Accumulation pattern of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using Plantago lanceolata L. as passive biomonitor

Biomonitors are considered a cheap alternative of active air samplers, especially where spatial pattern of air quality is to be monitored, requiring numerous parallel measurements. Of higher plants, Plantago lanceolata L. has been proven a good monitor species with proper accumulation capacity. While biomonitoring studies are difficult to compare due to inherent errors such as the diverse plant material used in different studies, the No. 227 OECD GUIDELINE FOR THE TESTING OF CHEMICALS: Terrestrial Plant Test: Vegetative Vigour Test provides a tool to test extract of aerosol samples under controlled laboratory conditions. In our study, this guideline was followed to experimentally treat Plantago with the aqueous extract of a diesel exhaust sample. Accumulation pattern of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was assessed and compared to samples collected in the field. Unlike most studies reported in the literature, both in the experimentally treated and field Plantago samples, high ratio of high molecular weight PAHs was experienced. Distribution pattern of accumulated PAHs showed strong correlation between the experimentally treated sample and most of the field plantain samples, underlying the usefulness of laboratory treatments for bioaccumulation studies.

The Use of Waste Sorbents for Surface Wastewater Treatment to Intensify Plant Growth

The possibility of using sorbents from FOPS® filters, spent in the processes of purification of surface wastewater, is shown to intensify the growth of radish plants of the “French breakfast” variety. The ability of these waste sorbents, introduced into soil-ground substrates (SGS) as structure-forming additives enriched with microelements, was found to significantly stimulate the development of the root system with some slight inhibition of shoot growth. In the course of the experiments, the optimal value of the addition of sorbents spent in the processes of cleaning surface runoff (from roads) to the SGS was determined, which provides the greatest increase in the biomass of the root system of plants used as a test culture. It has been established that the accumulation of heavy metals (HMs) in the leaves and roots of a plant test culture increases with an increase in their content in the spent sorbents, but the actual concentrations of HMs in plants do not exceed the standards for their content in robust feed for animal husbandry. An assessment was made of the use of sorbents spent in water purification processes to create soil used in the reclamation of landfills for the placement of solid municipal waste, industrial dumps, road slopes, as well as in the restoration of forest resources and soil remediation.

Investigation of the toxic potential of canned cauliflower puree extract in a model plant test system

Для здорового питания необходимы продукты растительного происхождения, которые обладают питательной и биологической ценностью. Однако в составе растительного сырья представлена большая группа биологически активных соединений, благодаря которым возникает необходимость комплексного контроля качества и безопасности готовой продукции. Целью исследования являлась оценка потенциальной токсичности экстракта консервированного пюре из цветной капусты и его смеси с сорбиновой кислотой при помощи биотестирования. Работа выполнена на корнях репчатого лука Allium cepa . Исследование включало измерение в тканях корней уровня прироста биомассы и концентрации малонового диальдегида (МДА) в качестве биомаркера перекисного окисления липидов, а также анализ природы и частоты пролиферативных и цитогенетических нарушений в клетках меристемы после обработки водным экстрактом пюре (0,1, 0,02 и 0,01 %) и его смесью с сорбиновой кислотой (100 мг/л). Инкубация корней в 0,1%-ном экстракте сопровождалась токсическим эффектом в отношении прироста массы корней (задержка на 62 %). Было показано, что при разбавлении экстракта этот токсичный эффект нивелировался. Однако в случае добавления к экстракту сорбиновой кислоты даже при его десятикратном разбавлении торможение прироста оказалось необратимым. Была также зафиксирована дозозависимая цитотоксичность экстракта, при этом скорость снижения митотического индекса была выше аналогичного показателя массы прироста корней. В смеси всех вариантов концентраций экстракта и консерванта делящиеся клетки практически отсутствовали. Экстракт, в отличие от сорбиновой кислоты, не повышал уровень перекисного окисления липидов, а наоборот, дозозависимо снижал концентрацию МДА после обработки корней в комбинации с этим консервантом благодаря возможному наличию в своем составе антиоксидантных соединений. Полученные результаты могут быть использованы при разработке растительных пищевых добавок и новых продуктов питания для снижения риска возникновения токсичных эффектов.

The STEP 10 MWe sCO2 Pilot Demonstration Status Update

The Gas Technology Institute (GTI®), Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) and General Electric Global Research (GEGR) are executing the “STEP” [Supercritical Transformational Electric Power] project, to design, construct, commission, and operate an integrated and reconfigurable 10 MWe sCO2 [supercritical CO2] pilot plant test facility. The $122* million project is funded $84 million by the US DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL Award Number DE-FE0028979) and $38* million (*including building investment) by the team members, component suppliers and others interested in sCO2 technology. This paper provides an update on the project’s progress. The pilot facility is currently under construction at SwRI’s San Antonio, Texas, USA campus. Now well into Phase 2, a ground-breaking was held in October of 2018, and civil work and the construction of a dedicated 22,000 ft2 building is complete. Most major equipment is in fabrication or delivered to site. Efforts have already provided valuable project learnings for technology commercialization. This project is a significant step toward sCO2 cycle based power generation commercialization and is informing the performance, operability, and scale-up to commercial plants.

Design, Plant Test and CFD Calculation of a Turbocharger for a Low-Speed Engine

Various approaches and techniques are used to design centrifugal compressors. These are engineering one-dimensional and quasi-three-dimensional programs, as well as CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs. The final judgment about the effectiveness of the design is given by testing the compressor or its model. A centrifugal compressor for an internal combustion engine turbocharger was designed jointly by the Research Laboratory “Gas Dynamics of Turbomachines” of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) and RPA (Research and Production Association) “Turbotekhnika”. To check its dimensionless characteristics, the compressor was tested with two geometrically similar impellers with a diameter of 175 (TKR 175E) and 140 mm (TKR 140E). The mathematical model of the Universal Modeling Method calculates the efficiency in the design mode for all tests of both compressors with an error of 0.89%, and the efficiency for the entire characteristic with an error of 1.55%. The characteristics of the TKR 140E compressor were calculated using the ANSYS commercial CFD software. For TKR-140E, a significant discrepancy in the value of the efficiency was obtained, but a good agreement in the area of operation, which was not achieved in previous calculations. According to the calculation, the work coefficient is overestimated by 9%, which corresponds to the results of previous calculations by the authors.