http://antidepressionguide.org depression symptoms - depression treatment - depression help - Depression Causes, Symptoms, Types, Signs, Facts, Medication Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:31:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/09/19/oil-sands-upgrader/ http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/09/19/oil-sands-upgrader/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:42:00 +0000 Tom
The extreme viscosity of oil sands, though, makes them very expensive to mine, and difficult to process when they have been dug up, although the recent dramatic increase in oil prices is making extraction commercially viable.

But Steve Larter, co-director of the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy at the University of Calgary, and colleagues think the process can be made much simpler.

They propose a way to "upgrade" oil sands while they are still in the ground, starting the refining process early, and making them flow more easily. Their method is to pump hydrogen and particles of a catalyst down into a well while simultaneously heating the oil sands.

That breaks the long chain hydrocarbons in the bitumen into smaller molecules that flow better and are easier to pump and store.

As well as making it easier to pump, Carter and his team say that "down-hole upgrading" reduces the amount and cost of equipment and storage facilities needed on the surface.

Read the full oil sands thinner patent application.

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

]]> http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/09/19/oil-sands-upgrader/feed/ 0 http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/02/27/sunny-bioreactor/ http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/02/27/sunny-bioreactor/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:08:00 +0000 Tom One potential source of biofuel is microalgae. The potential yield of oil refined by microalgae is thought to be many times greater than the next best crop – palm oil.

But algae need natural light to grow, and that can be in limited supply inside the chambers that act as bioreactors.

So David Bayless, professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio University in Athens, US, has designed a bioreactor fitted with optical fibres that channel sunlight into the chamber.

A cylinder 10 centimetres wide and 2 metres tall is filled with microalgae, water and nutrients. A solar collector fitted to the outside of a building then channels sunlight though optical fibres into the container. That gives the algae ample light even when the chambers are otherwise hidden from the sun.

Read the full photo bioreactor patent application

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant]]> http://antidepressionguide.org/2008/02/27/sunny-bioreactor/feed/ 0 http://antidepressionguide.org/2007/10/15/the-environment-and-mental-health/ http://antidepressionguide.org/2007/10/15/the-environment-and-mental-health/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:52:34 +0000 james http://www.findingoptimism.com/reviews/the-environment-and-mental-health/ http://antidepressionguide.org/2007/10/15/the-environment-and-mental-health/feed/ 0