1. Towards a sustainable energy future : evaluating Arundo donax L. in continuous anaerobic digestion for biogas productionKarlo Špelić, Mario Panjicko, Gregor Drago Zupančič, Anamarija Lončar, Ivan Brandić, Ivana Tomić, Ana Matin, Tajana Krička, Vanja Jurišić, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Abstract
In response to the EU's REPowerEU initiative (COM (2022) 108) which encourages an increase in biogas production by 20% in member states by 2030 to boost energy independence, it has become essential to identify sustainable alternatives to traditional feedstocks for biogas production, especially in the EU Member states where there is still high dependence on corn silage as the main raw material in biogas plants. While corn silage, predominantly used in the European biogas plants today, serves primarily for the livestock sector, alternative sources need to be explored. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the potential of Arundo donax, a perennial energy crop, as an alternative feedstock in a continuous anaerobic process. The biogas yield and its quality, characterized by CH4, CO2, H2S and O2 content, were determined during a continuous process with A. donax, compared with two mixed feedstocks of A. donax and corn silage over a 5‐month period in a continuous anaerobic digestion process. The results revealed that A. donax exhibits a biogas yield and methane content comparable to corn silage, indicating its potential as a viable and sustainable alternative feedstock for biogas production.
Keywords: Arundo donax L., biogas quality, continuous anaerobic digestion, corn silage, perennial energy crops, sustainable biogas production
Published in RUNG: 18.03.2025; Views: 471; Downloads: 1
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2. Foods2012 Keywords: food sciences and technology, food chemistry and physical properties, food engineering and production, food security and safety, food toxicology, sensory and food quality, food analysis, functional foods, food and health, food psychology, food and environment
Published in RUNG: 10.05.2024; Views: 1734; Downloads: 4
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3. Chemistry of the iron-chlorine thermochemical cycle for hydrogen production utilizing industrial waste heatMatjaž Valant, Uroš Luin, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: This research presents an inventive thermochemical cycle that utilizes a reaction between iron and HCl acid for hydrogen production. The reaction occurs spontaneously at room temperature, yielding hydrogen and a FeCl2 solution as a by-product. Exploring the thermal decomposition of the FeCl2 by-product revealed that, at conditions suitable for utilization of low-temperature industrial waste heat (250 °C), chlorine gas formation can be circumvented. Instead, the resulting by-product is HCl, which is readily soluble in water, facilitating direct reuse in subsequent cycles. The utilization of low-temperature industrial heat not only optimizes resource utilization and reduces operational costs but also aligns with environmentally sustainable production processes. From the kinetic studies the activation energy was calculated to be 45 kJ/mol and kinetics curves were constructed. They showed significant kinetics at room temperature and above but rapid decrease towards lower temperatures. This is important to consider during real-scale technology optimization. The theoretical overall energy efficiency of the cycle, with 100% and 70% heat recuperation, was calculated at 68.8% and 44.8%, respectively. In practical implementation, considering the efficiency of DRI iron reduction technology and free waste heat utilization, the cycle achieved a 41.7% efficiency. Beyond its energy storage capabilities, the Iron-chlorine cycle addresses safety concerns associated with large-scale hydrogen storage, eliminating self-discharge, reducing land usage, and employing cost-effective storage materials. This technology not only facilitates seasonal energy storage but also establishes solid-state energy reserves, making it suitable for balancing grid demands during winter months using excess renewable energy accumulated in the summer.
Keywords: chemical cycles, hydrogen production, thermal decomposition, reaction kinetics, iron, chlorine
Published in RUNG: 12.01.2024; Views: 3008; Downloads: 45
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6. European Film Co-productions with a Focus on Southeastern EuropeBoris Matić, 2022, master's thesis Abstract: In this master thesis I shall deal with European film co-productions with an emphasis on the functioning of this form of film production in 6 countries of Southeast Europe. Starting from
defining the concept of co-productions and their types, short history, agreements that provide the legal framework for their establishment all the way to sources of funding from European
public national and supranational funds, broadcasters and production incentive systems. In other words, in this thesis I explain how this joint production adventure works in Europe, as
well as in the surrounding countries where I myself work as a film producer. The starting point of the paper is that the authors and producers hail from countries with low audiovisual capacity,
and due to high film production prices and lack of funding sources in these countries, they are almost forced to turn to international co-productions for more ambitious film projects. Through
the analysis and production study of Father, I speak about the application of the co-production model in filmmaking and the use of almost all types of available European sources of financial
closure, which is a successful example of cooperation between producers and filmmakers and collaborators from several European countries. In the practical part of my master’s thesis, I
briefly deal with the making of my short fiction film Thursday.
Keywords: film, production, co-production, southeast Europe, region, agreements, sources of funding, funds, national, supranational, budget
Published in RUNG: 01.09.2022; Views: 3453; Downloads: 112
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7. Plastic Waste Precursor-Derived Fluorescent Carbon and Construction of Ternary FCs@CuO@TiO2 Hybrid Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production and Sensing ApplicationAkansha Metha, Rayees Ahmad Rather, Blaž Belec, Sandra Gardonio, Ming Fang, Matjaž Valant, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: A sustainable nexus between renewable energy production and plastic abatement is imperative for overall sustainable development. In this regard, this study aims to develop a cheaper and environmentally friendly nexus between plastic waste management, wastewater treatment, and renewable hydrogen production. Fluorescent carbon (FCs) were synthesized from commonly used LDPE (low-density polyethylene) by a facile hydrothermal approach. Optical absorption study revealed an absorption edge around 300 nm and two emission bands at 430 and 470 nm. The morphological analysis showed two different patterns of FCs, a thin sheet with 2D morphology and elongated particles. The sheet-shaped particles are 0.5 μm in size, while as for elongated structures, the size varies from 0.5 to 1 μm. The as-synthesized FCs were used for the detection of metal ions (reference as Cu2+ ions) in water. The fluorescence intensity of FCs versus Cu2+ ions depicts its upright analytical ability with a limit of detection (LOD) reaching 86.5 nM, which is considerably lesser than earlier reported fluorescence probes derived from waste. After the sensing of Cu2+, the as-obtained FCs@Cu2+ was mixed with TiO2 to form a ternary FCs@CuO@TiO2 composite. This ternary composite was utilized for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water under 1.5 AM solar light irradiation. The H2 evolution rate was found to be ~1800 μmolg−1, which is many folds compared to the bare FCs. Moreover, the optimized FCs@CuO@TiO2 ternary composite showed a photocurrent density of ~2.40 mA/cm2 at 1 V vs. Ag/AgCl, in 1 M Na2SO4 solution under the illumination of simulated solar light. The achieved photocurrent density corresponds to the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of ~0.95%. The efficiency is due to the fluorescence nature of FCs and the synergistic effect of CuO embedded in TiO2, which enhances the optical absorption of the composite by reaching the bandgap of 2.44 eV, apparently reducing the recombination rate, which was confirmed by optoelectronic, structural, and spectroscopic characterizations.
Keywords: plastic waste, fluorescent carbo, sensing of metal ions, photocatalytic hydrogen production
Published in RUNG: 25.02.2022; Views: 3164; Downloads: 49
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8. Prosodia e Foreign Accent - Prosody and Foreign Accent : Prominenza accentuale e deaccentazione in Italiano e Tedesco come lingue secondeAlessandra Zappoli, 2012, master's thesis Abstract: This thesis investigates the production and acquisition of prosodic contours in Italian learners of German, and German learners of Italian as second languages (L2). The thesis compares speech production in L2 with speech production in the native language (L1). The goal is to verify whether the speech production in L2 is affected by Transfer phenomena that are linked to the phonological properties of the L1. The thesis also tests, in light of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis, whether the direction of acquisition - the acquisition of German as L2, being an L1 speaker of Italian vs. the acquisition of Italian as L2, being an L1 speaker of German – can predict a production in L2 connotated by Foreign Accent (FA). The thesis describes: i) the current state of the art of acquisitional theories of an L2 in adulthood; ii) the theoretical description of the patterns of prosodic prominence in Italian and German within the Autosegmental Theory of Intonation framework; iii) the interaction of the phonological structure with the Information Packaging of the Discourse Structure that differently affects the realization of prosodic patterns in Germanic and Romance languages. Finally, the thesis reports the preliminary results of a production experiment that adopts the paradigm of Swerts et. al (2002) in which participants utter a sequence of Noun-Phrases composed by a Noun and Adjective in which the Information Status rotates between the conditions of New, Given, and Contrastive information. The data highlight the presence of H+L* as the most frequently used Pitch Accent in the production of Italian speakers, that emerges also in the production of the German L2 speakers of Italian; in contrast, the data show the presence of Deaccentuation in the production of L1 speakers of German in correlation with the Given information status of a referent that is not successfully acquired by Italian L1 speakers of German as L2. The data indicate that it appears to be easier to successfully acquire the Italian prosodic system, being a native speaker of German, than vice-versa, supporting the MDH. The facilitatory effect is explainable by the less relevant role of the Discourse Structure in guiding the prominence patterns in Italian, which more heavily relies on the phonological structure, resulting in a less marked prosodic system compared to the prosodic system of German.
Keywords: pitch accents, prosody, foreign accent, prominence, second language acquisition, german, Italian, markedness, speech production
Published in RUNG: 06.12.2021; Views: 3556; Downloads: 0
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9. The production of pronouns and verb inflections by Italian children with ASD : a new dataset in a null subject languageGreta Mazzaggio, Aaron Shield, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: The language of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often characterized by difficulties with pronouns. The underlying reasons for such difficulties are still unclear. This study is the first to test the abilities of children with ASD who speak Italian, a language in which overt subject pronouns are optional but verbs obligatorily feature person-referencing morphology. We found that Italian children with ASD were less accurate than typically-developing (TD) Italian children in the production of first-, second-, and third-person singular pronouns, avoiding pronouns in favor of nouns or names more often than controls. Moreover, children with ASD produced more overt pronouns than null pronouns in marked contexts, compared to TD children. These phenomena can be accounted for by difficulties with pragmatics.
Keywords: autism, autism spectrum disorder, pronoun production, pronoun avoidance, language development
Published in RUNG: 17.09.2021; Views: 3170; Downloads: 46
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