Process intensification in oxidative biocatalysis

In the last ten years, the number of publications related to process intensification (PI) has been quadrupled. This increasing interest that created many innovations can be found not only in chemo-catalytic processes but has also reached the field of enzymatic processes. The recent scientific and technological advances in bioprocess intensification have been dedicated to improving the use of enzymes in selective oxidative reactions, obtaining more environmentally friendly and resource efficient applications. In this mini-review, we provide an overview of the different PI definitions, and recent studies focusing on intensification of oxidative biocatalytic reactions regarding (i) non-conventional media, (ii) process data and analytics, (iii) reactor engineering, and (iv) downstream processing. Remarking how the advances of other fields can be used for process intensification and for obtaining new goals (e.g., PI 4.0). Model-based simulations and new sensor technologies can guarantee optimal and more automated processes with new reactor designs, together with the use of non-conventional media and enzyme immobilization, to intensify biocatalytic oxidation processes.     

Recent advance in microbial fuel cell reactor configuration and coupling technologies for removal of antibiotic pollutants

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, as a biological treatment model that can convert antibiotic pollutants into electrical energy, has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Reactor configuration and coupling process play an important role in the treatment of antibiotic wastewater by the MFC, which will affect microbial activity, pollutant removal, and electricity generation. In this review, recent advances of reactor configuration (single chamber, double chamber, and cylinder) and coupling technology (wetland-MFC, sediment-MFC and membrane-MFC, and so on) of the MFC on treating of antibiotics are summarized, and their characteristics in the aspects of pollutant removal and power output are analyzed. Finally, through comparing removal quantity (mg antibiotics per day), the double chamber MFC as the individual treatment unit and the membrane-MFC exhibit better removal quantity.     

Improvement and Modelling of Hexenal Transfer in Liquid-Gas Reactor

The aim of the present work is to improve the extraction of an aromatic compound, 2E-hexenal, from a continuous liquid–gas reactor. Having an improved process to recover hexenal could be of interest to obtain this chemical if produced by any biotechnological process. The experimental program proposed on the basis of a full 2³ factorial design demonstrated that the conditions optima for the extraction are 40°C as a reactor temperature and −10°C as a temperature of trap for a nitrogen flow of 45 mL s⁻¹. These conditions allowed to recover more than 75% of hexenal, when this compound was stripping by a nitrogen stream from the liquid phase. The mass transfer was theoretically and experimentally studied. The model predictions were validated against experimental results obtained for a reactor, and good correlation was observed for a simulation.     

CFETR真空室结构稳定性的有限元分析

真空室是中国聚变工程实验堆(CFETR)重要的屏蔽组件和包容屏障,为提高其结构稳定性,用有限元方法对真空室核心部件进行了线性屈曲分析与几何初始缺陷非线性屈曲分析,评估了真空室结构的各项稳定性指标。结果表明,现有的真空室的设计满足屈服强度的设计要求,为后续的设计优化工作提供了重要的理论依据和参考。     

Designs of Tandem Catalysts and Cascade Catalytic Systems for CO2 Upgrading

Upgrading CO₂ into multi-carbon (C2+) compounds through the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) offers a practical approach to mitigate atmospheric CO₂ while simultaneously producing high value chemicals. The reaction pathways for C2+ production involve multi-step proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) and C−C coupling processes. By increasing the surface coverage of adsorbed protons (*H_ad) and *CO intermediates, the reaction kinetics of PCET and C−C coupling can be accelerated, thereby promoting C2+ production. However, *H_ad and *CO are competitively adsorbed intermediates on monocomponent catalysts, making it difficult to break the linear scaling relationship between the adsorption energies of the *H_ad/*CO intermediate. Recently, tandem catalysts consisting of multicomponents have been developed to improve the surface coverage of *H_ad or *CO by enhancing water dissociation or CO₂-to-CO production on auxiliary sites. In this context, we provide a comprehensive overview of the design principles of tandem catalysts based on reaction pathways for C2+ products. Moreover, the development of cascade CO₂RR catalytic systems that integrate CO₂RR with downstream catalysis has expanded the range of potential CO₂ upgrading products. Therefore, we also discuss recent advancements in cascade CO₂RR catalytic systems, highlighting the challenges and perspectives in these systems.     

甲基环己烷的高温燃烧机理及动力学模拟

本文根据高碳链烷烃和环烷烃高温燃烧的反应类型,开发了高温燃烧反应机理的自动生成程序ReaxGen,并据此建立了甲基环己烷的高温燃烧详细机理。采用激波管反应器模型开展了动力学模拟,研究了燃烧点火温度、点火压力、燃料摩尔分数和当量比对点火延时的影响。通过绝热燃烧平衡计算,得到产物浓度和绝热火焰温度。动力学模拟结果与文献实验结果及国际上同类机理的模拟结果进行了比较和讨论。     

秦山三期核电工程反应堆地段节理裂隙模拟

以秦山三期核电工程反应堆地段作为研究对象 ,针对节理裂隙在岩体中的分布具有随机性的特点 ,运用随机方法对其分布规律进行了研究。根据实测的节理裂隙产状、间距及迹线长度 ,推断节理裂隙概率分布特征。同时充分考虑到节理裂隙分布的不均匀性和方向性等特点 ,采用非平稳态随机过程模拟节理裂隙间距 ,通过 Monte- Carlo方法得到等效的节理裂隙网络。根据统计和拟合的结果 ,对反应堆地段岩体的节理裂隙进行了评价。     

不同位形大破裂工况下CFETR 真空室预研件的电磁载荷分析

基于数值方法分析了中国聚变工程实验堆真空室预研件(CFETR VV mock-up)在大破裂工况(MD)下不同位形所对应的电磁参数,重点分析了不同位形运行条件下真空室上涡流和电磁力的分布及对比。结果表明,三种等离子体位形下VV电磁载荷分布情况近乎相等,各轴向分力最大值及各分段的最大值存在差异。电磁载荷的获得为进一步校核CFETR VV mock-up的局部结构强度提供了数据基础,对提高真空室的结构设计合理性和运行的安全性具有重要作用。     

Interest of micro-reactors for the implementation of advanced electrocatalytic oxidation with boron-doped diamond anode for wastewater treatment

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode has attracted great attention in the last two decades for its surpassing performance in the advanced electro-oxidation treatment of wastewater and disinfection. Due to the heterogeneous-like oxidation of organic pollutants, more suitable electrochemical reactor designs have been more recently proposed for optimal degradation and mineralization with BDD anode. Microfluidic reactors have emerged as a promising alternative by implementing submillimetric interelectrode gaps in flow-by or flow-through parallel-plate systems. Micro-reactors allow intensifying the mass transport of species toward the electrode while reducing the energy consumption and avoiding the addition of supporting electrolytes. The principle and main influencing operating parameters have been discussed in this review. Perspectives of the reactive electro-mixing reactor could permit the combination of micro-reactors with macro-reactors by increasing the treatment capacity while limiting the clogging effect. Further researches are required to overcome the drawbacks of micro-reactors and to benefit from electro-precipitation phenomena for the recovery of value-added compounds.     

Insights into the scalability of magnetostrictive ultrasound technology for water treatment applications

To date, the successful application of large scale ultrasound in water treatment has been a challenge. Magnetostrictive ultrasound technologies for constructing a large-scale water treatment system are proposed in this study. Comprehensive energy evaluation of the proposed system was conducted. The effects of chosen waveform, scalability and reactor design on the performance of the system were explored using chemical dosimetry. Of the fundamental waveforms tested; sine, triangle and square, the highest chemical yield resulted from the square wave source. Scaling up from the 0.5 L bench-scale system to the 15 L large-scale unit resulted in a gain of approximately 50% in sonochemical efficiency (SE) for the system. The use of a reactor tank with 45° inclined sides further increased SE of the system by 70%. The ability of the large scale system in removing contaminants from natural water samples was also investigated. The results revealed that the large-scale unit was capable of achieving a maximum removal of microbes and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of 35% and 5.7% respectively at a power density approximately 3.9 W/L. The results of this study suggest that magnetostrictive ultrasound technology excited with square wave has the potential to be competitive in the water treatment industry.