Coffee is an extremely popular beverage worldwide. To obtain it, the berry must be depulped, fermented, washed, dried, and roasted, producing residues: pulp and husk, mucilage, and parchment. Recently there has been an interest in generating high-value products. In this article, advances in the valorization process are critically reviewed, including an overview of the composition of residues derived from primary processing, uses in food, biocomposite, and biofuel production (thermochemical conversion). With an increasing production of coffee projected in the coming years, there is an urgent need to balance it with the appropriate use and industrial application of coffee wastes and by-products, which are renewable resources rich in carbohydrates, proteins, pectin, and bioactive compounds (polyphenols). The applications described above, together with those that will undoubtedly be developed in the future, represent promising opportunities to take advantage of agro-industrial residues der... [more]

The amount of food waste is increasing with the development of society and the increase in population; the rough treatment of food waste could result in a serious environmental crisis and waste of resources. Hydrothermal treatment is a promising scheme to achieve the harmless treatment and utilization of food waste. Although there are many studies on the hydrothermal treatment of food waste, there is still a lack of systematic summary and comprehensive analysis of the relevant literature. In this review, we provide an in-depth analysis of the specific impact mechanisms of hydrothermal conditions on the gaseous, solid, and liquid products. Meanwhile, the hydrothermal conversion mechanisms of food waste components are systematically sorted out. The review also discusses the potential application areas for the derived products from the hydrothermal treatment of food waste. Finally, the main challenges and future research directions are proposed to improve the development of the hydrotherm... [more]

Cement hydration within particle bed concrete 3D printing processes can be benefited by storing water in the otherwise dry aggregate bulk material. Additional water also has the advantage of acting as a source of passive cooling. However, even small amounts of liquid lead to detrimental effects on bulk properties, such as the flowability. For that reason, this study proposes implementing dry water (DW) in order to store large amounts of water in a bulk material of non-absorbent, coarse sand whilst maintaining its initial bulk properties. DW is essentially created by mixing water and hydrophobic fumed silica in a high shear process, leading to water droplets surrounded by a protective silica shell. Herein, several DW variants, distinguished by their deionised water to hydrophobic silica ratio, were mixed with non-absorbent, coarse sand particles. In addition, mixtures were produced to contain a specific overall water content of up to wH2O = 5% within the bulk material. It was shown that... [more]

Phenolic compounds are toxic and ominously present in industrial effluents, which can end up in water bodies, causing potential damage to living organisms. This study employed the dried biomass of freshwater green microalgae Chlorella vulgaris to remove phenol and 2-chlorophenol from an aqueous environment. C. vulgaris was grown under different phosphorus- (P) starved conditions, and biomass was treated with sulfuric acid. It was observed that reducing the P level enhanced the lipid content by 7.8 times while decreasing protein by 7.2 times. P-starved C. vulgaris dried biomass removed phenol and 2-chlorophenol by 69 and 57%, respectively, after 180 min from the contaminated water. Acid-treated P-starved C. vulgaris dried biomass removed phenol and 2-chlorophenol by 77 and 75%, respectively, after 180 min. Thus, an economical and eco-friendly P-starved and acid treated C. vulgaris biomass has better potential to remove phenol and 2-chlorophenol from contaminated ground water and industr... [more]

The control of a simulated moving bed (SMB) is always a challenging chemical control topic due to its complexity and nonlinearity. Its mathematical model must undergo an affine transformation and digitization before it can be controlled. Basically, there are three aspects that need to be considered in the nonlinear control of an SMB. First, the nonlinear characteristics are more complicated due to the switching time parameters of discrete events. Second, the control objective is not to minimize the control output error, but to make the separated concentrations between the components of the substance reach a certain ratio. Finally, the control variables are highly coupled. So far, the vast majority of the industry still uses relatively simple PLC controls; a few use specific controllers based on materials to be separated such as model predictive controls and PID controllers. Therefore, there is no unified intelligent processing mode. In this paper, a type-II fuzzy controller is presente... [more]

Discrete element simulation is an effective method to reveal the interaction between tillage components and work objects. However, due to the lack of discrete element modelling parameters of maize root and its mixture with soil, existing tillage models cannot accurately simulate the farmland environment under a no-tillage system. This study developed single maize root (SMR) with different diameters and maize root-soil mixture (MRSM) DEM models based on calibrated parameters through the angle of repose (AOR) tests. First, the Plackett−Burman and the steepest climb tests were performed to identify the range of essential parameters for the AOR of the SMR. Then, the optimal parameters for the SMR and MRSR models were obtained by Box−Behnken design (BBD) testing. The results showed that the static friction coefficient of SMR-SMR and the rolling friction coefficient of SMR-SMR and SMR-steel significantly affected the AOR. In addition, the AOR of MRSM was extremely sensitive to the restitutio... [more]

As a non-explosive low-disturbance rock breaking technology, carbon dioxide phase transition blasting (CDPTB) is widely used in rock breaking projects such as pressure relief and permeability enhancement in coal mines, open-pit mining, road subgrade excavation, foundation pit excavation, etc. In this paper, the principle and equipment of CDPTB are systematically analyzed, and the characteristics of a reusable fracturing tube and disposable fracturing tube are determined. Different energy calculation methods are analyzed to determine the magnitude or equivalent explosive equivalent of CDPTB. According to the characteristics of impact stress wave and high-pressure gas, the cracking mechanism of CDPTB is proposed. Under the action of medium-impact stress, rock mass will produce multi-point cracking, and high-pressure gas will produce a gas wedge effect in the initial fracture, which determines the comprehensive action path of the stress wave and high-pressure gas. In terms of fracture cha... [more]

Milk containing aflatoxin M1 (ATM1) in quantities above 0.05 µg/kg is considered unsuitable for consumption. It is possible to use mycotoxin deactivators that bind aflatoxin M1 and allow the further use of milk. The study aimed to examine the impact of selected mycotoxin deactivators (beta-glucan from yeast and oats, and live and dead lactic acid bacteria) on the nutritional composition of milk after binding to aflatoxin M1 intentionally added to milk. The study used consumption milk with 2.8% milk fat intentionally contaminated with aflatoxin M1. Furthermore, 0.05% and 0.1% solutions of beta-glucan from yeast and beta-glucan from oats were added to the contaminated milk, as well as live and dead lactic acid. Concentrations of Na, K, Mg, and Ca were monitored at the zero hour of binding of mycotoxin deactivators and ATM1, after 2 h of binding, and after 4 and 24 h of binding. The largest deviations were found in Na, K, and Mg, while the minimum changes were observed in Ca. Live lactic... [more]

Investigation of pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment of yeast at 20 kV/cm using chambers with BaTiO3 dielectric layers was conducted in this study. The sterile rate as well as concentrations of metallic ions and hydroxyl radicals were measured to assess the PEF performance. The results indicated that generation of metallic ions could be reduced by 90%. However, a much higher field strength would be required for satisfactory sterilization due to the Maxwell-Wagner field relaxation, and reactions between the dielectric barriers and liquid could also occur. It was also proven that the continuous presence of a sufficient electric field is the main factor that inactivates the microorganism.

The ubiquitous presence of mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic N-nitrosamine impurities in medicines has become a major issue in the pharmaceutical industry in recent years. Rigorous mitigation strategies to limit their amount in drug products are, therefore, needed. The removal of nitrite, which is a prerequisite reagent for the N-nitrosation of amines, has been acknowledged as one of the most promising strategies. We have conducted an extensive literature search to identify nineteen structurally diverse nitrite scavengers and screened their activity experimentally under pharmaceutically relevant conditions. In the screening phase, we have identified six compounds that proved to have the best nitrite scavenging properties: ascorbic acid (vitamin C), sodium ascorbate, maltol, propyl gallate, para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), and l-cysteine. These were selected for investigation as inhibitors of the formation of N-methyl-N-nitrosoaniline (NMA) from N-methylaniline and N-nitroso-N’-pheny... [more]

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the recovery of bioactive extracts from Acacia dealbata leaves and twigs and to characterize their chemical composition and functional properties. Fresh and air-dried samples were extracted by maceration at room temperature and by hot extraction at 60 °C using aqueous solutions of acetone, ethanol, and methanol. The highest extraction yields (14.8 and 12.0% for dried leaves and twigs, respectively) were obtained with 70% acetone, for both extraction procedures. Extracts were characterized for total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total proanthocyanidin content (TPrAC). Bioactive extracts with high TPC (526.4 mg GAE/g extract), TFC (198.4 mg CatE/g extract), and TPrAC (631.3 mg PycE/g extract) were obtained using maceration, a technically simple and low-energy process. The non-polar fraction of selected extracts was characterized using gas chromatography and time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The main componen... [more]

Many types of volcanic rock oil and gas reservoirs have been found in China, showing great petroleum exploration potential. Volcanic reservoir also is one of the key fields of exploration in the Junggar Basin and mainly concentrated in the middle and shallow layers, while the deep volcanic rock and natural gas fields have not been broken through. Based on comprehensive analysis of core observation, single well analysis, reservoir description, source rocks evaluation, combined with seismic data and time-frequency electromagnetic technology, multiple volcanic rock exploration targets were identified, and industrial oil and gas flow was obtained in the well SX 16 of the Penyijingxi Sag, western Junggar Basin. It is believed that the deep Permian source rocks have relatively higher natural gas generation potential and volcanic breccia usually have large reservoir space. And the mudstone of the Upper Wuerhe Formation played as the role of caprock. The success of exploration well SX16 has ac... [more]

This work shows some advanced studies in model pharmaceutical formulations that help to develop guidelines for the rational design of controlled release systems [...]

A model that captures realistic viral growth dynamics has been developed based on a continuous and semi-continuous production model of an influenza A virus. This model considers viral growth parameters such as viral latency. It also captures the lag observed during the early production of viruses in a culture and explains later-phase growth dynamics. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects of each input on each output. This revealed that production of defective interfering particles (DIPs) highly depends on the number of cells introduced to the viral reactor. The rationale for this is, as per the model, that a reduction in number of cells to be infected causes a reduction in DIPs formed as rate of viral infection decreases. Finally, a flowsheet model was created to optimize the continuous platform, including number of cells supplied to the viral reactor. From this, it was observed that the peak number of DIPs formed could be reduced by one-third. Fi... [more]

A kinetic study was conducted experimentally for the precipitation of ferrous oxalate. The ferrous oxalate, in the form of dihydrate (FeC2O4·2H2O), was produced by the acidic dissolution of ferrous ammonium sulfate (Fe(NH4)2(SO4)2) in an aqueous solution of oxalic acid, and then precipitated by nucleation and particle growth from supersaturated solution. The effect of the concentration of ferrous ammonium sulfate and oxalic acid as raw materials was investigated on the kinetics of the ferrous oxalate precipitation. Temperature was kept constant at 25 °C. The surface morphology, atomic compositions, and crystal phase were characterized for the ferrous oxalate precipitate collected. As the initial concentration of ferrous ammonium sulfate increased, the initial precipitation of ferrous oxalate occurred faster. The concentration of oxalic acid did not significantly affect the rate of precipitation of ferrous oxalate. The experimental behavior of ferrous oxalate precipitation was modeled w... [more]

Carbon and nitrogen are the essential elements constituting living organisms and are closely coupled during biogeochemical cycles. Due to the atmospheric nitrogen deposition and increased agricultural nitrogen fertilizer input, the effect of nitrogen on the sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) is controversial. To facilitate a comprehensive understanding of this issue, the progress of recent studies on the different SOC stabilization mechanisms is reviewed. Based on the differences in the stability and fate mechanisms of particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), nitrogen input can increase POC input and inhibit microbial decomposition of POC by increasing terrestrial biomass, changing the quality of litter and promoting the formation of aggregates. N input reduces the chemical stability of MAOC by altering the chemical bonding of mineral−organic complexes. This study has promising implications for understanding the effect of N on SOC transform... [more]

Advertising and service investment can enhance brand goodwill to increase the sales of branded goods. However, the impact of advertising and services on brand goodwill is not immediate but delayed. At the same time, due to the different service characteristics provided by various channels, the phenomenon of bidirectional free-riding occurs. Therefore, this paper studies the dynamic cooperation between service and advertising in the O2O (online to offline) supply chain dominated by brand owners and explores the impacts of advertising, service delay and service free-riding among channels on the dynamic cooperation decisions of the O2O supply chain. A differential game model between brands and retailers is constructed by incorporating the delay effect and the bidirectional free-riding phenomenon. The optimal advertising and service strategies and performance problems of O2O supply chain enterprises under a centralized decision, brand cost-sharing decision and bilateral cost-sharing decisi... [more]

The distribution characteristics and causes of casing deformation during hydraulic fracturing were investigated. Finite element models of a casing−cement sheath-formation assembly, considering a multi-stage fracturing process, were established. The axial displacement law of formation during multi-stage fracturing was analyzed. Furthermore, considering the existence of faults, the mechanism of casing deformation caused by fault slippage due to axial displacement was analyzed. Finally, the influence of fault parameters, as well as the casing’s geometry and mechanical parameters, on casing deformation were clarified. The results show that the casing deformation point is densely located near landing point A and sparsely located near toe point C. The entry of high-pressure fracturing fluid into the formation would reduce the effective stress of the formation and could even change it from compression to tension, which would mean that the formation in the fractured section would be stretched... [more]

The FT-NIR technique was used for the rapid and non-destructive determination of sweet cherry and sour cherry ripeness. Titratable acidity (A), water-soluble total solids (SSC), total anthocyanin (TA) content and calculated maturity index (SSC/A = MI) were used as reference values. PLS correlations were validated by seven-fold cross-validation (RMSECV for different parameters: DM = 1.25%, w/w; A = 0.14%, w/w; SSC = 0.97%, w/w; TA = 17.5 g/100 mL; MI = 1.66) and test-validation (RMSEP for different parameters: DM = 1.46%, w/w; A = 0.19%, w/w; SSC = 0.99%, w/w; TA = 17.5 g/100 mL; MI = 1.59). Different discriminant analyses and support vector machine (SVM) classifications were performed for each parameter. The quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) was found to be the best pattern recognition method. A maturity degree (MD) was developed based on the reference values, which classified the samples into mature and immature categories with an accuracy of 98.44%.

The combustion and explosion characteristics of cassava starch and the dispersive physical motion law of dust were systematically studied using a 20 L (=0.02 m3) spherical explosive test device and the numerical simulation method. The experimental results show that the explosion pressure first increases and then decreases with increasing ignition delay time, dust concentration, and spray pressure in the dust storage tank. The maximum explosion pressure was obtained with a dust concentration of 750 g/m3, while the maximum rate of pressure increase was obtained when the concentration was 250 g/m3. The calculated maximum explosion index was 22.3 MPa∙m∙s−1. The simulation results show that the physical movement law of the dust was as follows: high initial velocity → gradual decrease in diffusion velocity → upward linear movement of dust → outward diffusion motion → continuous disorder motion → free settlement → gradual reduction and disorder state → finally, complete settlement. With a pow... [more]

L. is widely distributed in Saudi Arabia. However, only a few studies have been reported regarding this species. In this study, we investigated the phytochemical analysis of R. officinalis essential oil using GC-MS analysis in order to identify its major components; the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was also evaluated using disc diffusion assay against gram-positive (S. aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (E. coli), the antimicrobial activity was also assessed with molecular docking against several microbial proteins; TyRS, DNA gyrase and DHFR. The GC-MS analysis has indicated the presence of 18 constituents, representing 99.93 % of the total oil content. The major compounds detected were Bornyl acetate (26.59%), Eucalyptol (17.38%), Camphor (10.42%), Borneol (9.78%), Beta-Caryophyllene (7.80%) and α-pinene (3.85%). The antimicrobial study showed that R. officinalis has strong antimicrobial activity against S. aureus with an inhibition zone of 30 mm and E. coli wi... [more]

The high cost of Lithium-ion battery systems is one of the biggest challenges hindering the wide adoption of electric vessels. For some marine applications, battery systems based on the current monotype topologies are significantly oversized due to variable operational profiles and long lifespan requirements. This paper deals with the battery hybrid energy storage system (HESS) for an electric harbor tug to optimize the size of the battery system. The impact of battery hybridization was investigated on three key performance indicators inclusive of cost, system efficiency, and battery weight. The design life of the battery system is considered to be 10 years, and NMC and LTO cell technologies are used as high-energy (HE) and high-power (HP) battery cells. The HESS design is based on a parallel full-active architecture with a rule-based energy management strategy. The results of this research indicate that battery hybridization can reduce the system cost by around 28% and 14% in comparis... [more]

Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) coupled with renewable energy resources are considered to be a key technology for producing green hydrogen. However, the high current density PEMWE operation features remarkable voltage losses. A significant part of these losses is due to the mass transport resistance in the PEMWE. Even though the importance of mass transport resistance is widely recognized, it is still poorly understood. Currently, the two-phase transport through the anode porous transport layer (PTL) and catalyst layer is considered to be the main cause of the mass transport losses. In this work, a dynamic macroscopic mathematical model, coupling electrochemical reaction with mass transport through the PTL and flow channels, has been developed to study the two-phase flow in the PTL and mass transport losses of a PEMWE. The influence of the current density, inlet water flow rate, PTL structural parameters, and capillary pressure curve was evaluated. The existence o... [more]

High-alumina coal fly ash (HAFA: 45% Al2O3 and 40% SiO2) is regarded as a special solid waste that is generated from power plants in northwestern China. It is regarded as an important substitute for bauxite and is applied to prepare mullite-based ceramics. In this work, a hydrometallurgy−pyrometallurgy synergistic process is proposed to resolve the lower Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratio (Al/Si) and lower degree of crystallinity that can promote the formation of compact mullite-based ceramics. During the activation−desilication process, the inert Al-O-Si is activated to form more active Si-O-H in acid activation, which can be decomposed easily in the desilication process, and the Al/Si mass ratio increases from 1.17 to 2.80, so the mullite grains and metastable phase can be exposed. During the sintering process, mullite grains and the metastable phase tended to axial growth, part of the metastable amorphous Q4(3,2,1Al) structure was transformed to Q4(4Al) structure (mullite), and then the staggere... [more]

In the context of the “Carbon peak, Carbon neutral” target, the introduction of carbon trading and the connection of new energy generation such as wind power and photovoltaics to the power grid have become important means to achieve a reduction to low carbon emissions. To this end, a virtual optimization model is established to take into account both low-carbon and economic aspects. Firstly, based on the basic concept of a virtual power plant, a virtual power plant model containing wind power, photovoltaic power, a gas turbine, and energy storage is established. Then, considering the uncertainty factors of wind power and PV power generation, Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) is used to simulate wind power and PV output scenarios, combined with the improved CLARA clustering algorithm to reduce the scenarios to form a classical scenario set to reduce the influence of wind power and PV output volatility. Finally, a carbon-trading mechanism and time-sharing tariff are introduced, and the mode... [more]