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Year: 2021

Scientists develop a new environment-friendly technology

Posted on by St. Petersburg Mining University

Hydrocarbon losses along the entire supply chain – from a well to a thermal power plant or petrol station – can reach up to 30%. Most of them do not occur because of leaks, which are rather extraordinary events, but because of mismanagement and unwillingness to implement innovations that would improve energy efficiency.

Analysts from Russian pipeline transport company Transneft did some calculations. According to them, annual losses of petroleum products from evaporation while stored in above-ground metal tanks amount to 0.3% of the total product volume. Moreover, this figure is valid only if the tanks are filled by more than 90%. Otherwise, more damage happens, with the losses through evaporation potentially reaching 10%. This situation results in lost revenues for a subsoil user and each of the intermediate agents. Finally, it also causes air pollution by emitting CO2 and other harmful substances, notably heavy metals.

Vadim Fetisov, assistant professor at the Department of Transport and Storage of Oil and Gas in Saint Petersburg Mining University:

“All units for storing and transporting hydrocarbons – be it gas holders, tankers, reservoirs, rail-tank wagons, or any other means – are equipped with vent valves. They are needed to maintain the required pressure inside the storage vessel and remove excessive gas-air mixtures, the overaccumulation of which can lead to an explosion. Unfortunately, light hydrocarbons, which are the valuable raw material for the oil-refining industry, evaporate through the valves. Their emissions reduce the quality of petroleum products and negatively impact the environment.”

One of the most effective ways to overcome the issue is to install a vapour recovery system, which traps petroleum products vapours and sends them back in. The problem here is that such equipment does not enjoy great demand in Russia, with its high price being the primary reason. Market players find it easier to occasionally pay fines than invest in technology. Even domestic models, highly unpopular and therefore existing as one-offs only, cost between 60 to 150 mln roubles. Foreign counterparts manufactured by Jordan Technology or Carbovac (ALMA Group) cost even more.

“We have developed a vapour recovery unit, capable of trapping light hydrocarbons, and soon will launch it into the market. The unit’s price will be only 20 mln roubles: cost reduction will be ensured by simplifying the design and introducing several innovative solutions. We have already been approached by a few Russian and foreign companies, particularly from South Africa and Norway. After all, the pay-off period is only a year and a half. And then the purchaser will start making profits as a result of minimizing losses of petroleum products.”

This new technology is quite simple. Usually, oil vapours via the vent valves enter the atmosphere. In this case, they are let into the discharge pipeline system, pass through the drip pocket, and once become liquid, again sent back into the pipeline. Thereby a looped system emerges, which practically eliminates financial losses and prevents environmental damage.

Such innovations are in particular demand in southern countries, as their climate is characterized by high temperatures. Because of it, the emissions of petroleum vapours exceed those seen in the north by about 1.5 times. However, the pioneer solution would be by no means less useful in the Arctic. The Russian Arctic is advancing by leaps and bounds currently, with no signs of slowing down in the future. Consequently, the task of preserving the Arctic ecosystem becomes even more critical.

Last year, Vadim Fetisov conducted in-depth studies, supported by a grant from Mining University. He and Amir H. Mohammadi, his colleague from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, investigated the recovery of oil and petroleum products vapours to reduce CO2 emissions. Following the completion of their work, an article “Evaluation of Pollutant Emissions into the Atmosphere during the Loading of Hydrocarbons in Marine Oil Tankers in the Arctic Region” was published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, part of MDPI.

EdUHK’s professor Keith Ho invents novel graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst

Posted on by eduhk

Invented by Professor Ho Wing-kei at the Department of Science and Environmental Studies of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), the novel graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst provides an innovative way for environmental purification.

Compared to the traditional photocatalyst such as titanium dioxide, which can only be activated by UV light, and has relatively low effectiveness in air pollutant degradation, the newly developed photocatalyst can utilise visible light (daylight or indoor light) as the light source for photocatalytic reactions.

Instead of using the conventional UV light tubes in photocatalytic environmental purification technology, this breakthrough makes applying visible light LED lighting, which is more energy-saving and environmentally friendly to photocatalysis become possible. The new technology can greatly enhance the efficiency in air pollutants degradation and disinfection. It also provides a promising approach in the development of portable air purifiers and construction materials with air cleaning function (such as flooring, ceilings and interior wall, etc). This, in turn, opens up a wide range of daily life applications using the related technology.

This new photocatalytic material consists of only carbon and nitrogen, which is metal-free and non-hazard. It is indoor/visible-light-driven and consuming no energy in air purification and disinfection. In addition, the new LED activated graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst demonstrates prolong high efficiency (90% removal, last for one year) in the degradation of air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and inactivation of bacteria. The new material’s synthesis and fabrication technology solution is developed which is ready-to-use in surface coating fabrication. It is applicable in producing construction materials, household ware and hospital facilities with air purification feature.

The innovation won the Gold Medal in the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada in 2018. In the future, the team would study the performance of the photocatalytic material on various surfaces and in different forms to develop a board variety of air-purifier, such as a portable version.

MMSU, USask ink deal for research, academic exchange

Posted on by John Vincent B. Toribio

The University of Saskatchewan (USask), a leading public research university in Canada, is partnering with the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) to promote academic and research exchange.

In a virtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today, May 19, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis and USask Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Melissa Just agreed to jointly work on academic exchange, research projects, extension activities and development reforms.

Dr. Agrupis said this partnership shall further contribute to global understanding and cooperation through enabling cross-cultural exchanges, which “shall redound to the benefit of Philippine higher education.”

The two schools vowed to conduct joint conferences and publications, and to share academic materials and technical expertise. They shall also hold capacity building programs on health, medical and applied sciences, agriculture, climate change and sustainable development, sports and recreational management, education, food system and nutrition, humanities, culture, arts, social
sciences, and business management.

Dr. Meghna Ramaswamy, USask international office director, expressed her delight to work with MMSU in exploring short-course training programs, joint research projects and publications, and student and faculty exchanges.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marlowe U. Aquino, project leader and MMSU international programs chief, committed the University will engage with technical partners in USask for a meaningful exchange of expertise, practices, particularly on cultural documentation.

The partnership is in line with the Philippine-Canada Universities Education Consortium for International Collaborative Partnerships (PhilCanEDUCON – Magic 7+), an academic and research collaboration of seven Philippine universities, including MMSU, and Canada’s USask.

An offshoot research of this partnership is being undertaken by a team of MMSU researchers who study on Sustaining the Ilocano Culture through Contextualization of Indigenous Knowledge System and Development of Culture-Sensitive and Science-based Education Platform. It is under the research program that aims to intensify Filipino culture towards sustaining indigenous knowledge systems.

The MMSU team, who leads the PhilCanEDUCON Magic 7+ Research Program, received an Php 8Million fund from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to support the said study.

Faculty researchers from the College of Teacher Education (CTE), College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of  Industrial Technology (CIT), College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), and College of Business, Economics and Accountancy (CBEA), and Graduate School comprise the team.

Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter McArthur believes that this, “impressive milestone of inking a proposal will benefit many communities in the Philippines.” He also commended the leadership of MMSU which “stirred Magic 7+ to its success so far.”

For his part, Dr J. Prospero E. De Vera III, CHED chair, beamed, “Our continuing thrust on internationalization is bearing fruit,” noting that it is a significant highlight of this year’s celebration of Philippine Higher Education Day and CHED’s 27th Foundation Day.

Dr. Lily Freida Milla, OIC-CHED executive director, agreed that the sharing of culture, heritage and indigenous knowledge marks a true international partnership.

PhilCanEDUCON – Magic 7+ aims to foster academic and scholarly collaboration among USask and seven SUCs in the Philippines, including MMSU, Benguet State University (BSU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Central Mindanao University (CMU), Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU), Mountain Province Polytechnic State College (MPPSC) and the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP).

Scientists develop a safe drug to treat eye inflammation

Posted on by Lyudmila Dozhdikova

The Russian-American research team has presented a new therapeutic method using nanoparticles of an antioxidant enzyme, developed specifically for the eyes. It relieves inflammation and repairs tissue without causing side effects: irritation and allergies, even at high doses. The results of the research are presented in the international scientific journal Biomedicines.

A team of scientists from NUST MISIS, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Helmholtz National Medical Research Center of Eye Diseases and the University of North Carolina solved the problem of overproduction of free radicals by creating multilayer polyion nanoparticles of the superoxide dismutase enzyme (Nano-SOD1), designed specifically for the eyes.

“The ability of Nano-SOD1 to reduce inflammation in the eye was examined in vivo in rabbits with model immunogenic uveitis — the inflammation of the inner vascular tract of the eye. It was shown during preclinical studies that topical instillations of Nano-SOD1 were 35% more effective in reducing the manifestations of uveitis compared to the free enzyme SOD1,” said Alexander Vaneev, engineer of the NUST MISIS Biophysics Research Laboratory, one of the study authors.

“In particular, we noted statistically significant differences in such inflammatory signs of the eye as corneal and conjunctival edema, iris hyperemia and fibrin clots.”

The scientist explained that during the development, the SOD1 nanoparticles previously created by the team were used. However, the new formulation was specially manufactured for topical use in ophthalmology. Optimization of the technology made it possible to increase the efficiency in obtaining Nano-SOD1, as well as to achieve the greatest degree of drug stability.

According to the researchers, Nano-SOD1 penetrates into the inner structures of the eye more than 2 times more efficiently than SOD1 itself. It is much better retained on the surface of the cornea and retains enzyme activity in the eye for a much longer time than the regular SOD1 enzyme without inclusion in the composition of nanoparticles. Scientists have observed inflammation decrease and restoration of antioxidant activity in the eyes.

At the same time, scientists have found during tests that Nano-SOD1 does not show any toxicity (eye irritation, acute, chronic and reproductive toxicity, allergenicity, immunogenicity, mutagenicity) in a wide concentration range and even at extremely high doses used.

At the moment, the developers continue a series of preclinical trials of the obtained drug.

TPU professor becomes Fellow of world’ largest professional engineering institution

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Dushanta Nalin Kumara Dzhayakodi Jayakody Arachshiladzh, Professor of the TPU Research Center for Automation and Information Technology, has been elected Fellow at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET, Great Britain).

It is the highest grade at the IET awarding to high achievers, those respected professionals who achieved outstanding results for a few years.

The IET is the largest multidisciplinary professional engineering institution in the world. It includes the Institution of Electrical Engineers established in 1871 and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers dating back to 1884. Its worldwide membership is currently in excess of 160,000 in 150 countries.

Fellows of the IET must meet the following criteria: leadership, responsibility, insight and experience, creativity, innovation, enterprise, service, repute, influence and contribution.

As it is reported on the official website of the IET, Fellowship helps experts to increase their professional value, as well as to share their experience and knowledge with the international engineering community. Thus, Fellows of the IET can be experts and speakers in mass media, specialized lecturers at the relevant events.

“Fellows are important for the IET and its mission as they inspire current and future engineers, inform the engineering community and impact the development of the profession,” noted on the website.

TPU Professor Dushantha Jayakody heads the international team of experts conducting research work in 5G, the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. The next generation of 5G mobile technologies varies from the previous one by a rattling good data transfer rate. It surpasses indicators in the operating wireless network by several dozen folds. Moreover, 5G reduces signal delay.

It is especially important for development, for instance, technologies of self-driving cars, where signal delay can be crucial. Nowadays, research teams and large companies around the world work at 5G technologies to increase the data transfer rate and its quality.

The research team of Professor Jayakody conducts research on these problems at TPU as well. Therefore, the researchers have developed an algorithm that allows transferring energy from one device to another along with a radio signal in the context of a cellular network bypassing a base station, a gatekeeper. That is during a cellular phone call, electromagnetic waves transfer energy from one smartphone to another and this energy can be enough for charging a cellular phone.

Thammasat University partners with EGAT on energy solutions

Posted on by Thammasat University

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and Thammasat University worked on the ERC Sandbox: TU EGAT ENERGY project expansion to develop the new business on “Smart Energy Solutions”. It aims to develop innovative one-stop electricity service solutions which are beneficial for further collaboration and national development.

Dr. Somchai Chokmawiroj, Director of Research and Innovation Division at EGAT informed that a team from EGAT’s Research and Innovation Division and Business Development Division discussed with Dr. Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, Vice Rector of Thammasat University (TU) to update and discuss plans on the expansion of the project to the new business, Smart Energy Solutions.

Currently, the project implementation by Thammasat University has progressed more than 60%. EGAT had the Smart Meter set up and already collected the data at the centre. Furthermore, EGAT already prepared a report to study the new service fee structure such as Net Metering and Net Billing. The project is expected to be completed by March 2021.

After completing the testing phase of the ERC Sandbox: TU EGAT ENERGY project, EGAT will collaborate with Thammasat University to study the possibility of project expansion.

The overview of the ERC Sandbox project implementation will encourage an effective competition that is consistent with the world energy outlook, and energy-cost efficiency in the future.

Additionally, EGAT in collaboration with Thammasat University plans to expand new business in Smart Energy Solutions, such as building management system development, electric vehicle charging station development for electric boats and cars, including replacement with electric shuttle buses for university employees and electric boats for students, etc.

“Encouraging the ERC Sandbox project collaboration between EGAT and Thammasat University as well as approaches of promoting Smart Energy Solutions in the future is a good sign to progress with a new role in conducting energy industry business, energy-related business and other business, including exchanging knowledge and seeking mutual business opportunities for broader benefits for organizations, country and people in order to strengthen the energy security according to the government policy.” concluded EGAT Research and Innovation Division.

CityU develops new approaches to tackle air pollution

Posted on by Editorial Team

New methods for reducing air pollution and generating solar fuels developed by scientists at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) offer practical solutions to the energy shortage, environmental issues, and related public health risks.

The research has been generated by two projects led by Dr Ng Yun-hau, Associate Professor, and Dr Shang Jin, Assistant Professor, respectively, in the School of Energy and Environment (SEE). The research has been published in the top chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie.

Dr Ng and his team have designed a new solar-powered catalyst that can convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into methane fuel through artificial photosynthesis. Their work is published in a paper titled “Metal-Organic Frameworks Decorated Cuprous Oxide Nanowires for Long-lived Charges Applied in Selective Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction to CH4”.

“Methane is a major component of domestic fuel gases. Turning CO2 into methane fuel using sunlight has the potential to produce a clean and sustainable energy alternative, thereby reducing our carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels,” Dr Ng said.

However, the key problems with CO2 conversion are short excited charges in the lifetime of the catalyst and non-selective reduction. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O), commonly used for CO2 conversion, undergoes self-corrosion after brief illumination, and it creates an array of product mixture from the reduction process, hindering large scale application.

Dr Ng’s team has solved these problems by uniformly enwrapping Cu2O with a copper-based metal-organic framework (MOF) at the microscopic level. This MOF, which is a good CO2 adsorbent, strengthens the interaction between the CO2 and the catalyst, enabling a higher concentration of CO2 on the surface of catalyst. The team unveiled for the first time the presence of charge transfer between MOF and cuprous oxide, which can prolong the charges lifetime by ten times for higher activity. With the conformal coating of MOF, the Cu2O becomes stable and its corrosion is delayed.

“We hope we can recycle the unwanted CO2 from industry and transportation sectors at an affordable cost in the future and use it as the precursor to produce green and alternative fuels. We will continue to explore ways to further increase the methane production rate and scale up the catalyst synthesis and the reactor systems,” said Dr Ng.

The other study, carried out by the team led by Dr Shang, aims to control pollution resulting from nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a major roadside pollutant causing photochemical smog and damage to the human respiratory tract. The team revealed a new class of robust adsorbent materials for capturing ambient NO2 in a paper titled “Transition‐Metal‐Containing Porphyrin Metal–Organic Frameworks as π‐Backbonding Adsorbents for NO2 Removal”.

The team has developed a series of sponge-like nanoporous materials featuring tailored transition metals as active sites at the porphyrin rings, which can selectively bind and remove NO2 from gas mixtures.

ETU-LETI student designs an autonomous boat to monitor environment

Posted on by Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University

Georgy Kolev, a second-year master’s student of Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University (ETU-LETI), has proposed using an autonomous bota as a solution to the problem of water body monitoring. The project of a second-year master’s student of the Faculty of Computer Science and Technology of ETU “LETI” won the UMNIK competition. The young researcher will implement it using a grant under the guidance of Denis Butusov, Director of the Youth Research Institute.

 

The boat is designed to monitor water areas within 50 km from the mobile base. It is 125 cm long, weighs 25 kg, and has navigation and computer vision systems and an electric engine with Li-ion batteries, complemented with a solar battery module if necessary. It can be used in hydrographic and rescue operations, ecological monitoring of natural and artificial water bodies. The payload of the boat is up to 15 kg.

The modular design of the boat makes it easy to adapt it for various tasks using additional
subsystems. Researchers have already successfully tested the prototype in Lake
Ladoga.

“The advantage of the boat is its relatively small size, allowing transportation by car, and low cost. We have conducted another round of field tests recently. At the moment, we develop a more advanced version of the boat, while the current one will be used for debugging navigation and computer vision systems. We also conducted hydrodynamic tests on the efficiency of propellers of different shapes, evaluating the propeller thrust direction and maximum rpm. The propellers were modeled in the CAD program and printed using a 3D printer,” says the developer of the boat.

The boat will be interesting for small fish-farming companies, which are currently monitoring water areas manually, using motorboats equipped with the necessary sensors,
which leads to additional pollution of water and financial costs.

EdUHK’s Dr Gary Cheng’s automated system for tracking student responses to teacher feedback

Posted on by eduhk

Students’ revision of their drafts is recognised as an important strategy to support the development of their writing skills. It involves a complex process of evaluating text, diagnosing problems and making revisions to improve the text.

An automated system for tracking student Responses to teacher feedback has been designed and implemented by Dr Gary Cheng Kwok-shing at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology of The Education University of Hong Kong.

The system aims to classify types of teacher feedback and student revision in English as Foreign Language (EFL) writing, as well as to detect their interconnections in a systematic and automatic manner. This initiative would benefit both students and teachers in the feedback and revision process.

This system also aims to address the traditional approach of assessing the teacher feedback. The traditional approach encompasses human analysis of feedback and revision data which can be time-consuming and labour-intensive, limiting its practical use in a wide range of writing classes.

For students, the automated tracking system can generate immediate and individualised analysis on how well they make changes in response to teacher feedback. The analysis can promote student reflection on their revision strategies and encourage students to improve their subsequent writing. For teachers, the system can identify students who have problems in revising their text and are in need of early assistance.

Furthermore, the system can inform the characteristics of teacher feedback to which students often attend and react in EFL writing. This would increase teachers’ awareness of the effectiveness of their own feedback and serve as a basis for enhancing their feedback practice.

The system received a Silver Medal in the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival in USA in 2019. In the future, the system would be applied to more EFL writing courses at various levels and in different tertiary institutions so as to evaluate its impact on student writing. Further efforts would be made to develop new functionality that enables the system to provide students with personalised suggestions and links to relevant learning resources in order to further facilitate students making more effective revisions.

KNU promotes ‘Carbon Neutral Campus Creation Project’

Posted on by Kyungpook National University ‏‏‎ ‎

Kyungpook National University (KNU), in partnership with local governments and private companies, declared the creation of the “2040 Carbon Neutral Campus” for the first time among universities in the country to foster carbon neutrality and regional energy industry.

Kyungpook National University signed a business agreement with Daegu Metropolitan City, Hyundai Electric, and Taeyoung Engineering & Construction to jointly promote the “University Campus Carbon Neutral Space Creation Project” May 10 central conference room on the fifth floor of Kyungpook National University main building.

The agreement was designed to present a new model for realizing carbon neutrality to proactively respond to the government’s transition to a 2050 carbon-neutral society. Kyungpook National University plans to build the current campus as a carbon-neutral campus based on renewable energy by 2040.

‘Carbon Neutral Campus’ of Kyungpook National University is a pilot project to create an ecosystem for next-generation energy industries led by the private sector. Kyungpook National University, the organizer, supports the creation of a carbon-neutral R&D base, fostering human resources, and industrialization, while Daegu City is in charge of administrative support such as government policy cooperation and deregulation.

Hyundai Electric and Taeyoung Engineering & Construction, participating organizations, will invest 150 billion won to support the construction of zero energy buildings and the construction of campus microgrids. The project will be carried out with a total of 200 billion won (approx).

Through this project, Kyungpook National University said it will realize carbon neutrality by 2040 with greenhouse gases of 26,363 tons or more, a forecast for emissions, by building a low-carbon energy environment as expanding the supply of renewable energy, smart buildings, future mobility, and microgrid. In addition, the company plans to train more than 1,000 energy convergence, carbon-neutral experts.

The achievements of Kyungpook National University are expected to expand carbon neutrality to elementary, middle, and high schools in Daegu to realize the smart green city and smart industrial complex that Daegu City is aiming for in the future.

Won Hwa Hong, president of Kyungpook National University, said, “For this place where we live to be a good place for future generations, we need to put great value on ‘saving the earth’. To this end, Kyungpook National University will create the first carbon-neutral campus in Korea to make actual carbon dioxide emissions “zero” through concrete practices. However, there is definitely a limit to what a university can achieve.”

“Fortunately, Hyundai Electric and Taeyoung Engineering & Construction decided to actively invest and Daegu City will also generously support the policy. Kyungpook National University will play a leading role in making the transition to carbon-neutral, ” Won Hwa Hong concluded.