Gravitational drainage of compressible organic materials

A model was developed to simulate drainage of compressible particle suspensions, and study how cake compression and volumetric load influence the process. The input parameters were settling velocity, cake resistance and compressibility. These parameters were found using a new experimental method. Dextran‐MnO₂ particle suspensions were drained as these resemble organic waste slurries with respect to settling and compressibility. It was demonstrated that cake compressibility must be taken into account to obtain adequate simulations. This implies that pressurized filtration resistances cannot be used for drainage simulations. In the filtration step, a distinct increase of dry matter from top to bottom of the cake was observed. During the subsequent consolidation, the cake compressed and a uniform dry matter profile was found. The final dry matter content of the cake increased with feed concentration and volumetric load. The drainage time increased proportionally with feed concentration and, more importantly, proportionally with squared volumetric load. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Experimental investigation of an industrial scale black liquor gasifier. 1. The effect of reactor operation parameters on product gas composition

A novel technology to mitigate the climate changes and improve energy security is Pressurized Entrained flow High Temperature Black Liquor Gasification (PEHT-BLG) in combination with an efficient fuel synthesis using the resulting syngas. In order to optimise the technology for use in a pulp and paper mill based biorefinery, it is of great importance to understand how the operational parameters of the gasifier affect the product gas composition. The present paper is based on experiments where gas samples were withdrawn from the hot part of a 3 MW entrained flow pressurized black liquor gasifier of semi industrial scale using a high temperature gas sampling system. Specifically, the influence of process conditions on product gas composition (CO₂, CO, H₂, CH₄, H₂S, and COS) were examined by systematically varying the operational parameters: system pressure, oxygen to black liquor equivalence ratio, black liquor flow rate to pressure ratio and black liquor pre-heat temperature. Due to the harsh environment inside the gasification reactor, gas sampling is a challenging task. However, for the purpose of the current study, a specially designed high temperature gas sampling system was successfully developed and used. The results, obtained from two separate experimental campaigns, show that all of the investigated operational parameters have a significant influence on the product gas composition and present valuable information about to the process characteristics.     

Low‐Temperature Superionic Conductivity in Strained Yttria‐Stabilized Zirconia

Very high lateral ionic conductivities in epitaxial cubic yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) synthesized on single‐crystal SrTiO₃ and MgO substrates by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering are reported. Superionic conductivities (i.e., ionic conductivities of the order ～1 Ω^?1cm^?1) are observed at 500 °C for 58‐nm‐thick films on MgO. The results indicate a superposition of two parallel contributions – one due to bulk conductivity and one attributable to conduction along the film–substrate interface. Interfacial effects dominate the conductivity at low temperatures (<350 °C), showing more than three orders of magnitude enhancement compared to bulk YSZ. At higher temperatures, a more bulk‐like conductivity is observed. The films have a negligible grain‐boundary network, thus ruling out grain boundaries as a pathway for ionic conduction. The observed enhancement in lateral ionic conductivity is caused by a combination of misfit dislocation density and elastic strain in the interface. These very high ionic conductivities in the temperature range 150–500 °C are of great fundamental importance but may also be technologically relevant for low‐temperature applications.     

Two Classes of Cosine-Modulated IIR/IIR and IIR/FIR NPR Filter Banks

This paper introduces two classes of cosine-modulated causal and stable filter banks (FBs) with near perfect reconstruction (NPR) and low implementation complexity. Both classes have the same infinite-length impulse response (IIR) analysis FB but different synthesis FBs utilizing IIR and finite-length impulse response (FIR) filters, respectively. The two classes are preferable for different types of specifications. The IIR/FIR FBs are preferred if small phase errors relative to the magnitude error are desired, and vice versa. The paper provides systematic design procedures so that PR can be approximated as closely as desired. It is demonstrated through several examples that the proposed FB classes, depending on the specification, can have a lower implementation complexity compared to existing FIR and IIR cosine-modulated FBs (CMFBs). The price to pay for the reduced complexity is generally an increased delay. Furthermore, two additional attractive features of the proposed FBs are that they are asymmetric in the sense that one of the analysis and synthesis banks has a lower computational complexity compared to the other, which can be beneficial in some applications, and that the number of distinct coefficients is small, which facilitates the design of FBs with large numbers of channels.     

Effect of interesterified fat mixtures on certain lipid indices in experimental fat metabolism disturbance

Groups of adult Wistar male and female rats were fed isoenergetically for a three and a six weeks period either with synthetic lipogenic diet containing 5% and 20% fat mixtures (in which sunflower oil and lard were blended according to the ratio of 35:65) or with the same synthetic diet containing the mixture of sunflower oil and interesterified lard in a similar ratio. A control group received a normal diet for 6 weeks, whereas one of the experimental groups (fed with the 20% fat mixture in the lipogenic diet for 6 weeks) was given the normal diet for an additional two weeks period. After the feeding periods had been completed serum HDL-C levels and the total lipid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, free fatty acid levels were determined in serum and liver. The distribution of fatty acids in liver and heart muscle was also evaluated. In comparison to the control values it has been found: 1. Consumption of the lipogenic diet which is known to increase the serum total lipid and total cholesterol content induced in male rats a smaller augmentation in these indices when consuming the 20% fat mixture with a P/S ratio approaching the ideal 1 values, than in case of a 5% fat mixture consumption. In case of female rats, considerable increases of the serum values, could be observed at both fat consumption levels. The serum triglyceride and HDL-C contents decreased for all experimental groups. 2. The total lipid and triglyceride content of the liver increased in a high degree, the fatty liver syndrome was developed--more rapidly in males than in females. The total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol contents of the liver of male rats exceeded those of females by 15-30%. 3. The interesterification of the lard component of fat mixture resulted in lipid indices similar to those without interesterification, or in certain cases, they were found to be even slightly more favourable, i.e. the biological effect of the technological change proved to be adequate. 4. After a two weeks regeneration period the serum values of the male rats approached closer the normal control values than those of the females which were decreasing from a very high level but the degree of decrease was greater for them than for the male rats. The lipid content of the liver showed similar values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Inhibition of Bacillus cereus spore outgrowth and multiplication by chitosan

Bacillus cereus is an endospore-forming bacterium able to cause food-associated illness. Different treatment processes are used in the food industry to reduce the number of spores and thereby the potential of foodborne disease. Chitosan is a polysaccharide with well-documented antibacterial activity towards vegetative cells. The activity against bacterial spores, spore germination and subsequent outgrowth and growth (the latter two events hereafter denoted (out)growth), however, is poorly documented. By using six different chitosans with defined macromolecular properties, we evaluated the effect of chitosan on Bacillus cereus spore germination and (out)growth using optical density assays and a dipicolinic acid release assay. (Out)growth was inhibited by chitosan, but germination was not. The action of chitosan was found to be concentration-dependent and also closely related to weight average molecular weight (M_w) and fraction of acetylation (F_A) of the biopolymer. Chitosans of low acetylation (F_A = 0.01 or 0.16) inhibited (out)growth more effectively than higher acetylated chitosans (F_A = 0.48). For the F_A = 0.16 chitosans with medium (56.8 kDa) and higher M_w (98.3 kDa), a better (out)growth inhibition was observed compared to low M_w (10.6 kDa) chitosan. The same trend was not evident with chitosans of 0.48 acetylation, where the difference in activity between the low (19.6 kDa) and high M_w (163.0 kDa) chitosans was only minor. In a spore test concentration corresponding to 10²-10³ CFU/ml (spore numbers relevant to food), less chitosan was needed to suppress (out)growth compared to higher spore numbers (equivalent to 10⁸ CFU/ml), as expected. No major differences in chitosan susceptibility between three different strains of B. cereus were detected. Our results contribute to a better understanding of chitosan activity towards bacterial spore germination and (out)growth.     

Chemical composition of some forages and various residues from feeding value determinations

NDF, ADF, ‘cellulose’ and IVOMD residues, from feeding value determinations, were prepared from some forages, including straw, alkali-treated straw, grass and lucerne samples. The crude protein, cellulose, hemicellulose, uronic acid, Klason lignin, lignin and ash contents of these residues and the corresponding original forage samples were determined together with the relative composition of the neutral sugar constituents after acid hydrolysis. Cellulose, hemicellulose and Klason lignin were the main components in the NDF fractions but substantial amounts of crude protein (1–6%) also remained. Cellulose and Klason lignin were the main components in the ADF fractions, but 7–14% of the fractions was hemicellulose and 1–4% crude protein. Cellulose was the main component in the ‘cellulose’ fractions, but they also contained 8–13% hemicellulose, 2–7% Klason lignin and 2–11% ash. The composition of the IVOMD residues showed that cellulose and hemicellulose had been dissolved to about the same amounts (70–80%) and that most of the Klason lignin remained.     

Characterisation of submicron particles produced during oxygen blown entrained flow gasification of biomass

In this paper submicron particles sampled after the quench during 200 kW, 2 bar(a) pressurised, oxygen blown gasification of three biomass fuels, pure stem wood of pine and spruce, bark from spruce and a bark mixture, have been characterised with respect to particle size distribution with a low pressure cascade impactor. The particles were also characterised for morphology and elemental composition by a combination of scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy/selected area electron diffraction pattern (HRTEM/EDS/SAED) techniques. The resulting particle concentration in the syngas after the quench varied between 46 and 289 mg/Nm³ consisting of both carbon and easily volatile ash forming element significantly depending on the fuel ash content. Several different types of particles could be identified from classic soot particles to pure metallic zinc particles depending on the individual particle relation of carbon and ash forming elements. The results also indicate that ash forming elements and especially zinc interacts in the soot formation process creating a particle with shape and microstructure significantly different from a classical soot particle.     

Tunable microwave devices using low-sintering-temperature screen-printed barium strontium titanate (BST) thick films

A tunable microwave phase shifter composed of a low-sintering-temperature, screen-printable barium strontium titanate (BST) film and silver metallization was fabricated on an alumina substrate and co-fired at 900 °C for 3 h. The dielectric properties of the films were characterized in a frequency range of 0.8–8 GHz using scattering parameter measurements and a quasi-static coplanar waveguide transmission line model. The temperature dependency of the films was measured through capacitance measurements in a frequency range of 0.5–2.5 GHz. The figure of merit (phase shift/dB of insertion loss) of the phase shifter was found to be 14.6 at 3 GHz with an applied bias field strength of 2.5 V/μm. The performance of the phase shifter is briefly discussed and compared with other phase shifters fabricated by direct screen-printing of BST films.