Experimental methods in chemical engineering: X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy‐XPS

X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a quantitative surface analysis technique used to identify the elemental composition, empirical formula, chemical state, and electronic state of an element. The kinetic energy of the electrons escaping from the material surface irradiated by an x‐ray beam produces a spectrum. XPS identifies chemical species and quantifies their content and the interactions between surface species. It is minimally destructive and is sensitive to a depth between 1–10nm. The elemental sensitivity is in the order of 0.1 atomic %. It requires ultra high vacuum ( Pa) in the analysis chamber and measurement time varies from minutes to hours per sample depending on the analyte. XPS dates back 50 years ago. New spectrometers, detectors, and variable size photon beams, reduce analysis time and increase spatial resolution. An XPS bibliometric map of the 10 000 articles indexed by Web of Science^[1] identifies five research clusters: (i) nanoparticles, thin films, and surfaces; (ii) catalysis, oxidation, reduction, stability, and oxides; (iii) nanocomposites, graphene, graphite, and electro‐chemistry; (iv) photocatalysis, water, visible light, and ; and (v) adsorption, aqueous solutions, and waste water.     

Increasing omega-3 levels through dietary co-extruded flaxseed supplementation negatively affects pork palatability

To clarify the impact of feeding co-extruded flaxseed on carcass quality and pork palatability, 96 pigs (48 barrows and 48 gilts) were fed three different levels of flaxseed (0%, 5% and 10% of dietary intake) for 76 days. Carcass quality and meat quality characteristics of pure loin muscle and ground pork (20% fat) were evaluated. Fat hardness and belly firmness decreased (P < 0.001) with increasing co-extruded flaxseed. Pigs fed co-extruded flaxseed levels had higher lean yield (P = 0.045) and total lean content (P = 0.034). Loin from barrows had higher fat content compared to gilts (P < 0.001). Co-extruded flaxseed supplementation increased (P < 0.001) omega-3 content in loin and ground pork. Pork flavour intensity and off-flavour intensity scores lowered (P < 0.001) with increasing levels of co-extruded flaxseed, being more accentuated (P = 0.023) in reheated pork chops from barrows. Diet affected all texture and flavour sensory characteristics (P < 0.05) as tissue levels of omega-3 fatty acids increased, likely as a result of increased lipid oxidation.     

Effect of untreated urban effluents on the accumulation of toxic metals in river sediments under tropical conditions: Funa River,Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The objective of the present study was to assess the status of surface sediments from Funa River. Sediment samples were characterized for physicochemical parameters, including grain size, organic matter and toxic metals. The result revealed high metal concentrations in river sediments, reaching values of 154.19, 186.00, 1105.34, 3.69, 548.02 and 5.45 mg/kg for Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg, respectively. A strong correlation was observed between analysed metals and organic matter suggesting that these contaminants could have originated from common sources with a similar transport pathway. Based on the Sediment Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life, Funa River is considered as highly polluted with toxic metals indicating the potential environmental and human health risk. The results of this research represent a useful tool to assess the sediment quality of urban river receiving system which can be applied to similar environment.     

Fermentation — the key to food safety assurance in Africa?

Fermentation is widely practised at the household level as a method of preparing and preserving food, especially cereals, milk, fish and oil seeds. Evaluation of the microbial safety of these foods has involved deliberate inoculation with a number of pathogens. The Gram-negative bacteria appear to be more susceptible to the effects of fermentation, but the Gram-positive bacteria, especially Bacillus cereus, may be more resistant.

The microbial safety of these foods, seen in vitro, is not always apparent at the household level. This is especially so with the porridges, the preparation of which involves the addition of large volumes of water. Dumplings, however, appear to be microbiologically safer than the porridges.

In view of the presence of certain antimicrobial factors in fermented foods and the lack of standardisation in the methods used in the studies reviewed in this paper, carefully designed studies are proposed to find methods for enhancing the inhibitory effects of fermented foods.     

Fluidized bed hydrodynamic modeling of CO2 in syngas: Distorted RTD curves due to adsorption on FCC

Bubbles rising through fluidized beds at velocities several times superficial velocities contribute to solids backmixing. In micro-fluidized beds, the walls constrain bubble sizes and velocities. To evaluate gas-phase hydrodynamics and identify diffusional contributions to longitudinal dispersion, we injected a mixture of H₂, CH₄, CO, and CO₂ (syngas) as a bolus into a fluidized bed of porous fluid catalytic cracking catalyst while a mass-spectrometer monitored the effluent gas concentrations at 2 Hz. The CH₄, CO, and CO₂ trailing RTD traces were elongated versus H₂ demonstrating a chromatographic effect. An axial dispersion model accounted for 92% of the variance but including diffusional resistance between the bulk gas and catalyst pores and adsorption explained 98.6% of the variability. At 300°C, the CO₂ tailing disappeared consistent with expectations in chromatography (no adsorption). H₂ and He are poor gas-phase tracers at ambient temperature. We recommend measuring RTD at operating conditions.     

Transient kinetics of n‐butane partial oxidation at elevated pressure

A transient Mars‐van Krevelen type kinetic model was developed for n‐butane partial oxidation over vanadyl pyrophosphate (VPP) catalyst. The model validity was verified over a relatively wide range of redox feed compositions as well as higher reactor pressure (410 kPa). Oxygen and n‐butane conversion increased with higher pressure while maleic anhydride (MA) selectivity decreased by as much as 20%. However, the overall MA yield was enhanced by up to 30%. High pressure maintains the catalyst in a higher oxidation state (as long as there is sufficient oxygen in the gas phase) and as a consequence, the catalytic activity is improved together with MA yield. High pressure also affects the redox reaction rates and activation energies. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering