Experimental study on mitigating wind erosion of calcareous desert sand using spray method for microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation

Wind erosion is one of the significant natural calamities worldwide, which degrades around one-third of global land. The eroded and suspended soil particles in the environment may cause health hazards, i.e. allergies and respiratory diseases, due to the presence of harmful contaminants, bacteria, and pollens. The present study evaluates the feasibility of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technique to mitigate wind-induced erosion of calcareous desert sand (Thar desert of Rajasthan province in India). The temperature during biotreatment was kept at 36 °C to stimulate the average temperature of the Thar desert. The spray method was used for bioaugmentation of Sporosarcina (S.) pasteurii and further treatment using chemical solutions. The chemical solution of 0.25 pore volume was sprayed continuously up to 5 d, 10 d, 15 d, and 20 d, using two different concentration ratios of urea and calcium chloride dihydrate viz 2:1 and 1:1. The biotreated samples were subjected to erosion testing (in the wind tunnel) at different wind speeds of 10 m/s, 20 m/s, and 30 m/s. The unconfined compressive strength of the biocemented crust was measured using a pocket penetrometer. The variation in calcite precipitation and microstructure (including the presence of crystalline minerals) of untreated as well as biotreated sand samples were determined through calcimeter, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX). The results demonstrated that the erosion of untreated sand increases with an increase in wind speeds. When compared to untreated sand, a lower erosion was observed in all biocemented sand samples, irrespective of treatment condition and wind speed. It was observed that the sample treated with 1:1 cementation solution for up to 5 d, was found to effectively resist erosion at a wind speed of 10 m/s. Moreover, a significant erosion resistance was ascertained in 15 d and 20 d treated samples at higher wind speeds. The calcite content percentage, thickness of crust, bulk density, and surface strength of biocemented sand were enhanced with the increase in treatment duration. The 1:1 concentration ratio of cementation solution was found effective in improving crust thickness and surface strength as compared to 2:1 concentration ratio of cementation solution. The calcite crystals formation was observed in SEM analysis and calcium peaks were observed in EDX analysis for biotreated sand.     

Ammonia production using iron nitride and water as hydrogen source under mild temperature and pressure

Ammonia generation was studied in the reaction between water and nitrogen-containing iron at 323 K and atmospheric pressure. Similar to metallic Fe, the interstitial compound Fe₃N reduced water through Fe oxidation to produce hydrogen gas, while the N combined with atomic hydrogen to produce ammonia as a byproduct. The addition of carbon dioxide to this system accelerated the reaction with concomitant consumption of carbon dioxide. The promoted ammonia production upon addition of carbon dioxide can be attributed to the generation of atomic hydrogen from the redox reaction of carbonic acid and Fe, as well as removal of used Fe from the reaction system through the formation of a soluble carbonato complex. When carbonate was added to the reaction system, the production rates of ammonia and hydrogen increased further. The results here confirmed that ammonia can be synthesized from iron nitride under mild conditions by utilizing carbon dioxide.     

Blends of Bio-Based Poly(Limonene Carbonate) with Commodity Polymers

In this study, blends of the bio-based poly(limonene carbonate) (PLimC) with different commodity polymers are investigated in order to explore the potential of PLimC toward generating more sustainable polymer materials by reducing the amount of petro- or food-based polymers. PLimC is employed as minority component in the blends. Next to the morphology and thermal properties of the blends the impact of PLimC on the mechanical properties of the matrix polymers is studied. The interplay of incompatibility and zero-shear melt viscosity contrast determines the blend morphology, leading for all blends to a dispersed droplet morphology for PLimC. Blends with polymers of similar structure to PLimC (i.e., aliphatic/aromatic polyester) show the best performance with respect to mechanical properties, whereas blends with polystyrene or poly(methyl methacrylate) are too brittle and polyamide 12 blends show very low elongations at break. In blends with Ecoflex (poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)) and Arnitel EM400 (copoly(ether ester)) with poly(butylene terephthalate) hard and polytetrahydrofuran soft segments) a threefold increase in E-modulus can be achieved, while keeping the elongation at break at reasonable high values of ≈200%, making these blends highly interesting for applications.     

Thermal transport and chemical conversion in single reacting sorbent particles

The effects of particle size and carbon dioxide concentration on chemical conversion in engineered spherical particles undergoing calcium oxide looping are investigated. Particles are thermochemically cycled in a furnace under different carbon dioxide concentrations. Changes in composition due to chemical reactions are measured using thermogravimetric analysis. Gas composition at the furnace exit is evaluated with mass spectroscopy. A numerical model of thermal transport phenomena developed previously is adapted to match the physical system investigated in the present study. The model is used to elucidate effects of reacting medium characteristics on particle temperature and reaction extent. Experimental and numerical results show that (1) an increase in particle size results in a decrease in carbonation extent, and (2) the carbonation step consists of fast and slow reaction regimes. The reaction rates in the fast and slow carbonation regimes increase with increasing carbon dioxide concentration. The effect of carbon dioxide concentration and the distinction between the fast and slow regimes become more pronounced with increasing particle size.     

A design of experiments investigation into dry separation using a Knelson Concentrator

Enhanced gravity, or centrifugal, separators have revolutionised gold processing over the past decades, significantly increasing the recovery of fine (−100 μm) free gold. One of the main drawbacks of centrifugal gravity concentrators is the large volume of water required (even if it is all recycled). With water becoming an ever increasingly important “commodity”, reducing this is of importance both from an environmental and a monetary point of view. This work investigated operating a laboratory scale Knelson Concentrator with a dry feed and using air as the fluidising medium. The feed used was a synthetic mixture of tungsten and quartz, used to mimic a gold ore. The response surface method and central composite design techniques were used to design the experiments and to model the results, with the experimental variables being the bowl speed (G-Level), air fluidising pressure and the feed rate. The models corresponded well to the experimental results, indicating that for this experimental setup, the optimal conditions were a bowl G-Level of 40 G, a feed rate of 220 g/min and an air fluidising pressure of 8 psi.     

Synthesis of highly efficient,structurally improved Li4SiO4 sorbents for high-temperature CO2 capture

Li₄SiO₄ sorbents for high-temperature CO₂ removal have drawn extensive attention owing to their potential application in carbon capture and storage (CCS). The major challenge in the application lies in the poor CO₂ capture performance under realistic conditions of low CO₂ concentrations, owing to the dense structure and poor porosity. In this work, Li₄SiO₄ sorbents were prepared with porous micromorphologies and large contact areas using a variety of organometallic Li-precursors, achieving fast CO₂ sorption kinetics, high capacity and excellent cyclic stability at a low CO₂ concentration (15?vol%). It was found that a high conversion of ~?74% was maintained for pure Li₄SiO₄ even after 100 sorption/desorption cycles. Moreover, by doping with Na₂CO₃ to reduce the CO₂ diffusion resistance, the conversion of the sorbent was further enhanced to 93.2%. The enhancement mechanism of alkali carbonate have been proven here to be ascribed to the formation of the eutectic melt of Li/Na carbonates, the existence and function of which has been confirmed in this study.     

动态评价技术在塔河碳酸盐岩缝洞型油气藏中的应用

塔河油田奥陶系油气藏是大型碳酸盐岩溶洞型油气藏，其储渗空间主要为大小不同的溶洞、裂缝带、溶蚀孔隙等组成，该油气藏具有极强的非均质性，单纯用静态资料来认识这类油气藏是非常困难。文章提出利用生产动态资料和信息进行该类型油气藏研究的新思路，利用人工神经网络技术在处理非线性相关参数预测方面的优势，并以渗流理论为基础，结合试井成果，选用已知油井的产量、油嘴、油压、含水率、气油比、原油密度等6个开发动态参数作为样品输入数据，推导出影响油气藏开发的重要参数（地层系数）与生产信息的关系，建立了人工神经网络预测储层参数的结构模型。通过塔里木盆地塔河油气田实例研究，说明了利用动态信息评价油气藏技术在碳酸盐岩缝洞型油气藏储层预测和非均质性分析等方面具有较高的实用价值。     

川东北飞仙关组碳酸盐岩气藏产能影响因素及压裂酸化新技术探讨

川东北地区飞仙关组碳酸盐岩气藏的储集层条件起好，不论直井还是水平井均可获高产工业气流，投产前的解堵酸化均可实现大幅度增产。在分析介绍该地区气藏地质特征的基础上，全面剖析了影响产能的主要因素，并对多功能深部酸化技术方案和稠化酸加砂压裂技术方案进行了具体探讨。     

湘中海相浅层湘冷1井酸压工艺研究及应用

湘冷1井具有气层埋藏浅（400m-500m）、纵向上裂隙发育的特点，属低孔、低渗的含泥质灰岩致密储层。大量室内实验和研究采用“前置液酸压＋闭合酸化”工艺技术，并优选了相应降阻酸和闭合酸配方。通过酸压实现了该井工业油气流的突破，取得了明显的增产效果，为新区海相浅层气的开发探索出了一套成熟的改造增产措施。