Dynamical modelling of an activated sludge system of a petrochemical plant operating at high temperatures.

The Mexican petrochemical industry, Morelos S.A. de C.V., is one of the biggest and more important petroleum industries in Mexico and Latin America. It has an activated sludge system to treat its wastewater flow, which is approximately 7,000 m3/d. The wastewater contains volatile organic carbon substances classified as toxics. The old surface aeration system was changed for fine bubble diffusers; however, one major drawback of the new aeration system is that the temperature in the bioreactor has increased due to the compression of the air, which at the compressor exit reaches 85 degrees C. This effect results in the temperature in the bioreactor attaining 32 degrees C during the fall, whereas in the spring and summer, the bioreactor temperature reaches higher values than 40 degrees C. The high temperatures reduce the microorganism activity and cause a higher volatilisation rate of volatile compounds, among other effects, which affect the performance of the biological treatment. This work was performed to obtain a better modelling of the wastewater treatment from the petrochemical industry. The model describes the effect of the temperature on the performance of the biological treatment. The model was obtained from tests that were carried out in laboratory reactors with 14 L capacity, which were operated at different temperatures (from 30 to 45 degrees C), with the same wastewater and conditions as the actual system.     

Synthesis of sliding-mode controllers for nonlinear systems via extended linearization

In this article, a general synthesis method is proposed for the design of discontinuous feedback strategies leading to asymptotically stabilizing sliding regimes. The method is applicable to the class of nonlinear dynamical systems possessing constant equilibrium points. A family of nonlinear stabilizing sliding manifolds, parametrized by generic desired equilibrium point, is specified on the basis of the extended linearization approach. Some examples including simulations are presented for illustrative purposes. Editor: S. Zak     

Antimutagenic activity of phenolic compounds, oligosaccharides and quinolizidinic alkaloids from Lupinus campestris seeds.

There are some foods that contain mutagenic or carcinogenic agents, some of which occur naturally and others that may be formed during preparation or cooking. Several foods such as legumes, also contain natural antimutagens and/or anticarcinogens. Lupine is one such legume that contains high amounts of protein (40%) and oils (14%). About 90 species of lupine have been reported throughout Mexico. However, the use of this crop as a source of food has been limited by the presence of antinutritional agents such as phenolic compounds (PC), carbohydrates (CH) and quinolizidinic alkaloids (Qas). It has also been suggested that consuming these compounds can affect human health and may even reduce the risk of disease. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of PC, CH and Qas, isolated and quantified from Lupinus campestris on the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) as a model mutagen and we used the Salmonella typhimurium tester strain YG1024 by the Kado microsuspension method. The results indicate that L. campestris seeds have 11 mg (+)catechin equivalent g(-1) seed coat; 120.3 mg g(-1) seeds and 2.13 mg g(-1) seeds of PC, CH and Qas, respectively. 1-NP mutagenicity was inhibited by 86% for PC, 76% for CH and 75% for Qas at concentrations of 200, 512 and 13.6 microg/tube, respectively.     

High Pressure Conductivity and Photoconductivity of Polyveratrole

Summary Electropolymerization of o-(CH₃O)₂C₆H₄ (Veratrole) in dry acetonitrile/tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate at platinum electrode, yields a green polymeric conducting solid. As the pressure is increased, the material becomes more conductive, but sharp changes towards lower conductivity occur at 4.2 and 6.2 metric tons pressure, probably due to phase transitions. The photoconductivity shows an exponential increase as temperature is increased, but it shows reversible changes at 200 K, 225 K and 250 K during slow warming, also attributable to phase transitions. Photoconductivity of Polyveratrole increases with the radiation frequency, being higher under blue light than under red of infrared radiation and there is a linear increase of photoconductivity with radiation density. Conductivity transients show that the conductivity increases exponentially with time to the saturation point within few minutes, and it also decreases exponentially when the light is turned off and the circuit is open. This behaviour can be explained by formation and encounter of electron and hole as current carriers. A preliminary study indicates a piezoelectric effect for the material. absorption spectroscopy allowed the measurements of the material band gap.     

Mechanical improvement of concrete by irradiated polypropylene fibers

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) contains fibers physically mixed with gravel, sand, cement, and water. So far, adequate mechanical performance of FRC has been obtained at high cost and using complex technologies; important here is the geometry and surface characteristics of the polymers. We have modified polymeric‐fiber surfaces by using gamma radiation. Irradiated polypropylene (PP) fibers were submitted to 0, 5, 10, 50, and 100 kGy of gamma irradiation dosages. First, tensile strength of PP fibers was evaluated, and then fibers blended at 0, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% in volume with Portland cement, gravel, sand, and water. The highest values of compressive strength were obtained with irradiated‐fibers at 10 kGy and 1.5% in volume of fiber. The result is 101 MPa, as compared to 35 MPa for simple concrete without fibers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:1426–1431, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Peracetic acid pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse for enzymatic hydrolysis: a continued work

Previous work has shown that the enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse could be greatly enhanced by peracetic acid (PAA) pretreatment. There are several factors affecting the enzymatic digestibility of the biomass, including lignin and hemicelluloses content, cellulose crystallinity, acetyl group content, accessible surface area and so on. The objective of this work is to analyze the mechanism of the enhancement of enzymatic digestibility caused by PAA pretreatment. Delignification resulted in an increase of the surface area and reduction of the irreversible absorption of cellulase, which helped to increase the enzymatic digestibility. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum showed that the absorption peaks of aromatic skeletal vibrations were weakened or disappeared after PAA pretreatment. However, the infrared crystallization index (N.O'KI) was increased. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the crystallinity of PAA‐treated samples was increased owing to the partial removal of amorphous lignin and hemicelluloses and probable physical change of cellulose. The effect of acetyl group content on enzymatic digestibility is negligible compared with the degree of delignification and crystallinity. The results indicate that enhancement of enzymatic digestibility of sugarcane bagasse by PAA pretreatment is achieved mainly by delignification and an increase in the surface area and exposure of cellulose fibers. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry