Alright, so this is definitely not the first we've written about about these two latest entry-level shooters from Sony. That said, we're excited to finally get some hands-on time with the Alpha NEX-3N ILC and A58 SLT DSLR. To refresh your memory, the NEX-3N is set to sell for $500 with a 16-50mm power zoom, while the A58 will go for $600 with Sony's latest 18-55m f3.5-5.6 kit lens. Although we only had a few minutes with each inside a section of New York's Natural History museum, we're definitely digging the new wares. Join us past the break for some initial impressions.
In this article from the new Spring 2013 edition of Recreation Family Fun Guide, we take take a look at Roanoke County?s tennis clinics, and how the sport transcends age boundaries. Look for a series of?free introductory lessons on April 1st at various locations throughout the County.
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Mick Merlin had never touched a tennis racquet in his life. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004, he didn?t expect to live this long, let alone pick up a new sport. Now in his late 50?s, Mick is a player and captain in three different leagues, with a local championship win under his belt.
?If somebody would have told me a few years ago that I?d be playing tennis I would have laughed in their face.? says Mick. ?Now I can tell you that it?s a whole lot more fun to go out and play, even if you lose , than to be sitting on the couch at home. You?d be surprised what you can do!?
Mick?s first exposure to the sport was through a Roanoke County tennis clinic. His instructor, Bill Fitzgibbon, was also introduced to tennis later in life, at the age of 34. Bill is also the U.S. Tennis Association?s (U.S.T.A.) Leagues Coordinator for the State of Virginia.
Bill clearly loves his job. ?What can be more fulfilling than to have learned something that makes you happy and have the opportunity to share it with other people and universally make them happy as well? I think I get as much out of it as they do.?
Tennis is often called a lifetime sport. No matter what your age or skill level, you don?t have to look far to find someone to play with. Tennis provides a great cardio workout, while enhancing your balance and focus. Finally, tennis is affordable! In the Roanoke Valley, we?re blessed with plenty of public courts, so there are always places to play.
Tennis also has a social component that many sports don?t have. ?You get involved in the community,? says Bill. ?You meet hundreds of new people and get together at a venue where you?re all having fun.?
The U.S.T.A. has recently introduced several new forms of play aimed at getting young people involved in tennis. Launched just a few years ago, Quick Start Tennis uses larger balls and lower nets to keep younger kids from getting intimidated by full size equipment.
?If you?re four feet high, it?s pretty intimidating to hit a ball over a net that?s 36 inches in the middle,? says Bill. If you start on a smaller court with a lower net, kids get pretty good. The most important thing is kids get confident and feel good about themselves.?
Parks and Recreation sponsored clinics are one of the best places to learn the sport, because you get to learn from certified instructors at a fairly low cost to the student. Certification is important because it provides a framework for teaching that has a proven track record.
According to Bill, ?My goal is to teach you enough so you can feel good about yourself, and want to go out there and have more fun. Try it and see if you like it! The next thing you know you?ve met 200 people you don?t know before. It?s a great social and athletic endeavor.?
Once you?ve learned the basics, the U.S.T.A offers a wide variety of divisions separated by age and skill level. Whether you?re 9 years old or 90, there?s a place for you to play.
Mick Merlin believes that he?ll be playing tennis for many years to come. ?It?s a lifelong sport, whether you?re a youngster or a senior citizen. Tennis is a whole lot of fun, competitive, good for your health and not expensive. It just kinda makes sense??
A continental-scale chemical survey in the waters of the eastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico is helping researchers determine how distinct bodies of water will resist changes in acidity. The study, which measures varying levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other forms of carbon in the ocean, was conducted by scientists from 11 institutions across the U.S. and was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.
"Before now, we haven't had a very clear picture of acidification status on the east coast of the U.S.," says Zhaohui 'Aleck' Wang, the study's lead author and a chemical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). "It's important that we start to understand it, because increase in ocean acidity could deeply affect marine life along the coast and has important implications for people who rely on aquaculture and fisheries both commercially and recreationally."
Coastal ocean acidification, Wang says, can occur when excess carbon dioxide is absorbed by, flushed into or generated in coastal waters, setting off a chain of chemical reactions that lowers the water's pH, making it more acidic. The process disproportionately affects species like oysters, snails, pteropods, and coral, since those organisms cannot effectively form shells in a more acidic environment.
According to the survey, says Wang, different regions of coastal ocean will respond to an influx of CO2 in different ways. "If you put the same amount of CO2 into both the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico right now, the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine would probably feel the effects more dramatically," he says. "Acidity is already relatively high in that region, and the saturation of calcium carbonatethe mineral that many organisms need to make shellsis particularly low. It's not a great situation."
Excess CO2 can enter coastal waters from a variety of different sources, Wang says. One large source is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has been steadily increasing in concentration worldwide for the past hundred and fifty years. The higher those levels of atmospheric CO2 rise, more CO2 gas will be absorbed into seawater by contact, says Wang. Another potential culprit, he notes, is nutrient-rich runoff from land. Rainfall and other surface flows can wash fertilizers and other byproducts of human activities into river systems and ground water, and ultimately, into the coastal ocean, delivering an excess of nutrients and often an explosion of biological activity that can lead to decreased oxygen and increased CO2 and acidity.
"This happens regularly in the Gulf of Mexico," says Wang. "The Mississippi River dumps enormous amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients into the Gulf, which spawns large algal blooms that lead to production of large amount of organic matter. In the process of decomposing the organic matter, the microbes consume oxygen in the water and leave carbon dioxide behind, making the water more acidic. If this process happens in the Gulf of Maine, the ecosystem there may be even more vulnerable since the Gulf of Maine is a semi-enclosed system and it may take longer time for low pH, low oxygen water to disperse."
Wang and his colleagues conducted their fieldwork in 2007 aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown. Starting in the waters off Galveston, Texas, they worked their way around the Louisiana and west Florida coasts, past the Florida Straight, and up the eastern seaboard, collecting samples along nine different transects that ran from the coast to deep ocean off the shelf break, up to 480km (300 miles) offshore.
During the cruise, the researchers measured seawater samples for total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), which is made up of a combination of carbonate, bicarbonate, dissolved CO2 and carbonic acid. The team compared this measurement to the water's total alkalinity, a measure of how much base is in a water sample. The ratio of the two is a marker for water's ability to "buffer" or resist changes in acidity. Waters with a high ratio of alkalinity to DIC, Wang says, would be less susceptible to acidification than waters that showed a much lower ratio.
After analyzing their data, Wang and colleagues found that, despite a "dead zone" of low oxygen and high acidity outside the mouth of the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico on the whole showed a high ratio of alkalinity to DIC, meaning it would be more resistant to acidification. As the team traveled farther north, however, they saw the ratio steadily decreases north of Georgia. The waters in the Gulf of Maine, Wang says, on average had the lowest alkalinity to DIC ratio of any region along the eastern seaboard, meaning that it would be especially vulnerable to acidification should CO2 levels rise in those waters.
While it's unclear exactly why the ratio of alkalinity to DIC is low in those northern waters, Wang thinks part of the issue may be linked to alkalinity sources to the region. For example, the Labrador Coastal Current brings relatively fresh, low alkalinity water down from the Labrador Sea to the Gulf of Maine and Middle Atlantic Bight.
If this current is the major source of alkalinity to the region, he says, it may mean that the Gulf of Maine's fate could be linked to changes in global climate that, through melting sea ice and glaciers, increase the flow of fresh water to the Gulf of Maine. However, whether this freshening is accompanied by a decreases in seawater alkalinity and "buffer" capacity remains unknown.
Since the waters of the northeast U.S. are already susceptible to rising acidity, Wang says this raises big questions about how species of marine lifemany of which are important to the commercial fishing and shellfish industry therewill fare in the future. "For example, how are oysters going to do? What about other shellfish? If the food chain changes, how are fish going to be impacted?" Wang asks. "There's a whole range of ecological and sociological questions." There is a great need for need for more robust coastal ocean chemistry monitoring and coastal ocean acidification studies, he adds. A better understanding of the changing chemistry will help fisheries regulators to better manage the stocks.
###
Also collaborating on the study were Rik Wanninkhof and Tsung-Hung Peng from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Wei-Jun Cai and Wei-Jen Huang of the University of Georgia, Robert H. Byrne of the University of South Florida, and Xinping Hu of Texas A&M University.
This research was supported by the NOAA Global Carbon Cycle Program.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans' role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New study reveals how sensitive US East Coast regions may be to ocean acidificationPublic release date: 1-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
A continental-scale chemical survey in the waters of the eastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico is helping researchers determine how distinct bodies of water will resist changes in acidity. The study, which measures varying levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other forms of carbon in the ocean, was conducted by scientists from 11 institutions across the U.S. and was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.
"Before now, we haven't had a very clear picture of acidification status on the east coast of the U.S.," says Zhaohui 'Aleck' Wang, the study's lead author and a chemical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). "It's important that we start to understand it, because increase in ocean acidity could deeply affect marine life along the coast and has important implications for people who rely on aquaculture and fisheries both commercially and recreationally."
Coastal ocean acidification, Wang says, can occur when excess carbon dioxide is absorbed by, flushed into or generated in coastal waters, setting off a chain of chemical reactions that lowers the water's pH, making it more acidic. The process disproportionately affects species like oysters, snails, pteropods, and coral, since those organisms cannot effectively form shells in a more acidic environment.
According to the survey, says Wang, different regions of coastal ocean will respond to an influx of CO2 in different ways. "If you put the same amount of CO2 into both the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico right now, the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine would probably feel the effects more dramatically," he says. "Acidity is already relatively high in that region, and the saturation of calcium carbonatethe mineral that many organisms need to make shellsis particularly low. It's not a great situation."
Excess CO2 can enter coastal waters from a variety of different sources, Wang says. One large source is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has been steadily increasing in concentration worldwide for the past hundred and fifty years. The higher those levels of atmospheric CO2 rise, more CO2 gas will be absorbed into seawater by contact, says Wang. Another potential culprit, he notes, is nutrient-rich runoff from land. Rainfall and other surface flows can wash fertilizers and other byproducts of human activities into river systems and ground water, and ultimately, into the coastal ocean, delivering an excess of nutrients and often an explosion of biological activity that can lead to decreased oxygen and increased CO2 and acidity.
"This happens regularly in the Gulf of Mexico," says Wang. "The Mississippi River dumps enormous amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients into the Gulf, which spawns large algal blooms that lead to production of large amount of organic matter. In the process of decomposing the organic matter, the microbes consume oxygen in the water and leave carbon dioxide behind, making the water more acidic. If this process happens in the Gulf of Maine, the ecosystem there may be even more vulnerable since the Gulf of Maine is a semi-enclosed system and it may take longer time for low pH, low oxygen water to disperse."
Wang and his colleagues conducted their fieldwork in 2007 aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown. Starting in the waters off Galveston, Texas, they worked their way around the Louisiana and west Florida coasts, past the Florida Straight, and up the eastern seaboard, collecting samples along nine different transects that ran from the coast to deep ocean off the shelf break, up to 480km (300 miles) offshore.
During the cruise, the researchers measured seawater samples for total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), which is made up of a combination of carbonate, bicarbonate, dissolved CO2 and carbonic acid. The team compared this measurement to the water's total alkalinity, a measure of how much base is in a water sample. The ratio of the two is a marker for water's ability to "buffer" or resist changes in acidity. Waters with a high ratio of alkalinity to DIC, Wang says, would be less susceptible to acidification than waters that showed a much lower ratio.
After analyzing their data, Wang and colleagues found that, despite a "dead zone" of low oxygen and high acidity outside the mouth of the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico on the whole showed a high ratio of alkalinity to DIC, meaning it would be more resistant to acidification. As the team traveled farther north, however, they saw the ratio steadily decreases north of Georgia. The waters in the Gulf of Maine, Wang says, on average had the lowest alkalinity to DIC ratio of any region along the eastern seaboard, meaning that it would be especially vulnerable to acidification should CO2 levels rise in those waters.
While it's unclear exactly why the ratio of alkalinity to DIC is low in those northern waters, Wang thinks part of the issue may be linked to alkalinity sources to the region. For example, the Labrador Coastal Current brings relatively fresh, low alkalinity water down from the Labrador Sea to the Gulf of Maine and Middle Atlantic Bight.
If this current is the major source of alkalinity to the region, he says, it may mean that the Gulf of Maine's fate could be linked to changes in global climate that, through melting sea ice and glaciers, increase the flow of fresh water to the Gulf of Maine. However, whether this freshening is accompanied by a decreases in seawater alkalinity and "buffer" capacity remains unknown.
Since the waters of the northeast U.S. are already susceptible to rising acidity, Wang says this raises big questions about how species of marine lifemany of which are important to the commercial fishing and shellfish industry therewill fare in the future. "For example, how are oysters going to do? What about other shellfish? If the food chain changes, how are fish going to be impacted?" Wang asks. "There's a whole range of ecological and sociological questions." There is a great need for need for more robust coastal ocean chemistry monitoring and coastal ocean acidification studies, he adds. A better understanding of the changing chemistry will help fisheries regulators to better manage the stocks.
###
Also collaborating on the study were Rik Wanninkhof and Tsung-Hung Peng from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Wei-Jun Cai and Wei-Jen Huang of the University of Georgia, Robert H. Byrne of the University of South Florida, and Xinping Hu of Texas A&M University.
This research was supported by the NOAA Global Carbon Cycle Program.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans' role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Bioliq pilot plant: Successful operation of high-pressure entrained flow gasificationPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Complex process stage II realized Customized motor fuels from biomass residue
This release is available in German.
On the way to the production of environment-friendly fuels from biomass residue, the Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie, or KIT for short, in cooperation with the technology partner Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions has realized another important milestone: the second process stage of the bioliq pilot plant is ready today, the complex high-pressure entrained flow gasifier bioliq II was handed over for operation. The four-step process designed at the KIT allows producing valuable and engine-compatible design fuels fr diesel and Otto engines.
The entrained flow gasifier in step II converts the liquid intermediate product bioliqSyncrude obtained in the first process step into a tar-free synthesis gas. In pilot mode, it may optionally be operated at two pressure levels (40 bar and 80 bar) which provides maximal flexibility, depending on the requirements of the downstream process steps. With the completion of bioliq II, an important milestone on the way to the operation of the complete process chain from biomass to motor fuels has been reached.
The entrained flow gasifier was provided with a special plant design. It offers the advantage that a variety of biomass containing even high ash concentrations can be processed. The applied materials of constructionare able to withstand the corrosive effects caused by biomass components and allow for operation at high pressures. This ensures operation of the entrained flow gasifier at conditions that are close to commercial-scale operation consequently, the pilot plant functions as an important research platform at the KIT.
"The entire bioliq process is exemplary for the sustainable utilization of biomass and is making a vital contribution to the substitution of fossil energy resources and to curbing CO2 emissions in the transport sector", stressed the KIT Vice President Research and Innovation, Dr. Peter Fritz.
"With the high-pressure entrained flow gasifier the KIT Energy Center now utlilizes an excellent tool that is more than just proof of the commercial-scale capability of the bioliq process", asserted the Project Manager of bioliq II, Professor Thomas Kolb. "It is bound to also generate important research results in the area of high-temperature processes and thus to contribute to the development of new technologies." Kolb referred in this context to the research cooperation initiatives already launched during the construction period, such as the virtual Helmholtz-Institut HVIGasTech (http://www.hvigastech.org) which bundles the scientific and technical competencies of the partners and transforms them into new know-how relating to thermo-chemical processes operated under high pressures.
"As the bioliq process relies on straw and other biogenic residues which do not compete with food or feed production, we are thus in a position to make a substantial contribution to the development of alternative energy solutions", said Franois Venet, Vice President Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions. "We are proud to have successfully implemented this challenging and strategically significant new technology of converting biomass into syngas jointly with our cooperation partner KIT and are highly satisfied to have been able to strengthen further our portfolio in the field of "Renewable Resources".
The multi-stage process takes account of the fact that, on the one hand, biomass residues occur highly fragmented regionally and, on the other, it is imperative to establish an economically viable, commercial production scale. The construction of the pilot plant at KIT Campus Nord is subsidized by the Federal Government and the Land Baden-Wuerttenberg. Besides numerous institutes and service units of the KIT, several industrial partners partake in bioliq. The construction of bioliq process stage II has an investment volume of around EUR 28 million. 50 percent of this amount is contributed by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). These funds are made available via the Fachagentur fr Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR).
The balance of the capital expenditure is borne by the KIT and the industrial partner Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions at half each. Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions not only planned, designed, supplied, constructed and commissioned the plant for the bioliq-process stage II, but will also participate in the further research and development work.
The bioliq Process
The complete bioliq Process (Biomass to Liquid Karlsruhe) comprises four stages. In Stage I, the dry residual biomass which occurs widespread regionally and possesses low energy content is converted decentralized into a substance similar to crude oil of high energy density by fast pyrolysis. The so-called bioliqSyncrude can be transported cost-effectively over long distances and is processed further centrally. In the second process stage, a high-pressure entrained flow gasifier converts the bioliqSyncrude to a tar-free syngas at temperatures above 1,200 degrees centigrade and pressures of up to 80 bar. The synthesis gas is mainly composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In this Stage II, the high temperatures, high pressure and the reactive products make exacting demands on the process, the instrumentation and the safety technology of the plant. The downstream hot-gas cleaning unit Stage III has the function to separate impurities like particulate matter, chlorine and nitrogen compounds from the syngas. In the fourth and last process step, the gas molecules are selectively composed to obtain customized motor fuels.
###
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is one of Europe's leading energy research establishments. Research, education, and innovation at KIT foster the energy turnaround and reorganization of the energy system in Germany. KIT links excellent competences in engineering and science with know-how in economics, the humanities, and social sciences as well as law. The activities of the KIT Energy Center are organized in seven topics: Energy conversion, renewable energies, energy storage and distribution, efficient energy use, fusion technology, nuclear power and safety, and energy systems analysis. Clear priorities lie in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energies, energy storage systems and grids, electric mobility, and enhanced international cooperation in research.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the Internet at: www.kit.edu
The photo is available for download in a printable format at www.kit.edu and may be requested at: presse@kit.edu or on +49 721 608-47414. The use of the photo is only and exclusively permitted in the above context. .
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Bioliq pilot plant: Successful operation of high-pressure entrained flow gasificationPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Complex process stage II realized Customized motor fuels from biomass residue
This release is available in German.
On the way to the production of environment-friendly fuels from biomass residue, the Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie, or KIT for short, in cooperation with the technology partner Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions has realized another important milestone: the second process stage of the bioliq pilot plant is ready today, the complex high-pressure entrained flow gasifier bioliq II was handed over for operation. The four-step process designed at the KIT allows producing valuable and engine-compatible design fuels fr diesel and Otto engines.
The entrained flow gasifier in step II converts the liquid intermediate product bioliqSyncrude obtained in the first process step into a tar-free synthesis gas. In pilot mode, it may optionally be operated at two pressure levels (40 bar and 80 bar) which provides maximal flexibility, depending on the requirements of the downstream process steps. With the completion of bioliq II, an important milestone on the way to the operation of the complete process chain from biomass to motor fuels has been reached.
The entrained flow gasifier was provided with a special plant design. It offers the advantage that a variety of biomass containing even high ash concentrations can be processed. The applied materials of constructionare able to withstand the corrosive effects caused by biomass components and allow for operation at high pressures. This ensures operation of the entrained flow gasifier at conditions that are close to commercial-scale operation consequently, the pilot plant functions as an important research platform at the KIT.
"The entire bioliq process is exemplary for the sustainable utilization of biomass and is making a vital contribution to the substitution of fossil energy resources and to curbing CO2 emissions in the transport sector", stressed the KIT Vice President Research and Innovation, Dr. Peter Fritz.
"With the high-pressure entrained flow gasifier the KIT Energy Center now utlilizes an excellent tool that is more than just proof of the commercial-scale capability of the bioliq process", asserted the Project Manager of bioliq II, Professor Thomas Kolb. "It is bound to also generate important research results in the area of high-temperature processes and thus to contribute to the development of new technologies." Kolb referred in this context to the research cooperation initiatives already launched during the construction period, such as the virtual Helmholtz-Institut HVIGasTech (http://www.hvigastech.org) which bundles the scientific and technical competencies of the partners and transforms them into new know-how relating to thermo-chemical processes operated under high pressures.
"As the bioliq process relies on straw and other biogenic residues which do not compete with food or feed production, we are thus in a position to make a substantial contribution to the development of alternative energy solutions", said Franois Venet, Vice President Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions. "We are proud to have successfully implemented this challenging and strategically significant new technology of converting biomass into syngas jointly with our cooperation partner KIT and are highly satisfied to have been able to strengthen further our portfolio in the field of "Renewable Resources".
The multi-stage process takes account of the fact that, on the one hand, biomass residues occur highly fragmented regionally and, on the other, it is imperative to establish an economically viable, commercial production scale. The construction of the pilot plant at KIT Campus Nord is subsidized by the Federal Government and the Land Baden-Wuerttenberg. Besides numerous institutes and service units of the KIT, several industrial partners partake in bioliq. The construction of bioliq process stage II has an investment volume of around EUR 28 million. 50 percent of this amount is contributed by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). These funds are made available via the Fachagentur fr Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR).
The balance of the capital expenditure is borne by the KIT and the industrial partner Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions at half each. Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions not only planned, designed, supplied, constructed and commissioned the plant for the bioliq-process stage II, but will also participate in the further research and development work.
The bioliq Process
The complete bioliq Process (Biomass to Liquid Karlsruhe) comprises four stages. In Stage I, the dry residual biomass which occurs widespread regionally and possesses low energy content is converted decentralized into a substance similar to crude oil of high energy density by fast pyrolysis. The so-called bioliqSyncrude can be transported cost-effectively over long distances and is processed further centrally. In the second process stage, a high-pressure entrained flow gasifier converts the bioliqSyncrude to a tar-free syngas at temperatures above 1,200 degrees centigrade and pressures of up to 80 bar. The synthesis gas is mainly composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In this Stage II, the high temperatures, high pressure and the reactive products make exacting demands on the process, the instrumentation and the safety technology of the plant. The downstream hot-gas cleaning unit Stage III has the function to separate impurities like particulate matter, chlorine and nitrogen compounds from the syngas. In the fourth and last process step, the gas molecules are selectively composed to obtain customized motor fuels.
###
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is one of Europe's leading energy research establishments. Research, education, and innovation at KIT foster the energy turnaround and reorganization of the energy system in Germany. KIT links excellent competences in engineering and science with know-how in economics, the humanities, and social sciences as well as law. The activities of the KIT Energy Center are organized in seven topics: Energy conversion, renewable energies, energy storage and distribution, efficient energy use, fusion technology, nuclear power and safety, and energy systems analysis. Clear priorities lie in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energies, energy storage systems and grids, electric mobility, and enhanced international cooperation in research.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the Internet at: www.kit.edu
The photo is available for download in a printable format at www.kit.edu and may be requested at: presse@kit.edu or on +49 721 608-47414. The use of the photo is only and exclusively permitted in the above context. .
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This Jan. 12, 2013 photo provided by NASA shows the Dragon spacecraft inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. where teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings. The California company known as SpaceX is scheduled to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, March 1, 2013, carrying a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments. (AP Photo/NASA, Kim Shiflett)
This Jan. 12, 2013 photo provided by NASA shows the Dragon spacecraft inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. where teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings. The California company known as SpaceX is scheduled to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, March 1, 2013, carrying a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments. (AP Photo/NASA, Kim Shiflett)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? A private rocket is poised to blast off Friday on a supply run to the International Space Station.
The unmanned Falcon rocket is owned by the SpaceX company. The Dragon capsule on board is filled with more than a ton of space station supplies and experiments.
Good weather is forecast for the 10:10 a.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It's a one-second launch window.
NASA is paying SpaceX to deliver cargo to the space station, and bring back science samples and other goods. This will be the company's third delivery mission.
There's no ice cream this time for the six space station astronauts. The freezers are full. But SpaceX included fruit straight from the orchard.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes to fly people aboard a modified Dragon capsule by 2015.
MADRID, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi has rarely been accused of failing to deliver in big games, having scored in two European Cup finals, but after subdued performances against AC Milan and Real Madrid, questions are being asked. The four-times World Player of the Year and leading scorer in one of the greatest club teams of all time, was a shadow of his usual self at the San Siro in a Champions League last-16 first leg last week, when Barcelona slumped to a 2-0 defeat. ...
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Chili's Grill & Bar parent Brinker International Inc on Wednesday tempered its 2013 profit forecast, citing diners grappling with the U.S. payroll tax hike, more expensive gasoline and delayed federal tax refund checks. The news from Brinker comes just days after a similar warning from rival and Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants Inc. Dallas-based Brinker said it now expects 2013 earnings per share, before special items, to be at the lower end of its range of $2.30 to $2.45. It also expects sales at established restaurants to grow about 1 percent for the year. Brinker said same-restaurant sales for its current fiscal third quarter were running down 2.2 percent at Chili's as of Feb. 25. Results at Maggiano's, its smaller chain, were flat. Brinker will report its third-quarter results on April 23.
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Public release date: 1-Mar-2013
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