Demonstration of a tool for automatic learning and re-use of knowledge in the activated sludge process.

Wastewater treatment plant operators encounter complex operational problems related to the activated sludge process and usually respond to these by applying their own intuition and by taking advantage of what they have learnt from past experiences of similar problems. However, previous process experiences are not easy to integrate in numerical control, and new tools must be developed to enable re-use of plant operating experience. The aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to apply learning and re-use of knowledge gained during past incidents to confront actual complex problems through the IWA/COST Benchmark protocol. A case study shows that the proposed CBR system achieves a significant improvement of the benchmark plant performance when facing a high-flow event disturbance.     

Benchmark simulation Model no 2 in Matlab-simulink: towards plant-wide WWTP control strategy evaluation.

In this paper, implementation of the Benchmark Simulation Model No 2 (BSM2) within Matlab-Simulink is presented. The BSM2 is developed for plant-wide WWTP control strategy evaluation on a long-term basis. It consists of a pre-treatment process, an activated sludge process and sludge treatment processes. Extended evaluation criteria are proposed for plant-wide control strategy assessment. Default open-loop and closed-loop strategies are also proposed to be used as references with which to compare other control strategies. Simulations indicate that the BM2 is an appropriate tool for plant-wide control strategy evaluation.     

WWTP dynamic disturbance modelling--an essential module for long-term benchmarking development.

Intensive use of the benchmark simulation model No. 1 (BSM1), a protocol for objective comparison of the effectiveness of control strategies in biological nitrogen removal activated sludge plants, has also revealed a number of limitations. Preliminary definitions of the long-term benchmark simulation model No. 1 (BSM1_LT) and the benchmark simulation model No. 2 (BSM2) have been made to extend BSM1 for evaluation of process monitoring methods and plant-wide control strategies, respectively. Influent-related disturbances for BSM1_LT/BSM2 are to be generated with a model, and this paper provides a general overview of the modelling methods used. Typical influent dynamic phenomena generated with the BSM1_LT/BSM2 influent disturbance model, including diurnal, weekend, seasonal and holiday effects, as well as rainfall, are illustrated with simulation results. As a result of the work described in this paper, a proposed influent model/file has been released to the benchmark developers for evaluation purposes. Pending this evaluation, a final BSM1_LT/BSM2 influent disturbance model definition is foreseen. Preliminary simulations with dynamic influent data generated by the influent disturbance model indicate that default BSM1 activated sludge plant control strategies will need extensions for BSM1_LT/BSM2 to efficiently handle 1 year of influent dynamics.     

Effect of specimen size and loading conditions on spalling of concrete

Different qualities of concrete have been fire tested using different geometries of the specimens as well as different load levels and load configurations. The main objective with the study was to examine a test methodology consisting of a full‐scale test and different small scale‐tests for determining the probability of spalling and the amount of spalling of fire exposed concrete structures. A reference specimen was defined as a one‐sided fire exposed slab with the dimensions 1800 × 1200 mm² giving an exposed area of 1500 × 1200 mm². A number of concrete qualities with different probabilities for spalling, were tested using the reference specimen. These tests showed that the reference specimens worked well giving the expected test results. Small specimens were manufactured in different shapes with the same concrete as the one used in the reference tests. These small specimens were tested either at the same time as the reference specimens in the large furnace or afterwards on a small‐scale furnace where the fire exposed surface was 450 × 360 mm². The test results clearly show the increased probability and the increased amount of spalling by using external compressive loading. The results also show that by using pre‐stress through bars or wires the load can be lost due to heating of the bars/wires which results in a decreased amount of spalling. The boundary of the specimen also affects the amount of spalling. The spalling around the edges was in all tests less than the spalling on the central parts of the exposed area. It could also be noted that the spalling did not pass completely through any of the specimens. The reason for this is probably that the water/vapour could migrate out from the unexposed surface of the specimen. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative Judgments as an Alternative to Ratings: Identifying the Scale Origin.

Although comparative judgment methods have a number of distinct advantages over ratings, they share one common problem: On the basis of comparative judgments, it is not possible to recover the origin of item evaluations. One item may be judged more positively than another, but this result does not allow any conclusions about whether either of the items are attractive or unattractive. This article discusses the implications of this limitation for the interpretation of individual differences in comparative judgments. It also presents 3 different methods that may allow determination of the scale origin using a nested model comparison approach. An application illustrates the proposed approach as well as the benefits of determining the scale origin in understanding value judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new environmental friendly method for the preparation of sugar acids via catalytic oxidation on gold catalysts

A novel and efficient way of producing of aldonic acids is reported. The selective catalytic oxidation of monosaccharides (arabinose, ribose, xylose, lyxose, mannose, rhamnose, glucose, galactose, N-acetyl-glucosamine) and disaccharides (lactose, maltose, cellobiose, melibiose) on Au, Pd and Pt catalysts was investigated. By using the gold catalyst, a total selectivity with respect to aldonic acids and a high catalytic activity for all investigated sugars was found. The reaction conditions for the production of maltobionic and lactobionic acids via oxidation on gold catalysts were optimised. A high long-term stability of two different gold catalysts for the oxidation of maltose and lactose, respectively, was found.     

Long-term stability of an Au/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by incipient wetness in continuous-flow glucose oxidation

A 0.3% Au/Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness (IW) method was investigated in the continuous-flow liquid-phase glucose oxidation. Therefore, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system equipped with an ultrasonic separator was used. The continuous-flow glucose oxidation was carried out at 40 °C, pH 9 and 1 bar oxygen partial pressure. Residence time and glucose concentration were varied. The IW gold catalyst showed very high activity and selectivity to gluconic acid within its 110 days of operation and, thus, an excellent long-term stability. Even after severe microbial contaminations of the catalyst, its activity could be completely restored by in situ regeneration with 2-propanol.     

Characterization and tests of planar Co3O4 model catalysts prepared by chemical vapor deposition

The chemical vapor deposition method was used to deposit thin films of cobalt oxide starting with cobalt (II) acetylacetonate and oxygen. The deposition process was investigated and the obtained films were identified as a cubic spinel-type polycrystalline Co₃O₄ with a crystallite size of 30–40 nm. The coating was carbon-free and the surface oxygen concentration was measured to be 66 at.% with AES analysis. Smooth and highly uniform thin films were deposited on planar stainless steel substrates and subjected to TPR and catalysis tests that show positive correlation. The apparent activation energy of Co₃O₄ reduction to CoO was measured to be (33±5) kJ/mol. The catalytic activity of Co₃O₄ was investigated toward the conversion of both propane and ethanol to carbon dioxide. Though the catalytic action was registered at the same temperature, the deactivation process was seen to be different. The catalytic conversion of ethanol induces a fast deactivation process, which was linked to its high ability to reduce Co₃O₄.     

Influence of the preparation conditions on the properties of gold catalysts for the oxidation of glucose

In this work, two deposition–precipitation methods for the preparation of gold catalysts for glucose oxidation were investigated. Thus far, gold colloids immobilized on carbon have been used for catalytic glucose oxidation, but the long-term stability of these systems was not sufficient. To improve the long-term stability we used the deposition–precipitation methods using NaOH (DP NaOH) or urea (DP urea) as precipitation agents as they were described by Haruta and Dekkers, respectively, using alumina as a support material. With these methods, it was possible to prepare highly active and selective catalysts which showed an excellent long-term stability. DP urea was found to be the preferred method, because in contrast to DP NaOH, no losses of gold occurred during the preparation, and it was possible to adjust various gold contents up to 10 wt% Au.