Desulfurization

Sliders and Gliders: Autonomous Underwater Gliders

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:16:00 +0000

Sliders and Gliders: Autonomous Underwater Gliders

There is no better way to get up to speed on an unfamiliar topic than to read a well written, well documented review article on the subject.

If sub gliders fit into the category of unfamiliar topics for you, have I got a great article for you …

Autonomous Underwater Glider: A Comprehensive Review
https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/1/21

So, what is a “sub glider?” According to the introductory paragraph from Autonomous Underwater Glider …

A sub glider (SG or sub glider), also known as an Autonomous Underwater Glider (AUG), is a vehicle designed to glide through the water in a manner like the flight of a bird: for many years now, vehicles like these have been used for various oceanographic research and environmental monitoring applications, as well as for commercial purposes such as offshore oil and gas exploration.

The article goes on to describe the history of sub gliders (SGs) and to project future developments and uses of the technology.

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TIP: I discovered this article thanks to a Google Scholar alert. Set up Google Scholar alerts to track your own areas of interest by visiting https://scholar.google.com/
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The authors also list a handy list of Initialisms that could be useful in future searches …

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Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:

AI	Artificial Intelligence
ALACE	Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer
AoA	Angle of Attack
AUG	Autonomous Underwater Glider
AUV	Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
CFD	Computational Fluid Dynamic
CG	Centre of Gravity
COTS	Commercial Off the Shelf
DPA	Dynamic Path Adjustment
EAP	Electroactive Polymers
FTA	Fault Tree Analysis
GDOP	General Dilution of Precision
GLONASS	Global Navigation Satellite System (Russian Navigation System)
GNSS	Global Navigation Satellite Systems
GPS	Global Positioning System (Navstar GPS)
IMU	Inertial Measurement Unit
MTBF	Mean Time Between Failures (=MTTF+MDT)
PCM	Phase-Change Materials
RAMS	Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety
SG Sub	Glider
SLAM	Simultaneous Localization and Mapping
SMM	Shape Memory Materials
SMP	Shape Memory Polymers
S/S	Subsystem
UAV	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UG	Underwater Glider

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TIP: Copy the abbreviations list and paste it into a Word document for future reference

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And, finally, for my last TIP of this post …

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TIP: Always browse the list of references at the end of a scholarly article for possible future exploration into the topic. The practice can save you search time.
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For example, one of the many articles cited in Autonomous Underwater Glider is …

Underwater Gliders-Recent Developments and Future Applications (https://cdcl.umd.edu/papers/UT04.pdf )

Published in 2004, it includes more details on the history and implementation of SGs, as well as interesting diagrams illustrating the technology.
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Call for Papers: 12th Refining India Conference 2025

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 17:18:00 +0000

PTQ-Petroleum Technology Quarterly has announced a call for papers for the 12th Refining India conference, scheduled for 22-23 September 2025 in New Delhi.

India is projected to be a huge consumer of petroleum products over the next decade and beyond. As such, all the big names, as well as many of the smaller ones, will be involved. It is a great event to be involved in if you have any interest in working in the region.

More details are available at: https://refiningindia.com/refiningindia2025/en/page/home

Here is the text of an email alerting me to the event …

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Brought to you by PTQ Magazine and IDS, Refining India will host senior management and engineers from every refinery and head office in India, along with international technology companies, to highlight the latest processes, technologies, products, and services available to them.
With India's refining capacity set to expand from 256 to 309 million metric tons by 2028, this year's conference offers an ideal opportunity to showcase your solutions.
We're looking for, but not limited to, the following key conference themes:
- Refining, Petrochemical and Chemical Integration / Expansion
- New Process / Catalyst Technologies
- Process Optimisation / Energy Efficiency
- Digitalisation, Analytics and AI
- Energy Transition Technologies
We would also welcome submissions that go beyond these themes. All submissions will enter a review process and are not automatically guaranteed for inclusion.
If you would to suggest a presentation now, please email your 200 word abstract to Rene Gonzalez editor@petroleumtechnology.com.
https://refiningindia.com/refiningindia2025/en/page/home
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Engineering Alert: Saudi Arabia’s Net-Zero World Narrative

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 18:59:00 +0000

Saudi Arabia’s Net-Zero World Narrative , produced by the esteemed Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (https://www.fraunhofer.de/en), is a rich read. In essence, the report is an objective description of the Saudi long term plan to go green, and an assessment of how realistic the plan is.

The study argues that there is a substantial gap between the Kingdom’s ambitions and implementation and questions some of the practical complexities of the overarching Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) approach.

The CCE is presented as a management system aimed at minimizing, reusing, and storing carbon, viewing it as a tradable commodity rather than a negative externality.

Policy makers will read this document carefully. Not just to remind themselves of things they already know, but also to help themselves understand how all the facts interweave into a fabric consisting of the warp and woof of aspiration and accomplishment in the effort to address climate change.

Engineers … the smart ones … will read this document as well. They will read it to understand how they can create solutions to make the aspirations a reality.

TIP : View and read, or at least browse, the open access Saudi Arabia’s Net-Zero World Narrative at https://www.kas.de/en/single-title/-/content/saudi-arabia-s-net-zero-world-narrative

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

MIT’s 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 23:14:00 +0000

MIT Technology Review has issued a list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch.

No matter what your industry, you will find at least one company of interest to you on this list.

View the list at https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104910/15-climate-tech-companies/. If you subscribe to the Technology Review, you will be able to see MIT’s description of the company and their assessment of why it is a company to watch.

TIP: Subscribe to MIT Technology Review (https://www.technologyreview.com/). You will benefit from its in depth analyses of innovative technologies. You also will have full access to their annual lists of innovators and innovations to watch.

For your convenience, I have listed the 15 companies named on the list, along with a paragraph about each company.

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LanzaJet
Aviation Fuels
https://www.lanzajet.com/
LanzaJet was formed through the contributions of our investors LanzaTech, Suncor, Mitsui, along with support from All Nippon Airways and the US Department of Energy (DOE). We continue to accelerate our growth through new partnerships and have since welcomed additional investment and support from British Airways, Shell, Microsoft, Breakthrough Energy, Southwest Airlines, Groupe ADP, and MUFG.

Pano AI
Wildfire Detection
https://www.pano.ai/
Pano Rapid Detect is a connected, intelligent platform for fire professionals that helps them to detect threats, confirm fires, and disseminate information to responders, faster than ever before.Pano Rapid Detect speeds response time by empowering detection specialists with enhanced visual equipment and rapid data analysis, supported by AI. Specialists have a single, unified view combining ultra-high-definition cameras, geo satellite data, field sensors, legacy cameras, emergency alerts, and other data feeds — as well as the ability to share everything in real-time with their extended team. Altogether, this makes it possible to quickly identify and contain devastating wildfires, protecting lives, property, and our forests.

Solugen
Chemicals
https://solugen.com/
Verza360® is a series of multifunctional, organic acid-based chelating agents that optimize performance, lower total cost of operation, and boost your bottom line. Seamlessly integrating into existing formulations, Verza360 is a proven solution to tackle longstanding challenges in oil and gas systems.

Ceibo
Mining
https://www.ceibo.tech/
Ceibo’s technologies aim for cleaner operations and help recover copper with existing mine site infrastructure. Our innovations are designed for easy integration into operations to support increased production while reducing water use and environmental impacts.

Rondo Energy
Energy Storage
https://rondo.com/
From calcining to cogeneration, from food processing to fuel production, Rondo’s Heat Battery is compatible with 90 percent of industrial processes and power needs. Our modular units are designed to serve the unique capacity and temperature requirements of each facility, and the output is configurable to customers’ specifications. (Aramco is a corporate investor)

Rumin8
Food & Agriculture
https://rumin8.com/
Scientists have discovered a solution for enteric methane in rangeland plants and red seaweed, with trials revealing reductions of emissions from cattle. With the cost, complexity and environmental impact involved in ocean-based seaweed cultivation, Rumin8 saw an opportunity to reproduce the target compound from the plant rather than mass producing the plant itself.

BYD
Electric Vehicles
https://www.byd.com/us
Founded in 1995, BYD is a leading technology company devoted to leveraging innovations for a better life. With more than 27 years of expertise, BYD has established itself as an industry leader in electronics, automotives, renewable energy, and rail transit. As a global leader with more than 30 industrial parks across 6 continents, BYD's zero-emission solutions, focused on energy generation and storage, are expansive and widely applicable

First Solar
Renewable Energy
https://www.firstsolar.com/
First Solar, Inc. is a publicly traded American manufacturer of solar panels, and provider of utility-scale PV power plants, supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling.

Electric Hydrogen
Hydrogen
https://eh2.com/
Green hydrogen has historically been inhibited by the high cost of electrolyzers. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. When produced using electrolyzers, devices that split water with renewable electricity, hydrogen is a no emissions replacement for fossil fuels. Electric Hydrogen was founded to make green hydrogen cost-competitive. We took a fresh approach to the design and scale of electrolyzers. We build a “stack” of electrolysis “cells” that produces hydrogen at a transformational low cost versus today’s available technology.

Pivot Bio
Food & Agriculture
https://www.pivotbio.com/
Perhaps no pursuit is more noble than that of a farmer. Producing the food, fuel and products we depend on is all in a day’s work for farm families worldwide. Pivot Bio is dedicated to supporting farmers with products that optimize crop production through specifically timed and placed nitrogen delivery. Together, we are working toward a future that is more efficient, profitable, predictable, safe and sustainable for farmers and the planet.

Kairos Power
Nuclear Fission
https://kairospower.com/
The Kairos Power FHR (KP-FHR) is a novel advanced reactor technology that leverages TRISO fuel in pebble form combined with a low-pressure fluoride salt coolant. The technology uses an efficient and flexible steam cycle to convert heat from fission into electricity and to complement renewable energy sources.

Form Energy
Energy Storage
https://formenergy.com/
To run the grid reliably and affordably, we need new cost-effective technologies capable of storing electricity for multiple days. In pursuit of this, we have reinvented and optimized the iron-air battery for the electric grid. The active components of our iron-air battery system are some of the safest, cheapest, and most abundant materials on the planet — low-cost iron, water, and air. Iron-air batteries are the best solution to balance the multi-day variability of renewable energy due to their extremely low cost, safety, durability, and global scalability. Our first commercial product using our iron-air technology is optimized to store electricity for 100 hours at system costs competitive with legacy power plants. This product is our first step to building a more reliable, resilient and secure electric grid: making low-cost clean energy available when and where it’s needed, even during multiple days of extreme weather, grid outages, or periods of low generation.

Gogoro
Electric Vehicles
https://www.gogoro.com/
Gogoro Inc. is a Taiwanese company that developed a battery-swapping refueling platform for urban electric two-wheel scooters, mopeds and motorcycles. It also develops its own line of electric scooters and offers its own vehicle innovations to vehicle maker partners like Hero, Yamaha, Aeon Motor, PGO, eReady, and eMOVING. Gogoro also operates GoShare, a rideshare service, in Taiwan and Ishigaki Island in Japan. Gogoro Smartscooter, the first consumer product from Gogoro, was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2015. Along with the scooter, Gogoro announced a battery-swapping network under the name Gogoro Energy Network.

Sublime Systems
Cement
https://sublime-systems.com/
Today’s portland cement is made by cooking limestone, sand, and clay in massive fossil-fueled 1450°C kilns. This results in a tremendous amount of CO₂: on average 0.9 tonnes per tonne of OPC in the USA. About half of this CO₂ is released from limestone, which is ~50% by weight CO₂, as it decomposes in the kiln to form reactive lime. The other half of the CO₂ emissions is from the fossil fuel (often bituminous coal) needed to reach 1450°C, the temperature required to form the crystal structure characteristic of OPC. This temperature is currently impossible to electrify efficiently. We skip both emissions sources, instead using the elegance of electrochemistry to extract reactive calcium (Sublime Lime™) and silicates from abundant raw materials that are then blended into a final Sublime Cement™. Our cement’s crystal structure is different than the OPC produced in a fiery kiln, but its performance and hardened phase in concrete are the same.

Sun King
Renewable Energy
https://sunking.com/
We design, distribute, install, and finance solar energy solutions for those who cannot access or afford traditional electrical grid connections. The energy needs of consumers in Africa and Asia are diverse. From cost-effective and durable lamps to powerful home and business energy systems as well as modern entertainment and energy storage systems, Sun King's broad array of products unlock a higher quality of life.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: IHIET 2025-13th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 11:39:00 +0000

IHIET 2025-13th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (https://ihiet-ai.org/ ) is scheduled for April 22-24, 2025, Costa Del Sol, Universidad de Málaga, Spain.

AI-Artificial Intelligence is poised to have enormous impact on human society. Whatever industry you are in, it behooves you to consider attending this conference.

TIP: Browse the conference proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET- AI 2024) which was held April 25-27, 2024, at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland. Find the proceedings at AHFE Open Access (http://ihiet-ai.org/books.html )

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia (2024)

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:26:00 +0000

The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia (2024)

Whether you are an engineer in the energy industry, or an environmental policy wonk, “The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia” is worth a look.

This 800+ page report, produced by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (https://www.fraunhofer.de/en.html ) and published by Routledge (https://www.routledge.com/ ) in 2024 is an open access document, downloadable in PDF form.

Although the open access edition is available for free, it is not easy to wend one’s way to the download link.

Because the Desulfurization Blog focuses on tips and tricks to make your online research more effective, I have provided details below on the journey from an email notice of the publication to the full text of the publication itself.

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I have created a number of Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/ ) alerts. One of them is simply a search for anything Aramco …

Google Scholar Alert: aramco

One of the items listed in a recent alert referenced "Saudi Arabia's Clean Hydrogen Journey"
Clicking the link took me to a PDF of Chapter 2 of an unnamed book. The chapter gave no clue as to the name of the book. I was interested enough to want to see the whole book, or at least to find out the name and date of the book. I noticed in the address bar that "fraunhofer" was part of the URL.

Googling Fraunhofer Saudi Arabia's Clean Hydrogen Journey resulted in a link to ...

Fraunhofer-Publica
https://publica.fraunhofer.de › entities › publication
This chapter introduces Saudi Arabia's past, present, and future energy governance in terms of the stakeholders, policies, and socioeconomic development ...

Clicking on the link resulted in a Fraunhofer page. At the top of the page was a link labeled FULL. Clicking on FULL resulted in what I was looking for, namely, the title of the book, “The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia”, as well as the date and other useful information. It also included a link to publisher Routledge.

The Routledge page includes, at the top, a search box. On a whim, I entered the title of the book ...
The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia

The resulting Routledge page included a listing of several titles, including the one I was searching for.

The listing included a link to yet another page, offering more details on the title, including price, etc. AND, as an unexpected BONUS, a link to the OPEN ACCESS version of the book, which includes, at last, a link labeled DOWNLOAD. Clicking the DOWNLOAD link downloaded the PDF version of the book to my computer.

Whew! That was quite a workout.

The moral of this story … sometimes following the breadcrumbs all the way to the end is worth the effort.

And, to save you the effort, here is the link to the PDF version of The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia.
https://www.routledge.com/The-Clean-Hydrogen-Economy-and-Saudi-Arabia-Domestic-Developments-and-International-Opportunities/Shabaneh-Roychoudhury-Braun-Saxena/p/book/9781032278315

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Decarbonisation May 2024 (MACRO MICRO)

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 18:52:00 +0000

Decarbonisation Technology (www.decarbonisationtechnology.com ), a quarterly magazine affiliated with the organization that produces the venerable Petroleum Technology Quarterly (PTQ), is worth a look. Its articles are of the same quality as those you’ll find in PTQ. The focus, no surprise, is on technology that helps us lower emissions of carbon and methane into the atmosphere.

After reading the latest issue, I noticed something else … Macro vs. Micro. In other words, there are articles that describe ways in which policy can help with the decarbonisation effort. That would be the Macro level.

On the other hand, there are articles that focus on specific case studies using existing technology to execute decarbonisation efforts … That would be the Micro level.

In the latest issue, for example, there are two articles that illustrate the point.

At the Macro level, Decoding the complexities of decarbonisation addresses the fact that “decarbonisation is a complex process influenced by various interrelated factors that underscore the multifaceted approach needed to achieve net zero goals.”

At the Micro level, Integrating CCS and synthetic fuels production in a refinery describes a “configuration for a hybrid refinery as a fuels production center using proven and existing technologies, operating in tandem with existing units.”

Both articles are worth browsing.

TIP: take a couple of minutes to examine Table 1 in the Macro article. The table lists a number of organizations and standards that I was not aware of.

Excerpts from the table, with URL links to further information, appear below …

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Table 1 Standards and certification schemes for leading renewable chemicals and fuels

Hydrogen CertifHy
UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Certification Scheme (LCHS)
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-low-carbon-hydrogen-certification-scheme

TÜV SÜD CMS 77 Standard
https://www.tuvsud.com/en-in/-/media/regions/in/pdf-files/brochures-and-infosheet/tv-sd-standard-cms-77-infosheet.pdf

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) ASTM International Standards, ASTM D7566
https://www.astm.org/d7566-24a.html

ICAO’s CORSIA
https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/default.aspx

Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) Certification
https://rsb.org/

IATA’s Global Framework
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2023-releases/2023-11-24-01/

Sustainable marine fuels (SMF) ISCC Certification for SMF
https://www.iscc-system.org/markets/sustainable-transport-fuels/sustainable-marine-fuels/

Fuel EU Maritime Regulation
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52021PC0562

Ammonia Ammonia Energy Association (AEA)
https://ammoniaenergy.org/

Methanol International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC)
https://www.iscc-system.org/certification/iscc-certification-schemes/iscc-carbon-footprint-certification/

Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program

Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
https://www.rngcoalition.com/lcfs?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj9-zBhDyARIsAERjds2PX_i4jHWIaYiqMMTaqu_4eCVvmDVamnAhs_7J-IEr2egapwhHF2MaAkfnEALw_wcB

European Renewable Energy Directive (RED II)
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-directive-targets-and-rules/renewable-energy-directive_en

ResponsibleSteel
https://www.responsiblesteel.org/

World Steel Association’s Climate Action Program
https://worldsteel.org/climate-action/

Fertilisers Global GAP
https://documents.globalgap.org/documents/220929_IFA_Smart_PCs_FV_v6_0_Sep22_en.pdf

The 4R Nutrient Stewardship
https://4rcertified.org/

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: 10th Annual Digitalization in Oil & Gas Conference, 2024, Houston, Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Fri, 17 May 2024 17:47:00 +0000

Conference Alert: 10th Annual Digitalization in Oil & Gas Conference, 2024, Houston, Texas

The 10^th annual Digitilazation Oil & Gas conference, scheduled in Houston for September 4-5, 2024, has announced its program. You can download the brochure at https://www.digitalizationoilgas.com/ .

This conference seems to me to be a no-brainer. Whether you are an engineer or a commander in chief, you will benefit from the connections you make and the vendors you get to talk tech to. Plus, in September, Houston weather is not half bad. And there are lots of excellent restaurants.

Sponsors include …

Seeq (www.seeq.com )
Make it easy for your engineers to access and explore time series data. ... Makes it easy to summarize findings and insights—and then share them with your team.

Soracom ServiceNow (www.soracom.io )
Soracom is helping some of the world’s most innovative Energy companies connect to the cloud over cellular. Learn about some of our customers below.

Zededa (https://zededa.com )
ZEDEDA delivers visibility, control and security for the distributed edge with the freedom of deploying and managing any application on any hardware at scale.

Exhibitors include …

Actility (www.actility.com )
Premier LoRaWAN Network Server for robust LPWAN and IoT solutions. Connect sensors, manage diverse networks, and innovate effortlessly.

Kuva (www.kuvasystems.com )
We provide continuous images of methane emissions from a safe operating distance at well sites, facilities, compressor stations, tank batteries, and sites with flares where emissions are known to be sporadic, intermittent and problematic.

MiraCAD (www.miracad.com )
MiraCAD Technologies uses Reality Capture to rapidly digitalize your Industrial Facility. This provides an extremely accurate and photo-realistic Digital Replica of your Facility. This Digital Replica is combined with existing systems, including legacy data. All this data is loaded into Cloud360, a web-hosted 3D Visualization Platform, that provides a secure, easy to access and user-friendly interface to the Digital Facility.

Multitech (https://multitech.com )
Making connected technology easy to adopt and use by focusing on customer needs. Offering a comprehensive portfolio of fully certified and carrier-approved external and embedded modems, routers, gateways and sensors with on-site U.S. manufacturing and industry leading support.

Riot Edge Solutions (https://riotedgesolutions )
Optimize operations, maximize profitability and build a more sustainable future with RIOT Edge Solutions’ wireless Intrinsically Safe Tank Level Monitoring devices.

Riot SCADA (www.riotscada.com )
Anywhere access to process and level data, automatic alerting, and the ability to manually control industrial equipment from a single interface provides peace of mind and mitigates loss due to downtime.

Site Sync (https://sitesync.cloud )
Increase efficiency while lowering operational costs with LoRaWAN technology. Connect hundreds of endpoints to your SiteSync Edge gateway with LoRaWAN technology.

Track Alytix (https://trackalytix.com )
TrackAlytix provides Oil and Gas companies with cost-effective ways to monitor inventory tank levels with IoT monitoring.

TWTG (https://www.twtg.io )
TWTG is an expert I-IoT Company developing Smart Products for Industry and other market verticals. Their way of doing business is much more agile than others'

VolleyBoast (https://volleyboast.com )
A VoBo™ is an industrial grade endpoint that enables almost any sensor to be used for industrial LoRaWAN® solutions. Using VoBo endpoints, industrial companies can collect data and provide the edge compute capability needed to fulfill the promise of Industry 4.0.

Vutility (https://vutility.com )
All-in-one solution for energy management. Vutility's solutions are built for scale. Whether you want to monitor a single circuit or measure multiple facilities. Vutility delivers scalable, edge-intelligent energy fitness trackers for commercial and industrial built environments.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Calls for Papers 2024: Houston TX & New Delhi India

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 19:39:00 +0000

Thanks to a coupla emails that landed in my inbox, I know about two conferences that will offer information on digitalization in the oil & gas industry.

Both conferences are asking for expert speakers who will make the difference between an OK conference and a conference that people will talk about for months to come.

The 10th Annual Digitalization in Oil and Gas Conference (https://www.digitalizationoilgas.com/), scheduled for September 4-5, 2024, Houston, Texas, is organized by the Energy Conference Network. If you would like to present, contact Jessica Angsomwine < jessica.angsomwine@energyconferencenetwork.comm >

Refining India 2024 (https://refiningindia.com/refiningindia2024/en/page/home ), is scheduled for 9-10 September, New Delhi. It is organized by PTQ-Petroleum Technology Quarterly. If you would like to suggest a presentation, email your 200-word abstract to Rene Gonzalez editor@petroleumtechnology.com, by 22 March 2024.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

UniverSUL + Sulphur 2024 Call for Papers

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 12:21:00 +0000

The Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for 4-6 November 2024, has issued a call for papers. Details from the conference Web site appear below.

But first, a TIP: Take a moment to explore the Web site of UniverSUL Consulting (https://www.universulconsulting.com/).

This is not an endorsement, because I don’t know much about the company. Still, because the conference is collaborating with Angie Slavens of UniverSUL Consulting, who will assist with the curation of a technical program addressing the most relevant and timely industry conversations, it would be worth investigation.

As always, exercise due diligence before engaging with the company.

Here are contact details …

UniverSUL Consulting
angie@universulconsulting.com
+1 (913) 526-0007
2020 W 49th Street
Westwood Hills, KS 66205
https://www.universulconsulting.com/

For details on the conference itself, visit https://events.crugroup.com/sulphur/call-for-papers.NOTE that the deadline for abstracts is 24 May 2024.

///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: PTC Berlin 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 21:11:00 +0000

The 19^th PTC-Pipeline Technology Conference is scheduled for 8-11 April 2024, Berlin. Conference details are available at https://www.pipeline-conference.com/

One of the conference tracks is …

Digital Transformation and AI: Shaping the Future of Pipeline Operations
The panel discussion "Digital Transformation and AI: Shaping the Future of Pipeline Operations" delves into the transformative power of digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to improve pipeline operations. AI, combined with advanced data analytics, machine learning, and big data management, holds immense promise for enhancing pipeline efficiency, safety, and reliability. The panel discussion will provide actionable insights for pipeline operators seeking to embrace digital transformation – minimizing operational downtime, reducing maintenance costs, and optimizing pipeline performance.
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For those of you who are interested in digital transformation in the pipeline industry, the following articles may interest you …

Design And Analysis of a Pipe Inspection Caterpillar Robot Using Different Materials (2023)
https://www.ijariit.com/manuscripts/v7i2/V7I2-1341.pdf

Three-dimensional mapping of pipelines using laser ranging and a gyroscope (2023)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-47856-5

Development of a novel virtual reality-enabled remote monitoring device for maintenance of cathodic protection systems on oil and gas pipelines (2023)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43159-x

Investigation and Implementation of IoT Based Oil & Gas Pipeline Monitoring System (2023)
https://doi.org/10.36079/lamintang.ijortas-0501.477

Machine Learning Algorithms for Failure Prediction Model and Operational Reliability of Onshore Gas Transmission Pipelines (2023)
https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v14i3.6287

Predictive Deep Learning for Pitting Corrosion Modeling in Buried Transmission Pipelines (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2023.04.010

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NOTE that I came across these open access articles as the result of an alert I created in Google Scholar …

TIP: Use Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) to set up your own alerts. It’s easy. Perform a search. Then save the search string as an alert.
///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert-Middle East Sulphur Conference 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 13:35:00 +0000

The Irony of Decarbonization: A Possible Sulphur Shortage

Addressing climate change requires the gradual elimination of the production of fossil fuels. Currently, the production of Sulphur as a waste product from fossil fuel production provides 80% of the world’s demand for Sulphur.

Sulphur is a critical element in the production of food and green technology.

What to do about the projected Sulphur shortfall?

That is the subject of a fascinating 2022 paper, Sulfur: A potential resource crisis that could stifle green technology and threaten food security as the world decarbonizes, published in the Royal Geographical Society’s Geographical Journal.

It would be worth reading before attending the Middle East Sulphur Conference, scheduled for 20 - 23 May 2024 in Abu Dhabi. Visit https://events.crugroup.com/middleeastsulphur/home for conference details.

Timesaver TIP: A quick way to find the 2022 paper, which is open access, is to go to: https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12475

///////

Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Search String of the Day (1) - ROBOTICS

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 16:56:00 +0000

Coming from an oil & gas background, I like to keep up with technologies that can help us transition to cleaner sources of energy. A key word here is “transition.” While we are moving toward renewables, we will still be using petroleum in some form for some time to come.

So, the technologies that interest me include those that minimize the impact of oil & gas on the environment.

Which brings me to the subject of this post … Google search strings.

The featured search string of the day is …

oil gas robotics UAV

Robotics and UAVs – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – are an important component of the inspection of pipelines and oil spills, to pick a couple of things.

Three articles from a recent search, all available in open access PDFs, appear below.

But a key take away from this post is that you can use this simple search as a framework for your own purposes, focusing on your own industry. Simply substitute, for example, “wind” or “wind farm” for “oil gas,” and Bob’s your uncle.

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THREE RESULTS FROM A RECENT SEARCH ON oil gas robotics UAV

[PDF] Boundary tracking of oil spill and acquittal life protection in seawater using swarm robotics
A Gupta, K Daiya, R Jain - network, 2023
Abstract— This study takes a unique solution to the critical environmental issue of oil spills in coastal areas, combining materials science, robotics engineering, and wireless communication technologies. Swarm robots are used to track oil spill limits while protecting marine life in saltwater conditions. Traditional oil spill response strategies have shortcomings, such as delayed discovery and inadequate marine environment protection. Our multidisciplinary method combines buoyant robots with greater navigational stability using materials such as PLA and foam. These robots are outfitted with sensordropping mechanisms for real-time oil spill detection and wireless communication to improve cooperation. An audio warning system keeps marine creatures away from potentially dangerous places. Through simulations and controlled experiments, the study confirms the system's functionality, exhibiting precise boundary tracking and effective oil spill detection. This study provides a proactive method for mitigating the environmental repercussions of oil spills and has the potential to benefit both society and industry.
Source: https://www.kartikeyadaiya.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/RESEARCH-SWARM-ROBOTICS-PROJECT-1.pdf

[PDF] Autonomous Advanced Aerial Mobility--An End-to-end Autonomy Framework for UAVs and Beyond
S Mishra, P Palanisamy - arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.04472, 2023

[Jean’s note: I particularly like this article for its clear description of the various elements of autonomous systems and AI-Artificial Intelligence. As a layman, I can find the whole AI thing very confusing. The excerpt below helps me navigate the morass of terms and concepts involved.]

1) Rule-based vs Learning-based Approach
Autonomous systems have learning-based methods at their core. Artificial neural networks (ANN) are universal function approximators; that is, it is possible to represent complex nonlinear behavior in a high-dimensional space using ANNs. A deep neural network is an ANN with multiple hidden layers and nodes cascaded between input and output layers. Deep neural networks are sophisticated neural networks that have been successfully applied to analyze data in many disciplines in the past several years such as computer vision, image recognition, automatic speech recognition, bioinformatics, finance, and natural language processing [19]. In general, traditional machine learning algorithms such as decision trees, Naïve Bayes classifiers, K Nearest Neighbors etc. are particularly task specific. However, deep learning networks are capable of learning intricate structures in large datasets, allowing them to generalize better to address all the scenarios – however non-linearly related – that are included in the training dataset. Additionally, deep learning algorithms typically do not require the type of extensive feature engineering that is required of other traditional machine learning methods4.
Another class of learning-based approaches that have the potential to enable full autonomy is Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). DRL is a branch of machine learning that combines deep neural networks with reinforcement learning, a technique that learns from trial and error by interacting with an environment. DRL agents can learn complex and optimal policies for sequential decision-making problems, such as controlling an aerial vehicle, without requiring explicit supervision or prior knowledge. DRL has been successfully applied to various domains, such as robotics, games, and self-driving cars [20] [21] [22].
Rule-based approaches, on the other hand, do not have any generalization capabilities. Furthermore, closed form analytical equations based models do not account for the changes in the environment and rigidly follow the constructs with which they are written by humans. There is no “continuous” improvement process that allows rule-based approaches to evolve to cater to higher and higher machine intelligence needs. For applications where the number of scenarios and variations are vast – it is extremely challenging, inefficient, and practically close to impossible to create intelligent systems using rule-based programs that can sense, perceive, understand, and act in real-time for dynamically changing environments.
[ page 4 ]
Source: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2311/2311.04472.pdf

[PDF] Versatile Airborne Ultrasonic NDT Technologies via Active Omni-Sliding with Over-Actuated Aerial Vehicles
T Hui, F Braun, N Scheidt, M Fehr, M Fumagalli - arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.04662, 2023
Abstract. This paper presents the utilization of advanced methodologies in aerial manipulation to address meaningful industrial applications and develop versatile ultrasonic Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technologies with aerial robots. The primary objectives of this work are to enable multi-point measurements through sliding without re-approaching the work surface, and facilitate the representation of material thickness with B and C scans via dynamic scanning in arbitrary directions (i.e. omnidirections). To accomplish these objectives, a payload that can slide in omnidirections (here we call the omni-sliding payload) is designed for an over-actuated aerial vehicle, ensuring truly omnidirectional sliding mobility while exerting consistent forces in contact with a flat work surface. The omni-sliding payload is equipped with an omniwheel-based active end-effector and an Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT). Furthermore, to ensure successful development of the designed payload and integration with the aerial vehicle, a comprehensive studying on contact conditions and system dynamics during active sliding is presented, and the derived system constraints are later used as guidelines for the hardware development and control setting. The proposed methods are validated through experiments, encompassing both the wall-sliding task and dynamic scanning for Ultrasonic Testing (UT), employing the aerial platform - Voliro T.
Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.04662.pdf
///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 19:59:00 +0000

The McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023 is available for download at no charge. Visit https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-top-trends-in-tech to download your copy.

Reading the McKinsey report is so worth your time, for so many reasons. But because the overarching theme of the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com ) is to help you enhance your online research effectiveness, I want to focus on the authors’ description of the research methodology they used to prepare the report.

You might find it a useful design for your own investigations.

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McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023
Research methodology
To assess the development of each technology trend, our team collected data on five tangible measures of activity: search engine queries, news publications, patents, research publications, and investment. For each measure, we used a defined set of data sources to find occurrences of keywords associated with each of the 15 trends, screened those occurrences for valid mentions of activity, and indexed the resulting numbers of mentions on a 0–1 scoring scale that is relative to the trends studied. The innovation score combines the patents and research scores; the interest score combines the news and search scores. (While we recognize that an interest score can be inflated by deliberate efforts to stimulate news and search activity, we believe that each score fairly reflects the extent of discussion and debate about a given trend.) Investment measures the flows of funding from the capital markets into companies linked with the trend. Data sources for the scores include the following:
—
Patents. Data on patent filings are sourced from Google Patents.
—
Research. Data on research publications are sourced from the Lens (www.lens.org ).
—
News. Data on news publications are sourced from Factiva.
—
Searches. Data on search engine queries are sourced from Google Trends.
—
Investment. Data on private-market and public-market capital raises are sourced from PitchBook.
—
Talent demand. Number of job postings is sourced from McKinsey’s proprietary Organizational Data Platform, which stores licensed, de-identified data on professional profiles and job postings. Data is drawn primarily from English-speaking countries.

In addition, we updated the selection and definition of trends from last year’s study to reflect the evolution of technology trends:
—
The generative-AI trend was added since last year’s study.
—
We adjusted the definitions of electrification and renewables (previously called future of clean energy) and climate technologies beyond electrification and renewables (previously called future of sustainable consumption).
—
Data sources were updated. This year, we included only closed deals in PitchBook
data, which revised downward the investment numbers for 2018–22. For future of
space technologies investments, we used research from McKinsey’s Aerospace &
Defense Practice.
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SUGGESTION: Consider adapting the McKinsey research methodology to enhance your particular research objectives. And, of course, you might want to contact McKinsey directly to help with that research.

///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference alert-Baker Institute Annual Energy Summit 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 21:13:00 +0000

Houston is arguably the single most influential geographic center for the business of oil & gas. So when an institution like Rice University's Baker Institute explores the "evolving energy mix" at its annual energy summit, it might be worth the time to take a listen.

And, get this ... it's FREE!

Here are details, from an email that landed in my inbox ...

TIP: subscribe to Baker Institute’s alerts (https://riceconnect.rice.edu/baker/subscribe ).

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Annual Energy Summit — The Evolving Energy Paradigm
Co-hosted for the seventh consecutive year by the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and Baker Botts L.L.P., the 2023 Annual Energy Summit will focus on the evolving energy mix and address the challenges and opportunities for countries and companies worldwide as they work to manage energy transitions — while also ensuring energy security, commercial and financial viability of new innovations at scale, and meaningful reduction of CO2 emissions.
The two-day conference will feature international and domestic perspectives through keynote addresses and discussions with energy experts in industry, government, and academia.
Day 1
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
9:00 am – 2:30 pm
Welcome Remarks
Keynote Address — A Global Energy Outlook
Fireside Chat — Energy Perspective: Europe
Panel — Achieving Energy Security and Sustainability
Fireside Chat — Energy Perspective: Latin America
Fireside Chat — Energy Perspective: Middle East
Panel — Natural Gas and the Future of Energy
Keynote — Sustainability is Multifaceted
Please click here for a more detailed agenda for Day 1.
Day 2
Thursday, October 5, 2023
8:30 am – 2:45 pm
Keynote — New Energy, Innovation and Development
Panel — Levers of Policy and Finance
Keynote — Emerging Carbon Markets
Keynote — U.S. Energy Policy
Fireside Chat — Resource Development: The Experience in British Columbia
Fireside Chat — The Evolving Role of Solar Power
Panel — The Future of Fuels for Mobility
Fireside Chat — Energy and U.S. Foreign Policy
Closing Remarks
Please click here for a more detailed agenda for Day 2.
This event is free, but registration is required. Click below to attend this event either in person or virtually via Zoom.

ATTEND IN PERSON

ATTEND VIA ZOOM

For registration assistance, contact us at 713-348-2183 or bipprsvp@rice.edu.

///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything els

Breakthrough Alert: MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 01:58:00 +0000

“In finance, other people’s money, or OPM, is a slang term that refers to financial leverage” – Strategic CFO

MIT’s 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2023 has hit the digital shelves. This is exciting news for anyone interested in discovering useful new technologies as they emerge from the fevered brains of their creators.

MIT’s free newsletter The Download offers a sneak preview of the list. For full access, a subscription to the MIT Technology Review is well worth the price.

Using OPM – Other People’s Money – is a way to achieve financial goals that might be difficult to achieve using one’s own resources. As long as we are dealing in good faith, and are successful, everybody wins. As Dolly Parton famously sang, “Ain’t nothing dirty going on.”

By the same token, we can use OPR – Other People’s Research – to achieve goals we could not reach on our own. As long as we don’t claim that we performed the research, and provide proper attribution, everybody wins.

In that spirit, here is a link to The Download’s preview of the list …

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MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35
Source:
https://www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/2023-mit-technology-reviews-innovators-under-35/?truid=36d06cee295f2d97fb732a7572a23410&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=&utm_content=09-12-2023&mc_cid=f8a4a36418&mc_eid=76363cef0a
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The Spark, another free MIT newsletter, highlights a few of the innovators on the 2023 list …

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The Spark
By Casey Crownhart • 09.13.23
Hello hello, welcome back to The Spark!
A lot of bright minds are working on solutions to climate change. You can find some of them in the latest edition of our annual 35 Innovators Under 35 list, which was just published yesterday.
We’ve highlighted a lot of innovators over the years, usually before they become household names. Sergey Brin of Google was on the list in 2002. JB Straubel was honored in 2008 when he was CTO of Tesla. That year also saw Andrew Ng make the list (he’s one of the biggest names in AI right now, and he came back this year to write an intro essay, which I highly recommend.)
As I looked through the folks who made the list in the climate and energy category in 2023, I noticed a few trends. In particular, there was a concentration in two areas I think a lot about: batteries and fuels. So let’s take a closer look at a few of this year’s innovators and consider what their work could mean for the future of climate action.
Charging up
As you probably know if you’re a frequent reader here, I see batteries as one of the most crucial pieces of technology in the fight to address climate change. Not only are powerful, long-lasting batteries crucial to electrifying vehicles and other forms of transportation, but they are expected to play a growing role on the grid, storing energy from intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar for when it’s most needed.
Batteries have come a long way in recent years, and prices have plummeted. (They just fell to under $100 per kilowatt-hour for the first time in two years, continuing a downward trend that’s lasted for a decade.)
However, there’s huge potential for more progress, especially in battery materials. And two innovators on this year’s list are looking to new materials to help make batteries more useful in more ways.
Tongchao Liu of Argonne National Lab is working on making batteries last longer.
Over time, batteries tend to wear out as they charge and discharge. Liu developed a diagnostic system to determine where that failure takes place and identified part of the battery called the cathode as the major culprit. He and his team then came up with an alternative cathode material based on perovskites. (You may have heard of perovskites in the context of solar cells.) In lab tests, battery lifetimes tripled with the new material.
David Mackanic of Anthro Energy is developing bendy batteries, which could power things like wearable devices as well as EVs.
One of the most crucial parts of a battery is the electrolyte, the material that charge moves through in a cell. Many batteries, including the lithium-ion cells that power EVs and laptops today, use a flammable liquid as an electrolyte. But Mackanic and his team invented a flexible polymer electrolyte, which can bend without compromising battery performance.
It’s not easy to bring new battery inventions to the market, and there’s a long path ahead for both of these projects, but I’ll definitely be watching to see how they turn out.
Fueling up
Another trend I noticed among the innovators this year was a focus on fuels. Like batteries, fuels store energy, but they tend to pack more energy into a smaller space than many batteries can, making them easier to transport. So fuels could be the best solution on the table for industries like aviation and shipping.
Peter Godart of Found Energy has a vision of using aluminum as a fuel. He developed a process to pull apart the metal with water, producing both heat and hydrogen that can be used as energy sources. His startup’s initial plans are to work with aluminum producers to help them use scrap to partially power aluminum recycling.
Stafford Sheehan of Air Company developed a process to convert carbon dioxide into alcohol, which can then be used to make jet fuel. The company has a deal with the US military and hopes to sell its fuel more widely in the next few years.
Young Suk Jo of Amogy wants to power ships using ammonia. The chemical is typically used in fertilizer, but it could also be used as a handy way to store hydrogen, a leading clean fuel. Jo and Amogy invented a reactor that can pull ammonia apart into nitrogen and hydrogen that can be used onboard vehicles. The company has tested its system in a drone, a tractor, and a semi-truck and plans to power a tugboat using ammonia later this year.
You might remember Young Suk Jo from an earlier edition of the newsletter—I spoke with him in June, when I visited Amogy’s headquarters in Brooklyn. I also wrote a longer profile of him that was just published yesterday, which you can read here.
A lot of innovators are working on batteries and fuels, but even these fields are a small piece of climate action overall. There are also folks on the list who are tackling demand response on the grid, satellites for climate monitoring, and materials for carbon capture, not to mention all the people in the biotechnology, AI, robotics, and computing categories. Be sure to check out the full list of 35 Innovators Under 35 to get all the details.
Thermal battery startup Antora just flipped on its first commercial-scale system. The company’s technology could help power industrial plants that require high heat and constant power. (Bloomberg)
There’s lots of big news in steel this week. H2 Green Steel raised $1.6 billion in equity to help build its planned green steel plant in Sweden. (Canary Media) And Boston Metal, a startup working to electrify production of one of the world’s most used and most polluting materials, raised a $262 million funding round. (Bloomberg)
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 21:02:00 +0000

Fun fact: Historically and in literature sulfur is also called brimstone, which means "burning stone". -- Wikipedia

The Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid 2023 Conference, & Exhibition (https://events.crugroup.com/sulphur/home ) is set for November 6-8 2023, New Orleans

The text of an email that landed in my inbox appears below.

TIP: Browse the list of speakers. Use Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com ) to search for papers authored by speakers of your choice.

FOR EXAMPLE …
Google Scholar Search: Rob Marriott Alberta Sulphur Research
Two results of the search …
The rheology of liquid elemental sulfur across the λ-transition (2018)
https://pubs.aip.org/sor/jor/article/62/2/469/241431
Liquid-phase sulfur recovery within a eutectic solvent coupled with low temperature carbon disulfide hydrolysis (2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016236121015702

The email reproduced below has more details …

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Dear Jean,
In November, the sulphur and sulphuric acid community will gather in New Orleans for CRU Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid, to discuss the key issues affecting the industry. Don't miss your opportunity to join them to discuss new drivers for the industry.
Now, more than ever, it is crucial for the industry to come together to develop operational efficiencies and to understand how new processes and technology developments are enabling more sustainable production.
Join the sulphur and sulphuric acid community face-to-face to share experiences and develop shared best practice approaches to operations through case studies, panel discussions and interactive clinics.
Some of the thought leaders speaking include:
Peter Harrisson
Senior Analyst & Sulphur Team Leader
CRU

Collin Bartlett
Sales Director, BL Metals & Chemical Processing
Outotec (Canada) Ltd

Nelson Clark
President
Clark Solutions

Domenica Misale
Technical Director
Industrial Ceramics Ltd
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Rob Marriott Alberta Sulphur Research
Director of Research
Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd (ASRL
Google Scholar search: Rob Marriott Alberta Sulphur Research
The rheology of liquid elemental sulfur across the λ-transition (2018)
https://pubs.aip.org/sor/jor/article/62/2/469/241431
Liquid-phase sulfur recovery within a eutectic solvent coupled with low temperature carbon disulfide hydrolysis (2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016236121015702
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Martin Alvarez
Solution Specialist
Topsoe A/S

Marco van Son
Technology Manager
Worley Comprimo

David Savage
Sr. Project Manager
Matrix PDM Engineering

Kaitlin Gebbie
Consultant
CRU

Randal Sarrazin
Technical Sales and Operation Manager
NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd

Aldifi Putro
Process Engineer
PT Petrokimia Gresik

Alina Green
Market Segment Specialist
WIKA

Avi Jakkulwar
Superintending Engineer
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

Scott Kafesjian
Director of Sulphur Technologies
Wood

Elmo Nasato
President
Nasato Consulting

Frank Flow
Head of Analyzer Products & Chemical Industry
FLEXIM AMERICAS Corporation

Ivan Gong
Sales Manager
XUANDA Group

Keith B. Belton
Senior Director for Policy Analysis and Economics
American Chemistry Council

Marcus Weber
Executive Process Director
Fluor

Delfian Lutfiananda
Assistant Vice President of Sulfuric Acid Plant & Utility
PT Petrokimia Gresik

Gerton Molenaar
Director Business Development
Comprimo Americas
///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: North American Refining Technology Conference, January 2024 in Houston

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 19:50:00 +0000

Houston has three seasons. July, then August, followed by summer. -- Stan Musial (American baseball outfielder and first baseman)

Here is the text of a recent email alert that landed in my inbox …

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Hi Jean

We are delighted that the North American Refining Technology Conference is taking place on January 30 - 31 2024, reuniting our North American downstream network in Houston.

The 2024 agenda-at-a-glance is now live, following conversations led by Chevron, Motiva, PBF Energy, Par Pacific, ExxonMobil, Shell, and many more, to identify the key topics to address at this year's conference, including:

    How can refiners capitalize on the IRA act and position North America as the global refining leader?
    Pragmatic approaches to decarbonization – how companies are structuring and diversifying their offerings in 2024?
    Who defines what successful digital transformation look like?
    How can we overcome the main inhibitors to increased sustainable fuel production, converting at the right time, place and pace?

If you would like to discuss speaking or partnership opportunities at NARTC to share thought leadership and broaden your network, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Cannon
Portfolio Manager – Americas
T: +44 207 384 3891
E: elizabeth.cannon@wraconferences.com
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TIP: Visit https://worldrefiningassociation.com/event-events/nartc for more details on the event.

You may also want to visit https://worldrefiningassociation.com/events/ from time to time to see if there are any other events you might want to attend.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert: 2 MIT events … ClimateTech and EmTech

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 16:03:00 +0000

"College had little effect on me. I’d have been the same writer if I’d gone to MIT, except I’d have flunked out sooner.” ~ Robert B. Parker (1932-2010), American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre

Two (2) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) events are on the horizon.

The first, ClimateTech, is scheduled for October 4-5, 2023 on the MIT campus.

The second, EmTech (Emerging Technologies) is scheduled for November 14-15, 2023.

At ClimateTech, Celina Mikolajczak, Chief Battery Technology Officer, Lyten (www.lyten.com ), San Jose California, will speak on new lithium-sulphur battery technology.

TIP: Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com) search on lithium-sulphur battery for background on the technology

Here is MIT’S description of the EmTech event …

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MIT Technology Review’s flagship event returns in November. EmTech MIT unwraps the technologies and trends driving social and commercial impact and offers trustworthy guidance needed to navigate the ever-changing landscape of a world transformed by technology.

What’s on the agenda this year

The ABC Forces: We look at how artificial intelligence, biotech, and climate change are changing everything.
Business Impact: AI is changing every job description, and climate change is impacting every product decision, so what does this mean for you and your business?
Social Impact: What does it mean to live a longer life, enriched by AI, in an environmentally responsible world?
Economic Impact: How will the policies that might govern AI, our bodies, and our planet change the economy.
Research Impact: We examine the ideas in our the labs that will change our lives tomorrow.

Mark your calendar and register to join us online or on campus for EmTech MIT November 14-15, 2023.
https://event.technologyreview.com/emtech-mit-2023?utm_source=event_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ETM23-FIRSTMOVERS&utm_campaign=emtech_mit_2023.unpaid.acquisition&discount=EMAILFM081450&mc_cid=954b5a300d&mc_eid=76363cef0a#register
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Staying Alert … How To Improve ROI on Subscribed Databases

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 15:23:00 +0000

“Be on the alert, like the red ant that moves with its claws wide open.” -- African Proverb

The blessing and the curse of the age we live in is the extraordinary amount of information that is available to us, at our literal fingertips.

The challenge we face is to learn how to swim in this sea of information without drowning in it.

Organizations, from academia to corporate, subscribe to various databases that offer access to huge numbers of peer reviewed articles. That helps provide access to the sea of information, but it leaves us with the information overload problem.

Creating alerts is one of the tools we have at our disposal to deal with this problem.

The vendors offering information access include ScienceDirect, ACS-American Chemical Society, IEEE Explore, IHS, to name a few. Each vendor offers an “alerts” feature.

The problem is, each vendor has its own procedure. And each vendor has its own way of licensing its content to end users.

It is not unusual for smaller organizations to opt for the minimum number of licenses available, in order to make the subscription affordable. This approach is understandable. But it creates a gatekeeper system which can erode the value of the agreement your organization makes with the vendor.

Here is a strategy to help your organization maximize ROI-Return on Investment in its database subscriptions. The strategy enables you to bypass the cumbersome vendor requirements for setting up alerts, while still preserving the value of your organization’s database subscription.

The Gatekeeper Strategy

IDENTIFY your gatekeeper. In some cases, that will be a librarian. That would be ideal, but not necessary, as long as you know who the gatekeeper is
CREATE Google Scholar alerts (https://scholar.google.com/ )
CONTACT your gatekeeper when an alert has an item of interest to determine whether the full text of the article is available via your subscribed database(s)
ASK your gatekeeper to download and send to you the article you want to read

TIP: If you happen to be a gatekeeper, let your people know, and encourage them to contact you whenever they need full text of an article of interest. They will love you for it.

For example … one of my recent Google Scholar alerts included the following item …

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Data governance in smart factories: Consistency rules for improved data quality in logistics & operations
Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum – Bologna University, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Received 29 December 2022, Revised 5 July 2023, Accepted 31 July 2023, Available online 7 August 2023, Version of Record 11 August 2023.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213846323000524
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IF my organization subscribes to ScienceDirect, and IF I know who my gatekeeper is, I can contact him/her to request a download of the full text of the article. I am able to do so without going through the process of creating an alert within the ScienceDirect system.

This becomes even more useful when your organization subscribes to more than database. With ONE Google Scholar Alert, you are covering ALL of the major databases … and a lot of the smaller ones, as well.
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Conference Alert-Digitalization in Oil and Gas

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 17:02:00 +0000

Too much agreement kills a chat. -- Eldridge Cleaver

The Energy Conference Network (https://energyconferencenetwork.com/ ) has announced the Digitalization in Oil and Gas conference (https://www.digitalizationoilgas.com/23/2647079), scheduled for September 14-15, 2023 in Houston, Texas.

REGISTRANTS include … Aramco, Dow, ExxonMobil, Sabic, Chevron … to name a few.

The conference is organized into FIVE TRACKS … IoT in Oil & Gas, Digital Twins in Oil & Gas, Blockchain in Oil & Gas, Edge Computing Technologies in Oil & Gas, and Connectivity in Oil & Gas.

TIP: View a recent Desulfurization Blog post: Reviews and PDFs (http://desulf.blogspot.com/2023/06/reviews-and-pdfs.html) for a list of free full text articles on the five conference tracks. Pick out one or two in preparation for the conference.

For example:

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Industrial Engineering with Large Language Models: A case study of ChatGPT's performance on Oil & Gas problems
Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown great potential in solving complex problems in various fields, including oil and gas engineering and other industrial engineering disciplines like factory automation, PLC programming etc. However, automatic identification of strong and weak solutions to fundamental physics equations governing several industrial processes remain a challenging task. This paper identifies the limitation of current LLM approaches, particularly ChatGPT in selected practical problems native to oil and gas engineering but not exclusively. The performance of ChatGPT in solving complex problems in oil and gas engineering is discussed and the areas where LLMs are most effective are presented.
Cite as: arXiv:2304.14354
source: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.14354
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And here’s another …

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Blockchain in Oil and Gas Supply Chain: A Literature Review from User Security and Privacy Perspective (2023)
International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance
The oil and gas industry grapples with supply chain process challenges and is known to have high risks, significant investments, and large asset volumes. These include (i) tracking extracted resources, (ii) managing equipment and assets, (iii) preventing company data leaks, (iv) managing data, and (v) ensuring process security and integrity. Such issues can result in human errors, misguided decisions due to inaccurate data, inflated operating costs, transaction delays, and fraud. Blockchain technology could provide solutions to some of these problems. For example, it facilitates reliable and secure data storage, ensuring data integrity. Additionally, blockchain-based smart contracts could deter oil trade fraud by automating contract execution when agreement conditions are met. By incorporating blockchain technology, businesses in the oil and gas sector can enhance their operations’ efficiency, transparency, and security, leading to improved decision-making and cost savings.
source: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.16576
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Inside a high-tech cement laboratory -- The path from concept to commercialization

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 20:12:00 +0000

You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. -- Robin Williams

MIT’s The Spark newsletter recently highlighted a company working on enabling cement production that produces far less carbon emissions than traditional processes.

Cement, the glue that binds together the aggregates that make concrete the amazing building material that it has been since ancient Roman engineers began using it, requires high heat to produce.

Startup Sublime Systems has developed a technique using electrochemistry to produce cement at a much lower cost to the environment.

The Spark’s article describes the approach. Equally interesting to me is the progress the company has made from bench scale to demonstration scale, and their plan to move on to commercial scale. It is a fascinating look into the challenges faced by any company trying to move from concept to commercialization.

TIP: Subscribe to MIT The Spark (https://www.technologyreview.com/ )

Here are excerpts from the article in The Spark …

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The Spark
By Casey Crownhart • 07.05.23

Hello hello, welcome back to The Spark!

A few weeks ago, I found myself in a room where fluorescent lights reflected off the stainless steel tanks lining the walls. The setup reminded me of an exceedingly high-tech craft brewery.

I wasn’t at a cider tasting, but on a visit to Sublime Systems (https://sublime-systems.com/ ), a Boston-based startup working to clean up one of the world’s toughest climate challenges: cement. Today, making cement involves a whole lot of fossil fuels, and this one material accounts for about 8% of global emissions.

But it might not have to be that way. So for the newsletter this week, come along with me to see what the startup is up to, and how its process could change the way we build.

To sum it up briefly, cement is a climate nightmare for two main reasons.

One, the process used to make cement requires super-high temperatures which today basically means you have to burn fossil fuels in the process. Second, there are chemical reactions involved in transforming minerals into working cement, and those release carbon dioxide.

Sublime’s answer is to use electrochemistry. The company’s cofounders, Yet-Ming Chiang and Leah Ellis, both made their mark in the battery world before turning to building materials. While at MIT, the duo developed a set of chemical reactions powered by electricity that can transform minerals into the cement we know and love today. They cofounded Sublime Systems in 2020.

What I was most interested in during my visit was seeing how the company is taking lab results and transforming them to work at a much larger scale.

Things started out small: the first time she and a labmate made cement, it was about the same volume as a single die.

Years later, that small scale is almost inconceivable when you look around the company’s pilot facility. The ceilings feel dozens of feet high, and I wouldn’t be able to get my arms around the tanks that line the room.

This facility started up in November 2022, recalls Mike Corbett, Sublime’s head of engineering. The team moved quickly to build it, going from design to execution in about nine months.

The company is doing something entirely new by bringing electrochemistry to cement production. But they’ve been able to leverage technology from other industries, like mining and chemical production, to find equipment that will work for what they’re trying to do. “You can usually beg and borrow from other industries to solve similar technical problems,” Corbett says.

The pilot line is a huge upgrade from the early days, but as Ellis put it, in the grand scheme of the industry, it’s still “a cement plant for ants.”

The next step for the startup is to build a demonstration facility producing around 100 tons per day. “That’s the size where you’re no longer invisible to the cement world,” Ellis says. The current goal is to have that facility running in 2025. After that, there’s yet another step: commercial scale, at about a million tons a year.

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TIP: Google sublime systems cement
Some results …

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Electrochemical Synthesis of Low-Carbon Cement
Project Innovation + Advantages:
Cement is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. Currently, the only economical way to make Portland cement’s key ingredient, lime, is by thermally decomposing limestone. This reaction contributes ~75% of cement’s emissions. Sublime Systems (Sublime) will build an electrochemical system to produce lime using off-peak renewable electricity and calcium sources that do not release CO2. The lime produced may possess exceptional purity, consistency, and reactivity, enabling next-generation low-carbon cements. If successful and scaled, Sublime’s electrochemical synthesis of lime would reduce energy-related emissions in the U.S. from lime and cement making while simultaneously providing ancillary grid services, enabling proliferation of renewables.
https://arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/projects/electrochemical-synthesis-low-carbon-cement
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Online published (draft) 25 OCT 2022
Dr. Jutta Lauf for NATO ENSEC CoE
Is de-carbonising the construction industry possible? An overview of advances in materials and processes
Jutta Lauf
Dr. Jutta Lauf was a Research Fellow at the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence from 2020 to
2022.
Corresponding address: NATO ENERGY SECURITY CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE, Research and Lessons Learned
Division, Šilo g. 5A, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence, info@enseccoe.org
Cement, a key product for construction, is by mass the largest manufactured product on Earth.
Combined with water and mineral aggregates it forms cement-based materials (e.g., concrete
and mortar), the second most used substance in the world after water. Cement based building
materials are energy and cost efficient1, but the globally large scale usage (4.6 *1012 tons in
2015)1 led to 3% of globally emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) in 20202. Additional advantages are
the wide availability of the raw materials, a sufficient long period of time before settling and
its longevity. All these properties make it a versatile material, which is used in many of NATO’s
infrastructures (Figure 1).
Figure 1: NATO headquarter in Brussel, Blvd Leopold III, 1110 Brussels, Belgium. It was
constructed as a “Green building” mainly from concrete. Generally the “green” credentials are
related to the operation of the building, not its construction.4; 3
The traditional form of cement is the so-called ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The
production process requires grinding and calcining (heating to high temperature of approx.
1450 °C) a mixture mainly consisting of limestone and clay. The resulting intermediate
material - known as clinker - is ground to a fine powder with 3–5% gypsum added to form OPC.
The production of OPC generates on average 842kg CO2 per ton of clinker. Fossil fuel
combustion is responsible for less than 40% of total CO2 emissions, while limestone (CaCO3)
decomposition during calcination to calcium oxide (CaO) is responsible for the remainder5; 1.
In essence, CO2 emissions from clinker production is a mixture of both, an unavoidable
chemical reaction, and the heating process to start the chemical reaction. Therefore,
increasing the energy efficiency of clinker production is not sufficient to significantly reduce
emissions. Carbon capture technologies are necessary to achieve this goal. Significant
https://enseccoe.org/data/public/uploads/2022/11/emissions-in-construction.pdf
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Pipeline Technology Conference Call for Papers

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 23:52:00 +0000

“Ich bin ein Berliner” -- John F Kennedy (June 26, 1963)

The 19th Pipeline Technology Conference, scheduled for 8 - 11 April 2024, Estrel, Berlin, Germany, has issued a call for papers (https://www.pipeline-conference.com/call-for-papers)
19th Pipeline Technology Conference

Here are the details, from the PTC Conference Web site …

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Call for Papers

Interested speakers are invited to submit an abstract (max. 300 words) describing the main ideas of their paper together with the presenter’s CV (max. 200 words).

    Abstracts should not focus on company presentation but on technical/managerial classifications, R&D, new technologies or recent case studies.
    Your abstract should avoid the use of a language that is commercial in tone.
    Joint presentations between pipeline operators and technology providers are welcome.
    If you have already presented this abstract in the past, you can still submit it, but you must indicate when and where it was presented in the past.
    Presentations have to be held in-person in Berlin.
    All abstracts will be reviewed in the ptc Advisory Committee.
    Confirmed speakers are requested to provide a multi-page conference paper for publication in the conference proceedings.
    All speakers are invited to join the exclusive ptc Meetup on 8 April together with the members of the advisory committee, session chairs, sponsors and exhibitors.

Each speaker gets a presentation time of 20 minutes. All abstracts, papers and the approved recordings will be published in the ptc Pipeline Open Knowledge Base.

All speakers have to register for an author ticket via the ticket shop (confirmed speakers from pipeline operators / municipalities attend free-of-charge, poster session presenters benefit from a reduced entrance fee).

Technical papers by authors who do not attend the conference in Berlin to present their papers may be excluded from publication in the ptc Pipeline Open Knowledge Base.

Conference language: English.

Submit your abstract via our abstract submission system "Ex Ordo"
///////
Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Reviews and PDFs

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 19:13:00 +0000

“I never read a book I must review; it prejudices you so.” -- Oscar Wilde

Actually, I like reviews. Over the years I have developed a number of Google Scholar alerts that help me keep up with developments in various areas of interest to me.

One problem with the results of these alerts is that much of those results reside behind a paywall. So as I browse the alerts that appear in my inbox, I focus on two things … reviews, and PDFs. In many cases, both are available in full text at no charge.

TIP: Create Google Scholar alerts in your field of interest. To save time, look at the items labeled review or PDF.

Here is a list of titles that have come up as a result of my Google Scholar alerts over the past few months.

HINT: If any of the titles seems interesting to you, just copy the title and paste it into a Google search to find the full text article.

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Machine Learning and internet of things in industry 4.0-A review
Artificial intelligence-based solutions for climate change-a review
Developing an IoT-Based Internal Pipe Inspection Robot Challenges, Solutions & Future Directions
Effective Tracking of Unknown Clustered Targets Using A Distributed Team of Mobile Robots
How Blockchain Technology Can Address Circularity and Trace Emission in the Energy Sector
Utilizing Blockchain Technology for Oil and Gas Industry
A Review of Nanomaterials and their Applications in Oil and Petroleum Industries
Data Security and Cybersecurity in Saudi Arabia
Identification of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies using PATSTAT data
Industry 4.0-Features Adopting Digital Technologies in the Oil and Gas Industry
Strengths and Weaknesses of Science and Technology Institutions in Arab countries
Use Case of Digital Technology Creating Value in Today’s Oil & Gas Industry by Reducing Cost and Enhancing Drilling Performance
Utilizing Remote Sensing and Data Analytics Techniques to Detect Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry and Assist with Sustainability Metrics
Advances in gas-to-liquid technology for environmentally friendly fuel synthesis-Analytical review of world achievements
Challenges and Opportunities of Low Viscous Biofuel─A Prospective Review
Improving Smart Contracts Management And Designs For Blockchain Systems
Industrial Engineering with Large Language Models-A case study of ChatGPT’s performance on Oil & Gas problems
Machine Learning Algorithms for Failure Prediction Model and Operational Reliability of Onshore Gas Transmission Pipelines
Predictive big data analytics for drilling downhole problems-A review
Renewable diesel Production-A Review
Zero programming robotics in additive manufacturing repairs
The+benefits,+Challenges,+and+Future+of+Blockchain+and+The+Internet+of+Things
A Bibliometric Analysis of the role of Industry 4.0 Sensors in Digital Transformation
A Brief Introduction to Microbial Corrosion in the Oil Industry (2022)
A current review on electron beam assisted additive manufacturing technology
A Review of Advances in Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing
A Review on the Implementation of the BIM Methodology in the Operation Maintenance and Transport Infrastructure
A Short Review on the Corrosion Behaviour of Wire and Arc Additive Manufactured Materials
A Systematic Approach to Determine the Cutting Parameters of AM Green Zirconia in Finish Milling
A Systematic Review of Advanced Sensor Technologies for Non-Destructive Testing and Structural Health Monitoring
A techno-economic approach for decision-making in metal additive manufacturing-metal extrusion versus single and multiple laser powder bed fusion
Accelerating the renewable energy sector through Industry 4.0-Optimization opportunities in the digital revolution
Additive Manufacturing Processes in Selected Corrosion Resistant Materials A State of Knowledge Review
Advancing Refining Petrochemicals Integration In The Arabian Gulf
AI-Now-2023-Landscape-Report-Confronting tech power
An assessment of the processing parameters and application of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) in the petroleum and natural gas industries-A review
Analysis of Hydrogen Production Methods Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in oil and gas industry
Applications of AI in oil and gas projects towards sustainable development-a systematic literature review
Challenges and recent progress on the application of rapid sand casting for part production-a review
Changes and improvements in Industry 5.0-A strategic approach to overcome the challenges of Industry 4.0
Current Downhole Corrosion Control Solutions and Trends in the Oil and Gas Industry-A Review
Cyber Attacks on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Cyber Security Measures
Cyber Security in Blockchain Technology
Deep Learning for Magnetic Flux Leakage Detection and Evaluation of Oil & Gas Pipelines A Review
Dibenzothiophene Removal from Fuel Oil by Metal-Organic Frameworks Performance and Kinetics
Digital transformation in asset-intensive organisations-The light and the dark side
Digital Transformation in Oil and Gas Industry-Opportunities and Challenges
Edge Computing Vs. Cloud Computing-An Overview Of Big Data Challenges And Opportunities For Large Enterprises
Experimental Investigation on the Wear Performance of Nano-Additives on Degraded Gear Lubricant
FCC Catalyst Accessibility—A Review
Green Energy Sources Reduce Carbon Footprint of Oil & Gas Industry Processes-A Review
Green Future Index 2023 (MIT)
Identify blockchain technology strategies in the oil and gas industry
Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap
Industrial internet of things (IIoT) in energy sector
Integration of experimental hydroprocessing and FCC data with process (Aspen Plus) and refinery optimization (Aspen PIMS) models
Investigation and Implementation of IoT Based Oil & Gas Pipeline Monitoring System
IoT and Blockchain Integration-Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges
Leveraging Blockchain Technology to Create a More Resilient Supply Chain for Energy Industry
Life cycle assessment of metal products-A comparison between wire arc additive manufacturing and CNC milling
Manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics and its recovery of carbon fiber-A review
Modeling and Simulation of an Octorotor UAV with Manipulator Arm
Modeling-aided coupling of catalysts, conditions, membranes, and reactors for efficient hydrogen production from ammonia
Potential Use of Construction Waste for the Production of Geopolymers-A Review
Predictive Deep Learning for Pitting Corrosion Modeling in Buried Transmission Pipelines
Preparation, characterization, applications and future challenges of Nanomembrane-A review
Recent Advances, Future Trends, Applications and Challenges of Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT)-A Comprehensive Review
Refinery 4.0, a Review of the Main Challenges of the Industry 4.0 Paradigm in Oil & Gas Downstream (2022)
Security threats, countermeasures, and challenges of digital supply chains
Smart Spare Parts Management-A digital supply network perspective
Solar fuel production from hydrogen sulfide-an upstream energy perspective
Suitability assessment of high-power energy storage technologies for offshore oil and gas platforms-A life cycle cost perspective
Systemic circular economy solutions for fiber reinforced composites
Technological Modernizations in the Industry 5.0 Era-A Descriptive Analysis and Future Research Directions
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else

Vive la révolution! The Fourth Industrial Révolution, that is …

noreply@blogger.com (Jean Steinhardt Consulting) — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 21:07:00 +0000

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a phrase that has been bandied about for the past several years. It suggests that we are on the verge of fundamental changes in the way we produce the goods that make life worth living.

But what is the Fourth Industrial Revolution exactly? And how do we identify the technologies that will make it happen?

Here are two sources that can help us start down that long and winding road.

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Identification of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies using PATSTAT data
Menéndez de Medina, M., Nomaler, Ö., & Verspagen, B. (2023). Identification of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies using PATSTAT data. UNU-MERIT. UNU-MERIT Working Papers No. 023 https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2023/wp2023-023.pdf
Published: 02/06/2023
Maastricht Economic and social Research institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT)
email: info@merit.unu.edu | website: http://www.merit.unu.edu
Abstract
This document provides a methodological procedure to identify the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies using patent data. Attempts to distinguish these technologies have frequently relied on the European Patent Office (2017, 2020a) methods or have mainly leaned on technical codes and keyword classifications. Frequently, these studies have the limitation of collecting technologies arbitrarily and without a deep justification. Only the latest report from the European Patent Office (EPO, 2020b) attempts to detail the procedure to recognize the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. However, it does not offer the possibility of being replicated by scholars outside the organization. This article delivers a procedure to collect Fourth Industrial Revolution patents relying on key concepts from a detailed literature review - focused on whether they make up a new revolution and its conceptualization over timeand the EPO (2020b) report identification method. Subsequently, the evolution of these technologies and the principal trends are exposed. Finally, the search queries and the list of identified patents are available (in the Appendix) to replicate or adapt for other academic purposes.
“4IR technologies are understood in this paper as co-evolving “technological systems” that combine innovations in the fields of digital data transmission, smart connected devices, computing, communication and connectivity technologies, the scope of which goes beyond the manufacturing sector and includes a broad variety of technological domains such as agriculture, health, home, infrastructure and services.”
A recent study of Confraria et al. (2021) is not directly focused on the identification of specific 4IR technologies but on the identification of emerging technologies.
https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/identification-of-fourth-industrial-revolution-technologies-using

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Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The global technology trends enabling the data-driven economy (EPO)
This study explains the trends in a variety of digital technologies like faster wireless internet, smart sensors, “big data” and artificial intelligence. Taken together these are transforming healthcare, transport, agriculture and many more sectors – they account for over 10% of all global innovation.
https://www.epo.org/service-support/publications.html?pubid=222#tab3
https://www.epo.org/news-events/in-focus/ict/fourth-industrial-revolution.html
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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Americas (https://americas.aramco.com/ ), Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at jstoneheart@gmail.com with questions on research, training, or anything else