A Review of Medical Oxygen Concentrators for Respiratory Applications.

Medical oxygen concentrators are vital apparatuses that deliver supplemental oxygen to persons with hypoxemia. This narrative review provides a review of oxygen concentrators, outlining their operational mechanisms, classification, evaluation criteria, market accessibility, advantages, disadvantages, and prospective developments. Critical insights encompass the dominance of pressure swing adsorption technology in oxygen separation, the increasing demand for portable and energy-efficient models, and the promise of smart technologies and new materials to improve oxygen therapy.

An improved sulfur iodine cycle for sour gas purification and hydrogen fuel production for better environment.

The conventional sulfur-iodine (S-I) thermochemical cycle developed for sour gas purification and hydrogen production from HS stoichiometrically produces 2 moles of H. The present work aims to develop an improved sulfur-iodine cycle, here called the five-step sulfur-iodine cycle, that replaces direct sulfur oxidation with a reaction between metallic oxygen carrier (OC) and elemental S to produce hydrogen. This new cycle does not only produce more H, but also produces extra HSO.

Nanoarchitectonics approach to graphite/starch-supported bioelectrode for enhanced supercapacitor performance.

There has been an increasing interest in finding suitable materials for supercapacitor applications in response to the growing need for energy, to use alternative energy sources to fossil fuels in addition to energy storage. In this regard, bio-based carbon-loaded materials can be a promising option for high-performance supercapacitors because of their abundance, diversity, and reproducibility with waste management strategies. In this study, a new graphite-loaded bioelectrode is synthesized for supercapacitor application.

A comparative evaluation of dark fermentative bioreactor configurations for enhanced hydrogen production.

Energy from renewable resources has been growing in popularity, which ultimately helps reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and contaminants. Since hydrogen (H) has a higher combustion production of energy than hydrocarbon fuels, it has been identified as a clean, sustainable, and environmentally friendly energy source. There are several benefits to producing biohydrogen (bioH) from renewable sources, including lower cost and increased sustainability.

Comprehensive review and assessment of carbon capturing methods and technologies: An environmental research.

A majority of the primary contributors of carbon dioxide (CO) emissions into the environment have really been out of human-made activities. The levels of CO in the atmosphere have increased substantially since the time of the industrial revolution. This has been linked to the use of fossil fuels for energy production, as well as the widespread production of some industrial components like cement and the encroaching destruction of forests.

Comparative environmental sustainability assessment of biohydrogen production methods.

As energy crisis is recognized as an increasingly serious concern, the topic on biohydrogen (bioH) production, which is renewable and eco-friendly, appears to be a highly-demanding subject. Although bioH production technologies are still at the developmental stage, there are many reported works available on lab- and pilot-scale systems with a promising future. This paper presents various potential methods of bioH production using biomass resources and comparatively assesses them for environmental impacts with a special emphasis on the specific biological processes.

Development of a new photoelectrochemical system for clean hydrogen production and a comparative environmental impact assessment with other production methods.

Hydrogen is recognized as a critical substance for diversifying the global energy supply, providing new economic opportunities and realizing a carbon-free energy sector. In the current study, a life cycle assessment is conducted on a photoelectrochemical hydrogen production process of a newly developed photoelectrochemical reactor. With a photoactive electrode area of 870 cm, the hydrogen production rate of the reactor is 47.

Economic and environmental impact assessments of a newly designed energy system for marine applications.

Marine transportation via the world's oceans is a critical way to convey goods and fuels between continents that cannot be performed cost-effectively by any other means. However, big ships heavily rely on fossil fuels, aggravating global carbon emissions. A key resolution to this dilemma is to employ clean fuels to reduce carbon emissions.

Development and application of an integrated smart city model.

This study presents an innovative integrated approach for smart cities, aimed at promoting environmentally sustainable economies through novel technological and socio-economic transitions. The proposed model determines the smart city index (SCI) by aggregating 32 distinct performance indicators that significantly transform the environment, economy, energy, social, governance, and transportation sectors. This model is inherently multidisciplinary and is methodologically processed using multi-criteria decision analysis, which is aggregated using four distinct weighting schemes.

An experimental study on the environmental impact of hydrogen and natural gas blend burning.

In this study, an experimental investigation is conducted to analyze the effect of adding hydrogen into natural gas on emissions and the burning performance of the obtained blends. Natural gas alone and natural gas-hydrogen blends are burned in identical gas stoves, and the emitted CO, CO, and NO are measured. The base case with natural gas only is compared with the natural gas and hydrogen blends (including hydrogen additions of 10%, 20% and 30% volumetrically).

Assessment of effectiveness of optimum physical distancing phenomena for COVID-19.

Currently, COVID-19 is a global pandemic that scientists and engineers around the world are aiming to understand further through rigorous testing and observation. This paper aims to provide safe distance recommendations among individuals and minimize the spread of COVID-19, as well as examine the efficacy of face coverings as a tool to slow the spread of respiratory droplets. These studies are conducted using computational fluid dynamics analyses, where the infected person breathes, coughs, and sneezes at various distances and environmental wind conditions and while wearing a face-covering (mask or face shield).

A comparative review of potential ammonia-based carbon capture systems.

Carbon capturing technologies are recognized as a cornerstone solution in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to meet the 2050 emissions targets set during the past Paris agreement. Recently, ammonia has become a major carbon-free chemical to absorb CO emissions from flue gases. In this regard, this paper concerns the recently developed novel ammonia-based carbon capturing systems in the open literature and comparatively evaluates them from various perspectives in addition to discussing their advantages and disadvantages.

A comparative review on clean hydrogen production from wastewaters.

This paper provides a unique review of hydrogen production methods with wastewater treatment to depict a clean and sustainable approach. Various methods for hydrogen production from wastewaters are identified and discussed with recent details by discussing the critical challenges, opportunities, and future directions. Five main performance sectors are considered in detail for each hydrogen production method of the recent case studies, including economic, environmental, social, technical, and reliability.

Analysis of mobility trends during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic: Exploring the impacts on global aviation and travel in selected cities.

This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the transportation sector and subsequent implications on the sectoral energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions in some selected cities worldwide. A model for smart transportation is proposed by considering four indicators, including transport efficiency, technology integration, traffic congestion rate, and accessibility ratio. While prior health crises, such as SARS, impacted the transportation sector, the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, resulting in exceptional impacts on this sector.

Analysis of the electricity demand trends amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

This paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 and the global pandemic on the energy sector dynamics. Hourly electricity demand data was collected and analyzed for the province of Ontario. It is evident that health-related pandemics have a detrimental and direct influence on the concept of the smart city.

Investigation of acoustic and geometric effects on the sonoreactor performance.

In this work, three design configurations of a sonoreactor are considered under various operating conditions, and the acoustic characteristics during water sonication are investigated while using an immersed-type ultrasonic flat transducer probe in a sonoreactor model. Numerical models are also developed to simulate the sonication process, and they are successfully validated and compared with available data in the literature. Several sets of numerical investigations are conducted using the finite-element method and solved by the computational acoustics module in the COMSOL Multiphysics.

A photoelectrochemical system for hydrogen and chlorine production from industrial waste acids.

The galvanizing industry uses the concentrated hydrochloric acid in its metal surface treatment processes known as pickling. Every year tons of waste acid solutions polluted with metals ions are discharged to the environment after neutralization process. In this study, a novel photoelectrochemical reactor is designed and developed for the production of hydrogen and chlorine gas from spent hydrochloric acid generated in the galvanizing industry.

Targeted use of LEDs in improvement of production efficiency through phytochemical enrichment.

Based on available literature, ecology and economy of light emitting diode (LED) lights in plant foods production were assessed and compared to high pressure sodium (HPS) and compact fluorescent light (CFL) lamps. The assessment summarises that LEDs are superior compared to other lamp types. LEDs are ideal in luminous efficiency, life span and electricity usage.

Impact Assessment and Environmental Evaluation of Various Ammonia Production Processes.

In the current study, conventional resources-based ammonia generation routes are comparatively studied through a comprehensive life cycle assessment. The selected ammonia generation options range from mostly used steam methane reforming to partial oxidation of heavy oil. The chosen ammonia synthesis process is the most common commercially available Haber-Bosch process.

Long-term Outcome of Patients With Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion.

Introduction: The cause of exudative pleural effusion cannot be determined in some patients. The longterm outcomes of patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion were analyzed.

Methods: Patients with exudative pleural effusion whose diagnostic procedures included pleural biopsy using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery carried out between 2008 and 2012 were evaluated retrospectively.

Which type of surgery should become the preferred procedure for malignant pleural mesothelioma: extrapleural pneumonectomy or extended pleurectomy?

Purposes: Since radiation and chemotherapy have limitations as therapies for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The type of surgery [extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), extended pleurectomy (E/P), and pleurectomy/decortication (P/D)] remains controversial.

Methods: This study involves 76 consecutive patients.

Pleural angiosarcoma: a rare cause of spontaneous haemothorax.

Angiosarcoma is a rare soft tissue tumour and constitutes less than 1% of all soft tissue cancers. Pleural angiosarcomas are extremely rare and have an aggressive course. We report the case of a 79-year-old female patient who presented with complaints of increasing dyspnoea on exertion and homogeneous opacification of the left hemithorax on chest radiograph.

Intrapulmonary-located Castleman's disease, which was surgically resected without pulmonary resection.

Castleman's disease (CD) is a rare disease with unknown aetiology. It is characterised by benign lymph node hyperplasia that may involve all lymph nodes. The most common locations are the mediastinum and abdomen.