Batch Conversion Research Articles

Implementation of Electrolytic Phosphating for Steel Wire Drawing as an Alternative to Conversion Coatings

Wire drawing is a cold deformation process in which a steel wire is pulled through several dies of decreasing size, in order to reduce its diameter. To ensure smooth operations and to maximize the lifetime of the expensive dies, lubrication of the wire is mandatory prior to the drawing step. More importantly, the lubricating layer is required to remain adherent to the steel surface for multiple deformation steps, while also maintaining its performance throughout the entire process. For this application, zinc phosphate conversion coatings are widely utilized in combination with an aqueous lubricant based on stearate salts. In fact, phosphate coatings can easily deform under the compressive load of the drawing step, while their porous nature maximizes the amount of lubricant that can be applied to the wire surface. [1]Despite the good performance offered by conversion phosphating, there is an active interest in replacing this technology as it generates a significant amount of waste byproduct, the so called “phosphate sludge”. At the same time, finding an alternative conversion formulation that ensures the same performance is not a trivial task, especially when price is also factored in. In this context, electrolytic phosphating could offer an elegant, yet effective solution: the process allows the formation of coatings with the same chemical composition and morphology as conversion phosphating but prevents the formation of the sludge byproduct. With the application of an external voltage, it is in fact possible to trigger the local increase in pH responsible for phosphate formation without having to rely on the dissolution of the substrate. [2]In this talk we will present the implementation of electrolytic phosphating in what is arguably its most relevant industrial application. In particular, by designing the phosphating tank around the symmetry of the steel wire, it is possible to ensure uniform distribution of the current density on the substrate, effectively avoiding the main drawback of the electrolytic process. Furthermore, the higher deposition rate obtained with the electrolytic setup allows the implementation of a continuous operation process, with a higher throughput than traditional batch conversion phosphating. The presentation will showcase results coming from laboratory-scale experiments as well as data resulting from real case-studies at the industrial level.

Recycling of Rare Earth Elements: From E-Waste to Stereoselective Catalytic Reactions.

Raw mixtures of Rare Earths Elements, REE, recovered by E-waste, were used as catalysts to promote the (stereoselective) synthesis of highly valuable compounds. Y2O3, the major species that is recovered by the E-waste, can be easily converted into the catalytically active Y(OTf)3 that is able to efficiently promote the Michael addition of indoles to benzylidene malonates and the stereoselective Diels-Alder cycloaddition between cyclopentadiene and 4-(S)-3 acryloyl 4-tert-butyl 2-oxazolidinone. Additionally, the raw mixtures were immobilissed onto silica and used to construct packed reactors, resulting in values for Productivity and Space-Time Yields that were significantly higher than those of the corresponding batch conversions. Notably, the prepared cartridge employed in the model Michael reaction maintained its catalytic efficiency for more than 4 days of continuous running.

Poly(ionic liquid)-based aerogels for continuous-flow CO2 upcycling

The atmospheric concentration of CO2 is rising at an alarming pace, creating a pressing need for new and sustainable materials capable of capture and conversion. Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) are particularly effective catalysts for processes at or near atmospheric pressure. PILs industrial application poses challenges due to the low porosity of PIL, the limited batch conversion capacity, and the difficulties in reuse. To overcome these limitations, we herein propose the use of AEROPILs catalysts obtained from the integration of PILs in chitosan-based aerogels. These cost-effective highly porous materials have unique and tuneable porous properties making them not only ideal sustainable CO2 sorbents but also promising heterogeneous catalysts. While AEROPILs show moderate yields for CO2 conversion in batch mode, high catalytic activity was achieved when AEROPILs were used to catalyse the CO2 cycloaddition reaction to epoxides in packed-bed reactors operated under continuous flow. The catalytic activity and stability were maintained over 60 h without activity loss, and high productivity (space-time yield of 21.18 gprod h−1 L−1). This research reveals the pioneering use of AEROPILs to efficiently upcycle CO2 into cyclic carbonate under a continuous flow setup.

Dislocation determination and quality control of industrial casting monocrystalline silicon

By analyzing dislocation ratio data of casting monocrystalline silicon wafers and photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the fabricated solar cells and comparing analyzing growth height and dislocation ratio of silicon crystalline, we derived the calculation equation of dislocation growth in the vertical direction. According to this, the determination software for the dislocation area of casting monocrystalline silicon blocks has been developed, and we realized the adequate delineation and interception of serious dislocation area in casting monocrystalline silicon blocks. The batch conversion efficiency gap between the casting monocrystalline silicon and the Czochralski (CZ) monocrystalline silicon has been narrowed from 0.51 % to 0.19 %, and the low efficiency ratio of casting monocrystalline silicon cells has been reduced from 6.98 % to 0 %. Finally, the stability and competitiveness of casting monocrystalline silicon wafer products have been improved.

Ni-Cu bimetallic catalytic membranes for continuous nitrophenol conversion

Bimetallic nanocatalysts are of great interest due to their greater activity, selectivity, and chemical and electrochemical stability, compared to their monometallic counterparts. Bimetallic nanocatalysts formed from abundant and inexpensive elements provide greater opportunities for applications over noble metal catalysts. In this study, inexpensive Ni-Cu bimetallic catalytic membrane microreactors (CMMRs) were synthesized in a simple two-step process to catalytically degrade the environmental pollutant, 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), and produce the valuable feedstock, 4-aminophenol (4-AP). Ni-Cu nanoparticles were either produced by a replacement reduction reaction or a co-reduction reaction, producing either bimodal or integrated nanostructures, respectively, as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), while the electronic reconfiguration between bimetallic systems was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Compared to 4-NP batch conversion, flow-through reactions demonstrated enhanced mass transfer contributing to 2-fold higher conversion (>99%), 30-fold higher processing capacity (0.95 mol∙m−2∙h−1) and co-reduced Ni-Cu CMMRs boasted a reaction rate constant of 725.03 min−1.4-NP conversion on the Ni-Cu catalysts in the presence of NaBH4 followed the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism, and the conversion efficiency was highly dependent on flow rate, representing an optimization trade-off critical for CMMR applications. The polydopamine-assisted fabrication and the tortuous membrane pore structure contributed to the CMMRs’ stability with <5% metal loss during operation. The enhanced activity was attributed to the synergistic electronic effects of the Ni-Cu bimetallic structure, the metal-polydopamine interactions, and the catalysts’ unique structure and high surface area.

Comprehensive stability analysis of complex hydropower system under flexible operating conditions based on a fast stability domain solving method

This paper aims to study the comprehensive stability of the multi-unit hydropower systems (MUHS) with complex hydraulic coupling under flexible operating conditions and to reduce the time consumption of batch conversions in the stability domain of high-order hydropower systems (HOHSs). Firstly, the models for an actual hydropower system with three-turbine sharing a long tailrace are established considering three typical operating scenarios. Subsequently, a trajectory search algorithm is proposed to improve the speed and flexibility of stable domain solving in HOHSs. On this basis, the stability variation law of the MUHS with the variation of water head and guide vane opening is studied, and the minimum stability domain index is introduced to evaluate the comprehensive stability of systems under full hydroturbine operating conditions. Finally, the comprehensive stability of the MUHS under flexible combination operating conditions is analyzed. Notably, the stability of the MUHS is poor when the hydroturbine is operated at a water head of 215–225 m and a guide vane opening within 55–70%. In addition, the reduction of operating units will significantly deteriorate the comprehensive stability of MUHS. This paper provides a powerful tool for the stability analysis of HOHSs and potentially supports the optimal operation of the MUHS.

Histology Image Viewer and Converter (HIVC): a high-speed freeware software to view and convert whole slide histology images

ABSTRACT Histology images are widely used to assess the microstructure of biological tissues, but scanners often save images in bulky SVS and multi-layered TIFF formats. These formats were designed to archive image blocks and high-resolution textual information and are not compatible with conventional image analysis software. Our goal was to create a freeware Histology Image Viewer and Converter (HIVC) with a graphical user interface that allows viewing and converting whole-slide images into batches. HIVC was developed using C# Language for Windows x64 operating system. HIVC’s performance was assessed by converting 20 whole-slide images to a JPG format at 20× and 40× resolution and comparing the results to ImageJ, Cell Profiler, QuPath, Nanoborb, and Aperio ImageScope. HIVC was more than 8-times faster in converting images than other software packages. This software allows high-speed batch conversion of histology images to traditional formats, permitting platform-independent secondary analyses.

Energy-conscious maintenance and production scheduling for single machine systems under time-of-use tariffs

In view of the joint optimization problem of preventive maintenance and production scheduling for modern production systems under time-of-use tariffs, a two-stage joint decision-making policy is proposed to achieve the peak-shifting reduction of production power. In the first stage, a dynamic preventive maintenance schedule is sequentially obtained based on the availability of machine. In the second stage, the production scheduling optimization of multi-workpiece processing is further carried out. The power consumption cost and the delay penalty cost under the time-of-use electricity tariff are considered, and the mixed integer programming model is established to achieve the balance of energy consumption and production delay. Numerical experiments have shown that by reasonably planning the idle time at the time of production batch conversion, the proposed model can effectively shift the on-peak power demand to off-peak, meet the stable electricity demand of enterprises, and improve the sustainable utilization level of power.

Extraction of Citrus Trees from UAV Remote Sensing Imagery Using YOLOv5s and Coordinate Transformation

Obtaining the geographic coordinates of single fruit trees enables the variable rate application of agricultural production materials according to the growth differences of trees, which is of great significance to the precision management of citrus orchards. The traditional method of detecting and positioning fruit trees manually is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and inefficient. In order to obtain high-precision geographic coordinates of trees in a citrus orchard, this study proposes a method for citrus tree identification and coordinate extraction based on UAV remote sensing imagery and coordinate transformation. A high-precision orthophoto map of a citrus orchard was drawn from UAV remote sensing images. The YOLOv5 model was subsequently used to train the remote sensing dataset to efficiently identify the fruit trees and extract tree pixel coordinates from the orchard orthophoto map. According to the geographic information contained in the orthophoto map, the pixel coordinates were converted to UTM coordinates and the WGS84 coordinates of citrus trees were obtained using Gauss–Krüger inverse calculation. To simplify the coordinate conversion process and to improve the coordinate conversion efficiency, a coordinate conversion app was also developed to automatically implement the batch conversion of pixel coordinates to UTM coordinates and WGS84 coordinates. Results show that the Precision, Recall, and F1 Score for Scene 1 (after weeding) reach 0.89, 0.97, and 0.92, respectively; the Precision, Recall, and F1 Score for Scene 2 (before weeding) reach 0.91, 0.90 and 0.91, respectively. The accuracy of the orthophoto map generated using UAV remote sensing images is 0.15 m. The accuracy of converting pixel coordinates to UTM coordinates by the coordinate conversion app is reliable, and the accuracy of converting UTM coordinates to WGS84 coordinates is 0.01 m. The proposed method is capable of automatically obtaining the WGS84 coordinates of citrus trees with high precision.

Sustainable isomaltulose production in Corynebacterium glutamicum by engineering the thermostability of sucrose isomerase coupled with one-step simplified cell immobilization.

Sucrose isomerase (SI), catalyzing sucrose to isomaltulose, has been widely used in isomaltulose production, but its poor thermostability is still resisted in sustainable batches production. Here, protein engineering and one-step immobilized cell strategy were simultaneously coupled to maintain steady state for long-term operational stabilities. First, rational design of Pantoea dispersa SI (PdSI) for improving its thermostability by predicting and substituting the unstable amino acid residues was investigated using computational analysis. After screening mutagenesis library, two single mutants (PdSIV280L and PdSIS499F) displayed favorable characteristics on thermostability, and further study found that the double mutant PdSIV280L/S499F could stabilize PdSIWT better. Compared with PdSIWT, PdSIV280L/S499F displayed a 3.2°C-higher Tm, and showed a ninefold prolonged half-life at 45°C. Subsequently, a one-step simplified immobilization method was developed for encapsulation of PdSIV280L/S499F in food-grade Corynebacterium glutamicum cells to further enhance the recyclability of isomaltulose production. Recombinant cells expressing combinatorial mutant (RCSI2) were successfully immobilized in 2.5% sodium alginate without prior permeabilization. The immobilized RCSI2 showed that the maximum yield of isomaltulose by batch conversion reached to 453.0 g/L isomaltulose with a productivity of 41.2 g/l/h from 500.0 g/L sucrose solution, and the conversion rate remained 83.2% after 26 repeated batches.

One-step high-throughput detection of low-abundance biomarker BDNF using a biolayer interferometry-based 3D aptasensor

Although biosensors for signal monitoring have been extensively developed, their application in one-step high-throughput detection of low-abundance disease biomarkers remains challenging. This study presents a 3D aptasensor based on a biolayer interferometry (BLI) technique, followed by the sensitive and rapid detection of the specific biomarker brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) for early screening of glaucoma, an irreversible disease that causes blindness. The developed 3D aptasensor enabled one-step batch conversion of the low-abundance biomarker BDNF binding into optical interference signal, which was mainly attributed to the following factors: (1) A dimeric aptamer with extremely high targeting affinity was constructed as a biorecognition molecule, (2) highly sensitive 3D matrix sensors were integrated as signal transduction elements, and (3) the BLI Octet system with automated, high-throughput, and real-time online monitoring capabilities was used for reporting. The 3D aptasensor exhibited a broad detection window from 0.41 to 250 ng/mL BDNF, with a limit of detection of 0.2 ng/mL. Furthermore, detection of BDNF in glaucoma patient serum using the aptasensor showed good agreement with ELISA findings as well as the clinical diagnosis of the patient, demonstrating the feasibility of the system as a screening tool for glaucoma. This one-step high-throughput screening approach provides a valuable solution for the early diagnosis of glaucoma and may reduce the risk of blindness in visually impaired people.

Impact of melt flow on the process of glass melting

ABSTRACT The glass melting process was mathematically modeled in the designed space to establish the controlled melt flow and study its effect on the process character and melting performance. The conversion region of the space with combined heating was intended for batch conversion, and the homogenization region heated by the longitudinal energy barrier guaranteed bubble removal and sand dissolution. The theoretical background was formulated to define the melt flow conditions in a space with batch blanket. High batch conversion rates were acquired under conditions of structured heating, and the values increased almost linearly with the growing fraction of combustion heat delivered in the space conversion region. The increased fraction of total heat in the conversion region and cooling effect of the flue gases adjusted the effective helical flow in the space homogenization region, increased the space utilization and, consequently, the melting performance. The effects of energy distribution and position of the batch borderline on the sand dissolution and bubble removal kinetics were clarified, and the competence of modeling results for advanced melting was discussed.

Design and Optimization of the Single-Stage Continuous Mixed Suspension-Mixed Product Removal Crystallization of 2-Chloro-N-(4-methylphenyl)propenamide.

A continuously operated single-stage mixed suspension–mixed product removal (MSMPR) crystallizer was developed for the continuous cooling crystallization of 2-chloro-N-(4-methylphenyl)propanamide (CNMP) in toluene from 25 to 0 °C. The conversion of the previous batch to a continuous process was key to developing a methodology linking the synthesis and purification unit operations of CNMP and gave further insight in the development of continuous process trains for active pharmaceutical ingredient materials. By monitoring how parameters such as cooling and agitation rates influence particle size and the yield, two batch start-up strategies were compared. The second part of the study focused on developing and optimizing the continuous cooling crystallization of CNMP in the MSMPR crystallizer in relation to the yield by determining the effects of varying the residence time and the agitation rates. During the MSMPR operation, the plot of the focused beam reflectance measurement total counts versus time oscillates and reaches an unusual state of control. Despite the oscillations, the dissolved concentration was constant. The yield and production rate from the system were constant after two residence times, as supported by FTIR data. The overall productivity was higher at shorter residence times (τ), and a productivity of 69.51 g/h for τ = 20 min was achieved for the isolation of CNMP.

A user-friendly tool to convert photon counting data to the open-source Photon-HDF5 file format.

Photon-HDF5 is an open-source and open file format for storing photon-counting data from single molecule microscopy experiments, introduced to simplify data exchange and increase the reproducibility of data analysis. Part of the Photon-HDF5 ecosystem, is phconvert, an extensible python library that allows converting proprietary formats into Photon-HDF5 files. However, its use requires some proficiency with command line instructions, the python programming language, and the YAML markup format. This creates a significant barrier for potential users without that expertise, but who want to benefit from the advantages of releasing their files in an open format. In this work, we present a GUI that lowers this barrier, thus simplifying the use of Photon-HDF5. This tool uses the phconvert python library to convert data files originally saved in proprietary data formats to Photon-HDF5 files, without users having to write a single line of code. Because reproducible analyses depend on essential experimental information, such as laser power or sample description, the GUI also includes (currently limited) functionality to associate valid metadata with the converted file, without having to write any YAML. Finally, the GUI includes several productivity-enhancing features such as whole-directory batch conversion and the ability to re-run a failed batch, only converting the files that could not be converted in the previous run.

In Vitro Biosynthesis of Isobutyraldehyde Through the Establishment of a One-Step Self-Assembly-Based Immobilization Strategy.

The in vitro biosynthesis of high-value compounds has become popular and attractive. The convenient and simple strategy of enzyme immobilization has been significant for continuous and efficient in vitro biosynthesis. On the basis of that, this work established a one-step self-assembly-based immobilization strategy to efficiently biosynthesize isobutyraldehyde in vitro. Isobutyraldehyde is a crucial precursor for the synthesis of foods and spices. The established CipA scaffold-based strategy can express and immobilize enzymes at the same time, and purification requires only one centrifugation step. Structural simulations indicated that this scaffold-dependent self-assembly did not influence the structure or catalytic mechanisms of the isobutyraldehyde production-related enzymes leucine dehydrogenase (LeuDH) and ketoisovalerate decarboxylase (Kivd). Immobilized LeuDH and Kivd displayed a higher conversion capacity and thermal stability than the free enzymes. Batch conversion experiments demonstrated that the recovered immobilized LeuDH and Kivd have similar conversion capacities to the enzymes used in the first round of reaction. The continuous production of isobutyraldehyde was achieved by filling the immobilized enzymes into the column of a constructed device. This study not only expands the application range of self-assembly systems but also provides guidance for the in vitro production of value-added compounds.

Gaussian-2-Blender: An Open-Source Program for Conversion of Computational Chemistry Structure Files to 3D Rendering and Printing File Formats

Gaussian-2-Blender is an open-source application programming interface (API) written in Python that allows for the conversion of Gaussian input files to 3D objects of different formats. This new tool was developed in response to the shortcomings of available programs to import Gaussian calculations into augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) applications, which are currently rising in numbers. Gaussian-2-Blender’s distinguishing features include (1) molecule renderings with proportional, scaled, and accurate atomic and ionic sizes, (2) rendering transient, hydrogen, and delocalized bonds, (3) batch conversion of multiple files, and (4) retention of Gaussian input numerical labels. These features are either not supported or difficult to achieve in other programs. The following report describes the key features of the tool and provides a comparison between this new tool and available programs.

Batch Conversion of Methane to Methanol Using Copper Loaded Mordenite: Influence of the Main Variables of the Process

Due to the demands of oxygenated derivatives of hydrocarbons for the industry, the methane (CH4) to methanol (MeOH) conversion through solid-state catalysis is a current topic, with definite questions and specific challenges. This work shows a statistical model that predicts the quantity of methanol produced through a batch conversion process employing copper-exchanged mordenite in accordance with a full factorial experimental design. Synthesis was performed through solid-state ion exchange from Cu(acac)2 and NH4-Mordenite, obtaining weight percentages (%Cu) of 1%, 3%, and 5%, which was followed by activation through calcination at a range of temperatures (Tcal) between 300-500 °C, as well as a reaction with methane under 2-10 bar pressure (P) in static conditions employing a batch reactor. The quantities of MeOH produced, and their yields were determined through a gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis of the reaction samples. Finally, the role and contribution of each of the variables considered in the conversion process were analyzed. By using a nonlinear model, a quadratic dependence with %Cu and P in the studied range of the variables was found, as well as a linear dependence with Tcal. Finally, for this experiment, the highest yields (µmol/g) were obtained with the following conditions: %Cu=3 %, P=6 bar, and Tcal=400 °C.

Model for batch-to-glass conversion: coupling the heat transfer with conversion kinetics

ABSTRACT This study describes the development of a batch-to-glass conversion model for a container-glass melting furnace. The model accounts for the relationship between the temperature history of the batch particles, batch properties, and the rate of melting by coupling the heat transfer and batch conversion kinetics models. The heat transfer within the batch is modeled by a spatially one-dimensional, convective-conductive heat balance, while the conversion kinetics is described using stretched exponential, differential Avrami, and Šesták–Berggren models based on silica dissolution data. We show that the simulated melting rate significantly changes when the conversion kinetics is considered, indicating a critical importance of the temperature history of the feed particles for the glass melting process. Finally, we summarize the limitations of the batch model and discuss the key factors to be accounted for in more advanced versions.

Heat transfer from glass melt to cold cap: Computational fluid dynamics study of cavities beneath cold cap

AbstractEfficient glass production depends on the continuous supply of heat from the glass melt to the floating layer of batch, or cold cap. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are employed to investigate the formation and behavior of gas cavities that form beneath the batch by gases released from the collapsing primary foam bubbles, ascending secondary bubbles, and in the case of forced bubbling, from the rising bubbling gas. The gas phase fraction, temperature, and velocity distributions below the cold cap are used to calculate local and average heat transfer rates as a function of the bubbling rate. It is shown that the thickness of the cavities is nearly independent of the cold cap shape and the amount of foam evolved during batch conversion. It is ~7 mm and up to ~15 mm for the cases without and with forced bubbling used to promote circulation within the melt, respectively. Using computed velocity and temperature profiles, the melting rate of the simulated high‐level nuclear waste glass batch was estimated to increase with the bubbling rate to the power of ~0.3 to 0.9, depending on the flow pattern. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental data from laboratory‐ and pilot‐scale melter tests.

Conversion kinetics of container glass batch melting

AbstractUnderstanding the batch‐to‐glass conversion process is fundamental to optimizing the performance of glass‐melting furnaces and ensuring that furnace modeling can correctly predict the observed outcome when batch materials or furnace conditions change. To investigate the kinetics of silica dissolution, gas evolution, and primary foam formation and collapse, we performed X‐ray diffraction, thermal gravimetry, feed expansion tests, and evolved gas analysis of batch samples heated at several constant heating rates. We found that gas evolving reactions, foaming, and silica dissolution depend on the thermal history of the batch in a similar manner: the kinetic parameters of each process were linear functions of the square root of the heating rate. This kinetic similarity reflects the stronger‐than‐expected interdependence of these processes. On the basis of our results, we suggest that changes in furnace operating conditions, such as firing or boosting, influence the melting rate less than what one would expect without consideration of batch conversion kinetics.