Slurry Solids Concentration Research Articles

Photo‐cationic polymerizable ceramic slurry for the fabrication of ceramic structures in three‐dimensional printing

AbstractCycloaliphatic epoxides exhibit post‐light irradiation heat‐induced polymerization, creating warp‐resistant green bodies during sintering. However, their use in light polymerization three‐dimensional (3D) printing is limited by slow photo‐curing speeds. In this study, a photo‐cationic polymerizable ceramic slurry was developed for 3D printing by mixing oxetane with cyclo‐aliphatic epoxide. This mixture improved photo‐curing speed, reduced resin viscosity, and enhanced the ceramic slurry's solid content. Additionally, we optimized the slurry by considering the specific and content ratio of photosensitizers and light absorbers. The optimized slurry polymerized unreacted functional groups in the polymer, improving the fracture strength of the green bodies through enhanced crosslinking density and uniformity in each layer. Ultimately, a sintered body without warpage was produced by the improved green bodies. This approach provides a solution related to controlling the photocuring speed and expands the potential applications of 3D printing in areas where the precision and stability of the printing material are required.

CFD analysis of the erosion wear through 90° bend of different area ratio at high slurry concentration

Using the commercial computational fluid dynamics package ANSYS FLUENT, the behaviour of slurry erosion wear at 90° pipe bends was studied with varied area ratios (AR = 1–2). In this investigation, two influencing parameters have also been selected, such as slurry flow velocity (4−10 m/s) and the low to high slurry concentration of the fly ash (2.5%–40% by volume). To make a slurry, fly ash particles (150 µm) were mixed with water. Euler–Lagrange was used to forecast slurry erosion wear accurately. Simulations of the slurry flow within the bend pipeline were conducted with the help of a standard k-ɛ turbulence model and a two-way coupling approach. The findings of the simulation were validated against the existing research to ensure their accuracy. The study observed that the average erosion rate was directly proportional to the flow velocity and solid concentration of the slurry, while the average erosion rate was inversely proportional to the AR at all flow parameters. The findings indicate that the minimum and maximum erosion wear are found in AR = 2 and AR = 1, respectively. In the case of AR = 2, the average erosion rate is reduced by an average of 5.47 and 2.5 times at given flow parameters (slurry velocity and solid concentration) as compared to the AR = 1 and 1.5, respectively.

Microstructural Analysis of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Carbon-Binder Domain across Processing Conditions

Improvement of lithium-ion battery (LIB) energy density and rate capability is necessary to increase adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and curb transportation emissions. The cathode structure must support facile ion and electron transport, enabling rapid charging while maintaining near-theoretical capacity. Much investigation focuses on active material design for fast-charging cathodes, [1] but less is understood about the effect of electrode processing on carbon-binder domain (CBD) structure and its impact on rate capability. As conductive carbon facilitates electron transfer, slow Li+ diffusion through cathode micropores is rate-limiting and prevents full active material utilization at high charge rates. [2,3] However, efforts to improve Li+ diffusion, such as increasing porosity, introduce charge-transfer limitations. [4] Thus, cathode processing conditions and resulting microstructure must be carefully designed to optimize for both electronic and ionic conductivity. For example, an increase in coating shear rate and decrease in slurry solid content improves long-range electronic pathways [5,6] and calendaring strengthens active material-carbon contacts to reduce charge-transfer resistance. [2] However, the impact of processing variations on ionic transport pathways, which can be described by CBD porosity and tortuosity, is not well understood. Further, because the CBD is traditionally characterized as a single phase, the distinct influences of insulating binder and conductive carbon distributions on structure and performance are poorly defined.In this talk, I will discuss how electrode coating conditions impact pathways available to Li+ and electrons within the CBD with the goal of identifying optimal microstructures for efficient transport. We fabricate cathodes with varying solid content, coating shear rate, and degree of calendaring to explore disparate CBD microstructures. We use electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with a symmetric cell & blocking electrolyte to determine cathode resistivity and tortuosity and plasma focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (PFIB-SEM) to examine CBD morphology over a representative cathode volume (~80 x 80 x 50 µm3). We then use small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) with solvent contrast variation to distinguish between binder and carbon distributions and determine the surface area of each component within the CBD. Relationships between processing conditions, structural variations, and rate capability will be discussed, informing the design of the CBD for facile transport and improved fast charging performance. Further, reducing ionic transport limitations through intentional design of LIB cathodes will enable thicker electrodes to increase cell energy density.

Preparation of quaternary spherical TiO2-B4C-C-Cu composite powder for laser cladding

Powder preparation is the key step in producing laser cladding coatings with desired properties. In this paper, quaternary TiO2-B4C-C-Cu composite powder with high sphericity and good densification has been successfully prepared by a powder fabrication process combining spray granulation with densification sintering. The effects of slurry characteristics, spray granulation process parameters, and densification sintering temperature on particle morphology and performance were studied. The formation mechanism of quaternary spherical TiO2-B4C-C-Cu composite powder was revealed by analyzing the process of heat transfer and water transfer in the droplets, and the optimization direction of the powder preparation was indicated. The optimized process parameters for the quaternary spherical TiO2-B4C-C-Cu composite powder are: slurry solid content of 52 wt%, dispersant content of 1.25 wt%, binder content of 2 wt%, inlet temperature of 180 °C, the airflow rate of 310 L/h, slurry feed rate of 4.5 ml/min, and the two-stage temperatures of densification sintering are 500 ℃ and 900 ℃ for 1 h, in turn. Under the optimized process, the fluidity of the powder reaches 112 s/50 g, the apparent density reaches 1.2 g/ml, and more than 70% of the particles are between 15–53 µm. The powder has been verified by laser cladding to prepare in-situ synthesized TiB2-TiC-Cu composite coatings, which could have a better prospect for potential application.

How does mine tailings slurry solids concentration affect stability of dam embankment slope?

ABSTRACT In view of many past failures of tailings storage facilities, practising engineers have been analysing current design guidelines for different elements of these facilities, including for tailings dams. In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate how varying tailings slurry solids concentration ( c s ) affects the stability of tailings dam embankment slope. To achieve this, elaborate two-dimensional limit equilibrium and finite element simulations were conducted and a steady-state seepage analysis was performed so as to obtain accurate free surface water flux through the slope. Initially, numerical analyses were performed for the downstream embankment slope when no material is retained upstream. Subsequently, with all parameters kept constant, the same slope was then checked when water is retained upstream, and finally for varying slurry solids concentration. Special attention was paid to the boundary between sedimentation and consolidation, defined as the solids concentration limit beyond which effective stresses start to develop. From the stability analyses performed, it is found that the factor of safety of embankment slope varies nonlinearly with total unit weight of the slurry. For coal tailings slurry, factor of safety reduced from 1.24 when water is retained to 1.15 when tailings slurry with c w = 60% is retained, representing a drop by 7.3%.

Fabrication, sintering behavior and mechanical properties of calcium oxide doped yttrium oxide refractory via aqueous gel casting method

Yttrium oxide is an ideal choice for titanium aluminum alloy melting and casting, its wider use is hindered by sintering challenges and low thermal shock resistance. To address this, we propose a gel casting method for calcium oxide-doped yttrium oxide production. We pretreated yttrium oxide with phosphoric acid to prevented hydrolysis and adjusted the isoelectric point of yttrium oxide to match calcium carbonate's. Anions from calcium carbonate increased slurry solid content (up to 58 vol%) while maintaining low viscosity (57.78 mPa·s at 40 s−1 shear rate). After sintering at 1650 °C for 2 h, the material showed a flexural strength of 78 MPa, with a 90% retention rate after thermal shock test. The introduction of calcium oxide induced lattice distortion, improving mechanical properties by aiding sintering and grain boundary diffusion. XPS and STEM analysis confirmed random replacement of Y3+ by Ca2+ at the C2 position with 1 wt% doping.

Precision forecasting of spray-dry desulfurization using Gaussian noise data augmentation and k-fold cross-validation optimized neural computing

Perceptron models have become integral tools for pattern recognition and classification problems in engineering fields. This study envisioned implementing artificial neural networks to forecast the performance of a mini-spray dryer for desulfurization activities. This work adopted k-fold cross-validation, a rigorous technique that evaluates model performance across multiple data segments. Several ANN models (21) were trained on data obtained from sulfation conditions, including sulfation temperature (120 °C–200 °C), slurry pH (4–12), stoichiometric ratio (0.5–2.5), slurry solid concentration (6%–14%) as the feed input and sulfur capture as the response. Three hundred synthetic datasets generated using the Gaussian noise data augmentation underwent a 10-fold cross-validation process before simulation on neural networks triggered by the logsig and tansig activation functions. The computation accuracy was further evaluated by altering the number of hidden cells from 2 to 10. The ANN architectures were assessed using statistical metrics such as mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and the coefficient of determination (R 2) techniques. Overall, error estimation suggests cross-validation and data augmentation are critical in efficient neural network generalization. The logsig function trained with 10 hidden cells presented closer data articulation when mapped onto actual values.

Study of phosphoric acid slurry rheological behavior in the attack reactor and development of a model to control its viscosity using artificial intelligence

This work aims to determine the rheological properties of the industrial phosphoric acid slurry and its behavior under the operating conditions of the phosphoric acid production process. For that, several experimental tests on the slurry were carried out, using a Rheometer (Anton Paar), which testing the effect of temperature and solid content. The results show that, for a fixed solids rate, the viscosity of the slurry decreases with temperatures from 75°C to 82°C and increases for temperatures above 82°C considered as the maximum temperature required by the process. This phenomenon is due to the morphological change of the gypsum which corresponds to the range of calcium sulfate hemihydrate formation. For a fixed temperature, the viscosity increases with increasing slurry solid content (31% to 37%). The viscosity increases with the shear gradient. Increasing the solid charge in the slurry increases its resistance to flow and movement. Thus, the slurry has a higher tendency to settle. A comparative study of four rheological models, Casson, Bingham, Ostwald and Herschel-Buckley, led to the selection of the Herschel-Bulkley model. This predicts the behavior of the phosphate slurry with a correlation coefficient of 99.9% and a MAE less than 4%. Overall, the results show that the threshold flow of the slurry is negligible, and its behavior is nonlinear. Thus, the slurry is a non-Newtonian fluid, with a dilatant rheological behavior. The various tests carried out enabled us to measure the viscosity of the phosphoric acid suspension for different solids contents and at different temperatures. The results obtained enabled us to study the rheological behavior and develop an artificial neural network model to control the viscosity of the slurry at the phosphoric acid attack tank.

Efficient-thermal conductivity, storage and application of bionic tree-ring composite phase change materials based on freeze casting

Thermal energy storage, management, and utilization with phase change materials have received increasing attention in industrial fields such as photo-thermal-electric conversion and integrated circuit cooling. However, the inherent low thermal conductivity and melting leakage are long-term bottlenecks that prevent their widespread commercial application. Herein, a novel composite phase change material (CPCM) with high-thermal conductivity and stability based on bionic porous SiC skeleton is proposed, which is oriented by optimized freeze casting to design vertical tree-ring porous structure for fast photo-thermal conversion and storage. The results demonstrate the novel bionic SiC skeleton can regulate the porosity (50%–70%) by changing the slurry solid content, which also exhibits good anisotropic thermal conductivity. SiC/paraffin CPCM's mass and latent enthalpy of attenuated merely by 0.87% and 1.5% after 200 repeated heat storage/exhaustion cycles, confirming its excellent longevity and stability. The high-temperature SiC/NaCl-MgCl2-KCl CPCM has a thermal conductivity of 12.54 W‧m−1‧K−1, an effective thermal-storage density per production cost of 74.5 kJ‧CNY-1, and a high photo-thermal storage efficiency of 91.8%. Finally, a variable-power chip dissipation experimental system was built to verify the thermal performance of the CPCM module in the paper. It could dissipate heat rapidly and maintain a lower temperature. This work provides a promising strategy for photo-thermal utilization and thermal management of electronic devices.

Preparing β-SiAlON ceramic foam filters with high oxidation resistance

Herein, to develop ceramic foam filters (CFFs) with high porosity and strength, porous β-SiAlON ceramic foam was prepared using Si, α-Al2O3, and AlN via foam impregnation. Experiments were performed to investigate the effects of the slurry solid content, impregnation times, and sintering temperature on the sample properties. The best green bodies were obtained at a slurry solid content of ∼70 wt%, and the sample subjected to two impregnation times effectively filled the defects. The sintering temperature was found to affect the phase composition, microstructure, sintering behavior, mechanical properties, and oxidation resistance of β-SiAlON ceramic foams. Granular β-SiAlON started to develop at 1550 °C and was almost completely developed at 1600 °C. After sintering at 1650 °C, the porosity remained as high as 85.93% and the compressive strength reached 1.57 MPa. In a nonisothermal oxidation experiment, the maximum oxidation weight gain rate was 14.1% and the sample strength still reached 1.54 MPa at 1600 °C. A high sintering temperature promoted the development of material phases and liquefaction of grains, while the oxidized surface generated an amorphous layer with a high melting point, effectively preventing oxygen diffusion. Therefore, β-SiAlON can be employed to develop CFFs with high strength and excellent oxidation resistance.

Fabrication of Zirconia Ceramic Dental Crowns by Digital Light Processing: Effects of the Process on Physical Properties and Microstructure.

Highly dense zirconia ceramic dental crowns were successfully fabricated by a digital light processing (DLP) additive manufacturing technique. The effects of slurry solid content and exposure density on printing accuracy, curing depth, shrinkage rate, and relative density were evaluated. For the slurry with a solid content of 80 wt%, the curing depth achieved 40 μm with minimal overgrowth under an exposure intensity of 16.5 mW/cm2. Solid content and sintering temperature had remarkable effects on physical properties and microstructure. Higher solid content resulted in better structural integrity, higher relative density, and denser microstructure. Compressive strength, Vickers hardness, fracture toughness, and wear resistance significantly increase with lifting solid content, reaching values of 677 MPa, 12.62 GPa, 6.3 MPa·m1/2, and 1.5 mg/min, respectively, for 1500°C sintered zirconia dental crowns printed from a slurry with 80 wt% solid content. DLP is deemed a promising technology for the fabrication of zirconia ceramic dental crowns for tooth repair.

The Development of Empirical Correlations to Understand the Frictional Behavior of Aqueous Biomass Slurry Flows in Vertical Pipes

Highlights The frictional pressure drop correlation of agricultural residue-water slurry flows in vertical pipes is developed. Multiple linear regression with the backward elimination method was used in RStudio to obtain the optimal model. Some regression coefficients differ for different types of biomass feedstocks. The predicted pressure drops agree well with the experimental data within a 95% CI. Empirical models for the onset velocity of drag reduction of different particle sizes of biomass are proposed. Abstract. Large-scale biofuel production at levels equivalent to conventional oil refineries using long-distance pipeline hydro-transport of biomass can be a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels when it comes to economics and traffic congestion associated with the overland transportation of biomass. The transport of aqueous slurries of several saturated mass concentrations (5%-40%) and four particle sizes (from <3.2-19.2 mm) of two types of agricultural residue biomass (ARB) feedstock (corn stover and wheat straw) was studied through a vertical test section of a 29 m long, 50 mm diameter closed circuit pipeline facility, and frictional pressure drops were recorded at different flow rates (0.5-4.3 m s-1). A framework was developed in RStudio (4.0.5) to analyze the experimentally obtained frictional pressure drops of biomass slurries through a multiple linear regression approach using a backward elimination method and Akaike information criterion. An empirical model was proposed to predict slurry frictional pressure drop in terms of slurry velocity, slurry solid mass concentration, particle aspect ratio, and feedstock type. The model satisfactorily predicted the frictional pressure drops of both feedstocks of biomass-water slurry flows through pipes within a 95% confidence interval. The correlations introduced for onset velocities of drag reduction in terms of slurry solid mass concentrations seemed helpful to interpret the transition points of the corresponding slurries in vertical upward flows through pipes. The empirical correlation developed in this research could help select biomass slurry pumps and pipe dimensions when designing a typical long distance pipeline network for biofuel production at the commercial level. Keywords: Agricultural biomass wastes, Frictional loss prediction, Numerical model, Onset velocity correlation, Regression coefficients, Upward pipe flow.

The effect of particle size and concentration on the frictional behavior of vertical upward flows of wheat straw aqueous slurries

The pipeline hydro-transport of agricultural residue biomass could enhance the capacity of bio-based energy facilities for large-scale bio-fuel production. The vertical transport of chopped wheat straw aqueous slurries in upward flows was examined through a 29 m long, 50 mm diameter closed-circuit pipeline facility at laboratory scale. The frictional pressure drops of straw slurries for saturated concentrations of 5–40 % (mass) were measured and analyzed as a function of particle size, slurry solid concentration, and slurry flow rate. The pressure drops of straw slurries were below those of water, and the difference increased with an increase in solid concentrations exhibiting drag-reducing features; however, this effect seemed to be completely dominated by the particle size. For the ranges of flow velocities (0.5–4.0 m s−1) and particle sizes (6.4 mm, 3.2 mm, and<3.2 mm) considered, the 6.4 mm particle size straw slurries demonstrated the highest drag reduction (19.7 %) at a 20 % (mass) concentration and a slurry velocity of 1.5 m s−1. For the smallest particle size straw slurries (<3.2 mm), the drag reduction was almost negligible. The indirect measurements of in situ concentration through the obtained delivered concentrations showed all the straw slurries to be homogenous with the maximum difference of 10 % between delivered and prepared concentrations. The wheat straw aqueous slurries in vertical upward flows displayed different characteristics than those in horizontal flows at similar flow conditions, particularly at low velocities. This research could help design and operate a long-distance integrated pipeline network for large-scale bio-fuel production.

Digital light processing of β-tricalcium phosphate bioceramic scaffolds with controllable porous structures for patient specific craniomaxillofacial bone reconstruction

β-TCP scaffolds with four representative pore configurations are prepared for using digital light processing (DLP)-based additive manufacturing. The process optimization, pore design, mechanical properties, and microstructure of the fabricated scaffolds are investigated. The optimal slurry solid content, exposure intensity, slice thickness, and exposure time were found to be 60 wt%, 10 mW/cm2, 25 μm, and 4 s, respectively. The DLP-formed β-TCP bone scaffolds showed 3D interconnected and multilevel pores, achieving porosities of 49%–89% and strut diameters of 200–1000 μm. The primary pore size exceeded 100 μm, and the secondary pore size was less than 10 μm. The porosity significantly affected the mechanical properties of the scaffolds, whereas the pore configuration exerted a minor influence. The prepared scaffolds with a pore configuration of triply periodic minimal surface behaved the best mechanical properties. The compressive strength and elastic modulus of the scaffolds reached 20–30 MPa and 2–4 GPa, respectively. Based on patient’s medical imaging data, large-volume β-TCP scaffolds (∽70 × 40 × 15 mm and 40 × 40 × 4 mm, after sintering) with controlled biomimicking porous structures and anatomical shapes were successfully designed and fabricated by DLP for repair of massively damaged mandible and cranial defects.

Model-Based Optimization of CMP Process Parameters for Uniform Material Removal Selectivity in Cu/Barrier Planarization

Chemical mechanical planarization is a process of achieving planar surfaces in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The planarization of a surface is achieved by material removal from the wafer surface. The material removal depends on material properties and the process input parameters. Several studies have investigated the role of slurry chemistry to achieve a certain material removal selectivity of different materials on a patterned wafer. Here we propose a methodology of achieving planar patterned surface of Cu/Mn/MnN system using a model-based optimization for mechanical process parameters. The parameters include applied force, slurry solid concentration, and abrasive particle size. The methodology has been developed via optimization using a genetic algorithm. The proposed methodology suggests that a lower downforce is the key parameter to achieve the desired material removal selectivity and planarity. The first part of the study suggests a low material removal rate (MRR) to achieve a lower standard deviation in MRR. The second part investigates the standard deviation in the thickness removed in the average time needed to remove a known thickness of the materials under consideration. It has been found that the application of lower downforce can also minimize the standard deviation in the thickness removed and a planar patterned surface can be achieved.

Nano-agglomerated powder and thermal shock cycling property of 8YSZ nano-structured thermal barrier coating

Based on the excellent thermodynamic and service performances of nano-structured coatings, 8YSZ nano-agglomerated spraying powder and its nano-structured thermal barrier coating (TBC) were successfully prepared by the integrated application of nanotechnology and atmospheric plasma spraying. The influences of spraying granulation process (solid content of slurry and inlet air temperature) on the spraying powder characteristics and the water quenching-thermal shock cycling behavior at 1050 °C of 8YSZ nano-structured TBC were investigated, respectively. The results showed that the nano-agglomerated powders exhibit apple-like, hollow spheroids with relatively uniform particle size when the spraying granulation process involved a 40% solid content of slurry, a 240 °C inlet air temperature, and a 35 Hz atomizer rotation frequency. The fluidity and apparent density were 57.53 s/50 g and 1.39 g/cm3, respectively. The nano-agglomerated 8YSZ spraying powders met the requirements of plasma-spraying technology. The plasma-sprayed 8YSZ nano-structured coating was composed of a single t-ZrO2 phase, had a layered structure and a certain amount of nanostructures, and presented a special “bimodal microstructure”. The average porosity of the coating was 7.49%. 8YSZ nano-structured TBC failed layer-by-layer after water quenching-thermal shock 264 cycles at 1050 °C. The main reasons for the failure of 8YSZ nano-structured TBC were the large thermal stress and cracks in the substrate caused by the water quench-thermal shock cycle, and the mismatch of thermal expansion between the metal bond coat and the ceramic coat.

The ARTISTIC Online Calculator: Exploring the Impact of Lithium‐Ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing Parameters Interactively Through Your Browser

AbstractThis article presents the ARTISTIC online calculator, a web platform that enables both experimental and computational researchers to access the ARTISTIC project three‐dimensional (3D) manufacturing models. This platform is free of charge and utilizes a user‐friendly interface to guide users among the different manufacturing steps and their parameters. The current version of the online calculator accounts for the slurry phase, its drying, and electrode calendering; it gives access to a variety of relevant parameters, as slurry solid content, electrode formulation, particle size distribution, and drying/calendering conditions. To utilize this platform, the user should simply register freely to the ARTISTIC computational portal, select the manufacturing parameters of interest, and launch the simulations through the user‐friendly interface. As soon as the simulation ends, the user who launched it receives an email with the links to visualize and recover the resulting electrode/slurry microstructure. Furthermore, all the results obtained through this platform are shared among all the users, i. e., everyone can visualize and recover all the microstructures available. Therefore, this platform also constitutes an open‐access database linking manufacturing conditions and simulated electrode microstructures. In addition, these microstructures can be embedded straightforwardly in electrochemical models. In brief, we hope that the battery community will see this online platform as a tool to explore the vast manufacturing parameter space accessible through our 3D models and to establish a deeper knowledge of the manufacturing‐microstructure‐electrochemistry relationships in a collaborative and fully transparent way.

Experimental characterization of chalcopyrite ball mill grinding processes in batch and continuous flow processing modes to reduce energy consumption

A mineralogy, rheology, and energy consumption-based experimental characterization of chalcopyrite ball mill grinding processes, in both batch and continuous flow processing modes, is carried out in this work. Accordingly, chalcopyrite ore samples are initially characterized in terms of mineralogical composition, particle size distribution, grindability characteristics, and work index. Next, a rheological characterization of actual and lab-created chalcopyrite mineral-slurries is performed. Finally, an energy consumption-based characterization of several chalcopyrite ball mill grinding processes is performed. The results from the initial mineralogical characterization indicate ore samples featuring 5% chalcopyrite. These results also highlight that 80% of the particles present in the chalcopyrite head ore have a diameter smaller than 1386 μm. In addition, they indicate that the Bond ball mill work index is equal to 15.3 kWh/ton, which corresponds to a mineral with the presence of chalcopyrite. The rheological characterization related results indicate that all actual and lab-created mineral-slurries exhibit a shear thinning rheological behavior. These results also show that, because of the higher number of particle interactions, the slurries’ apparent viscosity increases with the increase in their solids content. Finally, the energy consumption-based characterization results emphasize that energy consumption is more significantly affected by mill speed than by slurry solids content. Indeed, for the same percentage of mass passing through a 200 mesh, it is found that the specific grinding energy decreases with both the increase in slurry solids concentration and the decrease in mill speed. The results obtained in this work are consistent with findings made in previous studies.

Anchovy powder enrichment in brown rice-based instant cereal: a process optimization study using Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

There is a need for expanding the utilization of small fish as they constitute an undervalued and important source of protein and micronutrients in many developing countries suffering from micronutrient deficiencies. One way to increase consumption and health benefits is to add nutrient‐rich fish meal into staple food ingredients. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the processing of an instant rice‐based cereal enriched with anchovy powder. The Box‐Behnken design was used to study the effect of principal processing variables (drying temperature, drum rotation speed, and slurry solids concentration) on product water activity, color, bulk density, and water solubility index. Viscosity, consistency, and cohesiveness of the reconstitute cereal were also evaluated. Empirical models were developed to describe the relationship between independent and dependent variables and showed regression coefficients (R 2) ranging between 71% and 98%. Higher drying temperatures resulted in reduced water activity, darker product color, and lower consistency. While drum speed influenced (p < .05) product color and water‐binding capacity, bulk density, and consistency of the reconstituted product was associated with slurry solids concentration. Optimal processing conditions obtained from the study were temperature of 130°C, drum speed of 9.3 rpm, and solids concentration of 20.5%. These conditions would be useful in the production of brown rice‐based instant cereal enriched with anchovy powder with desired quality properties.

Characterization of Amylose Lipid Complexes and Their Effect on the Dry Grind Ethanol Process

AbstractAmylose lipid complexes (AMLs) are likely to form during liquefaction of ground corn in the dry grind process. AML will form under high temperature (≥ 85 °C) and excess water conditions, due to interaction of gelatinized starch with corn lipids. AMLs are resistant to α‐amylase action, resulting in a decrease in starch available for enzymatic hydrolysis. This affects sugar available for fermentation and the final ethanol yield. In this study, the effects of liquefaction temperature, corn particle size, slurry solids content, and different commercial α‐amylases on AML formation are evaluated.AML content in post liquefaction solids (liquefact) is found to decrease from 3.46 to 1.00% as corn grind size is increased from 0.5 to 2.5 mm. Across all slurry solids contents tested (25, 32, and 34%), the mean difference in AML content for all three solids contents is 0.61% when liquefaction temperature is increased to 105 from 85 °C. At 85 °C, liquefact from all three α‐amylases used, had similar AML content. However, when liquefaction temperature is increased to 105 °C, enzyme AA2 had lower AML production compared to other amylases.Overall, increasing liquefaction temperature to above 100 °C had the most predominant effect on reducing AML formation. Optimizing liquefaction parameters can help reduce AML formation and may improve profitability of the dry grind ethanol process.