Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading

BACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture. RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m^?3 h^?1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m^?3 h^?1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m^?3 h^?1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inhibition of sulfide on the simultaneous removal of nitrate and p‐cresol by a denitrifying sludge

BACKGROUND: Many industrial discharges, such as those generated from petrochemical refineries, contain large amounts of sulfurous, nitrogenous and organic contaminants. Denitrification has emerged as a suitable technology for the simultaneous removal of these pollutants in a single reactor unit; however, more evidence is demanded to clarify the limitations of denitrification on the simultaneous removal of sulfide and phenolic contaminants and to optimize the biological process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of a denitrifying sludge to simultaneously convert sulfide and p‐cresol via denitrification. RESULTS: Sulfide was the preferred electron donor over p‐cresol, imposing a 5 h lag phase (required for complete sulfide removal) on organotrophic denitrification. Addition of sulfide (20 mg S^2? L^?1) to p‐cresol‐amended denitrifying cultures also decreased the reduction rate of nitrate and nitrite, as well as the production rate of nitrogen gas. Nitrite reduction rate was the most affected step by sulfide, decreasing from 35 to 21 mg N (g VSS d)^?1. A synergistic inhibitory effect of nitrate and sulfide was also observed on nitrite reduction. Despite the effects of sulfide on the respiratory rates monitored, complete removal of nitrate, sulfide and p‐cresol could be achieved after 48 h of incubation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that simultaneous removal of sulfide and p‐cresol could be achieved in denitrifying reactors, but a large hydraulic residence time may be required to sustain an efficient process due to inhibitory effects of sulfide. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Reducing radiotoxicity in the long run

Stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel and weapons material are growing worldwide. So far, the only long-term strategy seriously considered is geological repository for several hundred thousand years. Transmutation is an option significantly reducing the time during which repositories have to be sealed, simplifying the task of protecting future generations from the radioactive remnants of our civilisation. This paper gives an overview of motives and priorities, and describes the main technique suggested for transmutation of nuclear waste.     

Entanglement network and relaxation temperature dependence of single‐site catalyzed ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers

In this work, we investigate the linear viscoelastic response of high molecular weight ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers, characterized by a narrow molecular weight distribution and comonomer content in the range from 0 to 10 mol %. A variation in the entanglement plateau modulus has been found in agreement with the recently developed packing length model. The packing model applied to viscoelastic data suggests decreased values of the characteristic ratio, accordingly with recent computer simulation results. The flow activation energy increases as the side chain content increases. This feature is thought to be related to the mobility of the molecules. The presence of side branches due to the comonomer hinders the mobility of the molecules, and increases the thermal barrier for the segmental motion. Then in the comonomer content range studied, the increase of the flow activation energy goes parallel with a decrease in the characteristic ratio. This result suggests that more parameters than only the stiffness of the chain modulate the thermal dependence of viscoelastic properties. A more refined study is necessary combining experiments with computer simulations in order to elucidate these aspects. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Influence of the amount of ferromagnetic addition on the rheological properties of spinning solutions,the structure,the strength,and thermal properties of polyacrylonitrile fibres

The rheological properties of spinning solutions of polyacrylonitrile in dimethyl formamide (DMF) containing various amounts of a ferromagnetic nanoaddition were investigated. The porous structure, the strength and thermal properties of fibers obtained from these solutions were assessed, as well as the uniformity of the nanoaddition distribution on the fiber surface was estimated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Nonisothermal melt-crystallization kinetics of isotactic polypropylene synthesized with a metallocene catalyst and compounded with different quantities of an α nucleator

The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of a metallocene-made isotactic polypropylene (m-iPP) and its compounds with 0.1 wt % and 0.3 wt % of a sorbitol derivative [1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene)sorbitol (DMDBS); an α nucleator] were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry at different cooling rates from the melt. The nucleation efficiency was proved by a significant increase in the crystallization temperatures (accompanied by a slight augmentation of the degree of crystallinity and a decrease in the crystal sizes). This increase in the crystallization temperatures led to higher amounts of fractional content in the γ polymorph, even though DMDBS was supposed to be a nucleator for the α form. The Avrami and Ozawa methods effectively described only the early stage of crystallization, whereas a combined Avrami–Ozawa method was valid for the whole crystallization process. The values of the exponent for this method decreased for nucleated samples in the later stage of crystallization, especially in the case of m-iPP with 0.3 wt % DMDBS added (m-iPP03). The activation energy of the process and the surface free energy were also estimated. The production of considerable proportions of the γ polymorph in m-iPP03 corresponded to higher values of the activation energy and lower values of the surface free energy. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Towards a new definition of EPOC parameters for anionic electrochemical catalysts: case of propene combustion

The electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) of propene combustion was investigated using Pt sputtered thin film on an O²⁻ conductor, 8 mol% Y₂O₃-stabilized-ZrO₂ (YSZ). In order to separate the influence of the thermal migration of the O²⁻ oxide ions from the electrolyte to the catalyst surface and the impact of an electrical polarization on the catalytic activity, several light-off experiments (cool down and heat up procedures) were successively performed under different polarizations, i.e. OCV, +2 and −2 V. These experiments have clearly shown that the presence of O²⁻ (thermally or electrochemically induced) inhibits the catalytic activity of the platinum for the propene deep oxidation. These results demonstrate the importance to define a normalized rate enhancement ratio, ρ _n , from a reference value of the catalytic rate corresponding to a Pt surface state free of O²⁻ ions.     

Potential applications of poly(vinyl alcohol)‐congo red aqueous solutions and hydrogels as liquids for hydraulic fracturing

The authors report on the viscoelastic characterization of guar hydrogels obtained through complexation reactions with borax ions. These gels are compared with hydrogels obtained from poly(vinyl alcohol) of different degree of hydrolysis through complexation reactions with congo red. The effect of the degree of hydrolysis and both, the concentration of PVA and the concentration of congo red, on the viscoelastic properties of the hydrogels is analyzed. The potential use of the PVA‐based hydrogels as hydraulic fracturing liquids is discussed in relation to the commonly used fracturing liquid based on the guar–borax system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Extended Hyperbolic Model for Sand-to-Concrete Interfaces

A relatively simple, four-parameter extended hyperbolic model for interfaces was developed for use in soil-structure interaction analyses. The model accommodates arbitrary stress path directions and includes three important elements: (1) development of a yield surface during interface shear; (2) a formulation for yield-inducing shear stiffness that is applicable to any stress path orientation; and (3) a formulation for unloading-reloading shear stiffness. The model was evaluated against the results of shear tests performed at the interface between three different types of sand and a concrete surface under a variety of stress paths. Comparisons between measured and calculated interface response indicate that the model provides accurate estimates of the response of sand-to-concrete interfaces.