Color Changing Planet Pluto

Republika Online

LONDON - Scientists Space Agency United States (NASA) revealed, the planet Pluto is small and located at the end of the solar system is now increasingly red. The pictures taken Hubble space telescope show that the planet is 20 percent more red than before.

The experts believe, the phenomenon is caused by changes in the ice on the surface of Pluto in the planet entered a new phase of the orbit for 248 years.

New pictures show a frozen nitrogen increasingly shining on the north and getting darker in the south.

"These changes are likely the effect of melting ice at the poles of the sun, while at the other pole of frozen," the statement Telescope Science Institute for NASA Space, Friday (5 / 2) The

But some experts expressed surprise astromoni with these changes. ''A little surprising to see these changes happen so large and so fast, "said Marc Buie, of the Southwest Research Institute." It never happened before. "

In 2006, the astronomical revoke the status of Pluto as a planet full of a small planet. Planet is located very far away and far smaller than the eight other planets in this solar system is much smaller than a few months in space.

The astronomers also predicted, this red color does not affect the predicted temperature in pluto. Although there are reddish color, the surface temperature of Pluto is still very cold, at the point-233C.

Japanese Municipalities Targeting Energy Self-Sufficiency at Sewage Treatment Plants

Copyright Bureau of Sewerage Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Introduction

Sewerage systems play an important role in keeping modern life comfortable and hygienic, as they collect and treat the wastewater and human waste discharged in the course of daily life and industrial activities. They are also effective in protecting cities and towns from floods by draining rainwater off quickly, as well as preserving our ecosystems by releasing clean, treated water to back to rivers, lakes, and seas.

New Japanese Wind Turbine Allows Small-scale Users to Sell Electricity to Power Companies

Zephyr Corporation Inc., a Japanese manufacturer of small-scale renewable power generation systems, on February 20, 2008, began marketing three models of its new Owl series, its latest line of wind power and wind/solar hybrid power generation systems designed for households, schools, and office buildings.

All three models of the Owl series have an Internet server pre-installed as standard equipment to provide a remote monitoring function via the Internet to check and record the amount of electricity generated and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions avoided -- a world first. The equipment also enables the sale of any excess electricity generated to the grid of power companies -- another world first in the small-sized wind power market. Moreover, it has a panel that displays information on weather conditions, the amount of electricity generated, and how much CO2 emissions have been avoided.

The Owl Express model is a wind or combined wind and solar hybrid power generation system for households, schools, or office buildings, which includes all the equipment needed to sell and transmit any excess electricity generated to power companies. Owl Next is a wind and solar hybrid system designed as an independent power source for schools. With enhanced data collection and display functions, it also helps provide students with practical education on climate change and renewable energy. Owl Plus is a more basic wind and solar hybrid system designed especially for first-time users, including households, to begin enjoying the benefits of renewable energy right away.

http://www.zephyreco.co.jp/en/
http://www.japanfs.org/en/jfs/event/eco-pro2006/report2006_zephyr.html
- Japan's Market for Small Wind Power Systems Growing Rapidly (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1174-e

IPB Discover More Effective Bioremediation Technology

Source :
http://www.republika.co.id/node/95062

BOGOR, INDONESIA - Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) found Bioremediation technology is more effective to deal with mine waste.

Researchers from the Program of Land and Environment Technology IPB, Ir Dr. Dwi Andreas Santosa said in Bogor, West Java, on Thursday (10/12), the technology's use of four types of local bacteria, which can clean the mud waste oil four times faster, and reduce levels of mercury up to 98.5 percent.

According to him, these findings technologies capable of cleaning waste oil four times faster than Bioremediation technology developed by an international oil company.

"This technology has proven its effectiveness to clean up waste oil and petroleum contaminated soil in a large scale through cooperation with PT Mitra Petroleum Indonesia in Dumai, Riau," he said.

Bioremediation technology is a technology that uses microorganisms to reduce the pollutants in the environment. Currently only one mining company that uses the IPB technology.

"Cooperation with PT Chevron is still in the process," he said.

He ensures that the use of this technology could clean up waste oil mud within 2.5 months for the area of one hectare with an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tons of oil a mixture of mud and dirt.

In addition to faster, Bioremediation Andreas findings are able to reduce the cost of waste treatment. To clean the mud oil, for instance, could save between 25 to 50 percent if using Bioremediation with bacteria Bacillus sp.

"If using the conventional way will cost between 25 to 30 cubic dollars permeter contaminated soil, using this technology IPB findings needed only 15 to 20 cubic permeter U.S. dollars," he said.

Even to lower levels of mercury in the waste by using bacteria Pseudomonas pseudomallei, the cost of the required 1 / 400 of conventional detoxification technology using resin.

In 2005, he developed Bioreaktor with mercury detoxification capability of 86 percent for one hour. Newer Bioreaktor developed in 2007 to reduce mercury levels in the waste up to 98.5 percent in just 30 minutes.

He admitted that the Bioremediation of mercury waste is not applied in the field scale because most mercury wastes are generated by illegal miners.

"Obviously this requires the intervention of local governments, so that mercury waste produced by illegal miners before flowing into the rivers could be discussed first with this technology," he said.

Bioremediation technologies can also be used to treat acid mine water and dissolved heavy metals primarily from coal mines by relying on bacterial activity

Desulfotomaculum and Desulfotomaculum sp orientis a change sulphate in acid mine water into hydrogen sulfide and then react with heavy metals.

Utilization of these bacteria proved to increase the acidity of the mine waste from 2-3 to 6-7 or nearly neutral, while the heavy metals to settle, he said.

Andreas reveals, these bacteria have been used to overcome cases of cadmium contamination in paddy field in Bandung from textile industrial waste.

"When the rice seedlings were given these bacteria. And from the results of laboratory tests, the harvested rice containing cadmium zero percent," he said.

In studies conducted since 1999, he found four types of bacteria are native to Indonesia effectively used to extract the waste of Bacillus sp mine waste oil mud, Pseudomonas pseudomallei to extract mercury, Desulfotomaculum and Desulfotomaculum sp orientis for acid mine water and the bacteria Pseudomonas sp and Candida sp to describe phenol.

"These bacteria are not pathogenic, so do not endanger human health, animals and plants," he said. ant / itz

Fly Ash as a CO2 adsorbent

by Dian Shofinita on 28/05/09 at 6:42 pm | 2 Comments | Print article | Email article
Coal Power Station

Coal Power Station

One of the fossil fuels commonly used today is coal. Coal is the energy source of the most easily taken from nature. However, the generation of energy with coal caused considerable waste, including fly ash. Fly ash is one of the residues of coal combustion. Components contained in fly ash varies depending on the source of coal burned, but all fly ash containing SiO2 and CaO. If not further processed, fly ash can cause negative impacts on the environment. Fly ash can contaminate the ground water that contains impurities such as arsenic, barium, berillium, boron, cadmium, komium, thallium, selenium, molybdenum and mercury.

Utilization of coal is also another negative impact of carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 gas is, furthermore, will have an impact of the greenhouse effect. Therefore, the use of coal as an energy source, needed a method to capture CO2 from the combustion of coal and store it in an insulating material. This technology is known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Many of CO2 capture methods that are being developed currently, among which are adsorption, absorption, use of membranes, cryogenic process, and utilization of microbes.

One method is to capture CO2 adsorption method using calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, and copper oxide. Sorbent the most commonly used in industry is the CaO (calcium oxide) contained in nature in the form of CaCO3. To get CaO from limestone, limestone must first be activated, namely by heating limestone to kalsinasi temperature range, which generally ranges from 800-950 degrees Celsius. This process clearly requires akitivasi energy in large numbers, and release CO2 into the environment when activated. This process will remove fear more CO2 into the environment compared with the amount of CO2 captured. Therefore, needed an alternative sorbent that does not require prior activation.
Fly Ash

Fly Ash

Fly ash from coal combustion is one example of the sorbent can be used. Fly ash generated from burning coal contain CaO that can be directly utilized for mengadsorp CO2 without the need activating again, so that the energy requirements for kalsinasi process can be avoided. In addition, fly ash of coal combustion is available in large numbers and continue to produced, so that the fly ash that has been used not need dikarbonasikan back, but can be immediately discarded. Fly ash used in the capture of CO2 has a high calcium content that will directly react with water. Results of fly ash hydration process is the formation of Ca (OH) 2 and the reactive phase of CHS to CO2. The next reaction is:

CaCO3 + H2O" onmouseover="this.style.backgroundColor='#ebeff9'" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='#fff'">CO2 + Ca (OH) 2 -> CaCO3 + H2O
CaCO3 + SiO2 + mH2O" onmouseover="this.style.backgroundColor='#ebeff9'" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='#fff'">CaO.nSiO2.mH2O (CSH) + CO2 -> CaCO3 + SiO2 + mH2O

In addition to reducing CO2 emissions resulting from energy generation process with coal, this method can also take advantage of other coal production side, the fly ash. The existence of appropriate technologies such further expected to help meet the needs of environmentally friendly energy.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_ash
http://www.geology.sk/co2neteast/documents/workshop_bratislava/AU_BOCHENCZYK.pdf
John A. Nugraha and Aditya Tanuwijaya, captured CO2 with Fly Ash modified, 2009.

Toshiba to Verify CO2 Separation/Capture Technology at Coal Power Plant

Copyright Toshiba Corporation

Toshiba Corporation, a major Japanese electronics manufacturer, announced on September 29, 2009, that it has completed construction of a pilot plant and had started testing its carbon dioxide (CO2) separation/capture process which captures 10 tons of CO2 per day. The pilot plant is expected to help accelerate the commercialization of its carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that separates and captures CO2 emitted by sources such as thermal power plants and then stores it underground or in other locations.

The pilot plant was built at the Mikawa Power Plant operated by Sigma Power Ariake Co. -- a Toshiba subsidiary in the power generation business -- in Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Utilizing an amine-based chemical absorption system to separate and capture CO2 from boiler flue gas emitted by the coal-fired power plant, the pilot system is capable of processing 10 tons of CO2 per day.

The test operation is to verify the performance of the system. In order to design systems for large thermal power plants, the company also plans to verify the condition of flue gas in live operation and effects of the flue gas contents on performance, as well as acquire expertise in operating the system. The new knowledge will be applied to optimize integration of the system into power plant operations and systems to further advance commercialization of the system.

Anticipating that the demand for commercial-scale CCS in the thermal power generation market will increase globally by year 2015, the company aims to generate 100 billion yen (about U.S.$1.1 billion) in sales in fiscal 2020 by establishing its business to meet the demand in this field.

Toshiba to Build Pilot Plant to Test CO2 Capture Technology (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028843.html
Toshiba to complete construction of carbon capture pilot plant
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/
2009_09/pr2902.htm