Search results for "paper industry"

Design and Implementation of a Smart System to Control Aromatic Herb Dehydration Process

2020

Drying is a process aimed at reducing the water content in plant materials below a limit where the activity of microbes and decomposing enzymes deteriorate the quality of medicinal and aromatic plants. Today, the interest of consumers towards medicinal and aromatic herbs has registered a growing trend. This study aims at designing a low-cost real-time monitoring and control system for the drying process of aromatic herbs and evaluating drying efficacy on the microbial community associated with the studied herbs. Hot-air drying tests of sage and laurel leaves were carried out in a dryer desiccator cabinet at 40 &deg

Utilization of lignin powder for manufacturing self-binding HDF

2017

Abstract The preparation of self-binding lignocellulosic fibreboards has been investigated. Different high-density fibreboards (HDF) were hot-pressed based on a mixture of grey alder (Alnus incana L. Moench) wood chips processed by steam explosion auto-hydrolysis (SE) and 15% or 25% lignin content from three different industrial sources: softwood kraft lignin (SWKL), soda wheat straw lignin (SoWhStL) and hydrolysis wheat straw lignin (HWhStL). Density, thickness swelling (TS) after immersion in water for 24 h, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and strength of internal bond (IB) of the board samples were determined. The amount (15% or 25%) and moisture content (MC) (18±1%…

Intermittent Aeration in a Hybrid Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor for Carbon and Nutrient Biological Removal

2020

The paper presents an experimental study on a lab scale hybrid moving bed biofilm reactor with intermittent aeration. Specifically, a comparison between two different operating conditions was analyzed: continuous and intermittent aeration. Both continuous and intermittent aeration were monitored and compared in order to get the best operational conditions. The intermittent aeration campaign was sub-divided in three phases with different duration of alternation of aerobic and anoxic times and organic and nitrogen loading rates. The efficiency of N-removal improved by 70% during the intermittent aeration. The best condition was observed with 40 min of aeration and 20 min of no-aeration, an or…

Analysis of optimal temperature, pressure and binder quantity for the production of biocarbon pellet to be used as a substitute for coke

2019

In order to contribute to the decarbonization of the economy, efficient alternatives to coal and coke should be found not only in the power sector but also in the industrial sectors (like steel, silicon and manganese production) in which coal and coke are used as a reductant and for steel production also as a fuel. To this aim many research works have been focused on the development of a coke substitute based on woody biomass and known as “biocarbon”. There are still barriers to overcome, among them: the biocarbon low density, poor mechanical strength and high reactivity. In this paper a new biocarbon production methodology is proposed, based on: pyrolysis at 600 °C, densification (using py…

Metal distribution in the process of lignocellulosic ethanol production from heavy metal contaminated sorghum biomass

2016

Effect of torrefaction on properties of pellets produced from woody biomass

2020

Torrefaction has been recognized as a promising strategy to improve handling and storage properties of wood-based pellets, thus producing a uniform-quality commodity with high energy density and hydrophobicity. In this work, pellets produced from spruce stem wood, bark, and forest residues were torrefied in a bench-scale tubular reactor at 225 and 275 °C with two residence times (30 and 60 min). The effects of torrefaction on general properties, grindability, mechanical properties, hydrophobicity, and microstructure of the studied pellets were investigated. The increase of torrefaction severity reduced mass yields, but the heating values and the fixed carbon content of the torrefied pellets…

Characterization of renewable reductants and charcoal-based pellets for the use in ferroalloy industries

2018

This study investigates the effect of high-temperature pyrolysis and post-treatment processes on spruce and oak charcoal yields and CO2 reactivity in a slow pyrolysis reactor. Post-treatment processes such as co-pyrolysis of biomass and recirculated tar mixture with that to the distillation of the charcoal-tar blend gave similar increase in charcoal yields. From a technological standpoint, co-pyrolysis of charcoal and tar mixture decreased the CO2 reactivity of the charcoal approaching that of fossil-based coke. This emphasize the importance of tar addition and high temperature treatment on charcoal properties. Moreover, the findings of this work show the potential use of the tar organic fr…

Regarding the influence of the particle size of crumb rubber from waste rubber on the physical and mechanical characteristics of reclaimed rubber

2017

Thus, at present, a large amount of rubber waste cannot be higher harnessed due to recovery technologies used. Also, the requirements for new products of rubber worldwide are greater than the production capacity and the availability of raw materials. To offset this balance is necessary to improve technologies for recycling waste rubber so to can get regenerated rubber with the best mechanical physical characteristics. The main technology for obtaining the regenerated rubber is based on the rubber waste shredding and making the powder, so that it can be carried out de-vulcanization in autoclave. All the time it was monitored as the de-vulcanization process to be as economical and less pollut…

Analysis of uncontrolled phosphorus precipitation in anaerobic digesters under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions.

2019

This study compares the operation of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and their effects in uncontrolled phosphorus precipitation. The research has been carried out using a pilot plant consisting of two digesters of 1.6 m3 working volume, treating the mixed sludge of Alzira WWTP (Valencia, Spain). The digesters were operated in parallel, at different conditions: mesophilic (38 ± 2.0°C) and thermophilic (55 ± 2.5°C) temperatures and organic loading rates (OLR) ranging from 1.1 to 1.7 kg volatile solids (VS) m−3 d−1 and different hydraulic retention times (HRT) 20, 15 and 12 days. Uncontrolled precipitation was evaluated through P, Mg and Ca mass balances in bot…

Evaluation of Sewage Sludge for Further Nutrient Conservation

2020

Conversion of organic-containing sludges to a high value fertilizer is considered to be a rational solution from a recycling point of view. Aerobic respiration could serve as an indicator of stability and maturity of the treated sewage sludge (SS). The aim of this study was to characterize two SS samples, obtained from different wastewater treatment plants („D” and „J”), i.e, at the initial stage of treatment, alone and with amendments. Two methods for estimation of microbial respiration, as well as dehydrogenase activity were used. The SS-J demonstrated the higher microbial biodegradation activity, as compared to SS-D. In experiments with OxiTop® device, statistically significant (p<0.0…