Alum Crystals Research Articles

Efficient estimation of crystal filterability using the discrete element method and the Kozeny-Carman equation

A new method is proposed for efficiently predicting filter cake resistance as a function of crystal size distribution. The method is useful for the preliminary design of processes where an economic tradeoff is encountered between a crystallization step and a filtration step. In that case it is necessary to estimate the filter cake resistance repeatedly as a function of crystal size distribution for the process design and optimization. The method is faster than CFD-DEM and more precise than the random packing assumption. The proposed method is validated using published experimental data. To demonstrate the proposed method, an integrated crystallization-filtration process of ammonium alum is simulated and analyzed. The results show that by increasing the residence time of ammonium alum crystals in the crystallizer from 15 min to 60 min, the crystal cake resistance can be reduced by 42% and the filter area can be reduced by 23%.

Aluminium recovery from aluminium foil waste as coagulant for domestic wastewater treatment

The high use of aluminium foil in food and beverage packaging has caused solid waste to increase rapidly, so solid waste treatment is required. This study investigates the best concentration of reactant to aluminium recovery from aluminium foil waste as potash alum coagulant. Potassium hydroxide is used for dissolved aluminium, and sulphuric acid is added to form potash alum crystals. The experimental result got a maximum point for the synthesis of potash alum from aluminium foil: potassium hydroxide 3 M dan sulphuric acid 3 M which produced a potash alum yield’s 99,59% and contains 11,19% of aluminium oxide. The quality of potash alum products is compared to the technical requirements of SNI 0032:2011. Potash alum was applied to the domestic wastewater and compared with commercial alum. The turbidity, TSS, and TDS domestic wastewater treatment results showed that potash alum has better performance than commercial alum.

EFFECT OF ALUM AND PLANT EXTRACT AGAINST FOR BACTERIAL GROWTH

Identification VRSA isolate according to the most common quick test employed to identify the colonies of Staphylococcus aureus is the catalase test. This simple and invaluable test can differentiate Staphylococcus from Streptococcus. The oxidase test is another quick test that can differentiate Staphylococcus from Micrococcus. However, the VRSA was used on Vitc2 system that multidrug resistance.After solvent alum crystal in hot water 50% in concentration. Research effect the alum on VRSA strain and combination the alum with same plant after extraction. When used the well diffusion method the results were 2mm for each combined with peppermint (50%) and broad beans (50%) respectively compare in used the plant extracts which given 0.5mm in diameter for inhibition zone. But the alum aloene was 2mm in diameter. The potency result was the combination alum with aloe vera 3 mm in diameter for alum (50%) but the aloe vera was 0.5mm aloene.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Alum Crystals from Waste Aluminum Foils in Turbid Water Treatment

The disposal of waste aluminum foil is a significant environmental concern due to its non-biodegradable nature and potential to contaminate the surrounding ecosystem. In this study, we synthesized alum crystals from waste aluminum foil and evaluated their potential as an effective adsorbent for water treatment. The synthesis process involved the reaction of crushed aluminum foil with sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide to form aluminum hydroxide, which was then converted to alum crystals through a precipitation reaction. Chemical tests were conducted to confirm the presence of different ions in alum solution and solid alum crystals. The tests showed the presence of sulfate ions, potassium ions, and aluminum ions. Additionally, the study examined the effect of different dosages (10 to 100 mg/l) of alum on turbidity removal (triplicate) in water, where increasing the alum dosage led to an increase in turbidity removal, but beyond a certain point, the marginal increase in turbidity removal diminished. A dosage of around 40–50 mg/L was established as optimal for achieving a balance between effective turbidity removal and cost-effective use of alum, using a quadratic relationship to model a non-linear relationship between turbidity removal and alum dosage. This study demonstrates the potential of waste aluminum foil as a valuable resource for the synthesis of alum crystals, which can be used as an effective adsorbent for water treatment. Using waste materials for the synthesis of value-added products not only helps reduce environmental pollution but also contributes to the development of sustainable technologies. The results of this study have significant implications for the development of cost-effective and environmentally sustainable solutions for water treatment.

Dielectric properties of ammonium iron sulphate-dodecahydrate alum crystal

The statistical Green function theory and extended two sublattice pseudospin coupled-mode model Hamiltonian. The modified model summing with phonon anharmonic couplings, extra spin-lattice couplings, direct spin-spin coupling together with an applied electric field has been used to explain the dielectric properties of ammonium iron alum crystal. The expressions for energy shift, linewidth, ferroelectric soft mode frequency, dielectric permittivity, and dielectric loss tangent are derived. By fitted the model values of different parameters in the above theoretical expressions. The temperature dependence of soft mode frequency, dielectric permittivity, and dielectric loss properties have been numerically calculated. Our theoretical obtained results compared well agreement with experimental results reported by others.

The effect of lithium doping on structural, thermal, optical and electrical properties of potash alum single crystals

• Pure and Li-doped potash alum single crystals were grown using slow evaporation. • Structural, thermal, optical and electrical properties of crystals were studied. • Doping potash alum crystal with Li made its room temperature phase more stable. • Optical band gap decreases and electrical conductivity increases by doping with Li. • Li-doped potash alum has better conditions for use in applications than pure one. At room temperature, supersaturated aqueous solutions were employed to grow single crystals of pure and Li-doped potash alum using the slow evaporation technique. The impact of lithium as dopant on the grown crystals' structural, thermal, optical and electrical properties was investigated. It was established that every crystal found during this work was potash alum, which has a cubic structure, space group Pa3 and Z = 4. Four peaks that indicated potash alum phase transitions were found during thermal investigation; these peaks moved with rising Li concentration. Li doping of potash alum increased the stability of the room temperature phase. This improvement in potash alum's stability after doping with lithium provided better conditions for its employment as an antibiotic and catalyst. The optical band gap energy of potash alum fell from 5.75 eV to 4.57 eV as Li concentration increased from 0 to 0.10 M. Potash alum's dc electrical conductivity increased as the Li content increased.

Xi Lei San Attenuates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Colitis in Rats and TNF-α-Stimulated Colitis in CACO2 Cells: Involvement of the NLRP3 Inflammasome and Autophagy.

Objective Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease with an unclear etiology. The active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) exert anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and immunomodulatory effects, and their multitarget characteristics provide them with a unique advantage for treating IBD. However, the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of Xi Lei San in treatment of IBD remain unknown. This study was designed to investigate whether Xi Lei San exerted an anti-inflammatory effect in IBD via a mechanism involving NLRP3 inflammasomes and autophagy. Methods We successfully established a rat model of dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced colitis as well as a cellular model of TNF-α-induced colitis. Xi Lei San and indirubin were identified by HPLC analysis. Rats were treated with Xi Lei San or alum crystals, and their body weights and morphology of intestinal tissues were examined. A western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression levels of inflammasome-related proteins and autophagy-related proteins, ELISA was performed to analyze IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-33 concentrations, and flow cytometry was used to monitor cell apoptosis and ROS levels. Results Xi Lei San and indirubin were identified by HPLC analysis. We found that Xi Lei San could significantly increase the weights of rats and improve the structure of the intestinal tissues in DSS-induced colitis model rats. We also found that Xi Lei San significantly inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activity, reduced the levels of inflammatory cytokines, and suppressed autophagy in DSS-induced colitis model rats. In vitro experiments revealed that Xi Lei San could repress apoptosis as well as ROS and inflammatory cytokine production in TNF-α-induced CACO2 cells by reducing the activity of NLRP3 inflammasomes and autophagy. Conclusions Our findings showed that Xi Lei San significantly ameliorated IBD by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome, autophagy, and oxidative stress.

Crystallized Ammonium Alum and Recovery of Ammonium Alum: Urea DES from Cellulose/DES Solution

Recycling and/or recovery of solvent are of important aim in the area of environment or cost. Deep eutectic solvents (DES’s) have been widely employed in different research or industrial area. Ammonium alum: urea DES has been researched for possible applications therefore; recovery of this DES is attempted in this paper. Ammonium alum: urea DES was separated to its constituents by crystallization of ammonium alum from a solution containing cellulose. Urea was obtained by evaporation. The crystallization occurs by adding water which breaks the hydrogen bonding of DES. Water was added in a 1.25:1 volume ratio and the resulting crystals and solid materials were examined with ATR-IR and X-Ray Diffraction.

Effect of impurity ions on the primary nucleation of ammonium alum precipitated from aqueous solution

Ammonium alum is an important powder material for producing high purity alumina. It is usually obtained by crystallization from aqueous solution, but impurity ions in solution have a great effect on the quality of final product particles. Effects of sodium, potassium and iron ions on the primary nucleation of ammonium alum were studied by measuring induction time and metastable zone width using focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM). It was found that potassium ion or iron ion enhanced the nucleation, whereas sodium ion had no obvious effect. Analysis about the mechanism of impurity incorporation showed that, due to the isomorphous substitution, potassium ion or iron ion were easily incorporated into ammonium alum crystals. Moreover, potassium ion was more easily incorporated into crystal than iron ion.

Recycling of White Aluminium Dross: Production of Potash Alum

Aluminium dross, an industrial by-product generated in large quantities, is fairly rich in aluminium content. Even though there are means of recycling (pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical routes), still a large amount of aluminium dross is landfilled. This research article emphasizes on recycling of aluminium dross by the production of potash alum. Powdered aluminium dross is allowed to react with potassium hydroxide, followed in sequence by filtration, slow addition of sulphuric acid coupled with constant stirring of the solution, heating the solution and cooling it in the cold water bath to produce potash alum. The crystals of potash alum are formed in the solution after a few hours. Analysis of the product potash alum, parent liquor and the residual liquor shows that nearly 89.2% of aluminium present in the parent liquor is successfully transferred into the product potash alum crystals. Potash alum finds its applications in wastewater treatment plants, pharmaceutical cosmetic industries and leather tanning units.

Study of Secondary Nucleation by Attrition of Potassium Alum Crystals Suspended in Different Solvents

Secondary nucleation by attrition was studied in a milliliter-scale reactor, where the effects of different stirring rates and of different solvents were investigated. The experiments in suspension...

Growth, structure, thermal, electrical and optical properties of potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate (potash alum) single crystal

Single crystal of potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate (potash alum) was grown by the slow evaporation technique of supersaturated aqueous solution at room temperature. The obtained crystal was characterized by using powder X-ray diffraction, DSC, TGA, electrical conductivity, optical transmittance and optical reflectance measurements. Structural and thermal analyses were performed on potash alum crystal. The electrical conductivity of potash alum as electrolyte sample was 1.894 × 10−6 S/cm. The optical transition and optical band gap energy of potash alum crystal were studied for the first time. Direct and indirect optical band gap energies were 5.75 and 4.50 eV respectively. Extinction coefficient, refractive index, real and imaginary dielectric constants and optical conductivity were calculated for potash alum crystal at a range of photon energies between 1.4 and 6.2 eV. Normal dispersion parameters of potash alum crystal were calculated for the first time.

Synthesis of nano-alumina powder via recrystallization of ammonium alum

Abstract In the present study, a recrystallization method was implemented to recover alumina powder from ammonium alum crystal. The ammonium alum was completely dissolved in water and treated by ultra-sonication to prevent the agglomeration of the alum crystal. The white precipitate was dried at 150 °C for 6 h, and calcinations at different temperatures were performed for 2 h. The XRD results indicated the crystalline structure of alumina with two main phases: γ-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3 at 800 and 1200 °C, respectively. The N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm results indicated that the surface area for the powder in the γ phase, which can be applied in catalysts, was 142.5 m2/g, while, in the α-phase, it was 15.3 m2/g. The morphologies elucidated that the powder particles were widely distributed in the range of ≤160 nm at different calcination temperatures and this may be attributed to increments in the particle agglomeration as the calcination temperature increased.

Real-Time Characterization of Crystal Shape and Size Distribution Based on Moving Window and 3D Imaging in a Stirred Tank

Crystal shape distribution, i.e. the multidimensional size distribution of crystals, is of great importance to their down-stream processing such as in filtration as well as to the end-use properties including the dissolution rate and bioavailability for crystalline pharmaceuticals. Engineering crystal shape and shape distribution requires knowledge about the growth behavior of different crystal facets under varied operational conditions e.g. supersaturations. Measurement of the facet growth rates and growth kinetics of static crystals in a crystallizer without stirring has been reported previously. Here attention is given to study on real-time characterization of the 3D facet growth behavior of crystals in a stirred tank where crystals are constantly moving and rotating. The measurement technique is stereo imaging and the crystal shape reconstruction is based on a stereo imaging camera model. By reference to a case study on potash alum crystallization, it is demonstrated that the crystal size and shape distributions (CSSD) of moving and rotating potash alum crystals in the solution can be reconstructed. The moving window approach was used to correlate 3D face growth kinetics with supersaturation (in the range 0.04 - 0.12) given by an ATR FTIR probe. It revealed that {100} is the fastest growing face, leading to a rapid reduction of its area, while the {111} face has the slowest growth rate, reflected in its area continuously getting larger.

Synthesis of high purity ammonium alum crystallized from solutions containing impurities

Synthesis of high purity ammonium alum crystallized from solutions containing impurities was investigated. It was found that various parameters, including initial Al2(SO4)3 concentration, supersaturation, temperature and agitation, have a great effect on the purity of ammonium alum crystals. EDS analysis of crystals indicates that K+ ions were more easily included into ammonium alum crystals than other impurities. Impurities were removed more effectively by non-agitation crystallization than by agitation crystallization. In non-agitation crystallization, the content of K in crystals was drastically decreased and Na, Ca, Mg and Si were almost removed. Ammonium alum crystals with high purity were successfully synthesized by the method of non-agitation recrystallization. Distribution coefficient KK was much greater than KNa, which explained that K+ ion was more easily incorporated into ammonium alum crystals than Na+ ion.

Abstract 578: Macrophage Cholesterol Levels Modulate Ion Channel Activity: Effect(s) on Ion Flux Dependent Inflammatory Events

Accumulation of cholesterol loaded macrophage foam cells is the hallmark of atherosclerotic lesions where high cellular cholesterol content not only contributes to the plaque volume but is also responsible for the inflammatory milieu. Causal relationship exist between macrophage cholesterol content and inflammatory status involving TLR4, NFκB or cholesterol crystal mediated activation of inflammasome and IL1β secretion. Since K+ efflux is central to inflammasome activation, in this study we examined the hypothesis that cellular cholesterol content directly affects K+ channel activity as well as K+ efflux. K+ currents were monitored in mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPMs) from chow or western diet (WD) fed LDLR-/- or LDLR-/-CEHTg mice. WD feeding led to a significant increase in the K+ currents in MPMs from LDLR-/- mice (A, red). In contrast, WD feeding did not affect K+ currents in MPMs from LDLR-/-CEHTg mice; these MPMs have reduced cellular cholesterol accumulation due to increased efflux. Consistently, cholesterol loading with AcLDL led to an increase in K+ currents in THP1 macrophages (B, red) and this increase was attenuated following cholesterol efflux. The physiological effect of changes in K+ channel activity or K+ efflux on inflammasome activation in MPMs by different activators (K+ ionophore Nigericin, N or ALUM crystals) was examined. Increase in extracellular K+ (+KCl) or inhibition of K+ efflux by glyburide significantly reduced IL1β secretion (C&D). Consistently, cellular K+ levels after LPS+N or LPS+ALUM treatment were significantly reduced (E). While in MPMs only K ATP channel inhibitors reduced IL1β secretion (F), in human THP1 macrophages inhibition of K ATP as well as Na/K pump inhibitors significantly reduced IL1β secretion (G). These data demonstrate a novel mechanism for cholesterol mediated regulation of inflammatory pathways by regulation of K+ channel activity and also illustrate species specific differences in K+ channels involved

Flasking technique with alum crystals for fabricating definitive hollow bulb obturators

Different techniques have been described for fabricating obturators for patients with maxillary defects. The hollow bulb obturator has emerged as the treatment of choice in most patients owing to its light weight, cleanliness, and ease of fabrication. This article presents a simplified flasking technique for fabricating a definitive, closed, hollow bulb obturator by using a potassium alum crystal.

Gamma and neutron irradiation effects on the structural and optical properties of potash alum crystals

Abstract The effects of gamma and neutron irradiation on the structural and optical properties have been presented in this article. The potash alum crystals were grown by the slow evaporation technique. The crystals were then exposed with 60Co gamma rays and Am-Be neutron source. The radiation induced effects were analysed using XRD, UV–visible techniques. The refractive index was determined by the Brewster’s angle method. There has been an increase in the diffraction peak intensity with the increase in irradiation doses, which indicates an increase in crystalline perfection of crystals. There has been a marginal change in dislocation density, micro strain and distortion parameter, which is attributed to deformation of the structure due to irradiation. The UV visible study reveals a shift in transparency cut off wavelength towards lower wavelength up to 70 kGy of gamma dose and this has resulted in an increase in optical band gap energy with increase in gamma dose. There is a considerable increase in the optical band gap after five hour neutron irradiation.

Disorientation angle distribution of primary particles in potash alum aggregates

In order to fully characterize crystal aggregates, the orientation of primary particles has to be analyzed. A procedure for extracting this information from three-dimensional microcomputed tomography (μCT) images was recently published by our group. We here extend this method for asymmetrical crystals and apply it for studying the disorientation angle distribution of four potash alum crystal samples that were obtained under various experimental conditions. The results show that for all considered supersaturation profiles, primary particle pairs tend to have the same orientation significantly more often than in theoretical considerations, in which the orientations of primary particles are assumed to be distributed randomly.

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps and Microcrystals.

Neutrophil extracellular traps represent a fascinating mechanism by which PMNs entrap extracellular microbes. The primary purpose of this innate immune mechanism is thought to localize the infection at an early stage. Interestingly, the ability of different microcrystals to induce NET formation has been recently described. Microcrystals are insoluble crystals with a size of 1–100 micrometers that have different composition and shape. Microcrystals have it in common that they irritate phagocytes including PMNs and typically trigger an inflammatory response. This review is the first to summarize observations with regard to PMN activation and NET release induced by microcrystals. Gout-causing monosodium urate crystals, pseudogout-causing calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate crystals, cholesterol crystals associated with atherosclerosis, silicosis-causing silica crystals, and adjuvant alum crystals are discussed.