In this paper we address the topic of energy and water optimization in the production of bioethanol from corn and switchgrass. We show that in order for these manufacturing processes to be attractive,there is a need t...In this paper we address the topic of energy and water optimization in the production of bioethanol from corn and switchgrass. We show that in order for these manufacturing processes to be attractive,there is a need to go beyond traditional heat integration and water recycling techniques. Thus,we propose a strategy based on mathe-matical programming techniques to model and optimize the structure of the processes,and perform heat integration including the use of multi-effect distillation columns and integrated water networks to show that the energy effi-ciency and water consumption in bioethanol plants can be significantly improved. Specifically,under some circum-stances energy can even be produced and the water consumption can be reduced below the values required for the production of gasoline.展开更多
Biomass plants often struggle to capture flow measurements reliably. High amounts of dry solids and fats complicate the measurement with an MID （Magnetic-Inductive） flowmeter and make it susceptible to faults. To ov...Biomass plants often struggle to capture flow measurements reliably. High amounts of dry solids and fats complicate the measurement with an MID （Magnetic-Inductive） flowmeter and make it susceptible to faults. To overcome this impediment, the waste water treatment plant in Innsbruck, Austria, relies on electromagnetic pulsed AC （Alternating Current） flowmeters. Compared to pulsed DC （Direct Current） devices, AC devices are able to build up magnetic fields that are ten times stronger. Equipped with this capability, the Sitrans Transmag 2 is able to guarantee a constant and also high measuring accuracy, zero point stability and signal strength regardless of impurities in the medium or fluctuations in the magnetic field.展开更多
China has achieved much during recent years in the area of lithospheric physics research and promoted the development of the geosciences （Teng, 2004）. However, in the 21^st century, national needs and policy challen...China has achieved much during recent years in the area of lithospheric physics research and promoted the development of the geosciences （Teng, 2004）. However, in the 21^st century, national needs and policy challenges the science of lithospheric physics. I suggest a general analysis, research, and development direction for lithospheric physics and point out clearly the content, core problems, and key scientific problems in this field. The realization of the earth and the discovery of the basic mechanisms of mountains, basins, minerals, and natural disasters depend basically on high-resolution observations of geophysics, the delineation of the fine structure of crust and mantle （2D and 3D） inside the lithosphere, substance and energy exchanges in the deep earth, the process of deep physical, mechanical, and chemical actions, and deep dynamical response. Therefore, geophysics should be the pioneer in the geosciences field in the first half of the 21^st century. I end with an analysis and discussion of some problems and difficulties in the research of lithospheric physics.展开更多
Biofuels could contribute, on a worldwide basis, to the attainment of international energy-policy objectives in three ways： by reducing dependence on imported oil; by increasing the availability of renewable energy s...Biofuels could contribute, on a worldwide basis, to the attainment of international energy-policy objectives in three ways： by reducing dependence on imported oil; by increasing the availability of renewable energy sources; and by dealing with environmental issues. One such environmental issue is the unsustainable use of agricultural land. There is a need in South Africa there to convert to sustainable and renewable energy resources, such as biofuels, but the production of biofuels will ultimately place pressure on the limited and fragile agricultural resources of the country. This paper sets out firstly to investigate national agricultural policies which could impact on the production of biofuels. It points out that national agricultural policies are hampering the domestic production of biofuels in that the focus is on land reform and increasing the volume of agricultural exports, whereas the provision of food and energy to meet domestic needs features only as a secondary aim. The second objective of this paper is to investigate the possibility of utilising energy crops for biofuel production in South Africa. Annual agricultural production, surplus import and export figures, provide an indication of the capacity of South African farmers to produce crops for biofuel production.展开更多
[Objective]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm resources as energy plants was discussed in this paper.[Method]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm res...[Objective]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm resources as energy plants was discussed in this paper.[Method]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm resources collected from the wild was assessed from the aspects of cellulose,semicellulose,lignin and crude ash contents and caloric value.[Result]The total content of cellulose and semicellulose ranged from 41.75%to 69.13%,the lignin content ranged from 2.16%to 11.75%,the crude ash content ranged from 4.79%to 9.34%and the caloric value ranged from 16.00 to 17.69 MJ/kg among the 30 Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasms.Compared to other plants,Saccharum spontaneum L.had higher contents of cellulose and semicellulose,a higher caloric value but lower contents of lignin and crude ash.[Conclusion]From the perspective of producing fuel ethanol with lignocellulose,Saccharum spontaneum L.has a great potential for development as an energy plant.展开更多
The oceans account for 71% of the Earth’s surface and are rich in the most advantageous and characteristic resources of marine microbes. The research on diversity is the key point for exploring and exploiting marine ...The oceans account for 71% of the Earth’s surface and are rich in the most advantageous and characteristic resources of marine microbes. The research on diversity is the key point for exploring and exploiting marine microbial resources. Giving attention to species diversity and genetic diversity of marine microbes, discovering novel metabolites with multiple functions, revealing key secondary metabolic process and the main regulation mechanisms in marine microbes, and developing a new technology of biosynthesis, are the important foundation for discovering innovative drugs and developing functional products with characteristics. The present paper has reviewed the recent advances in the four research areas of marine microbial species diversity, genetic diversity, chemical diversity and metabolic diversity in China.展开更多
Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by human since ancient times. Also secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectric power and biomass account for mos...Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by human since ancient times. Also secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectric power and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth, which can be used by human. Architects since alacient times have used various methods to hamesse and employ the solar energy for lighting, cooling and heating and etc. Meanwhile, Iran＇s ancient architecture, as an adaptive one, which consists of various climatic reigns, is filled with abounding examples of using sun energy in buildings. But, unfortunately despite these ancient methods, our modern architects mostly tend to provide energy of buildings with fossil fuels. This increases energy costs of the building＇s and also pollutes the environment. In this article it is intended to consider the ancient ways of using solar energy in Iran, and then suggest new methods for applying in modem buildings. The results of consideration show that among Solar technologies, passive and active methods, Iran＇s ancient architects have used passive methods, for example in mass and space, orientation and settlement of building. The idea of passive methods can be used in new shapes in current buildings, for instance by using solar space, central yard and etc. The suggestive method in this paper is combining the passive methods with the active ones.展开更多
Freshwater biofouling threatens a variety of human activities,from the supply of water and energy to recreation.Several species of freshwater bryozoans are notorious for clogging pipes and filters but have been relati...Freshwater biofouling threatens a variety of human activities,from the supply of water and energy to recreation.Several species of freshwater bryozoans are notorious for clogging pipes and filters but have been relatively poorly studied to date.We report,for the first time,a biofouling species of freshwater bryozoan,Pectinatella magnifica(Leidy,1851),from several freshwater rivers,lakes and ponds in China.A complete description,national distribution and the fouling problems are provided.Exactly how Pectinatella magnifica arrived in China remains unclear,but anthropochory and zoochory are considered to be important dispersal pathways.展开更多
Environmental protection products and equipment are important substance basis and insurance which provide supporting for to the realization of the strategic objective of reduced energy use and emissions while improvin...Environmental protection products and equipment are important substance basis and insurance which provide supporting for to the realization of the strategic objective of reduced energy use and emissions while improving the resource economy ＆ environmental kindly society building, as well as the sustainable development economy and environment in a sustainable fashion. Here, the framework of the standards system and evaluation indicators system for environmental protection products are described based on the present deficiencies in independent innovation, lower levels of standardization, and poor operating effectiveness of such equipment in China with a goal of forcing the development of standardization, seriation and currency used in the environmental protection industry. The results presented here should serve as a reference for the promotion of quality and effectiveness in environmental protection products and equipments.展开更多
Shallow gas is composed of all kinds of shallow buried natural gas resources( < 1500 m) with relatively small reserve for each gas resource. It has some advantages such as shallow burial depth,good physical propert...Shallow gas is composed of all kinds of shallow buried natural gas resources( < 1500 m) with relatively small reserve for each gas resource. It has some advantages such as shallow burial depth,good physical properties and the huge accumulations. Based on the Wigner-Vill distribution,a general spectral decomposition method is applied in the shallow gas detection. Cone-shaped kernel function filtering method is used to suppress cross-terms of the Wigner-Ville distribution,which is tested on field seismic data. Because of shallow gas reservoir has a characteristic that low frequency energy is stronger and high frequency energy is weaker,it indicates the presence of shallow gas successfully.展开更多
This work consists of estimating the energy achieved from all land and water-based vegetations. This real potential is determined by identifying 10 biomass samples taken from vegetable resources which are favored by t...This work consists of estimating the energy achieved from all land and water-based vegetations. This real potential is determined by identifying 10 biomass samples taken from vegetable resources which are favored by their aptitude of adaptation to the conditions of Iran. The net energy values of the 10 biomass samples change in the range of 13.65-18.00 MJ/kg using bomb calorimeter. By means of least squarere regression method all correlations were found. The results of 10 different biomass materials have been used to develop a linear equation correlation.展开更多
Solar and biomass are both renewable energy resources.Using biomass as fuel is becoming more and more attractive after governments increase the tariff for the electricity from the renewable sources.However the costs o...Solar and biomass are both renewable energy resources.Using biomass as fuel is becoming more and more attractive after governments increase the tariff for the electricity from the renewable sources.However the costs of power from a biomass power generation plant depend greatly on the availability and quality of the biomass resource.The commercialization of solar alone thermal power generation is hindered by its high initial investment and low thermal efficiency.In this paper,a concept of integrating solar into a biomass power generation system is put forward.In the system the oil heated by a parabolic trough solar field is used to replace the extraction steam to preheat the feed water(entering a biomass boiler) and the previous extraction steam thus saved can continue to do work in the lower stages of turbine.The performance of the hybrid system with different replacements is analyzed and compared through two typical solar aided biomass generating units.The results show that the integration not only reduces the consumption of biomass fuel(at the same generation capacity) but is also proved to be an efficient way to convert solar thermal energy into power.The results also show that with the same solar aperture area,the higher the grade of the replaced extraction steam,the better the thermal performance and economy.展开更多
Chinese forests, characterized by relatively young stand age, represent a significant biomass carbon （C） sink over the past several decades. Nevertheless, it is unclear how forest biomass C sequestration capacity in...Chinese forests, characterized by relatively young stand age, represent a significant biomass carbon （C） sink over the past several decades. Nevertheless, it is unclear how forest biomass C sequestration capacity in China will evolve as forest age, climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration change continuously. Here, we present a semi-empirical model that incorporates forest age and climatic factors for each lbrest type to estimate the effects of forest age and climate change on total forest biomass, under three different sce-narios based on the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIPS）. We estimate that age-related forest biomass C sequestration to be 6.69 Pg C （~0.17 Pg C a^-1） from the 2000s to the 2040s. Climate change induces a rather weak increase in total forest biomass C sequestration （0.52-0.60 Pg C by tile 2040s）. We show that rising CO2 concentrations could further increase tile total forest biomass C sequestration by 1.68-3.12 Pg C in the 2040s across all three scenarios. Overall, the total forest biomass in China would increase by 8.89-10.37 Pg C by the end of 2040s. Our findings highlight the benefits of Chinese afforestation programs, continued climate change and increasing CO2. concentration in sustaining the forest biomass C sink in the near future, and could therefore be useful for designing more realistic climate change mitigation policies such as continuous forestation programs and careful choice of tree species.展开更多
Plants synthesize and accumulate large amount of specialized （or secondary） metabolites also known as natural products, which provide a rich source for modem pharmacy. In China, plants have been used in traditional ...Plants synthesize and accumulate large amount of specialized （or secondary） metabolites also known as natural products, which provide a rich source for modem pharmacy. In China, plants have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Recent development of molecular biology, genomics and functional genomics as well as high-throughput analytical chemical technologies has greatly promoted the research on medicinal plants. In this article, we review recent advances in the elucidation of biosynthesis of specialized metabolites in medicinal plants, including phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and alkaloids. Th- ese natural products may share a common upstream path- way to form a limited numbers of common precursors, but are characteristic in distinct modifications leading to highly variable structures. Although this review is focused on traditional Chinese medicine, other plants with a great medicinal interest or potential are also discussed. Under- standing of their biosynthesis processes is critical for producing these highly value molecules at large scale and low cost in microbes and will benefit to not only human health but also plant resource conservation.展开更多
基金the Center for Advanced Process Decision-making at Carnegie Mellon University and NSF Grant CBET096654
文摘In this paper we address the topic of energy and water optimization in the production of bioethanol from corn and switchgrass. We show that in order for these manufacturing processes to be attractive,there is a need to go beyond traditional heat integration and water recycling techniques. Thus,we propose a strategy based on mathe-matical programming techniques to model and optimize the structure of the processes,and perform heat integration including the use of multi-effect distillation columns and integrated water networks to show that the energy effi-ciency and water consumption in bioethanol plants can be significantly improved. Specifically,under some circum-stances energy can even be produced and the water consumption can be reduced below the values required for the production of gasoline.
文摘Biomass plants often struggle to capture flow measurements reliably. High amounts of dry solids and fats complicate the measurement with an MID （Magnetic-Inductive） flowmeter and make it susceptible to faults. To overcome this impediment, the waste water treatment plant in Innsbruck, Austria, relies on electromagnetic pulsed AC （Alternating Current） flowmeters. Compared to pulsed DC （Direct Current） devices, AC devices are able to build up magnetic fields that are ten times stronger. Equipped with this capability, the Sitrans Transmag 2 is able to guarantee a constant and also high measuring accuracy, zero point stability and signal strength regardless of impurities in the medium or fluctuations in the magnetic field.
基金Project supported by Funds of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for Key Topics in Innovation Engineering （Grant No. KZCX3-SW-148） and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant No. 4043009）.
文摘China has achieved much during recent years in the area of lithospheric physics research and promoted the development of the geosciences （Teng, 2004）. However, in the 21^st century, national needs and policy challenges the science of lithospheric physics. I suggest a general analysis, research, and development direction for lithospheric physics and point out clearly the content, core problems, and key scientific problems in this field. The realization of the earth and the discovery of the basic mechanisms of mountains, basins, minerals, and natural disasters depend basically on high-resolution observations of geophysics, the delineation of the fine structure of crust and mantle （2D and 3D） inside the lithosphere, substance and energy exchanges in the deep earth, the process of deep physical, mechanical, and chemical actions, and deep dynamical response. Therefore, geophysics should be the pioneer in the geosciences field in the first half of the 21^st century. I end with an analysis and discussion of some problems and difficulties in the research of lithospheric physics.
文摘Biofuels could contribute, on a worldwide basis, to the attainment of international energy-policy objectives in three ways： by reducing dependence on imported oil; by increasing the availability of renewable energy sources; and by dealing with environmental issues. One such environmental issue is the unsustainable use of agricultural land. There is a need in South Africa there to convert to sustainable and renewable energy resources, such as biofuels, but the production of biofuels will ultimately place pressure on the limited and fragile agricultural resources of the country. This paper sets out firstly to investigate national agricultural policies which could impact on the production of biofuels. It points out that national agricultural policies are hampering the domestic production of biofuels in that the focus is on land reform and increasing the volume of agricultural exports, whereas the provision of food and energy to meet domestic needs features only as a secondary aim. The second objective of this paper is to investigate the possibility of utilising energy crops for biofuel production in South Africa. Annual agricultural production, surplus import and export figures, provide an indication of the capacity of South African farmers to produce crops for biofuel production.
基金Supported by Tropical Forage Grass Germplasm Conservation Project of Ministry of AgricultureModern Agriculture Talent Support Program of Ministry of AgricultureTropical Crop Germplasm Protection Project of Ministry of Agriculture(12RZZY-09)
文摘[Objective]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm resources as energy plants was discussed in this paper.[Method]The energy productivity potential of Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasm resources collected from the wild was assessed from the aspects of cellulose,semicellulose,lignin and crude ash contents and caloric value.[Result]The total content of cellulose and semicellulose ranged from 41.75%to 69.13%,the lignin content ranged from 2.16%to 11.75%,the crude ash content ranged from 4.79%to 9.34%and the caloric value ranged from 16.00 to 17.69 MJ/kg among the 30 Saccharum spontaneum L.germplasms.Compared to other plants,Saccharum spontaneum L.had higher contents of cellulose and semicellulose,a higher caloric value but lower contents of lignin and crude ash.[Conclusion]From the perspective of producing fuel ethanol with lignocellulose,Saccharum spontaneum L.has a great potential for development as an energy plant.
文摘The oceans account for 71% of the Earth’s surface and are rich in the most advantageous and characteristic resources of marine microbes. The research on diversity is the key point for exploring and exploiting marine microbial resources. Giving attention to species diversity and genetic diversity of marine microbes, discovering novel metabolites with multiple functions, revealing key secondary metabolic process and the main regulation mechanisms in marine microbes, and developing a new technology of biosynthesis, are the important foundation for discovering innovative drugs and developing functional products with characteristics. The present paper has reviewed the recent advances in the four research areas of marine microbial species diversity, genetic diversity, chemical diversity and metabolic diversity in China.
文摘Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by human since ancient times. Also secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectric power and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth, which can be used by human. Architects since alacient times have used various methods to hamesse and employ the solar energy for lighting, cooling and heating and etc. Meanwhile, Iran＇s ancient architecture, as an adaptive one, which consists of various climatic reigns, is filled with abounding examples of using sun energy in buildings. But, unfortunately despite these ancient methods, our modern architects mostly tend to provide energy of buildings with fossil fuels. This increases energy costs of the building＇s and also pollutes the environment. In this article it is intended to consider the ancient ways of using solar energy in Iran, and then suggest new methods for applying in modem buildings. The results of consideration show that among Solar technologies, passive and active methods, Iran＇s ancient architects have used passive methods, for example in mass and space, orientation and settlement of building. The idea of passive methods can be used in new shapes in current buildings, for instance by using solar space, central yard and etc. The suggestive method in this paper is combining the passive methods with the active ones.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.31100407,31471962)
文摘Freshwater biofouling threatens a variety of human activities,from the supply of water and energy to recreation.Several species of freshwater bryozoans are notorious for clogging pipes and filters but have been relatively poorly studied to date.We report,for the first time,a biofouling species of freshwater bryozoan,Pectinatella magnifica(Leidy,1851),from several freshwater rivers,lakes and ponds in China.A complete description,national distribution and the fouling problems are provided.Exactly how Pectinatella magnifica arrived in China remains unclear,but anthropochory and zoochory are considered to be important dispersal pathways.
文摘Environmental protection products and equipment are important substance basis and insurance which provide supporting for to the realization of the strategic objective of reduced energy use and emissions while improving the resource economy ＆ environmental kindly society building, as well as the sustainable development economy and environment in a sustainable fashion. Here, the framework of the standards system and evaluation indicators system for environmental protection products are described based on the present deficiencies in independent innovation, lower levels of standardization, and poor operating effectiveness of such equipment in China with a goal of forcing the development of standardization, seriation and currency used in the environmental protection industry. The results presented here should serve as a reference for the promotion of quality and effectiveness in environmental protection products and equipments.
文摘Shallow gas is composed of all kinds of shallow buried natural gas resources( < 1500 m) with relatively small reserve for each gas resource. It has some advantages such as shallow burial depth,good physical properties and the huge accumulations. Based on the Wigner-Vill distribution,a general spectral decomposition method is applied in the shallow gas detection. Cone-shaped kernel function filtering method is used to suppress cross-terms of the Wigner-Ville distribution,which is tested on field seismic data. Because of shallow gas reservoir has a characteristic that low frequency energy is stronger and high frequency energy is weaker,it indicates the presence of shallow gas successfully.
文摘This work consists of estimating the energy achieved from all land and water-based vegetations. This real potential is determined by identifying 10 biomass samples taken from vegetable resources which are favored by their aptitude of adaptation to the conditions of Iran. The net energy values of the 10 biomass samples change in the range of 13.65-18.00 MJ/kg using bomb calorimeter. By means of least squarere regression method all correlations were found. The results of 10 different biomass materials have been used to develop a linear equation correlation.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 51025624, 51006033)the National Basic Research Program of China ("973" Program) (Grant No 2009CB219801)Foundation of North China Electric Power University
文摘Solar and biomass are both renewable energy resources.Using biomass as fuel is becoming more and more attractive after governments increase the tariff for the electricity from the renewable sources.However the costs of power from a biomass power generation plant depend greatly on the availability and quality of the biomass resource.The commercialization of solar alone thermal power generation is hindered by its high initial investment and low thermal efficiency.In this paper,a concept of integrating solar into a biomass power generation system is put forward.In the system the oil heated by a parabolic trough solar field is used to replace the extraction steam to preheat the feed water(entering a biomass boiler) and the previous extraction steam thus saved can continue to do work in the lower stages of turbine.The performance of the hybrid system with different replacements is analyzed and compared through two typical solar aided biomass generating units.The results show that the integration not only reduces the consumption of biomass fuel(at the same generation capacity) but is also proved to be an efficient way to convert solar thermal energy into power.The results also show that with the same solar aperture area,the higher the grade of the replaced extraction steam,the better the thermal performance and economy.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFA0604702)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41530528 and 31621091)
文摘Chinese forests, characterized by relatively young stand age, represent a significant biomass carbon （C） sink over the past several decades. Nevertheless, it is unclear how forest biomass C sequestration capacity in China will evolve as forest age, climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration change continuously. Here, we present a semi-empirical model that incorporates forest age and climatic factors for each lbrest type to estimate the effects of forest age and climate change on total forest biomass, under three different sce-narios based on the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIPS）. We estimate that age-related forest biomass C sequestration to be 6.69 Pg C （~0.17 Pg C a^-1） from the 2000s to the 2040s. Climate change induces a rather weak increase in total forest biomass C sequestration （0.52-0.60 Pg C by tile 2040s）. We show that rising CO2 concentrations could further increase tile total forest biomass C sequestration by 1.68-3.12 Pg C in the 2040s across all three scenarios. Overall, the total forest biomass in China would increase by 8.89-10.37 Pg C by the end of 2040s. Our findings highlight the benefits of Chinese afforestation programs, continued climate change and increasing CO2. concentration in sustaining the forest biomass C sink in the near future, and could therefore be useful for designing more realistic climate change mitigation policies such as continuous forestation programs and careful choice of tree species.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31200222)Special Fund for Shanghai Landscaping Administration Bureau Program(F132424F112418 and G152421)
文摘Plants synthesize and accumulate large amount of specialized （or secondary） metabolites also known as natural products, which provide a rich source for modem pharmacy. In China, plants have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Recent development of molecular biology, genomics and functional genomics as well as high-throughput analytical chemical technologies has greatly promoted the research on medicinal plants. In this article, we review recent advances in the elucidation of biosynthesis of specialized metabolites in medicinal plants, including phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and alkaloids. Th- ese natural products may share a common upstream path- way to form a limited numbers of common precursors, but are characteristic in distinct modifications leading to highly variable structures. Although this review is focused on traditional Chinese medicine, other plants with a great medicinal interest or potential are also discussed. Under- standing of their biosynthesis processes is critical for producing these highly value molecules at large scale and low cost in microbes and will benefit to not only human health but also plant resource conservation.
