Plasma gasification of refuse derived fuel in a single-stage system using different gasifying agents.

The renewable evolution in the energy industry and the depletion of natural resources are putting pressure on the waste industry to shift towards flexible treatment technologies with efficient materials and/or energy recovery. In this context, a thermochemical conversion method of recent interest is plasma gasification, which is capable of producing syngas from a wide variety of waste streams. The produced syngas can be valorized for both energetic (heat and/or electricity) and chemical (ammonia, hydrogen or liquid hydrocarbons) end-purposes. This paper evaluates the performance of experiments on a single-stage plasma gasification system for the treatment of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from excavated waste. A comparative analysis of the syngas characteristics and process yields was done for seven cases with different types of gasifying agents (CO2+O2, H2O, CO2+H2O and O2+H2O). The syngas compositions were compared to the thermodynamic equilibrium compositions and the performance of the single-stage plasma gasification of RDF was compared to that of similar experiments with biomass and to the performance of a two-stage plasma gasification process with RDF. The temperature range of the experiment was from 1400 to 1600 K and for all cases, a medium calorific value syngas was produced with lower heating values up to 10.9 MJ/Nm(3), low levels of tar, high levels of CO and H2 and which composition was in good agreement to the equilibrium composition. The carbon conversion efficiency ranged from 80% to 100% and maximum cold gas efficiency and mechanical gasification efficiency of respectively 56% and 95%, were registered. Overall, the treatment of RDF proved to be less performant than that of biomass in the same system. Compared to a two-stage plasma gasification system, the produced syngas from the single-stage reactor showed more favourable characteristics, while the recovery of the solid residue as a vitrified slag is an advantage of the two-stage set-up.

Computational and molecular approaches for predicting unreported causal missense mutations in Belgian patients with haemophilia A.

Haemophilia A (HA) is caused by widespread mutations in the factor VIII gene. The high spontaneous mutation rate of this gene means that roughly 40% of HA mutations are private. This study aimed to describe the approaches used to confirm private disease-causing mutations in a cohort of Belgian HA patients. We studied 148 unrelated HA families for the presence of intron 22 and intron 1 inversion by Southern blotting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay was used to detect large genomic rearrangements. Detection of point mutations was performed by DNA sequencing. Predicting the causal impact of new non-synonymous changes was studied by two general strategies: (i) molecular approaches such as family cosegregation, evaluation of the implicated codon based on phylogenic separated species and absence of the mutation in the general Belgian population, and (ii) bioinformatics approaches to analyse the potential functional consequences of missense mutations. Among the 148 HA patients, in addition to common intron 22 and intron 1 inversions as well as large deletions or duplications, 67 different point mutations were identified, of which 42 had been reported in the HAMSTeRS database, and 25 were novel including 10 null variants for which RNA analyses confirmed the causal effect of mutations located in a splice site consensus and 15 missense mutations whose causality was demonstrated by molecular approaches and bioinformatics. This article reports several strategies to evaluate the deleterious consequences of unreported F8 substitutions in a large cohort of HA patients.

Exergy analysis of the Chartherm process for energy valorization and material recuperation of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood waste.

The Chartherm process (Thermya, Bordeaux, France) is a thermochemical conversion process to treat chromated copper arsenate (CCA) impregnated wood waste. The process aims at maximum energy valorization and material recuperation by combining the principles of low-temperature slow pyrolysis and distillation in a smart way. The main objective of the exergy analysis presented in this paper is to find the critical points in the Chartherm process where it is necessary to apply some measures in order to reduce exergy consumption and to make energy use more economic and efficient. It is found that the process efficiency can be increased with 2.3-4.2% by using the heat lost by the reactor, implementing a combined heat and power (CHP) system, or recuperating the waste heat from the exhaust gases to preheat the product gas. Furthermore, a comparison between the exergetic performances of a 'chartherisation' reactor and an idealized gasification reactor shows that both reactors destroy about the same amount of exergy (i.e. 3500kWkg(wood)(-1)) during thermochemical conversion of CCA-treated wood. However, the Chartherm process possesses additional capabilities with respect to arsenic and tar treatment, as well as the extra benefit of recuperating materials.

Evaluation of Bactec high blood volume resin media.

BACTEC PLUS high-blood-volume resin media (aerobic BP 26 vial and anaerobic BP 27 vial) were compared with standard BACTEC media (aerobic NR 6A and anaerobic NR 7A vial). A total of 2253 blood culture sets, each consisting of the four vials, were collected. Positive cultures were obtained from 403 sets and grew 428 organisms; 271 organisms were considered as significant. The BACTEC PLUS high blood volume resin (BP-HBV) media grew significantly more Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After taking into account the difference of blood volume between the two systems, only S. aureus was significantly more detected by the aerobic BP 26 vial. An enhanced recovery rate with the anaerobic BP 27 vial could not be established. BP-HBV media had an enhanced recovery rate over the standard BACTEC media for S. aureus and C. albicans in patients receiving antibiotics.