Showing papers by "Cranfield University published in 2015"

The Characterization of Feces and Urine: A Review of the Literature to Inform Advanced Treatment Technology

Abstract: The safe disposal of human excreta is of paramount importance for the health and welfare of populations living in low income countries as well as the prevention of pollution to the surrounding environment. On-site sanitation (OSS) systems are the most numerous means of treating excreta in low income countries, these facilities aim at treating human waste at source and can provide a hygienic and affordable method of waste disposal. However, current OSS systems need improvement and require further research and development. Development of OSS facilities that treat excreta at, or close to, its source require knowledge of the waste stream entering the system. Data regarding the generation rate and the chemical and physical composition of fresh feces and urine was collected from the medical literature as well as the treatability sector. The data were summarized and statistical analysis was used to quantify the major factors that were a significant cause of variability. The impact of this data on biological processes, thermal processes, physical separators, and chemical processes was then assessed. Results showed that the median fecal wet mass production was 128 g/cap/day, with a median dry mass of 29 g/cap/day. Fecal output in healthy individuals was 1.20 defecations per 24 hr period and the main factor affecting fecal mass was the fiber intake of the population. Fecal wet mass values were increased by a factor of 2 in low income countries (high fiber intakes) in comparison to values found in high income countries (low fiber intakes). Feces had a median pH of 6.64 and were composed of 74.6% water. Bacterial biomass is the major component (25-54% of dry solids) of the organic fraction of the feces. Undigested carbohydrate, fiber, protein, and fat comprise the remainder and the amounts depend on diet and diarrhea prevalence in the population. The inorganic component of the feces is primarily undigested dietary elements that also depend on dietary supply. Median urine generation rates were 1.42 L/cap/day with a dry solids content of 59 g/cap/day. Variation in the volume and composition of urine is caused by differences in physical exertion, environmental conditions, as well as water, salt, and high protein intakes. Urine has a pH 6.2 and contains the largest fractions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium released from the body. The urinary excretion of nitrogen was significant (10.98 g/cap/day) with urea the most predominant constituent making up over 50% of total organic solids. The dietary intake of food and fluid is the major cause of variation in both the fecal and urine composition and these variables should always be considered if the generation rate, physical, and chemical composition of feces and urine is to be accurately predicted.

The present and future of additive manufacturing in the aerospace sector: A review of important aspects

Abstract: This paper reviews recent improvements in additive manufacturing technologies, focusing on those which have the potential to produce and repair metal parts for the aerospace industry. Electron beam melting, selective laser melting and other metal deposition processes, such as wire and arc additive manufacturing, are presently regarded as the best candidates to achieve this challenge. For this purpose, it is crucial that these technologies are well characterised and modelled to predict the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties of the part. This paper presents the state of the art in additive manufacturing and material modelling. While these processes present many advantages to the aerospace industry in comparison with traditional manufacturing processes, airworthiness and air transport safety must be guaranteed. The impact of this regulatory framework on the implementation of additive manufacturing for repair and production of parts for the aerospace industry is presented.

Effect of arc mode in cold metal transfer process on porosity of additively manufactured Al-6.3%Cu alloy

Abstract: In this study, the effect of arc mode in cold metal transfer (CMT) process on the porosity characteristic of additively manufactured Al-6.3%Cu alloy has been systematically investigated. The variants include conventional CMT, CMT pulse (CMT-P), CMT advanced (CMT-ADV) and CMT pulse advanced (CMT-PADV) and experiments were performed on both single layer deposits and multilayer deposits. The mechanism of porosity generation using the CMT arc mode variants is discussed. It was found that deposit porosity is significantly influenced by the arc mode type of CMT process. Conventional CMT is not suitable for the additive manufacturing process because it produces a large amount of gas pores, even in single layer deposit. CMT-PADV proved to be the most suitable process for depositing aluminium alloy due to its excellent performance in controlling porosity. With correct parameter, setting the gas pores can be eliminated. It was found that the key factors that enable the CMT-PADV process to control the porosity efficiently are the low heat input, a fine equiaxed grain structure and effective oxide cleaning of the wire.

Recent progress in enhancing photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2-based materials

Abstract: Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been proved to be a leading semiconductor material to removal of environmental pollutants. However, it suffers from low photocatalytic efficiency under visible-light irradiation and narrow light response range because of its intrinsic large band gap. One of the most significant scientific and commercial progresses to date has been the development of visible light active TiO2 by incorporation of additional components in the TiO2 structure. In this review, a variety of strategies to improve the photocatalytic efficiency and shift the photocatalysis to visible light range are discussed. The materials are covered in the review including TiO2/SiO2, TiO2/carbon nanotube, TiO2-graphene/grapheme oxide, non-metal and/or metal doped TiO2. Emphasis is given to highlight current techniques and recent progress in enhancing photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2-based materials, which drives the rising of some key strategies involved in the ongoing challenges and potential new directions of TiO2 photocatalysts.

A review of developments in pilot-plant testing and modelling of calcium looping process for CO2 capture from power generation systems

Abstract: A nearly complete decarbonisation of the power sector is essential to meet the European Union target for greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Carbon capture and storage technologies have been identified as a key measure in reducing the carbon-intensity of the power sector. However, no cost-effective technology has yet been developed on a commercial scale, which is mostly due to high capital cost. Moreover, the mature technologies, such as amine scrubbing or oxy-combustion technologies, impose a high projected efficiency penalty (8–12.5% points) upon integration to the power plant. The calcium looping process, which is currently being tested experimentally in bench- and pilot-scale plants worldwide, is regarded as a promising alternative to the chemical solvent scrubbing approach, as it leads to the projected efficiency penalty of 6–8% points. The calcium looping concept has been developing rapidly due to the introduction of new test facilities, new correlations for process modelling, and process configurations for improved performance. The first part of this review provides an overview of the bench- and pilot-plant test facilities available worldwide. The focus is put on summarising the characteristics and operating conditions of the test facilities, as well as extracting the key experimental findings. Additionally, the experimental data suitable for validation or verification of the process models are presented. In the second part, the approaches to the carbonator and the calciner reactor modelling are summarised and classified in five model complexity levels. Moreover, the model limitations are assessed and the needs for modelling baselines for further process analyses are identified. Finally, in the third part the approaches for the integration of calcium looping to the power generation systems and for the improvement of the process performance are identified and evaluated. This review indicates that calcium looping integration resulted in the projected efficiency penalty of 2.6–7.9% points for the coal-fired power plants and 9.1–11.4% points for the combined-cycle power plants. Also, it was found that the calcium looping process can be used to develop a novel high-efficiency (46.7%LHV) coal-fired power generation system, making this technology even more promising compared to the other CO2 capture technologies.

Unravelling rootstock×scion interactions to improve food security

Abstract: While much recent science has focused on understanding and exploiting root traits as new opportunities for crop improvement, the use of rootstocks has enhanced productivity of woody perennial crops for centuries Grafting of vegetable crops has developed very quickly in the last 50 years, mainly to induce shoot vigour and to overcome soil-borne diseases in solanaceous and cucurbitaceous crops In most cases, such progress has largely been due to empirical interactions between farmers, gardeners, and botanists, with limited insights into the underlying physiological mechanisms Only during the last 20 years has science realized the potential of this old activity and studied the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in rootstockxscion interactions, thereby not only explaining old phenomena but also developing new tools for crop improvement Rootstocks can contribute to food security by: (i) increasing the yield potential of elite varieties; (ii) closing the yield gap under suboptimal growing conditions; (iii) decreasing the amount of chemical (pesticides and fertilizers) contaminants in the soil; (iv) increasing the efficiency of use of natural (water and soil) resources; (v) generating new useful genotypic variability (via epigenetics); and (vi) creating new products with improved quality The potential of grafting is as broad as the genetic variability able to cross a potential incompatibility barrier between the rootstock and the scion Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying the phenotypic variability resulting from rootstockxscionxenvironment interactions will certainly contribute to developing and exploiting rootstocks for food security

Microstructure of Interpass Rolled Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing Ti-6Al-4V Components

Abstract: Mechanical property anisotropy is one of the issues that are limiting the industrial adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) Ti-6Al-4V components. To improve the deposits’ microstructure, the effect of high-pressure interpass rolling was evaluated, and a flat and a profiled roller were compared. The microstructure was changed from large columnar prior $$\beta $$ grains that traversed the component to equiaxed grains that were between 56 and 139 μm in size. The repetitive variation in Widmanstatten $$\alpha $$ lamellae size was retained; however, with rolling, the overall size was reduced. A “fundamental study” was used to gain insight into the microstructural changes that occurred due to the combination of deformation and deposition. High-pressure interpass rolling can overcome many of the shortcomings of AM, potentially aiding industrial implementation of the process.

Climate change and water in the UK - past changes and future prospects

Abstract: Climate change is expected to modify rainfall, temperature and catchment hydrological responses across the world, and adapting to these water-related changes is a pressing challenge. This paper reviews the impact of anthropogenic climate change on water in the UK and looks at projections of future change. The natural variability of the UK climate makes change hard to detect; only historical increases in air temperature can be attributed to anthropogenic climate forcing, but over the last 50 years more winter rainfall has been falling in intense events. Future changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration could lead to changed flow regimes and impacts on water quality, aquatic ecosystems and water availability. Summer flows may decrease on average, but floods may become larger and more frequent. River and lake water quality may decline as a result of higher water temperatures, lower river flows and increased algal blooms in summer, and because of higher flows in the winter. In communicating this important work, researchers should pay particular attention to explaining confidence and uncertainty clearly. Much of the relevant research is either global or highly localized: decision-makers would benefit from more studies that address water and climate change at a spatial and temporal scale appropriate for the decisions they make.

Giant Electric Energy Density in Epitaxial Lead‐Free Thin Films with Coexistence of Ferroelectrics and Antiferroelectrics

Abstract: Ferroelectrics/antiferroelectrics with high dielectric breakdown strength have the potential to store a great amount of electrical energy, attractive for many modern applications in electronic devices and systems. Here, it is demonstrated that a giant electric energy density (154 J cm−3, three times the highest value of lead-based systems and five times the value of the best dielectric/ferroelectric polymer), together with the excellent fatigue-free property, good thermal stability, and high efficiency, is realized in pulsed laser deposited (Bi1/2Na1/2)0.9118La0.02Ba0.0582(Ti0.97Zr0.03)O3 (BNLBTZ) epitaxial lead-free relaxor thin films with the coexistence of ferroelectric (FE) and antiferroelectric (AFE) phases. This is endowed by high epitaxial quality, great relaxor dispersion, and the coexistence of the FE/AFE phases near the morphotropic phase boundary. The giant energy storage effect of the BNLBTZ lead-free relaxor thin films may make a great impact on the modern energy storage technology.

Fabrication of polymeric biomaterials: a strategy for tissue engineering and medical devices

Abstract: Polymeric biomaterials have a significant impact in today's health care technology. Polymer hydrogels were the first experimentally designed biomaterials for human use. In this article the design, synthesis and properties of hydrogels, derived from synthetic and natural polymers, and their use as biomaterials in tissue engineering are reviewed. The stimuli-responsive hydrogels with controlled degradability and examples of suitable methods for designing such biomaterials, using multidisciplinary approaches from traditional polymer chemistry, materials engineering to molecular biology, have been discussed. Examples of the fabrication of polymer-based biomaterials, utilized for various cell type manipulations for tissue re-generation are also elaborated. Since a highly porous three-dimensional scaffold is crucially important in the cellular process, for tissue engineering, recent advances in the effective methods of scaffold fabrication are described. Additionally, the incorporation of factor molecules for the enhancement of tissue formation and their controlled release is also elucidated in this article. Finally, the future challenges in the efficient fabrication of effective polymeric biomaterials for tissue regeneration and medical device applications are discussed.

Large Energy Storage Density and High Thermal Stability in a Highly Textured (111)-Oriented Pb0.8Ba0.2ZrO3 Relaxor Thin Film with the Coexistence of Antiferroelectric and Ferroelectric Phases

Abstract: A highly textured (111)-oriented Pb0.8Ba0.2ZrO3 (PBZ) relaxor thin film with the coexistence of antiferroelectric (AFE) and ferroelectric (FE) phases was prepared on a Pt/TiOx/SiO2/Si(100) substrate by using a sol-gel method. A large recoverable energy storage density of 40.18 J/cm(3) along with an efficiency of 64.1% was achieved at room temperature. Over a wide temperature range of 250 K (from room temperature to 523 K), the variation of the energy density is within 5%, indicating a high thermal stability. The high energy storage performance was endowed by a large dielectric breakdown strength, great relaxor dispersion, highly textured orientation, and the coexistence of FE and AFE phases. The PBZ thin film is believed to be an attractive material for applications in energy storage systems over a wide temperature range.

A map of the topsoil organic carbon content of Europe generated by a generalized additive model

Abstract: There is an increasing demand for up-to-date soil organic carbon (OC) data for global environmental and climatic modelling. The aim of this study was to create a map of topsoil OC content at the European scale by applying digital soil mapping techniques to the first European harmonized geo-referenced topsoil (0–20 cm) database, which arises from the Land use/Cover Area frame statistical Survey (LUCAS). A map of the associated uncertainty was also produced to support careful use of the predicted OC contents. A generalized additive model (GAM)was fitted on 85% of the dataset (R2 =0.29), using OC content as dependent variable; a backward stepwise approach selected slope, land cover, temperature, net primary productivity, latitude and longitude as suitable covariates. The validation of the model (performed on 15% of the data-set) gave an overall R2 of 0.27 and an R2 of 0.21 for mineral soils and 0.06 for organic soils. Organic C content in most organic soils was under-predicted, probably because of the imposed unimodal distribution of our model, whose mean is tilted towards the prevalent mineral soils. This was also confirmed by the poor prediction in Scandinavia (where organic soils are more frequent), which gave an R2 of 0.09, whilst the prediction performance (R2) in non-Scandinavian countries was 0.28. Themap of predicted OC content had the smallest values in Mediterranean countries and in croplands across Europe, whereas largest OC contents were predicted in wetlands, woodlands and mountainous areas. The map of the predictions’ standard error had large uncertainty in northern latitudes, wetlands, moors and heathlands, whereas small uncertainty was mostly found in croplands. The map produced gives the most updated general picture of topsoil OC content at the European Union scale.

Global patterns of plant root colonization intensity by mycorrhizal fungi explained by climate and soil chemistry

Abstract: Aim Most vascular plants on Earth form mycorrhizae, a symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. Despite the broad recognition of the importance of mycorrhizae for global carbon and nutrient cycling, we do not know how soil and climate variables relate to the intensity of colonization of plant roots by mycorrhizal fungi. Here we quantify the global patterns of these relationships. Location Global. Methods Data on plant root colonization intensities by the two dominant types of mycorrhizal fungi world-wide, arbuscular (4887 plant species in 233 sites) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (125 plant species in 92 sites), were compiled from published studies. Data for climatic and soil factors were extracted from global datasets. For a given mycorrhizal type, we calculated at each site the mean root colonization intensity by mycorrhizal fungi across all potentially mycorrhizal plant species found at the site, and subjected these data to generalized additive model regression analysis with environmental factors as predictor variables. Results We show for the first time that at the global scale the intensity of plant root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi strongly relates to warm-season temperature, frost periods and soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and is highest at sites featuring continental climates with mild summers and a high availability of soil nitrogen. In contrast, the intensity of ectomycorrhizal infection in plant roots is related to soil acidity, soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and seasonality of precipitation, and is highest at sites with acidic soils and relatively constant precipitation levels. Main conclusions We provide the first quantitative global maps of intensity of mycorrhizal colonization based on environmental drivers, and suggest that environmental changes will affect distinct types of mycorrhizae differently. Future analyses of the potential effects of environmental change on global carbon and nutrient cycling via mycorrhizal pathways will need to take into account the relationships discovered in this study.

Microalgae for municipal wastewater nutrient remediation: mechanisms, reactors and outlook for tertiary treatment

Abstract: This review explores the use of microalgae for nutrient removal in municipal wastewater treatment, considering recent improvements in the understanding of removal mechanisms and developments of both suspended and non-suspended systems. Nutrient removal is associated to both direct and indirect uptake, with the former associated to the biomass concentration and growth environment (reactor). Importantly, direct uptake is influenced by the Nitrogen:Phosphorus content in both the cells and the surrounding wastewater, with opposite trends observed for N and P. Comparison of suspended and non-suspended systems revealed that whilst all were capable of achieving high levels of nutrient removal, only non-suspended immobilized systems could do so with reduced hydraulic retention times of less than 1 day. As microalgae are photosynthetic organisms, the metabolic processes associated with nutrient assimilation are driven by light. Optimization of light delivery remains a key area of development with examples of impro...

Advanced Power-Source Integration in Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Multicriteria Optimization Approach

Abstract: System integration and power-flow control of on-board power sources are critical to the performance and cost competitiveness of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The existing methods mostly focus on fuel minimization in hybrid powertrains, while disregarding many other concerns. This article presents an innovative multicriteria optimization approach and showcases its validity and usefulness in a case study of a fuel-cell hybrid bus. Three key technical contributions are made. First, a convex multicriteria optimization framework is devised for quickly and efficiently evaluating the optimal tradeoffs between the fuel-cell durability and hydrogen economy in the bus, as well as the corresponding fuel-cell dimension. Second, the impact of driving pattern on both the optimal fuel-cell size and Pareto optimality is investigated by considering discrepant driving schedules. Finally, a preliminary but useful economic assessment in both current and future scenarios is performed to explore the most cost-effective tradeoff.

Detection of Waterborne Viruses Using High Affinity Molecularly Imprinted Polymers.

Abstract: Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are artificial receptor ligands which can recognize and specifically bind to a target molecule. They are more resistant to chemical and biological damage and inactivation than antibodies. Therefore, target specific-MIP nanoparticles are aimed to develop and implemented to biosensors for the detection of biological toxic agents such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi toxins that cause many diseases and death due to the environmental contamination. For the first time, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) targeting the bacteriophage MS2 as the template was investigated using a novel solid-phase synthesis method to obtain the artificial affinity ligand for the detection and removal of waterborne viruses through optical-based sensors. A high affinity between the artificial ligand and the target was found, and a regenerative MIP-based virus detection assay was successfully developed using a new surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-biosensor which provides an alternative technology...