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Laboratory Investigation of CAPRI Catalytic THAI-add-on Process for Heavy Oil Production and In Situ Upgrading
No full textHigh viscosity and impurities make heavy oil and bitumen extraction, transportation and refining difficult and cost intensive. Subjecting them to catalytic pyrolysis in situ with the reservoir as free reactor would significantly enhance extraction, reduce environmental footprint and lower facility cost for surface upgrader. In this study, the catalytic “add-on” to Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) was simulated in the laboratory with fixed-bed reactor at established optimum conditions (425 ºC, 20 barg, and WHSV 9.1-1). The liberation of hydrocarbon gases (C1-C6) and hydrogen during catalytic upgrading require large carbon-rejection to achieve appreciable level of upgrade. These gases CH4, C2H6 and H2 have the highest H:C ratio, hence their high concentration in the gas phase could only result in better upgrading in terms of API gravity and viscosity in the early hours of operation provided it was accompanied by high carbon-rejection to conserve C and H balance between gas, oil and coke. As a consequence more coke formation was noticed with Ni/Zeolite-Alumina catalyst 21.8 wt% compared to 11.4 wt% (Ni/Alumina) and 26.2 wt% (Alumina). As a function of time-on-stream, the API gravity increases from a value of 12.8 for the THAI feed oil by 1.4 for the first 20 min reaction time, increases by 6º after 120 min, rapidly decreases from 6º to 1.4º between 120 and 280 min, and settles at an average of 2.2º. The viscosity decreased respectively by 87% (Ni/Zeolite-Alumina), 79% (Ni/Alumina) and 62% (Alumina) relative to 1.1 Pa.s (supplied THAI oil) after 920 min operation. The main challenge therefore is to sustain the activity of the catalyst long enough and mitigate the impact of liberated hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases during the upgrading; possibly by adding external hydrogen-donor source to help suppress coke fouling on the catalyst and supply hydrogen for hydrogenation reactions
Multispectral diffuse optical tomography of healthy human finger joints
No full textRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint disease often affecting the hands, which if untreated causes disability. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) provides information about underlying functional properties of biological tissue. To detect pathophysiological changes in inflamed RA joints, a good understanding of baseline values for healthy subjects is first required. Finger joints from healthy subjects were imaged using a non-contact, multispectral, continuous wave DOT system, recovering physiological parameters of oxygen saturation, total haemoglobin, water concentration and scatter amplitude. Reconstructed values across the cohort demonstrated good consistency between finger joints from the same participant, with greater variation seen between subjects
Reflections on Participation in the Birmingham Law School Pro Bono Group
Get PDFThis paper collates presentations made by four student volunteer members of the Birmingham Law School Pro Bono Group during National Pro Bono Week 2017
A Potential Wasteform for Cs Immobilisation: Synthesis, Structure Determination and Aqueous Durability of Cs2TiNb6O18
No full textPost-emancipation in/security: A working paper
No full textIn the first working paper of this series, Patricia Noxolo outlined the research network’s perspective on security as created across different scales and by bottom-up as much as top-down processes. Equally, the project’s recognition of the history of in/security in the Caribbean over a longue durée, and particularly the significance of slavery within this longer history, calls for some engagement with the postemancipation period. With the advent of emancipation, followed by the slower process of changing socio-economic relations within plantation societies, the nineteenth century proved an important testing ground for everyday struggles
Model Parameterisation for Predictive Medicine 2016
No full textMulti-disciplinary workshop held 4th-7th July 2016 at the University of Birmingham, in partnership with the University of Nottingham. 37 people attended from diverse backgrounds including applied mathematics, statistics, computer science, computational biology and from industry, to learn about a variety of techniques that can be employed in reliable parameterisation in mathematical modelling for medicine. The tutorials covered optimisation, frequentist and Bayesian methods and model selection; all highly relevant to contemporary research in mathematical biology
Daily exposure to particulate matter
No full textParticulate matter (PM) is a toxic pollutant formed during the combustion of fossil fuels inside the engine of our cars. PM is composed by a carbonaceous core, known as soot onto which different hydrocarbon species can be adsorbed. The detrimental effects of PM on humans are varied; it can exacerbate allergies and provoke respiratory-related illnesses. In addition, PM is linked with cardiovascular problems and the increased rate of cancer on account of the mutagenic behaviour of the majority of PM components. Also, PM is not innocuous to the environment. Soot can absorb sunlight warming the low atmosphere and PM is one of the main causes of historical building damage and soiling. Traditionally, PM emissions have been associated to diesel vehicles, however, with the introduction of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines, petrol powertrains are also in the spotlight for current legislation. In Europe, the Euro 6c, which will come into force in September 2017, imposes a level of 6x1011 particulates emitted per kilometre.
PM can be reduced and controlled from different points of view i) engine calibration ii) fuel reformulation and iii) efficient aftertreatment systems (i.e. gasoline particulate filters). Thus, the aim of my thesis is to study the intrinsic properties of PM under different engine conditions and alternative fuels in order to aid in the design of efficient pathways to reduce PM in GDI engines
SpectralAnalysis: software for the masses
No full textCode and data accompanying the manuscript
SpectralAnalysis: software for the masses
AM Race, AD Palmer, A Dexter, RT Steven, IB Styles, J Bunch
Analytical Chemistry 88 (19), 9451-9458 (2016
Globalisation Of Postgraduate Logistics Programmes; Challenges And Perspectives For Transnational Higher Education
No full textCONTEXT
The purpose of this paper is to investigate key challenges and issues relating to the sudden and rapid development of Transnational Higher Education, with particular emphasis on Logistics Education. Knight (2005) reflects, while the Observatory of Borderless Higher Education in the UK tracks recent developments and reports on them, there is still a real need to ensure that ‘cross-border education reflects and helps to meet individual countries’ educational goals, culture, priorities and policies’.
RESEARCH QUESTION/PURPOSE
The research question asks ‘What are the challenges of cross-border education and what does this mean for the development of Logistics programmes involved in Transnational Higher Education? As already discussed by Zinn and Goldsby (2014), the merger of logistics, operations, supply management, and related disciplines into the broader field of supply chain management (SCM) has brought together academic fields with different professional identities and competing visions of what SCM ought to be; what students ought to be taught, and what the priorities for research and publication should be.
KEY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Globerson and Wolbrum (2014) state that academia continuously struggles with the content identification of logistics courses, wishing to support industry's needs. As expressed by Gravier and Farris (2008), articles about logistics education had progressed from asking, "Who are we?" in the 1960s and 1970s, to asking" What are we teaching?" from the 1980s. The debate concerning the content of a logistics programmes will always be around since practitioners' needs are dynamic. These initial findings support the fact that an interest in logistics education has been growing, but the author has identified that a third dimension concerning transnational discussions is not apparent
Constructions Of Heritage In Japanese As A Heritage Language Schools In England
No full textThis paper presents data from interviews conducted with head administrators of 10 Japanese as a Heritage Language (JHL) schools in England and examines their emic perspectives on ‘heritage’. ‘Heritage’ is defined as “elements of past experience that a group deliberately sets out to preserve and pass on to the next generation” (Blackledge & Creese, 2010, p. 164). The interview transcripts are interrogated for their constructions of heritage in relation to the curriculum. A range of perspectives on heritage can be seen and these differences may affect the programme and approach each school chooses. In the era of globalisation, ‘heritage’ can involve connections to the future as well as connections to the past. Kokugo textbooks are selected because of the way they construct a Japanese ‘authenticity’. This paper presents phase one of a larger project aiming to shed light on the curriculum of JHL schools in England
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