| 1. |
- Andersson, Jim, et al.
(författare)
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System studies on biofuel production via integrated biomass gasification
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A large number of national and international techno-economic studies on industrially integrated gasifiers for production of biofuels have been published during the recent years. These studies comprise different types of gasifiers (fluidized bed, indirect and entrained flow) integrated in different industries for the production of various types of chemicals and transportation fuels (SNG, FT-products, methanol, DME etc.) The results are often used for techno-economic comparisons between different biorefinery concepts. One relatively common observation is that even if the applied technology and the produced biofuel are the same, the results of the techno-economic studies may differ significantly.The main objective of this project has been to perform a comprehensive review of publications regarding industrially integrated biomass gasifiers for motor fuel production. The purposes have been to identify and highlight the main reasons why similar studies differ considerably and to prepare a basis for “fair” techno-economic comparisons. Another objective has been to identify possible lack of industrial integration studies that may be of interest to carry out in a second phase of the project.Around 40 national and international reports and articles have been analysed and reviewed. The majority of the studies concern gasifiers installed in chemical pulp and paper mills where black liquor gasification is the dominating technology. District heating systems are also well represented. Only a few studies have been found with mechanical pulp and paper mills, steel industries and the oil refineries as case basis. Other industries have rarely, or not at all, been considered for industrial integration studies. Surprisingly, no studies regarding integration of biomass gasification neither in saw mills nor in wood pellet production industry have been found.There are several reasons why the results of the reviewed techno-economic studies vary. Some examples are that different system boundaries have been set and that different technical and economic assumptions have been made, product yields and energy efficiencies may be calculated using different methods etc. For obvious reasons, the studies are not made in the same year, which means that different monetary exchange rates and indices have been applied. It is therefore very difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to compare the technical as well as the economic results from the different studies. When technical evaluations are to be carried out, there is no general method for how to set the system boundaries and no right or wrong way to calculate the system efficiencies as long as the boundaries and methods are transparent and clearly described. This also means that it becomes fruitless to compare efficiencies between different concepts unless the comparison is done on an exactly equal basis.However, even on an equal basis, a comparison is not a straight forward process. For example, calculated efficiencies may be based on the marginal supply, which then become very dependent on how the industries exploit their resources before the integration. The resulting efficiencies are therefore very site-dependent. Increasing the system boundaries to include all in- and outgoing energy carriers from the main industry, as well as the integrated gasification plant (i.e. total plant mass and energy balance), would inflict the same site-dependency problem. The resulting system efficiency is therefore a measure of the potential improvement that a specific industry could achieve by integrating a biomass gasification concept.When estimating the overall system efficiency of industrial biorefinery concepts that include multiple types of product flows and energy sources, the authors of this report encourage the use of electrical equivalents as a measure of the overall system efficiency. This should be done in order to take the energy quality of different energy carriers into concern.In the published economic evaluations, it has been found that there is a large number of studies containing both integration and production cost estimates. However, the number of references for the cost data is rather limited. The majority of these have also been published by the same group of people and use the same or similar background information. The information in these references is based on quotes and estimates, which is good, however none of these are publically available and therefore difficult to value with respect to content and accuracy.It has further been found that the variance in the operational costs is quite significant. Something that is particularly true for biomass costs, which have a high variance. This may be explained by natural variations in the quality of biomass used, but also to the different markets studied and the dates when the studies were performed. It may be seen from the specific investment costs that there is a significant spread in the data. It may also be seen that the differences in capital employed and process yields will result in quite large variations in the production cost of the synthetic fuels. On a general note, the studies performed are considering future plants and in some cases assumes technology development. It is therefore relevant to question the use of today’s prices of utilities and feedstock’s. It is believed that it would be more representative to perform some kind of scenario analysis using different parameters resulting in different cost assumptions to better exemplify possible futures.Due to the surprising lack of reports and articles regarding integration of biomass gasifiers in sawmills, it would be of great interest to carry out such a study. Also larger scale wood pellet production plants could be of interest as a potential gasification based biorefinery.
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| 3. |
- Arndt, Anton, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of a midfoot cut in the outer sole of a shoe on intrinsic foot kinematics during walking.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Footwear Science. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1942-4280 .- 1942-4299. ; 5:1, s. 63-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modifications in shoe outer soles are frequently made with the intention of altering biomechanics of the foot inside the shoe. These modifications are however, generally based upon intuition with little or no scientific data for support. The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in intrinsic foot segmental kinematics between walking in a neutral shoe and a shoe modified with a clear cut forming a break underneath the midfoot, approximating the Lisfrancs joint.Five healthy male subjects participated in the study. Intracortical pins were inserted under sterile conditions and local anaesthetic in nine different bones of the foot and shank. The subjects performed 10 walking trials in both a neutral, standard, flatsoled, flexible walking shoe and in the same shoe with an approximately 1 cm deep cut aligned with the subjects’ Lisfrancs joint. Material tests showed that the cut reduced midfoot shoe bending stiffness by 23% to 38% and torsional stiffness by 23% to 28%. A helical axis approach was applied for calculating the 3D rotations about relevant joints.Kinematic trajectories in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes were normalised to the stance phase for seven selected joints to compare rotation patterns when wearing the two shoe conditions. Although one out of 21 ranges of motion (ROM) showed a significant difference, there is strong reason to regard this as the result of a type 1 error. Apart from this no differences in ROM occurred between the shoe conditions.The low subject number reduced the statistical power of the results. However, the study indicated that outer sole modifications that may be assumed to have clear effects upon foot kinematics, do not necessarily do so.
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| 4. |
- Baldetorp, Bo, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of protein expression in pure cell nuclei populations isolated from human breast cancer tissue by DNA flow cytometric sorting.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Proteomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1874-3919. ; 73, s. 1111-1116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, cell nuclei from aneuploid breast cancer samples were sorted with respect to DNA content into pure diploid and aneuploid fractions using flow cytometry. The nuclear proteins were then separated by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis (1D-PAGE) and differences in protein expression patterns, between diploid and aneuploid nuclei from the same tumours, were compared. Using a combination of peptide finger printing and peptide identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, we identified proteins and confirmed that the proteins were of nuclear origins. The results in this study add further information to the knowledge about the breast cancer disease complexity and heterogeneity at molecular level. For some of the tumours studied different nuclei protein patterns were obtained, in the diploid respective aneuploid nuclei populations, whilst other tumours did not show these differences.
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| 7. |
- Bunketorp Käll, Lina, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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The effects of a rhythm and music-based therapy program and therapeutic riding in late recovery phase following stroke: a study protocol for a three-armed randomized controlled trial.
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC neurology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2377. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Stroke represents one of the most costly and long-term disabling conditions in adulthood worldwide and there is a need to determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in the late phase after stroke. Limited scientific support exists for training incorporating rhythm and music as well as therapeutic riding and well-designed trials to determine the effectiveness of these treatment modalities are warranted. METHODS: A single blinded three-armed randomized controlled trial is described with the aim to evaluate whether it is possible to improve the overall health status and functioning of individuals in the late phase of stroke (1-5 years after stroke) through a rhythm and music-based therapy program or therapeutic riding. About 120 individuals will be consecutively and randomly allocated to one of three groups: (T1) A rhythm and music-based therapy program; (T2) therapeutic riding; or (T3) control group receiving the T1 training program a year later. Evaluation is conducted prior to and after the 12-week long intervention as well as three and six months later. The evaluation comprises a comprehensive functional and cognitive assessment (both qualitative and quantitative), and questionnaires. Based on the International classification of functioning, disability, and health (ICF), the outcome measures are classified into six comprehensive domains, with participation as the primary outcome measure assessed by the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS, version 2.0.). The secondary outcome measures are grouped within the following domains: body function, activity, environmental factors and personal factors. Life satisfaction and health related quality of life constitute an additional domain. Thus far, a total of 84 participants were randomised and have completed the intervention. Recruitment proceeds and follow-up is on-going, trial results are expected in 2014.Current statusA total of 84 participants were randomised and have completed the intervention. Recruitment proceeds and follow-up is on-going, trial results are expected in early 2014. DISCUSSION: This study will ascertain whether any of the two intervention programs can improve overall health status and functioning in the late phase of stroke. A positive outcome would increase the scientific basis for the use of such interventions in the late phase after stroke.Trial registrationClinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01372059.
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| 8. |
- Carvalho, Lara, et al.
(författare)
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Performance of a pellet boiler fired with agricultural fuels
- 2013
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 104, s. 286-296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The increasing demand for woody biomass increases the price of this limited resource, motivating the growing interest in using woody materials of lower quality as well as non-woody biomass fuels for heat production in Europe. The challenges in using non-woody biomass as fuels are related to the variability of the chemical composition and in certain fuel properties that may induce problems during combustion. The objective of this work has been to evaluate the technical and environmental performance of a 15 kW pellet boiler when operated with different pelletized biomass fuels, namely straw (Triticum aestivum), Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), maize (Zea mays), wheat bran, vineyard pruning (from Vitis vinifera), hay, Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and wood (from Picea abies) with 5% rye flour. The gaseous and dust emissions as well as the boiler efficiency were investigated and compared with the legal requirements defined in the FprEN 303-5 (final draft of the European standard 303-5). It was found that the boiler control should be improved to better adapt the combustion conditions to the different properties of the agricultural fuels. Additionally, there is a need for a frequent cleaning of the heat exchangers in boilers operated with agricultural fuels to avoid efficiency drops after short term operation. All the agricultural fuels satisfied the legal requirements defined in the FprEN 303-5, with the exception of dust emissions during combustion of straw and Sorghum. Miscanthus and vineyard pruning were the best fuels tested showing comparable emission values to wood combustion.
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| 9. |
- Ekbom, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
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Methanol production from steel-work off-gases and biomass based synthesis gas
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE 2012.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The main objective has been to describe different cases of the methanol production from steel-work off gases (Coke oven gas and Basic oxygen furnace gas) and biomass based synthesis gas. The SSAB steel mill in the town of Luleå, Sweden has been used as a basis to analyze four different methanol production cases.The studied biomass gasification technology is based on a fluidized bed gasifier unit, where the production capacity is determined from case to case coupled to the heat production required to satisfy the local district heating demand. Critical factors are the integration of the gases with availability to the synthesis unit, to balance the steam system of the biorefinery and to meet the district heat demand of Luleå.For each case, the annual production potential of methanol, the overall production efficiencies and the effects on the total steel plant have been estimated.
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