value decomposition method to significantly reduce the memory requirement for calculating a low rank approximation of large sized MRF dictionaries. We further relax this requirement by exploiting the structures of MRF dictionaries in the randomized singular value decomposition space and fitting them to low-degree polynomials to generate high resolution MRF parameter maps. In vivo 1.5T and 3T brain scan data are used to validate the approaches. T 1 , T 2 , and off-resonance maps are in good agreement with that of the standard MRF approach. Moreover, the memory savings is up to 1000 times for the MRF-fast imaging with steady-state precession sequence and more than 15 times for the MRF-balanced, steady-state free precession sequence. The proposed compressed MRF with randomized singular value decomposition and dictionary fitting methods are memory efficient low rank approximation methods, which can benefit the usage of MRF in clinical settings. They also have great potentials in large scale MRF problems, such as problems considering multi-component MRF parameters or high resolution in the parameter space. Magn Reson Med 79:2392-2400, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  12. Lignite pre-treatment and its effect on bio-stimulative properties of respective lignite humic acids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vlckova, Z.; Grasset, L.; Antosova, B.; Pekar, M.; Kucerik, J. [Brno University of Technology, Brno (Czech Republic). Faculty of Chemistry

    2009-09-15

    Humic acids originating from South-Moravian lignite were subjected to a comparative study with the aim to assess the alteration of their physico-chemical properties after various lignite pre-treatments. Physical modification was achieved with two organic acids, such as acetic acid and citric acid and chemical modification by nitric acid and hydrogene peroxide in various concentrations. Elemental analysis, solid-state NMR, GC-MS analysis of polyols and size exclusion chromatography were carried out for chemical-physical characterization of obtained humic acids. Their biological effect, in form of potassium and ammonium humates, was tested on maize (Zea mays) seedlings. In these tests, potassium humates achieved far better overall results than ammonium humates. Results were inter-correlated in order to appraise the influence of humic acids physical and chemical properties on biological activity. Surprisingly, fractions with the lowest molecular size (0-35 kDa) showed no correlation with bioactivity results (Pearson coefficient from 0.05 to -0.4). On the contrary, middle-sized fractions (35-175 kDa) showed highly significant positive correlation (Pearson coefficient up to 0.92) and the highest molecular-size-fractions (275-350 kDa) showed negative correlation (Pearson coefficient up to -0.75). These findings were identical for both potassium and ammonium humates. No connection was found between bioactivity of humates and polyols content which was remarkably high; it reached 150 mg per g of humic acids in the most extreme case of 5% hydrogene peroxide pre-treatment. In the final analysis, the preparation mode bore pivotal responsibility for the control of humic acids biological effect and showed the best results for potassium humates obtained from lignite pre-treated by acetic acid and by 2% hydrogen peroxide.

  13. Sustainable development of lignite production on open cast mines in Serbia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Darko Danicic; Slobodan Mitrovic; Vladimir Pavlovic; Sava Kovacev [Kolubara Metal, Vreoci (Serbia)

    2009-09-15

    Currently operated coalmines in Serbia (Kolubara and Kostolac) have production around 36 million tons of lignite, and over 108 million m{sup 3} of overburden. Consequently, sustainability of lignite production requires cost reduction and environmental protection, as well as capacity increase. In order to rationalise, and increase efficiency of Serbian lignite mines, it is necessary to focus the activities on major issues shown within the triangle of energy policy objectives (security of supply, competitive prices and environmental protection). Production process optimisation singled out several special programs. Equipment revitalization and modernization is necessary taking into account that majority of the currently operated machinery has a life up to 25 years. Production process automation would enable high level of technical operation in the field of open cast mines management. Lack of coal quality uniformity is the permanent problem resulting by great amounts of coal reserves to be used uneconomically. Planning and training at all levels and finally cooperative software for business procedures and work order management. The measures suggested are a key precondition for maintaining competitive position of lignite production on international level. 7 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

  14. Organic petrology, mineralogy and depositional environment of the Kipra lignite seam, Maritza-West basin, Bulgaria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kostova, Irena [Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Sofia University ' ' St. Kliment Ohridski' ' , 1000, Sofia (Bulgaria); Zdravkov, Alexander [Department of Economic Geology, University of Mining and Geology ' ' St. Ivan Rilski' ' , 1700, Sofia (Bulgaria)

    2007-08-01

    The aim of the present study is to provide additional information about the properties and depositional environment of the Kipra lignite seam, which was deposited during the regressive stage of development of the Maritza-West basin. Petrographical and mineralogical data, along with ash yields and sulphur contents of 24 samples from a seam profile, have been used to study the vertical variation of the depositional settings during peat accumulation and subsequent coalification. The Kipra lignite is characterized by high ash yields and sulphur contents. It formed in a rheotrophic, low-lying mire with alkaline pH value. Vegetation with low preservation potential dominated within the palaeomire. During peat formation, frequent changes of the water level controlled the depositional environment. During the deposition of units 1 and 2, high water energy caused the transportation of high amounts of inorganic material into the mire, resulting in the formation of weakly gelified mineral-rich lignite. The organic matter from units 3 and 4 is characterized by enhanced gelification, which probably reflects the decreasing energy of the system. Good positive correlation between sulphur contents and the GI values was established in units 4, indicating that the gelification of the tissues was probably mainly controlled by the bacterial activity. In contrast, the gelification of the samples from unit 3 of the Kipra seam was probably governed by the redox conditions. The organic matter deposited under relatively wet conditions, in which the thermal and oxidative destruction of the tissues, was limited. A variety of major, minor and accessory minerals are present in Maritza-West lignite. The mineral composition is dominated mainly by pyrite, gypsum and calcite, and to a lesser extent limonite, quartz, kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite, chlorite and plagioclase. Jarosite, hematite, halloysite, mica, K-feldspar, aragonite, siderite, and dolomite were also determined in very low

  15. OCT despeckling via weighted nuclear norm constrained non-local low-rank representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Chang; Zheng, Xiao; Cao, Lijuan

    2017-10-01

    As a non-invasive imaging modality, optical coherence tomography (OCT) plays an important role in medical sciences. However, OCT images are always corrupted by speckle noise, which can mask image features and pose significant challenges for medical analysis. In this work, we propose an OCT despeckling method by using non-local, low-rank representation with weighted nuclear norm constraint. Unlike previous non-local low-rank representation based OCT despeckling methods, we first generate a guidance image to improve the non-local group patches selection quality, then a low-rank optimization model with a weighted nuclear norm constraint is formulated to process the selected group patches. The corrupted probability of each pixel is also integrated into the model as a weight to regularize the representation error term. Note that each single patch might belong to several groups, hence different estimates of each patch are aggregated to obtain its final despeckled result. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results on real OCT images show the superior performance of the proposed method compared with other state-of-the-art speckle removal techniques.

  16. Choosing co-substrates to supplement biogas production from animal slurry - A life cycle assessment of the environmental consequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Croxatto Vega, Giovanna Catalina; Ten Hoeve, Marieke; Birkved, Morten

    2014-01-01

    Biogas production from animal slurry can provide substantial contributions to reach renewable energy targets, yet due to the low methane potential of slurry, biogas plants depend on the addition of co-substrates to make operations profitable. The environmental performance of three underexploited co......-substrates, straw, organic household waste and the solid fraction of separated slurry, were assessed against slurry management without biogas production, using LCA methodology. The analysis showed straw, which would have been left on arable fields, to be an environmentally superior co-substrate. Due to its low...

  17. Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of low rank coals by distributed activation energy model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Huijuan; Liu, Guangrui; Wu, Jinhu

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Types of carbon in coal structure were investigated by curve-fitted "1"3C NMR spectra. • The work related pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics with coal structure. • Pyrolysis kinetics of low rank coals were studied by DAEM with Miura integral method. • DAEM could supply accurate extrapolations under relatively higher heating rates. - Abstract: The work was conducted to investigate pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of low rank coals relating with coal structure by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the distributed activation energy model (DAEM) and solid-state "1"3C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Four low rank coals selected from different mines in China were studied in the paper. TGA was carried out with a non-isothermal temperature program in N_2 at the heating rate of 5, 10, 20 and 30 °C/min to estimate pyrolysis processes of coal samples. The results showed that corresponding characteristic temperatures and the maximum mass loss rates increased as heating rate increased. Pyrolysis kinetics parameters were investigated by the DAEM using Miura integral method. The DAEM was accurate verified by the good fit between the experimental and calculated curves of conversion degree x at the selected heating rates and relatively higher heating rates. The average activation energy was 331 kJ/mol (coal NM), 298 kJ/mol (coal NX), 302 kJ/mol (coal HLJ) and 196 kJ/mol (coal SD), respectively. The curve-fitting analysis of "1"3C NMR spectra was performed to characterize chemical structures of low rank coals. The results showed that various types of carbon functional groups with different relative contents existed in coal structure. The work indicated that pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of low rank coals were closely associated with their chemical structures.

  18. Lignite utilisation for binding of radionuclides and uranium determination by adsorptive stripping chronopotentiometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zavodska, L.

    2010-01-01

    This work in its first part deals with non-energetic use of young brown coal - lignite. The goal of the work was to perform a complex physical and chemical characterisation of the Slovak lignite (deposit Cary) which could contribute to rts use in binding of radionuclides in the environment. The characteristics of Slovak lignite were compared to leonardite (Gascoyne, USA) and Czech lignite (the area of Mikulcice). In the samples the residual humidity was determined. as well. as the content of ashes. representation of selected inorganic (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) as well as organo-elements (C, H, N, 0, S) and crystalline forms of inorganic phase in lignite. The specific surface (BET isotherm) of lignite was determined, representation of total and free humic acids and their cation exchange capacity. The samples underwent al.so gamma-spectrometric analysis ( 40 K, 226 Ra, 228 Ac, 137 Cs and 60 Co). Using the radio-indicator method ( 85 Sr and 137 Cs) the kinetics of sorption of Cs + and Sr + ions in Slovak lignite was studied. The efficiency of sorption for both cations on lignite was evaluated on the basis of constructed sorption isotherms. The sorption of Cs + ions on Slovak lignite is more suitable for the Freundlich type of isotherm, in case of Sr + ions the sorption is better described by Langmuir isotherm. The results of sorption experiments on lignite in comparison with clinoptilolite and montmorillonite K-10 showed a more efficient sorption for Sr Ions. despite the more coarse-grained fraction of this matrix. This finding supports the possibility of lignite application for binding of a quite mobile radiostrontium, which may be applied for construction of radioactive waste repositories or for remediation of contaminated soils. The second part of the work deals with the development and validation of new fast and reliable electrochemical method of uranium determination in natural waters. It is based on physical adsorption of created complex of uranium

  19. Slurry pipeline design approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Betinol, Roy; Navarro R, Luis [Brass Chile S.A., Santiago (Chile)

    2009-12-19

    Compared to other engineering technologies, the design of a commercial long distance Slurry Pipeline design is a relatively new engineering concept which gained more recognition in the mid 1960 's. Slurry pipeline was first introduced to reduce cost in transporting coal to power generating units. Since then this technology has caught-up worldwide to transport other minerals such as limestone, copper, zinc and iron. In South America, the use of pipeline is commonly practiced in the transport of Copper (Chile, Peru and Argentina), Iron (Chile and Brazil), Zinc (Peru) and Bauxite (Brazil). As more mining operations expand and new mine facilities are opened, the design of the long distance slurry pipeline will continuously present a commercially viable option. The intent of this paper is to present the design process and discuss any new techniques and approach used today to ensure a better, safer and economical slurry pipeline. (author)

  20. Role of Neyveli Lignite in the energy map of India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Srinivasaraghavan, S

    1984-08-01

    The Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a government undertaking, has played an important role in power generation in the southern region of India by contributing about 35% of the energy consumed in Tamil Nadu for over two decades. Performance at the Neyveli Thermal Power Station demonstrates that it is more advantageous to make additions to thermal generating capacity at Neyvili using lignite. Exploration and development of the mines can support this expansion and make the southern region a nucleus for industrial development. 2 tables.

  1. The Evaluation Of Waste Plastic Burned With Lignite And Biomass

    OpenAIRE

    DURANAY, Neslihan; YILGIN, Melek

    2016-01-01

    In this work, the combustion behavior of pellets prepared from binary and triple blends of waste plastic, biomass and lignite was investigated in an experimental fixed bed combustion system. Market bags as plastic waste and the furniture factory waste powder as a source of biomass and Bingöl Karlıova coal as a lignite were used. The effect of process temperature and the plastic mixing ratio on the combustion behavior of pellets was studied. Combustion data obtained from varied bed temperature...

  2. Transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in soil columns following applications of raw and separated liquid slurries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Heidi H; Enemark, Heidi L; Olsen, Annette; Amin, M G Mostofa; Dalsgaard, Anders

    2012-09-01

    The potential for the transport of viable Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts through soil to land drains and groundwater was studied using simulated rainfall and intact soil columns which were applied raw slurry or separated liquid slurry. Following irrigation and weekly samplings over a 4-week period, C. parvum oocysts were detected from all soil columns regardless of slurry type and application method, although recovery rates were low (vertical distribution of oocysts, with more oocysts recovered from soil columns added liquid slurry irrespective of the irrigation status. Further studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of different slurry separation technologies to remove oocysts and other pathogens, as well as whether the application of separated liquid slurry to agricultural land may represent higher risks for groundwater contamination compared to application of raw slurry.

  3. Expansion of the Neyveli lignite mine, India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kasturi, T S [Neyveli Lignite Corp. Ltd., Tamil Nadu (India); Streck, W [Gold (O.) G.m.b.H. und Co. K.G., Koeln (Germany, F.R.)

    1979-08-01

    After giving a picture of the difficult winning conditions at the Neyveli open-cast lignite mine, the author states the reasons for the expansions of the open-cast mine and describes the necessary measures and machinery.

  4. Production of rubbly culm coke from lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koenigs, H B [Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke A.G., Koeln (Germany, F.R.). Hauptabteilung Kohleverarbeitung; Kurtz, R [Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke A.G., Frechen (Germany, F.R.). Abt. Verkokung und Chemie

    1977-08-01

    The article deals with the coke supply of the iron and steel industry, the design, function, and special features of the open-hearth, and describes the coking properties and applications of the culm coke produced from lignite.

  5. Predicting transport requirements for radioactive-waste slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Motyka, T.; Randall, C.T.

    1983-01-01

    A method for predicting the transport requirements of radioactive waste slurries was developed. This method involved preparing nonradioactive sludge slurries chemically similar to the actual high-level waste. The rheological and settling characteristics of these synthetic waste slurries were measured and found to compare favorably with data on actual defense waste slurries. Pressure drop versus flow rate data obtained fom a 2-in. slurry test loop confirmed the Bingham plastic behavior of the slurry observed during viscometry measurements. The pipeline tests, however, yielded friction factors 30 percent lower than those predicted from viscometry data. Differences between the sets of data were attributed to inherent problems in interpreting accurate yield-stress values of slurry suspensions with Couette-type viscometers. Equivalent lengths of fittings were also determined and found to be less than that of water at a specified flow rate

  6. Sedimentologic and palynologic significance of finding tertiary lignites in an ancient rift zone lake (Chingla, Ethiopia). Vol. 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kedamawit, Y.; Bonnefille, R.; Faure, H.; Taieb, M.

    1984-01-01

    Oligocene-Pleistocene deposits at Chingla apparently lie atop Miocene basalts. The upper cross-section shows numerous lignite interlayers. This paper discusses mineral composition of lignites and enclosing rock. Palynologic analysis of the lignite cross-sections determined 23 layers.

  7. Stoichiometric calculations of combustion of Lakhra lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, I.; Ali, M.M.

    2002-01-01

    Lakhra coal field is largest productive coal field of Pakistan. About 1.5 millions tonne of this coal is, annually, mined and transported daily to various parts of the country in 500 trucks each of 10 tonnes of coal. The major consumers of this coal are brick kilns located in Sindh and Punjab. It is available at Rs. 500/- per tonne at mine head. A number of attempts were made for the production of power (electricity) by foreign companies. Feasibility studies were undertaken but no one set up power plant. It may be due to inferior quality of coal as it is lignitic in nature with high ash and sulfur contents. This coal is also, very sensitive to spontaneous combustion. Spontaneous combustion is the auto-ignition of coal at ambient conditions. Hence there are storage problems. In spite of these drawbacks, a 3(50) Mega Watt (3 units of each 50 mega watt power generation capacity) power plant, based on atmospheric fluidized bed combustion of coal technology (AFBC), was setup in early nineties. The performance of this plant remained poor. The main reasons might be poor quality of coal and limestone. Limestone is used with high sulfur Lakhra lignite, in fluidized bed combustor, to arrest sulfur of the coal, fixing sulfur as calcium sulfate to minimize hazardous emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/). Spontaneous combustion of Lakhra lignite is responsible for each fire of coal and conveyor belt etc. (author)

  8. Surfactant mediated slurry formulations for Ge CMP applications

    KAUST Repository

    Basim, G. Bahar

    2013-01-01

    In this study, slurry formulations in the presence of self-assembled surfactant structures were investigated for Ge/SiO2 CMP applications in the absence and presence of oxidizers. Both anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate-SDS) and cationic (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide-C12TAB) micelles were used in the slurry formulations as a function of pH and oxidizer concentration. CMP performances of Ge and SiO2 wafers were evaluated in terms of material removal rates, selectivity and surface quality. The material removal rate responses were also assessed through AFM wear rate tests to obtain a faster response for preliminary analyses. The surfactant adsorption characteristics were studied through surface wettability responses of the Ge and SiO2 wafers through contact angle measurements. It was observed that the self-assembled surfactant structures can help obtain selectivity on the silica/germanium system at low concentrations of the oxidizer in the slurry. © 2013 Materials Research Society.

  9. An oilwell cement slurry additivated with bisphenol diglycidil ether/isophoronediamine-Kinetic analysis and multivariate modelings at slurry/HCl interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cestari, Antonio R.; Vieira, Eunice F.S.; Tavares, Andrea M.G.; Andrade, Marcos A.S.

    2009-01-01

    Loss of zonal isolation in oilwell cementing operations leads to safety and environmental problems. The use of new cement slurries can help to solve this problem. In this paper, an epoxy-modified cement slurry was synthesized and characterized. The features of the modified slurries were evaluated in relation to a standard cement slurry (w/c = 0.50). A kinetic study of HCl interaction with the slurries was carried out using cubic molds. The Avrami kinetic model appears to be the most efficient in describing kinetic isotherms obtained from 25 to 55 deg. C. Type of slurry, HCl concentration and temperature effects were also evaluated in HCl adsorption onto cement slurries considering a 2 3 full factorial design. From the statistical analysis, it is inferred that the factor 'HCl concentration' has shown a profound influence on the numerical values of the Avrami kinetic constants. However, the best statistical fits were found using binary and tertiary interactive effects. It was found that the epoxy-modified cement slurry presents a good potential to be used in environmental-friendly oilwell operations.

  10. Efficient Tensor Completion for Color Image and Video Recovery: Low-Rank Tensor Train.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bengua, Johann A; Phien, Ho N; Tuan, Hoang Duong; Do, Minh N

    2017-05-01

    This paper proposes a novel approach to tensor completion, which recovers missing entries of data represented by tensors. The approach is based on the tensor train (TT) rank, which is able to capture hidden information from tensors thanks to its definition from a well-balanced matricization scheme. Accordingly, new optimization formulations for tensor completion are proposed as well as two new algorithms for their solution. The first one called simple low-rank tensor completion via TT (SiLRTC-TT) is intimately related to minimizing a nuclear norm based on TT rank. The second one is from a multilinear matrix factorization model to approximate the TT rank of a tensor, and is called tensor completion by parallel matrix factorization via TT (TMac-TT). A tensor augmentation scheme of transforming a low-order tensor to higher orders is also proposed to enhance the effectiveness of SiLRTC-TT and TMac-TT. Simulation results for color image and video recovery show the clear advantage of our method over all other methods.

  11. Enhancing Carbon Reactivity in Mercury Control in Lignite-Fired Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chad Wocken; Michael Holmes; John Pavlish; Jeffrey Thompson; Katie Brandt; Brandon Pavlish; Dennis Laudal; Kevin Galbreath; Michelle Olderbak

    2008-06-30

    This project was awarded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory Program Solicitation DE-PS26-03NT41718-01. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) led a consortium-based effort to resolve mercury (Hg) control issues facing the lignite industry. The EERC team-the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); the URS Corporation; the Babcock & Wilcox Company; ADA-ES; Apogee; Basin Electric Power Cooperative; Otter Tail Power Company; Great River Energy; Texas Utilities; Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.; Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc.; BNI Coal Ltd.; Dakota Westmoreland Corporation; the North American Coal Corporation; SaskPower; and the North Dakota Industrial Commission-demonstrated technologies that substantially enhanced the effectiveness of carbon sorbents to remove Hg from western fuel combustion gases and achieve a high level ({ge} 55% Hg removal) of cost-effective control. The results of this effort are applicable to virtually all utilities burning lignite and subbituminous coals in the United States and Canada. The enhancement processes were previously proven in pilot-scale and limited full-scale tests. Additional optimization testing continues on these enhancements. These four units included three lignite-fired units: Leland Olds Station Unit 1 (LOS1) and Stanton Station Unit 10 (SS10) near Stanton and Antelope Valley Station Unit 1 (AVS1) near Beulah and a subbituminous Powder River Basin (PRB)-fired unit: Stanton Station Unit 1 (SS1). This project was one of three conducted by the consortium under the DOE mercury program to systematically test Hg control technologies available for utilities burning lignite. The overall objective of the three projects was to field-test and verify options that may be applied cost-effectively by the lignite industry to reduce Hg emissions. The EERC, URS, and other team members tested sorbent injection technologies for plants equipped with electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and

  12. Petrographic Composition of Lignite from the Lake Somerville Spillway (East-central Texas)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawelec, Sandra; Bielowicz, Barbara

    2017-12-01

    In the presented paper, the macroscopic and microscopic composition of lignite from Lake Somerville Spillway has been examined. The study area is the upper part of the Manning Formation, located north-west of Somerville in the central-eastern part of Texas. There are three exposures: NE, SW and MC (Main Central) with visible parts of late-Eocene lignite seams belonging to the Jackson Group. The Manning section is divided into four marine dominated parasequences (P1 through P4). Lignite samples outlining the P1 parasequence from the MC and NE outcrops and the argillate sample from the lower part of the P2 parasequence, NE outcrop. Macroscopic characterization was carried out based on lithological classifications of humic coal. On this basis, it has been shown that the main lithotype occurring in the deposit is detritic (matrix) coal with a high share of mineral matter. The maceral composition of coal was determined according to the ICCP guidelines. The macerals from liptinite group were determined under fluorescent light. The maceral group content analysis was performed with use of 500-600 equally spaced points on the surface of the polished sections. It has been found that the examined coal is dominated by macerals from the huminite group, with a share ranging from 20.8 to 65.3% volume, including atrinite (9.8-22.8% volume, 17.5% volume on average). In the examined coal, macerals from the inertinite group (10.1 to 44.8%), especially semifusinite (max. 13.9%), fusinite (max. 9.3%) and funginite (max. 6.3 %) are of particularly large share. In the liptinite group, particular attention was paid to the content of alginite (max. 4.5%) and bituminite (max. 1.3 %), which indicate the paralic sedimentation environment of the examined coal. Additionally, the variability of macerals and maceral groups within the exposures and levels of the P1 parasequence was examined. The last step was to compare lignite from Lake Somerville Spillway with other lignites belonging to the

  13. Simulation and characterization of a Hanford high-level waste slurry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Russell, R.L.; Smith, H.D.

    1996-09-01

    The baseline waste used for this simulant is a blend of wastes from tanks 101-AZ, 102-AZ, 106-C, and 102-AY that have been through water washing. However, the simulant used in this study represents a combination of tank waste slurries and should be viewed as an example of the slurries that might be produced by blending waste from various tanks. It does not imply that this is representative of the actual waste that will be delivered to the privatization contractor(s). This blended waste sludge simulant was analyzed for grain size distribution, theological properties both as a function of concentration and aging, and calcining characteristics. The grain size distribution allows a comparison with actual waste with respect to theological properties. Slurries with similar grain size distributions of the same phases are expected to exhibit similar theological properties. Rheological properties may also change because of changes in the slurry's particulate supernate chemistry due to aging. Low temperature calcination allows the potential for hazardous gas generation to be investigated

  14. Sugeno integral ranking of release scenarios in a low and intermediate waste repository

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, S. Ho; Kim, Tae Woon; Ha, Jae Joo

    2004-01-01

    In the present study, a multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem of ranking of important radionuclide release scenarios in a low and intermediate radioactive waste repository is to treat on the basis of λ-fuzzy measures and Sugeno integral. Ranking of important scenarios can lead to the provision of more effective safety measure in a design stage of the repository. The ranking is determined by a relative degree of appropriateness of scenario alternatives. To demonstrate a validation of the proposed approach to ranking of release scenarios, results of the previous AHP study are used and compared with them of the present SIAHP approach. Since the AHP approach uses importance weight based on additive probability measures, the interaction among criteria is ignored. The comparison of scenarios ranking obtained from these two approaches enables us to figure out the effect of different models for interaction among criteria

  15. Application of coals as sorbents for the removal of Cr from aqueous waste streams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lakatos, J.; Brown, S.D.; Snape, C.E. [University of Miskolc, Miskolc (Hungary). Dept. of Analytical Chemistry

    2001-09-01

    The study reported further understanding of how various electron transfer processes operate for Cr(VI) with a view to using coals for the removal of Cr(VI) from waste streams. Skye peat, Spanish and German lignites, UK high and low volatility bituminous coals and an activated carbon were used. After treatment to remove exchangeable cations, ion exchange experiments were conducted in 0.1 M acetic acid-sodium acetate (1:1) buffer and 0.05 M sulphuric acid solutions and the slurries were agitated once a day. The ion concentrations in the solutions were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The Cr(VI) renaming in solution was determined by the standard calorimetric 1,5-diphenylcarbazide method. Peat and low rank (Spanish Mequinenza) coal exhibited a larger capacity for Cr(VI) removal than bituminous coal. Redox mechanisms are operative coupled with the oxidation of the coal and peat surfaces. Desorption of Cr(III) formed by reduction which occurs in strongly acidic media also needs to be considered. 1 ref., 3 figs.

  16. Bio-slurry as fertilizer : is bio-slurry from household digesters a better fertilizer than manure? : a literature review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bonten, L.T.C.; Zwart, K.B.; Rietra, R.P.J.J.; Postma, R.; Haas, de M.J.G.; Nysingh, S.L.

    2014-01-01

    In many developing countries manure is anaerobically digested to produce biogas. The residue of manure digestion, bio-slurry, can be used as fertilizer for crop production and aquaculture. This study compared bio-slurry and manure as fertilizers. Nutrients in bio-slurry, especially nitrogen, are

  17. Wettability modification of Wender lignite by adsorption of dodecyl poly ethoxylated surfactants with different degree of ethoxylation: A molecular dynamics simulation study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Li, Bao; Xia, Yangchao; Liu, Shengyu

    2017-09-01

    Lignite is an important and useful fossil fuel in the world and the strong hydrophilicity of it limits its applications. Surfactant adsorption on lignite is an effective way to make it hydrophobic. In this work, aiming to examine the effect of the degree of ethoxylation on the adsorption behavior of dodecyl poly ethoxylated surfactants on lignite and the wettability modification of modified lignite by surfactant adsorption, different combined systems formed by surfactants, water and a model surface of Wender lignite have been studied using molecular dynamics simulation. The adsorption configurations vary with the degree of ethoxylation. At the same adsorption amounts, increasing the degree of ethoxylation can make the adsorption layer more compactness and bring stronger adsorption strength. The results of binding energy and its components show that the adsorption of alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers surfactant on lignite is physically adsorbed rather than electrostatically or chemisorbed. Meanwhile, van der Waals interaction plays a dominant role in the adsorption. The addition of surfactant could reduce the possibility of the interaction between water and lignite. Compared to the original lignite, the interaction between them is weakened after surfactant adsorption in water/surfactant/lignite system, thus strengthening the hydrophobicity of lignite. Similar to the adsorption strength, hydrophobicity of modified lignite increases with the increase of the degree of ethoxylation. The lignite surface properties are changed due to surfactant adsorption by analyzing the compositions of interaction energy and the change of hydrogen bonds. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Quantitative spectrographic determination of traces of germanium in lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, M.; Roca, M.

    1972-01-01

    A burning technique in a d.c. arc at 10 amp has been employed. The standards have been prepared from a natural lignite with a low germanium content. In order to enhance sensitivity, AgCl, K 2 SO 4 , CuF 2 , Sb 2 S 3 and Bi 2 S 3 have been tested as sweeping materials. Using 2% CuF 2 a detection limit of 1 ppm germanium is attainable. Bi, Cu, Sb and Sn have been studied as internal standards: the former leads to the, highest precision (1 6%. Results show good agreement with those obtained by the addition method. (Author) 6 refs

  19. Comparative testing of slurry monitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hylton, T.D.; Bayne, C.K.; Anderson, M.S.; Van Essen, D.C.

    1998-05-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) has millions of gallons of radioactive liquid and sludge wastes that must be retrieved from underground storage tanks, transferred to treatment facilities, and processed to a final waste form. The wastes will be removed from the current storage tanks by mobilizing the sludge wastes and mixing them with the liquid wastes to create slurries. Each slurry would then be transferred by pipeline to the desired destination. To reduce the risk of plugging a pipeline, the transport properties (e.g., density, suspended solids concentration, viscosity, particle size range) of the slurry should be determined to be within acceptable limits prior to transfer. These properties should also be monitored and controlled within specified limits while the slurry transfer is in progress. The DOE issued a call for proposals for developing on-line instrumentation to measure the transport properties of slurries. In response to the call for proposals, several researchers submitted proposals and were funded to develop slurry monitoring instruments. These newly developed DOE instruments are currently in the prototype stage. Before the instruments were installed in a radioactive application, the DOE wanted to evaluate them under nonradioactive conditions to determine if they were accurate, reliable, and dependable. The goal of this project was to test the performance of the newly developed DOE instruments along with several commercially available instruments. The baseline method for comparison utilized the results from grab-sample analyses

  20. Characteristics of Mae Moh lignite: Hardgrove grindability index and approximate work index

    OpenAIRE

    Wutthiphong Tara; Chairoj Rattanakawin

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to preliminarily study the Mae Moh lignite grindability tests emphasizing onHardgrove grindability and approximate work index determination respectively. Firstly, the lignite samples were collected,prepared and analyzed for calorific value, total sulfur content, and proximate analysis. After that the Hardgrove grindabilitytest using ball-race test mill was performed. Knowing the Hardgrove indices, the Bond work indices of some samples wereestimated using the A...

  1. On low-rank updates to the singular value and Tucker decompositions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Hara, M J

    2009-10-06

    The singular value decomposition is widely used in signal processing and data mining. Since the data often arrives in a stream, the problem of updating matrix decompositions under low-rank modification has been widely studied. Brand developed a technique in 2006 that has many advantages. However, the technique does not directly approximate the updated matrix, but rather its previous low-rank approximation added to the new update, which needs justification. Further, the technique is still too slow for large information processing problems. We show that the technique minimizes the change in error per update, so if the error is small initially it remains small. We show that an updating algorithm for large sparse matrices should be sub-linear in the matrix dimension in order to be practical for large problems, and demonstrate a simple modification to the original technique that meets the requirements.

  2. Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion testing of North Dakota lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goblirsch, G; Vander Molen, R H; Wilson, K; Hajicek, D

    1980-05-01

    The sulfur retention by the inherent alkali, and added limestone sorbent, perform about the same and are reasonably predictable within a range of about +-10% retention by application of alkali to sulfur ratio. Temperature has a substantial effect on the retention of sulfur by the inherent alkali or limestone. The temperature effect is not yet fully understood but it appears to be different for different coals and operational conditions. The emission of SO/sub 2/ from the fluid bed burning the Beulah lignite sample used for these tests can be controlled to meet or better the current emission standards. The injection of limestone to an alkali-to-sulfur molar ratio of 1.5 to 1, should lower the SO/sub 2/ emissions below the current requirement of 0.6 lb SO/sub 2//10/sup 6/ Btu to 0.4 lb SO/sub 2//10/sup 6/ Btu, a safe 33% below the standard. Agglomeration of bed material, and consequent loss of fluidization quality can be a problem when burning high sodium lignite in a silica bed. There appears, however, to be several ways of controlling the problem including the injection of calcium compounds, and careful control of operating conditions. The heat transfer coefficients measured in the CPC and GFETC tests are comparable to data obtained by other researchers, and agree reasonably well with empirical conditions. The NO/sub x/ emissions measured in all of the tests on Beulah lignite are below the current New Source Performance Standard of 0.5 lb NO/sub 2//10/sup 6/ Btu input. Combustion efficiencies for the Beulah lignite are generally quite high when ash recycle is being used. Efficiencies in the range of 98% to 99%+ have been measured in all tests using this fuel.

  3. COFIRING BIOMASS WITH LIGNITE COAL

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Darren D. Schmidt

    2002-01-01

    The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center, in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) biomass cofiring program, completed a Phase 1 feasibility study investigating aspects of cofiring lignite coal with biomass relative to utility-scale systems, specifically focusing on a small stoker system located at the North Dakota State Penitentiary (NDSP) in Bismarck, North Dakota. A complete biomass resource assessment was completed, the stoker was redesigned to accept biomass, fuel characterization and fireside modeling tests were performed, and an engineering economic analysis was completed. In general, municipal wood residue was found to be the most viable fuel choice, and the modeling showed that fireside problems would be minimal. Experimental ash deposits from firing 50% biomass were found to be weaker and more friable compared to baseline lignite coal. Experimental sulfur and NO{sub x} emissions were reduced by up to 46%. The direct costs savings to NDSP, from cogeneration and fuel saving, results in a 15- to 20-year payback on a $1,680,000 investment, while the total benefits to the greater community would include reduced landfill burden, alleviation of fees for disposal by local businesses, and additional jobs created both for the stoker system as well as from the savings spread throughout the community.

  4. Slurry flow principles and practice

    CERN Document Server

    Shook, C A; Brenner, Howard

    2015-01-01

    Slurry Flow: Principles and Practice describes the basic concepts and methods for understanding and designing slurry flow systems, in-plan installations, and long-distance transportation systems. The goal of this book is to enable the design or plant engineer to derive the maximum benefit from a limited amount of test data and to generalize operating experience to new situations. Design procedures are described in detail and are accompanied by illustrative examples needed by engineers with little or no previous experience in slurry transport.The technical literature in this field is extensive:

  5. Lignite and tin ores exploration in southern part of Thailand by using nuclear track-etch detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chittrakarn, T.; Boonnummar, R.; Pongsuwan, T.; Nuannin, P.; Kaew-On, C.

    1993-01-01

    Both lignite and tin mines in Southern of Thailand are associated with uranium ore. In lignite exploration, Bangpudum Lignite Mine at Krabi Province was chosen for this studied because we know the exact location and deposition of coal seam by using other geophysical technique and also confirm by borehole. The size 1x2 cm 2 of cellulose nitrate CN-85 films were used, each film was stuck at the inner bottom of a softdrink cup. Each cup was put up side down at the bottom of a borehole about 75 cm depth from the earth surface and laid about 10 m apart. All the cups were put in the hole along the line in order to cover about 280 metre in the cross sectional direction long of the known coal seam. After one month, all the film detectors were collected and etched with 6.25N NaOH at 60 o C about 25 minutes long in order to enlarge the latent alpha registration tracks. These alpha particles were emitted from radon gas (Rn-222) which was generated from uranium associated with lignite ore. The registration track density per area of each CN-85 film was studied by optical microscope at 400x magnifications. We found that the track densities of the films have high correlation with the depth of the known coal seam while high and low track densities will correspond to the shallow and deep coal seam respectively. Also, track density was significantly higher than background. A similar manner of experiment was designed for tin ore exploration at Ronpibul district, Nakorn Si Thammarat province. The result is in progress and will present at the conference. (Author)

  6. The application of low-rank and sparse decomposition method in the field of climatology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Nitika; Bhaskaran, Prasad K.

    2018-04-01

    The present study reports a low-rank and sparse decomposition method that separates the mean and the variability of a climate data field. Until now, the application of this technique was limited only in areas such as image processing, web data ranking, and bioinformatics data analysis. In climate science, this method exactly separates the original data into a set of low-rank and sparse components, wherein the low-rank components depict the linearly correlated dataset (expected or mean behavior), and the sparse component represents the variation or perturbation in the dataset from its mean behavior. The study attempts to verify the efficacy of this proposed technique in the field of climatology with two examples of real world. The first example attempts this technique on the maximum wind-speed (MWS) data for the Indian Ocean (IO) region. The study brings to light a decadal reversal pattern in the MWS for the North Indian Ocean (NIO) during the months of June, July, and August (JJA). The second example deals with the sea surface temperature (SST) data for the Bay of Bengal region that exhibits a distinct pattern in the sparse component. The study highlights the importance of the proposed technique used for interpretation and visualization of climate data.

  7. Solid substrate fermentation of lignite by the coal-solubilizing mould, Trichoderma atroviride, in a new type of bioreactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holker, U.; Hofer, M. [University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany)

    2002-07-01

    Trichoderma atroviride CBS 349 is able to solubilize lignite. The mould was cultured under non-sterile conditions in a new type of bioreactor for solid substrate fermentation. German lignite (lithotype A, Bergheim) was used as complex solid substrate. Over 40 days 140 g of 1.5 kg lignite held in a 25 1-bioreactor was solubilized by the fungus.

  8. A comparative study of nitrogen conversion during pyrolysis of coconut fiber, its corresponding biochar and their blends with lignite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhengang; Balasubramanian, Rajasekhar

    2014-01-01

    In the present study, the conversion of fuel-N to HCN and NH3 was investigated during rapid pyrolysis of raw biomass (coconut fiber), its corresponding biochar and their blends with lignite within a temperature range of 600-900°C. The results showed that the raw biomass and the biochar showed totally different nitrogen partitioning between NH3 and HCN. HCN was the dominant nitrogen pollutant from pyrolysis of raw biomass, while for the biochar pyrolysis the yield of NH3 was slightly higher than that of HCN. Synergistic interactions occurred within both raw biomass/lignite and biochar/lignite blends, especially for the biochar/lignite blend, and resulted in reduced yields of HCN and NH3, decreased the total nitrogen percentage retained in the char and promoted harmless N2 formation. These findings suggest that biochar/lignite co-firing for energy production may have the enhanced benefit of reduced emissions of nitrogen pollutants than raw biomass/lignite. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Fates and roles of alkali and alkaline earth metal species during the pyrolysis and gasification of a Victorian lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mody, D.; Wu, H.; Li, C. [Monash University, Vic. (Australia). CRC for Clean Power from Lignite, Dept. of Chemical Engineering

    2000-07-01

    The transformation of alkali and alkaline earth metal (AAEM) species in a Victorian lignite during the pyrolysis and subsequent gasification in CO{sub 2} was studied in a novel quartz fluidised-bed reactor. Lignite samples prepared by physically adding NaCl and ion-exchanging Na{sup +} and Ca{sup ++} into the lignite were used to investigate the effects of chemical forms and valency of the AAEM species in the substrate lignite on their transformation during pyrolysis and gasification. Carboxyl-bound Na was found to be less volatile than Na present as NaCl, but more volatile than carboxyl-bound Ca during pyrolysis at temperatures between 400 and 900{sup o}C. However, the carboxyl-bound Na was volatilised to a much greater extent than the carboxyl-bound Ca in the same lignite during pyrolysis. It was seen that the loading of NaCl into the lignite did not significantly affect the char reactivity in the fluidised-bed reactor at 900{sup o}C.

  10. JV TASK 45-MERCURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES BURNING LIGNITE COAL, PHASE I BENCH-AND PILOT-SCALE TESTING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    John H. Pavlish; Michael J. Holmes; Steven A. Benson; Charlene R. Crocker; Edwin S. Olson; Kevin C. Galbreath; Ye Zhuang; Brandon M. Pavlish

    2003-10-01

    The Energy & Environmental Research Center has completed the first phase of a 3-year, two-phase consortium project to develop and demonstrate mercury control technologies for utilities that burn lignite coal. The overall project goal is to maintain the viability of lignite-based energy production by providing utilities with low-cost options for meeting future mercury regulations. Phase I objectives are to develop a better understanding of mercury interactions with flue gas constituents, test a range of sorbent-based technologies targeted at removing elemental mercury (Hg{sup o}) from flue gases, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the most promising technologies at the pilot scale. The Phase II objectives are to demonstrate and quantify sorbent technology effectiveness, performance, and cost at a sponsor-owned and operated power plant. Phase I results are presented in this report along with a brief overview of the Phase II plans. Bench-scale testing provided information on mercury interactions with flue gas constituents and relative performances of the various sorbents. Activated carbons were prepared from relatively high-sodium lignites by carbonization at 400 C (752 F), followed by steam activation at 750 C (1382 F) and 800 C (1472 F). Luscar char was also steam-activated at these conditions. These lignite-based activated carbons, along with commercially available DARCO FGD and an oxidized calcium silicate, were tested in a thin-film, fixed-bed, bench-scale reactor using a simulated lignitic flue gas consisting of 10 {micro}g/Nm{sup 3} Hg{sup 0}, 6% O{sub 2}, 12% CO{sub 2}, 15% H{sub 2}O, 580 ppm SO{sub 2}, 120 ppm NO, 6 ppm NO{sub 2}, and 1 ppm HCl in N{sub 2}. All of the lignite-based activated (750 C, 1382 F) carbons required a 30-45-minute conditioning period in the simulated lignite flue gas before they exhibited good mercury sorption capacities. The unactivated Luscar char and oxidized calcium silicate were ineffective in capturing mercury. Lignite

  11. A Combined Raman Spectroscopic and Thermogravimetric Analysis Study on Oxidation of Coal with Different Ranks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiqing Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Raman spectroscopy and nonisothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA measurements have been reported for different rank coals (lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite and the relationship between the measurements was examined. It was found that the Raman spectra parameters can be used to characterize structure changes in the different rank coals, such as the band area ratios based on the curve-fitted results. Higher ranked coal was found to have higher values of IGR/IAll and IG+GR/IAll but lower values of ID/I(G+GR, IDL/I(G+GR, IS+SL/I(G+GR, and I(GL+GL'/I(G+GR. The oxidation properties of the coal samples were characterized by the reactivity indexes Tig, T20%, and Tmax from TGA data which were found to correlate well with the band area ratios of IGR/IAll, IG+GR/IAll, and IS+SL/I(G+GR. Based on these correlations, the Raman band area ratios were found to correlate with the oxidation activity of coal providing additional structural information which can be used to understand the changes in the TGA measurements.

  12. Aerosols generated by spills of viscous solutions and slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ballinger, M.Y.; Hodgson, W.H.

    1986-12-01

    Safety assessments and environmental impact statements for nuclear fuel cycle facilities require an estimate of potential airborne releases caused by accidents. Aerosols generated by accidents are being investigated by Pacific Northwest Laboratory to develop methods for estimating source terms from these accidents. Experiments were run by spilling viscous solutions and slurries to determine the mass and particle-size distribution of the material made airborne. In all cases, 1 L of solution was spilled from a height of 3 m. Aqueous solutions of sucrose (0 to 56%) gave a range of viscosities from 1.3 to 46 cp. The percent of spill mass made airborne from the spills of these solutions ranged from 0.001 to 0.0001. The mass of particles made airborne decreased as solution viscosity increased. Slurry loading ranged from 25 to 51% total solids. The maximum source airborne (0.0046 wt %) occurred with the slurry that had the lightest loading of soluble solids. The viscosity of the carrying solution also had an impact on the source term from spilling slurries. The effect of surface tension on the source term was examined in two experiments. Surface tension was halved in these spills by adding a surfactant. The maximum weight percent airborne from these spills was 0.0045, compared to 0.003 for spills with twice the surface tension. The aerodynamic mass medium diameters for the aerosols produced by spills of the viscous solutions, slurries, and low surface tension liquids ranged from 0.6 to 8.4 μm, and the geometric standard deviation ranged from 3.8 to 28.0

  13. Process for heating coal-oil slurries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braunlin, W.A.; Gorski, A.; Jaehnig, L.J.; Moskal, C.J.; Naylor, J.D.; Parimi, K.; Ward, J.V.

    1984-01-03

    Controlling gas to slurry volume ratio to achieve a gas holdup of about 0.4 when heating a flowing coal-oil slurry and a hydrogen containing gas stream allows operation with virtually any coal to solvent ratio and permits operation with efficient heat transfer and satisfactory pressure drops. The critical minimum gas flow rate for any given coal-oil slurry will depend on numerous factors such as coal concentration, coal particle size distribution, composition of the solvent (including recycle slurries), and type of coal. Further system efficiency can be achieved by operating with multiple heating zones to provide a high heat flux when the apparent viscosity of the gas saturated slurry is highest. Operation with gas flow rates below the critical minimum results in system instability indicated by temperature excursions in the fluid and at the tube wall, by a rapid increase and then decrease in overall pressure drop with decreasing gas flow rate, and by increased temperature differences between the temperature of the bulk fluid and the tube wall. At the temperatures and pressures used in coal liquefaction preheaters the coal-oil slurry and hydrogen containing gas stream behaves essentially as a Newtonian fluid at shear rates in excess of 150 sec[sup [minus]1]. The gas to slurry volume ratio should also be controlled to assure that the flow regime does not shift from homogeneous flow to non-homogeneous flow. Stable operations have been observed with a maximum gas holdup as high as 0.72. 29 figs.

  14. Biogas slurry pricing method based on nutrient content

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chang-ai; Guo, Honghai; Yang, Zhengtao; Xin, Shurong

    2017-11-01

    In order to promote biogas-slurry commercialization, A method was put forward to valuate biogas slurry based on its nutrient contents. Firstly, element contents of biogas slurry was measured; Secondly, each element was valuated based on its market price, and then traffic cost, using cost and market effect were taken into account, the pricing method of biogas slurry were obtained lastly. This method could be useful in practical production. Taking cattle manure raw meterial biogas slurry and con stalk raw material biogas slurry for example, their price were 38.50 yuan RMB per ton and 28.80 yuan RMB per ton. This paper will be useful for recognizing the value of biogas projects, ensuring biogas project running, and instructing the cyclic utilization of biomass resources in China.

  15. NPK NMR Sensor: Online Monitoring of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium in Animal Slurry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sørensen, Morten K; Jensen, Ole; Bakharev, Oleg N; Nyord, Tavs; Nielsen, Niels Chr

    2015-07-07

    Knowledge of the actual content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) in animal slurry is highly important to optimize crop production and avoid environmental pollution when slurry is spread on agricultural fields. Here, we present a mobile, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor suitable for online monitoring of the NPK content in animal slurry as an alternative to crude estimates or tedious nonspecific, off-site laboratory analysis. The sensor is based on (14)N, (17)O, (31)P, and (39)K NMR in a digital NMR instrument equipped with a 1.5 T Halbach magnet for direct detection of ammonium N, total P, and K and indirect evaluation of the organic N content, covering all practical components of NPK in animal slurry. In correlation studies, the obtained NMR measurements show good agreement with reference measurements from commercial laboratories.

  16. NOx and SO2 emission factors for Serbian lignite Kolubara

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovanović Vladimir V.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Emission factors are widely accepted tool for estimation of various pollutants emissions in USA and EU. Validity of emission factors is strongly related to experimental data on which they are based. This paper is a result of an effort to establish reliable NOx and SO2 emission factors for Serbian coals. The results of NOx and SO2 emissions estimations based on USA and EU emission factors from thermal power plants Nikola Tesla Obrenovac A and B utilizing the Serbian lignite Kolubara are compared with experimental data obtained during almost one decade (2000-2008 of emissions measurements. Experimental data are provided from regular annual emissions measurement along with operational parameters of the boiler and coal (lignite Kolubara ultimate and proximate analysis. Significant deviations of estimated from experimental data were observed for NOx, while the results for SO2 were satisfactory. Afterwards, the estimated and experimental data were plotted and linear regression between them established. Single parameter optimization was performed targeting the ideal slope of the regression line. Results of this optimization provided original NOx and SO2 emission factors for Kolubara lignite.

  17. The catalytic cracking mechanism of lignite pyrolysis char on tar

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei, Z.; Huibin, H.; Xiangling, S.; Zhenhua, M.; Lei, Z.

    2017-01-01

    The influence of different pyrolysis conditions for tar catalytic cracking will be analyzed according to the lignite pyrolysis char as catalyst on pyrolytic tar in this paper. The pyrolysis char what is the by-product of the cracking of coal has an abundant of pore structure and it has good catalytic activity. On this basis, making the modified catalyst when the pyrolysis char is activation and loads Fe by impregnation method. The cracking mechanism of lignite pyrolytic tar is explored by applying gas chromatograph to analyze splitting products of tar. The experimental results showed that: (1) The effect of tar cracking as the pyrolysis temperature, the heating rate, the volatilization of pyrolysis char and particle size increasing is better and better. The effect of the catalytic and cracking of lignite pyrolysis char in tar is best when the heating rate, the pyrolysis temperature, the volatiles of pyrolysis char, particle size is in specific conditions.(2) The activation of pyrolysis char can improve the catalytic effect of pyrolysis char on the tar cracking. But it reduces the effect of the tar cracking when the pyrolysis char is activation loading Fe. (author)

  18. Slurry pipeline technology: an overview

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chapman, Jay P. [Pipeline Systems Incorporated (PSI), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Lima, Rafael; Pinto, Daniel; Vidal, Alisson [Ausenco do Brasil Engenharia Ltda., Nova Lima, MG (Brazil). PSI Div.

    2009-12-19

    Slurry pipelines represent an economical and environmentally friendly transportation means for many solid materials. This paper provides an over-view of the technology, its evolution and current Brazilian activity. Mineral resources are increasingly moving farther away from ports, processing plants and end use points, and slurry pipelines are an important mode of solids transport. Application guidelines are discussed. State-of-the-Art technical solutions such as pipeline system simulation, pipe materials, pumps, valves, automation, telecommunications, and construction techniques that have made the technology successful are presented. A discussion of where long distant slurry pipelines fit in a picture that also includes thickened and paste materials pipe lining is included. (author)

  19. Physico-chemical principles of slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leiber, C.O.

    1984-12-01

    Spectacular accidents have occurred in mining with products considered non-explosive. In view of the disastrous consequences of these accidents, the old 'Anfo' idea has been revived (= ammonium nitrate and fuel oil). Experiments in wet wells have led to the development of a new type of non-explosive blasting agents, i.e. the so-called slurries. Detonation of these slurries is divided into an energy release process and an energy conversion process. The basic mechanisms are described with a view to practical problems, e.g. detonation control, temperature dependence of the blasting characteristics, pressure dependence of the ignition process, critical diameter, slurry state problems, and sensitivity.

  20. Ammonia abatement by slurry acidification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Søren O.; Hutchings, Nicholas John; Hafner, Sasha D.

    2016-01-01

    sections with 30-32 pigs with or without daily adjustment of slurry pH to below 6. Ammonia losses from reference sections with untreated slurry were between 9.5 and 12.4% of N excreted, and from sections with acidified slurry between 3.1 and 6.2%. Acidification reduced total emissions of NH3 by 66 and 71......% in spring and autumn experiments, and by 44% in the summer experiment. Regression models were used to investigate sources and controls of NH3 emissions. There was a strong relationship between NH3 emissions and ventilation rate during spring and autumn, but less so during summer where ventilation rates were...

  1. Low-rank extremal positive-partial-transpose states and unextendible product bases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leinaas, Jon Magne; Sollid, Per Oyvind; Myrheim, Jan

    2010-01-01

    It is known how to construct, in a bipartite quantum system, a unique low-rank entangled mixed state with positive partial transpose (a PPT state) from an unextendible product basis (UPB), defined as an unextendible set of orthogonal product vectors. We point out that a state constructed in this way belongs to a continuous family of entangled PPT states of the same rank, all related by nonsingular unitary or nonunitary product transformations. The characteristic property of a state ρ in such a family is that its kernel Ker ρ has a generalized UPB, a basis of product vectors, not necessarily orthogonal, with no product vector in Im ρ, the orthogonal complement of Ker ρ. The generalized UPB in Ker ρ has the special property that it can be transformed to orthogonal form by a product transformation. In the case of a system of dimension 3x3, we give a complete parametrization of orthogonal UPBs. This is then a parametrization of families of rank 4 entangled (and extremal) PPT states, and we present strong numerical evidence that it is a complete classification of such states. We speculate that the lowest rank entangled and extremal PPT states also in higher dimensions are related to generalized, nonorthogonal UPBs in similar ways.

  2. Development of ultra-lightweight slurries with high compressive strength for use in oil wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suzart, J. Walter P. [Halliburton Company, Houston, TX (United States); Farias, A.C. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Ribeiro, Danilo; Fernandes, Thiago; Santos, Reened [Halliburton Energy Services Aberdeen, Scotland (United Kingdom)

    2008-07-01

    Formations with low fracture gradients or depleted reservoirs often lead to difficult oil well cementing operations. Commonly employed cement slurries (14.0 to 15.8 lb/gal), generate an equivalent circulating density (ECD) higher than the fracture gradient and ultimately lead to formation damage, lost circulation and a decreased top of cement. Given the high price of oil, companies are investing in those and other wells that are difficult to explore. Naturally, lightweight cement slurries are used to reduce the ECD (10.0 to 14.0 lb/gal), using additives to trap water and stabilize the slurry. However, when the density reaches 11.0 lb/gal, the increase in water content may cause a change in characteristics. The focus of this study is extreme cases where it is necessary to employ ultra-lightweight cement slurries (5.5 to 10.0 lb/gal). Foamed slurries have been widely used, and the objective is to set an alternative by developing cement slurries containing uncompressible microspheres, aiming for a density of 7.5 lb/gal as well as high compressive strength. Another benefit in contrast to preparing foamed cement slurries is that there is no requirement for special equipment in the field. Routine laboratory tests such as fluid-loss control, sedimentation, thickening time, free water, compressive strength, and rheology (at room and high temperatures) were performed. Thus, it was concluded that the proposed cement slurries can be used in oil wells. (author)

  3. High static gel strength cement slurries for gas flow-laboratory surveys and case history

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suzart, J. Walter P.; Ribeiro, Danilo [Halliburton Company, Houston, TX (United States); Farias, A.C. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Pessoa, Laudemar [University of Adelaide (Australia). Math. Bachelor Master Petroleum Engineer

    2008-07-01

    Gas migration is a phenomenon involving fluid density control, well conditioning, good adherence of the cement slurry to the contacting surfaces, chemical-physical properties, cement hydration mechanisms, and the well's geometry. This problem is evident in several producing wells with a pressurized annulus. Recently, a trend of combining operational techniques with cement slurries capable of developing very high static gel strength (SGS) has developed. Slurry designs intended to confer high SGS almost always have greater rheologies. This can make it difficult to mix the slurry on surfaces or even move the slurry placement through the well, more so because gas-producing wells are typically deep and have complex geometry. This paper evaluates the industry's understanding of this problem. It compares the major solutions with current cement slurry designs and, in addition to the conventional specific gas well parameters, it emphasizes the high SGS and low rheologies on surface conditions. This study also documents the success and efficiency of cementing at a Brazilian sedimentary basin which was completed using designs recommended in this work. This paper does not consider the gas migration occurrence through the cementing matrix. (author)

  4. JV Task 90 - Activated Carbon Production from North Dakota Lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steven Benson; Charlene Crocker; Rokan Zaman; Mark Musich; Edwin Olson

    2008-03-31

    The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has pursued a research program for producing activated carbon from North Dakota lignite that can be competitive with commercial-grade activated carbon. As part of this effort, small-scale production of activated carbon was produced from Fort Union lignite. A conceptual design of a commercial activated carbon production plant was drawn, and a market assessment was performed to determine likely revenue streams for the produced carbon. Activated carbon was produced from lignite coal in both laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactors and in a small pilot-scale rotary kiln. The EERC was successfully able to upgrade the laboratory-scale activated carbon production system to a pilot-scale rotary kiln system. The activated carbon produced from North Dakota lignite was superior to commercial grade DARCO{reg_sign} FGD and Rheinbraun's HOK activated coke product with respect to iodine number. The iodine number of North Dakota lignite-derived activated carbon was between 600 and 800 mg I{sub 2}/g, whereas the iodine number of DARCO FGD was between 500 and 600 mg I{sub 2}/g, and the iodine number of Rheinbraun's HOK activated coke product was around 275 mg I{sub 2}/g. The EERC performed both bench-scale and pilot-scale mercury capture tests using the activated carbon made under various optimization process conditions. For comparison, the mercury capture capability of commercial DARCO FGD was also tested. The lab-scale apparatus is a thin fixed-bed mercury-screening system, which has been used by the EERC for many mercury capture screen tests. The pilot-scale systems included two combustion units, both equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). Activated carbons were also tested in a slipstream baghouse at a Texas power plant. The results indicated that the activated carbon produced from North Dakota lignite coal is capable of removing mercury from flue gas. The tests showed that activated carbon with the greatest

  5. Fabrication of tubed functionally graded material by slurry dipping process. Thickness control of dip-coated layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, Ryuzo

    1997-03-01

    In order to obtain long life fuel cladding tubes for the fast breeder reactor, the concept of functionally graded material was applied for the material combination of Molybdenum/stainless steel/Titanium, in which Titanium and Molybdenum were placed at the inner and outer sides, respectively. Slurry dipping method was employed because of its capability of shape forming and microstructural control. We have hitherto reported the design criteria for the graded layers, preparation of the slurry, and microstructural control of the dip-coated layers. In the present report, the thickness control of the dip-coated layer is described in detail. The thickness of the dip-coated layer depends primarily on the viscosity of the slurry. Nevertheless, for the stable dispersion of the powder in the slurry, which dominates the microstructural homogeneity, an optimum viscosity value is present for the individual slurries. With stable slurries of Ti, Mo, stainless steel powders and their mixtures, the thicknesses of dip-coated layers were controlled in dependence of their viscosities and yield values. For Ti and stainless steel powders and their mixture a PAANa was used as a dispersing agent. A NaHMP was found to be effective for the dispersion of Mo powder and Mo/stainless steel powder mixture. For all slurries tested in the present investigation PVA addition was helpful for the viscosity control. Dip-coating maps have been drawn for the stabilization of the slurries and for the formation of films with a sufficient strength for further manipulation for the slurries with low viscosity (∼10 mPa s). The final film thickness for the low-viscosity slurry with the optimum condition was about 200 μm. The slurries with high viscosities of several hundreds mPa s had a good stability and the yield value was easy to be controlled. The film thickness was able to be adjusted in the size range between several tens and several hundreds μm. The final thickness of the graded layer was determined

  6. Efficient anisotropic quasi-P wavefield extrapolation using an isotropic low-rank approximation

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Zhendong; Liu, Yike; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali; Wu, Zedong

    2017-01-01

    efficient. A dynamic implementation of this approach decomposes the original pseudo-differential operator into a Laplacian, handled using the low-rank approximation of the spectral operator, plus an angular dependent correction factor applied in the space

  7. Pyrolysis kinetics of phenols from lignite semicoking tar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Platonov, V.V.; Polovetskaya, O.S.; Proskuryakov, V.A.; Shavyrina, O.A. [Leo Tolstoy Tula State Pedag University, Tula (Russian Federation)

    2002-11-01

    The features of pyrolysis of phenols from lignite semicoking tar were studied. The activation energy and order of the reactions of accumulation of methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and dioxide, naphthalene and its methyl homologs, phenols, and isomeric cresols and dimethylphenols were determined.

  8. The stability of a novel weakly alkaline slurry of copper interconnection CMPfor GLSI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Caihong; Wang, Chenwei; Niu, Xinhuan; Wang, Yan; Tian, Shengjun; Jiang, Zichao; Liu, Yuling

    2018-02-01

    Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the important machining procedures of multilayered copper interconnection for GLSI, meanwhile polishing slurry is a critical factor for realizing the high polishing performance such as high planarization efficiency, low surface roughness. The effect of slurry components such as abrasive (colloidal silica), complexing agent (glycine), inhibitor (BTA) and oxidizing agent (H2O2) on the stability of the novel weakly alkaline slurry of copper interconnection CMP for GLSI was investigated in this paper. First, the synergistic and competitive relationship of them in a peroxide-based weakly alkaline slurry during the copper CMP process was studied and the stability mechanism was put forward. Then 1 wt% colloidal silica, 2.5 wt% glycine, 200 ppm BTA, 20 mL/L H2O2 had been selected as the appropriate concentration to prepare copper slurry, and using such slurry the copper blanket wafer was polished. From the variations of copper removal rate, root-mean square roughness (Sq) value with the setting time, it indicates that the working-life of the novel weakly alkaline slurry can reach more than 7 days, which satisfies the requirement of microelectronics further development. Project supported by the Major National Science and Technology Special Projects (No. 2016ZX02301003-004-007), the Professional Degree Teaching Case Foundation of Hebei Province, China (No. KCJSZ2017008), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (No. F2015202267), and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin, China (No. 16JCYBJC16100).

  9. Efficient tensor completion for color image and video recovery: Low-rank tensor train

    OpenAIRE

    Bengua, Johann A.; Phien, Ho N.; Tuan, Hoang D.; Do, Minh N.

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes a novel approach to tensor completion, which recovers missing entries of data represented by tensors. The approach is based on the tensor train (TT) rank, which is able to capture hidden information from tensors thanks to its definition from a well-balanced matricization scheme. Accordingly, new optimization formulations for tensor completion are proposed as well as two new algorithms for their solution. The first one called simple low-rank tensor completion via tensor tra...

  10. Chemical Hydride Slurry for Hydrogen Production and Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McClaine, Andrew W

    2008-09-30

    The purpose of this project was to investigate and evaluate the attractiveness of using a magnesium chemical hydride slurry as a hydrogen storage, delivery, and production medium for automobiles. To fully evaluate the potential for magnesium hydride slurry to act as a carrier of hydrogen, potential slurry compositions, potential hydrogen release techniques, and the processes (and their costs) that will be used to recycle the byproducts back to a high hydrogen content slurry were evaluated. A 75% MgH2 slurry was demonstrated, which was just short of the 76% goal. This slurry is pumpable and storable for months at a time at room temperature and pressure conditions and it has the consistency of paint. Two techniques were demonstrated for reacting the slurry with water to release hydrogen. The first technique was a continuous mixing process that was tested for several hours at a time and demonstrated operation without external heat addition. Further work will be required to reduce this design to a reliable, robust system. The second technique was a semi-continuous process. It was demonstrated on a 2 kWh scale. This system operated continuously and reliably for hours at a time, including starts and stops. This process could be readily reduced to practice for commercial applications. The processes and costs associated with recycling the byproducts of the water/slurry reaction were also evaluated. This included recovering and recycling the oils of the slurry, reforming the magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide byproduct to magnesium metal, hydriding the magnesium metal with hydrogen to form magnesium hydride, and preparing the slurry. We found that the SOM process, under development by Boston University, offers the lowest cost alternative for producing and recycling the slurry. Using the H2A framework, a total cost of production, delivery, and distribution of $4.50/kg of hydrogen delivered or $4.50/gge was determined. Experiments performed at Boston

  11. Effects of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae on survival and growth of perennial grasses in lignite overburden in Texas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Call, C.A.; Davies, F.T.

    1988-12-01

    Seedlings of sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), and kleingrass (Panicum coloratum) were inoculated with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi (Glomus fasciculatum and Gigaspora margarita) in a containerized system and transplanted into lignite overburden in the Post Oak Savannah region of Texas, U.S.A. After three growing seasons without cultural inputs, plants inoculated with VAM fungi had greater survival percentages, basal diameters, and above-ground biomass than noninoculated plants. Inoculated plants had higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in above-ground biomass than noninoculated plants. Root colonization percentages of inoculated plants remained fairly stable while noninoculated plants showed low levels of colonization over the 3-year study period. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae enhanced the survival and growth of the 3 grass species by making effective use of limited resources in the lignite overburden. 31 refs., 3 tabs.

  12. Environmental Assessment for Lignite Fuel Enhancement Project, Coal Creek Station, Great River Energy, Underwood, North Dakota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    N/A

    2004-01-16

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared this EA to assess the environmental impacts of the commercial application of lignite fuel enhancement. The proposed demonstration project would be implemented at Great River Energy's Coal Creek Station near Underwood, North Dakota. The proposed project would demonstrate a technology to increase the heating value of lignite and other high-moisture coals by reducing the moisture in the fuels. Waste heat that would normally be sent to the cooling towers would be used to drive off a percentage of the moisture contained within the lignite. Application of this technology would be expected to boost power-generating efficiencies, provide economic cost savings for lignite and sub-bituminous power plants, and reduce air emissions. The proposed project would be constructed on a previously disturbed site within the Coal Creek Station and no negative impacts would occur in any environmental resource area.

  13. CEMENT SLURRIES FOR GEOTHERMAL WELLS CEMENTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nediljka Gaurina-Međimurec

    1994-12-01

    Full Text Available During a well cementing special place belongs to the cement slurry design. To ensure the best quality of cementing, a thorough understanding of well parameters is essential, as well as behaviour of cement slurry (especially at high temperatures and application of proven cementing techniques. Many cement jobs fail because of bad job planning. Well cementing without regarding what should be accomplished, can lead to well problems (channels in the cement, unwanted water, gas or fluid production, pipe corrosion and expensive well repairs. Cementing temperature conditions are important because bot-tomhole circulating temperatures affect slurry thickening time, arheology, set time and compressive strength development. Knowing the actual temperature which cement encounters during placement allows the selection of proper cementing materials for a specific application. Slurry design is affected by well depth, bottom hole circulating temperature and static temperature, type or drilling fluid, slurry density, pumping time, quality of mix water, fluid loss control, flow regime, settling and free water, quality of cement, dry or liquid additives, strength development, and quality of the lab cement testing and equipment. Most Portland cements and Class J cement have shown suitable performances in geot-hermal wells. Cement system designs for geothermal wells differ from those for conventional high temperature oil and gas wells in the exclusive use of silica flour instead of silica sand, and the avoidance of fly ash as an extender. In this paper, Portland cement behaviour at high temperatures is described. Cement slurry and set cement properties are also described. Published in literature, the composition of cement slurries which were tested in geothermal conditions and which obtained required compressive strength and water permeability are listed. As a case of our practice geothermal wells Velika Ciglena-1 and Velika Ciglena-la are described.

  14. Solubilization of lignite and behavior of oxygen containing functional groups in coal with superacid; Chokyosan wo mochiita kattan no kayoka oyobi sanso kannoki no kyodo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shimizu, K.; Saito, I. [National Institute for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan); Sasaki, S.; Suganuma, A. [Science University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). Faculty of Science and Technology

    1996-10-28

    Solubilization of lignite including a large amount of oxygen containing functional groups was attempted using HF/BF3, and the behavior of oxygen containing functional group, one of the important factors for coal liquefaction, was studied. In experiment, the cooled slurry of Yallourn coal specimen and solvent (toluene, isopentane) was filled into a vacuum autoclave together with HF/BF3. Reaction was performed under spontaneous pressure at 50, 100 or 150{degree}C for 3 hours. The distribution of oxygen containing functional groups in each coal specimen was determined by quantification of carboxyl group, hydroxyl group and carbonyl group. As the experimental result, the superacid mixture of HF and BF3 considerably improved the solubility of coal specimens into solvent as compared with individual HF and BF3. The solubility was 68wt% into benzene, 96% into THF and 99% (nearly 100%) into pyridine. It was suggested that production of Broensted acid with strong acidity causes strong catalysis. 6 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

  15. Preparation of coal slurries deposited in ground settling ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiesław Blaschke

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available As a result of the hard coal washing process, considerable quantities of coal slimes are generated. They belong to grain size classes below 1, 0 mm (with the majority of grains below 0,035 mm and are often sold in order to prepare blends for the power generation. It is assessed that in Poland about 11 mln tons of such slimes were deposited. The slimes of a low ash content can be exploited and sold. The slime of high ash content must be washed. In Poland there is one coal preparation plant for slurries. The article describes the technology and presents the results of a simplified economic analysis of exploitation of the slurries and their washing.

  16. Radiation doses of inhaled ash from the lignite power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boshevski, Tome; Pop-Jordanov, Jordan; Chaushevski, Anton

    1997-01-01

    The coal-fired thermal power plants in Macedonia use lignite obtained by surface mining. The lignite contains traces of thorium-232, uranium-238 and uranium-235, which are long-lived natural radioactive isotopes. After lignite combustion, the concentration of these isotopes in the ash is increased. Due to the long life of fossil materials, the decay products are basically grouped in three radioactive chains that are in a semi-steady state, resulting in equal activity of all isotopes from the chain. Among the members of each chain there are α and β emitters followed by γ quanta emitters. The energies of the α and β particles are important for determining the effective dose. The γ quanta provide information about the chain activity and isotope types. Gamma-spectroscopy studies of the ash samples from the power plants in the City of Bitola in Macedonia have confirmed the presence of several radioactive decay products from the uranium and thorium radioactive chains. Using measurements of the radioactivity of the ash in the Bitola region, the total dose from ash inhalation for the population in the Bitola region was calculated and presented in this paper. Also, analysis of the procedure for determining the maximum allowable dose from radioactive contamination of the environment, is described in this paper. (Original)

  17. Low rank approach to computing first and higher order derivatives using automatic differentiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reed, J. A.; Abdel-Khalik, H. S.; Utke, J.

    2012-01-01

    This manuscript outlines a new approach for increasing the efficiency of applying automatic differentiation (AD) to large scale computational models. By using the principles of the Efficient Subspace Method (ESM), low rank approximations of the derivatives for first and higher orders can be calculated using minimized computational resources. The output obtained from nuclear reactor calculations typically has a much smaller numerical rank compared to the number of inputs and outputs. This rank deficiency can be exploited to reduce the number of derivatives that need to be calculated using AD. The effective rank can be determined according to ESM by computing derivatives with AD at random inputs. Reduced or pseudo variables are then defined and new derivatives are calculated with respect to the pseudo variables. Two different AD packages are used: OpenAD and Rapsodia. OpenAD is used to determine the effective rank and the subspace that contains the derivatives. Rapsodia is then used to calculate derivatives with respect to the pseudo variables for the desired order. The overall approach is applied to two simple problems and to MATWS, a safety code for sodium cooled reactors. (authors)

  18. Radio-frequency slurry-density measurement for dredging pipelines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Eeten, M.J.C.

    2011-01-01

    Hydraulic dredgers make use of a density meter to measure the instantaneous density in the slurry transport pipeline, primarily for process control and production calculation. the current ‘golden’ standard for slurry density measurement is the radioactive density meter. It is based on a slurry

  19. Non-aqueous slurries used as thickeners

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hatfield, J C

    1982-04-07

    A non-aqueous slurry is described that is suitable for use as a thickener or viscosifier in oil or gas drilling, fracturing, flow diversion completion or workover fluids. The slurry comprises a water-soluble cellulose ether polymer, a water-insoluble liquid hydrocarbon, a non-ionic surfactant having an HLB of from 7 to 14, and an organo modified clay. There also is described a process for thickening or viscosifying a drilling, fracturing, flow diversion, completion or workover fluid. The use of the slurry prevents bumping during addition to aqueous fluids. (27 claims)

  20. Reference Information Based Remote Sensing Image Reconstruction with Generalized Nonconvex Low-Rank Approximation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyang Lu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Because of the contradiction between the spatial and temporal resolution of remote sensing images (RSI and quality loss in the process of acquisition, it is of great significance to reconstruct RSI in remote sensing applications. Recent studies have demonstrated that reference image-based reconstruction methods have great potential for higher reconstruction performance, while lacking accuracy and quality of reconstruction. For this application, a new compressed sensing objective function incorporating a reference image as prior information is developed. We resort to the reference prior information inherent in interior and exterior data simultaneously to build a new generalized nonconvex low-rank approximation framework for RSI reconstruction. Specifically, the innovation of this paper consists of the following three respects: (1 we propose a nonconvex low-rank approximation for reconstructing RSI; (2 we inject reference prior information to overcome over smoothed edges and texture detail losses; (3 on this basis, we combine conjugate gradient algorithms and a single-value threshold (SVT simultaneously to solve the proposed algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm improves several dBs in terms of peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR and preserves image details significantly compared to most of the current approaches without reference images as priors. In addition, the generalized nonconvex low-rank approximation of our approach is naturally robust to noise, and therefore, the proposed algorithm can handle low resolution with noisy inputs in a more unified framework.

  1. Sorption of 17b-Estradiol to Pig Slurry Separates and Soil in the Soil-Slurry Environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amin, Mostofa; Petersen, Søren O; Lægdsmand, Mette

    2012-01-01

    to agricultural soils, to different size fractions of pig slurry separates, and to soils amended with each size fraction to simulate conditions in the soil–slurry environment. A crude fiber fraction (SS1) was prepared by sieving (solids removed by an on-farm separation process. Three other size...... fractions (SS2 > SS3 > SS4) were prepared from the liquid fraction of the separated slurry by sedimentation and centrifugation. Sorption experiments were conducted in 0.01 mol L−1 CaCl2 and in natural pig urine matrix. Sorption in 0.01 mol L−1 CaCl2 was higher than that in pig urine for all solids used....... Sorption of E2 to soil increased with its organic carbon content for both liquid phases. The solid–liquid partition coefficients of slurry separates were 10 to 30 times higher than those of soils, but the organoic carbon normalized partition coefficient values, reflecting sorption per unit organic carbon...

  2. Combustion characteristics and air pollutant formation during oxy-fuel co-combustion of microalgae and lignite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yuan; Tahmasebi, Arash; Dou, Jinxiao; Yu, Jianglong

    2016-05-01

    Oxy-fuel combustion of solid fuels is seen as one of the key technologies for carbon capture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The combustion characteristics of lignite coal, Chlorella vulgaris microalgae, and their blends under O2/N2 and O2/CO2 conditions were studied using a Thermogravimetric Analyzer-Mass Spectroscopy (TG-MS). During co-combustion of blends, three distinct peaks were observed and were attributed to C. vulgaris volatiles combustion, combustion of lignite, and combustion of microalgae char. Activation energy during combustion was calculated using iso-conventional method. Increasing the microalgae content in the blend resulted in an increase in activation energy for the blends combustion. The emissions of S- and N-species during blend fuel combustion were also investigated. The addition of microalgae to lignite during air combustion resulted in lower CO2, CO, and NO2 yields but enhanced NO, COS, and SO2 formation. During oxy-fuel co-combustion, the addition of microalgae to lignite enhanced the formation of gaseous species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. COFIRING BIOMASS WITH LIGNITE COAL; FINAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darren D. Schmidt

    2002-01-01

    The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center, in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) biomass cofiring program, completed a Phase 1 feasibility study investigating aspects of cofiring lignite coal with biomass relative to utility-scale systems, specifically focusing on a small stoker system located at the North Dakota State Penitentiary (NDSP) in Bismarck, North Dakota. A complete biomass resource assessment was completed, the stoker was redesigned to accept biomass, fuel characterization and fireside modeling tests were performed, and an engineering economic analysis was completed. In general, municipal wood residue was found to be the most viable fuel choice, and the modeling showed that fireside problems would be minimal. Experimental ash deposits from firing 50% biomass were found to be weaker and more friable compared to baseline lignite coal. Experimental sulfur and NO(sub x) emissions were reduced by up to 46%. The direct costs savings to NDSP, from cogeneration and fuel saving, results in a 15- to 20-year payback on a$1,680,000 investment, while the total benefits to the greater community would include reduced landfill burden, alleviation of fees for disposal by local businesses, and additional jobs created both for the stoker system as well as from the savings spread throughout the community

  4. Low-rank Kalman filtering for efficient state estimation of subsurface advective contaminant transport models

    KAUST Repository

    El Gharamti, Mohamad

    2012-04-01

    Accurate knowledge of the movement of contaminants in porous media is essential to track their trajectory and later extract them from the aquifer. A two-dimensional flow model is implemented and then applied on a linear contaminant transport model in the same porous medium. Because of different sources of uncertainties, this coupled model might not be able to accurately track the contaminant state. Incorporating observations through the process of data assimilation can guide the model toward the true trajectory of the system. The Kalman filter (KF), or its nonlinear invariants, can be used to tackle this problem. To overcome the prohibitive computational cost of the KF, the singular evolutive Kalman filter (SEKF) and the singular fixed Kalman filter (SFKF) are used, which are variants of the KF operating with low-rank covariance matrices. Experimental results suggest that under perfect and imperfect model setups, the low-rank filters can provide estimates as accurate as the full KF but at much lower computational effort. Low-rank filters are demonstrated to significantly reduce the computational effort of the KF to almost 3%. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

  5. Fractal morphology in lignite coal: a small angle x-ray scattering investigation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chitra, R.; Sen, D.; Mazumder, S.; Chandrasekaran, K.S.

    1999-01-01

    Small angle x-ray scattering technique has been used to study the pore morphology in lignite coal from Neyveli lignite mine (Tamilnadu, India). The sample were collected from three different locations of the same mine. SAXS profiles from all the three samples show almost identical functionality, irrespective of the locations from where the samples were collected. SAXS experiment using two different wavelengths also exhibit same functionality indicating the absence of multiple scattering. The analysis indicates the surface fractal nature of the pore morphology. The surface fractal dimension is calculated to be 2.58. (author)

  6. Reactivity of chars prepared from the pyrolysis of a Victorian lignite under a wide range of conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, H.; Mody, D.; Li, C.; Hayashi, J.; Chiba, T. [Monash University, Vic. (Australia). CRC for Clean Power from Lignite, Dept. of Chemical Engineering

    2000-07-01

    A Loy Yang lignite sample was pyrolysed under a wide range of experimental conditions using a wire-mesh reactor, a fluidised-bed reactor, a drop-tube reformer and a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The reactivity of these char samples in CO{sub 2} and air was measured in the TGA as well as in the fluidised-bed reactor. A sample prepared by the physical impregnation of NaCl into the lignite was also used in order to investigate the effect of NaCl in the lignite on the reactivity of the resulting char. Our experimental results indicate that, due to the volatilisation of a substantial fraction of Na in the lignite substrate during pyrolysis, the true catalytic activity of the Na in the lignite substrate should be evaluated by measuring the sodium content in the char after pyrolysis. The char reactivity measured in situ in the fluidised-bed reactor was compared with that of the same char measured separately in the TGA after re-heating the char sample to the same temperature as that in the fluidised-bed. It was found that the re-heating of the char in the TGA reduced the char reactivity.

  7. Report on the survey of abandoned uraniferous lignite mines in southwestern North Dakota

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyon, R.J.; Prochaska, D.; Burgess, J.L.; Patrick, D.

    1986-03-01

    A radiation survey was conducted in October 1983 as part of the proposed reclamation plan of abandoned uraniferous lignite mines in southwestern North Dakota. The survey was made to determine the extent of contamination caused by mining operations in the 1960's. Radiation measurements were made and soil samples were taken at approximately 300 locations around six mine sites comprising eleven lignite mine pits. Toxic element analysis was also done on 50 of the soil samples

  8. Method of transporting radioactive slurry-like wastes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kamiya, K; Yusa, H; Sugimoto, Y

    1975-06-30

    The object is to prevent blockage of a transporting tube to positively and effectively transport radioactive slurry wastes. A method of transporting radioactive slurry-like wastes produced in an atomic power plant, wherein liquid wastes produced in the power plant are diluted to form into a driving liquid, by which said radioactive slurry-like wastes are transported within the pipe, and said driving liquid is recovered as the liquid waste.

  9. LARGE-SCALE MECURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGY TESTING FOR LIGNITE-FIRED UTILITIES-OXIDATION SYSTEMS FOR WET FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michael J. Holmes; Steven A. Benson; Jeffrey S. Thompson

    2004-03-01

    The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is conducting a consortium-based effort directed toward resolving the mercury (Hg) control issues facing the lignite industry. Specifically, the EERC team--the EERC, EPRI, URS, ADA-ES, Babcock & Wilcox, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, SaskPower, and the Mercury Task Force, which includes Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Otter Tail Power Company, Great River Energy, Texas Utilities (TXU), Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Minnkota Power Cooperative, BNI Coal Ltd., Dakota Westmoreland Corporation, and the North American Coal Company--has undertaken a project to significantly and cost-effectively oxidize elemental mercury in lignite combustion gases, followed by capture in a wet scrubber. This approach will be applicable to virtually every lignite utility in the United States and Canada and potentially impact subbituminous utilities. The oxidation process is proven at the pilot-scale and in short-term full-scale tests. Additional optimization is continuing on oxidation technologies, and this project focuses on longer-term full-scale testing. The lignite industry has been proactive in advancing the understanding of and identifying control options for Hg in lignite combustion flue gases. Approximately 1 year ago, the EERC and EPRI began a series of Hg-related discussions with the Mercury Task Force as well as utilities firing Texas and Saskatchewan lignites. This project is one of three being undertaken by the consortium to perform large-scale Hg control technology testing to address the specific needs and challenges to be met in controlling Hg from lignite-fired power plants. This project involves Hg oxidation upstream of a system equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) followed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD). The team involved in conducting the technical aspects of the project includes the EERC, Babcock & Wilcox, URS, and ADA-ES. The host sites include Minnkota Power Cooperative Milton R. Young

  10. Spring Barley Yield Parameters after Lignite, Sodium Humate and Nitrogen Utilization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kováčik Peter

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The existence of a small number of publications dealing with the impact of solid sodium humate and lignite on the quantity and quality of grown crops was the reason for establishing the field experiment. The objective of this experiment was to detect the impact of solid lignite and solid sodium humate on the quantity and quality of spring barley yield. These substances were applied into the soil either independently or along with nitrogen fertiliser. The next objective was to determine the impact of foliar application of sodium humate water solution applied either independently or along with nitrogen fertiliser on the quality and quantity of spring barley yield. The achieved results showed that the autumn application of solid lignite and the presowing application of solid sodium humate into the soil tended to decrease the yield of both grain and straw of spring barley, crude protein content in grain, proportion of the first-class grains and volume weight of grain, whereas the impact of humate was more negative. Lignite and sodium humate in the solid form should be used along with nitrogen fertiliser. The application of sodium humate in liquid form during the growth season of barley tended to increase the yield of both grain and straw. The joint application of nitrogen and liquid sodium humate during the growth season of barley increased the grain yield of barley significantly. A lower dose of nitrogen, applied during the growth season of barley (growth season BBCH 23, increased the grain yield of barley considerably more than a higher N dose, applied into the soil before barley sowing.

  11. Video deraining and desnowing using temporal correlation and low-rank matrix completion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jin-Hwan; Sim, Jae-Young; Kim, Chang-Su

    2015-09-01

    A novel algorithm to remove rain or snow streaks from a video sequence using temporal correlation and low-rank matrix completion is proposed in this paper. Based on the observation that rain streaks are too small and move too fast to affect the optical flow estimation between consecutive frames, we obtain an initial rain map by subtracting temporally warped frames from a current frame. Then, we decompose the initial rain map into basis vectors based on the sparse representation, and classify those basis vectors into rain streak ones and outliers with a support vector machine. We then refine the rain map by excluding the outliers. Finally, we remove the detected rain streaks by employing a low-rank matrix completion technique. Furthermore, we extend the proposed algorithm to stereo video deraining. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm detects and removes rain or snow streaks efficiently, outperforming conventional algorithms.

  12. Production of heavy greases from lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1921-03-18

    A process is described for the extraction of heavy greases and wagon greases and their equivalents, by separation from bitumins, resins, and waxes contained in lignite, peat, bituminous shale, fossil wax, paraffin, etc., characterized by the fact that for the extraction are used solvents of high boiling point, such as mineral oils, grease oils, tar oils, and other equivalents, which are not eliminated and at the same time constitute a part of the product obtained.

  13. The Effect of pH on Slurry Erosion-Corrosion of Tungsten Carbide Overlays Alloyed with Ru

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelwalani, Ndivhuwo B.; van der Merwe, Josias W.

    2018-02-01

    The aim of the study was to determine the effect of Ru additions to WC-Fe overlays when exposed to low pH slurry erosion conditions. These overlays were applied through Plasma Transferred Arc, and the original bulk Ru powder concentrations varied from 0.5 to 5 wt.%. A slurry jet impingement erosion-corrosion test rig was used to evaluate wear, and electrochemical measurements were performed to characterize the corrosion properties. The slurry mixtures contained silica sand and synthetic mine water. The pH was varied between 3 and 6.5 for the slurry erosion tests and lowered further for the corrosion characterization. Samples were examined optically and with a scanning electron microscope using energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to determine the phases present. For the slurry erosion-corrosion results at the pH of 6.5, addition of Ru did not show a decrease in erosion-corrosion rates. However, when the pH was decreased to 3, by the addition of HCl, Ru improved the resistance. From the electrochemistry, it was also clear that Ru additions improved the corrosion resistance, but more than 1 wt.% Ru was required. At very low pH levels, the presence of Ru was not able to prevent corrosion.

  14. Learning Low-Rank Class-Specific Dictionary and Sparse Intra-Class Variant Dictionary for Face Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Xin; Feng, Guo-can; Li, Xiao-xin; Cai, Jia-xin

    2015-01-01

    Face recognition is challenging especially when the images from different persons are similar to each other due to variations in illumination, expression, and occlusion. If we have sufficient training images of each person which can span the facial variations of that person under testing conditions, sparse representation based classification (SRC) achieves very promising results. However, in many applications, face recognition often encounters the small sample size problem arising from the small number of available training images for each person. In this paper, we present a novel face recognition framework by utilizing low-rank and sparse error matrix decomposition, and sparse coding techniques (LRSE+SC). Firstly, the low-rank matrix recovery technique is applied to decompose the face images per class into a low-rank matrix and a sparse error matrix. The low-rank matrix of each individual is a class-specific dictionary and it captures the discriminative feature of this individual. The sparse error matrix represents the intra-class variations, such as illumination, expression changes. Secondly, we combine the low-rank part (representative basis) of each person into a supervised dictionary and integrate all the sparse error matrix of each individual into a within-individual variant dictionary which can be applied to represent the possible variations between the testing and training images. Then these two dictionaries are used to code the query image. The within-individual variant dictionary can be shared by all the subjects and only contribute to explain the lighting conditions, expressions, and occlusions of the query image rather than discrimination. At last, a reconstruction-based scheme is adopted for face recognition. Since the within-individual dictionary is introduced, LRSE+SC can handle the problem of the corrupted training data and the situation that not all subjects have enough samples for training. Experimental results show that our method achieves the

  15. Learning Low-Rank Class-Specific Dictionary and Sparse Intra-Class Variant Dictionary for Face Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Xin; Feng, Guo-Can; Li, Xiao-Xin; Cai, Jia-Xin

    2015-01-01

    Face recognition is challenging especially when the images from different persons are similar to each other due to variations in illumination, expression, and occlusion. If we have sufficient training images of each person which can span the facial variations of that person under testing conditions, sparse representation based classification (SRC) achieves very promising results. However, in many applications, face recognition often encounters the small sample size problem arising from the small number of available training images for each person. In this paper, we present a novel face recognition framework by utilizing low-rank and sparse error matrix decomposition, and sparse coding techniques (LRSE+SC). Firstly, the low-rank matrix recovery technique is applied to decompose the face images per class into a low-rank matrix and a sparse error matrix. The low-rank matrix of each individual is a class-specific dictionary and it captures the discriminative feature of this individual. The sparse error matrix represents the intra-class variations, such as illumination, expression changes. Secondly, we combine the low-rank part (representative basis) of each person into a supervised dictionary and integrate all the sparse error matrix of each individual into a within-individual variant dictionary which can be applied to represent the possible variations between the testing and training images. Then these two dictionaries are used to code the query image. The within-individual variant dictionary can be shared by all the subjects and only contribute to explain the lighting conditions, expressions, and occlusions of the query image rather than discrimination. At last, a reconstruction-based scheme is adopted for face recognition. Since the within-individual dictionary is introduced, LRSE+SC can handle the problem of the corrupted training data and the situation that not all subjects have enough samples for training. Experimental results show that our method achieves the

  16. Learning Low-Rank Class-Specific Dictionary and Sparse Intra-Class Variant Dictionary for Face Recognition.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin Tang

    Full Text Available Face recognition is challenging especially when the images from different persons are similar to each other due to variations in illumination, expression, and occlusion. If we have sufficient training images of each person which can span the facial variations of that person under testing conditions, sparse representation based classification (SRC achieves very promising results. However, in many applications, face recognition often encounters the small sample size problem arising from the small number of available training images for each person. In this paper, we present a novel face recognition framework by utilizing low-rank and sparse error matrix decomposition, and sparse coding techniques (LRSE+SC. Firstly, the low-rank matrix recovery technique is applied to decompose the face images per class into a low-rank matrix and a sparse error matrix. The low-rank matrix of each individual is a class-specific dictionary and it captures the discriminative feature of this individual. The sparse error matrix represents the intra-class variations, such as illumination, expression changes. Secondly, we combine the low-rank part (representative basis of each person into a supervised dictionary and integrate all the sparse error matrix of each individual into a within-individual variant dictionary which can be applied to represent the possible variations between the testing and training images. Then these two dictionaries are used to code the query image. The within-individual variant dictionary can be shared by all the subjects and only contribute to explain the lighting conditions, expressions, and occlusions of the query image rather than discrimination. At last, a reconstruction-based scheme is adopted for face recognition. Since the within-individual dictionary is introduced, LRSE+SC can handle the problem of the corrupted training data and the situation that not all subjects have enough samples for training. Experimental results show that our

  17. Simultaneous multislice magnetic resonance fingerprinting with low-rank and subspace modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bo Zhao; Bilgic, Berkin; Adalsteinsson, Elfar; Griswold, Mark A; Wald, Lawrence L; Setsompop, Kawin

    2017-07-01

    Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a new quantitative imaging paradigm that enables simultaneous acquisition of multiple magnetic resonance tissue parameters (e.g., T 1 , T 2 , and spin density). Recently, MRF has been integrated with simultaneous multislice (SMS) acquisitions to enable volumetric imaging with faster scan time. In this paper, we present a new image reconstruction method based on low-rank and subspace modeling for improved SMS-MRF. Here the low-rank model exploits strong spatiotemporal correlation among contrast-weighted images, while the subspace model captures the temporal evolution of magnetization dynamics. With the proposed model, the image reconstruction problem is formulated as a convex optimization problem, for which we develop an algorithm based on variable splitting and the alternating direction method of multipliers. The performance of the proposed method has been evaluated by numerical experiments, and the results demonstrate that the proposed method leads to improved accuracy over the conventional approach. Practically, the proposed method has a potential to allow for a 3× speedup with minimal reconstruction error, resulting in less than 5 sec imaging time per slice.

  18. Rapid restoration after lignite mining in Hungary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1988-06-01

    The 30th anniversary of the commencement of large scale lignite production by opencast mining in Hungary was celebrated in 1987. A process of rapid technical and biological reclamation without the use of humus has now been developed. The costs involved are only 5-10% of those of conventional methods and reclamation cycle is four years compared to ten years for conventional methods.

  19. Reclamation of a uraniferous lignite mine, North Dakota: summary paper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Houghton, R.L.; Hall, R.L.; Unseth, J.D.; Wald, J.D.; Burgess, J.L.; Patrick, D.P.; Anderson, G.S.; Hill, S.R.

    1987-01-01

    Uraniferous lignite deposits were mined from 1955 to 1967 by surface mining techniques. Overburden was stripped, and the lignite was burned to concentrate the uranium in its ash. Uranium salts in the overburden gave exposure levels of as much as 500 microroentgens/hour; water in mine pits had U concentrations from 12 to 19,000 micrograms/liter. Reclamation involved replacing the spoils into the source pit, the most contaminated spoils being placed above the water table, capping the pit with clay then topsoil containing lesser concentrations of radioactive elements, and finally planting with prairie grass. Resulting concentrations of radionuclides are given. The land is expected to remain as prairie for wildlife use, but it is safe enough for domestic animals as well. 3 figures

  20. Sampling and Low-Rank Tensor Approximation of the Response Surface

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander; Matthies, Hermann Georg; El-Moselhy, Tarek A.

    2013-01-01

    Most (quasi)-Monte Carlo procedures can be seen as computing some integral over an often high-dimensional domain. If the integrand is expensive to evaluate-we are thinking of a stochastic PDE (SPDE) where the coefficients are random fields and the integrand is some functional of the PDE-solution-there is the desire to keep all the samples for possible later computations of similar integrals. This obviously means a lot of data. To keep the storage demands low, and to allow evaluation of the integrand at points which were not sampled, we construct a low-rank tensor approximation of the integrand over the whole integration domain. This can also be viewed as a representation in some problem-dependent basis which allows a sparse representation. What one obtains is sometimes called a "surrogate" or "proxy" model, or a "response surface". This representation is built step by step or sample by sample, and can already be used for each new sample. In case we are sampling a solution of an SPDE, this allows us to reduce the number of necessary samples, namely in case the solution is already well-represented by the low-rank tensor approximation. This can be easily checked by evaluating the residuum of the PDE with the approximate solution. The procedure will be demonstrated in the computation of a compressible transonic Reynolds-averaged Navier-Strokes flow around an airfoil with random/uncertain data. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.

  1. Testing of In-Line Slurry Monitors and Pulsair Mixers with Radioactive Slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hylton, T.D.; Bayne, C.K.

    1999-08-01

    Three in-line slurry monitoring instruments were demonstrated, tested, and evaluated for their capability to determine the transport properties of radioactive slurries. The instruments included the Endress + Hauser Promass 63M Coriolis meter for measuring density, the Lasentec M600P for measuring particle size distribution, and a prototype ultrasonic monitor that was developed by Argonne National Laboratory for measuring suspended solids concentration. In addition, the power consumption of the recirculation pump was monitored to determine whether this parameter could be used as a tool for in-line slurry monitoring. The Promass 63M and the M600P were also evaluated as potential indicators of suspended solids concentration. In order to use the Promass 63M as a suspended solids monitor, the densities of the fluid phase and the dry solid particle phase must be known. In addition, the fluid phase density and the dry solids density must remain constant, as any change will affect the correlation between the slurry density and the suspended solids concentration. For the M600P, the particle size distribution would need to remain relatively constant. These instruments were demonstrated and tested at the Gunite and Associated Tanks Remediation Project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The testing of the instruments was conducted in parallel with the testing of a Pulsair mixing system, which was used to mix the contents of the selected tank. A total of six tests were performed. A submersible pump was positioned at two depths, while the Pulsair system was operated at three mixing rates.

  2. An experimental investigation of the thermal/fluid properties of the nitrate to ammonia and ceramic (NAC) product slurry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muguercia, I.; Lagos, L.; Yang, G.; Li, W.; Ebadian, M.A.; Mattus, A.J.; Lee, D.D.; Walker, J.W.; Hunt, R.D.

    1994-01-01

    Recently, a new immobilization technique for LLW, the Nitrate to Ammonia and Ceramic (NAC) process, has been developed. Instead of mixing the liquid waste form directly with the cement to make concrete blocks, the NAC process eliminates the nitrate from the LLW by converting it to ammonia gas. Aluminum particles are used as a reductant to complete this conversion. The final product of the NAC process is gibbsite, which can be further sintered to a ceramic waste form. Experimental tests are conducted to measure the apparent viscosity, the pressure drop, and the heat transfer coefficient of the pipe flow of the Nitrate to Ammonia and Ceramic (NAC) process product slurry. The tests indicate that the NAC product slurry exhibits a typical pseudoplastic fluid behavior. The pressure drop in the pipe flow is a function of the Reynolds number and the slurry temperature. The results also indicate that at a low slurry temperature, the slurry is uniformly heated peripherally. At a high slurry temperature, however, the slurry may be thermally stratified. In a straight pipe, the Nusselt number is reduced as the slurry temperature increases

  3. A Combined Raman Spectroscopic and Thermogravimetric Analysis Study on Oxidation of Coal with Different Ranks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Weiqing; Jiang, Shuguang; Hardacre, Christopher; Goodrich, Peter; Wang, Kai; Shao, Hao; Wu, Zhengyan

    2015-01-01

    Raman spectroscopy and nonisothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements have been reported for different rank coals (lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite) and the relationship between the measurements was examined. It was found that the Raman spectra parameters can be used to characterize structure changes in the different rank coals, such as the band area ratios based on the curve-fitted results. Higher ranked coal was found to have higher values of I GR/I All and I (G + GR)/I All but lower values of I D/I (G+GR), I DL/I (G+GR), I (S + SL)/I (G+GR), and I (GL+GL')/I (G+GR). The oxidation properties of the coal samples were characterized by the reactivity indexes T ig, T 20%, and T max from TGA data which were found to correlate well with the band area ratios of I GR/I All, I (G + GR)/I All, and I (S + SL)/I (G+GR). Based on these correlations, the Raman band area ratios were found to correlate with the oxidation activity of coal providing additional structural information which can be used to understand the changes in the TGA measurements.

  4. PageRank for low frequency earthquake detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguiar, A. C.; Beroza, G. C.

    2013-12-01

    We have analyzed Hi-Net seismic waveform data during the April 2006 tremor episode in the Nankai Trough in SW Japan using the autocorrelation approach of Brown et al. (2008), which detects low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) based on pair-wise waveform matching. We have generalized this to exploit the fact that waveforms may repeat multiple times, on more than just a pair-wise basis. We are working towards developing a sound statistical basis for event detection, but that is complicated by two factors. First, the statistical behavior of the autocorrelations varies between stations. Analyzing one station at a time assures that the detection threshold will only depend on the station being analyzed. Second, the positive detections do not satisfy "closure." That is, if window A correlates with window B, and window B correlates with window C, then window A and window C do not necessarily correlate with one another. We want to evaluate whether or not a linked set of windows are correlated due to chance. To do this, we map our problem on to one that has previously been solved for web search, and apply Google's PageRank algorithm. PageRank is the probability of a 'random surfer' to visit a particular web page; it assigns a ranking for a webpage based on the amount of links associated with that page. For windows of seismic data instead of webpages, the windows with high probabilities suggest likely LFE signals. Once identified, we stack the matched windows to improve the snr and use these stacks as template signals to find other LFEs within continuous data. We compare the results among stations and declare a detection if they are found in a statistically significant number of stations, based on multinomial statistics. We compare our detections using the single-station method to detections found by Shelly et al. (2007) for the April 2006 tremor sequence in Shikoku, Japan. We find strong similarity between the results, as well as many new detections that were not found using

  5. Numerical analysis of single and multiple particles of Belchatow lignite dried in superheated steam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakrzewski, Marcin; Sciazko, Anna; Komatsu, Yosuke; Akiyama, Taro; Hashimoto, Akira; Kaneko, Shozo; Kimijima, Shinji; Szmyd, Janusz S.; Kobayashi, Yoshinori

    2018-03-01

    Low production costs have contributed to the important role of lignite in the energy mixes of numerous countries worldwide. High moisture content, though, diminishes the applicability of lignite in power generation. Superheated steam drying is a prospective method of raising the calorific value of this fuel. This study describes the numerical model of superheated steam drying of lignite from the Belchatow mine in Poland in two aspects: single and multi-particle. The experimental investigation preceded the numerical analysis and provided the necessary data for the preparation and verification of the model. Spheres of 2.5 to 30 mm in diameter were exposed to the drying medium at the temperature range of 110 to 170 °C. The drying kinetics were described in the form of moisture content, drying rate and temperature profile curves against time. Basic coal properties, such as density or specific heat, as well as the mechanisms of heat and mass transfer in the particular stages of the process laid the foundations for the model construction. The model illustrated the drying behavior of a single particle in the entire range of steam temperature as well as the sample diameter. Furthermore, the numerical analyses of coal batches containing particles of various sizes were conducted to reflect the operating conditions of the dryer. They were followed by deliberation on the calorific value improvement achieved by drying, in terms of coal ingredients, power plant efficiency and dryer input composition. The initial period of drying was found crucial for upgrading the quality of coal. The accuracy of the model is capable of further improvement regarding the process parameters.

  6. Combustion behavior of different kinds of torrefied biomass and their blends with lignite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toptas, Asli; Yildirim, Yeliz; Duman, Gozde; Yanik, Jale

    2015-02-01

    In this study, the combustion behavior of different kinds of torrefied biomass (lignocellulosic and animal wastes) and their blends with lignite was investigated via non-isothermal thermogravimetric method under air atmosphere. For comparison, combustion characteristics of raw biomasses were also determined. Torrefaction process improved the reactivity of char combustion step of biomasses. Characteristic combustion parameters for blends showed non-additivity behavior. It was found that the mixture of torrefied biomasses and lignite at a ratio of 1:1 had a lower ignition and burnout temperature than the coal-only sample. Although no interactions were observed between the lignite and torrefied biomass at initial step of combustion, a certain degree of interaction between the components occurred at char combustion step. Kinetic parameters of combustion were calculated by using the Coats Redfern model. Overall, this study showed that poultry litters can be used as a substitute fuel in coal/biomass co-firing systems by blending with lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Upgrading of brown coal by slurry-dewatering; Kattan no yuchu dassui ni yoru clean kotai nenryo no seizo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okuma, O.; Shimizu, T.; Inoue, T.; Shigehisa, T.; Deguchi, T.; Katsushima, S. [Kobe Steel, Ltd., Kobe (Japan)

    1996-10-28

    This paper describes an outline of solid fuel production process from brown coal and the investigation results of its elemental techniques. Dried coal is produced by this process which consists of a dewatering of crushed brown coal in oil-based solvent, a solid and liquid separation of slurry, and a remained oil recovery by heating. This process is characterized by the higher thermal efficiency compared with usual drying and the restraint of spontaneous combustion of product coal. It was revealed that solid fuel with low moisture, low ash, low sulfur, and suppressed spontaneous combustion property can be produced from Australian brown coal through this process. From the comparison between kerosene and fuel oil A, it was confirmed that the oil content during dewatering was smaller and the oil recovery by heating was easier by using a solvent with lower boiling point. It was also confirmed that the spontaneous combustion property can be suppressed using small amount of asphalt by solving asphalt in the solvent and adsorbing asphalt on the surface of brown coal. From these results, low rank coals including brown coal, which are difficult to use, are expected to be used as clean coal with low ash and low sulfur through this process. 2 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

  8. Influence of geological variations on lignite drying kinetics in superheated steam atmosphere for Belchatow deposit located in the central Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sciazko Anna

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Lignite-fired coal power plants suffer from a significant heat loss due to the high moisture content in this energy carrier. Water removal from fuel is an indispensable treatment for improving the combustion process, which will foster the efficient utilization of lignite. Superheated steam fluidized bed drying is expected for this purpose in a power generation sector. Understanding drying kinetics of lignite will greatly reinforce design process of a dryer. Physical features as well as the drying behaviour may be divergent among the lignite originated from different depths and positions in a certain mine. To reveal and clarify the influence of the geological features, the drying characteristics of several grades of lignite from the Belchatow mine in Poland were investigated. The attempts to clarify the influence of the divergent properties of the investigated samples on the drying kinetics in superheated steam were presented in this paper.

  9. The reduction of sulfate ions in Musashino woody lignite and in acetone-furfural resin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kimura, T.

    1986-01-01

    By adding a barium chloride solution to sulfur-containing woody lignite kept in water for two years, it has been confirmed that large quantities of sulfate ions are adsorbed by the lignite. Furthermore, spectroscopic measurements have confirmed the reduction of sulfate ions in an acetone-furfural resin prepared with residual sulfuric acid. These experimental results suggest the possibility of reducing sulfate ions in coal in the absence of sulfate bacteria. 2 refs.

  10. Heterogeneous ice slurry flow and concentration distribution in horizontal pipes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Jihong; Zhang, Tengfei; Wang, Shugang

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • A Mixture CFD model is applied to describe heterogeneous ice slurry flow. • The ice slurry rheological behavior is considered piecewise. • The coupled flow and concentration profiles in heterogeneous slurry flow is acquired. • The current numerical model achieves good balance between precision and universality. -- Abstract: Ice slurry is an energy-intensive solid–liquid mixture fluid which may play an important role in various cooling purposes. Knowing detailed flow information is important from the system design point of view. However, the heterogeneous ice slurry flow makes it difficult to be quantified due to the complex two phase flow characteristic. The present study applies a Mixture computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on different rheological behavior to characterize the heterogeneous ice slurry flow. The Mixture CFD model was firstly validated by three different experiments. Then the validated Mixture CFD model was applied to solve the ice slurry isothermal flow by considering the rheological behavior piecewise. Finally, the numerical solutions have displayed the coupled flow information, such as slurry velocity, ice particle concentration and pressure drop distribution. The results show that, the ice slurry flow distribution will appear varying degree of asymmetry under different operating conditions. The rheological behavior will be affected by the asymmetric flow distributions. When mean flow velocity is high, Thomas equation can be appropriate for describing ice slurry viscosity. While with the decreasing of mean flow velocity, the ice slurry behaves Bingham rheology. As compared with experimental pressure drop results, the relative errors of numerical computation are almost within ±15%. The Mixture CFD model is validated to be an effective model for describing heterogeneous ice slurry flow and could supply plentiful flow information

  11. Design of a new abrasive slurry jet generator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, F. C.; Shi, L. L.; Guo, C. W.

    2017-12-01

    With the advantages of a low system working pressure, good jet convergence and high cutting quality, abrasive slurry jet (ASJ) has broad application prospects in material cutting and equipment cleaning. Considering that the generator plays a crucial role in ASJ system, the paper designed a new type ASJ generator using an electric oil pump, a separate plunger cylinder, and a spring energized seal. According to the determining of structure shape, size and seal type, a new ASJ generator has been manufactured out and tested by a series of experiments. The new generator separates the abrasive slurry from the dynamic hydraulic oil, which can improve the service life of the ASJ system. And the new ASJ system can reach 40 MPa and has good performance in jet convergence, which deserves to popularization and application in materials machining.

  12. Petrography and geochemistry of selected lignite beds in the Gibbons Creek mine (Manning Formation, Jackson Group, Paleocene) of east-central Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warwick, Peter D.; Crowley, Sharon S.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Pontolillo, James

    1997-01-01

    found that Be and Cd were poorly associated with ash yield, indicating a possible organic affinity, and that Ni, Se, Hg, U, and Pb cluster with most of the rare-earth elements. (3) The dominance of the crypto-eugelinite maceral subgroup over the crypto-humotelinite subgroup suggests that all Gibbons Creek lignites were subjected to peat-forming conditions (either biogenic or chemical) conducive to the degradation of wood cellular material into matrix gels, or that original plant material was not very woody and was prone to formation of matrix gels. The latter idea is supported by pollen studies of Gibbons Creek lignite beds; results indicate that the peat was derived in part from marsh plants low in wood tissue. (4) The occurrence of siliceous sponge spicules in the lower benches of the 3500 bed suggests the original peat in this part of the bed was deposited in standing, fresh water. (5) The petrographic data indicate that the upper sample interval of the 3500 bed contains more inertinite (3%) than the other samples studied. Increases in inertinite content in the upper part of the 3500 bed may have been associated with alteration of the peat by acids derived from the volcanic ash or could have been caused by fire, oxidation and drying, or biologic alteration of the peat in the paleo-mire.

  13. PILOT-AND FULL-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF ADVANCED MERCURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES FOR LIGNITE-FIRED POWER PLANTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steven A. Benson; Charlene R. Crocker; Kevin C. Galbreath; Jay R. Gunderson; Michael J. Holmes; Jason D. Laumb; Jill M. Mackenzie; Michelle R. Olderbak; John H. Pavlish; Li Yan; Ye Zhuang

    2005-02-01

    The overall objective of the project was to develop advanced innovative mercury control technologies to reduce mercury emissions by 50%-90% in flue gases typically found in North Dakota lignite-fired power plants at costs from one-half to three-quarters of current estimated costs. Power plants firing North Dakota lignite produce flue gases that contain >85% elemental mercury, which is difficult to collect. The specific objectives were focused on determining the feasibility of the following technologies: Hg oxidation for increased Hg capture in dry scrubbers, incorporation of additives and technologies that enhance Hg sorbent effectiveness in electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and baghouses, the use of amended silicates in lignite-derived flue gases for Hg capture, and the use of Hg adsorbents within a baghouse. The approach to developing Hg control technologies for North Dakota lignites involved examining the feasibility of the following technologies: Hg capture upstream of an ESP using sorbent enhancement, Hg oxidation and control using dry scrubbers, enhanced oxidation at a full-scale power plant using tire-derived fuel and oxidizing catalysts, and testing of Hg control technologies in the Advanced Hybrid{trademark} filter.

  14. Thickness control and interface quality as functions of slurry formulation and casting speed in side-by-side tape casting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bulatova, Regina; Jabbari, Mirmasoud; Kaiser, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    A novel method of co-casting called side-by-side tape casting was developed aiming to form thin functionally graded films with varying properties within a single plane. The standard organic-based recipe was optimized to co-cast slurries into thick graded tapes. Performed numerical simulations...... identified the stable flow beneath the blade with a shear rate profile independent of slurry viscosity as long as the slurry load in the casting tank was low. Thickness and interface shape could be well predicted if the rheological behaviour of slurries is known and the processing parameters are well...

  15. Experiments and stochastic simulations of lignite coal during pyrolysis and gasification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, I.I.; Gupta, A.K.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Lignite pyrolysis and gasification has been conducted in a semi batch reactor. ► The objective is to understand mechanism of syngas evolution during pyrolysis. ► Stochastic simulations of lignite pyrolysis were conducted using Gillespie algorithm. ► First order, single step mechanism failed to fit cumulative yield of hydrogen. ► Evolution of hydrogen via pyrolysis of gaseous hydrocarbon following bridges scission. -- Abstract: Lignite pyrolysis and gasification has been conducted in a semi batch reactor at reactor temperatures of 800–950 °C in 50 °C intervals. CO 2 has been used as the gasifying agent for gasification experiments. The objective of this investigation is to understand the mechanism of syngas evolution during pyrolysis and to unravel the effect of CO 2 on pyrolysis mechanism. Stochastic simulations of lignite pyrolysis have been conducted using Gillespie algorithm. Two reaction mechanisms have been used in the simulations; first order, single step mechanism and the FLASHCHAIN mechanism. The first order single step mechanism was successful in fitting cumulative yield of CO 2 , CO, CH 4 and other hydrocarbons (C n H m ). The first order, single step failed to fit the cumulative yield of hydrogen, which suggests a more complex mechanism for hydrogen evolution. Evolution of CO 2 , CO, CH 4 , C n H m and H 2 flow rates has been monitored. The only effect of CO 2 on pyrolysis mechanism is promotion of reverse water gas shift reaction for the experiments described here. Methane evolution extended for slightly longer time than other hydrocarbons and hydrogen evolution extended for a slightly longer time than methane. This indicated the evolution of hydrogen via further pyrolysis of aliphatic hydrocarbon. It is also suggested that this step occurs in series after aliphatic hydrocarbons evolution by bridges scission.

  16. Distribution of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in coal, lignite and calcite mine spoils of India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ganesan, V.; Ragupathy, S.; Parthipan, B.; Rani, D.B.R.; Mahadevan, A.

    1991-12-31

    Vesicular-arbuscular mycorhizzal (VAM) status was assessed for coal, lignite and calcite mine spoils. The three study sites were: The Kothagudem coal field in the south central region where waste materials are piled 1 to 2 m high on the soil surface. Samples were collected from plants growing on the waste. Neyveli, on the southeastern coast, is a lignite coal mine where the spoil is piled 70 to 100 m high on the soil surface. Samples were collected from recently revegetated mine spoil and from 25 year old revegetated sites. The calcite mine at Thazhaiyuthu in the south where the spoil is piled up 2 to 3 m on the soil surface. Samples were collected from 4 to 7 year old reclaimed sites. The wastes generally supported different plant species. The level of VAM infection of plants was markedly different in each mine spoil, with the maximum infection in the coal and calcite spoils, and the least in the lignite spoil. There was more infection in the 25 year old lignite spoil than in the newly revegetated spoil. There were different VAM species in each spoil, and no one species was present in all of the samples. The authors conclude that one of the factors leading to the differences between spoils is the amount of topsoil contained in the spoil (least in the lignite spoils which are very deep). The other is age of the spoils. Unfortunately the authors concluded that the best approach is to enrich the spoils with VAM rather than salvaging and replacing topsoil

  17. Evaluation of lignite tar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gossedin, A

    1946-01-01

    Tar from the low-temperature (450/sup 0/) carbonization of lignite from Bouches-du-Rhone was hydrogenated in the presence of a catalyst based on MoS/sub 2/ with a 3:1 H:N mixture. Processing (at 470/sup 0/ and 400 atmospheres) for maximum production of gasoline yielded 86 wt % of a product of boiling 55 to 186/sup 0/ and motor octane number 75. An alternative is to hydrogenate with a view to producing solvents and lubricants. For this purpose the tar was separated by distillation (at 20 millimeters, cutting at 220/sup 0/) into two fractions of equal volume. On hydrogenation (at 300/sup 0/ and 400 atmospheres) the light part yields a gasoline H/sub 2/O-soluble cut, a highly aromatic solvent fraction, a heavier cut (280/sup 0/ to 320/sup 0/) suitable as a plasticizer, and a phenol fraction. The heavier part of the tar is hydrogenated (at 380/sup 0/ and 400 atmospheres) to give spindle oil and lubricating oil of medium eta (11.2 centistokes at 98.2/sup 0/), moderate eta index (64), good pour point (-7/sup 0/), and good oxidizing characteristics. The overall yield of products from the two portions is 86.9% (gasoline and solvent 32, light phenols 9.7, spindle oil 14.2, medium lubricating oil 25.7, wax, 5.3%).

  18. Perspectives of the non-energetic use of lignite in Germany

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keller, D.; Sailer, B. [RWE Power AG, Essen (Germany)

    2013-11-01

    RWE Power AG as integral part of RWE Generation SE has been active in the development and commercialization of coal gasification routes for many years. RWE Generation SE is one of Europe's leading electricity producers and combines the expertise of the power plant specialists Essent (NL), RWE npower (UK) and RWE Power (D). A globally increasing freight traffic and accompanying fuel demand is anticipated in the future. This higher demand will probably result in an increase in crude oil price in the course of the next years. There will also be a disproportionately high increase in fuel prices additionally to the increase in the crude oil price due to an increasing treatment effort within refineries. Therefore the substitution of crude oil becomes more and more attractive in view of economical perspectives and security of supply. Crude oil is not only to be substituted as feedstock for fuels but also for the chemical industry. Coal has been and will be the most important feedstock for this. Especially its gasification enables various routes. In Germany there is also an interesting perspective for Coal-to-Liquids and Coal-to-Gas or CtL/CtG as the non-energetic use of coal is abbreviated. Lignite is available regardless of any market impacts and currently faces a change in its use for power generation due to the increasing use of renewable energies. Hence lignite is an attractive feedstock for CtL/CtG in Germany. The construction of a commercial size CtL/CtG plant means a billion Euro investment. So a reliable economic evaluation is inevitable. Today all CtL/CtG routes miss commercial competitiveness to the conventional production by some ten percents. In case the current upward price trend of crude oil continues CtL/CtG might become viable in the near future. The production of synthetic fuels appears most attractive in view of a substantial market potential. The further commercialization of gasification routes in Germany requires R and D activities especially

  19. Comparative study of German and Greek lignite mine reclamation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dietrich, N.L.

    1994-01-01

    The reclamation planning of three European lignite mining districts are compared: amount and extent of planning, integration with mining operations, and results. The districts are: Rheinbraun (Cologne), Leipzig-Borna (''East'' Germany), and Megalopolis (Greece). Lignite mines were visited and mining and reclamation personnel interviewed. The Rheinbraun mines have the most thorough reclamation operations. The integrated mine and reclamation operations are world class in size, scope, and detail of reclamation. A comprehensive landscape and reclamation plan is required in the mine permitting process. The Leipzig-Borna district is the second largest of the districts, studied little pre-mining planning of the post-mining landscape or land uses was evident. Reclamation is not closely integrated with the mining and typically occurs many years after the mining. Reduced lignite production since German reunification has left vast areas of disturbed land with little mining; and no funding for the reclamation of the large areas of mined land reclamation. The Greek Megalopolis mines have mine operations plan, but with no integrated reclamation planning. The initial spoil pile was reclaimed according to the original German mining plan. No pits have been reclaimed, and spoil areas are revegetated sporadically. The Rheinbraun mining operations Cologne which include a post mining landscape/land use plan have integrated and timely reclamation operations. The other two mining operations, which do not have a comprehensive and detailed reclamation and landscape/land use plans, do not integrate reclamation operations with the mining operations. The results are large areas of mined land unreclaimed for many years

  20. Mineralogy and geochemistry of density-separated Greek lignite fractions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Iordanidis, A.; Doesburg, van J.D.J.

    2006-01-01

    In this study, lignite samples were collected from the Ptolemais region, northern Greece, homogenized, crushed to less than I nun, and separated in three density fractions using heavy media. The mineralogical investigation of the density fractions showed a predominance of pyrite in the light

  1. Investigation of aqueous slurries as fusion reactor blankets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuller, M.J.

    1985-01-01

    Numerical and experimental studies were carried out to assess the feasibility of using an aqueous slurry, with lithium in its solid component, to meet the tritium breeding, cooling, and shielding requirements of a controlled thermonuclear reactor (CTR). The numerical studies were designed to demonstrate the theoretical ability of a conceptual slurry blanket to breed adequate tritium to sustain the CTR. The experimental studies were designed to show that the tritium retention characteristics of likely solid components for the slurry were conducive to adequate tritium recovery without the need for isotopic separation. The numerical portion of this work consisted in part of using ANISN, a one-dimensional finite difference neutron transport code, to model the neutronic performance of the slurry blanket concept. The parameters governing tritium production and retention in a slurry were computed and used to modify the results of the ANISN computer runs. The numerical work demonstrated that the slurry blanket was only marginally capable of breeding sufficient tritium without the aid of a neutron multiplying region. The experimental portion of this work consisted of several neutron irradiation experiments, which were designed to determine the retention abilities of LiF particles

  2. Canonical correlation analysis of professional stress,social support,and professional burnout among low-rank army officers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuan-yun LI

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective The present study investigates the influence of professional stress and social support on professional burnout among low-rank army officers.Methods The professional stress,social support,and professional burnout scales among low-rank army officers were used as test tools.Moreover,the officers of established units(battalion,company,and platoon were chosen as test subjects.Out of the 260 scales sent,226 effective scales were received.The descriptive statistic and canonical correlation analysis models were used to analyze the influence of each variable.Results The scores of low-rank army officers in the professional stress,social support,and professional burnout scales were more than average,except on two factors,namely,interpersonal support and de-individualization.The canonical analysis identified three groups of canonical correlation factors,of which two were up to a significant level(P < 0.001.After further eliminating the social support variable,the canonical correlation analysis of professional stress and burnout showed that the canonical correlation coefficients P corresponding to 1 and 2 were 0.62 and 0.36,respectively,and were up to a very significant level(P < 0.001.Conclusion The low-rank army officers experience higher professional stress and burnout levels,showing a lower sense of accomplishment,emotional exhaustion,and more serious depersonalization.However,social support can reduce the onset and seriousness of professional burnout among these officers by lessening pressure factors,such as career development,work features,salary conditions,and other personal factors.

  3. Low-Rank Kalman Filtering in Subsurface Contaminant Transport Models

    KAUST Repository

    El Gharamti, Mohamad

    2010-01-01

    Understanding the geology and the hydrology of the subsurface is important to model the fluid flow and the behavior of the contaminant. It is essential to have an accurate knowledge of the movement of the contaminants in the porous media in order to track them and later extract them from the aquifer. A two-dimensional flow model is studied and then applied on a linear contaminant transport model in the same porous medium. Because of possible different sources of uncertainties, the deterministic model by itself cannot give exact estimations for the future contaminant state. Incorporating observations in the model can guide it to the true state. This is usually done using the Kalman filter (KF) when the system is linear and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) when the system is nonlinear. To overcome the high computational cost required by the KF, we use the singular evolutive Kalman filter (SEKF) and the singular evolutive extended Kalman filter (SEEKF) approximations of the KF operating with low-rank covariance matrices. The SEKF can be implemented on large dimensional contaminant problems while the usage of the KF is not possible. Experimental results show that with perfect and imperfect models, the low rank filters can provide as much accurate estimates as the full KF but at much less computational cost. Localization can help the filter analysis as long as there are enough neighborhood data to the point being analyzed. Estimating the permeabilities of the aquifer is successfully tackled using both the EKF and the SEEKF.

  4. Low-Rank Kalman Filtering in Subsurface Contaminant Transport Models

    KAUST Repository

    El Gharamti, Mohamad

    2010-12-01

    Understanding the geology and the hydrology of the subsurface is important to model the fluid flow and the behavior of the contaminant. It is essential to have an accurate knowledge of the movement of the contaminants in the porous media in order to track them and later extract them from the aquifer. A two-dimensional flow model is studied and then applied on a linear contaminant transport model in the same porous medium. Because of possible different sources of uncertainties, the deterministic model by itself cannot give exact estimations for the future contaminant state. Incorporating observations in the model can guide it to the true state. This is usually done using the Kalman filter (KF) when the system is linear and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) when the system is nonlinear. To overcome the high computational cost required by the KF, we use the singular evolutive Kalman filter (SEKF) and the singular evolutive extended Kalman filter (SEEKF) approximations of the KF operating with low-rank covariance matrices. The SEKF can be implemented on large dimensional contaminant problems while the usage of the KF is not possible. Experimental results show that with perfect and imperfect models, the low rank filters can provide as much accurate estimates as the full KF but at much less computational cost. Localization can help the filter analysis as long as there are enough neighborhood data to the point being analyzed. Estimating the permeabilities of the aquifer is successfully tackled using both the EKF and the SEEKF.

  5. Color correction with blind image restoration based on multiple images using a low-rank model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dong; Xie, Xudong; Lam, Kin-Man

    2014-03-01

    We present a method that can handle the color correction of multiple photographs with blind image restoration simultaneously and automatically. We prove that the local colors of a set of images of the same scene exhibit the low-rank property locally both before and after a color-correction operation. This property allows us to correct all kinds of errors in an image under a low-rank matrix model without particular priors or assumptions. The possible errors may be caused by changes of viewpoint, large illumination variations, gross pixel corruptions, partial occlusions, etc. Furthermore, a new iterative soft-segmentation method is proposed for local color transfer using color influence maps. Due to the fact that the correct color information and the spatial information of images can be recovered using the low-rank model, more precise color correction and many other image-restoration tasks-including image denoising, image deblurring, and gray-scale image colorizing-can be performed simultaneously. Experiments have verified that our method can achieve consistent and promising results on uncontrolled real photographs acquired from the Internet and that it outperforms current state-of-the-art methods.

  6. Low-rank coal research: Volume 2, Advanced research and technology development: Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mann, M.D.; Swanson, M.L.; Benson, S.A.; Radonovich, L.; Steadman, E.N.; Sweeny, P.G.; McCollor, D.P.; Kleesattel, D.; Grow, D.; Falcone, S.K.

    1987-04-01

    Volume II contains articles on advanced combustion phenomena, combustion inorganic transformation; coal/char reactivity; liquefaction reactivity of low-rank coals, gasification ash and slag characterization, and fine particulate emissions. These articles have been entered individually into EDB and ERA. (LTN)

  7. Life Cycle Assessment of Slurry Management Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wesnæs, Marianne; Wenzel, Henrik; Petersen, Bjørn Molt

    This report contains the results of Life Cycle Assessments of two slurry management technologies - acidification and decentred incineration. The LCA foundation can be used by the contributing companies for evaluating the environmental sustainability of a specific technology from a holistic Life...... Cycle perspective. Through this the companies can evaluate the environmental benefits and disadvantages of introducing a specific technology for slurry management. From a societal perspective the results can contribute to a clarification of which slurry management technologies (or combination...... of technologies) having the largest potential for reducing the overall environmental impacts....

  8. Determination of ash-forming elements in lignite coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wischnewski, C.; Werner, G.; Vogt, J.; Just, G.

    1990-01-01

    The most important methods are discussed suitable for the determination of ash-forming elements in coal. In this connection questions of the concentrations of elements in lignites, of the sample preparation, and of the selection of methods for the determination of ash-forming elements are addressed. Advantages and disadvantages of different analysis techniques are shown using concrete examples. (author)

  9. Availability of phosphorus in cow slurry using isotopic labelling technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pongsakul, P.; Bertelsen, F.; Gissel-Nielsen, G.

    1988-01-01

    A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of cow slurry on P uptake by corn and to estimate the readily available P in the slurry by using an isotopic labelling techique. Water-soluble P in soil was increased and isotopic equilibrium of available P was attained after labelled slurry was mixed thoroughly throughout the soil. Labelled slurry applied at planting increased the P uptake by corn, whereas the same amount applied one week before harvest did not affect the P uptake. It was estimated that 46-54% of the total P uptake in plants is derived from the slurry. The readily available P (the L-value) in the slurry was at least 26 mg/kg which equals 3.7% of the total P. (author)

  10. A modern thermal power station operating on high-moisture lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    V.R. Kotler; D.V. Sosin [All-Russia Thermal Engineering Institute (VTI), Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2009-07-01

    The boilers developed by the power machinery construction company Alstom for two power-generating units, the Maritsa East-II and Maritsa East-II, operating on high-moisture lignite from the Maritsa East field in Bulgaria are described.

  11. Kriging accelerated by orders of magnitude: combining low-rank with FFT techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander; Nowak, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    Kriging algorithms based on FFT, the separability of certain covariance functions and low-rank representations of covariance functions have been investigated. The current study combines these ideas, and so combines the individual speedup factors of all ideas. The reduced computational complexity is O(dLlogL), where L := max ini, i = 1

  12. Kriging accelerated by orders of magnitude: combining low-rank with FFT techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander

    2014-05-04

    Kriging algorithms based on FFT, the separability of certain covariance functions and low-rank representations of covariance functions have been investigated. The current study combines these ideas, and so combines the individual speedup factors of all ideas. The reduced computational complexity is O(dLlogL), where L := max ini, i = 1

  13. Structure-Based Low-Rank Model With Graph Nuclear Norm Regularization for Noise Removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Qi; Jing, Xiao-Yuan; Wu, Fei; Wei, Zhi-Hui; Xiao, Liang; Shao, Wen-Ze; Yue, Dong; Li, Hai-Bo

    2017-07-01

    Nonlocal image representation methods, including group-based sparse coding and block-matching 3-D filtering, have shown their great performance in application to low-level tasks. The nonlocal prior is extracted from each group consisting of patches with similar intensities. Grouping patches based on intensity similarity, however, gives rise to disturbance and inaccuracy in estimation of the true images. To address this problem, we propose a structure-based low-rank model with graph nuclear norm regularization. We exploit the local manifold structure inside a patch and group the patches by the distance metric of manifold structure. With the manifold structure information, a graph nuclear norm regularization is established and incorporated into a low-rank approximation model. We then prove that the graph-based regularization is equivalent to a weighted nuclear norm and the proposed model can be solved by a weighted singular-value thresholding algorithm. Extensive experiments on additive white Gaussian noise removal and mixed noise removal demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a better performance than several state-of-the-art algorithms.

  14. Production of metallurgical cokes from some Turkish lignites using sulphite liquor binders

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yanik, J.; Saglam, M.; Yuksel, M. (Ege University, Izmir (Turkey). Dept. of Chemistry)

    1990-04-01

    Soma and Tuncbilek lignites were briquetted at 80{degree}C under 0-100 MPa, using varying amounts of sulphite liquor binders. The briquettes were then carbonized at 950{degree}C, and the resulting formed cokes were examined. The effects of the type and concentration of binders, and of the briquetting pressure, on the strength and porosity of the formcokes were investigated. As a result of these experiments, optimal briquetting conditions were established. It was also stated that formcokes made from both Turkish lignite samples under optimal briquetting conditions could be used for metallurgical purposes, particularly in non-ferrous metallurgy. 17 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.

  15. Biocapture of CO2 by Different Microalgal-Based Technologies for Biogas Upgrading and Simultaneous Biogas Slurry Purification under Various Light Intensities and Photoperiods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pengfei Guo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Co-cultivation of microalgae and microbes for pollutant removal from sewage is considered as an effective wastewater treatment method. The aim of this study is to screen the optimal photoperiod, light intensity and microalgae co-cultivation method for simultaneously removing nutrients in biogas slurry and capturing CO2 in biogas. The microalgae–fungi pellets are deemed to be a viable option because of their high specific growth rate and nutrient and CO2 removal efficiency under the photoperiod of 14 h light:10 h dark. The order of both the biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading is ranked the same, that is Chlorella vulgaris–Ganoderma lucidum > Chlorella vulgaris–activated sludge > Chlorella vulgaris under different light intensities. For all cultivation methods, the moderate light intensity of 450 μmol m−2 s−1 is regarded as the best choice. This research revealed that the control of photoperiod and light intensity can promote the biological treatment process of biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading using microalgal-based technology.

  16. Biocapture of CO2 by Different Microalgal-Based Technologies for Biogas Upgrading and Simultaneous Biogas Slurry Purification under Various Light Intensities and Photoperiods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Pengfei; Zhang, Yuejin; Zhao, Yongjun

    2018-01-01

    Co-cultivation of microalgae and microbes for pollutant removal from sewage is considered as an effective wastewater treatment method. The aim of this study is to screen the optimal photoperiod, light intensity and microalgae co-cultivation method for simultaneously removing nutrients in biogas slurry and capturing CO2 in biogas. The microalgae–fungi pellets are deemed to be a viable option because of their high specific growth rate and nutrient and CO2 removal efficiency under the photoperiod of 14 h light:10 h dark. The order of both the biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading is ranked the same, that is Chlorella vulgaris–Ganoderma lucidum > Chlorella vulgaris–activated sludge > Chlorella vulgaris under different light intensities. For all cultivation methods, the moderate light intensity of 450 μmol m−2 s−1 is regarded as the best choice. This research revealed that the control of photoperiod and light intensity can promote the biological treatment process of biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading using microalgal-based technology. PMID:29543784

  17. Rheological properties of defense waste slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebadian, M.A.

    1998-01-01

    The major objective of this two-year project has been to obtain refined and reliable experimental data about the rheological properties of melter feeds. The research has involved both experimental studies and model development. Two experimental facilities have been set up to measure viscosity and pressure drop. Mathematical models have been developed as a result of experimental observation and fundamental rheological theory. The model has the capability to predict the viscosity of melter slurries in a range of experimental conditions. The final results of the investigation could be used to enhance the current design base for slurry transportation systems and improve the performance of the slurry mixing process. If successful, the cost of this waste treatment will be reduced, and disposal safety will be increased. The specific objectives for this project included: (1) the design, implementation, and validation of the experimental facility in both batch and continuous operating modes; (2) the identification and preparation of melter feed samples of both the SRS and Hanford waste slurries at multiple solids concentration levels; (3) the measurement and analysis of the melter feeds to determine the effects of the solids concentration, pH value, and other factors on the rheological properties of the slurries; (4) the correlation of the rheological properties as a function of the measured physical and chemical parameters; and (5) transmission of the experimental data and resulting correlation to the DOE site user to guide melter feed preparation and transport equipment design

  18. Rheological Characterization of Unusual DWPF Slurry Samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koopman, D. C.

    2005-01-01

    A study was undertaken to identify and clarify examples of unusual rheological behavior in Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) simulant slurry samples. Identification was accomplished by reviewing sludge, Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) product, and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) product simulant rheological results from the prior year. Clarification of unusual rheological behavior was achieved by developing and implementing new measurement techniques. Development of these new methods is covered in a separate report, WSRC-TR-2004-00334. This report includes a review of recent literature on unusual rheological behavior, followed by a summary of the rheological measurement results obtained on a set of unusual simulant samples. Shifts in rheological behavior of slurries as the wt. % total solids changed have been observed in numerous systems. The main finding of the experimental work was that the various unusual DWPF simulant slurry samples exhibit some degree of time dependent behavior. When a given shear rate is applied to a sample, the apparent viscosity of the slurry changes with time rather than remaining constant. These unusual simulant samples are more rheologically complex than Newtonian liquids or more simple slurries, neither of which shows significant time dependence. The study concludes that the unusual rheological behavior that has been observed is being caused by time dependent rheological properties in the slurries being measured. Most of the changes are due to the effect of time under shear, but SB3 SME products were also changing properties while stored in sample bottles. The most likely source of this shear-related time dependence for sludge is in the simulant preparation. More than a single source of time dependence was inferred for the simulant SME product slurries based on the range of phenomena observed. Rheological property changes were observed on the time-scale of a single measurement (minutes) as well as on a time scale of hours

  19. RANK and RANK ligand expression in primary human osteosarcoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Branstetter

    2015-09-01

    Our results demonstrate RANKL expression was observed in the tumor element in 68% of human OS using IHC. However, the staining intensity was relatively low and only 37% (29/79 of samples exhibited≥10% RANKL positive tumor cells. RANK expression was not observed in OS tumor cells. In contrast, RANK expression was clearly observed in other cells within OS samples, including the myeloid osteoclast precursor compartment, osteoclasts and in giant osteoclast cells. The intensity and frequency of RANKL and RANK staining in OS samples were substantially less than that observed in GCTB samples. The observation that RANKL is expressed in OS cells themselves suggests that these tumors may mediate an osteoclastic response, and anti-RANKL therapy may potentially be protective against bone pathologies in OS. However, the absence of RANK expression in primary human OS cells suggests that any autocrine RANKL/RANK signaling in human OS tumor cells is not operative, and anti-RANKL therapy would not directly affect the tumor.

  20. System and method for continuous solids slurry depressurization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leininger, Thomas Frederick; Steele, Raymond Douglas; Cordes, Stephen Michael

    2017-07-11

    A system includes a first pump having a first outlet and a first inlet, and a controller. The first pump is configured to continuously receive a flow of a slurry into the first outlet at a first pressure and to continuously discharge the flow of the slurry from the first inlet at a second pressure less than the first pressure. The controller is configured to control a first speed of the first pump against the flow of the slurry based at least in part on the first pressure, wherein the first speed of the first pump is configured to resist a backflow of the slurry from the first outlet to the first inlet.

  1. The CO{sub 2} hydrate slurry; Le coulis de glace

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sari, O.; Hu, J.; Eicher, S.; Brun, F. [Institute of Thermal Engineering, University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland); Sari, O.; Hu, J. [Clean Cooling Solutions, spin off of University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland); Homsy, P. [Nestec Ltd, Vevey (Switzerland); Logel, J.-C. [Axima Refrigeration, Bischheim (France)

    2007-12-15

    A new, very promising refrigerant was developed, which could be used in industrial processes as well as air conditioners: the CO{sub 2} hydrate slurry. Replacing hydrochlorofluorocarbon HCFC refrigerants has a high priority, due to the strong negative environmental impact of these fluids. New refrigerants have to be environment friendly, non-inflammable, cheap and made of natural materials. CO{sub 2} hydrate slurries and/or a mixture of ice slurry and CO{sub 2} hydrate slurry meet these requirements. The University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland in Yverdon, together with industrial partners, investigated the properties of such slurries. The slurries were created using the Coldeco process: the refrigerating fluid is directly injected into the liquid brine. The evaporation of the refrigerating fluid cools the liquid down to its freezing point and homogeneously distributed small crystals appear in the liquid. A test rig was built to measure the physical and chemical properties of the slurries obtained in this way. CO{sub 2} hydrate slurries have a higher energy storage capacitance (500 kJ/kg) than ice slurries (333 kJ/kg). The production of CO{sub 2} hydrate slurries in large quantities in a continuous process was demonstrated. The solid particle concentration was 10%, the pressure amounted to 30 bar and the temperature 2 to 4 {sup o}C. Such slurries can be pumped and circulated in pipe networks. Stainless steel is the appropriate material for such networks. However, the main advantage of the new refrigerant will be, according to the authors, a reduced energy consumption compared to traditional refrigerating cycles: the difference between the temperature required by the user and the refrigerant temperature is reduced, thanks to the use of the latent heat in the new process.

  2. Fabric defect detection based on visual saliency using deep feature and low-rank recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhoufeng; Wang, Baorui; Li, Chunlei; Li, Bicao; Dong, Yan

    2018-04-01

    Fabric defect detection plays an important role in improving the quality of fabric product. In this paper, a novel fabric defect detection method based on visual saliency using deep feature and low-rank recovery was proposed. First, unsupervised training is carried out by the initial network parameters based on MNIST large datasets. The supervised fine-tuning of fabric image library based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) is implemented, and then more accurate deep neural network model is generated. Second, the fabric images are uniformly divided into the image block with the same size, then we extract their multi-layer deep features using the trained deep network. Thereafter, all the extracted features are concentrated into a feature matrix. Third, low-rank matrix recovery is adopted to divide the feature matrix into the low-rank matrix which indicates the background and the sparse matrix which indicates the salient defect. In the end, the iterative optimal threshold segmentation algorithm is utilized to segment the saliency maps generated by the sparse matrix to locate the fabric defect area. Experimental results demonstrate that the feature extracted by CNN is more suitable for characterizing the fabric texture than the traditional LBP, HOG and other hand-crafted features extraction method, and the proposed method can accurately detect the defect regions of various fabric defects, even for the image with complex texture.

  3. Viability of Ascaris suum eggs in stored raw and separated liquid slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Katakam, Kiran Kumar; Roepstorff, Allan Knud; Popovic, Olga

    2013-01-01

    SUMMARY Separation of pig slurry into solid and liquid fractions is gaining importance as a way to manage increasing volumes of slurry. In contrast to solid manure and slurry, little is known about pathogen survival in separated liquid slurry. The viability of Ascaris suum eggs, a conservative...... indicator of fecal pollution, and its association with ammonia was investigated in separated liquid slurry in comparison with raw slurry. For this purpose nylon bags with 6000 eggs each were placed in 1 litre bottles containing one of the two fractions for 308 days at 5 °C or 25 °C. Initial analysis...... of helminth eggs in the separated liquid slurry revealed 47 Ascaris eggs per gramme. At 25 °C, egg viability declined to zero with a similar trend in both raw slurry and the separated liquid slurry by day 308, a time when at 5 °C 88% and 42% of the eggs were still viable in separated liquid slurry and raw...

  4. Thermogravimetric investigation of the co-combustion between the pyrolysis oil distillation residue and lignite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hao; Xia, Shuqian; Ma, Peisheng

    2016-10-01

    Co-combustion of lignite with distillation residue derived from rice straw pyrolysis oil was investigated by non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of distillation residue improved the reactivity and combustion efficiency of lignite, such as increasing the weight loss rate at peak temperature and decreasing the burnout temperature and the total burnout. With increasing distillation residue content in the blended fuels, the synergistic interactions between distillation residue and lignite firstly increased and then decreased during co-combustion stage. Results of XRF, FTIR, (13)C NMR and SEM analysis indicated that chemical structure, mineral components and morphology of samples have great influence on the synergistic interactions. The combustion mechanisms and kinetic parameters were calculated by the Coats Redfern model, suggesting that the lowest apparent activation energy (120.19kJ/mol) for the blended fuels was obtained by blending 60wt.% distillation residue during main co-combustion stage. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Development of a phenomenological model for coal slurry atomization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dooher, J.P. [Adelphi Univ., Garden City, NY (United States)

    1995-11-01

    Highly concentrated suspensions of coal particles in water or alternate fluids appear to have a wide range of applications for energy production. For enhanced implementation of coal slurry fuel technology, an understanding of coal slurry atomization as a function coal and slurry properties for specific mechanical configurations of nozzle atomizers should be developed.

  6. H-binding of size- and polarity-fractionated soil and lignite humic acids after removal of metal and ash components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drosos, Marios; Leenheer, Jerry A.; Avgeropoulos, Apostolos; Deligiannakis, Yiannis

    2014-01-01

    A fractionation technique, combining dialysis removal of metal and ash components with hydrofluoric acid and pH 10 citrate buffer followed by chromatography of dialysis permeate on XAD-8 resin at decreasing pH values, has been applied to lignite humic acid (lignite-HA) and soil humic acid (soil-HA). H-binding data and non ideal competitive adsorption-Donnan model parameters were obtained for the HA fractions by theoretical analysis of H-binding data which reveal a significant increase of the carboxyl and the phenolic charge for the lignite-HA fractions vs. the parental lignite humic acid (LParentalHA). The fractionated lignite-HA material consisted mainly of permeate fractions, some of which were fulvic acid-like. The fractionated soil-HA material consisted mainly of large macromolecular structures that did not permeate the dialysis membrane during deashing. Chargeable groups had comparable concentrations in soil-HA fractions and parental soil humic acid (SParentalHA), indicating minimal interference of ash components with carboxyl and phenolic (and/or enolic) groups. Fractionation of HA, combined with theoretical analysis of H-binding, can distinguish the supramolecular vs. macromolecular nature of fractions within the same parental HA.

  7. Remote sensing image segmentation using local sparse structure constrained latent low rank representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Shu; Zhang, Ye; Yan, Yimin; Su, Nan; Zhang, Junping

    2016-09-01

    Latent low-rank representation (LatLRR) has been attached considerable attention in the field of remote sensing image segmentation, due to its effectiveness in exploring the multiple subspace structures of data. However, the increasingly heterogeneous texture information in the high spatial resolution remote sensing images, leads to more severe interference of pixels in local neighborhood, and the LatLRR fails to capture the local complex structure information. Therefore, we present a local sparse structure constrainted latent low-rank representation (LSSLatLRR) segmentation method, which explicitly imposes the local sparse structure constraint on LatLRR to capture the intrinsic local structure in manifold structure feature subspaces. The whole segmentation framework can be viewed as two stages in cascade. In the first stage, we use the local histogram transform to extract the texture local histogram features (LHOG) at each pixel, which can efficiently capture the complex and micro-texture pattern. In the second stage, a local sparse structure (LSS) formulation is established on LHOG, which aims to preserve the local intrinsic structure and enhance the relationship between pixels having similar local characteristics. Meanwhile, by integrating the LSS and the LatLRR, we can efficiently capture the local sparse and low-rank structure in the mixture of feature subspace, and we adopt the subspace segmentation method to improve the segmentation accuracy. Experimental results on the remote sensing images with different spatial resolution show that, compared with three state-of-the-art image segmentation methods, the proposed method achieves more accurate segmentation results.

  8. Rotary drum dryers for coal slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baunack, F

    1983-04-01

    The suitability, sizing and internal equipment of rotary drum dryers for high-ash coal slurries are discussed. Rotary dryers will handle also difficult slurries; by suitable drum sizes, lifter blades and chains not only high specific evaporation capacities can be achieved but also very high throughputs of up to 400 tons/h of finished product and high evaporation capacities of 60 tons/h.

  9. Nutrient Status and Contamination Risks from Digested Pig Slurry Applied on a Vegetable Crops Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaohui Zhang

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The effects of applied digested pig slurry on a vegetable crops field were studied. The study included a 3-year investigation on nutrient characteristics, heavy metals contamination and hygienic risks of a vegetable crops field in Wuhan, China. The results showed that, after anaerobic digestion, abundant N, P and K remained in the digested pig slurry while fecal coliforms, ascaris eggs, schistosoma eggs and hookworm eggs were highly reduced. High Cr, Zn and Cu contents in the digested pig slurry were found in spring. Digested pig slurry application to the vegetable crops field led to improved soil fertility. Plant-available P in the fertilized soils increased due to considerable increase in total P content and decrease in low-availability P fraction. The As content in the fertilized soils increased slightly but significantly (p = 0.003 compared with control. The Hg, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb, and Cu contents in the fertilized soils did not exceed the maximum permissible contents for vegetable crops soils in China. However, high Zn accumulation should be of concern due to repeated applications of digested pig slurry. No fecal coliforms, ascaris eggs, schistosoma eggs or hookworm eggs were detected in the fertilized soils.

  10. Transport and survival of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in soil columns following applications of raw and separated liquid slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Heidi H.; Enemark, Heidi; Olsen, Annette

    The widespread waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum is frequently transmitted to humans via contaminated drinking and recreational water. Nearly all drinking water in Denmark is groundwater, which can be contaminated with oocysts e.g. from application of contaminated manure to the field...... in the leachates from soil columns to which Cryptosporidium positive slurry had been injected. Although recovery rates were low, regardless of slurry type, C. parvum oocysts were detected from all soil columns. Variations in the leachate patterns were recorded between soil columns added raw and liquid slurry...

  11. Transport and survival of Cryptosporidium Parvum Oocysts in Soil Columns Following Applications of Raw and Separated Liquid Slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, H.H.; Enemark, Heidi L.; Olsen, A.

    The widespread waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum is primarily transmitted to humans via contaminated drinking and recreational water. Nearly all drinking water in Denmark is groundwater, but this can be contaminated with oocysts from application of contaminated manure to the field. Oocysts...... in the leachates from soil columns to which Cryptosporidium positive slurry had been injected. Although recovery rates were low, regardless of slurry type, C. parvum oocysts were detected from all soil columns. Variations in the leachate patterns were recorded between soil columns added raw and liquid slurry...

  12. Exploring the impact of reduced hydro capacity and lignite resources on the Macedonian power sector development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taseska-Gjorgievskaa Verica

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The reference development pathway of the Macedonian energy sector highlights the important role that lignite and hydro power play in the power sector, each accounting for 40% of total capacity in 2021. In 2030, this dominance continues, although hydro has a higher share due to the retirement of some of the existing lignite plants. Three sensitivity runs of the MARKAL-Macedonia energy system model have been undertaken to explore the importance of these technologies to the system, considering that their resource may be reduced with time: (1 Reducing the availability of lignite from domestic mines by 50% in 2030 (with limited capacity of imports, (2 Removing three large hydro options, which account for 310 MW in the business-as-usual case, and (3 Both of the above restrictions. The reduction in lignite availability is estimated to lead to additional overall system costs of 0.7%, compared to hydro restrictions at only 0.1%. With both restrictions applied, the additional costs rise to over 1%, amounting to 348 M€ over the 25 year planning horizon. In particular, costs are driven up by an increasing reliance on electricity imports. In all cases, the total electricity generation decreases, but import increases, which leads to a drop in capacity requirements. In both, the lignite and the hydro restricted cases, it is primarily gas-fired generation and imports that “fill the gap”. This highlights the importance of an increasingly diversified and efficient supply, which should be promoted through initiatives on renewables, energy efficiency, and lower carbon emissions.

  13. Hyperspectral Super-Resolution of Locally Low Rank Images From Complementary Multisource Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veganzones, Miguel A; Simoes, Miguel; Licciardi, Giorgio; Yokoya, Naoto; Bioucas-Dias, Jose M; Chanussot, Jocelyn

    2016-01-01

    Remote sensing hyperspectral images (HSIs) are quite often low rank, in the sense that the data belong to a low dimensional subspace/manifold. This has been recently exploited for the fusion of low spatial resolution HSI with high spatial resolution multispectral images in order to obtain super-resolution HSI. Most approaches adopt an unmixing or a matrix factorization perspective. The derived methods have led to state-of-the-art results when the spectral information lies in a low-dimensional subspace/manifold. However, if the subspace/manifold dimensionality spanned by the complete data set is large, i.e., larger than the number of multispectral bands, the performance of these methods mainly decreases because the underlying sparse regression problem is severely ill-posed. In this paper, we propose a local approach to cope with this difficulty. Fundamentally, we exploit the fact that real world HSIs are locally low rank, that is, pixels acquired from a given spatial neighborhood span a very low-dimensional subspace/manifold, i.e., lower or equal than the number of multispectral bands. Thus, we propose to partition the image into patches and solve the data fusion problem independently for each patch. This way, in each patch the subspace/manifold dimensionality is low enough, such that the problem is not ill-posed anymore. We propose two alternative approaches to define the hyperspectral super-resolution through local dictionary learning using endmember induction algorithms. We also explore two alternatives to define the local regions, using sliding windows and binary partition trees. The effectiveness of the proposed approaches is illustrated with synthetic and semi real data.

  14. Growth response of microorganisms to different molecular fractions of lignite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polman, J.K.; Breckenridge, C.R.; Dugan, P.R.; Quigley, D.R.

    1990-01-01

    Our research is primarily concerned with isolating and characterizing microbes which are able to dissimilate coal and convert it to other useful chemicals. This quarter, general growth responses of microorganisms cultivated in the presence of different molecular weight fractions of lignite coal were examined. Aerobic and anaerobic environmental samples from a variety of ecological niches were used as inocula. Growth of the microorganisms in these samples on the following types of media was tested: COAL medium, containing alkali-solubilized whole coal; THFI medium, containing the alkali-solubilized, tetrahydrofuran-insoluble, macromolecular portion of whole coal; THFS medium, containing the THF-soluble, low molecular weight portion of whole coal; and CON medium, void of any coal constituent. Overall results indicated that the presence of the THF-soluble, low molecular weight coal fraction enhanced the growth yield and the variety of aerobic microorganisms compared to the other coal fractions or the control medium. Conversely, anaerobic microbes grew best on media which contained the macromolecular fraction. 12 refs., 5 tabs.

  15. A Novel Multi-Sensor Environmental Perception Method Using Low-Rank Representation and a Particle Filter for Vehicle Reversing Safety

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zutao Zhang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Environmental perception and information processing are two key steps of active safety for vehicle reversing. Single-sensor environmental perception cannot meet the need for vehicle reversing safety due to its low reliability. In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. The proposed system consists of four main steps, namely multi-sensor environmental perception, information fusion, target recognition and tracking using low-rank representation and a particle filter, and vehicle reversing speed control modules. First of all, the multi-sensor environmental perception module, based on a binocular-camera system and ultrasonic range finders, obtains the distance data for obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing. Secondly, the information fusion algorithm using an adaptive Kalman filter is used to process the data obtained with the multi-sensor environmental perception module, which greatly improves the robustness of the sensors. Then the framework of a particle filter and low-rank representation is used to track the main obstacles. The low-rank representation is used to optimize an objective particle template that has the smallest L-1 norm. Finally, the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking is under control of the proposed vehicle reversing control strategy prior to any potential collisions, making the reversing control safer and more reliable. The final system simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety.

  16. A Novel Riemannian Metric Based on Riemannian Structure and Scaling Information for Fixed Low-Rank Matrix Completion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Shasha; Xiong, Lin; Jiao, Licheng; Feng, Tian; Yeung, Sai-Kit

    2017-05-01

    Riemannian optimization has been widely used to deal with the fixed low-rank matrix completion problem, and Riemannian metric is a crucial factor of obtaining the search direction in Riemannian optimization. This paper proposes a new Riemannian metric via simultaneously considering the Riemannian geometry structure and the scaling information, which is smoothly varying and invariant along the equivalence class. The proposed metric can make a tradeoff between the Riemannian geometry structure and the scaling information effectively. Essentially, it can be viewed as a generalization of some existing metrics. Based on the proposed Riemanian metric, we also design a Riemannian nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm, which can efficiently solve the fixed low-rank matrix completion problem. By experimenting on the fixed low-rank matrix completion, collaborative filtering, and image and video recovery, it illustrates that the proposed method is superior to the state-of-the-art methods on the convergence efficiency and the numerical performance.

  17. A Novel Fixed Low-Rank Constrained EEG Spatial Filter Estimation with Application to Movie-Induced Emotion Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ken Yano

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel fixed low-rank spatial filter estimation for brain computer interface (BCI systems with an application that recognizes emotions elicited by movies. The proposed approach unifies such tasks as feature extraction, feature selection, and classification, which are often independently tackled in a “bottom-up” manner, under a regularized loss minimization problem. The loss function is explicitly derived from the conventional BCI approach and solves its minimization by optimization with a nonconvex fixed low-rank constraint. For evaluation, an experiment was conducted to induce emotions by movies for dozens of young adult subjects and estimated the emotional states using the proposed method. The advantage of the proposed method is that it combines feature selection, feature extraction, and classification into a monolithic optimization problem with a fixed low-rank regularization, which implicitly estimates optimal spatial filters. The proposed method shows competitive performance against the best CSP-based alternatives.

  18. Production scheduling of a lignite mine under quality and reserves uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galetakis, Michael; Roumpos, Christos; Alevizos, George; Vamvuka, Despina

    2011-01-01

    The effect of uncertainty sources to the stochastic optimization of the combined project of a new surface lignite mine exploitation and power plant operation for electricity generation is investigated. Major sources of uncertainty that were considered are the reserves and the quality of the lignite. Since probability distribution functions for these uncertainties were estimated during the detailed exploration phase of the deposit, the overall goal is then to determine the optimal capacity of the power plant and consequently the optimal production rate of the mine over the time. The optimization objective that was selected is the maximization of the net present value of the project. Emphasis is placed on the sensitivity analysis for the investigation of the effect of quality and reserves uncertainty on project optimization, on the mathematical formulation of risk attitude strategy and on increasing the efficiency of the optimization process by creating a limited set of feasible solutions applying empirical rules. The developed methodology was applied for the determination of the optimal annual production rate of a new surface lignite mine in the area of Ptolemais–Amynteon in Northern Greece. - Highlights: ► Quality and reserves uncertainty affects considerably the production scheduling. ► Stochastic optimization is greatly accelerated by incorporating Taylor's rule. ► Decisions can be made considering different risk level attitudes.

  19. Advanced power assessment for Czech lignite. Task 3.6, Volume 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sondreal, E.A.; Mann, M.D.; Weber, G.W.; Young, B.C.

    1995-12-01

    The US has invested heavily in research, development, and demonstration of efficient and environmentally acceptable technologies for the use of coal. The US has the opportunity to use its leadership position to market a range of advanced coal-based technologies internationally. For example, coal mining output in the Czech Republic has been decreasing. This decrease in demand can be attributed mainly to the changing structure of the Czech economy and to environmental constraints. The continued production of energy from indigenous brown coals is a major concern for the Czech Republic. The strong desire to continue to use this resource is a challenge. The Energy and Environmental Research Center undertook two major efforts recently. One effort involved an assessment of opportunities for commercialization of US coal technologies in the Czech Republic. This report is the result of that effort. The technology assessment focused on the utilization of Czech brown coals. These coals are high in ash and sulfur, and the information presented in this report focuses on the utilization of these brown coals in an economically and environmentally friendly manner. Sections 3--5 present options for utilizing the as-mined coal, while Sections 6 and 7 present options for upgrading and generating alternative uses for the lignite. Contents include Czech Republic national energy perspectives; powering; emissions control; advanced power generation systems; assessment of lignite-upgrading technologies; and alternative markets for lignite.

  20. Slurry growth: the characterization of a unique phenomenon at the Hanford Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jansky, M.T.

    1985-01-01

    Slurry growth, unique to the Hanford Site, is a significant increase in the volume of waste contained in a waste storage tank without the addition of new waste. Slurry growth is caused by gas entrapment within waste slurries which causes the slurry to swell, like bread dough. The surface of the slurry rises until either gas pressure is great enough or the weight of the slurry over the gases is great enough to cause the surface of the slurry to collapse. The gases causing slurry growth are generated from decomposition of organics present in high-level nuclear waste (HEDTA, EDTA, GLY). Predominant gases are H 2 , N 2 , N 2 O, NO/sub x/, and CO 2 . More gas is generated, and at a faster rate, as the temperature increases. Slurry growth, although not completely eliminated, is being safely and effectively controlled. The parameters affecting slurry growth have been defined, and predictive equations have been established. The knowledge gained through laboratory experiments contributes to continued safe and efficient high-level waste management practices at the Hanford Site

  1. Physical properties, fuel characteristics and P-fertilizer production related to animal slurry and products from separation of animal slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thygesen, Ole; Johnsen, Tina; Triolo, Jin Mi

    The purpose of this study was twofold: firstly to examine the relationship between dry matter content (DM) and specific gravity (SG) and viscosity in slurry and the liquid fraction from slurry separation, and secondly to investigate the potential of energy production from combustion of manure fibre...... from slurry separation and phosphorus (P) fertilizer production from recycling of the ash. Manure fibre has a positive calorific value and may be used as a CO2-neutral fuel for combustion. The ashes from combustion are rich in P, an essential fertilizer compound. The study is based on samples of animal...

  2. Determination of optimal environmental policy for reclamation of land unearthed in lignite mines - Strategy and tactics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batzias, Dimitris F.; Pollalis, Yannis A.

    2012-12-01

    In this paper, optimal environmental policy for reclamation of land unearthed in lignite mines is defined as a strategic target. The tactics concerning the achievement of this target, includes estimation of optimal time lag between each lignite site (which is a segment of the whole lignite field) complete exploitation and its reclamation. Subsidizing of reclamation has been determined as a function of this time lag and relevant implementation is presented for parameter values valid for the Greek economy. We proved that the methodology we have developed gives reasonable quantitative results within the norms imposed by legislation. Moreover, the interconnection between strategy and tactics becomes evident, since the former causes the latter by deduction and the latter revises the former by induction in the time course of land reclamation.

  3. Carbonate and lignite cycles in the Ptolemais Basin: Orbital control and suborbital variability (Late Neogene, northern Greece)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, M. E.; Tougiannidis, N.; Ricken, W.; Rolf, C.; Kleineder, M.; Bertram, N.; Antoniadis, P.

    2009-04-01

    We recently commenced a project to investigate deep drillings as well as outcrops in the Ptolemais Basin, northern Greece, for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate change. Specific attention is paid to mining sites Achlada, Vevi, Vegora, Amynteon, North Field, South Field, and Lava. The sediment archive comprises Upper Miocene to Quaternary continental lake deposits (up to 800 m thick) with an extended Lower Pliocene section. The Upper Miocene sections are composed of diatomaceous mud and gray marls. Pliocene lake sediments commence with the Kyrio member (lignite/grey marl), followed by the Theodoxus member (beige marl/lignite), and the Notio member (marl with intercalated sand /lignite). The limnic deposits show striking rhythmic bedding of (mostly) carbonates and lignites, reflecting orbital-induced humidity and temperature changes in this small NW-SE elongated continental basin. First, we retrieved chronometric information by determining magnetic polarity changes on three sites as independent stratigraphic ground-truth in combination with palynological evidence and published data. Then we conducted a number of high-resolution (1 - 6 cm increment), non-destructive measurements to obtain paleoclimate proxies: photospectrometry (colors L, a, b), magnetic susceptibility, and natural gamma. Accordingly, we achieved a multi-proxy insight into paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental evolution at unprecedented temporal resolution (up to a few decades!) over long time series and at a number of key sites. Using the newly-developed ESALab software, we conducted spectral and evolutionary spectral analysis to evaluate the cyclo-stratigraphic development. As for orbital variability, spectral power is concentrated on precession, hemi-precession, and eccentricity, with only minor impact of orbital tilt. We used this information to increase the temporal resolution of our age models by tuning as many precession (insolation) maxima as possible to carbonate minima (lignite maxima

  4. Direct liquefaction of low-rank coals under mild conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braun, N.; Rinaldi, R. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kohlenforschung, Muelheim an der Ruhr (Germany)

    2013-11-01

    Due to decreasing of petroleum reserves, direct coal liquefaction is attracting renewed interest as an alternative process to produce liquid fuels. The combination of hydrogen peroxide and coal is not a new one. In the early 1980, Vasilakos and Clinton described a procedure for desulfurization by leaching coal with solutions of sulphuric acid/H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. But so far, H{sub 2}O{sub 2} has never been ascribed a major role in coal liquefaction. Herein, we describe a novel approach for liquefying low-rank coals using a solution of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in presence of a soluble non-transition metal catalyst. (orig.)

  5. Securing the future of the Lusatian lignite mining; Zukunftssicherung im Lausitzer Revier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klocek, Gert [Vattenfall Europe Mining AG, Cottbus (Germany). Bergbauplanung; Ketzmer, Wolfgang [Vattenfall Europe Mining AG, Cottbus (Germany). Grunddaten und Bergtechnik

    2014-11-01

    In the course of securing the future of the Lusatian lignite mining, the company has initiated several measures and activities. Thus with large-scale projects such as relocating the operating and surface facilities of the Welzow-Sued opencast mine uninterrupted long-term mining advance is ensured. The company's lignite-fired power plants with their project ''FlexGen'', to further increased flexibility, enhances their position to master of the challenges of ''Energiewende''. The political and societal framework for this complex development is in line with the climate and energy programmes or strategies of the Free State of Saxony and the federal state of Brandenburg.

  6. Accelerated cardiac cine MRI using locally low rank and finite difference constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miao, Xin; Lingala, Sajan Goud; Guo, Yi; Jao, Terrence; Usman, Muhammad; Prieto, Claudia; Nayak, Krishna S

    2016-07-01

    To evaluate the potential value of combining multiple constraints for highly accelerated cardiac cine MRI. A locally low rank (LLR) constraint and a temporal finite difference (FD) constraint were combined to reconstruct cardiac cine data from highly undersampled measurements. Retrospectively undersampled 2D Cartesian reconstructions were quantitatively evaluated against fully-sampled data using normalized root mean square error, structural similarity index (SSIM) and high frequency error norm (HFEN). This method was also applied to 2D golden-angle radial real-time imaging to facilitate single breath-hold whole-heart cine (12 short-axis slices, 9-13s single breath hold). Reconstruction was compared against state-of-the-art constrained reconstruction methods: LLR, FD, and k-t SLR. At 10 to 60 spokes/frame, LLR+FD better preserved fine structures and depicted myocardial motion with reduced spatio-temporal blurring in comparison to existing methods. LLR yielded higher SSIM ranking than FD; FD had higher HFEN ranking than LLR. LLR+FD combined the complimentary advantages of the two, and ranked the highest in all metrics for all retrospective undersampled cases. Single breath-hold multi-slice cardiac cine with prospective undersampling was enabled with in-plane spatio-temporal resolutions of 2×2mm(2) and 40ms. Highly accelerated cardiac cine is enabled by the combination of 2D undersampling and the synergistic use of LLR and FD constraints. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Co-pyrolysis of lignite and sugar beet pulp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yilgin, M.; Deveci Duranay, N.; Pehlivan, D.

    2010-01-01

    Today, worldwide studies have been undertaken on the biomass usage and co-conversion of biomass and coal to seek out alternative fuels for supplying energy in an environmental friendly way. The objective of this work is to study co-pyrolysis of lignite and sugar beet pulp in 50/50 (wt./wt.) ratio of blend pellets, to elucidate their thermal behaviour under pyrolysis conditions and to assess major decomposition products in terms of their yields. A special chamber, which has enabled very fast heating rates, was used in the pyrolysis experiments carried at 600 deg. C. The results were interpreted in the light of liquid, solid and gaseous yields, resulting from thermal decomposition, and kinetics of thermogravimetric analysis. Proximate volatile matter and ash contents of the blends were different compared to those found by using individual values. Sugar beet pulp decomposed faster within a relatively narrow temperature range than lignite and underwent a significant shrinkage during pyrolysis. It was found that the chars left behind after the flash pyrolysis of these pellets at 600 deg. C have substantial amounts of volatile matter that would evolve upon further heating.

  8. Technical Report on NETL's Non Newtonian Multiphase Slurry Workshop: A path forward to understanding non-Newtonian multiphase slurry flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guenther, Chris [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States); Garg, Rahul [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States)

    2013-08-19

    The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) sponsored a workshop on non-Newtonian multiphase slurry at NETL’s Morgantown campus August 19 and 20, 2013. The objective of this special two-day meeting of 20-30 invited experts from industry, National Labs and academia was to identify and address technical issues associated with handling non-Newtonian multiphase slurries across various facilities managed by DOE. Particular emphasis during this workshop was placed on applications managed by the Office of Environmental Management (EM). The workshop was preceded by two webinars wherein personnel from ORP and NETL provided background information on the Hanford WTP project and discussed the critical design challenges facing this project. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity is not constant and exhibits a complex dependence on applied shear stress or deformation. Many applications under EM’s tank farm mission involve non-Newtonian slurries that are multiphase in nature; tank farm storage and handling, slurry transport, and mixing all involve multiphase flow dynamics, which require an improved understanding of the mechanisms responsible for rheological changes in non-Newtonian multiphase slurries (NNMS). To discuss the issues in predicting the behavior of NNMS, the workshop focused on two topic areas: (1) State-of-the-art in non-Newtonian Multiphase Slurry Flow, and (2) Scaling up with Confidence and Ensuring Safe and Reliable Long-Term Operation.

  9. Application of House of Quality in evaluation of low rank coal pyrolysis polygeneration technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Qingchun; Yang, Siyu; Qian, Yu; Kraslawski, Andrzej

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • House of Quality method was used for assessment of coal pyrolysis polygeneration technologies. • Low rank coal pyrolysis polygeneration processes based on solid heat carrier, moving bed and fluidized bed were evaluated. • Technical and environmental criteria for the assessment of technologies were used. • Low rank coal pyrolysis polygeneration process based on a fluidized bed is the best option. - Abstract: Increasing interest in low rank coal pyrolysis (LRCP) polygeneration has resulted in the development of a number of different technologies and approaches. Evaluation of LRCP processes should include not only conventional efficiency, economic and environmental assessments, but also take into consideration sustainability aspects. As a result of the many complex variables involved, selection of the most suitable LRCP technology becomes a challenging task. This paper applies a House of Quality method in comprehensive evaluation of LRCP. A multi-level evaluation model addressing 19 customer needs and analyzing 10 technical characteristics is developed. Using the evaluation model, the paper evaluates three LRCP technologies, which are based on solid heat carrier, moving bed and fluidized bed concepts, respectively. The results show that the three most important customer needs are level of technical maturity, wastewater emissions, and internal rate of return. The three most important technical characteristics are production costs, investment costs and waste emissions. On the basis of the conducted analysis, it is concluded that the LRCP process utilizing a fluidized bed approach is the optimal alternative studied

  10. Dry re-forming of methane to synthesis gas over lignite semicokes catalyst at high pressure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fengbo Guo

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Dry re-forming of methane has been carried out in a high temperature–pressure reactor at different pressures, using Hongce lignite semicokes catalyst. The results show that CH4 and CO2 conversions are decreased as the reaction pressure increased, but both of them kept basically stable when the reaction pressure is between 0.3 and 1 MPa. The comparison shows that the effects of the temperature and the flow of reactant gas on dry re-forming of methane are consistent with between high pressure and atmospheric pressure. The ratio of CO/H2 decreased as the ratio of CH4/CO2 increased, yet the value of CO/H2 is always more than 1 at different pressures. Hongce lignite semicokes catalyst is characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM and BET, and the analysis results reveled that the physical specific adsorption peak of CO2 at 2350 cm−1 is strengthened significantly at different pressures, the micropore area and volume of Hongce lignite semicokes reduced form 40.2 m2  g−1 and 0.019 cm3  g−1 to 34.9 m2  g−1 and 0.017 cm3  g−1, respectively. Hongce lignite semicokes catalyst exhibited better activity and stability within 0.3–1 MPa range.

  11. Biovailability of copper and zinc in pig and cattle slurries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jakubus, M.; Dach, J.; Starmans, D.A.J.

    2013-01-01

    Slurry is an important source of macronutrients, micro-nutrients and organic matter. Despite the considerable fertilizer value of slurry, it may be abundant in amounts of copper and zinc originating from dietary. The study presents quantitative changes in copper and zinc in individual slurries (pig

  12. Convective heat transfer behavior of the product slurry of the nitrate to ammonia and ceramic (NAC) process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muguercia, I.; Yang, G.; Ebadian, M.A.

    1995-01-01

    The Nitrate to Ammonia and Ceramic (NAC) process is an innovative technology for immobilizing liquid form low level radioactive waste (LLW). An experimental study has been conducted to measure the heat transfer properties of the NAC product slurry. The results indicate that the heat transfer coefficient for both concentration slurries is much higher than that of pure water, which may be due to the higher conductivity of the gibbsite powder. For the 20% concentration slurry, the heat transfer coefficient increased as the generalized Reynolds number and slurry temperature increased. The heat transfer coefficient of 40% is a function of the Reynolds number only. The test results also indicate that the thermal entrance region can be observed only when the generalized Reynolds number is smaller than 1,000. The correlation equation is also developed based on the experimental data in this paper

  13. Vitrification of SRP waste by a slurry-fed ceramic melter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wicks, G.G.

    1980-01-01

    Savannah River Plant (SRP) high-level waste (HLW) can be vitrified by feeding a slurry, instead of a calcine, to a joule-heated ceramic melter. Potential advantages of slurry feeding include (1) use of simpler equipment, (2) elimination of handling easily dispersed radioactive powder, (3) simpler process control, (4) effective mixing, (5) reduced off-gas volume, and (6) cost savings. Assessment of advantages and disadvantages of slurry feeding along with experimental studies indicate that slurry feeding is a promising way of vitrifying waste

  14. Drag reduction of dense fine-grained slurries

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vlasák, Pavel; Chára, Zdeněk; Štern, Petr

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 58, č. 4 (2010), s. 261-270 ISSN 0042-790X R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP105/10/1574 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20600510 Keywords : kaolin slurry * drag reduction * experimental investigation * peptization * slurry rheology Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics Impact factor: 0.553, year: 2010

  15. Anaerobic digestion as a slurry management strategy : a consequential life cycle assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamelin, L.; Wesnaes, M.; Wenzel, H.; Petersen, B.M. [Southern Denmark Univ. (Denmark). Inst. of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Environmental Technology

    2010-07-01

    Anaerobic digestion of slurry represents an environmental opportunity for both slurry management and renewable energy production in countries with high animal density. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of 4 biogas production alternatives in which slurry was the only input in the process, without supplementary addition of easily degradable carbon. This was achieved by exposing the slurry to different separation technologies. The biomass mixture input for biogas production included solid fraction from slurry separation as well as raw slurry, proportioned in order to achieve economical methane yield. The separation processes considered in this study were mechanical separation; mechanical separation combined with the addition of flocculants; and mechanical separation combined with a thermal treatment. Four biogas alternatives were compared to a reference slurry management scenario, notably to use the slurry as a fertilizer without prior treatment. The modelling was based on Danish conditions and used the consequential life cycle assessment methodology. The produced biogas was used for production of heat and power and the degassed slurry was used as an organic fertilizer.

  16. Genetic relationship of organic bases of the quinoline and isoquinoline series from lignite semicoking tars with the initial biological material

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Platonov, V.V.; Proskuryakov, V.A.; Podshibyakin, S.I.; Domogatskii, V.V.; Shvykin, A.Y.; Shavyrina, O.A.; Chilachava, K.B. [Leo Tolstoy State Pedagog University, Tula (Russian Federation)

    2002-07-01

    The genetic relationship of quinoline and isoquinoline compounds present in semicoking tars of Kimovsk lignites (near-Moscow fields) with the initial vegetable material is discussed. Transformation pathways of the native compounds in the course of lignite formation are suggested.

  17. Synthetic fuel production using Texas lignite and a very high temperature reactor for process heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, M.A.; Klein, D.E.

    1982-01-01

    Two approaches for synthetic fuel production from coal are studied using Texas lignite as the feedstock. First, the gasification and liquefaction of coal are accomplished using Lurgi gasifiers and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. A 50 000 barrel/day facility, consuming 13.7 million tonne/yr (15.1 million ton/yr) of lignite, is considered. Second, a nuclear-assisted coal conversion approach is studied using a very high temperature gas-cooled reactor with a modified Lurgi gasifier and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The nuclear-assisted approach resulted in a 35% reduction in coal consumption. In addition, process steam consumption was reduced by one-half and the oxygen plants were eliminated in the nuclear assisted process. Both approaches resulted in a synthetic oil price higher than the March 1980 imported price of $29.65 per barrel: $36.15 for the lignite-only process and $35.16 for the nuclear-assisted process. No tax advantage was assumed for either process and the utility financing method was used for both economic calculations

  18. Recommendations for rheological testing and modelling of DWPF melter feed slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shadday, M.A. Jr.

    1994-08-01

    The melter feed in the DWPF process is a non-Newtonian slurry. In the melter feed system and the sampling system, this slurry is pumped at a wide range of flow rates through pipes of various diameters. Both laminar and turbulent flows are encountered. Good rheology models of the melter feed slurries are necessary for useful hydraulic models of the melter feed and sampling systems. A concentric cylinder viscometer is presently used to characterize the stress/strain rate behavior of the melter feed slurries, and provide the data for developing rheology models of the fluids. The slurries exhibit yield stresses, and they are therefore modelled as Bingham plastics. The ranges of strain rates covered by the viscometer tests fall far short of the entire laminar flow range, and therefore hydraulic modelling applications of the present rheology models frequently require considerable extrapolation beyond the range of the data base. Since the rheology models are empirical, this cannot be done with confidence in the validity of the results. Axial pressure drop versus flow rate measurements in a straight pipe can easily fill in the rest of the laminar flow range with stress/strain rate data. The two types of viscometer tests would be complementary, with the concentric cylinder viscometer providing accurate data at low strain rates, near the yield point if one exists, and pipe flow tests providing data at high strain rates up to and including the transition to turbulence. With data that covers the laminar flow range, useful rheological models can be developed. In the Bingham plastic model, linear behavior of the shear stress as a function of the strain rate is assumed once the yield stress is exceeded. Both shear thinning and shear thickening behavior have been observed in viscometer tests. Bingham plastic models cannot handle this non-linear behavior, but a slightly more complicated yield/power law model can

  19. Heavy cement slurries; Pastas pesadas de cimento

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Francisco Avelar da; Conceicao, Antonio C. Farias [PETROBRAS, XX (Brazil). Distrito de Perfuracao do Nordeste. Div. de Tecnicas de Perfuracao; Marins, Carlos Cesar Silva [PETROBRAS, XX (Brazil). Dept. de Perfuracao. Div. de Revestimento e Cimentacao

    1990-12-31

    When going deeper in a high pressure well, the only way to successfully cement your casing or linear is through the use of heavy cement slurry. In 1987 PETROBRAS geologists presented to the Drilling Department a series of deep, hot and high pressure wells to be drilled. The Casing and Cement Division of this department then started a program to face this new challenge. This paper introduces the first part of this program and shows how PETROBRAS is dealing with heavy weight slurries. We present the slurry formulations tested in laboratory, the difficulties found in mixing them in the field, rheology measurements, API free water and API fluid loss from both laboratory and field samples. (author) 3 tabs.

  20. Exponential Family Functional data analysis via a low-rank model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Gen; Huang, Jianhua Z; Shen, Haipeng

    2018-05-08

    In many applications, non-Gaussian data such as binary or count are observed over a continuous domain and there exists a smooth underlying structure for describing such data. We develop a new functional data method to deal with this kind of data when the data are regularly spaced on the continuous domain. Our method, referred to as Exponential Family Functional Principal Component Analysis (EFPCA), assumes the data are generated from an exponential family distribution, and the matrix of the canonical parameters has a low-rank structure. The proposed method flexibly accommodates not only the standard one-way functional data, but also two-way (or bivariate) functional data. In addition, we introduce a new cross validation method for estimating the latent rank of a generalized data matrix. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methods using a comprehensive simulation study. The proposed method is also applied to a real application of the UK mortality study, where data are binomially distributed and two-way functional across age groups and calendar years. The results offer novel insights into the underlying mortality pattern. © 2018, The International Biometric Society.

  1. MO-DE-207A-05: Dictionary Learning Based Reconstruction with Low-Rank Constraint for Low-Dose Spectral CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Q; Liu, H; Xing, L; Yu, H; Wang, G

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Spectral CT enabled by an energy-resolved photon-counting detector outperforms conventional CT in terms of material discrimination, contrast resolution, etc. One reconstruction method for spectral CT is to generate a color image from a reconstructed component in each energy channel. However, given the radiation dose, the number of photons in each channel is limited, which will result in strong noise in each channel and affect the final color reconstruction. Here we propose a novel dictionary learning method for spectral CT that combines dictionary-based sparse representation method and the patch based low-rank constraint to simultaneously improve the reconstruction in each channel and to address the inter-channel correlations to further improve the reconstruction. Methods: The proposed method has two important features: (1) guarantee of the patch based sparsity in each energy channel, which is the result of the dictionary based sparse representation constraint; (2) the explicit consideration of the correlations among different energy channels, which is realized by patch-by-patch nuclear norm-based low-rank constraint. For each channel, the dictionary consists of two sub-dictionaries. One is learned from the average of the images in all energy channels, and the other is learned from the average of the images in all energy channels except the current channel. With average operation to reduce noise, these two dictionaries can effectively preserve the structural details and get rid of artifacts caused by noise. Combining them together can express all structural information in current channel. Results: Dictionary learning based methods can obtain better results than FBP and the TV-based method. With low-rank constraint, the image quality can be further improved in the channel with more noise. The final color result by the proposed method has the best visual quality. Conclusion: The proposed method can effectively improve the image quality of low-dose spectral

  2. MO-DE-207A-05: Dictionary Learning Based Reconstruction with Low-Rank Constraint for Low-Dose Spectral CT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Q [Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an (China); Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States); Liu, H; Xing, L [Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States); Yu, H [University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA (United States); Wang, G [Rensselaer Polytechnic Instute., Troy, NY (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Spectral CT enabled by an energy-resolved photon-counting detector outperforms conventional CT in terms of material discrimination, contrast resolution, etc. One reconstruction method for spectral CT is to generate a color image from a reconstructed component in each energy channel. However, given the radiation dose, the number of photons in each channel is limited, which will result in strong noise in each channel and affect the final color reconstruction. Here we propose a novel dictionary learning method for spectral CT that combines dictionary-based sparse representation method and the patch based low-rank constraint to simultaneously improve the reconstruction in each channel and to address the inter-channel correlations to further improve the reconstruction. Methods: The proposed method has two important features: (1) guarantee of the patch based sparsity in each energy channel, which is the result of the dictionary based sparse representation constraint; (2) the explicit consideration of the correlations among different energy channels, which is realized by patch-by-patch nuclear norm-based low-rank constraint. For each channel, the dictionary consists of two sub-dictionaries. One is learned from the average of the images in all energy channels, and the other is learned from the average of the images in all energy channels except the current channel. With average operation to reduce noise, these two dictionaries can effectively preserve the structural details and get rid of artifacts caused by noise. Combining them together can express all structural information in current channel. Results: Dictionary learning based methods can obtain better results than FBP and the TV-based method. With low-rank constraint, the image quality can be further improved in the channel with more noise. The final color result by the proposed method has the best visual quality. Conclusion: The proposed method can effectively improve the image quality of low-dose spectral

  3. The Charfuel coal refining process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyer, L.G.

    1991-01-01

    The patented Charfuel coal refining process employs fluidized hydrocracking to produce char and liquid products from virtually all types of volatile-containing coals, including low rank coal and lignite. It is not gasification or liquefaction which require the addition of expensive oxygen or hydrogen or the use of extreme heat or pressure. It is not the German pyrolysis process that merely 'cooks' the coal, producing coke and tar-like liquids. Rather, the Charfuel coal refining process involves thermal hydrocracking which results in the rearrangement of hydrogen within the coal molecule to produce a slate of co-products. In the Charfuel process, pulverized coal is rapidly heated in a reducing atmosphere in the presence of internally generated process hydrogen. This hydrogen rearrangement allows refinement of various ranks of coals to produce a pipeline transportable, slurry-type, environmentally clean boiler fuel and a slate of value-added traditional fuel and chemical feedstock co-products. Using coal and oxygen as the only feedstocks, the Charfuel hydrocracking technology economically removes much of the fuel nitrogen, sulfur, and potential air toxics (such as chlorine, mercury, beryllium, etc.) from the coal, resulting in a high heating value, clean burning fuel which can increase power plant efficiency while reducing operating costs. The paper describes the process, its thermal efficiency, its use in power plants, its pipeline transport, co-products, environmental and energy benefits, and economics

  4. A simple biofilter for treatment of pig slurry in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, S G; Mathanpaal, G; Dass, G T

    2005-03-01

    On commercial pig production farms in South East (SE) Asia, the liquid effluent is often discharged into rivers. The discharge is a hazard to the environment and to the health of people using water from the river either for consumption or for irrigation. Therefore, a simple percolation biofilter for treatment of the liquid effluent was developed. Pig slurry was treated in test-biofilters packed with different biomass for the purpose of selecting the most efficient material, thereafter the efficiency of the biofilter was examined at farm scale with demo biofilters using the most efficient material. The effect of using "Effective Microorganisms" (EM) added to slurry that was treated with biofilter material mixed with Glenor KR+ was examined. Slurry treatment in the test-biofilters indicated that rice straw was better than coconut husks, wood shavings, rattan strips and oil palm fronds in reducing BOD. Addition of EM and Glenor KR+ to slurry and biofilter material, respectively, had no effect on the temperature of the biofilter material or on the concentrations of organic and inorganic components of the treated slurry. The BOD of slurry treated in test biofilters is reduced to between 80 and 637 mg O2 I(-1) and in the demo biofilter to between 3094 and 3376 mg O2 l(-1). The concentration of BOD in the effluent is related to the BOD in the slurry being treated and the BOD concentration in slurry treated in test biofilters was lower than BOD of slurry treated in demo biofilters. The demo biofilter can reduce BOD to between 52 an 56% of the original value, and TSS, COD (chemical oxygen demand) and ammonium (NH4+) to 41-55% of the original slurry. The treated effluent could not meet the standards for discharge to rivers. The composted biofilter material has a high content of nitrogen and phosphorus; consequently, the fertilizer value of the compost is high. The investments costs were 123 US dollar per SPP which has to be reduced if this method should be a treatment option

  5. Improved magnetic resonance fingerprinting reconstruction with low-rank and subspace modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Bo; Setsompop, Kawin; Adalsteinsson, Elfar; Gagoski, Borjan; Ye, Huihui; Ma, Dan; Jiang, Yun; Ellen Grant, P; Griswold, Mark A; Wald, Lawrence L

    2018-02-01

    This article introduces a constrained imaging method based on low-rank and subspace modeling to improve the accuracy and speed of MR fingerprinting (MRF). A new model-based imaging method is developed for MRF to reconstruct high-quality time-series images and accurate tissue parameter maps (e.g., T 1 , T 2 , and spin density maps). Specifically, the proposed method exploits low-rank approximations of MRF time-series images, and further enforces temporal subspace constraints to capture magnetization dynamics. This allows the time-series image reconstruction problem to be formulated as a simple linear least-squares problem, which enables efficient computation. After image reconstruction, tissue parameter maps are estimated via dictionary-based pattern matching, as in the conventional approach. The effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated with in vivo experiments. Compared with the conventional MRF reconstruction, the proposed method reconstructs time-series images with significantly reduced aliasing artifacts and noise contamination. Although the conventional approach exhibits some robustness to these corruptions, the improved time-series image reconstruction in turn provides more accurate tissue parameter maps. The improvement is pronounced especially when the acquisition time becomes short. The proposed method significantly improves the accuracy of MRF, and also reduces data acquisition time. Magn Reson Med 79:933-942, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  6. Effect of alkaline slurry on the electric character of the pattern Cu wafer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu Yi; Liu Yuling; Liu Xiaoyan; He Yangang; Wang Liran; Zhang Baoguo

    2011-01-01

    For process integration considerations, we will investigate the impact of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) on the electrical characteristics of the pattern Cu wafer. In this paper, we investigate the impacts of the CMP process with two kinds of slurry, one of which is acid slurry of SVTC and the other is FA/O alkaline slurry purchased from Tianjin Jingling Microelectronic Material Limited. Three aspects were investigated: resistance, capacitance and leakage current. The result shows that after polishing by the slurry of FA/O, the resistance is lower than the SVTC. After polishing by the acid slurry and FA/O alkaline slurry, the difference in capacitance is not very large. The values are 0.1 nF and 0.12 nF, respectively. The leakage current of the film polished by the slurry of FA/O is 0.01 nA, which is lower than the slurry of SVTC. The results show that the slurry of FA/O produced less dishing and oxide loss than the slurry of SVTC. (semiconductor technology)

  7. Light absorption by primary particle emissions from a lignite burning plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bond, T.C.; Bussemer, M.; Wehner, B.; Keller, S.; Charlson, R.J.; Heintzenberg, J.

    1999-01-01

    Anthropogenic aerosols from the burning of fossil fuels contribute to climate forcing by both scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and estimates of climate forcing by light-absorbing primary particles have recently been published. While the mass and optical properties of emissions are needed for these studies, the available measurements do not characterize the low-technology burning that is thought to contribute a large fraction of light-absorbing material to the global budget. The authors have measured characteristics of particulate matter (PM) emitted from a small, low-technology lignite-burning plant. The PM emission factor is comparable to those used to calculate emission inventories of light-absorbing particles. However, the fine fraction, the absorbing fraction, and the absorption efficiency of the emissions are substantially below assumptions that have been made in inventories of black carbon emissions and calculations of climate forcing. The measurements suggest that nonblack, light-absorbing particles are emitted from low-technology coal burning. As the burning rate increases, the emitted absorption cross-section decreases, and the wavelength dependence of absorption becomes closer to that of black particles

  8. Rheological properties of concentrated alumina slurries: influence of ph and dispersant agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewais, E.M.M.

    2004-01-01

    The relationship between the ph, the electrolyte concentrations and the rheological properties of high concentrated alumina slurries in aqueous medium is of great importance because it is considered to be the key to control the stability of the slurries from flocculation. Zeta potential of alumina slurries with and without Duramax C (dispersant agent) as a function of ph was studied. Two ph around the zero point of charge of alumina slurries were selected for the investigation of rheological properties. The rheological properties of aqueous alumina slurries with respect to different parameters, e.g.: viscosity, elastic modulus (storage modulus G) and viscous modulus (loss modulus G), were investigated. Viscosity measurements of the slurries as a function of Duramax C content at both ph 8.4 and 9.4) were used to determine the state of slurries. Three states of slurries, termed flocculated, partially de flocculated and fully de flocculated, were selected for further investigation. The viscosity of the three slurries at both ph as a function of shear rate was determined. Fully de flocculated slurry shows Newtonian behavior at all shear rates at both tested ph compared by the partial de flocculated and flocculated system. Results of investigation of G and G at ph of 9.4 as a function of applied stress explored the critical stress

  9. Local community opinions regarding the socio-environmental aspects of lignite surface mining: Experiences from central Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Badera, Jarosław; Kocoń, Paweł

    2014-01-01

    Surface lignite mining covers large areas and usually generates social conflicts which pose one of several energy security threats to certain states. Therefore, defining the social conditions determines the success of a mining project. Two communes were chosen for a public opinion study: Kleszczów, where the Bełchatów mine is located, and Złoczew, where a lignite deposit will soon be developed. The analysis shows, as opposed to other areas in Poland that have been projected for development, that both local communities are characterised by a high level of acceptance for lignite mining. In both cases, awareness about the profits was stronger than anxiety about the investment's negative effects. However, most inhabitants could not assess the mining company's diligence concerning its responsibility for mining damages as well as the diligence of external experts assessing the environmental impacts of excavation. Most respondents also could not assess if the legal regulations of public participation in the decision process were sufficient, but the negative opinions outweighed the positive ones. From the perspective of the energy policy, dialogue-type social communication is needed for every case of a new energy-mining project. Research on local public opinion should be the first step to opening up a social debate. - Highlights: • Lignite mining can generate social conflicts, which may threaten energy security. • Examined communes are characterised by a high level of acceptance for lignite mining. • Inhabitants cannot assess if the legal regulations of mining activity are sufficient. • From the perspective of the energy policy, broader social communication is needed. • Research on the public opinion should be the first step to open up a social debate

  10. Two-Step Proximal Gradient Algorithm for Low-Rank Matrix Completion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiuyu Wang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we  propose a two-step proximal gradient algorithm to solve nuclear norm regularized least squares for the purpose of recovering low-rank data matrix from sampling of its entries. Each iteration generated by the proposed algorithm is a combination of the latest three points, namely, the previous point, the current iterate, and its proximal gradient point. This algorithm preserves the computational simplicity of classical proximal gradient algorithm where a singular value decomposition in proximal operator is involved. Global convergence is followed directly in the literature. Numerical results are reported to show the efficiency of the algorithm.

  11. Highly accelerated cardiac cine parallel MRI using low-rank matrix completion and partial separability model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyu, Jingyuan; Nakarmi, Ukash; Zhang, Chaoyi; Ying, Leslie

    2016-05-01

    This paper presents a new approach to highly accelerated dynamic parallel MRI using low rank matrix completion, partial separability (PS) model. In data acquisition, k-space data is moderately randomly undersampled at the center kspace navigator locations, but highly undersampled at the outer k-space for each temporal frame. In reconstruction, the navigator data is reconstructed from undersampled data using structured low-rank matrix completion. After all the unacquired navigator data is estimated, the partial separable model is used to obtain partial k-t data. Then the parallel imaging method is used to acquire the entire dynamic image series from highly undersampled data. The proposed method has shown to achieve high quality reconstructions with reduction factors up to 31, and temporal resolution of 29ms, when the conventional PS method fails.

  12. Processing tetramethylammonium-carbonate-coprecipitated slurries to obtain small-particle-size YBa2Cu3O7

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spencer, N.D.; Peders, T.S.; Baer, M.B.

    1991-01-01

    The effect of different drying and calcination methods on the ultimate particle size of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 (Y-123) has been investigated. The starting material was a tetramethylammonium (TMA) carbonate-precipitated slurry. Spray-drying the slurry after filtering and reslurrying (to remove residual TMA), was most effective in the ultimate formation of finely divided Y-123. The morphology of the spray-dried powder could be preserved by calcining in very low total pressures of flowing oxygen. When a slurry with 0.16% solids content was spray dried, and this powder calcined at 750 degree C in 2 Torr of flowing oxygen, a Y-123 powder of mean particle size 0.74 μm (66% submicron) was obtained

  13. Modeling of pseudoacoustic P-waves in orthorhombic media with a low-rank approximation

    KAUST Repository

    Song, Xiaolei

    2013-06-04

    Wavefield extrapolation in pseudoacoustic orthorhombic anisotropic media suffers from wave-mode coupling and stability limitations in the parameter range. We use the dispersion relation for scalar wave propagation in pseudoacoustic orthorhombic media to model acoustic wavefields. The wavenumber-domain application of the Laplacian operator allows us to propagate the P-waves exclusively, without imposing any conditions on the parameter range of stability. It also allows us to avoid dispersion artifacts commonly associated with evaluating the Laplacian operator in space domain using practical finite-difference stencils. To handle the corresponding space-wavenumber mixed-domain operator, we apply the low-rank approximation approach. Considering the number of parameters necessary to describe orthorhombic anisotropy, the low-rank approach yields space-wavenumber decomposition of the extrapolator operator that is dependent on space location regardless of the parameters, a feature necessary for orthorhombic anisotropy. Numerical experiments that the proposed wavefield extrapolator is accurate and practically free of dispersion. Furthermore, there is no coupling of qSv and qP waves because we use the analytical dispersion solution corresponding to the P-wave.

  14. Lance for injecting highly-loaded coal slurries into the blast furnace

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Illuminati, D.

    1991-10-29

    A lance is used to inject fuel oil into a blast furnace. This simple design permits conversion of coal water and coal tar slurries to a fine mist at very low flow rates. This design prevents the build-up of deposits which increases service life and steadies the flow rate.

  15. Single stage high pressure centrifugal slurry pump

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, John W.; Bonin, John H.; Daniel, Arnold D.

    1984-03-27

    Apparatus is shown for feeding a slurry to a pressurized housing. An impeller that includes radial passages is mounted in the loose fitting housing. The impeller hub is connected to a drive means and a slurry supply means which extends through the housing. Pressured gas is fed into the housing for substantially enveloping the impeller in a bubble of gas.

  16. Use of radiation-induced polymers in cement slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knight, B.L.; Rhudy, J.S.; Gogarty, W.B.

    1976-01-01

    Water loss from cement slurries is reduced by incorporating within a cement slurry a polymer obtained as a product of radiation-induced polymerization of acrylamide and/or methacrylamide and acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and/or alkali metal salts thereof. The polymerization is preferably carried out in 10-60 percent aqueous monomer solution with gamma radiation. The aqueous monomer solution preferably contains 25-99 percent acrylamide and 75-1 percent sodium acrylate. The polymer can be present in concentration of about 0.001 to about 3.0 weight percent, based on the aqueous phase of the slurry

  17. Lusatian lignite. Decisions for the future; Lausitzer Braunkohle. Entscheidungen fuer die Zukunft

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daehnert, Detlev [Vattenfall Europe Mining AG, Cottbus (Germany); Vattenfall Europe Generation AG und Co. KG, Cottbus (Germany); Ketzmer, Wolfgang [Vattenfall Europe Generation AG und Co. KG, Cottbus (Germany)

    2008-07-15

    During the past months a number of important decisions regarding the future of the Lusatian lignite mining areas have been made or launched. In the focus is the concept of the long-term opencast mine and power plant development. Essential part of the concept is the strategy for meeting future challenges of climate change policy. CCS is the key for it. It is expected, that the CCS technology will be commercially available after 2020. Another important aspect is among others the use of the priority areas of the Welzow-Sued and Nochten opencast mined. The corresponding long-term lignite mining planning procedures were opened in autumn 2007. The plans of the company contain clear and reliable statements regarding the long-term opencast mine development until 2050. However, all decisions the company makes are focussing on putting people and their needs first. Solutions for mining related questions and requirements are jointly developed with the people of the region. Communities in direct neighbourhood to opencast mines are safely protected against immissions by structural and organisational measures. The principles of socially responsible resettlements set the framework of constructive and trustful co-acting of the people concerned and the company very early. The future post-mining landscape offers alternative utilization forms providing employment for many people. Economic development of the region is an important aspect of the company's activities. Under the headline ''Energy region Lusatia'', representatives of Vattenfall, different educational institutions, authorities and the politics have joined forces to formulate a strategic target for the future development of Lusatia. Sustainable development of lignite-based power generation to meet future climate change policy, development of energy industrial know-how and the use of other fuels are important issues. The results are visible. Lignite takes a solid place in the German Energy mix - it

  18. Sorption of heavy metals on lignite impregnated with chitosan

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Havelcová, Martina; Mizera, Jiří; Machovič, V.; Borecká, Lenka; Přibyl, Oldřich; Krausová, Ivana

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 10, č. 1 (2013), s. 105-110 ISSN 1214-9705 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP108/12/G108 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 ; RVO:61389005 Keywords : lignite * chitosan * heavy metals * sorption Subject RIV: DJ - Water Pollution ; Quality Impact factor: 0.667, year: 2013 http://www.irsm.cas.cz/index_en.php?page=acta_detail_doi&id=19

  19. Radon measurements concerning engineering-geological problems in lignite mining

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heinicke, J

    1986-07-01

    Radon measurements have been carried out by the aid of solid-state track detectors at the highwall of a lignite mine in order to forecast the eventual course of a landslide. The measured radon distributions and their changes as a function of time indicated that the slope was geodynamically active, but it was not possible to forecast the rate of sliding.

  20. Methane Fermentation of Slurry with Chemical and Biological Additive

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Smurzyńska

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The problem of proper slurry management is primarily present in intensive livestock production. Industrialized livestock farms generate enormous quantities of manure droppings in a livestock-litter-free system. The traditional management of slurry is made by using it as a fertilizer. Alternative techniques used for neutralizing the detrimental effect of slurry are based on the use of chemical and biological additives, as well as by introducing aerobic environment through aerobic or anaerobic digestion, leading to methane fermentation. In the experiment, cattle manure was used, which came from the Przybroda farm belonging to the University of Life Sciences in Poznan. The aim of the study was to determine the biogas yield of slurry using the chemical and biological additive available on the Polish market. Mesophilic and thermophilic fermentation was used for the indication of the effectiveness of the employed fermentation process. The slurry was supplemented by a biological and chemical additive, i.e. effective microorganisms and – PRP, respectively. The experiment allowed to achieve a higher biogas yield during the use of effective microorganisms.

  1. Toxicity Evaluation of Pig Slurry Using Luminescent Bacteria and Zebrafish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenyan Chen

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Biogas slurry has become a serious pollution problem and anaerobic digestion is widely applied to pig manure treatment for environmental protection and energy recovery. To evaluate environmental risk of the emission of biogas slurry, luminescent bacteria (Vibrio fischeri, larvae and embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio were used to detect the acute and development toxicity of digested and post-treated slurry. Then the ability of treatment process was evaluated. The results showed that digested slurry displayed strong toxicity to both zebrafish and luminescent bacteria, while the EC50 for luminescent bacteria and the LC50 for larvae were only 6.81% (v/v and 1.95% (v/v respectively, and embryonic development was inhibited at just 1% (v/v. Slurry still maintained a high level of toxicity although it had been treated by membrane bioreactor (MBR, while the LC50 of larvae was 75.23% (v/v and there was a little effect on the development of embryos and V. fischeri; the results also revealed that the zebrafish larvae are more sensitive than embryos and luminescent bacteria to pig slurry. Finally, we also found the toxicity removal rate was higher than 90% after the treatment of MBR according to toxicity tests. In conclusion, further treatment should be used in pig slurry disposal or reused of final effluent.

  2. Fluidized bed combustion with the use of Greek solid fuels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kakaras Emmanuel

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper is an overview of the results obtained up to date from the combustion and co-combustion activities with Greek brown coal in different installations, both in semi-industrial and laboratory scale. Combustion tests with Greek lignite were realized in three different Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC facilities. Low rank lignite was burned in a pilot scale facility of approx. 100kW thermal capacity, located in Athens (NTUA and a semi-industrial scale of 1.2 MW thermal capacity, located at RWE's power station Niederaussem in Germany. Co-combustion tests with Greek xylitic lignite and waste wood were carried out in the 1 MWth CFBC installation of AE&E, in Austria. Lab-scale co-combustion tests of Greek pre-dried lignite with biomass were accomplished in a bubbling fluidized bed in order to investigate ash melting problems. The obtained results of all aforementioned activities showed that fluidized bed is the appropriate combustion technology to efficiently exploit the low quality Greek brown coal either alone or in conjunction with biomass species.

  3. Upland and wetland vegetation establishment on coal slurry in northern Missouri

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skeel, V.A.; Nawrot, J.R.

    1998-01-01

    Since the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory's (CWRL) Mined Land Reclamation Program's first establishment of a wetland on slurry in 1976, industry, state, and federal agency interest in reclamation alternatives for inactive slurry has increased. CWRL has been involved in pre-reclamation site characterization and monitoring for inactive slurry impoundments throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Washington. Geochemical site characterization of three slurry impoundments at the AECI Bee Veer Mine located near Macon, Missouri began in April 1990. A substrate sampling grid was established for all slurry impoundments with a centerline orientated parallel to the discharge to decant flow pattern. Surface (0--6 in.) and subsurface (30--36 in.) slurry samples were collected annually and analyzed for acid-base balance, immediate acidity macro- and micro-nutrients, potential phytotoxic metallic ions and salts, and texture. Water table elevations and water quality were monitored quarterly from shallow (≤12 ft.) piezometers. General reclamation plans included annual (3 years) incremental limestone amendments (35--50 tons/acre) and direct vegetation establishment. Cool and warm season grasses dominate vegetation cover in upland habitats (slurry cell RDA1) while wetland habitats (palustrine emergent seasonally-permanently inundated) have been established in slurry cells (RDA2 and RDA3). Isolated hot spots continue to be amended with limestone and supplemental vegetation establishment is scheduled

  4. Simple technologies for on-farm composting of cattle slurry solid fraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brito, L.M., E-mail: miguelbrito@esa.ipvc.pt [Escola Superior Agraria, Instituto Politecnico de Viana do Castelo, Refoios, 4990-706 Ponte de Lima (Portugal) and Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), IPB, Campus de St Apolonia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Braganca (Portugal); Mourao, I. [Escola Superior Agraria, Instituto Politecnico de Viana do Castelo, Refoios, 4990-706 Ponte de Lima (Portugal) and Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), IPB, Campus de St Apolonia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Braganca (Portugal); Coutinho, J., E-mail: j_coutin@utad.pt [C. Quimica, DeBA, EC Vida e Ambiente, Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, ap 1013, 5001-911 Vila Real (Portugal); Smith, S.R., E-mail: s.r.smith@imperial.ac.uk [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

    2012-07-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple management techniques were examined for composting slurry solid fraction. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Composting slurry solids was effective without bulking agents, turning or rewetting. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Maximum rates of organic matter destruction were observed in short piles. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Thermophilic temperatures in tall piles maximised sanitation and moisture reduction. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The simple compost management approach maximised N retention and agronomic value. - Abstract: Composting technologies and control systems have reached an advanced stage of development, but these are too complex and expensive for most agricultural practitioners for treating livestock slurries. The development of simple, but robust and cost-effective techniques for composting animal slurries is therefore required to realise the potential benefits of waste sanitation and soil improvement associated with composted livestock manures. Cattle slurry solid fraction (SF) was collected at the rates of 4 m{sup 3} h{sup -1} and 1 m{sup 3} h{sup -1} and composted in tall (1.7 m) and short (1.2 m) static piles, to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics and nutrient dynamics of SF during composting without addition of bulking agent materials, and without turning or water addition. Highest maximum temperatures (62-64 Degree-Sign C) were measured in tall piles compared to short piles (52 Degree-Sign C). However, maximum rates of organic matter (OM) destruction were observed at mesophilic temperature ranges in short piles, compared to tall piles, whereas thermophilic temperatures in tall piles maximised sanitation and enhanced moisture reduction. Final OM losses were within the range of 520-660 g kg{sup -1} dry solids and the net loss of OM significantly (P < 0.001) increased nutrient concentrations during the composting period. An advanced degree of stabilization of the SF was indicated by low final

  5. Modeling and Simulation on NOx and N2O Formation in Co-combustion of Low-rank Coal and Palm Kernel Shell

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahidin Mahidin

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available NOx and N2O emissions from coal combustion are claimed as the major contributors for the acid rain, photochemical smog, green house and ozone depletion problems. Based on the facts, study on those emissions formation is interest topic in the combustion area. In this paper, theoretical study by modeling and simulation on NOx and N2O formation in co-combustion of low-rank coal and palm kernel shell has been done. Combustion model was developed by using the principle of chemical-reaction equilibrium. Simulation on the model in order to evaluate the composition of the flue gas was performed by minimization the Gibbs free energy. The results showed that by introduced of biomass in coal combustion can reduce the NOx concentration in considerably level. Maximum NO level in co-combustion of low-rank coal and palm kernel shell with fuel composition 1:1 is 2,350 ppm, low enough compared to single low-rank coal combustion up to 3,150 ppm. Moreover, N2O is less than 0.25 ppm in all cases. Keywords: low-rank coal, N2O emission, NOx emission, palm kernel shell

  6. Reclamation of a lignite combustion waste disposal site with alders (Alnus sp.): assessment of tree growth and nutrient status within 10 years of the experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietrzykowski, Marcin; Woś, Bartłomiej; Pająk, Marek; Wanic, Tomasz; Krzaklewski, Wojciech; Chodak, Marcin

    2018-06-01

    Combustion wastes are characterised by extremely low N contents. Therefore, introduction of nitrogen-fixing species at the first stage of their biological reclamation is required. This paper presents an assessment of the growth parameters of alders (Alnus sp.) 10 years after their introduction to a disposal site of lignite combustion waste in Central Poland. Black (Alnus glutinosa) and grey alders (Alnus incana) were planted directly in the combustion waste. The soil amendment included three variants: control with pure combustion waste, admixture of lignite culm and addition of acid sand. Both alder species displayed good growth parameters comparable to those of alders in natural habitats. However, black alder had better growth parameters, such as stand density index (SDI), diameter at breast height (DBH) and height (H) than grey alder. The lignite amendment exerted a positive effect on tree growth, reflected in a higher SDI and H, whereas the acid sand amendment did not affect any of the growth parameters of the studied alder species. Despite the good growth parameters, the measured N:P and N:K ratios in the alder leaves largely differed from the optimal values indicating insufficient P and K supply at the combustion waste disposal site. This may pose a threat to further development of the introduced tree plantings. The introduction of alders along with the lignite addition into the planting holes seems to be a successful method of combustion waste revegetation.

  7. Slurry circulation after cement compression operations; Circulacao de pasta apos operacoes de compressao de cimento

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Costa, Clavio Roberto S [PETROBRAS, BA (Brazil). Regiao de Producao da Bahia. Divisao Regional de Complementacao

    1994-07-01

    In the traditional low pressure cement compression method, after pressure stabilization we wait for the setting and remove the hardened cement with a rock bit. The method described here suggests that following pressure stabilization, the slurry must be removed from the casing with reverse circulation, thus excluding the whole process of cutting hardened cement, optimizing rig time and equipment wear, and anticipating oil production. This work describes this experience in Reconcavo basin, Potiguar basin, and Campos basin, production regions of PETROBRAS, and suggests slurry parameters and a methodology to employ the method. (author)

  8. Environmental consequences of future biogas technologies based on separated slurry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamelin, Lorie; Wesnæs, Marianne; Wenzel, Henrik; Petersen, Bjørn M

    2011-07-01

    This consequential life cycle assessment study highlights the key environmental aspects of producing biogas from separated pig and cow slurry, a relatively new but probable scenario for future biogas production, as it avoids the reliance on constrained carbon cosubstrates. Three scenarios involving different slurry separation technologies have been assessed and compared to a business-as-usual reference slurry management scenario. The results show that the environmental benefits of such biogas production are highly dependent upon the efficiency of the separation technology used to concentrate the volatile solids in the solid fraction. The biogas scenario involving the most efficient separation technology resulted in a dry matter separation efficiency of 87% and allowed a net reduction of the global warming potential of 40%, compared to the reference slurry management. This figure comprises the whole slurry life cycle, including the flows bypassing the biogas plant. This study includes soil carbon balances and a method for quantifying the changes in yield resulting from increased nitrogen availability as well as for quantifying mineral fertilizers displacement. Soil carbon balances showed that between 13 and 50% less carbon ends up in the soil pool with the different biogas alternatives, as opposed to the reference slurry management.

  9. Effect of lapping slurry on critical cutting depth of spinel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Zhan-kui; Wang, Zhuan-kui; Zhu, Yong-wei; Su, Jian-xiu

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Measured spinel wafers’ hardness and crack length in different slurries. • Evaluated the softened layer thickness in different slurries. • Discussed the effect of slurries on critical cutting depth of spinel. - Abstract: The critical cutting depth for lapping process is very important because it influences the mode of material removal. In this paper, a serial of microscopic indentation experiments were carried out for measuring spinel wafers’ hardness and crack length in different lapping slurries. Their critical cutting depth and fracture toughness were calculated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was also employed to study the surface chemical composition and softened layer thickness of wafers in different slurries. Experimental results indicate that the softened layers of spinel wafers are formed due to the corrosion of lapping slurries, which leads to a lower hardness and a larger fracture toughness of samples, and increases the critical cutting depth. Among them, the critical cutting depth in ethylene glycol solution is the largest and up to 21.8 nm. The increase of critical cutting depth is helpful to modify the surface quality of the work-piece being lapped via ductile removal mode instead of brittle fracture mode

  10. Method and apparatus for in-situ drying investigation and optimization of slurry drying methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Beth L.; Daniel, Claus; Howe, Jane Y.; Kiggans, Jr, James O.; Sabau, Adrian S.; Wood, III, David L.; Kalnaus, Sergiy

    2016-05-10

    A method of drying casted slurries that includes calculating drying conditions from an experimental model for a cast slurry and forming a cast film. An infrared heating probe is positioned on one side of the casted slurry and a thermal probe is positioned on an opposing side of the casted slurry. The infrared heating probe may control the temperature of the casted slurry during drying. The casted slurry may be observed with an optical microscope, while applying the drying conditions from the experimental model. Observing the casted slurry includes detecting the incidence of micro-structural changes in the casted slurry during drying to determine if the drying conditions from the experimental model are optimal.

  11. Effect of flotation on preparation of coal-water slurries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ding, K.; Laskowski, J.S. [University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    In order to study the effect of flotation reagents on the properties of coal-water slurry, a sub-bituminous coal was cleaned via either forward flotation or reverse flotation. The froth product from the forward flotation, obtained with the use of diesel oil and MIBC, and the tailings of the reverse flotation, carried out with dextrin-tannic acid depressants and dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride collector, were used in the preparation of coal-water slurries. It was shown that while it was possible to obtain the coal-water slurry with a high-solids content from the coal rendered hydrophilic (tailings from the coal reverse flotation), in the case of the hydrophobic product (froth product from the forward flotation) a dispersing agent was required to obtain the coal-water slurry of the same high-solids content.

  12. Low-rank canonical-tensor decomposition of potential energy surfaces: application to grid-based diagrammatic vibrational Green's function theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rai, Prashant; Sargsyan, Khachik; Najm, Habib; Hermes, Matthew R.; Hirata, So

    2017-09-01

    A new method is proposed for a fast evaluation of high-dimensional integrals of potential energy surfaces (PES) that arise in many areas of quantum dynamics. It decomposes a PES into a canonical low-rank tensor format, reducing its integral into a relatively short sum of products of low-dimensional integrals. The decomposition is achieved by the alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm, requiring only a small number of single-point energy evaluations. Therefore, it eradicates a force-constant evaluation as the hotspot of many quantum dynamics simulations and also possibly lifts the curse of dimensionality. This general method is applied to the anharmonic vibrational zero-point and transition energy calculations of molecules using the second-order diagrammatic vibrational many-body Green's function (XVH2) theory with a harmonic-approximation reference. In this application, high dimensional PES and Green's functions are both subjected to a low-rank decomposition. Evaluating the molecular integrals over a low-rank PES and Green's functions as sums of low-dimensional integrals using the Gauss-Hermite quadrature, this canonical-tensor-decomposition-based XVH2 (CT-XVH2) achieves an accuracy of 0.1 cm-1 or higher and nearly an order of magnitude speedup as compared with the original algorithm using force constants for water and formaldehyde.

  13. REMOVAL OF TRICHLOROACETIC ACID FROM THE AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS USING NATURAL AND ACTIVATED LIGNITE COALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hüseyin GÜLENSOY

    1998-02-01

    Full Text Available In these studies, a typical lignite coal found near Istanbul (Yeniköy and its activated products were used to adsorb TCA from aqueous solutions. Particle sizes of coal samples and the concentrations of TCA solutions were chosen as parameters against the fixed amount of adsorbent. The maximum efficiency has been obtained for the coal having (-120 + 150 mesh size fraction activated by heating. As a result, it was shown that these kinds of lignite coals could be used as a good adsorbent. In addition, it was also proved that both the removal and recovery of TCA from some waste waters would easily be possible.

  14. Structural insights from boron tribromide ether cleavage into lignites and low maturity coals from the New Zealand Coal Band

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glombitza, Clemens; Mangelsdorf, Kai; Horsfield, Brian

    2011-01-01

    structure, boron tribromide (BBr3) ether cleavage was applied to a series of lignite and coal samples of different maturity (R0 0.27–0.80%) obtained from coal mines and natural outcrops from the North and South Island of New Zealand. Terminal ether-bound alcohols rapidly decrease during diagenesis and occur...... over geological time scales. Polyether compounds were detected with chain length up to five carbon atoms. After a small decrease during the diagenetic phase these compounds occur in relatively high concentrations, even in the main catagenetic stage. This suggests that these linkage structures represent...

  15. Development of Syringe/Bottle Hybrids for Sampling Slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coleman, C.J.

    1998-01-01

    A convenient and effective sample bottle system based on simple modifications of disposable plastic syringes and bottles has been devised and tested for slurry samples. Syringe/ bottle hybrids (hereafter referred to as syringe bottles) have the convenience of regular flat-bottom bottles with screw cap closures. In addition, the syringe imparts a sliding and adjustable bottom to the bottle that forces the entire contents from the bottle. The system was designed especially to collect samples for high temperature work-ups of DWPF slurry samples. The syringe bottles together with fixed-bottom sample vial inserts would provide the DWPF with convenient and reliable methods for dealing with slurry samples

  16. Theoretical Properties for Neural Networks with Weight Matrices of Low Displacement Rank

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Liang; Liao, Siyu; Wang, Yanzhi; Li, Zhe; Tang, Jian; Pan, Victor; Yuan, Bo

    2017-01-01

    Recently low displacement rank (LDR) matrices, or so-called structured matrices, have been proposed to compress large-scale neural networks. Empirical results have shown that neural networks with weight matrices of LDR matrices, referred as LDR neural networks, can achieve significant reduction in space and computational complexity while retaining high accuracy. We formally study LDR matrices in deep learning. First, we prove the universal approximation property of LDR neural networks with a ...

  17. Zeolite Combined with Alum and Polyaluminum Chloride Mixed with Agricultural Slurries Reduces Carbon Losses in Runoff from Grassed Soil Boxes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murnane, J G; Brennan, R B; Fenton, O; Healy, M G

    2016-11-01

    Carbon (C) losses from agricultural soils to surface waters can migrate through water treatment plants and result in the formation of disinfection by-products, which are potentially harmful to human health. This study aimed to quantify total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic C losses in runoff after application of dairy slurry, pig slurry, or milk house wash water (MWW) to land and to mitigate these losses through coamendment of the slurries with zeolite (2.36-3.35 mm clinoptilolite) and liquid polyaluminum chloride (PAC) (10% AlO) for dairy and pig slurries or liquid aluminum sulfate (alum) (8% AlO) for MWW. Four treatments under repeated 30-min simulated rainfall events (9.6 mm h) were examined in a laboratory study using grassed soil runoff boxes (0.225 m wide, 1 m long; 10% slope): control soil, unamended slurries, PAC-amended dairy and pig slurries (13.3 and 11.7 kg t, respectively), alum-amended MWW (3.2 kg t), combined zeolite and PAC-amended dairy (160 and 13.3 kg t zeolite and PAC, respectively) and pig slurries (158 and 11.7 kg t zeolite and PAC, respectively), and combined zeolite and alum-amended MWW (72 and 3.2 kg t zeolite and alum, respectively). The unamended and amended slurries were applied at net rates of 31, 34, and 50 t ha for pig and dairy slurries and MWW, respectively. Significant reductions of TOC in runoff compared with unamended slurries were measured for PAC-amended dairy and pig slurries (52 and 56%, respectively) but not for alum-amended MWW. Dual zeolite and alum-amended MWW significantly reduced TOC in runoff compared with alum amendment only. We conclude that use of PAC-amended dairy and pig slurries and dual zeolite and alum-amended MWW, although effective, may not be economically viable to reduce TOC losses from organic slurries given the relatively low amounts of TOC measured in runoff from unamended slurries compared with the amounts applied. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of

  18. Pressurized Vessel Slurry Pumping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pound, C.R.

    2001-01-01

    This report summarizes testing of an alternate ''pressurized vessel slurry pumping'' apparatus. The principle is similar to rural domestic water systems and ''acid eggs'' used in chemical laboratories in that material is extruded by displacement with compressed air

  19. CFD simulation and experimental analysis of erosion in a slurry tank test rig

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bart Hans-Jörg

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Erosion occurring in equipment dealing with liquid-solid mixtures such as pipeline parts, slurry pumps, liquid-solid stirred reactors and slurry mixers in various industrial applications results in operational failure and economic costs. A slurry erosion tank test rig is designed and was built to investigate the erosion rates of materials and the influencing parameters such as flow velocity and turbulence, flow angle, solid particle concentration, particles size distribution, hardness and target material properties on the material loss and erosion profiles. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD tool is used to simulate the erosion rate of sample plates in the liquid-solid slurry mixture in a cylindrical tank. The predictions were made in a steady state and also transient manner, applying the flow at the room temperature and using water and sand as liquid and solid phases, respectively. The multiple reference frame method (MRF is applied to simulate the flow behavior and liquid-solid interactions in the slurry tank test rig. The MRF method is used since it is less demanding than sliding mesh method (SM and gives satisfactory results. The computational domain is divided into three regions: a rotational or MRF zone containing the mixer, a rotational zone (MRF containing the erosion plates and a static zone (outer liquid zone. It is observed that changing the MRF zone diameter and height causes a very low impact on the results. The simulated results were obtained for two kinds of hard metals namely stainless steel and ST-50 under some various operating conditions and are found in good agreement with the experimental results.

  20. Fischer-Tropsch Slurry Reactor modeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soong, Y.; Gamwo, I.K.; Harke, F.W. [Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, PA (United States)] [and others

    1995-12-31

    This paper reports experimental and theoretical results on hydrodynamic studies. The experiments were conducted in a hot-pressurized Slurry-Bubble Column Reactor (SBCR). It includes experimental results of Drakeol-10 oil/nitrogen/glass beads hydrodynamic study and the development of an ultrasonic technique for measuring solids concentration. A model to describe the flow behavior in reactors was developed. The hydrodynamic properties in a 10.16 cm diameter bubble column with a perforated-plate gas distributor were studied at pressures ranging from 0.1 to 1.36 MPa, and at temperatures from 20 to 200{degrees}C, using a dual hot-wire probe with nitrogen, glass beads, and Drakeol-10 oil as the gas, solid, and liquid phase, respectively. It was found that the addition of 20 oil wt% glass beads in the system has a slight effect on the average gas holdup and bubble size. A well-posed three-dimensional model for bed dynamics was developed from an ill-posed model. The new model has computed solid holdup distributions consistent with experimental observations with no artificial {open_quotes}fountain{close_quotes} as predicted by the earlier model. The model can be applied to a variety of multiphase flows of practical interest. An ultrasonic technique is being developed to measure solids concentration in a three-phase slurry reactor. Preliminary measurements have been made on slurries consisting of molten paraffin wax, glass beads, and nitrogen bubbles at 180 {degrees}C and 0.1 MPa. The data show that both the sound speed and attenuation are well-defined functions of both the solid and gas concentrations in the slurries. The results suggest possibilities to directly measure solids concentration during the operation of an autoclave reactor containing molten wax.

  1. Evaluation of plant available nitrogen in concentrated pig slurry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramirez, M.; Comas, J.; Pujola, M.

    2009-01-01

    In Northeast Spin the expansion of the pig industry has brought as a result the production of vast amounts of pig slurry that exceeds field crops fertilization needs and consequently has contributed to the environmental deterioration of the region particularly ground water with NO 3 pollution. Under such circumstances, it is needed to treat and/or export pig slurry. During the last year the implantation of cogeneration plants that take advantage of the surplus of energy to produce concentrate pig slurry by water evaporation that could easily transported. (Author)

  2. Possibilities of utilizing the Hungarian reserves of lignite in thermal power stations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faur, G

    1978-01-01

    The Upper Pannonian lignite reserves subjected to study are suited to opencast mining with respect to their depth and thickness. All of them are characterized by occurrence in multiple beds, the thickness of which however is different per area. The dirt between the strata consists mostly of sand, to a lesser degree of clay or of materials between the former. Continuously operating dredges can be used for working, the types depending on the thickness of the overburden and the technology to be applied. Deep wells with submerged pumps may be employed for drainage. High-capacity mining districts can be operated at the areas subjected to study, new districts must however be opened up to increase the productive capacity beyond a certain limit. Establishment of a significant power station capacity is made possible by the explored lignite reserves. (In Hungarian)

  3. Volatiles and char combustion rates of demineralised lignite and wood blends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yilgin, Melek; Pehlivan, Dursun

    2009-01-01

    Today, much interest is given to the utilisation of materials of plant origin as substitutions of fossil fuels in meeting energy needs to reduce the level of atmospheric pollutant emissions and global warming threat, and emphasis has been placed on the co-combustion of coal and biomass. In this study, volatiles and char combustion behaviour of the fuel pellets composed from demineralised lignite and poplar wood sawdust, were investigated in a cylindrical wire mesh basket placed in a preheated tube furnace. The results have shown that ignition times of the pellets decreased with the burning temperature and shortened further due to demineralisation of lignite. Volatiles combustion rates of the samples did not correlate well with combustion times. However, they can be correlated with their respective proximate volatile matter contents. Char burnout times decreased with increasing combustion rates and correlated well with the respective proximate fixed carbon contents of the samples. Deviations were more considerable in the case of rate data. (author)

  4. Technical Note: Interleaved Bipolar Acquisition and Low-rank Reconstruction for Water-Fat Separation in MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, JaeJin; Park, HyunWook

    2018-05-17

    To acquire interleaved bipolar data and reconstruct the full data using low-rank property for water fat separation. Bipolar acquisition suffers from issues related to gradient switching, the opposite gradient polarities, and other system imperfections, which prevent accurate water-fat separation. In this study, an interleaved bipolar acquisition scheme and a low-rank reconstruction method were proposed to reduce issues from the bipolar gradients while achieving a short imaging time. The proposed interleaved bipolar acquisition scheme collects echo-time signals from both gradient polarities; however, the sequence increases the imaging time. To reduce the imaging time, the signals were subsampled at every dimension of k-space. The low-rank property of the bipolar acquisition was defined and exploited to estimate the full data from the acquired subsampled data. To eliminate the bipolar issues, in the proposed method, the water-fat separation was performed separately for each gradient polarity, and the results for the positive and negative gradient polarities were combined after the water-fat separation. A phantom study and in-vivo experiments were conducted on a 3T Siemens Verio system. The results for the proposed method were compared with the results of the fully sampled interleaved bipolar acquisition and Soliman's method, which was the previous water-fat separation approach for reducing the issues of bipolar gradients and accelerating the interleaved bipolar acquisition. The proposed method provided accurate water and fat images without the issues of bipolar gradients and demonstrated a better performance compared with the results of the previous methods. The water-fat separation using the bipolar acquisition has several benefits including a short echo-spacing time. However, it suffers from bipolar-gradient issues such as strong gradient switching, system imperfection, and eddy current effects. This study demonstrated that accurate water-fat separated images can

  5. The Settling and Compaction of Nuclear Waste Slurries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MACLEAN, G.T.

    1999-01-01

    The settling and compaction of simulated and real nuclear waste slurries were extensively studied. Experiments were carried out with simulated wastes at laboratory and large-scale sizes, and the results compared. A model of settling was derived and a method developed to correlate and scale-up settling data for different slurries and vessel sizes

  6. Co-liquefaction of Elbistan Lignite with Manure Biomass; Part 2 - Effect of Biomass Type, Waste to Lignite Ratio and Solid to Liquid Ratio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karaca, Hüseyin; Koyunoglu, Cemil

    2017-12-01

    Most coal hydrogenation processes require a large quantity of hydrogen. In general, a coal derived liquid such as anthracene oil was used as a hydrogen donor solvent. Tetralin, partially hydrogenated pyrene, phenantrene and coal-derived solvents, which contain hydroaromatic compounds, are efficient solvents to donate hydrogen. In an attempt to reduce the high cost of hydrogen, part of the hydrogen was replaced by a low cost hydrogen donor solvent. This must be hydrogenated during or before the process and recycled. To reduce the cost of hydrogen donor vehicles instead of liquids recycled from the liquefaction process or several biomass types, industrial by products, liquid fractions derived from oil sands bitumen were successfully used to solubilize a coal from the past. In an attempt to reduce the high cost of hydrogen, part of the hydrogen was replaced by a low cost hydrogen donor solvent. However, when hydrogen is supplied from the hydroaromatic structures present in the solvent, the activity of coal minerals is too low to rehydrogenate the solvent in-situ. Nevertheless, a decrease of using oxygen, in addition to enhanced usage of the hydrogen supply by using various waste materials might lead to a decrease of the cost of the liquefaction procedure. So instead of using tetralin another feeding material such as biomass is becoming another solution improving hydrogen donor substances. Most of the liquefaction process were carried out in a batch reactor, in which the residence time of the liquefaction products is long enough to favour the retrogressive reactions, early studies which are related to liquefaction of coal with biomass generally focus on the synergetic effects of coal while biomass added. Early studies which are related to liquefaction of coal with biomass generally focus on the synergetic effects of coal while biomass added. Alternatively, to understand the hydrogen transfer from biomass to coal, in this study, Elbistan Lignite (EL) with manure, tea

  7. Agronomic valuing of slurry for management in common

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomez, M.; Estevez, M. D.; Faz, A.; Olivares, A. B.; Climent, V.

    2009-01-01

    Due to the intensification of livestock production and the concentration of holdings in specific areas, has disrupted the balance between production and utilization of swine waste in agriculture. given the volume of slurry generated in Murcia, and the total cultivable area and considering the legislation, RD 261/1996, which allows a maximum application of 170 kg N/ha year in areas designated as vulnerable, it is estimated that to implement the slurry generated in the region in a year, would require only half the arable land devoted to irrigation. In this way, this study has included detailed monitoring of the effect of the application of ping slurry at a concentration recommended on the properties and chemical, physical and biological properties of soil, water and plant to determine the influence of slurry on the reserve of organic matter in each of these crops, as well as contaminated soils, through the creation of a pilot system for managing livestock waste in accordance with preventive measures that allow for their optimal use, without risk of contamination for the system water-soil-plant. (Author 6 refs.

  8. Combustion characteristics of a charcoal slurry in a direct injection diesel engine and the impact on the injection system performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soloiu, Valentin; Lewis, Jeffery; Yoshihara, Yoshinobu; Nishiwaki, Kazuie

    2011-01-01

    The paper presents the research results pertaining to the renewable biomass charcoal-diesel slurries and their use as alternative fuels for combustion in diesel generating plants. The utilization of charcoal slurry fuel aims to reduce diesel oil consumption and would decrease fossil green house emissions into the atmosphere. The paper investigates the formulation, emulsification, sprays, combustion, injection system operation, and subsequent wear with charcoal-diesel slurries. In the research, cedar wood chips were used for the production of charcoal to be emulsified with diesel oil. The slurry's viscosity of 27 cP achieved the target ( o C. Charcoal slurry displayed a high vaporization rate of 75% by wt. at 300 o C. Engine investigations showed that the top combustion pressure at 1200 rpm and 100% load (7.8 brake mean effective pressure (bmep)) was 79 bar for diesel fuel and 78 bar for the charcoal slurry fuel. From the injection and heat release history was found an ignition delay of 1.7 ms for diesel that increased to 2.1 ms for the slurry fuel. A higher net heat release for charcoal slurry was observed, up to 180 J/crank angle degrees (CAD) compared with the diesel at 145 J/CAD The maximum combustion temperature reached 2300 K for diesel and 2330 K for slurry. The heat fluxes for both fuels have similar values and trends during the entire cycle showing the good compatibility of charcoal slurry with a diesel type combustion and low soot radiation. The exhaust temperatures were about 40-50 o C higher for charcoal slurry at 19 o before top dead center (BTDC) injection timing. The engine's bsfc increased as expected due to the lower heating value of the slurry fuel. The smoke Bosch no. was lower for the slurry fuel at any load, and is believed that the oxygen from the charcoal had a beneficial effect. The measured emissions of slurry fuel were better at 13 o BTDC than those of diesel fuel with the original engine settings and the remaining 6-10% oxygen content in

  9. Corrosion behavior of austempered ductile iron (ADI) in iron ore slurry

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Corrosion behavior of austempered ductile iron (ADI) in iron ore slurry was studied as a function of the microstructure developed by austempering at 380 and 300°C for different exposure time in the slurry. The corrosion rates of the ADI balls immersed in the iron ore slurry was determined using weight loss method.

  10. The hydrogasification of lignite and sub-bituminous coals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatt, B.; Fallon, P. T.; Steinberg, M.

    1981-02-01

    A North Dakota lignite and a New Mexico sub-bituminous coal have been hydrogenated at up to 900°C and 2500 psi hydrogen pressure. Yields of gaseous hydrocarbons and aromatic liquids have been studied as a function of temperature, pressure, residence time, feed rates and H2/coal ratio. Coal feed rates in excess of 10 lb/hr have been achieved in the 1 in. I. D.×8 ft reactor and methane concentration as high as 55% have been observed. A four-step reaction model was developed for the production and decomposition of the hydrocarbon products. A single object function formulated from the weighted errors for the four dependent process, variables, CH4, C2H6, BTX, and oil yields, was minimized using a program containing three independent iterative techniques. The results of the nonlinear regression analysis for lignite show that a first-order chemical reaction model with respect to C conversion satisfactorily describes the dilute phase hydrogenation. The activation energy for the initial products formation was estimated to be 42,700 cal/gmole and the power of hydrogen partial pressure was found to be +0.14. The overall correlation coefficient was 0.83. The mechanism, the rate expressions, and the design curves developed can be used for scale-up and reactor design.

  11. Reprint of: Production scheduling of a lignite mine under quality and reserves uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galetakis, Michael; Roumpos, Christos; Alevizos, George; Vamvuka, Despina

    2012-01-01

    The effect of uncertainty sources to the stochastic optimization of the combined project of a new surface lignite mine exploitation and power plant operation for electricity generation is investigated. Major sources of uncertainty that were considered are the reserves and the quality of the lignite. Since probability distribution functions for these uncertainties were estimated during the detailed exploration phase of the deposit, the overall goal is then to determine the optimal capacity of the power plant and consequently the optimal production rate of the mine over the time. The optimization objective that was selected is the maximization of the net present value of the project. Emphasis is placed on the sensitivity analysis for the investigation of the effect of quality and reserves uncertainty on project optimization, on the mathematical formulation of risk attitude strategy and on increasing the efficiency of the optimization process by creating a limited set of feasible solutions applying empirical rules. The developed methodology was applied for the determination of the optimal annual production rate of a new surface lignite mine in the area of Ptolemais–Amynteon in Northern Greece. - Highlights: ► Quality and reserves uncertainty affects considerably the production scheduling. ► Stochastic optimization is greatly accelerated by incorporating Taylor's rule. ► Decisions can be made considering different risk level attitudes.

  12. A Class of Weighted Low Rank Approximation of the Positive Semidefinite Hankel Matrix

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianchao Bai

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider the weighted low rank approximation of the positive semidefinite Hankel matrix problem arising in signal processing. By using the Vandermonde representation, we firstly transform the problem into an unconstrained optimization problem and then use the nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm with the Armijo line search to solve the equivalent unconstrained optimization problem. Numerical examples illustrate that the new method is feasible and effective.

  13. Co-gasification of a lignite/waste-tyre in a moving bed

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Straka, Pavel; Bučko, Z.

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 90, č. 10 (2009), s. 1202-1206 ISSN 0378-3820 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA105/07/1407 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30460519 Keywords : co-gasification * waste-tyre * lignite Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 2.321, year: 2009

  14. Geogenic organic contaminants in the low-rank coal-bearing Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer of East Texas, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Jayeeta; Varonka, Matthew S.; Orem, William H.; Finkelman, Robert B.; Manton, William

    2017-01-01

    The organic composition of groundwater along the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in East Texas (USA), sampled from rural wells in May and September 2015, was examined as part of a larger study of the potential health and environmental effects of organic compounds derived from low-rank coals. The quality of water from the low-rank coal-bearing Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is a potential environmental concern and no detailed studies of the organic compounds in this aquifer have been published. Organic compounds identified in the water samples included: aliphatics and their fatty acid derivatives, phenols, biphenyls, N-, O-, and S-containing heterocyclic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aromatic amines, and phthalates. Many of the identified organic compounds (aliphatics, phenols, heterocyclic compounds, PAHs) are geogenic and originated from groundwater leaching of young and unmetamorphosed low-rank coals. Estimated concentrations of individual compounds ranged from about 3.9 to 0.01 μg/L. In many rural areas in East Texas, coal strata provide aquifers for drinking water wells. Organic compounds observed in groundwater are likely to be present in drinking water supplied from wells that penetrate the coal. Some of the organic compounds identified in the water samples are potentially toxic to humans, but at the estimated levels in these samples, the compounds are unlikely to cause acute health problems. The human health effects of low-level chronic exposure to coal-derived organic compounds in drinking water in East Texas are currently unknown, and continuing studies will evaluate possible toxicity.

  15. ℓ1/2-norm regularized nonnegative low-rank and sparse affinity graph for remote sensing image segmentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Shu; Zhang, Ye; Yan, Yiming; Su, Nan

    2016-10-01

    Segmentation of real-world remote sensing images is a challenge due to the complex texture information with high heterogeneity. Thus, graph-based image segmentation methods have been attracting great attention in the field of remote sensing. However, most of the traditional graph-based approaches fail to capture the intrinsic structure of the feature space and are sensitive to noises. A ℓ-norm regularization-based graph segmentation method is proposed to segment remote sensing images. First, we use the occlusion of the random texture model (ORTM) to extract the local histogram features. Then, a ℓ-norm regularized low-rank and sparse representation (LNNLRS) is implemented to construct a ℓ-regularized nonnegative low-rank and sparse graph (LNNLRS-graph), by the union of feature subspaces. Moreover, the LNNLRS-graph has a high ability to discriminate the manifold intrinsic structure of highly homogeneous texture information. Meanwhile, the LNNLRS representation takes advantage of the low-rank and sparse characteristics to remove the noises and corrupted data. Last, we introduce the LNNLRS-graph into the graph regularization nonnegative matrix factorization to enhance the segmentation accuracy. The experimental results using remote sensing images show that when compared to five state-of-the-art image segmentation methods, the proposed method achieves more accurate segmentation results.

  16. Operational experience of a 300-MW lignite-fired utility unit: environmental performance after retrofiitting of a low pressure turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tanetsakunvatana, Vicharn; Arkornsakul, P.

    2010-09-15

    The experimental data on major emissions from a 300-MW lignite-fired boiler operating under different fuel LHVs and turbine rotors are discussed. The thermal efficiency was quantified based on the heat loss method. The PM and CO2 emission rates were predicted. Specific emissions were quantified for the boiler of interest. The SO2, PM and NOx emission concentrations in flue gas were found lower than the respective emission standard. The CO2 emissions have also declined 4.65% in 2009, compared to 2008 and before. The clean development mechanism complied with UNFCCC methodology is adopted in this study responding to the global changes.

  17. Large-Scale Mercury Control Technology Testing for Lignite-Fired Utilities - Oxidation Systems for Wet FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steven A. Benson; Michael J. Holmes; Donald P. McCollor; Jill M. Mackenzie; Charlene R. Crocker; Lingbu Kong; Kevin C. Galbreath

    2007-03-31

    Mercury (Hg) control technologies were evaluated at Minnkota Power Cooperative's Milton R. Young (MRY) Station Unit 2, a 450-MW lignite-fired cyclone unit near Center, North Dakota, and TXU Energy's Monticello Steam Electric Station (MoSES) Unit 3, a 793-MW lignite--Powder River Basin (PRB) subbituminous coal-fired unit near Mt. Pleasant, Texas. A cold-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber are used at MRY and MoSES for controlling particulate and sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions, respectively. Several approaches for significantly and cost-effectively oxidizing elemental mercury (Hg{sup 0}) in lignite combustion flue gases, followed by capture in an ESP and/or FGD scrubber were evaluated. The project team involved in performing the technical aspects of the project included Babcock & Wilcox, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), the Electric Power Research Institute, and URS Corporation. Calcium bromide (CaBr{sub 2}), calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}), magnesium chloride (MgCl{sub 2}), and a proprietary sorbent enhancement additive (SEA), hereafter referred to as SEA2, were added to the lignite feeds to enhance Hg capture in the ESP and/or wet FGD. In addition, powdered activated carbon (PAC) was injected upstream of the ESP at MRY Unit 2. The work involved establishing Hg concentrations and removal rates across existing ESP and FGD units, determining costs associated with a given Hg removal efficiency, quantifying the balance-of-plant impacts of the control technologies, and facilitating technology commercialization. The primary project goal was to achieve ESP-FGD Hg removal efficiencies of {ge}55% at MRY and MoSES for about a month.

  18. Sulfur turnover and emissions during storage of cattle slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Jørgen; Andersen, Astrid J; Poulsen, Henrik Vestergaard

    2012-01-01

    Slurry acidification using sulfuric acid reduces ammonia emissions but also affects sulfur (S) cycling. Emission of sulfur is a source of malodor and reduces the sulfur fertilizer value of the slurry. We investigated the effect of sulfate and methionine amendments, alone or in combination...

  19. The rheology of cryovolcanic slurries: Motivation and phenomenology of methanol-water slurries with implications for Titan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Fang; Mitchell, Karl L.; Hays, Charles C.; Choukroun, Mathieu; Barmatz, Martin; Kargel, Jeffrey S.

    2009-08-01

    The Cassini spacecraft has revealed landforms on the surface of Titan suggested to be viscous cryovolcanic flows and possibly eruptive domes. In order to relate those surface features to the processes and chemistries that produced them, it is necessary to construct flow models, which rely on characterization of the rheological properties of the eruptants. This paper describes our initial exploratory attempts to understand the rheological characteristics of cryogenic slurries, using a 40% methanol-water mixture, as a precursor to more detailed experiments. We have devised a new automated cryogenic rotational viscometer system to more fully characterize cryovolcanic slurry rheologies. A series of measurements were performed, varying first temperature, and then strain rate, which revealed development of yield stress-like behaviors, shear-rate dependence, and thixotropic behavior, even at relatively low crystal fractions, not previously reported. At fixed shear rate our data are fit well by the Andrade equation, with the activation energy modified by a solid volume fraction. At fixed temperature, depending on shearing history, a Cross model could describe our data over a wide shear rate range. A Bingham plastic model appears to be a good constitutive model for the data measured at high shear rates when the shear was global. The yield stress like behavior implies that levee formation on cryolava flows is more likely than would be inferred from the previous studies, and may provide a partial explanation for features interpreted as steep-sided volcanic constructs on Titan.

  20. Experimental investigation of combustion of biomass slurry in an oil fired furnace

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prakash, S.V. [Mechanical Dept., M.S. Ramaiah Inst. of Tech., Bangalore (India); Shankapal, S.R. [M.S. Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies, Bangalore (India)

    2008-07-01

    An experimental investigation of combustion of biomass slurry in an oil fired furnace was carried out using pulverized coconut shell (CSP), LDO and water. The effect of equivalence ratio on the slurry composition, calorific value and the effect of exhaust gas percentage are presented. The calorific value of the biomass slurry increases with equivalence ratio initially, attains a peak value and then decreases with the increase in equivalence ratio. It is also observed that with the increase in composition of biomass slurry, the cost of the fuel and the percentage emission of CO decreases. It was found that CSP up to a blend of 20% was more convenient to be used as a slurry fuel in the furnace. (orig.)

  1. Mangrove associated lignite beds of Malvan, Konkan: Evidence for higher sea-level during the Late Tertiary (Neogene) along the west coast of India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumaran, K.P.N.; Shindikar, M.; Limaye, R.B. [Agharkar Research Inst., Pune (India)

    2004-01-25

    Fossil pneumatophores (breathing roots) of Avicennia are recovered and reported from the lignite beds exposed in Kolamb well-section near Malvan, Konkan area of western Maharashtra. The accrued palynoflora is dominated by mangroves (Avicennia, Aegialitis, Excoecaria, Rhizophora and Sonneratia). The spores of mangrove fern (Acrostichum aureum) an estuarine fungus Cirrenalia indicate that these lignites are autochthonous and deposited in a near-shore environment. Presence of foraminiferal linings (= microforaminifera), dinoflagellate cysts, a few calcareous nannofossils and scolecodonts is an irrefutable proof of marine and brackish water influence during the deposition of lignites under intertidal/tidal swampy condition (mangrove influenced) with fair input from freshwater swamps and hinterland. Freshwater-related forms, viz. Ceratopteris thalictroides, Nymphaeaceae, Ctenolophonaceae and hinterland taxa (Cullenia/Durio) of Bombacaceae along with abundance of microthyriaceous fungi in the palynoflora imply a warm humid tropical climate with high precipitation during the depositional period. The presence of Ctenolophon englerianus (= Ctenolophonidites costatus) in Kolamb lignites suggests the Late Neogene (Late Miocene-Early Pliocene) age. The occurrence of pneumatophores and associated lignite deposits about 37 m above the present mean sea-level, and much inland, clearly indicates the higher sea-level strand during Late Neogene along the west coast of India.

  2. A Generalized Robust Minimization Framework for Low-Rank Matrix Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Ze Shao

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the problem of recovering low-rank matrices which are heavily corrupted by outliers or large errors. To improve the robustness of existing recovery methods, the problem is solved by formulating it as a generalized nonsmooth nonconvex minimization functional via exploiting the Schatten p-norm (0 < p ≤1 and Lq(0 < q ≤1 seminorm. Two numerical algorithms are provided based on the augmented Lagrange multiplier (ALM and accelerated proximal gradient (APG methods as well as efficient root-finder strategies. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed generalized approach is more inclusive and effective compared with state-of-the-art methods, either convex or nonconvex.

  3. Gas migration through cement slurries analysis: A comparative laboratory study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arian Velayati

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Cementing is an essential part of every drilling operation. Protection of the wellbore from formation fluid invasion is one of the primary tasks of a cement job. Failure in this task results in catastrophic events, such as blow outs. Hence, in order to save the well and avoid risky and operationally difficult remedial cementing, slurry must be optimized to be resistant against gas migration phenomenon. In this paper, performances of the conventional slurries facing gas invasion were reviewed and compared with modified slurry containing special gas migration additive by using fluid migration analyzer device. The results of this study reveal the importance of proper additive utilization in slurry formulations. The rate of gas flow through the slurry in neat cement is very high; by using different types of additives, we observe obvious changes in the performance of the cement system. The rate of gas flow in neat class H cement was reported as 36000 ml/hr while the optimized cement formulation with anti-gas migration and thixotropic agents showed a gas flow rate of 13.8 ml/hr.

  4. Numerical Investigation of Ice Slurry Flow in a Horizontal Pipe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rawat, K. S.; Pratihar, A. K.

    2018-02-01

    In the last decade, phase changing material slurry (PCMS) gained much attention as a cooling medium due to its high energy storage capacity and transportability. However the flow of PCM slurry is a complex phenomenon as it affected by various parameters, i.e. fluid properties, velocity, particle size and concentration etc.. In the present work ice is used as a PCM and numerical investigation of heterogeneous slurry flow has been carried out using Eulerian KTGF model in a horizontal pipe. Firstly the present model is validated with existing experiment results available in the literature, and then model is applied to the present problem. Results show that, flow is almost homogeneous for ethanol based ice slurry with particle diameter of 0.1 mm at the velocity of 1 m/s. It is also found that ice particle distribution is more uniform at higher velocity, concentration of ice and ethanol in slurry. Results also show that ice concentration increases on the top of the pipe, and the effect of particle wall collision is more significant at higher particle diameter.

  5. SAR Target Recognition via Local Sparse Representation of Multi-Manifold Regularized Low-Rank Approximation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meiting Yu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The extraction of a valuable set of features and the design of a discriminative classifier are crucial for target recognition in SAR image. Although various features and classifiers have been proposed over the years, target recognition under extended operating conditions (EOCs is still a challenging problem, e.g., target with configuration variation, different capture orientations, and articulation. To address these problems, this paper presents a new strategy for target recognition. We first propose a low-dimensional representation model via incorporating multi-manifold regularization term into the low-rank matrix factorization framework. Two rules, pairwise similarity and local linearity, are employed for constructing multiple manifold regularization. By alternately optimizing the matrix factorization and manifold selection, the feature representation model can not only acquire the optimal low-rank approximation of original samples, but also capture the intrinsic manifold structure information. Then, to take full advantage of the local structure property of features and further improve the discriminative ability, local sparse representation is proposed for classification. Finally, extensive experiments on moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR database demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, including target recognition under EOCs, as well as the capability of small training size.

  6. Kriging accelerated by orders of magnitude: combining low-rank with FFT techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander; Nowak, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    Kriging algorithms based on FFT, the separability of certain covariance functions and low-rank representations of covariance functions have been investigated. The current study combines these ideas, and so combines the individual speedup factors of all ideas. For separable covariance functions, the results are exact, and non-separable covariance functions can be approximated through sums of separable components. Speedup factor is 1e+8, problem sizes 1.5e+13 and 2e+15 estimation points for Kriging and spatial design.

  7. Kriging accelerated by orders of magnitude: combining low-rank with FFT techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander

    2014-01-08

    Kriging algorithms based on FFT, the separability of certain covariance functions and low-rank representations of covariance functions have been investigated. The current study combines these ideas, and so combines the individual speedup factors of all ideas. For separable covariance functions, the results are exact, and non-separable covariance functions can be approximated through sums of separable components. Speedup factor is 1e+8, problem sizes 1.5e+13 and 2e+15 estimation points for Kriging and spatial design.

  8. Experimental study on the rheological behaviour of coal ash slurries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Assefa K.M.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Extensive experimental investigations were carried out to evaluate the rheological behaviour of fly ash (FA slurry without and with the addition of bottom ash (BA and BA slurry without and with the addition of FA. The FA slurries exhibited Bingham behaviour at solid mass concentrations ranging from 60–65% and mixing proportions from 10– 40%. A substantial reduction in yield stress was observed except for mixing proportion of 40% on which the yield stress and viscosity were increased drastically for all solid concentrations. Hence, it can be concluded that the yield stress and viscosity of FA slurry were very much influenced by adding BA up to the mixing proportion of 30%. The rheological behaviour of BA slurries with and without the addition of FA in proportions of 10–50% was investigated and exhibited Newtonian behaviours for solid mass concentrations ranging from 30–50% without and with the addition of FA. The viscosity increases with increasing the solid concentrations and proportion of FA. Based on these experimental data, a correlation was developed to predict the relative viscosity of BA slurries as a function of solid volume fraction and FA mass proportion of 0–50% and the RMSE and R2 values showed good agreement between the experimental and the predicted data.

  9. Field test of ethanol/bentonite slurry grouting into rock fracture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Motoyuki Asada; Hitoshi Nakashima; Takashi Ishii; Sumio Horiuchi

    2006-01-01

    Crystalline rocks have fractures which may cause unexpected routes of groundwater seepage. Cement grouting is one of the most effective methods to minimize seepage; however, cement materials may not be suitable for the purpose of extra-long durability, because cement is neutralized or degraded by chemical and physical influence of chemical reaction. Natural clay like bentonite is one of the most promising materials for seepage barrier; however, water/bentonite grout is so viscous that enough amount of bentonite can not be grouted into rock fractures. To increase bentonite content in grout with low viscosity, the utilization of ethanol as a mixing liquid was studied. Ethanol suppresses bentonite swelling, and more bentonite can be injected more than that of water/bentonite slurry. In this paper, grouting into in-situ rock mass fracture from the ground surface was tested to investigate the barrier performance and workability of ethanol/bentonite slurry as a grouting material. (author)

  10. Flash pyrolysis of coal-solvent slurry prepared from the oxidized coal and the coal dissolved in solvent; Ichibu yokaishita sanka kaishitsutan slurry no jinsoku netsubunkai

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maki, T.; Mae, K.; Okutsu, H.; Miura, K. [Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

    1996-10-28

    In order to develop a high-efficiency coal pyrolysis method, flash pyrolysis was experimented on slurry prepared by using liquid-phase oxidation reformed coal and a methanol-based solvent mixture. Australian Morwell coal was used for the experiment. The oxidized coal, into which carboxyl groups have been introduced, has the condensation structure relaxed largely, and becomes highly fluid slurry by means of the solvent. Char production can be suppressed by making the oxidation-pretreated coal into slurry, resulting in drastically improved pyrolytic conversion. The slurry was divided into dissolved solution, dried substance, extracted residue, and residual slurry, which were pyrolized independently. The dissolved solution showed very high conversion. Improvement in the conversion is contributed by separating the dissolved substances (coal macromolecules) at molecular levels, coagulating the molecules, suppressing cross-link formation, and reducing molecular weight of the dissolved substances. Oxidized coal can be dissolved to 80% or higher by using several kinds of mixed solvents. As a result of the dissolution, a possibility was suggested on pyrolysis which is easy in handling and high in conversion. 7 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.

  11. Simultaneous auto-calibration and gradient delays estimation (SAGE) in non-Cartesian parallel MRI using low-rank constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wenwen; Larson, Peder E Z; Lustig, Michael

    2018-03-09

    To correct gradient timing delays in non-Cartesian MRI while simultaneously recovering corruption-free auto-calibration data for parallel imaging, without additional calibration scans. The calibration matrix constructed from multi-channel k-space data should be inherently low-rank. This property is used to construct reconstruction kernels or sensitivity maps. Delays between the gradient hardware across different axes and RF receive chain, which are relatively benign in Cartesian MRI (excluding EPI), lead to trajectory deviations and hence data inconsistencies for non-Cartesian trajectories. These in turn lead to higher rank and corrupted calibration information which hampers the reconstruction. Here, a method named Simultaneous Auto-calibration and Gradient delays Estimation (SAGE) is proposed that estimates the actual k-space trajectory while simultaneously recovering the uncorrupted auto-calibration data. This is done by estimating the gradient delays that result in the lowest rank of the calibration matrix. The Gauss-Newton method is used to solve the non-linear problem. The method is validated in simulations using center-out radial, projection reconstruction and spiral trajectories. Feasibility is demonstrated on phantom and in vivo scans with center-out radial and projection reconstruction trajectories. SAGE is able to estimate gradient timing delays with high accuracy at a signal to noise ratio level as low as 5. The method is able to effectively remove artifacts resulting from gradient timing delays and restore image quality in center-out radial, projection reconstruction, and spiral trajectories. The low-rank based method introduced simultaneously estimates gradient timing delays and provides accurate auto-calibration data for improved image quality, without any additional calibration scans. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  12. A realistic EU vision of a lignite-based energy system in transition: Case study of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Batas-Bjelić Ilija

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Several Contracting Parties to the Treaty establishing the Energy Community of the South East Europe, currently in energy transition, have electricity production dominantly based on lignite which contrasts their new reality. Planning approach to designing a new feasible energy policy is presented in this paper. This novel approach in using EnergyPLAN tool stems from analysis of market operation of lignite thermal power plants on hourly basis, and quantification of the feasibility of the energy policy and its alignment with EU vision, and is presented in few scenarios. It was found out that the Serbian energy system is highly sensitive to the electricity market and CO2 tax increase, because the marginal costs for lignite generation will increase to more than 50€/MWh. Shifting in the merit order will be observed even at lower CO2 tax levels, because of the intensity of the emission of the electricity sector (calculated to be higher than 700gCO2/kWhel, according to current energy policy. Based on the increased use of renewable energy sources and more efficient energy conversion technologies, socio-economic and energy policy feasibility would be increased, while long-term marginal costs would be improved by 2€/MWh and emission intensity by 258 gCO2/kWhel, compared to the current energy policy. These contributions, shown in the Serbian case, are of general importance for other lignite dominated Contracting Parties to Treaty establishing the Energy Community. [Projekat Ministartsva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 42009

  13. Survey of state water laws affecting coal slurry pipeline development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rogozen, M.B.

    1980-11-01

    This report summarizes state water laws likely to affect the development of coal slurry pipelines. It was prepared as part of a project to analyze environmental issues related to energy transportation systems. Coal slurry pipelines have been proposed as a means to expand the existing transportation system to handle the increasing coal shipments that will be required in the future. The availability of water for use in coal slurry systems in the coal-producing states is an issue of major concern.

  14. Weighted Low-Rank Approximation of Matrices and Background Modeling

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Aritra

    2018-04-15

    We primarily study a special a weighted low-rank approximation of matrices and then apply it to solve the background modeling problem. We propose two algorithms for this purpose: one operates in the batch mode on the entire data and the other one operates in the batch-incremental mode on the data and naturally captures more background variations and computationally more effective. Moreover, we propose a robust technique that learns the background frame indices from the data and does not require any training frames. We demonstrate through extensive experiments that by inserting a simple weight in the Frobenius norm, it can be made robust to the outliers similar to the $\\\\ell_1$ norm. Our methods match or outperform several state-of-the-art online and batch background modeling methods in virtually all quantitative and qualitative measures.

  15. Weighted Low-Rank Approximation of Matrices and Background Modeling

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Aritra; Li, Xin; Richtarik, Peter

    2018-01-01

    We primarily study a special a weighted low-rank approximation of matrices and then apply it to solve the background modeling problem. We propose two algorithms for this purpose: one operates in the batch mode on the entire data and the other one operates in the batch-incremental mode on the data and naturally captures more background variations and computationally more effective. Moreover, we propose a robust technique that learns the background frame indices from the data and does not require any training frames. We demonstrate through extensive experiments that by inserting a simple weight in the Frobenius norm, it can be made robust to the outliers similar to the $\\ell_1$ norm. Our methods match or outperform several state-of-the-art online and batch background modeling methods in virtually all quantitative and qualitative measures.

  16. Environmental Consequences of Future Biogas Technologies based on Separated Slurry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hamelin, Lorie; Wesnæs, Marianne; Wenzel, Henrik

    2011-01-01

    different slurry separation technologies have been assessed and compared to a business-as-usual reference slurry management scenario. The results show that the environmental benefits of such biogas production are highly dependent upon the efficiency of the separation technology used to concentrate......This consequential life cycle assessment study highlights the key environmental aspects of producing biogas from separated pig and cow slurry, a relatively new but probable scenario for future biogas production, as it avoids the reliance on constrained carbon cosubstrates. Three scenarios involving...... the volatile solids in the solid fraction. The biogas scenario involving the most efficient separation technology resulted in a dry matter separation efficiency of 87% and allowed a net reduction of the global warming potential of 40%, compared to the reference slurry management. This figure comprises...

  17. Palynostratigraphy, palynofacies and depositional environment of a lignite-bearing succession at Surkha Mine, Cambay Basin, north-western India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monga Priyanka

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper reports palynology and palynofacies studies of lignite-bearing sediments exposed in an opencast mine succession at Surkha, Bhavnagar District, in the coastal region of Gujarat, India. The study examined the relationships between the palynoflora, sedimentary organic matter and environment at the time of deposition of lignite and associated sediments. Based on dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy, the sedimentary succession is dated as early Eocene (Ypresian. Palynofacies studies helped reveal the palaeoenvironmental fluctuations. The dominance of angiosperm pollen grains, freshwater algae, microthyraceous fungi and a large share of land debris in the lower part of the succession suggests a freshwater swamp environment of deposition for the basal lignite facies. Two cenozones - Matanomadiasulcites maximus and Lakiapollis ovatus - were identified in the lower lignite facies, determined from the dominance of these pollen grains in the palynological assemblages. The presence of angiosperm pollen grains and pteridophyte spores in the carbonaceous shale horizon above the lignite facies indicates a change in the depositional regime from freshwater swamp to lagoonal. This was identified as the Arecipites wodehousei cenozone due to its numerical abundance in the assemblage. Dinoflagellate cyst abundance and diversity, and microforaminiferal test linings along with well-sorted terrestrial debris in the mudstone in the upper part of the succession suggest a more open marine estuarine type of depositional environment. The Homotryblium complex along with Cordospheridium fibrospinosum, Kenleyia sp., and Thalassiphora pelagica dinoflagellate cysts are the main representatives of this zone, determined as the Homotryblium tenuispinosum cenozone. The changing depositional settings (freshwater swamp-lagoonal-estuarine along the vertical succession indicate a marine transgression in this region. Results from palynological studies of early Palaeogene

  18. Effects of different treatments of cattle slurry manure on water-extractable phosphorus

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chapuis-Lardy, L.; Temminghoff, E.J.M.; Goede, de R.G.M.

    2003-01-01

    Cattle slurry manure applied to land increases the risk of phosphorus (P) movement to surface waters, which may lead to eutrophication. The water-extractable fraction of P in slurry manure is correlated with P concentration in runoff from soils amended with slurry smanure, and thus is an effective

  19. Australian opencast-lignite mine Yallourn; Der australische Braunkohlentagebau Yallourn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koscierski, Marcin; Goerlich, Michael [RWTH Aachen (Germany). Inst. fuer Bergbaukunde I

    2009-01-15

    This article is about the open pit lignite mine Yallourn, located 150 km southeast of Melbourne (Figure 1). It focuses on the history, the geology and the environment. Furthermore, it describes the new mining method using large carry dozers. The open pit and the power plant are owned by TruEnergy (part of the CLP Group) and the mining activities are carried out in an Alliance with Roche Thiess Linfox (RTL). (orig.)

  20. Application of Parallel Hierarchical Matrices and Low-Rank Tensors in Spatial Statistics and Parameter Identification

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander

    2018-03-12

    Part 1: Parallel H-matrices in spatial statistics 1. Motivation: improve statistical model 2. Tools: Hierarchical matrices 3. Matern covariance function and joint Gaussian likelihood 4. Identification of unknown parameters via maximizing Gaussian log-likelihood 5. Implementation with HLIBPro. Part 2: Low-rank Tucker tensor methods in spatial statistics

  1. Laboratory experiments and analytical investigations on the transfer of organic substances from lignite into ground water and residue lakes during flooding of opencast lignite mines. Final report; Laborexperimente und analytische Untersuchungen ueber den Eintrag braunkohlebuertiger organischer Stoffe in Grundwaesser und Restseegewaesser bei der Flutung von Braunkohletagebauen. Abschlussbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herzschuh, R.; Frauendorf, H.; Herrmann, D.; Pietzsch, K.

    2000-05-01

    Lignite samples of diffrent lithotypes and composition from opencast mines of Lusatia and the region near Leipzig were submitted to weathering processes in laboratory scale experiments and the transfer of organic matter from lignite into the hydrosphere has been observed. By means of high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry used in combination with data from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry numerous lignite-derived aromatic and heteroaromatic (poly-)carboxylic acids as well as aliphatic dicarboxylic acids could be characterized in the aqueous extracts. Investigations on water samples from lignite mining residue lakes cofirm these results. Furthermore, formation of chlororganic compounds like polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxine and furans (PCDD/F) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), benzenes (PCBz) and phenols (PCPh) has been investigated on different lignite samples under natural weathering conditions and thermal treatment. (orig.) [German] Braunkohlen verschiedener Lithotypen und Zusammensetzung aus Tagebauen der Lausitz und der Region um Leipzig wurden in Laborexperimenten Verwitterungsprozessen unterzogen und der Uebergang organischer Materie aus der Braunkohle in die Hydrosphaere beobachtet. Mit Hilfe der HPLC-Elektrospray-MS-Untersuchungen in Kombination mit Daten aus GC-MS-Messungen konnten zahlreiche aus der Braunkohle stammende aromatische und heteroaromatische (Poly-)Carbonsaeuren sowie aliphatische Dicarbonsaeuren in den waessrigen Extrakten charakterisiert werden. Untersuchungen an Wasserproben aus bereits gefluteten Tagebaurestseen bestaetigen diese Ergebnisse. Weiterhin wurde die Bildung chlororganischer Verbindungen, wie polychlorierter Dibenzo-p-dioxine und -furane (PCDD/F) sowie polychlorierter Biphenyle (PCB), Benzole (PCBz) und Phenole (PCPh) an unterschiedlichen Braunkohleproben unter natuerlichen Bedingungen und nach thermsicher Behandlung untersucht. (orig.)

  2. Physico-chemistry of adsorption of copper, nickel and cobalt on lignite from ammoniacal solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khattak, M.I.

    2004-01-01

    The present paper deals with a process developed for lignite adsorption that can be used to prevent the hard scale formation during distillation of NH/sub 3/ and CO/sub 2/, recover Cu, Ni and Cr from dilute solutions, Cu and NH/sub 3/ from waste effluent containing SO/sub 4/ radicals, separate Cu (NH/sub 3/)/sub 4//sup +2/ and AsO/sub 4//sup -3/ from ammonial solutions and recover Cu, Ni and Co from ore pulps. In additions to the study of the adsorptions of M, NH/sub 3/ and CO/sub 2/ on lignite with caustic soda) was also investigated. Changes of the functional groups of humic acid its salt, before and after the adsorption, were examined by infrared adsorption analysis. (author)

  3. Hydrogen transmission/storage with a metal hydride/organic slurry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Breault, R.W.; Rolfe, J.; McClaine, A. [Thermo Power Corp., Waltham, MA (United States)

    1998-08-01

    Thermo Power Corporation has developed a new approach for the production, transmission, and storage of hydrogen. In this approach, a chemical hydride slurry is used as the hydrogen carrier and storage media. The slurry protects the hydride from unanticipated contact with moisture in the air and makes the hydride pumpable. At the point of storage and use, a chemical hydride/water reaction is used to produce high-purity hydrogen. An essential feature of this approach is the recovery and recycle of the spent hydride at centralized processing plants, resulting in an overall low cost for hydrogen. This approach has two clear benefits: it greatly improves energy transmission and storage characteristics of hydrogen as a fuel, and it produces the hydrogen carrier efficiently and economically from a low cost carbon source. The preliminary economic analysis of the process indicates that hydrogen can be produced for $3.85 per million Btu based on a carbon cost of $1.42 per million Btu and a plant sized to serve a million cars per day. This compares to current costs of approximately $9.00 per million Btu to produce hydrogen from $3.00 per million Btu natural gas, and $25 per million Btu to produce hydrogen by electrolysis from $0.05 per Kwh electricity. The present standard for production of hydrogen from renewable energy is photovoltaic-electrolysis at $100 to $150 per million Btu.

  4. A novel deep learning algorithm for incomplete face recognition: Low-rank-recovery network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Jianwei; Lv, Yongbiao; Zhou, Zhenghua; Cao, Feilong

    2017-10-01

    There have been a lot of methods to address the recognition of complete face images. However, in real applications, the images to be recognized are usually incomplete, and it is more difficult to realize such a recognition. In this paper, a novel convolution neural network frame, named a low-rank-recovery network (LRRNet), is proposed to conquer the difficulty effectively inspired by matrix completion and deep learning techniques. The proposed LRRNet first recovers the incomplete face images via an approach of matrix completion with the truncated nuclear norm regularization solution, and then extracts some low-rank parts of the recovered images as the filters. With these filters, some important features are obtained by means of the binaryzation and histogram algorithms. Finally, these features are classified with the classical support vector machines (SVMs). The proposed LRRNet method has high face recognition rate for the heavily corrupted images, especially for the images in the large databases. The proposed LRRNet performs well and efficiently for the images with heavily corrupted, especially in the case of large databases. Extensive experiments on several benchmark databases demonstrate that the proposed LRRNet performs better than some other excellent robust face recognition methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Coal slurries: An environmental bonus?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basta, N.; Moore, S.; Ondrey, G.

    1994-01-01

    Developers and promoters of coal-water slurries and similar CWF (coal-water fuel) technologies have had a hard time winning converts since they unveiled their first commercial processes in the 1970s. The economic appeal of such processes, marginal at best, varies with the price of oil. Nevertheless, the technology is percolating, as geopolitics and environmental pressures drive new processes. Such fuels are becoming increasingly important to coal-rich, oil-poor nations such as China, as they attempt to build an onshore fuel supply. Meanwhile, improvements are changing the way coal-fired processes are viewed. Where air pollution regulations once discouraged the use of coal fuels, new coal processes have been developed that cut nitrous oxides (NOx) emissions and provide a use for coal fines, previously viewed as waste. The latest developments in the field were all on display at the 19th International Technical Conference on Coal Utilization and Fuel Systems, held in Clearwater, Fla., on March 21--24. At this annual meeting, sponsored by the Coal and Slurry Technology Association, (Washington, D.C.) and the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center of the US Dept. of Energy (PETC), some 200 visitors from around the work gathered to discuss the latest developments in coal slurry utilization--new and improved processes, and onstream plants. This paper presents highlights from the conference

  6. Slurry explosive containing an improved thickening agent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wakazono, Y.; Otsuka, Y.

    1970-08-18

    A slurry explosive having stable physical properties and a thickening agent which when blended with a slurry explosive, maintains it in a uniform and stable state as a good suspended dispersion condition over a long period of time, are described. The slurry explosive has a composition consisting essentially of ammonium nitrate, or a mixture of ammonium nitrate and an alkali metal nitrate, or a mixture of ammonium nitrate and an alkaline earth metal nitrate, or a mixture of ammonium nitrate and an alkali metal nitrate and an alkaline earth metal nitrate, at least one member selected from the group consisting of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, aluminum, smokeless powder and fuels, and water, 0.1 to 2.0% guar gum, not more than 0.3% of a borate or borates, and/or not more than 20% of hexamethylene tetramine, and 0.02 to 2.0% of an antimony compound or compounds, all percents being by weight. (6 claims)

  7. Life cycle assessment of biogas from separated slurry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamelin, L.; Wesnaes, M.; Wenzel, H. (Univ. of Southern Denmark, Odense (Denmark)); Molt Petersen, B. (Aarhus Univ.. Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aarhus (Denmark))

    2010-07-01

    The environmental aspects of biogas production based on pre-treated slurry from fattening pigs and dairy cows have been investigated in a life cycle perspective. The pre-treatment consists of concentrating the slurry using a separation technology. Significant environmental benefits, compared to the status quo slurry management, can be obtained for both pig and cow slurry, especially regarding reductions of the contributions to global warming, but the results depend to a large extent on the efficiency of the separation technology. Adding separation after the biogas plant can contribute to a more efficient management of the phosphorus, and this has also been investigated. Based on the results of the study it can be concluded that: 1) The environmental benefits of biogas from separated slurry are very dependent upon the separation efficiency (for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous). This particularly applies for carbon, as the separation efficiency defines the extent to which the degradable carbon contained in the slurry is transferred to the biogas plant. Efficient separation can be obtained by using polymer, but also by using a suitable separation technology. It could be mentioned that the decanter centrifuge used has a rather high efficiency of transferring volatile solids (VS) to the fibre fraction also without the use of polymer. 2) Biogas production from separated slurry can lead to significant reductions in the contributions to global warming, provided that the 'best available technologies' described in the report are used. That includes, among others: - a covered and short time storage of the fibre fraction before entering the biogas plant, - a 2-step biogas production where the post-digestion tank is covered with air-tight cover, - a covered storage of the degassed fibre fraction The benefits are also highly dependent upon the source of energy substituted by the biogas. 3) Based on evidences from reviewed studies, the cationic polyacrylamide polymer

  8. Low NOx firing systems for bituminous coal and lignite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knyrim, W.; Scheffknecht, G.

    1997-01-01

    In the case of lignite fluidized boilers the denitrification down to less than 200 mg/m 3 was possible with primary measures on the firing side only. On account of the excellent results achieved with the reconstructed plants the firing systems for the new generation of brown coal fire steam generators with a capacity of 800 MW and more is designed in a similar way. For bituminous coal fire steam generators the primary measures on the firing side are nor sufficient to keep the German NO x emission limit. Therefore these units had to be retrofitted with a SCR-DENOX plant. The experience with the new firing system made in a 110 MW steam generator in Austria with a wide range of fuels is introduced. One of the largest bituminous coal fired once-trough steam generator built by EVT is the boiler for the power station Bexbach I (750 MW). The firing system is designed as a tangential firing system with 32 jet burners. These are arranged in pairs in the corners and divided into 4 burner levels with 4 burner pairs each. One mill is allocated to each burner level. An important characteristic feature is that the four bowl mills are arranged on one side of the steam generator. The plant is constructed with upper air nozzles which are arranged above the top burner level for the reduced of nitrogen oxides. During tests at steam generator with similar design, the nO x formation could be reduced from 750 to 500 mg/m 3 s.t.p. (dry, 6% O 2 ) with an addition of upper air of 20% at 100% unit capacity and constant total flow. As a main approach for the further reduction of the primary NO x emission at bituminous coal fired steam generators with tangential firing systems, the experience gained from the firing of brown coal has also been taken into account. A fundamental aspect in this respect was the vertical air staging in the direction of the furnace height. The results of many tests in a test reactor have shown that the differences of the achievable NO x values of brown and

  9. Modular-block complex on preparation and processing of oil slurry, spilled and raw petroleum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pak, V.V.

    1999-01-01

    The use of non-serial small petroleum equipment for development of remote and low output petroleum deposit, collection and processing of spilled petroleum is urgent issue. Joint-stock company Montazhengineering developed and mastered production of small modular-block complexes for preparation and processing of petroleum. The complex can include the following modules: preparation of raw petroleum for getting commodity petroleum; petroleum processing installation for getting gas, diesel fuel and black oil; installation for refining of nafta; installation for cleaning petroleum products from mercaptans; installation for getting basic oil; installation for getting bitumen and mastic; installation for processing of spilled petroleum and oil slurry. Each of modules can work separately and in various combinations depending on input and necessary assortment of commodity petroleum. One of urgent ecological problem in Kazakhstan petroleum-processing regions is large number barns with spilled petroleum and oil slurry. Their processing will allow to solve the ecological and economical problems. Processing of spilled petroleum and oil slurry in developed installations it's possible to get commodity petroleum and petroleum products

  10. Effect of Colombian coal rank and its feeding technology on substitute natural gas production by entrained gasification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Fernando Pérez-Bayer

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The effect of coal rank (from sub-bituminous to semi-anthracite and type of fuel feeding technology (slurry and dry on the production of substitute natural gas (SNG in entrained flow gasifiers is studied. Ten coals from important Colombian mines were selected. The process is modeled under thermochemical equilibrium using Aspen Plus, and its performance is evaluated in function of output parameters that include SNG heating value, Wobbe index, coal conversion efficiency, cold gas efficiency, process efficiency, global efficiency, and SNG production rate, among others. In descending order, the coal-to-SNG process improves energetically with the use of coals with: higher volatile-matter to fixed-carbon ratio, lower ash content, higher C+H/O ratio, and higher coal heating value. The overall energy efficiency of the slurry-feed technology (S-FT to produce SNG by gasification is 17% higher than the dry-feed technology (D-FT, possibly as a consequence of the higher CH4 concentration in the syngas (around 7 vol. % when the coal is fed as aqueous slurry. As the simulated SNG meets the natural gas (NG quality standards in Colombia, the substitute gaseous fuel could be directly transported through pipelines. Therefore, the coal-to-SNG process is a technically feasible and unconventional alternative for NG production.

  11. Physical Characterization of Solid-Liquid Slurries at High Weight Fractions Using Optical and Ultrasonic Methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgess, L.W.; Brodsky, A.M.; Panetta P.D.

    2005-01-01

    Remediation of highly radioactive waste is a major technical and programmatic challenge for the DOE. Rapid, on-line physical characterization of highly concentrated slurries is required for the safe and efficient remediation of 90 million gallons of high level radioactive waste (HLW), sodium bearing waste, and mixed waste. The research presented here, describes a collaborative effort between Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Washington (UW) to directly address the need for rapid on-line characterization of the physical properties of HLW slurries during all phases of the remediation process, from in-tank characterization of sediments to monitoring of the concentration, particle size, and degree of agglomeration and gelation of slurries during transport. Near-surface characterization of the slurry flow in the particle size range from nanometer to micrometer is examined using optical low coherence reflectometry. Volumetric characterization at depths in the slurry flow, up to several centimeters in the particle size range from the micrometer to millimeter, is realized by utilizing ultrasonic backscatter and diffuses fields. One of the strengths, the teaming up of significant talents in both experimental and theoretical optics and in ultrasonics, provides a synergistic approach to integrate these complimentary techniques. One of the benefits of this combined approach is the physical characterization of HLW over a concentration and particle size range that is broader than can be achieved with today's technology. This will avoid a costly increase in waste stream volume due to excess dilution, and will lessen chance of plugging pipes that could shut down expensive processing lines

  12. Synergetic use of lignite fly ash and metallurgical converter slag in geopolymer concrete

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gábor Mucsi

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The application and utilization of the industrial wastes and by-products in the construction industry is a key issue from an environmental and economic point of view. The increased use of lignite has substantially increased the available quantities of lignite fired power plant fly ash, which can be mainly classified as class C fly ash. The utilization of such raw material however has some difficulties. In the present paper lignite fired power station fly ash and metallurgical converter slag were used for the production of geopolymer concrete. The fly ash was used as a geopolymer based binder material, and a converter slag as aggregate, thus created a geopolymer concrete which contains mainly industrial wastes. As preliminary test experimental series were carried out using andesite as aggregate. The optimal aggregate/binder ratio was determined. The effect of the amount of alkaline activator solution in the binder, the aggregate type on the geopolymer concretes’ compressive strength and density was investigated. Furthermore, the physical properties - freeze-thaw resistance and particle size distribution - of the applied aggregates were measured as well. As a result of the experiments it was found that physical properties of the andesite and converter slag aggregate was close. Therefore andesite can be replaced by converter slag in the concrete mixture. Additionally, geopolymer concrete with nearly 20 MPa compressive strength was produced from class C fly ash and converter slag.

  13. Slurry sampling in serum blood for mercury determination by CV-AFS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aranda, Pedro R.; Gil, Raul A.; Moyano, Susana; De Vito, Irma; Martinez, Luis D.

    2009-01-01

    The heavy metal mercury (Hg) is a neurotoxin known to have a serious health impact even at relatively low concentrations. A slurry method was developed for the sensitive and precise determination of mercury in human serum blood samples by cold vapor generation coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). All variables related to the slurry formation were studied. The optimal hydrochloric concentration and tin(II) chloride concentration for CV generation were evaluated. Calibration within the range 0.1-10 μg L -1 Hg was performed with the standard addition method, and compared with an external calibration. Additionally, the reliability of the results obtained was evaluated by analyzing mercury in the same samples, but submitted to microwave-assisted digestion method. The limit of detection was calculated as 25 ng L -1 and the relative standard deviation was 3.9% at levels around of 0.4 μg L -1 Hg

  14. Production of low ash coal by thermal extraction with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Do Kim, S.; Woo, K.J.; Jeong, S.K.; Rhim, Y.J.; Lee, S.H. [Korean Institute for Energy Research, Taejon (Republic of Korea). Clean Coal Technological Research Center

    2008-07-15

    Present study was conducted for the purpose of producing low ash coal from LRC (low rank coals) such as lignite and sub-bituminous coal through thermal extraction using polar solvent. Extraction from bituminous coal was also investigated for comparison. NMP as a polar solvent was used. The ratio of coal to solvent was adjusted as 1:10. Experimental conditions were established which include the extraction temperature of 200-430{sup o}C, initial applied pressure of 1-20 bar and extraction time of 0.5-2 hr were used. Extraction yield and ash content of extracted and residual coal were measured. The extraction yield increased with the increase of extraction temperature, and the ash content of extracted coal decreased below 0.4% at 400{sup o}C from the raw coal samples that have the ash contents of 4-6%. According to the analysis of experiments results, fixed carbon and calorific value increased, and H/C and O/C decreased.

  15. Enhancing protein to extremely high content in photosynthetic bacteria during biogas slurry treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Anqi; Zhang, Guangming; Meng, Fan; Lu, Pei; Wang, Xintian; Peng, Meng

    2017-12-01

    This work proposed a novel approach to achieve an extremely high protein content in photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) using biogas slurry as a culturing medium. The results showed the protein content of PSB could be enhanced strongly to 90% in the biogas slurry, which was much higher than reported microbial protein contents. The slurry was partially purified at the same time. Dark-aerobic was more beneficial than light-anaerobic condition for protein accumulation. High salinity and high ammonia of the biogas slurry were the main causes for protein enhancement. In addition, the biogas slurry provided a good buffer system for PSB to grow. The biosynthesis mechanism of protein in PSB was explored according to theoretical analysis. During biogas slurry treatment, the activities of glutamate synthase and glutamine synthetase were increased by 26.55%, 46.95% respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Steam Explosions in Slurry-fed Ceramic Melters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carter, J.T.

    2001-03-28

    This report assesses the potential and consequences of a steam explosion in Slurry Feed Ceramic Melters (SFCM). The principles that determine if an interaction is realistically probable within a SFCM are established. Also considered are the mitigating effects due to dissolved, non-condensable gas(es) and suspended solids within the slurry feed, radiation, high glass viscosity, and the existence of a cold cap. The report finds that, even if any explosion were to occur, however, it would not be large enough to compromise vessel integrity.

  17. Optimization of a lignite-fired open pulverizing system boiler process based on variations in the drying agent composition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Youfu; Zhang, Hua; Yuan, Yichao; Wang, Zhiyun

    2015-01-01

    This paper evaluates three lignite-fired OPSB (open pulverizing system boiler) processes, named OPSB-A, OPSB-B and OPSB-C, corresponding to three options of drying agents used for the pulverizing systems. OPSB-B is similar to our previous work [18] on drying agent composition. Performances of the three OPSBs were calculated and compared with a 600 MW lignite-fired boiler as the reference. The results showed that the coal savings of OPSB-A and OPSB-C were 5.41% and 4.06% in comparison with the reference boiler, whereas for OPSB-B, the savings was 2.57%. Accordingly, emissions of each OPSB could be reduced in proportion to the coal savings. Among the three OPSBs, OPSB-C showed the best performance of water recovery from mill-exhausts because it had the highest mill-exhaust water dew point of 73.2 °C, whereas the exhaust dew points of OPSB-A and OPSB-B were 63.9 °C and 70.9 °C, respectively. Both OPSB-C and OPSB-B are beneficial for achieving a high mill-exhaust humidity ratio, which facilitates water recovery from the mill-exhaust, and a low oxygen content in mill-exhaust, which improves the operating safety of the pulverizing systems, whereas OPSB-A is relatively inferior in these respects. The OPSB-C process is recommended for engineering applications because of its favorable overall performances. - Highlights: • Three lignite-fired OPSB processes are analyzed based on a conventional 600 MW boiler. • OPSB-A, OPSB-B and OPSB-C show coal savings of 5.41%, 2.57 and 4.06%, respectively. • All OPSBs have a great advantage of water recovery from the flue gas, especially OPSB-C. • OPSB-C process is recommended in view of its favorable overall performances

  18. State and performance of on-stream ash content determination in lignite and black coal using 2-energy transmission technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thuemmel, H.W.; Koerner, G.; Leonhardt, J.

    1986-01-01

    The total r.m.s. ash error of the 2-energy transmission on-stream ash gauges KRAS-2 (CIIRR, GDR) and SIROASH (Australia) are 4 weight percentage for raw lignite and 0.5 weight percentage for black coal, respectively. A detailed error analysis shows that this difference is due to the high water content and to strong variations in the ash composition of raw lignite. Both gauges show essentially the same radiometric performance. (author)

  19. Fluidization mechanisms in slurry flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, C. S.

    1989-01-01

    There are two mechanisms by which heavy settling particles may be suspended in a horizontal slurry flow: (1) by particle-particle interactions (e.g. Bagnold dispersive stresses) and (2) by particle-fluid interactions (e.g. entrainment of the particles by turbulent eddies.) The purpose of this investigation is to determine to what extent each fluidization mechanism is active and the effect of the fluidization mechanism on the global properties of the slurry. The technique employs the understanding that the particles entrained in the turbulence of the fluid will appear as an increased hydrostatic head across the channel. This may be directly measured and can be related to the fraction of the mass of particles that are supported by fluid-particle forces. (The rest must therefore be supported by particle-particle forces.) 17 refs., 26 figs.

  20. Mineralogy and microstructure of sintered lignite coal fly ash

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marina Ilic; Christopher Cheeseman; Christopher Sollars; Jonathan Knight [Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

    2003-02-01

    Lignite coal fly ash from the 'Nikola Tesla' power plant in Yugoslavia has been characterised, milled, compacted and sintered to form monolithic ceramic materials. The effect of firing at temperatures between 1130 and 1190{sup o}C on the density, water accessible porosity, mineralogy and microstructure of sintered samples is reported. This class C fly ash has an initial average particle size of 82 {mu}m and contains siliceous glass together with the crystalline phases quartz, anorthite, gehlenite, hematite and mullite. Milling the ash to an average particle size of 5.6 m, compacting and firing at 1170{sup o}C for 1 h produces materials with densities similar to clay-based ceramics that exhibit low water absorption. Sintering reduces the amount of glass, quartz, gehlenite and anhydrite, but increases formation of anorthite, mullite, hematite and cristobalite. SEM confirms the formation of a dense ceramic at 1170{sup o}C and indicates that pyroplastic effects cause pore formation and bloating at 1190{sup o}C. 23 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.