Simulation of toxic gases and vapours removal by activated carbon filters

The system ASC carbon filter/cyanogen chloride was studied by simulation. Three filter configurations and several models, taking into account Langmuir adsorption and second-order reaction between the adsorbed toxic vapour and the active metal on the surface, were developed.The effects of axial dispersion, number of reaction units, film mass transfer units and intraparticle mass transfer resistance on the breakthrough time were studied.Simulation results show that a complex model should be used in order to predict with reasonable accuracy the protection imparted by these filters.     

Flow dynamics or ‘quaking’ in gravity discharge from silos

This paper reviews the characteristics of pulsating or cyclic flow of bulk solids during gravity discharge in bins and silos. The dynamic load phenomenon is often referred to as “silo quaking” and is influenced by various factors related to the type of flow pattern developed in the bin and the flow properties of the bulk material. Of particular relevance is the influence of ‘slip-stick’ during shear flow, and the velocity at critical sections in the silo during discharge. An overview of recent and current research on this subject is presented.     

On the curing of a vinylester-urethane hybrid resin

Curing kinetics of a vinylester-urethane hybrid (VEUH) resin consisting of vinylester resin (VE) diluted in styrene and novolac type polyisocyanate (NPI) have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As VEUH is crosslinked via free radical polymerisation between the vinyl functions of styrene and VE, and polyaddition reaction between the secondary -OH groups of VE and -NCO of NPI, it was necessary to study these reactions separately. This was achieved by studying the curing with and without incorporating the NPI. The curing reaction was monitored by measuring the heat of reaction under isothermal and dynamic temperature conditions. Models describing the curing were developed, which are in good agreement with the experiments. A comparison between the curing of the VEUH and the VE resin without NPI leads to the conclusion that the curing of the VEUH as accessed by DSC is dominated by the radical polymerisation of styrene with VE although the two reactions are not time separated.     

Semi-batch extraction of anthocyanins from red grape pomace in packed beds: experimental results and process modelling

A semi-batch extraction process of anthocyanins was studied in a packed bed. Methanol was used as solvent and the raw material studied consisted of skins of the tempranillo grape, which was obtained from the pomace from red wine vinification. The results show large diffusional effects due to strong control from the mass transfer. The best results were obtained using a high temperature and a high flow rate. A penetration model is proposed in terms of a bed of spherical particles. The model provides a value for the diffusion coefficient of the solute within the solid matrix. It can be seen that the adjustment of the model is satisfactory and that it is able to predict, to a reasonable extent, the yield of the extraction process.     

Modelling of a gas flow measurement: Application to nuclear containment vessels

The objective of this work is to simulate the gas flow across a concrete wall of a nuclear power plant internal enclosure. In the laboratory, permeability measurements are generally made on cylindrical samples (15 cm diameter×5 cm height: ∅ 15×5 cm) with a steady-state experiment. To be able to predict structural behaviour, we studied size effect and steady-state time with a modified CEMBUREAU permeability test. A statistical approach showed that there is no size effect on concrete permeability. Laboratory results found on cylindrical samples can be applied to tests in situ, where concrete specimens are thicker. A model based on the mass balance relation provided times to reach steady state and reproduced experimental flow kinetics for uniform water content across specimens.     

Modelling of the substrate heterogeneities experienced by a limited microbial population in scale-down and in large-scale bioreactors

A methodology based on stochastic modelling is presented to describe the influence of the bioreactor heterogeneity on the microorganisms growth and physiology. The stochastic model is composed of two sub-models: a microorganism circulation sub-model and a fluid mixing sub-model used for the characterization of the concentration gradient. The first one is expressed by a classical stochastic model (with random number generation), whereas the second one is expressed by a stochastic Markov chain. Their superimposition permits to obtain the concentration profiles experienced by the microorganisms in the bioreactor. The simulation results are expressed in the form of frequency distributions. At first, the study has been focused on the design of scale-down reactors (SDR). This kind of reactor has been reported to be an efficient tool to study at a small-scale the hydrodynamic behaviour encountered in large-scale reactor [P. Neubauer, L. Horvat, S.O. Enfors, Influence of substrate oscillations on acetate formation and growth yield in Escherichia coli glucose limited fed-batch cultivations, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 47 (1995) 139–146]. Several parameters affecting the shape of the frequency distributions have been tested. Among these, it appears that the perturbation frequency, the exposure time and the design of the non-mixed part of the SDR have a significant influence on the shape of the distributions. The respective influence of all these parameters must be taken into account in order to obtain representative results. As a general trend, the increase of the recirculation flow rate between the mixed and the non-mixed part of the SDR induce a shift of the frequency distribution for the lower relative concentrations, which suggests an attenuation of the scale-down effect. This has been validated by using the SDR in the case of the cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the influence of the non-mixed part of the SDR is not quite well understood if only taking account of the frequency distribution analysis, and supplementary experiments are required to elucidate the underlying mechanism.

The aspect of the frequency distributions suggests that both the design and the operating conditions of a scale-down reactor need to be adjusted in order to match the behaviour of a given large-scale reactor. Examples of frequency distributions obtained in the case of large-scale reactors are given.     

Optimal control and operation of drum granulation processes

Process optimisation and optimal control of batch and continuous drum granulation processes are studied in this paper. The main focus of the current research has been: (i) construction of optimisation and control relevant, population balance models through the incorporation of moisture content, drum rotation rate and bed depth into the coalescence kernels; (ii) investigation of optimal operational conditions using constrained optimisation techniques; (iii) development of optimal control algorithms based on discretized population balance equations; and (iv) comprehensive simulation studies on optimal control of both batch and continuous granulation processes. The objective of steady state optimisation is to minimise the recycle rate with minimum cost for continuous processes. It has been identified that the drum rotation-rate, bed depth (material charge), and moisture content of solids are practical decision (design) parameters for system optimisation. The objective for the optimal control of batch granulation processes is to maximize the mass of product-sized particles with minimum time and binder consumption. The objective for the optimal control of the continuous process is to drive the process from one steady state to another in a minimum time with minimum binder consumption, which is also known as the state-driving problem. It has been known for some time that the binder spray-rate is the most effective control (manipulative) variable. Although other possible manipulative variables, such as feed flow-rate and additional powder flow-rate have been investigated in the complete research project, only the single input problem with the binder spray rate as the manipulative variable is addressed in the paper to demonstrate the methodology. It can be shown from simulation results that the proposed models are suitable for control and optimisation studies, and the optimisation algorithms connected with either steady state or dynamic models are successful for the determination of optimal operational conditions and dynamic trajectories with good convergence properties.     

An approximate method for solving gas-solid non-catalytic reactions

A simple treatment for obtaining the solution of single isothermal gas-solid non-catalytic reactions is presented. The model is formulated under a local volumetric approach and permits to incorporate non-linear chemical kinetics and the change in porous structure during conversion. The methodology developed in this work is based on the quantize method for decoupling the solid and gas equations and on perturbation and matching techniques for approximating the gas conservation equation. With this strategy, the calculation of gas concentration and solid conversion at any time and position are reduced to the solution of two coupled algebraic equations. The model compares favourably with the exact (numerical) solution for a variety of cases. This procedure provides an effective and general tool for obtaining the solution of gas-solid reactions with minor calculations.     

Modelling asymmetry in the peripheral auditory system of the lizard

The ears of lizards are highly directional. The directionality is generated by strong acoustical coupling of the eardrums. A simple lumped-parameter model of the ear followed by binaural comparisons has been shown to perform successful phonotaxis in robot implementations. However, such a model will produce localization errors in the form of response bias if the ears are asymmetrical. We have evaluated how large errors are generated by asymmetry using simulations of the ear model in Mathematica 5.2. The study shows that the effect of asymmetry is minimal around the most directional frequency of the ear, but that biases reduce the useful bandwidth of localization. This work was presented in part at the First European Workshop on Artificial Life and Robotics, Vienna, Austria, July 12–13, 2007