The sound propagation speed measurement us is used for monitoring triglyceride ethanolysis in a broad range of reaction conditions (mainly, temperature: 23−50 °C; ethanol/oil: from 6 to 24 mol/mol). Experimentally, us slightly increased with the reaction time in all cases as a result of the contribution of its dynamic mixture components. Nomoto’s expression for homogeneous mixtures offered suitable us estimation but with values notably higher than the experimental ones due to the resistance to sound propagation offered by the ethanol/oil interphase (non-homogeneous medium). Our strategy was based on both the comparison of the experimental us values and the theoretical ones correlated by means of triglyceride conversion and on the estimation of the sound speed of oil/ethanol that could emulate the resistance offered by the interphase. The evolution of the reactions was predicted quite well for all the experiments carried out with very different reaction rates. Nevertheless, at the begin... [more]

The search for a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production has attracted attention among researchers. After frying, palm oil may become thermally degraded and unsuitable for consumption. In the current effort, neat palm oil (NPO), waste palm oil earlier utilized for frying fish and chips (WPOFC) and waste palm oil previously utilized to fry sausage and chips (WPOSC) were transesterified into waste palm oil methyl ester, namely, WPOMEFC and WPOMESC, respectively. The PO, WPOs and their ester derivatives were subjected to physicochemical properties, fatty acid (FA) compositions and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses. The thermal degradation, transesterification process and the foods the palm oil was used to fry affected the density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, pH, iodine value and FA profile of the samples. The outcome of the characterization reveals that the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of NPO, WPOFC and WPOSC show clear... [more]

The paper presents a case study describing the process of creating and validating the benefits of two Innovative Learning Tools (ILTs) aimed at more effective knowledge acquisition in the interdisciplinary field of earth resource extraction with links to the status of renewable energy. The philosophy behind the original designs and the design of the two tools, the way they are used, and the results of their application in the educational process are presented in a framework. The opinions and attitudes of both students and educators towards the tools were surveyed, and some research questions related to this form of knowledge acquisition were validated. The presented results show the students’ interest in the educational form as well as the attractive content that goes beyond conventional educational subjects, with its connections.

In the present study, UV-light-driven advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been employed for the degradation of 4-tert-Butylphenol (4-t-BP) in water under continuous flow conditions. The effects of varying space time (10, 20, 40, 60 and 120 min) and oxidant dosage (88.3 mg/L, 176.6 mg/L and 264 mg/L) were examined. 4-t-BP degradation efficiency in the UV-induced AOPs followed the order of UV/H2O2 (264.9 mg/L) ≈ UV/Fe2+/H2O2 > UV/Fe3+/H2O2 > UV/H2O2 (176.6 mg/L) > UV/H2O2 (88.3 mg/L) > UV/Fe-TiO2 > UV/TiO2 > UV, while UV/Fe3+/H2O2 was the most efficient process in terms of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal (at the space time of 60 min) among those tested. The combination of UV with 88.3 mg/L H2O2 enhanced pollutant removal from 51.29% to 93.34% after 10 min of irradiation. The presence of H2O2 contributed to the highest 4-t-BP and TOC removal values. Interestingly, the increase in space time from 20 to 60 min resulted in surpassing of the activity of the Fe-TiO2 over commercial TiO... [more]

This study was conducted at the ethanol plant of Metehara sugar factory, at a laboratory scale, to assess the effect of recycling vinasse into the fermentation process on effluent reduction. Vinasse is an effluent produced from distilleries. The experimental design included vinasse concentrations at 4 dilution rates (0 (control), 20, 35, 50, and 65% of process water) with 2 replicates and 6 responses, as follows: ethanol yield, fermentation efficiency, residual sugar concentration, cell count, cell viability, and calcium oxide content. In this study, the actual operational parameters of the ethanol plant were maintained during the experiment. The result of the experiment indicates that, with up to 20% vinasse recycling, there was no influential impact on the ethanol yield, the fermentation efficiency, the residual sugar concentration, or the calcium oxide content, attributable to the recycling, as compared to the control. Above 20% vinasse recycling, ethanol yield and fermentation effi... [more]

In this work, we present a surfactant-free miniemulsion approach to obtain silica-based core-shell nanocapsules with a phase change material (PCM) core via in-situ hydrolytic polycondensation of precursor hyperbranched polyethoxysiloxanes (PEOS) as silica shells. The obtained silica-based core-shell nanocapsules (PCM@SiO2), with diameters of ~400 nm and silica shells of ~14 nm, reached the maximum core content of 65%. The silica shell had basically no significant influence on the phase change behavior of PCM, and the PCM@SiO2 exhibited a high enthalpy of melt and crystallization of 123−126 J/g. The functional textile with PCM@SiO2 has been proposed with thermoregulation and acclimatization, ultraviolet (UV) resistance and improved mechanical properties. The thermal property tests have shown that the functional textile had good thermal stability. The functional textile, with a PCM@SiO2 concentration of 30%, was promising, with enthalpies of melting and crystallization of 27.7 J/g and 27... [more]

Today, companies need to continuously improve their production processes, which is a complex task. Lean manufacturing is one of the methodologies for production improvement, and one of the basic goals of any lean implementation is to reduce work-in-process (WIP) and shorten the production lead time. One of the basic lean principles for achieving these goals is pull principle. The adoption of this principle is quite challenging, as it requires a long-term commitment in the application and adoption of various lean techniques and tools that are prerequisites for the successful introduction of the pull principle. Kanban is the most well-known pull production control mechanism, and the first one developed within Toyota production system, but later, other pull control mechanisms were developed. Some of them include Conwip, Hybrid Kanban/Conwip, and Drum Buffer Rope (DBR), and those three, together with Kanban, were the research topic of this study. These four mechanisms were not explored and... [more]

Low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry combined with structure-from-motion (SFM) algorithms is the latest technological approach to imaging 3D stereo constructions. At present, derivative products have been widely used in landslide monitoring, landscape evolution, glacier movement, volume measurement, and landscape change detection. However, there is still a lack of research into the accuracy of 3D data positioning based on the structure-from-motion of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV-SFM) technology, itself, which can affect the measurable effectiveness of the results in further applications of this technological approach. In this paper, validation work was carried out for the DJI Phantom 4 RTK UAV, for earth observation data related to 3D positioning accuracy. First, a test plot with a relatively stable surface was selected for repeated flight imaging observations. Specifically, three repeated flights were performed on the test plot to obtain three sorties of images; t... [more]

The study presents a comparative investigation of the composition and bioactivity of oil extracted from pomegranate seeds of sun-burned fruit (SB) and healthy fruit (HF) for the value-adding potential of pomegranate fruit waste. Seeds from SB and HF were independently freeze dried, sun dried, and oven dried before ultrasound-assisted oil extraction using petroleum ether. The extracted oil was analysed for yield, refractive index, ρ-anisidine value, total phenolic content (TPC), DPPH radical scavenging ability, antimicrobial activity, tyrosinase enzyme inhibition ability, and fatty acid composition. The results showed that oven dried seeds, regardless of fruit quality, yielded the highest oil (20.85−24.70%, dry weight). Regardless of the seed drying method, oil from the seeds of SB exhibited the highest TPC (1.48−2.84 mgGAE/g PSO) than oil from the seeds of HF. The oil from oven dried and freeze dried seeds of SB were more effective in scavenging the DPPH radicals with IC50 values of 34... [more]

Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) play a key role in improving the performance of automated manufacturing systems, warehouses, and distribution centers. In the modern manufacturing industry, the term (AS/RS) refers to various methods under computer control for storing and retrieving loads automatically from defined storage locations. Using an (AS/RS) is not considered a value-added activity. Therefore, the longer (AS/RS) travels, the more expensive the warehousing process becomes. This paper presents an algorithm for minimizing total travel distance/time between input/output (I/O) stations. The proposed algorithm is used to manage the storage and retrieval orders on warehouse shelves in class-based storage on the storage racks. It contains two steps: the first step is to evacuate some storage compartments (locations) near the I/O station; in the second step, some tote bins are reallocated to compartments closer to the I/O station. Among the features of this algorithm are... [more]

Cyclone is often used in the Industry due to its low maintenance costs, simple design, and ease of operation. This work presents both experimental and simulation evaluation on the effect of inlet velocity and mass flow rate on the performance of a wheat conveying cyclone. According to the great importance of the pressure drop and separation efficiency on the separation phenomenon in the cyclone, a comprehensive study has been conducted in this regard. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was realized using a Reynolds stress turbulence model, and particle-air interactions were modeled using a discrete phase model. The result showed a good agreement between the measured value and CFD simulation on the pressure drop and tangential velocity with a maximum deviation of 6.8%. It was found that the separation efficiency increased with inlet velocity up to 16 m s−1 but decreased slightly at a velocity of 20 m s−1. The pressure drop increased proportionally with inlet velocity. Howev... [more]

Brown algae Fucus virsoides and Cystoseira barbata are an abundant source of sulfated polysaccharide fucoidan, which has shown a wide range of biological activities. These activities are significantly dependent on the fucoidan chemical composition, which is closely linked with the applied extraction technique and process parameters. In order to overcome the drawbacks of lengthy conventional extraction (CE), advanced extraction techniques, such as ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and non-thermal plasma (NTP), were applied. Furthermore, this study also investigated the efficiency of different solvents as well as UAE and NTP as 5 min pre-treatments prior to CE as a more effective course of cell wall breakage and, consequently, a higher polysaccharide yield (%PS). Apart from %PS, the effect of this procedure on the chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of the extracted polysaccharides was also monitored. When comparing the extraction solvent, the application of 0.1 M H2SO4, ins... [more]

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of partial substitution of sodium chloride (NaCl) with potassium chloride (KCl) in combination with high-pressure processing (HPP) on the physicochemical properties and volatile compounds of beef sausage during cold storage at 4 °C. Significant differences were found in the volatile compounds of beef sausages with 0%, 25%, and 50% NaCl contents partially substituted with KCl subjected to 28 days of storage and were well-visualized by heat map analysis. A total of 75 volatile compounds were identified and quantified in the beef sausages at the end of 28 days of storage, including 12 aldehydes, 4 phenols, 2 ketones, 18 alcohols, 8 acids, 3 esters, 14 terpenes, and 14 alkanes. Thirteen compounds had low odor activity values (OAV) (OAV < 1); however, high OAV (OAV > 1) were obtained after partial substitution of NaCl by KCl at 25% and 50% with HPP treatment compared to the non-HPP treated samples. In addition, 50% NaCl substitution with KCl in conju... [more]

Mineral carbonation is an increasingly popular method for carbon capture and storage that resembles the natural weathering process of alkaline-earth oxides for carbon dioxide removal into stable carbonates. This study aims to evaluate the potential of reusing Fe-rich mine waste for carbon sequestration by assessing the influence of pH condition, particle size fraction and reaction temperature on the carbonation reaction. A carbonation experiment was performed in a stainless steel reactor at ambient pressure and at a low temperature. The results indicated that the alkaline pH of waste samples was suitable for undergoing the carbonation process. Mineralogical analysis confirmed the presence of essential minerals for carbonation, i.e., magnetite, wollastonite, anorthite and diopside. The chemical composition exhibited the presence of iron and calcium oxides (39.58−62.95%) in wastes, indicating high possibilities for carbon sequestration. Analysis of the carbon uptake capacity revealed tha... [more]

In a pilot-scale internal loop airlift reactor with a height of 5.5 m and a main column diameter of 0.484 m, the influence of three gas sparger structures (ladder distributor, tri-nozzle sparger and perforated plate) on the volumetric mass transfer coefficient kLa was investigated. It was found that the perforated plate produces the highest gas holdup difference and circulating liquid velocity between the riser and the downcomer. The perforated plate provides the most efficient mass transfer due to the more uniform gas distribution and higher circulating liquid velocity, followed by the ladder distributor and tri-nozzle spargers. Compared with the tri-nozzle sparger, the perforated plate increases the value of kLa by up to 16% at a superficial velocity of 0.15 m/s. Interestingly, the analysis of the liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient kL and specific area a with respect to gas velocity shows that the mass transfer rate is primarily controlled by a. By comparing the predictions of di... [more]

The fault tree analysis (FTA) method is an important analysis method for safety system engineering. Traditional accident analysis theory agrees that basic events lead to top events, but it does not fully consider that the accident process is accidental, and the calculation results exaggerate the probability of accident occurrence. This paper selects typical collision accidents, analyzes the shortcomings of the existing fault tree, indicates that there is a contingency in the accident process, constructs a probability fault tree based on the traditional fault tree, and puts forward concepts of “probability AND gate” and “probability OR gate”. In addition, based on the traditional quantitative analysis method of fault trees, calculations of the occurrence probability, probability importance coefficient, and critical importance coefficient of top events are modified, and the modified quantitative calculation is applied to accident cases.

The difficulty of achieving targeted drug delivery following administration of currently marketed anticancer therapeutics is a still a concern. Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) developed through nanotechnology breakthroughs appear to be promising in this regard. Research studies pertaining to gold NPs have indicated their promising applicability in cancer diagnosis, drug delivery and therapy. These NPs have also recently paved the path for precise drug delivery and site-specific targeting. Our review paper thus highlights the scope and impact of biogenetically generated gold nanoparticles (NPs) in cancer therapy. In a critical, constructive, and methodical manner, we compare the advantages offered by gold NPs over other metal NPs. Moreover, we also focus on novel ‘greener’ strategies that have been recently explored for the preparation of gold NPs and shed light on the disadvantages of conventional NP synthesis routes. Future prospects pertaining to the use of gold NPs in oncotherapy and d... [more]

Knowing the effect of electromagnetic force on fluid flow and solidification within the molds of large-size round blooms is of paramount importance to minimize internal and external defects. In this regard, a three-dimensional coupling model is established, containing magnetohydrodynamics, fluid flow, and heat transfer within the mold, and a new approach for the uniformity of the initial shell is presented. Meanwhile, the effect of stirring parameters on fluid flow and solidification is discussed. The results show that M-EMS can significantly change the temperature and velocity distribution within the mold. These changes can stabilize the level fluctuations and make the initial shell uniform. The maximum industrial height fluctuation was reduced from 1.9 mm to 1.3 mm when the stirring intensity was 375 A/3 Hz. The stirring intensity of M-EMS is relatively ideal.

Supercritical water desalination (SCWD) shows great potential in the treatment of high-salt wastewater with zero liquid discharge. To investigate the salt precipitation behavior and mechanism in supercritical water, experiments and molecular dynamics simulations (MDs) were used to study the salting-out process of different salts in supercritical water. The equilibrium concentrations of NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, Na2SO4, and Na2CO3 in supercritical water were experimentally measured. When the temperature exceeded 693 K, the salt equilibrium concentration measured in the experiment was less than 130 mg/L. The solubility decreased in the order of KCl > NaCl > CaCl2 > Na2SO4 > Na2CO3. To elucidate the effects of different cations and anions in supercritical water on salt dissolution and precipitation behavior, the potential energy, radial distribution function (RDF) and coordination number in the system were obtained via molecular dynamics simulation. Experimental and MD results showed that salt so... [more]

Natural gas pipelines have attracted increasing attention in the energy industry thanks to the current demand for green energy and the advantages of pipeline transportation. A novel deep learning method is proposed in this paper, using a coupled network structure incorporating the thermodynamics-informed neural network and the compressor Boolean neural network, to incorporate both functions of pipeline transportation safety check and energy supply predictions. The deep learning model is uniformed for the coupled network structure, and the prediction efficiency and accuracy are validated by a number of numerical tests simulating various engineering scenarios, including hydrogen gas pipelines. The trained model can provide dispatchers with suggestions about the number of phases existing during the transportation as an index showing safety, while the effects of operation temperature, pressure and compositional purity are investigated to suggest the optimized productions.

The determination of rheological model about the debris flow is the basis of the simulation of mud flow impact distance and sedimentary fan. By using a mcr301 rheometer, rheological experiments of Chengdu clay slurry with different solid volume concentrations were carried out and the effect of solid volume concentration on shear stress were analyzed. Then the rheological process of Chengdu clay slurry with different solid volume concentration was fitted on the basis of the power law model, the Bingham model and the H−B model. The conclusions are drawn as follows: Chengdu clay mud is a typical shear-thinning non-Newtonian body. The influence of solid concentration on the flow curve is different. When the solid volume concentration is not less than 34% and the shear rate is less than 1.0 s−1, the shear stress increases rapidly as the shear rate increases. Meanwhile, when the shear rate is greater than 1.0 s−1 the shear stress decreases with the increase in the shear rate. When the solid... [more]

This study is an experimental study corresponding to an analytical study presented previously, where a scaled-down model was built and tested in a water tank by following the size and shape of the structure applied in the analytical study. In this study, a wave energy converter of an oscillating water column (OWC) system is integrated with the infrastructure of a jacket-type offshore platform applied to an offshore wind turbine system. The purpose is to conduct a combination system through the simultaneous utilization of both wind power and wave power so that sustainable energy can be maximized. During the analytical study’s analysis, the airflow response and the converting efficiency of wave energy from an OWC system integrated with an offshore template structural system were evaluated. By following the analytical study’s analysis, the performance of all the systems is tested, including the airflow velocity, pneumatic power, and the converting efficiency of the power from waves. The e... [more]

The double-layer blanket (DLB) reverse offset is a newly designed printing process for patterning electronic circuits on a 3D curved surface. Unlike the existing reverse offset process, the DLB reverse offset utilizes an offset roll composed of two layers comprising polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and a thick, soft cushioned rubber to print microelectrode patterns and transparent electrodes on a curved surface. The optimal printing process was determined by adjusting the printing pressure and printing speed for horizontal and vertical micropatterns, based on which transparent electrodes with metal mesh and honeycomb structures with a line width of 30 μm and pitch of 600 μm with micropatterns ranging from 30 μm to 60 μm were printed on a curved surface. Ag ink was used, and the 3D curved surface indicated a print quality similar to that of the flat surface for both the vertical and horizontal patterns and transparent electrodes. The DLB reverse offset technique demonstrated the possibility... [more]

This study evaluates low-temperature district heating (LTDH) networks with different geothermal heat sources under thermo-economic criteria. In particular, the heat and cold supply of modern neighbourhoods are taken into account in a dynamic simulation model built on the modelling language Modelica. Both horizontal and vertical ground heat exchangers (GHE) were investigated in respect to the load profiles of the consumers, depending on dimension as well as location. The selected base case represents a LTDH network near Stuttgart (Germany). The corresponding results of an annual simulation show that a horizontal GHE is suitable for pure heat supply and can reduce costs by up to 12% compared to a vertical system. This economic advantage remains when the cooling demand is considered. Subsequently, a variation of the system location was carried out. It is shown that horizontal GHEs operate more economically in northern regions, whereas vertical ones are more advantageous in regions with in... [more]

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is one of the key promising technologies that can reduce GHG emissions from those industries that generate CO2 as part of their production processes. Compared to other effective CO2 capture methods, the adsorption technique offers the possibility of reducing the costs of the process by setting solid sorbent with a high capacity of adsorption and easy regeneration and, also, controlling the performance of gas-solid contactor. In this work, an amine-functionalized mesoporous sorbent was used to capture CO2 emissions in a confined-fluidized bed. The adoption of a confined environment allows the establishment of a homogeneous expansion regime for the sorbent and allows to improve the exchange of matter and heat between gas and solid phase. The results illustrate how the different concentration of the solution adopted during the functionalization affects the adsorption capacity. That, measured as mg of CO2 per g of sorbent, was determined by b... [more]