Towards artificial intelligence at scale in the chemical industry

In the Industry 4.0 era, the chemical industry is embracing broad adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods. This article provides a holistic view of how the industry is transforming digitally towards AI at scale. First, a historical perspective on how the industry used AI to aid humans in better decision-making is shown. Then state-of-the-art AI research addressing industrial needs on reliability and safety, process optimization, supply chain, material discovery, and reaction engineering is highlighted. Finally, a vision of the plant of the future is illustrated with critical components of AI-ready culture, model life cycle management, and renewed role of humans in chemical manufacturing.     

Comparative Analysis of Platelet-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Using Flow Cytometry and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis

Growing interest in extracellular vesicles (EVs) has prompted the advancements of protocols for improved EV characterization. As a high-throughput, multi-parameter, and single particle technique, flow cytometry is widely used for EV characterization. The comparison of data on EV concentration, however, is hindered by the lack of standardization between different protocols and instruments. Here, we quantified EV counts of platelet-derived EVs, using two flow cytometers (Gallios and CytoFLEX LX) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Phosphatidylserine-exposing EVs were identified by labelling with lactadherin (LA). Calibration with silica-based fluorescent beads showed detection limits of 300 nm and 150 nm for Gallios and CytoFLEX LX, respectively. Accordingly, CytoFLEX LX yielded 40-fold higher EV counts and 13-fold higher counts of LA⁺CD41⁺ EVs compared to Gallios. NTA in fluorescence mode (F-NTA) demonstrated that only 9.5% of all vesicles detected in scatter mode exposed phosphatidylserine, resulting in good agreement of LA⁺ EVs for CytoFLEX LX and F-NTA. Since certain functional characteristics, such as the exposure of pro-coagulant phosphatidylserine, are not equally displayed across the entire EV size range, our study highlights the necessity of indicating the size range of EVs detected with a given approach along with the EV concentration to support the comparability between different studies.     

Breeding goal traits accounting for feed intake capacity and roughage or concentrate intake separately

Current breeding tools aiming to improve feed efficiency use definitions based on total dry matter intake (DMI); for example, residual feed intake or feed saved. This research aimed to define alternative traits using existing data that differentiate between feed intake capacity and roughage or concentrate intake, and to investigate the phenotypic and genetic relationships among these traits. The data set contained 39,017 weekly milk yield, live weight, and DMI records of 3,164 cows. The 4 defined traits were as follows: (1) Feed intake capacity (FIC), defined as the difference between how much a cow ate and how much she was expected to eat based on diet satiety value and status of the cow (parity and lactation stage); (2) feed saved (FS), defined as the difference between the measured and the predicted DMI, based on the regression of DMI on milk components within experiment; (3) residual roughage intake (RRI), defined as the difference between the measured and the predicted roughage intake, based on the regression of roughage intake on milk components and concentrate intake within experiment; and (4) residual concentrate intake (RCI), defined as the difference between the measured and the predicted concentrate intake, based on the regression of concentrate intake on milk components and roughage intake within experiment. The phenotypic correlations were ?0.72 between FIC and FS, ?0.84 between FS and RRI, and ?0.53 between FS and RCI. Heritability of FIC, FS, RRI, and RCI were estimated to be 0.21, 0.12, 0.15, and 0.03, respectively. The genetic correlations were ?0.81 between FS and FIC, ?0.96 between FS and RRI, and ?0.25 between FS and RCI. Concentrate intake and RCI had low heritability. Genetic correlation between DMI and FIC was 0.98. Although the defined traits had moderate phenotypic correlations, the genetic correlations between DMI, FS, FIC, and RRI were above 0.79 (in absolute terms), suggesting that these traits are genetically similar. Therefore, selecting for FIC is expected to simply increase DMI and RRI, and there seems to be little advantage in separating concentrate and roughage intake in the genetic evaluation, because measured concentrate intake was determined by the feeding system in our data and not by the genetics of the cow.     

Environmental performance of a naturally ventilated city centre library

To tackle climate change it is essential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To this end, it is important to reduce the energy demands of non-domestic buildings. Naturally ventilated buildings can have low energy demands but the strategy is difficult to implement in deep plan, urban locations. The Frederick Lanchester Library at Coventry University, UK, incorporates natural ventilation, daylighting and passive cooling strategies. By using lightwells and perimeter stacks to supply and exhaust air, it can be ventilated by natural means despite its deep plan form and sealed façade. This paper describes the building and presents the energy consumption and the internal temperatures and CO₂ levels recorded in 2004/2005. The building's performance is compared to the original design criteria and good practice guidelines. Recommendations for the design of such buildings are made and the likely performance in other UK cities is assessed. It is concluded that the building uses under half the energy of a standard air-conditioned building and yet, in summer, can keep the interior comfortable and up to 5 °C below ambient. The design would perform equally well in the typical weather conditions experienced at 13 other UK cities, but not in London. It is concluded that deep-plan, naturally ventilated buildings with sealed facades, if well designed, could maintain thermal comfort in all but a very few UK locations, whilst consuming much less energy than even good practice standards.     

Sanierungsforschung in regional kontaminierten Aquiferen (SAFIRA) – 1. Information zum Forschungsschwerpunkt am Standort Bitterfeld

The SAFIRA-project (remediation research in regionally contaminated aquifers) focuses on innovative in situ remediation technologies to treat complex groundwater contamination. For this purpose, a model site located in Bitterfeld, Germany, was selected. The site is heavily contaminated with aliphatic and aromatic chlorinated hydrocarbons. The goal of the project is to develop, test and optimize new technologies of reactive barriers under controlled in situ conditions in a pilot plant. In order to create the necessary basis for this model project, the hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical conditions at the selected field site were investigated and various technologies for the design of the in situ pilot plant were examinated. Small-scale laboratory studies and tests in a mobile test unit (scale 1 m) were carried out in order to test the technologies prior to their application in the field. The technologies now tested in the reactive columns at the pilot plant include physico-chemical, microbial and combined techniques.     

Sub-micrometer particulate air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in Beijing, China

Background

While the link between particulate matter and cardiovascular mortality is well established, it is not fully investigated and understood which properties of the aerosol might be responsible for the health effects, especially in polluted mega-city areas.

Objectives

Our goal was to explore the association between daily cardiovascular mortality and different particle metrics in the sub-micrometer range in Beijing, China.

Methods

We obtained daily counts of cause-specific cardiovascular deaths in the Beijing urban area for the period March 2004 to August 2005. Concurrently, continuous measurements of particle number size distributions were performed. Particle number concentrations (NC) between 0.003 μm and 0.8 μm were converted to particle mass and surface area concentrations assuming spherical particles. Semi-parametric Poisson regression models adjusting for trend, seasonality, day of the week, and meteorology were used to estimate immediate, delayed and cumulative particle effects. Additionally, effect modification by air mass origin was investigated.

Results

We observed associations between daily cardiovascular mortality and particle NC for a 2-days delay. Moreover, nearly all particle metrics showed 2-days delayed associations with ischemic heart disease mortality. The strongest association was found for particle NC in the size range 0.03-0.1 μm (7.1% increase in daily mortality with a 95%-confidence interval of 2.9%-11.5%, per an increase of 6250 particles/cm³). Results for surface and mass concentrations with a lag of two days indicated effect modification by air mass origin, whereas effects of particle NC were not modified.

Conclusions

Results show an elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality in Beijing from short-term exposure to particulate air pollution in the sub-micrometer range. Results also indicate that locally produced smaller particles and regionally transported particles may exhibit different effects in Beijing.     

Biodegradability and ecotoxicity of commercially available geothermal heat transfer fluids

Commercially available heat transfer fluids used in borehole heat exchangers were investigated for their composition, their biodegradability as well as their ecotoxicity. The main components of the fluids are organic compounds (often glycols) for freezing protection. Biodegradation of the fluids in laboratory studies caused high oxygen depletion as well as nitrate/iron(III) reduction under anaerobic conditions. Additives such as benzotriazoles for corrosion protection were persistent. Ecotoxicity data show that the commercially available fluids caused much higher ecotoxicity than their main organic constituents. Consequently, with regard to groundwater protection pure water as heat transfer medium is recommended. The second best choice is the usage of glycols without any additives. Effects on groundwater quality should be considered during ecological-economical cost-benefit-analyses of further geothermal energy strategies. The protection of groundwater as the most important drinking water resource must take priority over the energy gain from aquifers.     

Understanding employee resourcing in construction organizations

In recent years the literature on employee resourcing has consistently advocated the importance of adopting a holistic, strategic approach to employee deployment decision making rather than adopting a reactive needs‐based approach. This is particularly problematic in construction where the multi‐project environment leads to constantly changing resource requirements and to changing demands over a project's life cycle. This can lead to inappropriate decisions, which fail to meet the longer‐term needs of both construction organizations and their employees. A structured and comprehensive understanding of the current project team deployment practices within large construction organizations was developed. Project deployment practices were examined within seven case study contracting firms. The emergent themes that shaped the decision‐making processes were grouped into five broad clusters comprising human resource planning, performance/career management, team deployment, employee involvement and training and development. The research confirms that a reactive and ad hoc approach to the function prevails within the firms investigated. This suggests a weak relationship between the deployment process and human resource planning, team deployment, performance management, employee involvement and training and development activities. It is suggested that strategic HR–business partnering could engender more transparent and productive relationships in this crucial area.     

Towards the co-evolution of industrial products and its production systems by combining models from development and hardware/software deployment in cyber-physical systems

Industrial production systems and industrially manufactured products are constantly evolving due to technical innovations and customers’ demands. Therefore, ensuring an optimized co-evolution of both becomes an important yet challenging task. Approaches for model-based systems engineering have been widely investigated and have already had significant impact on industrial practice. However, existing model-based approaches mostly are focusing on particular aspects of a production system and do not provide a holistic approach for optimizing automated production systems, their deployment, and their co-evolution with the product. As a first step towards this direction, this contribution proposes the combination of an engineering approach for aPS based on systems modeling language with models and techniques for deployment of software and hardware to cyber-physical system architectures, which have been investigated in the field of computer science, and motivates the possibilities of a combined approach.