Search results for "NEWA"
showing 10 items of 2491 documents
The new course of FITs mechanism for PV systems in Italy: novelties, strong points and criticalities
2011
The paper deals with the new course of the Feed-in Tariffs mechanism for photovoltaic systems that will start from January 1, 2011 in Italy with the actuation of the Government Decree DM 06/08/2010. After a short introduction on Feed-in Tariffs and Net-metering in Italy, the paper focuses the attention on an economical comparison between the incentives established by the Government Decree DM 19/02/07, ended on December 31, 2010 and those introduced by the DM 06/08/2010. The economical comparison is based on three indexes: the Pay Back Period, the Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return, characterizing the investments done for the realization of the photovoltaic systems. In particu…
Supramolecular Eutecto Gels: Fully Natural Soft Materials
2018
The obtainment of materials featured by high environmental compatibility is one of the main goals of modern research. On this subject, we herein report the first example of supramolecular gel in deep eutectic solvents. In particular, we prepared gels of the L-amino acids isoleucine and tryptophan in choline chloride/phenylacetic acid 1:2. All gel components are readily available and nontoxic. Gels have been fully characterized by standard gelation tests, rheology, X-ray diffraction, morphology and gelation kinetics. Data collected show that gels properties depend on the gelator nature. In particular, gel phases exhibit strong colloidal forces and, this high mechanical resistance, together w…
Composite Scaffolds with a Hydrohyapatite Spatial Gradient for Osteochondral Defect Repair
2018
Osteochondral defects derived by traumatic injury or aging related disease are often associated with severe joint pain and progressive loss of joint functions for millions of people worldwide and represent a major challenge for the orthopedic community. Tissue engineering offers new therapeutic approach to repair the osteochondral defects, through the production of scaffolds manufactured to mimic their complex architecture, which consists of cartilage and bone layers. Composite scaffolds based on a PLLA polymeric matrix containing hydroxyapatite (HA) as a filler were prepared through a modified thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) protocol. A suspension was prepared by adding sieved HA…
Biobased Epoxy Resin by Electrochemical Modification of Tall Oil Fatty Acids
2019
A biobased epoxy resin was prepared from tall oil fatty acids (TOFAs), a byproduct of the pulping industry. As free carboxylic acids compromise resin stability, TOFA was subjected to non-Kolbe decarboxylation to give alkenes upon loss of CO2. Thereby, the degree of unsaturation is significantly increased. This electrosynthetic protocol using an undivided cell setup and inexpensive graphite electrodes in a galvanostatic operation mode was scaled to a 1.5 L reactor, making use of electric current as a green and waste-free reagent. Simple, cost-efficient epoxidation using oxone subsequently gives an epoxy resin of low viscosity. Curing with anhydrides yields thermoset materials. Dynamic mechan…
Monitoring of renewable energy prototype for the DEDUENERT research project
2016
In this paper, we present a renewable energy sustainable micro-system installed upon a platform located in the Research and Technology Centre of Energy in Borj Cedria Techno park (Tunisia). This prototype has been conceived within the ENPI (European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument) cross-border cooperation Italy-Tunisia 2007–2013 research project framework. This project's overall goal is to develop a common strategy for the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency by endorsing the cooperation between Italy and Tunisia. The focus is to implement the use of sustainable energy microsystems that generate electricity from various renewable sources (solar thermal, photovoltaic…
Development of a Decision Support System Framework for Cultural Heritage Management
2021
Decision support systems (DSSs) have been traditionally identified as useful information technology tools in a variety of fields, including the context of cultural heritage. However, to the best of our knowledge, no prior study has developed a DSS framework that incorporates all the main decision areas simultaneously in the context of cultural heritage. We fill this gap by focusing on design-science research and specifically by developing a DSS framework whose features support all the main decision areas for the sustainable management of cultural assets in a comprehensive manner. The main decision-making areas considered in our study encompass demand management, segmentation and communicati…
A didactic experiment and model of a flat-plate solar collector
2011
We report on an experiment performed with a home-made flat-plate solar collector, carried out together with high-school students. To explain the experimental results, we propose a model that describes the heating process of the solar collector. The model accounts quantitatively for the experimental data. We suggest that solar-energy topics should be included in school programmes to give students the opportunity to gain experience with solar energy and increase their awareness of the benefits that can be obtained from this remarkable and renewable energy source.
Nitrous oxide emission in a University of Cape Town membrane bioreactor: The effect of carbon to nitrogen ratio
2017
Abstract The effect of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the influent on the nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission from a University of Cape Town Membrane BioReactor pilot plant was investigated. The membrane was located in a separate tank to single out the production of N 2 O due to the biological processes from N 2 O stripping as a result of the extra aeration needed for the mitigation of membrane fouling. The experimental campaign was divided into two phases, each characterized by a different C/N ratio (namely, 10 and 5 mgCOD/mgTN, Phase I and Phase II, respectively). The decrease of the C/N ratio promoted the increase of N 2 O emissions in both gaseous and dissolved phases, mainly due to a…
Mathematical modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from membrane bioreactors: A comprehensive comparison of two mathematical models.
2018
Abstract This paper compares two mathematical models (Model I and Model II) to predict greenhouse gases emission from a University Cape Town (UCT) – membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant. Model I considers N 2 O production only during denitrification. Model II takes into account the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) formation pathways for N 2 O. Both models were calibrated adopting real data. Model comparison was performed in terms of (i) sensitivity analysis (ii) best fit and (iii) model prediction uncertainty. On average 6% of factors of Model I and 9% of Model II resulted to be important. In terms of best fit, Model II had a better capability of reproducing the measured data. The average effici…
The effect of the solids and hydraulic retention time on moving bed membrane bioreactor performance
2018
Abstract The aim of the present paper was to investigate the effect of solids (SRT) and hydraulic (HRT) retention time on Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) University of Cape Town (UCT) membrane Bioreactor (MBR). In particular, three different pairs of SRT and HRT values were analysed, namely, Phase I 56 d/30 h, Phase II 31 d/15 h and Phase III 7 d/13 h. The short-term effect of these three SRT/HRT conditions was assessed by analysing several system performance indicators: organic carbon and biological nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) removal, biomass respiratory activity, activated sludge filtration properties and membrane fouling. The results showed that the decrease of SRT/…