Hydrogen and Oxygen Bubble Attachment to a Bitumen Drop

Air bubble – bitumen attachment is a critical step in the flotation of bitumen from mined oil sand. In this study, single bubble – bitumen drop attachment was observed directly using a novel experimental technique. Induction time is determined and used as an indication of bubble‐bitumen attachment potency for both hydrogen and oxygen bubbles. The attachment tests were conducted in deaerated municipal water (City of Edmonton tap water) at temperatures ranging from 22–50°C. Induction times measured for hydrogen bubble attachment were shorter than those for oxygen bubbles. Coalescence tests were also conducted in the absence of bitumen, and showed that hydrogen bubbles coalesced more rapidly than oxygen bubbles in both deaerated municipal water and clear (solids‐free) process water.     

Implications of variable fluid resistance caused by start-up flow in microfluidic networks

Electrical circuit analogies are often used to design microfluidic systems because they simplify device design, providing simple relationships between fluid flow rate, driving forces, and channel dimensions. However, such approximations often significantly overestimate flow rates in situations where start-up energy losses from establishing kinetic head are similar in magnitude to the energy required to overcome viscous shear stresses, as is often the case within complex microfluidic networks. These reduced flows can be more accurately predicted within an electrical analogy framework that accounts for the nonlinear flow resistance generated on the transient regime of start-up flow. In this work, standard flow resistance expressions are modified to account for such effects, and the onset of nonlinear resistance is predicted by a dimensionless parameter, $\xi = Re\frac{D}{L},$ which is dependent on the Reynolds number and the channel length. As a demonstration, variable fluid resistance is shown to dramatically affect the flow performance of common microfluidic units such as T-junctions and serpentine channels, and the change in performance is accurately predicted. Experimental and theoretical analysis of T-junctions further shows that variable flow resistance causes the ratio of flows through the junction to converge toward unity with respect to an increasing total flow rate. In addition, serpentine channels are shown to exaggerate these start-up effects, owing to compounded energetic demand associated with changing a flow’s direction. As a result, serpentine channels cause the ratio of flow rates exiting a T-junction to diverge from unity with respect to an increasing flow rate.     

An optimality criteria based method for discrete design optimization taking into account buildability constraints

This paper presents a heuristic design optimization method specifically developed for practicing structural engineers. Practical design optimization problems are often governed by buildability constraints. The majority of optimization methods that have recently been proposed for design optimization under buildability constraints are based on evolutionary computing. While these methods are generally easy to implement, they require a large number of function evaluations (finite element analyses), and they involve algorithmic parameters that require careful tuning. As a consequence, both the computation time and the engineering time are high. The discrete design optimization algorithm presented in this paper is based on the optimality criteria method for continuous optimization. It is faster than an evolutionary algorithm and it is free of tuning parameters. The algorithm is successfully applied to two classical benchmark problems (the design of a ten-bar truss and an eight-story frame) and to a practical truss design optimization problem.     

Cellulose-binding domains: potential for purification of complex proteins

The endoglucanase CenA and the exoglucanase Cex from Cellulomonasfimi each contain a discrete cellulose-binding domain (CBD),at the amino-terminus or carboxyl-terminus respectively. Thegene fragment encoding the CBD can be fused to the gene of aprotein of interest. Using this approach hybrid proteins canbe engineered which bind reversibly to cellulose and exhibitthe biological activity of the protein partner. Alkaline phosphatase(PhoA) from Escherichia coli, and a ß-glucosidase(Abg) from an Agrobacterium sp. are dimeric proteins. The fusionpolypeptides CenA-PhoA and Abg-CBC_cex are sensitive to proteolysisat the junctions between the fusion partners. Proteolysis resultsin a mixture of homo- and heterodimers; these bind to celluloseif one or both of the monomers carry a CBD, e.g. CenA-PhoA/CenA-PhoAand CenA-PhoA/PhoA. CBD fusion polypeptides could be used inthis way to purify polypeptides which associate with the fusionpartner.     

A Sequential Design Approach for Switching ℌ∞ LPV Control

This paper proposes a sequential design scheme for switching ℌ_∞ LPV (Linear Parameter-Varying) control, aiming to reduce the computational complexity of the associated optimization problem. Different from the traditional approach that simultaneously designs switching LPV controllers and solves a high-dimensional optimization problem, the proposed sequential design approach renders a bundle of low-dimensional optimization problems to be solved iteratively. Individual ℌ_∞ LPV controller for each subregion is synthesized by independent PLMIs (Parametric Linear Matrix Inequalities) to guarantee ℌ_∞ performance, and controller variables are interpolated on the overlapped subregions such that the ℌ_∞ performance is also guaranteed on the overlapped subregion. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method to reduce the computational load in each design iteration and improved ℌ_∞ performance over the conventional simultaneous design method with well-tuned interpolation coefficient.

     

Influence of a high‐head dam as a dispersal barrier to fish community structure of the Upper Mississippi River

In river systems, high‐head dams may increase the distance‐decay of fish community similarity by creating nearly impermeable dispersal barriers to certain species from upstream reaches. Substantial evidence suggests that migratory species are impacted by dams, and most previous studies in stream/river networks have focused on small streams and headwaters. Here, we assess whether a high‐head dam (Lock and Dam 19; LD 19) on a large river, the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), substantially alters fish community structure relative to variability expected to occur independent of the dam's effect as a fish dispersal barrier. Using fish catch per unit effort data, we modelled the distance‐decay function for the UMR fish community and then estimated the similarity that would be expected to occur across LD19 and compared it with measured similarity. Measured similarity in the fish community above and below LD19 was close to the expected value based on the distance‐decay function, suggesting LD19 does not create an abrupt transition in the fish community. Although some migratory fish species no longer occur above LD19 (e.g., skipjack herring, Alosa chrysochloris), these species do not occur in high abundance below the dam and so do not drive variation in fish community structure. Instead, much of the variation in species structure is driven by the loss/gain of species across the latitudinal gradient. Lock and Dam 19 does not appear to be a clear transition point in the river's fish community, although it may function as a meaningful barrier for particular species (e.g., invasive species) and warrant future attention from a management perspective.     

Antioxidant Activity of Osage Orange Extract in Soybean Oil and Fish Oil during Storage

The food industry is seeking natural antioxidants for edible oils that have comparable activity to synthetic counterparts. In this study, Osage orange extract (OOE) rich in osajin (42.9%) and pomiferin (30.0%) was obtained after hexane extraction of the fruit, and its antioxidant activity was examined in stripped soybean oil (SBO) and fish oil (FO), in which antioxidants and polar compounds were removed. The antioxidant activity of OOE was compared with commercial natural antioxidants (i.e., rosemary extract and mixed tocopherols) and a synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), during storage at 25 and 40 °C. The 0.1% OOE had stronger antioxidant activity than 0.1% rosemary extract and 0.1% mixed tocopherols in both oils at 25 and 40 °C. Its activity was similar to 0.02% BHT in SBO and was similar or slightly stronger than 0.02% BHT in FO. When OOE was studied at 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2%, there was a weak dose–response in SBO but a stronger dose–response in FO. Headspace volatile analysis using solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) combined with GC–MS indicated that 0.1% OOE was very effective in preventing the formation of volatile oxidation products in both oils. Although it should be further tested for safety before the actual use, this study shows that OOE can be developed as an antioxidant for edible oils.     

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) authentication and batch-to-batch consistency for different types of paints using benchtop and handheld FTIR spectrophotometers for oil and gas industry

Standardization of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) fingerprint region for paints and assessment on the reproducibility using different spectrophotometers were investigated. While selective fingerprint regions may be confusing for technicians/analysts who are non-chemists, we attempt to generalize these regions (e.g., 1300–1000 cm⁻¹ for Epoxy part A and 1400–1000 cm⁻¹ for Epoxy part B) by choosing a universal region (2000–900 cm⁻¹) that works for different paints. Comparison result using a paired student t-test shows that the degree of similarity (r) values from the studied regions are not statistically different. The paint fails the screening analysis occasionally on-site when analyzed using handheld FTIR due to the higher level of noise that gives low r values (r < 0.900 ± 0.002). The same samples were analyzed using a benchtop FTIR and the r values are above 0.900 ± 0.002. While the screening may lead to a false rejection of the sample on-site, there could be occurrence of false acceptance. The on-site screening of EPZ part A with different formulations, for instance, shows that the r values over the entire IR spectrum are above 0.900 ± 0.002 when analyzed using handheld FTIR. After the samples were analyzed using the benchtop, the r values fall below 0.900 ± 0.002.     

Evaluation of the coupled multielectrode array sensor as a real-time corrosion monitor

Coupled multielectrode array sensors made of carbon steel and stainless steels were evaluated and compared with electrochemical noise (EN) sensors. Good correlations between sensor signals and solution corrosivity were observed for all multielectrode array sensors. Some correlation between the average pit index and solution corrosivity was observed for the carbon steel EN sensors, but not for the stainless steel EN sensors. The time-average noise resistances from the stainless steel EN sensors correlate well with solution corrosivity. There were, however, large random fluctuations and drifting for all EN signals, which make the EN sensors unreliable as real-time monitors.     

Analytic center cutting plane method for multiple kernel learning

Multiple Kernel Learning (MKL) is a popular generalization of kernel methods which allows the practitioner to optimize over convex combinations of kernels. We observe that many recent MKL solutions can be cast in the framework of oracle based optimization, and show that they vary in terms of query point generation. The popularity of such methods is because the oracle can fortuitously be implemented as a support vector machine. Motivated by the success of centering approaches in interior point methods, we propose a new approach to optimize the MKL objective based on the analytic center cutting plane method (accpm). Our experimental results show that accpm outperforms state of the art in terms of rate of convergence and robustness. Further analysis sheds some light as to why MKL may not always improve classification accuracy over naive solutions.