In nature bio-composites such as nacre show remarkable mechanical properties due to their complex hierarchical structure and high-volume fraction of its hard component. These composites are highly interesting for structural applications in different branches of industries for mechanical engineering and process technology. The aim of this work was to provide a scalable method for the production of highly filled composites by mimicking the structure of bio-composites. Therefore, composites from iron oxide (Fe2O3) and SBC-polymer (styrene-butadiene block copolymer) were fabricated by using a miniaturized spouted bed with an innovative fluidization gap design. Small iron oxide particles (25−45 μm) were fluidized in the spouted bed and coated with a polymer solution via a bottom spray nozzle. Afterwards the coated granules were hot-pressed and the mechanical properties of the obtained composites were tested. By this method composites with a bending strength of up to 6 MPa were fabricated. A... [more]

In mammalian cell culture, especially in pharmaceutical manufacturing, pH is a critical process parameter that has to be controlled as accurately as possible. Not only does pH directly affect cell culture performance, ensuring a comparable pH is also crucial for scaling and transfer of processes. A sample-based offline pH measurement is commonly used to ensure correct bioreactor pH probe signals after sterilization and as a detection measure for drifts of probe signals. However, the sample-based pH offline measurement does not necessarily deliver required accuracy. Offsets between bioreactor pH and sample pH heavily depend on equipment, local procedures and the offline measurement method that is used. This article adequately describes a novel, non-invasive method to determine pH and pCO2 in sterile bioreactors without the need to sample and measure offline. This method utilizes the chemical correlation between carbon dioxide in the gas phase, dissolved carbon dioxide, bicarbonate and d... [more]

To predict the natural gas hydrate formation conditions quickly and accurately, a novel hybrid genetic algorithm−support vector machine (GA-SVM) model was developed. The input variables of the model are the relative molecular weight of the natural gas (M) and the hydrate formation pressure (P). The output variable is the hydrate formation temperature (T). Among 10 gas samples, 457 of 688 data points were used for training to identify the optimal support vector machine (SVM) model structure. The remaining 231 data points were used to evaluate the generalisation capability of the best trained SVM model. Comparisons with nine other models and analysis of the outlier detection revealed that the GA-SVM model had the smallest average absolute relative deviation (0.04%). Additionally, the proposed GA-SVM model had the smallest amount of outlier data and the best stability in predicting the gas hydrate formation conditions in the gas relative molecular weight range of 15.64−28.97 g/mol and the... [more]

During the development of innovative products, consumer preferences are the essential factors for yogurt producers to improve their market share. A high-performance prediction method will be beneficial to understand the intrinsic relevance between preferences and sensory attributes. In this study, a novel deep learning method is proposed that uses an autoencoder to extract product features from the sensory attributes scored by experts, and the sensory features acquired are regressed on consumer preferences with support vector machine analysis. Model performance analysis, hedonic contour mapping, and feature clustering were implemented to validate the overall learning process. The results showed that the deep learning model can vouch an acceptable level of accuracy, and the hedonic mapping reflected could supply a great help for producers’ product design or modification. Finally, hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that for all three brands of yogurts, low temperature (4 °C) stora... [more]

To analyze the water/polymer co-flooding seepage law in offshore oilfields, we took the Jinzhou 9-3 oilfield as an example, analyzed the dynamic characteristics of water/polymer co-flooding, and then applied streamline simulation and tracer simulation technology to obtain the water/polymer co-flooding seepage law. The interference degree of the water/polymer co-flooding was quantified, and the accuracy of the seepage law was tested. Finally, a reasonable polymer injection volume was obtained using the economic law. The results demonstrated that the water-cut of the Jinzhou 9-3 oilfield in the water/polymer co-flooding stage was high, the annual decrease of polymer store ratio increased by 2.02 times, and the swept area of polymer was limited to some extent. Mutual interference existed in the water/polymer flooding, and the oil increment of per ton polymer decreased by 36.5%. In the late stage of the water/polymer co-flooding, the utilization rate of water and polymer was low, and the p... [more]

The aim of the study was to determine the use of digestate from anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater as a culture medium for microalgae to obtain bio-oil. The experiments were conducted at a small scale in a closed raceway pond. The efficiency of the microalgae biomass production, the digestate treatment efficiency as well as the content and properties of the bio-oil obtained from the microalgal cells were analyzed. The produced biomass concentration was about 3000 ± 10.5 mg dry biomass/L, with an average growth rate of 160 ± 6.6 mgdm/L·d. The efficiency of organic compound and nutrient removal was above 90%. The bio-oil content in the biomass was about 20%. Based on the results of the study, a concept for technical-scale technology was developed.

In this paper, the most important methods of thermal conversion of biomass, such as: hydrothermal carbonization (180−250 °C), torrefaction (200−300 °C), slow pyrolysis (carbonization) (300−450 °C), fast pyrolysis (500−800 °C), gasification (800−1000 °C), supercritical steam gasification, high temperature steam gasification (>1000 °C) and combustion, were gathered, compared and ranked according to increasing temperature. A comprehensive model of thermal conversion as a function of temperature, pressure and heating rate of biomass has been provided. For the most important, basic process, which is pyrolysis, five mechanisms of thermal decomposition kinetics of its components (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose) were presented. The most important apparatuses and implementing devices have been provided for all biomass conversion methods excluding combustion. The process of combustion, which is energy recycling, was omitted in this review of biomass thermal conversion methods for two reasons.... [more]

Calculating adequate vehicle routes for collecting municipal waste is still an unsolved issue, even though many solutions for this process can be found in the literature. A gap still exists between academics and practitioners in the field. One of the apparent reasons why this rift exists is that academic tools often are not easy to handle and maintain by actual users. In this work, the problem of municipal waste collection is modeled using a simple but efficient and especially easy to maintain solution. Real data have been used, and it has been solved using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). Computations have been done in two different ways: using a complete random initial population, and including a seed in this initial population. In order to guarantee that the solution is efficient, the performance of the genetic algorithm has been compared with another well-performing algorithm, the Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS). Three problems of different sizes have been solved and, in all cases, a s... [more]

Diffusion kinetics is widely acknowledged to dominate gas flow in coal matrix blocks. Knowledge of this topic is important for ongoing coalbed methane recovery and CO2-enhanced coalbed methane production. Because laboratory diffusivity measurements are normally conducted on powdered coals, it is unclear how representative the results are for coalbeds. Investigations into the effects of particle size on gas diffusivity can provide insights into the in situ diffusivity of the coal matrix. This paper presents measured CH4 desorption data in two Chinese anthracites (one brittle, one hard) having different particle sizes, to investigate the effects of particle size on diffusion kinetics. The experimental data were fitted by both the unipore (UP) and bidisperse (BD) models. The BD model agreed better with the measured data than the UP model, especially for the brittle coal. This indicated that the brittle coal was more abundant in macropores than the hard coal. Diffusivity in the hard coal d... [more]

Substrate availability plays a key role in dictating metabolic strategies. Most microorganisms consume carbon/energy sources in a sequential, preferential order. The presented study investigates metabolic strategies of Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius, a thermoacidophilic bacterium that has been shown to co-utilize glucose and xylose, as well as degrade phenolic compounds. An existing metabolic model was expanded to include phenol degradation and was analyzed with both metabolic pathway and constraint-based analysis methods. Elementary flux mode analysis was used in conjunction with resource allocation theory to investigate ecologically optimal metabolic pathways for different carbon substrate combinations. Additionally, a dynamic version of flux balance analysis was used to generate time-resolved simulations of growth on phenol and xylose. Results showed that availability of xylose along with glucose did not predict enhanced growth efficiency beyond that of glucose alone, but did predi... [more]

The article is a contribution to the discussion on the possibilities of effective logistic decisions under the conditions of uncertainty. Variable and unpredictable factors, which create the conditions of uncertainty, not only directly affect logistic processes (positive or negative impact), but can also be a determinant of making decisions. Logistics management, because it is referred to in the context of decision-making, is currently defined by the quality of management decisions taken, including factors which often constitute only partially quantifiable sets. The main goal of the article is to show the strength of the dependence between the occurrence of uncertainty factors and the type of decision. On the basis of decision-making theory, the types of decisions were defined, and then a set of factors that are most important for a given type of decision was selected. The results of the analysis allowed the strength of the influence of uncertainty factors on making logistics decisions... [more]

Olive oil industry is one of the most important industries in the world. Currently, the land devoted to olive-tree cultivation around the world is ca. 11 × 106 ha, which produces more than 20 × 106 t olives per year. Most of these olives are destined to the production of olive oils. The main by-products of the olive oil industry are olive-pruning debris, olive stones and different pomaces. In cultures with traditional and intensive typologies, one single ha of olive grove annually generates more than 5 t of these by-products. The disposal of these by-products in the field can led to environmental problems. Notwithstanding, these by-products (biomasses) have a huge potential as source of energy. The objective of this paper is to comprehensively review the latest advances focused on energy production from olive-pruning debris, olive stones and pomaces, including processes such as combustion, gasification and pyrolysis, and the production of biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel. Futu... [more]

Droplet fission has gained notable interest in drug delivery applications due to its ability to perform parallel operations in single device. Hitherto, droplet flow behavior in a 3D constriction was scarcely investigated. This study aims to investigate droplets fission inside a 3D bi-planar multifurcated microfluidic device. The flow behavior and droplet size distribution were studied in trifurcated microchannels using distilled water as dispersed phase (1 mPa·s) and olive oil (68 mPa·s) as continuous phase. Various sizes of subordinate daughter droplets were manipulated passively through the modulation of flowrate ratio (Q) (0.15 < Q < 3.33). Overall, we found droplet size coefficient of variations (CV%) ranging from 0.72% to 69%. Highly monodispersed droplets were formed at the upstream T-junction (CV% < 2%) while the droplet fission process was unstable at higher flowrate ratio (Q > 0.4) as they travel downstream (1.5% < CV% < 69%) to splitting junctions. Complex respons... [more]

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the method and temperature of the sublimation, vacuum and convective drying process on the kinetics of dehydration of the Moldovan dragonhead leaves, as well as on the physical and chemical properties, such as color coordinates, total content of phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity, total monomeric anthocyanins content, total flavonoids content and content of essential oils. It was shown that the kinetics of the sublimation and vacuum drying process are best described by the logarithmic and Page models. Sublimation and vacuum drying were characterized by comparable process times. An increase in drying temperature caused a decrease in the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of the dried material and a significant change in the composition of essential oils. The lowest brightness of the dried material and the lowest color saturation was found after sublimation drying at 20 °C. The highest dried material quality wa... [more]

This tutorial and review of multi-objective optimization (MOO) gives a detailed explanation of the 5 steps to create, solve, and then select the optimum result. Unlike single-objective optimization, the fifth step of selection or ranking of solutions is often overlooked by the authors of papers dealing with MOO applications. It is necessary to undertake a multi-criteria analysis to choose the best solution. A review of the recent publications using MOO for chemical process engineering problems shows a doubling of publications between 2016 and 2019. MOO applications in the energy area have seen a steady increase of over 20% annually over the last 10 years. The three key methods for solving MOO problems are presented in detail, and an emerging area of surrogate-assisted MOO is also described. The objectives used in MOO trade off conflicting requirements of a chemical engineering problem; these include fundamental criteria such as reaction yield or selectivity; economics; energy requireme... [more]

(1) Plants, due to their phytochemicals, have long been known for their pharmacological potential and medicinal value. Verjuice, the acidic juice of unripe green grape, is still poorly characterized in terms of its chemical composition and biological activities. (2) In this study, we characterized the chemical composition, antioxidant and antitumor potential of verjuice extract. Folin−Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride reagents were used to identify the total phenol and total flavonoid composition. Various conventional methods were used to quantify the alkaloids and tannins. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay and Neutral Red assay were used to assess the antioxidant and antitumor activities, respectively. (3) We showed that the verjuice extract contains alkaloids, tannins, and a high quantity of total flavonoids and total phenols. Besides its antioxidant activity, verjuice significantly repressed human pulmonary adenocarcinoma (A549) cells’ viability in bot... [more]

Due to the expanding concern on cleaner production and sustainable development aspects, a technology shift is needed for the hydrogen production, which is commonly derived from natural gas. This work aims to synthesise a large-scale bio-hydrogen network in which its feedstock, i.e., bio-methane, is originated from landfill gas and palm oil mill effluent (POME). Landfill gas goes through a biogas upgrader where high-purity bio-methane is produced, while POME is converted to bio-methane using anaerobic digestor (AD). The generated bio-methane is then distributed to the corresponding hydrogen sink (e.g., oil refinery) through pipelines, and subsequently converted into hydrogen via steam methane reforming (SMR) process. In this work, P-graph framework is used to determine a supply network with minimum cost, while ensuring the hydrogen demands are satisfied. Two case studies in the West and East Coasts of Peninsular Malaysia are used to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed model. In C... [more]

Batch ozonation was performed to assess its efficacy as a pretreatment for reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for treating leachate with high concentrations of recalcitrant organic compounds. Leachate samples from two different landfills were collected and characterized. The modified fouling index (MFI) was used to estimate the fouling potential of raw and ozonized leachates. A response surface experimental design was applied to optimize operational pH and ozone dose. The results demonstrate that the best operational conditions are 1.5 g/L of O3 at pH 12.0 and 1.5 g/L of O3 at pH 9.0 for Landfills 1 and 2, which reduce MFI by 96.22% and 94.08%, respectively. Additionally, they show toxicity factor decays of 98.44% for Landfill 1 and 93.75% for Landfill 2. These results, along with the similar behavior shown by leachate samples from distinct landfills, suggest that ozonation is a promising technology to fit this kind of wastewater into the requirements of RO membranes, enabling their use in... [more]

Owing to their peculiar structural characteristics and potential applications in various fields, the ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets, a typical two-dimensional material, have attracted numerous attentions. In this paper, a hybrid strategy with combination of quenching process and liquid-based exfoliation was employed to fabricate the ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets (MoS2 NS). The obtained MoS2 NS still maintained hexagonal phase (2H-MoS2) and exhibited evident thin layer-structure (1−2 layers) with inconspicuous wrinkle. Besides, the MoS2 NS dispersion showed excellent stability (over 60 days) and high concentration (0.65 ± 0.04 mg mL−1). The MoS2 NS dispersion also displayed evident optical properties, with two characteristic peaks at 615 and 670 nm, and could be quantitatively analyzed with the absorbance at 615 nm in the range of 0.01−0.5 mg mL−1. The adsorption experiments showed that the as-prepared MoS2 NS also exhibited remarkable adsorption performance on the dyes (344.8 and 123.5 mg g−1 o... [more]

The aim of this study was preparation of new derivatives based on 2-((4-chlorophenoxy)methyl)-N-(arylcarbamothioyl)benzamide structure; the new compounds were characterized by IR, NMR (1H, 13C) spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The obtained compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against planktonic and biofilm-embedded microbial cells (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans), by qualitative and quantitative assays. Some of the compounds revealed promising antibacterial and antifungal activities, with low minimum inhibitory concentration values between 0.15 and 2.5 mg/mL and minimal biofilm eradication concentrations of 0.019−2.5 mg/mL. To investigate the potential target of their antibacterial activity, in silico drug-likeness and molecular docking screenings on Staphylococcus aureus DNA gyrase were performed. The compound with the best antibacterial activity (1g) was docked into topoisomer... [more]

The catalytic activity of the partial oxidation reforming reaction for hydrogen production over 10% Ni supported on high and low surface area alumina and zirconia was investigated. The reforming reactions, under atmospheric pressure, were performed with a feed molar ratio of CH4/O2 = 2.0. The reaction temperature was set to 450−650 °C. The catalytic activity, stability, and carbon formation were determined via TGA, TPO, Raman, and H2 yield. The catalysts were calcined at 600 and 800 °C. The catalysts were prepared via the wet-impregnation method. Various characterizations were conducted using BET, XRD, TPR, TGA, TPD, TPO, and Raman. The highest methane conversion (90%) and hydrogen yield (72%) were obtained at a 650 °C reaction temperature using Ni-Al-H-600, which also showed the highest stability for the ranges of the reaction temperatures investigated. Indeed, the time-on-stream for 7 h of the Ni-Al-H-600 catalyst displayed high activity and a stable profile when the reaction tempera... [more]

PET/PTT bicomponent filaments yarn is produced by two polymers: the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the polytrimethylene terephtalate (PTT) extruded side by side. This yarn is known for its high mechanical properties in particular elasticity and elastic recovery. However, differences between physical and chemical properties of the two components make the dyeing step of this yarn complicated. The aim of this work is the development of a dyeing process for bicomponent filaments without altering their physical and chemical properties. Different techniques such as SEM, FTIR, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to characterize the studied yarn. For dyeing, three different disperse dyes CI Disperse Red 167.1, CI Disperse Yellow 211, and CI Disperse Red 60 with different energy classes were studied. The influence of dyeing conditions in particular dyeing temperature, pH of dye bath, dyeing time, and carrier concentration in the dye bath was evaluated. Responses analyzed... [more]

Poultry litter is one type of biomass and waste generated from the farming process. This study performed a performance and process analysis of poultry litter to energy using the lab-scale shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) system along with a Stirling engine and a swirling fluidized bed combustor (SFBC). The effects of tube shape, flow direction, and water flow rates on water and trailer temperature changes were investigated during the poultry litter co-combustion process. Energy flow analysis and emissions were also studied. Results showed that the water outlet temperature of 62.8 ° C in the twisted tube was higher than the straight tube case (58.3 ° C ) after 130 min of the co-combustion process. It was found that the counter-current direction had higher water temperature changes, higher logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD), and higher trailer temperature changes than the co-current direction. A water flow rate of 4.54 L/min showed adequate heat absorption... [more]

The purpose of this work is to develop a strategy for the surface modification of Bombyx mori silk fibroin (SF) film, via a thiol-ene click reaction, in order to expand its potential applicability. To achieve this goal, terminal thiol groups, from reduced glutathione, were introduced onto the surface of the SF film via a carbodiimide coupling reaction. These immobilized thiol groups act as robust crosslinkers and allow us to rapidly functionalize the surface with alkene group-containing molecules via ultraviolet (UV) light-initiated thiol-ene click chemistry. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results specifically determined that alkene group-containing molecules and UV illumination are required for the thiol-ene click modification to take place on thiolated SF films. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy characterization of SF films indicated that the β-sheet conformation of SF was hampered throughout the modification process. Furthermore, it was found that the processes for thiol... [more]

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a promising next-generation technology for power production from fossil fuels. Because they convert chemical energy into electricity electrochemically, they are generally more efficient than combustion-based power plants due to the thermodynamic limitations of combustion cycles, and accordingly, have lower carbon intensities [1]. However, one of the main drawbacks of SOFCs (and SOFC stacks) is that they can degrade over time in a variety of ways, including accruing damage to the anode, cathode, interconnects, and other cell or stack components. SOFCs are most commonly used in “constant power” mode, in which the fuel flow rate and current density are increased over time to counteract the degradation effects and yield a constant power output. However, higher flow rates cause the degradation rates to grow even faster, resulting in a lifetime potentially as short as 1.5 years [2].

Recent research has found that by operating in “constant voltage” mode,... [more]