0000000000070613
AUTHOR
Brucato A.
Supercritical water gasification of waste oils as a source of syngas
A huge amount of waste oil is produced worldwide. Also substantial amount of virgin oils is available that are interesting candidates for upgrading into syngas. Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) can be considered as an aqueous phase reforming process to produce syngas from oils. In this work, a variety of waste and virgin oils were gasified in a continuous down-flow autoclave reactor at supercritical conditions. Experiments were carried out at 430 °C and 660 °C, 25 MPa, with a residence time in the range 103-170 s, in order to investigate gasification and carbon efficiency, hydrogen yield and composition of the produced gas. All the analysed feedstocks were suspended in water at vario…
Pollutants removal from municipal sewage by means of microalgae
Microalgae are microorganisms able to photosynthesize, namely transforming inorganic substrates and sun light into organic compounds and chemical energy. The industry of microalgae has expanded in the last decades and several applications are now developed, making their biomass interesting under an economic perspective. Nannochlopsis gaditana is one of the most interesting species already employed in industry because of its high content in lipids that could be employed as source for biodiesel synthesis but also in other fields such as cosmetic and pharmaceutic. One of the most promising application is the exploitation of microalgal grow for bioremediating wastewaters polluted with inorganic…
The multifaceted spectrum of liver cirrhosis in older hospitalised patients: Analysis of the REPOSI registry
Abstract Background Knowledge on the main clinical and prognostic characteristics of older multimorbid subjects with liver cirrhosis (LC) admitted to acute medical wards is scarce. Objectives To estimate the prevalence of LC among older patients admitted to acute medical wards and to assess the main clinical characteristics of LC along with its association with major clinical outcomes and to explore the possibility that well-distinguished phenotypic profiles of LC have classificatory and prognostic properties. Methods A cohort of 6,193 older subjects hospitalised between 2010 and 2018 and included in the REPOSI registry was analysed. Results LC was diagnosed in 315 patients (5%). LC was ass…
Civil Wastewater Remediation through Employment of Indigenous Microalgae and Sewage Sludge
Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can employ some inorganic pollutant compounds as nutrients, for example nitrates and phosphates. Traditional wastewater treatment comprises oxidation ponds in which the Activated Sludge performs the oxidation of the organic matter. Microalgae may be well applied in these processes. In this work, we tested the potential of remediation of a mixture of a local microalga, Chlorella sp. Pozzillo, and activated sludge and compared it to controls of only microalga and only activated sludge. We found that the mixture of bacteria and microalgae leads to an improvement in nitrogen removal up to the 83,68%, while phosphorous removal is improved when th…
Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of osteoporotic patients admitted in internal medicine wards in Italy between 2010 and 2016 (the REPOSI Register)
Purpose: To evaluate clinical features, treatments, and outcomes of osteoporotic patients admitted to internal medicine and geriatric wards compared with non-osteoporotic patients (REPOSI registry). Methods: We studied 4714 patients hospitalized between 2010 and 2016. We reported age, sex, educational level, living status, comorbidities and drugs taken, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), Barthel Index, Short-Blessed Test, 4-item Geriatric Depression Scale, serum hemoglobin, creatinine, and clinical outcomes. Osteoporosis was defined based on the diagnoses recorded at admission, according to the following ICD9: 733, 805-813, 820-823. Results: Twelve percent of the patients had a preadmi…
CFD simulation of radially stirred baffled and unbaffled tanks
Stirred tanks typically employed in process industries are provided with baffles. Although the presence of baffles is known to guarantee good mixing rates, unbaffled vessels may be compulsory in some applications as crystallization, bioremediation, biotechnology and ore industry. A better understanding of unbaffled stirred vessels flow dynamics may allow (i) a proper design to be performed and (i) conditions/processes where baffle presence can be avoided to be recognized. In the present study, the k-ω SST was used to simulate an unbaffled tank from early to fully turbulent regime (Re≈600-33,000). The unbaffled tank simulated has a diameter T=0.19m and is stirred by a standard six-bladed Rus…