This study explores the progression of global healthcare and medical waste (HMW) disposal technologies and emerging practices in China including the COVID-19 pandemic period through patent technology innovation analysis. Trends were identified through both the Derwent Innovation Index database and bibliometric methods. Based on the bibliometric analysis of 4128 patents issued from 2002 to 2021, the development status and research trends of HMW disposal technology were revealed. Regarding patents, China significantly advanced post-2011. However, a large number of applications are filed only in China and are more focused on domestic rather than overseas markets. As the pandemic remains a threat, and increasing amounts of medical waste are generated, new technologies are being sought in China that will be safer for humans and the environment, and will also be in line with the zero waste technology trend. Incineration and waste crushing are core methodologies in medical waste disposal. Fut... [more]

Oil lubricates the contact between the orbiting and stationary scroll in the refrigerant scroll compressor, while the sealing between the scrolls is achieved through the refrigerant vapour pressure in the sealed back pressure chamber. The back pressure should be adjusted using the refrigerant oil two-phase flow from the oil separator at the compressor discharge to the back pressure chamber and the refrigerant oil flow from the back pressure chamber to the compressor suction side. Both of the flows are conducted through connecting tubes with corresponding high-pressure and low-pressure nozzles with small diameters. Models for predicting the refrigerant oil critical and subcritical flows through the nozzles were developed and applied in enable the prediction of the back pressure. The models are original, because the slip between the oil and the refrigerant as well as the refrigerant solubility in the oil are taken into account. The critical flow model is validated against the experimenta... [more]

In this paper, in order to reduce the spindle temperature rise and enhance the spindle heat dissipation capability, a top complementary heat conductive path of the spindle based on the IPTO algorithm was designed. In order to verify the heat dissipation effect of the heat conductive path, an experimental test platform was constructed. Experiments on the thermal characteristics of water-cooled and air-cooled heat conductive paths with different volume proportions were conducted to test the temperature rise of the spindle and analyze the effect of the heat conductive path with different volume proportions on the temperature distribution of the spindle. The heat conductive path with the optimal volume proportion was determined and the heat dissipation effect of the heat conductive path was verified.

A Distributed Control System is a concept of Network Control Systems whose applications range from industrial control systems to the control of large physical experiments such as the ALICE experiment at CERN. The design phase of the Distributed Control Systems implementation brings several challenges, such as predicting the throughput and response of the system in terms of data-flow. These parameters have a significant impact on the operation of the Distributed Control System, and it is necessary to consider them when determining the distribution of software/hardware resources within the system. This distribution is often determined experimentally, which may be a difficult, iterative process. This paper proposes a methodology for modeling Distributed Control Systems using a combination of Finite-State Automata and Petri nets, where the resulting model can be used to determine the system’s throughput and response before its final implementation. The proposed methodology is demonstrated... [more]

The agricultural sector is one that requires and consumes enormous amounts of fresh water globally. Commercial wine production in particular uses large volumes of fresh water and, through various processes, generates significant quantities of wastewater. The wastewater produced by wineries typically exhibits elevated levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), an acidic pH, and varying salinity and nutrient contents. The overall characteristics of winery wastewater indicate that it is a potential environmental hazard if not processed and disposed of appropriately. Due to significant variations in wastewater contaminant levels among wineries, the implementation of a universally applicable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable waste management system seems practically unattainable. This study investigated the design, fabrication, and modification of a shear enhanced flotation separation (SEFS) pilot plant to be used as a primary treatment stage during winer... [more]

This study establishes an enzymatic membrane-coupled production process for antioxidant peptides from Carya cathayensis cake by comparing the effects of not feeding, water feeding, substrate feeding, and gradient dilution feeding supplementary material modes, to assess their impact on production efficiency. The optimal operational conditions were determined as follows: pH 10.5, temperature 50 °C, and enzyme-to-substrate ratio of 10% (w/w). The continuous production using the gradient dilution supplementary material mode resulted in Chinese pecan antioxidant peptides with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging rate of 0.044 mg/mL, 2, 2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) radical scavenging rate of 0.518 mg/mL, and ferrous ion chelating ability (IC50) of 0.252 mg/mL. Compared with traditional enzymatic hydrolysis processes, the gradient dilution supplementary material enzymatic membrane-coupled production process increased peptide yield, peptide productio... [more]

Pressure-driven water injection technology shows significant potential in addressing the key challenges of low-permeability oil reservoirs, improving water flooding development efficiency. Grounded in FDEM theory, this study establishes fluid matrix constitutive equations and employs FDEM to resolve rock stress−strain fields. A numerical simulation method for pressure-driven water injection in low-permeability reservoirs is developed to study the impact of different well pattern densities. The results indicate that the 90° horizontal well pattern using the five-spot method yields optimal outcomes, with approximately 32.32% higher cumulative liquid production than vertical well patterns. The 45° horizontal well pattern with the reversed nine-spot method also performs well, with about 30% higher cumulative liquid production than single-row vertical wells. Pressure-driven water injection improves matrix oil−water permeability and expands water flooding coverage. Based on the pressure grad... [more]

The thermal characteristics of the spindle system for CNC machine tools are influenced by multiple factors which are nonlinear and time-varying. In this paper, a nonlinear time-varying thermal characteristics solving model for the spindle system was established based on the numerical solution method. Through theoretical deduction and data fitting, mathematical models of nonlinear time-varying factors including the friction torque generated by lubricants, convective heat transfer coefficient, and coolant and ambient temperature are constructed. The temperature and displacement of the spindle system at each time step are solved by considering the comprehensive effect of multiple nonlinear time-varying factors. And the actual temperature and axial deformation data of the spindle system are obtained through thermal characteristics detection experiments. By comparing solution results affected by multiple nonlinear time-varying factors and by non time-varying factors with experimental data,... [more]

Aiming at the problem that the energy consumption of the boiler system varies greatly under the flexible peaking requirements of coal-fired units, an energy consumption prediction model for the boiler system is established based on a Least-Squares Support Vector Machine (LSSVM). First, the Mean Impact Value (MIV) algorithm is used to simplify the input characteristics of the model and determine the key operating parameters that affect energy consumption. Secondly, the Snow Ablation Optimizer (SAO) with tent map, adaptive t-distribution, and the opposites learning mechanism is introduced to determine the parameters in the prediction model. On this basis, based on the operation data of an ultra-supercritical coal-fired unit in Xinjiang, China, the boiler energy consumption dataset under variable load is established based on the theory of fuel specific consumption. The proposed prediction model is used to predict and analyze the boiler energy consumption, and a comparison is made with oth... [more]

The well productivity of high-waxy reservoirs is highly influenced by temperature changes. A decrease in temperature can cause the precipitation of wax from the crude oil, leading to a decrease in the formation’s drainage capacity and a drop in oil production. In this study, the wax precipitation of crude oil is characterized by rheological properties tests and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis. The wax damage characteristics of cores and the relative permeability curves at different temperatures were investigated through coreflood experiments. Furthermore, nanoemulsion is selected as a chemical agent for injection fluid. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanning technique is used to investigate the effects of oil recovery enhancement at different pores by increasing temperature and adding nanoemulsion. By comparing the changes in T2 spectra and the distribution pattern of residual oil before and after liquid injection, the results have shown that both increa... [more]

At present, there have been a number of hydrogen storage tank explosions in hydrogen filling stations, causing casualties and property losses, and having a bad social impact. This has made people realize that the risk assessment and preventive maintenance of hydrogen storage tanks are crucial. Therefore, this paper innovatively proposes a comprehensive risk assessment model based on connection coefficient algorithms and quintuple subtractive set pair potential. First of all, the constructed index system contains five aspects of corrosion factors, material factors, environmental factors, institutional factors and human factors. Secondly, a combined weighting analysis method based on FAHP and CRITIC is proposed to determine the weight of each indicator. The basic indicators influencing hydrogen storage tanks are analyzed via the quintuple subtraction set pair potential and full partial connection coefficient. Finally, the risk level and development trend of hydrogen storage tanks in hydr... [more]

Bioglycerol is a major by-product of the biodiesel manufacturing process. Various chemical derivatives from bioglycerol would enhance its economic value. An antifreeze of glycerine acetate was chemically converted from an esterification reaction of bioglycerol with acetic acid. The photocatalyst TiO2/SO42− irradiated with ultraviolet light assisted the chemical conversion reaction. The molar ratio of acetic acid/bioglycerol was varied to obtain the optimum composition of the derived antifreeze product. Different cosolvents were considered to enhance the homogeneous extent between the antifreeze of glycerine acetate and biodiesel, and thus, the anti-freezing effect. The cosolvent/glycerine acetate, at various volumetric ratios from 0 to 0.25 vol.%, was blended into a commercial biodiesel. After 5 vol.% antifreeze of the glycerine acetate/cosolvent mixture of the biodiesel was added to the commercial biodiesel, the fuel properties of the biodiesel were analyzed. The effects of the cosolv... [more]

The impact of particle addition jets on the flow field in natural gas pipelines was investigated, and the structural information of the flow field at different flow velocities in a symmetric jet flow was analyzed via numerical simulation. The results of coherent structures in the high-pressure natural gas pipeline reveal vortex structures of varying sizes both upstream and downstream of the jet flow. To determine the spatial distribution of the main vortex structures in the flow field, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) mode analysis was performed on the unsteady numerical results. Moreover, the detailed spatial characteristics of the coherent vortex structures represented by each mode were obtained. The results indicate that the large-scale vortex structures within the pipeline are balanced and stable, with their energy increasing as the jet flow velocity increases. Additionally, higher-order modes exhibit significant shedding of small-scale vortex structures downstream of the jet... [more]

Betulinic acid is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpene belonging to the lupane-group that exhibits a wide range of pharmacological activities. BA derivatives are continuously being researched due to their improved anticancer efficacy and bioavailability. The current research was conducted in order to determine the antiproliferative potential of three synthesized BA fatty esters using palmitic, stearic and butyric acids and their liposomal nanoformulations. The cytotoxic potential of BA fatty esters (Pal-BA, St-BA, But-BA) and their respective liposomal formulations (Pal-BA-Lip, St-BA-Lip, But-BA-Lip) has been assessed on HaCaT immortalized human keratinocytes and A375 human melanoma cells. Both the esters and their liposomes acted as cytotoxic agents against melanoma cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The butyryl ester But-BA outperformed BA in terms of cytotoxicity (IC50 60.77 μM) while the nanoformulations St-BA-Lip, But-BA-Lip and BA-Lip also displayed IC50 values (... [more]

Dry machining has gained significant importance in the last few years due to its promising contribution towards sustainability. This review study introduces dry machining, presents its benefits, and summarizes the recent technological developments that can facilitate dry machining. It aims to provide a concise overview of the current state of the art in dry machining to promote sustainability. This article synthesizes and emphasizes the useful information from the existing literature, and summarizes the methods and tools used to implement it. It also identifies some of the major problems and challenges and their potential solutions to make dry machining more viable and efficient. It concludes with some future research directions important for the scholars and researchers to establish the field further. From this review study, the major findings are: (1) tools with textures or patterns can enhance the cutting performance of dry machining for various materials, (2) tool coating is an eff... [more]

With the adjustment of energy structure, the utilization of hydrogen energy has been widely attended. China’s carbon neutrality targets make it urgent to change traditional coal-fired power generation. The paper investigates the combustion of pulverized coal blended with hydrogen to reduce carbon emissions. In terms of calorific value, the pulverized coal combustion with hydrogen at 1%, 5%, and 10% blending ratios is investigated. The results show that there is a significant reduction in CO2 concentration after hydrogen blending. The CO2 concentration (mole fraction) decreased from 15.6% to 13.6% for the 10% hydrogen blending condition compared to the non-hydrogen blending condition. The rapid combustion of hydrogen produces large amounts of heat in a short period, which helps the ignition of pulverized coal. However, as the proportion of hydrogen blending increases, the production of large amounts of H2O gives an overall lower temperature. On the other hand, the temperature distributi... [more]

Damage localization in GFRP (glass-fiber-reinforced polymer) composite plates is a crucial research area in marine engineering. This study introduces a feedback-based damage index (DI) combined with multi-label classification to enhance the accuracy of damage localization and address scenarios involving multiple damages. The research begins with the creation of a modal database for yachts’ GFRP composite plates using finite element modeling (FEM). A method for deriving a feedback-weighted matrix, based on the accuracy of the DI, is then developed. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the feedback DI is 50% more sensitive than the traditional DI, reducing false positives and missed detections. The associated feedback-weighted matrix depends solely on the structural shape, ensuring its transferability. To address the challenge for localizing multiple damages, a multi-label classification approach is proposed. The synergy between the feedback optimization and multi-label classification enabl... [more]

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most important enhanced oil recovery technologies currently used to develop unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. During hydraulic fracture initiation, fluid seeps into the reservoir rocks surrounding the wellbore, inducing rock deformation and changes in the stress field. Analyzing the fluid−solid coupling mechanism around the wellbore is crucial to the construction design of fracturing technologies such as pulse fracturing and supercritical carbon dioxide fracturing. In this study, a new transient fluid−solid coupling model, capable of simulating the pore pressure field and effective stress field around the wellbore, was established based on the Biot consolidation theory combined with the finite difference method. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with the analytical solutions, indicating the reliability of the model and the stability of the computational approach. Using this model, the influence of seepage parameters and reservoir p... [more]

This article is devoted to the further development of a viable technology for low-temperature cryopreservation of reproductive cells of sturgeon fish using acoustic−mechanical fields and intelligent control of the freezing process. Before vitrification begins, the piezoactuator acts on a mixture of cryoprotectant and reproductive cells. This promotes intensive mixing of the cryoprotector and its diffusion through the cell membrane. When vitrification is carried out directly, a phase transition phenomenon is observed, accompanied by crystal formation. This article presents a new mathematical model describing this process as developed by the authors. The corresponding boundary conditions are formulated. Numerical experiments were carried out using the finite element method. It has been established that during vitrification without the use of a cryoprotectant, a sharp temperature jump is observed at the front of the crystalline formation boundary. The use of a cryoprotectant leads to a sl... [more]

Granite residual soil typically forms complex pore structures and exhibits high water sensitivity due to physical and chemical weathering processes. Changes in initial compaction conditions significantly affect the mechanical and hydraulic properties of in situ granite residual soil subgrades, with these variations fundamentally related to changes in pore structure and soil−water characteristics. This study investigates the pore structure and bimodal soil−water characteristic curve (SWCC) of a compacted granite residual soil through laboratory tests and mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. Nine initial conditions were selected based on potential in situ compaction conditions of subgrades, and their effects on the pore size distribution (PSD) and SWCC were thoroughly analyzed. The results show strong correlations between bimodal pore structure and SWCC. The size and volume of inter-aggregate pores exhibit noticeable changes with initial conditions, affecting SWCC within the low and midd... [more]

The shape and convexity are crucial quality assessment indicators for hot-rolled electrical steel strips. Besides bending rolls, shifting rolls, and the original roll profile, the thermal roll profile also plays a significant role in controlling the shape and convexity during the hot-rolling process. However, it is always overlooked due to its dynamic uncertainty. To solve this problem, it is necessary to achieve online cooling-status control for the local thermal expansion of rolls. Based on the existing structure of a mill, a pair of special partition-cooling beams with an intelligent cooling system was designed. For high efficiency and practicality, a new online predictive model was established for the dynamic temperature field of the hot-rolling process. An equivalent treatment was applied to the boundary condition corresponding to the practical cooling water flow. In addition, by establishing the corresponding target distribution curve for the partitioned water flow cooling, onlin... [more]

The occurrence of slope instability disasters seriously endangers the safety of people’s lives and property in China. Therefore, it is essential to study the slope instability process and the interaction between soil and retaining walls. In this paper, the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, based on the elastoplastic constitutive model of rock and soil, was used to simulate the entire process of slope instability and the interaction between soil and retaining walls. The model, based on the classical elastic−plastic theory, includes linear elastic deformation and plastic deformation following the non-associated flow rule under the Drucker−Prager (DP) yield criterion. By considering the plastic characteristics of geotechnical materials, this method can accurately simulate the slope movement process. The model was established, calculated, and compared with a slope example, thus verifying its feasibility. Furthermore, the motion response of the retaining wall under different con... [more]

The moving bed heat exchanger (MBHE) has been widely applied in the recovery of waste heat of industrial particles. Currently, investigations focus on uniform-size particles in the MBHE, but few studies are conducted on multi-size particles produced by industrial granulation. Therefore, based on the discrete element method (DEM), the heat transmission model of multi-size particles is established, and flow and heat transmission processes of typically normal distribution particles in the MBHE are studied. In conclusion, there are significant differences in particles tangential velocity and contact number in local regions of a heat exchanger pipe, resulting in different local heat transmission coefficients. In addition, the increases in outlet particle velocity and inlet particle temperature significantly enhance the heat transmission. When the outlet particle velocity grows from 1 mm/s to 5 mm/s, the overall heat transmission coefficient increases by 36.4%, and as the inlet particle temp... [more]

The critical role of energy in contemporary life and the environmental challenges associated with its production imply the need for research and exploration of its novel resources. The present review paper emphasizes the continuous exploitation of non-renewable energy sources, suggesting the transition toward renewable energy sources, termed ‘green energy’, as a crucial step for sustainable development. The research methodology involves a comprehensive review of articles, statistical data analysis, and examination of databases. The main focus is biomass, a valuable resource for bioenergy and biopesticide production, highlighting not only its traditional diverse sources, such as agricultural waste and industrial residues, but also non-edible invasive alien plant species. This study explores the utilization of invasive alien species in circular economy practices, considering their role in bioenergy and biopesticide production. The potential conflict between bioproduct acquisition and foo... [more]

Optimization algorithms play a crucial role in a wide range of fields, from designing complex systems to solving mathematical and engineering problems. However, these algorithms frequently face major challenges, such as convergence to local optima, which limits their ability to find global, optimal solutions. To overcome these challenges, it has become imperative to explore more efficient approaches by incorporating chaotic maps within these original algorithms. Incorporating chaotic variables into the search process offers notable advantages, including the ability to avoid local minima, diversify the search, and accelerate convergence toward optimal solutions. In this study, we propose an improved Archimedean optimization algorithm called Chaotic_AO (CAO), based on the use of ten distinct chaotic maps to replace pseudorandom sequences in the three essential components of the classical Archimedean optimization algorithm: initialization, density and volume update, and position update. T... [more]