Single Raw Material Research Articles

Production of methanol from renewable sources in Mexico: Supply chain optimization

Methanol is one of the most important chemical compounds, as it is the basis for producing a wide variety of derivatives. Its production through fossil sources such as natural gas in countries like Mexico is not entirely viable due to the fluctuations in the availability of this resource. The use of renewable sources to produce methanol represents an interesting area of opportunity to reduce the dependence on a single raw material. This work proposes the design of the methanol supply chain in Mexico using residual materials, finding a solution with the best compromise between profit, social impact, and CO2 emissions. The solution with the best compromise corresponds to a profit of 7,334,100 USD/y, a marginalization index of 2592.536 and CO2 emissions of -0.021 Mt/y. This solution has 8 different types of raw materials, 18 process plants and the use of three processing technologies: gasification, anaerobic digestion, and catalysis from CO2.

Physiological and Biochemical Mechanisms of Wood Vinegar-Induced Stress Response against Tomato Fusarium Wilt Disease.

Wood vinegar, a by-product of charcoal biomass pyrolysis, has been used as a biofungicide in plant disease management because of its antimicrobial properties. However, the physiological and biochemical mechanisms through which wood vinegar alleviates biotic stress are poorly understood. In this study, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the resistance and regulation mechanism of wood vinegar prepared from different raw materials (ZM) and from a single raw material (SM) in controlling tomato (Solanum lycopersicum "Bonny Best") Fusarium wilt at different concentrations (0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2%, and 1.5%). The results showed that ZM and SM had significant control effects on tomato fusarium wilt under different concentrations in the same growth cycle. Under biotic stress, the two kinds of wood vinegar significantly increased the plant height, stem diameter, leaf area and yield of tomato under the concentration of 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9% and 1.2%, and significantly reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in tomato leaves. The effect of 0.9% treatment was the most significant, ZM and SM significantly increased tomato yield by 122% and 74%, respectively, compared with CK under 0.9% treatment. However, the plant height, stem diameter and leaf area of tomato were significantly reduced under 1.5% treatment, but the content of soluble sugar, soluble protein and vitamin C in tomato fruit was the best. Compared with CK, ZM significantly increased by 14%, 193% and 67%, respectively, and SM significantly increased by 28%, 300% and 159%, respectively. Except for 0.3% treatment, both significantly increased the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in tomato leaves. The response intensity of two kinds of wood vinegar-physiological and biochemical-to tomato disease resistance, growth and development, showed ZM > SM. The disease index of tomato showed highly significant negative correlation with plant height, stem thickness, leaf area and antioxidant physiology CAT, and highly significant positive correlation with MDA and H2O2 content. In conclusion, ZM was more effective than SM in enhancing tomato disease resistance by promoting tomato growth and development, decreasing leaf MDA and H2O2 content, and inducing antioxidant enzyme activity in leaves at moderate concentrations.

Design consideration and optimization of process parameters in fiber extraction unit via modelling studies

AbstractDemand for natural fibers as an alternative to synthetic fibers is on the rise. Constraints of current fiber extraction units are limited to single raw material and has low energy efficiency. Hence, this study was taken up for the design and development of a multiple fiber extractor, modelling and optimization of the machine operating parameters, and economic analysis of the developed prototype. The designed machine operates based on the raspador principle. Box Behnken design (BBD) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to evaluate the performance and optimize the variables of the designed multiple fiber extractor. The input variables included roller speed (550, 735, and 920 rpm), gap/clearance of the roller (2, 3, and 4 mm) and the pitch/distance between the spline slots (0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 mm), while the output variables were yield (kg), capacity (kg/h), energy consumption (kJ), and efficiency (%).The prediction accuracy of quadratic models (R2 = 0.962–0.985) developed in BBD were better than the ANN models (R2 = 0.831–0.946). The optimized combination was found to be 714.23 rpm roller speed, 3.12 mm gap, and 1.49 mm pitch of the blade, which yielded (1.48 kg) a desirability value of 0.95. The XRD results indicated the highest crystallinity index was recorded for Pineapple leaf fiber compared to banana fiber. SEM results revealed that extracted BF having typical network structure (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and waxes) compared to smooth PLF (lignin and hemicellulose). The fibers extracted using the developed machine was utilized for making biodegradable cutlery.Practical ApplicationsThis study was taken up to design a multifiber extractor, to extract fibers from agricultural residues after their useful parts are taken for consumption or processing. Thus, a single machine capable of handling multiple byproducts can utilize those residues, which were previously discarded as waste. Moreover, the extracted fibers are used for the manufacture of biodegradable cutlery. With a small investment, this machine can provide an additional income to the farmers, along with taking away the concern regarding waste disposal.

Культурные тренды и их особенности в материалах стратифицированных комплексов нижнего течения р. Селенги (Итанцинская впадина, юго-восточное Прибайкалье)

The proposed publication presents materials of multilayered geoarchaeological sites of the Southeastern Baikal Region, which have their own specifics of formation. Cultural horizons are included in deposits of subaerial genesis, which mainly form the surfaces of river terraces on the right bank of the main water artery of the region, the Selenga River in its lower reaches. Preliminary cultural and chronological definitions, based on the results of a typological analysis of archaeological collections, demonstrate the dynamics of the development of cultural phenomena from the Final Pleistocene to the Holocene. The main trend, characteristic of almost all the studied sites, demonstrates the “delay” of cultural innovations noted in the archaeological cultures of the eastern coast of Lake Baikal and Western Transbaikalia. As a result of a study of a series of sites in the Itantsa depression (lower reaches of the Selenga River) in the early 2000s, we revealed the stability of the morphological and technical and technological appearance of stone tools in the Final Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic. We also noted the uniformity of the typology of the tool set made of stone and bone, and the stability of the exploitation of a single raw material base (raw materials are of the same type in terms of isotropic characteristics). These characteristics indicate a strong tradition of stone processing for more than 10 thousand years. The situation changes about 3–4 thousand years ago (the beginning of the Paleometal era), which is expressed in the expansion of the raw material base of stone raw materials, although stone processing technologies remain in the same technical traditions. Traditions of ceramic production are represented by fragments of vessels with imprints of woven net and cord, found both in the Neolithic assemblages and in the materials of the cultural horizons of the Early Bronze Age. The obtained materials can serve as initial data for the reconstruction of the development of cultural phenomena against the background of changes in the paleoclimatic situation in the Baikal region as a whole. It should also be concluded that human stay in the southeastern Baikal region is associated with climatic fluctuations towards relatively warm conditions, while the humidity indicator did not play a big role.

Current Status and Raw Material Characteristics of Painted Pigment in used Traditional Dancheong: Focused on the National-designated Wooden Architectural Heritages in Korea

In this study, the composition of traditional Korean Dancheong pigments existing in national-designated wooden architectural heritages was analyzed, and the current status of pigments according to the raw material characteristics used was statistically examined. As for the red pigment, Seokganju, Yeondan, Jusa had a high share, and natural and artificial inorganic pigments had a high usage rate. As for yellow pigments, organic pigments(estimated Deunghwang), Hhwangto, and gold showed a high share. In the case of organic pigments and gold, Yeonbaek was used as a based pigment to increase color development. As for the green pigment, Hayeob, Noerok, Samrok showed a high share. The Hayeob and Neorok are identified as a single raw material, but it can be seen that the Samrok is made by mixing copper oxides such as moolooite and lead-based white raw materials. Blue pigments have a lower share of pigments compared to other colors. As for the blue pigment, Guncheong, Hoecheong, and Seokcheong showed a high market share, and natural and artificial inorganic pigments accounted for the majority. In particular, it is characteristic that the use of expensive pigments such as Seokcheong and Guncheong is concentrated on the Palace Dancheong. White and black pigments have a low share in Dancheong coloring, but the white and black lines play a very important role in the perfection of Dancheong. It can be seen that the white pigment has a high share of Baekto(white clay) and Yeonbaek, and is used not only for coloring but also as a based pigment for color pigments. Most of the black pigment is made up of more than 95% organic raw material containing carbon as its main component, and it shows various aspects depending on the lower pigment layer. Through this, it was confirmed based on on-site analysis data of wooden architectural heritage that the color pigment used in Dancheong had a higher percentage of use of inorganic pigments and that the use rate of natural inorganic pigments was higher than that of artificial synthetic pigments in inorganic pigments.

Analysis of the thermodynamic characteristics of particle reinforced multifarious compositions

The mechanical characteristics of particle-reinforced multifarious compositions are virtually hinged on the characteristics of matrix materials, particles, and the characteristics of the interface between particles. The composite material can be used to improve the disadvantages of a single raw material and expand the scope of application. Multifarious compositions have the advantages, such as high specific strength, high fatigue resistance, and high specific stiffness. For this reason, it is widely and specifically used in aviation manufacturing, aerospace technology, and transportation. Composite materials, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, and alloy steel have become the main structural materials for aircraft body manufacturing, which is conducive to the improvement of fuel efficiency, simplifying system installation, and shortening assembly time. This research introduces a three-phase theoretical model to analyze the thermodynamic characteristics of particle-reinforced multifarious compositions. The effects of particle volume fraction, particle shape, and interface layer thickness on particle thermodynamic characteristics are analyzed and described.

Rapid and accurate detection of starch content in mixed sorghum by hyperspectral imaging combined with data fusion technology

AbstractSorghum is a type of brewing material. The starch content of different kinds of mixed sorghum affect the quality and yield of liquor. Therefore, an accurate and efficient detection of its starch content is of great significance to obtain high‐quality and high‐yield of liquor. Based on the data of single visible light (Vis), near‐infrared (NIR), and Vis and NIR fusion, this study develops a genetic algorithm optimization BP neural network (GA‐BPNN) model and a particle swarm optimization support vector machine model. It is deduced that the model based on the data from the Vis and NIR fusion has the highest performance in predicting the starch content of mixed sorghum. For the prediction of amylose, the GA‐BPNN model developed after using the Pearson correlation coefficient to select the characteristic wavelength for fusion, has the highest performance (RMSEP = .0298 and = .9948). For the prediction of amylopectin, the GA‐BPNN model developed after fusion of spectral features extracted by principal component analysis, has the highest performance (RMSEP = .0213 and = .9985). In conclusion, the hyperspectral imaging combined with data fusion can rapidly and accurately detect the starch content of mixed sorghum.Practical ApplicationsAs the single raw material of Maotai‐flavor liquor and the main raw material of Luzhou‐flavor liquor, the amylopectin content of sorghum directly affects the quality of liquor. Its amylose content also affects the yield of liquor. Because the different varieties of sorghum have different amylose and amylopectin content, liquor manufacturers often use several mixed varieties of sorghum as a brewing material. In order to ensure the quality and yield of liquor, it is particularly crucial to detect the amylose and amylopectin content variables of blended sorghum. The traditional sorghum starch content determination methods, such as the chemical detection methods and near infrared spectroscopy, have the disadvantages of destructiveness, low efficiency, and low detection accuracy. In the process of liquor brewing, the traditional detection methods cannot guide the timely adjustment of brewing process parameters. The hyperspectral imaging technology is widely used in food material detection, due to its fast and nondestructive advantages. The data fusion technology can fuse data from different sources of the same object to be detected, in order to obtain more comprehensive data for the development of accurate prediction models. This study uses the hyperspectral imaging combined with data fusion in order to quickly and accurately predicts the starch content (amylose, amylopectin) of mixed sorghum, which has a guiding significance for the timely adjustment of process parameters in the brewing process of liquor. In addition, it provides an accurate method for the component detection of other grains.

Effect of microbial agents on maturity, humification, and stability and the bacterial succession of spent mushroom substrate composting

Two composting experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of commercial microbial agents on microbial succession and nutrient flow such as humification, maturation, and stability during the aerobic composting of the spent mushroom substrate (SMS). The cellulose degradation rate of T (added microbial agents at the initial stage) reached 41.8%, which was much significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of CK (14.9%). The seed germination index (GI) in T (82.38%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that in CK (74.74%) in the maturation phase. Moreover, the total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratio (C/N) and electrical conductivity (EC) value of T decreased to 10.5 and 2.37 mS/cm, respectively. Chemical detection and fluorescence excitation-emission region integration method (EEM-FRI) analysis showed that the microbial agents significantly accelerated the organic matter (OM) decomposition and promoted the quality of mature compost using SMS as a single raw material. The bacterial abundance of T was significantly richer than the CK due to the addition of microbial agents. The results could provide a comprehensive understanding of adding microbial agents into composting SMS and a scientific feasibility strategy to rational utilization of resources in the edible fungi industry, which was conducive to the waste management and sustainable development of the edible fungi industry.

(Digital Presentation) Development of Linear Paired Electrolysis for the Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol

Electrochemical processes are always coupled reactions, with anodic oxidation and cathodic reduction. Paired electrolysis system can produce valuable products at both anode and cathode, and maximizes the efficient use of applied energy. Especially, the conversion of a single raw material to a single valuable product by paired electrolysis referred to as linear paired electrolysis. Since the electron transfers at both electrodes can produce a single valuable product in the linear paired electrolysis system, a single compound is generated with a current efficiency of 200%, theoretically. The linear paired electrolysis is appearing electrochemical process, however, it remains a challenging topic in organic electrochemical synthesis because it is complicated system. Herein, we develop the synthesis process of benzaldehyde by oxidation of benzyl alcohol using linear paired electrolysis. Electrochemical synthesis of carbonyl compounds by oxidation of alcohol is a challenging topic due to the selectivity and efficiency. We use aqueous media as the electrolyte and oxygen as the terminal oxidant to increase the selectivity and efficiency in the electrochemical transformation.Electrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol was performed by following method. A 4.0 mmol of tetraethylammonium perchlorate (Et4NClO4) was dissolved in 20 mL of acetonitrile (CH3CN) and 20 mL of H2O (Milli-Q water). The resultant mixture was used as an electrolyte in this study. The electrolyte was purged with O2 or Ar for 30 min, and then a 0.5 mmol of benzyl alcohol was dissolved in the electrolyte. A 20 mL of cyclohexane was added to the electrolyte to prevent overoxidation of the product. Electrolysis was conducted at room temperature with three electrodes method: a 2 cm2 of carbon felt (CF) anode, a 2 cm2 of various cathode materials, and a Ag/AgCl reference electrode.In the present study, transformation of 4-tert-butyl-benzyl alcohol (peak potential of oxidation: +1.76 V vs. Ag/AgCl) to 4-tert-butyl-benzaldehyde was used as a model reaction for optimization of reaction condition. First, we carried out constant potential electrolysis at +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Electrolysis using O2-saturated electrolyte resulted in a higher yield of the benzaldehyde (71%) than that using an Ar-saturated electrolyte (45%) when the coulomb amount was 2 F. This result suggested that O2 promoted the desired conversion. Cyclic voltammograms of the electrolyte suggested that reduction of O2 could proceed at cathode. Cathodic reduction of O2 could produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) which have strong oxidizing power. As a result, cathode in our electrochemical cell could have high oxidation potential. Therefore, it was indicated that desired oxidation progressed using ROS in our electrochemical system. In next step, we conducted electrochemical reactions under constant potential electrolysis at −0.7 V vs. Ag/AgCl which was suitable for the reduction of O2. In this condition, benzaldehyde was obtained in 86% yield when the coulomb amount was 2 F, and no byproduct was observed. From this result, we proposed the indirect oxidation pass using ROS generated at cathode. Interestingly, when the cathode (working electrode) was set to −0.7 V vs. Ag/AgCl, the measured potential of the anode (counter electrode) was +1.5 to +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Therefore, when the reduction of O2 proceeded at cathode, potential of anode reached sufficient value to oxidize the benzyl alcohol. It meant both direct oxidation and indirect oxidation progressed in a single electrochemical cell. It was linear paired electrolysis system of oxidation of benzyl alcohol.We considered the reaction on cathode was important to progress desired oxidation, and the effect of different cathode materials was also investigated. In this investigation, carbon felt, glassy carbon, Pt, and Ni could be used as cathodes in the linear paired electrolysis system. In contrast, a sharp decrease in current was observed immediately after the start of electrolysis using Al as the cathode. Observation and analysis of the used Al electrodes suggested that surface of Al cathodes was passivated. It was indicated that electrochemically generated ROS with high oxidizing power might promote the passivation of the cathode materials. The observed passivation also supported the generation of ROS at cathode in our electrochemical cells.Finally, we demonstrated the versatility of developed linear paired electrolysis with various benzyl alcohols. Especially, 4-Methoxybenzaldehyde was not only obtained in high yields (94%) but also with maximum current efficiencies of 146%. The exceeding 100% current efficiency also supported the linear paired electrolysis system.In summary, we successfully developed a process for oxidation of benzyl alcohols via linear paired electrolysis with high selectivity and efficiency. Since desired reaction progressed both electrodes and aqueous media and O2 were used, this system offered green and sustainable chemical synthesis process. Figure 1

Deep-Blue Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Carbon Dots/Silica Microparticles from a Single Raw Material.

Blue-emitting room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have always been one of the major challenges in the field of RTP materials. Deep-blue (430 nm) RTP emitting silica microparticles were prepared via a one-step hydrothermal reaction from a single raw material of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). APTES provided amino groups and ethyl groups as a nitrogen and carbon source, which was further condensed to be nitrogen-contained carbon dots (CDs). Besides, the siloxane side of APTES was hydrolyzed and formed silica microparticles. The CDs with the potential chromophores (C═O and C-N etc.) were connected to SiO2 via Si-C bonds of APTES. The covalent bonds and the rigid silica network effectively restricted the motions of potential chromophores of the CDs and reduced the energy gap between the singlet state and triplet state, which was favorable to the RTP. It was believed that this work will guide researchers to realize other blue or deep-blue RTP materials.

Color 3D printing of pulped yam utilizing a natural pH sensitive pigment

A novel color control strategy for 3D printing was proposed based on a single channel nozzle with a single raw material. The basic principle was to regulate the pH of the extruded line through electrolysis which would result in the color change of pH-sensitive pigments mixed in the printed materials. Using pulped yam as a feedstock and a pH sensitive pigment extracted from purple sweet potato (PPP), the process parameters were optimized using a moisture content of 35% and a PPP content of 5 mg/100 g. Printing tests showed that the color of the extruded line could be conveniently controlled by adjusting the applied electrode potential from − 45 to 45 V with a hue range of 0.192–0.916, which exhibited a gradually changing color scheme from mauve to yellow. The proposed strategy showed promising potential in color 3D printing with the advantages of low cost, convenient control and simple composition. • A novel color 3D printing method was developed. • Printed color can be controlled by adjusting electrode potential. • A color scheme ranging from mauve to yellow can be achieved.

Natural reed-derived nanostructure SiC/CNOs for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water

The optimum utilization of natural resources for clean energy production is significant to the sustainable development of society. In this report, SiC nanowires supported on carbon nano onions materials (SiC/CNOs) were simply synthesized through two-step sintering from natural reed as single raw material and used as photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution from water. The hydrogen evolution rate can reach 1101.65 μmol·g−1·h−1 in the presence of Eosin Y (EY) as photosensitizer and triethanolamine (TEOA) as sacrificial agent. Control experiments and characterizations demonstrate that the outstanding photocatalytic activity of SiC/CNOs is attributed to the synergetic effect between SiC nanowires and CNOs.

Influence of Liquid-to-Solid and Alkaline Activator (Sodium Silicate to Sodium Hydroxide) Ratios on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Alkali-Activated Palm Oil Fuel Ash Geopolymer

Malaysia is one of the largest palm oil producers in the world and its palm oil industry is predicted to generate a large amount of waste, which increases the need to modify it for sustainable reuse. The green geopolymers produced from industrial waste can be a potential substitute for cementitious binders. This type of polymer helps reduce dependency on cement, a material that causes environmental problems due to its high carbon emissions. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) geopolymer has been widely investigated for its use as a sustainable construction material. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the total replacement of cement with POFA geopolymer as a binder. In this study, we examined the effects of different material design parameters on the performance of a POFA-based geopolymer as a building material product through iterations of mixture optimisation. The material assessed was a single raw precursor material (POFA) activated by an alkaline activator (a combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate with constant concentration) and homogenised. We conducted a physical property test, compressive strength test, and chemical composition and microstructural analyses to evaluate the performance of the alkali-activated POFA geopolymer at 7 and 28 days. According to the results, the optimum parameters for the production of alkali-activated POFA paste binder are 0.6 liquid-to-solid ratio and 2.5 alkaline activator ratio. Our results show that the use of alkali-activated POFA geopolymer is technically feasible, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative for POFA disposal.

Impact of Various Microbial-Fermented Methods on the Chemical Profile of Dark Tea Using a Single Raw Tea Material.

In the present study, we produced Pu-erh, Liubao, Qingzhuan, and Fuzhuan teas using a single raw tea material and applied widely targeted metabolomics to study the impact of various microbial-fermented methods on the chemical profile of dark tea. The contents of catechins and free amino acids decreased drastically, whereas the contents of gallic acid and theabrownins increased significantly during microbial fermentation. Pu-erh tea had the highest content of theabrownins (11.82 ± 0.49%). Moreover, MS-based metabolomics analysis revealed that the different types of dark teas were significantly different from their raw material. A total of 85 differential metabolites were screened among 569 metabolites identified referring to self-compiled database. Glycosylated, hydroxylated, methylated, and condensed and oxidated products originating from microbial bioconversion of their corresponding primitive forms were significantly increased in dark teas. These results suggest that various microbial-fermented methods greatly affect the metabolic profile of dark tea, which can provide useful information for dark tea biochemistry research.

Preparation of Biological Scaffolds and Primary Intestinal Epithelial Cells to Efficiently 3D Model the Fish Intestinal Mucosa.

Tissue engineering is an elegant tool to create organs in vitro, that can help obviate the lack of organ donors in transplantation medicine and provide the opportunity of studying complex biological systems in vitro, thereby reducing the need for animal experiments. Artificial intestine models are at the core of Fish-AI, an EU FET-Open research project dedicated to the development of a 3D in vitro platform that is intended to enable the aquaculture feed industry to predict the nutritional and health value of alternative feed sources accurately and efficiently.At present, it is impossible to infer the health and nutrition value through the chemical characterization of any given feed. Therefore, each new feed must be tested through in vivo growth trials. The procedure is lengthy, expensive and requires the use of many animals. Furthermore, although this process allows for a precise evaluation of the final effect of each feed, it does not improve our basic knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms determining such end-results. In turn, this lack of mechanistic knowledge severely limits the capacity to understand and predict the biological value of a single raw material and of their different combinations.The protocol described herein allows to develop the two main components essential to produce a functional platform for the efficient and reliable screening of feeds that the feed industry is currently developing for improving their health and nutritional value. It is here applied to the Rainbow Trout, but it can be fruitfully used to many other fish species.

The development of indonesian local clay as a lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) for organic growing medium

Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA), a clay-based lightweight aggregate expanding after burning at high temperatures, is among the promising material since it can be used as construction materials for buildings and roads, geotechnical fillings, hydroponic growing medium, humidity control, wall damper, heat insulation, water treatment, and others. However, the potential of clay from various places in Indonesia used for LECA as an organic planting medium is still not explored considerably. In this paper, various local clays in Indonesia were studied to obtain a suitable clay as the single raw material for LECA production. Clay raw materials were originated from Purwakarta, Sukabumi, Klaten and Boyolali. The preliminary selection was evaluated based on XRD and XRF test results. The XRD and XRF analysis showed that Boyolali shale and Boyolali bentonite were the most fitted clay as single raw material for LECA production. Both materials were synthesized into LECA through a firing process at 1100°C and 1200°C. Furthermore, the LECA product was characterized by its bloating coefficient and water absorption. The best results were obtained by Boyolali bentonite with a bloating coefficient of 4.63 or can be referred to as medium type and 14.63% for water absorption.

The study of influencing factors to straw mixed with livestock manure anaerobic fermentation

Anaerobic fermentation of mixed raw materials is an effective method to solve the single raw material fermentation instability and adjust the carbon to nitrogen ratio during the fermentation process. In this study, manure and straw were used as mixed fermentation raw materials. The effects of mixed raw material types, total solid concentration, inoculum types and inoculation ratio on gas production efficiency were studied. The experimental results show that the total TS has the greatest effect on the biogas gas production effect. The pig manure and rice stalks are used as the mixed raw materials. The total TS is set to 10%. The inoculum is selected from the biogas slurry. The inoculation ratio is 30%. The gas rate is 0. 61 L/(L . d). The influence of four factors on gas production performance is: total solid concentration> fermentation raw material> types of inoculum> inoculation ratio. The test results have certain reference significance for anaerobic digestion of mixed raw materials.

Industrial Decarbonization by a New Energy-Baseline Methodology. Case Study

The main target of climate change policies in the majority of industrialized countries is to reduce energy consumption in their facilities, which would reduce the carbon emissions that are generated. Through this idea, energy management plans are developed, energy reduction targets are established, and energy-efficient technologies are applied to achieve high energy savings, which are environmentally compatible. In order to evaluate the impact of their operations and investments, companies promote measures of performance in their energy management plans. An integral part of measuring energy performance is the establishment of energy baselines applicable to the complete facility that provide a basis for evaluating energy efficiency improvements and incorporating energy performance indicators. The implementation of energy management systems in accordance with the requirements of ISO Standard 50001 is a contribution to the aim and strategies for improving cleaner production in industries. This involves an option for the industry to establish energy benchmarks to evaluate performance, predict energy consumption, and align production with the lowest possible consumption of primary and secondary forms of energy. Ultimately, this goal should lead to the manufacturing of cleaner products that are environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and are in accordance with the global environmental targets of cleaner manufacturing. This paper discusses an alternative for establishing energy baselines for the industrial sector in which several products are produced from a single raw material, and we determined the energy consumption of each product and its impact on the overall efficiency of the industry at the same time. The method is applied to the plastic injection process and the result is an energy baseline (EBL) in accordance with the requirements of ISO 50001, which serves as a reference for determining energy savings. The EBL facilitates a reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in sectors such as plastics, a sector which accounts for 15% of Colombia’s manufacturing GDP.

Clustering and modelling of rheological parameters for anaerobic digestion materials (ADMs) and its application for feed pump selection

Anaerobic digestion technology is a promising technology for renewable energy and environmental protection. Rheological properties of anaerobic digestion materials (ADMs) are the essential parameters for transporting and mixing system design. Anaerobic slurry with high total solid(TS) is a Non-Newton fluid fit for power law model, its apparent viscosity is a function of consistency coefficient K and non-dimensional rheology index n. At present, studies on rheological parameters of ADMs mostly focus on specific single raw material, and the TS content has the greatest influence on rheological parameters. By comparing the rheological properties of different ADMs in literatures, it was found that the large difference among the rheological parameters comes from not only different types of ADMs (due to different components), but also the same type (due to different ways of pretreatment), which makes it difficult for the selection of rheological parameter model in biogas design. In this work, 20 different ADMs were clustered into 5 types by statistical method and then their rheological parameters were conducted. The five types of ADMs respectively are: low fiber content slurry, high fiber content slurry, straw manure mixture, straw suspension and digested sludge. The rheological parameter models of the five types can be written as K as an exponential function of TS, and n as a linear function of TS, which the range of TS is 4%-10%. Furthermore, the rheological parameter models were applied to the selection of feed pump of a 6000m3 biogas plant in Funan county of Anhui province, China. In this paper, the values of K and n of 20 ADMs were calculated when TS equals to 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%, and the optimal classification results were obtained by comparing the three results between hierarchical clustering method and K-Means clustering method.

Optimization of a Joint Economic Lot Size Model for a First-tier Supplier with Sequential Processes Using a Genetic Algorithm

As corporate competition intensifies in the 21st century, optimal in the integrated supply chain is more important than optimization of individual company. Our research examines a series of integrated supply chain systems comprising a single raw material supplier, a first-tier supplier with multiple processes, and a single original equipment manufacturer in the Korean automotive industry. Unlike other papers, we have studied the situation in which the first-tier supplier has an assembly process. We have also analyzed the situation in which the demand for semi-finished products occurs in the first-tier supplier process or in which semi-finished products are purchased from subcontractors and put into production. The objective function is to minimize the sum of production costs, inventory holding costs, ordering costs, and setup costs in the integrated supply chain. To solve this problem, we formulated nonlinear programming, and developed a genetic algorithm. The results showed that using a dynamic lot size is cheaper than using a fixed lot size. In addition, the lower the setup cost, the smaller the lot size, and when a certain level is reached, the lot size will be the same even if the cost changes.