Search Results (44,769)

The paper gives an overview of new ideas related to the characterization of the structural features of minerals and their synthetic analogs with high ion mobility. The main conditions for fast ionic transport are related to the disorder in the positions occupied by the mobile ions and the presence of conduction channels running inside the structure. Special attention is paid to the principle distinction between solid electrolytes and cathode materials. It is noted that the growing industry of modern electronic devices implies an increase in lithium production. The main mineral sources of this technologically important element are described. Full article

Karpathy’s proposal to replace Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with plain-text knowledge bases maintained directly by language agents (Agentic Knowledge Curation) has gained traction in industrial applications yet lacks systematic empirical evaluation. To our knowledge, this study presents the first comparative evaluation of this paradigm using blind human assessment by two independent external reviewers. The corpus comprises the technical documentation of a production semantic search system for Spanish legal documents (11 files, ~19,300 tokens) alongside 100 questions verified against source code, distributed across direct retrieval, multi-document synthesis, and reasoning about absence. Claude 3.5 Sonnet was utilized as the reference model to isolate the retrieval architecture’s effect. While overall accuracy was statistically indistinguishable between paradigms, agentic curation showed a significant advantage in direct retrieval over long documents. Conversely, error analysis revealed RAG false negatives associated with the lost-in-the-middle phenomenon, whereas agentic curation exhibited localized degradation in textual fidelity for queries requiring exact reproduction of formulas or sequences. These results characterize the differential error profiles of both paradigms, providing actionable design criteria for engineers managing technical documentation with language models in cloud environments. Full article

Power-quality resilience is an important component of sustainable industrial electricity use, as voltage sag events can cause production interruptions, equipment damage, and inefficient allocation of mitigation costs and benefits among stakeholders. However, high initial investment costs and the lack of a viable commercial operation scheme have hindered the large-scale deployment of mitigation devices. To support sustainable power-quality governance, this study proposes an integrated framework that connects the technical compensation performance of the mitigation device with the economic foundation of a tripartite commercial operation model. First, an adaptive switching compensation strategy dynamically shifts between different modes based on the real-time voltage sag depth, establishing a mapping relationship with avoided-loss benefits. Then, a bi-level Nash bargaining model is constructed to allocate costs and benefits among the government, the enterprise, and the user, deriving closed-form analytical solutions for both the upper- and lower-level games. Through pilot operations at a large public service facility, economic losses of 480,000 CNY caused by a single voltage sag can be effectively avoided. Meanwhile, under the proposed scheme, all three parties achieve positive net present values. Compared to the user self-funding mode, the user’s NPV increases by 21.9%. Furthermore, unlike bilateral or equal-sharing alternatives, the Nash bargaining solution ensures all parties remain within the strong feasible region. The government and enterprise recover their costs within 4.14 and 6.20 years, respectively. These results indicate that the proposed framework can enhance the economic sustainability of power-sensitive users, encourage shared public–private investment in power-quality improvement, and support more resilient and efficient industrial electricity use. Full article

Amino alcohols are a class of compounds bearing both amino and hydroxyl groups, ubiquitous in natural products and extensively utilized as key structural motifs in pharmaceuticals and functional materials. Owing to their structural diversity, inherent chirality, and high reactivity, they exhibit significant application value in the pharmaceutical field, materials industry, and organic synthesis. Compared with chemical synthesis, which suffers from limitations such as insufficient enantioselectivity, dependence on precious metal catalysts, and environmental concerns, biosynthesis offers core advantages of high stereoselectivity, mild reaction conditions, and environmental sustainability. This review systematically delineates the diverse applications of amino alcohols in the pharmaceutical field (e.g., anti-HIV, antimalarial, and antitumor drugs), materials industry (e.g., polymer modification and metal corrosion protection), and organic synthesis (e.g., chiral ligands and catalysts). Particular emphasis is placed on the biosynthetic strategies and pathways of representative amino alcohols, including ethanolamine, (2S,3R)-2-amino-1,3,4-butanetriol, (R)-3-amino-1-butanol, sphingosine, and metaraminol, as well as the metabolic engineering design principles and downstream processing technologies for amino alcohol biosynthesis. Although current biosynthetic approaches still face bottlenecks in enzyme catalytic efficiency, substrate tolerance, cofactor regeneration, product toxicity, and thermodynamic equilibrium, substantial improvements in synthetic efficiency and stereoselectivity have been achieved through protein engineering, metabolic engineering, in situ product removal, and multi-enzyme cascade optimization. This review aims to provide systematic theoretical references and technical insights for the green and efficient biomanufacturing of amino alcohols. Full article

Green hydrogen production via water electrolysis is a cornerstone of the sustainable energy transition. However, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains the kinetic bottleneck, limiting overall efficiency. Nickel–iron (NiFe)-based catalysts are among the most promising nonprecious materials for the OER in alkaline media, offering high activity and low cost. Nevertheless, their practical application at industrially relevant current densities (>100 mA cm⁻²) is hindered by several challenges: structural degradation, uncontrolled surface reconstruction, metal dissolution (corrosion), particularly Fe leaching, and the ambiguous role of the fundamental mechanisms. This review critically discusses the current understanding of these degradation pathways, the influence of preparation methods, the interplay between Ni and Fe redox chemistry, and strategies for enhancing long-term stability. Future directions for designing durable NiFe OER electrocatalysts are also outlined. The paper also considers a strategy for investigating new catalysts using electrochemical and non-electrochemical techniques, devoted to young scientists interested in this field. In the Outlook and Perspective section, the key drawback is presented, and a possible strategy for improvement is discussed. Full article

Biobased wood adhesives are essential to reducing the dependence of wood-based panels on petrochemical and formaldehyde-emitting resins. This review critically synthesizes recent progress in lignin-, tannin-, starch-, furan/HMF-, organic acid-, and soy protein-based adhesive systems, with emphasis on chemical reactivity, curing mechanisms, water resistance, processability, and industrial relevance. The discussion distinguishes laboratory performance from industrial feasibility by considering specific press time, solids content, viscosity, raw material variability, emissions, cost, life-cycle performance, and compatibility with particleboard, medium-density fibreboard, plywood, and related engineered wood products. Lignin and tannins are highlighted as the most chemically compatible phenolic platforms, starch and soy systems as abundant but moisture-sensitive binders requiring targeted crosslinking, HMF and furan derivatives as promising aldehyde-type formaldehyde-free crosslinkers, and citric acid systems as attractive polyester-forming binders with pressing-temperature limitations. The review concludes that near-term adoption will most likely proceed through hybrid and partially biobased systems, whereas fully biobased adhesives require faster curing, standardized feedstocks, pilot-scale validation, and transparent techno-economic and life-cycle assessment. Full article

Construction cost estimation often relies on subjective expert judgment, which introduces variability and inconsistency. Standardizing data and procedures can improve reliability and enable repeatable workflows. This research investigates how price lists used for public construction can be semantically linked to Building Information Modeling (BIM) via the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard to support objective, repeatable, semi-automated model-to-cost estimation. By an inductive case-based design, the work uses Veneto Region price list and maps selected cost items to IFC properties. Six representative price list items (slabs, partition walls, plasterboards, plasters, doors, and windows) are examined to identify discriminating parameters (e.g., material, thickness, dimensions, fire rating) that are mappable to IFC entities and property sets. The methodology distinguishes primary charges from surcharges, then assesses the model-ability of parameters and their semantic coherence within BIM’s object-based paradigm. Findings show that through formalization and standardization of cost item characteristics via IFC properties, the approach reduces subjectivity, enabling structured and objective matching and laying the groundwork for future automated workflows. Limitations are discussed, including incomplete representation of some cost-driving attributes, reliance on naming conventions, and opportunities associated with Digital Product Passport implementation (DPP). Full article

After EU accession, Croatia has leveraged the advantages of EU membership, such as access to a large market and EU funds, to accelerate economic growth and reduce the development gap in comparison to advanced EU economies. Although EU membership has stimulated economic growth, it has also brought negative effects, such as labor emigration to more developed EU economies with higher wages and increased inflation due to price convergence and the adoption of the Euro. The weak growth of labor productivity in Croatia is a consequence of the slow transformation towards technology-intensive industries, the dominance of traditional labor-intensive sectors such as construction and hospitality, and the rapid growth of employment in the public sector. The novelty of the research lies in applying an input–output model to estimate direct and indirect labor requirements in Croatia, an example of a small, service-oriented economy that, after joining the EU, witnessed a significant increase in final demand. Research is based on the Eurostat FIGARO database. The increase in gross value added across industries during 2015–2024 is separated into price and real growth effects. Analysis indicates that the current Croatian growth model is unsustainable because of high labor requirements and slow productivity growth. Results imply that European Union membership brings many advantages, but if not coupled with an adequate industrial development strategy, economic growth based exclusively on increasing final demand could reach its limits. Labor constraints and continued demand growth without substantial structural changes could result in rising wages and prices rather than real GDP growth. Full article

Maintaining a stable melt flow index (MFI) is a critical objective in industrial polypropylene production because MFI directly reflects polymer molecular weight and strongly influences downstream processing performance. Although the effects of catalyst formulation and hydrogen concentration on polypropylene properties are well established, the operational origins of residual fluctuations in MFI under highly stable industrial conditions remain poorly understood. In this work, the relationships between feedstock quality, process operation, and residual MFI variability were investigated during the production of a commercial polypropylene grade in an industrial gas-phase reactor. A dataset comprising 61 industrial observations was assembled by integrating laboratory quality measurements with operational variables related to hydrogen concentration, catalyst management, reactor hydrodynamics, thermal behavior, productivity, and fouling. In parallel, the concentrations of key catalyst inhibitors, including carbon oxides, sulfur compounds, water, oxygen, acetylene, methylacetylene, propadiene, arsine, and phosphine, were quantified before and after the use of a modified zeolite-based purification system. The purification process reduced catalyst poisons to ppb levels, producing polymer-grade propylene with monomer purity exceeding 99.95 wt.%. Under these highly controlled conditions, the production campaign exhibited remarkable quality stability, with an average MFI of 3.03 g/10 min and a coefficient of variation of only 6.63%. Principal component analysis revealed that two dominant operational domains could describe 86.49% of the total process variability. The first domain was associated with reactor hydrodynamics, fouling behavior, and thermal conditions, whereas the second domain was governed by catalyst-system variables and hydrogen-mediated chain-transfer mechanisms. Variable importance in projection analysis identified Plate Fouling Factor (VIP = 2.17), Production Rate (VIP = 1.33), and H₂/C₃ Ratio (VIP = 1.17) as the variables most strongly associated with residual MFI fluctuations. The results demonstrate that once feedstock-related disturbances are effectively minimized, residual MFI variability arises from interactions among the hydrodynamic, thermal, and catalytic operational domains rather than from a single controlling parameter. These findings provide new insights into process–quality relationships in industrial polypropylene manufacturing and establish a practical framework for identifying the operational origins of subtle fluctuations in polymer quality in highly stabilized production systems. Full article

Viticulture, winemaking, and distillation industries produce substantial quantities of organic by-products (grape prunings, stems, marc-pomace, spent yeast, wine lees, distillation heads and tails, stillage), presenting both environmental challenges and promising opportunities for sustainable valorization. This narrative review offers a comprehensive analysis of the viticulture, winemaking, and distillation processes, along with the characterization of their solid and liquid by-products. Furthermore, it examines the chemical composition and mentions main valorization strategies for these residues, emphasizing their potential both as feedstocks for biochar production and as sources of valuable solvents. Additionally, various applications of biochars are explored, with particular focus on biochar derived from grape pruning and grape pomace-marc biomass, highlighting its effectiveness as a sorbent for environmental contaminants. Moreover, a broad range of biochar activation and modification methods that enhance physicochemical properties and expand functional applications is reviewed. Solvent-based biochar modification is also examined in order to introduce a novel concept: employing grape distillation liquid by-products (heads and tails fractions) to activate biochars made from grape prunings and pomace, creating a high-value sorbent while simultaneously valorizing two major waste streams. This dual-use strategy offers a new pathway for circular resource management within the viticulture and winemaking sectors. Full article

With the increasing importance of green design in the business landscape, designers are compelled to shift towards eco-design practices. However, existing methodologies face challenges related to resource requirements, abstract concepts, and industry specificity. To address these challenges and stimulate innovation, this study proposes a green design methodology that integrates TRIZ concepts and is anchored in TRIZ evolutionary trends. The methodology includes function and attribute analysis, the introduction of green features, the identification of TRIZ trends through a two-stage process, and the use of a developed system to improve calculation efficiency. Detailed design solutions are generated by combining green features, TRIZ trends, and inventive principles. A case study validates the methodology, showcasing its value in promoting sustainable development. By leveraging the evolutionary potential of products and incorporating TRIZ, the methodology offers a promising approach to address sustainability challenges and drive innovation. This research serves as a starting point for a practical and efficient design methodology that utilizes TRIZ concepts and a computer-aided application tool. Future steps involve stress-testing the methodology and exploring its application in different domains. Full article

The growing deployment of green hydrogen technologies is increasing pressure on freshwater resources, motivating the exploration of alternative water sources that do not compete with human consumption. In this work, the direct use of untreated produced water from the Shushufindi 78 oil well (Ecuador) as an electrolyte for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was experimentally evaluated. A comprehensive physicochemical characterization combined with electrochemical techniques, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and gas chromatography (GC-TCD) was performed to correlate electrolyte composition with electrochemical performance. Despite the high salinity and complex composition of the electrolyte, hydrogen production was achieved without pretreatment. Quantitative GC-TCD analysis yielded 10.29 µmol of H₂ after 4 h of electrolysis under non-optimized laboratory conditions, corresponding to a faradaic efficiency of 43.8%. These results demonstrate the feasibility of direct hydrogen generation from untreated produced water under realistic operating conditions. Additional experiments conducted in a membrane separated H-type electrolyzer evaluated mixtures of produced water and KOH, the electrolyte commonly employed in alkaline water electrolysis. Hydrogen production increased significantly under alkaline conditions, with the PW 10% + KOH 90% electrolyte exhibiting the highest hydrogen yield and faradaic efficiency among the investigated systems. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that KOH addition reduced solution resistance and improved ionic transport, while differences in interfacial behavior were observed depending on electrolyte composition. The combined electrochemical and chromatographic results demonstrate that untreated produced water can be directly utilized for hydrogen production and can also be partially integrated into alkaline electrolysis systems without compromising electrochemical performance. These findings highlight the potential of produced water as a non-conventional water resource for sustainable hydrogen generation and industrial wastewater valorization. Full article

Improving regional economic resilience is a point addressed in the sustainable development goals (SDGs; i.e., SDG 8 and SDG 11). The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has demonstrated excellent economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to the persistent green transition of the YRD in the past two decades. This paper uses a single-case method combined with the perspective of evolutionary economic geography to systematically investigate the process of green transition in the YRD (2000–2023) at both vertical and horizontal levels and proposes an integrated multi-dimensional system framework to reveal the collaborative logic of the overall green transition action and the internal mechanism of enhancing economic resilience in the YRD. The findings indicate that the combination of external factors such as contradiction change, magnifying crises, economic stabilization, and policy steering has driven the historical inevitability of green transition in China. Under such conditions, the YRD not only completed development in terms of primitive accumulation of space (coordinated development, i.e., chassis), industry (orderly upgrade, i.e., engine), and governance (equal supply, i.e., lubricant) earlier but also ensured the stability of this triangle, injecting sustained strong momentum into the rapid recovery of the economy under the impact. The solidification of green concepts further enhances the sustainability and strength of the YRD’s economic resilience. These findings provide beneficial experience on how to resume production after the pandemic or lay out cities in developing countries that are still in rapid urbanization in advance. Full article

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the modeling and optimization of sensor installation nodes for weight measurement in the hoppers of a charging car utilized in coke production. The research highlights the critical role of precise load monitoring in preventing technological disruptions, minimizing equipment degradation, and optimizing energy consumption. Conventional sensor technologies, including capacitive, ultrasonic, and laser-based systems, are evaluated, with weight sensors mounted on hopper supports identified as the most robust solution for real-time mass determination under industrial conditions characterized by high dust levels, temperature fluctuations, and mechanical vibrations. A finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to assess the structural behavior of sensor installation nodes under three distinct loading scenarios, corresponding to different operational conditions of the charging car. The four-point support structure of the hopper experienced the highest loads and non-uniformities. A stress–strain analysis of the sensor mounting assembly, performed using the Ansys software package, confirmed that both the sensor and its support structure maintain a sufficient safety margin (version 2024 R1, Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA, the academic license provided to Wrocław University of Science and Technology). The findings validate the structural integrity and operational reliability of the proposed sensor configuration, contributing to the advancement of automated monitoring and control systems in coke production. Full article

The growing global population has increased energy and food demand, leading to a higher production of waste streams such as fly ash from the energy sector and wastewater from food and beverage industries. Without proper treatment, these wastes pose significant environmental concerns. One promising strategy is to repurpose industrial byproducts for wastewater treatment. Winery wastewater, for instance, contains acidic organic compounds and alcohol that are difficult to remove using conventional methods, while large amounts of fly ash remain underutilized. This study, therefore, examines a hybrid system that combines fly ash-assisted Fenton oxidation with membrane filtration for winery wastewater treatment. The process involved sequential Fenton pre-treatment followed by lab-scale nanofiltration using a 1 kg/mol ceramic membrane (13.1 cm²). A Design of Experiments approach was applied to evaluate system performance under varying H₂O₂ dosages (10–30 mL/L), fly ash loadings (1–3 g/L), and membrane fluxes (40–80 LMH). Filtration was performed through multiple constant-flux cycles, with energy requirements ranging from 400 to 800 kWh/m³ for the flux variations calculated from the lab-scale pump operating at a constant power supply. The hybrid method showed strong performance, achieving 70% TOC removal and 90% reduction of color and iron. However, considerable membrane fouling was observed, likely due to increased retention and deposition of organic matter, iron, and fly ash during filtration. Full article