Low-cost pyrolysis of biomass-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon: Chlorella vulgaris replaces melamine as a nitrogen source.

Porous carbon generated from biomass has a rich pore structure, is inexpensive, and has a lot of promise for use as a carbon material for energy storage devices. In this work, nitrogen-doped porous carbon was prepared by co-pyrolysis using bagasse as the precursor and chlorella as the nitrogen source. ZnCl2 acts as both an activator and a nitrogen fixer during activation to generate pores and reduce nitrogen loss. The thermal weight loss experiments showed that the pyrolysis temperatures of bagasse and chlorella overlap, which created the possibility for the synthesis of nitrogen-rich biochar. The optimum sample (ZBC@C-5) possessed a surface area of 1508 m2g-1 with abundant nitrogen-containing functional groups. ZBC@C-5 in the three-electrode system exhibited 244.1F/g at 0.5A/g, which was extremely close to ZBC@M made with melamine as the nitrogen source. This provides new opportunities for the use of low-cost nitrogen sources. Furthermore, the devices exhibit better voltage retention (39%) and capacitance retention (96.3%). The goal of this research is to find a low cost, and effective method for creating nitrogen-doped porous carbon materials with better electrochemical performance for highly valuable applications using bagasse and chlorella.

Global and regional burden of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis from 1990 to 2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019.

BACKGROUND: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary sarcoidosis are common respiratory diseases with a heterogeneous distribution worldwide. The global burden and temporal trends of ILD and sarcoidosis are rarely explored. METHODS: Using the classification 'ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis' from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 dataset, we described the age-standardised rates of incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and their average annual percentage change from 1990 to 2019 by sex, Sociodemographic Index (SDI) and region. RESULTS: In 2019, the global incidence and mortality of ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis were 24.2 million and 169 833 cases, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the global incidence, deaths and DALYs due to ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis increased by 118.6%, 166.63% and 122.87% respectively. The global incidence of ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis was higher in men and was mainly concentrated among persons aged 70‒79 of both sexes. Significant regional differences could be seen in the disease burden of ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis: since 2006, high-SDI regions had higher age-standardised incidence rates but lower age-standardised death rates compared with the low-SDI regions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests the incidence, mortality and DALYs from ILD and pulmonary sarcoidosis are increasing globally. To reduce the ongoing burden of this condition, early diagnosis and treatment are vital, and more targeted and specific strategies should be established in high-burden regions. Differences in incidence and mortality across regions may reflect the influence of genetic, environmental, diagnostic, pharmacotherapeutic, and health system factors.

Life cycle environmental and economic comparison of thermal utilization of refuse derived fuel manufactured from landfilled waste or fresh waste.

This paper analyses environmental and economic performance of thermal utilization technologies of two different refuse derived fuel (RDF) manufactured from landfilled waste or fresh municipal waste, including incineration of landfilled RDF (I-LRDF), gasification of landfilled RDF (G-LRDF), replacement of partial coal by landfilled RDF for the cement industry (C-LRDF), incineration of municipal RDF (I-MRDF), and replacement of partial coal by municipal RDF for the cement industry (C-MRDF). The preference among the RDF utilization options is identified from the standpoints of various stakeholders by integrating the life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approaches. RDF thermal utilization technologies bring an economic profit of $17.29∼$35.77 per ton of waste. Especially, I-LRDF has the worst effect on ecosystem quality and human health and can yield the greatest economic profit of $35.77 per ton of landfilled waste, while I-MRDF has the least impact on environment. In terms of the five RDF thermal utilization technologies, I-MRDF has the best comprehensive performance from the perspectives of different stakeholders. The improvement of the RDF thermal utilization efficiency is the most critical factor affecting the economic benefits for all cases.

Economic analysis on sewage sludge drying and its co-combustion in municipal solid waste power plant.

Co-treatment in municipal solid waste power plant has been deemed to one of the most suitable ways to handle sewage sludge. Economy of the co-treatment process is very concerned in the waste incineration plant. Thermal calculation of sewage sludge co-combustion was done. Four common sludge drying schemes was compared: flue gas drying, steam drying, electric heating drying in the waste incineration plant and in situ electric heating drying in the sewage treatment plant. Sensitivity analysis was also performed. When the water content was 30-40% and the absolute-dry sludge ratio was 2-3%, the boiler efficiency was reduced by 0.56-1.12% compared with the case without mixing sludge, and the power generation decreased by 0.2568-0.3767 MW in steam drying scheme and by 0.0037-0.0094 MW in other schemes. Net present value (NPV) of flue gas drying was the highest among the four sludge drying schemes, which was more than 20 ¥ million, while the scheme of electric heating drying in the waste incineration plant had the lowest NPV, which can't recoup the initial investment. Sensitivity coefficient of flue gas drying was smallest among different schemes, showing that the risk of this program was the smallest. Absolute-dry sludge ratio and unit subsidy for sludge treatment were sensitive factors for NPV in flue gas scheme, which had a sensitivity coefficient of 1.123-1.171 and 1.232, respectively. Operating parameters optimization of co-combustion of sludge was done and ways to improve economic efficiency was discussed.