Final Drying of Whole Milk Powder in Vibrated-Fluidized Beds

Vibro-fluidized beds are widely used in drying sticky powders and agglomerated materials as milk powder. Using a vibro-fluidized laboratory scale dryer, this work is aiming at analyzing preliminarily the effect of its operational variables on the drying kinetics and characteristics of whole milk powder. The full-factorial design technique with three replications at the central point has been employed to generate data and correlations to quantify the effect of inlet air temperature, air flow rate, and vibration bed amplitude on the drying curves and the milk powder properties related to its faster reconstitution in water (as tapped density, Hausner cohesion ratio, agglomerate size distribution, and internal pore concentration). Results obtained are analyzed and discussed to identify the adequate operation condition for final drying whole milk powder in vibro-fluidized beds, assuring a high product quality.     

All-Optical Vestigial Sideband Generation Using a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

An all-optical setup to generate vestigial sideband signals based on self-phase modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier is experimentally demonstrated at 10 Gb/s. Sideband suppressions higher than 15 dB are reported with improved eye opening. Wavelength-independent operation over 26 nm is demonstrated. Increased chromatic dispersion tolerance is verified: a receiver sensitivity penalty of 5.3 dB, relative to back-to-back, is obtained after transmission over 2720 ps/nm; whereas conventional double sideband is penalized by 4.0 dB after 1360 ps/nm     

Development and evaluation of antimicrobial natamycin‐incorporated film in gorgonzola cheese conservation

Conservation of food products depends on product quality and packaging suitability. The objective of this work was to develop and evaluate the antimicrobial efficiency of natamycin‐incorporated film in the production process of Gorgonzola cheese. It aims to optimize the production process and increase shelf‐life and food safety for the consumer. Films with different concentrations of natamycin were produced and tested in Gorgonzola cheeses to evaluate its efficiency against Penicillium roqueforti on the cheese surface. Films with 2 and 4% natamycin presented satisfactory results for fungus inhibition and the amount of natamycin released to the cheese was below that allowed by the legislation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sol-gel Preparation and Preliminary in vitro Evaluation of Fluorapatite／Hydroxyapatite Solid Solution Films

Fluorapatite/hydroxyapatite solid solution has better biological properties than other apatites, especially used as films or coatings. In this work, sol-gel preparation and in vitro behavior of fluorapatite/hydroxyapatite solid solution films on titanium alloy were investigated. Ca(NO3)2-4H20 and PO(OH)x(OEt)3-x were selected as precursors, and hexafluorophosphoric acid (HPFo) was used as a fluorine containing reagent. The Ca and P precursors were mixed with HPFo to keep the Ca/P molar ratio 1.67. The mixtures refluxed for 12 h were used as dipping sols for the preparation of the films. The phase of the films obtained at 600℃ was apatite. The F contents in the films increased with the concentrations of HPF6 in the dipping sols. The solid solution films were shown to have better stability than hydroxyapatite films, and a reasonably good bioactivity in the in vitro evaluation.     

A wind park reduced-order model using singular perturbations theory

Due to the increasing penetration of wind energy, it is necessary to possess design tools that are able to simulate the impact of these installations on electric utility grids. In order to provide a net contribution to this issue, a detailed wind park model has been developed and is briefly presented. However, the computational costs associated with the performance of such a detailed model in describing the behavior of a wind park composed by a considerable number of units may render its practical application very difficult. To overcome this problem, singular perturbations theory has been applied to reduce the order of the detailed wind park model, and therefore create the conditions for the development of a dynamic equivalent which is able to retain the relevant dynamics with respect to the existing AC power system. Validation results proving the ability of singular perturbations reduced order model to match the results provided by the detailed model are shown and commented upon     

Avoiding crevice corrosion by laser surface treatment

The present work shows that laser surface alloying of the creviced area on Al 7175-T7351 with chromium can avoid crevice corrosion. Corrosion takes places outside the crevice in conditions where the ratio of anodic area to cathodic area is favourable to minimize corrosion. As laser surface processing is adequate for treating small areas there is an enormous potential in this technology.     

Muon spin relaxation study of amorphous Hf2Co

Muon spin relaxation measurements were carried out in zero magnetic field on amorphous Hf₂Co. The results obtained and comparison with the behaviour of the muon in crystalline Hf₂Co (A. Baudry, P. Boyer, L.P. Ferreira, S.W. Harris, S. Miraglia and L. Pontonnier, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 4 (1992) 5025) indicate that muons occupy interstitial sites without Co atoms in first-neighbour positions and diffuse through those sites, suggesting the existence of some degree of short-range order in the amorphous structure. Muon diffusion cannot be described by a single thermally activated process and is faster in the amorphous alloy than in the crystalline alloy.     

Fatigue behaviour of a phenolic matrix composite

This paper presents results of a fatigue life investigations carried out in plate specimens of a fibre-glass-reinforced phenolic matrix composite. Tensile and Young's modulus data were obtained at four different testing temperatures (room temperature, 100, 150 and 200 °C). The fatigue S−N data were obtained at room temperature only and for two stress ratio values (R=0 and 0.4). Fatigue and tensile behaviour was assesesed in the composite with the fibres aligned in the longitudinal loading direction. The results were obtained for two values of volume fraction (0.28 and 0.42) and three different glass surface treatments. A detailed comparison of fatigue results is given taking into account several fatigue parameters and also the testing variables. Results of observations of SEM fracture surfaces are also presented.     

Analysis and Design of Robust Controllers Using the Interval Diophantine Equation

In this paper the design of pole placement feedback controllers for interval plants is addressed within an Interval Analysis framework. Three main topics connected by the concept of interval Diophantine equation are treated: a relatively straightforward investigation about robust coprimeness of interval polynomials, a reliable computing approach for the design of pole placement controllers in the presence of inaccuracies of interval type, and the design of robust controllers with regional pole placement specifications. After explicitly characterizing a convex subset of robust controllers, the problem of designing non-fragile controllers is formulated as a design centering problem, which is then solved by a global optimization algorithm. Numerical examples illustrate the main characteristics of the approach proposed.This paper has been partially supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico–Brazil.     

Optimal Locations of Groundwater Extractions in Coastal Aquifers

A regional water supply management model for coastal aquifers was developed. One of its outcomes is the definition of the optimized locations for groundwater withdrawal. Such a tool permits the analysis of alternative plans for groundwater extraction and the sustainable use of water resources in a coastal aquifer subject to saltwater intrusion. The principal components are the evolutionary optimization and the analytical/numerical simulation models. The optimization technique looks for the best well locations taking into consideration the economic results and the satisfaction of the societal water demand. However these two concerns are conditioned by trying to control the saltwater intrusion, i.e., preserving the environmental equilibrium. The simulation model uses the governing mathematical equations for groundwater movement to find the interface between freshwater and saltwater. Because of the non-linearity in the system and the possibility of a jumping interface, a security distance was defined. This is a controlling variable which can be set by the decision makers. The model was applied to a typical case with interesting results. For example, diagrams showing the relationship between the location of the wells and the security distance(s) are of importance to the managers. It was also crucial to have an understanding of the tradeoffs between groundwater withdrawals, positions of the wells from the coast line, and the security distance. The model was also applied to a real case in order to relate the extractions, distances and artificial recharge (not presented in this paper).