The potential of building integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems for reducing the energetic impact of Italian supermarkets

In the perspective of sustainable cities, urbanist and planners have to deal with a constantly increasing penetration of renewable energy systems (RES) in the urban structure: in tertiary sector, retail and supermarket stores as particularly energy-intensive compounds play a core role in this scenario, as they are often characterized by similar kinds of structures mostly, large surfaces and a single floor, and analogous composition of energy loads. Most of the current research focuses on energy efficiency, but these buildings are particularly interesting for a systematic application of PhotoVoltaic (PV) generation technology as the energy uses associated with them are mainly electrical, in connection with air conditioning and food cooling. This article analyses the energy consumption in the supermarket sector for the sale of food. After an analysis of the main energy consumption parameters, standard solutions for the sizing of PV systems are proposed based on different design objectives, highlighting the potential of each proposed solution. Results show that a high percentage of self-consumption can be achieved, and that a battery storage set at a mean daily PV potential production level (4 kWh/kW in the case) perfectly suits to reach a self-sufficiency between 50-70%. Retail and food stores have proven to be a perfect promoter for PV diffusion either in a high self-consumption configuration, or turning them into energy hub for mobility to building or energy sharing policies.

One-Pot Alcoholysis of the Lignocellulosic Eucalyptus nitens Biomass to n-Butyl Levulinate, a Valuable Additive for Diesel Motor Fuel

The present investigation represents a concrete example of complete valorization of Eucalyptus nitens biomass, in the framework of the circular economy. Autohydrolyzed-delignified Eucalyptus nitens was employed as a cheap cellulose-rich feedstock in the direct alcoholysis to n-butyl levulinate, adopting n-butanol as green reagent/reaction medium, very dilute sulfuric acid as a homogeneous catalyst, and different heating systems. The effect of the main reaction parameters to give n-butyl levulinate was investigated to check the feasibility of this reaction and identify the coarse ranges of the main operating variables of greater relevance. High n-butyl levulinate molar yields (35–40 mol%) were achieved under microwave and traditional heating, even using a very high biomass loading (20 wt%), an eligible aspect from the perspective of the high gravity approach. The possibility of reprocessing the reaction mixture deriving from the optimized experiment by the addition of fresh biomass was evaluated, achieving the maximum n-butyl levulinate concentration of about 85 g/L after only one microwave reprocessing of the mother liquor, the highest value hitherto reported starting from real biomass. The alcoholysis reaction was further optimized by Response Surface Methodology, setting a Face-Centered Central Composite Design, which was experimentally validated at the optimal operating conditions for the n-butyl levulinate production. Finally, a preliminary study of diesel engine performances and emissions for a model mixture with analogous composition to that produced from the butanolysis reaction was performed, confirming its potential application as an additive for diesel fuel, without separation of each component.

Experimenting on the past: a case study on changing analysability in English ly-adverbs

While it is undoubtedly true that historical data do not lend themselves well to the reproduction of experimental findings, the availability of increasingly extensive data sets has brought some experimenting within practical reach. This means that certain predictions based on a combination of synchronic observations and uniformitarian thinking are now testable. Synchronic evidence shows a negative correlation between analysability in morphologically complex words and various measures of frequency. It is therefore expected that when the frequency of morphologically complex items changes, their analysability will change along with this. If analysability decreases, this should in turn be reflected in decreasing sensitivity to priming by items with analogous composition. The latter prediction is in principle testable on diachronic data, offering a way of verifying the diachronic effect of frequency change on analysability. In this spirit, the present article examines the relation between changing frequency and priming sensitivity, as a proxy to analysability. This is done for a sample of 250 English ly-adverbs, such as roughly, blindly, publicly, etc. over the period 1950–2005, using data from the Hansard Corpus. Some of the expected relations between frequency and analysability can be shown to hold, albeit with great variation across lexical items. At the same time, much of the variation in our measure of analysability cannot be accounted for by frequency or frequency change alone.

Niedere Hydrate von Aminen. Kristallstrukturen der Hemihydrate von Ethyl- und Diethylamin sowie des Hemi- und Monohydrats von 1-Butylamin [1] / Lower Hydrates of Amines. Crystal Structures of the Hemihydrates of Ethyl- and Diethylamine and the Hemi- and Monohydrate of 1-Butylamine

The melting diagrams of three systems alkylamine- water have been reexamined and the crystal structures of four lower hydrates determined for the first time. The hydrate EtNH2 · 0.5 H2O , m.p. -72 °C, is triclinic with space group P1̄ and Z = 4 formula units per unit cell of dimensions a = 5.104, b = 8.137, c = 9.394 Å, α = 100.41, β = 98.41 and γ = 97.96° at -150°C. The O and N atoms are hydrogen-bonded into a two-dimensional array 2∞[ON6/3] analogous to the layer of the Cdl2 structure type. The hydrate Et2NH · 0.5 H2O , m.p. -20 °C, is monoclinic with 12/a, Z = 8 ,a - 8.324, b = 15.090, c = 10.006 Å and β - 103.34° at -100 °C. The O and N atoms are linked into a four-membered ring spiro chain 1∞[ON4/2] analogous to that in SiS2. The hydrate l-BuNH2 · 0.5H2O (m.p. -57 °C, monoclinic, P 21/c, Z = 8,a = 14.994, b = 5.086, c = 16.15 Å,β - 103.45° at -81 °C) contains essentially the same hydrogen-bonded array as the hydrate EtNH2-0.5 H2O (see above). l-BuNH2-H2O , the only monohydrate investigated besides the three hemihydrates (m.p. -60 °C, monoclinic, C 2/m, Z = 4, a = 9.68, b = 4.238, c = 15.58 Å, β = 94.9° at -81 °C), has also a two-dimensional H2O/NH2 partial structure, similar to a subset of the three-dimensional network of the adduct NH3 H2O of analogous composition.

Observations sur la sedimentation argileuse du debut des temps tertiaires en Aquitaine

Examination of a section which cuts into the Dreuilhe anticline in the southern Aquitaine basin (Plantaurel) reveals a similarity between the deposits there and those in the northern part of the basin. In the core of the anticline the Maestrichtian lower red marls contain clays and red sandstone with montmorillonite and kaolinite, suggesting deposition in a vast depression lacking sufficient drainage, and in a medium rich in Ca (super ++) and Mg (super ++) . The upper red marls in the hard band of Montian lacustrine limestone with Microcodium have an analogous composition and correspond to calm tectonic and climatic conditions. Lacustrine marls with attapulgite directly underlie the transgressive Thanetian marine deposits. The passage from the Thanetian to the Sparnacian is marked by lacustrine facies, predominantly montmorillonite, and an increasing abundance of illites. The dominance of montmorillonite in a tectonically unstable area suggests that the adjacent continental mass was of low relief and was characterized by a tropical climate with alternating dry and humid seasons. The increase in kaolinite accompanying the arrival of the coarse detritus of the Ypresian is interpreted as the result of rhexistasy. The Lutetian is characterized by sandstones and limestones with associated montmorillonite, illite, and kaolinite. This phase represents the return of the sea, and the detrital nature of the deposits is a result of the uplift of the Pyrenean massifs. These phenomena are analogous to those that have been reported previously from the Paleocene series of Bordelais (northern part of the basin) suggesting a similar paleogeographic evolution for the two areas.

Studies of mineral sulpho-salts: II. Jamesonite from Cornwall and Bolivia (With Plates XXVI and XXVII.)

Jamesonite is described in Dana (1892, p. 122) as a soft, brittle, steel-grey to lead-grey mineral forming acicular orthorhombic crystals, a: b = ‘0·915:1’ (in error for 0·8195:1), with perfect basal cleavage; composition, 2PbS.Sb2S3; principal occurrence, Cornwall. Jamesonite is taken as the type member of a group that includes cosalite, described in the first of these studies (1939), dufrenoysite, and other minerals of analogous composition.