Ultrasonic Pretreatment Transesterification for Solid Basic-Catalyzed Synthesis of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters

Generally, ultrasound irradiation is required throughout the reaction for fatty acid methyl esters (FAME, namely, biodiesel) production, which is energy-consuming and difficult to scale-up. In order to improve the industrial application of ultrasonic technology, a systematic study of ultrasonic pretreatment solid basic (Na₂SiO₃)-catalyzed transesterification for FAME production from cottonseed oil was carried out, and the effect of ultrasonic waves on the properties of Na₂SiO₃ catalyst was assessed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization of fresh and collected catalysts. An ultrasonic frequency of 30 kHz, ultrasonic power of 200 W and ultrasonic pretreatment irradiation time of 30 min was determined to guarantee a satisfactory degree of transesterification. The optimum production was achieved in the reaction system at 45 °C with methanol/cottonseed oil molar ratio 5:1, catalyst dosage 3% and stirring speed 350 rpm resulting in a FAME yield of above 97% after 60 min of reaction under mechanical stirring with the ultrasonic pretreatment process. The new process has a shorter reaction time, a more moderate reaction temperature, a less amount of methanol and catalyst than only the mechanical stirring process without essential damage to activity and the structure of catalyst. These results are of great significance for applying the ultrasonic pretreatment method to produce FAME.     

生态卫生与生态城市发展

今天的城市需要我们关注5个方面的全球性问题:城市卫生设施(厕所)匮乏、固体废弃物得不到妥善的处理和再利用、8亿人处于失业或半失业状态、有几百万的人在不安全的条件下依靠拣垃圾为生、用于农业生产的肥料短缺。卫生的生态城市概念需要处理上述问题,需要运用系统方法组织解决方案,致力于为所有居民,特别是为城市和乡村的贫困人口提供更好的生活环境,帮助他们减轻贫困状况。     

Lightweight concrete made from oil palm shell (OPS): Structural bond and durability properties

The first part of this experimental program was to determine the structural bond properties of lightweight concrete incorporating solid waste oil palm shell (OPS) as coarse aggregate and also to compare its behaviour with other types of lightweight aggregate concretes. Other properties of OPS concrete namely the split tensile strength, modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity were also determined. The structural bond properties were determined through pull-out test. The results showed that the experimental bond strength of OPS concrete was much higher than the design bond strength as stipulated by BS 8110. In general, the properties of OPS concrete compared well with that of other structural lightweight concretes and the results obtained encourage the use of OPS as aggregates for the production of structural lightweight concrete. The second part of the experimental program investigates the durability performance of OPS concrete through water permeability and water absorption tests.     

Anaerobic microbial mobilization and biotransformation of arsenate adsorbed onto activated alumina

Due to the enactment of a stricter drinking water standard for arsenic in the United States, larger quantities of arsenic will be treated resulting in larger volumes of treatment residuals. The current United States Environmental Protection Agency recommendation is to dispose spent adsorbent residuals from arsenic treatment into non-hazardous municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The potential of microorganisms to alter the speciation affecting the mobility of arsenic in the disposal environment is therefore a concern. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the potential of an anaerobic microbial consortium to biologically mobilize arsenate (As(V)) adsorbed onto activated alumina (AA), a common adsorbent used for treating arsenic in drinking water. Three anaerobic columns (0.27 l) packed with 100 g dry weight of AA containing 0.657 mg adsorbed As(V) (expressed as arsenic) per gram dry weight were continuously flushed with synthetic landfill leachate for 257 days. The fully biologically active column was inoculated with methanogenic anaerobic sludge (10 g volatile suspended solids l(-1) column) and was operated with a mixture of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the feed (2.5 g chemical oxygen demand l(-1) feed). At the end of the experiment, 37% of the arsenic was removed from the column, of which 48% was accounted for by arsenical species identified in the column effluent. The most important form of arsenic eluted was arsenite (As(III)), accounting for nearly all of the identified arsenic in periods of high mobilization. Additionally, two methylated metabolites, methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid were observed. Mobilization of arsenic is attributed to the biological reduction of As(V) to As(III) since literature data indicates that As(III) is more weakly adsorbed to AA compared to As(V). Batch and continuous assays confirmed that VFA, present in landfill leachates, served as an electron donating substrate supporting enhanced rates of As(V) reduction to As(III). Two control columns, lacking inoculum and/or VFA in the feed displayed low mobilization of arsenic compared to the fully biologically active column. Therefore, leachates generated in MSW landfills could potentially result in the biologically catalyzed mobilization of arsenic from As(V)-laden drinking water residuals.     

Buckling of super ellipsoidal shells under uniform pressure

This paper is concerned with the elastic buckling of super ellipsoidal shells under external uniform pressure. The middle surface of a super ellipsoidal shell is defined by the following equation: (x/a)²ⁿ+(y/b)²ⁿ+(z/c)²ⁿ=1, where n is an integer varying from unity to infinity. It is clear from the equation that the range of shell shapes covered sphere (n=1, a=b=c) to cube () and ellipsoid (n=1) to cuboid (n=∞). By adopting a recently proposed solid shell element for the buckling analysis, the critical buckling pressures of thin to thick super ellipsoidal shells are obtained and tabulated for engineers. The shell element allows for the effect of transverse shear deformation which becomes significant in thick shells. Their buckling shapes are also examined. In addition, a simple approximate formula for predicting the critical buckling pressure of thick spherical shells is proposed.     

Achievable working range for solid all-desiccant air-conditioning systems under specific space comfort requirements

Solid desiccant air-conditioning systems present a promising solution, in terms of performance level and environmental protection, pointing out their potential to be coupled with thermal solar or waste heat energy source. Nevertheless, these systems are characterized by constraints to the load they can satisfy, through the trade-off between the dehumidification cooling capacity and the latent load of the conditioned space. On that level, one has to note that, for steady environmental conditions, the conditioned space does not present unique value of load, but range of load, corresponding to an array of acceptable temperature and (usually relative) humidity values. In this work a methodology is proposed for the definition of the system's achievable working range under specific set of space (comfort) requirements. Through this approach, the systems present greater potential for covering the space requirements, thus presenting more possibilities on a design basis, and more flexible control strategies, as well. The proposed methodology is presented and discussed through the case study of a solar desiccant air-conditioning system coupled to a typical residential building.     

Three modified activated carbons by different ligands for the solid phase extraction of copper and lead

In the presented work, 5,5-diphenylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (phenytoin) (DFTD), 5,5-diphenylimidazolidine-2-thione-,4-one (thiophenytoin) (DFID) and 2-(4'-methoxy-benzylidenimine) thiophenole (MBIP) modified activated carbons have been used for the solid phase extraction of copper and lead ions prior to their flame atomic absorption spectrometric determinations. The influences of the various analytical parameters including pH, amounts of reagent, sample volume and eluent type, etc. on the recovery efficiencies of copper and lead ions were investigated. The influences of alkaline, earth alkaline and some transition metals on the adsorption of the analytes were also examined. The detection limits by three sigma for analyte ions were 0.65 and 0.42 microg L(-1) using activated carbon modified with DFID; 0.52 and 0.37 microg L(-1) using activated carbon modified with DFTD and 0.46 and 0.31 microg L(-1) using activated carbon modified with MBIP for Pb(II) and Cu(II), respectively. The procedure was applied to the determination of analytes in natural waters, soil, and blood samples with satisfactory results (recoveries greater than 95%, R.S.D.'s lower than 4%).     

Elastic Properties of Potassium Halides under Pressure

The moderate-pressure elastic properties of potassium halides KX （X=F, Cl, Br） was studied theoretically using the density functional theory （DFT） with normconserving pseudopotentials method. The phase transformation from the B1 phase （NaCl-type structure） to the denser B2 phase （CsCl-type structure） occurred at 7.7, 3.46 and 2.96 GPa for KF, KCI and KBr, respectively. The elastic stiffness coefficients and bulk modulus of these materials were calculated as function of hydrostatic pressure and compared with both the experimental and theoretical values.     

Solid State Shear Milling to Prepare Magnesium Hydroxide Flame-Retardant Polyamide 6 with High Performance

A novel processing method, that is, solid state shear milling (S3M), was adopted to compound high loading inorganic flame-retardant magnesium hydroxide with polyamide 6 by using our self-designed pan-mill equipment. S3M can effectively pulverize PA6, increase the interfacial interaction of the resin and magnesium hydroxide, and achieve their even blending, thus effectively controlling the state of the dispersion phase in solid state. With the co-milled composite powder as flame retardant master batch filled in original PA6 pellets, it can greatly improve the compatibility of the system, modify the distribution process of magnesium hydroxide, and decrease the dispersion phase size in the following melt processing. As a result, S3M technology can remarkably increase the melt flowability of the composite materials, and obtain obviously enhanced flame retardance and mechanical performance, thus providing an effective solution to the poor processibility and deteriorated performance of magnesium hydroxide flame-retardant PA6 obtained through direct melt processing.     

热容运转模式下LD泵浦固体激光器的热效应分析

针对热容运转模式下的固体激光器,对二极管泵浦光强分布进行修正,并且考虑激光介质比热容和热传导率随温度变化的特性,建立了三角均布脉冲LD侧面泵浦固体激光介质的热传导物理模型。利用有限元方法,对激光介质的温度变化过程进行了模拟与分析,并且,与连续泵浦、脉冲泵浦模式下的热稳态固体激光介质的热效应分布进行了对比讨论。讨论结果对热容激光器的设计工作提供参考。