Study on the possibility of waste mushroom medium as a biomass resource for biorefinery

In order to investigate the possibility of waste mushroom medium as a biomass resource for biorefinery, characteristics of hydrolysate and pretreated biomass obtained from oxalic acid pretreatment were examined. The hydrolysate contained high glucose and low concentrations of inhibitors. The glucose concentration in the hydrolysate particularly increased when temperature gradient was used during pretreatment, compared with that of isocratic condition. The highest increase rate of glucose was 63.16% when pretreatment was performed at 140 °C for 25 min with 0.032 oxalic acid (g/g), and increased temperature to 170 °C. At the same time, ethanol production of Scheffersomyces stipitis using hydrolysate was 15.72 g/L after 48 h, which correspond to an ethanol volumetric productivity of 0.33 g L^?1 h^?1. Most of the lignin and some of the cellulose remained in the pretreated biomass. The total lignin content of the pretreated biomass, represent between 31.81 and 45.05%, compared to 28.8% of the raw material. The calorific value of the pretreated biomass ranged from 4940 to 5111 kcal/kg which represent increase of 3–6% compared to the raw material, due to higher contents of lignin in the pretreated biomass.     

Improvement in CO2 absorption and reduction of absorbent loss in aqueous NH3/triethanolamine/2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol blends

Changes in the CO₂ absorption rates and capacities of the absorbent 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), blended with NH₃ and other additives, were investigated toward performance improvement. The NH₃-blended absorbent removed CO₂ more efficiently than the AMP absorbent alone. However, absorbent loss through NH₃ evaporation was observed under these conditions. A second absorbent, the tertiary amine triethanolamine (TEA), which has a low vapor pressure, was selected and blended with the NH₃/AMP system to reduce NH₃ evaporation. Its effects on NH₃ loss and the absorption rate and capacity of the NH₃/AMP system were investigated, and the optimum blending ratios were determined. In addition, the absorbent blend at the optimum blending ratio was compared to AMP alone and the commercially available absorbent monoethanolamine at the same weight ratio. The thermal stabilities of the absorbents, under conditions used in the CO₂ absorption process, were compared by thermogravimetric analysis.     

Dynamic mechanical properties of three different combinations taken from styrene-co-itaconate, styrene-co-methacrylate, and styrene-co-sulfonate ionomers

Dynamic mechanical properties of three different styrene-based ionomer blends containing ca. 5 mol% of ionic repeat units were investigated; the three ionic units were itaconate (ITANa), methacrylate (MANa), and styrenesulfonate (SNa). For SNa-MANa ionomers, it was observed that this ionomer system showed only two loss tangent peaks, implying that this ionomer system resembles a typical miscible system. When the ion content increased, however, the ionomer blend showed two cluster loss tangent peaks, indicating the presence of phase-separated cluster regions. This suggests that, with increasing ion content, the role of ionic units becomes more important than that of host non-ionic units to determine ionomer properties. In the case of ITANa-MANa and ITANa-SNa ionomers, however, it was suggested that the multiplets of the MANa and SNa ionomers might be disrupted upon the addition of the ITANa ionomers. In addition, the SEM images showed that the fracture surfaces of ionomers changed upon blending.     

Control of NO x emissions from diesel engine by selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with urea

Topics in Catalysis - Among the catalysts screened, Cu-ion exchanged ZSM5 zeolite exhibited the highest NO removal activity, particularly at low reaction temperatures below 200 °C,...     

Perceived density,a further attribute of color,revealed by the colors favored in Japan

Colors can be characterized by three main attributes: hue, value, and saturation. But colors also exhibit other phenomenological qualities. In this study, we identify one such secondary attribute of color: perceived density. We discuss the prevalence of dense colors in Japan starting from the “48 Teas and 100 Mice” colors of the Edo period, and develop the concept of perceived density through this aspect of Japanese color preference. When vivid colors were forbidden to commoners during the Edo period, subtle variations of brownish and grayish colors were created. These colors with base tones were not salient, yet they looked dense. Muted colors with paradoxical richness are still common in Japan today. Japanese commodity design often uses muddy colors with white or gray undertones, and deep colors with black undertones. Together they form distinct groupings of relatively dense color. The perceived density of color corresponds to how dense and filled, or thin and airy a color appears. Colors of higher perceived density appear to be more packed and to have mass. Perceived density of color is unusual in that it does not have a monotonic relationship with one of the primary perceptual attributes. High apparent density is observed in a central region of an equi‐hue plane where value or saturation are at intermediate values. We consider two possible explanations of how high values of density can coincide with middling values of value and saturation: characteristics of the spectral reflectance curves, or the complexity of the neural signals that underlie the emergent property.     

The absorption rate of CO2/SO2/NO2 into a blended aqueous AMP/ammonia solution

The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that human activities result in the production of greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O and CFCs), which significantly contribute to global warming, one of the most serious environmental problems. Under these circumstances, most nations have shown a willingness to suffer economic burdens by signing the Kyoto Protocol, which took effect from February 2005. Therefore, an innovative technology for the simultaneously removal carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which are discharged in great quantities from fossil fuel-fired power plants and incineration facilities, must be developed to reduce these economical burdens. In this study, a blend of AMP and NH₃ was used to achieve high absorption rates for CO₂, as suggested in several publications. The absorption rates of CO₂, SO₂ and NO₂ into aqueous AMP and blended AMP+NH₃ solutions were measured using a stirred-cell reactor at 293, 303 and 313 K. The reaction rate constants were determined from the measured absorption rates. The effect of adding NH₃ to enhance the absorption characteristics of AMP was also studied. The performance of the reactions was evaluated under various operating conditions. From the results, the reactions with SO₂ and NO₂ into aqueous AMP and AMP+NH₃ solutions were classified as instantaneous reactions. The absorption rates increased with increasing reaction temperature and NH₃ concentration. The reaction rates of 1, 3 and 5 wt% NH₃ blended with 30 wt% AMP solution with respect to CO₂/SO₂/NO₂ at 313 K were 6.05～8.49×10^?6, 7.16–10.41×10^?6 and 8.02～12.0×10^?6 kmol m^?2s^?1, respectively. These values were approximately 32.3–38.7% higher than with aqueous AMP solution alone. The rate of the simultaneous absorption of CO₂/SO₂/NO₂ into aqueous AMP+NH₃ solution was 3.83–4.87×10^?6 kmol m^?2s^?1 at 15 kPa, which was an increase of 15.0–16.9% compared to 30 wt% AMP solution alone. This may have been caused by the NH₃ solution acting as an alternative for CO₂/SO₂/NO₂ controls from flue gas due to its high absorption capacity and fast absorption rate.     

Polishing behaviors of ceria abrasives on silicon dioxide and silicon nitride CMP

The effects of ceria (CeO₂) abrasives in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries were investigated on silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) polishing process. The ceria abrasives were prepared by the flux method, using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the grain growth accelerator. The primary particle size of the ceria abrasives was controlled in the range of ~ 84-417 nm by changing the concentration of potassium hydroxide and the calcination temperature without mechanical milling process. The removal rate of silicon dioxide film strongly depended upon abrasive size up to an optimum abrasive size (295 nm) after CMP process. However, the surface uniformity deteriorated as abrasive size increases. The observed polishing results confirmed that there exists an optimum abrasive size (295 nm) for maximum removal selectivity between oxide and nitride films. In this study, polishing behaviors of the ceria abrasives were discussed in terms of morphological characteristics.     

The physical solubilities and diffusivities of N<Subscript>2</Subscript>O and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in aqueous ammonia solutions on the additions of AMP,glycerol and ethylene glycol

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a major greenhouse gas, the emissions of which should be reduced. There are various technologies for the effective separation of CO₂. Of these, chemical absorption methods are generally accepted as the most effective. The monoethanolamine (MEA) process is an effective way to remove CO₂, but is an expensive option for the separation of CO₂ from massive gas-discharging plants. Therefore, ammonia solution, which is less expensive and more effective than MEA, was used for the removal of CO₂. In this study, the physical solubility of N₂O in (ammonia+water), (ammonia+2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol+water), (ammonia+glycerol+water) and (ammonia+ ethylene glycol+water) was measured at 293, 303, 313, 323 K. Additive concentrations of 1, 3, and 5 wt% AMP, glycerol and ethylene glycol were added for each 9 wt% ammonia solution. A solubility apparatus was used to investigate the solubility of N₂O in ammonia solutions. The diffusivity was measured with a wetted wall column absorber. The “N₂O analogy” is used to estimate the solubility and diffusivity of CO₂ in the aqueous ammonia solutions. OriginPro 7.5 was used to correlate the solubility and diffusivity of N₂O in ammonia solutions. The parameters of the correlation were determined from the measured solubility and diffusivity.     

Determination of the stoichiometry and critical oxygen tension in the production culture of bacterial cellulose using saccharified food wastes

The stoichiometry of the entire reaction in a 50 L scaled-up production culture of bacterial cellulose (BC), using saccharified food wastes (SFW), was analyzed in this study. The stoichiometric analysis was carried out using the chemical formula, yield, degrees of reduction of the major components, and the respiratory quotient (RQ). Based on the stoichiometric analysis, the amounts of substrate, oxygen supply and BC production etc., were able to be predicted. In addition, the amount of energy generated in the culture was predicted based on the oxygen consumption via the stoichiometric analysis. The stoichiometry of BC production using SFW in a 50 L large scale reactor will be useful as a standard for mass production of the culture. The stoichiometric analysis can also help the designers of reactors decide on the boiler capacity and oxygen supply for a large scale bioreactor system. The OUR (oxygen uptake rate) of Acetobacter xylinum KJ1 in a 12 hour-age cultivation was 0.21 mg DO/L·min, from which the critical DO concentration was suggested to be maintained above 3.10 ppm to prevent oxygen limitation during the BC production culture. The results indicated that pure oxygen should be supplied during the exponential phase, where DO depletion was observed. An ascertainment experiment, with the addition of pure oxygen into the culture system, showed BC production of 7.37 g/L, which was considerable productivity.