Competitive biosorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions onto <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces rimosus</Emphasis>

The aim of this study is the simultaneous biosorption of Cd⁺² and Ni⁺² on a dead biomass, Streptomyces rimosus pretreated with NaOH (0,1 M). Kinetic tests were carried out for the binary mixture (cadmium-nickel) during 6 hours contact time to ensure that balance was reached. The amounts adsorbed at equilibrium were 22.8 mg Ni²⁺/g and 9.86 mg Cd²⁺/g biomass, respectively. The biosorption depends mainly by some parameters, such as the pH, the initial concentration of metal and the initial concentration of biomass. The isotherm of adsorption according to two models, Langmuir and Freundlich, was carried out in our study. The results of the kinetics of adsorption show that the experimental values are well represented by the kinetic model of pseudo-second order. This enables us to determine the behavior of these adsorbents with respect to a real industrial effluent.     

Sustainability assessment of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ricinus communis</Emphasis> biodiesel using LCA Approach

Biofuels are considered as eco-friendly fuels and can readily replace fossil fuels while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable rural development. Although Algeria is an oil producer and exporter, the development of renewable energies is a strategic goal for public authorities, which are giving new impetus to this sector to replace the fossil energy resources of which are becoming increasingly scarce. In this context, the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a second-generation biodiesel derived from Ricinus communis feedstock is undertaken. LCA is a tool that can be used effectively in evaluating various renewable energy sources for their sustainability and can help policy makers to choose the optimal energy source for specific purpose. The life cycle of Castor bean-based biodiesel production includes the stages of cultivation, oil extraction, and biodiesel production. The impact categories studied were global warming, Energy return-on-energy investment (EROEI), human health, and ecosystem. We have used the impact 2002 + evaluation method which is implemented in the SimaPro© software package. Moreover, it is the most useful method for identifying and measuring the impact of industrial products on the environment. Results show that among all the production stages, the cultivation process of Ricinus communis and the conversion of oil to biodiesel are the largest contributors to most of environmental impact categories. Life-cycle analysis revealed that the use of castor for biodiesel production could have many advantages like an energy return-on-energy investment (EROEI) of 2.60 and a positive contribution to climate-change reduction as revealed by a positive carbon balance.     

Design and Control of a Small-Clearance Driving Simulator

This paper presents a driving simulation whose aim is twofold: (1) to investigate the possibility of reducing motion clearance to achieve compact and low-cost driving simulators and (2) to evaluate multimodal and immersive virtual reality motion restitution in platooning driving. The choice has been made for a driving simulator having at least two degrees of freedom (DOF). These consist of the longitudinal displacement and seat rotations. The simulator is also equipped with a force feedback steering wheel for virtual drive assistance. These components are gathered on a serial kinematics-type platform to facilitate a control scheme and avoid the architecture complexity. A comparative study was made to devise a motion cueing strategy, taking into account both the psychophysical and technological constraints. Experimentations were carried out for several case combinations of the longitudinal displacement and seat rotations.     

Adaptive Haptic Feedback Steering Wheel for Driving Simulators

Controlling a virtual vehicle is a sensory-motor activity with a specific rendering methodology that depends on the hardware technology and the software in use. We propose a method that computes haptic feedback for the steering wheel. It is best suited for low-cost, fixed-base driving simulators but can be ported to any driving simulator platform. The goal of our method is twofold. 1) It provides an efficient yet simple algorithm to model the steering mechanism using a quadri-polar representation. 2) This model is used to compute the haptic feedback on top of which a tunable haptic augmentation is adjusted to overcome the lack of presence and the unavoidable simulation loop latencies. This algorithm helps the driver to laterally control the virtual vehicle. We also discuss the experimental results that demonstrate the usefulness of our haptic feedback method.     

A study of the purification of used engine oils with a montmorillonitic clay

The present paper looks at percolation, a recycling technique for engine oils that is non‐polluting and dispenses with the use of acid. The technique employs Algerian bentonite as a complementary purifier of used SAE 20W–50 engine oils which have first been dehydrated and had the light hydrocarbons (gasoline) removed. In order to understand the nature of the used oil, the characteristics of an oil in service were closely monitored over 7000 km. Various tests were performed on the bentonite to find the most satisfactory form of clay filtration bed. The species retained by the beds were analysed.