Exhaust gas recirculation is a widely used technology on conventional vehicles, primarily for lowering emissions of local pollutants. Here we use chemical models to show that an exhaust-gas recirculation loop can be converted into a heat-recovery system by incorporating a catalytic reformer. The system is predicted to be particularly effective for gasoline-fuelled spark ignition engines. The high temperature and low oxygen-content of the exhaust gas mean that endothermic reactions will predominate, when some of the gasoline is injected into the recirculation loop upstream of the reformer. The output of the reformer will, therefore, have a higher fuel heating value than the gasoline consumed. Chemical efficiency calculations, based on the predicted reformer output at chemical equilibrium, indicate that the direct improvement in fuel economy could be as high as 14%. Initial tests using a rhodium reforming catalyst suggest that much of the heat recovery predicted by the thermodynamic models can be achieved in practice, which together with a reduction in throttling may allow a gasoline spark ignition engine to match the fuel economy of a diesel engine.

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Energy spend is a hotel’s second-highest operating cost. Hilton has achieved significant energy reductions through low-cost, high-impact steps, and a portfolio-wide certification to ISO 50001.

“As an independent, non-governmental organization, ISO plays a key role in defining standards that will help support innovation. This is fundamental in accelerating results,” says Michael Møller, Director-General…

Nearly three years after the official launch of the post-2015 agenda, which plots the path for a better world by 2030, people are still grappling with how to make the ambitious Sustainable Development…

Imagine your favourite city. Now imagine the same city with more people. Lots and lots more people! A United Nations study predicts that global urban population will increase from 3.9 billion in 2015 to…

Companies are in the business of selling products and consumers of those products want the best possible value for money, but this puts a strain on already depleted natural resources and supply chain transparency….

1. Introduction The Carbon Dioxide Utilisation Summits are held twice per year, alternating between being hosted in a European location and in North America. They are organised by Active Communications International (ACI), Inc. This two-day event was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, on 18th and 19th October 2017. The main aim of this Summit series is…

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An optimal platinum alloy for precision casting was developed by taking 25 possible alloying elements into consideration. In order to rank these elements an equation was designed. The ranking allowed five promising alloy compositions to be identified. From these five alloys arc melted buttons were produced and tested for homogeneity and hardness to ensure their suitability as jewellery alloys. A pyrometer was used to measure solidus temperatures. In a second iteration, the five alloys were further improved and the most promising alloys were cast and compared to a commonly used jewellery alloy: platinum-copper-gallium (PtCuGa). The comparison was based on the melting interval and on microstructural investigations, carried out by scanning electron and optical microscopy, while mechanical properties were determined by tensile testing. Additionally, optical properties such as reflectivity and colour were investigated. After the second iteration two very promising compositions were identified: PtCuFeMnCr and PtCuFePdVY.

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Infant formula is perhaps one of the most highly regulated foodstuffs in the world, so checking the exact composition is a rigorous affair. ISO is developing a series of standards for verifying many of…

Industrial processes contribute significantly to global carbon dioxide emissions, with iron and steel manufacturing alone responsible for 6% of the total figure. The STEPWISE project, funded through the European Horizon 2020 (H2020) Low Carbon Energy (LCE) programme under grant agreement number 640769, is looking at reducing CO₂ emissions in the iron and steel making industries. At the heart of this project is the ECN technology called sorption-enhanced water-gas shift (SEWGS), which is a solid sorption technology for CO₂ capture from fuel gases such as blast furnace gas (BFG). This technology combines water-gas shift (WGS) in the WGS section with CO₂/H₂ separation steps in the SEWGS section. Scaling up of the SEWGS technology for CO₂ capture from BFG and demonstrating it in an industrially relevant environment are the key objectives of the STEPWISE project, which are achieved by international collaboration between the project partners towards design, construction and operation of a pilot plant at Swerea Mefos, Luleå, Sweden, next to the SSAB steel manufacturing site.

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