Search results for: effect of process conditions

Authors: Mohamed A. G. H. Abdalsadig, Amir Nourian, G. G. Nasr, Meisam Babaie

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Gas lift optimization is becoming more important now a day in petroleum industry. A proper lift optimization can reduce the operating cost, increase the net present value (NPV) and maximize the recovery from the asset. A widely accepted definition of gas lift optimization is to obtain the maximum output under specified operating conditions. In addition, gas lift, a costly and indispensable means to recover oil from high depth reservoir entails solving the gas lift optimization problems. Gas lift optimization is a continuous process; there are two levels of production optimization. The total field optimization involves optimizing the surface facilities and the injection rate that can be achieved by standard tools softwares. Well level optimization can be achieved by optimizing the well parameters such as point of injection, injection rate, and injection pressure. All these aspects have been investigated and presented in this study by using experimental data and PROSPER simulation program. The results show that the well head pressure has a large influence on the gas lift performance and also proved that smart gas lift valve can be used to improve gas lift performance by controlling gas injection from down hole. Obtaining the optimum gas injection rate is important because excessive gas injection reduces production rate and consequently increases the operation cost.

Keywords: optimization, production rate, reservoir pressure effect, gas injection rate effect, gas injection pressure

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Authors: Georgios Koronis, Arlindo Silva

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This study seeks to understand the mechanical behavior of a natural fiber reinforced composite (epoxy/flax) in more depth, utilizing both experimental and numerical methods. It is attempted to identify relationships between the design parameters and the product performance, understand the effect of noise factors and reduce process variations. Optimization of the mechanical performance of manufactured goods has recently been implemented by numerous studies for green composites. However, these studies are limited and have explored in principal mass production processes. It is expected here to discover knowledge about composite’s manufacturing that can be used to design artifacts that are of low batch and tailored to niche markets. The goal is to reach greater consistency in the performance and further understand which factors play significant roles in obtaining the best mechanical performance. A prediction of response function (in various operating conditions) of the process is modeled by the DoE. Normally, a full factorial designed experiment is required and consists of all possible combinations of levels for all factors. An analytical assessment is possible though with just a fraction of the full factorial experiment. The outline of the research approach will comprise of evaluating the influence that these variables have and how they affect the composite mechanical behavior. The coupons will be fabricated by the vacuum infusion process defined by three process parameters: flow rate, injection point position and fiber treatment. Each process parameter is studied at 2-levels along with their interactions. Moreover, the tensile and flexural properties will be obtained through mechanical testing to discover the key process parameters. In this setting, an experimental phase will be followed in which a number of fabricated coupons will be tested to allow for a validation of the design of the experiment’s setup. Finally, the results are validated by performing the optimum set of in a final set of experiments as indicated by the DoE. It is expected that after a good agreement between the predicted and the verification experimental values, the optimal processing parameter of the biocomposite lamina will be effectively determined.

Keywords: design of experiments, flax fabrics, mechanical performance, natural fiber reinforced composites

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Authors: Yew Mun Yip, Dawei Zhang

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Proteins are the biological machinery that executes specific vital functions in every cell of the human body by folding into their 3D structures. When a protein misfolds from its native structure, the machinery will malfunction and lead to misfolding diseases. Although in vitro experiments are able to conclude that the mutations of the amino acid sequence lead to incorrectly folded protein structures, these experiments are unable to decipher the folding process. Therefore, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations are employed to simulate the folding process so that our improved understanding of the folding process will enable us to contemplate better treatments for misfolding diseases. MD simulations make use of force fields to simulate the folding process of peptides. Secondary structures are formed via the hydrogen bonds formed between the backbone atoms (C, O, N, H). It is important that the hydrogen bond energy computed during the MD simulation is accurate in order to direct the folding process to the native structure. Since the atoms involved in a hydrogen bond possess very dissimilar electronegativities, the more electronegative atom will attract greater electron density from the less electronegative atom towards itself. This is known as the polarization effect. Since the polarization effect changes the electron density of the two atoms in close proximity, the atomic charges of the two atoms should also vary based on the strength of the polarization effect. However, the fixed atomic charge scheme in force fields does not account for the polarization effect. In this study, we introduce the polarized structure-specific backbone charge (PSBC) model. The PSBC model accounts for the polarization effect in MD simulation by updating the atomic charges of the backbone hydrogen bond atoms according to equations derived between the amount of charge transferred to the atom and the length of the hydrogen bond, which are calculated from quantum-mechanical calculations. Compared to other polarizable models, the PSBC model does not require quantum-mechanical calculations of the peptide simulated at every time-step of the simulation and maintains the dynamic update of atomic charges, thereby reducing the computational cost and time while accounting for the polarization effect dynamically at the same time. The PSBC model is applied to two different β-peptides, namely the Beta3s/GS peptide, a de novo designed three-stranded β-sheet whose structure is folded in vitro and studied by NMR, and the trpzip peptides, a double-stranded β-sheet where a correlation is found between the type of amino acids that constitute the β-turn and the β-propensity.

Keywords: hydrogen bond, polarization effect, protein folding, PSBC

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Authors: Zainab Mohammed Shukur, Najlaa Ali Alboshmina, Ali Safa Alsaegh

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The project was investigated tribological behavior of polyether ether ketone (PEEK1000) against PEEK1000 rolling sliding (non-conformal) configuration with slip ratio 83.3%, were tested applications using a TE77 wear mechanisms and friction coefficient test rig. Under marginal lubrication conditions and the absence of film thick conditions, load 100 N was used to simulate the torque in gears 7 N.m. The friction coefficient and wear mechanisms of PEEK were studied under reciprocating roll/slide conditions with water, ethylene glycol, silicone, and base oil. Tribological tests were conducted on a TE77 high-frequency tribometer, with a disc-on-plate slide/roll (the energy pulse criterion) configuration. An Alicona G5 optical 3D micro-coordinate measurement microscope was used to investigate the surface topography and wear mechanisms. The surface roughness had been a significant effect on the friction coefficient for the PEEK/PEEK the rolling sliding contact test ethylene glycol and on the wear mechanisms. When silicone, ethylene glycol, and oil were used as a lubricant, the steady state of friction coefficient was reached faster than the other lubricant. Results describe the effect of the film thick with slip ratio of 83.3% on the tribological performance.

Keywords: polymer, rolling- sliding, energy pulse, gear contact

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Authors: Parul Sahu

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In recent years, seawater desalination has been emerged as a potential resource to circumvent water scarcity, especially in coastal regions. Among the various methods, thermal evaporation or distillation and membrane operations like Reverse Osmosis (RO) has been exploited at commercial scale. However, the energy cost and maintenance expenses associated with these processes remain high. In this context Freeze Desalination (FD), subjected to the availability of low cost refrigeration, offers an exciting alternative. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) regasification terminals provide an opportunity to utilize the refrigeration available with regasification of LNG. This work presents the conceptualization and development of a process scheme integrating the ice and hydrate based FD to the LNG regasification process. This integration overcomes the high energy demand associated with FD processes by utilizing the refrigeration associated with LNG regasification. An optimal process scheme was obtained by performing process simulation using ASPEN PLUS simulator. The results indicated the new proposed process requires only 1 kWh/m³ of energy with the utilization of maximum refrigeration. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was also performed to study the effect of various process parameters on water recovery and energy consumption for the proposed process. The results show that the energy consumption decreases by 30% with an increase in water recovery from 30% to 60%. However, due to operational limitations associated with ice and hydrate handling in seawater, the water recovery cannot be maximized but optimized. The proposed process can be potentially used to desalinate seawater in integration with LNG regasification terminal.

Keywords: freeze desalination, liquefied natural gas regasification, process simulation, refrigeration

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Authors: Narendra Akhadkar, Philippe Delcambre

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In power protection and control products, assembly process variations due to the individual parts manufactured from single or multi-cavity tooling is a major problem. The dimensional and geometrical variations on the individual parts, in the form of manufacturing tolerances and assembly tolerances, are sources of clearance in the kinematic joints, polarization effect in the joints, and tolerance stack-up. All these variations adversely affect the quality of product, functionality, cost, and time-to-market. Variation simulation analysis may be used in the early product design stage to predict such uncertainties. Usually, variations exist in both manufacturing processes and materials. In the tolerance analysis, the effect of the dimensional and geometrical variations of the individual parts on the functional characteristics (conditions) of the final assembled products are studied. A functional characteristic of the product may be affected by a set of interrelated dimensions (functional parameters) that usually form a geometrical closure in a 3D chain. In power protection and control products, the prerequisite is: when a fault occurs in the electrical network, the product must respond quickly to react and break the circuit to clear the fault. Usually, the response time is in milliseconds. Any failure in clearing the fault may result in severe damage to the equipment or network, and human safety is at stake. In this article, we have investigated two important functional characteristics that are associated with the robust performance of the product. It is demonstrated that the experimental data obtained at the Schneider Electric Laboratory prove the very good prediction capabilities of the variation simulation performed using CETOL (tolerance analysis software) in an industrial context. Especially, this study allows design engineers to better understand the critical parts in the product that needs to be manufactured with good, capable tolerances. On the contrary, some parts are not critical for the functional characteristics (conditions) of the product and may lead to some reduction of the manufacturing cost, ensuring robust performance. The capable tolerancing is one of the most important aspects in product and manufacturing process design. In the case of miniature circuit breaker (MCB), the product's quality and its robustness are mainly impacted by two aspects: (1) allocation of design tolerances between the components of a mechanical assembly and (2) manufacturing tolerances in the intermediate machining steps of component fabrication.

Keywords: geometrical variation, product robustness, tolerance analysis, variation simulation

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Authors: Kiraz Esmeli, Alper Ozkan

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In this study, firstly, the effect of ultrasonic treatment on the stability of celestite suspension was investigated. In this context, the variations of the suspension stability with ultrasonic power, treatment time, immersion depth of ultrasonic probe, and treatment regime (batch and continuous) were determined. The experimental results showed that the suspension stability and zeta potential of celestite decreased with ultrasonic treatment. Also, the treatment time, immersion depth of probe, and treatment regime affected the stability of celestite suspension. Secondly, the effect of pre-treatment of the suspension with the ultrasonic process on the shear flocculation of celestite using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was studied and the variations of the flocculation, zeta potential, and contact angle of the mineral with SDS concentration were presented. It was found that the ultrasonic pre-treatment slightly improved the shear flocculation of celestite particles in accordance with the increase in the contact angles. In addition, the ultrasonic process again relatively reduced the magnitude of the negative potential of celestite particles in the presence of SDS.

Keywords: celestite, contact angle, suspension stability, ultrasonic treatment, zeta potential

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Authors: Markus Nordlund, Arkadiusz K. Kuczaj

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Philip Morris International (PMI) is developing a range of novel tobacco products with the potential to reduce individual risk and population harm in comparison to smoking cigarettes. One of these products is the Tobacco Heating System 2.2 (THS 2.2), (named as the Electrically Heated Tobacco System (EHTS) in this paper), already commercialized in a number of countries (e.g., Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Portugal and Romania). During use, the patented EHTS heats a specifically designed tobacco product (Electrically Heated Tobacco Product (EHTP)) when inserted into a Holder (heating device). The EHTP contains tobacco material in the form of a porous plug that undergoes a controlled heating process to release chemical compounds into vapors, from which an aerosol is formed during cooling. The aim of this work was to investigate the aerosol formation characteristics for realistic operating conditions of the EHTS as well as for relevant gas mixture compositions measured in the EHTP aerosol consisting mostly of water, glycerol and nicotine, but also other compounds at much lower concentrations. The nucleation process taking place in the EHTP during use when operated in the Holder has therefore been modeled numerically using an extended Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT) for multicomponent gas mixtures. Results from the performed simulations demonstrate that aerosol droplets are formed only in the presence of an aerosol former being mainly glycerol. Minor compounds in the gas mixture were not able to reach a supersaturated state alone and therefore could not generate aerosol droplets from the multicomponent gas mixture at the operating conditions simulated. For the analytically characterized aerosol composition and estimated operating conditions of the EHTS and EHTP, glycerol was shown to be the main aerosol former triggering the nucleation process in the EHTP. This implies that according to the CNT, an aerosol former, such as glycerol needs to be present in the gas mixture for an aerosol to form under the tested operating conditions. To assess if these conclusions are sensitive to the initial amount of the minor compounds and to include and represent the total mass of the aerosol collected during the analytical aerosol characterization, simulations were carried out with initial masses of the minor compounds increased by as much as a factor of 500. Despite this extreme condition, no aerosol droplets were generated when glycerol, nicotine and water were treated as inert species and therefore not actively contributing to the nucleation process. This implies that according to the CNT, an aerosol cannot be generated without the help of an aerosol former, from the multicomponent gas mixtures at the compositions and operating conditions estimated for the EHTP, even if all minor compounds are released or generated in a single puff.

Keywords: aerosol, classical nucleation theory (CNT), electrically heated tobacco product (EHTP), electrically heated tobacco system (EHTS), modeling, multicomponent, nucleation

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Authors: Petnamnueng Dettipponpong, Shuen E. Chen

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Heat stress is known to have negative effects on reproductive functions, such as follicular development and ovulation. This study aimed to investigate the specific effects of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion of ovarian follicle cells, particularly in relation to the expression of Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). The aim of the study was to understand the impact of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion in ovarian follicle cells and to explore the role of ApoB and MTP in this process. Primary granulosa and theca cells were collected from follicles and cultured under heat stress conditions (42 °C) for various time periods. Controls were maintained under normal conditions (37.5 °C ). The culture medium was collected at different time points to measure levels of progesterone and estradiol using ELISA kits. ApoB and MTP expression levels were analyzed using homemade antibodies and western blot. Data were assessed by a one-way ANOVA comparison test with Duncan’s new multiple-range test. Results were expressed as mean±S.E. Difference was considered significant at P<0.05. The results showed that heat stress significantly increased progesterone secretion in granulosa cells, with the peak observed after 13 hours of recovery under thermoneutral conditions. Estradiol secretion by theca cells was not affected. Heat stress also had a significant negative effect on granulosa cell viability. Additionally, the expression of ApoB and MTP was found to be differentially regulated by heat stress. ApoB expression in theca cells was transiently promoted, while ApoB expression in granulosa cells was consistently suppressed. MTP expression increased after 5 hours of recovery in both cell types. These findings suggest a mechanism by which chicken follicle cells export cellular lipids as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) in response to thermal stress. These contribute to our understanding of the role of ApoB and MTP steroidogenesis and lipid metabolism under heat stress conditions. The study involved the collection of primary granulosa and theca cells, culture under different temperature conditions, and analysis of the culture medium for hormone levels using ELISA kits. ApoB and MTP expression levels were assessed using homemade antibodies and western blot. This study aimed to address the effects of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion in ovarian follicle cells, as well as the role of ApoB and MTP in this process. The study demonstrates that heat stress stimulates steroidogenesis in granulosa cells, affecting progesterone secretion. ApoB and MTP expression were found to be differentially regulated by heat stress, indicating a potential mechanism for the export of cellular lipids in response to thermal stress.

Keywords: heat stress, granulosa cells, theca cells, steroidogenesis, chicken, apolipoprotein B, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein

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Authors: Mahdieh Omranian, Mehran Ghanbari Motlagh

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As we know, today urban growth, development, and intelligent social evolutions have been proposed in metropolises and this matter extends urban life which can have negative items besides positive and strong items. Along with research on urban life desirable development, conditions should be provided to provide the possibility of human stable development and improvement social welfare. These conditions can reinforce social, economic, and political structures related to non-expensive housing. Demand for non-expensive housing is increasing regarding to population increase and incremental urbanizing process. Therefore, the present study by precise exploration on conceptions, challenges, and strategies, should achieve an endogenous pattern and improve housing condition by looking to instant development. Therefore, the general objective of this article recognizes the existed strategies in housing and achieving desirable conditions for all social classes by sustainable development.

Keywords: housing strategies, infrastructure, metropolis, sustainable development

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Authors: E. Karacabey, Ş. G. Özçelik, M. S. Turan, C. Baltacıoğlu, E. Küçüköner

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Main concern about deep-fat-fried food materials is their high final oil contents absorbed during frying process and/or after cooling period, since diet including high content of oil is accepted unhealthy by consumers. Different methods have been evaluated to decrease oil content of fried food stuffs. One promising method is partially drying of food material before frying. In the present study it was aimed to control and decrease the final oil content of zucchini slices by means of partial drying and to optimize process conditions. Conventional oven drying was used to decrease moisture content of zucchini slices at a certain extent. Process performance in terms of oil uptake was evaluated by comparing oil content of predried and then fried zucchini slices with those determined for directly fried ones. For predrying and frying processes, oven temperature and weight loss and frying oil temperature and time pairs were controlled variables, respectively. Zucchini slices were also directly fried for sensory evaluations revealing preferred properties of final product in terms of surface color, moisture content, texture and taste. These properties of directly fried zucchini slices taking the highest score at the end of sensory evaluation were determined and used as targets in optimization procedure. Response surface methodology was used for process optimization. The properties, determined after sensory evaluation, were selected as targets; meanwhile oil content was aimed to be minimized. Results indicated that final oil content of zucchini slices could be reduced from 58% to 46% by controlling conditions of predrying and frying processes. As a result, it was suggested that predrying could be one choose to reduce oil content of fried zucchini slices for health diet. This project (113R015) has been supported by TUBITAK.

Keywords: health process, optimization, response surface methodology, oil uptake, conventional oven

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Authors: Djeffal Asma, Zemmouri Noureddine

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In order for building designer to be able to balance environmental concerns with other performance requirements, they need clear and concise information. For certain decisions during the design process, qualitative guidance, such as design checklists or guidelines information may not be sufficient for evaluating the environmental benefits between different building materials, products and designs. In this case, quantitative information, such as that generated through a life cycle assessment, provides the most value. LCA provides a systematic approach to evaluating the environmental impacts of a product or system over its entire life. In the case of buildings life cycle includes the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, transporting and installing building components or products, operating and maintaining the building. By integrating LCA into building design process, designers can evaluate the life cycle impacts of building design, materials, components and systems and choose the combinations that reduce the building life cycle environmental impact. This article attempts to give an overview of the integration of LCA methodology in the context of building design, and focuses on the use of this methodology for environmental considerations concerning process design and optimization. A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess the benefits of the LCA as a decision making aid tool during the first stages of the building design under specific climate conditions of the North East region of Algeria. It is clear that the LCA methodology can help to assess and reduce the impact of a building design and components on the environment even if the process implementation is rather long and complicated and lacks of global approach including human factors. It is also demonstrated that using LCA as a multi objective optimization of building process will certainly facilitates the improvement in design and decision making for both new design and retrofit projects.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, buildings, sustainability, elementary schools, environmental impacts

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Authors: L. Asaro, M. Gratton, S. Seghar, N. Poirot, N. Ait Hocine

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Rubber waste disposal is an environmental problem. Particularly, many researches are centered in the management of discarded tires. In spite of all different ways of handling used tires, the most common is to deposit them in a landfill, creating a stock of tires. These stocks can cause fire danger and provide ambient for rodents, mosquitoes and other pests, causing health hazards and environmental problems. Because of the three-dimensional structure of the rubbers and their specific composition that include several additives, their recycling is a current technological challenge. The technique which can break down the crosslink bonds in the rubber is called devulcanization. Strictly, devulcanization can be defined as a process where poly-, di-, and mono-sulfidic bonds, formed during vulcanization, are totally or partially broken. In the recent years, super critical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) was proposed as a green devulcanization atmosphere. This is because it is chemically inactive, nontoxic, nonflammable and inexpensive. Its critical point can be easily reached (31.1 °C and 7.38 MPa), and residual scCO₂ in the devulcanized rubber can be easily and rapidly removed by releasing pressure. In this study thermomechanical devulcanization of ground tire rubber (GTR) was performed in a twin screw extruder under diverse operation conditions. Supercritical CO₂ was added in different quantities to promote the devulcanization. Temperature, screw speed and quantity of CO₂ were the parameters that were varied during the process. The devulcanized rubber was characterized by its devulcanization percent and crosslink density by swelling in toluene. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were also done, and the results were related with the Mooney viscosity. The results showed that the crosslink density decreases as the extruder temperature and speed increases, and, as expected, the soluble fraction increase with both parameters. The Mooney viscosity of the devulcanized rubber decreases as the extruder temperature increases. The reached values were in good correlation (R= 0.96) with de the soluble fraction. In order to analyze if the devulcanization was caused by main chains or crosslink scission, the Horikx's theory was used. Results showed that all tests fall in the curve that corresponds to the sulfur bond scission, which indicates that the devulcanization has successfully happened without degradation of the rubber. In the spectra obtained by FTIR, it was observed that none of the characteristic peaks of the GTR were modified by the different devulcanization conditions. This was expected, because due to the low sulfur content (~1.4 phr) and the multiphasic composition of the GTR, it is very difficult to evaluate the devulcanization by this technique. The lowest crosslink density was reached with 1 cm³/min of CO₂, and the power consumed in that process was also near to the minimum. These results encourage us to do further analyses to better understand the effect of the different conditions on the devulcanization process. The analysis is currently extended to monophasic rubbers as ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) and natural rubber (NR).

Keywords: devulcanization, recycling, rubber, waste

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Authors: Zahra Tabarsi, Mehdi Marjani, Alireza Najafpour, Alborz Mirzade

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The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the macroscopic effect of low level laser and plasma jet for wound healing in rats. The study was performed on 40 old male white rats with an average weight of 250 g and an average age of the same age. After preparing the rats from Ibn Sina Research Institute, they were kept the same for one week under environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and light, and nutrition such as the type of diet and the number of meals. Then, to start the research, rats were randomly divided into two groups (A): laser treatment of wounds, group (B): plasma wound treatment. All rats were inhibited 4 hours before each anesthesia under conditions of abstinence and up to 2 hours after drinking water. Rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine 10% and xylazine 2%.After scrubbing between two shoulders of each rat, a circular wound was created by sterile 5 mm biopsy puncture. Group A rats were treated with low level laser in three sessions and group B in three sessions with argon plasma. Based on the observed results, it seems that Low level laser radiation has more acceptable and appropriate effects than cold plasma on the healing of rat skin wounds.

Keywords: low-level laser, plasma jet, rat, wound healing

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Authors: Ana-Marija Stjepić, Dalia Suša Vugec

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Today, digital transformation is one of the leading topics that occupy the attention of scientific circles and business experts. Organizational success is most often reflected through the successful managing of business processes. Given the growing market for digital innovations and its ever-increasing impact on business, organizations need to be prepared for organizational changes that come with the digital era. In order to maintain their competitive advantage in the global market, organizations must adapt their processes to new digitalization conditions. The main goal of this study is to point out the link between the digital transformation and the business process management concept. Therefore, in order to contribute to the scientific field that explores the potential relation between business process management concept and digital transformation, a literature review has been conducted. Papers have been searched within the Business Process Management Journal by keywords related to the term digital transformation. Selected papers have been analyzed according to the topic, type of publication, year of publication, keywords, etc. The results reveal a growing number of papers published on the topic of digital transformation to the Business Process Management Journal, but the lack of case studies. This paper contributes to the extension of academic literature in this important, yet insufficiently researched, scientific field that creates the bond between two strong concepts of digital transformation and business process management.

Keywords: business process management, digital transformation, digitalization, process change

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Authors: Atul K. Desai, Jigar K. Sevalia, Sandip A. Vasanwala

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When a building is located in an urban area, it is exposed to a wind of different characteristics then wind over an open terrain. This is development of turbulent wake region behind an upstream building. The interaction with upstream building can produce significant changes in the response of the tall building. Here, in this paper, an attempt has been made to study wind induced interference effects on tall building. In order to study wind induced interference effect (IF) on Tall Building, initially a tall building (which is termed as Principal Building now on wards) with square plan shape has been considered with different Height to Width Ratio and total drag force is obtained considering different terrain conditions as well as different incident wind direction. Then total drag force on Principal Building is obtained by considering adjacent building which is termed as Interfering Building now on wards with different terrain conditions and incident wind angle. To execute study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Code namely Fluent and Gambit have been used.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, tall building, turbulent, wake region, wind

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Authors: Nail Nazarov, Vladimir Zobov, Alexandra Vyshtakalyuk, Vyacheslav Semenov, Irina Galyametdinova, Vladimir Reznik

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There have been studied effects of xymedon and six new pyrimidine derivatives, that are close and distant analogs of xymedon, on rats' working capacity in the test 'swimming to failure'. It has been shown that a single administration of the studied compounds did not have a statistically significant effect in the test. In the conditions of multiple intraperitoneal administration of the studied pyrimidine derivatives, the compound L-ascorbate, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-4.6-dimethyl-1.2-dihydropyrimidine-2-one had the lowest toxicity and the most pronounced actoprotective effect. Introduction in the dose of 20 mg/kg caused a statistically significant increase 440 % in the duration of swimming of rats on the 14th day of the experiment compared with the control group. Multiple administration of the compound in the conditions of physical load did not affect leucopoiesis but stimulates erythropoiesis resulting in an increase in the number of erythrocytes and a hemoglobin level. The substance introduction under mixed exhausting loads prevented such changes of blood biochemical parameters as reduction of glucose, increased of urea and lactic acid levels, what indicates improvement in the animals' tolerability of loads and an anti-catabolic effect of the compound. Absence of hepato and cardiotoxic effects of the substance has been shown. This work was performed with the financial support of Russian Science Foundation (grant № 14-50-00014).

Keywords: actoprotectors, physical working capacity, pyrimidine derivatives, xymedon

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Authors: Abhishek Singh, Rajlakshmi Barman, Tanmay Shah

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Coagulation is considered to be one of the predominant water treatment processes which improve the cost effectiveness of wastewater. The sole purpose of this experiment on thermal coagulation is to increase the efficiency and the rate of reaction. The process uses renewable sources of energy which comprises of improved and minimized time method in order to eradicate the water scarcity of the regions which are on the brink of depletion. This paper includes the various effects of temperature on the standard coagulation treatment of wastewater and their effect on water quality. In addition, the coagulation is done with the mix of bottom/fly-ash that will act as an adsorbent and removes most of the minor and macro particles by means of adsorption which not only helps to reduce the environmental burden of fly ash but also enhance economic benefit. Also, the method of sand filtration is amalgamated in the process. The sand filter is an environmentally-friendly wastewater treatment method, which is relatively simple and inexpensive. The existing parameters were satisfied with the experimental results obtained in this study and were found satisfactory. The initial turbidity of the wastewater is 162 NTU. The initial temperature of the wastewater is 27 C. The temperature variation of the entire process is 50 C-80 C. The concentration of alum in wastewater is 60mg/L-320mg/L. The turbidity range is 8.31-28.1 NTU after treatment. pH variation is 7.73-8.29. The effective time taken is 10 minutes for thermal mixing and sedimentation. The results indicate that the presence of thermal energy affects the coagulation treatment process. The influence of thermal energy on turbidity is assessed along with renewable energy sources and increase of the rate of reaction of the treatment process.

Keywords: adsorbent, sand filter, temperature, thermal coagulation

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Authors: B. Moueddene, B. Labbaci, L. Missoum, R. Abdeldjebar

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Quality estimation of the experimental simulation of boundary conditions is one of the problems encountered while performing an experimental program. In fact, it is not easy to estimate directly the effective influence of these simulations on the results of experimental investigation. The aim of this is article to evaluate the effect of boundary conditions uncertainties on structure response, using the change of the dynamics characteristics. The experimental models used and the correlation by the Frequency Domain Assurance Criterion (FDAC) allowed an interpretation of the change in the dynamic characteristics. The application of this strategy to stratified composite structures (glass/ polyester) has given satisfactory results.

Keywords: vibration, composite, endommagement, correlation

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Authors: Megha Rao, Søren H. Jensen, Xiufu Sun, Anke Hagen, Mogens B. Mogensen

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Solid oxide electrolysis cells have an immense potential in converting CO₂ and H₂O into syngas during co-electrolysis operation. The produced syngas can be further converted into hydrocarbons. This kind of technology is called power-to-gas or power-to-liquid. To produce hydrocarbons via this route, durability of the cells is still a challenge, which needs to be further investigated in order to improve the cells. In this work, various nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) fuel electrode supported or YSZ electrolyte supported cells, cerium gadolinium oxide (CGO) barrier layer, and an oxygen electrode are investigated for durability under co-electrolysis conditions in both galvanostatic and potentiostatic conditions. While changing the gas on the oxygen electrode, keeping the fuel electrode gas composition constant, a change in the gas concentration arc was observed by impedance spectroscopy. Measurements of open circuit potential revealed the presence of leaks in the setup. It is speculated that the change in concentration impedance may be related to the leaks. Furthermore, the cells were also tested under pressurized conditions to find an inter-play between the leak rate and the pressure. A mathematical modeling together with electrochemical and microscopy analysis is presented.

Keywords: co-electrolysis, durability, leaks, gas concentration arc

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Authors: M. S. Mahmoud

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This study was conducted to evaluate the manganese removal from aqueous solution using Banana peels activated carbon (BPAC). Batch experiments have been carried out to determine the influence of parameters such as pH, biosorbent dose, initial metal ion concentrations and contact times on the biosorption process. From these investigations, a significant increase in percentage removal of manganese 97.4 % is observed at pH value 5.0, biosorbent dose 0.8 g, initial concentration 20 ppm, temperature 25 ± 2 °C, stirring rate 200 rpm and contact time 2 h. The equilibrium concentration and the adsorption capacity at equilibrium of the experimental results were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models; the Langmuir isotherm was found to well represent the measured adsorption data implying BPAC had heterogeneous surface. A raw groundwater samples were collected from Baharmos groundwater treatment plant network at Embaba and Manshiet Elkanater City/District-Giza, Egypt, for treatment at the best conditions that reached at first phase by BPAC. The treatment with BPAC could reduce iron and manganese value of raw groundwater by 91.4 % and 97.1 %, respectively and the effect of the treatment process on the microbiological properties of groundwater sample showed decrease of total bacterial count either at 22°C or at 37°C to 85.7 % and 82.4 %, respectively. Also, BPAC was characterized using SEM and FTIR spectroscopy.

Keywords: biosorption, banana peels, isothermal models, manganese

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Authors: Ekin Esen, Mohammad Alipour, Riza Kizilel

Abstract:

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have been replacing lead-acid batteries for the last decade due to their outstanding properties such as high energy density, long shelf life, and almost no memory effect. Besides these, being very light compared to lead acid batteries has gained them their dominant place in the portable electronics market, and they are now the leading candidate for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). However, their performance strongly depends on temperature, and this causes some inconveniences for their utilization in extreme temperatures. Since weather conditions vary across the globe, this situation limits their utilization for EVs and HEVs and makes a thermal management system obligatory for the battery units. The objective of this study is to understand thermal characteristics of Li-ion battery modules for various operation conditions and design a thermal management system to enhance battery performance in EVs and HEVs. In the first part of our study, we investigated thermal behavior of commercially available pouch type 20Ah LiFePO₄ (LFP) cells under various conditions. Main parameters were chosen as ambient temperature and discharge current rate. Each cell was charged and discharged at temperatures of 0°C, 10°C, 20°C, 30°C, 40°C, and 50°C. The current rate of charging process was 1C while it was 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, and 5C for discharge process. Temperatures of 7 different points on the cells were measured throughout charging and discharging with N-type thermocouples, and a detailed temperature profile was obtained. In the second part of our study, we connected 4 cells in series by clinching and prepared 4S1P battery modules similar to ones in EVs and HEVs. Three reference points were determined according to the findings of the first part of the study, and a thermocouple is placed on each reference point on the cells composing the 4S1P battery modules. In the end, temperatures of 6 points in the module and 3 points on the top surface were measured and changes in the surface temperatures were recorded for different discharge rates (0.2C, 0.5C, 0.7C, and 1C) at various ambient temperatures (0°C – 50°C). Afterwards, aluminum plates with channels were placed between the cells in the 4S1P battery modules, and temperatures were controlled with airflow. Airflow was provided with a regular compressor, and the effect of flow rate on cell temperature was analyzed. Diameters of the channels were in mm range, and shapes of the channels were determined in order to make the cell temperatures uniform. Results showed that the designed thermal management system could help keeping the cell temperatures in the modules uniform throughout charge and discharge processes. Other than temperature uniformity, the system was also beneficial to keep cell temperature close to the optimum working temperature of Li-ion batteries. It is known that keeping the temperature at an optimum degree and maintaining uniform temperature throughout utilization can help obtaining maximum power from the cells in battery modules for a longer time. Furthermore, it will increase safety by decreasing the risk of thermal runaways. Therefore, the current study is believed to be beneficial for wider use of Li batteries for battery modules of EVs and HEVs globally.

Keywords: lithium ion batteries, thermal management system, electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles

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Authors: Shirin Shafaei, James R. Bolton, Mohamed Gamal El Din

Abstract:

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection causes damage to the DNA or RNA of microorganisms, but many microorganisms can repair this damage after exposure to near-UV or visible wavelengths (310–480 nm) by a mechanism called photoreactivation. Photoreactivation is gaining more attention because it can reduce the efficiency of UV disinfection of wastewater several hours after treatment. The focus of many photoreactivation research activities on the single species has caused a considerable lack in knowledge about complex natural communities of microorganisms and their response to UV treatment. In this research, photoreactivation experiments were carried out on the influent of the UV disinfection unit at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Edmonton, Alberta after exposure to a Medium-Pressure (MP) UV lamp system to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on photoreactivation of microorganisms in the actual municipal wastewater. The effect of reactivation fluence, temperature, and river water on photoreactivation of total coliforms was examined under indoor conditions. The results showed that higher effective reactivation fluence values (up to 20 J/cm²) and higher temperatures (up to 25 °C) increased the photoreactivation of total coliforms. However, increasing the percentage of river in the mixtures of the effluent and river water decreased the photoreactivation of the mixtures. The results of this research can help the municipal wastewater treatment industry to examine the environmental effects of discharging their effluents into receiving waters.

Keywords: photoreactivation, reactivation fluence, river water, temperature, ultraviolet disinfection, wastewater effluent

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Authors: Seon Soon Choi

Abstract:

It is necessary to predict a fatigue crack propagation life for estimation of structural integrity. Because of an uncertainty and a randomness of a structural behavior, it is also required to analyze stochastic characteristics of the fatigue crack propagation life at a specified fatigue crack size. The essential purpose of this study is to present the good probability distribution fit for the fatigue crack propagation life at a specified fatigue crack size in magnesium alloys under various fatigue load ratio conditions. To investigate a stochastic crack growth behavior, fatigue crack propagation experiments are performed in laboratory air under several conditions of fatigue load ratio using AZ31. By Anderson-Darling test, a goodness-of-fit test for probability distribution of the fatigue crack propagation life is performed and the good probability distribution fit for the fatigue crack propagation life is presented. The effect of load ratio on variability of fatigue crack propagation life is also investigated.

Keywords: fatigue crack propagation life, load ratio, magnesium alloys, probability distribution

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Authors: Kyung Hwa Hong, Eunmi Koh

Abstract:

Wool and cotton fabrics are pretreated by a tannic acid aqueous solution to increase their dyeability and then dyed by Purple-Fleshed Sweet Potato (PSP) extract. The dyed fabrics are then investigated by various analysis techniques. The results revealed that wool and cotton fabrics can be dyed bluish red through the pretreatment and dyeing process. Both wool and cotton fabrics only pretreated with tannic acid display decreased L* value but no significant changes in a* and b* values as the concentration of tannic acid increases. And, as expected, the pretreated fabrics are even darker and show a richer purple color after the dyeing process with the PSP extract. With regard to the colorfastness of wool and cotton fabrics dyed by PSP extract in cleaning circumstances, such as dry-cleaning (for wool) and washing (for cotton), the wool and cotton fabrics had a 4.0 and 4.0 grade of colorfastness to dry-cleaning and washing, respectively. However, they both exhibited significantly inferior colorfastness to light (grade of 1.5). Thus, it was found that there is still a need for improvement with regard to color fastness, particularly against light. On the other hand, the wool and cotton fabrics also showed antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics. In addition, both the wool and cotton fabrics showed potential antibacterial ability (>99%) against Staphylococcus aureus; however, they showed somewhat insufficient antibacterial ability (60.8% for wool and 94.8% for cotton) against Klebsiella pneumoniae. Also, their antioxidant abilities increased up to ca. 90% with an increase in the tannic acid concentration (up to 0.5%). However, after the dyeing process, the antibacterial and antioxidant ability tended to decrease. This is assumed to have occurred because functional moieties such as phenolic acids were detached from the pretreated fabrics into the hot water (the dyeing solution) during the dyeing process. Therefore, further study would be necessary to derive the optimum treatment and dyeing conditions so as to maximize the coloring effect and functionalities of the fabrics.

Keywords: antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity, purple-fleshed sweet potato, fabrics

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Shakori, Esmaeil Babakhanzadeh Sajirani, Vajihe Esmaili

Abstract:

Today, the increasing contamination is an environmental concern. There is relationship between plants and microorganisms many years ago. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effect of different levels of lead across three levels ‘zero, 50, and 100 mg/L’ and Trichoderma Harzanium fungus across three levels ‘5, 10, and 15%’ in a factorial design in the form of fully randomized blocks in three replications under form conditions in the climatic conditions of Shahroud in Dehlama Village. This research was performed in 2014-2015 on cauliflower. In this experiment, chlorophyll a, b, total, cartenoid, phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant properties of cauliflowers were measured. The results indicated that the greatest level of chlorophyll a (75.723 mg/wet weight), chlorophyll b (27.378 mg/wet weight), and total chlorophyll (109.074 mg/wet weight) was related to the interactive effects of 5% treatment of Trichoderma fungus and 0mg/L lead. The results also indicated that the greatest amount of antioxidant (79.88% of free radical) and flavonoides (22.889 mg of coercetin/g of dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 50 mg/L and the treatment of Trichoderma fungus 5%. Further, the greatest level of phenol (21.33 mg of Gaelic acid/ dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 100 mg/L and Trichoderma fungus 5% . As carotenoids are a type of antioxidant and precursor of vitamin A, with the development of alignment effect with other antioxidants such as the total phenol, flavonoid, achieved desirable levels of antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant, lead, flavonoid, cauliflower, chlorophyll

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Authors: Sungho Kim, Dae Shik Kim, Jong Min Lee

Abstract:

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process is one of the most important process in modern refinery industry. This paper focuses on the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process. As the FCC process is difficult to model well, due to its non linearities and various interactions between its process variables, rigorous process modeling of whole FCC plant is demanded for control and plant-wide optimization of the plant. In this study, a process design for the FCC plant includes riser reactor, main fractionator, and gas processing unit was developed. A reactor model was described based on four-lumped kinetic scheme. Main fractionator, gas processing unit and other process units are designed to simulate real plant data, using a process flow sheet simulator, Aspen PLUS. The custom reactor model was integrated with the process flow sheet simulator to develop an integrated process model.

Keywords: fluid catalytic cracking, simulation, plant data, process design

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Authors: B. Fazekas, I. Korolov, K. Kutasi

Abstract:

Plasma medicine, which involves the use of gas discharge plasmas for medical applications is a rapidly growing research field. The use of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas in dermatology to assist tissue regeneration by improving the healing of infected and/or chronic wounds is a promising application. It is believed that plasma can activate cells, which are involved in the wound closure. Non-thermal atmospheric plasmas are rich in chemically active species (such as O and N-atoms, O2(a) molecules) and radiative species such as the NO, N2+ and N2 excited molecules, which dominantly radiate in the 200-500 nm spectral range. In order to understand the effect of plasma species, both of chemically active and radiative species on wound healing process, the interaction of physical plasma with the human skin cells is necessary. In order to clarify the effect of plasma radiation on the wound healing process we treated keratinocyte cells – that are one of the main cell types in human skin epidermis – covered with a layer of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with a low power atmospheric pressure plasma. For the generation of such plasma we have applied a plasma needle. Here, the plasma is ignited at the tip of the needle in flowing helium gas in contact with the ambient air. To study the effect of plasma radiation we used a plasma needle configuration, where the plasma species – chemically active radicals and charged species – could not reach the treated cells, but only the radiation. For the comparison purposes, we also irradiated the cells using a UV-B light source (FS20 lamp) with a 20 and 40 mJ cm-2 dose of 312 nm. After treatment the viability and the proliferation of the cells have been examined. The proliferation of cells has been studied with a real time monitoring system called Xcelligence. The results have indicated, that the 20 mJ cm-2 dose did not affect cell viability, whereas the 40 mJ cm-2 dose resulted a decrease in cell viability. The results have shown that the plasma radiation have no quantifiable effect on the cell proliferation as compared to the non-treated cells.

Keywords: UV radiation, non-equilibrium gas discharges (non-thermal plasmas), plasma emission, keratinocyte cells

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Authors: Sudhir Kumar Sharma, Abiy D. Woldetsadik, Mazin Magzoub, Ramesh Jagannathan

Abstract:

It is well known that bioactive ceramics exhibit specific biological affinities, especially in the area of tissue re-generation. In this context, we report the development of an eminently scalable, novel, supercritical CO₂ based process for the fabrication of hierarchically porous 'soft' CaCO₃ scaffolds. Porosity at the macro, micro, and nanoscales was obtained through process optimization of the so-called 'coffee-ring effect'. Exposure of these CaCO₃ scaffolds to monocytic THP-1 cells yielded negligible levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) thereby confirming the lack of immunogenicity of the scaffolds. ECM protein treatment of the scaffolds showed enhanced adsorption comparable to standard control such as glass. In vitro studies using osteoblast precursor cell line, MC3T3, also demonstrated the cytocompatibility of hierarchical porous CaCO₃ scaffolds.

Keywords: supercritical CO2, CaCO3 scaffolds, coffee-ring effect, ECM proteins

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Authors: Ana Fonseca, Stefany Villacis

Abstract:

In this paper, the influence of several scenarios on a model of solar assisted mashing process in a brewery, while applying the model to different locations and therefore changing the environmental conditions, was analyzed. Assorted beer producer locations in different countries around the globe with contrasting climatic zones such as Guayaquil (Ecuador), Bangkok (Thailand), Mumbai (India), Veracruz (Mexico) and Brisbane (Australia) were evaluated and compared with a base case study Oldenburg (Germany), and results were drawn. The evaluation was restricted to the results obtained using TRNSYS 16 as simulating tool. On the base case, an annual Solar Fraction (SF) of 0.50 was encountered, results showed highly affection when modifying the pump control of the primary circuit and when increasing the area of collectors. A sensitivity analysis of the system for the selected locations was performed, resulting in Guayaquil the highest annual SF with a ratio of 2.5 times the expected value as compared with the base case. In contrast, Brisbane presented the lowest ratio, resulting in half of the expected one due to its lower irradiance. In conclusion, cities in Sunbelt countries have the technical potential to apply solar heat for their low-temperature industrial processes, in this case implementing a green brewery in Guayaquil.

Keywords: evacuated tubular solar collector, irradiance, mashing process, solar fraction, solar thermal

Procedia PDF Downloads 115