Excitable biological cells, such as cardiac muscle cells, can exhibit complex patterns of oscillations such as spiking and bursting. Moreover, it is well known that an enhancement in calcium currents may yield certain kind of cardiac arrhythmia, so-called early afterdepolarisations (EADs). The presence of EADs strongly correlates with the onset of dangerous cardiac arrhythmia. In this paper we study mathematically and numerically the dynamics of a cardiac muscle cell with respect to the calcium current by investigating a simplistic system of differential equations. For the study of this phenomena, we use bifurcation theory, numerical bifurcation analysis, geometric singular perturbation theory and computational methods to investigate a nonlinear multiple time scales system. It will turn out that EADs related to an enhanced calcium current are canard⁻induced and that we have to combine these theories to derive a better understanding of the dynamics behind EADs. Moreover, a suitable time... [more]

In order to support the development of early career researchers involved in chemical and biological process/systems engineering, Processes launched the second Travel Awards for Post-doctoral Fellows and Ph. [...]

At the beginning, this article details the manufacturing procedures for varistor materials. Starting from the initial composition of two large series of varistors (those with two additive oxides and those with five additive oxides), there is a major overview of the main stages of the technological process and the equipment used for the production, emphasizing the technological changes that were made. The article continues with the study of the influence of the sintering pressure and the sintering temperature on the electrical properties of the varistor materials made before. There were two experimental series of 7 varistors, one series based on 2 additive oxides and one based on 5 additive oxides. Each varistor of these series was sintered at another temperature, the fundamental purpose being to determine an optimal sintering temperature for each chemical composition. A second activity consisted of manufacturing two more series of varistors with the same chemical composition (2 oxides... [more]

Background—Polymer rapid tooling (PRT) inserts for injection molding (IM) are a cost-effective method for prototyping and low-volume manufacturing. However, PRT inserts lack the robustness of steel inserts, leading to progressive deterioration and failure. This causes quality issues and reduced part numbers. Approach—Case studies were performed on PRT inserts, and different failures were observed over the life of the tool. Parts molded from the tool were examined to further understand the failures, and root causes were identified. Findings—Critical parameters affecting the tool life, and the effect of these parameters on different areas of tool are identified. A categorization of the different failure modes and the underlying mechanisms are presented. The main failure modes are: surface deterioration; surface scalding; avulsion; shear failure; bending failure; edge failure. The failure modes influence each other, and they may be connected in cascade sequences. Originality—The original... [more]

In earlier work (Silva et al., 2016; Soh et al., 2014a; Soh et al., 2015), the supercritical CO₂ transesterification of triolein to methyl-oleate using Nafion solid-acid catalyst and large methanol/triolein molar feed ratios was carried out. Herein, these ratios are adjusted (from 50⁻550) to evaluate the yield of fatty acid methyl esters in batch laboratory reactors as temperature is varied from 80⁻95 °C and pressure is varied from 8.0⁻9.65 MPa. Also, to better understand the effect of varying these operating parameters, batch reactor simulations using the Soave-Redlich-Kwong Equation of State (RK-ASPEN EOS) in ASPEN PLUS are carried-out. A single-reaction kinetic model is used and phase equilibrium is computed as the reactions proceed. Experimental data are compared with these results.

The Special Issue “Feature Papers for Celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of the Founding of Processes„ represents a landmark for this open access journal covering chemical, biological, materials, pharmaceutical, and environmental systems as well as general computational methods for process and systems engineering. [...]

Understanding the transport behavior of fluid molecules in confined spaces is central to the design of innovative processes involving porous materials and is indispensable to the correlation of process behavior with the material structure and properties typically used for structural characterizations such as pore dimension, surface texture, and tortuosity. [...]

The characteristics of the pore structure and gas migration in soft coalbeds are the premise of evaluating gas discharge in soft coalbeds. To explore the pore structure characteristics of soft coal masses, the No. 5 soft coalbed in the eastern zone of Chenghe Mining Area, was investigated and compared with the No. 5 hard coalbed in the western zone. By using a mercury intrusion method, low-temperature liquid nitrogen adsorption, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the pore structure characteristics of the No. 5 coalbed were explored. Moreover, based on fractal theory, the pore structure of coal was characterized. The results showed the pores in soft coal mainly appeared as small pores and micropores in which the small pores accounted for nearly half of the total pore volume. Mesopores and macropores were also distributed throughout the soft coal. The mercury-injection and mercury-ejection curves of soft coal showed significant hysteresis loops, implying that pores in coal samples w... [more]

With the advent of effective immunotherapies to battle cancers and diseases, an obstacle in recovery has become the potential side effects, specifically cytokine release syndrome (CRS). As there is little quantitative understanding of risks for developing CRS and the degree of its severity, this work explored a model-based approach to produce a library of in silico patients through sensitivity analysis of cytokine interaction parameters and a Monte Carlo sampling. The objective of producing the in silico patients was to correlate a known grading system of cytokine release syndrome severity and thus design a new formula for grading CRS. Using our CRS grading system as the foundation, this work produced not only a formula which related the in silico patient data to the different grades, but we effectively demonstrated a selective approach to reduce the grade of CRS with sequential cytokine inhibition targets. We achieved the reduction of grades by applying the insight from the sensitivit... [more]

The primary frequency modulation (PFM) performance of a power control system (PCS) is an important factor affecting the security and stability of a power grid. The traditional control method is proportional integral (PI) control. In order to improve its dynamic control performance, a control method based on the combination of internal model control (IMC) and PI is proposed. Using the method of theoretical assessment and system identification, a simple simulated model of the typical PCS is established. According to the principle of system identification and the least square estimation (LSE) algorithm, the mathematical models of a generator and a built-in model are established. According to the four dynamic performance indexes, the main and auxiliary assessment index of the PCS are defined, and the benchmark and the result of the performance assessment are given. According to three different structures, the PFM dynamic performance of the PCS is analyzed separately. According to the dynam... [more]

The need to transition to more sustainable and renewable technology has resulted in a focus on cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and nanocrystals (CNCs) as one of the materials of the future with potential for replacing currently used synthetic materials. Its abundance and bio-derived source make it attractive and sought after as well. CNFs and CNCs are naturally hydrophilic due to the abundance of -OH group on their surface which makes them an excellent recipient for applications in the medical industry. However, the hydrophilicity is a deterrent to many other industries, subsequently limiting their application scope. In either light, the increased rate of progress using CNCs in advanced materials applications are well underway and is becoming applicable on an industrial scale. Therefore, this review explores the current modification platforms and processes of nanocellulose directly as functional materials and as carriers/substrates of other functional materials for advanced materials appl... [more]

Mixing is considered as a critical process parameter (CPP) during process development due to its significant influence on reaction selectivity and process safety. Nevertheless, mixing issues are difficult to identify and solve owing to their complexity and dependence on knowledge of kinetics and hydrodynamics. In this paper, we proposed an optimization methodology using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based compartmental modelling to improve mixing and reaction selectivity. More importantly, we have demonstrated that through the implementation of surrogate-based optimization, the proposed methodology can be used as a computationally non-intensive way for rapid process development of reaction unit operations. For illustration purpose, reaction selectivity of a process with Bourne competitive reaction network is discussed. Results demonstrate that we can improve reaction selectivity by dynamically controlling rates and locations of feeding in the reactor. The proposed methodology inco... [more]

The modal injection mechanism ensures the exponential convergence of an observer in a continuous tubular reactor in dependence with the system parameters, the sensor location, and the observer gains. In this paper, it is shown that by simple considerations in the boundary conditions, the observer convergence is improved regardless of the presence of perturbations, the sensor locations acquire a meaningful physical meaning, and by simple numerical manipulations, the perturbations in the inflow can be numerically estimated.

Trailing oil is the tail section of contamination in oil pipelines. It is generated in batch transportation, for which one fluid, such as diesel oil follows another fluid, such as gasoline, and it has an effect on the quality of oil. This paper describes our analysis of the formation mechanism of trailing oil in pipelines and our study of the influence of dead-legs on the formation of trailing oil. We found that the oil replacement rate in a dead-leg is exponentially related to the flow speed, and the length of the dead-leg is exponentially related to the replacement time of the oil. To reduce the amount of mixed oil, the main flow speed should be kept at about 1.6 m/s, and the length of the dead-leg should be less than five times the diameter of the main pipe. In our work, the Reynolds time-averaged method is used to simulate turbulence. To obtain contamination-related experimental data, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is used to simulate different flow rates and bypass le... [more]

Electric energy sources are the foundation for supporting for the industrialization and modernization; however, the processes of electricity generation increase CO₂ emissions. This study integrates the Holt⁻Winters model in number cruncher statistical system (NCSS) to estimate the forecasting data and the undesirable model in data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate the efficiency of electricity production in 14 countries all over the world from past to future. The Holt⁻Winters model is utilized to estimate the future; then, the actual and forecasting data are applied into the undesirable model to compute the performance. From the principle of an undesirable model, the study determines the input and output factors as follows nonrenewable and renewable fuels (inputs), electricity generation (desirable output), and CO₂ emissions (undesirable output). The empirical results exhibit efficient/inefficient terms over the period from 2011⁻2021 while converting these fuels into electricity... [more]

The consolidation process of soil stratum is a common issue in geotechnical engineering. In this paper, the two-dimensional (2D) plane strain consolidation process of unsaturated soil was studied by incorporating vertical impeded drainage boundaries. The eigenfunction expansion and Laplace transform techniques were adopted to transform the partial differential equations for both the air and water phases into two ordinary equations, which can be easily solved. Then, the semi-analytical solutions for the excess pore-pressures and the soil layer settlement were derived in the Laplace domain. The final results in the time domain could be computed by performing the numerical inversion of Laplace transform. Furthermore, two comparisons were presented to verify the accuracy of the proposed semi-analytical solutions. It was found that the semi-analytical solution agreed well with the finite difference solution and the previous analytical solution from the literature. Finally, the 2D plane stra... [more]

In this study, a control strategy is aimed to ensure the settling time of a 2nd order system’s output value while its input reference value is changed. Here, Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network (FFANN) nonlinear structure has been chosen as a control algorithm. In order to implement the intended control strategy, FFANN’s normalization coefficient (K), learning coefficients (ŋ), momentum coefficients (μ) and the sampling time (Ts) were optimized by Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) but FFANN’s values of weights were chosen arbitrary on start time of control system. After optimization phase, the FFANN behaves as an adaptive optimal discrete time non-linear controller that forces the system output to take the same value with the input reference for a desired settling time (ts). The success of the optimization algorithm was proved with close loop feedback control simulations on Matlab’s Simulink platform based on 2nd order transfer functions. Also, the success was proved with a 2nd order phys... [more]

Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO₂) Brayton cycles (BC) are promising alternatives for power generation. Many variants of S-CO₂ BC have already been studied to make this technology economically more viable and efficient. In comparison to other BC and Rankine cycles, S-CO₂ BC is less complex and more compact, which may reduce the overall plant size, maintenance, and the cost of operation and installation. In this paper, we consider one of the configurations of S-CO₂ BC called the recompression Brayton cycle with partial cooling (RBC-PC) to which some modifications are suggested with an aim to improve the overall cycle’s thermal efficiency. The type of heat source is not considered in this study; thus, any heat source may be considered that is capable of supplying temperature to the S-CO₂ in the range from 500 °C to 850 °C, like solar heaters, or nuclear and gas turbine waste heat. The commercial software Aspen HYSYS V9 (Aspen Technology, Inc., Bedford, MA, USA) is used for simulations.... [more]

The problem of shaft instability has always been a major difficulty in deep mining practices. The shaft fracture has a high probability of being located near the aquifers and the soft⁻hard rock contact zone. This paper describes the deformation and stress characteristics of surrounding rock and the shaft lining under the interactive geological conditions under soft and hard rock strata in Anju coal mine, Shandong Province, China. Using the Method of Geological Strength Index (GSI ) and considering the rock-softening characteristics of water, the parameters of rock mass are calibrated. By means of the 3DEC-trigon method, the variation characteristics of surrounding rock and the shaft lining are simulated. After shaft excavation, under the condition of no support, shear failure and tensile failure occur in shallow surrounding rock shafts, and a pressure relief zone is formed. Shear failure is the main destruction mode in deep surrounding rock. Because of the different strengths of the su... [more]

The effect of natural antibiotics Moringa oleifera seeds powder in cellulose acetate membranes as biofouling reducer agent was investigated. Mixed matrix membranes (MMM) were synthesized by adding 100 mesh M. oleifera seeds powder with variation of three concentrations (1 wt%, 2 wt%, and 3 wt%), into a mix polymer solution of CA (cellulose acetate) and two different solvents, i.e., DMF (dimethylformamide) and DMAc (dimethylacetamide). The synthesized membranes morphology was observed under scanning electron microscopy and from the images can be seen that the membranes made of DMAc formed rather large macrovoid as compared to DMF-based membranes. The microstructure affected the water flux through the membranes, in which the DMAc membranes provided a higher flux value and served as high-throughput microfiltration membranes. Antibacterial properties of MMM were tested using Escherichia coli adhesion onto membrane surfaces. The results showed that M. oleifera has been proven to eradicate E... [more]

Over the past three decades, mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), comprising an inorganic filler phase embedded in a polymer matrix, have emerged as a promising alternative to overcome limitations of conventional polymer and inorganic membranes. However, while much effort has been devoted to MMMs in practice, their modeling is largely based on early theories for transport in composites. These theories consider uniform transport properties and driving force, and thus models for the permeability in MMMs often perform unsatisfactorily when compared to experimental permeation data. In this work, we review existing theories for permeation in MMMs and discuss their fundamental assumptions and limitations with the aim of providing future directions permitting new models to consider realistic MMM operating conditions. Furthermore, we compare predictions of popular permeation models against available experimental and simulation-based permeation data, and discuss the suitability of these models for pr... [more]

Transversely isotropic rocks are commonly encountered in rock engineering practices, and their strength and failure behavior is often governed by the property of anisotropy. The particle flow modeling method was utilized to investigate the failure mechanism of transversely isotropic rocks subject to uniaxial compressive loading. The details for establishing transversely isotropic rock models were first presented, and then a parametric study was carried out to look into the effect of interface properties on the failure mode and strength of transversely isotropic rock models by varying the interface dip angle. The smooth joint model was incorporated to create interfaces for the completeness of establishing transversely isotropic rock models with the particle flow modeling method. Accordingly, three failure modes observed in transversely isotropic rock models with varying dip angles were tensile failure across interfaces, shear failure along interfaces, and tensile failure along interface... [more]

The large-scale production and usage of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) may lead to their post-release into the aquatic environment. In this study, the effect of hydrophobic/hydrophilic organic ligands on sorption and sedimentation of ZnO NPs has been systematically investigated. In addition, the coagulation efficiency of ZnO NPs, Zn2+, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and UV254 with varying ferric chloride (FC) dosages in synthetic waters were also evaluated. The results showed that the higher concentration of organic ligands, i.e., humic acid (HA), salicylic acid (SA), and L-cysteine (L-cys) reduced the ζ-potential and hydrodynamic diameter (HDD) of particles, which enhanced the NPs stability. The adsorption of organic ligands onto ZnO NPs was fitted with the Langmuir model, with maximum adsorption capacities of 143, 40.47, and 66.05 mg/g for HA, SA and L-cys respectively. Removal of up to 95% of ZnO NPs and Zn2+ was achieved in studied waters at the effective coagulation zone (ECR... [more]

Owing to the pollution free nature, higher efficiency and noise free operation, fuel cells have been identified as ideal energy sources for the future. To avoid direct storage of hydrogen due to safety considerations, storing hydrocarbon fuel such as methane and suitably reforming in situ for hydrogen production offers merit for further investigation. Separating the resulting hydrogen in the reformate using membrane separation can directly feed pure gas to the anode side of fuel cell for power generation. Despite the numerous works reported in literature on the dynamic and steady state modeling and analysis of reformers, membrane separation units and fuel cell systems, there has been limited work on an analysis of the integrated system consisting of all the three components. This study focuses on the mathematical modeling and analysis of the integrated reformer, membrane, fuel cell system from first principles in a dynamic framework. A multi loop control strategy is developed and imple... [more]

The widespread raising of swine in farms becomes a serious problem in terms of the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). This study aims to measure concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane, which account for the largest percentage of carbon emissions, to temporally estimate the carbon emitted during the pig-manure composting process. The research subject was a farmhouse raising 3000 growing pigs and 100 mother pigs. The capacity of the composting facility for pig manure treatment was 330 m², and the daily treatment was about 6 tons. After the pig manure discharged from the pig farm was delivered to the composting facility, for the 8 days including 6 before mixing and 2 after mixing, the concentrations of CO₂ and CH₄ were measured. The result shows that the CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations in the composting facility were 1208 ± 385 ppm and 95 ± 10 ppm, respectively. In the comparison of concentrations before and after mixing at the composting facility, the values of both CO₂... [more]