Search results for "TP155"
showing 10 items of 116 documents
Poly lactic acid based scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering
2012
A critical obstacle encountered by tissue engineering is the inability to maintain large masses of living cells upon transfer from the in vitro culture conditions to host in vivo. Capillaries, and the vascular system, are required to supply essential nutrients, including oxygen, remove waste products and provide a biochemical communication "highway". The successful use of tissue-engineered constructs is currently limited to thin or avascular tissues, such as skin or cartilage, for which post-implantation neovascularisation from the host is sufficient to meet the demand for oxygen and nutrients. To succeed in the application of tissue engineering for bigger tissues, such as bone or muscle, t…
Electromembrane Processes: Experiments and Modelling
2021
This Special Issue of Membranes journal focuses on electromembrane processes and is motivated by the increasing interest of the scientific community towards their characterization by experiments and modelling for several applications [...]
Diffusion Dialysis for Separation of Hydrochloric Acid, Iron and Zinc Ions from Highly Concentrated Pickling Solutions
2020
Acid recovery from pickling waste solutions is an important step to enhance hot-dip-galvanizing industry process sustainability. Diffusion dialysis (DD) can be used to separate acids and heavy metals (e.g., iron and zinc) from pickling waters, promoting the circular use of such raw materials. In the present study, a laboratory scale unit operating in batch and a continuous large scale unit, both equipped with Fumasep anionic exchange membranes, were tested. Results obtained show that zinc and iron concentration affect the HCl recovery in opposite ways. Iron chlorides enhance acid recovery, while zinc chlorides considerably tend to diffuse through the membrane because of negatively charged c…
The acid–base flow battery : Sustainable energy storage via reversible water dissociation with bipolar membranes
2020
The increasing share of renewables in electric grids nowadays causes a growing daily and seasonal mismatch between electricity generation and demand. In this regard, novel energy storage systems need to be developed, to allow large-scale storage of the excess electricity during low-demand time, and its distribution during peak demand time. Acid–base flow battery (ABFB) is a novel and environmentally friendly technology based on the reversible water dissociation by bipolar membranes, and it stores electricity in the form of chemical energy in acid and base solutions. The technology has already been demonstrated at the laboratory scale, and the experimental testing of the first 1 kW pilot pla…
CFD Investigation of Spacer-Filled Channels for Membrane Distillation
2019
The membrane distillation (MD) process for water desalination is affected by temperature polarization, which reduces the driving force and the efficiency of the process. To counteract this phenomenon, spacer-filled channels are used, which enhance mixing and heat transfer but also cause higher pressure drops. Therefore, in the design of MD modules, the choice of the spacer is crucial for process efficiency. In the present work, different overlapped spacers are investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and results are compared with experiments carried out with thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC). Results are reported for different flow attack angles and for Reynolds numbers (Re) ran…
Particle distribution in unbaffled stirred vessels
2017
The present work is devoted to providing an insight into the solid-particle distribution within top-covered unbaffled stirred tanks via purposely collected local experimental data. Experiments were carried out on a lab- scale unbaffled stirred tank by making use of a recently introduced technique named Laser Sheet Image Analysis (LSIA). In its original formulation, the technique includes an image post-processing procedure to delete reflection effects on results. In the framework of the present work, a method combining the use of purposely produced fluorescent particles and a suitable camera high pass filter was devised and presented. Results collected with (new method) and without (old fash…
A Novel Ionic Exchange Membrane Crystallizer to Recover Magnesium Hydroxide from Seawater and Industrial Brines
2020
A novel technology, the ion exchange membrane crystallizer (CrIEM), that combines reactive and membrane crystallization, was investigated in order to recover high purity magnesium hydroxide from multi-component artificial and natural solutions. In particular, in a CrIEM reactor, the presence of an anion exchange membrane (AEM), which separates two-compartment containing a saline solution and an alkaline solution, allows the passage of hydroxyl ions from the alkaline to the saline solution compartment, where crystallization of magnesium hydroxide occurs, yet avoiding a direct mixing between the solutions feeding the reactor. This enables the use of low-cost reactants (e.g., Ca(OH)2) without …
Adaptive Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Control of Non-Linear Processes
2011
The main objective of this study is to provide a valid and effective approach for the design and development of an adaptive type-2 fuzzy controller (AT2FLC), based on the analysis of the nonlinear process dynamics and the use of an ANFIS technique for the optimization of the controller. The performance of the obtained AT2FLC, characterized by a few number of rules, is higher than the performance of a traditional type-2 fuzzy controller with a larger rule base. The proposed controller is particurarly suitable for the control of processes characterized by uncertainty and time varying parameters.
Experimental analysis of a continuously operated reverse electrodialysis unit fed with wastewaters
2017
Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is one of the most promising technologies to convert salinity gradient chemical energy into electricity. RED units are traditionally operated with natural streams as river water and seawater thereby limiting the spread of the technology in sites far from coastal areas. Aim of the present work is that of exploring and expanding feed possibilities for RED systems by employing waste streams. Thus, an experimental study was performed by testing, for the first time, a Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) unit fed with a high salinity wastewater originated in a fish canning factory, and a low salinity wastewater from a sewage treatment plant. Uninterrupted, long duration ex…
CFD Simulation of Mass Transfer Phenomena in Spacer Filled Channels for Reverse Electrodialysis Applications
2013
Salinity Gradient Power via Reverse Electrodialysis is a topic of primary importance nowadays. It allows getting energy from the “controlled” mixing of solutions at different salt concentration. The performance of this technology depends on many factors such as: components properties (i.e. membranes, spacers, electrodes), stack geometry, operating conditions and feeds features. Concentration polarization phenomena may significantly affect the actual membrane potential, thus reducing the gross power produced. On the other hand, C-polarization phenomena may significantly be reduced by suitably choosing the hydrodynamic regime within the stack. Such a choice may in turn significantly require h…