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“First Economical Process” for Making Biodiesel Fuel from Algae |
 | | The feedstock transferring system for algae biodiesel. |
March 30, 2009 - Newswise — Chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel — a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel.One of the problems with current methods for producing biodiesel from algae oil is the processing cost, and the New York researchers say their innovative process is at least 40 percent cheaper than that of others now being used. Supply will not be a problem: There is a limitless amount of algae growing in oceans, lakes, and rivers, throughout the world. Another benefit from the “continuously flowing fixed-bed” method to create algae biodiesel, they add, is that there is no wastewater produced to cause pollution. “This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil,” according to lead researcher Ben Wen, Ph.D., vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. “It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster.” A key advantage of this new process, he says, is that it uses a proprietary solid catalyst developed at his company instead of liquid catalysts used by other scientists today. First, the solid catalyst can be used over and over. Second, it allows the continuously flowing production of biodiesel, compared to the method using a liquid catalyst. That process is slower because workers need to take at least a half hour after producing each batch to create more biodiesel. They need to purify the biodiesel by neutralizing the base catalyst by adding acid. No such action is needed to treat the solid catalyst, Wen explains. He estimates algae has an “oil-per-acre production rate 100-300 times the amount of soybeans, and offers the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel and the most promising source for mass biodiesel production to replace transportation fuel in the United States.” He says that his firm is now conducting a pilot program for the process with a production capacity of nearly 1 million gallons of algae biodiesel per year. Depending on the size of the machinery and the plant, he said it is possible that a company could produce up to 50 million gallons of algae biodiesel annually. Wen also says that the solid catalyst continuous flow method can be adapted to mobile units so that smaller companies wouldn’t have to construct plants and the military could use the process in the field. The National Science Foundation funded Wen’s research. |
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New Building Design Withstands Earthquake Simulation |
 | | Engineers constructed a four-story, 40-percent replica of a building in a laboratory to test their new technique for bracing high rise buildings in earthquake zones. They simulated an earthquake by pushing and pulling the building with hydraulics. |
February 27 2009 - Newswise — Researchers at the University of Michigan simulated an off-the-charts earthquake in a laboratory to test their new technique for bracing high-rise concrete buildings. Their technique passed the test, withstanding more movement than an earthquake would typically demand. The engineers used steel fiber-reinforced concrete to develop a better kind of coupling beam that requires less reinforcement and is easier to construct. Coupling beams connect the walls of high rises around openings such as those for doorways, windows, and elevator shafts. These necessary openings can weaken walls. "We simulated an earthquake that is beyond the range of the maximum credible earthquake and our test was very successful. Our fiber-reinforced concrete beams behaved as well as we expected they would, which is better than the beams in use today," said James Wight, the Frank E. Richart Jr. Collegiate Professor in the U-M Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Working with Wight on this project are Gustavo Parra-Montesinos, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Remy Lequesne, a doctoral student in the same department. Today, coupling beams are difficult to install and require intricate reinforcing bar skeletons. The U-M engineers created a simpler version made of a highly flowable, steel fiber-reinforced concrete. "We took quite a bit of the cumbersome reinforcement out of the design and replaced it with steel fibers that can be added to the concrete while it's being mixed," Parra-Montesinos said. "Builders could use this fiber-reinforced concrete to build coupling beams that don't require as much reinforcement." The engineers envision that their brand of beam would be cast off the construction site and then delivered. Nowadays, builders construct the beams, steel skeletons and all, bit by bit as they're building skyscrapers. Their fiber-reinforced concrete has other benefits as well. "The cracks that do occur are narrower because the fibers hold them together," Parra-Montesinos said. The fibers are about one inch long and about the width of a needle. The engineers performed their test in December on a 40-percent replica of a 4-story building wall that they built in the Structures Laboratory. They applied a peak load of 300,000 pounds against the building, pushing and pulling it with hydraulic actuators. To quantify the results, they measured the building's drift, which is the motion at the top of the building compared with the motion at the base. In a large earthquake, a building might sustain a drift of 1 to 2 percent. The U-M structure easily withstood a drift of 3 percent. The new beams could provide an easier, cheaper, stronger way to brace buildings in earthquake-prone areas. The researchers are now working with a structural design firm to install the beams in several high rises soon to be under construction on the west coast. This research is funded by the National Science Foundation under the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Program. |
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Updated Recommendations for Protecting Wireless, Remote Access Data |
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February 26 2009 - Newswise — Telecommuting has freed many to work far from the confines of the office via laptop, but the price of working while sipping a latte at that sunny café is the danger that a public network will not keep the data that passes through it safe. Now, to combat the risk inherent in remote access, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has updated its guide on maintaining data security while teleworking. The revised guide offers advice for protecting the wide variety of private and mobile devices from threats that have appeared since the first edition appeared in August 2002. Together with the preponderance of dangerous malware on the Web, the vulnerability of wireless transmissions from mobile devices has created dramatic new security challenges. “In terms of remote access security, everything has changed in the last few years. Many Web sites plant malware and spyware onto computers, and most networks used for remote access contain threats but aren’t secured against them,” says Karen Scarfone of NIST’s Computer Security Division. “However, even if teleworkers are using unsecured networks, the guide shows the steps organizations can take to protect their data.” Among these steps is the recommendation that an organization’s remote access servers—the computers that allow outside hosts to gain access to internal data—be located and configured in ways that protect the organization. Another is to ensure that all mobile and home-based devices used for telework be configured with security measures so that exchanged data will maintain its confidentiality and integrity. Above all, Scarfone says, an organization’s policy should be to expect trouble and plan for it. “You should assume external environments contain hostile threats,” she says. “This is a real philosophy shift from several years ago, when the attitude was essentially that you could trust the home networks and public networks used for telework.” The new guide provides recommendations for organizations. A companion publication* offers advice for individual users on securing their own mobile devices. While intended primarily for U.S. federal government agencies, the guide has been written in broad language in order to be helpful to any group that engages in telework. Formally titled Special Publication 800-46 Revision 1, Guide to Enterprise Telework and Remote Access Security, it is available at the NIST Computer Security Resource Center’s draft publication Web site: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsDrafts.html. * SP 800-114, User’s Guide to Securing External Devices for Telework and Remote Access, http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-114/SP800-114.pdf. |
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Nanotechnology Researchers Make Solar Energy Advance |
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February 26 2009 - Newswise — Researchers at Canada’s National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta have engineered an approach that is leading to improved performance of plastic solar cells (hybrid organic solar cells). The development of inexpensive, mass-produced plastic solar panels is a goal of intense interest for many of the world's scientists and engineers because of the high cost and shortage of the ultra-high purity silicon and other materials normally required. Plastic solar cells are made up of layers of different materials, each with a specific function, called a sandwich structure. Jillian Buriak, a professor of chemistry at the U of A, NINT principal investigator and member of the research team, uses a simple analogy to describe the approach: "Consider a clubhouse sandwich, with many different layers. One layer absorbs the light, another helps to generate the electricity, and others help to draw the electricity out of the device. Normally, the layers don't stick well, and so the electricity ends up stuck and never gets out, leading to inefficient devices. We are working on the mayonnaise, the mustard, the butter and other 'special sauces' that bring the sandwich together, and make each of the layers work together. That makes a better sandwich, and makes a better solar cell, in our case". After two years of research, these U of A and NINT scientists have, by only working on one part of the sandwich, seen improvements of about 30 per cent in the efficiency of the working model. Michael Brett, professor of electrical and computer engineering, NINT principal investigator and member of the research team is optimistic: "our team is so incredibly cross-disciplinary, with people from engineering, physics and chemistry backgrounds all working towards this common goal of cheap manufacturable solar cells. This collaboration is extremely productive because of the great team with such diverse backgrounds, [although] there is still so much more for us to do, which is exciting." This multidisciplinary approach, common at the National Institute for Nanotechnology, brings together the best of the NRC and the University of Alberta. The team estimates it will be five to seven years before plastic solar panels will be mass produced but Buriak adds that when it happens solar energy will be available to everyone. She says the next generation of solar technology belongs to plastic. "Plastic solar cell material will be made cheaply and quickly and in massive quantities by ink jet-like printers." |
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