Effect of polyaluminium chloride on phosphorus removal in constructed wetlands treated with swine wastewater

Total phosphorus (TP) removal in aged constructed wetlands poses a challenge, especially when treated with swine wastewater with high concentrations of phosphorus (P). Our earlier studies with anaerobic lagoon swine wastewater treatment in constructed wetlands showed a decline in P removal (45-22%) with increased years of operation. These particular wetlands have been treated with swine wastewater every year since the first application in 1997. Preliminary lab-scale studies were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of polyaluminium chloride (PAC) in the removal of phosphate-P (PO4-P) from swine wastewater. The experimental objective was to increase the phosphorus treatment efficiency in constructed wetland by adding PAC as a precipitating agent. PAC was added by continuous injection to each wetland system at a rate of 3 L day(-1) (1:5 dilution of concentrated PAC). Swine wastewater was added from an anaerobic lagoon to four constructed wetland cells (11m wide x 40m long) at TP loads of 5.4-6.1 kg ha(-1) day(-1) in two experimental periods, September to November of 2008 and 2009. Treatment efficiency of two wetland systems: marsh-pond-marsh (M-P-M) and continuous marsh (CM) was compared. The wetlands were planted with cattails (Typha latifolia L.) and bulrushes (Scirpus americanus). In 2008, PAC treatment showed an increase of 27.5 and 40.8% of TP removal over control in M-P-M and CM respectively. Similar trend was also observed in the following year. PAC as a flocculant and precipitating agent showed potential to enhance TP removal in constructed wetlands treated with swine wastewater.     

Cholesterol and fat contents of Spanish commercial pork cuts

A study was carried out to determine the fat and cholesterol contents of several commercial pork cuts as function of sex. Fat and cholesterol content ranged from 2.7% and 57 mg/100 g in loin to 30.3% and 116 mg/100 g in dewlap. The higher the fat content the higher was the cholesterol content. Sex did not influence fat content and the fat/cholesterol ratio, but cholesterol content was higher in females than in males.     

Wet Chemical Treatment and Mg Doping of p-InP Surfaces for Ohmic Low-Resistive Metal Contacts

Manufacturing a low-resistive Ohmic metal contact on p-type InP crystals for various applications is a challenge because of the Fermi-level pinning via surface defects and the diffusion of p-type doping atoms in InP. Development of wet-chemistry treatments and nanoscale control of p-doping for InP surfaces is crucial for decreasing the device resistivity losses and durability problems. Herein, a proper combination of HCl-based solution immersion, which directly provides an unusual wet chemical-induced InP(100)c(2 × 2) atomic structure, and low-temperature Mg-surface doping of the cleaned InP before Ni-film deposition is demonstrated to decrease the contact resistivity of Ni/p-InP by the factor of 10 approximately as compared to the lowest reference value without Mg. Deposition of the Mg intermediate layer on p-InP and postheating of Mg/p-InP at 350 °C, both performed in ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) chamber, lead to intermixing of Mg and InP elements according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Introducing a small oxygen gas background (O₂ ≈ 10⁻⁶ mbar) in UHV chamber during the postheating of Mg/p-InP enhances the indium outdiffusion and provides the lowest contact resistivity. Quantum mechanical simulations indicate that the presence of InP native oxide or/and metal indium alloy at the interface increases In diffusion.     

Experimental Investigation and Thermodynamic Modeling of Glycerin/Methanol/Organic Solvent Systems

Glycerin is an important by‐product in biodiesel production. To increase its quality to be suitable for use it in other operations, e.g., the pharmaceutical industry, it needs to be purified. Therefore, the purification of glycerin by liquid‐liquid extraction of methanol using different solvents was investigated. It was shown that, in terms of separation, petroleum ether was more effective than toluene and toluene was more effective than n‐butanol. In addition to the experimental investigations, the NRTL and UNIQUAC thermodynamic models were used to predict the compositions of ternary mixtures of glycerin + methanol + organic solvent in glycerin‐rich and organic solvent‐rich phases. The results showed the high accuracy of the presented models and their consistency with the measured data.     

A charge sharing–based switching scheme for SAR ADCs

This paper presents an energy-efficient switching scheme for successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The proposed scheme employs charge recycling method to keep the capacitor arrays free of transitional energy between bit generations except reset phase. In comparison with the conventional switching scheme, the proposed one achieves 100% transitional energy saving without considering reset phase. In addition, configuration of a 10-bit SAR ADC shows that the proposed switching scheme reduces the capacitor area by 25% compared with the conventional switching scheme.     

Small Signal Stability Analysis with Penetration ofGrid-connected Wind Farm of PMSG Type

The impacts of large-scale grid-connected wind farm on direct-driven permanent magnet synchronous generator(PMSG)type are discussed on the small signal stability performances of power systems.Firstly,a simplified practical model of wind farm of PMSG type is derived for analyzing small signal stability.The rotor-fluxoriented control strategy is applied to the modelling of PMSG.Secondly,the framework of small signal stability analysis incorporating wind farm of PMSG type is built.Finally,the different simulation scenarios based on the IEEE 3-generator-9-bus test system as benchmark are designed to conduct the eigenvalue analysis and to assess the impacts of wind farm of PMSG type on power system small signal stability.Some conclusions are drawn with simulation results.     

考虑电容器电压特性的配电网无功规划

传统的配电网无功规划中,补偿电容器的容量往往被当作固定值,事实上,电容器的实际补偿容量和其接入点的电压水平有着很大的关系。考虑电容器的电压特性,以年综合费用最小为目标,建立了配电网无功规划模型。针对该模型的特点,提出采用自适应遗传算法进行求解。通过33节点和69节点配电网的仿真分析对模型进行验证。     

风速相关性下的最优旋转备用容量

在兼顾系统经济性和可靠性的基础上,同时考虑负荷预测偏差以及风电出力预测偏差等不确定性因素后,研究了计及风速相关性下的电网最优旋转备用.采用成本效益分析法,建立了系统发电成本、备用成本和期望停电成本之和最小的目标函数,利用基于随机模拟的量子行为粒子群算法对其进行求解,并对相关影响因素进行敏感性分析.通过算例分析了风速相关性对旋转备用的影响,验证了所提模型和算法是可行的.     

Ramping down a clinical 3 T scanner: a journey into MRI and MRS at 0.75 T

Object

Lower-field MR is reemerging as a viable, potentially cost-effective alternative to high-field MR, thanks to advances in hardware, sequence design, and reconstruction over the past decades. Evaluation of lower field strengths, however, is limited by the availability of lower-field systems on the market and their considerable procurement costs. In this work, we demonstrate a low-cost, temporary alternative to purchasing a dedicated lower-field MR system.

Materials and Methods

By ramping down an existing clinical 3 T MRI system to 0.75 T, proton signals can be acquired using repurposed ¹³C transmit/receive hardware and the multi-nuclei spectrometer interface. We describe the ramp-down procedure and necessary software and hardware changes to the system.

Results

Apart from presenting system characterization results, we show in vivo examples of cardiac cine imaging, abdominal two- and three-point Dixon-type water/fat separation, water/fat-separated MR Fingerprinting, and point-resolved spectroscopy. In addition, the ramp-down approach allows unique comparisons of, e.g., gradient fidelity of the same MR system operated at different field strengths using the same receive chain, gradient coils, and amplifiers.

Discussion

Ramping down an existing MR system may be seen as a viable alternative for lower-field MR research in groups that already own multi-nuclei hardware and can also serve as a testing platform for custom-made multi-nuclei transmit/receive coils.