A low cost microcogeneration system for domestic and industrial applications

Author(s):  
P. Capaldi ◽  
A. Del Pizzo ◽  
L. Piegari ◽  
R. Rizzo
Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1301
Author(s):  
Federico Cavedo ◽  
Parisa Esmaili ◽  
Michele Norgia

A low-cost optical reflectivity sensor is proposed in this paper, able to detect the presence of objects or surface optical properties variations, at a distance of up to 20 m. A collimated laser beam is pulsed at 10 kHz, and a synchronous digital detector coherently measures the back-diffused light collected through a 1-inch biconvex lens. The sensor is a cost-effective solution for punctual measurement of the surface reflection at different distances. To enhance the interference immunity, an algorithm based on a double-side digital baseline restorer is proposed and implemented to accurately detect the amplitude of the reflected light. As results show, the sensor is robust against ambient light and shows a strong sensitivity on a wide reflection range. The capability of the proposed sensor was evaluated experimentally for object detection and recognition, in addition to dedicated measurement systems, like remote encoders or keyphasors, realized far from the object to be measured.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2299
Author(s):  
Jéssica P. Silva ◽  
Alonso R. P. Ticona ◽  
Pedro R. V. Hamann ◽  
Betania F. Quirino ◽  
Eliane F. Noronha

Lignocellulosic residues are low-cost abundant feedstocks that can be used for industrial applications. However, their recalcitrance currently makes lignocellulose use limited. In natural environments, microbial communities can completely deconstruct lignocellulose by synergistic action of a set of enzymes and proteins. Microbial degradation of lignin by fungi, important lignin degraders in nature, has been intensively studied. More recently, bacteria have also been described as able to break down lignin, and to have a central role in recycling this plant polymer. Nevertheless, bacterial deconstruction of lignin has not been fully elucidated yet. Direct analysis of environmental samples using metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics approaches is a powerful strategy to describe/discover enzymes, metabolic pathways, and microorganisms involved in lignin breakdown. Indeed, the use of these complementary techniques leads to a better understanding of the composition, function, and dynamics of microbial communities involved in lignin deconstruction. We focus on omics approaches and their contribution to the discovery of new enzymes and reactions that impact the development of lignin-based bioprocesses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guhankumar Ponnusamy ◽  
Hajar Farzaneh ◽  
Yongfeng Tong ◽  
Jenny Lawler ◽  
Zhaoyang Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractHeterogeneous catalytic ozonation is an effective approach to degrade refractory organic pollutants in water. However, ozonation catalysts with combined merits of high activity, good reusability and low cost for practical industrial applications are still rare. This study aims to develop an efficient, stable and economic ozonation catalyst for the degradation of Ibuprofen, a pharmaceutical compound frequently detected as a refractory pollutant in treated wastewaters. The novel three-dimensional network-structured catalyst, comprising of δ-MnO2 nanosheets grown on woven carbon microfibers (MnO2 nanosheets/carbon microfiber), was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach. Catalytic ozonation performance of Ibuprofen removal in water using the new catalyst proves a significant enhancement, where Ibuprofen removal efficiency of close to 90% was achieved with a catalyst loading of 1% (w/v). In contrast, conventional ozonation was only able to achieve 65% removal efficiency under the same operating condition. The enhanced performance with the new catalyst could be attributed to its significantly increased available surface active sites and improved mass transfer of reaction media, as a result of the special surface and structure properties of this new three-dimensional network-structured catalyst. Moreover, the new catalyst displays excellent stability and reusability for ibuprofen degradation over successive reaction cycles. The facile synthesis method and low-cost materials render the new catalyst high potential for industrial scaling up. With the combined advantages of high efficiency, high stability, and low cost, this study sheds new light for industrial applications of ozonation catalysts.


e-Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 613-623
Author(s):  
José Manuel Sandoval-Díaz ◽  
Francisco Javier Rivera-Gálvez ◽  
Marta Fernández-García ◽  
Carlos Federico Jasso-Gastinel

AbstractIn this work, for a semicontinuous emulsion polymerization reaction, it is shown that using a redox initiation system at 40°C, substantial modifications in copolymer chain composition with conversion can be easily obtained. To test controllable trajectories for comonomer feeding, linear and parabolic profiles were chosen to get different types of chain composition variations for the 50/50 w/w styrene/n-butyl acrylate system. For the “forced composition copolymers,” the molecular weight averages and distribution were obtained by size exclusion chromatography. The composition along conversion was followed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance to determine the weight composition distribution (WCD) of the copolymer chains. Mechanodynamic (dynamic-mechanical analysis), tensile, and hardness tests exhibited consistent results depending on the WCD that outcomes from the respective feeding profile. The results confirm that this methodology is of great potential for industrial applications when looking for synergy in copolymer properties, and low-cost processes.


Author(s):  
G A Parker ◽  
Y B Sun

The work presented in this paper deals mainly with a mechatronic approach to compact disc valve design and concentrates on improvements to the disc valve electromagnetic characteristics, the diaphragm design and the dynamic performance. A novel diaphragm-disc force motor has been successfully developed incorporating a pair of permanent ring magnets. It has the advantages of low electric power consumption at the null position, dual-lane electrical structure for fail-safe operation, high control accuracy and should be competitive with existing torque motors due to its low cost and simple construction. The research involved designing and testing a prototype disc pilot valve with a dual-lane operating mode. The test results showed that the valve has satisfactory static and dynamic characteristics for industrial applications.


Author(s):  
João Marcos Pereira Galúcio ◽  
Sorrel Godinho Barbosa de Souza ◽  
Arthur Abinader Vasconcelos ◽  
Alan Kelbis Oliveira Lima ◽  
Kauê Santana da Costa ◽  
...  

: Nanotechnology is a cutting-edge area with numerous industrial applications. Nanoparticles are structures that have dimensions ranging from 1–100 nm which exhibit significantly different mechanical, optical, electrical, and chemical properties when compared with their larger counterparts. Synthetic routes that use natural sources, such as plant extracts, honey, and microorganisms are environmentally friendly and low-cost methods that can be used to obtain nanoparticles. These methods of synthesis generate products that are more stable and less toxic than those obtained using conventional methods. Nanoparticles formed by titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, silver, gold, and copper, as well as cellulose nanocrystals are among the nanostructures obtained by green synthesis that have shown interesting applications in several technological industries. Several analytical techniques have also been used to analyze the size, morphology, hydrodynamics, diameter, and chemical functional groups involved in the stabilization of the nanoparticles as well as to quantify and evaluate their formation. Despite their pharmaceutical, biotechnological, cosmetic, and food applications, studies have detected their harmful effects on human health and the environment; and thus, caution must be taken in uses involving living organisms. The present review aims to present an overview of the applications, the structural properties, and the green synthesis methods that are used to obtain nanoparticles, and special attention is given to those obtained from metal ions. The review also presents the analytical methods used to analyze, quantify, and characterize these nanostructures.


Author(s):  
Shuzo Masui ◽  
Masaki Michihata ◽  
Kiyoshi Takamasu ◽  
Satoru Takahashi

Abstract Functional optical elements based on nano/micro-periodic structures have attracted much attention. Since the fabrication of these dual-periodic structures requires precise control of periodicity, the semiconductor process such as an electron beam lithography has been mainly employed. However, these techniques have problems with expensive and low throughput for industrial applications. Therefore, there remains a need for low cost and high throughput fabrication methods of dual-periodic structures. Then we developed a multi-exposure interference lithography (MEIL) system using rotational Lloyd’s mirror interferometer to overcome these problems. The advantages of interference lithography are a large processing area and low cost. Our developed rotational Lloyd’s mirror setup enables us to a highly precise superposition of multiple interference fringes by multi-exposure. Furthermore, we developed a measurement setup for reflective diffractive elements using a two axial rotating stage and measured the diffraction properties of the fabricated dual-periodic diffraction gratings. In this paper, as a demonstration, we succeeded in the fabrication of high-dispersion diffraction grating with an enhanced diffraction efficiency of the −3rd order light. The fabricated shapes have a periodicity of 1997 nm and 665 nm. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the intensity of the −3rd order light was enhanced by about 10 times compared to the single periodic grating.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Mallampati ◽  
Sreekanth Mandalapu ◽  
Govidarajulu C

The composite materials are replacing the traditional materials because oftheir superior properties such as high tensile strength, low thermal expansion, high strength to weight ratio, low cost, lightweight, high specific modulus, renewability and biodegradability which are the most basic & common attractive features of composites that make them useful for industrial applications. The developments of new materials are on the anvil and are growing day by day. The efforts to produce economically attractive composite components have resulted in several innovative manufacturing techniques currently being used in the composites industry. Generally, composites consist of mainly two phases i.e., matrix and fiber. In this study, woven roving mats (E-glass fiber orientation (-45°/45°,0°/90°, - 45°/45°),UD450GSM)were cut in measured dimensions and a mixture of Epoxy Resin (EPOFINE-556, Density-1.15gm/cm3), Hardener (FINE HARDTM 951, Density- 0.94 gm/cm3) and Acetone [(CH3)2CO, M= 38.08 g/mol] was used to manufacture the glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite by hand lay-up method. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, SEM analysis, hardness test, density tests are evaluated.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Cheng ◽  
Longjun Xu ◽  
Chenglun Liu ◽  
Zao Jiang ◽  
Qiyuan Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract In this work, red mud was used as raw material to extract Al and Fe with hydrochloric acid. The high-efficiency polyaluminum iron chloride (PAFC) flocculant was prepared via adjusting the pH of the leaching solution, the molar ratio of aluminum and iron, and the polymerization temperature. The effect of synthesis and flocculation conditions on the flocculation performance of aged landfill leachate was investigated. The results confirmed that the PAFC prepared at the polymerization pH of 2.5, the Al/Fe molar ratio of 8, and the polymerization temperature of 70 °C had the optimum flocculation effect. The flocculation consequences of PAFC and commercial polyaluminum iron chloride flocculant (CPAFC) under different flocculation conditions were compared. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), UV254, chroma and settlement height of PAFC at flocculant concentration of 60 g/L and solution pH of 6 were 72.2%, 79.2%, 82.9% and 9.5 cm (within 90 min), respectively. PAFC has excellent flocculation performance and can be used as a simple, potentially low-cost wastewater treatment agent in industrial applications.


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