Co-digestion of ruminal content and blood from slaughterhouse industries: influence of solid concentration and ammonium generation.

At the present time, organic solid wastes from industries and agricultural activities are considered to be promising substrates for biogas production via anaerobic digestion. Moreover solids stabilisation is required before reutilization or disposal. Slaughterhouses are among the most important industries in Uruguay and produce 150,000 tons of ruminal content (RC) and 30,000 tons of blood per year. In order to determine the influence of the solids and blood contents, the ammonia inhibition and the inoculum adaptation co-digestion batch tests were performed. A set of experiences with TS concentration of 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% and different ratios of RC/blood were carried out using an inoculum from an UASB reactor. In all experiences fast blood hydrolisation was observed. A higher methane production was detected in the experiences with higher TS content. However, the fraction of solids degradation was lower in these experiences. A plateau in the biogas production was found. The free ammonia level, which was above the reported inhibitory levels, could explain this behaviour. After the inhibition period the biogas production restarted probably due to the biomass acclimatisation to the ammonia. In order to determine the inoculum adaptation a new experiment was performed. The inoculum used was the sludge coming from the first set of experiences. Based upon batch tests a 3.5 m3 pilot reactor was designed and started up. Ammonia inhibition was avoided by the start-up strategy and in two weeks the biogas production was 3.5 m3/d. The VS stabilisation with a solid retention time of 20 days was of 43%. The pilot reactor working at steady state had a TS concentration of 3-4% with a ratio of RC/blood of 10:1 at the entrance.     

Influence of the second phase on the room-temperature tensile and creep deformation mechanisms of α-β titanium alloys: Part I. Tensile deformation

The effects of α and β phase interactions on the room-temperature tensile and creep deformation behavior of α + β titanium alloys with Widmanst?tten microstructures were studied using Ti-6.0 wt pct Mn and Ti-8.1 wt pct V as the model two-phase alloy systems. This article, Part I, deals with tensile deformation. It was found that when the α phase is present as thin (<10-μm) plates in the α + β alloys, significant twinning occurs. No significant twinning was observed in single-phase alloys with the same chemistry and similar grain size. Additionally, the β phase of Ti-8.1 V deforms by stress-induced hexagonal martensite (α′), while only twinning occurs in the single-phase β alloy with the same chemistry. Twinning in the α phase in association with stress-induced martensite (SIM) in the β phase was observed for the first time in a two-phase titanium alloy. This behavior is explained in terms of a number of factors including elastic interaction stresses between the α and β phases, coherency between the α phase and hexagonal martensite, and β phase stability.     

Catalytic epoxidation of olefins in the presence of a vanadyl porphyrin complex

It was found that vanadyl porphyrin complexes synthesized from petroleum metal porphyrin concentrates stimulated epoxidation during the olefin oxygenation process. The yields of obtained oxiranes turned out to be 38–75%, depending on the olefin structure. An epoxidation mechanism that suggests the formation of a protonated dioxygen adduct as an intermediate during oxygenation of olefins in the presence of vanadyl porphyrin complexes was proposed. An analogy is drawn between the epoxide formation reaction upon the catalytic oxygenation of olefins and the Prilezhaev reaction.     

Understanding silica-supported metal catalysts: Pd/silica as a case study

Supported metal catalysts, particularly noble metals supported on SiO₂, have attracted considerable attention due to the importance of the silica–metal interface in heterogeneous catalysis and in electronic device fabrication. Several important issues, e.g., the stability of the metal–oxide interface at working temperatures and pressures, are not well-understood. In this review, the present status of our understanding of the metal–silica interface is reviewed. Recent results of model studies in our laboratories on Pd/SiO₂/Mo(1 1 2) using LEED, AES and STM are reported. In this work, epitaxial, ultrathin, well-ordered SiO₂ films were grown on a Mo(1 1 2) substrate to circumvent complications that frequently arise from the silica–silicon interface present in silica thin films grown on silicon.     

Inhibition of microbial growth in ready‐to‐eat food stored at ambient temperature by modified atmosphere packaging

This study was undertaken to develop a modified atmosphere package to control microbial growth in ready‐to‐eat (RTE) products stored at ambient temperature. Ethanol and/or limonene associated with modified atmosphere (CO₂ : O₂ : N₂ = 30% : 5% : 65%) was used to inhibit the growth of total air‐borne microorganisms and Escherichia coli in RTE products stored at 25°C. The results indicated that 0.05% ethanol vapour in the headspace was effective to inhibit the growth of air‐borne microorganisms and E. coli at 25°C for 72 h in a model study, and the effectiveness was related to ethanol content. Both 73 ppm limonene and 0.05% ethanol vapour enhanced the bacteriostatic effect of modified atmosphere in RTE sushi roll products, and no off‐flavour was detected using this formulated gas; however, no significant inhibitory effect was observed for RTE cold noodle products. This study concludes that combinations of carbon dioxide, ethanol or limonene vapours are effective to inhibit microbial growth in RTE food at ambient temperature, and the outcome may be due to the hurdle effect. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the effect of BDMA catalyst in the epoxy novolac curing process by isothermal DSC

Epoxy novolac/anhydride cure kinetics has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry under isothermal conditions. The system used in this study was an epoxy novolac resin (DEN431), with nadic methyl anhydride as hardener and benzyldimethylamine as accelerator. Kinetic parameters including the reaction order, activation energy and kinetic rate constants, were investigated. The cure reaction was described with the catalyst concentration, and a normalized kinetic model developed for it. It is shown that the cure reaction is dependent on the cure temperature and catalyst concentration, and that it proceeds through an autocatalytic kinetic mechanism. The curing kinetic constants and the cure activation energies were obtained using the Arrhenius kinetic model. A suggested kinetic model with a diffusion term was successfully used to describe and predict the cure kinetics of epoxy novolac resin compositions as a function of the catalyst content and temperature. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Oligo(ethylene oxide) side‐chain steric screening effects on conductimetric properties of grafted poly(4‐vinylpyridinium) salts in aqueous solutions

A set of poly[N‐oligo(ethylene oxide)yl 4‐vinylpyridinium tosylate] (P4VOEOOTs) has been prepared by spontaneous polymerization of 4‐vinylpyridine. This method gives a grafted polyelectrolyte having a positive charge on every backbone pyridinic moiety. The P4VP15Ts, P4VP164Ts, P4VP350Ts and P4VP750Ts aqueous solution conductivities were determined in the concentration range from 6 × 10^?4 to 10^?2 M at 25 °C. The variation of the conductivity versus concentration of the investigated system exhibits typical polyelectrolyte behaviour. The polyelectrolyte mobility was found to be dependent on the oligo(ethylene oxide) (OEO) side‐chain length. Manning's rod‐like model fails to describe these results. A simple steric effect is proposed to explain the influence of the OEO length. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Flow Reaction Forces upon Blowdown of Safety Valves

The activation of safety valves causes the development of flow reaction forces that have to be transferred in an adequate way via the piping to the steel structure or via the connected vessel into the foundation. If the safety valve outlet piping is connected to a blowdown system or, in case of blowing off into the atmosphere, are equipped with a T‐piece at the outlet, the stationary reaction forces are compensated completely. The transient opening process, however, develops flow reaction forces which culminate in peaks of short duration. In this article, a simple method will be proposed for the estimation of the resulting reaction forces as a function of the length of the pipe at the safety valve outlet. CFD calculations and blowdown tests executed with a full‐lift safety valve have confirmed this method on principle. Special importance is attributed to the short duration of the effect of the reaction forces which seems to have only a negligible impact on the supporting steel structure.     

Catalytic aminolysis of epoxide by alumina prepared from amine-protected Al precursor

The catalytic activities of alumina prepared from an Al alkoxide-amine adduct monomer for the reaction of cyclopentene oxide with piperidine was determined after various pretreatments, including calcination and exposure to moisture. They were compared with the activity of alumina prepared by the conventional hydrolysis method. It was found that the as-prepared sample from the alkoxide-amine monomer preparation was five times more active than a conventional preparation, suggesting that it has a higher density of surface Lewis acid sites. However, its activity was much more severely suppressed by exposure to moisture.     

Nonlinearity analysis and optimization of HBTs for optical mixer designs

Two types of photo heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) to directly down-convert optical signals to electronic signals have been reported in the literature: a conventional photo-HBT in which light penetrates through the area of the base-collector junction and an HBT where light shines through the base-collector edge for higher conversion efficiency. Although the performance in relation to bias conditions has been published, the detailed analyses for identifying the parameters and bias conditions that provide optimum direct down-conversion have not been examined. This paper provides a full explanation of the operation of the down-conversion for both HBT configurations based on low-frequency analyses. Such information is useful for both understanding the nonlinear mechanisms involved and designing for maximum efficiency. In addition, a new circuit has been developed from the basic HBT down-conversion circuit that provides improved performance.