Dynamical modelling of an activated sludge system of a petrochemical plant operating at high temperatures.

The Mexican petrochemical industry, Morelos S.A. de C.V., is one of the biggest and more important petroleum industries in Mexico and Latin America. It has an activated sludge system to treat its wastewater flow, which is approximately 7,000 m3/d. The wastewater contains volatile organic carbon substances classified as toxics. The old surface aeration system was changed for fine bubble diffusers; however, one major drawback of the new aeration system is that the temperature in the bioreactor has increased due to the compression of the air, which at the compressor exit reaches 85 degrees C. This effect results in the temperature in the bioreactor attaining 32 degrees C during the fall, whereas in the spring and summer, the bioreactor temperature reaches higher values than 40 degrees C. The high temperatures reduce the microorganism activity and cause a higher volatilisation rate of volatile compounds, among other effects, which affect the performance of the biological treatment. This work was performed to obtain a better modelling of the wastewater treatment from the petrochemical industry. The model describes the effect of the temperature on the performance of the biological treatment. The model was obtained from tests that were carried out in laboratory reactors with 14 L capacity, which were operated at different temperatures (from 30 to 45 degrees C), with the same wastewater and conditions as the actual system.     

Thermal-lens and photo-acoustic methods for the determination of SiC thermal properties

In this paper we report the use of photothermal techniques such as Thermal lens (TL) spectrometry, Photoacoustic and heat capacity, ρc_p, to determine the thermo-optical parameters, such as thermal conductivity (K), thermal diffusivity (D), specific heat (c_p) and the optical path dependence with temperature (ds/dT), of an undoped polycrystalline 3C-SiC. To our knowledge, this is the first time that Thermal lens technique is used for wide band-gap systems. Results obtained for the polycrystalline sample with TL technique indicates that ds/dT is negative at room temperature. Moreover, the obtained values of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity are in good agreement with that found in the literature, indicating that the phototermal techniques can be used to obtain the referred parameters in circumstances where other techniques cannot be used, for example, in harsh environments.     

Probing the thermal decomposition process of layered double hydroxides through in situ <Superscript>57</Superscript>Fe Mössbauer and in situ X-ray diffraction experiments

The thermal decomposition properties of Mg–Fe hydrotalcites were studied through in situ ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and in situ X-ray diffraction. Abrupt changes in the quadrupolar splitting measured in the Mössbauer spectra revealed a phase transition from the starting lamellar structure to a new crystalline arrangement. By analyzing the Mössbauer parameters we show that the material is highly disordered in the 300–400 °C temperature range. This hypothesis is confirmed by the X-ray results whose diffractograms indicated the collapse of the lamellar structure and the formation of a solid solution.     

Simultaneous sulfide and acetate oxidation under denitrifying conditions using an inverse fluidized bed reactor

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous removal of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon compounds from wastewaters is a commercially important biological process. The objective was to evaluate the influence of the CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio on the sulfide oxidation process using an inverse fluidized bed reactor (IFBR). RESULTS: Three molar ratios of CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? (0.85, 0.72 and 0.62) with a constant S^2?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.13 were evaluated. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.85, the nitrate, acetate and sulfide removal efficiencies were approximately 100%. The N₂ yield (g N₂ g^?1 NO₃^?‐N consumed) was 0.81. Acetate was mineralized, resulting in a yield of 0.65 g inorganic‐C g^?1 CH₃COO^?‐C consumed. Sulfide was partially oxidized to S⁰, and 71% of the S^2? consumed was recovered as elemental sulfur by a settler installed in the IFBR. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.72, the efficiencies of nitrate, acetate and sulfide consumption were of 100%, with N₂ and inorganic‐C yields of 0.84 and 0.69, respectively. The sulfide was recovered as sulfate instead of S⁰, with a yield of 0.92 g SO₄^2?‐S g^?1 S^2? consumed. CONCLUSIONS: The CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio was shown to be an important parameter that can be used to control the fate of sulfide oxidation to either S⁰ or sulfate. In this study, the potential of denitrification for the simultaneous removal of organic matter, sulfide and nitrate from wastewaters was demonstrated, obtaining CO₂, S⁰ and N₂ as the major end products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of halide ions and alloy microstructure on the passive and localized corrosion behavior of alloy 22

Alloy 22 (N06022) is the current candidate alloy used to fabricate the external wall of the high-level nuclear waste containers for the Yucca Mountain repository. It was of interest to study and compare the general and localized corrosion susceptibility of Alloy 22 in fluoride and chloride solutions at 90 °C. Standard electrochemical tests such as cyclic potentiodynamic polarization, amperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used. Studied variables included the solution pH and the alloy microstructure (thermal aging). Results show that Alloy 22 is highly resistant to general corrosion in all the solutions tested. Thermal aging is not detrimental and even seems to be slightly beneficial for general corrosion at the higher solution pHs. Pitting corrosion was never observed. Crevice corrosion was found only for high chloride-containing solutions after anodic polarization. The presence of fluoride ions together with chloride ions seems to increase the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to crevice corrosion compared to pure chloride solutions. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium “Effect of Processing on Materials Properties for Nuclear Waste Disposition,” November 10–11, 2003, at the TMS Fall meeting in Chicago, Illinois, under the joint auspices of the TMS Corrosion and Environmental Effects and Nuclear Materials Committees.     

Energy functions for dissipativity-based balancing of discrete-time nonlinear systems

Most of the energy functions used in nonlinear balancing theory can be expressed as storage functions in the framework of dissipativity theory. By defining a framework of discrete-time dissipative systems, this paper presents existence conditions for their discrete-time energy functions along with algorithms to find them based on dynamic optimization problems. Furthermore, the important case of the nonlinear discrete-time versions of the controllability and observability functions, its properties and algorithms to find them are presented. These algorithms are illustrated with linear and nonlinear examples.     

The effect of home storage conditions and packaging materials on the quality of frozen green beans

Home storage is the final step of the frozen foods distribution chain, and little is known on how it affects the products quality. The present research describes frozen green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) quality retention profile during the recommended ‘star marking’ system dates, at the storage temperatures of +5, −6, −12 and −18 °C (along 1, 4, 14 and 60 days, respectively).

The quality profile was assessed by a simulation system. Simulations were set by a response surface methodology to access the effect of different packaging materials (thermal conductivities and thickness), surface heat transfer coefficient, and refrigerator dynamics (effect of refrigeration cycles at the different storage temperatures) on the average retentions of Ascorbic Acid, total vitamin C, colour and flavour.

Green beans quality losses along frozen storage are significantly influenced by temperature, refrigerator dynamics and kinetic properties. Quality is also highly dependent on packaging materials thermal insulation (e.g. at temperatures above the melting point). Temperature cycles inside frozen chambers have a long term effect, and at the higher storage temperatures (e.g. T>−6 °C) are detrimental to frozen green beans quality after shorter periods.     

Sliding mode direct control of matrix converters

The direct control problem of matrix converters with input inductive capacitive (LC) filter using a new approach based on the sliding mode control technique is solved. This approach allows the design of the controller considering the converter and the dynamics of its associated LC filter. Together with the space vector representation technique, sliding mode allows the precise determination of switching times between the bi-directional switches, thus being appropriate to the nonlinear ON/OFF behaviour of the matrix converter power semiconductors. As the switching occurs just in time, this technique guarantees fast response times and precise control actions, ensuring that the output voltages and the input currents track their references and making input power factor regulation independent of the input filter parameters. This feature has special interest in applications requiring unity input power factor, when feeding AC drives, or applications needing variable and accurate input power factor regulation, usually related to power quality enhancement. The designed sliding mode controllers are tested and the obtained simulation and experimental results show that they ensure the direct control of matrix converters over a wide range of output frequencies, guaranteeing a leading or lagging input power factor regulation