A Novel Vertical Underwater Lifting System For Manganese Nodules Using Acapsule Pipeline

The objectives of these experiments were to determine the relationship between maintenance requirements and energy partitioned to maternal tissue or milk production in limit-fed Angus cows and to determine the relationship between retained energy during the lactation period to dry-period voluntary forage intake (VDMI). Twenty-four mature fall-calving Angus cows were used in a 79-d study during late lactation to establish daily metabolizable energy required for maintenance (MEm). Cows were individually fed daily a mixed diet (2.62 Mcal MEl/kg, 18.2% crude protein) to meet energy and protein requirements of 505 kg beef cows producing 8.2 kg milk daily. If cow BW changed by ±9 kg from initial BW, daily feed intake was adjusted to slow BW loss or reduce BW gain. Milk yield and composition were determined on 3 occasions throughout the study. Maintenance was computed as metabolizable energy intake minus retained energy assigned to average daily maternal tissue energy change, average daily milk energy yield, and average daily energy required for pregnancy. After calves were weaned, cows were fed a low-quality grass hay diet (8.2% crude protein, 65% NDF) and VDMI was measured for 21 days. Lactation maintenance energy was 83% the default value recommended by NASEM (2016. Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle: Eighth Revised Edition.) for lactating Angus cows. Increasing lactation-period retained energy (decreasing BW loss and increasing milk energy yield) was associated with lower maintenance energy requirements (P < 0.01; R2 = 0.92). Increased residual daily gain during lactation was associated with lower lactation maintenance energy requirements (P = 0.05; R2 = 0.17). Post-weaning VDMI was not related to late-lactation milk energy production, although sensitive to lactation period BCS and BW loss. These results contradict previous reports, suggesting that maintenance requirements increase with increasing milk yield.

The aim of this paper is to study the characteristics of limestone particles (size varies from 4 mm to 20 mm) during its transportation from open cast mines through pipes. The influence of four different size fractions of limestone samples (4-6 mm, 6-10 mm, 10-15 mm, and 15-20 mm) on pipe flow characteristics during vertical transport in a 100 mm NB hose pipe was investigated. The flow velocities in the vertically lifting pipe was varied from 0.95 m/s to 2.78 m/s and a rotary feeder of 2 to 4 tonne/hr. capacity was employed to feed the limestone samples to the lifting pipe. The pressure drop data for the different size fractions of limestone samples at different mixture velocities were analysed. The effect of input volume fraction and superficial velocity of limestone samples on hold-up ratio were discussed. It was indicated that there was no substantial increase in pressure drop of slurry samples in the studied range of concentrations (Cw = 4.22% - 12.54%), particle size, and low to medium range mixture velocities with respect to water run head loss data. The hold-up for the larger size fractions (15-20 mm) of limestone samples was found to be significant as compared to smaller size fractions, which may be due to terminal settling velocities of individual fractions of the studied samples.

Simplified modeling of circulating flow of solids between a fluidized bed and a vertical pneumatic transport tube reactor connected by orifices

The deepwater in many areas with restricted water exchange suffers from low oxygen concentrations due to degradation of organic matter. The objective of this study was to investigate how topography may influence the vertical transport, Fc, of particulate organic matter, POM, to the deepwater. A conceptual/analytical model for Fc was developed covering the combination of the three possible sources of POM/nutrients to an enclosed area; the coastal water, local supply, and nutrient rich local deepwater. The mathematical formulation of the conceptual model includes several factors describing to which degree various physical mechanisms in the fjord are influencing Fc. The model consists of submodels for the different sources of POM/nutrients. A one‐dimensional process oriented numerical model was used to test the conceptual model. Restricted water exchange with the coastal water led to decreased import of POM and thereby decreased vertical transport, Fc, of coastal POM. The contribution to Fc by local input of nutrients to the surface layer was described by a function of the residence time of the water above sill level, Tsw and the time Tp it takes for POM produced in the surface layer to settle below sill level. The recirculation of POM produced due to basin water renewals was shown to be a function of several factors: The relation between the depth of photic zone, Hp and the sill depth, Ht, the vertical velocity of the rising nutrient rich water mass versus the settling velocity of POM, etc. The results based on the conceptual submodels agreed well with the results from the process oriented numerical model. Methods to identify the trophic state of coastal waters, and also simple models to calculate the effect of a local point source, can be found in literature. However, using the model developed in this paper the effects of nutrient enrichment from different sources can be quantified in a simple and more efficient way than earlier. The model can thus be used to categorise areas with respect to sensitivity to local and large scale eutrophication, which is an important step towards better management and more sustainable exploitation of the coastal zone.

Membrane gas separations and post-combustion carbon dioxide capture: Parametric sensitivity and process integration strategies

Long-distance coal gangue slurry transportation pipelines are critical components of underground coal mine green backfilling systems, yet blockage failures severely threaten their safe and efficient operation. Existing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS)-based monitoring methods for such pipelines suffer from three key limitations: insufficient fixed-point quantitative accuracy, lack of verified blockage-specific characteristic indicators, and limited quantitative severity assessment capability. To address these gaps, this paper proposes a novel feature-level fusion monitoring method integrating DAS, fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and piezoelectric accelerometers for accurate blockage identification and quantitative evaluation in coal gangue slurry pipelines. A slurry pipeline circulation test platform with gradient blockage simulation (0% to 76.42%) and a synchronous multi-sensor monitoring system were developed. Through multi-domain signal analysis, three blockage-correlated characteristic frequencies were identified and cross-validated by synchronous multi-sensor data: 1.5 Hz (system background vibration), 26 Hz (blockage-induced fluid-structure resonance, verified by the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with a theoretical value of 25.7 Hz), and 174 Hz (transient flow impact). The DAS phase change rate exhibited a unimodal nonlinear response to blockage degree, with the peak occurring at 40.94% blockage. On this basis, a sine-fitting quantitative inversion model was developed, achieving a high goodness of fit (R2 = 0.985), and leave-one-out cross-validation confirmed its excellent robustness with a mean relative prediction error of 3.77%. Finally, a collaborative monitoring framework was built to fully leverage the complementary advantages of each sensor, realizing full-process blockage monitoring covering global blockage localization, precise quantitative severity calibration, and high-frequency transient risk early warning. The proposed method provides a robust experimental and technical foundation for real-time early warning, precise localization, and quantitative diagnosis of long-distance slurry pipeline blockages and holds important engineering application value for the safe and efficient operation of underground coal mine green backfilling systems.

Design of slurry transportation pipeline for the flow of muti-particulate coal ash suspension

With the development of coal mining, the use of elbows has diversified the forms of underground backfill pipelines, which has inevitably complicated the transportation characteristics of filling slurry in the pipeline, thus affecting the entire backfilling system. The objective of this study is to numerically investigate the running state of cemented paste backfilling (CPB) slurry and coarse particles at different velocities by transporting in bend pipes. To better understand the transportation state of CPB slurry in pipeline, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model—mixture model was developed to study the transportation of CPB slurry. The volume distribution of coarse particles in slurry under different pipe types and different flow rates, as well as the velocity profiles of slurry at different positions, were simulated and analyzed, and the pressure losses under different pipe types were compared. The results show that the distribution of coarse particles varies with the tube type, and the effect of coarse particles on the position of tube wall changes with the increase in velocity. The high-speed zone of CPB slurry will move toward the outer wall of the elbow with the increase in velocity. The pressure loss of CPB slurry in the vertical–horizontal pipeline is larger than that in the horizontal–vertical pipeline, and the difference is larger in the bend section. This study provides a theoretical and meaningful reference for CPB slurry backfilling operations in different bends.

Fly ash transportation and disposal is a major problem in India. Presently fly ash is being transported as lean slurry in pipe lines requiring about 80 to 85% of water which, in turn, consumes more energy input. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the rheological characteristics of fly ash slurry at varying temperatures with and without an additive to facilitate smooth flow in the pipelines. Six fly ash slurry samples were prepared from the fly ash obtained from a thermal power plant situated in the southern part of India. The main constituents of the slurry were fly ash, water, a cationic surfactant and a counter-ion. Detailed rheological properties were determined for the six slurries at shear rates varying from 25 to 500s21. Temperature was varied from 20uCto40uC for all the shear rates investigated. The slurry exhibited Newtonian flow behaviour with zero yield stress. The slurry prepared in the above manner has a potential to be transported through pipelines with minimal energy consumption. The distinctive reduction of surface tension on colloidal disperse characteristics of the resulting slurry was observed in the presence of the surfactants. Zeta potential measurements also confirmed that the additive has the capability to keep the fly ash particles water borne during its transportation in pipelines.

Simple SummaryDouble-muscled Belgian Blue animals are extremely lean, characterized by a deviant muscle fiber type with more fast-glycolytic fibers, compared to non-double-muscled animals. This fiber type may result in lower maintenance energy requirements. On the other hand, lean meat animals mostly have a higher rate of protein turnover, which requires more energy for maintenance. Therefore, maintenance requirements of Belgian Blue cows were investigated based on a zero body weight gain. This technique showed that maintenance energy requirements of double-muscled Belgian Blue beef cows were close to the mean requirements of cows of other beef genotypes.Sixty non-pregnant, non-lactating double-muscled Belgian Blue (DMBB) cows were used to estimate the energy required to maintain body weight (BW). They were fed one of three energy levels for 112 or 140 days, corresponding to approximately 100%, 80% or 70% of their total energy requirements. The relationship between daily energy intake and BW and daily BW change was developed using regression analysis. Maintenance energy requirements were estimated from the regression equation by setting BW gain to zero. Metabolizable and net energy for maintenance amounted to 0.569 ± 0.001 and 0.332 ± 0.001 MJ per kg BW0.75/d, respectively. Maintenance energy requirements were not dependent on energy level (p > 0.10). Parity affected maintenance energy requirements (p < 0.001), although the small numerical differences between parities may hardly be nutritionally relevant. Maintenance energy requirements of DMBB beef cows were close to the mean energy requirements of other beef genotypes reported in the literature.

Process systems engineering studies for catalytic production of bio-based platform molecules from lignocellulosic biomass

Hydrogen Production via Ethanol Decomposition over Bimetallic Catalyst

Energy budgeting for designing sustainable and environmentally clean/safer cropping systems for rainfed rice fallow lands in India

Membrane desalination and water re-use for agriculture: State of the art and future outlook

The removal of heavy metals from water is essential for the survival of all living beings, constituting a fundamental entitlement to everyone's well-being. In recent years, researchers have been increasingly studying filter technologies for heavy metal removal. The limitations for removing heavy metals are high energy requirements, expensive chemicals, and difficult shaping control of filters. Thereby, a technique for water filter should be low-cost, easily shape-customized, and low energy requirements. In this study, we are focusing on fulfilling those limitations by interweaving functional materials and 3D printing techniques. We strive to create various multichannel porous structure filters with different internal structure (grid, honeycomb, gyroid) through 3D printing and alter the surface with metal oxide, acting as an adsorbent for the elimination of heavy metals. The effects of the different internal structures on heavy metal adsorbent were investigated. The morphology of filters was obtained with scanning electron microscopy, present the distribution of iron elements coated in filters of all models. The results showed that arsenic removal efficiency correlated with internal structure and showed the highest removal efficiency with the gyroid structure of 87%. This study has demonstrated that this innovative concept could become an affordable alternative for water filter applications with high removal efficiency.