A low pressure SWCNT-ENM sandwich membrane system for the removal of PPCPs from water

While carbon nanotubes are known as efficient adsorbents for removal of a number of contaminants from water, the possibility of their leaching into drinking water has prevented their application in water treatment. In this study, single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were sandwiched between two electrospun nanofibre membranes (ENM). The relatively small pore size of the ENM prevented the mechanically entangled nanotubes from passing through and contaminating the water. The performance of the SWCNT-ENM was evaluated in a lab-scale setup for the removal of PPCPs. For this purpose, a feed solution spiked with known concentrations of six PPCPs was passed through the membrane system. The target substances included acetaminophen (ACT), bezafibrate (BZF), iopromide (IOP), diclofenac (DCF), carbamazepine (CBZ), and sulphamethoxazole (SMX). The same test was also conducted using a single contaminant (ACT). Results demonstrated a decrease in the overall percent removal of PPCPs as feed flow rate and PPCP concentration increased. For multi-component feeds containing equal amounts of the aforementioned PPCPs, the overall percent removal decreased from 90.8% to 71.0% when increasing the feed concentration from 30 to 600 μg/L. Experiments using sandwiched powdered activated carbon (PAC) showed that the dynamic adsorption capacity of PPCPs by SWCNT-ENM was higher than that of PAC-ENM, and remained unaffected by the feed composition. In addition, the high porosity of this novel membrane allowed for flow of water with low resistance such that the trans-membrane pressure was found to be as low as 4 kPa at a pure water flux of 330 L/m²h.     

The Enhancement of Mine Waste Stability Using Biocementation

Journal of Mining Science - There are large amounts of waste deposits around mines and mineral processing plants, and their instability is one of the major concerns in mining industries. One of the...     

The effect of major parameters on simulation results of gas pipelines

Predictions of the gas temperature and pressure profiles are vital to the design and operation of gas transmission lines. Available analytical methods for the calculation of these profiles are evaluated and a numerical framework for the rigorous calculation has been developed. The predictions from both the analytical and numerical procedure have been compared to field data from the Iranian Gas Trunk-lines (IGAT). These comparisons showed that all the available methods were tuned using data obtained from small to medium diameter pipes extrapolated poorly to large diameter pipelines. In order to improve the predictions for large diameter pipelines, the effect of model parameters such as soil thermal conductivity, pipe relative roughness and velocity profile correction factor has been evaluated. The results show that temperature and pressure profiles at high Reynolds number are sensitive to the Fanning friction factor; however, thermal conductivity and velocity distribution correction factor have almost no effect on the temperature and pressure profiles provided these parameters were set at an average acceptable industry value. Since the pressure profile for large diameter pipes was most sensitive to the Fanning friction factor a parameter optimization method was used to fine-tune the Fanning friction factor as a function of Reynolds number at an average accepted industry relative pipe roughness.     

An efficient data dissemination model for wireless sensor networks

Wireless Networks - In a wireless sensor network, one of the most important constraints on sensor nodes is their power source, which is a battery. Sensor nodes carry a limited and generally...     

Game theory approach for detecting vulnerable data centers in cloud computing network

Nowadays, cloud computing has many benefits to accessibility, scalability, and cost‐effectiveness, leading to network security risks and vulnerabilities. Cloud computing is gaining in popularity with the advances and growth of its systems. Therefore, the security of this system and the identification of vulnerable data centers are more complicated than the past. Definitely discovering vulnerable data centers that are vulnerable to attacks can help to strengthen these data centers and provide a safer and more secure network structure. This paper examines the vulnerability of malware data centers in the infrastructure and cloud computing network structure. Based on the analysis of the cloud computing system in the field of game theory, we introduce a developed model for identifying vulnerable data centers in cloud computing. The developed model in this paper is based on the game theory as a mathematical tool. According to the game theory, we introduce a measure of the degree of vulnerability of data centers in the cloud computing network.     

Green synthesis of ZnO and ZnO/CuO nanocomposites in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mentha longifolia</Emphasis> leaf extract: characterization and their application as anti-bacterial agents

In this work, we fabricated ZnO and ZnO/CuO nanocomposites using Mentha longifolia leaf extract as a natural, non-toxic, and efficient stabilizer. Anti-bacterial activities of the prepared samples against two pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli (Gram-negative), and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) were investigated. The properties of the as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, TGA, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, and BET instruments. The XRD analysis indicated that the size of crystallites was decreased for the ZnO powder prepared in the presence of the leaf extract. The SEM images showed that the samples consist of spherical shaped well-distributed particles. In addition, the presence of biomolecules from the leaf extract was revealed by EDX, TGA, FT-IR, and UV–Vis DRS analyses, which are important in biosynthesis process. The highest anti-bacterial activity belonged to the ZnO/CuO (10%) nanocomposite and the other compounds, including ZnO/CuO (5%), ZnO (ext), and ZnO (W) were in the next ranks, respectively. It was observed that the viability percentages against E. coli (10.16?±?2.2) is higher than that of S. aureus (17.1?±?0.87) in the presence of the ZnO/CuO (10%) nanocomposite. Ultimately, the mechanism for the action of the ZnO/CuO (10%) nanocomposite was explored through the SEM images, which involved the disruption of the bacterial membranes.     

A new approach for synthesis of well-crystallized Y zeolite from bentonite and rice husk ash used in Ni-Mo/Al2O3-Y hybrid nanocatalyst for hydrocracking of heavy oil

A series of Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃-Y hybrid nanocatalysts were synthesized for hydrocracking of heavy oil. The well crystallized Y zeolite was synthesized from mineral bentonite and rice husk ash by a two-step synthesis method. The solution combustion method was applied to develop a fast and simple technique for preparing of alumina-supported NiMo catalyst with high hydrodesulfurization activity. Such activity may be due to the morphological and textural modification as a consequence of the release of a high amount of exhaust gases during the combustion process. The XRD analysis revealed that the P zeolite was a competitive phase presented in the obtained product that could be eliminated using a two-step synthesis method. Compared to a one-step method, the pore volume and external surface area of the synthesized zeolite by the two-step method increased by 74 and 62%, respectively. The hydrocracking results illustrated that the synthesized zeolite was able to convert 66% of heavy oil to lighter products and reduce the viscosity up to 60%. Furthermore, the amount of sulfur removal was found to be 58%. The spent catalyst characterization suggested that the type of deposited coke was hard coke with the unsaturated aromatic ring which could be responsible for the pores blockage after the cracking reaction.     

Pair Interaction between Two Catalytically Active Colloids

Due to the intrinsically complex non-equilibrium behavior of the constituents of active matter systems, a comprehensive understanding of their collective properties is a challenge that requires systematic bottom–up characterization of the individual components and their interactions. For self-propelled particles, intrinsic complexity stems from the fact that the polar nature of the colloids necessitates that the interactions depend on positions and orientations of the particles, leading to a 2d − 1 dimensional configuration space for each particle, in d dimensions. Moreover, the interactions between such non-equilibrium colloids are generically non-reciprocal, which makes the characterization even more complex. Therefore, derivation of generic rules that enable us to predict the outcomes of individual encounters as well as the ensuing collective behavior will be an important step forward. While significant advances have been made on the theoretical front, such systematic experimental characterizations using simple artificial systems with measurable parameters are scarce. Here, two different contrasting types of colloidal microswimmers are studied, which move in opposite directions and show distinctly different interactions. To facilitate the extraction of parameters, an experimental platform is introduced in which these parameters are confined on a 1D track. Furthermore, a theoretical model for interparticle interactions near a substrate is developed, including both phoretic and hydrodynamic effects, which reproduces their behavior. For subsequent validation, the degrees of freedom are increased to 2D motion and resulting trajectories are predicted, finding remarkable agreement. These results may prove useful in characterizing the overall alignment behavior of interacting self-propelling active swimmer and may find direct applications in guiding the design of active-matter systems involving phoretic and hydrodynamic interactions.     

Automatic Seeded Region Growing (ASRG) Using Genetic Algorithm for Brain MRI Segmentation

Wireless Personal Communications - Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology has been proven to be a viable strategy for balancing the trade-off between energy efficiency (EE) and...     

Dynamics and vibration analysis of suspended microchannel resonators based on strain gradient theory

Microsystem Technologies - In this paper, dynamics of a suspended microchannel resonator (SMR) will be derived using the strain gradient theory. Accordingly, the size dependent governing equation...