Optimization of Organic Rankine Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery From Aluminum Production Plants
FRONTIERS IN ENERGY RESEARCH
Authors: Castelli, Alessandro Francesco; Elsido, Cristina; Scaccabarozzi, Roberto; Nord, Lars O.; Martelli, Emanuele
Abstract
This paper presents the optimization of organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) for recovering waste heat from a hypothetical aluminum production plant to be installed in Norway. The case study is particularly interesting because it features two hot streams at different temperatures (the pot exhaust gases and the cell wall cooling air), which make available about 16 MWth below 250 degrees C. First, a recently proposed cycle optimization approach is adopted to identify the most promising working fluid and optimize the cycle variables (pressures, temperatures, mass flow rates) for the maximum energy performance. The analysis includes both pure fluids, including recently synthesized refrigerants, and binary zeotropic mixtures assessing in total 102 working fluids. The best pure fluid in terms of exergy efficiency turns out to be HFE-347mcc (which can achieve a target exergy efficiency of 85.28%), followed by neopentane, butane, and R114. HFO-1336mzz appears to be one of the most promising non-flammable alternatives with low Global Warming Potential (GWP). The mixture leading to the highest exergy efficiency is isobutane-isopentane, which can increase the net electrical power output by up to 3.3% compared to pure fluids. The systematic techno-economic optimization, repeated for two different electricity prices, shows that RE347mcc is the best option in both low and high electricity prices. The cost of the cycle using HFO-1336mzz is penalized by the larger evaporation heat (negatively influencing the heat integration) and the smaller regenerator.
Identification of mutations in SLC4A1, GP1BA and HFE in a family with venous thrombosis of unknown cause by next-generation sequencing
EXPERIMENTAL AND THERAPEUTIC MEDICINE
Authors: Chang, Wei-An; Sheu, Chau-Chyun; Liu, Kuan-Ting; Shen, Jheng-Heng; Yen, Meng-Chi; Kuo, Po-Lin
Abstract
Various risk factors, including high age, female gender, obesity and certain genetic defects have been linked to venous thrombosis. A Taiwanese family with venous thrombosis of unknown cause were enrolled in the present study. In this pedigree, two women without any specific underlying diseases suffered from venous thrombotic events at the same age. No specific risk factors or coagulation abnormalities were identified. The main proband's younger brother also had intestinal arterial thrombosis at 54 years of age. Therefore, it was hypothesized that familial genetic defects may be the cause of venous thrombosis within this family. Blood samples collected from certain members of this pedigree were subjected to whole-exome sequencing, and three genetic variants were identified, including a missense variant of solute carrier family 4 member 1 (SLC4A1) (c.388G>A), a deletion on glycoprotein Ib platelet alpha subunit (GP1BA) (c.1322_1344del23) and an insertion in the splice site of homeostatic iron regulator (HFE). To date, none of these three genetic variants have been reported to be associated with venous thrombosis, to the best of our knowledge. The present study suggests that these genetic variants of SLC4A1, GP1BA and HFE may be associated with venous thrombosis in an Asian pedigree.