Wet Core Research Articles

Modeling the evaporation and drying of two-component slurry droplets

In this paper, we present a mathematical model and numerical simulation for the evaporation and drying of a liquid droplet containing suspended solids, relevant to processes such as spray drying and spray pyrolysis in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The model comprises three stages: first is the evaporation of the liquid droplet consisting of solid particles, followed by the second stage starting with the formation of a porous crust around a wet-core region and, finally, the third stage with sensible heating of the dry particle. Using a finite difference method with a moving grid, we account for the moving interface between the crust and wet core. Our model incorporates spatial temperature variations and is validated against experimental data on colloidal silica droplet drying, showing good agreement. We examine model assumptions and analyze the impact of drying conditions on drying rate and final particle morphology. Along with the temperature and velocity of the drying gas, we also find that the shape of suspended solid particles inside the droplet and assuming continuum flow of vapor through the crust influence drying quality. Finally, we develop a regime map to predict whether the final particle will be solid or hollow based on operating conditions.

The effect of spray drying parameters on drying of magnesium silicate hydroxide microspheres

Magnesium hydroxide silicate (MSH), as an antiwear additive for lubricating oil, effectively solves the problem that conventional additives contain chlorine, phosphorus and sulfur, which are harmful to environment. However, it is ineffective to prepare MSH powder by traditional drying combined with mechanical ball milling. So the purpose of this study is to prepare smooth MSH microspheres with controllable particle size and moisture content by adjusting spray drying parameters based on hydrothermal synthetic MSH suspension. Results showed that the particle size of MSH microsphere was reduced from 5.5 ± 2.9 μm to 2.78 ± 1.37 μm, and the moisture content was reduced from 7.3% to 4.43% by decreasing solid-liquid ratios and rotating speed of peristaltic pump, or raising inlet temperature of hot air, flow rate of compressed gas and inlet air. In addition, due to the surface energy difference at the interface between liquid-gas and solid-gas during the drying process, nano flaky MSH continuously moved to the center of the droplet, and the capillary force generated by gaps between MSH nanosheets discharges the moisture in the wet core, so that the MSH nanosheets gather and finally form dense and smooth MSH microspheres.

MODELLING SPILLWAY FOR FLOOD CONTROL OPTIMIZATION IN EMBANKMENT DRY DAM

Purpose: The primary purposes of this present study are to show and compare 3 (three) different types of spillways, namely normal, differential, and labyrinth, by means of passing exceptional flood events with acceptable safety and margin for the dam and spillway while maintaining a hydraulic safety point of view. Theoretical reference: Ciawi dry dam is a homogenous type of dam with an inclined wet core built in the Ciliwung River, Jakarta, Indonesia. Its purpose is to retain 50 years of floods and cut the peak of floods as part of the Jakarta flood control system. It has been functioning since the year 2022 with another dry dam in the same River basin called the Sukamahi dry dam. Method: The flood control capacity of the dry dam with a spillway and gateless bottom outlets designed at the riverbed level is investigated with an analytical approach using a theoretical formula. Numerous design discharges were verified and compared for specific scenarios engaging the operation of bottom outlets reviewed based on flood control and the safety of the dam. In addition, a spillways type comparison is made for a scenario with one gate opening and one gate closing of the bottom outlet using PMF design discharge to confirm the satisfaction of dry dam outlet capacity. Result and Conclusion: The best design choice that can be recommended for the worst scenario is the Labyrinth spillway with a width of 155m and an angle of 18o while the spillway span width is kept to the same existing normal spillway width. This proposed design improvement option with labyrinth spillway for the PMF flood discharge still has a freeboard of 1.17 m allowance to the crest of the dam in the closed gate condition, 1.88 m of freeboard in 1 gate opened condition, and 2.55 m of freeboard while both gates are opened. Implication of research: This present study evaluates the performance of a dry dam design outlet in flood control by assessing the reservoir capacity to compare the existing built normal spillway with the other types of spillways, namely differential and labyrinth. It will recommend an alternative type of spillway for the Ciawi dry dam or another dam to face global climate change and a future challenge. Originality/value: The comprehensive investigation of the limitations and benefits of comparing 3 different types of spillways: normal, differential and labyrinth, with a combination scenario of 2 gates opening and closing in the embankment type of dry dam. This proposed type of spillway could be used for upgrading works and even for a new dam.

A porous-crust drying model for a single dairy droplet

The development of a novel numerical model for droplet drying is the topic of this paper. The three main stages of droplet drying are distinguished, viz. unhindered evaporation of a ’wet’ particle (the droplet), restricted drying at a falling rate due to the formation of a crust around a wet core, and inert heating of the dry porous particle. Each stage is mathematically detailed to replicate all phenomena occurring throughout the drying process. The focus, however, is on the falling rate drying regime which is described in terms of Stefan diffusion of water vapour through the pores of a thickening crust. To this end, the model needs the material properties. This permits the droplet characteristics to be determined by composition rather than through single-droplet drying experiments. Finally, the model is validated against five of such experiments from literature using skim milk. Good agreement is found at each comparative case for the particle mass and temperature throughout the various drying regimes providing that for good reasons in three cases a lower drying air temperature is applied than reported for the experiments. The model is capable of predicting the entire drying process at low computational cost and without requiring empirical input.

Intensification of spray drying granulation process by gas absorption accompanied by chemical dissociation reactions

• Model for slurry droplet drying in gas mixture containing soluble gas is developed. • Filtration of a vapor–gas mixture inside a porous shell is described by Darcy's law. • Presence of active gas enhances evaporation rate during the entire drying process. • Suggested alternative drying method can be used as part of a novel technology. In the present study, we developed a transient model for the drying of a single slurry droplet moving in a multicomponent gaseous mixture containing a soluble gas. The comprehensive model accounts for the effects of the soluble gas absorption/desorption, filtration, and compressibility of the gas–vapor mixture inside the porous crust on the intensity of the drying of the slurry droplet. The model is based on an application of the theory of heat and mass transfer during slurry droplet evaporation, in conjunction with a model for gas absorption/desorption as accompanied by a chemical dissociation reaction. It is shown that the presence of the active gas increases the evaporation rate during the entire drying process. As shown by numerical calculations, in a gas mixture containing air and ammonia with an ammonia mass fraction of 0.2, at a temperature of 293 K and humidity of 50%, the drying time of silica-aqueous slurry droplets with a radius of 250 μ m is approximately 35% shorter than that in a gas mixture not containing an active gas. We also found that at the second stage of a slurry droplet drying, the desorption of the dissolved gas from wet core decreases the temperature of the porous shell and reduces the mechanical stresses inside it that prevent the destruction of porous granules. The computational results obtained using the developed model are validated based on a good agreement with the available experimental data. Accordingly, the suggested model can be considered as a basis for alternative drying technologies.

First Report of Moldy Core of Sweet Tango Apples from New Zealand Caused by Alternaria arborescens.

First Report of Moldy Core of Sweet Tango Apples from New Zealand Caused by Alternaria arborescens.

Effective thermal performance analysis of vacuum insulation panel with metal-less film and infrared-dried core material

Applying enhanced insulation products to buildings can improve building energy performance, thereby reducing carbon emissions during operation and aiding in the mitigation of climate change. Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) exhibit superior insulation performance than conventional insulating panels, but it is necessary to reduce the heat loss at the edge through the envelope material of VIPs and improve their weak constructability. In this study, infrared-dried core materials and metal-less films were developed and applied to improve the thermal performance of VIPs, and a VIP composite board was proposed to improve the constructability. The manufactured VIPs and VIP composite boards were experimentally and numerically analyzed to evaluate the effective thermal performance, considering heat loss at the edges and connections. The dry core improved the thermal conductivity of the center of the VIP by 25% compared to the wet core, and the metal-less film resulted in the greatest reduction in heat loss with respect to the edges and connections. The effective thermal conductivity of a 0.6 m × 0.6 m metal-less VIP with two connected metal-less VIPs is 3.4 mW/m K, including thermal bridges at edges and connections. The variation in the effective thermal conductivity of the VIP composite board according to its thickness and the effective thermal conductivity of the VIP provides a reference for manufacturing VIP composite boards that can suitable meet thermal performance requirements if also future aging studies would give good enough results.

Low-rank coal drying behaviors under negative pressure: Thermal fragmentation, volume shrinkage and changes in pore structure

Negative Pressure Drying (NPD) is new alternative technique for Low Rank Coal (LRC) drying. In this work, the dehydration, thermal fragmentation and volumetric shrinkage behaviors of LRC under a sustained environment of 423 K and 20 kPa were studied. The correlations of these behaviors were analysed, and the mechanism of shrinkage-fragmentation of coal was discussed based on a spherical model for coal drying. Besides, the pore structures of LRC before and after drying were compared. Results showed that shrinkage and fragmentation mainly occur at the removal stage of internal moisture, and they almost change synchronously. Moreover, when the moisture content is 4.74%, the maximum values of fragmentation rate and shrinkage rate appear. The possible mechanism of shrinkage-fragmentation is summarized as follows. At the same time of internal water removal, coal volume is reduced, new cracks are generated, the inherent cracks expand, and the volume loss of coal is considered to be equal to the newly formed volume of cracks. With the rapid reduction of the wet core radius, the cracks extend towards spherical core rapidly, and some of which grow into large cracks to promote fragmentation. Besides, the decrease of wet core radius makes the cross-linking between cracks more frequent, and further accelerate the fragmentation. However, when the moisture content is less than 4.74%, the volume shrinkage is mainly caused by thermal stress, and fragmentation rate gradually decreases due to the lack of newly formed large cracks. After NPD, the number of small pores in coal (<52 nm) increased, whereas the number of large pores (>260 nm) decreased. The specific surface area and the fractal dimension of the pore structure increased, which are beneficial to the subsequent utilization of LRC.

Đặc tính ra hoa và phát triển trái sầu riêng Bí Rợ (Durio zibethinus Murr.) hạt lép tại huyện Phụng Hiệp, tỉnh Hậu Giang

This study was conducted to determine the biological charateristics of flowering and fruit development of ‘Bi Ro hat lep’ durian in Tan Binh commune, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province from August 2018 to July 2019. An experiment was implemented using seven ‘Bi Ro hat lep’ durian trees at the age of 8-year-old, grafted on ‘Kho qua xanh’ root stocks. Results showed that anthesis occurred within 12 days with a peak appearing in day 5, primarily at 16:00 to 17:00. The average fruit set rate was 87%. Fruit development process took place within 96 days after fruit set (DAFS). Young fruit abscission occurred mostly from 0-14 DAFS (42,2%). Durian fruit developed over three stages, i.e. slow (0-28 DAFS), fast growing (28-70 DAFS) and the mature-ripen stage (70-96 DAFS). Fruit flesh started to grow from 42 DAFS. Fruit reached to the maximum growing rate on 56 DAFS. At harvesting time, average fruit weight was 2,298.0±503.1 g, with an edible portion of 27%. The percentage of seedless fruit was 63%. Wet core, a kind of physical disorder, appeared at 70-96 DAFS. The phenomenon was observed on 14,8% of locule/fruit and 13,1% of aril.

Spherical porous particle drying using BEM approach

The paper covers a porous particle drying problem, which can be divided into two or three stages. The first stage is drying of surface moisture, the second stage is drying inside the particle, and the third, one which is relevant only to hygroscopic material, represents the change of particle moisture due to the change of environmental moisture. The second stage is the most relevant for the porous materials, and is, therefore, covered in more detail in this paper, with the main focus on the heat transfer inside the particle which affects the drying kinetics. The heat transfer problem inside the spherical particle has been solved using BEM, by transforming a 3D problem into a quasi 1D case by assuming uniform boundary conditions all around the particle, resulting in the solution depending only on the radial direction. The solution of the heat transfer needs to be calculated accurately as it directly affects the evaporation rate of the liquid on the interface between the dry crust and the wet core, which dictates the drying speed and affects the drying time. An in-depth analysis of space and time discretisation was performed on a typical spray drying example, where it is shown that a choice of a correct time step is cruicial for achieving good computational accuracy of the drying kinetics. The proposed numerical approach has also been tested on various drying conditions, with changing the particle size and the temperature of the drying gas, which have a largest effect on the drying kinetics. Finally, an analysis of the computed drying times is made as this is the most important parameter from the practical point of view, especially when designing the drying chambers.

Ultralow-Interfacial-Tension Foam-Injection Strategy in High-Temperature Ultrahigh-Salinity Fractured Oil-Wet Carbonate Reservoirs

Summary Oil recovery in many carbonate reservoirs is challenging because of unfavorable conditions, such as oil–wet surface wettability, high reservoir heterogeneity, and high brine salinity. We present the feasibility and injection–strategy investigation of ultralow–interfacial–tension (IFT) foam in a high–temperature (greater than 80°C), ultrahigh–formation–salinity [greater than 23% total dissolved solids (TDS)] fractured oil–wet carbonate reservoir. Because a salinity gradient is generated between injection seawater (SW) (4.2% TDS) and formation brine (FB) (23% TDS), a frontal–dilution map was created to simulate frontal–displacement processes and thereafter it was used to optimize surfactant formulations. IFT measurements and bulk–foam tests were also conducted to study the salinity–gradient effect on the performance of ultralow–IFT foam. Ultralow–IFT foam–injection strategies were investigated through a series of coreflood experiments in both homogeneous and fractured oil–wet core systems with initial oil/brine two–phase saturation. The representative fractured system included a well–defined fracture by splitting the core sample lengthwise. A controllable initial oil/brine saturation in the matrix can be achieved by closing the fracture with a rubber sheet at high confining pressure. The surfactant formulation achieved ultralow IFT (magnitude of 10−2 to 10−3 mN/m) with the crude oil at the displacement front and good foamability at underoptimal conditions. Both ultralow–IFT and foamability properties were found to be sensitive to the salinity gradient. Ultralow–IFT foam flooding achieved more than 50% incremental oil recovery compared with waterflooding in fractured oil–wet systems because of the selective diversion of ultralow–IFT foam. This effect resulted in a crossflow near the foam front, with surfactant solution (or weak foam) primarily diverted from the fracture into the matrix before the foam front, and oil/high–salinity brine flowing back to the fracture ahead of the front. The crossflow of oil/high–salinity brine from the matrix to the fracture was found to create challenges for foam propagation in the fractured system by forming Winsor II conditions near the foam front and hence killing the existing foam. It is important to note that Winsor II conditions should be avoided in the ultralow–IFT foam process to ensure good foam propagation and high oil–recovery efficiency. Results in this work contributed to demonstrating the technical feasibility of ultralow–IFT foam in high–temperature, ultrahigh–salinity fractured oil–wet carbonate reservoirs and investigated the injection strategy to enhance the low–IFT foam performance. The ultralow–IFT formulation helped to mobilize the residual oil for better displacement efficiency and reduce the unfavorable capillary entry pressure for better sweep efficiency. The selective diversion of foam makes it a good candidate for a mobility–control agent in a fractured system for better sweep efficiency.

Testing the analytical performance of handheld XRF using marine sediments of IODP Expedition 355

AbstractObtaining geochemical profiles using X-ray fluorescent (XRF) techniques has become a standard procedure in many sediment core studies. The resulting datasets are not only important tools for palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic reconstructions, but also for stratigraphic correlation. The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) has therefore recently introduced shipboard application of a handheld XRF device, making geochemical data directly available to the science party. In all XRF scanning techniques, the physical properties of wet core halves cause substantial analytical deviations. In order to obtain estimates of element concentrations (e.g. for quantitative analyses of fluxes or mass-balance calculations), a calibration of the scanning data is required. We test whether results from the handheld XRF analysis on discrete samples are suitable for calibrating scanning data. Log-ratios with Ca as a common denominator were calculated. The comparison between the handheld device and conventional measurements show that the latter provide high-quality data describing Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn, Rb and Sr content (R2 compared with conventional measurements: ln(Al/Ca) = 0.99, ln(Si/Ca) = 0.98, ln(K/Ca) = 0.99, ln(Ti/Ca) = 0.99, ln(Mn/Ca) = 0.99, ln(Fe/Ca) = 0.99, ln(Zn/Ca) = 0.99 and ln(Sr/Ca) = 0.99). Our results imply that discrete measurements using the shipboard handheld analyser are suitable for the calibration of XRF scanning data. Our test was performed on downcore sediments from IODP Expedition 355 that display a wide variety of lithologies of both terrestrial and marine origin. The implication is that our findings are valid on a general scale and that shipboard handheld XRF analysis on discrete samples should be used for calibrating XRF scanning data.

Morphological and molecular identification of fungi associated with South African apple core rot

Core rot is a major contributor to postharvest losses in apples worldwide. Pathogens most commonly associated with the disease are Alternaria spp. and Penicillium spp. Although both genera show specific morphological characteristics, they can be difficult to identify to species level. In this study, Alternaria spp. (49) and Penicillium spp. isolates (97), associated with pre- and post-harvest apple core rot-symptoms and isolates from potential inoculum sources were identified using molecular methods. Initially, dry core rot causing Alternaria spp. were identified morphologically in an average of 70% of infected fruit pre-harvest and 32% postharvest. Furthermore, 78% of mouldy core rot causing pathogens were identified as Alternaria spp. preharvest and 40% postharvest. Wet core rot was associated with Penicillium spp. in 64% of cases preharvest and 36% postharvest. Species identity of a selection of samples was confirmed using the endopolygalacturonase (endo-PG) gene, the ITS region, and the anonymous genomic regions (OPA1–3, 2–1), which resulted in the identification of A. alternata, A. arborescens, A. dumosa, A. eureka and A. tenuissima. Penicillium species were identified through ITS sequencing and partial beta-tubulin polymerase chain reaction – random fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) for the samples collected from wet core rot symptoms. Phylogenetic analyses separated the Alternaria spp. into five clades, including three separate clades for A. alternata, A. tenuissima and A. arborescens, respectively. This is the first report of A. eureka and P. polonicum as potential core rot pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis identified Penicillium ramulosum and P. expansum as the most commonly occurring species associated with WCR symptoms.

Mathematical modelling of water absorption and evaporation in a pharmaceutical tablet during film coating

It is well understood that during the pharmaceutical aqueous film coating process the amount of liquid water that interacts with the porous tablet core can affect the quality of the final product. Therefore, understanding and simulating the mechanisms of water droplet spreading, absorption and evaporation is crucial for controlling the process and optimising the shelf-life of the tablets. The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to define and describe the spreading, absorption and evaporation phenomena after droplet impingement on a tablet. We divided the droplet behaviour into three phases of different dynamics and duration: the kinematic, capillary and evaporation phases. To model the kinematic phase, we combined and modified 1-D spreading models from the literature which solve the kinetic energy balance equation for the first milliseconds of spreading. For the capillary phase, we simplified and solved the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations using the lubrication approximation theory. Finally, for the evaporation phase, we adopted a modelling approach for the second drying stage of slurry droplets inside a spray dryer. During this stage, one can no longer describe the droplet as a liquid system containing solids, having to regard it as a wet particle with a dry crust and a wet core. In our work, we represented in a novel way the crust as the dry surface of the tablet and the wet core as the wetted area inside the porous matrix. We implemented the mathematical model presented in this work in gPROMS, employing the Modelbuilder platform. Our numerical results (droplet height and spreading, wetting, evaporation front profiles) are in good agreement with recent experimental data that we found in the literature.

Wet Core Drilling of CFRP with an Electrodeposited Diamond Core Drill - Effects of Cutting Conditions on Chip Evacuation and Core Jamming

This study investigated the cutting characteristics of electrodeposited diamond core drill when used to drill a CFRP under wet condition. The effects of different tool shapes, grain sizes and feed rates were examined. A normal core drill, an eccentric with slits core drill (E.S.), and an eccentric with slits and chamfers core drill (E.S.C.) were used. The normal core drill had the shape of a hollow cylinder. The E.S. core drill had the inner cylinder shifted from the center of this tool and slits in the bottom of this tool. The E.S.C. core drill had chamfers on the periphery of this tool. The normal core drill caused severe workpiece core jamming even at 1st hole drilling, and its electro-deposited area was covered entirely by adhered chips. In the case of the E.S. core drill and E.S.C. core drill, the workpiece core did not jam and the thrust force was smaller than that of the normal core drill. The effect of chamfers was little. The E.S.C. core drill with #200 caused smaller surface roughness than that with #100. However, the thrust force was two times larger, and the delamination was observed at the exit point of the hole. In the lower feed rate per revolution the better surface roughness and the lower thrust force were obtained irrespective of the tool shape while the cutting speed showed little effect.

Investigation effect of wettability and heterogeneity in water flooding and on microscopic residual oil distribution in tight sandstone cores with NMR technique

Abstract In order to explore the effect of wettability and pore throat heterogeneity on oil recovery efficiency in porous media, physical simulation experiment and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements were conducted to investigate how crude oil residing in different sized pores are recovered by water flooding. Experimental results indicate that the recovery factor of water flooding is governed by spontaneous imbibition and also pore throat heterogeneity. It is found that intermediate wetting cores lead to the highest final recovery factor in comparison with water wet cores and weak oil wet cores, and the recovery oil difference in clay micro pore is mainly because of the wettability, the difference in medium pore and large pore is affected by pore throat heterogeneity. Water wet core has a lower recovery factor in medium and large pore due to its poor heterogeneity, in spite of the spontaneous imbibition effect is very satisfying. Intermediate wetting cores has significant result in different sized pore and throat, the difference in medium pore and large pore is affected by pore throat heterogeneity.

First Report of Fusarium avenaceum Causing Wet Core Rot of ‘Elstar’ Apples in the Netherlands

Apple (Malus domestica) is an important fruit crop in the Netherlands. ‘Elstar’, the main cultivar, occupies 40% of the apple production area. Symptoms of apple wet core rot were observed on Elstar in January to March 2013 after 4 to 6 months’ storage in different packing houses at controlled atmosphere. The disease was present in a large number of lots harvested at orchards from different locations across the Netherlands, and incidences up to 25% were recorded. Apples exhibited light-brown wet rot, initially developing in the core and subsequently spreading into the surrounding cortex, often with a white to rose-reddish mycelium. Apples from five lots with infections (four apples per lot; 20 in total) were rinsed with sterile water, sprayed with 70% ethanol until droplet runoff and halved aseptically with a scalpel. The tissue next to the core rot was isolated and placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). The PDA plates were incubated at 20°C in the dark, and single-spore isolates were propagated on fresh PDA plates. All cultures formed abundant white aerial mycelium with yellow to rose pigment and a dark pink to red reverse. Macroconidia were slightly falcate, thin-walled, usually 5 septate, with a tapering apical cell, and 40 to 80×3.5 to 5 μm. Pathogen characteristics were similar to those described for F. avenaceum, causal agent of wet core rot of apple (Sanzani et al. 2013;Sorenson et al. 2009). The identity of two representative isolates (Fu1-44145 and Fu2-44145) from different apple lots was confirmed by means of multilocus gene sequencing. Genomic DNA was extracted and sequences of ITS region, TEF1-α, and histone H3 loci were amplified and sequenced. The sequences have been deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. KT350586 and KT350587 [ITS], KT350603 and KT350604 [TEF1], KT935567 and KT935568 [HIS3]). MegaBLAST analysis revealed 99.8 to 100% identity to Fusarium spp. belonging to the F. avenaceum-F. tricinctumspecies complex. The TEF1 and HIS3 sequences of both isolates were 100% identical with F.avenaceum sequences JQ429374, GQ915502, JQ435857, and GQ915469, confirming their identity as F. avenaceum. Koch’s postulates were satisfied in two experiments, with 15 Elstar apples per isolate. In the first experiment, surface-sterilized fruits were inoculated with 20 μl of a suspension of 105conidiospores/ml prepared from a 15-day-old PDA culture after wounding with a needle. Inoculated fruits were sealed in a plastic bag and incubated in darkness at 20°C. In the second experiment, apples were surface sterilized, cut in half longitudinally, and one half was inoculated with 20 μl of the conidiospore suspension into the core of the apple. Control apple halves were inoculated with sterilized water. After inoculation, the halves were covered with plastic foil and incubated in darkness at 20°C. In both experiments, symptoms appeared after 4 to 6 days on 100% of the fruits; controls remained symptomless. Fungal colonies isolated from the lesions and cultured on PDA plates morphologically resembled the original isolates. Fusarium avenaceum is a wound pathogen that has been isolated from apple fruit in Croatia and in the United States (Kou et al. 2014; Sever et al. 2012). Only few reports describe wet core symptoms associated with F. avenaceum on apple (Sanzani et al. 2013; Sorenson et al. 2009). This is the first report of wet core rot caused by F. avenaceum on apple fruit in the Netherlands. As wet core of apple is undetectable until the fruit is cut or consumed, it affects consumer confidence. Due to potential mycotoxin production during infection, F. avenaceum infections potentially pose a safety issue (Sorenson et al. 2009).

Applicability of Filter Design Criteria for Wet Core Embankment Dams in Wet Climates

Abstract In humid and rainy climates, many embankment dams are constructed with core materials, possessing moisture in excess of optimum compaction water content. Since internal erosion and piping are major culprits of embankment dam failures, it would be practically important to understand whether contemporary filter design criteria, which make no reference to moisture content or compaction ratio of soils, are applicable to wet-under compacted cores. In this treatment, 123 no erosion filter (NEF) tests were performed on eleven core materials with varying moisture contents and compaction ratios. Results suggest that proper filter functionality depends on moisture in excess of optimum, soil Plasticity Index, and D15/d85. With increase in excess moisture, a smaller D15/d85 is required for erosion prevention, insomuch as filters designed via recommended criteria, may become inadequate, when the core is excessively wet and under compacted. Generally speaking, D15/d85 ≤ 9 is reliable for cores with limited excess water content and compaction ratios over 95 %; whereas D15/d85 ≤ 7 should be applied for compactions above 90 % and moistures significantly beyond optimum.

Preparation and characterization of vacuum insulation panels with super-stratified glass fiber core material

VIPs (vacuum insulation panels) with super-stratified glass fiber core material were prepared by CSB (centrifugal-spinneret-blow) process. The fiber orientation of the super-stratified glass fiber core material was concentrated in the X–Z plane which was perpendicular to the heat transfer direction. The initial thermal conductivity of this novel VIPs was only 1.25mW/(m K) which performs up to two times more thermal insulation than conventional wet core material (2.62mW/(m K)). The thermal conductivity of VIP with CSB-3μm was significantly lower than that calculated from the theoretical curves with mean pore size of 10 μm. The results demonstrated that thermal conductivity of VIP with CSB-3μm attained 1.25, 1.76, 2.04, 2.91, 3.45, 4.58, 9.16, 13.03mW/(m K) under the pressure of 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.3, 0.5, 0.9, 5 and 10 mbar, respectively. This is a great breakthrough to dramatically increase the service life-span of VIP with glass fiber core material. Their further advantages compared to conventional wet process are their lower energy consumption and cost.

Analysis on Capillary Pressure Curves by Wettability Modification through Surfactants

Wettability of a reservoir rock is closely related to capillary pressure curves. The status of wettability is an important factor for oil recovery, can be clearly seen through the variations in capillary pressure curves. The aim is to analyze the changes in capillary pressure curves and saturations by altering wettability. An oil wet core sample was tested to alter wettability. During alteration process it is difficult to analyze the status of wettability. Surfactants were applied to modify wettability. Additionally, parameters like connate water saturation, spontaneous oil and water saturations, residual oil saturation and type of wettability can be analyzed. The concentration of surfactants was selected by conductivity test. The changes in saturations with variations in capillary pressure curves were stated.