Inhibition of nitrification in the packed bed reactors by selected organic compounds

The effect of methanol, acetone, formalin and glucose on the nitrification process in the packed bed reactors has been investigated. For the utilized compounds the inhibition constant K_i was determined according to Dixon's method. The determined values were as follows: methanol K_i = 116.0 mg l^?1; acetone K_i = 804.2 mg l^?1; formalin K_i = 61.5 mg l^?1. The value of K_i for glucose has not been determined because glucose in applied concentration up to 11,325 mg l^?1 had no effect on the nitrification course.     

Influence of local postbuckling behaviour on bending of thin-walled beams

The influence of the local postbuckling behaviour on the bending of thinwalled beams is studied. The analysis of the postbuckling behaviour of a prismatic column-beam subject to compression and bending is employed in order to determine the overall flexural stiffness of a beam after local buckling. The asymptotic Koiter method is used in the second order approximation. The determination of post-buckling coefficients enables one to find the beam's flexural stiffness without the necessity of using hypotheses on effective widths of eccentrically compressed plates. It is shown that the post-buckling equilibrium branch in a bending moment-global curvature coordinate system for a perfectly elastic thin-walled beam is rectilinear (in the second order approximation of' the asymptotic method). Simple analytical relations are presented between the slope of the post-buckling equilibrium branch of global bending and post-buckling coefficients for local buckling mode. The results obtained are compared with data reported by other authors.     

Denitrification by packed bed reactors in the presence of chromium(VI): Resistance to inhibition

The effect of chromium Cr⁶⁺ on bacterial denitrification was investigated. The long-term influence of chromium presence was observed in packed bed reactors using methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, iso-butanol and n-pentanol as the carbon and energy sources for denitrifiers. Short-term influence was investigated by the inhibition coefficient K_i determination within activated sludge under anoxic conditions. The measured inhibition constant K_i was equal to 84.2 mg l^?1 Cr⁶⁺, independently of the kind of organic compound utilized as the electron donor for the bacterial system. The concepts of the reactor resistance to inhibition (RRI) and the resistance to inhibition (RI) have been evaluated.     

Dynamics of lead immobilization in sulfate reducing biofilms

We have evaluated the effects of selected minerals present in subsoil environment on the efficiency of lead removal from contaminated groundwaters using biofilms composed of sulfate-reducing microorganisms, and examined the stability of metal deposits after the biofilms had been temporarily exposed to the air. To quantify the studied effects, lead was immobilized in biofilms of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans grown anaerobically in two flat-plate flow reactors, one filled with hematite and the other with quartz. While the biofilms in both reactors were heterogeneous and consisted of voids and channels, the biofilms grown on hematite were denser, thicker, and more porous than those grown on quartz. The average H₂S concentrations, measured using microelectrodes, were higher in the biofilms grown on quartz than those measured in the biofilms grown on hematite. During 18 weeks of operation, iron was continuously released from the hematite. Lead was immobilized more efficiently in the biofilms grown on quartz than it was in the biofilms grown on hematite. Lead deposits were partially reoxidized, especially in biofilms grown on hematite, and the biofilms in both reactors responded to the presence of oxygen by lowering their density and increasing the H₂S production rate.     

Influence of the impact sintering temperature on the structure and properties of samples from the different iron powders

The studies of the consolidation, structure and mechanical properties of samples from two types of iron powder are carried out. The coarse and less pure PZH3M2 as well as fine and purer DIAFE5000 powders were used. The samples are obtained by means of impact sintering method in the temperatures range of 500–1100 °C. The impact energy was 1200 J/cm³, and the initial deformation velocity - 6.5 m/s. Samples are obtained in the form of disks with a diameter of 25–27 mm and 9–10 mm high. For carrying out different mechanical tests the bars were cut out from disks. The tensile, compression, three-point bend of notched samples tests were carried out, as well as the Brinell hardness was measured after the corresponding processing of the bars. The characteristics of strength and plasticity of samples depending on the impact sintering temperature are determined. The polished surface of different samples and the fracture surface are investigated. It is established that the high density of samples is reached at a temperature of 600 and 700 °C respectively for fine and coarse powders. The samples obtained at these impact sintering temperatures possess rather low electrical resistivity, high strength, hardness, but the lowered plasticity. Namely, the samples from the PZH3M2 and DIAFE5000 powders sintered at the temperature of 700 °C have respectively: ultimate tensile strength - 406 and 336 MPa, yield stress - 353 and 190 MPa, contraction ratio - 26 and 78%, limit stress (at the fracture) - 501 and 933 MPa, the maximum crack tip stress – 738 and 876 MPa, the fracture energy at a bend of the notched samples - 4.8 and 51.2 J/cm³ and also Brinell hardness - 1467 and 847 MPa. The increase of the samples impact sintering temperature leads to grain growth, decrease of the samples strength and increase of their plasticity. At the same time the structure of samples from the DIAFE5000 powder is more fine-grained than at samples from the PZH3M2 powder.     

Kinoform apodization

Abstract

A new apodization principle is introduced, according to which the amplitude function is realized as a varying diffraction efficiency of the multistep phase diffractive element. A proper modification of the phase-step heights within the apodization region allows one to redirect light from the main diffraction order into its conjugate, simultaneously avoiding the presence of light in the two nearest neighbouring orders. The analysis is confirmed by the simulation results.     

Thermal Image Approximation Using B-Spline Surfaces

This article presents a method of filtering thermal images by means of approximation using cubic B-spline patch surfaces. Approximation uses chord length parameterization with non-uniform distribution of knots, depending on the change rate of pixel values in rows and columns of the image. Advantages of approximation with such parameterization are compared with popular uniform parameterization. Presented method is very versatile and can be used for example in 3D surface topography of objects tested with stereoscopic microscopes, in resolution change of arbitrary images or modeling processes depending on two parameters. Filtering results are presented using plugin for the Soft4Image program, which was designed to unify different digital signal processing algorithms.