Wet Torrefaction of Poultry Litter in a Pilot Unit: A Numerical Assessment of the Process Parameters

A numerical model for the wet torrefaction of poultry litter in a pilot unit was developed in this study. The model accounted for the following process steps: preheating biomass in a feed hopper, feeding biomass into the reactor, fluidized-bed generation using superheated steam, and the supply of additional heat by the electric heating of the reactor walls. Following a “black box” approach, a major assumption of the model is that the behavior of the fluidized-bed reactor is similar to a completely stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Under this assumption, the properties of the particles and gases do not depend on their location inside the reactor. During wet torrefaction, poultry-litter biomass was heated to a predetermined temperature and decomposed, generating biochar along with a gas phase (torgas), whose amounts depended on the content of inert ash in the biomass particles. Variable optimization in the model was performed using MATLAB software. The model successfully estimated the optimal duration required for the completion of wet torrefaction under various conditions: temperature, batch weight, reactor dimensions, etc. The model was validated using experimental data obtained from a series of wet torrefaction experiments performed in a fluidized bed, and provided reliable estimations of the duration of the process depending on material properties, reactor size and feedstock characteristics.

A Retrospective, Observational Study on Antimicrobial Drug Use in Beef Fattening Operations in Northwestern Italy and Evaluation of Risk Factors Associated with Increased Antimicrobial Usage

The abuse or misuse of antimicrobials in animal production is thought to be a potential factor in the development of antimicrobial resistance in veterinary and human medicine. With this study, we wanted to quantify antimicrobial usage in beef fattening operations in northwestern Italy and to identify factors potentially influencing antimicrobial usage. The sample was composed of 26 beef fattening operations that import heifers and bulls from France. Data were extracted from the 2014 and 2015 treatment registers kept by the farmers. The mean (±SD) number of animal daily doses per animal (nADDa) per year for each farm was 3 (±2.1) during the study period (2014–2015). Group antimicrobial treatments (57.5% of all treatments) were often administered orally (70.5%) and consisted overwhelmingly of doxycycline (97%). Individual treatments (42.5% of all treatments) were administered parenterally (98.1%) and the most often used active substances were florfenicol (19.9%), marbofloxacin (19.5%), and tylosin (12.4%). There was a negative correlation between the nADDa for total and group treatments and average batch weight at arrival and between the amount of straw added per animal per day and the nADDa (p ≤ 0.05). Our data show that antimicrobials critical for human medicine were often used in beef fattening operations in northwestern Italy before the European guidelines for the prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine were issued. Additionally, the use of antimicrobials as a preventive group treatment was still widespread, mostly in lighter weight animals.

A downscaling cold model for solid flow behaviour in a top gas recycling-oxygen blast furnace

The top gas recycling-oxygen blast furnace (TGR-OBF) is a reasonable method used to reduce both coke rate and energy consumption in the steel industry. An important feature of this process is shaft gas injection. This article presents an experimental study on the gas–solid flow characteristics in a TGR-OBF using a two-dimensional cold model. The experimental conditions and parameters were determined using a series of similarity criteria. The results showed that the whole flow area in the TGR-OBF can be divided into four distinct flow zones, namely, the stagnant zone, the plug flow zone in the upper part of the shaft, the converging flow zone and the quasi-stagnant flow zone, which is similar to that in a traditional blast furnace. Then the effects of batch weight and the ratio (X) of the shaft injected gas flow rate to the total gas flow rate on solid flow behaviour were investigated in detail. With the increase in batch weight, the shape of the stagnant zone tends to be shorter and thicker. Furthermore, with the increase in X value from 0 to 1, the stagnant zone gradually becomes thinner and higher. The results obtained from the experiments provide fundamental data and a validation for the discrete element method–computational fluid dynamics-coupled mathematical model for TGR-OBFs for future studies.

Research on Charging Combination Based on Batch Weight Fit Rule for Energy Saving in Forging

As a traditional high energy-consuming industry, the forging industry consumes a lot of energy. The activity consuming the highest energy during forging process is the heating. The problem regarding how to separate workpieces with the same holding temperature and holding time and combine them for charging in forging was analyzed and a model based on batch weight fit rule for optimizing the charging combination with the goal of energy saving was proposed. A genetic algorithm was adopted to optimize and solve the model in order to reduce energy consumption in forging. In addition, an instance was given to prove the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Study of Ferrous Material Reduction Based on Thermal Reserve Zone of Modern Blast Furnace

Through analyzing and inspecting the raw materials conditions and process conditions that affect ferrous material reduction in the thermal reserve zone, the article indicates that for the three commonly used ferrous material of blast furnace, sinter, pellets and lump ore, sinter is easiest to reduce and lump ore is most difficult to reduce. And increasing of the size of ferrous material promote the reduction of the ferrous material slightly. With the increase of batch weight, weight loss of ore and coke decrease at first and then increase. With the increase of the ratio of coke/ore, the extent of reduction of ferrous material had not significantly improved.

Synthesis and sintering of Ca0.5Sr0.5Zr4P6O24 powders by the decomposition/combustion of Ca-, Sr-, nitrate-ammonium dihydrogen phosphate-urea mixtures

Ca0.5Sr0.5Zr4P6O24 (CSZP) powders were prepared by the decomposition/combustion method using Ca(NO3)2 · 4H2O, Sr(NO3)2, ZrO(NO3)2 · xH2O, NH4H2PO4, urea, and NH4NO3 as starting materials. The homogenized slurries of the mixture were heated at 500 °C for 5 min to obtain CSZP powders. The as-synthesized powders were amorphous and crystallized after heating 800 °C for 2 h. The specific surface area of the powder was varied with the batch weight of starting materials or the amount of urea and ammonium nitrate. Powders with high specific surface area (150 m2/g) could be produced by this method. The sinterability of the powders was comparable to that of sol-gel derived powders. The sintered density of the compacts was 99% of theoretical after firing in air at 1350 °C for 6 h.