Cost Savings in the Ozone Treatment of Paper Mill Effluents Achieved By a Closed-Loop Ozone Control System

Control strategies were created to reduce the operating costs of ozone stages of effluent treatment plants in paper mills as well as to improve the quality of the effluent. Biologically treated effluents from five mills were subjected to laboratory and pilot tests. All COD target values could be reached and maintained with SAC-based control strategies. Disturbing events were compensated with a deviation of only 2% within maximum 3.1 volume exchanges, depending on the kind of event. The SAC (spectral absorption coefficient) was found to be highly suitable for controlling the ozone dosage. In a SME paper mill, 20% of the operating costs of an ozone plant can be saved. The return on investment for such a system is thus about 8 months.     

Single-chip image sensors with a digital processor array

The architectures, implementation and applications of two smart sensors, LAPP and PASIC, are described. The basic idea of these two designs is to integrate an image sensor array with a digital processor array in a single chip. The integrated camera-and-processor eliminates the bottleneck of sequential image read-out that characterizes conventional systems. They provide fast, compact and economic solutions for tasks such as industrial inspection, optical character recognition and robot vision.     

Modelling of Stress State,Centre Consolidation and Roll Force in Billet Rolling

Roll pressure models have been derived from theoretical studies, FEM simulations and experimental investigations. A model developed from slip line field theory has been shown to fit well to the experimental results. The Finite Element simulations overestimated the pressure function. This is a common problem in hot rolling experiments, since the problem of measuring the correct rolling temperature makes the estimation of the yield strength very difficult. The difference between the FE calculations and the experimental measurements is a measure for the error in the experimental temperature measurements rather than for the accuracy of the Finite Element Method. Traditional modelling has not been an appropriate tool to evaluate the material flow in the centre of the billet. In spite of the fact that the entire stress state can be modelled by slip line field theory, the slip lines which determine the stress state in the centre coincide for actual geometries only in one single point. Thus the strain increments are known only in that single point. Since a material element passes that point instantaneously, it is not possible to find any finite strains in the centre by integrating any incremental function. By FEM, strain modelling is simple and the possibility to consolidate a porous bloom or ingot core can be determined. FE modelling requires an entirely new approach to the modelling problem. It is not reasonable to use FEM to evaluate only the temperature distribution for the use in roll force models from the previous century. Instead, a fully thermomechanically coupled FE model is suggested. However, the calculation time is still far too long to be used for on‐line control purposes. For this application hybrid modelling can be a solution, where off‐line FE models are combined with empirical modelling, and simplified models can be used for the process control.     

Applicability of Anisotropic Viscoelasticity of Paper at Small Deformations

In this paper the applicability of two-dimensional phenomenlogical linear viscoelastic modelling aimed at printing applications is presented. An iterative algorithm is used to find model parameters evaluated from dynamic mechanical testing at stationary conditions. Experiments are performed in the time domain with different load stimuli in either displacement or force control. The experiments are compared to model predictions.The results show that only small deviations were found on model parameters from the algorithm used on either the loss or the storage properties of paper. This was illustrated by converting line spectra from storage compliances to loss compliances within the frequency domain. The harmonic properties were obtained at conditions with nonlinear material behaviour. Despite this, the two-dimensional linear viscoelastic model described well the behaviour of paper at different states of stress and strain at levels adequate for web-fed printing. The usefulness of the relation between retardances and relaxances was examined by comparing model predictions with different driving stimuli resulting in either creep or relaxation. The time-dependent transverse strain of machine-made paper due to either longitudinal stress relaxation or creep was demonstrated. Finally, extensions of the present model including inelastic material behaviour were discussed.     

Behaviour ofYersinia enterocolitica andAeromonas hydrophila in skim milk during fermentation by various lactobacilli

In this study, behaviour ofYersinia enterocolitica andAeromonas hydrophila in skim milk during fermentation by various_{lactobacillus} sp. were determined. pH values of the skim milk samples were also examined during fermentation. The amount of produced lactic acid and diacetyl/acetoin productions of theLactobacillus sp. were estimated. Antimicrobial effects of the lactobacilli onY. enterocolitica andA. hydrophila were also determined by an agar diffusion method. WhileY. enterocolitica was not inhibited and grew during fermentation,A. hydrophila was inhibited, in part, and the growth was retarded. Results were supported by the agar diffusion method forY. enterocolitica, whereas inhibition activity was not found forA. hydrophila. The highest lactic acid productions were estimated inL. bulgaricus (7.50 mg/ml) andL. acidophilus (5.63 mg/ml) and four out of sixLactobacillus sp. were found to be diacetyl/acetoin producers.     

Analysis of a deterministic demand production/inventory system under nonstationary supply uncertainty

In this article we investigate a periodic review inventory model under deterministic dynamic demand and supply unavailability. In a given period, supply is either available or completely unavailable with given probabilities. Supply unavailability probabilities are nonstationary over time. We show the optimality of an order-up-to level policy, and obtain a newsboy-like formula that determines the optimal order-up-to levels. Our formula would provide guidence as to the appropriate amount of inventory to stock in the face of uncertainties in the supply process.     

Pore structure of air-entrained hardened cement paste

The effect of air entrainment on the pore structure of hardened cement paste was investigated. Air-entrained and air-free samples of various water-cement ratios and ages were prepared by a well-defined procedure. The first and second-intrusion pore-size distribution curves of the samples were determined by mercury intrusion porosimetry. It was observed that sample preparation technique affects the pore-size distributions of hardened cement pastes. The second-intrusion curves indicated a decrease in the total volume and a reduction in the size of pores that are uniform in cross section with decreasing age and water: cement ratio. The second-intrusion curves of air-entrained and air-free pastes of equal water: cement ratio and age matched with each other. It was concluded that air entrainment introduces only large air voids observable by a naked eye and does not alter the characteristic fine pore structure of hardened cement paste appreciably.     

Power Control Based QoS Provisioning for Multimedia in W-CDMA

Third generation wireless communication systems will support multimedia, and W-CDMA will be the common air interface technology. Due to the interference limited nature of CDMA, power is the main resource of the network, and power control is a means of resource management. In this article, we introduce Dynamic Resource Scheduling (DRS) as a framework which employs power control for QoS provisioning of multimedia traffic in W-CDMA. In DRS, we propose the application of optimal power assignment to the W-CDMA architecture, and we also suggest several implementation strategies. A simulation model of the Japanese W-CDMA standard (ARIB) has been developed for performance evaluation. The DRS framework is shown to accommodate different service classes efficiently by optimal resource management. Quantitative advantages are proven in terms of gains in capacity, throughput, power saving and QoS stability.