The Jiuzhou fault in the Langgu Sag of the Bohai Bay Basin is a significant oil-source fault that connects source rocks and reservoirs, and thus it can transport oil and gas during the hydrocarbon accumulation period. The hydrocarbon distribution characteristics along the strike of the Jiuzhou fault differ distinctly, indicating that the transport capacity in different fault segments is also different. In this study, we focused on analyzing the fault development characteristics to accurately predict the location of favorable hydrocarbon transport pathways on the Jiuzhou fault. We found that the zones superimposed by paleo relay ramps developed before hydrocarbon accumulation, active faulting areas during hydrocarbon accumulation, and transport ridges of the fault are favourable along-fault locations for transporting hydrocarbons. Based on this idea and 3D seismic data, we investigated the distribution of the paleo relay ramps of the Jiuzhou fault and the fault activity rate during hydr... [more]

Ketone compounds are oxidation products of crude oil in the in-situ combustion (ISC) process. Revealing the molecular composition of ketones can provide theoretical guidance for understanding the oxidation process of crude oil and valuable clues for studying the combustion state of crude oil in the reservoir. In this study, low-temperature oxidation (LTO) processes were simulated in thermal oxidation experiments to obtain thermally oxidized oil at different temperatures (170 °C, 220 °C, 270 °C, and 320 °C). A combination of chemical derivatization and positive-ion electrospray (ESI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) was used to analyze the molecular composition of different kinds of ketones (fatty ketones, naphthenic ketones, and aromatic ketones) in the oxidized oils at different temperatures. The results showed that the concentration of aliphatic ketones and aliphatic cyclic ketones in the product oils decreased with the increase in temperature,... [more]

The industrial sector demands 25% of global energy as heat, where one-third is used at temperatures below 150 °C. Nevertheless, the installed solar heating capacity in the industry is only 0.02%, even though the integration of solar heating systems into production processes could significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption at a competitive cost. Among other reasons, this low penetration is due to the final users’ lack of knowledge of solar heating technologies. As a result, a free pre-feasibility assessment tool was developed for non-specialised users to evaluate the possibility of integrating solar heat into their processes using basic information. This tool uses transient simulation to estimate a feasible solar heating system through the parametric optimisation of the solar collection area, thermal storage volume, heat exchange capacity, and solar integration schemes at the supply level and costs. A commercial facility in Mexico was analysed using the developed tool as a case study.... [more]

The utilization of valuable properties of waste and their reuse as raw materials is an imperative of the circular economy. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a significant source of valuable raw materials, certain metals, and rare earth elements that are the basis for highly sophisticated IT equipment production. It is estimated that the production of WEEE in Europe in 2019 was 16.20 kg/inhabitant, while quantities continue to grow at a rate of 3−4% per year. Waste liquid crystal displays used in televisions, laptops, desktops, and other devices represent a significant share of WEEE and contain 0.12−0.14% of liquid crystals whose main ingredient is indium—tin oxide. In order to investigate and determine the methods and conditions of indium recycling from waste LCDs, laboratory research was conducted. The influence of temperature, particle size, and retention time in different media with and without ultrasound treatment was monitored to provide the efficiency of indium... [more]

The discharge of nanoparticles into the environment, such as through industrial plants and municipal wastewater treatment plants, can pose a hazard to aquatic life. This study demonstrates the effective removal of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using a chitosan-based cryogel, which has potential applications in agriculture, as well as in water treatment or in industrial plants that discharge into environmentally sensitive water bodies. The adsorbent is economically viable, has high affinity toward metal nanoparticles, is biodegradable and biocompatible, and displays a good removal of nanoparticles. AgNP adsorption was monitored using UV/Vis spectroscopy and TEM analysis. SEM, nitrogen adsorption, TGA, and FTIR analysis were used for cryogel characterization. The BET model of nitrogen adsorption revealed a specific surface area of 7.7 m2/g for chitosan−glutaraldehyde (CHI−GA) cryogels. The elasticity modulus of the CHI−GA cryogel was estimated as 543 ± 54 kPa. The AgNPs were characterized... [more]

Aiming at the problem that the modeling and solving method of combined heat and power (CHP) unit variable load control process is challenging to meet the demand for efficient analysis of complex systems, this paper proposes a method based on sequential quadratic programming and interior point method (SQP-IPM) alternating solution for dynamic optimization of the CHP unit variable load process. Firstly, by constructing the CHP unit mechanism model, multi-variable coordination control constraints, and output variable process constraints, the dynamic optimization proposition of the CHP unit variable load control process is formed. Then, the large-scale nonlinear programming (NLP) problem formed by using the orthogonal configuration method to discrete the state and control variables is optimally solved using the IPM-SQP alternating solution method. Further, from the perspective of balancing the accuracy of the solution and computational efficiency, the flexible convergence depth control (CD... [more]

Numerical simulation is used to carry out research on the swirl flow transportation of a hydrate in the pipeline under the condition of the whole rotation of the twist tape using DPM (discrete phase modeling) and RNG (renormalization group) k-ε. The influence of different twist tape parameters on the swirl number and concentration distribution of hydrate particles is analyzed. The structure parameters of the twist tape are optimized, based on the swirl efficiency evaluation parameters of a gas-solid two-phase pipeline. Finally, the twist tape is compared with different working conditions: the local rotation of twist tape and an ordinary pipeline. The results show that the areas of a high concentration of particles are near the twist tapes, and the concentration of particles on the leeward side of the twist tapes is higher than that on the windward side. The minimum concentration area at the axial position gradually increases with the increase of the flow distance, and the hydrate parti... [more]

Prolonged development of ore deposits, ore beneficiation and metallurgical smelting of concentrates result in the accumulation of wastes, forming large-scale dumps and sludge ponds negatively affecting the environment and human health. The creation and introduction of industrial waste treatment technologies will make it possible to dispose of them with the production of valuable commercial products and improve the environmental situation. In a research article on chemical beneficiation with the subsequent gravitational beneficiation of chrome-containing slurry tailings of Donskoy Ore-Mining and Beneficiation Plant (DOMBP), which processes chrome ore of the Kempirsay deposit in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Aktobe region, having considerable stocks of such waste is presented. The chromium-containing slurry tailings were heat-treated at 1100 °C, sintered with ammonium sulfate, water and sulfuric acid in a defined ratio at 300 °C, and then the resulting sinter was leached with water at 90 °... [more]

In the process of fracturing construction in shale gas reservoirs, microseism is a common means and effective method to evaluate the fracturing effect, but it is not suitable for large-scale and large batches due to its high applicability conditions and cost. Therefore, a concise, fast and low-cost post-fracturing effect evaluation method is needed to evaluate the complexity of fractures formed by fracturing in shale gas reservoirs. In this paper, based on the basic theory of the G-function, the free variable μ was introduced to correct the filter loss coefficient with the participation of natural fractures, and thousands of G-function curves were plotted with fracturing data from hundreds of gas wells in the southern Fuling shale gas field in China. Through the feature analysis of the curve morphology, a G-function graphic template conforming to the block was established, which contains four types and eight morphologies. Four characteristic parameters in the G-function curve were sele... [more]

Protein structure prediction is one of the important aspects while dealing with critical diseases. An early prediction of protein folding helps in clinical diagnosis. In recent years, applications of metaheuristic algorithms have been substantially increased due to the fact that this problem is computationally complex and time-consuming. Metaheuristics are proven to be an adequate tool for dealing with complex problems with higher computational efficiency than conventional tools. The work presented in this paper is the development and testing of the Ingenious Crow Search Algorithm (ICSA). First, the algorithm is tested on standard mathematical functions with known properties. Then, the application of newly developed ICSA is explored on protein structure prediction. The efficacy of this algorithm is tested on a bench of artificial proteins and real proteins of medium length. The comparative analysis of the optimization performance is carried out with some of the leading variants of the... [more]

A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) inoculated with activated sludge and bioaugmented with a dye-decolorizing yeast strain—Yarrowia lipolytica (HOMOGST27AB) was assembled to form yeast-bioaugmented aerobic granular sludge (AGS). The bioaugmented AGS-SBR was operated for the treatment of synthetic saline wastewater (12 g L−1) intermittently fed with a reactive textile dye (Navy Everzol ED) at 25, 15, and 7.5 mg L−1. Dye degradation did not occur, although some dye adsorbed to the granules. AGS-SBR performance in removing carbon and nitrogen was good and was not affected by the dye addition. Bioaugmentation with the yeast Y. lipolytica (HOMOGST27AB) occurred with success, proved by sequencing samples from granules throughout the reactor operation. The AGS core microbiome gathered essentially microorganisms from the Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla. The microbial profile showed a dynamic microbiome established at Phase I of the operation, with a high decrease in the abundance of Ignavi... [more]

Sodium new houttuyfonate (SNH) is volatile oil extracted from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. Its molecular formula is C14H27O5SNa, and molecular weight is 330.41. It is a new anti-inflammatory drug that has been used clinically over recent years. In this work, the binding interaction simulation study on SNH and epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) was conducted. SNH demonstrated a good binding ability to EGFR-TK and formed hydrogen-bonds with Cys773, Asp776, and Tyr777. This indicated that SNH might play an antitumor role as a potential inhibitor of EGFR-TK. In vitro, after treatment with various doses of SNH for 48 h, the viability of MCF-7 cells was 100.0, 98.23, 83.45, 76.24, 68.53, and 32.24, respectively, accompanied by a concentration increase in SNH. Moreover, cell viability of 250 μg/mL group decreased by more than 30%. Meanwhile, SNH significantly decreased cell cloning ability, and the quantities of clones were 456, 283, 137, and 152 in different groups (0 μg... [more]

The use of multilateral wells is an important method to effectively develop complex oil reservoirs, and wellbore stability research of multilateral wells is of great importance. In the present study, the effects of formation fluids and rock damage were not taken into account by the wellbore stability model. Therefore, finite element analysis (FEA) software was used to establish a three-dimensional (3D) seepage-stress FEA model for the multilateral junctions. The model was used to analyze the wellbore stability of multilateral wells and study influences of wellbore parameters and drilling fluid density on wellbore stability at multilateral junctions. Simulation results show that the wellbore diameter insignificantly affects wellbore stability. When the angle between the main wellbore and branches enlarges to 45°, the equivalent plastic strain decreases by 0.0726, and the wellbores become more stable; when the angle is larger than or equal to 45°, the region prone to wellbore instability... [more]

While heating a seawater spiral shell (Euplica scripta), thermally induced aragonite−calcite (A−C) transformation occurred within the temperature region of multistep thermal dehydration. Here, the kinetic interplay between the A−C transformation and thermal dehydration was studied as a possible cause of the reduction in the A−C transformation temperatures. The kinetics of the A−C transformation was systematically investigated under isothermal conditions by powder X-ray diffractometry and under linear nonisothermal conditions by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermal dehydration was characterized as a partially overlapping, three-step process by thermogravimetry−differential thermal analysis coupled with mass spectroscopy for the evolved gases. The A−C transformation occurred in the temperature range of the final part of the second dehydration step and the initial part of the third dehydration step. The kinetics of A−C transformation and thermal dehydration were characteri... [more]

In this work, an integrated multiscale simulation of magnetron sputtering epitaxy was conducted to study the effect of sputtering pressure on the surface micro-topography of sputtered Cu/Si films. Simulation results indicated that, as the sputtering pressure increased from 0.15 to 2 Pa, the peak energy of the incident energy distribution gradually decreased from 2 to 0.2 eV, which might be mainly due to the gradual decrease in the proportion of deposited Cu atoms whose energy ranged from 2 to 30 eV; the peak angle of the incident polar angle distribution increased from 25° to 35°, which might be attributed to the gradual thermalization of deposited Cu atoms; the growth mode of Cu film transformed from the two-dimensional layered mode to the Volmer-Weber mode. The transformation mechanism of growth mode was analyzed in detail. A comprehensive analysis of the simulation results indicated that incident energy ranging from 2 to 30 eV and incident angle between 10° and 35° might be conduciv... [more]

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) as the major byproduct in the brewing industry is a promising feedstock to produce value-added products such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Synergistic ball mill−enzymatic hydrolysis (BM-EH) process is an environmentally friendly pretreatment method for lignocellulosic materials before bioprocessing. This study investigated the potential of raw and BM-EH pretreated BSG feedstocks to produce VFAs through a direct thermophilic anaerobic fermentation process without introducing a methanogen inhibitor. The highest VFA concentration of over 30 g/L was achieved under the high-solid loading fermentation (HS) of raw BSG. The synergistic BM-EH pretreatment helps to increase the cellulose conversion to 70%. Under conventional low TS fermentation conditions, compared to the controlled sample, prolonged pretreatment of the BSG substrate resulted in increased VFA yields from 0.25 to 0.33 g/gVS, and butyric acid became dominant instead of acetic acid.

The occurrence of hump instability in pump mode within a pump turbine poses a significant challenge to the safe and stable operation of Pumped Storage Power Plants (PSPP). To achieve more precise numerical simulations, this paper establishes a weakly compressible model of water based on the Tait equation. Using this model, it is discovered that the onset of hump instability is closely linked to an increase in hydraulic losses induced by stalled rotation within the diffuser. Then, a flow control approach employing water injection into the guide vanes of a pump turbine is proposed in order to suppress flow instabilities and optimize the hump region. The findings reveal that the water injection approach can mitigate hydraulic losses, suppress unstable structures, and diminish the pulsation amplitude within the diffuser, ultimately delaying the emergence of the hump region to lower flow mass conditions. This study is helpful in widening the range of the safe and stable operation of pump tu... [more]

Hydraulic fracturing was the main technology to achieve the economic development of conglomerate reservoirs, knowing that the hydraulic fracture propagation mode was of great significance for improving the development of conglomerate reservoirs. This paper proposed a new method to understand the hydraulic fracture behavior based on a hybrid finite-discrete element method. The simulation indicated that a complex fracture network was created near the wellbore in the studied conglomerate reservoir, and hydraulic fracture propagation around the gravel layer was the main failure mode when the hydraulic fracture reached the gravel layer. From the simulations, it was shown that under small differences in horizontal stress and tensile strength, the hydraulic fracture propagated more easily around the gravel layer, while it could cross the gravel under large differences in horizontal stress and tensile strength. Greater tensile strength differences can reduce the complexity of the fracture netw... [more]

has several medicinal uses, especially its leaves. Over 4000 years ago, Ayurvedic medicine used it for its therapeutic benefits. This study examined the biological activity of Neem crude extracts and green-chemically produced Ag-NPs. TPCs and TFCs were measured for polyphenolic burden in consecutive extracts. DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP experiments measured antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against seven strains of food-borne pathogenic bacteria and eight mycotoxigenic fungi. At 1000 μg/mL, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Neem leaves had 80.10% and 69.41% in DPPH and 71.42% and 74.61% in ABTS assays for the antioxidant activity, compared to 93.58% for BHT. At 800 μg/mL, both extracts showed antioxidant activity with 57.52 and 57.87 μM in the FRAP assay, compared to 139.97 μM for Ascorbic acid. Both extracts demonstrated antimicrobial activity with 0.02 to 0.35 mg/mL as antibacterials, 0.03 to 2.17 mg/mL as antifungals, and 0.04 to 0.42 mg/mL as antibacterials. Compared to Neem crude ex... [more]

Global situations such as economic recovery after a pandemic, geopolitical instability, and future digital and energy transition are some of the drivers for the European Union (EU) to explore new and existing sources of raw materials. The Iberian Pyrite Belt in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) hosts a great number of tailing deposits from centuries of mining operations. A unique tailings deposit has been studied and characterized. The similarities with other tailing deposits deeply studied suggested the presence of critical raw materials. Furthermore, a very gross reserves estimation was made. The characterization and reserves estimations were compared with the bibliography from mining companies who operated in the area decades ago and from the bibliography available at Fundación Riotinto. The presence of critical raw materials was confirmed, some of them in high concentrations. Moreover, a singular difference was found compared with other similar tailings st... [more]

Organic-rich mud rocks are being developed on a large scale worldwide, including in the Middle East. The Jurassic Tuwaiq Mountain Formation (TMF) in the Jafurah Basin is a potential world-class unconventional play. Based on a petrophysical evaluation of the Jafurah basin, the TMF exhibits exceptional and unconventional gas characteristics, such as a high total organic content (TOC) and low clay content. Additionally, the TMF is in the appropriate maturity window, indicating that it has reached the required level of thermal maturity to generate hydrocarbons. Plans for the development of the Jafurah unconventional field use multistage hydraulic fracturing technology. The elastic properties of the shale formation, particularly its Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, dictate how the rock responds to stress and deformation. These properties strongly impact the growth of hydraulic fractures in shale formations. Without a comprehensive understanding of the elastic properties, predicting the... [more]

A soil depleted of its organic carbon content is typically destabilized, i.e., its capacity to maintain its microstructure intact under various stress conditions weakens, and consequently, landslides and mudflows can be triggered and propagated more easily. In a previous work, we showed with a rheological analysis that the removal of the sole water-soluble organic carbon “destabilized” the slurry very similarly to what occurs with the removal of the vast majority of soil organic carbon. In principle, the water-soluble organic carbon can be dissolved by rainfall, during which water can infiltrate the soil, eventually leaving it either by percolation or evaporation. These two processes are mimicked here with two different soil water wetting procedures. The stability of the treated (wetted) soils is studied with rheological and granulometric experiments. The former run on concentrated suspensions, while the latter run on very diluted ones. Despite this, the results agreed very well, indic... [more]

In this work, the enzymatic synthesis of pentyl acetate obtained from acetic acid and pentan-1-ol using the commercial immobilized lipase Lipozyme®435 was studied. Specifically, the effects of several variables of the process on the kinetics were shown, such as the initial concentration of the acetic acid, the alcohol/acid molar ratio, and the possible reuse of the enzyme, while other variables, such as temperature, agitation, and the enzyme/acid ratio were held constant. The kinetics were determined by assessing the acetic acid concentration throughout the reactive process. Experimental data were correlated with the rate equation consisting of a modified version of the Bi−Bi Ping-Pong mechanism. The results showed that when no hydrophobic solvents were used with the reagents in stoichiometric proportion, a high molar fraction of acetic acid (x0,acid ≈ 0.50) caused the loss of enzymatic activity, achieving a conversion of only 5%. However, when there was an excess of pentan-1-ol, the r... [more]

The conversion of renewable energy into hydrogen (H2) by power-to-gas technologies involving electrolysis is seen today as a key element in the transition to a sustainable energy sector. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) could be integrated into future green H2 networks as users of oxygen (O2) produced alongside H2 in water electrolysis. In WWTPs, O2 is required for biological treatment steps, e.g., in activated sludge (AS) systems. However, the production costs of electrolysis O2 should be competitive with those of conventional O2 production processes. In this study, mathematical models of a polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser (PEME) plant and the WWTP of the Benchmark Simulation Model No. 2 (BSM2) were used to simulate electrolysis O2 supply to an AS system and estimate net costs of production (NCP) for produced O2 via a techno-economic assessment (TEA). Assuming that produced H2 is sold to a nearby industry, NCPs for O2 were calculated for two different PEME plant dimensions,... [more]

The initial excitation of interface crack of large-size ultra-thin chips is one of the most complicated technical challenges. To address this issue, the reversible fracture characteristics of a silicon-based chip (chip size: 1.025 mm × 0.4 mm × 0.15 mm) adhesive layer interface was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests, and the characteristics of a cohesive zone model (CZM) unit were obtained through peel testing. The fitting curve of the elastic bilinear model was in high agreement with the experimental data, with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. The maximum energy release rate required for stripping was GC = 10.3567 N/m. Subsequently, a cohesive mechanical model of large-size ultra-thin chip peeling was established, and the mechanical characteristics of crack initial excitation were analyzed. The findings revealed that the larger deflection peeling angle in the peeling process resulted in a smaller peeling force and energy release rate (ERR), which made the initial c... [more]