A laboratory-scale prototype windowed reactor using a fluidized bed of coal coke particles was tested for thermochemical gasification using concentrated Xe light radiation as an energy source. The fluidized-bed reactor, designed to be combined with a solar reflective tower or beam-down optics,...

Double-walled reactor tubes containing thermal storage materials based on the molten carbonate salts—100 wt% Na2CO3 molten salt, 90 wt% Na2CO3/10 wt% MgO and 80 wt% Na2CO3/20 wt% MgO composite materials—were studied for the performances of the reactor during the heat charging mode,...

A two-step water splitting process using the ZnFe2O4/Zn/Fe3O4 reaction system was proposed for H2 generation utilizing concentrated solar heat. The mixture of Zn and Fe3O4 was heated to 873K in flowing steam with an Ar carrier gas, and the H2 gas was generated at 93.4% of the theoretical yield...

Ultrafine Ni(II)-ferrites (NiχFe3−χO4, χ = 0.14−1.0; UNFs) with a high reactivity for CO2 methanation have been synthesized by the hydrolysis of Ni2+, Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions at 60–90°C, followed by heating of the co-precipitates to 300°C. The crystallite sizes of the UNFs ranged from 14 to...

Catalytic reduction of CO2 with H2 was studied on Ni/SiO2, Ni1−χCuχ/SiO2 (χ = 0.05−0.9) and Cu/SiO2 in a closed circulating reaction system in order to obtain a highly active and selective catalyst for CO formation. The yield of CO from CO2 + H2 on Cu/SiO2 was about 60% and its...

The author studies how the Australian coal mining industry adopted multitasking job designs by eliminating two types of task demarcations: (a) the demarcation between production and maintenance stream tasks and (b) the demarcation within the production stream. Using an original dataset of...

Using the personnel and transaction data from a large auto dealership in Japan, this paper discusses the value, incentives, assignments, determinants of performance, and learning of managers. We find that: (1) moving one standard deviation up the distribution of manager fixed effects raises a...

Subjective performance evaluation serves as a double-edged sword. While it can mitigate multitasking agency problems, it also opens the door to evaluators' biases, resulting in lower job satisfaction and a higher rate of worker quits. Using the personnel records of individual sales...

Subjective performance evaluation serves as a double-edged sword. While it can mitigate multitasking agency problems, it also opens the door to evaluators’ biases, resulting in lower job satisfaction and a higher rate of worker quits. Using the personnel and transaction records of individual...

As climate change is established to occur on scientific bases, it is imperative to identify the effect of climate shocks on economy. According to international organizations, agriculture, forestry and fisheries are the most vulnerable sectors to climate change predominantly for developing and...