Chemical Consumption Research Articles

Effects of microwave cooking on the physicochemical and sensory properties of seaweed‐based analogue rice

SummaryDespite considerable progress in seaweed‐based analogue rice development, understanding the effects of cooking methods on its physicochemical and sensory properties is an essential area for further investigation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of microwave cooking on the physical and sensory properties of seaweed‐based analogue rice. The experiment was carried out using various microwave power levels (180, 270 and 360 W) and heating duration (5 and 7 min). The optimal condition was achieved at 270 W for 7 min, leading to 94% water absorption, with L*, a* and b* values of 51.99, −0.75 and 8.09 respectively. The texture profile analysis showed hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness and chewiness of 10.52 N, 0.69 mm, 0.60, 71.30 g.s and 4.29 mJ respectively. The check‐all‐that‐apply sensory evaluation was also described the dominant sensory attributes of product. This method also demonstrated greater chemical compound and energy consumption when compared to conventional cooking methods. Eventually, this finding anticipates high rice demand and promotes seaweed‐based analogue rice as a new functional food with convenient cooking methods to address the growing need for efficient and time‐saving food preparation in modern lifestyles.

Co-pyrolysis of pine-cone and chicken feathers: a study to determine kinetic parameters, thermodynamic properties, and potential synergistic effects

ABSTRACT The increasing consumption of chemicals, fuels, and energy results in the rapid depletion of fossil reserves that are utilized as raw materials in the manufacture of the aforementioned products. This is why science has recently focused on more efficient utilization of renewable energy sources such as biomass. In this work, we have used widely available biomasses such as pine cone and chicken feather for the kinetic and thermodynamic study. The co-pyrolysis study of an equal proportion (50:50) of pine cone (PC) and chicken feather (CF) was performed using the thermogravimetry technique. The analysis was performed for the temperature range of 20-8000 C with 10, 20, and 30 0C/min heating rates. The KAS, OFW, and Kissinger methods were used for the activation energy, and the Coats–Redfern method was utilized for the pre-exponential factor estimation. The KAS and OFW methods were used to calculate the average activation energy. Using the OFW and KAS methods, the results were 179.53, 163.02 kJ/mol for PC, 177.64, 126.46 kJ/mol for CF, and 160.49, 117.01 kJ/mol for the mixture. It was observed that the mixture activation energy was lower than the individual biomass. The study has analyzed the positive synergistic effect of the co-pyrolysis. Proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, heating value, and thermodynamic activation parameters such as ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG were also determined for the mixture.

Extraction of proteinaceous components and biominerals from cold water fish fileting side streams: a review

Fileting is a popular form of processing methods and in addition to being sold fresh or frozen, filets are used for preparation products battered and breaded filets. This generates considerable amount of side streams like skin, frames, and cut-offs which forms around 30–70% of the total body weight. The European Waste Framework Directive 2008 and recent amendments [EU WFD (2018/851)] stipulates comprehensive regulations which the manufacturers must follow while handling the side streams generated during the processing. This demands a detailed compilation of information regarding the yield, classification and valorization potential of side streams associated with the fileting operations of the cold-water finfishes. The side streams are a rich source of proteins including structural proteins like collagen and biominerals such as hydroxyapatite which find multiple application in food and pharmaceutical industry. Previously, the recovery of these components was performed by extensive chemical treatment with acids or bases, including subsequent washing steps. Nowadays, green extraction methods, defined as technologies with reduced energy and chemical consumption, should be considered to achieve a green shift in the food industry. Nevertheless, industrial upscaling of green extraction methods and subsequent refinement of the isolated compounds must be further evaluated and improved in order to achieve a green shift in food industry by using side-stream derived compounds as ingredients. Moreover, legislations as well as national and international regulations must be considered and evaluated. Even though a number of articles are recently available regarding seafood side stream valorization, this review focus on side streams generated predominantly from cold water fish species and also discusses sustainable green technologies to be included during the recovery process.

Preparation of isoquercitrin and rhamnose from readily accessible rutin by a highly specific recombinant α-L-rhamnosidase (r-Rha1)

Isoquercitrin has superior in vivo bioactivities with respect to its primary glycoside rutin. Its conventional preparation was ineffective, with large chemical consumption and many by-products. Rhamnose, a high value-added monosaccharide, is usually separated from acid hydrolytes of rutin. This study aimed to establish a novel enzymatic hydrolysis-based approach for their preparation. α-L-rhamnosidase was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 and applied to enzymolysis of rutin. Then, one-factor-at-a-time optimisation of hydrolysis conditions was performed. Two compounds were produced in 0.02 M HAc-NaAc buffer (pH4.50) containing α-L-rhamnosidase/rutin (1:4, w/w) at 60 °C. Consequently, 20.0 g/L rutin was completely hydrolysed in 2 hrs, and isoquercitrin was obtained after purification by HPD-100 resin. Additionally, rhamnose was enriched by decolorisation and crystallisation. MD simulation analysis suggested that rutin was catalysed on the hydrophobic surface of r-Rha1 with van-der-Waals force being main driving force. This strategy is an efficient approach for preparation of isoquercitrin and rhamnose.

Alternating Direct Current Field Assistant Promoting Chemical Stabilization of Combined Heavy Metals Contaminated Soil

To enhance the remediation efficiency and reduce the chemicals consumption, the combined heavy metals Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu) and Cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil were stabilized by chemical passivators with alternating direct current field (ADC) assistant. The results showed that ADC treatment activated initial heavy metal compounds in the soil. The leaching concentrations of Pb, Cu and Cd in soil under ADC condition increased by 19.61%, 38.77% and 49.10% in comparison with no electric field, respectively. The exchangeable fractions of Pb, Cu and Cd increased while the reducible, oxidizable and residual fractions decreased substantially. Thus, the chemical passivators addition companied with ADC treatment in the beginning increased stabilization efficiency of heavy metals in the soil and reduced over 30% amount of chemical agent consumption, comparing with only chemical passivator stabilization. The mechanism can be speculated that ADC assistant facilitated more heavy metal ions in the soil reacting with phosphorus- containing passivator to formed more complex and stable metal phosphates. It was confirmed by XRD measurement that silicon element in the crystal structure of metallic compound was replaced by phosphorus element.

Techno-environmental and economic assessment of color removal strategies from textile wastewater

The textile industry is one of the most chemical-intensive processes, resulting in the unquestionable pollution of more than a quarter of the planet's water bodies. The high recalcitrant properties of some these pollutants resulted on the development of treatment technologies looking at the larger removal efficiencies, due to conventional systems are not able to completely remove them in their effluents. However, safeguarding the environment also implies taking into account indirect pollution from the use of chemicals and energy during treatment. On the other hand, the emerged technologies need to be economically attractive for investors and treatment managers. Therefore, the costs should be kept under control. For this reason, the present study focuses on a comparative Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing of four scale-up scenarios aiming at mono and di-azo reactive dyes removal from textile wastewater. Two reactors (sequencing batch reactor and two-phase partitioning) were compared for different reaction environments (i.e., single anaerobic and sequential anaerobic-aerobic) and conditions (different pH, organic loading rates and use of polymer). In accordance with the results of each scenario, it was found that the three technical parameters leading to a change in the environmental profiles were the removal efficiency of the dyes, the type of dye eliminated, and the pollutant influent concentration. The limitation of increasing organic loading rates related to the biomass inhibition could be overcame through the use of a novel two-phased partitioning bioreactor. The use of a polymer at this type of system may help restore the technical performance (84.5 %), reducing the toxic effects of effluents and consequently decreasing the environmental impact. In terms of environmental impact, this is resulting into a reduction of the toxic effects of textile effluents in surface and marine waters compared to the homologous anaerobic-aerobic treatment in a sequencing batch reactor. However, the benefits achieved for the nature comes with an economic burden related to the consumption of the polymer. It is expected that the cost of investment of the treatment with the two-phase partitioning bioreactor rises 0.6–8.3 %, depending on market prices, compared to the other analyzed sequential anaerobic-aerobic technologies. On the other side, energy and chemical consumption did not prove to be limiting factors for economic feasibility.

Techno-Economic Study on the Application of Reverse Osmosis Technology in the Process of Boiler Feed Water Demineralization PT Puncak Jaya Power 3x65 MW

The quality of boiler feed water in a Coal Power Plant generation (PLTU) needs to be considered to avoid corrosion and deposits (scale) on process equipment. Decreased water quality causes several disturbances as such disruption of power plant operations and also regeneration of the ion exchange unit is required quite frequently. This study aims to evaluate the performance of boiler feed water demineralization system with the addition of RO unit and the effect of implementing RO system on chemical consumption in demineralizer regeneration process, as well as determine long-term economic benefits. The research was conducted in the demineralization building area of PLTU PT Puncak Jaya Power 3x65 MW, a power plant owned by PT Freeport Indonesia, located in Amamapare Village, Timika, Papua. This research is divided into two phases: technical evaluation based on research data that will be optimized using the Water Application Value Engine® (WAVE) software, and economic evaluation. Good results are obtained by adding an RO unit to the boiler feed water demineralization unit. Its application allows reducing operating costs and implementing higher level water treatment automation. The chosen RO module configuration is 2 stages with 6 vessels, offering several advantages: % recovery = 70%, high average flux = 22.5 Liters/m2/hour, longer membrane life with the additional filter, reduced load in the first stage. The results of the economic evaluation indicate that the reduction in chemical consumption for ion exchange regenerant will yield 218% return on investment (ROI) with an amortization period of two years.

Dynamic changes in the microbiota of the middle Volga: a three-year study

The Volga River is one of the largest rivers in Russia, which plays an important role in the life of many plants, animals and humans. Annual research of the river microbiota is an integral part of the work to preserve the river ecosystem and ensure its sustainable development. The work analysed the composition of the microbiota using high-throughput sequencing methods, as well as physicochemical indicators over a three-year period from 2017 to 2019. A stable microbiota community and changes in chemical oxygen consumption and microbial diversity of the Volga River community were revealed.

Bio-bleaching of ankara pulp with xylanase-producing bacterial consortium for sustainable handmade paper production

The paper industry faces two critical challenges: the scarcity of raw materials and the environmental impact of chemical waste pollution. Addressing the first challenge involves harnessing alternative, sustainable raw materials, while the second challenge can be mitigated through the adoption of bio-bleaching processes, which significantly reduce chemical consumption while enhancing paper brightness and quality. This study proposes a solution to both challenges by using non-woody Calotropis procera (Ankara) and a xylanase-producing microbial consortium for sustainable handmade paper production, a combination not extensively explored in prior research. To evaluate this approach, the process was divided into three stages. In stage I, Ankara fibre was pulped through open hot digestion. In stage II, the pulp was subjected to bio-bleaching in two experimental setups: Set I (without sucrose) and Set II (with sucrose) for 5 days. In stage III, chemical bleaching was used to improve the final brightness of the treated pulps. A novel comparison was made between the bio-bleaching efficiency of an individual isolate g5 (BI) and a bacterial consortium (BC). This research highlighted that bio-bleaching with the consortium effectively removed lignin (140±60 mg/l) and colour (1830±50 PCU), especially in the presence of sucrose, compared to using a single xylanase isolate. Pulp residue/filtrate collected at each stage was estimated based on parameters such as colour and lignin content. After stage III (chemical bleaching), the release of colour and lignin in pulp filtrate was higher in BI compared to BC, indicating the consortium's effectiveness during bio-bleaching, which leaves fewer degradable lignin structures for the chemical bleaching stage. Papers crafted from consortium-treated pulp also exhibited higher brightness than those treated with the isolate. This study reveals the synergistic effect of microbial consortia, leading to more efficient lignin degradation and enhanced bio-bleaching capabilities, supporting the development of greener industrial processes. Ultimately, this study demonstrates a unique and eco-friendly approach to papermaking, combining C. procera and enzymatic bio-bleaching to reduce dependency on hazardous chemicals and support sustainable industry practices.

Emergence of Bio-hydrometallurgy to Achieve Sustainable Process Development Goals in Extractive Metallurgy

The stringent environmental regulations and growing awareness of the low-carbon economy are presenting immense challenges to metallurgical operations, one of the major sectors with high emissions. Hydrometallurgy has been identified as a lower-emission technology in comparison to the high-temperature smelting and melt-refining processes. The close monitoring of traditional hydrometallurgical operations, however, does not fulfil the criteria for a sustainable, low-emission process. Recently, biotechnology has emerged as a green alternative within the hydrometallurgical domain, albeit significantly different from the basics involved in the process. Although the application of microbial activity has been successfully established in chalcopyrite leaching and bio-oxidation of gold-bearing minerals, the acceptability of bio-hydrometallurgy for other minerals and materials is still limited due to a wide research gap to connect solution chemistry, microbial activity, and extractive metallurgy. In general, a large portion of the total chemical consumption occurs in pre-treatment and/or leaching operations; hence, the primary application of microorganisms at the forefront can significantly minimize the overall consumption. Demonstrated applications in waste printed circuit boards and spent automobile catalysts have curtailed excessive acid usage, while the energy-intensive baking/roasting of monazite is successfully altered by microbial processing. Furthermore, the remarkable reduction in carbon footprints by the green biotechnology application in hydrometallurgy has been evaluated, which indicates sustainability in process metallurgy.

Investigating alcohol consumption in China via wastewater-based epidemiology.

Alcohol abuse and addiction is a public health issue of global concern. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a forceful and effective complementary tool for investigating chemical consumption. This study examined alcohol consumption in major cities of China via WBE and compared WBE estimates with other data sources. A simple and valid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of two alcohol metabolites, ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) in wastewater. The optimized method was applied to 62 sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in 31 provincial capital cities across China in the fourth quarter of 2020. The methodology established in this study was validated with the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) up to 0.1μg/L, good linearity in the range of 0.1-50μg/L, intra-day and inter-day precision less than 5.58% and 5.55%, respectively, and the recoveries of the extracts were higher than 97.14%. The consumption range of alcohol estimated via WBE was 6.09 ± 4.56 ethanol/person/day (EPD) in the capital cities of China. Alcohol consumption varies significantly between cities in China, with WBE estimating lower alcohol consumption than WHO and lower than foreign countries. Investing in alcohol consumption based on WBE has great potential to accurately and efficiently estimate alcohol consumption.

Theoretical study on the synthesis of urea by series electrocatalysis of lithium main group embedded in COF structure

Replacement of the Harber-Bosch process for urea production by electrochemical reduction is an attractive alternative that reduces chemical energy consumption, reduces environmental pollution and improves efficiency. Among them, the method of electrochemical coupling of N2 and CO2 to produce urea has been widely used, but the inertness of nitrogen and nitrogen bond and high dissociation energy make it difficult to activate N2. Meanwhile, the method of synthesis of urea by NO3RR came into being. Nitrate in sewage is more abundant and convenient than nitrogen raw material, and more importantly, the dissociation energy of NO bond is much lower than that of NN. In this study, the transition metal embedded lithium COF catalyst was taken as an example, and the optimal electrocatalyst was selected through screening and synthesis energy barrier comparison to study the mechanism of urea synthesis. We studied the NRR and NO3RR paths, respectively, and found that the NRR synthesis of urea was optimal on the LiTaS-Pc VPPs catalyst, with a limiting potential value of −0.57V, and the NO3RR synthesis of urea was optimal on the LiVS-Pc VPPs catalyst, with a limiting potential value of −0.39V. It is found that NO3RR on the lithium catalyst is relatively better, and the required limit potential value is lower. In addition, the advantage of choosing lithium metal doping as catalyst in our study is that HER can be well inhibited, and the desorption of urea is easier than that of transition metal doping (taking molybdenum as an example). This study points out the direction for the electrocatalytic synthesis mechanism of urea, and provides a new idea for the selection of catalysts, paving the way for the future production of urea.

Regulating the hydroxyl groups reactivity of cellulose by grafting the quaternary ammonium group to achieve a salt-free and low alkali dyeing process for reactive dye

In this work, a salt-free and low alkali dyeing process was developed through cationic modification of cotton fabric with a series of quaternary ammonium salts (QAS). The dyeing performance indicated that the cationic cotton fabric treated with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyldimethyloctane ammonium chloride (CT-8) achieved better K/S value (8.87) and dye fixation (90.47 %) compared to the conventional dyeing process. Notably, the CT-8 treated fabric performed exceptionally under salt-free conditions and with a Na2CO3 concentration of 5 g/L. The rationale behind the adoption of a salt-free and low-alkali dyeing process was attributed to the positive charge of quaternary ammonium groups, which had an augmenting impact on the hydroxyl reaction activity of cotton fabrics. The condensed Fukui function, atomic charge, and HOMO orbital calculations showed that the QAS structure could regulate the hydroxyl reactivity of cationic cotton fabric. Our salt-free and low alkali dyeing process not only achieved the aim of reducing chemical consumption and emissions, but also contributed to better understand the effect of hydroxyl reactivity of cationic cotton on the fixation reaction with reactive dye, and provided a new direction to achieve the require of sustainable development and clean production for a variety of industrial crops and products.

Natural deep eutectic solvent: A novel and green mordant for the natural dye

Applying natural dye is a green and available approach for the dyeing and simultaneous functionalizing of textiles. However, the commonly used mordant of metal ions to improve the dyeing effect results in massive toxic wastewater production, which decreases the environmentally friendly characteristics. In this work, the mordant and water substitute ability of choline chloride-ethylene glycol natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES), defined as the mixture of two or more primary metabolites at a particular composition becoming liquids via H-bond forces, was investigated during the dyeing process because it has been used as a green extraction and stability agent for the natural dye. To this end, the NADES and metal ion were used in three mordant dyeing wool and cotton processes of Platycodon Grandiflorus root dye, and the color and functionalization effect were compared to verify the method advance. The result indicated that natural deep eutectic solvent had a better effect as a mordant than the metal ion by enhancing the dye solubility, the dye uptake rate of fiber, and the dye polymerization trend via rich H-bonds among fiber, dye, and NADES. The dyed textile had an excellent functional performance, including UV resistance, antibacterial, antioxidation, and burning difficulty, with the preferable fastness. This method also showed good universality for other natural dyes and NADESs. Compared to the existing mordant dyeing technologies, the proposed technology had lower chemical reagent usage, cost, and energy consumption, whose residual solvent had good reusability for at least 10 times and better degradability. Overall, this paper supplied a potential and green approach using NADESs as alternatives to metal ions for the mordant dyeing textile using natural dye.

Recent advances in green synthesis of diluted magnetic plasmonic-based semiconductor nanomaterials for biomedical applications

The green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is of utmost importance in nanoscience due to its eco-friendly and sustainable approach. This approach reduces chemical usage, energy consumption, and waste generation. Our featured article presents an elaborate account of green synthesis, and various biomedical applications of diluted magnetic semiconductor-based and plasmonic-based semiconductor material, particularly focusing on zinc oxide and titanium dioxide NPs. We assertively review the necessity of an environment-friendly, cost-effective, easy-to-handle, smart, and easy approach for synthesizing ZnO and TiO2 NPs and their applications. Both ZnO and TiO2 NPs got a lot of attention because of their unique chemical, physical and biological properties. Moreover, plasmonic based diluted magnetic semi-conductor possess additional advantages in terms of their band gaps and visible light absorbance compared to bared nanoparticles. These distinct properties make them exceptionally useful in biomedical fields such as antibacterial, antimicrobial, anticancer, antifungal, and cytotoxicity. We provide various green routes for synthesizing ZnO and TiO2 NPs, along with pictorial demonstrations. Additionally, we assertively review the antibacterial capacity of both ZnO and TiO2 NPs and their mechanisms in detail in this featured review.

Degradation Diagnostics of Ni-Rich NMC in Lithium-Ion Batteries Aged in Different Degrading Conditions

Ni-rich Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxides (NMC) such as LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC622) and LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) have been widely used as the cathode active materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIB) of electric vehicles due to their high capacity. Thus, we can foresee millions of tons of end-of-life LIB will be accumulated by the next decades. This means that the efficient recycling method of batteries material, especially NMC which has the highest value, should be developed to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of recycling. Direct recycling which is a novel method to recover cathode active materials in lithium-ion batteries by directly regenerating the chemical and physical structure of cathode materials, skipping the usage of harsh chemical and high energy consumption such as those of other recycling methods i.e. pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Such an attempt to directly reprocess the spent NMC back into the as good as new cathode requires and understanding what has happened with the materials through the battery life. This implies that the understanding of degradation mechanisms of Ni-rich NMC in different usage conditions is required to up-scale the direct recycling of Ni-rich NMC from degraded lithium-ion batteries.In this work, we investigated failure mode in controlled aged samples of LIB cells to understand the degradation mechanism of NMC622 and NMC811 which are to be connected with the method for direct regeneration. Lithium-ion batteries composed of NMC622 or NMC811 cathode active materials were aged through 1C-rate charge/discharge cycling at 25°C, 45°C or 55°C until 20% or 40% capacity fading. The degraded cells were analyzed via incremental capacity analysis (ICA), volume change measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Ex-situ X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) were used to characterize the chemical and physical structure of degraded NMC from each different degrading conditions.Inspection of degraded cells shows that NMC811 cells exhibit larger cell expansion compared to NMC622 cells going through the same degrading condition. EIS results show that the solution resistance (R S) does not vary much between the different cells, while solid-electrolyte interphase resistances (R SEI) were found to increase with temperature at approximately similar level for both NMC622 and NMC811. Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b show the contour plot on the variation of charge transfer resistance (R CT) ratio after and before degradation of NMC622 and NMC811 cells. It can be seen that R CT in NMC811 cells were found to increase for the more highly cycled NMC811 coupled with high temperature. However, temperature does not seem to have much role in the increment of R CT in NMC622. Investigating the change in structure of the cycled NMCs at different temperatures and to level of different degradation, it was found that the results show that at the same level of capacity remaining, NMC622 has a much larger change in c/a ratio after vs. before compared to NMC811.The above impedance analysis coupled with the XRD results imply that the main cause of capacity fade of NMC811 cells is likely due to electrolyte decomposition which generates gas, resulting in high degree of cell expansion, causing loss of electrical contact. The electrolyte decomposition in NMC811 cell is further facilitated by the increment of temperature due to the lower onset potential limit for gas evolution in NMC811, causing more capacity fading in NMC811 cell at high temperature [1]. On the other hand, the capacity fading in NMC622 cells is mainly from the chemical/structural change in the cycled NMC622 cathode.These insight information on the degradation mechanism of LIB cells and structural variation of Ni-rich NMC after ageing in each degrading condition is then further inspected to elucidate the method to effectively directly regenerate both NMC622 and NMC811 cathode in the spent Li-ion batteries.

New progress in the deep understanding of the biocake layer property: Combined effect of neglected protein secondary structure, morphology, and mechanism

The application of magnetic fields (MFs) and magnetic particles (MPs) in water treatment has attracted widespread attention due to their stability, strong biological compatibility, and less chemical consumption. This study introduced MPs and MFs to GDM and probed their effects on filtration performance. Predeposited large MPs (P-large) and batch-added little MPs (B-little) intervened biocake layer development, forming more open and porous structures, they also reduced biomass secretion, resulting in flux increases of 13 % in P-large and 40 % in B-little than P-little, respectively. Besides, MFs controlled MPs distribution on the biocake layer, resulting in forming of more rough and open structures. A relatively lower magnetic field of 20 mT facilitated biomass secretion, while a higher magnetic field of 50 mT decreased biomass. Furthermore, applying magnetic fields decreased the ratios of α-helix and β-sheet, and increased random coil percentage. Thus, applying magnetic field mediation would contribute to the flux improvements in I-20 and I-50 by 29 % and 32 % relative to I-0. Economic analysis suggested introducing MPs and MFs to GDM was economically feasible, synergy of MPs and MFs had more economic advantages on the community scale and MPs-assisted GDM had significant economic advantages on both community and household scales. Future works should focus on developing new technologies for the recycling of MPs and membranes. This study provided new insight into the protein secondary structures associated with GDM performance and would encourage new sustainable MFs and MPs-assisted GDM technological developments.

Sensor-Based System for Mechanised Oil Palm Herbicide Spraying

The application of an electronic control system embedded in machinery for oil palm plantation operation is a relatively new concept. The application is currently being pursued to overcome several issues and concerns, such as reducing workforce requirements, increasing productivity, and improving effective chemical utilisation. Technologies are revolving, and IR4.0 components are cost-effective to be embraced in the field. A study was carried out to evaluate the performance of a sensor-spraying system attached to a three-wheeler prime mover. A Lidar sensor was used for palm circle spraying activity. An average 25% chemical reduction was obtained by embracing the sensor-spraying compared to a manually triggered system. The technology's effective cost is about RM 3 per ha with almost 30 ha per day coverage area. Integrating the system with IoT provides traceability of the activity on a web-based application. Thus, the system could enhance the standard operating procedure of chemical spraying in the field. The Lidar spraying system could provide better operational cost savings, reduce chemical consumption, increase worker productivity, provide a better monitoring system, and reduce labour requirements for oil palm fields' general upkeep activity.

Microwave wood chip treatment use in chemical pulp manufacturing (technical-economic assessment)

The low permeability of many wood species causes problems in the chemical pulp industry. These include very long cooking times, high chemical consumption, large material losses, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. New microwave (MW) wood modification technology can provide an increase in wood permeability for liquids and gases that solves many of these problems. MW wood pre-treatment can increase pulp mill throughput, reduce chemical and power consumption, increase pulp quality and yield, and improve environmental performance. Economic modelling of this new technology use in different chemical pulp mill conditions allowed to assess the effect of capital costs, electricity costs, labour costs and other cost components to specific total costs of MW chip processing. MW chip treatment costs for pulp mills with output 50,000 to 500,000 ait dry ton (ADT) per year at electricity cost range US$0.04 to US$0.24/kWh vary in the range from US$17.7 to US$60.8 per air dry ton of pulp. Electricity costs form the most significant part – 51- 69% of the total specific costs of MW chip processing at electricity costs US$0.08 to US$0.12/kWh. New technology applications in different Russian conditions can provide benefits up to 7 – 22 Mil US$ per year for pulp mills with output of more than 200,000 ADT/year. The ecological effect and high economic advantages of this MW technology provide a good opportunity for commercialisation.

Sustainable treatment of boron industry wastewater with precipitation-adsorption hybrid process and recovery of boron species

Boron removal from wastewater has been investigated by using various processes, including ion exchange resins, membrane processes and adsorption. Each method has various advantages and disadvantages, but most produce excessive waste in addition to high operational costs. Therefore, more sustainable methods are required for wastewater containing high concentrations of boron. In this study, a sustainable treatment process was developed for wastewater containing high concentrations of boron. This study investigated the removal of boron from wastewater by Al(OH)3 sorption. The reuse of adsorbent (Al(OH)3) and the potential recovery of boric acid was the main goal of the study. It was observed that although lower concentrations of boron were obtained at pH 10.5 (980 mg/L and 635 mg/L at pH of 9.0 and 10.5, respectively), the amount of sorbed boron at pH 9 was substantially higher (94.7 mg B/g Al(OH)3 and 27.8 mg B/g Al(OH)3 at pH of 9.0 and 10.5, respectively). This was attributed to the higher initial boron concentrations and the formation of boric acid and polyborate complexes at pH 9.0. Results showed that polyborate species sorption was an outer sphere complex formation, which led to the desorption of boron as pH lowered. Adsorbed boron species to Al(OH)3 could effectively be desorbed at low pH values (pH<5.0); which allows Al(OH)3 to be used in successive adsorption studies. Approximately 55% of boron recovery from pretreated wastewater was possible with the effective reuse of adsorbent. A net profit of 2.85 $/m3 could be obtained based on the amounts of chemical consumptions and boron recovery.