Small Density Differences Research Articles

Structure rearrangement during rennet coagulation of milk modifies curd density

Milk curds are a semisolid structure resulting from the enzymatic coagulation of milk, consisting mainly of paracasein micelles, fat globules, and whey. This gel undergoes a series of changes in its composition and structure during setting and curing, affecting curd density. The present study investigated the composition and density of inoculated and noninoculated milk curds during a 60-min curing period conducted at 30, 35, and 40°C. The purpose of the study was to determine the density changes occurring in the protein phase of curds during curing under different conditions of temperature and pH to understand the nature of the structural changes happening in the paracasein matrix. Noninoculated curd density values oscillated between 1.0247 and 1.0294 g/cm3 after 60 min of curing, whereas inoculated treatments showed values between 1.0222 and 1.0321 g/cm3. This small difference in density between the studied samples was surprising because the whey content of samples differed greatly. Density of the protein phase reached values of 1.8002 and 1.4388 g/cm3 for noninoculated and inoculated curds, respectively, after 60 min of curing. Two independent mechanisms involved in the development of the protein-based structure of curds were identified upon comparison of the development of protein phase density in inoculated and noninoculated curds. Although the larger increase in protein phase density observed in noninoculated curds was probably due to the concurrent action of calcium-mediated electrostatic bonds and temperature-dependent hydrophobic bonds, inoculated curds showed a lower protein phase density caused by calcium solubilization and by a decrease in the net charge of paracasein micelles induced by pH reduction.

"Study on Pretreatment of Dissolved Pollutants in Heavy Oil Wastewater"

Heavy oil wastewater is characterized by small oil-water density difference, serious emulsification, poor biodegradability, high salinity, a high-water temperature, and high viscosity, making the handling of heavy oil wastewater quite difficult. Based on the investigation of the on-site water quality and original treatment of an oilfield, the main approaches to heavy oil wastewater treatment have difficulty in meeting the required standards.

Rivalry of diffusion, external field and gravity in micro-convection of magnetic colloids

Magnetic fields and magnetic materials have promising microfluidic applications. For example, magnetic micro-convection can enhance mixing considerably. However, previous studies have not explained increased effective diffusion during this phenomenon. Here we show that enhanced interface smearing comes from a gravity induced convective motion within a thin microfluidic channel, caused by a small density difference between miscible magnetic and non-magnetic fluids. This motion resembles diffusive behavior and can be described with an effective diffusion coefficient. We explain this with a theoretical model, based on a dimensionless gravitational Rayleigh number, and verify it by numerical simulations and experiments with different cell thicknesses. Results indicate the applicability and limitations for microfluidic applications of other colloidal systems. Residual magnetic micro-convection follows earlier predictions.

What should the density of amorphous solids be?

A survey of published literature reveals a difference in the density of amorphous and crystalline solids (organic and inorganic) on the order of 10%-15%, whereas for metallic alloys, it is found to be typically less than 5%. Standard geometric models of atomic packing can account for the polymeric and inorganic glasses without requiring changes in interatomic separations (bond lengths). By contrast, the relatively small difference in density between crystalline and glassy metals (and metallic alloys) implies variations in interatomic separations due to merging orbitals giving rise to reduced atomic volumes. To test this hypothesis, quantum density functional theory computations were carried out on ordered and irregular clusters of aluminum. The results point to decreasing interatomic distances with decreasing coordination, from which one can deduce that the geometrical method of random hard sphere packing significantly underestimates the densities of amorphous metallic alloys.

Distribution of growth directions in meadows of clonal plants.

Clonal growth plants are abundant in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Some marine species are particularly important since they provide essential ecosystem services in the shores of all continents except Antarctica. For the appropriate modelization of clonal growth the discretization of the growth direction angle has to be carefully treated to correctly describe the dynamics of the meadow. Specifically, determining the minimum number of growth directions is important to maximize the efficiency of numerical simulations. We show that the presence of neutral modes in the growth direction angle tends to make the distribution of the growth directions uniform in the presence of noise, allowing us to choose the minimal number of discrete angles compatible with the branching. We also show that the formation of spatial patterns induces small differences in the population density within these different growth directions.

Evaluation of selected properties of oriented strand boards made from fast growing wood species

Three fast-growing wood species in Romania, namely birch, willow, and poplar, were considered in this work. These species may have potential to replace softwoods or mixtures of wood species frequently used in the production of oriented strand boards (OSB). This study evaluated some physico-mechanical properties of these wood species that influence the performance of OSB boards made using 100% of strands from each individual species. Wood strands were cut, dried, screened, and sorted in order to form the core and surface layers of OSB boards. They were blended with a polymeric diphenyl methane diisocyanate adhesive (pMDI) and compressed with the help of a hydraulic press. The mechanical tests were performed under standard laboratory conditions. The obtained OSB boards made of each of the wood species met the EN standard of minimum requirements for OSB/2 properties, except the MOE of poplar-OSB, while its MOR was higher than that obtained for OSB made of birch even for small differences in board density. The birch-OSB presented superior elastic properties. Results of this experimental work can have industrial applications for an efficient use of low-grade raw material.

Density difference in pressure‐filtrated wet cakes produced from spontaneous gelling slurries

AbstractPressure filtration is a key process in ceramic forming; however, the influences of density difference in different parts of a pressure‐filtrated wet cake on subsequent drying and sintering have not yet been explored. In the present work, alumina slurries dispersed by copolymers of isobutylene and maleic anhydride (PIBM) and ammonium salt of polyacrylic acid (PAANH4) were pressure filtrated to examine the impacts of density difference in the as‐prepared wet cakes. In comparison to the wet cake produced from PAANH4, the wet cake with PIBM had much higher bulk density and smaller density difference between its upper and bottom parts (height of ~23 mm). Furthermore, in order to reveal the differences between these two wet cakes, the nature of agglomerates in their slurries was investigated. The slurry with PIBM contained agglomerates with a wider size distribution, bigger average size, and higher sphericity, producing a wet cake with a higher particle packing density and more homogeneous packing structure after pressure filtration. Hence, almost no deformation occurred in a large wet cake (280 mm × 130 mm × 20 mm) with PIBM, whereas that with PAANH4 experienced a severe deformation after sintering.

Internal Wave Breathers in the Slightly Stratified Fluid

The theory of long nonlinear oscillating wave packets (breathers) in a stratified fluid with a small density difference in a gravitational field is developed. The theory is based on the Gardner equation and its modifications, which are fully integrable with modern methods of the nonlinear wave theory. Examples of the breather generation are given and the conditions for their stability are discussed.

Contrast enhancement for visualizing neuronal cytoarchitecture by propagation-based x-ray phase-contrast tomography

Knowledge of the three-dimensional (3d) neuronal cytoarchitecture is an important factor in order to understand the connection between tissue structure and function or to visualize pathological changes in neurodegenerative diseases or tumor development. The gold standard in neuropathology is histology, a technique which provides insights into the cellular organization based on sectioning of the sample. Conventional histology, however, misses the complete 3d information as only individual two-dimensional slices through the object are available. In this work, we use propagation-based phase-contrast x-ray tomography to perform 3d virtual histology on cerebellar tissue from mice. This technique enables us to non-invasively visualize the entire 3d density distribution of the examined samples at isotropic (sub-)cellular resolution. One central challenge, however, of the technique is the fact that contrast for important structural features can be easily lost due to small electron density differences, notably between the cells and surrounding tissue. Here, we evaluate the influence of different embedding media, which are intermediate steps in sample preparation for classical histology, on contrast formation and examine the applicability of the different sample preparations both at a synchrotron-based holotomography setup as well as a laboratory source.

A dam break driven by a moving source: a simple model for a powder snow avalanche

We study the two-dimensional, irrotational flow of an inviscid, incompressible fluid injected from a line source moving at constant speed along a horizontal boundary, into a second, immiscible, inviscid fluid of lower density. A semi-infinite, horizontal layer sustained by the moving source has previously been studied as a simple model for a powder snow avalanche, an example of an eruption current, Carroll et al. (Phys. Fluids, vol. 24, 2012, 066603). We show that with fluids of unequal densities, in a frame of reference moving with the source, no steady solution exists, and formulate an initial/boundary value problem that allows us to study the evolution of the flow. After considering the limit of small density difference, we study the fully nonlinear initial/boundary value problem and find that the flow at the head of the layer is effectively a dam break for the initial conditions that we have used. We study the dynamics of this in detail for small times using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Finally, we solve the fully nonlinear free boundary problem numerically using an adaptive vortex blob method, after regularising the flow by modifying the initial interface to include a thin layer of the denser fluid that extends to infinity ahead of the source. We find that the disturbance of the interface in the linear theory develops into a dispersive shock in the fully nonlinear initial/boundary value problem, which then overturns. For sufficiently large Richardson number, overturning can also occur at the head of the layer.

Thermal and Catalytic Pyrolysis of Dodecanoic Acid on SAPO-5 and Al-MCM-41 Catalysts

In this study, dodecanoic acid was decomposed during fast pyrolysis experiments either thermally or in the presence of SAPO-5 and Al-MCM-41catalysts. The catalysts were synthesized by a hydrothermal route and subsequently characterized by XRD, TPD-NH3, and TGA, and dodecanoic acid was characterized by TGA and DSC. Analysis of the post-pyrolysis products was performed online by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results from pyrolysis at 650 °C indicated that the nature of the catalysts strongly influences the composition of the products. Linear alkenes were standard products for all pyrolysis experiments, but with Al-MCM-41, various alkene isomers with a linear and cyclic structure formed, as well as saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. As a whole, Al-MCM-41 led to a much higher dodecanoic acid conversion and higher deoxygenation than SAPO-5. As these catalysts present small differences in strong acid site density, the difference in the global conversion of dodecanoic acid could be attributed to textural characteristics such as pore volume and surface area. In this case, the textural properties of the SAPO-5 are much lower when compared to Al-MCM-41 and, due to a lower accessibility of the reactant molecule to the acidic sites of SAPO-5, partially blocked for fatty acid molecules by the considerable amount of amorphous material, as detected by XRD.

Medical and Industrial Applications of X-ray Phase-contrast Imaging Using Synchrotron Radiation

BL-14 at the Photon Factory, Japan is a characteristic synchrotron radiation beamline where one can use a vertically polarized synchrotron radiation beam from a superconducting vertical wiggler with a field strength of 5 Tesla. One of the experimental stations, BL-14C, is dedicated to x-ray imaging such as x-ray phase-contrast CT using a large x-ray interferometer, x-ray diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), DEI-CT and x-ray dark field imaging (DFI). The phase-contrast CT using an x-ray interferometer is sufficiently sensitive to evaluate small density differences in soft tissues and soft materials. Recent results on medical and industrial applications of phase-contrast CT using the large x-ray interferometer are reported by five papers in this special issue.

Shock formation in two-layer equal-density viscous gravity currents

The flow of a viscous gravity current over a lubricating layer of fluid is modelled using lubrication theory. We study the case of an axisymmetric current with constant influx which allows for a similarity solution, which depends on three parameters: a non-dimensional influx rate ${\mathcal{Q}}$; a viscosity ratio $m$ between the lower and upper layer fluid; and a relative density difference $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}$. The limit of equal densities $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}=0$ is singular, as the interfacial evolution equation changes nature from parabolic to hyperbolic. Theoretical analysis of this limit reveals that a discontinuity, or shock, in the interfacial height forms above a critical viscosity ratio $m_{crit}=3/2$, i.e. for a sufficiently less viscous upper-layer fluid. The physical mechanism for shock formation is described, which is based on advective steepening of the interface between the two fluids and relies on the lack of a contribution to the pressure gradient from the interfacial slope for equal-density fluids. In the limit of small but non-zero density differences, local travelling-wave solutions are found which regularise the singular structure of a potential shock and lead to a constraint on the possible shock heights in the form of an Oleinik entropy condition. Calculation of a simplified time-dependent system reveals the appropriate boundary conditions for the late-time similarity solution, which includes a shock at the nose of the current for $m>3/2$. The numerically calculated similarity solutions compare well to experimental measurements with respect to the predictions of self-similarity, the radial extent and the self-similar top-surface shapes of the current.

Separation studies of concrete and brick from construction and demolition waste

The quality of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) is strictly related to the content of porous and low strength phases and is specifically related to the high content of brick particles, despite representing approximately 50 wt.% of the total recycled aggregates. This paper focus on air jigging separation studies for removing brick particles from recycled construction and demolition waste aggregates. The operational parameters were achieved by studying the aggregate movement trajectories based on the small specific density differences of 2.52 g/cm3 and 1.97 g/cm3. Separation tests were conducted with a binary mixture of concrete and brick particles ranging from 5 to 10 mm for three operational parameters. The attained results confirmed that the brick fraction increases the water absorption and compromises the consistency and strength of the recycled aggregates. The proposed air jigging separation method was effective at reducing brick particle content and producing significant recycled concrete aggregates with a purity of 95 wt.%, paving the way for greater use of recycled aggregates in high grade applications, such as concrete and pavement layers.

Curvilinear Coordinate System for Mathematical Analysis of Inclined Buoyant Jets Using the Integral Method

The development of a local system of orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, which is appropriate to monitor the flow of an inclined buoyant jet with reference to the basic Cartesian coordinate system is presented. Such a system is necessary for the correct application of the integral method, since the well-known Gaussian profiles should be integrated on the cross-sectional area of inclined buoyant jet, where they are valid. This is the major advantage of the present work compared to all other integral methods using Cartesian coordinate systems. Consequently, the flow and mixing governing partial differential equations (PDE), i.e., continuity, momentum, buoyancy, and/or tracer conservation, are written in the local orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system and, then, the Reynolds substitution regarding mean and fluctuating components of all dependent variables is applied. After averaging with respect to time, the mean flow PDEs are taken, omitting second-order terms, as the dynamic pressure and molecular viscosity, compared to the mean flow and mixing contributions of turbulent terms. The latter are introduced through empirical coefficients. The Boussinesq’s approximation regarding small density differences is taken into consideration. The system of PDEs is closed by assuming known spreading coefficients along with Gaussian similarity profiles. The methodology is applied in the inclined two-dimensional buoyant jet; thus, PDEs are integrated on the jet cross-sectional area resulting in ordinary differential equations (ODE), which are appropriate to be solved by applying the 4th order Runge-Kutta algorithm coded in either FORTRAN or EXCEL. The numerical solution of ODEs, concerning trajectory of the inclined two-dimensional buoyant jet, as well as longitudinal variations of the mean axial velocity, mean concentration, minimum dilution, and entrainment velocity or entrainment coefficient, occurs quickly, saving computer memory and effort. The satisfactory agreement of results with experimental data available in the literature empowers the usefulness of the proposed methodology in inclined buoyant jets.

Tunable rotating-mode density measurement using magnetic levitation

In this letter, a density measurement method by magnetic levitation using the rotation mechanism is presented. By rotating the entire magnetic levitation device that consists of four identical magnets, the horizontal centrifugal force and gravity can be balanced by the magnetic forces in the x-direction and the z-direction, respectively. The controllable magnified centripetal acceleration is investigated as a means to improve the measurement sensitivity without destabilization. Theoretical and experimental results show that the density measurement method can be flexible in characterizing small differences in density by tuning the eccentric distance or rotating speed. The rotating-mode density measurement method using magnetic levitation has prospects of providing an operationally simple way in separations and quality control of objects with arbitrary shapes in materials science and industrial fields.

Shallow water modeling of rolling pad instability in liquid metal batteries

Magnetohydrodynamically induced interface instability in liquid metal batteries is analyzed. The batteries are represented by a simplified system in the form of a rectangular cell, in which strong vertical electric current flows through three horizontal layers: the layer of a heavy metal at the bottom, the layer of a light metal at the top, and the layer of electrolyte in the middle. A new two-dimensional nonlinear model based on the conservative shallow water approximation is derived and utilized in a numerical study. It is found that in the case of small density difference between the electrolyte and one of the metals, the instability closely resembles the rolling pad instability observed earlier in the aluminum reduction cells. When the two electrolyte-metal density differences are comparable, the dynamics of unstable systems is more complex and characterized by interaction between two nearly symmetric or antisymmetric interfacial waves.

Packing of sedimenting equiaxed dendrites.

The packing of free-floating crystal grains during solidification has a strong impact on the phase-change process as well as on the structure and the defects in the solidified material. The packing fraction is affected by the particular dendritic morphology of the grains and by their low inertia resulting from the small density difference between solid and liquid. Understanding the grain packing phenomenon during metal alloy solidification is not experimentally possible since packing is coupled to many other phenomena. We therefore investigate the packing of equiaxed dendrites on a model system, consisting of fixed-shape nonconvex model particles sedimenting in conditions hydrodynamically similar to those encountered in solidifying metals. We perform numerical simulations by a discrete-element model and experiments with transparent liquids in a sedimentation column. The combination of experiments and simulations enables us to determine the packing fraction as a function of (i) the grain morphology, expressed by a shape parameter, and (ii) the hydrodynamic conditions, expressed by the particle Stokes number.

Visualization research on injection characteristics of high-pressure gas jets for natural gas engine

High-pressure gas injection processes with various gas nozzle structures under different nozzle pressure ratio (NPR) were investigated experimentally. Schlieren imaging method was used to investigate macroscopic structure of gas jets. Results showed that increasing the gas injection pressure is unable to improve the jet tip penetration obviously. It is because chocking phenomenon limited gas jet velocity at nozzle exit under high gas injection pressure. The empirical formula for high-pressure gas jet tip penetration was investigated based on the experimental data under various NPRs and orifice diameters. It is found that the experimental data are in good agreement with the empirical formula proposed by Hamzehloo and Aleiferis. The increase of gas injection pressure and orifice diameter could not directly improve the air entrainment effect, nor could it increase the average equivalent ratio of gas jet due to the small gas jet kinetic energy and small density difference between gas jet and the surrounding ambient gas.

An interfacial Gerstner-type trapped wave

Coastally trapped rotational interfacial waves are studied theoretically by using a Lagrangian formulation of fluid motion in a rotating ocean. The waves propagate along the interface between two immiscible inviscid incompressible fluid layers of finite depths and different densities, and are trapped at a straight wall due to the Coriolis force. For layers of finite depth, solutions are sought as series expansions after a small parameter. Comparison is made with the irrotational interfacial Kelvin wave. Both types of waves are identical to first order, having zero vorticity. The second order solution yields a relation between the vorticity and the velocity shear in the wave motion. Requiring that the mean motion in both layers is irrotational, then follows the well-known Stokes drift for interfacial Kelvin waves. On the other hand, if the mean forward drift is identically zero, we obtain the second order vorticity in the Gerstner-type wave. The solutions in both layers for the Gerstner-type interfacial wave are given analytically to second order. It is shown that small density differences and thin upper layers both act to yield a shape of the material interfacial with broader crests and sharper troughs. These effects also tend to make the particle trajectories at the interface in both layers become distorted ellipses which are flatter on the upper side. It is concluded that the effect of air excludes the possibility of observing the exact Gerstner wave in deep water.