Performance evaluation of a water/silicone oil two‐phase partitioning bioreactor using Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 to remove volatile organic compounds from gaseous effluents

BACKGROUND: In the framework of biological processes used for waste gas treatment, the impact of the inoculum size on the start‐up performance needs to be better evaluated. Moreover, only a few studies have investigated the behaviour of elimination capacity and biomass viability in a two‐phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB) used for waste gas treatment. Lastly, the impact of ethanol as a co‐substrate remains misunderstood. RESULTS: Firstly, no benefit of inoculation with a high cellular density (>1.5 g L^?1) was observed in terms of start‐up performance. Secondly, the TPPB was monitored for 38 days to characterise its behaviour under several operational conditions. The removal efficiency remained above 63% for an inlet concentration of 7 g isopropylbenzene (IPB) m^?3 and at some time points reached 92% during an intermittent loading phase (10 h day^?1), corresponding to a mean elimination capacity of 4 × 10^?3 g L^?1 min^?1 (240 g m^?3 h^?1) for a mean IPB inlet load of 6.19 × 10^?3 g L^?1 min^?1 (390 g m^?3 h^?1). Under continuous IPB loading, the performance of the TPPB declined, but the period of biomass acclimatisation to this operational condition was shorter than 5 days. The biomass grew to approximately 10 g L^?1 but the cellular viability changed greatly during the experiment, suggesting an endorespiration phenomenon in the bioreactor. It was also shown that simultaneous degradation of IPB and ethanol occurred, suggesting that ethanol improves the biodegradation process without causing oxygen depletion. CONCLUSION: A water/silicone oil TPPB with ethanol as co‐substrate allowed the removal of a high inlet load of IPB during an experiment lasting 38 days. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Simultaneous sulfide and acetate oxidation under denitrifying conditions using an inverse fluidized bed reactor

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous removal of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon compounds from wastewaters is a commercially important biological process. The objective was to evaluate the influence of the CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio on the sulfide oxidation process using an inverse fluidized bed reactor (IFBR). RESULTS: Three molar ratios of CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? (0.85, 0.72 and 0.62) with a constant S^2?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.13 were evaluated. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.85, the nitrate, acetate and sulfide removal efficiencies were approximately 100%. The N₂ yield (g N₂ g^?1 NO₃^?‐N consumed) was 0.81. Acetate was mineralized, resulting in a yield of 0.65 g inorganic‐C g^?1 CH₃COO^?‐C consumed. Sulfide was partially oxidized to S⁰, and 71% of the S^2? consumed was recovered as elemental sulfur by a settler installed in the IFBR. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.72, the efficiencies of nitrate, acetate and sulfide consumption were of 100%, with N₂ and inorganic‐C yields of 0.84 and 0.69, respectively. The sulfide was recovered as sulfate instead of S⁰, with a yield of 0.92 g SO₄^2?‐S g^?1 S^2? consumed. CONCLUSIONS: The CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio was shown to be an important parameter that can be used to control the fate of sulfide oxidation to either S⁰ or sulfate. In this study, the potential of denitrification for the simultaneous removal of organic matter, sulfide and nitrate from wastewaters was demonstrated, obtaining CO₂, S⁰ and N₂ as the major end products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of surfactants and liquid hydrocarbons on gas hydrate formation rate and storage capacity

Hydrate formation rate plays an important role in making hydrates for the storage and transport of natural gas. Micellar surfactant solutions were found to increase gas hydrate formation rate and storage capacity. With the presence of surfactant, hydrate could form quickly in a quiescent system and the energy costs of hydrate formation reduced. Surfactants (an anionic surfactant, a non‐ionic surfactant and their mixtures) and liquid hydrocarbons (cyclopentane and methylcyclohexane) were used to improve hydrate formation. The experiments of hydrate formation were carried out in the pressure range 3.69–6.82 MPa and the temperature range 274.05–277.55 K. The experimental pressures were kept constant during hydrate formation in each experimental run. The effect of anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)) on natural gas storage in hydrates is more pronounced compared to a non‐ionic surfactant (dodecyl polysaccharide glycoside (DPG)). The induction time of hydrate formation was reduced with the presence of cyclopentane (CP). Cyclopentane and methylcyclohexane (MCH) could increase hydrate formation rate, but reduced hydrate storage capacity The higher methylcyclohexane concentration, the lower the hydrate storage capacity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inverted Solution Processable OLEDs Using a Metal Oxide as an Electron Injection Contact.

A new type of bottom‐emission electroluminescent device is described in which a metal oxide is used as the electron‐injecting contact. The preparation of such a device is simple. It consists of the deposition of a thin layer of a metal oxide on top of an indium tin oxide covered glass substrate, followed by the solution processing of the light‐emitting layer and subsequently the deposition of a high‐workfunction (air‐stable) metal anode. This architecture allows for a low‐cost electroluminescent device because no rigorous encapsulation is required. Electroluminescence with a high brightness reaching 5700 cd m^–2 is observed at voltages as low as 8 V, demonstrating the potential of this new approach to organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) devices. Unfortunately the device efficiency is rather low because of the high current density flowing through the device. We show that the device only operates after the insertion of an additional hole‐injection layer in between the light‐emitting polymer (LEP) and the metal anode. A simple model that explains the experimental results and provides avenues for further optimization of these devices is described. It is based on the idea that the barrier for electron injection is lowered by the formation of a space–charge field over the metal‐oxide–LEP interface due to the build up of holes in the LEP layer close to this interface.     

Optimal and self‐tuning fusion Kalman filters for discrete‐time stochastic singular systems

Based on the optimal fusion estimation algorithm weighted by scalars in the linear minimum variance sense, a distributed optimal fusion Kalman filter weighted by scalars is presented for discrete‐time stochastic singular systems with multiple sensors and correlated noises. A cross‐covariance matrix of filtering errors between any two sensors is derived. When the noise statistical information is unknown, a distributed identification approach is presented based on correlation functions and the weighted average method. Further, a distributed self‐tuning fusion filter is given, which includes two stage fusions where the first‐stage fusion is used to identify the noise covariance and the second‐stage fusion is used to obtain the fusion state filter. A simulation verifies the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Note on ‘Construction of Double Sampling s‐Control Charts for Agile Manufacturing’

He and Grigoryan (Quality and Reliability Engineering International 2002; 18 :343–355) formulated the design of a double‐sampling (DS) s control chart as an optimization problem and solved it with a genetic algorithm. They concluded that the DS s control charts can be a more economically preferable alternative in detecting small shifts than traditional s control charts. We explain that, since they only considered the average sample size when the process is in control, their conclusion is questionable. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A distributed adverse drug reaction detection system using intelligent agents with a fuzzy recognition‐primed decision model

Discovering unknown adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in postmarketing surveillance as early as possible is highly desirable. Nevertheless, current postmarketing surveillance methods largely rely on spontaneous reports that suffer from serious underreporting, latency, and inconsistent reporting. Thus these methods are not ideal for rapidly identifying rare ADRs. The multiagent systems paradigm is an emerging and effective approach to tackling distributed problems, especially when data sources and knowledge are geographically located in different places and coordination and collaboration are necessary for decision making. In this article, we propose an active, multiagent framework for early detection of ADRs by utilizing electronic patient data distributed across many different sources and locations. In this framework, intelligent agents assist a team of experts based on the well‐known human decision‐making model called Recognition‐Primed Decision (RPD). We generalize the RPD model to a fuzzy RPD model and utilize fuzzy logic technology to not only represent, interpret, and compute imprecise and subjective cues that are commonly encountered in the ADR problem but also to retrieve prior experiences by evaluating the extent of matching between the current situation and a past experience. We describe our preliminary multiagent system design and illustrate its potential benefits for assisting expert teams in early detection of previously unknown ADRs. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 827–845, 2007.     

一种采用单台微机控制的标签粘贴机

标签粘贴机是一种可自动进行标签打印和粘贴的设备装置,在工业自动化生产中有着广泛的应用.介绍了一种采用单台微机进行控制的全自动标签粘贴机的工作原理及各部分组成,以及使用过程中对其进行设置和调整的方法.该标签粘贴机已实际应用于华飞彩色显示系统有限公司29英寸彩色显像管生产线的屏网组装工序,取得了良好的效果.     

cdma1x无线子系统导频信道功率分配分析

分析了目前联通CDMA网络建设中的主要问题之一——导频功率分配问题。主要介绍了cdma 1x系统的信道类型，以及前向链路信道功率分配原则，并且对导频信道功率与无线网络覆盖和容量之间的关系进行了初步探讨。