Search results for: carbon fiber reinforced polymer

Authors: L. Pu, C. Unluer

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MgO cements have the potential to sequester CO2 in construction products, and can be partial or complete replacement of PC in concrete. Construction block is a promising application for reactive MgO cements. Main advantages of blocks are: (i) suitability for sequestering CO2 due to their initially porous structure; (ii) lack of need for in-situ treatment as carbonation can take place during fabrication; and (iii) high potential for commercialization. Both strength gain and carbon sequestration of MgO cements depend on carbonation process. Fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) are pozzolanic material and are proved to improve many of the performance characteristics of the concrete, such as strength, workability, permeability, durability and corrosion resistance. A very limited amount of work has been reported on the production of MgO blocks on a large scale so far. A much more extensive study, wherein blocks with different mix design is needed to verify the feasibility of commercial production. The changes in the performance of the samples were evaluated by compressive strength testing. The properties of the carbonation products were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/ field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the degree of carbonation was obtained by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), XRD and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The results of this study enabled the understanding the relationship between lab-scale samples and scale-up blocks based on their mechanical performance and microstructure. Results indicate that for both scaled-up and lab-scale samples, MgO samples always had the highest strength results, followed by MgO-fly ash samples and MgO-GGBS had relatively lowest strength. The lower strength of MgO with fly ash/GGBS samples at early stage is related to the relatively slow hydration process of pozzolanic materials. Lab-scale cubic samples were observed to have higher strength results than scaled-up samples. The large size of the scaled-up samples made it more difficult to let CO2 to reach inner part of the samples and less carbonation products formed. XRD, TGA and FESEM/EDX results indicate the existence of brucite and HMCs in MgO samples, M-S-H, hydrotalcite in the MgO-fly ash samples and C-S-H, hydrotalctie in the MgO-GGBS samples. Formation of hydration products (M-S-H, C-S-H, hydrotalcite) and carbonation products (hydromagnecite, dypingite) increased with curing duration, which is the reason of increasing strength. This study verifies the advantage of large-scale MgO blocks over common PC blocks and the feasibility of commercial production of MgO blocks.

Keywords: reactive MgO, fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, carbonation, CO₂

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Authors: Felix Darko-Amoah, Daniel Acquah

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In contemporary ecosystems for developing countries like Ghana, the need to explore innovative solutions for sustainable livelihoods of farmers is more important than ever. With Ghana’s population growing steadily and the demand for food, fiber and shelter increasing, it is imperative that the construction industry and agriculture come together to address the challenges faced by farmers in the country. In order to enhance the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in Ghana, this paper provides an innovative strategy that aims to integrate the areas of civil engineering and cash crop agriculture. This study focuses on cocoa cultivation in poorer nations, where farmers confront a variety of difficulties include restricted access to financing, subpar infrastructure, and insufficient support services. We seek to improve farmers' access to financing, improve infrastructure, and provide support services that are essential to their success by combining the fields of building engineering and cocoa production. The findings of the study are beneficial to cocoa producers, community extension agents, and construction engineers. In order to accomplish our objectives, we conducted 307 of field investigations in particular cocoa growing communities in the Western Region of Ghana. Several studies have shown that there is a lack of adequate infrastructure and financing, leading to low yields, subpar beans, and low farmer profitability in developing nations like Ghana. Our goal is to give farmers access to better infrastructure, better financing, and support services that are crucial to their success through the fusion of construction engineering and cocoa production. Based on data gathered from the field investigations, the results show that the employment of appropriate technology and methods for developing structures, roads, and other infrastructure in rural regions is one of the essential components of this strategy. For instance, we find that using affordable, environmentally friendly materials like bamboo, rammed earth, and mud bricks can assist to cut expenditures while also protecting the environment. By applying simple relational techniques to the data gathered, the results also show that construction engineers are crucial in planning and building infrastructure that is appropriate for the local environment and circumstances and resilient to natural disasters like floods. Thus, the convergence of construction engineering and cash crop cultivation is another crucial component of the agriculture-construction interplay. For instance, farmers can receive financial assistance to buy essential inputs, such as seeds, fertilizer, and tools, as well as training in proper farming methods. Moreover, extension services can be offered to assist farmers in marketing their crops and enhancing their livelihoods and revenue. In conclusion, our analysis of responses from the 307 participants depicts that the combination of construction engineering and cash crop agriculture offers an innovative approach to improving farmers' livelihoods in cocoa farming communities in Ghana. In conclusion, by inculcating the findings of this study into core decision-making, policymakers can help farmers build sustainable and profitable livelihoods by addressing challenges such as limited access to financing, poor infrastructure, and inadequate support services.

Keywords: cocoa agriculture, construction engineering, farm buildings and equipment, improved livelihoods of farmers

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Authors: Md. Kausar Alam, Ramin Motamed

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The damaging effects of liquefaction-induced ground movements have been frequently observed in past earthquakes, such as the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in New Zealand and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan. To reduce the consequences of soil liquefaction at shallow depths, various ground improvement techniques have been utilized in engineering practice, among which this research is focused on experimentally evaluating the press-in sheet piling technique. The press-in sheet pile technique eliminates the vibration, hammering, and noise pollution associated with dynamic sheet pile installation methods. Unfortunately, there are limited experimental studies on the press-in sheet piling technique for liquefaction mitigation using 1g shake table tests in which all the controlling mechanisms of liquefaction-induced foundation settlement, including sand ejecta, can be realistically reproduced. In this study, a series of moderate scale 1g shake table experiments were conducted at the University of Nevada, Reno, to evaluate the performance of this technique in liquefiable soil layers. First, a 1/5 size model was developed based on a recent UC San Diego shaking table experiment. The scaled model has a density of 50% for the top crust, 40% for the intermediate liquefiable layer, and 85% for the bottom dense layer. Second, a shallow foundation is seated atop an unsaturated sandy soil crust. Third, in a series of tests, a sheet pile with variable embedment depth is inserted into the liquefiable soil using the press-in technique surrounding the shallow foundations. The scaled models are subjected to harmonic input motions with amplitude and dominant frequency properly scaled based on the large-scale shake table test. This study assesses the performance of the press-in sheet piling technique in terms of reductions in the foundation movements (settlement and tilt) and generated excess pore water pressures. In addition, this paper discusses the cost-effectiveness and carbon footprint features of the studied mitigation measures.

Keywords: excess pore water pressure, foundation settlement, press-in sheet pile, soil liquefaction

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Authors: Ahmad Ali, Muhammad Imran Ghani, Haiyan Ding, Zhihui Cheng, Muhammad Iqbal

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Background and Aims: In recent years, protected cultivation trend, especially in the northern parts of China, spread dynamically where production area, structure, and crops diversity have expanded gradually under plastic greenhouse vegetable cropping (PGVC) system. Under this growing system, continuous monoculture with excessive synthetic fertilizers inputs are common cultivation practices frequently adopted by commercial producers. Such long-term cumulative wild exercise year after year sponsor the continuous cropping obstacles in PGVC soil, which have greatly threatened the regional soil eco-sustainability and further impose the continuous assault on soil ecological diversity leading to the exhaustion of agriculture productivity. The aim of this study was to develop new allelopathic insights by exploiting available biological resources in the favor of sustainable PGVC to illuminate the continuous obstacle factors in plastic greenhouse. Method: A greenhouse study was executed under plastic tunnel located at the Horticulture Experimental Station of the College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, one of the prominent regions for intensive commercial PGVC in China. Post-harvest garlic residues (stalk, leaves) mechanically smashed, homogenized into powder size and incorporated at the ratio of 1:100; 3:100; 5:100 as a soil amendment in a replanted soil that have been used for continuous cucumber monoculture for 7 years (annually double cropping system in a greenhouse). Results: Incorporated C-rich garlic stalk significantly influenced the soil condition through various ways; organic matter decomposition and mineralization, moderately adjusted the soil pH, enhanced the soil nutrient availability, increased enzymatic activities, and promoted 20% more cucumber yield in short-time. Using Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal 18S rDNA genes, the current study revealed that addition of garlic stalk/residue could also improve the microbial abundance and community composition in extensively exploited soil, and contributed in soil functionality, caused prosper changes in soil characteristics, reinforced to good crop yield. Conclusion: Our study provided evidence that addition of garlic stalk as soil fertility amendment is a feasible, cost-effective and efficient resource utilization way for renovation of degraded soil health, ameliorate soil quality components and improve ecological environment in short duration. Our study may provide a better scientific understanding for efficient crop residue management typically from allelopathic source.

Keywords: garlic stalk, microbial community dynamics, plant growth, soil amendment, soil-plant system

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Authors: Hend Ben Tkhayat , Khaled Al Zahabi, Husam Younes

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Introduction: Vildagliptin (VG), a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4), was proven to be an active agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. VG works by enhancing and prolonging the activity of incretins which improves insulin secretion and decreases glucagon release, therefore lowering blood glucose level. It is usually used with various classes, such as insulin sensitizers or metformin. VG is currently only marketed as an immediate-release tablet that is administered twice daily. In this project, we aim to formulate an extended-release with a zero-order profile tableted lipid microparticles of VG that could be administered once daily ensuring the patient’s convenience. Method: The spray-congealing technique was used to prepare VG microparticles. Compritol® was heated at 10 oC above its melting point and VG was dispersed in the molten carrier using a homogenizer (IKA T25- USA) set at 13000 rpm. VG dispersed in the molten Compritol® was added dropwise to the molten Gelucire® 50/13 and PEG® (400, 6000, and 35000) in different ratios under manual stirring. The molten mixture was homogenized and Carbomer® amount was added. The melt was pumped through the two-fluid nozzle of the Buchi® Spray-Congealer (Buchi B-290, Switzerland) using a Pump drive (Master flex, USA) connected to a silicone tubing wrapped with silicone heating tape heated at the same temperature of the pumped mix. The physicochemical properties of the produced VG-loaded microparticles were characterized using Mastersizer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and X‐Ray Diffractometer (XRD). VG microparticles were then pressed into tablets using a single punch tablet machine (YDP-12, Minhua pharmaceutical Co. China) and in vitro dissolution study was investigated using Agilent Dissolution Tester (Agilent, USA). The dissolution test was carried out at 37±0.5 °C for 24 hours in three different dissolution media and time phases. The quantitative analysis of VG in samples was realized using a validated High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-UV) method. Results: The microparticles were spherical in shape with narrow distribution and smooth surface. DSC and XRD analyses confirmed the crystallinity of VG that was lost after being incorporated into the amorphous polymers. The total yields of the different formulas were between 70% and 80%. The VG content in the microparticles was found to be between 99% and 106%. The in vitro dissolution study showed that VG was released from the tableted particles in a controlled fashion. The adjustment of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio of excipients, their concentration and the molecular weight of the used carriers resulted in tablets with zero-order kinetics. The Gelucire 50/13®, a hydrophilic polymer was characterized by a time-dependent profile with an important burst effect that was decreased by adding Compritol® as a lipophilic carrier to retard the release of VG which is highly soluble in water. PEG® (400,6000 and 35 000) were used for their gelling effect that led to a constant rate delivery and achieving a zero-order profile. Conclusion: Tableted spray-congealed lipid microparticles for extended-release of VG were successfully prepared and a zero-order profile was achieved.

Keywords: vildagliptin, spray congealing, microparticles, controlled release

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Authors: Ruchi Pathania, Ahmad Ahmad, Shireesh Srivastava

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Cyanobacteria is a promising microbe that can capture and convert atmospheric CO₂ and light into valuable industrial bio-products like biofuels, biodegradable plastics, etc. Among their most attractive traits are faster autotrophic growth, whole year cultivation using non-arable land, high photosynthetic activity, much greater biomass and productivity and easy for genetic manipulations. Cyanobacteria store carbon in the form of glycogen which can be hydrolyzed to release glucose and fermented to form bioethanol or other valuable products. Marine cyanobacterial species are especially attractive for countries with scarcity of freshwater. We recently identified a marine native cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. BDU 130192 which has good growth rate and high level of polyglucans accumulation compared to Synechococcus PCC 7002. In this study, firstly we sequenced the whole genome and the sequences were annotated using the RAST server. Genome scale metabolic model (GSMM) was reconstructed through COBRA toolbox. GSMM is a computational representation of the metabolic reactions and metabolites of the target strain. GSMMs construction through the application of Flux Balance Analysis (FBA), which uses external nutrient uptake rates and estimate steady state intracellular and extracellular reaction fluxes, including maximization of cell growth. The model, which we have named isyn942, includes 942 reactions and 913 metabolites having 831 metabolic, 78 transport and 33 exchange reactions. The phylogenetic tree obtained by BLAST search revealed that the strain was a close relative of Synechococcus PCC 7002. The flux balance analysis (FBA) was applied on the model iSyn942 to predict the theoretical yields (mol product produced/mol CO₂ consumed) for native and non-native products like acetone, butanol, etc. under phototrophic condition by applying metabolic engineering strategies. The reported strain can be a viable strain for biotechnological applications, and the model will be helpful to researchers interested in understanding the metabolism as well as to design metabolic engineering strategies for enhanced production of various bioproducts.

Keywords: cyanobacteria, flux balance analysis, genome scale metabolic model, metabolic engineering

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Authors: Pomozova Kseniia, Gorlachev Gennadiy, Chernyaev Aleksandr, Golanov Andrey

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In clinical practice, and especially in stereotactic radiosurgery planning, the significance of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is growing. This makes the existence of software capable of quickly processing and reliably visualizing diffusion data, as well as equipped with tools for their analysis in terms of different tasks. We are developing the «MRDiffusionImaging» software on the standard C++ language. The subject part has been moved to separate class libraries and can be used on various platforms. The user interface is Windows WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), which is a technology for managing Windows applications with access to all components of the .NET 5 or .NET Framework platform ecosystem. One of the important features is the use of a declarative markup language, XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language), with which you can conveniently create, initialize and set properties of objects with hierarchical relationships. Graphics are generated using the DirectX environment. The MRDiffusionImaging software package has been implemented for processing diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), which allows loading and viewing images sorted by series. An algorithm for "masking" dMRI series based on T2-weighted images was developed using a deformable surface model to exclude tissues that are not related to the area of interest from the analysis. An algorithm of distortion correction using deformable image registration based on autocorrelation of local structure has been developed. Maximum voxel dimension was 1,03 ± 0,12 mm. In an elementary brain's volume, the diffusion tensor is geometrically interpreted using an ellipsoid, which is an isosurface of the probability density of a molecule's diffusion. For the first time, non-parametric intensity distributions, neighborhood correlations, and inhomogeneities are combined in one segmentation of white matter (WM), grey matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) algorithm. A tool for calculating the coefficient of average diffusion and fractional anisotropy has been created, on the basis of which it is possible to build quantitative maps for solving various clinical problems. Functionality has been created that allows clustering and segmenting images to individualize the clinical volume of radiation treatment and further assess the response (Median Dice Score = 0.963 ± 0,137). White matter tracts of the brain were visualized using two algorithms: deterministic (fiber assignment by continuous tracking) and probabilistic using the Hough transform. The proposed algorithms test candidate curves in the voxel, assigning to each one a score computed from the diffusion data, and then selects the curves with the highest scores as the potential anatomical connections. White matter fibers were visualized using a Hough transform tractography algorithm. In the context of functional radiosurgery, it is possible to reduce the irradiation volume of the internal capsule receiving 12 Gy from 0,402 cc to 0,254 cc. The «MRDiffusionImaging» will improve the efficiency and accuracy of diagnostics and stereotactic radiotherapy of intracranial pathology. We develop software with integrated, intuitive support for processing, analysis, and inclusion in the process of radiotherapy planning and evaluating its results.

Keywords: diffusion-weighted imaging, medical imaging, stereotactic radiosurgery, tractography

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Authors: Abbas Ahmadi, Bijan Raie, Mohammad Reza Neyshabouri, Mohammad Ali Ghorbani, Farrokh Asadzadeh

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In recent years, vast areas of Urmia Lake in Dasht-e-Tabriz has dried up leading to saline sediments exposure on the surface lake coastal areas being highly susceptible to wind erosion. This study was conducted to investigate wind erosion and its relevance to soil physicochemical properties and also modeling of wind erodibility (WE) using artificial intelligence techniques. For this purpose, 96 soil samples were collected from 0-5 cm depth in 414000 hectares using stratified random sampling method. To measure the WE, all samples (<8 mm) were exposed to 5 different wind velocities (9.5, 11, 12.5, 14.1 and 15 m s-1 at the height of 20 cm) in wind tunnel and its relationship with soil physicochemical properties was evaluated. According to the results, WE varied within the range of 76.69-9.98 (g m-2 min-1)/(m s-1) with a mean of 10.21 and coefficient of variation of 94.5% showing a relatively high variation in the studied area. WE was significantly (P<0.01) affected by soil physical properties, including mean weight diameter, erodible fraction (secondary particles smaller than 0.85 mm) and percentage of the secondary particle size classes 2-4.75, 1.7-2 and 0.1-0.25 mm. Results showed that the mean weight diameter, erodible fraction and percentage of size class 0.1-0.25 mm demonstrated stronger relationship with WE (coefficients of determination were 0.69, 0.67 and 0.68, respectively). This study also compared efficiency of multiple linear regression (MLR), gene expression programming (GEP), artificial neural network (MLP), artificial neural network based on genetic algorithm (MLP-GA) and artificial neural network based on whale optimization algorithm (MLP-WOA) in predicting of soil wind erodibility in Dasht-e-Tabriz. Among 32 measured soil variable, percentages of fine sand, size classes of 1.7-2.0 and 0.1-0.25 mm (secondary particles) and organic carbon were selected as the model inputs by step-wise regression. Findings showed MLP-WOA as the most powerful artificial intelligence techniques (R2=0.87, NSE=0.87, ME=0.11 and RMSE=2.9) to predict soil wind erodibility in the study area; followed by MLP-GA, MLP, GEP and MLR and the difference between these methods were significant according to the MGN test. Based on the above finding MLP-WOA may be used as a promising method to predict soil wind erodibility in the study area.

Keywords: wind erosion, erodible fraction, gene expression programming, artificial neural network

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Authors: Sudeshna Sengupta

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Women’s work lives weave a complex fabric of myriad work relations and complex structures. Lives, when seen from the lens of work, is a saga of conjugated oppression by intertwined structures that are vertically and horizontally interwoven in a very complex manner. Women interact with multiple institutions through their work. The interactions and interplay of institutions shape their organization of work. They intersperse productive work with reproductive work, unpaid economic activities with unpaid care work, and all kinds of activities with leisure and self-care. The proposed paper intends to understand how women working as home-based workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India are organizing their everyday work, and how the organization of work is influenced by the interplay of structures. Situating itself in a multidisciplinary theoretical framework, this paper brings out how the gendering of work is playing out in the political, economic and social domain and shaping the work-life within the family, and in the paid workspace. The paper will use a primary data source, which is qualitative in nature. It will comprise 15 qualitative interviews of women home-based workers from the National Capital Region. The research uses a life history approach. The sampling was purposive using snowballing as a method. The dataset is part of the primary data (qualitative) collected for the ongoing Ph.D. work in Gender Studies at Ambedkar University Delhi. The home-based workers interviewed were in “non-factory” wage relations based on piece rates with flexible working hours. Their workplaces were their own homes with no spatial divide between living spaces and workspaces. Home-based workers were recognized as a group in the domain of labor economics in the 1980s. When menial work was cheaper than machine work, the capital owners preferred to outsource work as home-based work to women. These production spaces are fragmented and the identity of gender is created within labor processes to favor material accumulation. Both the employers and employees acknowledged the material gain of the capital owner when work was subcontracted to women at home. Simultaneously the market reinforced women’s reproductive role by conforming to patriarchal ideology. The contractors played an important role in implementing localized control on workers and also in finding workers for fragmented, gendered production processes. Their presence helped the employers in bringing together multiple forms of oppression that ranged from creating a structure to flout laws by creating shadow employers. It created an intertwined social and economic structure as well as a workspace where the line between productive and reproductive work gets blurred. The state invisibilized itself either by keeping the sector out of the domain of laws or by not implementing its own laws regulating working conditions or social security. It allowed the local hierarchy to function and define localized working conditions. The productive reproductive continuum reveals a labor control that influenced both the productive and reproductive work of women.

Keywords: informal sector, paid work, women workers, labor processes

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Authors: Rodriguez Diego, Del Valle Martin, Hargreaves Matias, Riveros Jose Luis

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Nutrient deficiencies due to a diet low in quantitative and qualitative terms, are prevalent throughout the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Children and women of childbearing age are especially vulnerable. Limited availability, access and intake of animal foods at home and lack of knowledge about their value in the diet and the role they play in health, contribute to poor diet quality. Poor bioavailability of micronutrients in diets based on foods high in fiber and phytates, the low content of some micronutrients in these foods are further factors to consider. Goats are deeply embedded in almost every Sub-Saharan African rural culture, generally kept for their milk, meat, hair or leather. Goats have played an important role in African social life, especially in food security. Goat meat has good properties for human wellbeing, with a special role in lower income households. It has a high-quality protein (20 protein g/100 meat g) including all essential amino acids, good unsaturated/satured fatty acids relationship, and it is an important B-vitamin source with high micronutrients bioavailability. Mozambique has major food security problems, with poor food access and utilization, undiversified diets, chronic poverty and child malnutrition. Our objective was to design a nutritional intervention based on a dietary diversification, nutritional education, cultural beliefs and local resources, aimed to strengthen food security of children at Barrio Broma village (15°43'58.78"S; 32°46'7.27"E) in Chitima, Mozambique. Two surveys were conducted first of socio-productive local databases and then to 100 rural households about livelihoods, food diversity and anthropometric measurements in children under 5 years. Our results indicate that the main economic activity is goat production, based on a native breed with two deliveries per year in the absence of any management. Adult goats weighted 27.2±10.5 kg and raised a height of 63.5±3.8 cm. Data showed high levels of poverty, with a food diversity score of 2.3 (0-12 points), where only 30% of households consume protein and 13% iron, zinc, and B12 vitamin. The main constraints to food security were poor access to water and low income to buy food. Our dietary intervention was based on improving diet quality by increasing the access to dried goat meat, fresh vegetables, and legumes, and its utilization by a nutritional education program. This proposal was based on local culture and living conditions characterized by the absence of electricity power and drinkable water. The drying process proposed would secure the food maintenance under local conditions guaranteeing food safety for a longer period. Additionally, an ancient local drying technique was rescued and used. Moreover, this kind of dietary intervention would be the most efficient way to improve the infant nutrition by delivering macro and micronutrients on time to these vulnerable populations.

Keywords: child malnutrition, dietary diversification, food security, goat meat

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Authors: Chabungbam Niranjit Khuman, Makarand Madhao Ghangrekar, Arunabha Mitra

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The cost of aeration is one of the limiting factors in the upscaling of microbial fuel cells (MFC) for field-scale applications. Wetland macrophytes have the ability to release oxygen into the water to maintain aerobic conditions in their root zone. In this experiment, the efficacy of rhizospheric oxygen release of wetland macrophytes as a source of oxygen in the cathodic chamber of MFC was conducted. The experiment was conducted in an MFC consisting of a three-liter anodic chamber made of ceramic cylinder and a 27 L cathodic chamber. Untreated carbon felts were used as electrodes (i.e., anode and cathode) and connected to an external load of 100 Ω using stainless steel wire. Wetland macrophytes (Canna indica) were grown in the cathodic chamber of the MFC in a hydroponic fashion using a styrofoam sheet (termed as macrophytes assisted-microbial fuel cell, M-MFC). The catholyte (i.e., water) in the M-MFC had negligible contact with atmospheric air due to the styrofoam sheet used for maintaining the hydroponic condition. There was no mixing of the catholyte in the M-MFC. Sucrose based synthetic wastewater having chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 3000 mg/L was fed into the anodic chamber of the MFC in fed-batch mode with a liquid retention time of four days. The C. indica thrived well throughout the duration of the experiment without much care. The average dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and pH value in the M-MFC were 3.25 mg/L and 7.07, respectively, in the catholyte. Since the catholyte was not in contact with air, the DO in the catholyte might be considered as solely liberated from the rhizospheric oxygen release of C. indica. The maximum COD removal efficiency of M-MFC observed during the experiment was 76.9%. The inadequacy of terminal electron acceptor in the cathodic chamber in M-MFC might have hampered the electron transfer, which in turn, led to slower specific microbial activity, thereby resulting in lower COD removal efficiency than the traditional MFC with aerated catholyte. The average operating voltage (OV) and open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 294 mV and 594 mV, respectively, were observed in M-MFC. The maximum power density observed during polarization was 381 mW/m³, and the maximum sustainable power density observed during the experiment was 397 mW/m³ in M-MFC. The maximum normalized energy recovery and coulombic efficiency of 38.09 Wh/m³ and 1.27%, respectively, were observed. Therefore, it was evidenced that rhizospheric oxygen release of wetland macrophytes (C. indica) was capable of sustaining the cathodic reaction in MFC for field-scale applications.

Keywords: hydroponic, microbial fuel cell, rhizospheric oxygen release, wetland macrophytes

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Authors: V. Cesaroni, C. Girometta, A. Bernicchia, M. Brusoni, F. Corana, R. M. Baiguera, C. M. Cusaro, M. L. Guglielminetti, B. Mannucci, H. Kawagishi, C. Perini, A. M. Picco, P. Rossi, E. Salerni, E. Savino

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Fungi of the genus Hericium contain various compounds with antibacterial activity, cytotoxic effect on cancer cells and bioactive molecules. Some of the active metabolites stimulate the synthesis of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). Recently, the effect of dietary supplement based on Hericium erinaceus on recognition memory and on hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 neurotransmission was published. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Hericium species on Italian territory in order to isolate the strains for further studies and applications. The first step was to collect Hericium sporophores in Tuscany: H. alpestre Pers., H. coralloides (Scop.) Pers. and H. erinaceus (Bull.) Pers. were the species present. The strains of H. alpestre (H.a.1), H. coralloides (H.c.1) and H. erinaceus (H.e.1 & H.e.2) have been isolated in pure culture and preserved in the collection of the University of Pavia (MicUNIPV). The DNA sequences obtained from the strains were compared to other sequences found in international databases. Therefore, it was possible to construct a phylogenetic tree that highlights the clear separation in clades of the sequences and the molecular identification of our strains with the species of Hericium considered. The second step was to cultivate indoor and outdoor H. erinaceus in order to obtain as many sporophores as possible for further chemical analysis. All the procedures for H. erinaceus cultivation have been followed. Among the available recipes for indoor H. erinaceus cultivation, it was used a substrate formulation contained 70% oak sawdust, 20% rice bran, 10% wheat straw, 1% CaCO3 and 1% sucrose. The bioactive compounds present in the mycelia and in the sporophores of H. erinaceus were chemically analyzed in collaboration with the Centro Grandi Strumenti of the University of Pavia using high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS). The materials to be analyzed were previously freeze-dried and then extracted with an alcoholic procedure. Preliminary chromatographic analysis revealed the presence of potentially bioactive and structurally different secondary metabolites such as polysaccharides, erinacins, ericenones, steroids and other terpenoids. Ericenones C and D (in sporophores) and erinacin A (in mycelium) have been identified by comparison with the respective standards. These molecules are known to have effects on the Central Nervous System (CNS) cells, which is the main objective of our studies. Thanks to the high sensitivity in the detection of bioactive compounds of H. erinaceus, it will be possible to use the To obtain lyophilized mycelium and the respective culture broth, 4 small pieces (about 5 mm2) of the respective H.e.1 or H.c.1 strains, taken from the margin of growing cultures (MEA), were inoculated into 1 liter of 2% ME (malt extract, Biokar Diagnostics). The static liquid cultures were kept at 24 °C in the dark chamber and fungi grew for one month. 10 replicates for each strain have been done. The method proposed as an analytical screening protocol to determine the optimal growth conditions of the fungus and to improve the production chain of H. erinaceus. These results encourage to carry out chemical analyzes also on H. alpestre and H. coralloides in order to evaluate the presence of bioactive compounds in these two species.

Keywords: Hericium species, Hercium erinaceus bioactive compounds, medicinal mushrooms, mushroom cultivation

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Authors: Fadi Al Khatib, Raouf Mbarki, Malek Adouni

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In various sport and recreational activities, the patellofemoral joint undergoes large forces and moments while accommodating the significant knee joint movement. In doing so, this joint is commonly the source of anterior knee pain related to instability in normal patellar tracking and excessive pressure syndrome. One well-observed explanation of the instability of the normal patellar tracking is the patellofemoral ligaments and patellar tendon damage. Improved knowledge of the damage mechanism mediating ligaments and tendon injuries can be a great help not only in rehabilitation and prevention procedures but also in the design of better reconstruction systems in the management of knee joint disorders. This damage mechanism, specifically due to excessive mechanical loading, has been linked to the micro level of the fibred structure precisely to the tropocollagen molecules and their connection density. We argue defining a clear frame starting from the bottom (micro level) to up (macro level) in the hierarchies of the soft tissue may elucidate the essential underpinning on the state of the ligaments damage. To do so, in this study a multiscale fibril reinforced hyper elastoplastic Finite Element model that accounts for the synergy between molecular and continuum syntheses was developed to determine the short-term stresses/strains patellofemoral ligaments and tendon response. The plasticity of the proposed model is associated only with the uniaxial deformation of the collagen fibril. The yield strength of the fibril is a function of the cross-link density between tropocollagen molecules, defined here by a density function. This function obtained through a Coarse-graining procedure linking nanoscale collagen features and the tissue level materials properties using molecular dynamics simulations. The hierarchies of the soft tissues were implemented using the rule of mixtures. Thereafter, the model was calibrated using a statistical calibration procedure. The model then implemented into a real structure of patellofemoral ligaments and patellar tendon (OpenKnee) and simulated under realistic loading conditions. With the calibrated material parameters the calculated axial stress lies well with the experimental measurement with a coefficient of determination (R2) equal to 0.91 and 0.92 for the patellofemoral ligaments and the patellar tendon respectively. The ‘best’ prediction of the yielding strength and strain as compared with the reported experimental data yielded when the cross-link density between the tropocollagen molecule of the fibril equal to 5.5 ± 0.5 (patellofemoral ligaments) and 12 (patellar tendon). Damage initiation of the patellofemoral ligaments was located at the femoral insertions while the damage of the patellar tendon happened in the middle of the structure. These predicted finding showed a meaningful correlation between the cross-link density of the tropocollagen molecules and the stiffness of the connective tissues of the extensor mechanism. Also, damage initiation and propagation were documented with this model, which were in satisfactory agreement with earlier observation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to model ligaments from the bottom up, predicted depending to the tropocollagen cross-link density. This approach appears more meaningful towards a realistic simulation of a damaging process or repair attempt compared with certain published studies.

Keywords: tropocollagen, multiscale model, fibrils, knee ligaments

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Omaima A. Sharaf, Tarek A. Moussa, Said M. Badr El-Din, H. Moawad

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Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pose great environmental and human health concerns for their widespread occurrence, persistence, and carcinogenic properties. PAHs releases due to anthropogenic activities to the wider environment have led to higher concentrations of these contaminants than would be expected from natural processes alone. This may result in a wide range of environmental problems that can accumulate in agricultural ecosystems, which threatened to become a negative impact on sustainable agricultural development. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the physico-chemical, and microbial properties of the compost leachate (CL) to assess its role as nutrient and microbial source (biostimulation/bioaugmentation) for developing a cost-effective bioremediation technology for PAHs contaminated sites. Material and Methods: PAHs-degrading bacteria were isolated from CL that was collected from a composting site located in central Scotland, UK. Isolation was carried out by enrichment using phenanthrene (PHR), pyrene (PYR) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) as the sole source of carbon and energy. The isolates were characterized using a variety of phenotypic and molecular properties. Six different isolates were identified based on the difference in morphological and biochemical tests. The efficiency of these isolates in PAHs utilization was assessed. Further analysis was performed to define taxonomical status and phylogenic relation between the most potent PAHs-utilizing bacterial strains and other standard strains, using molecular approach by partial 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Results indicated that the 16S rDNA sequence analysis confirmed the results of biochemical identification, as both of biochemical and molecular identification of the isolates assigned them to Bacillus licheniformis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis, Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter cloacae and Providenicia which were identified as the prominent PAHs-utilizers isolated from CL. Conclusion: This study indicates that the CL samples contain a diverse population of PAHs-degrading bacteria and the use of CL may have a potential for bioremediation of PAHs contaminated sites.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, physico-chemical analyses, compost leachate, microbial and biochemical analyses, phylogenic relations, 16S rDNA sequence analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Haiqin Zhou, Robin Irons

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The introduction of hydrogen into local networks may, in many cases, require the initial operation of those systems on natural gas/hydrogen blends, either because of a lack of sufficient hydrogen to allow a 100% conversion or because existing infrastructure imposes limitations on the % hydrogen that can be burned before the end-use technologies are replaced. In many systems, the largest number of end-use technologies are small-scale but numerous appliances used for domestic and industrial heating and cooking. In such a scenario, it is important to understand exactly how much hydrogen can be introduced into these appliances before their performance becomes unacceptable and what imposes that limitation. This study seeks to explore a range of significantly higher hydrogen blends and a broad range of factors that might limit operability or environmental acceptability. We will present tests from a burner designed for space heating and optimized for natural gas as an increasing % of hydrogen blends (increasing from 25%) were burned and explore the range of parameters that might govern the acceptability of operation. These include gaseous emissions (particularly NOx and unburned carbon), temperature, flame length, stability and general operational acceptability. Results will show emissions, Temperature, and flame length as a function of thermal load and percentage of hydrogen in the blend. The relevant application and regulation will ultimately determine the acceptability of these values, so it is important to understand the full operational envelope of the burners in question through the sort of extensive parametric testing we have carried out. The present dataset should represent a useful data source for designers interested in exploring appliance operability. In addition to this, we present data on two factors that may be absolutes in determining allowable hydrogen percentages. The first of these is flame blowback. Our results show that, for our system, the threshold between acceptable and unacceptable performance lies between 60 and 65% mol% hydrogen. Another factor that may limit operation, and which would be important in domestic applications, is the acoustic performance of these burners. We will describe a range of operational conditions in which hydrogen blend burners produce a loud and invasive ‘screech’. It will be important for equipment designers and users to find ways to avoid this or mitigate it if performance is to be deemed acceptable.

Keywords: blends, operational, domestic appliances, future system operation.

Procedia PDF Downloads 23

Authors: Andreas Kerstan, Darren Robey, Wesam Alvan, David Troiani

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Over the last 3.5 years, Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) technology has become increasingly important in infrared (IR) microscopy. The advantages over fourier transform infrared (FTIR) are that large areas of a few square centimeters can be measured in minutes and that the light intensive QCL makes it possible to obtain spectra with excellent S/N, even with just one scan. A firmly established solution of the laser direct infrared imaging (LDIR) 8700 is the analysis of microplastics. The presence of microplastics in the environment, drinking water, and food chains is gaining significant public interest. To study their presence, rapid and reliable characterization of microplastic particles is essential. Significant technical hurdles in microplastic analysis stem from the sheer number of particles to be analyzed in each sample. Total particle counts of several thousand are common in environmental samples, while well-treated bottled drinking water may contain relatively few. While visual microscopy has been used extensively, it is prone to operator error and bias and is limited to particles larger than 300 µm. As a result, vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as Raman and FTIR microscopy have become more popular, however, they are time-consuming. There is a demand for rapid and highly automated techniques to measure particle count size and provide high-quality polymer identification. Analysis directly on the filter that often forms the last stage in sample preparation is highly desirable as, by removing a sample preparation step it can both improve laboratory efficiency and decrease opportunities for error. Recent advances in infrared micro-spectroscopy combining a QCL with scanning optics have created a new paradigm, LDIR. It offers improved speed of analysis as well as high levels of automation. Its mode of operation, however, requires an IR reflective background, and this has, to date, limited the ability to perform direct “on-filter” analysis. This study explores the potential to combine the filter with an infrared reflective surface filter. By combining an IR reflective material or coating on a filter membrane with advanced image analysis and detection algorithms, it is demonstrated that such filters can indeed be used in this way. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques play a vital role in the investigation and understanding of microplastics in the environment and food chain. While vibrational spectroscopy is widely deployed, improvements and novel innovations in these techniques that can increase the speed of analysis and ease of use can provide pathways to higher testing rates and, hence, improved understanding of the impacts of microplastics in the environment. Due to its capability to measure large areas in minutes, its speed, degree of automation and excellent S/N, the LDIR could also implemented for various other samples like food adulteration, coatings, laminates, fabrics, textiles and tissues. This presentation will highlight a few of them and focus on the benefits of the LDIR vs classical techniques.

Keywords: QCL, automation, microplastics, tissues, infrared, speed

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Haowen Xu, Xiaobing Liu, Jin Dong, Jianming Lian

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Emerging smart buildings often employ cyberinfrastructure, cyber-physical systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to increase the automation and responsiveness of building operations for better energy efficiency and lower carbon emission. These operations include the control of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems, which are often considered a major source of energy consumption in both commercial and residential buildings. Developing energy-saving control models for optimizing HVAC operations usually requires the collection of high-quality instrumental data from iterations of in-situ building experiments, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. This abstract describes a digital twin approach to automate building energy experiments for optimizing HVAC operations through the design and development of an adaptive web-based platform. The platform is created to enable (a) automated data acquisition from a variety of IoT-connected HVAC instruments, (b) real-time situational awareness through domain-based visualizations, (c) adaption of HVAC optimization algorithms based on experimental data, (d) sharing of experimental data and model predictive controls through web services, and (e) cyber-physical control of individual instruments in the HVAC system using outputs from different optimization algorithms. Through the digital twin approach, we aim to replicate a real-world building and its HVAC systems in an online computing environment to automate the development of building-specific model predictive controls and collaborative experiments in buildings located in different climate zones in the United States. We present two case studies to demonstrate our platform’s capability for real-time situational awareness and cyber-physical control of the HVAC in the flexible research platforms within the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) main campus. Our platform is developed using adaptive and flexible architecture design, rendering the platform generalizable and extendable to support HVAC optimization experiments in different types of buildings across the nation.

Keywords: energy-saving buildings, digital twins, HVAC, cyber-physical system, BIM

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Miaomiao Zhang, Sabrina Beckmann, Haluk Ertan, Rocky Chau, Mike Manefield

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Phenazines are a large class of nitrogen-containing aromatic heterocyclic compounds, which are almost exclusively produced by bacteria from diverse genera including Pseudomonas and Streptomyces. Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) as one of 'core' phenazines are converted from chorismic acid before modified to other phenazine derivatives in different cells. Phenazines have attracted enormous interests because of their multiple roles on biocontrol, bacterial interaction, biofilm formation and fitness of their producers. However, in spite of ecological importance, degradation as a part of phenazines’ fate only have extremely limited attention now. Here, to isolate PCA-degrading bacteria, 200 mg L-1 PCA was supplied as sole carbon, nitrogen and energy source in minimal mineral medium. Quantitative PCR and Reverse-transcript PCR were employed to study abundance and activity of functional gene MFORT 16269 in PCA degradation, respectively. Intermediates and products of PCA degradation were identified with LC-MS/MS. After enrichment and isolation, a PCA-degrading strain was selected from soil and was designated as Rhodanobacter sp. PCA2 based on full 16S rRNA sequencing. As determined by HPLC, strain PCA2 consumed 200 mg L-1 (836 µM) PCA at a rate of 17.4 µM h-1, accompanying with significant cells yield from 1.92 × 105 to 3.11 × 106 cells per mL. Strain PCA2 was capable of degrading other phenazines as well, including phenazine (4.27 µM h-1), pyocyanin (2.72 µM h-1), neutral red (1.30 µM h-1) and 1-hydroxyphenazine (0.55 µM h-1). Moreover, during the incubation, transcript copies of MFORT 16269 gene increased significantly from 2.13 × 106 to 8.82 × 107 copies mL-1, which was 2.77 times faster than that of the corresponding gene copy number (2.20 × 106 to 3.32 × 107 copies mL-1), indicating that MFORT 16269 gene was activated and played roles on PCA degradation. As analyzed by LC-MS/MS, decarboxylation from the ring structure was determined as the first step of PCA degradation, followed by cleavage of nitrogen-containing ring by dioxygenase which catalyzed phenazine to nitrosobenzene. Subsequently, phenylhydroxylamine was detected after incubation for two days and was then transferred to aniline and catechol. Additionally, genomic and proteomic analyses were also carried out for strain PCA2. Overall, the findings presented here showed that a newly isolated strain Rhodanobacter sp. PCA2 was capable of degrading phenazines through decarboxylation and cleavage of nitrogen-containing ring, during which MFORT 16269 gene was activated and played important roles.

Keywords: decarboxylation, MFORT16269 gene, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid degradation, Rhodanobacter sp. PCA2

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: L. Kanoksak, N. Sukanya, L. Napatsorn, T. Siriporn

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A growing population and demand for packaging are driving up the usage of natural resources as raw materials in the pulp and paper industry. Long-term effects of environmental is disrupting people's way of life all across the planet. Finding pulp sources to replace wood pulp is therefore necessary. To produce wood pulp, various other potential plants or plant parts can be employed as substitute raw materials. For example, pulp and paper were made from agricultural residue that mainly included pulp can be used in place of wood. In this study, cocoa pod husks were an agricultural residue of the cocoa and chocolate industries. To develop composite materials to replace wood pulp in packaging materials. The paper was coated with polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). By selecting and cleaning fresh cocoa pod husks, the size was reduced. And the cocoa pod husks were dried. The morphology and elemental composition of cocoa pod husks were studied. To evaluate the mechanical and physical properties, dried cocoa husks were extracted using the soda-pulping process. After selecting the best formulations, paper with a PBAT bioplastic coating was produced on a paper-forming machine Physical and mechanical properties were studied. By using the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (FESEM/EDS) technique, the structure of dried cocoa pod husks showed the main components of cocoa pod husks. The appearance of porous has not been found. The fibers were firmly bound for use as a raw material for pulp manufacturing. Dry cocoa pod husks contain the major elements carbon (C) and oxygen (O). Magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca) were minor elements that were found in very small levels. After that cocoa pod husks were removed from the soda-pulping process. It found that the SAQ5 formula produced pulp yield, moisture content, and water drainage. To achieve the basis weight by TAPPI T205 sp-02 standard, cocoa pod husk pulp and modified starch were mixed. The paper was coated with bioplastic PBAT. It was produced using bioplastic resin from the blown film extrusion technique. It showed the contact angle, dispersion component and polar component. It is an effective hydrophobic material for rigid packaging applications.

Keywords: cocoa pod husks, agricultural residue, composite material, rigid packaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Juan Manuel Macia

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The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) wanted to build a new road link via Souligny Avenue to increase the fluidity of goods transported by truck in the Viau Street area of Montreal and to mitigate the current traffic problems on Notre-Dame Street. With the purpose of having a better integration and acceptance of this project with the neighboring residential surroundings, this project needed to include an architectural integration, bringing some artistic components to the bridge design along with some landscaping components. The MPA is required primarily to provide direct truck access to Port of Montreal with a direct connection to the future Assomption Boulevard planned by the City of Montreal and, thus, direct access to Souligny Avenue. The MPA also required other key aspects to be considered for the proposal and development of the project, such as the layout of road and rail configurations, the reconstruction of underground structures, the relocation of power lines, the installation of lighting systems, the traffic signage and communication systems improvement, the construction of new access ramps, the pavement reconstruction and a summary assessment of the structural capacity of an existing service tunnel. The identification of the various possible scenarios began by identifying all the constraints related to the numerous infrastructures located in the area of the future link between the port and the future extension of Souligny Avenue, involving interaction with several disciplines and technical specialties. Several viaduct- and tunnel-type geometries were studied to link the port road to the right-of-way north of Notre-Dame Street and to improve traffic flow at the railway corridor. The proposed design took into account the existing access points to Port of Montreal, the built environment of the MPA site, the provincial and municipal rights-of-way, and the future Notre-Dame Street layout planned by the City of Montreal. These considerations required the installation of an engineering structure with a span of over 60 m to free up a corridor for the future urban fabric of Notre-Dame Street. The best option for crossing this span length was identified by the design and construction of a curved bridge over Notre-Dame Street, which is essentially a structure with a deck formed by a reinforced concrete slab on steel box girders with a single span of 63.5m. The foundation units were defined as pier-cap type abutments on drilled shafts to bedrock with rock sockets, with MSE-type walls at the approaches. The configuration of a single-span curved structure posed significant design and construction challenges, considering the major constraints of the project site, a design for durability approach, and the need to guarantee optimum performance over a 75-year service life in accordance with the client's needs and the recommendations and requirements defined by the standards used for the project. These aspects and the need to include architectural and artistic components in this project made it possible to design, build, and integrate a signature infrastructure project with a sustainable approach, from which the MPA, the commuters, and the city of Montreal and its residents will benefit.

Keywords: curved bridge, steel box girder, medium span, simply supported, industrial and urban environment, architectural integration, design for durability

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Vuiswa Lucia Sethunya, Tonderayi Matambo, Diane Hildebrandt

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South African’s informal settlements produce tonnes of kitchen waste (KW) per year which is dumped into the landfill. These landfill sites are normally located in close proximity to the household of the poor communities; this is a problem in which the young children from those communities end up playing in these landfill sites which may result in some health hazards because of methane, carbon dioxide and sulphur gases which are produced. To reduce this large amount of organic materials being deposited into landfills and to provide a cleaner place for those within the community especially the children, an energy conversion process such as anaerobic digestion of the organic waste to produce biogas was implemented. In this study, the digestion of various kitchen waste was investigated in order to understand and develop a system that is suitable for household use to produce biogas for cooking. Three sets of waste of different nutritional compositions were digested as per acquired in the waste streams of a household at mesophilic temperature (35ᵒC). These sets of KW were co-digested with cow dung (CW) at different ratios to observe the microbial behaviour and the system’s stability in a laboratory scale system. The gas chromatography-flame ionization detector analyses have been performed to identify and quantify the presence of organic compounds in the liquid samples from co-digested and mono-digested food waste. Acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and valeric acid are the fatty acids which were studied. Acetic acid (1.98 g/L), propionic acid (0.75 g/L) and butyric acid (2.16g/L) were the most prevailing fatty acids. The results obtained from organic acids analysis suggest that the KW can be an innovative substituent to animal manure for biogas production. The faster degradation period in which the microbes break down the organic compound to produce the fatty acids during the anaerobic process of KW also makes it a better feedstock during high energy demand periods. The C/N ratio analysis showed that from the three waste streams the first stream containing vegetables (55%), fruits (16%), meat (25%) and pap (4%) yielded more methane-based biogas of 317mL/g of volatile solids (VS) at C/N of 21.06. Generally, this shows that a household will require a heterogeneous composition of nutrient-based waste to be fed into the digester to acquire the best biogas yield to sustain a households cooking needs.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas, kitchen waste, household

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Regiane A. Oliveira, Carlos E. Vaz Rossell, Rubens Maciel Filho

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Lactic acid, besides a valuable chemical may be considered a platform for other chemicals. In fact, the feasibility of hemicellulosic sugars as feedstock for lactic acid production process, may represent the drop of some of the barriers for the second generation bioproducts, especially bearing in mind the 5-carbon sugars from the pre-treatment of sugarcane bagasse. Bearing this in mind, the purpose of this study was to use the hemicellulosic liquor from sugarcane bagasse as a substrate to produce lactic acid by fermentation. To release of sugars from hemicellulose it was made a pre-treatment with a diluted sulfuric acid in order to obtain a xylose's rich liquor with low concentration of inhibiting compounds for fermentation (≈ 67% of xylose, ≈ 21% of glucose, ≈ 10% of cellobiose and arabinose, and around 1% of inhibiting compounds as furfural, hydroxymethilfurfural and acetic acid). The hemicellulosic sugars associated with 20 g/L of yeast extract were used in a fermentation process with Lactobacillus plantarum to produce lactic acid. The fermentation process pH was controlled with automatic injection of Ca(OH)2 to keep pH at 6.00. The lactic acid concentration remained stable from the time when the glucose was depleted (48 hours of fermentation), with no further production. While lactic acid is produced occurs the concomitant consumption of xylose and glucose. The yield of fermentation was 0.933 g lactic acid /g sugars. Besides, it was not detected the presence of by-products, what allows considering that the microorganism uses a homolactic fermentation to produce its own energy using pentose-phosphate pathway. Through facultative heterofermentative metabolism the bacteria consume pentose, as is the case of L. plantarum, but the energy efficiency for the cell is lower than during the hexose consumption. This implies both in a slower cell growth, as in a reduction in lactic acid productivity compared with the use of hexose. Also, L. plantarum had shown to have a capacity for lactic acid production from hemicellulosic hydrolysate without detoxification, which is very attractive in terms of robustness for an industrial process. Xylose from hydrolyzed bagasse and without detoxification is consumed, although the hydrolyzed bagasse inhibitors (especially aromatic inhibitors) affect productivity and yield of lactic acid. The use of sugars and the lack of need for detoxification of the C5 liquor from sugarcane bagasse hydrolyzed is a crucial factor for the economic viability of second generation processes. Taking this information into account, the production of second generation lactic acid using sugars from hemicellulose appears to be a good alternative to the complete utilization of sugarcane plant, directing molasses and cellulosic carbohydrates to produce 2G-ethanol, and hemicellulosic carbohydrates to produce 2G-lactic acid.

Keywords: fermentation, lactic acid, hemicellulosic sugars, sugarcane

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Hernan Arturo Blas López, Gustavo Henndel Lopes, Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira, Carmen Elena Flores Barreda, Patricia Araujo Pantoja

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Phenols are toxic for life and the environment and may come from many sources. Uncured phenolic monomers present in phenolic resins used as binders in grinding wheels and emery paper can contaminate industrial wastewaters in abrasives manufacture plants. Furthermore, vestiges of resol and novolacs resins generated by wear and tear of abrasives are also possible sources of water contamination by phenolics in these facilities. Fortunately, advanced oxidation by dark Fenton and photo-Fenton techniques are capable of oxidizing phenols and their degradation products up to their mineralization into H₂O and CO₂. The maximal allowable concentrations for phenols in Peruvian waterbodies is very low, such that insufficiently treated effluents from the abrasives industry are a potential environmental noncompliance. The current case study highlights findings obtained during the lab-scale application of Fenton’s and photo-assisted Fenton’s chemistries to real industrial wastewater samples from an abrasives manufacture plant in Peru. The goal was to reduce the phenolic content and sample toxicity. For this purpose, two independent variables-reaction time and effect of ultraviolet radiation–were studied as for their impacts on the concentration of total phenols, total organic carbon (TOC), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). In this study, diluted samples (1 L) of the industrial effluent were treated with Fenton’s reagent (H₂O₂ and Fe²⁺ from FeSO₄.H₂O) during 10 min in a photochemical batch reactor (Alphatec RFS-500, Brazil) at pH 2.92. In the case of photo-Fenton tests with ultraviolet lamps of 9 W, UV-A, UV-B and UV-C lamps were evaluated. All process conditions achieved 100% of phenols degraded within 5 minutes. TOC, BOD and COD decreased by 49%, 52% and 86% respectively (all processes together). However, Fenton treatment was not capable of reducing BOD, COD and TOC below a certain value even after 10 minutes, contrarily to photo-Fenton. It was also possible to conclude that the processes here studied degrade other compounds in addition to phenols, what is an advantage. In all cases, elevated effluent dilution factors and high amounts of oxidant agent impact negatively the overall economy of the processes here investigated.

Keywords: fenton oxidation, wastewater treatment, phenols, abrasives industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Aurea C. L. Lacerda, Paulo R. H. Moreno, Bruna M. P. Vianna, Cristina H. R. Serra, Airton Martin, André R. Baby, Vladi O. Consiglieri, Telma M. Kaneko

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The modified Franz cell is the most widely used model for in vitro permeation studies, however it still presents some disadvantages. Thus, some alternative methods have been developed such as Skin PAMPA, which is a bio- artificial membrane that has been applied for skin penetration estimation of xenobiotics based on HT permeability model consisting. Skin PAMPA greatest advantage is to carry out more tests, in a fast and inexpensive way. The membrane system mimics the stratum corneum characteristics, which is the primary skin barrier. The barrier properties are given by corneocytes embedded in a multilamellar lipid matrix. This layer is the main penetration route through the paracellular permeation pathway and it consists of a mixture of cholesterol, ceramides, and fatty acids as the dominant components. However, there is no consensus on the membrane composition. The objective of this work was to compare the performance among different bio-artificial membranes for studying the permeation in skin PAMPA system. Material and methods: In order to mimetize the lipid composition`s present in the human stratum corneum six membranes were developed. The membrane composition was equimolar mixture of cholesterol, ceramides 1-O-C18:1, C22, and C20, plus fatty acids C20 and C24. The membrane integrity assay was based on the transport of Brilliant Cresyl Blue, which has a low permeability; and Lucifer Yellow with very poor permeability and should effectively be completely rejected. The membrane characterization was performed using Confocal Laser Raman Spectroscopy, using stabilized laser at 785 nm with 10 second integration time and 2 accumulations. The membrane behaviour results on the PAMPA system were statistically evaluated and all of the compositions have shown integrity and permeability. The confocal Raman spectra were obtained in the region of 800-1200 cm-1 that is associated with the C-C stretches of the carbon scaffold from the stratum corneum lipids showed similar pattern for all the membranes. The ceramides, long chain fatty acids and cholesterol in equimolar ratio permitted to obtain lipid mixtures with self-organization capability, similar to that occurring into the stratum corneum. Conclusion: The artificial biological membranes studied for Skin PAMPA showed to be similar and with comparable properties to the stratum corneum.

Keywords: bio-artificial membranes, comparison, confocal Raman, skin PAMPA

Procedia PDF Downloads 509

Authors: Felipe Riveros, Ricardo Alvarez, Claudia Rahmann, Rodrigo Moreno

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Around the world, many countries have committed to a decarbonization of their electricity system. Under this global drive, converter-interfaced generators (CIG) such as wind and photovoltaic generation appear as cornerstones to achieve these energy targets. Despite its benefits, an increasing use of CIG brings several technical challenges in power systems, especially from a stability viewpoint. Among the key differences are limited short circuit current capacity, inertia-less characteristic of CIG, and response times within the electromagnetic timescale. Along with the integration of CIG into the power system, one enabling technology for the energy transition towards low-carbon power systems is battery energy storage systems (BESS). Because of the flexibility that BESS provides in power system operation, its integration allows for mitigating the variability and uncertainty of renewable energies, thus optimizing the use of existing assets and reducing operational costs. Another characteristic of BESS is that they can also support power system stability by injecting reactive power during the fault, providing short circuit currents, and delivering fast frequency response. However, most methodologies for sizing and allocating BESS in power systems are based on economic aspects and do not exploit the benefits that BESSs can offer to system stability. In this context, this paper presents a methodology for determining the optimal allocation of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in weak power systems with high levels of CIG. Unlike traditional economic approaches, this methodology incorporates stability constraints to allocate BESS, aiming to mitigate instability issues arising from weak grid conditions with low short-circuit levels. The proposed methodology offers valuable insights for power system engineers and planners seeking to maintain grid stability while harnessing the benefits of renewable energy integration. The methodology is validated in the reduced Chilean electrical system. The results show that integrating BESS into a power system with high levels of CIG with stability criteria contributes to decarbonizing and strengthening the network in a cost-effective way while sustaining system stability. This paper potentially lays the foundation for understanding the benefits of integrating BESS in electrical power systems and coordinating their placements in future converter-dominated power systems.

Keywords: battery energy storage, power system stability, system strength, weak power system

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Ozcan Yavas, Berrak Erol Nalbur, Sermin Gunarslan

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A materiality matrix is a tool that organizations use to prioritize their activities and adapt to the increasing sustainability requirements in recent years. For the materiality index to move from business models to the sustainability business model stage, it must be done with all partners in the raw material, supply, production, product, and end-of-life product stages. Within the scope of this study, the Materiality Matrix was used to transform the business model into a sustainability business model and to create a sustainability roadmap in a factory producing electric buses. This matrix determines the necessary roadmap for all stakeholders to participate in the process, especially in sectors that produce sustainable products, such as the electric vehicle sector, and to act together with the cradle-to-cradle approach of sustainability roadmaps. Global Reporting Initiative analysis was used in the study conducted with 1150 stakeholders within the scope of the study, and 43 questions were asked to the stakeholders under the main headings of 'Legal Compliance Level,' 'Environmental Strategies,' 'Risk Management Activities,' 'Impact of Sustainability Activities on Products and Services,' 'Corporate Culture,' 'Responsible and Profitable Business Model Practices' and 'Achievements in Leading the Sector' and Economic, Governance, Environment, Social and Other. The results of the study aimed to include five 1st priority issues and four 2nd priority issues in the sustainability strategies of the organization in the short and medium term. When the studies carried out in the short term are evaluated in terms of Sustainability and Environmental Risk Management, it is seen that the studies are still limited to the level of legal legislation (60%) and individual studies in line with the strategies (20%). At the same time, the stakeholders expect the company to integrate sustainability activities into its business model within five years (35%) and to carry out projects to become the first company that comes to mind with its success leading the sector (20%). Another result obtained within the study's scope is identifying barriers to implementation. It is seen that the most critical obstacles identified by stakeholders with climate change and environmental impacts are financial deficiency and lack of infrastructure in the dissemination of sustainable products. These studies are critical for transitioning to sustainable business models for the electric vehicle sector to achieve the EU Green Deal and CBAM targets.

Keywords: sustainability business model, materiality matrix, electricity bus, carbon neutrality, sustainability management

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Pavel Baroch, Jiri Rezek, Michal Prochazka, Tomas Kozak, Jiri Houska

Abstract:

Transparent semiconducting amorphous IGZO films have attracted great attention due to their excellent electrical properties and possible utilization in thin film transistors or in photovoltaic applications as they show 20-50 times higher mobility than that of amorphous silicon. It is also known that the properties of IGZO films are highly sensitive to process parameters, especially to oxygen partial pressure. In this study we have focused on the comparison of properties of transparent semiconducting amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin films prepared by conventional sputtering methods and those prepared by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) method. Furthermore we tried to optimize electrical and optical properties of the IGZO thin films and to investigate possibility to apply these coatings on thermally sensitive flexible substrates. We employed dc, pulsed dc, mid frequency sine wave and HiPIMS power supplies for magnetron deposition. Magnetrons were equipped with sintered ceramic InGaZnO targets. As oxygen vacancies are considered to be the main source of the carriers in IGZO films, it is expected that with the increase of oxygen partial pressure number of oxygen vacancies decreases which results in the increase of film resistivity. Therefore in all experiments we focused on the effect of oxygen partial pressure, discharge power and pulsed power mode on the electrical, optical and mechanical properties of IGZO thin films and also on the thermal load deposited to the substrate. As expected, we have observed a very fast transition between low- and high-resistivity films depending on oxygen partial pressure when deposition using conventional sputtering methods/power supplies have been utilized. Therefore we established and utilized HiPIMS sputtering system for enlargement of operation window for better control of IGZO thin film properties. It is shown that with this system we are able to effectively eliminate steep transition between low and high resistivity films exhibited by DC mode of sputtering and the electrical resistivity can be effectively controlled in the wide resistivity range of 10-² to 10⁵ Ω.cm. The highest mobility of charge carriers (up to 50 cm2/V.s) was obtained at very low oxygen partial pressures. Utilization of HiPIMS also led to significant decrease in thermal load deposited to the substrate which is beneficial for deposition on the thermally sensitive and flexible polymer substrates. Deposition rate as a function of discharge power and oxygen partial pressure was also systematically investigated and the results from optical, electrical and structure analysis will be discussed in detail. Most important result which we have obtained demonstrates almost linear control of IGZO thin films resistivity with increasing of oxygen partial pressure utilizing HiPIMS mode of sputtering and highly transparent films with low resistivity were prepared already at low pO2. It was also found that utilization of HiPIMS technique resulted in significant improvement of surface smoothness in reactive mode of sputtering (with increasing of oxygen partial pressure).

Keywords: charge carrier mobility, HiPIMS, IGZO, resistivity

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Authors: Anthony Halog

Abstract:

In the coming decades the world that we know today will be drastically transformed. Population and economic growth, particularly in developing countries, are radically changing the demand for food and natural resources. Due to the transformations caused by these megatrends, especially economic growth which is rapidly expanding the middle class and changing consumption patterns worldwide, it is expected that this will result to an increase of approximately 40 percent in the demand for food, water, energy and other resources in the next decades. To fulfill this demand in a sustainable and efficient manner while avoiding food and water scarcity as well as environmental catastrophes in the near future, some industries, particularly the ones involved in food and energy production, have to drastically change its current production systems towards circular and green economy. In Australia, the agri-food industry has played a very important role in the scenario described above. It is one of the major food exporters in the world, supplying fast growing international markets in Asia and the Middle East. Though the Australian food supply chains are economically and technologically developed, it has been facing enduring challenges about its international competitiveness and environmental burdens caused by its production processes. An integrated framework for sustainability assessment is needed to precisely identify inefficiencies and environmental impacts created during food production processes. This research proposes a combination of industrial ecology and systems science based methods and tools intending to develop a novel and useful methodological framework for life cycle sustainability analysis of the agri-food industry. The presentation highlights circular economy paradigm aiming to implement sustainable industrial processes to transform the current industrial model of agri-food supply chains. The results are expected to support government policy makers, business decision makers and other stakeholders involved in agri-food-energy production system in pursuit of green and circular economy. The framework will assist future life cycle and integrated sustainability analysis and eco-redesign of food and other industrial systems.

Keywords: circular economy, eco-efficiency, agri-food systems, green economy, life cycle sustainability assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Ahmad Odeh, Ahmad Jrade

Abstract:

Energy assessment is an evidently significant factor when evaluating the sustainability of structures especially at the early design stage. Today design practices revolve around the selection of material that reduces the operational energy and yet meets their displinary need. Operational energy represents a substantial part of the building lifecycle energy usage but the fact remains that embodied energy is an important aspect unaccounted for in the carbon footprint. At the moment, little or no consideration is given to embodied energy mainly due to the complexity of calculation and the various factors involved. The equipment used, the fuel needed, and electricity required for each material vary with location and thus the embodied energy will differ for each project. Moreover, the method and the technique used in manufacturing, transporting and putting in place will have a significant influence on the materials’ embodied energy. This anomaly has made it difficult to calculate or even bench mark the usage of such energies. This paper presents a model aimed at helping designers select the construction materials based on their embodied energy. Moreover, this paper presents a systematic approach that uses an efficient method of calculation and ultimately provides new insight into construction material selection. The model is developed in a BIM environment targeting the quantification of embodied energy for construction materials through the three main stages of their life: manufacturing, transportation and placement. The model contains three major databases each of which contains a set of the most commonly used construction materials. The first dataset holds information about the energy required to manufacture any type of materials, the second includes information about the energy required for transporting the materials while the third stores information about the energy required by tools and cranes needed to place an item in its intended location. The model provides designers with sets of all available construction materials and their associated embodied energies to use for the selection during the design process. Through geospatial data and dimensional material analysis, the model will also be able to automatically calculate the distance between the factories and the construction site. To remain within the sustainability criteria set by LEED, a final database is created and used to calculate the overall construction cost based on R.M.S. means cost data and then automatically recalculate the costs for any modifications. Design criteria including both operational and embodied energies will cause designers to revaluate the current material selection for cost, energy, and most importantly sustainability.

Keywords: building information modelling, energy, life cycle analysis, sustainablity

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Manuel de Pazos-Liano, Manuel Cifuentes-Antonio, Juan Fisac-Gozalo, Sara Perales-Momparler, Carlos Martinez-Montero

Abstract:

The first-ever game in the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, the new home of the Club Atletico de Madrid, was played on September 16, 2017, thanks to the work of a multidisciplinary team that made it possible to combine urban development with sustainability goals. The new football ground sits on a 1.2 km² land owned by the city of Madrid. Its construction has dramatically increased the sealed area of the site (transforming the runoff coefficient from 0.35 to 0.9), and the surrounding sewer network has no capacity for that extra flow. As an alternative to enlarge the existing 2.5 m diameter pipes, it was decided to detain runoff on site by means of an integrated and durable infrastructure that would not blow up the construction cost nor represent a burden on the municipality’s maintenance tasks. Instead of the more conventional option of building a large concrete detention tank, the decision was taken on the use of pervious pavement on the 3013 car parking spaces for sub-surface water storage, a solution aligned with the city water ordinance and the Madrid + Natural project. Making the idea a reality, in only five months and during the summer season (which forced to pour the porous concrete only overnight), was a challenge never faced before in Spain, that required of innovation both at the material as well as the machinery side. The process consisted on: a) defining the characteristics required for the porous concrete (compressive strength of 15 N/mm2 and 20% voids); b) testing of different porous concrete dosages at the construction company laboratory; c) stablishing the cross section in order to provide structural strength and sufficient water detention capacity (20 cm porous concrete over a 5 cm 5/10 gravel, that sits on a 50 cm coarse 40/50 aggregate sub-base separated by a virgin fiber polypropylene geotextile fabric); d) hydraulic computer modelling (using the Full Hydrograph Method based on the Wallingford Procedure) to estimate design peak flows decrease (an average of 69% at the three car parking lots); e) use of a variety of machinery for the application of the porous concrete to achieve both structural strength and permeable surface (including an inverse rotating rolling imported from USA, and the so-called CMI, a sliding concrete paver used in the construction of motorways with rigid pavements); f) full-scale pilots and final construction testing by an accredited laboratory (pavement compressive strength average value of 15 N/mm2 and 0,0032 m/s permeability). The continuous testing and innovating construction process explained in detail within this article, allowed for a growing performance with time, finally proving the use of the CMI valid also for large porous car park applications. All this process resulted in a successful story that converts the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium into a great demonstration site that will help the application of the Spanish Royal Decree 638/2016 (it also counts with rainwater harvesting for grass irrigation).

Keywords: construction machinery, permeable carpark, porous concrete, SUDS, sustainable develpoment

Procedia PDF Downloads 144