Chemical and microbiological quality of sugar cane juice influences the concentration of ethyl carbamate and volatile congeners in cachaça

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of heat treatment of sugar cane juice, supplementation with urea and double distillation on the concentration of volatile congeners (acetic aldehyde, ethyl acetate, n‐propyl, isobutyl and isoamyl alcohols and acetic acid) and contaminants (methanol, 1‐propyl and 2‐butyl alcohols, copper, and ethyl carbamate) in cachaça. Samples of fresh sugar cane juice, sugar cane juice submitted to heat treatment and contaminated sugar cane juice were supplemented (or not) with urea and fermented. The washes so obtained underwent single and double distillation. Supplementation with urea stimulated ethyl carbamate formation. The distilled products that originated from contaminated worts presented higher concentration of acetic acid and ethyl carbamate. Double distillation reduced the concentration of contaminants. The best quality pot still cachaça was obtained employing heat treatment of sugar cane juice, nonsupplementation with urea and double distillation. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Craft Beer Microflora Identification Before and After a Cleaning Process

Although beer is a relatively safe product, growth of spoilage microorganisms can cause economic damage. The most effective way to prevent the spoilage of beer is to control contamination with adequate cleaning and sanitation. The aim of this work was to evaluate the microbial flora present both before and after a specific hygiene process was implemented during a brewpub's craft beer production. Various selective and differential culture media methods for the enumeration of beer‐spoilage species are available, but they are time consuming compared to modern techniques. The utilisation of accurate molecular methods, added to the routine microbiological analyses, allowed for the fast identification of common environmental contaminants of beer. A poor sanitation plan by the brewer resulted in microbial contamination of the brewpub. This result demonstrates the importance of good sanitation to avoid the presence of undesirable microorganisms in the product. A cleaning‐in‐place (CIP) method, in operation in many small breweries, could be utilised to prevent the occurrence of such brewery and beer microbial contaminants. In small breweries, the simplest CIP units consist of a single tank and a portable pump. This method requires no additional equipment besides a spraying ball, which is usually included in the design of most tanks.     

双螺线圈式液压油微污染物检测传感器

设计了一种多参数的油液污染物检测传感器,该传感器在单螺线圈电感式传感器的基础上,增加了一个螺线管线圈,可以进行电感检测和电容检测。电感检测可以区分油液中的铁磁性颗粒和非铁磁性颗粒;电容检测可以区分油液中水和空气。相对于传统单线圈式传感器,本次设计不仅实现了油液污染物的多参数检测,同时采用线径更小、匝数更多的螺线圈,增加了传感器的检测灵敏度。利用该传感器搭建的实验平台进行检测实验:电感检测时可以检测直径大于20μm的铁颗粒和直径大于80μm的铜颗粒;电容检测时可以检测直径大于90～100μm水滴和直径大于160～170μm气泡。该设计研究为油液污染物快速检测提供了一种新的方法,对于机械设备故障诊断与寿命预测等领域具有一定的意义。     

有色金属工业含砷污染物处理研究进展

综述了有色金属工业砷污染物的来源及其无害化处理的方法,分析了包封固砷(水泥固化和玻璃固化)和矿物固砷(钙盐、铝盐、镁盐、硫化沉淀法)的优缺点和局限性,重点对将砷以臭葱石形式进行安全处理的合成方法和浸出稳定性的研究现状进行阐述。分析表明,晶态臭葱石合成是将砷以臭葱石形式进行安全处置的基础,稳定性是关键,进一步降低溶液过饱和度以实现大尺寸、高稳定性臭葱石的合成是发展方向。     

基于磁电阻率法和频率域电磁法的地下水污染动态监测仿真

本文对磁电阻率法与频率域电磁法在地下水污染监测中的应用进行了理论研究.以污染物位于地表的均匀介质模型为例,根据污染物扩散的水文地质动态仿真结果,计算出与各监测时刻对应的地下水污染地电模型.通过各地电模型的二维磁电阻率法正演模拟结果以及一维频率域电磁法的反演结果,验证了这两种地球物理方法在地下水污染物运移监测中的有效性.     

北京市地下水环境分层监测和专项监控网的建立

由于城市化进程加快,地下水开采的增大和越来越突出的地下水环境问题,原有的地下水监测网已经不能满足新形势的需要。现详述了在过去3年里整合北京地区多家单位地下水监测网的过程。其中,由822眼监测井组成的区域监测网,主要在丰、枯水期对平原区4个含水层组进行监测。由360眼监测井组成的污染源专项监控网,每季度监测一次。新的监测网额外增加了21项有机指标,实现了对地下水环境1∶50000精度的立体监测。介绍了该监测网的运行模式和最新监测成果。     

基于和声搜索算法的地下水污染源与未知含水层参数的同步反演研究

地下水污染源反演问题和含水层参数反演问题都是典型的地下水逆问题。在未知含水层参数(渗透系数、弥散度等)等先决信息的情况下进行地下水污染源反演计算时,需要根据已有的监测数据(水位和浓度等)对地下水污染源和未知含水层参数进行同步反演。在同步反演优化问题中,决策变量包括污染源位置、强度以及待求的含水层参数。论文首先介绍同步反演模型的框架组成(包括污染物迁移模型和反演优化模型),然后在对已有的各种和声搜索改进算法进行研究的基础上结合同步反演模型提出一种改进的和声搜索算法,最后将同步反演模型和改进的和声搜索算法应用于具体的算例研究。研究表明,改进的和声搜索算法具有算法稳定高效、求解精度高等特点,能够广泛应用于复杂的地下水污染源和含水层参数反演问题。     

Development and application of an updated whole-building coupled thermal,airflow and contaminant transport simulation program (TRNSYS/CONTAM)

The TRNSYS energy analysis tool has been capable of simulating whole-building coupled heat transfer and building airflow for about 10 years. The most recent implementation was based on two TRNSYS modules, Type 56 and Type 97. Type 97 is based on a subset of the airflow calculation capabilities of the CONTAM multizone airflow and contaminant transport program developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This paper describes the development of new CONTAM capabilities in support of an updated combined, multizone building heat transfer, airflow and contaminant transport simulation approach using TRNSYS. It presents an illustrative case that highlights the new coupling capability and also presents the application of this coupled simulation approach to a practical design problem of the energy use related to airflow through entry doors in non-residential buildings.     

Optimization of Combined Microwave–Hot Air Roasting of Malt Based on Energy Consumption and Neo-Formed Contaminants Content

ABSTRACT: To produce specialty malt, malts were roasted by combined microwave–hot air at various specific microwave powers (SP = 2.5 to 3 W/g), microwave heating times (t_mw = 3.3 to 3.5 min), oven temperatures (T_oven = 180 to 220 °C), and oven heating times (t_oven = 60 to 150 min). The response variables, color, energy consumption by microwave (E_mw) and oven (E_oven), total energy consumption (E_tot), quantity of neo-formed contaminants (NFCs), which include hydroxymethylfurfural, furfural, furan, and acrylamide were determined. Response surface methodology (RSM) was performed to analyze and predict the optimum conditions for the specialty malt. Production using combined microwave–hot air roasting process based on minimum energy consumption and level of NFCs. At 95% confident level, SP, T_oven, and t_oven were the most influencing effects with regard to E_tot, whereas t_mw did not affect E_tot. T_oven and t_oven significantly affected malt color. Only T_oven significantly influenced the NFCs content. The optimum parameters were: SP = 2.68 W/g for 3.44 min, T_oven = 206 °C for 136 min for coffee malt, SP = 2.5 W/g for 3.48 min, T_oven = 214 °C for 136 min for chocolate malt, and SP = 2.5 W/g for 3.48 min, T_oven = 211 °C for 150 min for black malt. Comparing with conventional process, combined microwave–hot air reduced E_tot by approximately 40%, 26%, and 26% for coffee, chocolate, and black malts, respectively, and reduced HMF, furfural, furan, and acrylamide contents by 40%, 18%, 23%, and 95%, respectively, for black malt. Practical Application: An important goal for research institutions and the brewery industry is to produce colored malt by combining microwave and hot air roasting, while saving energy, getting desirable color, and avoiding the formation of carcinogenic and toxic neo-formed contaminants (NFCs). Therefore, one objective of this study was to compare energy consumption and content of NFCs during roasting of malt by hot air-only and combined microwave–hot air processes as well as to determine the effect of specific power, microwave processing time, oven temperature, and oven processing time during combined microwave–hot air roasting. Another objective was to predict the optimum conditions for the production of coffee, chocolate, and black malts.     

Numerical research for contaminant release from un-suspended bottom sediment under different hydrodynamic conditions

Contaminant release from bottom sediments in rivers is one of the main problems to study the environmental hydrodynamics. Contaminant will release into the overlying water column under different hydrodynamic conditions through pore-water in sediment, the release mechanism can be roughly divided into convection diffusion, molecular diffusion and adsorption/desorption. In this article, phosphorus was as a typical contaminant with sorption. Through theoretical analysis of the contaminant release, according to different particle-sized and hydraulic conditions, the mathematics model of contaminant release can be established by the coupled Navier-Stokes equation, Darcy equation, solute transport equation and adsorption/desorption equation. Then that model was verified by flume experiment. Numerical studies show that, under different velocity, the instantaneous concentration of convection diffusion is about 6 times to 50 times larger than that of molecular diffusion during initial stages. The concentration of molecular diffusion is about 1 times to 4 times larger than to that of convection diffusion during late stages. Through analysis, the diffusive boundary layer near the interface can be obtained. In addition, the release will increase with particle size decreasing, and the release will be influenced much more by the size change when the particle size is relatively big under different velocity.