Multifunctional Processes Research Articles

Systematic analysis of mixing and segregation patterns of binary mixtures in fluidised beds for multi-functional processes

Fluidized beds are increasingly used in renewable energy and chemical production due to their versatility in handling different solids for multi-functional industrial applications. The diversity in size and density of solid particles impacts fluidization, influencing mixing and segregation behaviours critical for optimizing chemical processes and reactor design. This study investigates the expansion and segregation behaviours of mixed Geldart group powders in binary systems, simulating polydispersed beds with different materials and catalysts. By applying a modified Cheung equation and an adapted Gibilaro-Rowe model, the study analyzes segregation behaviours of Geldart Group A and B materials at varying mixing rates and gas flow velocities. Results show a good match between experimental data and model predictions. Using novel non-invasive X-ray imaging, the study provides real-time analysis of mixing and segregation at different fluidization regimes and temperatures. These findings aid in designing and optimizing advanced thermochemical conversion technologies, enhancing process efficiency and resilience.

Two-stage conversion of syngas and pyrolysis aqueous condensate into L-malate

Hybrid thermochemical–biological processes have the potential to enhance the carbon and energy recovery from organic waste. This work aimed to assess the carbon and energy recovery potential of multifunctional processes to simultaneously sequestrate syngas and detoxify pyrolysis aqueous condensate (PAC) for short-chain carboxylates production. To evaluate relevant process parameters for mixed culture co-fermentation of syngas and PAC, two identical reactors were run under mesophilic (37 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) conditions at increasing PAC loading rates. Both the mesophilic and the thermophilic process recovered at least 50% of the energy in syngas and PAC into short-chain carboxylates. During the mesophilic syngas and PAC co-fermentation, methanogenesis was completely inhibited while acetate, ethanol and butyrate were the primary metabolites. Over 90% of the amplicon sequencing variants based on 16S rRNA were assigned to Clostridium sensu stricto 12. During the thermophilic process, on the other hand, Symbiobacteriales, Syntrophaceticus, Thermoanaerobacterium, Methanothermobacter and Methanosarcina likely played crucial roles in aromatics degradation and methanogenesis, respectively, while Moorella thermoacetica and Methanothermobacter marburgensis were the predominant carboxydotrophs in the thermophilic process. High biomass concentrations were necessary to maintain stable process operations at high PAC loads. In a second-stage reactor, Aspergillus oryzae converted acetate, propionate and butyrate from the first stage into L-malate, confirming the successful detoxification of PAC below inhibitory levels. The highest L-malate yield was 0.26 ± 2.2 molL-malate/molcarboxylates recorded for effluent from the mesophilic process at a PAC load of 4% v/v. The results highlight the potential of multifunctional reactors where anaerobic mixed cultures perform simultaneously diverse process roles, such as carbon fixation, wastewater detoxification and carboxylates intermediate production. The recovered energy in the form of intermediate carboxylates allows for their use as substrates in subsequent fermentative stages.

The water, land and carbon footprint of conventional and organic dairy systems in the Netherlands and Spain. A case study into the consequences of ecological indicator selection and methodological choices

Dairy farming systems are multifunctional processes that provide milk but also beef, veal and manure. These outputs provided by dairy farms are important foods for humans but their production require natural resources like water and land, and release emissions to the water and air contributing to climate change. Many studies quantified the environmental performance of dairy farms by using a life cycle assessment (LCA) or environmental footprint calculation. This study provides a better understanding of how different methodological decisions (e.g., the choice of system boundary, GHG metric, allocation procedure for multifunctionality, and multi-environmental indicators) influence the environmental performance calculation. From a footprinting point of view, the water footprints (WFs) (i.e., green, blue and grey), land footprints (LFs) and carbon footprints (CFs) of milk, beef and veal produced in two conventional (Dutch and Spanish) and an organic Dutch dairy system are estimated. Here the system boundaries are expanded so calve systems are included. Next, the use of different indicators is discussed, e.g., green WFs and the GWP100 or GWP20. The Dutch conventional system has relatively small footprints due to high efficiency. Green, blue and grey WFs per kg of milk are 0.62, 0.09 and 0.14 m3. The Spanish system has green, blue and grey WFs per kg of milk of 0.67, 0.15 and 0.09 m3; the Dutch organic system of 0.84, 0.13 and 0.26 m3. The Spanish system has the largest LF and CF, caused by feed import from countries with relatively low yields and transport greenhouse gas emissions. Dutch systems use more locally produced feed. Due to lower efficiency, the organic system has larger footprints than the Dutch conventional system. Expanding system boundaries to include calves results in an 8 to 15% CF increase. Green water dominates total WFs, an aspect excluded in LCA studies. For grey WFs, earlier studies only included nitrogen. However, if also pesticides would be included, results might be less favourable for systems relying on feed crops instead of grasslands. Also, water quality standards influence grey WFs. The study emphasizes that indicator choice influences final results. Indicators like animal welfare, biodiversity or pesticide use give different outcomes which might be more favourable for organic production.

Development of sustainable strontium ferrite graphene nanocomposite for highly effective catalysis and antimicrobial activity

Graphene oxide (GO) has layered structure with carbon atoms that are highly coated with oxygen-containing groups, increasing the interlayer distance while simultaneously making hydrophilic atomic-thick layers. It is exfoliated sheets that only have one or a few layers of carbon atoms. In our work, Strontium Ferrite Graphene Composite (SF@GOC) has been synthesized and thoroughly characterized by physico-chemical methods like XRD, FTIR, SEM–EDX, TEM, AFM, TGA and Nitrogen adsorption desorption analysis. A very few catalysts have been manufactured so far that are capable of degrading Eosin-Y and Orange (II) dyes in water by heterogeneous catalytic method. The current study offers an overview of the recyclable nanocomposite SF@GOC used in mild reaction conditions to breakdown the hazardous water pollutant dyes Eosin-Y (96.2%) and Orange (II) (98.7%). The leaching experiment has demonstrated that the use of the transition metals strontium and iron have not result in any secondary contamination. Moreover, antibacterial and antifungal assay have been investigated. SF@GOC has shown greater activity with bacterial and fungal species while compared with GO. FESEM analysis shows that the bactericidal mechanism for SF@GOC is same in both gram-negative bacteria. The difference in the antifungal activity among the candida strains can be correlated with the movement of ions release (slower and faster) of synthesized nanoscrolls in SF@GOC. In comparison to previous reports, this new environmentally safe and novel catalyst showed substantial degrading activity. It can also be applied to new multifunctional processes such as in the fields of composite materials, solar energy, heterogeneous catalysis and biomedical applications.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIGITISATION OF AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS

Agriculture and development of rural areas are characterized by transformations, reforms, changes, and the search for innovation. Identification of solution alternatives and their effective implementation require human resources capable of concentrating and systemically setting priorities and performing necessary tasks for realization of ideas. With the help of agricultural digitization, one employee can communicate with several robotic devices at once by sending them specific instructions, thereby synchronizing their work with each other. Such activities in agriculture help to save time and achieve higher productivity. Purpose of the study is to analyse opportunities for digitisation of agricultural and rural development solutions. The focus is on one of the options, the aim is to define how in a digital environment, using decision support systems (DSS), one employee can carry out several jobs and, according to feedback signal, perform their quality monitoring. Using digital technologies in agriculture and rural change management, employees can guarantee that every modern agricultural and rural development management system will start its work on time, perform it qualitatively and finish it on time. An employee can monitor the processes of change in agriculture and rural environment with the help of information technology. With the help of internet technologies and robots, implemented advanced information systems (such as DSS) can collect, analyse and process huge data (metrological, soil conditions, market information, etc.), so one person can perform several jobs at the same time. Not all DSS are equally modern, allowing to analyse both tactical and strategic decisions. In order to successfully address the challenges of digitisation of agriculture and rural development, it is proposed to facilitate cooperation between a human (operator) and a robot when they exchange and (or) share tasks, control multifunctional processes, and, according to the obtained results, make changes to the components of the process in order to achieve the best result.

Life Cycle Assessment of Dairy Products: A Case Study of a Dairy Factory in Brazil

The production of dairy products generates several environmental impacts, and life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful methodology to quantify and understand those impacts. In Brazil, some traditional dairy products have not yet been evaluated using the LCA methodology. Based on this gap, we conducted a cradle-to-gate LCA of six dairy products from a plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We also performed two sensitivity analyses. The first analysis was on how the environmental profiles of the products changed depending on how the multifunctional processes were allocated. The second analysis evaluated how these changes in environmental profiles occurred depending on the way that the impacts were allocated to products and by-products (whey and buttermilk) produced within the dairy factory. Among the dairy products studied, the impacts of mozzarella cheese and butter substantially surpassed those of other products; cheese spread and dulce de leche had a similar impact; and yoghurt and milk had the lowest values for the impact categories that were assessed. The inclusion of by-products in the analysis proved to be an effective way to reduce the environmental impacts attributed to the dairy products, especially for cheese and cheese spread, the impact values of which decreased by 56% and 46%, respectively. Additionally, the use of different strategies to deal with the multifunctional processes significantly affected the impact results of the dairy products. The subdivision of processes combined with causal allocation was the best alternative as opposed to the allocation by milk solids. These results could offer a better understanding of the environmental profiles of dairy products from Brazil, especially the traditional products, such as dulce de leche and cheese spread. Other contributions of this study include the proposal of alternatives that could improve the environmental profiles of products (such as the processing of by-products and the questioning of the use of allocation according to milk solids, which have been commonly used in other life cycle assessment studies) and the proposal of a better method for assessing the environmental impacts of dairy products.

Financial and infrastructure centers of the Western region of Ukraine

The article analyses the financial and infrastructural hubs, centres and points that are the point forms of geospatial organization of the financial infrastructure of the Western region of Ukraine. The definition of the concepts "financial and infrastructural hub", "financial and infrastructural centre" and "financial and infrastructural point" is offered. Specific point forms of geospatial organization at three levels are considered. A feature of the financial infrastructure is its ability to make rapid changes that can be caused at the local, regional, national and global levels, so its transformation occurs simultaneously through two multifunctional processes – globalization and regionalization. There are four main provisions that are provided by the geospatial organization, namely: a) the relative location of objects; b) the existence of relationships of different types (spatial information, human, etc.); c) the existence of territorial social formations (structures, entities, systems); d) their ability to continue to operate (availability of conditions for transformation). The influence of demographic and socio-economic factors was revealed on the selection of specific point forms of financial infrastructure, the social potential of settlements in the study region was taken into account. Particular attention is paid to financial and infrastructure centres, as more requirements are placed on their allocation. Financial and infrastructural centers are also formed under the influence of historical and geographical factors. Attention is drawn to the problem of transforming specific point-type objects from point to centre to hub and vice versa. The impact of decentralization reform and the new administrative-territorial structure, which led to an increase in the number of financial and infrastructural points but reduced the number of financial and infrastructural centres, are taken into account.

Improvement of corrosion resistance of internal surfaces in power-generating equipment

We investigate the possibility of using induction currents for improving the reliability of thermal power plants by increasing the corrosion resistance of internal surfaces of power-generating equipment, such as heating surfaces of boiler units. Corrosion resistance can be enhanced by improving the strength of an oxide film formed during passivation (oxidation). In this work, the oxide film strength was increased by electrochemical passivation of metal surfaces with induction currents. Using the method of multidimensional mathematical modeling of multi-parametric and multi-functional processes, we established that, for a continuous-loop economizer of a steam boiler comprising steel pipes with an inner diameter of 32 mm (24 coils operated simultaneously), an aqueous oxidant (oxygen) solution should be passed through the entire system of pipes for 4 h at an alternating current of 25 A. Under this treatment, oxygen should be added into the aqueous solution at a temperature of 130–450°C, an oxygen concentration of 1 g/kg, and a water flow rate of 0.5–5.0 m/s. Treatment intervals should be determined depending on the operating conditions of the equipment: reset, shutdown, or preservation. The efficiency of the method depends on the electric current passed over metal surface, treatment duration, oxidant concentration, as well as the type and size of the treated metal surface. The proposed passivation method can be used in both drum boilers and single-pass boilers. For example, it is recommended that passivation of water walls be carried out during boiler warm-up operation at 30–40% of boiler load, as well as passivation of superheat surfaces of boiler units and economizers. Therefore, the use of electrochemical passivation can increase the corrosion resistance of metal surfaces of power-generating equipment at thermal power plants.

Life cycle assessment of renewable energy in Africa

Renewable energy capacity in Africa is expected to reach 169.4 GW by 2040 from 48.5 GW in 2019. The growth of the sector necessitates a re-evaluation of the environmental impacts of renewable energy on the continent to inform mitigation decisions. This study presents the first literature review of the life cycle assessments of renewable energy in Africa and gives an in-depth analysis of environmental issues that are specific to Africa's renewable energy sector. It performs a systematic assessment of literature on the topic, examines the state-of-the-art, and critically evaluates environmental impacts on the continent, implications of methodological choices, gaps, challenges, and compares the findings with other regions. Climate change has been extensively researched in the studies, due to decarbonisation being among policy priorities. Other relevant impact categories such as resource depletion in non-closed loop systems, ecotoxicity from recycling emissions, or ecosystem degradation from landfill leachate are not fully explored despite the end-of-life being potentially a major burden for the continent. Choice of functional units and multifunctional processes give wide variations in the magnitude of environmental impacts for similar technologies and, therefore, have implications for decision-making. For example, similar biodiesel jatropha systems with energy- and mass-based functional units differ by around 16% in their climate change potentials. To ensure that life cycle assessment results apply to mitigation decisions in Africa, studies should consider methodological issues such as lack of transparency in inventories, incomplete coverage of life cycle stages and impact categories, and missing databases adapted for the African context.

Selective recovery of formic acid from wastewater using an ion-capture electrochemical system integrated with a liquid-membrane chamber

Achieving Paris Agreement temperature goals requires carbon neutrality by the middle of the century. Carbon resource recovery from wastewater is recognized as an effective strategy to reach carbon neutrality. However, few technologies can selectively recover high-quality carbon resources from wastewater. Here, we propose a creative Ion-capture electrochemical system (ICES) simply constructed by integrating a Liquid-membrane chamber (LMC) inside that successfully recovers Formic acid (FA) from wastewater containing a high concentration of Cl−. In the charging process, negatively charged HCOO− that enters the LMC will immediately be converted to uncharged HCOOH by obtaining free protons (H+) from the acidic extraction solution, thereby realizing the selective separation of FA from coexisting ions. Under the optimal conditions (i.e., water productivity = 58.8 L/(m2 h), current density = 13.3 A/m2 and pHext = 1.62), an FA product with a high concentration (1586–1827 mg/L) and high purity (80.6%–84.1%) was obtained in semi-continuous operation (14.5 h) while sustaining low energy consumption (2.43 kWh/kg FA). In addition, the process can be applied more broadly to the recovery of various carboxylic acids, such as Acetic acid (AA) and Propionic acid (PA), by using alternative extraction solutions (for example, HCl, H2SO4 and HNO3). The results of this study suggest that an array of efficient and multifunctional processes can be developed through modification of traditional cell configurations for carbon resource recovery.

Attributional & Consequential Life Cycle Assessment: Definitions, Conceptual Characteristics and Modelling Restrictions

To assess the potential environmental impact of human/industrial systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very common method. There are two prominent types of LCA, namely attributional (ALCA) and consequential (CLCA). A lot of literature covers these approaches, but a general consensus on what they represent and an overview of all their differences seems lacking, nor has every prominent feature been fully explored. The two main objectives of this article are: (1) to argue for and select definitions for each concept and (2) specify all conceptual characteristics (including translation into modelling restrictions), re-evaluating and going beyond findings in the state of the art. For the first objective, mainly because the validity of interpretation of a term is also a matter of consensus, we argue the selection of definitions present in the 2011 UNEP-SETAC report. ALCA attributes a share of the potential environmental impact of the world to a product life cycle, while CLCA assesses the environmental consequences of a decision (e.g., increase of product demand). Regarding the second objective, the product system in ALCA constitutes all processes that are linked by physical, energy flows or services. Because of the requirement of additivity for ALCA, a double-counting check needs to be executed, modelling is restricted (e.g., guaranteed through linearity) and partitioning of multifunctional processes is systematically needed (for evaluation per single product). The latter matters also hold in a similar manner for the impact assessment, which is commonly overlooked. CLCA, is completely consequential and there is no limitation regarding what a modelling framework should entail, with the coverage of co-products through substitution being just one approach and not the only one (e.g., additional consumption is possible). Both ALCA and CLCA can be considered over any time span (past, present & future) and either using a reference environment or different scenarios. Furthermore, both ALCA and CLCA could be specific for average or marginal (small) products or decisions, and further datasets. These findings also hold for life cycle sustainability assessment.

Implications of different modelling choices in primary energy and carbon emission analysis of buildings

In recent years, several comparative life cycle analyses have shown that increasing the use of wood in buildings can reduce the life cycle primary energy use and carbon emission of buildings. This study reviews the life cycle inventory methodology of primary energy use and carbon emissions, based on ecoinvent database, considering different modelling choices for (i) materials heating values; (ii) biogenic carbon; (iii) calcination and carbonation processes; (iv) electricity production scenarios; (v) impact distribution of multi-functional processes; (vi) post-use benefits. The analysis relates to the standards while the implication of different modelling choice is shown by comparing the primary energy use and carbon emission in the production and end-of-life stages of a multi-storey residential building with concrete, cross laminated timber and modular timber structures, respectively. The results highlight the displacement between different modelling choices in terms of primary energy use and carbon emissions. Such modelling options especially influence the LCA results in the product stage and beyond the end of life stage, and especially wood- and/or cement-based materials.

The role of process intensification in the current business context of the chemical process industry

AbstractThere is always a discord between the academia and the industry on what is need‐to‐have and nice‐to‐have in terms of novel chemical processes and technologies. The International Process Intensification Conference (IPIC) was organized to hear both sides and to help bridge the knowledge gaps on either side in order to bring about a well‐informed cohesive understanding into where the field of process intensification (PI) should be headed. This perspective is written to publicize the findings and conclusions of the Industrial Day workshop during IPIC 2019 to give an insight into what drives the current business context of the chemical process industry, the role of PI to realize these driving factors and the challenges involved in implementing these intensified solutions. Four of the promising PI fields ‐ continuous manufacturing, alternative energy sources, 3D printing and multifunctional processes ‐ were also discussed among a group of experts from the respective fields to identify essential knowledge gaps, their role in the current business context and the challenges involved in commercializing these technologies.

Improving oil recovery for Arctic offshore oilfields using efficient multifunctional systems

This work presents the main properties of multifunctional systems designed for improving oil production for Artic offshore fields. The processes were developed using a system approach to the optimal organization of complex technological objects. This approach employs the principles of general systems theory, which are based on information theory developed by C. Shannon and W. Weaver and can be used to formulate the organization criteria of a technological system with hierarchical structure. This can be applied in technology for creating multifunctional processes with synergistic properties. Technological solutions were designed in order to address a number of important issues associated with the development of offshore oil fields in the Artic region, namely: improving oil recovery, energy saving, environmental problems (problems associated with the conservation of a unique ecosystem) and ensuring the operation of the production platforms. These solutions will allow to solve these problems simultaneously in multifunctional systems that combine power generation modules based on the Brayton and Rankine cycles and modules for carbon dioxide capture. The efficiency of the proposed solution exceeds that of analogous solutions overseas.

Non-native fishes homogenize native fish communities and reduce ecosystem multifunctionality in tropical lakes over 16 years

Non-native species are considered a major global threat to biodiversity, and their expansion to new ecosystems has recently increased. However, the effect of non-native species on ecosystem functioning is poorly understood, especially in hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems of which long-term studies are scarce. We analyzed the relationship between richness, biomass, and β-diversity of non-native and native fishes during 16 years in five hyperdiverse tropical shallow lakes. We further elucidated how an observed increase in the proportion of richness, biomass, and β-diversity of non-native over native fishes affect crucial multifunctional processes of lakes (decomposition, productivity). We found a general positive relationship between the richness and biomass of non-native and native fishes. However, the slope of this relationship decreased continuously with time, displaying an increase in non-native species richness and a decrease in native species richness over time. We also detected a negative relationship between the β-diversity of non-native and native fishes over time. Moreover, the increase in the non-native:native ratio of species richness, biomass, and β-diversity over time decreased ecosystem multifunctionality. Our results suggest that non-native fishes caused a homogenization of the native fish species over time, resulting in impoverishment of ecosystem multifunctionality; in part because non-native fishes are less productive than native ones. Therefore, focus on long-term effects and use of multiple biodiversity facets (α- and β-diversity) are crucial to make reliable predictions of the effects of non-native fish species on native fishes and ecosystem functioning.

Environmental Impact Allocation of Agri-food Co-products

In the context of strengthening sustainability of production systems, agri-food products become the target of environmental evaluation using life cycle assessment (LCA°. Most of agri-food production systems include multifunctional processes, a common challenge occurs regarding the way to partition impacts among co-products. This is known as the allocation problem. Many approaches have been introduced, leading to different results. One major question that LCA practitioners face is the allocation method choice. The extensive literature review achieved in this study allowed the identification of the most used and acknowledged allocation methods. A cross-analysis unveiled a strong link between allocation choice and decision-makers’ objectives. Hence, this paper proposes to identify the LCA scope, and to use a contextual reasoning to choose the allocation method. These findings were tested on two LCA studies involving agri-food co-products: deteriorated apples and wheat straw. It was validated and discussed in line with the ISO 14044:2006 guidelines.

Short Review on Types of Heat Shock Proteins and Their Fundamental Characters for Body Maintenance Together With Role in Cancer

Body of living thing is a complex machine that works on multifunctional processes and needs maintenance. Heat shock protein is a specific type of protein that cares about many normal functions of the body. These proteins have many dynamic occupations to shield the body from various diseases and also a key role in the coiling and uncoiling of proteins, prevent from apoptosis and transportation of proteins. Along with these all properties, the foremost function of these proteins is prevention from cancer and a significant role in cancer diagnosis. Commonly heat shock protein known as chaperones and a wide range of their types have been discovered with their functions as well. Recently many scientists are working on additional investigation of heat shock proteins. This review concludes some basic types of heat shock proteins and their elegant purposes and also providing an open eye for new scientist about a further investigation of heat shock protein.

Sustainably Powered, Multifunctional Flexible Feedback Implant by the Bifacial Design and Si Photovoltaics.

Advanced design and integration of functioning devices with secured power is of interest for many applications that require complicated, sophisticated, or multifunctional processes in confined environments such as in human bodies. Here, strategies for design and realization are introduced for multifunctional feedback implants with the bifacial design and silicon (Si) photovoltaics in flexible forms. The approaches provide efficient design spaces for flexible Si photovoltaics facing up for sustainable powering and multiple electronic components for feedback functions facing down for sensing, processing, and stimulating in human bodies. The computational and experimental results including in vivo assessments ensure feasibility of the approaches by demonstrating feedback multifunctions, power-harvesting in milliwatts, and mechanical compatibility for operations in live tissues. This work should useful for wide range of applications that require sustainable power and advanced multifunctions.

Designing a model for managing professional development of heads of regional general educational institutions

The article substantiates the logical need to build a model for managing the professional development of heads of educational institutions in the region on the spiraling of multifunctional processes of personnel policy: the formation of the personnel reserve, certification and appointment of the director’s corps. The conceptual apparatus of personnel policy processes is presented. The practical orientation of the results is determined.

Cross-country comparison on environmental impacts of particleboard production in Brazil and Spain

Remarkable differences can be found between Brazilian and Spanish production of wood-based products. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the environmental performance of particleboard production in both countries. The results showed that the greatest impacts in four impact categories correspond to Brazilian particleboards, because of the use of heavy fuel-oil and virgin wood as energy source and raw material respectively, as well as uncontrolled formaldehyde emissions. On the contrary, Spanish production reports worse results in other impacts (eutrophication and toxicity related categories) mostly due to the large demand of diesel in the mobile chipping machine. A sensitivity analysis based on the variation of scenarios considering multifunctionality issues to produce particleboards in Brazil and Spain was conducted. The allocation approach (economic and mass) showed a relevant influence for all impact categories for the Brazilian scenarios in order to reduce most of the environmental impacts, however, it has increased most of the impacts for the Spanish ones due to the change of perspective in the hypothesis that wooden residues are free of environmental burden. The use of the substitution method to address the multifunctional processes displayed the lowest values for almost all impact categories, and especially for Spain, where the avoided impacts from wooden waste were so high that they covered all the life cycle impacts of the particleboards life cycle on many occasions, meaning that there was a net benefit, as the overall environmental impacts were more than offset by the avoided impacts.