The quality‐constrained scheduling problem in plastics compounding

Interest is increasing in plastic compounding plants that offer tailor‐made resins. Such plants produce a wide range of products in small quantities and with frequent changeovers. The underlying scheduling problem has been extensively researched; however, the concept of incorporating qualities of the finished product in the problem of plastics compounding has not been considered. We express product qualities as an additional problem constraint so that the production schedule ensures product quality. The additional constraint makes this mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP) problem more difficult to solve. Several case studies are solved to illustrate the utility of the proposed approach. Experiments demonstrated that qualities of the finished product can be ensured a priori if the appropriate relations are developed and integrated in the optimisation model. As well, this paper provides insight into the economic aspects of the scheduling problem under consideration. Experiments showed that none of the cost components (operation, raw material, inventory, penalty or utilities) can alone play the role of the optimisation criterion. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

A comparative study of an industrial effluent treatment using enzymatic and alkaline adapted consortium assays

BACKGROUND: Dyeing effluents are the main source of water pollution from textile industries. Consequently, the treatment of such effluents is of environmental concern. RESULTS: Decolorization of a textile industry effluent was investigated using, for the first time, the trimeric Scytalidium thermophilum laccase without mediator addition. The maximum effluent decolorization (50%) was achieved after 8 h using a diluted effluent (5 fold) and 4 units of crude enzyme, operating at 50 °C and pH 4. Characterization of raw effluent presents two peaks as demonstrated by the UV‐visible spectrum, showing an intensive peak around 670 nm and a smaller one at 290 nm. At the end of the enzymatic treatment, these two peaks disappeared and a new peak emerged at 280 nm. Because laccase catalyzed effluent decolorization percentage did not exceed 50%, an alkaline adapted consortium treatment assay of this effluent was carried out. An alkaline adapted consortium was used at bench scale in order to decolorize the raw effluent. After 24 h of exposure, color and COD (chemical oxygen demand) removal rates reached 73% and 71%, respectively, at pH 11. CONCLUSION: The adapted consortium treatment of the industrial effluent is economically very interesting since the treatment is costless and can be applied at pilot or industrial scales. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Modelling of heat supply for natural gas pressure reduction station using geothermal energy

In this paper, a series of works are conducted to study the effect of replacing natural gas burning heaters by a ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) to prevent natural gas freezing in the pressure regulating stations. In fact, the pressure drop causes a great temperature drop that can block out the pipeline and it is very crucial to control the phenomenon. Firstly, a conventional heater in the gas pressure drop station of Damavand city is selected as a case study. Then, a shell and tube heat exchanger coupled with GSHP is modelled to replace the conventional heater for eliminating the natural gas consumption in heaters. Finally, consumed energy, costs, and greenhouse gasses emissions are compared with the conventional system. Some main findings from the model show that: (1). Based on the GS2000 software results, the GSHP pipe trench is 601?m which are 7% less than the calculated data. (2). considering different inflation rates (15%-30%), the payback time would change between 4.5 and 7.5 years. (3). Due to the reduction in fossil fuel consumption, the CO₂ emission would be reduced by 47%.     

Influence of hot‐air treatment,superatmospheric O2 and elevated CO2 on bioactive compounds and storage properties of fresh‐cut pomegranate arils

The impact of heat treatment using hot air (HT 45 °C and 55 °C for 1 h) and two active modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) conditions of high oxygen atmosphere (HOA: 80 kPa O₂, 20 kPa N₂) and high CO₂ atmosphere (HCA: 20 kPa CO₂, 80 kPa N₂), individually or combined, on the antioxidant capacity, polyphenols, vitamin C content, total anthocyanins, polyphenoloxydase (PPO) activity and shelf life of fresh‐cut (FC) pomegranate arils stored for 14 days at 4 °C was studied. The results indicate that HT 45 °C along with HOA inhibited PPO activity and prevented loss of antioxidant capacity, vitamin C and phenolic compounds in arils, in comparison with control and HT 55 °C. All treatments reduced the accumulation of anthocyanins, but HCA‐treated arils lost more anthocyanins besides having worse a* colour parameter values. No significant differences in titrable acidity (TA) and total soluble solids (TSS) were observed between treatments. The combination of HOA and HT 45 °C enhanced the benefits of applying each treatment separately and could be useful to improve and extend postharvest life of pomegranate FC arils.     

The influence of different plasticisers and fatty acids on functional properties of basil seed gum edible film

In this study, the influence of different concentrations of plasticisers and fatty acids on functional properties of basil seed gum (BSG) films was investigated. The results revealed that glycerol and sorbitol were effective plasticisers for BSG films. Glycerol‐plasticised films exhibited hydrophilic nature with high moisture content (27–49%) and water vapour permeability (4.2–6.5 × 10^?11 g Pa^?1 m^?1 s^?1), moisture uptake higher than 100%, solubility ranging 39–50% and moderate mechanical properties. The films containing sorbitol showed lower moisture content, moisture uptake and percentage elongation compared with glycerol‐plasticised samples. Presence of fatty acids promoted an increase in hydrophobicity of samples, characterised by lower moisture uptake, solubility, water vapour permeability and higher contact angles. Among investigated fatty acids, oleic acid efficiency on improving the characteristics of films was higher than saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic acid). Concluding, BSG films showed a substantial potential to be incorporated into food packaging applications, especially for those that require less hydrophilic films.     

Experimental and parametric study on drying of green peas in spouted bed

Drying of Green Peas (Pisum sativum) was studied experimentally in a lab‐scale spouted bed. Experiments were carried out at different operating conditions, and the effect of inlet air temperature and its flow rate, bed height (initial mass of wet particles) and average diameter of particles were examined on performance of dryer and rate of drying. The obtained experimental results were fitted by an exponential form equation to model the drying kinetic behaviour of green peas in a spouted bed. The fitting parameters are presented in the form of mathematical correlations as a function of operating parameters. As expected, it was found that by increasing inlet air temperature and air‐flow rate, the rate of drying increases, but by increasing the bed height and diameter of particles, the rate of drying decreases. The results can help the design engineers to choose the optimum drying conditions for industrial applications.