Browsing by Author "Muñoz, Iván"

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    Assessing the integration of solar process heat in the dairy industry: A case study in Chile
    (2024) Fuentes, Francisco; Pailahueque, Nicolás; Muñoz, Iván; Escobar Moragas, Rodrigo Alfonso; Cardemil Iglesias, José Miguel
    Solar heat for industrial processes (SHIP) in the dairy industry has attracted considerable interest during the last few years. The present study assesses the use of solar heat in dairy factories applying Ultra High Temperature pasteurization, using three locations in Chilean central and southern regions as case studies. The analysis utilizes numerical simulations considering annual energy performance, economic feasibility, size of thermal energy storage (TES), and the economic competitiveness for four different solar thermal collector technologies: Flat Plate Collector (FPC), Evacuated Tube Collector, Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), and Linear Fresnel Reflector. The numerical simulations were conducted using the TRNSYS software for varying meteorological parameters and hourly heat load profile. The integration scheme selected for the implementation of the SHIP systems considers supply level to reheat the boiler's feedwater. The results show that the minimum levelized cost of heat ranges between 78 USD/MWh - 79 USD/MWh, with FPC and PTC showing the lower values. For all the companies analyzed, the minimums values of LCoH were observed when considering specific storage volumes between 75 l/m2-120 l/m2, 2 - 120 l/m 2 , indicating a strong relationship between solar resource availability and financial performance.
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    Real-world outcomes of Finerenone in Primary Aldosteronism
    (2025) Uslar, Thomas; Sanfuentes, Benjamín; Muñoz, Iván; Anand Vaidya; Baudrand Biggs, René
    Primary aldosteronism (PA) treatment with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) is effective but limited by side-effects and low potency of currently available options. Finerenone, a novel MRA, has emerged as a promising alternative but data in PA are lacking. This report presents a real-world study wherein PA patients on eplerenone were forced to switch to finerenone therapy during a national shortage. During treatment with finerenone, blood pressure and antihypertensive dose remained unchanged, but the proportion of patients with normal blood pressure and complete biochemical response was decreased (P = .004 and P = .008, respectively). The latter was determined by a reduction in direct renin concentration, a biomarker previously associated with increased cardiovascular risk in PA. Although these results could be explained by finerenone's unique pharmacokinetics and mechanism of action, further studies are needed to evaluate longitudinal outcomes associated with these findings and determine its effectiveness in PA treatment.