An investigation of bulk recycling planning for an electronics recycling facility receiving industrial returns versus residential returns

Since most end-of-life electronics equipment contain hazardous materials such as lead solder alloys or lead-impregnated glass, it is important to divert them from landfills. For end-of-life products that are not repairable and do not contain reusable parts, bulk recycling is an alternative to recover base materials. In this paper, we contrast production and recycling planning and distribution decisions, activities, and costs. We reveal that while a traditional production facility connects suppliers and customers, a recycling facility connects both "input" and "output" customers. As a result, decisions in short-term bulk recycling planning include what products to accept, what products to process and reprocess, and what products to carry in inventory. Many recyclers set prices to receive "input" based on experience. For various prices to receive "input", we use a new analytical model to investigate the sensitivity of the short-term bulk recycling planning decisions in products from two different sources: industrial returns versus residential returns. The results of the case study show that different decisions are recommended for the industrial returns versus the residential returns when the total quantity of the incoming products is equal.     

A vectorial boundary element method analysis of integrated optical waveguides

In this paper, a new vectorial boundary element method is introduced and applied to the modal analysis of dielectric waveguides with piecewise homogeneous refractive indexes. The procedure, which is free of spurious modes, determines the full field distribution from the longitudinal fields at the refractive index boundaries. Singular kernels are evaluated through series solutions while the electric field discontinuity at corners is accommodated through either a grid refinement technique or a semianalytic approach. Our formalism generates propagation constants and modal field distributions for several representative refractive index profiles with far higher accuracy than standard finite-difference or finite-element procedures.     

热分析在PVA纤维预处理中的应用

用差热、热重法对原丝的热性能及由不同预处理方法所引起的PVA纤维的热行为变化进行了研究;并通过模拟脱水条件,用不同升温速率,求出了经不同预处理纤维的脱水反应活化能。结果表明,PVA原丝在230℃有一软化点,三种预处理都不同程度地影响了原丝的热效应变化;纤维在180～340℃主要为脱水反应;原丝及经脱水剂、O_3和O_3综合脱水剂处理的纤维,其脱水反应的表观活化能分别为:164.3kJ/mol,92.9kJ/mol,130.5kJ/mol和117.6kJ/mol。     

Optical scattering in beef steak to predict tenderness using hyperspectral imaging in the VIS-NIR region

The objective of this research is to develop a non-destructive method for predicting cooked beef tenderness using optical scattering of light on fresh beef muscle tissue. A hyperspectral imaging system (λ = 496–1,036 nm) that consists of a CCD camera and an imaging spectrograph, was used to acquire beef steak images. The hyperspectral image consisted of 120 bands with spectral intervals of 4.54 nm. Sixty-one fresh beef steaks, including 44 strip loin and 17 tenderloin cuts, were collected. After imaging, the steaks were cooked and Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) force values were collected as tenderness references. The optical scattering profiles were derived from the hyperspectral images and fitted to the modified Lorentzian function. Parameters, such as the peak height, full scattering width at half maximum (FWHM), and the slope around the FWHM were determined at each wavelength. Stepwise regression was used to identify 7 key wavelengths and parameters. The parameters were then used to predict the WBS scores. The model was able to predict WBS scores with an R = 0.67. Optical scattering implemented with hyperspectral imaging shows limited success for predicting current status of tenderness in beef steak.     

Effect of fluoropolymer antidripping agent on the microstructure and properties of polyesters

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is of excellent mechanical properties and melt processability and is widely used as raw material for textile fibers. However, the flame retardant properties of PET were rather poor, and both reactive and additive phosphorus- and halogen-containing compounds have been employed to enhance the reaction-to-fire properties while the meltdripping behaviour during burning hasn’t been handled properly with the flame retardants. In this work, fluoropolymer was blended with both pure PET (pPET) and reactive phosphorus-containing flame retarded copolyester (fPET), and the flame retardance and char formation and mechanical properties of the resulted pPET and fPET blends were investigated. The tensile strengths of modified pPET samples were worsen whereas those of modified fPET samples were improved at low concentrations. The initial thermal degradation in nitrogen was accelerated remarkably for the two polyesters with fluoropolymer. The oxygen indices of the all modified samples were reduced while char formation and meltdripping suppression were encouraged. The apparent melt viscosity and elasticity for the two polyesters were gained much with antidripping agent. Therefore, fluoropolymer improved char formation of the two polyesters based on the gaseous phase mechanism while the partial suppression of meltdripping behavior and the decrease of mechanical properties mainly originated from the increase of melt viscosity via fibrillation for pPET.     

Lactic acid production from dining‐hall food waste by Lactobacillus plantarum using response surface methodology

BACKGROUND: Food waste generally has a high starch content and is rich in nutritional compounds, including lipids and proteins. It therefore represents a potential renewable resource. In this study, dining‐hall food waste was used as a substrate for lactic acid production, and response surface methodology was employed to optimise the fermentation conditions. RESULTS: Lactic acid biosynthesis was significantly affected by the interaction of protease and temperature. Protease, temperature and CaCO₃ had significant linear effects on lactic acid production, while α‐amylase and yeast extract had insignificant effects. The optimal conditions were found to be an α‐amylase activity of 13.86 U g^?1 dried food waste, a protease activity of 2.12 U g^?1 dried food waste, a temperature of 29.31 °C and a CaCO₃ concentration of 62.67 g L^?1, which resulted in a maximum lactic acid concentration of 98.51 g L^?1 (88.75% yield). An increase in inoculum size would be appropriate for accelerating the depletion of initial soluble carbohydrate to enhance the efficiency of α‐amylase in dining‐hall food waste fermentation. CONCLUSION: A suitable regression model for lactic acid production was developed based on the experimental results. Dining‐hall food waste was found to be a good substrate for lactic acid fermentation with high product yield and without nutrient supplementation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

液晶分子附着能和盒间隙对响应时间的影响

通过理论分析和实验研究液晶分子附着能和液晶盒间隙对响应时间(τ0)的影响。用液晶盒有效间隙法和表面动力学方程法两种方法推出分析公式,由这两种方法推出的结果是一致的。实验数据与简化方程τ0-dx基本拟合(其中d是液晶盒的间隙,x是指数)。在两种极端的(极大或极小)附着能极限下,指数x分别接近2和1。这个结论有助于优化液晶显示器件的应用。     

Synthesis of polyurethane resins and its improvement on dimensional stability and finishing performances of medium‐ and small‐diameter softwoods

This study analyzed the effects of polyurethane (PU) resin treatments on surface homogeneity, dimensional stability, and finishing performances of medium‐ and small‐diameter softwoods produced in Taiwan. Two‐pack PU resins were prepared by combing short castor oil‐modified alkyd resin serving as a polyol with polymeric 4,4′‐diphenymethane diisocyanate (PMDI) serving as a hardener, by the molar ratio of NCO/OH+COOH of 1.2. Four types of short oil‐modified alkyd resins with different polyhydric alcohols (glycerin and pentaerythritol) and polybasic acids (phthalic anhydride and isophthalic acid) were synthesized. Three kinds of medium‐ and small‐diameter softwoods, including China fir, Taiwanina, and Japanese fir with a diameter of 10–15 cm were obtained from Hui‐Sun Forest Station, Taiwan. The wood coating of nitrocellulose (NC) lacquer including sanding sealer and top clear was used. Results show that the surface hardness, homogeneity, moisture excluding efficiency, and antiswelling efficiency of woods were enhanced by PU resin treatments. Among all the PU resins, the isophthalic acid and pentaerythritol‐containing PU resin (IPA‐P‐MDI) achieved the best improved efficiency on dimensional stability of woods. Results of two types of finishing procedure, i.e. NC lacquer sanding sealer plus top clear and top clear only, applied onto the PU‐treated woods revealed that the hardness, adhesion, and durability of NC lacquer films on the PU‐treated wood were superior to those of untreated one, especially for top clear finishing alone. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Shear-induced crystallization of poly(phenylene sulfide)

The crystalline morphology of poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) isothermally crystallized from the melt under shear has been observed by polarized optical microscope (POM) equipped with a CSS450 hot-stage. The shish–kebab-like fibrillar crystal structure is formed at a higher shear rate or for a longer shear time, which is ascribed to the tight aggregation of numerous oriented nuclei in the direction of shear. The crystallization induction time of PPS decreases with the shear time, indicating that the shear accelerates the formation of stable crystal nuclei. Under shear, the increase of spherulite growth rate results from highly oriented chains. The melting behavior of shear-induced crystallized PPS performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) shows multiple melting peaks. The lower melting peak corresponds to melting of imperfect crystal, and the degree of crystal perfection decreases as the shear rate increases. The higher melting peak is related to the orientation of molecular chains. These oriented molecular chains form the orientation nuclei which have higher thermal stability than the kebab-like lamellae that are developed later. A new model based on the above observation has been proposed to explain the mechanism of shish–kebab-like fibrillar crystal formation under shear flow.