Effect of aqueous solution of caffeine on serum level of superoxide dismutase in male Wister rats

Caffeine is an active ingredient of coffee (Nescafe) as one of the major sources of dietary antioxidant compounds which counteract the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are the main contributors to oxidative stress. This research is carried out to investigate the role of caffeine in modulating superoxide dismutase and caffeine’s contribution to aging. Forty five sexually matured albino rats with weights ranging from 120-200g were purchased from the animal house of the Department of Anatomy, University of Port Harcourt. These animals were divided into five groups according to their weights and were housed in fifteen well ventilated cages containing sawdust which serves as beddings for the comfort of the animals and for easy removal of their feaces. They were fed daily with animal feed, water ad libitum and allowed to acclimatize for a period of one week, after which their weights were taken and caffeine administration commenced.The results obtained showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the body weight of the animals on days 14 and 21 following the administration of 20mg/kg of the extract when compared with day 0 and a significant (p<0.05) increase in serum superoxide dismutase activity for 100mg/kg on day 14 when compared to the control. The findings of this study suggests that caffeine (NESCAFE) may have little or no significant effect on the activity of superoxide dismutase.

Flowing Refractometer for Feed Water State Control in the Second Loop of Nuclear Reactor

The necessity to control the feed water state in the second loop of a nuclear power plant nuclear reactor is justified. The different methods of the state control of flowing water in the pipeline are reviewed. It has been established that controlling the feed water state should not result in irreversible changes in its chemical composition and physical structure. A change in the composition or structure of feed water leads to a change in its heat capacity. The heat transfer deteriorates, the production of electrical energy in the installation decreases, and the additional release of heat into the atmosphere increases. This process also occurs during the heat capacity changes for other reasons. The method for controlling the feed water heat capacity by measuring the value of the refractive index n is developed. The design of a flow-through refractometer based on the total internal reflection for control of the feed water state in the stream is made. The dependence of the heat capacity change of feed water from the refractive index is established. The results of research on different types of water are presented.

Overview of common practices in calf raising facilities

In this literature review, we overview some of the common management practices associated with calf rearing in specialized operations of the United States. Given the growing importance of dairy-beef calves entering the beef production of the US, we overview aspects related to housing, nutrition, and health events during the pre- and post-weaning period. Based on data on dairy animals, we hypothesize how early life experiences could impact the feedlot performances of dairy-beef animals. Most of the large calf raising operations, where the majority of dairy-beef animals are raised, are located in the Central Great Plains and West regions of the US. Approximately 80% of calves are individually housed, but the type of housing (e.g., outside hutch, inside a barn) varies based on location of calf-raising facilities. Milk-replacer is fed in more than 80% of operations, while milk (saleable or non-saleable) is fed in approximately 30% of calf raising facilities (some operations fed more than one type of liquid diet). In addition to liquid feed, water and calf starter are offered ad libitum to calves. Adequate starter intake at weaning is crucial for feed transition from pre- to post-weaning period, which occurs at approximately 2 months of age. Then, calves are mainly housed in group pens and transition from calf-starter to total mixed ration (TMR). Health challenges such as scours, and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) can hinder the performance of calves and are major causes of morbidity and mortality in calf ranches. Transportation at a very young age and comingling with animals from other dairies can increase the risk of diseases. Current research efforts are focusing on determining individual factors such as body weight (BW) at arrival or biomarkers of inflammation and stress that can be predictive of disease morbidity, mortality, and performance of calves. Future research should focus on how to utilize this information to optimize management and to develop targeted preventative strategies to reduce incidence of diseases and mortality and improve performance during the pre-weaned period. Also, more research is needed to understand how colostrum management, housing, and nutrition can impact the adult performance of dairy-beef animals.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles for Concentrated Solar Power Plants: A Possible Alternative for Solar Desalination

This manuscript investigates the supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle employed in the power block of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants—solar tower—as an alternative for solar desalination, developed with either distillation or reverse osmosis. This concept is investigated as a possible up-scaling of the SOLMIDEFF project, originally based on a hot-air micro gas turbine combined with a solar dish collector. For the upscaled concept, five different sCO2 cycles are considered, chosen amongst the best-performing configurations proposed in the literature for CSP applications, and modelled with Thermoflex software. The influence of ambient conditions is studied, considering two minimum cycle temperatures (35 °C and 50 °C), corresponding to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Abu Dhabi, respectively. The results show that the low temperatures at the inlet of the heat rejection unit compromise the viability of distillation technologies. On the other hand, the high thermal efficiency achieved by these cycles, especially with the recompression and partial cooling layouts, reduces the specific energy consumption when combined with reverse osmosis (RO), below that of photovoltaic (PV)+RO. Feed-water preheating is explored as a solution to further reduce energy consumption, concluding that its actual interest is not clear and strongly depends on the location considered and the corresponding water quality standards.

Specific Features of the Replacement of the Available Flow Path by the Optimal Flow Path when Upgrading the Steam Turbine High-Pressure Cylinder

This scientific paper gives the main research data obtained during the solution of the search problem to define optimal parameter values for the thermal circuit of the К-540-23.5 turbine unit that would provide the most efficient operation both for the optimal version of the high pressure cylinder (HPC) as part of the turbine unit and the turbine unit on the whole. The effect of the distribution of heat differences in the stages of the optimal flow part of the high pressure cylinder used by the К-540-23.5 turbine on the integral quality factors of the turbine unit has been assessed. The calculation studies of the thermal circuit of the turbine unit with the optimal flow section of the high-pressure cylinder showed that the temperature of the underheated feed water in the high pressure heater (HPH) arranged near the steam generator has the most critical effect on the power and economical efficiency of the high pressure cylinder and entire turbine unit. The two-criterion Pareto problem for the upgrading of the turbine unit was formulated and solved to define optimal underheating temperature values. Consideration was given to the two variants of the solution of the optimization problem for the feed water underheating temperature in the high pressure heater. Comparison and analysis of the two variants of solution for the two-criterion optimization problem showed the identity of the obtained data and it confirms the correctness of the problem formulation and the algorithms used for its solution.

Modifikasi Proses Pengolahan Boiler Feed Water (BFW) dari All Volatile Treatment (AVT) menjadi Oxygenated Treatment (OT) untuk Produksi Listrik Ramah Lingkungan

In power plant industries, boiler feed water (BFW) quality becomes the main parameter for steam generation, which is used for electricity production. To generate standard BFW for power plants, each impurity within water resources should be removed to prevent corrosion and scale deposition by several processes such as sedimentation, coagulation, polishing, and deaeration. Operation conditions that involved high temperature would trigger corrosion as a crucial factor in the maintenance and practical lifetime of the equipment. In the beginning of the operation, PT. Cirebon Electric Power (CEP) used All Volatile Treatment–Reduction (AVT-R) by injection of both ammonia and hydrazine. In order to optimize the operation, the BFW treatment was changed to All Volatile Treatment–Oxidation (AVT-O) that only uses of ammonia and deaerator for removing the dissolved gas. Based on the actual evaluation, AVT technology showed less performance related to corrosion prevention and high chemical consumption. Therefore, PT. CEP tried to implement modification in the BFW treatment, which is AVT technology to Oxygenated Treatment (OT). This paper is to evaluate the effect of those modifications on corrosion prevention and resource-energy saving. The modification into OT showed valuable results that decrease concentration of dissolved Fe from 1 ppb to 0.1 ppb in the deaerator outlet stream. This data reveals that good corrosion prevention can be achieved through the creation of passive layers, hematite Fe2O3. Oxygen injection into the water circulation system yielded an oxidation atmosphere so that the passive layer, Fe2O3, was formed. In addition to corrosion prevention, this modification also cut the amount of ammonia injection into the system from 2 ppm to 0.12 ppm. Reduction of that ammonia injection provides other benefits such as decreasing the volume of resin regeneration, which becomes only twice a month. This situation also created other benefits such as reducing the regeneration water, chemicals, and wastewater. Thus, the modification could establish the electricity production by PT. CEP more environmentally friendly and sustainable.A B S T R A KPada operasi PLTU, kualitas boiler feed water (BFW) menjadi parameter yang krusial untuk menghasilkan steam yang akan digunakan untuk memproduksi listrik. Untuk mendapatkan BFW sesuai dengan standar yang ada, maka pengotor di dalam air baku industri harus dihilangkan karena dapat menyebabkan korosi dan pembentukan kerak, baik pada pipa maupun peralatan. Kondisi operasi yang melibatkan steam pada suhu tinggi menyebabkan korosi menjadi masalah yang krusial terutama terkait dengan maintenance dan umur efektif pabrik. Pada awal berdirinya, PT. Cirebon Electric Power (CEP) menggunakan teknologi All Volatile Treatment–Reduction (AVT-R) dengan injeksi amonia dan hidrazin. Selanjutnya, dilakukan optimasi melalui perubahan proses menjadi All Volatile Treatment–Oxidation (AVT-O) dengan hanya menginjeksikan amonia dan mengoptimalkan fungsi deaerator untuk menghilangkan pengotor dissolved gas. Berdasarkan data lapangan, teknologi AVT yang digunakan kurang memberikan pencegahan korosi yang baik dan juga jumlah bahan kimia yang digunakan masih relatif banyak. Agar lebih ramah lingkungan dan handal, PT. CEP berusaha untuk melakukan modifikasi terhadap pengolahan boiler feed water (BFW) dari yang semula menggunakan teknologi AVT-O menjadi Oxygenated Treatment (OT). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi dampak modifikasi sistem AVT menjadi OT pada pencegahan korosi dan juga penghematan sumber daya. Modifikasi sistem AVT-O menjadi OT berhasil menurunkan konsentrasi dissolved Fe dari 1 ppb menjadi 0,1 ppb pada BFW. Hal ini menunjukkan terjadinya peningkatan pencegahan korosi melalui pembentukan double protective layer yang merupakan kombinasi magnetite (Fe3O4) dan hematite (Fe2O3). Injeksi oksigen ke dalam sistem mengubah kondisi air menjadi suasana oksidasi sehingga mampu mengubah dan membentuk lapisan baru sebagai pencegahan korosi. Selain pencegahan korosi, modifikasi ini juga berhasil menurunkan jumlah injeksi amonia dari 2 ppm menjadi 0,12 ppm dalam siklus air yang ada. Penurunan jumlah injeksi amonia ini akan memberikan keuntungan beruntun berupa berkurangnya frekuensi regenerasi resin dari semula 8 menjadi 2 kali perbulan. Kondisi ini akan menghasilkan penghematan sumber daya berupa kebutuhan air untuk regenerasi, bahan kimia amonia, dan beban pencemaran. Oleh karena itu, modifikasi ini telah membuat proses produksi listrik di PT. CEP lebih ramah lingkungan dan berkelanjutan.Kata kunci: All Volatile Treatment (AVT); efisiensi energi; korosi boiler; Oxygenated Treatment (OT)

Evaluasi Manfaat Penggantian Chemical Amine N1800 menjadi N1805 dalam rangka Pengurangan Jejak Karbon

Inovasi berkelanjutan pada alat dan atau proses di dalam industri kimia untuk mencapai efisiensi dan industri yang ramah lingkungan wajib dilakukan. Dalam mendukung hal ini PT. KMI melakukan modifikasi proses dengan mengganti bahan neutralizing amine yang digunakan pada sistem boiler feed water. Penggantian amine dilakukan pada pertengahan tahun 2017, dari amine N1800 menjadi N1805. Data konsumsi amine dan air pelarut tahun 2015-2020 digunakan sebagai dasar evaluasi. Estimasi jumlah emisi juga dilakukan dengan menghitung kebutuhan air pelarut, drum kontainer bahan amine dan juga transportasi bahan dari produsen ke PT. KMI. Dari hasil perhitungan, dapat disimpulkan bahwa penggantian bahan amine dari N1800 ke N1805 memberikan benefit yang baik, yaitu: (1) menurunkan biaya tahunan untuk konsumsi amine, (2) menurunkan kebutuhan air pelarut dan beban pencemar air dan (3) menurunkan emisi secara signifikan. Penurunan emisi sebagian besar berasal dari penghematan penggunaan drum kontainer dan transportasi, sedangkan dari penurunan penggunaan air kurang signifikan.

CONCENTRATION OF SOLUBLE SALTS IN COOLING WATER OF POWER PLANTS WITH BLOW DOWN RECIRCULATION

The method for calculating the dynamics of concentration of soluble salts (tracers) using the assumption of their homogeneous distribution in the water volume of the circulated cooling system (CCS) under the conditions of recirculation of part of the purge water was proposed. The assumption of homogeneity of salt distribution is substantiated by the fact that the period of mixing of cold water (CW) in CCS is equal to several hours, and the period of setting the concentration limits is calculated in tens of days. In this approximation the law of change of concentration of tracers in time from the moment of their supply in CCS in modes without and with recirculation of a part of purge water and without any processing is received. It is shown that without recirculating treatment, recirculation of purge water increases the maximum salt concentration and the time to reach it. Attention is drawn to the fact that the flow rate consists of two parts: controlled and uncontrolled. When calculating the allowable amount of purge recirculation, it is necessary to use the value of the total purge flow. It is important to understand that the relative change in total purge is always less than the controlled one. To obtain the cost of full purge, it is necessary to calculate its uncontrolled part. The procedure for calculating the uncontrolled purge is given in the paper. Since there are restrictions for of maximum allowable concentration (MAC) on the concentrations of tracers in the CCS, the expressions obtained in this work are consistent with the requirements of the MAC and allow for a given degree of concentration of salts φ, to calculate the limit of recirculation flow. It is shown that the recirculation regime can be applied without additional measures for CCS with a low initial degree of salt concentration and low concentration in the feed water. The proposed algorithm is used to predict the results of recirculation in the case of a specific CСS for thermal power plants with an electrical capacity of 1200 MW and the ratio CMAC/C0 = 5. It is shown that in this case recirculation has significant economic and environmental effects. However, at high, concentrations of tracers C0, compared to MAC, feed water recirculation is meaningless. The calculation algorithm applies to tracers, i.e. salts that do not give deposits, but only limited by the MAC requirements and the risk of corrosion or environmental considerations. Therefore, the above technique cannot be directly used for sparingly soluble salts, such as calcium carbonate. In this case, it requires significant correction. Note the convenient use in calculations of the earlier introduced by us concept of regime (dynamic) factor φ, especially when comparing the real consumption of the main flows of ССS to calculated and in determining the evaporative capacity of cooling towers, or assessing the degree of salt concentration.

FEATURES OF WATER TREATMENT FOR BOILER ROOMS

Thousands of medium and low steam boilers and hot water boilers operate in the country's industry, municipal energy and agriculture. Their reliable operation is largely determined by the maintenance of a rational water-chemical regime. The main problems of source water are the presence of dissolved oxygen, iron ions, salts of calcium, and magnesium. The aim of the work is to analyze the existing technologies and equipment for water treatment for different types of boilers. Determination of physicochemical parameters and requirements for source and prepared water. Presentation of new multi-purpose energy-efficient and resource-saving water treatment equipment. The article considers the negative impact of dissolved iron, hardness salts, dissolved gases present in the feed water on the operation of boiler equipment. The main requirements for feed water in terms of hardness, the content of dissolved oxygen, and oils for steam and hot water boilers are given. The mechanism of scale formation is given. The main existing methods of feed water treatment are considered, namely softening on Na-cation exchange resin, liming, softening, and reduction of total salt content on reverse osmosis units, softening, and reduction of total salt content by the sequential passage of water through H, OH-ion exchange filters. A multi-purpose aeration-oxidation setup of rotor type (AORT) is presented, which implements the method of discrete-pulse energy input, on which it is possible to carry out operations to remove iron, manganese, hardness salts, increase pH and degassing from water.