Preliminary experimental study of a bio-inspired,phase-change particle capillary heat exchanger

In this study a new cooling concept using encapsulated phase-change particles flowing with water in a parallel-plate mini-channel is presented. This novel concept is inspired by the gas exchange process in alveolar capillaries, where red blood cells (RBCs) flow with blood plasma, yielding very high gas transfer efficiency. Another important characteristic of alveolar capillary blood flow, which is related to the high efficiency of the lungs, is the snug fitting of the RBCs into the capillaries. Hence, preliminary results of experimental tests using particles with diameter similar to the flow channel spacing flowing with water through a heated parallel-plate channel test module are presented and analyzed. The particles are octadecane paraffin (C₁₈H₃₈), a phase-change material, encapsulated in a thin melamine shell. The temperature distribution along the heated surface of the channel is measured for various water flow rates, with and without particles, and with different number of particles. Results are reported in terms of the channel heated surface average temperature and the average heat transfer coefficient, showing a sensible increase (over 20%) in the latter as compared to a clear (of particles) flow. There is strong evidence the increase in heat transfer efficiency to result from a combination of the extra mixing flow effect caused by the presence of particles in the flow and the phase-change effect caused by the EPCM inside the particles.     

Effects of the macroalga Asparagopsis taxiformis and oregano leaves on methane emission,rumen fermentation,and lactational performance of dairy cows

Asparagopsis taxiformis (AT) is a source of multiple halogenated compounds and, in a limited number of studies, has been shown to decrease enteric CH₄ emission in vitro and in vivo. Similarly, oregano has been suggested as a potential CH₄ mitigating agent. This study consisted of 2 in vitro and 2 in vivo experiments. Experiment (Exp.) 1 was aimed at establishing the effect of AT on CH₄ emission in vitro. Two experiments (Exp. 2 and 3) with lactating dairy cows were conducted to determine the antimethanogenic effect of AT and oregano (Exp. 3) in vivo. Another experiment (Exp. 4) was designed to investigate stability of bromoform (CHBr₃) in AT over time. In Exp. 3, 20 Holstein cows were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design with four 28-d periods. Treatments were basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with (dry matter basis) 0.25% AT (LowAT), 0.50% AT (HighAT), or 1.77% oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) leaves. Enteric gas emissions were measured using the GreenFeed system (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD), and rumen samples were collected for fermentation analysis using the ororuminal technique. In Exp.1 (in vitro), relative to the control, AT (at 1% dry matter basis, inclusion rate) decreased CH₄ yield by 98%. In Exp. 3, HighAT decreased average daily CH₄ emission and CH₄ yield by 65% and 55%, respectively, in experimental periods 1 and 2, but had no effect in periods 3 and 4. The differential response to AT among experimental periods was likely a result of a decrease in CHBr₃ concentration in AT over time, as observed in Exp. 4 (up to 84% decrease in 4 mo of storage). In Exp. 3, H₂ emission was increased by AT and, as expected, the proportion of acetate in the total volatile fatty acids in the rumen was decreased and those of propionate and butyrate were increased by HighAT compared with the control. Compared with the control, HighAT decreased dry matter intake, milk yield, and energy-corrected milk yield in Exp. 3. Milk composition was not affected by treatment, except lactose percentage and yield were decreased by HighAT. Concentrations of iodine and bromide in milk were increased by HighAT compared with the control. Milk CHBr₃ concentration and its organoleptic characteristics were not different between control and HighAT. Oregano had no effect on CH₄ emission or lactational performance of the cows in Exp. 3. Overall, AT included at 0.50% in the ration of dairy cows can have a large mitigation effect on enteric CH₄ emission, but dry matter intake and milk production may also decrease. There was a marked decrease in the CH₄ mitigation potential of AT in the second half of Exp. 3, likely resulting from CHBr₃ decay over time.     

Phenotypically divergent classification of preweaned heifer calves for feed efficiency indexes and their correlations with heat production and thermography

The aims of this study were (1) to assess if there is phenotypical divergence for feed efficiency (FE) during the preweaning phase; (2) if FE is correlated with heat production (HP) measured by the face mask method or (3) by surface skin temperature via thermography, and (4) whether these methods are applicable to preweaned calves. Holstein × Gyr heifer calves (n = 36, birth body weight = 32.4 ± 6.6 kg) were enrolled and on trial between 4 and 12 wk of age and were classified into 2 residual feed intake (RFI) and residual body weight gain (RG) groups: high efficiency (HE; RFI, n = 10; and RG, n = 9) and low efficiency (LE; RFI, n = 10; and RG, n = 8). Calves were fed milk (6 L/d) and solid feed (95% starter and 5% chopped Tifton 85 hay, as fed). Growth was monitored weekly and feed intake (milk and solid feed) daily, during the whole period. Gas exchanges (O₂ consumption and production of CO₂ and CH₄) were obtained using a face mask at 45 ± 5 d of age and HP was estimated. Maximum temperatures were measured at 7 sites with an infrared camera at 62 ± 7 d of age. There was divergence in RFI and RG. Respectively, HE and LE calves had RFI of ?0.14 and 0.13 kg/d, and RG of 0.05 and ?0.07 kg/d. Dry matter intake was 15% lower in HE-RFI compared with LE-RFI, but no differences were observed in average daily weight gain. Within the RG test, no differences were observed in dry matter intake or average daily gain. The HE-RFI calves consumed less O₂ (L/d) and produced less CO₂ (L/d). Heart rate and HP were lower for HE-RFI calves compared with LE-RFI. Residual feed intake was correlated with HP (r = 0.48), O₂ consumption (r = 0.48), CO₂ production (r = 0.48), and heart rate (r = 0.40). No differences were observed in HP and gas exchanges between RG groups. Methane production was null in both groups. Eye temperature measured by thermography was 0.5°C greater in HE-RG than LE-RG calves. Differences in skin temperature between HE and LE calves were not observed at the other sites. These results support the hypothesis that calves are divergent for RFI, RG, and FE during preweaning and divergence tests are applicable during this phase. The face mask method described here is a useful tool for estimating differences in HP among phenotypically divergent RFI calves. Eye temperature measured by infrared thermography may have potential to screen phenotypically divergent RG calves.     

A Study on the Nonmetallic Inclusion Motions in a Swirling Flow Submerged Entry Nozzle in a New Cylindrical Tundish Design

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - Different sizes and shapes of nonmetallic inclusions in a swirling flow submerged entry nozzle (SEN) placed in a new tundish design were investigated by...     

Analysis of vegetation recovery in areas impacted by bauxite mining in the Amazon Forest

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Mining activity is essential for the Brazilian economy, representing 21% of exports in 2018, but it causes several environmental impacts, including...     

Enrichment of benzo[a]pyrene in smoked food products and determination by high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection

We developed a procedure for trace enrichment of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) in extracts of smoked food products, and an HPLC-fluorescence detection (FL) method for determination of BP in the enriched extracts. The procedure consists in extraction/sonication of the lyophilized product in hexane, clean-up of the hexane extract by passage through a Sep-Pak Silica Plus cartridge and, subsequently, by partitioning between hexane and dimethyl sulphoxide, and concentration of the BP using a Sep-Pak C18 Plus cartridge. HPLC-FL and quantification limits were 0.049 microgram/l in acetonitrile (< 0.0067 microgram/kg of smoked food) and 0.089 microgram/l in acetonitrile (< 0.012 microgram/kg), respectively. Recovery (94.1%) and RSD (< 8.65%) were satisfactory. When applied to 15 types of sausage, mean BP content was 0.022 microgram/kg, and all but two samples (both treated with wood smoke) had BP contents below the 0.03 microgram/kg limit imposed in EU legislation for smoking-flavour agents.     

Dam-Break Wave-Front Celerity

This work is concerned with the role that friction and inertia effects can play on the magnitude of dam-break wave-front celerity. Classic analytical solutions are presented. A large collection of experimental data is used, covering a wide range of different initial conditions: fixed bed or mobile bed (five types of bed material), dry or wet bed downstream, and with or without bed step. To overcome the limitations of analytical solutions, a numerical model is used. The model is based on the shallow-water approach with contact-load dominated sediment transport, and it makes use of developments recently made in the study of sheet flows. The analytical and numerical results are compared with experimental data. It was found that the celerity is mainly dictated by the friction coefficient, by the sediment inertia, by the initial downstream water depth, and by the initial bed step height. For good data fitting, the friction coefficient must be influenced by the type of bed, fixed or mobile. In the latter, the coefficient must vary with the bed material characteristics. The dissimilarities between the experimental, analytical, and numerical results are interpreted.     

Electron spin resonance dating of human teeth from Toca da Santa shelter of São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, Brazil

Results of the dating of fossil human teeth excavated from a shelter in the surroundings areas of the Serra da Capivara National Park, São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, Brazil are presented. This shelter was partially excavated to search for more data that could improve the archaeological context of the Garrincho’s limestone hill sites, where the Toca do Gordo do Garrincho shelter provided two human teeth dated by conventional C-14 in (12,170 ± 40) yBP (years before present) and calibrated age (2 Sigma, 95% probability) 15,245-14,690 yBP (Beta 136204) [E. Peyre, C. Guérin, N. Guidon, I. Coppens, CR Acad. Sci. Paris, Sciences de la terre et des planètes/ Earth & Planetary Sciences 327 (1998) 335, [1]].This region is challenging the classical theories about the peopling of America. In agreement with such theories the first human groups would have arrived in America, through Behring, only about 20,000 years ago. The site Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada is a rock-shelter situated at the cliff that is the frontier between the Pré-Cambrian São Francisco plain and the Devonian-Permian highlands of the Maranhão-Piauí basin. It was excavated from 1978 till 1988 and presented a very consistent stratigraphy, with thousand of lithic implements and hearths [F. Parenti, Le gisement quaternaire de la Pedra Furada (Piaui, Brésil), Stratigraphie, chronologie, évolution culturelle, Editions Recherches sur les civilisations, Paris, 2002, [2]; F. Parenti, Le Gisement Quaternaire de la Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Piauí, Brésil) dans le Contexte de la Préhistoire Américaine Fouilles, Stratigraphie, Chronologie, Évolution Culturelle, Ph.D. diss, Ècole des Hautes Ètudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 1993, 411p, [3]; F. Parenti, M. Fontugne, N. Guidon, C. Guérin, M. Faure, Chronostratigraphie des gisements archéologiques et paléontologiques de Sao Raimundo Nonato (Piaui, Brésil): contribution à la connaissance du peuplement pléistocène de l’Amérique, Supplément de la Revue d’Archéométrie, 1999, p. 327, [4]].Seventy C-14 dates were obtained going from 59,000 yBP to 5000 yBP at the actual soil [G.M. Santos, M.I., Bird, F. Parenti, L.K. Fifield, N. Guidon, P.A. Hausladen, Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 2303, [5]]. Beneath the date of 59,000 yBP it was found 1.5 m of archaeological layers, till the rock base. The cobbles that composed the structure of the hearths placed on top of the rock base were dated by thermoluminescence and the date of them is 100,000 yBP [H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reiss, N. Guidon, N., Quaternary Sci. Rev. 22 (2003) 1257, [6]; H. Valladas, N. Mercier, M. Michab, J.L. Joron, J.L. Reyss, N. Guidon, Datações por Termoluminescência de Seixos de Quartzo Queimados da Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Piauí, Nordeste do Brasil), Fumdhamentos III, 1 (2003) 35 (in Portuguese), [7]]. Thus chronological information is of paramount importance to contextualize and to understand the many questions regarding the human occupation of these sites [N. Guidon, A.M. Pessis, G. Martin, O Povoamento Pré-Histórico do Nordeste do Brasil, Proposta da: Fundação Museu do Homem Americano, e do Núcleo de Estudos Arqueológicos, da UFPE, CLIO ARQ, Recife 1 (6) (1990) 123, [8]]. To obtain more information Toca da Santa shelter, the nearest site to Toca do Gordo do Garrincho shelter, was also excavated and three incomplete skeletons with teeth were found at 80 cm depth. The teeth were cleaned and acid etched and enamel completely removed from dentine and crushed in particles smaller than 0.5 mm. Enamel was irradiated with a Co-60 source and measured with an ESR spectrometer (X-band) to obtain the signal versus dose curve. The archeological doses obtained by the fitting were (5.94 ± 0.07) Gy and (5.97 ± 0.08) Gy. Using the ROSY program an age of 5,700 ± 200 yBP was found for both teeth.     

Direct measurement of the local intensity modulation response ofdistributed feedback lasers

Direct measurements of the local intensity modulation properties of a distributed-feedback laser diode are presented. The modulation efficiency varies along the laser cavity and depends on frequency and the applied bias current. The experiment was performed on a conventional laser with small holes in the contact metallization, and the modulation was induced optically. A numerical analysis shows good agreement with the measured responses