Thursday, January 30, 2014
Science: Algae to crude oil: Million-year natural process takes minutes in the lab. Video.
Science: Algae to crude oil: Million-year natural process takes minutes in the lab. Video.
WorldWide Tech & SCience. Francisco De Jesùs.
Algae to oil to gasoline/diesel.
Process simplifies transformation of algae to oil, water and usable byproducts.
Engineers have created a continuous chemical process that produces useful crude oil minutes after they pour in harvested algae — a verdant green paste with the consistency of pea soup.
The research by engineers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was reported recently in the journalAlgal Research. A biofuels company, Utah-based Genifuel Corp., has licensed the technology and is working with an industrial partner to build a pilot plant using the technology.
In the PNNL process, a slurry of wet algae is pumped into the front end of a chemical reactor. Once the system is up and running, out comes crude oil in less than an hour, along with water and a byproduct stream of material containing phosphorus that can be recycled to grow more algae.
With additional conventional refining, the crude algae oil is converted into aviation fuel, gasoline or diesel fuel. And the waste water is processed further, yielding burnable gas and substances like potassium and nitrogen, which, along with the cleansed water, can also be recycled to grow more algae.
While algae has long been considered a potential source of biofuel, and several companies have produced algae-based fuels on a research scale, the fuel is projected to be expensive. The PNNL technology harnesses algae's energy potential efficiently and incorporates a number of methods to reduce the cost of producing algae fuel.
"Cost is the big roadblock for algae-based fuel," said Douglas Elliott, the laboratory fellow who led the PNNL team's research. "We believe that the process we've created will help make algae biofuels much more economical."
PNNL scientists and engineers simplified the production of crude oil from algae by combining several chemical steps into one continuous process. The most important cost-saving step is that the process works with wet algae. Most current processes require the algae to be dried — a process that takes a lot of energy and is expensive. The new process works with an algae slurry that contains as much as 80 to 90 percent water.
"Not having to dry the algae is a big win in this process; that cuts the cost a great deal," said Elliott. "Then there are bonuses, like being able to extract usable gas from the water and then recycle the remaining water and nutrients to help grow more algae, which further reduces costs."
While a few other groups have tested similar processes to create biofuel from wet algae, most of that work is done one batch at a time. The PNNL system runs continuously, processing about 1.5 liters of algae slurry in the research reactor per hour. While that doesn't seem like much, it's much closer to the type of continuous system required for large-scale commercial production.
The PNNL system also eliminates another step required in today's most common algae-processing method: the need for complex processing with solvents like hexane to extract the energy-rich oils from the rest of the algae. Instead, the PNNL team works with the whole algae, subjecting it to very hot water under high pressure to tear apart the substance, converting most of the biomass into liquid and gas fuels.
The system runs at around 350 degrees Celsius (662 degrees Fahrenheit) at a pressure of around 3,000 PSI, combining processes known as hydrothermal liquefaction and catalytic hydrothermal gasification. Elliott says such a high-pressure system is not easy or cheap to build, which is one drawback to the technology, though the cost savings on the back end more than makes up for the investment.
"It's a bit like using a pressure cooker, only the pressures and temperatures we use are much higher," said Elliott. "In a sense, we are duplicating the process in the Earth that converted algae into oil over the course of millions of years. We're just doing it much, much faster."
The products of the process are:
- Crude oil, which can be converted to aviation fuel, gasoline or diesel fuel. In the team's experiments, generally more than 50 percent of the algae's carbon is converted to energy in crude oil — sometimes as much as 70 percent.
- Clean water, which can be re-used to grow more algae.
- Fuel gas, which can be burned to make electricity or cleaned to make natural gas for vehicle fuel in the form of compressed natural gas.
- Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium — the key nutrients for growing algae.
Elliott has worked on hydrothermal technology for nearly 40 years, applying it to a variety of substances, including wood chips and other substances. Because of the mix of earthy materials in his laboratory, and the constant chemical processing, he jokes that his laboratory sometimes smells "like a mix of dirty socks, rotten eggs and wood smoke" — an accurate assessment.
Genifuel Corp. has worked closely with Elliott's team since 2008, licensing the technology and working initially with PNNL through DOE's Technology Assistance Program to assess the technology.
"This has really been a fruitful collaboration for both Genifuel and PNNL," said James Oyler, president of Genifuel. "The hydrothermal liquefaction process that PNNL developed for biomass makes the conversion of algae to biofuel much more economical. Genifuel has been a partner to improve the technology and make it feasible for use in a commercial system.
"It's a formidable challenge, to make a biofuel that is cost-competitive with established petroleum-based fuels," Oyler added. "This is a huge step in the right direction."
The recent work is part of DOE's National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels & Bioproducts, or NAABB. This project was funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Both PNNL and Genifuel have been partners in the NAABB program.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition on Amazon store:
CES 2014: Samsung to demo the Exynos 5 Octa series mobile processors with HMP. Video Ad.
WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs
Samsung Exynos OCTA-pella: Performance + Efficiency in Perfect Harmony
Samsung Exynos OCTA-pella: Performance + Efficiency in Perfect Harmony
Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa series of mobile processors with ARM© big.LITTLE™ technology now supports heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP)!
This advanced technology allows the Exynos 5 Octa processors to provide exceptional performance and increased power efficiency. In the OCTA-pella video, you'll see how the Exynos 5 Octa uses ARM big.LITTLE processing to balance workloads across CPU cores, using the right core for the right task.
big.LITTLE™ is a state-of-the-art technology designed by ARM. With performance and data consumption predicted to increase by eight times, a future proofed energy efficient solution had to be found. That’s where big.LITTLE comes in.
By using multiple processors that are developed for different energy and performance budgets, big.LITTLE provides optimum performance and maximum efficiency. The first big.LITTLE solutions will pair the ARM Cortex-A15 processor with the ARM Cortex-A7 processor. This will be followed by a roadmap of new Cortex processors that build on big.LITTLE making it an important innovation for future mobile devices.
If you want to think big, think big.LITTLE - technology that enables the next generation of mobile gaming, bigger brighter screens and longer mobile battery life.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition on Amazon store:
Samsung and LG to unveil NEW flexible smartphones in October 2013.
WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.
Samsung and LG to unveil NEW flexible smartphones in October 2013.
“The newly launched curved phones will not be completely flexible,” Samsung SDI’s CEO Park Sang-jin said last Wednesday. However, he added, “We have developed the technology to make batteries a little curved and to fix them after being curved.”
Samsung Display is reported to use a 5.5-generation (1300x1500mm) line at the OLED plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, and LG Display is to operate a 4.5-generation (730x920mm) line in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
“Within this year, Samsung and LG will have a monthly production capacity of 1.5 million and 35,000 flexible panels, respectively,” a source said.
Samsung and LG’s new smartphones, which will reportedly be unveiled next month, are said to be plastic-based, light and unbreakable. Since the technology is still in its nascent stage, users will not be able to change the shape.
It will take a few more years for flexible displays to be able to fully take different forms and to be rolled up like paper, a source said.
Q3 2013: Tablet Market Share WorldWide: Samsung gets closer to Apple with 20.4% to 29.6%
Q3 2013: Tablet Market Share WorldWide: Samsung gets closer to Apple with 20.4% to 29.6%.
Android Growth Drives Another Strong Quarter for the Worldwide Tablet Market, According to IDC
Worldwide tablet shipments grew to 47.6 million units in the third quarter of 2013 (3Q13) according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. While slightly below the firm's forecast, the number still represents 7.0% growth over the previous quarter and 36.7% growth compared to the third quarter of 2012. Android products once again drove much of the shipment growth in the market as iOS growth stalled and Windows tablets continued to struggle to win over consumers.
With no new iPad product launches in the second or third quarter to drive volume, Apple experienced a quarter-over-quarter decline in shipments from 14.6 million in 2Q13 to 14.1 million in 3Q13. Year over year, iPad shipments grew less than one percent. Apple's slowing growth—caused in part by its decision in late 2012 to move its product launches from earlier in the year to the fourth quarter—has caused the company's tablet market share to slip to 29.6%, its lowest share to date. However, with the new iPad Air shipping November 1st and the refreshed iPad mini with Retina scheduled to roll out later in November, IDC expects Apple to enjoy robust shipment growth during the fourth quarter.
"With two 7.9-inch models starting at $299 and $399, and two 9.7-inch models starting at $399 and $499, Apple is taking steps to appeal to multiple segments," said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst with IDC's Tablet Tracker. "While some undoubtedly hoped for more aggressive pricing from Apple, the current prices clearly reflect Apple's ongoing strategy to maintain its premium status. It's worth noting that Apple wasn't the only one to increase the price of its small-sized tablet during this product cycle: Both Google and Amazon increased the price of their newest 7-inch tablets from $199 to $229 to cover the higher costs associated with high resolution screens and better processors."
Samsung once again secured the second position with shipments of about 9.7 million units. The company, which owes a measure of its tablet success to its ability to bundle them with other successful Samsung products, such as smartphones and televisions, grabbed 20.4% of the worldwide market.
ASUS, which makes the Nexus 7 for Google, shipped about 3.5 million total units during the quarter for a third place finish and 7.4% market share. PC powerhouse Lenovo moved into the number four tablet spot with shipments of 2.3 million units and a 4.8% share. Finally, Acer rounded out the top five with 1.2 million units shipped and a 2.5% share. Notably, vendors from outside the top five were responsible for over one third of the shipments in 3Q13. IDC tracks dozens of tablet vendors, and this quarter "Others" represents a combination of major vendors (such as Amazon, Microsoft, HP, and Dell) and lesser-known, so-called white box vendors that typically sell ultra-low cost Android devices at often unsustainably low margins.
"White box tablet shipments continue to constitute a fairly large percentage of the Android devices shipped into the market," said Tom Mainelli, Research Director, Tablets at IDC. "These low cost Android-based products make tablets available to a wider market of consumers, which is good. However, many use cheap parts and non Google-approved versions of Android that can result in an unsatisfactory customer experience, limited usage, and very little engagement with the ecosystem. Android's growth in tablets has been stunning to watch, but shipments alone won't guarantee long-term success. For that you need a sustainable hardware business model, a healthy ecosystem for developers, and happy end users."
Rumour has it: Samsung Galaxy S5 coming.
4GB Ram,16MP Camera,64-bit processor...The Samsung Galaxy S5 is coming!
The Samsung Galaxy S5 might be months away from it's launch,but the rumours are starting to firm up.
According to various trusted sources,the Samsung Galaxy S5 will feature a 16MP camera,a 64-bit processor,4GB of RAM and a body made out of premium metal.
Galaxy S5 release rumors have pegged a launch as early as January with a release coming as early as February. The Galaxy S4 wasn’t announced until March and wasn’t released until April.
The rumor is all around the web and bloggers wrote some articles about the S5 already :Google News
Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3: Tab Closer. Tab Together.
Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3: Tab Closer. Tab Together.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 WiFi is a useful small tablet for your daily life, has a dual core cpu, you can print using Samsung Mobile print for Samsung Printers and HP ePrint fror HP printers, via WiFi. There are several apps you can download for free. UB Reader free app works just fine for making an eBook stand virtual library. You can add your local pdfs as well.
Radio FM free is a wonderful free app to tune the most radio stations all around the world.
You can download QuickOffice for free and have some top free games like Angry Birds, Candy Crush. I am getting to know Drag Racing.
For your email besides the native GMail you can download for free Yahoo Mail mobile app.
If you need more storage capacity this little wonder can go up to 64GB micro SD.
Microsoft stimulates Windows Phone and Surface demand with an iPhone trade-in program.
WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.
Microsoft stimulates Windows Phone and Surface demand with an iPhone trade-in program.
Microsoft kicked off with a new trade-in program this time it is focusing on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 "gently used", for a minimum $200 gift card which can be applied to any products for sale in the Microsoft store.The offer started September 27th and ends November 3, 2013.
How to redeem this offer
- Bring in your gently used iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 and get a minimum of a $200 gift card to the Microsoft store.
- Looking to upgrade your phone? Check out the new Windows Phones and find one as unique as you are.
- See a store associate for more details on this offer and a full list of Windows Phones available at your store.
Valid September 27, 2013 until November 3, 2013. Available in select Microsoft retail stores in US (including Puerto Rico) and Canada; Not valid online. Offer only valid for the exchange of listed iPhone products, no exceptions. To be eligible for trade-in, device should include power cord, if available, and device cannot be password protected. Microsoft Store gift-card value will be equal to trade-in value, and is subject to Microsoft’s discretion and manager approval. All trade-ins are final. Recycle for Rewards program provided by CExchange, LLC. and other terms and conditions may apply. See store associate for details. Not valid on prior orders or purchases; cannot be transferred or otherwise redeemed for cash. Limit 1 per customer.
Microsoft stores
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