Bulk Emulsion Research Articles

Influence of Contaminated Ammonium Nitrate on Detonation Behaviour of Bulk Emulsion Explosives and Numerical Analysis of Detonation‐Induced Damage Zone

AbstractBulk emulsion explosives are widely used industrial explosives for mining and civil infrastructure work. Ammonium nitrate is an important ingredient for bulk emulsion explosives and plays an important role in the detonation behaviour. Considering the growing demand for bulk emulsion explosives, an in‐depth investigation is necessary to understand how the impurities in ammonium nitrate can affect the detonation behaviour and safe handling of bulk emulsion explosives. Herein, we have demonstrated the influence of contaminated ammonium nitrate on the detonation behaviour and characteristics of bulk emulsion explosive. Furthermore, the particle size of the internal phase of the all prepared bulk emulsion explosives was analyzed using optical microscopy to confirm the effect of contaminated ammonium nitrate. Time dependent chemical‐induced gassing behaviour and detonation velocity of prepared bulk explosive samples were also studied. Importantly, numerical modeling was used to stimulate the detonation‐induced rock damage zone and assess the impact of ammonium nitrate contamination. Additionally, a real‐time rock damage pattern of different prepared samples was further investigated to understand the impact of contamination on the detonation induced crack development phenomena of different bulk emulsion samples.

Using the pH sensitivity of switchable surfactants to understand the role of the alkyl tail conformation and hydrogen bonding at a molecular level in elucidating emulsion stability

HypothesisThe monoalkyl diamine surfactant, N-dodecylpropane-1,3-diamine (DPDA), is expected to exhibit a pH-dependent charge switchability. In response to pH changes, the interfacial self-assembly of DPDA becomes an intermediary constituent that can potentially modify the interfacial interactions and structural assembly of both the oil and water phases. Hence, we hypothesize that as we change the pH, DPDA will respond to it by changing its charge and alkyl tail conformation as well as the conformation of adjacent phases at the molecular level, consequently affecting emulsion formation and stability. A neutral pH, resulting in a mono-cationic dialkyl amine, affects the conformation, driving an ordered self-assembly and stable emulsion. ExperimentsThe pH-sensitivity and interfacial activity of DPDA were evaluated through pH titration and interfacial tension measurements. Subsequently, a molecular-level study of DPDA, as a pH-sensitive switchable surfactant, was performed at the dodecane-water interface using SFG spectroscopy. The interpretation of the vibrational spectra was further reinforced by determining the gauche defects in the interfacial alkyl chain organization and the extent of hydrogen (H) bonding between the interfacial water molecules. FindingsBy adjusting the pH of water, the charge of the adsorbed DPDA molecules, their self-assembly, the organization of interfacial molecules, and ultimately the stability of the emulsion were tuned. At pH 7.0, the SFG spectra of DPDA showed that the interfacial alkyl chains were relatively well-ordered, while water molecules also had stronger H-bonding interactions. As a result, the oil–water emulsion showed improved stability. When water was at a high pH, the water molecules had fewer H-bonding interactions and relatively disordered alkyl chains at the interface, providing desirable conditions for demulsification. These observations were compatible with the observation in bulk emulsion preparation, confirming that alkyl chain packing and water H-bonding interactions at the interface contribute to overall emulsion stability.

Temperature-influenced Bulk Emulsion (BE) Demulsification Method as a PIBSA-MEA Emulsifier Durability Test in Blasting Environments under 100 °C

This research attempts to provide a better method, examine more effective temperatures for testing emulsifiers, and determine the demulsification limit that indicates emulsifier durability. This experiment was conducted by varying the temperature (40, 60, 80, and 100 °C) for heating the product with a test time of 1, 2, 4, and 6 h, then detected using formaldehyde titration to determine the highest level of demulsification of ammonium nitrate (AN) salt at each temperature in the product. The results showed that 100 °C was the most effective and representative temperature for testing the durability of the emulsifier with the highest level of demulsification from the other temperatures. This was indicated by the weight of AN salt that came out of the emulsion reaching 2.05 g from 20 g of emulsion or about 10.25% of the total weight of the product within 6 h. Emulsifiers with AN levels below 2.05 g (10.25%) were considered to pass the test and could be used for further production or analysis. This new test method was expected that bulk emulsion manufacturers would be faster in eliminating PIBSA-base (Polyisobutylene succinic anhydride-base) emulsifier products widely used by emulsifier manufacturers in manufacturing BE. This was due to it only focusing on the ability of emulsifiers to hold the product in high-temperature exposure so that it remained unified and not demulsified.

DENSITY MONITORING OF BULK EMULSION EXPLOSIVES IN CONFINED BLASTHOLES

Parameter’s control of explosives used in open pit mining operations have become more relevant over the years, bringing a better understanding of detonation performance. Giving into consideration that bulk emulsion density reflects on blasting results due to its importance in product sensitivity and velocity of detonation (VOD), blast designs are conducted assuming that cup density measurements are reliable and explosives gassing agents will perform as per specifications. Nevertheless, confinement conditions in boreholes are often neglected on predictive modelling. This paper describes the assembly of a device equipped with pressure sensors and its utilization in confined boreholes, obtaining in situ monitoring of density variation in explosive columns. The results enabled a comparison between bulk emulsion density variation when acting in different environments, providing detailed insights into how chemically sensitized explosives behave into different circumstances, giving the opportunity to re-evaluate blast design.

Ultrafast universal fabrication of configurable porous silicone-based elastomers by Joule heating chemistry

Silicone-based elastomers (SEs) have been extensively applied in numerous cutting-edge areas, including flexible electronics, biomedicine, 5G smart devices, mechanics, optics, soft robotics, etc. However, traditional strategies for the synthesis of polymer elastomers, such as bulk polymerization, suspension polymerization, solution polymerization, and emulsion polymerization, are inevitably restricted by long-time usage, organic solvent additives, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. Here, we propose a Joule heating chemistry method for ultrafast universal fabrication of SEs with configurable porous structures and tunable components (e.g., graphene, Ag, graphene oxide, TiO2, ZnO, Fe3O4, V2O5, MoS2, BN, g-C3N4, BaCO3, CuI, BaTiO3, polyvinylidene fluoride, cellulose, styrene-butadiene rubber, montmorillonite, and EuDySrAlSiOx) within seconds by only employing H2O as the solvent. The intrinsic dynamics of the in situ polymerization and porosity creation of these SEs have been widely investigated. Notably, a flexible capacitive sensor made from as-fabricated silicone-based elastomers exhibits a wide pressure range, fast responses, long-term durability, extreme operating temperatures, and outstanding applicability in various media, and a wireless human-machine interaction system used for rescue activities in extreme conditions is established, which paves the way for more polymer-based material synthesis and wider applications.

Evaluation of multiple displacement amplification for metagenomic analysis of low biomass samples.

Combining multiple displacement amplification (MDA) with metagenomics enables the analysis of samples with extremely low DNA concentrations, making them suitable for high-throughput sequencing. Although amplification bias and nonspecific amplification have been reported from MDA-amplified samples, the impact of MDA on metagenomic datasets is not well understood. We compared three MDA methods (i.e. bulk MDA, emulsion MDA, and primase MDA) for metagenomic analysis of two DNA template concentrations (approx. 1 and 100pg) derived from a microbial community standard "mock community" and two low biomass environmental samples (i.e. borehole fluid and groundwater). We assessed the impact of MDA on metagenome-based community composition, assembly quality, functional profiles, and binning. We found amplification bias against high GC content genomes but relatively low nonspecific amplification such as chimeras, artifacts, or contamination for all MDA methods. We observed MDA-associated representational bias for microbial community profiles, especially for low-input DNA and with the primase MDA method. Nevertheless, similar taxa were represented in MDA-amplified libraries to those of unamplified samples. The MDA libraries were highly fragmented, but similar functional profiles to the unamplified libraries were obtained for bulk MDA and emulsion MDA at higher DNA input and across these MDA libraries for the groundwater sample. Medium to low-quality bins were possible for the high input bulk MDA metagenomes for the most simple microbial communities, borehole fluid, and mock community. Although MDA-based amplification should be avoided, it can still reveal meaningful taxonomic and functional information from samples with extremely low DNA concentration where direct metagenomics is otherwise impossible.

A multi-scale approach to arabinoxylan-based emulsions: From molecular features, interfacial properties to emulsion behaviors

Arabinoxylan (AX) is well-known for its emulsification and beneficial biological activity, but the roles of AX's molecular features and interfacial properties in AX-based emulsion behaviors were unknown. We first used a multi-scale approach to correlate molecular, interfacial, droplet characteristics, and bulk emulsion of AXs from corn and wheat bran (CAXs and WAXs). Our results showed that among CAXs and WAXs solution (1 %, 2 % and 3 %, w/v), 0.25 M NaOH-treated CAX and WAX showed smaller particle sizes (493 nm and 8621 nm), lower interfacial tension and stronger interfacial layer, whose emulsion exhibited smaller initial droplets (541 nm and 660 nm) and better stability. Moreover, WAXs had bigger particle sizes, lower interfacial tension and stronger interfacial layer than CAXs, but CAXs exhibited better emulsifying and emulsion-stabilizing properties than WAXs. There is a satisfactory correlation among CAXs' or WAXs' molecular features, interfacial properties and emulsion behaviors. However, a good correlation from different grains AXs cannot be established.

Dynamics of oil–water interface at the beginning of the ultrasonic emulsification process

A lot of effort has been dedicated in recent years towards understanding the basics of cavitation induced emulsification, mainly in the form of single cavitation bubbles. Regarding bulk acoustic emulsification, a lot less research has been done. In our here presented work we utilize advanced high-speed observation techniques in visible light and X-Rays to build upon that knowledge and advance the understanding of bulk emulsion preparation. During research we discovered that emulsion formation has an acute impact on the behavior of the interface and more importantly on its position relative to the horn, hence their interdependence must be carefully studied. We did this by observing bulk emulsification with 2 cameras simultaneously and corroborating these measurements with observation under X-Rays. Since the ultrasonic horns location also influences interface behavior, we shifted its initial position to different locations nearer to and further away from the oil–water interface in both phases. We found that a few millimeters distance between the horn and interface is not enough for fine emulsion formation, but that they must be completely adjacent to each other, with the horn being located inside the oil–water interface. We also observed some previously undiscovered phenomena, such as the splitting of the interface to preserve continuous emulsion formation, climbing of the interface up the horn and circular interface protrusions towards the horn forming vertical emulsion streams. Interestingly, no visible W/O emulsion was ever formed during our experiments, only O/W regardless of initial horn position.

Chelating peptides from rapeseed meal protein hydrolysates: identification and evaluation of their capacity to inhibit lipid oxidation.

An optimized proteolysis process was applied to rapeseed meal proteins (RP) and the hydrolysate was separated by membrane filtration allowing the production of highly metal-chelating peptides in the permeate. In order to identify the chemical structure of the most active obtained metal-chelating peptides, immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) was applied. The RP-IMAC peptide fraction was mainly composed of small peptides from 2 to 20 amino acids. Using the Ferrozine assay, RP-IMAC peptides showed a significant chelating efficiency higher than sodium citrate and close to that of EDTA. The peptide sequences were identified by UHPLC-MS and several possible iron binding sites were found. β-carotene oxidation assay and lipid oxidation in bulk oils or emulsion were carried out to evaluate the potential of such peptides as efficient antioxidants to protect lipids from oxidation. While chelating peptides showed a limited efficiency in bulk oil, they performed more efficiently in emulsion.

Effect of defatted coconut flour on functional, nutritional, textural and sensory attributes of rice noodles

SummaryDefatted coconut flour (DCF) obtained after the coconut oil extraction was incorporated at different concentrations (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) in rice noodles to increase the fibre and protein content. The functional characteristics of the flour blends and nutritional composition, colour, cooking qualities, textural, antioxidant properties, shelf life and sensory qualities of the noodles were assessed. The incorporation of DCF significantly (P < 0.05) increased Water Solubility Index (WSI), water absorption capacity (WAC) and oil absorption capacity (OAC). In contrast, properties like bulk density, foaming capacity (FC), emulsion activity and viscosity decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Nutrition analysis revealed that DCF‐enriched formulations had significantly more crude fibre, protein, antioxidant, polyphenol, flavonoid and mineral content than the control sample. Furthermore, the incorporation of DCF significantly (P < 0.05) increased swelling volume (2.33 ± 0.06% to 5.65 ± 0.21%), water uptake ratio (108.91 ± 0.03% to 191.21 ± 0.04%), cooking loss (4.61 ± 0.04% to 7.83 ± 0.02%), cooking time (2.62 ± 0.05 to 4.14 ± 0.04 min) and noodle thickness (0.21 to 0.27 cm). When DCF was added to noodles, the ΔE values were significantly (P < 0.05) increased, but the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, resilience, gumminess, L*, hue and chroma were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased. Higher sensory scores were observed when DCF was incorporated up to 10%. The shelf life of the optimised noodles (with 10% DCF) was also assessed. The optimised noodle samples have a shelf life of 351 days at 29 °C. In conclusion, noodles made with DCF had more protein and fibre than those made with rice flour.

The Effect of the Blasthole Diameter on the Detonation Velocity of Bulk Emulsion Explosive in the Conditions of Selected Mining Panel of the Rudna Mine

The blasting technique is currently the basic excavation method in Polish underground copper mines. Applied explosives are usually described by parameters determined on the basis of specific standa ...

Hydrogel-Encapsulated Beads Enable Proximity-Driven Encoded Library Synthesis and Screening.

Encoded combinatorial library technologies have dramatically expanded the chemical space for screening but are usually only analyzed by affinity selection binding. It would be highly advantageous to reformat selection outputs to "one-bead-one-compound" solid-phase libraries, unlocking activity-based and cellular screening capabilities. Here, we describe hydrogel-encapsulated magnetic beads that enable such a transformation. Bulk emulsion polymerization of polyacrylamide hydrogel shells around magnetic microbeads yielded uniform particles (7 ± 2 μm diameter) that are compatible with diverse in-gel functionalization (amine, alkyne, oligonucleotides) and transformations associated with DNA-encoded library synthesis (acylation, enzymatic DNA ligation). In a case study of reformatting mRNA display libraries, transcription from DNA-templated magnetic beads encapsulated in gel particles colocalized both RNA synthesis via hybridization with copolymerized complementary DNA and translation via puromycin labeling. Two control epitope templates (V5, HA) were successfully enriched (50- and 99-fold, respectively) from an NNK5 library bead screen via FACS. Proximity-driven library synthesis in concert with magnetic sample manipulation provides a plausible means for reformatting encoded combinatorial libraries at scale.

New method for determining parameters of drilling and blasting for horizontal and inclined mine workings

Purpose. Development of a new methodology for calculating the parameters of drilling and blasting (D&B) for horizontal and inclined mine workings, taking into account the pressure of the explosion products, the compressive strength of rocks, their structural structure, fracturing and compaction under the action of rock pressure. The methodology of research. Using the well-known laws of the theory of elasticity and the main provisions of the quasi-static-wave hypothesis of the mechanism of destruction of a solid medium by an explosion, a method has been developed for determining the D&B parameters for excavating, which is based on the principle of placing groups of blast-holes in the areas they occupy in the working face and their location behind outside the fender circuits. To establish the suitability of the developed new methodology for calculating the parameters of the D&B, it was tested in the conditions of a real object. Findings. A methodology has been developed for calculating the parameters of the D&B in the excavating, which is based on the principle of placing groups of blast-holes in the areas they occupy in the working face and their location behind outside the fender circuits. The first stage of the methodology includes the calculation and design of straight cuts, the distance between the blast-holes in which is determined by the radius of the crush zone. The second stage of the methodology includes the calculation of: specific and total costs of explosive (EX) per slaughter, the value of the line of least resistance (LLR) for the blast-hole along the radius of the zone of intensive grinding, the areas of groups of holes, the number of blast-holes, the calculated and actual distance between the blast-holes, the actual value of the charge per blast-hole, actual specific and total costs of EX for working face. Approbation of the developed methodology was carried out in the conditions of an operating ore mine during excavating using a bulk emulsion explosive (EЕ) Ukrainit-PP-2, for which the D&B parameters were calculated according to the developed method. On the basis of test blasts, good results were obtained for blasting the bottom of the working, uniform ore crushing and a high utilization rate of blast-holes. The originality. The parameters of the location of blast-holes in the working face are implemented according to the power-law pattern of change in the LLR depending on the diameter of the blast-hole, the pressure of the explosion products, the compressive strength of the rocks, their structural structure, fracturing and compaction under the action of rock pressure. Practical implications. The developed method for determining the D&B parameters for horizontal and inclined mine workings makes it possible to rationalize the uniform arrangement of blast-holes in the working face and to save resources when performing drivage up to 18%.

Probing the improved heat stabilizing capacity of dry heat conjugated whey protein in oil-in-water emulsions: A microrheological study

Dry heat conjugation of whey protein has been shown before to improve its heat stabilizing properties when applied as an emulsifier. However, the range of feasible heating conditions of these conjugates has not yet been evaluated. Microrheology, a non-destructive method, was utilized in this study to determine the acceptable heating range for whey protein stabilized-emulsions. Practically, oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by whey protein-lactose conjugates were subjected to either an in-situ thermal treatment, including a heating-cooling cycle, or to an isothermal period. The observed microstructural rearrangements were also confirmed by examining the bulk emulsion behavior through oscillatory rheology.The obtained results indicated that microrheology could unravel the range of heating temperatures and durations for emulsions stabilized by whey protein concentrate (WPC) that was dry heated for 8 and 48 h as compared to the native WPC. The improved heat stability was a result of the conjugates’ ability to prevent the formation of an oil droplet network. Consequently, the conjugated WPC-stabilized emulsions remained mainly viscous with a low elasticity index (EI) and macroscopic viscosity index (MVI) during heating. Furthermore, the microrheology findings were found to be largely in line with bulk rheological properties: both methods indicated a comparable temperature for the onset of network formation upon applying a temperature sweep. The insights from this study may help to stimulate the industrial application of whey protein-sugar conjugates as heat stable natural emulsifiers.

Polyurea micro-/nano-capsule applications in construction industry: A review

Abstract The application of micro-/nano-capsules in construction industries has been rising over the past decade. Polyurea with tunable chemical and morphological structure are of interesting polymers to prepare micro-/nano-capsules used in construction. The structure of polyurea micro-/nano-capsule is capable to be tailored via bulk emulsion or microfluidic method. Important factors for production of micro/nano-capsules are the rate of fabrication and having control over mean size, dispersity, and wall thickness. The bulk emulsion method provides higher yield of production with less control over sizes and dispersity in comparison to microfluidic technique. The main applications of polyurea micro-/nano-capsules in construction industries are categorized as thermal energy saving, self-healing concrete, self-healing polymers, and fire retarding. Polyurea showed appropriate thermal conductivity and mechanical properties which is required for encapsulation of phase change materials. Titanium dioxide polyurea microcapsules possess energy storage efficiency of 77.3% and thermal storage capacity of 99.9%. Polyurea microcapsules with sodium silicate cargo provided self-healing abilities for oil well cement in high temperature and showed higher self-healing abilities compared to gelatin microcapsules. Graphene oxide polyurea micro-/nano-capsules demonstrated 62.5% anti-corrosive self-healing efficiency in epoxy coating, and steel coated via dendritic polyurea microcapsules embedded polyurethane remained unchanged after long time immersion in salt water.

Optimization of emulsion phase transfer to produce giant vesicles with two nested bilayers.

Vesicles are straightforward to produce with only one bilayer, such as in giant unilamellar vesicles made by electroformation. Vesicles with many bilayers are also easy to produce, like multilamellar vesicles produced by gentle hydration. In contrast, the production of giant (>10 µm) vesicles with an exact number of nested bilayers is challenging, especially if those bilayers have different compositions. One possible application of a vesicle with two nested bilayers could be to model the double membranes that surround some cells or organelles. Vesicles with two nested bilayers have been previously made by electroformation (Ghellab et al. 2017), microfluidic methods (Deng et al. 2016), and bulk emulsion transfer techniques (Ip et al. 2021). Here, we optimize the emulsion phase transfer technique for bilayers capable of separating into coexisting liquid phases, for the conditions of our laboratory.

Integrated data-driven modeling and experimental optimization of granular hydrogel matrices

Integrated data-driven modeling and experimental optimization of granular hydrogel matrices

On the rheology and magnetization of dilute magnetic emulsions under small amplitude oscillatory shear

A dilute magnetic emulsion under the combined action of a uniform external magnetic field and a small amplitude oscillatory shear is studied using numerical simulations. We consider a three-dimensional domain with a single ferrofluid droplet suspended in a non-magnetizable Newtonian fluid. We present results of droplet shape and orientation, viscoelastic functions and bulk emulsion magnetization as functions of the shear oscillation frequency, magnetic field intensity and orientation. We also investigate how the magnetic field induces mechanical anisotropy by producing internal torques in oscillatory conditions. We found that, when the magnetic field is parallel to the shear plane, the droplet shape is mostly independent of the shear oscillation frequency. Regarding the viscometric functions, we show how the external magnetic field modifies the storage and loss moduli, especially for a field aligned to the main velocity gradient. The bulk emulsion magnetization is studied in the same fashion as the viscoelastic functions of the oscillatory shear. We show that the in-phase component of the magnetization with respect to the shear rate reaches a saturation magnetization, at the high frequencies limit, dependent on the magnetic field intensity and orientation. On the other hand, we found a non-zero out-of-phase response, which indicates a finite emulsion magnetization relaxation time. Our results indicate that the magnetization relaxation is closely related to the mechanical relaxation for dilute magnetic emulsions under oscillatory shear.

Improvement of the current methodology for calculating the parameters of drilling and blasting on the explosive force

Purpose. Improvement of the current methodology for calculating the parameters of drilling and blasting (D&B) by determining the explosive force by the degree of realization of the detonation velocity for all types of industrial explosives (IE). The methodology of research. To solve the problem, a systematic approach was used, including an analysis of the current industry methodology for calculating the parameters of D&B in underground ore mining using IE, improvement of the power-law dependence of the calculation of the line of least resistance (LLR) of charges by determining the coefficient of explosive force of the IE, taking into account the degree of implementation of the burning rate, as well as approbation of the improved technique in the conditions of the operating iron ore mine. Findings. According to the methodology for determining the coefficient of explosive force of explosives (EX) according to the degree of implementation of the burning rate and according to the results of experimental studies of the change in the burning rate of the bulk emulsion explosive (EE) Ukrainit-PP-2, an improvement is proposed for the current industry methodology for calculating the parameters of D&B for the mines of the Kriviy Rig basin and the Private Joint Stock Society "Zaporozhye iron ore plant" (PJSS "ZIOP"). This made it possible, in the conditions of the experimental block of the mine "Yubileinaya" of the PJSS "Sukhaya Balka", using the bulk EE Ukrainit-PP-2, to increase the LLR and the distance between the borehole bottom up to 17%, and to obtain good results of ore reduction. The originality. The well-known power-law dependence of the determination of the LLR of borehole for rock breaking has been improved through the refinement of the coefficient of explosive force of the IE, which takes into account the degree of realization of the burning rate EX. Practical implications. The results of the research have improved the power-law dependence of the calculation of the LLR on the explosive force, taking into account the degree of implementation of the burning rate, the use of which will allow rationalizing the parameters of the D&B when breaking the ore mass using all types of IE.

Preparation and Application of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Flavonoids: Review and Perspective.

The separation and detection of flavonoids from various natural products have attracted increasing attention in the field of natural product research and development. Depending on the high specificity of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), MIPs are proposed as efficient adsorbents for the selective extraction and separation of flavonoids from complex samples. At present, a comprehensive review article to summarize the separation and purification of flavonoids using molecular imprinting, and the employment of MIP-based sensors for the detection of flavonoids is still lacking. Here, we reviewed the general preparation methods of MIPs towards flavonoids, including bulk polymerization, precipitation polymerization, surface imprinting and emulsion polymerization. Additionally, a variety of applications of MIPs towards flavonoids are summarized, such as the different forms of MIP-based solid phase extraction (SPE) for the separation of flavonoids, and the MIP-based sensors for the detection of flavonoids. Finally, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the current synthetic methods for preparing MIPs of flavonoids and prospected the approaches for detecting flavonoids in the future. The purpose of this review is to provide helpful suggestions for the novel preparation methods of MIPs for the extraction of flavonoids and emerging applications of MIPs for the detection of flavonoids from natural products and biological samples.