Field trial of a new aeration system for enhancing biodegradation in a biopile

The influence of a new aeration system on the biopile performance was investigated. The purpose was to increase biodegradation efficiency by optimising airflow through the pile. During a 1-month field trial, the performance of a new system using two perforated vertical pipes with wind-driven turbines was compared with that of a standard pile configuration with two horizontal perforated pipes. Both piles were composed of a similar mix of diesel-contaminated soils, woodchips, compost and NPK fertiliser. Hydrocarbons were recovered using solvent extraction, and determined both gravimetrically and by gas chromatography. Total heterotrophs, pH and moisture content were also assessed. Air pressure measurements were made to compare the efficiency of suction in the pipes. Results at the end of the experiment showed that there was no significant difference between the two piles in the total amount of hydrocarbon biodegradation. The normalised degradation rate was, however, considerably higher in the new system than in the standard one, suggesting that the vertical venting method may have improved the efficiency of the biological reactions in the pile. The pressure measurements showed a significant improvement in the suction produced by the new aeration system. However, many factors other than the airflow (oxygen supply) may influence and limit the biodegradation rates, including moisture content, age of contaminants and the climatic conditions. Additional experiments and modelling need to be carried out to explore further the new aeration method and to develop criteria and guidelines for engineering design of optimal aeration schemes in order to achieve maximum biodegradation in biopiles. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A commentary on the impacts of metals and metalloids in the environment upon the metabolism of drugs and chemicals

The salient feature of metals is that unlike organic compounds they do not degrade in the environment and barely move from one environmental matrix to another. Human interventions take these compounds from their stable and non-bioavailable geological matrix into situations of biological accessibility. Studies in the 1970s and the 1980s of metal bioavailability and impacts of metals and metalloids were driven by the process of abatement of lead in the environment. Humans have clear and identifiable sources of exposure from fuels, food and leaded water pipes to lead. Interventions started at that time have dramatically lowered human lead exposure. Attention has now shifted to other metals, in particular, cadmium, which has seen increasing use. It is generally accepted that food crops grown on cadmium containing soils or soils naturally rich in this metal are the major source of exposure to humans other than exposure from smoking of cigarettes. This mini-review gives a summary and commentary on early studies on effects of lead on haem metabolism that provide us the clue to why investigations of the impacts of other toxic heavy metals and metalloids such as cadmium and arsenic on different human cytochrome P450 forms have become of great interest at the current time. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Overlapping species boundaries and hybridization within the Monastraea "annularis" reef coral complex in the Pleistocene of the Bahama Islands

Recent molecular analyses indicate that many reef coral species belong to hybridizing species complexes or "syngameons." Such complexes consist of numerous genetically distinct-species or lineages, which periodically split and/or fuse as they extend through time. During splitting and fusion, morphologic intermediates form and species overlap. Here we focus on processes associated with lineage fusion, specifically introgressive hybridization, and the recognition of such hybridization in the fossil record. Our approach involves comparing patterns of ecologic and morphologic overlap in genetically characterized modern species with fossil representatives of the same or closely related species. We similarly consider the long-term consequences of past hybridization on the structure of modern-day species boundaries. Our study involves the species complex Montastraea annularis s.l. and is based in the Bahamas, where, unlike other Caribbean locations, two of the three members of the complex today are not genetically distinct. We measured and collected colonies along linear transects across Pleistocene reef terraces of last interglacial age (approximately 125 Ka) on the islands of San Salvador, Andros, and Great Inagua. We performed quantitative ecologic and morphologic analyses of the fossil data, and compared patterns of overlap among species with data from modern localities where species are and are not genetically distinct. Ecologic and morphologic analyses reveal "moderate" overlap (>10%, but statistically significant differences) and sometimes "high" overlap (no statistically significant differences) among Pleistocene growth forms (= "species"). Ecologic analyses show that three species (massive, column, organ-pipe) co-occurred. Although organ-pipes had higher abundances in patch reef environments, columnar and massive species exhibited broad, completely overlapping distributions and had abundances that were not related to reef environment. For morphometric analyses, we used multivariate discriminant analysis on landmark data and linear measurements. The results show that columnar species overlap "moderately" with organ-pipe and massive species. Comparisons with genetically characterized colonies from Panama show that the Pleistocene Bahamas species have intermediate morphologies, and that the observed "moderate" overlap differs from the morphologic separation among the three modern species. In contrast, massive and columnar species from the Pleistocene of the Dominican Republic comprise distinct morphologic clusters, similar to the modern species; organ-pipe species exhibit "low" overlap (

On sensor network segmentation for urban water distribution monitoring

Identifying water wastage in forms of leaks in a water distribution network of any city becomes essential as droughts are presenting serious threats to few major cities. In this paper, we propose a deployment of sensor network for monitoring water flow in any water distribution network. We cover the issues related with designing such a dedicated sensor network by considering types of sensors required, sensors' functionality, data collection, and providing computation serving as leak detection mechanism. The main focus of this paper is on appropriate network segmentation that provides the base for hierarchical approach to pipes' failure detection. We show a method for sensors allocation to the network in order to facilitate effective pipes monitoring. In general, the identified computational problem belongs to hard problems. The paper shows a heuristic method to build effective hierarchy of the network segmentation.

Perspectivas e metodologias de pesquisa da Comunicação Social no contexto da internet com o Big Data e da especialização Data Scientist

O trabalho desenvolvido analisa a Comunicação Social no contexto da internet e delineia novas metodologias de estudo para a área na filtragem de significados no âmbito científico dos fluxos de informação das redes sociais, mídias de notícias ou qualquer outro dispositivo que permita armazenamento e acesso a informação estruturada e não estruturada. No intento de uma reflexão sobre os caminhos, que estes fluxos de informação se desenvolvem e principalmente no volume produzido, o projeto dimensiona os campos de significados que tal relação se configura nas teorias e práticas de pesquisa. O objetivo geral deste trabalho é contextualizar a área da Comunicação Social dentro de uma realidade mutável e dinâmica que é o ambiente da internet e fazer paralelos perante as aplicações já sucedidas por outras áreas. Com o método de estudo de caso foram analisados três casos sob duas chaves conceituais a Web Sphere Analysis e a Web Science refletindo os sistemas de informação contrapostos no quesito discursivo e estrutural. Assim se busca observar qual ganho a Comunicação Social tem no modo de visualizar seus objetos de estudo no ambiente das internet por essas perspectivas. O resultado da pesquisa mostra que é um desafio para o pesquisador da Comunicação Social buscar novas aprendizagens, mas a retroalimentação de informação no ambiente colaborativo que a internet apresenta é um caminho fértil para pesquisa, pois a modelagem de dados ganha corpus analítico quando o conjunto de ferramentas promovido e impulsionado pela tecnologia permite isolar conteúdos e possibilita aprofundamento dos significados e suas relações.

Modelling and measurements on a condensing counter-flow heat exchanger

Experimental investigations and computer modelling studies have been made on the refrigerant-water counterflow condenser section of a small air to water heat pump. The main object of the investigation was a comparative study between the computer modelling predictions and the experimental observations for a range of operating conditions but other characteristics of a counterflow heat exchanger are also discussed. The counterflow condenser consisted of 15 metres of a thermally coupled pair of copper pipes, one containing the R12 working fluid and the other water flowing in the opposite direction. This condenser was mounted horizontally and folded into 0.5 metre straight sections. Thermocouples were inserted in both pipes at one metre intervals and transducers for pressure and flow measurement were also included. Data acquisition, storage and analysis was carried out by a micro-computer suitably interfaced with the transducers and thermocouples. Many sets of readings were taken under a variety of conditions, with air temperature ranging from 18 to 26 degrees Celsius, water inlet from 13.5 to 21.7 degrees, R12 inlet temperature from 61.2 to 81.7 degrees and water mass flow rate from 6.7 to 32.9 grammes per second. A Fortran computer model of the condenser (originally prepared by Carrington[1]) has been modified to match the information available from experimental work. This program uses iterative segmental integration over the desuperheating, mixed phase and subcooled regions for the R12 working fluid, the water always being in the liquid phase. Methods of estimating the inlet and exit fluid conditions from the available experimental data have been developed for application to the model. Temperature profiles and other parameters have been predicted and compared with experimental values for the condenser for a range of evaporator conditions and have shown that the model gives a satisfactory prediction of the physical behaviour of a simple counterflow heat exchanger in both single phase and two phase regions.

Influence of downstream processing on the breakage of whey protein precipitates

Whey proteins may be fractionated by isoelectric precipitation followed by centrifugal recovery of the precipitate phase. Transport and processing of protein precipitates may alter the precipitate particle properties, which may affect how they behave in subsequent processes. For example, the transport of precipitate solution through pumps, pipes and valves and into a centrifugal separator may cause changes in particle size and density, which may affect the performance of the separator. This work investigates the effect of fluid flow intensity, flow geometry and exposure time on the breakage of whey protein precipitates: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to quantify the flow intensity in different geometries. Flow geometry can have a critical impact on particle breakage. Sharp geometrical transitions induce large increases in turbulence that can result in substantial particle breakage. As protein precipitate particles break, they tend to form denser more compact structures. The reduction in particle size and increase in compaction is due to breakage. This makes the particles become more resistant to further breakage as particle compactness increases. The effect of flow intensity on particle breakage is coupled to exposure time, with greater exposure time producing more breakage. However, it is expected that the particles will attain an equilibrium particle size and density after prolonged exposure in a constant flow field where no further breakage will occur with exposure time. © 2005 Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Corrosion mechanisms of duplex stainless steels in the petrochemical industry

The recent search for new sources of hydrocarbons has led to production from very severe environments which can contain considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and chloride ions, combined with temperatures which can exceed 100°C. Oil and gas production from such wells requires highly corrosion-resistant materials. The traditional solution of using carbon steel with additional protection is generally inadequate in these very-aggressive environments. Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are attractive candidates because of their high strength, good general corrosion resistance, excellent resistance to chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking, and good weldability. Although duplex stainless steels have a very good reputation in both subsea and topsides pipework, it is recognized that the tolerance of these materials to variations in microstructure and chemical composition are still not fully understood. The object of this paper is to review the corrosion behaviour of duplex stainless steels in the petrochemical industry, with particular emphasis on microstructures and the effect of changes in chemical composition.

Revisiting the lean agile paradigm:an empirical study in the aerospace industry

Much has been written about the potential impact of Lean Agile paradigm on firm's supply chain performance. However, most of the existing studies mainly pointed out Lean is for cost reduction, whereas Agility is for attaining flexibility. There are little empirical studies in literature that examined how Lean Agile paradigm impacts on supply chain performance. This paper aims to address this gap by studying the influence of Lean and Agility paradigms on a single commodity supply chain delivery performance in the aerospace industry. Data was collected from four separate 'Rigid pipes' supply chains to study how manufacturing alignment impacts on the delivery performance. Implications of the study to practitioners and academia are discussed and future research outlined.

The rise of Islamism among Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands

This study is a comparative study of the Turkish Islamist movement Milli Görüş (IGMG) in Germany and the Netherlands. It is a qualitative and a quantitative inquiry about the nature (whether it is moderate or radical) of the Milli Görüş movement in these two countries. The central research questions are: what is the reason for the rise of Islamism among Turks living in two different countries in Europe? What is the reason for the difference in the radicalization levels? Islamism refers to an ideology that turns traditional Islam into a sustained and systematic program that includes social, political, and economic affairs (Pipes 1998). The movements within the framework of Islamism range from moderate to radical. Based on the data collected during the field research conducted in Germany and the Netherlands between the years of 2004-2007, this study suggests that Islamism is a response to social marginalization which is defined as “an external social position, of isolation of the individual or groups, with a limited access to economical, political, educational and communicational resources of the community” (Contained in the law adopted by the Romanian Parliament in 28 February 2002, www.hurriyetim.com, November 25, 2004). It is hypothesized that as the level of social marginalization increases, so does the level of radicalization.

Desenvolvimento teórico e experimental de FSS com elementos fractais de Gosper em estruturas de multicamadas

The fractal self-similarity property is studied to develop frequency selective surfaces (FSS) with several rejection bands. Particularly, Gosper fractal curves are used to define the shapes of the FSS elements. Due to the difficulty of making the FSS element details, the analysis is developed for elements with up to three fractal levels. The simulation was carried out using Ansoft Designer software. For results validation, several FSS prototypes with fractal elements were fabricated. In the fabrication process, fractals elements were designed using computer aided design (CAD) tools. The prototypes were measured using a network analyzer (N3250A model, Agilent Technologies). Matlab software was used to generate compare measured and simulated results. The use of fractal elements in the FSS structures showed that the use of high fractal levels can reduce the size of the elements, at the same time as decreases the bandwidth. We also investigated the effect produced by cascading FSS structures. The considered cascaded structures are composed of two FSSs separated by a dielectric layer, which distance is varied to determine the effect produced on the bandwidth of the coupled geometry. Particularly, two FSS structures were coupled through dielectric layers of air and fiberglass. For comparison of results, we designed, fabricated and measured several prototypes of FSS on isolated and coupled structures. Agreement was observed between simulated and measured results. It was also observed that the use of cascaded FSS structures increases the FSSs bandwidths and, in particular cases, the number of resonant frequencies, in the considered frequency range. In future works, we will investigate the effects of using different types of fractal elements, in isolated, multilayer and coupled FSS structures for applications on planar filters, high-gain microstrip antennas and microwave absorbers

Análise numérica de dutos enterrados sujeitos a elevação e recalque localizado

Problems associated to longitudinal interactions in buried pipelines are characterized as three-dimensional and can lead to different soil-pipe issues. Despite the progress achieved in research on buried pipelines, little attention has been given to the three-dimensional nature of the problem throughout the last decades. Most of researches simplify the problem by considering it in plane strain condition. This dissertation aims to present a study on the behavior of buried pipelines under local settlement or elevation, using three-dimensional simulations. Finite element code Plaxis 3D was used for the simulations. Particular aspects of the numerical modeling were evaluated and parametric analyzes were performed, was investigated the effects of soil arching in three-dimensional form. The main variables investigated were as follows: relative density, displacement of the elevation or settlement zone, elevated zone size, height of soil cover and pipe diameter/thickness ratio. The simulations were performed in two stages. The first stage was involved the validation of the numerical analysis using the physical models put forward by Costa (2005). In the second stage, numerical analyzes of a full-scale pipeline subjected to a localized elevation were performed. The obtained results allowed a detailed evaluation of the redistribution of stresses in the soil mass and the deflections along the pipe. It was observed the reduction of stresses in the soil mass and pipe deflections when the height of soil cover was decreased on regions of the pipe subjected to elevation. It was also shown for the analyzed situation that longitudinal thrusts were higher than vi circumferential trusts and exceeded the allowable stresses and deflections. Furthermore, the benefits of minimizing stress with technical as the false trench, compressible cradle and a combination of both applied to the simulated pipeline were verified

Análise da eficácia de um refrigerador doméstico com condensador modificado: revestimento com meio poroso dissipativo

The development of home refrigerators generally are compact and economic reasons for using simplified configuration. The thermodynamic coefficient of performance ( COP ) is limited mainly in the condenser design for reasons of size and arrangement ( layout ) of the project ( design ) and climatic characteristics of the region where it will operate. It is noteworthy that this latter limitation is very significant when it comes to a country of continental size like Brazil with diverse climatic conditions. The COP of the cycle depends crucially on the ability of heat dissipated in the condenser. So in hot climates like the northeast, north, and west-central dispel ability is highly attenuated compared to the south and southeast regions with tropical or subtropical climates when compared with other regions. The dissipation in compact capacitors for applications in domestic refrigeration has been the focus of several studies, that due to its impact on reducing costs and power consumption, and better use of the space occupied by the components of refrigeration systems. This space should be kept to a minimum to allow an increase in the useful storage volume of refrigerator without changing the external dimensions of the product. Due to its low cost manufacturing, wire on tube condensers continue to be the most advantageous option for domestic refrigeration. Traditionally, these heat exchangers are designed to operate under natural convection. Not always, the benefits of greater compactness of capacitors for forced outweigh the burden of pumping air through the external heat exchanger. In this work we propose an improvement in convective condenser changing it to a transfer mechanism combined in series with conductive pipes and wire to a moist convective porous medium and the porous medium to the environment. The porous media used in the coating was composed of a gypsum plaster impregnated fiber about a mesh of natural cellulosic molded tubular wire mesh about the original structure of the condenser , and then dried and calcined to greater adherence and increased porosity. The proposed configuration was installed in domestic refrigeration system ( trough ) and tested under the same conditions of the original configuration . Was also evaluated in the dry condition and humidified drip water under natural and forced with an electro - fan ( fan coil ) convection. Assays were performed for the same 134- refrigerant charge e under the same thermal cooling load. The performance was evaluated in various configurations, showing an improvement of about 72 % compared with the original configuration proposed in humidification and natural convection.

Estudo da variação da periodicidade e do acoplamento entre superfícies seletivas de frequência com elementos fractais e helicoidais em estruturas de multicamadas

This work aims to investigate the behavior of fractal and helical elements structures in planar microstrip. In particular, the frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) had changed its conventional elements to fractal and helical formats. The dielectric substrate used was fiberglass (FR-4) and has a thickness of 1.5 mm, a relative permittivity 4.4 and tangent loss equal to 0.02. For FSSs, was adopting the Dürer’s fractal geometry and helical geometry. To make the measurements, we used two antennas horns in direct line of sight, connected by coaxial cable to the vector network analyzer. Some prototypes were select for built and measured. From preliminary results, it was aimed to find practical applications for structures from the cascading between them. For FSSs with Dürer’s fractal elements was observed behavior provided by the multiband fractal geometry, while the bandwidth has become narrow as the level of iteration fractal increased, making it a more selective frequency with a higher quality factor. A parametric analysis allowed the analysis of the variation of the air layer between them. The cascading between fractal elements structure were considered, presented a tri-band behavior for certain values of the layer of air between them, and find applications in the licensed 2.5GHz band (2.3-2.7) and 3.5GHz band (3.3-3.8). For FSSs with helical elements, six structures were considered, namely H0, H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5. The electromagnetic behavior of them was analyzed separately and cascaded. From preliminary results obtained from the separate analysis of structures, including the cascade, the higher the bandwidth, in that the thickness of the air layer increases. In order to find practical applications for helical structures cascaded, the helical elements structure has been cascaded find applications in the X-band (8.0-12.0) and unlicensed band (5.25-5.85). For numerical and experimental characterization of the structures discussed was used, respectively, the commercial software Ansoft Designer and a vector network analyzer, Agilent N5230A model.

Estudo experimental sobre o comportamento do escoamento bifásico água - ar para a medição de vazão em placa de orifício

The measurement of flow through the prediction of differential pressure is widely used in industrial day-to-day, this happens mainly due to the fact that it is used for various types of fluids, such as gas flow and liquid with viscosity distinct even flow of fluids with particles in suspension. The suitability of this equipment for measuring mass flow in two-phase flow is of paramount importance for technological development and reliability of results. When it comes to two-phase flow the relationship between the fluids and their interactions are of paramount importance in predicting the flow. In this paper, we propose the use of concentric orifice plate used in small diameter pipes of 25.4 mm order where a two-phase flow flows between water-air. The measurement of single-phase flow was made with the use of data in NBR 5167-1 which was used to Stolz equation for measuring discharge coefficient. In the two-phase flow was used two correlations widely used in the prognosis of mass flow, the pattern of Zhang (1992) and the model of Chisholm (1967), to the homogeneous flow model. It was observed that the behavior found in Zhang model are consistent more realistic way the mass flow of two-phase flow, since the model Chisholm extrapolate the parameters for the downstream pressure P2, the orifice plate, and the rated discharge coefficient. The use of the change in pressure drop P1-P2 and discharge coefficient, led to a better convergence of the values obtained for the two-phase air-water stream.