A Comparison between Evaporation Ponds and Evaporation Surfaces as a Source of the Concentrated Salt Brine for Salt Gradient Maintenance at Tajoura’s Solar Pond

One of the main problems that negatively affect the operation of salt gradient solar ponds and influence its thermal stability is the maintenance of salt gradient profile. Evaporation pond (EP) is designed to generate the salt which is lost by upward salt diffusion from the lower convective zone (LCZ) of the solar pond. Another attractive method is the Evaporation Surface facility (ES). Regions with moderate to high precipitation favor Evaporation Surfaces over Evaporation Ponds. Dry climates will generally favor Evaporation Ponds for the brine re-concentration. This paper investigates the differences between (EP) and (ES) both as a source for salt brine generation by evaporation. The effect of (EP) depth on the area ratio and daily variations of salt concentrations for three years of operation is shown. Results show that evaporation can be a reasonable method for salt brine generation. Reducing the depth of (EP) improves the capability of (EP) for brine re-concentration. It also increases the (EP) surface area for the same quantity of saline water used. Therefore, ESs are more powerful than Eps in salt re-concentration.

The effect of additives on the shelf life of processed trout eggs

The fact that the diversity of species in the aquaculture sector is too low to compare with natural resources causes regional or excessive/unbalanced price decreases in aquaculture depending on supply and demand. In contrast to these price decreases, portion fish production costs are increasing year by year. This situation affects trout prices especially in Turkey, which is the biggest producer in Europe. It is important to develop delicate (tasty-delicate) products with a long shelf life for the Turkish consumer market. In this study, the effects of natural and synthetic additives were investigated to determine the longer shelf life of processed rainbow trout eggs. In this study, rainbow trout eggs obtained by stripping were cleaned with 10% brine, followed by dry salting (7.5%) for 40 hours. Then they were washed with 5% salt brine, left untreated (control) after drying, and divided into 6 groups, which were treated with 1% liquid smoke, thyme, lemon, flax, or grapeseed oils. The rainbow trout eggs were placed in glass jars and stored under refrigerator conditions without heat treatment. According to the sensory analysis results of the liquid smoke and essential oil applied products positive feedback has been received from the panelists. The liquid smoke applied group was the safest group in terms of microbiology and did not lose its consumable properties during the analysis period. The shelf life of processed trout eggs to which grapeseed oil was applied was 50 days, 30 days for the group treated with oregano oil, 10 days for the groups treated with flax and lemon oil.

FISH PRE-TREATED WITH SALT BRINE: PROCESS STUDY AND DRYING KINETICS

This work is part of a study for the conservation of fish products through solar drying. The grey seabream is dried after a pre-treatment of 16 hours in a salt brine under two conditions: on a rack in open air and in a solar dryer. The tests were carried out under average irradiance conditions of 592.76 W/m², an average ambient temperature of 30°C and an average air temperature in the dryer of 50°C. The results obtained, allowed us to reach a final humidity of 32% from an initial humidity of 65% in a wet basis. The drying was processed in 15 hours, (i.e. two days in the dryer) and 24 hours (i.e. three days in the open air). The modeling of the drying kinetics of the grey sea bream is carried out from empirical or semi-empirical models taken from the previous works. Several criteria were defined for the choice of the two-term model as being the one that can describe in the best way, the drying of the fish in both conditions. The effective diffusivity was determined using Ficks diffusive model whose solution is given by Crank, so that the logarithm of the reduced moisture allows us to find effective diffusivities for fish of 9.88823 10-7 (m²/s) and 1.72534 10-6 (m²/s) for open-air and in dryer drying respectively.

Friction and Snow–Pavement Bond after Salting and Plowing Permeable Friction Surfaces

Open graded, ultrathin, and permeable friction course surfaces (collectively referred to as PFSs) have been successfully used by many transportation agencies in several countries as a wearing surface to help reduce water splash and spray, reduce potential for hydroplaning, increase friction, and reduce noise. Despite these advantages, when used in colder climates PFSs tend to freeze more rapidly, transport deicing/anti-icing chemicals from the road surface, clog from sands and other debris, and retain snow and ice for a longer period of time. Most of the reported difficulties with PFSs are at near-freezing temperatures (28°F–35°F). Laboratory tests were conducted using samples of traditional dense graded pavement (DGP), cores from new and old in-service open graded friction course pavements, and ultrathin friction course samples made from hot mix asphalt collected from paving operations. The tests were conducted in a walk-in environmental chamber at 28°F. Snow–pavement bond strength and static friction were measured to determine the effectiveness of anti-icing with salt brine and deicing with dry and pre-wet solid salt. The test results revealed that compacted snow bonds more strongly to PFSs, yet friction of PFSs was significantly greater than DGPs after snow removal, even without the use of salt. The PFSs appeared more white and snowy, and this appearance may be contributing to unnecessarily high application rates of salt by practitioners. Field testing is recommended to better understand the frictional behavior of PFSs during a variety of winter storm conditions and deicer application strategies.

Table Olives Fermented in Iodized Sea Salt Brines: Nutraceutical/Sensory Properties and Microbial Biodiversity

This research aimed to study the influence of different brining processes with iodized and noniodized salt on mineral content, microbial biodiversity, sensory evaluation and color change of natural fermented table olives. Fresh olives of Olea europaea Carolea and Leucocarpa cvs. were immersed in different brines prepared with two different types of salt: the PGI “Sale marino di Trapani”, a typical sea salt, well known for its taste and specific microelement content, and the same salt enriched with 0.006% of KIO3. PGI sea salt significantly enriches the olive flesh in macroelements as Na, K and Mg, and microelements such as Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn. Instead, Ca decreases, P remains constant, while iodine is present in trace amounts. In the olives fermented in iodized-PGI sea salt brine, the iodine content reached values of 109 μg/100 g (Carolea cv.) and 38 μg/100 g (Leucocarpa cv.). The relationships between the two varieties and the mineral composition were explained by principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Furthermore, analyzing the fermenting brines, iodine significantly reduces the microbial load, represented only by yeasts, both in Carolea cv. and in Leucocarpa cv. Candida is the most representative genus. The sensory and color properties weren’t significantly influenced by iodized brining. Only Carolea cv. showed significative difference for b* parameter and, consequently, for C value. Knowledge of the effects of iodized and noniodized brining on table olives will be useful for developing new functional foods, positively influencing the composition of food products.

Evaluating the environmental impact of selected chemical de-icers

In this study, the environmental impacts of six commercial chloride-based de-icer products, including Rock Salt and Salt Brine, were evaluated. The nutrients, oxygen demand, heavy metal concentration, corrosion and toxicity of all six de-icers were analysed. With an assumed 500-fold dilution, the test results were compared to the public water-quality criteria. The results show that the selected chemical de-icers have little chance of severely damaging the environment and ecosystem under a normal dilution scenario. However, attention needs to be paid to small water bodies and sensitive receiving water.