Fire Investigation and Ignitable Liquid Residue Analysis

A fire investigation is a difficult and challenging task. An investigator's basic task at a fire scene is two-fold: first, to ascertain the origin of the fire and, second, to closely investigate the site of origin and try to determine what triggered a fire to start at or near that spot. Usually, an investigation would begin by attempting to obtain a general view of the site and the fire damage; this may be achieved at ground level or from an elevated location. Following this, one may examine the materials available, the fuel load, and the condition of the debris at different locations. Surprisingly, the science of fire investigation is not stagnant, and each year, more information to assist investigators in determining the location and cause of a fire by diligent observation of the scene and laboratory study of fire debris is released. This chapter is split into two sections. The first section discusses the general procedures to be used during a fire investigation, and the second section discusses laboratory analysis of ignitable liquid residue analysis.

Mixotrophic Cultivation of Microalgae in Cassava Processing Wastewater for Simultaneous Treatment and Production of Lipid-Rich Biomass

Cassava processing wastewater (CPW) is a highly polluting, liquid residue of cassava processing, usually discarded or treated anaerobically. However, it can serve as a low-cost culture medium for microalgae. After a preliminary evaluation of the growth of 10 microalgal strains in diluted CPW, the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis SAG 34−1b and Neochloris (Ettlia) oleoabundans UTEX 1185 were selected for cultivation in CPW without a supply of additional nutrients and evaluated for their growth, lipid production, and nutrients removal. Maximal biomass concentrations of 1.79 g·L−1 for H. pluvialis and 3.18 g·L−1 for N. oleoabundans were achieved with 25% CPW medium on the 13th day of growth. The algae H. pluvialis and N. oleoabundans removed 60.80 and 69.16% of the chemical oxygen demand, 51.06 and 58.19% of total nitrate, and 54.68 and 69.84% of phosphate, respectively. On average, lipid productivities reached 0.018 and 0.041 g·L−1 day−1 for H. pluvialis and N. oleoabundans, respectively. Therefore, cultivating these microalgae in diluted CPW is a promising treatment for cassava wastewater with simultaneous valuable biomass production.

Flow rate changes of drippers with dilutions of treated water produced by oil exploration in the Brazilian semiarid region

The liquid residue called “produced water” from the exploitation of oil in the ground and sea is generated in large volumes and has significant polluting potential. In the Brazilian semiarid region, this liquid can be applied to the agricultural lands, if properly treated and applied to the soil by dripping. It is an alternative that can mitigate water scarcity and impacts on the environment. However, the vulnerability of drippers to clogging is a problem and can be mitigated with the dilution technique. The flow rate changes of drippers for the application of dilutions of produced water treated (PW) with underground water (UW) was analyzed. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized split-split-plot design with three replications. Plots consisted of treatments (D1: 100% of UW, D2: 90% of UW and 10% PW, D3: 80% of UW and 20% of PW, D4: 70% of UW and 30% of PW and D5: 60% of UW and 40% of PW). The split-plots consisted of types of drippers (G1: 1.6 L h-1, G2: - 1.6 L h-1, G3: 1.7 L h-1) and split-split-plots consisted of evaluation times (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 h). Flow rate (D) and flow rate coefficient of variation (FCV) were taken every 40 hours untill 160 h. The results showed that the G3 emitter was the most resistant to clogging. The dilutions D2 and D3 provided the lowest losses in hydraulic performance in the drip units. The highest rates of clogging occurred in the G2 emitter operating in the D5 dilution

Influence of the geometry arc furnace steel taphole on production parameters of the casting and rolling complex of JSC VMZ

Currently the majority of modern electric arc furnaces (EAF) are equipped with bottom eccentric taphole system. This design allows to tap metal from EAF to ladle with the minimum amount of furnace slag, leaving a part of the liquid metal in EAF for subsequent heats (“liquid start”), if this residue is sufficient. In this case, taphole has several disadvantages: - it is not completely excluded that the oxidized furnace slag enters the ladle, especially with a low level of liquid residue in the EAF, the mass of captured slag in the ladle increases; - tapping time is unstable during taphole system campaign and depends on the wear of its constituent refractories; - periodically required to replace taphole refractories, thus it’s necessary to stop EAF. Under the conditions of the casting and rolling complex JSC “Vyksa Steel Works” work has carried out to change shape EAF’s taphole system, which made it possible to reduce the effect of these disadvantages on the efficiency of the EAF.

Beyond Sugar and Ethanol Production: Value Generation Opportunities Through Sugarcane Residues

Sugarcane is the most produced agricultural commodity in tropical and subtropical regions, where it is primarily used for the production of sugar and ethanol. The latter is mostly used to produce alcoholic beverages as well as low carbon biofuel. Despite well-established production chains, their respective residues and by-products present unexploited potentials for further product portfolio diversification. These fully or partially untapped product streams are a) sugarcane trash or straw that usually remain on the fields after mechanized harvest, b) ashes derived from bagasse combustion in cogeneration plants, c) filter cake from clarification of the sugarcane juice, d) vinasse which is the liquid residue after distillation of ethanol, and e) biogenic CO2 emitted during bagasse combustion and ethanol fermentation. The development of innovative cascading processes using these residual biomass fractions could significantly reduce final disposal costs, improve the energy output, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and extend the product portfolio of sugarcane mills. This study reviews not only the state-of-the-art sugarcane biorefinery concepts, but also proposes innovative ways for further valorizing residual biomass. This study is therefore structured in four main areas, namely: i) Cascading use of organic residues for carboxylates, bioplastic, and bio-fertilizer production, ii) recovery of unexploited organic residues via anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, iii) valorization of biogenic CO2 sources, and iv) recovery of silicon from bagasse ashes.

Non-Volatile Fraction Effects in Dispersed Vacuum Spray Flash Evaporation

Spray flash evaporation has been widely used in spray cooling and thermal distillation as a technology of heat/mass transfer enhancement. In a vacuum spray flash process, the vapor is instantly extracted by vacuuming, while the supersaturated droplets are further cooled by the continued spray flash until becoming saturated or discharged. Hence, in the evaporator, non-equilibrium exists not only in the flash evaporation driven by the pressure difference between droplet and ambient but also in the temperatures of yields, namely, generated vapor and discharged liquid with or without precipitates. To deeper understand such interesting thermal non-equilibrium between two phases in a spray flash evaporation of salty water, this paper establishes a multi-component spray flash evaporation model which coupled with diffusivity effect of non-volatile fraction, as well as the influence of spray polydispersion. An experimental system is also set up for evaporative coefficient determination, as well as model validation. The theoretical and experimental results meet a good agreement. It indicates the salinity and the superheat level of inlet feed have substantial impacts on such thermal non-equilibrium phenomenon of the temperature difference between the extracted vapor and the discharged liquid residue.

Continuous 3D printing from one single droplet

3D printing has become one of the most promising methods to construct delicate 3D structures. However, precision and material utilization efficiency are limited. Here, we propose a one-droplet 3D printing strategy to fabricate controllable 3D structures from a single droplet ascribing to the receding property of the three-phase contact line (TCL) of the resin droplet. The well-controlled dewetting force of liquid resin on the cured structure results in the minimization of liquid residue and the high wet and net material utilization efficiency in forming a droplet into a 3D structure. Additionally, extra curing induced protruding or stepped sidewalls under high printing speed, which require high UV intensity, can be prevented. The critical is the free contact surface property of the droplet system with the introduction of the receding TCL, which increased the inner droplet liquid circulation and reduces the adhesion properties among the liquid resin, cured resin, and resin vat.

Hydrothermal Carbonization as a Valuable Tool for Energy and Environmental Applications: A Review

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) represents an efficient and valuable pre-treatment technology to convert waste biomass into highly dense carbonaceous materials that could be used in a wide range of applications between energy, environment, soil improvement and nutrients recovery fields. HTC converts residual organic materials into a solid high energy dense material (hydrochar) and a liquid residue where the most volatile and oxygenated compounds (mainly furans and organic acids) concentrate during reaction. Pristine hydrochar is mainly used for direct combustion, to generate heat or electricity, but highly porous carbonaceous media for energy storage or for adsorption of pollutants applications can be also obtained through a further activation stage. HTC process can be used to enhance recovery of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorous in particular and can be used as soil conditioner, to favor plant growth and mitigate desertification of soils. The present review proposes an outlook of the several possible applications of hydrochar produced from any sort of waste biomass sources. For each of the applications proposed, the main operative parameters that mostly affect the hydrochar properties and characteristics are highlighted, in order to match the needs for the specific application.