Ozone oxidation of β-lactam antibiotic molecules and toxicity decrease in aqueous solution and industrial wastewaters heavily contaminated

In this work, ozone oxidation of the antibiotics amoxicillin (AMX), cephalexin, and ceftriaxone was investigated in different samples: (i) aqueous solutions (100 mg L^?1), (ii) an industrial wastewater containing AMX at 125 mg L^?1 (chemical oxygen demand 6000 mg O₂ L^?1), and (iii) a heavily contaminated industrial wastewater containing the antibiotics at a total concentration of 320 mg L^?1. High performance liquid chromatography, molecular absorption spectrophotometry in the ultraviolet/visible region, and total organic carbon measurements showed that ozonation of antibiotics solutions led to removal higher than 95% with 10–20% mineralization. Industrial wastewater also showed very good efficiency for antibiotic removal (80–98%) after ozonation. Moreover, Microtox® test showed 86% toxicity reduction for the industrial wastewater.     

A Study of Intermix in a Six-Strand Billet Caster

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated intermix model suitable for a six-strand billet caster. Mathematical and physical simulations...     

Effect of surface acid groups associated with amorphous and structured carbon on the catalytic hydrodechlorination of chlorobenzenes

BACKGROUND: Catalytic hydrodechlorination (HDC) is a progressive approach to treating chlorinated waste streams. While carbon is widely used as a catalyst support, the influence of carbon surface functionality on HDC performance has not been established. This work sets out to assess the impact of surface acid groups associated with activated carbon (AC), graphite and graphitic nanofibers (GNF) on Pd promoted gas phase HDC of chlorobenzene (CB) and 1,3‐dichlorobenzene (DCB). RESULTS: The acid groups were introduced by HNO₃ washing and the HDC reaction performed over bulk Pd and Pd physically mixed with each carbon. The carbon was subjected to a thermal treatment to remove the surface acidity. Characterization was by temperature programmed decomposition (TPD), temperature programmed hydrogen treatment (TPH), BET area, acid‐base titration, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. TPD, TPH and titration analyses served to establish the presence of surface oxygen groups after acid washing and facilitated an evaluation of the effectiveness of the thermal treatment to remove these groups. CONCLUSIONS: The surface acid groups inhibited HDC activity, a response most pronounced for Pd + AC, less so for Pd + graphite, while the effect was slight for Pd + GNF. HDC inhibition is attributed to chloroarene interaction with the surface functional (notably carboxylic) groups that impedes HDC. Fractional dechlorination of DCB was equivalent to or lower than CB HDC; there is some evidence of DCB interactions with heat treated graphite and GNF that served to raise HDC activity. Effective HDC over carbon based catalysts requires removal of surface acid groups. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

SI lab-on-valve analysis of histamine using potentiometric detection for food quality control

In this work the implementation of a histamine ion-selective electrode for fish freshness control is described. The solid-contact electrode is based on a polymeric membrane incorporating, respectively, α-cyclodextrin as an ionophore, 2-fluorophenyl 2-nitrophenyl ether as a plasticiser and potassium tetrakis(p-chlorophenyl) borate as an ionic additive. The conventionally shaped histamine electrode responded to histamine cation in the pH operational range of 3.5–5.5 with a slope of 31.7 ± 1.3 mV dec⁻¹, and with a practical detection limit of (1.6 ± 0.2) × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹. The miniaturisation of the above-described electrode enabled its use as a detector in a sequential-injection lab-on-valve system, yet with a useful lifetime shortened from 10 months to approximately 1 month under continuous operation. The optimised flow conditions were achieved for sample injection volumes of 70 μL propelled towards the detection cell at the flow-rate of 12 μL s⁻¹ during 20 s followed by a flow-rate of 15 μL s⁻¹ during 50 s. The potentiometric analysis of histamine in different kinds of fish furnished results similar to those provided by the chromatographic method. The low cost of the analysis, the speed of the method and the use of a smaller volume and non pollutant reagents justify the use of potentiometry as an alternative analytical technique for this food control.     

Tackling perishability in multi-level process industries

The classical multi-level lot-sizing and scheduling problem formulations for process industries rarely address perishability issues, such as limited shelf lives of intermediate products. In some industries, ignoring this specificity may result in severe losses. In this paper, we start by extending a classical multi-level lot-sizing and scheduling problem formulation (MLGLSP) to incorporate perishability issues. We further demonstrate that with the objective of minimising the total costs (purchasing, inventory and setup), the production plans generated by classical models are often infeasible under a setting with perishable products. The model distinguishes different perishability characteristics of raw materials, intermediates and end products according to various industries. Finally, we provide quantitative insights on the importance of considering perishability for different production settings when solving integrated production planning and scheduling problems.     

Phenolic profile,antioxidant activity and palynological analysis of stingless bee honey from Amazonas,Northern Brazil

In this study honey samples produced by Melipona (Michmelia) seminigra merrillae, collected in seven counties distributed in the central and southern region of Amazonas state in Brazil, were analysed for their botanical origin, content and profile of phenolic compounds, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Twenty-two pollen types were identified. The total phenolic content ranged from 17 to 66 mg GAE/g of extract; the highest contents were found in honeys produced from pollen types such as Clidemia and Myrcia. The antioxidant activity was higher in the samples that contained higher quantities of phenolic compounds. In relation to the antibacterial activity, samples CAD3, CAD4 and SAD3 presented the best results. Fourteen phenolic compounds were determined. Among them, we identified the flavonoid taxifolin, which has not previously been described in honeys from stingless bees, and we report the identification of catechol in Brazilian honey samples for the first time.     

Chitosan from Syncephalastrum racemosum Using Sugar Cane Substrates as Inexpensive Carbon Sources

A strain of Syncephalastrum racemosum isolated from herbivores feces was studied for chitosan production using sugar cane substrates, such as juice or molasses, from Northeast Brazil. S. racemosus was batch grown in shake flasks over 5 days using sugar cane juice or molasses as carbon source. The effect of supplementary nitrogen source was studied by supplying medium with yeast extract or ammonium sulphate. The highest yield of the biopolymer (30 mg chitosan. g^?1 sucrose) was obtained using sugar cane juice (21 g sucrose. L^?1) plus 0.3% yeast extract. Batch fermentation in a 5-L bioreactor using the same medium, increased the yield to 50 mg chitosan. g^?1 sucrose. Chitosan extracted from S. racemosus cultured in sugar cane juice medium showed a low degree of acetylation with a high D-glucosamine content.     

Development and application of new composite materials as EDM electrodes manufactured via selective laser sintering

The cost of a part manufactured by electrical dischargeEDM machining (EDM) is mainly determined by electrode cost. The production of electrodes by conventional machining processes is complex, time consuming, and can account for over 50 % of the total EDM process costs. The emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technologies provide the possibility of direct fabrication of EDM electrodes. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an alternative AM technique because it has the possibility to directly produce functional components, reducing the tool-room lead time and total EDM costs. The main difficulty of manufacturing an EDM electrode using SLS is the selection of an appropriate material, once both processes require different material properties. The current work focused on the investigation of appropriate materials that fulfill EDM and SLS process demands. Three new metal-matrix materials composed of Mo–CuNi, TiB₂–CuNi, and ZrB₂–CuNi were developed and characterized. Electrodes under adequate SLS conditions were manufactured through a systematic methodology. EDM experiments using different discharge energies were carried out, and the performance evaluated in terms of material removal rate and volumetric relative wear. The results showed that the powder systems composed of Mo–CuNi, TiB₂–CuNi, and ZrB₂–CuNi revealed to be successfully processed by SLS, and the EDM experiments demonstrated that the new composite electrodes are promising materials. The work also suggests important topics for future research work on this field.     

Development and application of copper–nickel zirconium diboride as EDM electrodes manufactured by selective laser sintering

The production of electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes by conventional machining processes can account for over 50 % of the total EDM process costs. The emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technologies provide the possibility of direct fabrication of EDM electrodes. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an alternative AM technique because it has the possibility to reduce the tool-room lead time and total EDM costs. The main difficulty of manufacturing an EDM electrode using SLS is the selection of an appropriate material. This work investigated the direct production of EDM electrodes by means of the SLS using a newly developed non-conventional metal–matrix composite material composed of a metallic matrix (CuNi) and an advanced ceramic (ZrB₂). The influence of important SLS parameters and material content on the densification behavior and porosity of the electrodes was investigated. EDM experiments were conducted to observe the electrodes behavior and performance. It was found that the ZrB₂-CuNi electrodes could be successfully manufactured by SLS. Interlayer bonding and porosity are directly influenced by the layer thickness. Smaller layer thicknesses improved bonding between layers and decreased the porosity of the parts. The laser scan speed has a significant effect on the densification behavior. The scan line spacing affects the pore structure by means of overlapping. The surface morphology of the samples was not affected by varying the scan line spacing. The ZrB₂-CuNi electrodes presented a much superior performance than SLS copper powder electrodes, but inferior to solid copper electrodes.