Dry Solids Research Articles

Effect of Storage Conditions on Qualities and Water Sorption Isotherm of Khanom La

This research aimed to investigate the effects of atmospheric storage condition (at 0.33 and 0.75 water activity, aw) and storage time on the qualities of Khnom La. The sorption isotherm also was studied. The moisture content of Khanom La was adjusted using the saturated salt solution at different relative humidity levels. The sorption isotherm, hardness, color and peroxide values of Khanom La were then evaluated. The sorption isotherm data of Khanom La was fitted to BET and GAB models. The experimental result showed that monolayer values of the sample were in the range of 3.15 to 3.39 g water/ 100 g dry solids when its water activity was in the range of 0.11 to 0.84. Khanom La samples were stored in closed containers at an ambient temperature either at 0.33 and 0.75 aw for 35 days. Lightness and hardness of Khanom La decreased, while the redness yellowness and peroxide value of those desserts increased with storage time. The effects were more pronounced when samples were stored at 0.75 aw. The results indicated that crispy Khanom La might retain the desirable attributions during days of storage in a sealed container at low water activity.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 The major factors affecting the qualities and water sorption isotherm of Khanom La after frying are storage conditions (such as water activity of atmospheric storage environment and storage time)
 The problem of fried products is the deterioration of oil over time during storage, involving a complex pattern of the peroxide and oxidation reactions which are related to their water activity
 The hardness of Khanom La reduced, while the peroxide and chromatic values increased with an increase of water content more than the monolayer value of GAB fitting, indicating the degradation of products progressively during storage
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Rehydration Driven Acid Impregnation of Thermally Pretreated Ca-Bentonite-Evolution of the Clay Structure.

A new approach to acid activation of raw Ca-bentonite was explored. The method consisted in dehydration of clay by thermal pretreatment at 200 °C, followed by immediate impregnation with H2SO4 solution. The acid concentration was 1.5 × or 2.0 × cation exchange capacity (CEC) of clay. The volume of the liquid was adjusted so as to leave the material in the apparently dry state. Structural evolution of the activated solids after 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks of storage was monitored with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR), and chemical analysis. In the macroscopically dry solids, the rehydrated interlayer Ca2+ underwent rapid exchange with H3O+ and formed extra-framework gypsum. Acid attack on montmorillonite structure resulted in continuous removal of layer forming Mg, Al, and Fe cations, with Mg2+ being eliminated most efficiently. No significant damage to the montmorillonite lattice was observed. Al was extracted both from the tetrahedral and the octahedral sheets. Under less acidic conditions, the monohydrated H-montmorillonite changed upon storage to bi-hydrated form, as a result of clay auto-transformation. Higher concentrations of acid in the pore network of clay stabilized the H-form of montmorillonite. The data indicate that compositional transformation of acid impregnated bentonite extended beyond the one month of aging investigated in the present work.

Artificial neural networks in the prediction of fraud in integral milk powder by adding whey powder

ABSTRACT: This research was performed to ascertain the most suitable Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to quantify the degree of fraud in powdered milk through the addition of powdered whey via regular standard physicochemical analyses. In this study, an evaluation was done on 103 samples with different quantities of added whey powder to whole milk powder. Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy the fat, cryoscopy, total solids, defatted dry extract, lactose, protein and casein were analyzed. The hyperbolic tangent transformation function was used with 45 topologies, and the Holdback and K-fold validation methods were tested. In the Holdback method, 75% of the database was employed for training, while 25% was used for validation. In the K-fold method, the database was categorized into five equal sized subsets, which alternated between training and validation. Of the two methods, the K-fold method was proven to have superior efficiency. Next, analysis was done on three models of multilayer perceptron networks with feedforward architecture. In Model 1, the input layer contained all the physicochemical analyses conducted, in model 2 the casein analysis was excluded, and in model 3 the routine analyses performed for dairy products was done (fat, defatted dry extract, cryoscopy and total solids). From Model 3 an ANN was derived which could satisfactorily predict fraud calculated from using the routine and standard analyses for dairy products, containing 64 nodes in the hidden layer, with R2 of 0.9935 and RMSE of 0.5779 for training, and R2 of 0.9964 and RMSE of 0.4358 for validation.

Investigation on the improvement of activated sludge dewaterability using different iron forms (ZVI vs. Fe(II))/peroxydisulfate combined vertical electro-dewatering processes

The high moisture content (MC) of activated sludge dewatered by traditional vertical electro-dewatering (VED) is unable to meet the disposal requirements. Therefore, different iron forms (ZVI vs. Fe(II))/peroxydisulfate (PDS) combined VED (ZVI/PDS-VED and Fe(II)/PDS-VED) were employed to enhance the dewaterability of activated sludge. The dewatering behaviors of the two combined dewatering processes and the underlying mechanism related to the sludge characteristics were investigated and compared. Sludge was conditioned using ZVI/PDS and Fe(II)/PDS, respectively, and then dewatered by the VED in the experiment. Experimental results showed that with 0.3 g (g dry solids (DS))−1 of iron activators, 0.583 g (g DS) −1 of PDS, and 30 V of voltage, the MC of sludge after ZVI/PDS-VED and Fe(II)/PDS-VED reached the minimum values of 50.6 ± 1.2% and 32.1 ± 1.5%, respectively. ZVI/PDS and Fe(II)/PDS conditioning reduced the MC difference of sludge between the anode and the cathode during the VED, facilitating the water homogenization in the sludge cake. ZVI/PDS-VED and Fe(II)/PDS-VED could effectively reduce the bound water and the free water. Free water had high correlations with α-helix (r = 0.999, p < 0.05) and CO (r = 0.998, p < 0.05). Compared with the traditional VED and the ZVI/PDS-VED, the Fe(II)/PDS-VED had a greater improvement of sludge dewaterability due to the more efficient degradation of extracellular polymeric substances and the increase of sludge surface hydrophobicity. This study promoted the development of the new sludge deep-dewatering technology.

Study on the regulation of sludge dewatering by hydrophobically associating cationic polyacrylamide coupled with framework materials

To further improve the performance of sludge dewatering, this study used the UV-light-initiated aqueous micellar polymerization method to obtain hydrophobic associating cationic polyacrylamide (HACPAM) as a flocculant and coupled it with quartz sand and fly ash to investigate sludge flocculation and dewatering. The results show that the flocculation of HACPAM is interfered with by the framework material quartz sand and fly ash, which leads to significant changes in the sludge floc particle size, capillary suction time (CST), settlement performance and other indicators. This is the result of the coupling between HACPAM and the framework materials. The larger the molecular weight of HACPAM, the larger the particle size of the sludge flocs is, and the better the dehydration performance. The dosage of 7.5784 kg/ton (T) dry solids (DS) is the optimum dosage level when the sludge dewatering performance is the best. It is represented by the largest sludge floc size (2280 μm), the highest removal free water content (90.9%) and the inflection point of CST change (59.3 s). When HACPAM is coupled with quartz sand and fly ash flocculated sludge, different characteristics of dewatering performance are showed. Both low-dose HACPAM 3 coupled with fly ash and high-dose HACPAM 3 coupled with quartz sand can achieve better dehydration effects, but the former has more advantages than the latter. The 3D scanning structure explains why HACPAM 3 is more suitable for coupling fly ash to improve the dewatering performance of sludge. In addition, the mechanism is also discussed.

Proton Conductivity of Porous Zirconium‐Organic Frameworks Filled with Protic Ionic Liquid

AbstractInfiltration of the protic ionic liquid (PIL) triethylammmonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (TEA‐TFA) into the pores of zirconium metal organic‐frameworks (Zr‐MOFs) featuring interpenetrated networks, so‐called PIZOFs, leads to highly proton conducting dry solids. In case of PIZOFs their modular synthesis allows tailoring the environment in the pores via the chemical nature of the side chains at the organic linkers. By infiltration of different PIZOFs with 50 wt % of the PIL, nanocomposites exhibiting high proton conductivity under anhydrous conditions were obtained. The proton conductivity strongly depends on the chemical nature of the PIZOF pores, i.e., the kind of side chains at the linkers. Gas adsorption studies show that the side chains strongly influence the porosity and the hydrophilicity of the PIZOF materials.

Оценка сортовых особенностей картофеля при хранении

The potato (Solánum tuberósum) is one of the main food crops of the Siberian region. The research goal was the selection of potato varieties of different maturity periods suitable for storage. We analyzed the yielding capacity and storage of potatoes in the Kemerovo Region from 2016 through 2020. Over 5 years of research, the range of yield variation of early maturing varieties averaged 11.9%. The fluctuations over the years were from 6.2% to 18.9%. It was found that the decrease dynamics of potato gross har-vest was similar to the decrease dynamics of the sown areas and yields. Potato storability studies were carried out on the farm of KFKh Tumanov A.A. The farm is located in the steppe zone of the Kuznetskaya Depression. The soil type is the leached heavy loamy chernozem with the hu-mus layer of 20-25 cm and pHof 5.6-5.8. The preceding crop was wheat. The research targets were potato tubers of medium early and early maturity varieties. The following was determined: potato tuber quality, starch weight per-centage, ascorbic acid content according to L.E. Gunar, and dry solids according to GOST (Russian National Standard). Mathematical processing was carried out ac-cording to B.A. Dospekhov. It was found that the quality of potatoes placed for storage depended on the cultivation conditions and varietal characteristics. All varieties lost some dry solids, vitamin C and starch during storage. The maximum losses were found regarding the number of pota-to tubers affected by dry rot. It was found that after 4 months of storage, the natural tuber weight loss aver-aged 1.8% for early-maturing varieties; it decreased to 6.6% over 9 months of storage; the weight loss averaged 2.0% for medium-early varieties (after 4 months); 5.4% -after 9 months; that was by 4.8% and 3.4% more, respec-tively.

A comprehensive study on simultaneous enhancement of sludge dewaterability and elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Fe2+ catalyzing O3 process

Simultaneous removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the process of enhancement of sludge dewaterability via oxidation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and flocculation of Fe3+ by Fe2+-catalyzing O3 were investigated as a novel research focus. The results showed that capillary suction time (CST) and water content of dewatered sludge cake (Wc) were reduced from 57.9 s and 85.1% to 13.6 s and 69.65% under the optimum usage of 60 mg/g dry solids (DS) O3 and 80 mg/g DS FeSO4, respectively. The relevant dewatering mechanism of Fe2+-catalyzing O3 treatment was elucidated. It was found that extracellular polymeric substances-bound (EPS-bound) and intracellular water was dramatically released through destroying sludge cells and EPS gel-like structure by produced •OH. In addition, the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and 13C NMR spectroscopy revealed that •OH oxidized and mineralized hydrophilic organic matters intensifying hydrophobicity of sludge surface. Moreover, Fe3+ generated by oxidation of Fe2+ agglomerated fragmented fine particles into large aggregates and decreased exposure of hydrophilic sites by neutralizing negative charge, which promoted water-solids separation. Meanwhile, sludge surface roughness was decreased which was determined by material type upright confocal laser microscope (CLM). As a consequence, •OH and Fe3+ were mainly responsible for enhancement of sludge dewaterability. Moreover, more than 40% of removal rate of PAHs was accomplished by Fe2+-catalyzed O3 treatment mitigating the environmental risks of PAHs spread.

Simultaneous Recovery of Struvite and Irrigation Water for Agricultural Purposes Obtained from Dewatering Liquor through Electrodialysis

Wastewater contains resources, which can be recovered for secondary use if treated properly. Besides research in zero liquid discharge solutions, the aim of the study was a simultaneous recovery of products from a wastewater treatment plant’s dewatering liquor. To be specific, we investigated a simultaneous recovery of struvite and irrigation water using electrodialysis (ED) in laboratory experiments. Two products were obtained from ED—concentrate and diluate. The concentrate was precipitated to obtain struvite. On average, 11 g of wet precipitate (including 17.58% of dry solids) were obtained from 1 L of concentrate. Crystal phases were confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), with showing 94–97% recovery of struvite, while the remaining 3–6% were identified as hazenite. The average yield of crystal struvite was 1.76 g. Both struvite and hazenite may further be used as a fertilizer. Next, we suggest using the second ED product, the diluate, as irrigation water if it meets the irrigation water requirements. Attention was paid to the concentrations of dissolved solids (DS) in diluate, which decreased by an average of 93% compared to the input values in the dewatering liquor. In line with the observed Czech or EU standards indicators, we can say that the diluate can be used in agriculture, namely as irrigation water (Category I—water suitable for irrigation).

Comprehensive investigation and mechanisms of drilling waste sludge dewaterability by Fe(Ⅱ)/persulfate pretreatment

The drilling waste sludge mainly sourced oil well cement slurry with fluid loss additives. The fluid loss additives make the drilling waste sludge has strong water holding capacity. The preliminary difficulty of reduction of drilling waste sludge was dewatering. Fe(Ⅱ)/persulfate pretreatment was reported to improve dewaterability and reduce organic matter in sludge. Herein, we systematically investigated Fe(Ⅱ)/persulfate pretreatment on improving the dewaterability of drilling waste sludge and revealed the involved mechanism. The experimental results showed the Fe(Ⅱ)/persulfate pretreatment decreased the water content (WC) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF) of sludge filter cake to 29.73% and 79.46% respectively with 16 mg/g DS (dry solid) Fe(Ⅱ) and 12 mg/g DS persulfate. In addition, the dewatering time was decreased by 80.38%. The correlation analysis results indicated that these characteristics interactions (sludge VSS solubilization, particle size, Zeta potential, viscosity and dewatering) significantly influenced the dewatering of drilling waste sludge. Mechanism investigation revealed that high VSS content in sludge had strong water affinity capacity and negative Zeta potential, which inhibited the dewaterability and aggregation. When Fe(Ⅱ)/persulfate pretreatment decomposed sludge flocs and oxidized organic matter, the bound water adsorbed was released. The cations of Fe2+ and Fe3+ compressed the double electric layer alleviating the electronegativity and aggregated the sludge particles. Consequently, the aggregated drilling waste sludge reinforced the hydrophobicity and porous structure, which availed to drain bound water out and improve the deep dewatering. This work provides possible strategy supports for drilling waste sludge dewatering in the future.

Sugar and ethanol production potential of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) as an alternative energy feedstock: processing and physicochemical characterizations

This study focuses on the processing, characterization, and sugar and ethanol production potential of red-fleshed sweet potatoes (RFSP) and white-fleshed sweet potatoes (WFSP). These feedstocks were used for the production of sugar; and bioethanol from its pulp by the action of five different microbes. The characterization of raw sweet potatoes and desired products of raw sugar, and bioethanol were carried out through proximate analyses, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) method, measurement of pol% by using a Refractometer, Polarimeter, Saccharimeter. The proximate analyses of feedstocks show the presence of a respectable amount of dry solids 25 ± 0.03g/100g with a lower amount of fat (0.025 ± 0.002) and ash (0.533 ± 0.076) contents make them promising crops for the production of sugar and ethanol. Comparatively, RFSP raw sugar (oZ: 95.25 ± 0.05) is considered purer than WFSP raw sugar (oZ: 94.6 ± 0.015). FTIR spectrums of the presently studied raw sugar and bioethanol have characteristic bands. It shows that the raw sugars products are rich in sucrose content, and confirms that the bioethanol was produced from the selected raw materials is at a satisfactory level. The efficiency of microbes was evaluated by taking a sample from the fermented wash to measure the residual sugar in (oBrix). Comparatively, fermented wash with sweet potato extracted yeast was found 14% Brixo (consume 86% of pulp) in RFSP, and 17% of Brixo (consume 83% pulp) in WFSP within 24 hours of fermentation. The alcohol level of bioethanol's produced from RFSP and WFSP pulps was tested using Ebuliometer and the result was found to be ranged 78 °C – 80 °C which is closer to the boiling point of absolute anhydrous alcohol (78.3 °C). Thus, the results of the present study proved that the sweet potato and its pulp are considered as a potential alternative sugar/energy feedstock.

Creaming Layers of Nanocellulose Stabilized Water-Based Polystyrene: High-Solids Emulsions for 3D Printing

Oil-in-water emulsions stabilized using cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) form extremely stable and high-volume creaming layers which do not coalesce over extended periods of time. The stability is a result of the synergistic action of Pickering stabilization and the formation of a CNF percolation network in the continuous phase. The use of methyl cellulose (MC) as a co-emulsifier together with CNF further increases the viscosity of the system and is known to affect the droplet size distribution of the formed emulsion. Here, we utilize these highly stable creaming layer systems for in situ polymerization of styrene with the aim to prepare an emulsion-based dope for additive manufacturing. We show that the approach exploiting the creaming layer enables the effortless water removal yielding a paste-like material consisting of polystyrene beads decorated with CNF and MC. Further, we report comprehensive characterization that reveals the properties and the performance of the creaming layer. Solid-state NMR measurements confirmed the successful polymerization taking place inside the nanocellulosic network, and size exclusion chromatography revealed average molecular weight (Mw) of polystyrene as approximately 700,000 Da. Moreover, the amount of the leftover monomer was found to be less than 1% as detected by gas chromatography. The dry solids content of the paste was ∼20% which is a significant increase compared to the solids content of the original CNF dispersion (1.7 wt%). The shrinkage of the CNF, MC and polystyrene structures upon drying—an often-faced challenge—was found to be acceptable for this composite containing highly hygroscopic biobased materials. At best, the two dimensional shrinkage was no more than ca. 20% which is significantly lower than the shrinkage of pure CNF being as high as 50%. The paste, which is a composite of biobased materials and a synthetic polymer, was demonstrated in direct-ink-writing to print small objects. With further optimization of the formulation, we find the emulsion templating approach as a promising route to prepare composite materials.

Improved dewaterability of drilling waste sludge by ultrasonic and potassium permanganate co-treatment

The drilling waste sludge, as a colloidal suspension, would cause secondary pollution to environment if it’s inappropriately disposed. Dewatering pretreatment could reduce the volume and costs before final disposal. In this study, ultrasonic and potassium permanganate (KMnO4) co-treatment was investigated in drilling waste sludge dewatering pretreatment. The results showed that the water content (WC) was significantly reduced to 27.09%, and the dewatering time and SRF decreased by 46.67% and 17.68% after pretreating by 60 W of US and 12 mg/g DS (dry solid) of KMnO4 in 5 min. The volatile suspended solid (VSS) solubilization revealed that KMnO4 could easily disintegrated organic matters and further elevated VSS solubilization to 41.05% with the assistance of US. The mechanistic investigation illustrated that ultrasonic helped decompose sludge flocs and KMnO4 further oxidized recalcitrant organic matters, consequently enhancing sludge dewatering performance. In addition, the electrostatic repulsion was reduced and Zeta potential was elevated, which prompted particle size, flocculation and viscosity of drilling waste sludge. After US+KMnO4 pretreatment, the electronegativity, flocculation, hydrophobicity, and porous structure were strengthened, which enhanced the dewaterability of drilling waste sludge. The result in this study illustrates that ultrasonic and KMnO4 co-treatment is efficacious in drilling waste sludge dewatering pretreating.

Investigation of acid hydrolysis for carbohydrate analysis in kraft black liquor

Abstract Black liquor (BL) from the kraft process is considered a promising feedstock for several biorefinery scenarios. Besides lignin and carboxylic acids, this liquor also contains hemicelluloses and their degradation products. A simple and reliable detection of those is of importance for further processing of the liquor. The present paper presents a thorough investigation of quantitative analysis of carbohydrates, by performing acid hydrolysis experiments with a concentrated BL sample of 44% total dry solids. The hydrolysates were then analysed for the four monosaccharides arabinose, xylose, galactose and glucose, by high performance ion chromatography (HPIC) with pulsed amperometric detection. The amount of sulphuric acid needed for complete hydrolysis of the carbohydrates was determined in the range of 3.5–5 mol kg−1 of BL. A lower acid concentration led to insufficient liberation of galactose and glucose, while higher acid concentrations led to degradation of arabinose and xylose. The carbohydrate degradation was also investigated over time for different dilutions and hydrolysis temperatures. These experiments confirmed that the hexoses require considerably harsher conditions for complete liberation compared to xylose and arabinose. The use of internal recovery standards (RSs) was tested; the highest recoveries were obtained by direct spiking of the samples with the RS prior to hydrolysis.

Organosolv fractionation of spruce bark using ethanol–water mixtures: Towards a novel bio-refinery concept

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of hot water extraction followed by organosolv pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysability of spruce bark biomass. To this end, samples were pretreated at five different temperatures in the presence or not of acid catalyst. The cellulose content of pretreated biomass reached 49.6% w/w. During the enzymatic hydrolysis trials with 3% w/w dry solids, the final hydrolysis yield reached up to 70.1%, which corresponded to the release of 7.8 g/L of glucose. Whereas, the final hydrolysis yield obtained during the high-gravity enzymatic hydrolysis reached up to 43.5%. The concentration of released glucose was in range of 33.3 – 40.0 g/L with a hemicellulose sugars in a range of 5.5 – 6.6 g/L. These values are suitable for downstream bioconversion processes and represent a significant improvement over existing steam pretreatment methods.

Effect of resin and fatty acids on sodium salt fouling

The evaporation of black liquor is an important, energy intensive unit operation in the kraft chemical recovery process. Between 50 and 85% dry solids, black liquor evaporators are susceptible to heavy sodium salt fouling leading to reduced heat transfer efficiency and in extreme cases, plugging. Recent mill experiences indicate that the addition of small amounts of resin and fatty acids containing streams (tall oil soap, tall oil, tall oil brine) to the concentrators can reduce sodium salt fouling. The underlying mechanism for this is unknown, which limits broader application and control. In this work we use model solutions of sodium salts in a bench-top scaling setup to investigate the impact of resin and fatty acids on sodium salt fouling. The results show that low concentrations of abietic acid and oleic acid can inhibit sodium salt fouling during nucleation and in the presence of a stable crystal population.

PHENOLOGICAL STAGES AND FRUIT QUALITY PARAMETERS OF SOUR CHERRY GENOTYPES IN ROMANIAN CONDITIONS

The paper presents some aspects regarding the influence of environmental factors in 2020 on the development and fruiting of local and foreign sour cherry cultivars. Phenological stages, fruit quality traits and other chemical parameters were studied. The swelling of the buds started with March 07th (`Țarina`), while the beginning of flowering varied during 11 days, taking place between April 8-19th to April 26th. Fruit`s weight have varied between 3.34 g (`Erdi Ipari`) and 6.28 g (`Erdi Bibor`), but of the stone between 0.20 g (`Erdi Ipari`) and 0.32 g (`Erdi Bibor`). Regarding the equatorial diameter, it varied between 16.98 mm and 22.37 mm for the varieties `Erdi Ipari` and respectively `Erdi Bibor`. The fruit ripening took place between June 3rd and 20th. The values of the soluble dry solids recorded data ranging from 13.84% (`Erdi Korai`) to 17.10% (`Erdi Bibor`). The studied sour cherry cultivars showed variability, but some were remarked through the size of the fruit and the high level of soluble dry substances, or by the degree of adaptability to the soil and climate conditions in Northeastern Romania.

ASSESSMENT OF SWEET CHERRY (PRUNUS AVIUM L.) GENOTYPES GROWN IN CONDITIONS OF ROMANIAN NORTHEASTERN AREA

The soil and climate conditions in Romanian Northeastern area are favorable for cherry cultivation, but some times can occurred some calamities. The paper presents a study which during 2020 at the Research Station for Fruit Growing (N-E of Romania), using five sweet cherry genotypes as research material: ‘Van’, ‘Croma’, ‘Elaiași’, ‘HC920402’, ‘HC930208’. Observations and determinations were performed in regards to the frostdamages, the main growing and phenological stages and the physical and chemical traits of the fruit. The phenological stages were evaluated for beginning of flowering and fruit ripening (expressed in growing degree-days, GDD). For these sweet cherry cultivars, the highest values concerning the fruit’s weight have been recorded for ‘Elaiași’ (9.15 g) and ‘HC920402’ (7.7 g), while fruit’s equatorial diameter have ranged between 23.21 mm and 25.16 mm. The content of soluble dry solids (SDS) was between 14.6 and 20.2 °Brix. The proposed objective aims at introducing in the assortment the new varieties with quality fruits and their resistance to cracking, with ripening time at the extremities of the sweet cherry season.

Sludge preheating and viscosity reduction by waste heat from the exhaust gas of sludge paddle dryer

A method of waste heat recovery and utilization was explored by incorporating a heat recovery system into an existing industrial-scale sludge drying system with handling capacity of 440 kg dry solid (DS) per hour. The recovered heat was used to preheat sewage sludge (and carrier gas) to lower sludge viscosity and flowing resistance during sludge transportation in pipeline, as well as the heat consumption during drying. 5.3% decrease of heat consumption in drying, 48% decrease of sludge flowing resistance, and 15% decrease of spraying water consumption in spray tower were fulfilled. Theoretical modeling of heating and flowing behavior of sewage sludge in pipeline, and cooling behavior of hot wet air in a type-III spiral plate heat exchanger were also conducted. The results showed that wall slip phenomenon occurred between sludge and inner surface of sludge pipe during sludge flowing process, which had marked influence on sludge preheating in pipeline.

Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation of Banana Pseudostem Hydrolysate to Produce Bioethanol.

Banana pseudostem (BPS) is an agricultural waste with a high holocellulose content, which, upon hydrolysis, releases fermentable sugars that can be used for bioethanol production. Different pretreatment methods, namely, 3% (w/v) NaOH, 5% (v/v) H2SO4, and liquid hot water, applied on the BPS resulted in the availability of 52%, 48%, and 25% cellulose after treatment, respectively. Saccharification of the pretreated BPS with 10 FPU/g dry solids (29.3 mg protein/g d.s) crude enzyme from Trichoderma harzianum LMLBP07 13-5 at 50°C and a substrate loading of 10 to 15% released 3.8 to 21.8 g/L and from T. longibrachiatum LMLSAUL 14-1 released 5.4 to 43.5 g/L glucose to the biomass. Ethanol was produced through separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) of alkaline pretreated BPS hydrolysate using Saccharomyces cerevisiae UL01 at 30°C and 100 rpm. Highest ethanol produced was 17.6 g/L. Banana pseudostem was shown as a potentially cheap substrate for bioethanol production.