A symbolic approach to nonlinearly perturbed heat equation

We consider a system described by the linear heat equation with adiabatic boundary conditions which is perturbed periodicaly. This perturbation is nonlinear and is characterized by a one-parameter family of quadratic maps. The system, depending on the parameters, presents very complex behaviour. We introduce a symbolic framework to analyze the system and resume its most important features.

Economic feasibility analysis of the implementation of a high value-added molecule extraction system in an olive oil mill

The production of olive oil generates several by-products that can be seen as an additional business opportunity. Among them are the olive pits, already used for heat and/or electricity generation in some mills. They contain compounds that are commercially very interesting and, if recovered, contribute to the sustainability of the olive mills. The work presented in this paper is a preliminary evaluation of the economic feasibility of implementing a system based on a batch prototype with 1 m3 for the extraction of high value-added bioactive molecules from olive pits that are separated during the production of virgin olive oil. For the analysis, a small representative olive mill in Portugal was considered and the traditional Discounted Cash Flow Method was applied. Based on the assumptions made, the simple payback for implementation a system for the extraction of value-added molecules from the olive pits is around 7 years.