Benefits of oxygen enrichment in sponge iron rotary kiln emerging from data-driven modelling

Optimal oxygen enrichment conditions for sponge iron rotary kiln have been successfully explored on an industrial scale using a data-driven model. A multi-objective optimisation by genetic algorithm (MOGA) is employed to find the favourable conditions. The objective function for MOGA is derived from neural networks using pre-processed operational data. From industrial experimentations guided by the optimum conditions predicted by the present model, it emerged that when the coal fines injection is maintained at 1.75?tph and the oxygen enrichment is 8 Nm³?t^?1 of sponge iron, a reduction in the specific air requirement from 2609 to 2150?Nm³?t^?1 was obtained, while the end-zone bed temperature remained under control at 1132°C. These conditions resulted in a reduction of specific coal consumption by 6%, an enhancement in the sponge iron production by 6% and an increase in the rotary kiln campaign life from 50 to 100 days.     

Integrative Analysis of Metabolomic,Proteomic and Genomic Data to Reveal Functional Pathways and Candidate Genes for Drip Loss in Pigs

The aim of this study was to integrate multi omics data to characterize underlying functional pathways and candidate genes for drip loss in pigs. The consideration of different omics levels allows elucidating the black box of phenotype expression. Metabolite and protein profiling was applied in Musculus longissimus dorsi samples of 97 Duroc × Pietrain pigs. In total, 126 and 35 annotated metabolites and proteins were quantified, respectively. In addition, all animals were genotyped with the porcine 60 k Illumina beadchip. An enrichment analysis resulted in 10 pathways, amongst others, sphingolipid metabolism and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, with significant influence on drip loss. Drip loss and 22 metabolic components were analyzed as intermediate phenotypes within a genome-wide association study (GWAS). We detected significantly associated genetic markers and candidate genes for drip loss and for most of the metabolic components. On chromosome 18, a region with promising candidate genes was identified based on SNPs associated with drip loss, the protein “phosphoglycerate mutase 2” and the metabolite glycine. We hypothesize that association studies based on intermediate phenotypes are able to provide comprehensive insights in the genetic variation of genes directly involved in the metabolism of performance traits. In this way, the analyses contribute to identify reliable candidate genes.     

Incorporation of extended neighborhood mechanisms and its impact on urban land-use cellular automata simulations

Urban cellular automata (CA) models are broadly used in quantitative analyses and predictions of urban land-use dynamics. However, most urban CA developed with neighborhood rules consider only a small neighborhood scope under a specific spatial resolution. Here, we quantify neighborhood effects in a relatively large cellular space and analyze their role in the performance of an urban land use model. The extracted neighborhood rules were integrated into a commonly used logistic regression urban CA model (Logistic-CA), resulting in a large neighborhood urban land use model (Logistic-LNCA). Land-use simulations with both models were evaluated with urban expansion data in Xiamen City, China. Simulations with the Logistic-LNCA model raised the accuracies of built-up land by 3.0%–3.9% in two simulation periods compared with the Logistic-CA model with a 3 × 3 kernel. Parameter sensitivity analysis indicated that there was an optimal large window size in cellular space and a corresponding optimal parameter configuration.     

Dispersed air flotation and foam fractionation for the recovery of microalgae in the production of biodiesel

Microalgae biomass has great potential for being used as feedstock for the sustainable production of biodiesel, as it is able to produce 7–31 times more oil than the top terrestrial crop. It is a green alternative to the currently utilized energy sources as it can reduce CO, CO₂ and hydrocarbon emissions. However, downstream processing costs for the dilute biomass are a major challenge. Foam flotation has been recently investigated for the recovery of microalgae cells from dilute liquid suspensions. A number of variables on the effectiveness of foam flotation for microalgae have been investigated, which include surfactant type and concentration, cell concentration, pH, hydrophobicity, time, growth stage, flow rate, ionic strength, alkalinity, temperature, bubble size, and column size. It appears to be a promising method for the recovery of algae for biofuel production, as a result of the high removal recoveries, good enrichment ratios, ability to process large volumes of biomass, and its ease of operation. However, literature on this subject is scarce, and there are research gaps that should be investigated including characterization of microalgae cells and impact on foam separation and the effect of surfactant as a treatment prior to lipid extraction.     

Volumetric mesh generation from T-spline surface representations

A new approach to obtain a volumetric discretization from a T-spline surface representation is presented. A T-spline boundary zone is created beneath the surface, while the core of the model is discretized with Lagrangian elements. T-spline enriched elements are used as an interface between isogeometric and Lagrangian finite elements. The thickness of the T-spline zone and thereby the isogeometric volume fraction can be chosen arbitrarily large such that pure Lagrangian and pure isogeometric discretizations are included. The presented approach combines the advantages of isogeometric elements (accuracy and smoothness) and classical finite elements (simplicity and efficiency).Different heat transfer problems are solved with the finite element method using the presented discretization approach with different isogeometric volume fractions. For suitable applications, the approach leads to a substantial accuracy gain.     

Limitations of Preferential Enrichment: A Case Study on Tryptophan Ethyl Ester Hydrochloride

Since eutomer and distomer show different biological effects, access to pure enantiomers is essential. Preferential enrichment is a relatively new process of chiral resolution developed in the 90s. Extension of its scope was attempted with tryptophan ethyl ester hydrochloride. This salt meets one of the most important requirements for preferential enrichment, namely, a larger solubility for the pure enantiomers with reference to the racemic compound. But, due to the absence of a solid solution, this salt cannot perform preferential enrichment. This impossibility was endorsed by semi‐empirical molecular modeling.     

Hydrogen from empty cotton boll agro-waste via thermochemical route and feasibility study of operating an IC engine in continuous mode

Hydrogen can be cited as prospective source of clean power. In this work hydrogen rich syn-gas generated from the agro-waste, empty cotton bolls was injected into an IC engine in continuous mode along with gasoline. At the air-fuel ratio of 23.40, specific fuel consumption of 0.35 kg kWh^?1, the engine could be operated with higher efficiency than with gasoline alone. A distinct reduction in emission characteristics could also be seen. Empty cotton bolls derived after removal of cotton from the flower in field, was first studied for fuel properties. The reasonably high heating value (HHV) of 17.54 MJ kg^?1 suggested that it could be a precursor to hydrogen via two stepped thermo-chemical process. The first step involved slow pyrolysis of the biomass at 500 °C for 60 min at a heating rate of 10 °C min^?1 yielding 39.71% bio-char by weight. The C, H, N, S and O contents of the produced bio-char was 59.91, 2.91, 0.72, 0.47 and 35.99% respectively and its HHV was 26.7 MJ kg^?1. Steam gasification of this bio-char, at 700 °C and water flowrate of 7 mL min^?1 exhibited maximum hydrogen yield of 67.42% (v/v) in the syn-gas mixture. Subsequent enrichment of the gas using ethanolamine/ethylene diamine and KMnO₄ solutions resulted in more than 90% (v/v) hydrogen in the combustible gas mixture and the test engine could be effectively operated.     

渤海海域辽西构造带S型走滑转换带特征及控藏作用定量表征

S型走滑转换带是走滑环境下广泛发育的一类构造。以往的研究认识多集中在对走滑转换带类型划分的探讨上，缺乏对其控藏作用的精细研究。本次研究利用渤海海域辽东湾地区连片三维地震资料，结合油气田实例，运用统计学方法分析了辽西构造带S型走滑转换带的控藏作用。辽西带新生代构造变形总体表现为NE向伸展构造系统和NNE向右旋走滑构造系统的叠加构造变形，S型走滑转换带可分为增压段和释压段两大类。按照走滑转换带演化阶段的不同，将增压段进一步细分为压扭低凸起段、平缓增压段和强烈增压段等3个亚类。将释压段同样细分为纺锤形浅凹、平缓释压段和菱形释压段等3个亚类。将走滑断裂末端发育的转换带归纳为增压型或释压型马尾扇。应用S型走滑转换带“油气富集指数”的分析方法，论证了S型走滑转换带弯曲度与走滑调节断层活动性具有正相关性，并成功应用于辽西凹陷南次洼旅大5-2北油田成藏分析工作中，为勘探决策提供了定量化依据。     

槽波地震勘探技术在瓦斯富集区探测中的应用研究

为查清糯东煤矿11705工作面内部煤厚变化，并圈出工作面瓦斯治理高风险区域，为工作面安全高效生产提供指导，采用槽波地震透射法对11705工作面进行探测。联合槽波速度解释与能量解释两种方法，辨析透射槽波的质量，将质量差的槽波射线分别绘制在平面图上，采用射线交汇的方法划分工作面的开采风险分布区域。探测成果与实验室中解吸法的瓦斯测定成果进行了对比，结果表明，煤与瓦斯突出矿井槽波速度与瓦斯富集区存在一定相关性，在槽波高速区、波速急剧变化带或高低速相间分布区，瓦斯含量可能较高；被四周高速区所包围的低速区域瓦斯含量较高。上述结论为国内同类型矿井瓦斯富集区探测提供了借鉴。     

Controller design for distributed parameter systems with time delays in the boundary feedbacks via the backstepping method

For a distributed parameter system with an input delay in the boundary, a feedback control law is presented by means of the backstepping method. The square integrability of input signal is verified based on the target system. Then, the boundedness and invertibility of the corresponding backstepping transformation are proved under the regularity of system and the admissibility of feedback operator. Thus, the resulting closed-loop system is shown to be exponentially stable. Finally, as an application, a numerical simulation of a one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with a delay input is carried out, and the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the suggested control law.