Search results for "Process Engineering"

Sodium ions models cheeses at molecular and macroscopic levels

2009

National audience; The excessive consumption of sodium is one of the causes of nutritional related-health problems. The reduction of salt content without affecting technological and sensorial properties of foodstuffs is currently a challenge for the food industry1. There is a need to develop tools to quantify the “active” sodium ions in food products at molecular and macroscopic levels to better understand in-mouth salt release and flavour perception. In this context, methods for the quantification of the bound fraction were developed: 23Na NMR single-quantum (SQ) and double-quantum-filtered (DQF) sequences at molecular level using Bruker Avance-500 spectrometer equipped with 10 mm probe 2,…

Initial approaches in benchmarking and round robin testing for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers

2019

Abstract As ever-increasing amounts of renewable electricity enter the energy supply mix on a regional, national and international basis, greater emphasis is being placed on energy conversion and storage technologies to deal with the oscillations, excess and lack of electricity. Hydrogen generation via proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is one technology that offers a pathway to store large amounts of electricity in the form of hydrogen. The challenges to widespread adoption of PEM water electrolyzers lie in their high capital and operating costs which both need to be reduced through R&D. An evaluation of reported PEMWE performance data in the literature reveals that there …

Water-soluble polysaccharides from Opuntia stricta Haw. fruit peels: Recovery, identification and evaluation of their antioxidant activities

2015

Abstract Opuntia stricta Haw. is considered as one of the most common cactus plant growing in Tunisia. Extracting valuable compounds from its fruit peel, considered as by-product, is drawing more and more attention, making it on the verge of commercialization. Water-soluble polysaccharides were extracted from Opuntia stricta Haw. peels, and their chemical composition assessed using thin layer chromatography. The antioxidant activities of the extracted polysaccharides were assessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity and reducing power capacity. The extraction yield of water-soluble polysaccharides was 7.53±0.86%. The chemical comp…

1978

A reaction vessel automatically controlled by magnetic valves is described which allows kinetic measurements of reactions with half lives t1/2≥2s by gravimetric determination of the conversion. Thus, it covers the gap between the flow tube and the conventional reaction vessel. The influence of mixing time and filling time on the molecular weight distribution of an anionically prepared polymer is discussed.

Interfacial tension between polymer-containing liquids - Predictability and influences of additives

1999

The first part of the contribution deals with the interfacial tension, σ, of phase-separated polymer solutions in single or mixed solvents and of binary polymer blends as a function of the relative distance to the critical temperature of the system, special attention being paid to the possibilities of theoretical prediction. Two methods are discussed in more detail. One is based on a realistic description of the Gibbs energy of mixing as a function of composition, the second correlates σ with the length of the measured tie line. The second part is devoted to another aspect, namely the effects of additives on the interfacial tension between the coexisting phases of demixed polymer solutions …

Performance-based characterization of recycled polymer modified asphalt mixture

2021

Due to the introduction of secondary materials, the asphalt mixtures to be designed and tested in our laboratories are constantly becoming much more complex than traditional asphalt mixtures making difficult to use conventional laboratory procedure and/or predict expected results. This study proposes a comprehensive characterization of asphalt mixture modified with recycled polymer compound by using both wet and dry process proposing adjustments to laboratory mixing and sample compaction procedure. Accordingly, three AC20 Hot Asphalt Mixture (HMA) were designed and their conventional and performance related properties were assessed by looking at a) Indirect Tensile test (ITS) a) moisture da…

UV-Free Microfluidic Particle Fabrication at Low Temperature Using ARGET-ATRP as the Initiator System

2016

Mechanical behaviour of Mater-Bi/wood flour composites: a statistical approach

2008

Interest in biocomposites (lignocellulosic filled biopolymers) started in the 90s, due to environmental advantages, related to the full biodegradability of both matrix and filler, economical issues (organic fillers usually come from sawmill or agriculture wastes) and aesthetical issues (wood filled biopolymers could be particularly pleasant if used for indoor furnishing and automotive interior). In this work, a method for a systematic study of the properties of Mater-Bi®/wood flour composites is presented. A two-level full factorial model was built. It allows investigating the effects of multiple operative variables on the observed properties, their contributions, their optimal combinations…

Structured Nanoparticles from the Self-Assembly of Polymer Blends through Rapid Solvent Exchange

2017

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study systematically the rapid mixing of a polymer blend in solution with a miscible nonsolvent. In agreement with experiments, we observe that polymers self-assemble into complex nanoparticles, such as Janus and core-shell particles, when the good solvent is displaced by the poor solvent. The emerging structures can be predicted on the basis of the surface tensions between the polymers as well as between the polymers and the surrounding liquid. Furthermore, the size of the nanoparticles can be independently tuned through the mixing rate and the polymer concentration in the feed stream; meanwhile, the composition of the nanoparticles can be c…

On the Stability of Polymeric Nanoparticles Fabricated through Rapid Solvent Mixing.

2018

We study the stability of polymeric nanoparticles fabricated through the rapid mixing of polymers in a good solvent with a poor solvent that is miscible with the good solvent. In previous experiments where water was used as the poor solvent, a negative surface charge was measured on the precipitated nanoparticles, which led to the long-time stability of the dispersion. It was argued that these charges originate presumably from either water or hydroxide adsorption at the hydrophobic nanoparticle surface or from impurities in the feed streams that preferentially adsorb on the precipitated nanoparticles. To elucidate the origin of this stabilization mechanism, we performed experiments wherein …