This study evaluates, for the first time, the effects of UV/PMS and UV/H2O2/PMS processes on the degradation of sunscreen agents in synthetic and natural water matrices and compares their effectiveness with the more conventional UV/H2O2. Investigations were conducted using a mixture of organic UV filters containing 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) and 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate. Among the investigated UV-driven AOPs, UV/PMS/H2O2 was the most effective in synthetic water, while in natural water, the highest degradation rate was observed during the degradation of EHMC by UV/PMS. The degradation of UV filters in the UV/PMS system was promoted by sulfate radical (68% of the degradation), with hydroxyl radical contributing approximately 32%, while both radical species contributed approximately equally to the degradation in the UV/H2O2/PMS system. The Vibrio fischeri assay showed an increase in inhibition (up to 70%) at specific stages of UV/H2O2 treatment when applied to natural wat... [more]

To address the effect of a ship’s rolling on the fluidization quality of fluidized beds, in this study, a simulation of a rolling fluidized bed with longitudinal internal members added (R-FBLIM) was carried out and compared with that of a rolling fluidized bed without internal members added (R-FBWIM). The transient motion, as well as the behavioral characteristics of the bubbles within the R-FBLIM, was analyzed; the variation patterns of the number of bubbles, as well as the equivalent diameter of the bubbles, were compared for different apparent gas velocities, oscillation periods, and amplitudes; and the mechanism of the action of the longitudinal internal members was investigated. The results show that the structural design of the longitudinal internal members can effectively improve the gas−solid fluidization quality of the rolling fluidized bed. The horizontal support plate and the cap hole structure can effectively break the air bubbles, the cap hole structure promotes the radial... [more]

Healthcare professionals wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) during outbreaks often experience heat strain and discomfort, which can negatively impact their work performance and well-being. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of a newly designed wearable cooling and dehumidifying system (WCDS) on healthcare workers wearing PPE via a 60 min treadmill walking test. Core temperature, mean skin temperature, heart rate, and subjective assessments of thermal sensation, wetness sensation, and thermal comfort were measured throughout the test. Additionally, ratings of wearing comfort and movement comfort were recorded during a wearing trial. The results showed that the WCDS significantly reduced core temperature, improved thermal sensation, and reduced wetness sensation compared to the non-cooling condition. The microclimatic temperature within the PPE was significantly lower in the cooling condition, indicating the WCDS’s ability to reduce heat bui... [more]

The proliferation of Sargassum biomass in various coastal areas has led to environmental and socio-economic problems. However, due to their unique composition, these biomasses offer versatile applications, prompting research into their potential in third-generation biorefineries. In this study, the hydrothermal processing of Sargassum sp. was evaluated under specific conditions at 190 °C/50 min and 150 °C/30 min. The resulting hydrolysates (liquid phase) were used as alternative culture media for cultivation. Nine treatments for the cultivation of Arthrospira platensis were assessed, varying the concentration of hydrothermal hydrolysates (HH) at 190 °C/50 min: T1 (5% v/v), T2 (10% v/v), and T3 (15% v/v). T4 (5% v/v), T5 (10% v/v), and T6 (15% v/v), maintaining the same HH conditions, and with the addition of 0.7 g/L NaNO3; and treatments T7, T8, and T9 had concentrations of 5%, 10%, and 15% of HH, respectively, at 150 °C/30 min with the addition of 0.7 g/L NaNO3, respectively. Each tre... [more]

Inspired by the vast potential of microalgae in the bioeconomy and the numerous applications and benefits associated with their cultivation, a multitude of pilot- and industrial-scale microalgae production systems have been developed in recent years. Both open and closed cultivation systems have been successfully utilized, with closed photo-bioreactors (PBRs) emerging as the most versatile option for various applications and products, enabling the implementation of advanced optimization strategies. Therefore, this short review provides a comprehensive overview of the different PBR configurations and their recent applications, primarily in large-scale but also in pilot- and laboratory-scale microalgae cultivation. A detailed discussion of the advantages, limitations, specific applications and recent advancements of each type of PBR is presented to aid researchers, engineers and industry stakeholders in selecting the most suitable PBR design for their specific goals and constraints. More... [more]

The Gasi reservoir in the Qinghai oilfield is a typical high-temperature and high-salinity reservoir, with an average temperature and average salinity of 70.0 °C and 152,144 mg/L, respectively. For over 30 years since 1990, water flooding has been the primary method for enhancing oil recovery. Recently, the Gasi reservoir has turned into a mature oilfield. It possesses a high water cut of 76% and a high total recovery rate of 47%. However, the main developing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology for the development of the Gasi reservoir in the next stage is yet to be determined. Surfactant−polymer (SP) flooding, which can reduce the oil−water interfacial tension and increase the viscosity of the water phase, has been widely applied to low-temperature and low-salinity reservoirs across China in the past few decades, but it has rarely been applied to high-temperature and high-salinity reservoirs such as the Gasi reservoir. In this study, the feasibility of SP flooding for high-temperat... [more]

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) are target enzymes in the processing of tender coconut water (TCW). This study primarily evaluated the combined effect of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) and mild temperatures on the PPO and POD deactivation of TCW. A factorial design was performed to investigate the effect of temperature (in the range of 35 to 85 °C), pressure (75 to 370 bar), and holding time (13 to 47 min) on the enzymic deactivation, physicochemical parameters, and color of the TCW. The percentages of reduction in PPO activity ranged from 3.7 to 100%, and POD ranged from 43.4 to 100%. The pH values of the freshly extracted and processed TCW were 5.09 and 4.90, and the soluble solids content were 5.5 and 5.4 °Brix, respectively. The holding time (t) had a significant effect (p ≤ 0.1) on the total color variation. As for the reduction of PPO activity, the temperature (T) and the interaction between pressure (P) and t had a significant effect. None of variables (P, T... [more]

The dim lighting and excessive dust in underground mines often result in uneven illumination, blurriness, and loss of detail in surveillance images, which hinders subsequent intelligent image recognition. To address the limitations of the existing image enhancement algorithms in terms of generalization and accuracy, this paper proposes an unsupervised method for enhancing mine images in the hue−saturation−value (HSV) color space. Inspired by the HSV color space, the method first converts RGB images to the HSV space and integrates Retinex theory into the brightness (V channel). Additionally, a random perturbation technique is designed for the brightness. Within the same scene, a U-Net-based reflectance estimation network is constructed by enforcing consistency between the original reflectance and the perturbed reflectance, incorporating ResNeSt blocks and a multi-scale channel pixel attention module to improve accuracy. Finally, an enhanced image is obtained by recombining the original... [more]

The parameters of the roll characteristics of a large-scale round bale machine were collected in real time to investigate the bale rolling mechanism. This investigation develops a set of adaptable and highly integrated data acquisition systems for the bale rolling performance parameters of large-type round bale machines. A rolling experiment is conducted using sunflower straw as the material, and the power consumption and radial tension of the roller-round bale machine during the bale rolling process are studied. In the grass core formation stage, the round bale machine’s torque need was minimal, the radial tension of the bale remained nearly constant, and the bale chamber was primarily filled with loose sunflower straw. The motor torque and the straw bale’s radial tension both showed a tendency of gradual increase when the round bale machine was in the grass-filling stage. The motor torque and bale radial tension displayed a roughly linear trend of rapid rise as the sunflower straw co... [more]

Currently, we are faced with the need to develop solution that are sustainable in terms of the energy and material resources used, which implies environmental sustainability [...]

In recent years, the demand for lithium, essential to the high-tech and battery sectors, has increased rapidly. The majority of lithium carbonate is now sourced from continental brines in Latin America, owing to the lower production costs and reduced environmental impact. In Europe, often overlooked but promising lithium resources could include highly mineralized underground waters. Therefore, this study investigates the enrichment of these low-grade solutions (<100 mg/L Li) through evaporation followed by solvent extraction (SX) processes under specific conditions. The effectiveness and the technical feasibility of lithium extraction were evaluated using binary synthetic, multicomponent semi-synthetic, and real brine samples. The popular tributyl phosphate/methyl isobutyl ketone (TBP/MIBK) system, supplemented with FeCl3 and AlCl3 as co-extractants, was employed as the organic phase. Evaporation resulted in significant lithium losses (up to 80%), reduced to ~10% by washing the crys... [more]

Cheese whey (CW) is a worldwide abundant by-product of the cheese industry, which can be used for biogas production if further processing is not performed to produce other valuable food products. This study evaluates biogas production from CW in low-cost, tubular reactors, thus comparing the effect of temperature control. CW was monodigested in two tubular reactors at the pilot scale: one of them with temperature control (30 ± 3 °C) and the other one working at environmental conditions. The results show that CW could be monodigested in pilot scale tubular reactors, thus yielding high methane. Temperature control (30 ± 3 °C) at the pilot scale led to higher methane yields under all tested operating conditions, thus reaching 565.8 ± 20.9 L kg−1VS at an Organic Loading Rate (OLR) of 0.416 ± 0.160 kgVS L−1 d−1, which was higher than the maximum yield obtained without temperature control (445.6 ± 21.9 L kg−1VS) at 0.212 ± 0.020 kgVS L−1 d−1. Methane yield differences were attributed to the... [more]

In the modern aerospace industry, the importance of a lubrication system is self-evident for aero-engines, and the aero-engine bearing chamber return line is an even more challenging environment, as it involves a complex two-phase flow. The designer of the scavenge pipe needs to have an accurate understanding of the flow conditions in the scavenge pipe. This paper establishes a visual scavenge pipe test system. The flow direction was vertical flow, the test temperature was 370 k, and a high-speed camera was used to take high-definition flow photographs, which can observe the three main flow types: bubble flow, slug flow, and annular flow. Code program was created to analyze many pictures taken to obtain the apparent flow rate and perimeter of bubbles in the pipe under different flow conditions and to explore the gas−liquid two-phase flow in the scavenge pipe. A support vector machine (SVM) was used for data regression prediction, and the converted velocities of the gas−oil phases were... [more]

Glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide, poses a potential threat to human health and the ecosystem due to its toxicity. In this study, iron-based water treatment residuals (Fe-WTRs) were employed for glyphosate removal. The adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics, as well as the effects of pH, Fe-WTR particle size, and temperature, were explored. The results show that Fe-WTRs are an effective adsorbent for glyphosate adsorption, and the maximum uptake capacity was recorded as 30.25 mg/g. The Fe-WTR surface was positively charged, and low-valent iron dominated under acidic conditions, favoring glyphosate adsorption. Furthermore, smaller Fe-WTR particles (<0.125 mm) showed a faster absorption rate and 20% higher adsorption capacity than larger particles (2−5 mm). The kinetic analysis indicated that the adsorption process exhibits a two-step profile, conforming to the pseudo-second-order model, and the thermodynamic analysis indicated that it is a spontaneous, endothermic, a... [more]

Waste incineration with energy recovery is a matured Waste-to-Energy (WtE) technology which has contributed immensely to the disposal and management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in industrialised nations. The adoption of this technology in developing countries is currently gaining momentum due to the numerous benefits that can be derived from its use. In this study, a techno-economic assessment of MSW incineration in proposed waste incineration facilities for use in Ghana was carried out. The technical assessment was conducted by determining the plant capacity and annual electricity production based on the combustible residues of MSW collected from various population sizes in the country, while the economic assessment was carried out by determining two key economic indicators, Net Present Value (NPV) and Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE). It was found that a total of about 400 MW of electricity can be generated from the total of about 14,000 tonnes of MSW generated in the country daily... [more]

While there are software tools available for helping to conduct life cycle assessment (LCA), such as OpenLCA, these tools lack integration with process design, simulation, and optimization software. As LCA has a critical role in sustainable product design, this paper presents a platform called EMSO_OLCA, which integrates the LCA provided by OpenLCA into the Environment for Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization (EMSO). EMSO_OLCA incorporates a database of environmental impact assessment methodologies from OpenLCA and aligns with the principles of LCA outlined in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Validation tests were conducted to compare the results obtained by the LCA of sugarcane ethanol using OpenLCA and EMSO_OLCA, revealing a high level of agreement. The average relative error was 0.045%, indicating a negligible discrepancy between the tools. Moreover, it took only 0.3 s for the calculation, which is desirable for use with process system engineering tools. A second case study was applied to... [more]

Contains 134 original peer-reviewed research articles and 10 extended abstracts submitted to FOCAPD 2024. Subject categories include Invited Plenary and Keynote Submissions, Advances in PSE Design, Design and Emerging Fields, Design and Energy Transitions, Design and Sustainability, and Design Education and Future of Design. The scope is process design as it applies to process systems engineering in chemical engineering, energy systems engineering, and related fields.

There is a global consensus that steps must be taken to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic climate change. The Paris Agreement on climate change has been ratified by 192 countries and the signatories have pledged to make changes to their patterns of energy and land use that achieve “carbon neutrality” or net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by approximately mid-century. In these countries, energy ministries, energy companies and utilities are evaluating alternative fuels and power sources that can deliver the heat and power required for a modern economy with reduced GHG emissions. While technically proven low-emissions alterna-tives exist for almost every application, most of these alternatives cost substantially more than the fuels or energy sources they replace. Consequently, most countries will use a combination of regulations, taxes and subsidies to distort the energy market in favor of the lower-emissions alternatives... (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)

Chemical Process Industries must navigate a series of changes in their operations to comply with increasing sustainability targets. These changes may involve the use of electricity-based operations, the implementation of carbon capture strategies, and the use of biomass or end-of-life carbon-containing waste as feedstocks. De-carbonizing oil refineries is particularly challenging as they possess highly valuable infrastructure. Discarding this infrastructure before the end of its life to build entirely new electric and biomass-based operations does not seem to be an economical or even a sustainable solution. This presentation will cover recent work in my group related to the decarbonization of oil refineries, focusing on proposing solutions that could be integrated with existing plants... (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)

The overarching goal of process design (Figure 1) is to find technologically feasible, operable, economically attractive, safe and sustainable processing pathways and process configurations with specifications for the connectivity and design of unit operations that perform a set of tasks using selected functional materials (e.g., catalysts, solvents, sorbents, etc.) to convert a set of feed-stocks or raw materials into a set of products with desired quality at a scale that satisfies the demand. Process synthesis and integration can further screen, optimize and improve these pathways for given techno-econo-environmental targets or objectives. These objectives may include, but are not limited to, minimizing the overall investment and processing costs, minimizing the energy consumption, minimizing the emissions or wastes, maxim-zing the profit, and enhancing the safety, operability, controllability, flexibility, circularity, and sustainability, among others... (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)

The United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 has established incentives to facilitate the energy transition. While these policies provide economic incen-tives that encourage investment and may reduce financial risk for the private sector on the supply side, transitioning to a lower carbon or net-zero economy by 2050 presents several challenges. These include designing flexible production systems that can interact with inter-mittent renewable energy resources, ensure process safety, redesigning existing energy infrastructure to support new energy carriers like hydrogen or ammonia, and making long-term investment decisions in an uncertain and evolving market... (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)

The study of sustainable design has gained prominence in response to the growing emphasis on environmental and social impacts of critical infrastructure. Addressing the different dimensions inherent in sustainability issues necessitates the application of many-objective optimization techniques. In this work, an illustrative four-objective design system is formulated, wherein uncertainties lie within two different socially-oriented objectives. A stochastic community detection approach is proposed to identify robust groupings of objectives. The findings reveal that the modularity of the optimal solution surpasses that of the average graph, thus demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach. Furthermore, a comprehensive exploration of the Pareto frontiers for both the robust and single-scenario best groupings is undertaken, demonstrating that using the robust grouping results in little to no information loss about tradeoffs.

This paper presents optimal design for an energy-integrated biogas-fuel cell system for renewable electricity generation. The integrated process consists of two steps. The first step generates hydrogen from biogas via methane steam reforming (SMR), whereas the second step electrochemically converts this hydrogen into electricity using a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). These two steps are coupled via material and energy integration. Specifically, various design alternatives like anode and/or cathode gas recycling, biogas upgradation by CO2 removal, external versus direct internal reforming, and auxiliary power production through steam and/or micro gas turbine are explored to improve the overall efficiency and total annualized cost of the system. Specifically, a flowsheet superstructure is developed by incorporating all the available design alternatives. An optimal flowsheet with minimum total annualized cost is extracted from this superstructure using formal optimization techniques to mee... [more]

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a nascent renewable technology that generates clean, baseload electricity from salinity differences between two water streams, a renewable source known as salinity gradient energy (SGE). Full-scale RED progress calls for robust techno-economic and environmental assessments. Using generalized disjunctive programming (GDP) and life cycle assessment (LCA) principles, this work proposes cost-optimal and sustainable RED process designs involving different RED stack sizes and width-over-length ratios to guide the design and operation from the demonstration to full-scale phases. Results indicate that RED units will benefit from larger aspect ratios with a relative increase in net power of over 30% with 6 m2 membrane size. Commercial RED unit sizes (0.25–3 m2) require larger aspect ratios to reach an equal relative increase in net power but exhibit higher power densities. The GDP model devises profitable RED process designs for all the assessed aspect ratios in... [more]

Most studies in process systems engineering are applying incomplete methods when incorporating sustainability. Including sustainability is a laudable goal, and practitioners are encouraged to develop systems that promote economic, environmental, and social aspects. Ten methods that are often overlooked in performing sustainable process systems engineering are listed in this effort and discussed in detail. Practitioners are encouraged to create designs that are inherently safer, to be more complete in their identification of process chemicals used and released, to be complete in their definitions of supply chains, and to apply additional environmental impact categories. Other methods point to items that are factors in process systems engineering such as disruptive recycling, robust superstructures for optimizations, and employing complete sets of objectives. Finally, users should be aware that sustainability tools are available, which might have been outside of their awareness.