A fan-stirred combustion chamber is deve-loped for spherically expanding flames, with P and T up to 10 bar and 473 K, respectively. Turbulence characteristics are estimated using particle image velocimetry (PIV) at different initial pressures (P = 0.5–5 bar), fan frequencies (ω = 0–2000 r/min), and impeller diameters (D = 100 and 114 mm). The flame propagation of methanol/air is investigated at different turbulence intensities (u′=0–1.77 m/s) and equivalence ratios (φ = 0.7–1.5). The results show that u′ is independent of P and proportional to ω, which can be up to 3.5 m/s at 2000 r/min. L_T is independent of P and performs a power regression with ω approximately. The turbulent field is homogeneous and isotropic in the central region of the chamber while the inertial subrange of spatial energy spectrum is more collapsed to –5/3 law at a high Re_T. Compared to laminar expanding flames, the morpho-logy of turbulent expanding flames is wrinkled and the wrinkles will be finer with the growth of turbulence intensity, consistent with the decline of the Taylor scale and the Kolmogorov scale. The determined S_L in the present study is in good agreement with that of previous literature. The S_L and S_T of methanol/air have a non-monotonic trend with φ while peak S_T is shifted to the richer side compared to S_L. This indicates that the newly built turbulent combustion chamber is reliable for further experimental study.

InP shows a very high efficiency for solar light to electricity conversion in solar cell and may present an expectation property in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. However, it suffers serious corrosion in water dispersion. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the stability and activity of the InP-based catalyst are effectively enhanced by applying an anti-corrosion SnO layer and In(OH)₃ transition layer, which reduces the crystal mismatch between SnO and InP and increases charge transfer. The obtained Pt/SnO/In(OH)₃/InP exhibits a hydrogen production rate of 144.42 µmol/g in 3 h under visible light illumination in multi-cycle tests without remarkable decay, 123 times higher than that of naked In(OH)₃/InP without any electron donor under visible irradiation.

Owing to the outstanding characteristics of tailorable electronic and optical properties, semiconducting polymers have attracted considerable attention in recent years. Among them, organic polymer dots process large breadth of potential synthetic diversity are the representative of photocatalysts for hydrogen production, which presents both an opportunity and a challenge. In this mini-review, first, the organic polymer photocatalysts were introduced. Then, recent reports on polymer dots which showed a superior photocatalytic activity and a robust stability under visible-light irradiation, for hydrogen production were summarized. Finally, challenges and outlook on using organic polymer dots-based photocatalysts from hydrogen production were discussed.

Food consumption is necessary for human survival. On a global scale, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission related to food consumption accounts for 19%–29% of the total GHG emission. China has the largest population in the world, which is experiencing a rapid development. Under the background of urbanization and the adjustment of the diet structure of Chinese residents, it is critical to mitigate the overall GHG emission caused by food consumption. This study aims to employ a single-region input-output (SRIO) model and a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model to measure GHG emission generated from food consumption in China and compare the contributions of different industrial sectors, uncovering the differences between urban and rural residents and among different provinces (autonomous regions/municipalities), as well as identifying the driving forces of GHG emission from food consumption at a national level. The results indicate that the total GHG emission generated from food consumption in China tripled from 157 Mt CO₂e in 2002 to 452 Mt CO₂e in 2017. The fastest growing GHG emission is from the consumption of other processed food and meat products. Although GHG emissions from both urban and rural residents increased, the gap between them is increasing. Agriculture, processing and manufacture of food, manufacture of chemical and transportation, storage and post services sectors are key sectors inducing food consumption related GHG emissions. From a regional perspective, the top five emission provinces (autonomous regions/municipalities) include Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Based on such results, policy recommendations are proposed to mitigate the overall GHG emission from food consumption.

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production is a promising strategy to produce renewable energy and decrease production cost. Spinel-ferrites are potential photocatalysts in photocatalytic reaction system due to their room temperature magnetization, the high thermal and chemical stability, narrow bandgap with broader visible light absorption, and proper conduction band energy level with strong oxidation activity for water or organic compounds. However, the fast recombination of the photoexcited electrons and holes is a critical drawback of ferrites. Therefore, the features of crystallinity, particle size, specific surface area, morphology, and band energy structure have been summarized and investigated to solve this issue. Moreover, composites construction with ferrites and the popular support of TiO₂ or g-C₃N₄ are also summarized to illustrate the advanced improvement in photocatalytic hydrogen production. It has been shown that ferrites could induce the formation of metal ions impurity energy levels in TiO₂, and the strong oxidation activity of ferrites could accelerate the oxidation reaction kinetics in both TiO₂/ferrites and g-C₃N₄/ferrites systems. Furthermore, two representative reports of CaFe₂O₄/MgFe₂O₄ composite and ZnFe₂O₄/CdS composite are used to show the efficient heterojunction in a ferrite/ferrite composite and the ability of resistance to photo-corrosion, respectively.

China’s accelerator driven subcritical system (ADS) development has made significant progress during the past decade. With the successful construction and operation of the international prototype of ADS superconducting proton linac, the lead-based critical/subcritical zero-power facility VENUS-II and the comprehensive thermal-hydraulic and material test facilities for LBE (lead bismuth eutectic) coolant, China is playing a pivotal role in advanced steady-state operations toward the next step, the ADS project. The China initiative Accelerator Driven System (CiADS) is the next facility for China’s ADS program, aimed to bridge the gaps between the ADS experiment and the LBE cooled subcritical reactor. The total power of the CiADS will reach 10 MW. The CiADS engineering design was approved by Chinese government in 2018. Since then, the CiADS project has been fully transferred to the construction application stage. The subcritical reactor is an important part of the whole CiADS project. Currently, a pool-type LBE cooled fast reactor is chosen as the subcritical reactor of the CiADS. Physical and thermal experiments and software development for LBE coolant were conducted simultaneously to support the design and construction of the CiADS LBE-cooled subcritical reactor. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the efforts made in China in the LBE-cooled fast reactor to provide certain supporting data and reference solutions for further design and development for ADS. Thus, the roadmap of China’s ADS, the development process of the CiADS, the important design of the current CiADS subcritical reactor, and the efforts to build the LBE-cooled fast reactor are presented.

Space nuclear reactor power (SNRP) using a gas-cooled reactor (GCR) and a closed Brayton cycle (CBC) is the ideal choice for future high-power space missions. To investigate the safety characteristics and develop the control strategies for gas-cooled SNRP, transient models for GCR, energy conversion unit, pipes, heat exchangers, pump and heat pipe radiator are established and a system analysis code is developed in this paper. Then, analyses of several operation conditions are performed using this code. In full-power steady-state operation, the core hot spot of 1293 K occurs near the upper part of the core. If 0.4 $ reactivity is introduced into the core, the maximum temperature that the fuel can reach is 2059 K, which is 914 K lower than the fuel melting point. The system finally has the ability to achieve a new steady-state with a higher reactor power. When the GCR is shut down in an emergency, the residual heat of the reactor can be removed through the conduction of the core and radiation heat transfer. The results indicate that the designed GCR is inherently safe owing to its negative reactivity feedback and passive decay heat removal. This paper may provide valuable references for safety design and analysis of the gas-cooled SNRP coupled with CBC.

Photocatalysts have attracted great research interest owing to their excellent properties and potential for simultaneously addressing challenges related to energy needs and environmental pollution. Photocatalytic particles need to be in contact with their respective media to exhibit efficient photocatalytic performances. However, it is difficult to separate nanometer-sized photocatalytic materials from reaction media later, which may lead to secondary pollution and a poor recycling performance. Hydrogel photocatalysts with a three-dimensional (3D) network structures are promising support materials for photocatalysts based on features such as high specific surface areas and adsorption capacities and good environmental compatibility. In this review, hydrogel photocatalysts are classified into two different categories depending on their elemental composition and recent progresses in the methods for preparing hydrogel photocatalysts are summarized. Moreover, current applications of hydrogel photocatalysts in energy conversion and environmental remediation are reviewed. Furthermore, a comprehensive outlook and highlight future challenges in the development of hydrogel photocatalysts are presented.

Having the wide application of metal oxides in energy technologies, in recent years, many researchers tried to increase the performance of the PV/T system by using metal oxide-based nanofluids (NFs) as coolants or optical filters or both at the same time. This paper summarizes recent research activities on various metal oxides (Al₂O₃, TiO₂, SiO₂, Fe₃O₄, CuO, ZnO, MgO)-based NFs performance in the PV/T system regarding different significant parameters, e.g., thermal conductivity, volume fraction, mass flowrate, electrical, thermal and overall efficiency, etc. By conducting a comparative study among the metal oxide-based NFs, Al₂O₃/SiO₂-water NFs are mostly used to achieve maximum performance. The Al₂O₃-water NF has a prominent heat transfer feature with a maximum electrical efficiency of 17%, and a maximum temperature reduction of PV module of up to 36.9°C can be achieved by using the Al₂O₃-water NF as a coolant. Additionally, studies suggest that the PV cell’s efficiency of up to 30% can be enhanced by using a solar tracking system. Besides, TiO₂-water NFs have been proved to have the highest thermal efficiency of 86% in the PV/T system, but TiO₂ nanoparticles could be hazardous for human health. As a spectral filter, SiO₂-water NF at a size of 5 nm and a volume fraction of 2% seems to be very favorable for PV/T systems. Studies show that the combined use of NFs as coolants and spectral filters in the PV/T system could provide a higher overall efficiency at a cheaper rate. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of using NFs in PV/T systems are also discussed.

The Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH as the main technical support organization for the German Federal Government in nuclear safety has been dealing with small modular reactors (SMRs) for about one decade since SMRs are one interesting option for new builds in most countries worldwide which continue to use nuclear energy for commercial electricity production. Currently four different SMR designs are in operation, four in construction, one is licensed, and further 12 are in a licensing process. In this paper, definitions, history, and current developments of SMRs are presented. Subsequently, selected trends of SMR development such as factory fabrication and transport, compactness and modularity, core design, improved core cooling, exclusion of accidents, features for preventing and limiting the impact of severe accidents, economic viability, competitiveness and licensing are discussed. Modeling gaps of the GRS simulation chain programs with a view to applications in nuclear licensing procedures are identified and a strategy for closing these gaps is presented. Finally, selected work on the extension and improvement of the simulation chain and first generic test analyses are presented.