Low Capacity Utilization Research Articles

A Li-Rich Fluorinated Lithium Zirconium Chloride Solid Electrolyte for 4.8 V-Class All-Solid-State Batteries.

Chloride solid-state electrolytes (SEs) represent an important advance for applications in all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). Among various chloride SEs, lithium zirconium chloride (Li2ZrCl6) is an attractive candidate considering the high natural abundance of Zr. However, Li2ZrCl6 meets the challenge in practical ASSBs because of its limited ionic conductivity and instability when paired with high-voltage cathodes. This is a major drawback, which can result in a high internal resistance, a low capacity utilization of cathode, and poor cycle stability, especially at high voltage. Existing methods cannot achieve simultaneous enhancement on both ionic conductivity and high-voltage stability due to a trade-off between lithium-ion migration and structural stability. Here a two-pronged strategy based on partial fluorination and incorporation of lithium ions in excess of stoichiometric ratios is introduced that enables high-voltage stability while increasing ionic conductivity concurrently. The Li-rich fluorinated halide SE (Li2.3ZrCl6.1F0.2) exhibits a significant advancement in performance, with an ionic conductivity that is double that of the pristine Li2ZrCl6 and much better high-voltage stability. By leveraging Li2.3ZrCl6.1F0.2 with the LiCoO2 cathode and the Li-In anode, the all-solid-state cell exhibits a remarkable initial specific capacity (198.0 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C) and a high capacity retention (78.5% after 150 cycles) within 3.0-4.8V.

A prescriptive analytics approach for evaluating two production systems: Simulation optimization algorithm

Production systems influence cost performance and carbon emissions. Environmental concerns compel companies to optimize energy efficiency in their production processes. This study explores the dilemma associated with fixed-time and fixed-lot systems during random disruptions and how these systems can improve performance. We employ simulation optimization models in business analytics using the discrete event simulation provided by the SimPy library within a Python environment. The study is based on the statistical analysis of data collected from 624,000 simulated hours. Our analysis reveals that a higher service level tilts the balance, favoring adopting a fixed-time production system in scenarios characterized by significant disruptions. A system with higher demand variability and lower standalone workstation availability (indicative of more variable production) tends to favor a fixed-time batch production approach. When workstations operate at low-capacity utilization combined with high standalone availability, the fixed-lot batch production system becomes more cost-effective. Overall, the fixed-time system demonstrates a superior capacity to accommodate higher production variability levels than the fixed-lot system. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing simulation-optimization evidence to assess the relative efficiencies of fixed-size and fixed-time lot batch production systems. This paper considers the impact of random disruptions on operational efficiency within fixed-size lot batch production systems, highlighting the consequences of variability in lot completion times. The study also contributes to strategically selecting production systems to optimize energy usage in manufacturing processes.

Solutions to Address the Low-Capacity Utilization Issue in Singapore’s Precast Industry

Solutions to Address the Low-Capacity Utilization Issue in Singapore’s Precast Industry

Long-life and high-power Sodium-Selenium Batteries realized by Vanadium single atom catalyzed cathodes and tailored carbonate-based electrolytes

The practical implementation of resources-abundant sodium-selenium batteries (SSBs) has been retarded by the low-capacity utilization and poor reversibility from the sluggish conversion kinetics of selenides, the notorious polyselenides shuttling effect and the dendritic deposition of sodium metal. This work presents a rational design of vanadium single atom catalyst on nitrogen-doped carbon sheets (V-N-C) as selenium host to address the instability of cathodes. Density function theory calculations reveal the superiority of V-N4 in V-N-C over other transition metal and nitrogen atoms in facilitating the adsorption-diffusion-conversion of polyselenides. Se@V-N-C cathodes deliver a high capacity utilization (603 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, over 89 % of theoretical capacity), excellent reversibility (470 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C after 500 cycles), and remarkably high-power cyclability (260 mAh g−1 at 5 C over 1000 cycles). The prolong cycle life can also be originated from our tailored NaPF6 carbonate electrolyte with 1 wt% LiDFBOP additive. The new electrolyte is illustrated to generate inorganic-rich solid electrolyte interphase layers to protect sodium metal anodes from polyselenides corrosion and dendritic deposition at high rates. Fundamental findings in this work present a two-pronged approach to the prevailing challenges in the nascent metal-selenium battery chemistry.

Steering bidirectional polysulfide conversion in virtue of interface microenvironment of Ni/porous carbon Mott-Schottky heterojunctions

Originating from the notorious shuttle effect and intrinsically sluggish redox kinetics of polysulfides (especially under the conditions of high sulfur loadings and low electrolytes), the low capacity and sulfur utilization efficiency, unsatisfactory rate performance, and unremarkable cycle performance severely hinder the practical commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Furnishing rapid electron transfer and mass diffusion in virtue of interface modulation and nanostructure design is an effective strategy to enhance the activity of catalysts. Herein, a Mott-Schottky heterojunction composed of porous carbon (PC)-supported nickel (Ni) nanoparticles was fabricated on a functionalized carbon nanotube sponge (Ni/PC/FCNTS) via adjusting the geometric structure such as the particle size, aggregation state and pore volume (based on the different solvothermal reaction temperature of the Ni-MOF precursor and the high-temperature pyrolysis process). Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated the charge redistribution and a self-generated built-in electric field accelerated electron transfer at the heterogeneous interface between Ni and PC. Meanwhile, the high pore volume of Ni/PC/FCNTS-170 provided a reaction space for rapid ion diffusion and sulfur redox process. Benefiting from the synergistic effect, the derived S@Ni/PC/FCNTS-170 cells manifested excellent rate performance with a capacity of 784.2 mAh g-1 at 2 C and a high areal capacity of 8.09 mAh cm-2 with a high sulfur loading of 17.6 mg cm-2 and low electrolyte/sulfur of 11.3 µL mg-1.

Membrane-free Zn hybrid redox flow battery using water-in-salt aqueous biphasic electrolytes

In this study, we develop a membrane-free Zn hybrid redox flow battery (RFB) using an unconventional water-in-salt aqueous biphasic system (WIS-ABS). This membrane-free Zn hybrid battery employs soluble ferrocene (Fc) derivative and Zn salt as the active species in the immiscible catholyte and anolyte, respectively. Initially, we demonstrate the potential of using WIS-ABS for a totally aqueous membrane-free Zn battery under static conditions. This static battery operates at a cell voltage of 1.01 V and effectively eradicates the detrimental self-discharge observed in membrane-free batteries, achieving excellent coulombic efficiency (CE) consistently around 100 % over 2000 cycles. However, due to transport limitations in the static configuration, the battery exhibits a low capacity utilization of 17.4 % for the catholyte, ultimately restricting the energy density of the battery. Further improvements in the battery performance are achieved by employing a specially designed RFB cell reactor to operate under real flowing conditions. Impressively, the developed membrane-free Zn hybrid RFB cell significantly shows an improved catholyte utilization, reaching up to 95 %. Furthermore, the membrane-free RFB consistently maintains CE higher than 95 % throughout the cycling process, ultimately achieving a capacity retention as high as 96.5 % after 30 cycles at 100 % depth of discharge. This work highlights the potential of utilizing a water-in-salt aqueous biphasic system to develop a membrane-free Zn hybrid RFB with excellent electrochemical performance, effectively avoiding the undesired self-discharge phenomena.

Scheduling shared passenger and freight transport for an underground logistics system

With the introduction of freight transportation into the passenger transit network, underground city logistics are regarded as a desirable alternative to address the challenges due to truck movements in urban freight transport. Furthermore, some metro lines suffer from low-capacity utilization because of the unbalanced demand, which provides the potential to expand the extra capacity for freight transportation. Therefore, this study integrates the train unit scheduling problem with combined transportation of passengers and freight during off-peak hours. The objective is to fully utilize the remaining capacity by not only integrating passenger and freight flows but also allowing a flexible composition such that the capacity can better meet the demand. The composition of a trip is defined as its state. A three-dimensional space–time–state network is constructed to capture the composition transitions and passenger/freight trajectories. The problem is formulated as an integer linear programming model to minimize the weighted sum of train unit operational, passenger travel, and freight travel costs. Utilizing the problem-specific characteristics, a constrained-gap-based branch-and-bound approach is developed to efficiently solve the model. The worst bound for each objective is guaranteed by introducing two gaps in the passenger- and freight-related objectives. The nodes with estimated lower bounds exceeding the designated gaps are pruned. A beam search procedure is also included to further reduce the computational complexity. The developed algorithm is tested on real-life instances from the Beijing Metro Network. The results provide insights into the benefits and applicable scenarios for integrating passenger and freight transportation. Moreover, we demonstrate that the number of train units should be carefully determined considering the tradeoff between passenger service quality and freight demand volume.

A Brief Analysis of SVOLT's Current Development and Challenges

SVOLT is committed to the research and production of new energy vehicle power batteries. It is an emerging enterprise in the power battery industry. The company also engages in battery and energy storage businesses. With a strategic perspective of global deployment, SVOLT has achieved remarkable growth. This article provides an analysis of SVOLT's development overview and examines the achievements and challenges the company faces in terms of its business areas, financial situation, and strategic layout using case studies and data charts. The research shows that SVOLT has experienced substantial losses for three consecutive years, making it difficult to gain a foothold in the highly competitive market. This situation is related to issues such as the company's low product gross margin, low-capacity utilization, and high management costs. It is also a predicament that arises from intense market competition. Additionally, the company's strategy of large-scale capacity expansion has brought about certain negative consequences. Therefore, SVOLT should consider adjusting its marketing approach, focusing on profit and loss conditions, reducing capacity expansion appropriately, and controlling production costs. The aim is to promptly reverse the trend of continuous losses, achieve sustainable development, gain industry recognition, and challenge leading companies in the field.

Heterostructured flower‐like NiO/Co3O4 microspheres modified by bifunctional carbon quantum dots as a battery‐type cathode for high energy and power density hybrid supercapacitors

AbstractHybrid supercapacitors (HSCs) comprising a battery‐type cathode and capacitive anode have recently become a research hotspot. Nevertheless, the low capacity utilization, poor kinetic behavior, and unstable structure of a single battery‐type oxide cathode restrict the overall performance of the device. Herein, the carbon quantum dots (CQDs) modified NiO/Co3O4 heterostructured flower‐like microspheres are constructed, and enhanced specific capacity, rate capability, and cycling performance are achieved when used as the cathode for HSCs. This is attributed to the fact that the modification of bifunctional CQDs as size regulators and conductive agents and the construction of heterostructure can not only improve the specific surface area and provide more electroactive sites, thereby enhancing the charge storage performance but also regulate the electronic structure and boost the interface charge transfer capability and electronic conductivity, thereby boosting the reaction kinetics and cycle stability. The enhanced electrochemical kinetic behavior is revealed by electrochemical kinetic analyses based on cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests and density functional theory calculations. Meanwhile, the electrochemical reaction process and energy storage mechanism are illustrated by ex‐situ X‐ray diffraction and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations. Furthermore, an HSC is further constructed using the CQDs/NiO/Co3O4 heterostructured flower‐like microspheres as the cathode, simultaneously achieving high energy density (40.9 Wh kg−1), high power density (24 kW kg−1), and splendid cyclic stability (94.2% capacity retention after 5000 cycles at 10 A g−1). These synergistic modification strategies of bifunctional CQDs modification and heterostructure design provide a valuable direction for the design and development of HSCs with both high energy density and high power density.

Quadrant Roadway Intersections: Tradeoffs between Control Delay Savings and Extra Travel Time

A quadrant roadway intersection (QRI) reduces congestion relative to a four-phase intersection. (Note: this study relates to traffic systems where vehicles drive on the right-hand side of the road.) It does this by removing left-turn traffic from the main intersection, resulting in a two-phase signal. Nevertheless, there is a lack of clear understanding of the tradeoffs between savings in control delay versus extra travel time experienced by the rerouted movements. This research compared the operational performance of five QRI designs with the counterpart conventional intersection (CI) under various traffic demand scenarios via TransModeler microsimulation modeling. Three measures-of-effectiveness (MOEs) were employed: time-in-system (TIS), control delay, and intersection capacity utilization. Simulation results show that all QRI designs outperform CI design for all three MOEs under all demand scenarios. QRIs with direct left-turn design have a smaller average TIS than those with loop left-turn design, indicating that savings in control delays did not offset the extra travel times. Under a relatively low demand condition, a single QRI design can generally balance the tradeoffs between control delay and extra travel time. Under a high demand scenario, a dual or full QRI with direct left-turns is preferred, since it reroutes or partially reroutes left- and right-turn traffic to secondary intersections, thus the main intersection has a lower capacity utilization and can accommodate more through-traffic demands than CI, single QRI, and dual or full QRIs with loop left-turns.

Spatial and temporal fishery management assessment using DEA: Case study of spanner crabs in Queensland, Australia

The aim of this case study was to assess potential temporal and spatial differences in productivity measures of vessels operating in the Queensland spanner crab fishery. This fishery’s logbook records of catch and effort data allowed analysis of the impact of fishery management changes on productivity measures. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) with a ‘window analysis’ approach was used to derive estimates for measures of technical efficiency, capacity utilisation and scale efficiency over time for five different spanner crab fishing regions. The results suggest that average technical efficiency and capacity utilisation were relatively low over time and across fishing regions, implying a high level of technical inefficiency and the existence of excess capacity in the fishery. Scale efficiency was found to be high historically but decreased slightly since 2006 for all regions. The results suggest that this decline is likely not caused by the fishery management changes, but instead is due to other factors. Additional data (e.g., revenue, profit, costs, skipper experience) and analysis is needed to assess the causes for the low technical efficiency and capacity utilisation and reasons for the decrease in scale efficiency as a baseline for specific fishery management recommendations. The study shows that temporal and spatial efficiency and productivity analysis of fisheries can help identify potential issues that are not otherwise apparent.

An InSitu Fabricated Graphene/Bipolar Polymer Hybrid Material Delivers Ultralong Cycle Life over 15000 Cycles as a High-Performance Electrode Material.

Organic electrode materials are promising for the future energy storage systems owing to their tunable structures, abundant resources, and environmental friendliness. Many advanced lithium-ion batteries with organic electrodes have been developed and show excellent performance. However, developing organic materials with overall superior performance still faces great challenges, such as low capacity, poor stability, inferior conductivity, and low utilization of active sites. To address these issues, a bipolar polymer (Fc-DAB) is designed and further polymerized insitu with three-dimensional graphene (3DG), offering a hybrid material (Fc-DAB@3DG) with a variety of merits. Fc-DAB possesses stable polymer backbone and multiple redox-active sites that can improve stability and capacity simultaneously. The embedded highly conductive 3DG network endows Fc-DAB@3DG with stable conductive framework, large surface area, and porous morphology all together, so the fast diffusion of ions/electrons can be achieved, leading to high utilization of active sites and enhanced electrochemical performance. As a result, Fc-DAB@3DG cathode delivers capacity of ≈260mAhg-1 at 25mAg-1 , ultra-long cycle life over 15000 cycles at 2000mAg-1 with retention of 99.999% per cycle, and remarkable rate performance. The quasi-solid Li-metal battery and full cell fabricated using this material also exhibit superior electrochemical performance.

Impact of Individual Cell Parameter Difference on the Performance of Series-Parallel Battery Packs.

Lithium-ion power batteries are used in groups of series-parallel configurations. There are Ohmic resistance discrepancies, capacity disparities, and polarization differences between individual cells during discharge, preventing a single cell from reaching the lower limit of the terminal voltage simultaneously, resulting in low capacity and energy utilization. The effect of the parameter difference (difference in parameters) of individual cells on the performance of the series-parallel battery pack is simulated and analyzed by grouping cells with different parameters. The findings reveal that when cells are connected in series, the capacity difference is a significant factor impacting the battery pack's energy index, and the capacity difference and Ohmic resistance difference are significant variables affecting the battery pack's power index. When cells are connected in parallel, the difference in Ohmic internal resistance between them causes branch current imbalance, low energy utilization in some individual cells, and a sharp expansion of unbalanced current at the end of discharge, which is prone to overdischarge and shortens battery life. Interestingly, we found that when there is an aging cell in a series-parallel battery pack, the terminal voltage of the single battery module containing the aging single cell will decrease sharply at the end of discharge. Evaluating the change rate of battery module terminal voltage at the end of discharge can be used as a method to evaluate the aging degree of the battery module. The research results provide a reference for connecting batteries to battery packs, particularly the screening of retired power battery packs and the way to reconnect into battery packs.

The effect of time-varying capacity utilization on 14-day in-hospital mortality: a retrospective longitudinal study in Swiss general hospitals

BackgroundHigh bed-occupancy (capacity utilization) rates are commonly thought to increase in-hospital mortality; however, little evidence supports a causal relationship between the two. This observational study aimed to assess three time-varying covariates—capacity utilization, patient turnover and clinical complexity level— and to estimate causal effect of time-varying high capacity utilization on 14 day in-hospital mortality.MethodsThis retrospective population-based analysis was based on routine administrative data (n = 1,152,506 inpatient cases) of 102 Swiss general hospitals. Considering the longitudinal nature of the problem from available literature and expert knowledge, we represented the underlying data generating mechanism as a directed acyclic graph. To adjust for patient turnover and patient clinical complexity levels as time-varying confounders, we fitted a marginal structure model (MSM) that used inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs) for high and low capacity utilization. We also adjusted for patient age and sex, weekdays-vs-weekend, comorbidity weight, and hospital type.ResultsFor each participating hospital, our analyses evaluated the ≥85th percentile as a threshold for high capacity utilization for the higher risk of mortality. The mean bed-occupancy threshold was 83.1% (SD 8.6) across hospitals and ranged from 42.1 to 95.9% between hospitals. For each additional day of exposure to high capacity utilization, our MSM incorporating IPTWs showed a 2% increase in the odds of 14-day in-hospital mortality (OR 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.03).ConclusionsExposure to high capacity utilization increases the mortality risk of inpatients. Accurate monitoring of capacity utilization and flexible human resource planning are key strategies for hospitals to lower the exposure to high capacity utilization.

A Stochastic Queueing Model for the Pricing of Time-Sensitive Services in the Demand-Sharing Alliance

The medical alliance has developed rapidly in recent years. This kind of alliance established by multiple hospitals can alleviate the imbalance of medical resources. We investigate the benefit of demand sharing between a hospital with large demand (HD) and another hospital with large supply (HS). Two hospitals are modeled as queueing systems with finite service rates. Both hospitals set prices to maximize the revenues by serving their time-sensitive patients. We adopt a cooperative game theoretic framework to determine when demand sharing is beneficial. We also propose an optimal allocation of this benefit through a commission fee, which makes the alliance stable. We find that demand sharing may not be beneficial even if HS has a low capacity utilization. Demand sharing becomes beneficial for both hospitals only when the idle service capacity of HS exceeds a threshold, which depends on the potential demand rate of the HS and the unit waiting cost of hospitals. Furthermore, if the idle service capacity of HS is smaller than another threshold, which depends on the potential demand of the two hospitals and the service capacity of HD, then the benefit of demand sharing will be independent of the service capacity and potential demand of HD. We also examine the effect of system parameters on revenue gains due to demand sharing.

Molecular Designs to Achieve High-Rate and Ultra-Stable Organic Electrode Materials for Future Sustainable Batteries

Organic electrode materials (OEMs) are recently drawing much attention as a promising alternative to conventional transition metal oxide electrodes due to their many advantages, including abundance, sustainability, bio-compatibility, low cost, and easy tunability.[1] Most importantly, the flexible nature of organic materials due to loosely packed intermolecular structures allows fast diffusion for charge-carrying ions, which is essential for the high-rate performance of electrode materials. However, in practice, most OEMs still suffer from slow rate capability and low capacity utilization due to their electrically insulating nature. In a typical battery, the rate capability of an electrode is determined by the kinetic factors for the following three steps during the charge/discharge processes: i) redox reaction of active materials, ii) electron conduction through the active materials and the conductive carbon additives to the current collector, iii) and ion diffusion inside the active materials.[2] Previously, most studies have focused on improving the electrical conductivity of OEMs to achieve high-rate capability; however, such attempts typically sacrificed their specific capacity and/or cycle stability. Here, we present novel molecular design strategies to achieve high-rate capability of OEMs without deterioration of their specific capacity and cycle stability. First, we recently proposed that a small structural reorganization of the redox center during the redox reaction would be a key to achieving fast rate capability in OEMs for the first time.[3] We revealed that a novel p-type redox center phenoxazine (PXZ) had faster redox kinetics than its widely used analogue phenothiazine (PTZ) due to negligibly smaller structural changes, which was evidenced by theoretical calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) method and experimental measurements. In practical coin-cells, such low reorganization of the PXZ center led to high-rate performance (73% capacity retention at 20C) of a PXZ trimer electrode material (3PXZ) with a narrow voltage plateau at 3.7 V vs. Li/Li+. Then, in this presentation, we introduce our new OEMs bearing n-type redox centers with low reorganization energy, including tetrazine (Tz)[4-6] and thieno-isoindigo (TIIG).[7] The new OEMs showed superior rate capability (> 50% capacity retention at 50C) and high cycle stability (> 80% capacity retention after 500 cycles). Finally, we present novel OEMs spontaneously forming various nanostructures via self-assembly after fabricating electrodes.[8] The high surface area of the nanostructured OEMs provided fast electron transfer from the insulating active materials to the conductive carbons and easy access of the charge-carrying ions to the active materials, leading to ultrafast rate performance (> 50% capacity retention at 100C) even with high active content more than 70 wt% in the electrode.

Stability of FeF3-Based Sodium-Ion Batteries in Nonflammable Ionic Liquid Electrolytes at Room and Elevated Temperatures.

Iron trifluoride (FeF3), a conversion-type cathode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), is based on cheap and abundant Fe and provides high theoretical capacity. However, the applications of FeF3-based SIBs have been hindered by their low-capacity utilization and poor cycling stability. Herein, we report greatly enhanced performance of FeF3 in multiple types of ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes at both room temperature (RT) and elevated temperatures. The Pyr1,4FSI electrolyte demonstrated the best cycling stability with an unprecedented decay rate of only ∼0.023% per cycle after the initial stabilization and an average coulombic efficiency of ∼99.5% for over 1000 cycles at RT. The Pyr1,3FSI electrolyte demonstrated the best cycling stability with a capacity decay rate of only ∼0.25% per cycle at 60 °C. Cells using Pyr1,3FSI and EMIMFSI electrolytes also showed promising cycling stability with capacity decay rates of ∼0.039% and ∼0.030% per cycle over 1000 cycles, respectively. A protective and ionically conductive cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) layer is formed during cycling in ILs, diminishing side reactions that commonly lead to gassing and excessive CEI growth in organic electrolytes, especially at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the increased ionic conductivity and decreased viscosity of ILs at elevated temperatures help attain higher accessible capacity. The application of ILs sheds light on designing a protective CEI for its use in stable SIBs.

Exchange Rate Devaluation, Interest Rate Volatility, and Investment Growth: ECOWAS Evidence

There have been concerns raised over the low-capacity utilisation of resources in developing countries. Countries within this cadre tend to have high untapped areas of investment despite existing potentials and the open economy operated. Certain macroeconomic variables and shocks that arise from variance over specified periods may be responsible for changes in investment values. The study aimed at determining effect of exchange rate devaluation and interest rate volatility on investment growth in selected ECOWAS nations. The study made use of secondary data from 1991 to 2020 which were obtained from publications of the United Nations, IMF and World Bank. Panel Unit root and panel co-integration tests were conducted to ascertain stationarity of variables and existence of long-term relationship between variables respectively. The data were found to be stationary at first differencing at the most. Long term relationship was found among study variables. We estimated the Structural Vector Auto Regressive (SVAR) model in order to identify the influence of policy shocks in exchange rate devaluation and interest rate volatility. The SVAR results revealed that investment growth responds to shocks from exchange rate devaluation negatively at first, but stabilises over time. For interest rate volatility, investment rate continues to grow but at a diminishing rate over the periods. Investment growth was also found to react largely to its internal shocks from its values in lagged periods. The study recommended among others, that devaluation of currency should be a last resort to salvaging the economy to reduce the inflationary pressure and at least, sustain current living standards.

Effect of paddy drying methods on the performance of rice mills in Bangladesh

Major rice mills of Bangladesh are gradually running out from the paddy processing subsector, a serious concern for national food security. This study investigated the paddy drying methods of 22 rice mills to device a sustainable solution for major rice mills. Weather dependency and high sun drying time (48–96 hours) of paddy are responsible for low capacity utilization of major rice mills. Despite of high demand, appropriate dryer size for major rice mills was still unexplored. Present capacity utilization of major rice mills (27.6%) can be optimized to 72.5% with a 12 ton dryer. Analyzing drying mechanism of recirculating dryers, the study also proposed for a single dryer for both parboiled and aromatic paddy rather than following existing practice. This will make mechanical dryer affordable to major rice mill owners and new investors in this subsector.

Uncovering the overcapacity feature of China's industry and the environmental & health co-benefits from de-capacity

Overcapacity is regarded as an inevitable problem for rapid economic developing countries like China, which also causes serious adverse impacts on the environment and public health. However, few studies have quantified the overcapacity feature and corresponding co-benefit from de-capacity policy. To fill such research gaps, this study constructed a comprehensive assessment model by combining the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model, the GAINS-China (Greenhouse gas - Air pollution Interactions and Synergies) model, and a meta-analysis and health impact assessment module, to measure the capacity utilization rate of 41 industrial sectors in 31 Chinese provinces and forecast the environmental and health co-benefits from de-capacity policy in 2050. Results showed that the capacity utilization rate of China's industry is 64.13% in 2018, which is much lower than the threshold value of 75%, indicating serious overcapacity in China's industry. Capacity utilization rates of light industries are higher (around 70%) than heavy industries (50%–60%), and the capacity utilization rate in East and South-Central China is higher (70%–96%) than West China (below 40%). Under a de-capacity scenario in 2050, China's CO2 and PM2.5 emissions are reduced by 1.05 billion tons (9.6%) and 57.8 kilotons (5.8%), respectively. This reduction in PM2.5 emissions results in a substantial health co-benefit, reducing national premature mortality cases by approximately 792,100 (1.6%). Finally, it is recommended that de-capacity priority be given to industries with low capacity utilization rate, as well as regions with intensive heavy industry or high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, severe air pollution, and dense population.