VARIATIONS IN ALFALFA JUICE SOLUTE CONCENTRATIONS AS WATER IS EVAPORATED

Alfalfa juice was extracted from plants during the graving phases of the first and second crops. The alfalfa juice was dried and solute concentrations were measured periodically during the process using freezing point depression (FPD) as an indicator. Solute/solvent weight ratios were calculated from the freezing point depression of fresh unconcentrated 'uice extracted from both firsc and second crops. At the time of harvest, tie FPD was a function of this ratio. The first and second crops behaved distinctively different during the drying process, with the second having a larger soluce concentration and a greater FPD at a given moisture content. The appearance of preci itate during the drying process and the general1 large FPD makes this materiay a questionable product for drying vitg low temperature processes.     

Experimental Investigation of the Recovery of Soaked Paper Using Evaporative Freeze Drying

The aim of this article is to develop an experiment and a procedure to investigate the restoration of water-damaged paper and archival materials using freeze drying in order to allow a reproducible test and comparison of the influence of different operating conditions on drying time and restored paper quality. Firstly, a reproducible method for the preparation of soaked samples simulating water-damaged paper has been developed. Then, the samples have been freeze-dried in a laboratory-scale apparatus that allowed monitoring the temperature as well as the weight of the samples. The technique of evaporative freezing, which reduces the drying time required, has been used in this case. An innovative procedure for the visualization of the progress of the drying process has been validated, thus allowing the validation of a simple phenomenological model of the time evolution of the ice core volume; in addition, data on the residual moisture of the dried paper sheets in different zones have been given. Finally, optimization of this particular drying process by using simple or more sophisticated approaches has been discussed.     

Optimal Control of Solar Sludge Dryers

Optimal control (OC) methodology is used to develop a control policy for a batch-operated solar sludge dryer with ventilation as the dominant control. Batch performance criteria and instantaneous optimization criteria are developed for two economic environments: quota limited and capital limited. The general formulation, as well as simplifications resulting from the multiplicative form of the evaporation (drying) rate model, are presented. The multiplicative form results in a single constant number, called here “control intensity,” which is used to guide the on-line control decisions. These decisions turn out to be independent of the dry solids content (DSC) of the sludge. Further simplification, by assuming a strictly constant weather, is used to demonstrate the general effects of the economic and physical (weather) environment on the solution.

The OC approach is used to address, via simulation under realistic weather conditions, several design, operation, and pricing problems. In particular, the following have been considered: sizing of the ventilation fans, determination of a fair fee for sludge disposal, finding the best final DSC, and evaluating the effect of the price of electricity. Regarding the particular location represented by the data, it has been shown that the installed capacity of the ventilation fans should be increased and that there seems to be sufficient economic incentive for solar drying.     

Experimental Study on Energy Consumption of Combined Conventional and Dehumidification Drying

Conventional drying, dehumidification drying, and combined conventional-dehumidification drying of wood were experimentally studied in this article. The results showed that the energy consumption in the dehumidification drying is the least but its drying time is the longest. The energy consumption in the combined drying is more than that in the dehumidification drying but less than that in the conventional drying, and the drying time is half of that in the dehumidification drying. The advantages of the combined conventional and dehumidification drying are discussed from the experiments results.     

Whey Drying on Porous Carriers

Whey is an undurable product. treated very often as a waste which pollutes the natural environment. Whey which is a valuable source of protein, lactose, vitamins and mineral salts should be utilized completely. The present paper is a proposal of whey drying on porous carriers. It is proved experimentally that the proposed drying method guarantees good product quality.     

ANALYSIS OF OPEN SUN DRYING EXPERIMENTS

Open sun drying has lost its previous importance due to the fact that different factors affect its reliability and the quality of the products obtained.

One of the set-backs for the analysis of solar drying exoeriments is their deoendence on a non-controlled source of energy, i.e. solar radiation depends on climatic conditions and experiments are difficult to compare. It is thus necessary to investigate the advantages of a particular set up as well as the climatic influences. Open sun drying could constitute the natural reference, allowing the comparison of different drying strategies.

A new way of standardizing drying times, based on solar radiation inout, is proposed, to allow better evaluation of the experiments. An equivalent time is defined, allowing comparison of experiments carried out under different circumstances. Carrots and potatoes were used in these experiments.

The use of the average daily solar radiation 15.28 MJ m^-2.d^-1 in Palma de Mallorca (39.33°N, 2.37°E), is proposed for comparison purposes. An improvement of more than 12 % in the explained variance was observed, the unexplained variance being lower than 1 %.     

快干涂料铸渗法获得铸件表面复合层的研究

对快干涂料法铸渗工艺进行了研究。查明了影响铸件表面复合层质量的主要工艺因素,确定了最佳工艺参数,为生产实践提供了依据。     

Carbon Aerogels as Electrode Material in Supercapacitors

Due to their large specific surface area and their high electrical conductivity carbon aerogels are promising materials for electrodes in electrochemical double-layer capacitors (supercapacitor). The carbon aerogels were made via pyrolysis of resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels. The latter were prepared by supercritical and subcritical drying as well. The important findings of our investigation were, that the highest capacities of 46 F/cm³ were measured for samples with a density of about 800 kg/m³ pyrolyzed at 800°C. Also it was shown that RF-gels with molar resorcinol/catalyst ratios 1000 or higher can be dried subcritically without cracking or significant shrinkage. Carbon aerogels derived from these RF-aerogels have a small mesopore surface area, however an especially large micropore area. They provide electrical capacities which are most suitable for their use in supercapacitors.     

大冶硫酸四系列干吸塔结构特点

以干燥塔为例，介绍大冶公司硫酸四系列干吸塔的结构特点。除捕沫层简体及出气管为316L不锈钢外，其余塔体均为碳钢内衬瓷砖结构。塔底为球形底，中心排酸。采用槽管式分酸器，分酸点密度为43个/m^2，设可调闸板以保证各槽酸量均匀；闸板外设置带孔板的分布板，以消除进口酸的冲击，保证槽内酸液面平稳。比较了该塔与常规塔的不同之处，强调了设备节点的优化设计。