The effect of thermosonication of milk on selected physicochemical and microstructural properties of yoghurt gels during fermentation

Yoghurt cultures (0.1, 1.5 and 3.5% fat) were prepared from milk which was preheated to 45 °C and subjected to thermosonication (TS) for 10 min at an ultrasound amplitude of 24 kHz. Compared to conventional yoghurts prepared from preheated (90 °C, 10 min) milk, cultures from TS milk at similar fat contents had higher gelation pH values, greater viscosities and higher water holding capacities (WHC). On average, yoghurts from TS treated milks with 1.5 or 3.5% fat had almost 2 fold greater WHC and 25% higher G’ values than conventionally produced yoghurt. Electron microscopy showed differences in the microstructure, with TS yoghurt having a honeycomb like network and exhibiting a more porous nature. These characteristics are absent in conventional yoghurts. In addition, the average particle size in TS yoghurts was smaller (<1 μm) than in conventional yoghurts.     

The EPR overall approach for severe accident mitigation

The EPR design includes provisions to cope with severe accidents including core melt situations:

- Situations that would lead to large early releases such as containment bypass, high reactivity accidents, high-pressure core melt or global hydrogen detonation have to be prevented.

- All other situations, including low pressure core melt have to be mitigated in such a way that the corresponding radiological consequences would necessitate only very limited protective countermeasures in a relatively small area and for a limited time for the population living in the neighborhood of the power plant. This means that there would be no need for permanent relocation, no need for evacuation outside the immediate vicinity of the plant, limited sheltering and no long-term restrictions in food consumption.

To reach this objective, which is one of the Safety Authority's requirements, the EPR relies on a very robust containment and on various design measures intended to withstand extreme loads caused by a large range of internal events and external hazards. The deterministic method is used for the EPR safety demonstration, supplemented by probabilistic methods and appropriate R&D work.This paper outlines the major mitigating design features, summarizes the results of the Level 2 PSA and gives the main results of the evaluation of the radiological consequences of core melt on the environment.     

Driving concepts for bundled ultrasonic linear motors

Several positioning tasks demand translatory drive instead of rotary motion. To achieve drives that are capable, e.g., to drive the sunroof of a car or to lift a car’s window, multiple miniaturized motors can be combined. But in this case many other questions arise: The electromechanical behavior of the individual motors differs slightly, the motor characteristics are strongly dependent on the driving parameters and the driven load, many applications need some extra power for special cases like overcoming higher forces periodically. Thus, the bundle of motors has to act well-organized and at last controlled to get an optimized drive that is not oversized and costly.     

Microstructure–permeability relation of porous β-Si3N4 ceramics

Porous β-Si₃N₄ ceramics with two distinct structures were produced by using two different Si₃N₄ sources to investigate the relationship between microstructure and permeability. Results showed that regardless of pore amount, size of pore channels, shape-distribution of β-Si₃N₄ grains are more effective on permeability of porous Si₃N₄ ceramics. Higher permeability and lower contribution of inertial forces was obtained by microstructure consists of coarse and equiaxed grains even at lower porosity amount. Calculated Forchheimer number (F_o) and measured the local breadth of a pore also supported the effect of microstructure on permeability.     

在线加湿压力和加湿流量对PM_(10)排放的影响

利用实验室粉体物料自由下落在线加湿模拟试验装置,研究气水两相喷嘴中的加湿压力和加湿流量对不同粉体物料中PM10排放的影响。通过实验,获得的最佳加湿压力为0.30MPa,最佳加湿流量为2.4 L/h。利用最佳加湿压力和最佳加湿流量可以优化在线加湿条件,达到最佳的降尘效果和节约降尘成本。     

Modeling the land requirements and potential productivity of sugarcane and jatropha in Brazil and India using the LPJmL dynamic global vegetation model

The governments of Brazil and India are planning a large expansion of bioethanol and biodiesel production in the next decade. Considering that limitation of suitable land and/or competition with other land uses might occur in both countries, assessments of potential crop productivity can contribute to an improved planning of land requirements for biofuels under high productivity or marginal conditions. In this paper we model the potential productivity of sugarcane and jatropha in both countries. Land requirements for such expansions are calculated according to policy scenarios based on government targets for biofuel production in 2015. Spatial variations in the potential productivity lead to rather different land requirements, depending on where plantations are located. If jatropha is not irrigated, land requirements to fulfill the Indian government plans in 2015 would be of 410 000 to 95 000 km² if grown in low or high productivity areas respectively (mean of 212 000 km²). In Brazil land requirements, are of 18 000–89 000 km² (mean of 29 000 km²), suggesting a promising substitute to soybean biodiesel. Although future demand for sugarcane ethanol in Brazil is approximately ten times larger than in India, land requirements are comparable in both countries due to large differences in ethanol production systems. In Brazil this requirement ranges from 25 000 to 211 000 km² (mean of 33 000 km²) and in India from 7000 to 161 000 km² (mean 17 000 km²). Irrigation could reduce the land requirements by 63% and 41% (24% and 15%) in India (Brazil) for jatropha and sugarcane respectively.     

The interaction of a crack with an interface crack as a theoretical model for debonding

A complex integral equation has been derived which describes the interaction of a crack with an interface crack as well as the limiting case of a kinked interface crack. With the help of this solution a model of the debonding process has been set up. Critical ratios of the energy release rates of the interface and the matrix material have been calculated for three different material combinations. These values can be used as estimates for interface design.