Hydrogenation of Citral Over a Polymer Fibre Catalyst

A polymer-supported Pd catalyst was investigated in hydrogenation of citral (3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal), which is a stereoisomer with an isolated and a conjugated double bond as well as a carbonyl group. The catalyst was a fibrous polymer-supported catalyst modified with functional groups and immobilized metals. A comparison of the polymer-supported catalyst with conventional catalysts was made.     

Nitrate estimation in the denitrifying post-filtration unit of a municipal wastewater treatment plant: the Viikinm?ki case

In this work we present and discuss the design of an array of soft-sensors to estimate the nitrate concentration in the denitrifying post-filtration unit at the Viikinm?ki wastewater treatment plant in Helsinki (Finland). The developed sensors aim at supporting the existing hardware analyzers by providing a reliable back-up system in case of malfunction of the instruments. In the attempt to design easy to implement and interpretable sensors, computationally light linear models have been considered. However, due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the process, also nonlinear but still computationally affordable models have been considered for comparison. The experimental results demonstrate the potential of the developed soft-sensors and the possibility for an on-line implementation in the plant's control system as alternative monitoring devices.     

Reflections on the history of indoor air science,focusing on the last 50 years

The scientific articles and Indoor Air conference publications of the indoor air sciences (IAS) during the last 50 years are summarized. In total 7524 presentations, from 79 countries, have been made at Indoor Air conferences held between 1978 (49 presentations) and 2014 (1049 presentations). In the Web of Science, 26 992 articles on indoor air research (with the word “indoor” as a search term) have been found (as of 1 Jan 2016) of which 70% were published during the last 10 years. The modern scientific history started in the 1970s with a question: “did indoor air pose a threat to health as did outdoor air?” Soon it was recognized that indoor air is more important, from a health point of view, than outdoor air. Topics of concern were first radon, environmental tobacco smoke, and lung cancer, followed by volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and sick building syndrome, house dust‐mites, asthma and allergies, Legionnaires disease, and other airborne infections. Later emerged dampness/mold‐associated allergies and today's concern with “modern exposures‐modern diseases.” Ventilation, thermal comfort, indoor air chemistry, semi‐volatile organic compounds, building simulation by computational fluid dynamics, and fine particulate matter are common topics today. From their beginning in Denmark and Sweden, then in the USA, the indoor air sciences now show increasing activity in East and Southeast Asia.