Neil Thomas Stacey's ideas

Heat-integrated household

In a typical household there are appliances for heating and other appliances for cooling. The former, including geysers, stoves, ovens and space heaters, typically use a heating element - an inefficient approach from an energy usage standpoint.... continue reading

Better modeling of membrane permeation through multi-membrane models

Membrane permeation is frequently modeled using a vector of relative permeabilities for each component that is permeated. However, no membrane material will have truly uniform permeability; instead, any particular membrane material exhibits... continue reading

Oxygen enrichment to enhance training effectiveness and physiological adaptation

For decades, sportspersons have lived by the adage “live high, train low,” an approach that has been repeatedly borne out by research. High altitude adaptations improve performance, while the availability of more oxygen at low altitude permits... continue reading

Operational and lifecycle advantages of hybridized iron ore reduction and biomass gasification

Recent research has demonstrated that biomass can be used as a reducing agent for iron ore but also that iron ore reduction can be coupled with biomass gasification, co-producing reduced iron and synthesis gas which can itself be converted to... continue reading

Use of waste plastic as a reducing agent for iron ore

China's recent announcement that they will cease to accept large quantities of waste plastic has brought a growing crisis into sharp focus; global capacity for waste plastic handling is being rapidly outstripped by production. The clear solution... continue reading

Effects of temperature on alcohol tolerance of microbes

It has been established that dissolution of membrane lipids plays a role in the toxicity of ethanol and butanol to micro-organisms; a matter of particular importance for the production of bio-alcohol fuels using fermentation by microbial activity.... continue reading

Microbial butanol tolerance: mediated by toxicity or by phase equilibrium?

It is conventionally assumed that the achievable concentration of a bio-alcohol molecule by fermentation is limited by the toxicity of that molecule to the micro-organisms producing it. In the case of ethanol, for example, extremely high titers... continue reading

Fluidized bed for coffee brewing

Experimental and theoretical studies of the coffee brewing process have shown that most coffee preparation methods are affected by uneven particle distribution and uneven exposure of coffee grounds to hot water. This results in over-extraction... continue reading

The role of mineral depletion on insect depopulation

It has been established that the mineral content, particularly of trace minerals, in modern food crops is considerably lower than in their natural forms, a phenomenon that arises as a result of a number of causes. Intense fertilization methods,... continue reading

Tuesday/Thursday shutdowns as a reduced economic impact alternative for epidemic control

Total isolation and quarantine are being deployed in citiesaffected by the COVID-19 infection. These measures, while effective, have devastating socio-economic consequences. An alternative method which could achieve a major reduction in the... continue reading