Probing Differences in Mass-Transfer Coefficients in Beaker and Stirrer Digestion Systems and the USP Dissolution Apparatus 2 Using Benzoic Acid Tablets

Measurements of external mass-transfer coefficients for dissolution have been made with benzoic acid tablets with a diameter of 13 mm and approximately 3 mm thick, using two different dissolution systems. One system has been a beaker with a platform for the tablet and either 80 mL or 120 mL of water, with three different types of stirrers, and the other has been a USP dissolution apparatus 2 (paddle) with either 200 mL or 900 mL water. Various stirring speeds have also been used in the different pieces of equipment. The same mass-transfer coefficient may potentially be obtained from the same tablet by adjusting the operating conditions in the two different devices. The ranges of the external mass-transfer coefficients measured in both devices overlapped significantly, with the range being 0.193–4.48 × 10−5 m s−1 in the beaker and stirrer system and 0.222–3.45 × 10−5 m s−1 in the USP dissolution apparatus 2. Dimensional analysis of the results, using Sherwood and Reynolds numbers, shows that the Ranz–Marshall correlation provides a lower bound for estimates of the Sherwood numbers measured experimentally. Calculations of time constants for mass transfer suggest that mass transfer may be a rate-limiting step for dissolution and food digestion under some circumstances. The range of mass-transfer coefficients measured here is representative of other measurements from the literature, and the use of the Ranz–Marshall correlation supports the suggestion that this range of values should be generally expected in most situations.

Cr (III) Removal Capacity in Aqueous Solution in Relation to the Functional Groups Present in the Orange Peel (Citrus sinensis)

Bioremediation is a pollutant removal method that has had a great boom due to the diversity of agroindustrial waste that can be used for this purpose, and that has shown having great efficiency and profitability in the adsorption of heavy metals, such as Pb, Cu, and Co. Based on the above, the present work carried out kinetic and equilibrium studies of bioadsorption of Cr (III) using orange peel (OP) as adsorbent, previously treated with methanol, water, and a water–methanol mixture at different pH (0.91, 1.78 and 2.72), and at 30 °C, finding that the adsorption capacity at equilibrium increases with increasing pH, having a maximum of 55 mg g−1 at pH 2.72—under these conditions, lower adsorption energy was used to remove Cr (III). In addition, it was determined that there are no external mass transfer limitations. An isoelectric point analysis indicated that the adsorption is not carried out by electrostatic forces and a FTIR study of the functional groups of OP showed a decrease in the main functional groups (pectin, cellulose, and lignin, among others), which is directly related to the adsorption capacity of the bioadsorbent.

The Need for Accurate Osmotic Pressure and Mass Transfer Resistances in Modeling Osmotically Driven Membrane Processes

The widely used van ’t Hoff linear relation for predicting the osmotic pressure of NaCl solutions may result in errors in the evaluation of key system parameters, which depend on osmotic pressure, in pressure-retarded osmosis and forward osmosis. In this paper, the linear van ’t Hoff approach is compared to the solutions using OLI Stream Analyzer, which gives the real osmotic pressure values. Various dilutions of NaCl solutions, including the lower solute concentrations typical of river water, are considered. Our results indicate that the disparity in the predicted osmotic pressure of the two considered methods can reach 30%, depending on the solute concentration, while that in the predicted power density can exceed over 50%. New experimental results are obtained for NanoH2O and Porifera membranes, and theoretical equations are also developed. Results show that discrepancies arise when using the van ’t Hoff equation, compared to the OLI method. At higher NaCl concentrations (C > 1.5 M), the deviation between the linear approach and the real values increases gradually, likely indicative of a larger error in van ’t Hoff predictions. The difference in structural parameter values predicted by the two evaluation methods is also significant; it can exceed the typical 50–70% range, depending on the operating conditions. We find that the external mass transfer coefficients should be considered in the evaluation of the structural parameter in order to avoid overestimating its value. Consequently, measured water flux and predicted structural parameter values from our own and literature measurements are recalculated with the OLI software to account for external mass transfer coefficients.

Kinetics Study of the Hydrodeoxygenation of Xylitol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 Catalyst

In this study, we elucidate the reaction kinetics for the simultaneous hydrodeoxygenation of xylitol to 1,2-dideoxypentitol and 1,2,5-pentanetriol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 (2.0 weight% Re, 0.30 weight% Pd) catalyst. The reaction was determined to be a zero-order reaction with respect to xylitol. The activation energy was elucidated through an Arrhenius relationship as well as non-Arrhenius kinetics. The Arrhenius relationship was investigated at 150–170 °C and a constant H2 pressure of 10 bar resulting in an activation energy of 48.7 ± 10.5 kJ/mol. The investigation of non-Arrhenius kinetics was conducted at 120–170 °C and a sub-Arrhenius relation was elucidated with activation energy being dependent on temperature, and ranging from 10.2–51.8 kJ/mol in the temperature range investigated. Internal and external mass transfer were investigated through evaluating the Weisz–Prater criterion and the effect of varying stirring rate on the reaction rate, respectively. There were no internal or external mass transfer limitations present in the reaction.

Sorption behavior and mechanism of oxytetracycline from simulated wastewater by Amberlite IR-120 resin

The adsorption of oxytetracycline from aqueous solution by the resin Amberlite IR 120 was studied. The effect of different experimental parameters such as contact time, initial concentration of OTC 40–200 mg/l, initial pH 2–12 of aqueous solution, adsorbent dose 0.5–3 g/l, and stirring speed 100–700 rpm on the adsorption of OTC were investigated. The kinetic adsorption experimental results were analyzed using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and Elovich kinetic models. The adsorption process was found to follow a pseudo-second order kinetic model and the corresponding rate constants were obtained. A film-pore diffusion (FPD) mass transfer model has been developed to predict the concentration distribution in the fluid phase, based on the external mass transfer coefficient and the effective diffusion coefficient. The values of the external mass transfer coefficient (βL) and effective diffusion coefficient (Deff) were found to decrease with increasing OTC concentration. The comparison between the experimental and the theoretical curves allowed us to note that the film-pore diffusion mass transfer model gave a good agreement with the experimental data for all the values of initial OTC concentration.

Evaluation of effective diffusivity correlations for soybeans in thin layer drying

Soybean is one of the main crops in the world and drying plays an important role in maintaining the quality of the grains. The present study aimed to evaluate different existing models regarding the ability to predict the effective diffusivity of soybeans, an important parameter in studies of the operation. The slope method was used to determine the effective diffusivity, starting from the second Fick's Law, with negligible shrinkage and external mass transfer resistance. The parameter was analyzed as being dependent on both temperature and moisture content. The correlation proposed by Dotto et al. (2018) was the one with the lowest average error (0.048%) for the consideration of an average effective diffusivity. In order to consider a punctual effective diffusivity, modifications were made to the Dotto model, providing a maximum error of 2.6%.