Since its discovery in many heat-treatment foods in 2002, many efforts have been made to reduce acrylamide levels in foods. Methods to reduce acrylamide levels by reducing Maillard reaction products have been considered. However, baking cookies produces acrylamide, a carcinogenic compound. This study aimed to use a new quantitative index and formula for L-asparaginase, glucose oxidase, their 1:1 blending enzymes, baker’s yeast, and green tea powder (0.5 g/kg wheat flour) at a new proposed temperature of 37 °C for 30 min to reduce acrylamide production in biscuits and bakery products using new indicators such as asparagine reduction (%), the asparagine/acrylamide ratio, acrylamide reduction (%), and the asparagine/reducing sugar ratio. The highest acrylamide concentrations were reduced from 865 mg/kg in the blank sample (BT0) to 260 and 215 mg/kg in the mixed enzyme powder (1:1) (BT3)- and BT4-treated samples, respectively. The biscuit samples treated with 0.5 g/kg L-asparaginase reduce... [more]

On the one hand, the twin perspectives of the construction industry and urban agglomeration proliferate economic prosperity. However, on the other hand, construction activities and increased population density give rise to environmental challenges. This study is an initial attempt to explore links between the construction industry, urban agglomeration, non-renewable energy utilization, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e), and economic output within a system of simultaneous equation modeling. This study develops modeling specifications to include the construction industry as a shifting factor and CO2e as a determinant of technical efficiency. A heterogeneous fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) technique, capable of providing concrete empirical outcomes even in the presence of modern panel-data econometric issues, is utilized for the data of China’s 30 provincial/ city divisions during the 2003−2019 period. It has been revealed that: (i) the influence of urban agglomeration on the... [more]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the main greenhouse gases and the major factor driving global climate change. From the viewpoint of abundance, economics, non-toxicity, and renewability, CO2 is an ideal and significant C1 resource, and its capture and recycling into fuels and chemical feedstocks using renewable energy is of great significance for the sustainable development of society. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RRs) are an important pathway to utilize CO2 resources. Zinc has been demonstrated as an effective catalyst for CO2RRs. Numerous studies have focused on improving the efficiency of zinc-based catalysts by tuning their morphology and components, as well as controlling their oxidation states or doping. However, only a handful of reviews have evaluated the performance of Zn-based CO2RR electrocatalysts. The present review endeavors to fill this research gap and introduces the recent progress in using CO2RRs to create various fuels (carbon-containing substances or hy... [more]

Larger vibration and noise often exist in agricultural machinery due to the harsh working environment and high power. The rubbing machine is one of the indispensable pieces of equipment in the agriculture and livestock industry, and it is affected by the vibration of large constraints on its promotion and use. To reduce the vibration of the rubbing machine, the vibration characteristics of the spindle rotor were first analysed by modal simulation, thus determining the larger contributions to the spindle rotor vibration. Second, aluminium foam material was installed in the large deformation part of the spindle rotor. Its vibration reduction and energy absorption characteristics were used to optimise the vibration reduction design by increasing the damping. Third, a steel ball impact test was conducted to analyse the vibration characteristics of the optimised spindle rotor. The results show that the maximum impact accelerations were reduced by 28.4% and 64.75% in the axial and radial dir... [more]

Turning operations using single-point cutting tools have been one of the earliest and most used methods for cutting metal. It has been widely studied for cutting forces and workpiece surface roughness to affect turning operations. When cutting metal, the cutting tool needs to be tougher than the workpiece so it can resist high temperatures and wear while the operation is conducted. The mechanical qualities of martensitic stainless steel (MSS) grade Custom-450 can be significantly enhanced by heat treatment processes, which also provide it with an outstanding corrosion-resistance material. It has excellent resistance to rusting and pitting in a saltwater environment. Nuclear power reactors, screens for the pulp and paper sector, chemical processing, and power generation are just a few industries that require Custom-450 grade steel. To increase the workpiece’s machinability, dimensional precision, and appealing surface finish, the cutting tool industries have recently demonstrated a grea... [more]

Semi-empirical fouling models have proven more effective in predicting the fouling behavior of crude oils in heat exchangers. These models have aided refineries in optimizing operating conditions to minimize or eliminate fouling in preheat exchangers. Despite their complexity, the models continue to improve in approximating real behavior by taking into account previously neglected aspects. This paper summarizes these findings from various studies along with highlighting different factors which were considered to enhance the predictability of the models. A critical analysis is presented to emphasize that activation energy in the deposition term varies depending on the physical processes involved and may not conform to the precise definition of activation energy. Two primary modeling approaches for crude oil fouling have emerged, i.e., deterministic and threshold models. Threshold models have gained more attention due to their fewer adjustable parameters. The stability or compatibility o... [more]

Accurate polyp segmentation is of great importance for the diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have made significant strides in the processing of medical images in recent years. The limited structure of convolutional operations prevents CNNs from learning adequately about global and long-range semantic information interactions, despite the remarkable performance they have attained. Therefore, the GCCSwin-UNet framework is suggested in this study. Specifically, the model utilizes an encoder−decoder structure, using the patch-embedding layer for feature downsampling and the CSwin Transformer block as the encoder for contextual feature extraction. To restore the feature map’s spatial resolution during upsampling operations, a symmetric decoder and patch expansion layer are also created. In order to help the backbone module to do better feature learning, we also create a global context module (GCM) and a local position-enhanced module (LPEM). We co... [more]

At present, the carbothermal reduction and nitridation process is an important method for the large-scale preparation of aluminum nitride powder in industry, but the tremendous energy consumption caused by long-term high temperatures seriously restricts its practical application. To solve this problem, the (NaAlO2+C) mixture with a mole ratio of NaAlO2:C = 1:3 was prepared based on sodium aluminate and carbon black which has been ball milled with anhydrous ethanol as a grinding liquid. The crystal structure evolution and nitridation reaction behavior of sodium aluminate at 800−1600 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of carbon were systematically studied employing XRD, SEM, and ICP-MS. The results showed that: high energy θ-Al2O3, η-Al2O3 can be excited by heating sodium aluminate to 1400 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of carbon. The transformation process between sodium aluminate and aluminum nitride is carried out via the direct nitridation of θ-Al2O3, η-Al... [more]

Styrene-butadiene (SBR) and acrylonitrile-butadiene (NBR) rubber blends with tetramethyl thiuram disulfide (TMTD) and tetramethyl thiuram monosulfide (TMTS) accelerators and environmentally friendly plasticizers, obtained from PET recycling and biobased resources (LA/PG/PET/EG/LA), were prepared. The mechanical properties of the obtained rubber products were tested and compared with those of commercial dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP). TMTS was prepared by simple and efficient one-pot synthesis from dimethylamine, carbon disulfide, potassium cyanide, and ammonium chloride as catalysts in recycled isopropanol/water azeotrope as solvent. In a comparative study, methoxide, ethoxide, iodide, and amide ions were also used. The two-step reaction mechanism of TMTS synthesis involves the oxidation of the amine salt of dimethyldithiocarbamic acid to TMTD by hydrogen peroxide and sulfur elimination from the TMTD disulfide bond. Potassium cyanide appears to be the most efficient nucleophile. The simp... [more]

The state of interface adhesion, as measured by the void ratio, is a critical factor affecting the adhesion strength and heat dissipation efficiency of a system. However, non-destructive and rapid detection of the adhesion process remains a challenge. In this study, we used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the interfacial thermal conductance of silicon and polymer at various adhesion void ratios, with the aim of achieving non-destructive and rapid detection of the adhesion process. Our results demonstrate a linear relationship between the interfacial thermal conductance and effective contact area at different temperatures, enabling the numerical value of interfacial thermal conductance to serve as an indicator of interfacial adhesion state. Furthermore, we also output the surface temperature of the adhesive interface. The non-uniformity of the surface temperature evolution can be used to identify the location of bubbles on the adhesive surface, which further refle... [more]

Electron beam melting (EBM) is one example of a 3D printing technology that has shown great promise and advantages in the fabrication of medical devices such as dental and orthopedic implants. However, these products require high surface quality control to meet the specifications; thus, post-processing, such as with machining processes, is required to improve surface quality. This paper investigates the influence of two-part orientations of Ti6Al4V EBM parts on the CNC machining (turning) process. The two possible EBM part orientations used in this work are across EBM layers (AL) and parallel to the EBM layer (PL). The effect of the EBM Ti6Al4V part orientations is examined on surface roughness, power consumption, chip morphology, tool flank wear, and surface morphology during the dry turning, while using uncoated carbide tools at different feed rates and cutting speeds. The results showed that the AL orientation had better surface quality control and integrity after machining than PL... [more]

The Pinghu Formation is a low permeability sandstone reservoir in the KQT Region, East China Sea. Its porosity ranges from 3.6 to 18.0%, and permeability is distributed from 0.5 to 251.19 mD. The relationship between porosity and permeability was poor due to strong heterogeneity. This led to the difficulty of quantitatively evaluating effective reservoirs and identifying pore fluids by using common methods. In this study, to effectively evaluate low permeability sandstones in the Pinghu Formation of KQT Region, pore structure was first characterized from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging based on piecewise function calibration (PFC) method. Effective formation classification criteria were established to indicate the “sweet spot”. Afterwards, several effective methods were proposed to calculate formation of petrophysical parameters, e.g., porosity, permeability, water saturation (Sw), irreducible water saturation (Swirr). Finally, two techniques, established based on the crossplo... [more]

The United States (U.S.) has a nearly USD 17 billion seafood trade deficit annually. However, the U.S. aquaculture industry faces strict micronutrient (e.g., phosphorus and nitrogen) level mandates that negatively impact fish production, especially for the state of Idaho, which produces 70−75% of the nation’s rainbow trout. This study investigates the sustainability benefits of producing engineered biomaterials from lignocellulosic-based feedstocks near collection sites via portable biorefineries for use by fish farms to reduce eutrophication (oversupply of micronutrients) impacts. In this study, sustainability assessments are performed on a case study in southern Idaho, the largest U.S. commercial producer of rainbow trout. The results show that 20 and 60 min of water treatment, using small particle size biomaterial from lodgepole pine, has the highest total phosphorus removal rate, at 150−180 g of phosphorus per 1 metric ton of engineered biomaterials. The results of techno-economic... [more]

Due to financial limitations, power systems are being operated closer to their stability boundaries. Voltage stability analysis is crucial to preserve a power system’s equilibrium. However, this impacts a system’s dependability and security, and maintaining a power system’s voltage stability is a difficult challenge. Additionally, the inverters and converters in a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system use a significant amount of reactive power, which exacerbates voltage instability. In this study, a new algorithm called Adaptive Neural Spider Monkey (ANSMA) was developed to improve the voltage stability security in an HVDC system. Additionally, the proposed ANSMA maintains voltage stability while scheduling the loads in the generator. Moreover, applying artificial-intelligence-related energy systems to these issues is considered an efficient solution. Fuzzy, neural, ANN, and other improvements in artificial intelligence approaches, along with power semiconductor devices, have signi... [more]

In this study, a novel dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (D-μSPE) technique with H-ZSM-5 zeolite as an adsorbent was developed for the determination of 21 trace pesticides in tea beverages. The adsorption and desorption of H-ZSM-5 zeolites were investigated based on structural characteristics and adsorption properties similar to those of H-beta zeolites. In combination with the properties of the adsorbates, it was explained that the adsorption reaction occurred on the microporous surface and mesopores of H-ZSM-5. Based on optimal parameters, the beverage samples were extracted by 50 mg of zeolite within 1 min. The zeolite was eluted with 2 mL of an acetonitrile-water mixture after separation, and the eluent was filtered prior to HPLC-MS/MS analysis. The D-μSPE protocol demonstrated acceptable accuracy and precision, with recoveries between 62.1% and 106.6% and relative standard deviations of 1.4% to 12.6%, as validated by analytical reliability. The correlation coefficient in the... [more]

In order to analyze the inner flow in a multi-stage double-suction centrifugal pump, which is regarded as a common way of knowing the current characteristics of the pump and as the basis of optimization for better performance, a numerical simulation considering the velocity field distribution characteristics and pressure fluctuation propagation law using the detached eddy simulation method was conducted. Additionally, the principle of entropy generation was put to use to quantify and compare the energy loss of different components. The results reveal that the existence of unstable flow structures in the first-stage impeller and a large number of vortical structures in the back-channel result in reduced operational efficiency of the pump. Furthermore, the pressure fluctuation intensity reaches its maximum with 0.15 at the blade trailing edge, which propagates to the tongue region of the forward flow channel and the double-volute under the low rates condition. Additionally, the main freq... [more]

This study aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic potential, antioxidant activity and prebiotic activity of a hydroalcoholic extract of blueberry pomace (BP), an aqueous extract of chia seeds (CS) and a novel combination of BP−CS extracts (BCM) for further use as ingredient of functional food. Spectrometric and HPLC analyses were used to characterize the total phenolic and flavonoid content and composition of BP, while CS was analyzed for total carbohydrate content. Data showed that the BCM mixture exerted an inhibition of α-amylase activity, which was 1.36 times higher than that of BP and 1.25 higher than CS extract. The mixture also showed better scavenging activity of free DPPH radicals than individual extracts, and had an IC50 value of 603.12 µg/mL. In vitro testing indicated that both serum- and colon-reaching products of simulated intestinal digestion of BCM presented the capacity to protect Caco-2 intestinal cells against oxidative stress by inhibition of reactive oxygen species pro... [more]

The rapid development of the railway industry has brought convenience to people’s lives. However, with the high speed, high frequency and heavy load characteristics of rail use, the safety of rail is seriously threatened. In this paper, a magnetic flux leakage testing (MFL) detection technology of rail based on a double-track flaw detection vehicle is introduced in detail, which can effectively detect the damage of rail top surface, which is the blind area of ultrasonic detection. The magnetic dipole model is used to analyze that the leakage magnetic field in the direction of Bx and Bz above the damage is related to the depth and width of the damage. The relationship between the depth of the damage and the leakage magnetic field is quantitatively studied for the damage with fixed width but varying depth. The finite element simulation tool is used to model and simulate the damage at different depths. After analyzing the different characteristic values, it is found that the peak value of... [more]

The decision-making process behind the selection of a gas turbine engine (GT) is crucial and must be made in accordance with economic, environmental, and technical requirements. This paper presents the relevant economic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses for four GT engines with different compressor configurations. The GT engine configurations are identified according to the type of compressor: axial, axial-centrifugal, two-stage centrifugal, and centrifugal-centrifugal. The performances of the four GT engines were validated against manufacturer supplied data using specialized software. The economic analysis, a detailed life cycle costing considering the cost to be paid per unit net power obtained from the GT, and subsequent shortest payback period showed that the GT with centrifugal-centrifugal compressor was most economically feasible. This was followed, in order, by the GT-axial, GT-axial-centrifugal, and finally the GT-two-stage centrifugal configuration, where the co... [more]

Realizing the large-scale development and utilization of siderite, a difficult iron ore reserve, has great practical significance in ensuring the supply of iron ore resources. Therefore, a new in-house conveyor bed magnetization roasting−dry cooling process was pilot-tested using low-grade siderite from the Daxigou iron ore mine. A two-stage weak magnetic separation method was used for a beneficiation test to investigate the influence of temperature and CO content on the magnetization of siderite. At 600 °C and 800 °C under suspension, iron minerals were converted into magnetite with an effective 3−5 s residence time. Furthermore, at 600 °C and 750 °C, increasing the calcination temperature increased the iron grade and the concentrate recovery rate. However, calcination at temperatures >750 °C resulted in a slight decrease in the iron grade and recovery rate of the concentrate. 61.50% Fe grade and 80.30% concentrate recovery rate were obtained under 750 °C from magnetization roasting.... [more]

To solve the safety hazard of a buried gas pipeline caused by subsidence of a mined-out area, a three-dimensional model of a buried pipeline in a mined-out area was established using geological parameters and the finite-element software ABAQUS. The effects of the friction coefficient of the pipe and soil, the coal-seam dip angle, and the horizontal angle on the mechanical behavior of the pipe under varying widths of goaf area were investigated. The results indicate that the maximum equivalent stress of the pipeline is negatively correlated with the horizontal angle. Concerning longitudinal mining, the pipeline exhibits a high-stress zone when the mining length is >200 m, the surface displacement appears in a small range when the mining length is 40 m, and the stratum displacement range increases gradually with the increase in the mining length. When the width of the goaf is constant, the maximum equivalent stress of the pipeline is positively correlated with the tube-soil friction coef... [more]

In recent years, most of the research in the field of smart grids integrating renewable energy sources assumed energy efficiency as a scheduling objective. However, the aspects of energy consumption or energy demand have not been described clearly, even though they have been proven to be an effective way of reducing energy consumption. In this context, this study aimed to cover a key research challenge in the field, such as the development of an intelligent strategy for solving energy consumption scheduling problems. The added value of our proposal consists of classifying individual consumption profiles assigned to each operation cycle phase, instead of considering an average of non-varying consumption of household appliances. Within this hybrid approach, the proposed explainable system, based on self-organizing maps of neural networks, fuzzy clustering algorithm, and scheduling technics, correlates the complex interrelation between power generated from renewable energy sources in a sm... [more]

Hydrate-based technologies have excellent application potential in gas separation, gas storage, transportation, and seawater desalination, etc. However, the long induction time and the slow formation rate are critical factors affecting the application of hydrate-based technologies. Micro-nano bubbles (MNBs) can dramatically increase the formation rate of hydrates owing to their advantages of providing more nucleation sites, enhancing mass transfer, and increasing the gas−liquid interface and gas solubility. Initially, the review examines key performance MNBs on hydrate formation and dissociation processes. Specifically, a qualitative and quantitative assembly of the formation and residence characteristics of MNBs during hydrate dissociation is conducted. A review of the MNB characterization techniques to identify bubble size, rising velocity, and bubble stability is also included. Moreover, the advantages of MNBs in reinforcing hydrate formation and their internal relationship with the... [more]

Most bubble breakage models have been developed for multiphase simulations using Euler-Euler (EE) approaches. Commonly, they are linked with population balance models (PBM) and are validated by making use of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models. The latter, however, may be replaced by alternate approaches such as Large Eddy simulations (LES) that play a pivotal role in current developments based on lattice Boltzmann (LBM) technologies. Consequently, this study investigates the possibility of transferring promising bubble breakage models from the EE framework into Euler-Lagrange (EL) settings aiming to perform LES. Using our own model, it was possible to reproduce similar bubble size distributions (BSDs) for EL and EE simulations. Therefore, the critical Weber (Wecrit) number served as a threshold value for the occurrence of bubble breakage events. Wecrit depended on the bubble daughter size distribution (DSD) and a set minimum time between two consecutive bubble bre... [more]

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of biomass is a green technology with known environmental benefits for biogas generation. The biogas yield from existing substrates and the biodegradability of biomasses can be improved by conventional or novel enhancement techniques, such as the addition of iron-based nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, the effect of different concentrations of Fe2O3-based NPs on the AD of brown macroalga Sargassum spp. has been investigated by 30 days trials. The effect of NPs was evaluated at different concentrations. The control sample yielded a value of 80.25 ± 3.21 NmLCH4/gVS. When 5 mg/g substrate and 10 mg/g substrate of Fe2O3 NPs were added to the control sample, the yield increased by 24.07% and 26.97%, respectively. Instead, when 50 mg/g substrate of Fe2O3 NPs was added to the control sample, a negative effect was observed, and the biomethane yield decreased by 38.97%. Therefore, low concentrations of Fe2O3 NPs favor the AD process, whereas high concentrations ha... [more]