Potential for rice straw ethanol production in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

This study is to evaluate the potential for development of a cellulosic ethanol facility in Vietnam. Rice straw is abundant in Vietnam and highly concentrated in the Mekong Delta, where about 26 Mt year⁻¹ of rice straw has been yearly produced. To minimize the overall production cost (PC) of ethanol from rice straw, it is crucial to choose the optimal facility size. The delivered cost of rice straw varied from 20.5 to 65.4 $ dry t⁻¹ depending on transportation distance. The Mekong Delta has much lower rice straw prices compared with other regions in Vietnam because of high density and quantity of rice straw supply. Thus, this region has been considered as the most suitable location for deploying ethanol production in Vietnam. The optimal plant size of ethanol production in the region was estimated up to 200 ML year⁻¹. The improvement in solid concentration of material in the hydrothermal pre-treatment step and using residues for power generation could substantially reduce the PC in Vietnam, where energy costs account for the second largest contribution to the PC, following only enzyme costs. The potential for building larger ethanol plants with low rice straw costs can reduce ethanol production costs in Vietnam. The current estimated production cost for an optimal plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ was 1.19 $ L⁻¹. For the future scenario, considering improvements in pre-treatment, enzyme hydrolysis steps, specific enzyme activity, and applying residues for energy generation, the ethanol production cost could reduce to 0.45 $ L⁻¹ for a plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ in Vietnam. These data indicated that the cost-competitiveness of ethanol production could be realized in Vietnam with future improvements in production technologies.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of the influence of cable tray arrangements on the resulting mass loss rate and fire spreading

In the context of industrial buildings and power plants, electrical installations and cable trays represent a main fuel load and a potential initial fire source due to possible short circuits or comparable malfunction. Furthermore, a fire can spread from one tray to additional trays mounted above and/or horizontally on one tray. Because of the high significance of cable fires, several research projects have been carried out, investigating the fire behaviour of cables from small‐scale tests, eg, the cone calorimeter, up to large‐scale tests, analysing complete cable tray constructions. The goal of the work presented in this paper is the extension of the knowledge regarding the influence of geometrical parameters like the packing density and tray distance on the burning behaviour and fire spread of cable tray installations. The results are considered, together with test results from the literature, to quantify the main physical parameters describing the burning behaviour. In a next step, the general applicability of these parameters as input data for the parametrization of the source term of numerical simulations is shown. The test results show that the burning behaviour and the fire spreading highly depend on the cable arrangement of the cables on the cable tray, in combination with other boundary conditions. By applying the results as input for a fire simulation, the mass loss rate is considered appropriately.     

Grain size influence on the flexibility and luminous intensity of inorganic CaTiO3:Pr3+ crystal nanofibers

Traditional inorganic materials exhibit rigidity owing to the lack of polymer chains in polymer materials or atom slipping in metals. However, nanometerization has been recently proposed for the conversion of inorganic oxide materials into flexible materials. Herein, the flexible inorganic luminescent material, CaTiO₃:0.2%Pr³⁺, was synthesized through electrospinning, and the macroscopic flexibility of pure inorganic CaTiO₃:0.2%Pr³⁺ was achieved. The flexible membrane was characterized via X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence analyses. The grain size was analyzed at various calcination temperatures via SEM, and the results suggested that the increase in the calcination temperature resulted in the growth of crystal grains. Studies have reported that the growth of crystal grains is beneficial for improving the luminescence performance; however, to obtain better flexibility, smaller crystal grains are required. This study provides an important reference for the design of flexible inorganic materials.     

高落差粉尘扩散规律和分布特征

高溜井放矿过程中会形成强大的冲击气流引起粉尘扩散，造成严重的井下环境污染，对其进行有效治理一直是井下通风除尘的工作重心，本工作利用相似实验和数值模拟相结合的方式探究溜井放矿过程中粉尘的扩散规律和分布特征。通过改变放矿质量、矿石粒径、溜井密闭程度、含水率等因素测试不同条件下气流大小和粉尘浓度分布，并利用CFD-DPM耦合方法模拟卸矿过程中的气?固两相流，研究气流和粉尘浓度时空分布特征。结果表明，最大粉尘浓度和风速随放矿质量增加而上升，随颗粒粒径和溜井密闭程度增大而降低，且含水率越大，粉尘浓度越小，风速无明显变化，在放矿过程中矿石颗粒之间碰撞占主导作用，颗粒流呈横向分布。     

氧化石墨烯改性碳纤维复合材料抗冲击行为研究

使用单层纳米氧化石墨烯（NGO）粒子对环氧树脂进行改性处理，采用真空辅助树脂传递模塑成型工艺制备了[±45/0/90]_2S铺层角度下的纯树脂及单层NGO改性碳纤维复合材料（CFRP）层合板。通过落锤冲击试验、超声C扫描检测、冲击后压缩试验等对纯树脂及单层NGO改性CFRP进行实验研究。结果表明，纯树脂及单层NGO改性CFRP在损伤阻抗及损伤容限实验中均存在拐点现象，且拐点出现在相同深度位置，其中纯树脂CFRP拐点位置为0.51 mm，单层NGO改性CFRP拐点位置为0.43 mm；相对于纯树脂CFRP，单层NGO改性CFRP可以显著提高复合材料的抗冲击性能及冲击后的压缩性能；通过对冲击后凹坑深度及凹坑面积进行数据模拟，可以用拟合公式实现对复合材料的损伤预测。     

Fine-tuned,molecular-composite,organosilica membranes for highly efficient propylene/propane separation via suitable pore size

Fine-tuned, molecular-composite, organosilica membranes were fabricated via the co-condensation of organosilica precursors bis(triethoxysilyl)acetylene (BTESA) and bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene (BTESB). Fourier transform infrared and UV–vis spectra confirmed the co-condensation behaviors of BTESA and BTESB. The evolution of the network structure indicated that the incorporated BTESB decreased the membrane pore size, which was determined by a modified gas translation model according to the steric effect of the phenyl groups. The incorporation of BTESB to BTESA finely tuned the membrane structure and endowed the resultant composite membrane with improved separation properties. The BTESAB 9:1 membrane (molar ratio of BTESA/BTESB was 9:1) exhibited high C₃H₆ permeance at 4.5 × 10⁻⁸ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ and a C₃H₆/C₃H₈ permeance ratio of 33 at 50°C. One of the most important developments of this study involved clearly defining the relationship between membrane pore size and C₃H₆/C₃H₈ separation performance for organosilica membranes in single and binary separation systems.     

A facile pathway to prepare molybdenum boride powder from molybdenum and boron carbide

Molybdenum boride is an ideal hard and wear-resistant material. In this study, a new method is proposed for preparing molybdenum boride, by which Mo first reacts with B₄C to generate the mixture of molybdenum boride and C, and then the product is decarburized by molten Ca to generate CaC₂. Pure molybdenum boride could be obtained after acid leaching to remove the by-product CaC₂. According to the experimental and thermodynamic calculation results, it is concluded that the single-phase MoB could be successfully prepared, while Mo₂B, Mo₂B₅, and MoB₄ could not be synthesized by this method. Moreover, it was found that the particle size of finally prepared MoB is determined by particle size of raw Mo powder. The residual carbon content of the product could be decreased to 0.10 wt% after first reaction at 1673 K for 6 hours and then decarburization reaction at 1673 K for 6 hours.     

Effects of SiC content on the densification,microstructure, and mechanical properties of HfB2–SiC composites

To investigate the effects of SiC on microstructure, hardness, and fracture toughness, 0, 10, 20, and 30 vol% SiC were added to HfB₂ and sintered by SPS. Upon adding SiC to 30 vol%, relative density increased about 4%; but HfB₂ grain growth had a minimum at 20 vol% SiC. This may be due to grain boundary silicate glass, responsible for surface oxide wash out, enriched in SiO₂ with higher fraction of SiC. By SiO₂ enrichment, the glass viscosity increased and higher HfO₂ remained unsolved which subsequently lead to higher grain growth. Hardness has increased from about 13 to 15 GPa by SiC introduction with no sensible variation with SiC increase. Residual stress measurements by Rietveld method indicated high levels of tensile residual stresses in the HfB₂ Matrix. Despite the peak residual stress value at 20 vol% SiC, fracture toughness of this sample was the highest (6.43 MPa m^0.5) which implied that fracture toughness is mainly a grain size function. Tracking crack trajectory showed a mainly trans-granular fracture, but grain boundaries imposed a partial deflection on the crack pathway. SiC had a higher percentage in fracture surface images than the cross-section which implied a weak crack deflection.     

Notch radius effect on fracture toughness of ceramics pertinent to grain size

Unlike fracture toughness, the notch fracture toughness of a ceramic is not a constant; rather, it increases with the notch-root radius ρ in a notched specimen. In this study, by analyzing the fracture measurements of eight different notched ceramics with an average grain size G of 3–40 μm, a simple model describing the relation between the notch fracture toughness and fracture toughness is proposed as a function of the relative notch-root radius ρ/G. The normal distribution is incorporated to consider the inevitable scatter in measurements where fracture mechanisms and errors are present. The results demonstrate that the model can effectively predict the quasi-brittle fracture variation trend for ceramics, including the upper and lower bounds, with 96% reliability, from a normal distribution; thus, it can address virtually all of the experimental data. We also determined that the notch fracture toughness approximates the fracture toughness if ρ ≤ G.     

Effect of in-situ formation of columnar mullite and pore structure refinement on high temperature properties of corundum casatbles

The effects of in-situ synthesis columnar mullite and pore structure on the hot modulus of rupture (HMOR), thermal shock resistance and corrosion resistance of corundum castables have been investigated in this paper. When 2% nano silica was added, the pore diameters of castables could be decreased to 15 nm (at 110 °C), 1 μm (1100 °C) and 6 μm (1500 °C), respectively. The corresponding reducing magnitude of pore size is 98.5%, 83.3% and 33.3%. The HMOR of castables fired at 1500 °C increased by 110% to 3.64 MPa. Furthermore, after three thermal shock cycles, the residual strength ratio of castables increased from 5.2% to 15.3%. A large amount of cross-distributed columnar mullite was formed between nano silica and α-Al₂O₃ by the two-dimensional nucleation mechanism, which remarkably enhanced the high temperature properties. The penetration index reduced from 30.86% to 19.88%, suggesting that smaller pore size and higher viscosity had a great influence to the penetration process.