Chemical fractionation method for characterization of biomass-based bottom and fly ash fractions from large-sized power plant of an integrated pulp and paper mill complex

The aim of this study was to extract the biomass-based bottom and fly ash fractions by a three-stage fractionation method for water-soluble （H2O）, ammonium-acetate （CH3COONH4） and hydrochloric acid （HCl） fractions in order to access the leaching behaviour of these residues. Except for Mo, S, Na and elements whose concentrations were lower than the detection limits, the extractable element concentrations in both ash fractions followed the order H2O＆lt;CH3COONH4＆lt;HCl. The elements concentrations in this study were also lower than those in our previous studies, in which certain extraction stages followed the BCR extraction procedure.

Cellulose structure and lignin distribution in normal and compression wood of the Maidenhair tree(Ginkgo biloba L.)

We studied in detail the mean micro fibril angle and the width of cellulose crystals from the pith to the bark of a 15-year-old Maidenhair tree（Ginkgo biloba L.）. The orientation of cellulose micro fibrils with respect to the cell axis and the width and length of cellulose crystallites were determined using Xray diffraction. Raman microscopy was used to compare the lignin distribution in the cell wall of normal/opposite and compression wood, which was found near the pith. Ginkgo biloba showed a relatively large mean micro fibril angle,varying between 19° and 39° in the S2 layer, and the average width of cellulose crystallites was 3.1–3.2 nm. Mild compression wood without any intercellular spaces or helical cavities was observed near the pith. Slit-like bordered pit openings and a heavily lignified S2 L layer con firmed the presence of compression wood. Ginkgo biloba showed typical features present in the juvenile wood of conifers. The micro fibril angle remained large over the 14 annual rings. The entire stem disc,with a diameter of 18 cm, was considered to consist of juvenile wood. The properties of juvenile and compression wood as well as the cellulose orientation and crystalline width indicate that the wood formation of G. biloba is similar to that of modern conifers.

A novel trajectory-based online controller design approach to fault accommodation in NREL’s 5MW wind turbine systems

This paper presents a real-time mechanism to tolerate faults occurring in a wind turbine （WT） system. This system is composed of a FAST coded simulator designed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The demonstrated mechanism lies under the taxonomy of active fault-tolerant control （FTC） systems, namely online redesign based approach. In the proposed approach, we do not use any a priori information about the model of the turbine in real-time. In fact, we use online measurements generated by the WT. Based on the given control specifications, and the observed measurement an occurred fault is accommodated by reconfiguring the online controller such that the WT generates rated power even under faulty conditions. Second, no explicit fault diagnosis （FD） module is used in this approach. As a result, issues of model uncertainty, false alarms, etc. associated with an integrated FD and controller reconfiguration approach to FTC systems are not experienced here.

Single-walled carbon nanotube networks for ethanol vapor sensing applications

Networks of pristine high quality single walled carbon nanotubes （SWNTs）, the SWNTs after Ar-plasma treatment （from 2 to 12 rain） and carbon nanobuds （CNBs） have been tested for ethanol vapor sensing. It was found that the pristine high quality SWNTs do not exhibit any ethanol sensitivity, while the introduction of defects in the tubes results in the appearance of the ethanol sensitivity. The CNB network showed ethanol sensitivity without plasma treatment. Both CNB and low defect （after 3 min treatment） SWNT networks exhibit significant drift in the resistance baseline, while heavily plasma-treated （9 min） SWNTs exhibited high ethanol vapor sensitivity without the baseline change. The mechanisms of the ethanol sensitivity and stability after the plasma irradiation are attributed to the formation of sensitive dangling bonds in the SWNTs and formation of defect channels facilitating access of the ethanol vapor to all parts of the bundled nanotubes.