The Utility of Land-Surface Model Simulations to Provide Drought Information in a Water Management Context Using Global and Local Forcing Datasets

Drought diagnosis and forecasting are fundamental issues regarding hydrological management in Spain, where recurrent water scarcity periods are normal. Land-surface models (LSMs) could provide relevant information for water managers on how drought conditions evolve. Here, we explore the usefulness of LSMs driven by atmospheric analyses with different resolutions and accuracies in simulating drought and its propagation to precipitation, soil moisture and streamflow through the system. We perform simulations for the 1980-2014 period with SASER (5 km resolution) and LEAFHYDRO (2.5 km resolution), which are forced by the Spanish SAFRAN dataset (at 5km and 30km resolutions), and the global eartH2Observe datasets at 0.25 degrees (including the MSWEP precipitation dataset). We produce standardized indices for precipitation (SPI), soil moisture (SSMI) and streamflow (SSI). The results show that the model structure uncertainty remains an important issue in current generation large-scale hydrological simulations based on LSMs. This is true for both the SSMI and SSI. The differences between the simulated SSMI and SSI are large, and the propagation scales for drought regarding both soil moisture and streamflow are overly dependent on the model structure. Forcing datasets have an impact on the uncertainty of the results but, in general, this impact is not as large as the uncertainty due to model formulation. Concerning the global products, the precipitation product that includes satellite observations (MSWEP) represents a large improvement compared with the product that does not.

     

Suitability of the SWAT Model for Simulating Water Discharge and Sediment Load in a Karst Watershed of the Semiarid Mediterranean Basin

Water Resources Management - This paper presents a case study conducted in the Upper Argos River, in southeast Spain, to verify the applicability of the SWAT model for prediction of the water...     

铜氨/粘胶长丝交织绸的风格测试与分析

针对铜氨/粘胶长丝交织织物的风格问题,利用KES-FB织物风格评价系统探讨铜氨粘胶长丝交织织物风格特征,并与纯铜氨织物进行对比分析。结果表明,铜氨粘胶长丝交织织物的蓬松性、抗张回复性、手感柔软性等较铜氨织物差;而铜氨粘胶长丝交织织物的强力、断裂伸长、匀整度和爽脆性均优于纯铜氨织物。铜氨与粘胶交织可以降低铜氨织物成本,是提高铜氨纤维产品附加值的有效途径之一。     

Development and implementation of a hybrid scale up model for a batch high shear wet granulation operation

The high shear wet granulation (HSWG) operation consists of several rate processes influenced by the raw material properties, process operational parameters, and equipment design. Their combined effect determines the granule attributes. In literature, these rate processes have been modeled using different dimensionless numbers and their correlations. Each of these dimensionless numbers represent only certain rate processes. Since many of these rate processes occur at the same time, it is necessary to simultaneously model them to account for all the important degrees of freedom. Most of the HSWG scale up approaches in literature calculate scale up conditions based on a single rate process or operating parameter of interest that can lead to sub-optimal process design. We present the development of a hybrid HSWG scale up model accounting simultaneously for all the rate processes. The approach was successfully implemented to scale up the HSWG operation across laboratory, pilot, and commercial scales.     

Designing biomass supply chains within planetary boundaries

The design of sustainable supply chains, which recently emerged as an active area of research in process systems engineering, is vital to ensure sustainable development. Despite past and ongoing efforts, the available methods often overlook impacts beyond climate change or incorporate them via standard life cycle assessment metrics that are hard to interpret from an absolute sustainability viewpoint. We here address the design of biomass supply chains considering critical ecological limits of the Earth—planetary boundaries—which should never be surpassed by anthropogenic activities. Our method relies on a mixed-integer linear program that incorporates a planetary boundaries-based damage model to quantify absolute sustainability precisely. We apply this approach to the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry in Argentina, identifying the optimal combination of technologies and network layout that minimize the impact on these ecological boundaries. Our framework can find applications in a wide range of supply chain problems related to chemicals and fuels production, energy systems, and agriculture planning.     

Valorization of Al slag in the production of green ceramic tiles: Effect of experimental conditions on microstructure and crystalline phase composition

This work reports the results of an investigation aimed at the development of sintered glass-ceramic tiles by the sinter-crystallization of mixtures composed of aluminum slag and reclaimed packaging glass. The thermal behaviors of mixtures incorporating 50 and 60 wt% Al slag were established by differential thermal analysis (DTA). Green compacts were sintered in a temperature range of 800°C-1050°C and then soaked for 10-60 minutes. The mineralogical characterizations of the sintered materials were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The achieved results indicated that the sintering of aluminum slag and packaging glass reclaimed led to a glass-ceramic material composed mainly of needle-like crystals of wollastonite (CaSiO₃). The bloating of samples during firing was evaluated according to a Cougny predictive diagram. After initial observations and according to bending strength characterizations, sintered tiles prepared from aluminum slag and glassy sand are appropriate for floor pavement and wall covering.     

The role of the Tm3+ concentration on CaMoO4 properties processed by microwave hydrothermal under stirring condition

The compounds based on calcium molybdate (CaMoO₄) are the subject of extensive research due to their excellent optical properties and a broad range of potential technological applications. In this work, we report a systematic study of CaMoO₄:Tm³⁺ phosphors synthesized by coprecipitation and processed in a microwave-hydrothermal system at low temperature (100°C) and stirring. The effect of the Tm³⁺ doping content (0%–12%) is studied in full detail to understand their role in the CaMoO₄:Tm³⁺ morphological, structural, and luminescent properties. The X-ray diffraction, Raman, and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic techniques revealed that all the prepared powders have a tetragonal crystal structure with a distinct density of cation vacancies and structural disorders. The band gap remains almost constant for doping levels lower than 8%, but it narrows strongly for powders doped with 12% Tm³⁺ ions. The designed phosphors have shown two emission bands in which intensity depends on the Tm³⁺ ions doping level. For doping levels lower than 2%, the photoluminescence profile displays a broad emission band peaking at 543 nm (green). For concentrations higher than 4%, the band centered at 543 nm decreases in intensity and the near-infrared emission band at around 800 nm, assigned to ³F₃, ³H₄ → ³H₆ transitions from Tm³⁺ ion, become more intense. The outcomes of this work reveal that appropriated Tm³⁺ ions doping levels can be applied to suppress the PL emission in the visible range and improve that in the near-infrared region in CaMoO₄-based materials.     

Influence of different reactor types on Nannochloropsis oculata microalgae culture for lipids and fatty acid production

Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels cause global warming. One option is obtaining biodiesel. Nannochloropsis oculata was cultured under different light intensities and reactors at 25°C for 21 days with f/2 medium to assess their effects on cell density, lipid, and fatty acids (FAs). N. oculata improved cell density on fed-batch glass tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, yielding 3.5 × 10⁸ cells ml⁻¹, followed by fed-batch Erlenmeyer flask (1 L) at 650 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ with 1.7 × 10⁸ cells ml⁻¹. The highest total lipid contents (% g lipid × g dry biomass⁻¹) were 44.4 ± 0.8% for the reactor (1 L) at 650 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ and 35.2 ± 0.2% for the tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, until twice as high compared with the control culture (Erlenmeyer flask 1 L, 80 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹) with 21.2 ± 1%. Comparing the total lipid content at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹, tubular reactor (7 L) and reactor 1 L achieved 35.2 ± 0.2% and 28.3 ± 1%, respectively, indicating the effect of shape reactor. The FAs were affected by high light intensity, decreasing SFAs to 2.5%, and increased monounsaturated fatty acids + polyunsaturated fatty acids to 2.5%. PUFAs (20:5n-3) and (20:4n-3) were affected by reactor shape, decreasing by half in the tubular reactor. In the best culture, fed-batch tubular reactor (7 L) at 200 μmol E m⁻² s⁻¹ contains major FAs (16:0; 38.06 ± 0.16%), (16:1n-7; 30.74 ± 0.58%), and (18:1n-9; 17.15 ± 0.91%).     

Fabrication of hybrid proton-exchange membranes using a brandnew high temperature ionic liquid as charge transporting and clay modifier

The search for more compatibility between ionic liquids (ILs) and polymer matrices in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is one of the ways in which IL leaking from proton-exchange membranes could be minimized. In this work, it is presented the synthesis of an aromatic high temperature ionic liquid (HTIL), which, incorporated into an aromatic matrix such as sulfonated polyether ether ketone (sPEEK), is expected to diminish the IL leaking that normally affects PEMFC. Phenylethylammonium trifluoromethane sulfonate (PhetaTfO) was successfully synthesized and characterized. Its melting point of 88°C makes it to classify as a HTIL and it was employed as modifier of natural Montmorillonite, forming the phenylethylammonium intercalated montmorillonite (MmtPheta) and thus, ternary membranes containing PhetaTfO, MmtPheta, and sPEEK were prepared and characterized. Immersion tests demonstrated a higher compatibility of PhetaTfO with matrix when compared to the reference DemaTfO, which was reflected in up to 30% lower IL loss by the synthesized IL than the DemaTfO; X-rays diffraction (XRD) patterns demonstrated that the modified clay was properly dispersed inside the membranes, while dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA) results indicated a strong plasticizer effect along the increase of PhetaTfO content inside the membrane, while at the same time, the conductivity increased in an exponential manner, which permitted to identify an empiric exponential equation to evaluate the effect of concentration on ionic conductivity. The maximum conductivity obtained at IL concentrations of around 38 wt% was 0.2 mS/cm. It could expect high ionic conductivities of 10 mS/cm when the concentration of this IL is 60%; nevertheless, in order to achieve that, crosslinking treatments should be done to give the membranes enough mechanical resistance.     

Antistatic packaging based on PTT/PTT-g-MA/ABS/MWCNT nanocomposites: Effect of the chemical functionalization of MWCNTs

Polymer/carbon nanotube nanocomposites have attracted high interest for a wide spectrum of applications, including antistatic packaging used to protect electronic devices against electrostatic discharge. Polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT)/maleic-anhydride-grafted PTT (PTT-g-MA)/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blend-based multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposites were prepared through extrusion. It was conducted chemical functionalization on the MWCNTs by oxidation using nitric acid to introduce functional groups. The effect of the amount (0.5 or 1.0 wt%) and functionalization of MWCNTs on the nanocomposites was investigated. Despite the poor barrier properties of PTT/PTT-g-MA/ABS/MWCNT nanocomposites due to the presence of voids confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the nanocomposites with functionalized MWCNT (MWCNTf) showed excellent barrier properties, indicating that the functionalization process improved the interaction between the MWCNTs and the matrix. The addition of MWCNTs into PTT/PTT-g-MA/ABS blend decreased the electrical resistivity by eight orders of magnitude. The use of MWCNTf may still disrupt the electrical network pathway and slightly decreasing the electrical resistivity, but the nanocomposites present the desired properties required for antistatic packaging.