Hydrodynamics and mass transfer coefficient in activated sludge aerated stirred column reactor: Experimental analysis and modeling

The aerated stirred reactor (ASR) has been widely used in biochemical and wastewater treatment processes. The information describing how the activated sludge properties and operation conditions affect the hydrodynamics and mass transfer coefficient is missing in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of flow regime, superficial gas velocity (U-G), power consumption unit (P/V-L), sludge loading, and apparent viscosity (pap) of activated sludge fluid on the mixing time (t(m)), gas hold-up (epsilon), and volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) in an activated sludge aerated stirred column reactor (ASCR). The activated sludge fluid performed a non-Newtonian rheological behavior. The sludge loading significantly affected the fluid hydrodynamics and mass transfer. With an increase in the UG and P/V-L, the epsilon and k(L)a increased, and the t(m), decreased. The E, kLa, and tm,were influenced dramatically as the flow regime changed from homogeneous to heterogeneous patterns. The proposed mathematical models predicted the experimental results well under experimental conditions, indicating that the U-G, P/V-L, and mu(ap) had significant impact on the t(m) epsilon, and k(L)a. These models were able to give the tm, F, and kLa values with an error around +/- 8%, and always less than +/- 10%. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An Experimental Platform for large-scale research facing FI-IoT scenarios

Providing experimental facilities for the Internet of Things (IoT) world is of paramount importance to materialise the Future Internet (FI) vision. The level of maturity achieved at the networking level in Sensor and Actuator networks (SAN) justifies the increasing demand on the research community to shift IoT testbed facilities from the network to the service and information management areas. In this paper we present an Experimental Platform fulfilling these needs by: integrating heterogeneous SAN infrastructures in a homogeneous way; providing mechanisms to handle information, and facilitating the development of experimental services. It has already been used to deploy applications in three different field trials: smart metering, smart places and environmental monitoring and it will be one of the components over which the SmartSantander project, that targets a large-scale IoT experimental facility, will rely on

The role of laboratory exercises in modern power engineering education at the University of Queensland

The University of Queensland (UQ) has extensive laboratory facilities associated with each course in the undergraduate electrical engineering program. The laboratories include machines and drives, power systems simulation, power electronics and intelligent equipment diagnostics. A number of postgraduate coursework programs are available at UQ and the courses associated with these programs also use laboratories. The machine laboratory is currently being renovated with i-lab style web based experimental facilities, which could be remotely accessed. Senior level courses use independent projects using laboratory facilities and this is found to be very useful to improve students' learning skill. Laboratory experiments are always an integral part of a course. Most of the experiments are conducted in a group of 2-3 students and thesis projects in BE and major projects in ME are always individual works. Assessment is done in-class for the performance and also for the report and analysis.

A latest developed all permanent magnet ECRIS for atomic physics research at IMP

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources have been used for atomic physics research for a long time. With the development of atomic physics research in the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), additional high performance experimental facilities are required. A 300 kV high voltage (HV) platform has been under construction since 2003, and an all permanent magnet ECR ion source is supposed to be put on the platform. Lanzhou all permanent magnet ECR ion source No. 2 (LAPECR2) is a latest developed all permanent magnet ECRIS. It is a 900 kg weight and circle divide 650 mm X 562 mm outer dimension (magnetic body) ion source. The injection magnetic field of the source is 1.28 T and the extraction magnetic field is 1.07 T. This source is designed to be running at 14.5 GHz. The high magnetic field inside the plasma chamber enables the source to give good performances at 14.5 GHz. LAPECR2 source is now under commissioning in IMP. In this article, the typical parameters of the source LAPECR2 are listed, and the typical results of the preliminary commissioning are presented.

Simulation of ship evacuation and passenger circulation

This paper describes work carried out in the FIRE EXIT research project. FIRE EXIT aims to develop an Evacuation Simulator, capable of addressing issues of mustering, ship motions, fire and abandonment. In achieving these aims, FIRE EXIT took as its starting point the state-of-the-art in ship evacuation simulation (the maritimeEXODUS software), fire simulation (the SMARTFIRE software) and large-scale experimental facilities (the SHEBA facility). It then significantly enhanced these capabilities. A number of new technologies have been developed in achieving these objectives. The innovations include directly linking CFD fire simulation with evacuation and abandonment software and automatic data transfer from concept design software allowing rapid generation of ship simulation models. Software usability was augmented by a module for interpretation of evacuation software output. Enhancements to a ship evacuation testing rig have resulted in a unique facility, capable of providing passenger movement data for realistic evacuation scenarios and large scale tests have provided meaningful data for the evacuation simulation.

Ultrafast coherent control and quantum encoding of molecular vibrations in D2+ using intense laser pulses

Intense, few-femtosecond pulse technology has enabled studies of the fastest vibrational relaxation processes. The hydrogen group vibrations can be imaged and manipulated using intense infrared pulses. Through numerical simulation, we demonstrate an example of ultrafast coherent control that could be effected with current experimental facilities, and observed using high-resolution time-of-flight spectroscopy. The proposal is a pump-probe-type technique to manipulate the D2+ ion with ultrashort pulse sequences. The simulations presented show that vibrational selection can be achieved through pulse delay. We find that the vibrational system can be purified to a two-level system thus realizing a vibrational qubit. A novel scheme for the selective transfer of population between these two levels, based on a Raman process and conditioned upon the delay time of a second control-pulse is outlined, and may enable quantum encoding with this system.

Challenges in elevated CO2 experiments on forests

Current forest Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments are reaching completion. Therefore, it is time to define the scientific goals and priorities of future experimental facilities. In this opinion article, we discuss the following three overarching issues (i) What are the most urgent scientific questions and how can they be addressed? (ii) What forest ecosystems should be investigated? (iii) Which other climate change factors should be coupled with elevated CO2 concentrations in future experiments to better predict the effects of climate change? Plantations and natural forests can have conflicting purposes for high productivity and environmental protection. However, in both cases the assessment of carbon balance and how this will be affected by elevated CO2 concentrations and the interacting climate change factors is the most pressing priority for future experiments.

Avaliação do desempenho e de parâmetros gastrintestinais de frangos de corte alimentados com dietas formuladas com sorgo alto tanino e baixo tanino

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Follow-up of the Development of Femoral Degeneration Lesions in Broilers

A study was carried out in the experimental facilities of FMVZ/UNESP-Botucatu, with the aim of following-up the development and the incidence of femoral degeneration (FD). A total of 305 one-day-old male broilers were housed in six pens of 5m(2) each. Histological analyses of femur head collected when broilers were 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days of age were carried out. At 42 days of age, 30 birds were taken to the experimental processing plant of FMVZ for leg gross examination. Ten legs per FD score where selected, and histologically analyzed to determine the most probable age at the beginning of the lesions, and to standardize femoral degeneration lesion scores. The histological results showed that cell architecture started to disorganize at 21 days of age in the resting and proliferation zones, and that angiogenesis increased, invading the joint cartilage, The gross lesion indexes due to femoral degeneration were 22.5%, 42.5%, and 65% at 28, 35, and 42 days of age, respectively.

Femur Mineral Density of Broilers with Femoral Degeneration Fed High Nutritional Density Diets

A study was carried out in the experimental facilities of FMVZ/UNESP-Botucatu, with the aim of following-up the development and the incidence of femoral degeneration (FD). A total of 305 one-day-old male broilers were housed in six pens of 5m(2) each. A completely randomized experimental design, with 3 treatments (T1-traditional nutritional density diet; T2-high nutritional density diet) of 3 replicates each was applied. Femoral head of the broilers were submitted to gross examination at 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days of aged. At 42 days of age, 60 birds (30 per treatment) were submitted to the Veterinary Hospital of FMVZ to determine bone mineral density by radiography. Birds were then sacrificed for gross examination of the legs, and FD scoring. Five legs per treatment within each FD score were submitted to computed tomography for femur head integrity and bone mineral density. Treatments did not influence FD incidence, and the first gross FD lesions appeared when birds were 28 days old. It was concluded that radiographic optical densitometry and computed tomography are efficient methods to evaluate femoral degeneration, and both techniques expressed the same profile. In addition, using radiographic optical densitometry and computed tomography, these results also allowed us to establish bone mineral density value ranges within each gross FD score. These finding may provide an excellent non-invasive tool to describe femoral degeneration.

Application of Ultraintense Lasers to validate materials for laser fusion: production of ions and other relevant species

Justification of the need and demand of experimental facilities to test and validate materials for first wall in laser fusion reactors - Characteristics of the laser fusion products - Current ?possible? facilities for tests Ultraintense Lasers as ?complete? solution facility - Generation of ion pulses - Generation of X-ray pulses - Generation of other relevant particles (electrons, neutrons..)