Operation Parameters (operation + parameter)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Ultrasonic treatment of waste activated sludge

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 2 2006
Raf Dewil
Abstract Activated sludge processes are key technologies to treat wastewater. These biological processes produce huge amounts of waste activated sludge (WAS), now commonly called biosolids. Mechanical, thermal, and/or chemical WAS conditioning techniques have been proposed to reduce the sludge burden. The ultrasonic treatment of WAS is quite novel. The present paper reports on extensive investigations using an ultrasonic treatment of WAS, to study its potential to meet one or all of four objectives: (1) reduce WAS quantities; (2) achieve a better dewaterability; (3) provoke a release of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the biosolids, preferably transformed into biodegradable organics; and (4) possibly destroy the filamentous microorganisms responsible for sludge bulking. Although meeting these objectives would help to solve the problems cited, the energy consumption could be a considerable drawback: the paper will thus assess whether all or some objectives are met, and at what operational cost. A literature survey defines the occurring phenomena (cavitation) and the important operation parameters [such as frequency, duration, specific energy input (SE)]. The experiments are carried out in a batch reactor of volume up to 2.3 L. The ultrasonic equipment consisted of a generator, a converter, and a sonotrode, supplied by Alpha Ultrasonics under the brand name of Telsonic. Three different kinds of sludge were tested, with different concentrations of dry solids (DS) between approximately 3.5 and 14 g DS/L WAS. Ultrasonic energy was introduced in a continuous manner (against possible pulsed operation). The major operational parameters studied include duration of the ultrasonic treatment and specific energy input. The applied frequency was set at 20 kHz. The release of COD from the WAS phase into the filtrate phase is a function of the specific energy input with yields of nearly 30% achievable at SE values of 30,000 kJ/kg DS. A major fraction of the COD is transformed into biodegradable organics (BOD). The reduction in DS fraction of the sludge is proportional to the COD release rates. Although the DS content is reduced, the dewaterability of the sludge is not improved. This reflects itself in increased filtration times during vacuum filtration and in increased values of the capillary suction time (CST). This more difficult dewaterability is the result of considerably reduced floc sizes, offering an extended surface area: more surface water is bound (CST increases) and the filterability decreases as a result of clogging of the cake. To reach the same dryness as for the untreated cake, the required dosage of polyelectrolyte is nearly doubled when the SE of the ultrasound treatment is increased from 7500 to 20,000 kJ/kg DS. The ultrasonic reduction of filamentous WAS organisms is not conclusive and very little effect is seen at low intensities and short treatment durations. Microscopic analysis of the WAS identified the dominant presence of Actynomyces. The release of soluble COD and BOD certainly merit further research. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2006 [source]


Gain,bandwidth limitations of microwave transistor

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RF AND MICROWAVE COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2002
Filiz Güne
Abstract This work enables one to obtain the potential gain (GT) characteristics with the associated source (ZS) and load (ZL) termination functions, depending upon the input mismatching (Vi), noise (F), and the device operation parameters, which are the configuration type (CT), bias conditions (VDS, IDS), and operation frequency (f). All these functions can straightforwardly provide the following main properties of the device for use in the design of microwave amplifiers with optimum performance: the extremum gain functions (GT max, GT min) and their associated ZS, ZL terminations for the Vi and F couple and the CT, VDS, IDS, and f operation parameters of the device point by point; all the compatible performance (F, voltage,standing wave ratio Vi, GT) triplets within the physical limits of the device, which are F , Fmin, Vi , 1, GT min , GT , GT max, together with their ZS, ZL termination functions; and the potential operation frequency bandwidth for a selected performance (F, Vi, GT) triplet. The selected performance triplet and termination functions can be realized together with their potential operation bandwidth using the novel amplifier design techniques. Many examples are presented for the potential gain characteristics of the chosen low-noise or ordinary types of transistor. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 12, 483,495, 2002. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mmce.10049 [source]


Biodiesel production by direct methanolysis of oleaginous microbial biomass

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 8 2007
Bo Liu
Abstract Biodiesel is a renewable fuel conventionally prepared by transesterification of pre-extracted vegetable oils and animal fats of all resources with methanol, catalyzed by strong acids or bases. This paper reports on a novel biodiesel production method that features acid-promoted direct methanolysis of cellular biomass of oleaginous yeasts and filamentous fungi. The process was optimized for tuning operation parameters, such as methanol dosage, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature and time. Up to 98% yield was reached with reaction conditions of 70 °C, under ambient pressure for 20 h and a dried biomass to methanol ratio 1:20 (w/v) catalyzed by either 0.2 mol L,1 H2SO4 or 0.4 mol L,1 HCl. Cetane numbers for these products were estimated to range from 56 to 59. This integrated method is thus effective and technically attractive, as dried microbial biomass as feedstocks omits otherwise tedious and time-consuming oil extraction processes. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION AND DETERMINATION OF LUTEIN IN HETEROTROPHICALLY CULTIVATED CHLORELLA PYRENOIDOSA

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2007
ZHENGYUN WU
ABSTRACT Chlorella is a promising alternative resource of lutein, as it can be cultivated heterotrophically and efficiently in a fermentor. In this study, high density of Chlorella pyrenoidosa was achieved by fed-batch cultivations. Lutein in Chlorella was extracted by supercritical fluid and was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The extraction degree of lutein reached 87.0% after 4-h extraction under the optimized conditions of 50C, 25 MPa and modified CO2 with 50% ethanol. High purity of lutein could be obtained by supercritical fluid extraction with appropriate operation parameters. The whole process developed in this study may be useful for the commercial production of lutein. [source]


Capillary electrophoretic chiral separation of Cinchona alkaloids using a cyclodextrin selector

JOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 6-7 2008
Dimitrios Tsimachidis
Abstract A new capillary electrophoretic method for the chiral separation of four major Cinchona alkaloids (quinine/quinidine and cinchonine/cinchonidine) was developed using heptakis-(2,6-di- O -methyl)-,-cyclodextrin as the chiral selector. The inner walls of the separation capillary were modified with a thin polyacrylamide layer, which substantially reduced the electroosmotic flow and improved the chiral resolution and the reproducibility of the migration time of the analytes. Various operation parameters were optimised, including the pH, the capillary temperature, the concentration of the background electrolyte, and the concentration of the chiral selector. Baseline separation of the two diastereomer pairs was achieved in 12 minutes in ammonium acetate background electrolyte pH 5.0 with addition of cyclodextrin in a concentration of 3 mM or higher. [source]


Multiobjective optimization of polymerization reaction of vinyl acetate by genetic algorithm technique with a new replacement criterion

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008
Maryam Sadi
A multiobjective optimization procedure based on genetic algorithm has been developed to determine optimum operational conditions of polymerization reaction. In this article by using a new selection criterion to choose the next generation members with better quality, optimization efficiency is improved and the number of generations to obtain Pareto optimal set reduced. In this proposed method a novel replacement criterion based on ranking level information and proximity of solutions to the Pareto optimal front is used to choose the next generation members. The polymerization of vinyl acetate has been chosen as an example. Two objective functions, which used in this study, are maximization of the weight average molecular weight up to the desired value and minimization of the residual initiator concentration. A Pareto optimal set of objective functions has been obtained by application of a Pareto set filter operator. Furthermore, the influence of genetic algorithm parameters on the efficiency and convergence of genetic algorithm is studied by changing cross over and mutation probabilities. Because of the flexibility and generality of genetic algorithm, this optimization method is a useful technique with lots of potentials in determination of optimum value of operation parameters. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]


Investigation on SO2 emission from 410t/h circulating fluidized bed boiler burning petroleum coke and coal

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2010
Lun-Bo Duan
Abstract Effects of operation parameters including bed temperature, Ca/S molar ratio, excess air coefficient, fly ash recirculation rate and limestone microstructure on SO2 emission were investigated on a 410t/h circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler burning petroleum coke and coal. Results show that for different fuels, SO2 emission is correspondingly related to the sulfur content in it under the same operation conditions. With increasing bed temperature, SO2 concentration in the flue gas reduces first and then increases. There is an optimal desulfurization temperature. For burning bituminous coal (BC) only or 70% BC + 30% petroleum coke (PC), the optimal desulfurization temperature is about 850 °C, while it is about 850,870 °C for burning 50% anthracite (AN) + 50% PC. SO2 emission decreases with the increase in Ca/S ratio, excess air coefficient and fly ash recirculation rate. Microstructure of limestone has distinct effects on their SO2 retention capacity, and bigger specific surface area and higher specific pore volume lead to stronger SO2 capture activities. The optimal temperature, Ca/S ratio and excess air coefficient for different fuels are recommended for industrial application. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Operational Optimization of Ideal Internal Thermally Coupled Distillation Columns

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1-2 2001
Xing-Gao Liu
Lack of the optimal operation parameters in operation is one of major difficulties associated with the use of advanced energy saving distillation methods. In this paper, the operational optimization of the ideal Internal Thermally Coupled Distillation Column (ITCDIC) is considered. An optimization model and the related simulation algorithm are proposed. An optimization and the related result analysis are carried out, which pave the way for further design studies and its practical application. [source]