Over the last decade, the conical mill has emerged as a potential piece of equipment to use for continuous dry coating pharmaceutical powders. In this work, silicon dioxide was used as a guest particle on two excipients, fast flow lactose (FFL) and grade PH200 microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), for dry coating by a conical mill with a modified screen that permitted batch and continuous mode operation. Samples were pre-processed in a V-blender. SEM images, particle size distribution, and EDS mapping were used to characterise the treated powders. Pre-processed samples showed some discrete coating of the host particle. After batch processing, the samples were covered with a complete coating. When processed at high impeller speed, coating of FFL was a mix of A200P and FFL fines generated by attrition. Continuous mode processed samples, which had a lower processing time, were coated discretely and showed a better coating than the pre-processed samples. Increasing guest/host mass ratio with F... [more]

Methods to predict the equilibrium solubility of nonelectrolyte solids are indispensable for early-stage process development, design, and feasibility studies. Conventional analytic methods typically require reference data to regress parameters, which may not be available or limited for novel systems. Molecular simulation is a promising alternative, but is computationally intensive. Here, we demonstrate the ability to use a small number of molecular simulation free energy calculations to generate reference data to regress model parameters for the analytical MOSCED (modified separation of cohesive energy density) model. The result is an efficient analytical method to predict the equilibrium solubility of nonelectrolyte solids. The method is demonstrated for the wastewater contaminants monuron, diuron, atrazine and atenolol. Predictions for monuron, diuron and atrazine are in reasonable agreement with MOSCED parameters regressed using experimental solubility data. Predictions for atenolol... [more]

Today’s customer no longer wants one-size-fits-all products but expects products and services to be as tailored as possible. Mass customization and personalization are becoming a trend in the digitalization strategy of enterprises and manufacturing in Industry 4.0. The purpose of the paper is to develop and validate a conceptual model for leveraging Industry 4.0 and digitalization to support product customization. We explored the implications and impacts of Industry 4.0 and digitalization on product customization processes and determine the importance of variables. We applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to test our hypotheses regarding the antecedents and consequences of digitalization and Industry 4.0. We estimated the process model using the partial least squares (PLS) method, and goodness of fit measures show acceptable values. The proposed model considers relationships between technology readiness, digitalization, internal and external integration, internal value chain, and... [more]

The experimental investigation presented in this research was performed in order to examine the possibility of the removal of SO2 from flue gases by cleaning with a solution of lime suspension and formic acid (Ca(OH)2 and HCOOH). Research was conducted in a laboratory plant (rotary kiln) of 44 kW. The mass of the lime suspension (LS) was 400 g. The mass of the LS was homogenized (mixed) in a sample cup with 2 g (0.5%), 4 g (1%) and 8 g (2%) of 60% formic acid. The solution was placed in a gas washing bottle, where a partial flow of flue gas generated by the combustion of diesel fuel was injected. Simultaneously with the diesel fuel combustion, SO2 from a bottle was injected in a rotary kiln. The average mass concentration of SO2 in the flue gas at the entry point of the gas washing bottle was around 2900 ppm. The results indicated that the absorption of SO2 by the cleaning of flue gas with LS was 96.83%. Adding formic acid to the LS in mass ratios of 0.5% (2 g), 1% (4 g) and 2% (8 g) r... [more]

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometers provide simple, rapid, nondestructive, and cost-effective analysis of the metal contents in soils. The current method for improving pXRF measurement accuracy is soil sample preparation, which inevitably consumes significant amounts of time. To eliminate the influence of sample preparation on PXRF measurements, this study evaluates the performance of pXRF measurements in the prediction of eight heavy metals’ contents through machine learning algorithm linear regression (LR) and multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS) models. Soil samples were collected from five industrial sites and separated into high-value and low-value datasets with pXRF measurements above or below the background values. The results showed that for Cu and Cr, the MARS models were better than the LR models at prediction (the MARS-R2 values were 0.88 and 0.78; the MARS-RPD values were 2.89 and 2.11). For the pXRF low-value dataset, the multivariate MARS models imp... [more]

Electro-fermentation is a novel process that consists in coupling a microbial fermentative metabolism with an electrochemical system. In such a process, the electrodes act either as the electron sinks or sources modifying the fermentation balance of a microbial fermentative metabolism and provide new options for the control of microbial activity. A theoretical framework for the analysis and control of fermentations using electro-fermentation is currently lacking. In this paper, we propose a simple electro-fermentation model in which a population of fermentative bacteria switch between two metabolic behaviors in response to different electrode potentials. We then mathematically analyze optimal strategies to maximize the production of one of the rising products in a batch fermentation using Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. The obtained results show that, in some experimental configurations, a dynamic control of the electrode potential is required for the maximization of the desired produc... [more]

To ensure the energy conversion efficiency of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), it is necessary to establish a water-cooled cooling system to keep the inlet temperature of fuel-cell coolant and the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet temperature within the set range. First, a semi-empirical and semi-mechanism model was built in Simulink. Then, a variable-universe fuzzy PID controller was designed to adjust the quantization factor and scaling factor by scaling factor α1, α2 and to improve the accuracy of the control results. Finally, the cooling system model with controller is simulated. The results show that compared with other control methods, the simulation results of the variable-universe fuzzy PID controller have smaller maximum overshoot, faster response speed and more gentle temperature fluctuation.

The use of antioxidants in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cultures to improve monoclonal antibody production has been a topic of great interest. Nevertheless, the antioxidants do not have consistent benefits of production improvement, which might be cell line specific and/or process specific. In this work, we investigated how treatment with the antioxidant rosmarinic acid (RA) improved cell growth and titer in CHO cell cultures using transcriptomics. In particular, transcriptomics analysis indicated that RA treatment modified gene expression and strongly affected the MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways, which regulate cell survival and cell death. Moreover, it was observed that these signaling pathways, which had been identified to be up-regulated on day 2 and day 6 by RA, were also up-regulated over time (from initial growth phase day 2 to slow growth or protein production phase day 6) in both conditions. In summary, this transcriptomics analysis provides insights into the role of... [more]

The filamentous fungus Penicillium canescens, isolated from oil-polluted soil, was evaluated for its ability to dissipate high-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The study was conducted in a microcosm containing 180 g of historical PAH-contaminated soil under non-sterile conditions with two incubation temperatures (14 °C and 18 °C) on a 12-h cycle. The experiment was conducted over 8 months, with four experimental conditions created by varying the volumes of the bulking agent and vegetable oil (olive oil) and the time of addition of these compounds. The PAH dissipation performance of the fungal augmentation treatment was compared with that achieved with a biostimulated soil (bulking agent and vegetable oil) and with the untreated soil as control. The greatest PAH dissipation was obtained with P. canescens bioaugmentation (35.71% ± 1.73), with 13 of the 16 US EPA PAH significantly dissipated, at rates above 18%, and particularly high-molecular-weight PAH, composed... [more]

Cement-sodium silicate grout (CSG) is now widely adopted in water plugging engineering to prevent water inrush disasters, and the gelation and consolidation characteristics of CSG in water environment significantly affect the grouting effect. To obtain an in-depth understanding of the performance of CSG in water, the CSGs with different water-cement ratios and volume ratios were tested, and the gelation properties, the deposition characteristics and the diffusion process of CSG within water were examined. The compressive strength and microstructure of CSG consolidation formed in air and water were also analyzed comparatively. The test results indicate that the CSG consolidation exhibits obvious stratification and segregation phenomena in water, which can be divided into three layers with different substance compositions. The compressive strength of CSG consolidation formed in water is much lower than that of the grout consolidation formed in air, indicating that the water environment h... [more]

Proceeding our prior studies of SARS-CoV-2, the inhibitory potential against SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) has been investigated for a collection of 3009 clinical and FDA-approved drugs. A multi-phase in silico approach has been employed in this study. Initially, a molecular fingerprint experiment of Remdesivir (RTP), the co-crystallized ligand of the examined protein, revealed the most similar 150 compounds. Among them, 30 compounds were selected after a structure similarity experiment. Subsequently, the most similar 30 compounds were docked against SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (PDB ID: 7BV2). Aloin 359, Baicalin 456, Cefadroxil 1273, Sophoricoside 1459, Hyperoside 2109, and Vitexin 2286 exhibited the most precise binding modes, as well as the best binding energies. To confirm the obtained results, MD simulations experiments have been conducted for Hyperoside 2109, the natural flavonoid glycoside that exhibited the best docking scores, against RdRp (PDB ID:... [more]

In this paper, a control method featuring double closed-loop compound robust is proposed to deal with the underperformances of double pump-double valve-controlled motors under external interference, such as poor stability of output speed, low controllability, and difficulties in managing synchronous output. By using this method, with the output speed of the hydraulic motor kept constant as the control objective, the sliding-mode controller of the single-channel motor is designed for the inner loop, while the double-channel cross-coupled enclosed-loop control is applied to the outer loop. Adjustments then are made to the speeds of the two motors, thus finally managing to realize the constant control on synchronous output of the two motors. Both simulation and test results indicate that this control method has produced higher control accuracy and robustness, with the system output speed difference lowered by 57.6%, the stability adjustment time shortened by 25% on average, and the synchr... [more]

The process of designing a longwall powered support is extremely complex and requires many operations related to the creation of a complete machine. The powered support section is one of the basic elements of the longwall system. It acts as protection for the working space and takes part in the process of excavating and transporting the spoil. The implementation of the support that meets the guidelines of the manufacturer and user requires an endurance analysis at the design stage conducted according to the regulations in force. The main objective of this research, pursued by the authors, was to perform the analysis of the ultimate strength of selected elements of the designed powered support section. The research was carried out with the use of special software that uses the finite element method. This article presents the analysis of the strength limits conducted with the help of the finite element method, determining the strength of selected elements of the longwall support section.... [more]

Vitrification has attracted much attention as an efficient method for solidifying heavy metals in hazardous solid wastes, but its effect is limited when hazardous solid wastes contain chlorides. Aiming at fly ash, a normal chlorine-containing solid waste, a novel process of chlorination melting and glass curing was developed to completely realize the harmlessness of heavy metals. Melting temperature, time, and auxiliary agent were adequate to realize the harmlessness, and their influence on the migration and transformation of Cl, Na, Pb, and Zn and the leaching of slag were studied. The results showed that the majority of Cl, Na, Pb, and Zn in the fly ash had been transferred to the soot, and the residual part in the slag had been solidified in glass by controlling the process conditions. Under the optimized conditions (12 wt.% CaO and 5 wt.% SiO2 was added, the N2 flow ratio was at 1 L/min, and the melting temperature was 1300 °C for 2 h), the leaching index was determined, including... [more]

Methanol, as a promising carbon-neutral fuel, has become a research hotspot worldwide. In this study, pure gasoline and gasoline blended with five different volume ratios of methanol (10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, and 75%) were selected as test fuels, which were referred to as M0, M10, M20, M30, M50, and M75. The experiments on carbon and pollutant emissions and performance were carried out on a passenger vehicle with gasoline direct injection (GDI) turbocharged engine using the steady-state, new European driving cycle (NEDC), and acceleration approaches. The results show that under steady-state conditions, as the methanol blending ratio increases, the volume of fuel consumption increases. Compared with pure gasoline, the equivalent fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions are reduced by 0.95 L/100 km (10.6%) and 18.95 g/km (9.6%) in maximum extent by fueling M75, respectively. In the NEDC, the CO2 emissions of M30 are reduced by 5.46 g/km (3.7%) compared with pure gasoline. After blending methano... [more]

A system identification of a two-wheeled robot (TWR) using a data-driven approach from its fundamental nonlinear kinematics is investigated. The fundamental model of the TWR is implemented in a Simulink environment and tested at various input/output operating conditions. The testing outcome of TWR’s fundamental dynamics generated 12 datasets. These datasets are used for system identification using simple autoregressive exogenous (ARX) and non-linear auto-regressive exogenous (NLARX) models. Initially the ARX structure is heuristically selected and estimated through a single operating condition. We conclude that the single ARX model does not satisfy TWR dynamics for all datasets in term of fitness. However, NLARX fitted the 12 estimated datasets and 2 validation datasets using sigmoid nonlinearity. The obtained results are compared with TWR’s fundamental dynamics and predicted outputs of the NLARX showed more than 98% accuracy at various operating conditions.

This paper exploits, through modeling and optimization, the experimental laboratory data on the biosorption of heavy metal ions Pb(II), Cd(II), and Zn(II) from aqueous media using soybean and soybean waste biomasses. The biosorption modeling was performed using the Response Surface Methodology, followed by optimization based on numerical methods. The aim of the modeling was to establish the most probable mathematical relationship between the dependent variables (the biosorption efficiency of the biosorbents when adsorbing metal ions, R(%), and the biosorption capacity of sorbents, q(mg/g)) and the process parameters (pH; sorbent dose, DS (g/L); initial metal ion concentration in solution, c0 (mg/L); contact time, tc (min); temperature, T (°C)), validated by methodologies specific to the multiple regression analysis. Afterward, sets of solutions were obtained through optimization that correlate various values of the process parameters to maximize the objective function. These solutions... [more]

In modern enterprises, all processes that are understood as structured activities intended for production, i [...]

An efficient and flexible production system can contribute to production solutions. These advantages of flexibility and efficiency are a benefit for small series productions or for individual articles. The aim of this research was to produce a genetic production system schedule similar to the sustainable production scheduling problem of a discrete product assembly plant, with more heterogeneous production lines, and controlled by one-time orders. First, we present a detailed mathematical model of the system under investigation. Then, we present the IT for a solution based on a soft calculation method. In connection with this model, a computer application was created that analyzed various versions of the model with several practical problems. The applicability of the method was analyzed with software specifically developed for this algorithm and was demonstrated on a practical example. The model handles the different products within an order, as well as their different versions. These w... [more]

The effect of ultrasound in combination of heat on the extraction yield and technological properties of chia seed mucilage was investigated. Chia seeds were mixed with distilled water at a seed-to-water ratio of 1:30. The dispersion was adjusted to pH 9 and treated either with heat extraction by water bath or with heat/ultrasound extraction by probe-type sonication at 50 °C and 80 °C for 30 and 60 min. The yield and technological properties of mucilage samples were evaluated. The heat/ultrasound extraction gave a greater yield of mucilage (6.92−10.52%) as compared to the heat extraction (1.03−1.86%). Images obtained from Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) have shown that during heat/ultrasound extraction, the amount of mucilage fibers on the surface of chia seed decreased with the increased extraction time. Thus, the yield of mucilage prepared with heat/ultrasound extraction for 60 min was significantly higher than that of mucilage extracted for 30 min. However, the difference between... [more]

By-products from forestry, agriculture and nature areas are used in compost bedded-pack housing (CBP) systems for animals. In this communication, we discuss the application of a CBP system to animal farms and aspects related to the recycling and reuse of the materials in the context of a circular economy. This study is based on data from ongoing projects and literature. The following systems are discussed: (i) composting material applied to a specialized animal housing system; (ii) adding a horticultural component to the animal farm by reusing the compost, and (iii) a cooperative mixed cattle and crop farming system. The success of integrating a compost bedding component in the system depends largely on the skills of managing the composting process, the application of the material in the field, and the cost of acquiring the material. When materials are amply available, then a real contribution to the circular economy can be made. Cooperation between farmers in the utilization of by-pro... [more]

In this work, selections of seven international hop varieties and three craft beers obtained from them were analyzed by SPME-GC/MS techniques with the aim to describe their volatile chemical profile. The brewing process was also reported. Furthermore, the hop extracts and beers were investigated to determine their flavonoid and polyphenol content and to evaluate their antioxidant power by DPPH and ABTS assays. The findings showed the presence of compounds belonging to different chemical classes such as monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, esters and fatty acids. In particular, sesquiterpenes were the main compounds with β-caryophyllene (from 1.7 to 16.2%) and humulene (from 10.8 to 43.9%) as the major components in all varieties of dried hop cones investigated. On the contrary, with the exception for the Pacific sample, monoterpenes were the class of compounds that were more abundant in the hop extracts and, among these, β-myrcene appeared to be the predominant constituent (from 31.... [more]

As obtained geofluids from enhanced geothermal systems usually have lower temperatures and contain chemicals and impurities, a novel power cycle (NPC) with a unit capacity of several hundred kilowatts has been configured and developed in this study, with particular reference to the geofluid temperature (heat source) ranging from 110 °C to 170 °C. Using a suitable CO2-based mixture working fluid, a transcritical power cycle was developed. The novelty of the developed power cycle lies in the fact that an increasing-pressure endothermic process was realized in a few-hundred-meters-long downhole heat exchanger (DHE) by making use of gravitational potential energy, which increases the working fluid’s pressure and temperature at the turbine inlet and, hence, increases the cycle’s power output. The increasing-pressure endothermic process in the DHE has a better match with the temperature change of the heat source (geofluid), as does the exothermic process in the condenser with the temperature... [more]

Adeno-associated virus vectors (AAV) are reported to have a great potential for gene therapy, however, a major bottleneck for this kind of therapy is the limitation of production capacity. Higher specific AAV vector yield is often reported for adherent cell systems compared to cells in suspension, and a microcarrier-based culture is well established for the culture of anchored cells on a larger scale. The purpose of the present study was to explore how microcarrier cultures could provide a solution for the production of AAV vectors based on the triple plasmid transfection of HEK293T cells in a stirred tank bioreactor. In the present study, cells were grown and expanded in suspension, offering the ease of this type of operation, and were then anchored on microcarriers in order to proceed with transfection of the plasmids for transient AAV vector production. This process was developed in view of a bioreactor application in a 200 mL stirred-tank vessel where shear stress aspects were stud... [more]

The Zn-5%Al-rare earth alloy coating has been used in High-Vanadium Full-Locked Cable (HVFLC) that is made in China. This application has shown excellent protective performance. However, during practical use, the coating may appear to be deteriorated in various degrees, which may further worsen the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of the cable. This paper focuses on High-Vanadium Full-Locked Cable (HVFLC). Firstly, different types of prefabricated defect treatments have been applied into the wires of the cable, followed by corrosion paste accelerated corrosion test and mechanical tensile properties test. The aim of this act is to figure out the effects on the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of the wire due to different types of defects in alloy plating. The results show that the corrosion resistance of the wires has been greatly affected because of the solder joint defects. Furthermore, the tensile strength of the wire indicates a drop of about 40%. This re... [more]