Effect of operation paramaters on the filtration behavior in microfiltratration of TiO2 suspended

The photocatalytic reaction using TiO2 suspended to degrade the residues of toxic organic compounds has been extensively studied, but the ultilization of this process has not been recorded on an industrial scale. One of the primary reasons is the separation of TiO2 catalyst from the treated solution mixture. Conventional mechanical separation methods such as centrifugation, flocculation-deposition do not allow for thorough separation and catalytic reuse, whereas the microfiltration / ultrafiltration membrane process has been demonstrated to be capable of composting isolates very suspended particles. Accordingly, in this study, an experimental system separating TiO2-P25 suspension by microfiltration membrane 0.2 µm on laboratory scale was set up. Effects of operating factors: TiO2 concentration, pH value, transmembrane pressure and crosss flow velocity were investigated. Result shown that TiO2 concentration greater than 1 g / l will fundamentally diminish the permeate flux, futhermore, in the transmembrane pressure differential (∆P) fluctuating from 0.3 to 1.2 bar, the relationship between J and ∆P is a linear relationship. In addition, the study likewise shown that the formation of the cake layer (scale) on the membrane surface is the fundamental driver of the permeate flux degradation over time. These results are the basis for integrating membrane and photocatalytic processes into a complete system for degradation toxic organic compound residues.

Pemanfaatan Fuzzy Logic dan Hill Climbing untuk Optimasi Pengelolaan Tempat Pengolahan Sampah Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (TPS 3R) pada Dinas Lingkungan Hidup (DLH) DKI Jakarta

<p class="Abstrak">DLH DKI Jakarta merupakan lembaga pemerintah yang bertanggung jawab terhadap pengelolaan sekitar 1.125 Tempat Penampungan Sampah Sementara (TPS) yang tersebar di lima wilayah di DKI Jakarta, yaitu Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta Timur, Jakarta Barat, Jakarta Utara dan Jakarta Pusat. Sejumlah TPS yang tersebar tersebut, turut di dalamnya beberapa TPS 3R (<em>Reduce, Reuse, Recycle</em>). TPS 3R lebih kompleks pemanfaatannya bila dibandingkan dengan TPS biasa karena TPS 3R selain berfungsi sebagai TPS, juga dapat untuk memperbaiki kondisi sampah atau limbah sebelum diteruskan ke TPA (Tempat Pemrosesan Akhir). Kondisi TPS 3R saat ini belum bisa maksimal fungsinya, disebabkan fasilitas yang belum memadai, seperti menurunnya kualitas alat pencacah organik, tidak adanya wadah pemilahan dan ruang pemilahan. Oleh karena itu, perlu kiranya pengucuran dana bagi TPS 3R. Akan tetapi karena terbatasnya dana, maka perlu memilih TPS 3R mana yang akan diprioritaskan mendapat bantuan dana. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan membangun sistem pendukung keputusan dalam menentukan prioritas TPS 3R DLH DKI Jakarta dengan menggunakan metode optimasi yang mengacu pada 5 kriteria yaitu luas lahan, fasilitas, jarak, kondisi jalan, dan kondisi estetika lingkungan, serta metode pengembangan sistem RAD (<em>Rapid Application Development</em>). Peneliti menggunakan metode optimasi <em>Fuzzy Logic</em> sebagai metode pembobotan nilai kriteria dan <em>Hill Climbing</em> untuk menentukan alternatif terbaik yang ada. Adapun sistem yang dihasilkan memberikan kontribusi kepada DLH yaitu dapat menentukan TPS 3R yang berhak mendapatkan bantuan dana secara cepat dan tepat.</p><p class="Abstrak"> </p><p class="Abstrak"><em><strong>Abstract</strong></em></p><p class="Abstract"><em>DLH DKI Jakarta is a Government Institution that responsible for waste management about 1125 temporary waste shelters (TPS) spread across 5 Regions in DKI Jakarta; i.e South Jakarta, East Jakarta, West Jakarta, North Jakarta, and Central Jakarta. All those TPS’s are including some of 3R TPS (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). The 3R TPS is more complex in term of their usage rather than normal TPS as the 3R TPS’s instead of being a normal TPS, they could also fix the rubbish or waste before send it to Final Processing Place (TPA). The 3R TPS is still functionally not maximum way to be used as inadequate facilities such as quality degradation on organic counter, and there is no mechanical separation place and its room. With that reasons, the 3R TPS needs to be financial supported. And considering the financial limitation from DKI Government, there is need to select suitable 3R TPS on priorities to get financial support. Therefore, this study aims to build a decision support system in determining the priority of TPS 3R DLH DKI Jakarta by using an optimization method that refers to five criteria, namely land area, facilities, distance, road conditions, and environmental aesthetic conditions, as well as Rapid Application Development (RAD). The fuzzy logic is a method of weighting the criteria and Hill Cimbing is optimization method to determine the best of alternatives. The result contributes to DLH, which is to determine which TPS 3R is entitled to receive funding quickly and precisely.</em></p><p class="Abstrak"><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><p class="Abstrak"><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p>

Innovative recycling of end of life silicon PV panels: ReSiELP

In Europe, an increasing amount of End of Life (EoL) photovoltaic silicon (PV) panels is expected to be collected in the next 20 years. The silicon PV modules represent a new type of electronic waste that shows challenges and opportunities. ReSiELP was a European project that aimed at recovery of valuable materials (aluminum, glass, copper, silicon, and silver) from EoL silicon PV modules. During the project a pilot plant, constituted by a furnace, a gas abatement system, an apparatus for the mechanical separation and a hydrometallurgical plant was designed and built. The pilot plan was realized to upscale recycling technology to TRL 7, with a 1500 panels/year capacity. The feasibility of industrial-scale recovery and the reintegration of all recovered materials in their appropriate value chain was investigated. The results obtained showed that 2N purity silicon and 2N purity silver can be recovered with high efficiency. In order to realize a zero-waste plant, a hydrometallurgical process was developed for the wastewater treatment. Moreover, the use of recovered glass for building materials was investigated and the obtained performance seemed comparable with commercial products.

Molecular Analytical Assessment of Thermally Precipitated α-Lactalbumin after Resolubilization

Selective thermal precipitation followed by a mechanical separation step is a well described method for fractionation of the main whey proteins, α-lactalbumin (α-la) and β-lactoglobulin (β-lg). By choosing appropriate environmental conditions the thermal precipitation of either α-la or β-lg can be induced. Whereas β-lg irreversibly aggregates, the precipitated α-la can be resolubilized by a subsequent adjustment of the solution’s pH and the ionic composition. This study reports on the analytical characterization of resolubilized α-la compared to its native counterpart as a reference in order to assess whether the resolubilized α-la can be considered close to ‘native’. Turbidity and quantification by RP-HPLC of the resolubilized α-la solutions were used as a measure of solubility in aqueous environment. RP-HPLC was also applied to determine the elution time as a measure for protein’s hydrophobicity. DSC measurement was performed to determine the denaturation peak temperature of resolubilized α-la. FTIR spectroscopy provided insights in the secondary structure. The refolding of α-la achieved best results using pH 8.0 and a 3-fold stoichiometric amount of Ca2+ per α-la molecule. The results showed that the mechanism of aggregation induced by gentle thermal treatment under acidic conditions with subsequent mechanical separation is reversible to a certain extent, however, the exact native conformation was not restored.

Comparative Analysis of the Chemical Composition and Physicochemical Properties of the Mucilage Extracted from Fresh and Dehydrated Opuntia ficus indica Cladodes

The development of sustainable extraction methods to obtain natural products constitutes a challenge for the food industry. The aim of this work was to compare yield, separation efficiency, chemical composition, and physicochemical properties of the mucilage extracted from fresh cladodes (FNM) and mucilage extracted from dehydrated cladodes (DNM) of O. ficus indica. Suspensions of fresh and dehydrated cladodes (4% w/w) were prepared for mucilage extraction by using a mechanical separation process. Subsequently, the separated mucilage was precipitated with ethyl alcohol (1:2 v/v) then, yield and separation efficiency were determined. The mucilage was characterized by measuring Z potential, viscosity, color, and texture attributes. Additionally, chemical proximate analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected in the yield and separation efficiencies between samples. Nevertheless, the dehydration process of cladodes prior to mucilage extraction increased protein, ashes, nitrogen free extract, and calcium content. The viscosity was higher in DNM than in FNM. The TGA revealed a different thermal behavior between samples. In addition, the DNM showed lower L (darkness/lightness), cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and springiness values than those of FNM. These results support that differences found between the chemical and physicochemical properties of DNM and those of FNM will determine the applications of the mucilage obtained from the O. ficus indica cladodes in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

Weltrichia magna sp. nov., a new record for the Middle Jurassic of Oaxaca, México

The Jurassic locality San Juan Mixtepec (Zorrillo Formation in the state of Oaxaca) contains fossil plants of the order Bennettitales, mainly of the genus Zamites, as well as reproductive structures of the genera Williamsonia, Williamsoniella and Weltrichia, but male reproductive structures of the latter genus are scarce and almost restricted to the south of Mexico; they have also been reported in the Triassic of the north of Mexico. Here we report a new record for this locality and a new species of male reproductive structure of the genus Weltrichia. We recovered half of an adpression in fine-grained sandstone with the positive and negative of the adaxial part of the male reproductive structure, which when open measures 22.6 cm in diameter. A reconstruction suggests the presence of ten centrifugal rays that become thinner towards the acute apex and are fused in a central basal cup. The structure exhibits complete centrifugal rays with basal structures that are interpreted as insertion sites for pollen sacs. We employed acetate peel, mechanical separation and hydrofluoric acid (HF) maceration techniques for extraction of anatomical samples. We compared 13 morphological and 10 anatomical characters with previous records from localities in México, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. We observed epidermal cells and syndetocheilic stomatal apparatuses, which corroborate an epidermal affinity to the Bennettitales. This new record would be the largest male reproductive structure found in the region thus far, and increases the distribution of Weltrichia in the Jurassic of Oaxaca.

Impact of Processing Technology on Macro- and Micronutrient Profile of Protein-Enriched Products from Fish Backbones

Impacts of processing technology (mechanical separation and pH-shift processing) on protein recovery from salmon, herring and cod backbones and the content of macro- and micronutrients in the recovered protein enriched products were investigated. Mechanical separation led to higher protein recovery compared with the pH-shift process and using both techniques, recovery ranked the species as herring > salmon > cod. However, the pH-shift process up-concentrated protein from herring and salmon backbones more efficiently than mechanical separation by removing more fat and ash. This consequently reduced n-3 PUFA and vitamin D content in their protein isolates compared with the backbones and mechanically separated meat (MSM). Cod protein isolate, however, contained higher levels of these nutrients compared with MSM. Mechanical separation concentrated vitamins E and C in salmon MSM but not for cod and herring. Opposite, pH-shift processing reduced levels of these two vitamins for cod and herring backbones, while vitamins D and C were reduced for salmon. For minerals, selenium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium were lower in protein isolates than MSM, while copper, zinc, iron and manganese were similar or higher. Overall, there is a major potential for upcycling of fish backbones to food ingredients, but processing technology should be carefully balanced against the desired nutrient profile and final application area.

Review of Two Mechanical Separation Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Agricultural Phosphorus in Nutrient-Vulnerable Zones

This work reviews two mechanical separation technologies (screw press and decanting centrifuge) which could be used in the dairy, beef, pig and anaerobic digestion sectors in nutrient-vulnerable zones in order to improve the sustainability of manure and anaerobic digestate management by decreasing agricultural phosphorus loss and reducing environmental impact on water quality. Capital and operating costs, separation efficiency and throughput, and management and processing of separated fractions, including transport costs, environmental impacts and the biosecurity of separated solids for export, were considered. Of the two technologies reviewed, screw press separation is a more cost-effective option (5-fold cheaper per tonne of feedstock) when lower amounts of export of phosphorus off farm are acceptable. For farms and those with anaerobic digesters managing larger volumes of manure/digestate, screw press separation is possible. However if higher levels of phosphorus removal are required, the use of decanting centrifugation is a viable option. Centralised processing facilities could also make use of decanting centrifuge technology to act as processing hubs for local farms within a distance that makes it economical for transport of manure/treated manure to/from the processor (the maximum distance for economical transport of raw manure and separated solids is approximately 70 km and 84 km, respectively). Both separation technologies could be integrated into agricultural manure and digestate management systems in order to provide a more sustainable approach to managing agricultural phosphorus loss and its associated impact on water quality. Screw press and decanting centrifuge separation could reduce phosphorous loss to water bodies by 34% and from 30 to 93%, respectively.