PEG-coated reverse osmosis membranes: Desalination properties and fouling resistance

This study focuses on the use of surface-coated reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to reduce membrane fouling in produced water purification. A series of crosslinked PEG-based hydrogels were synthesized using poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate as the crosslinker and poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, or acrylic acid as comonomers. The hydrogels were highly water permeable, with water permeabilities ranging from 10.0 to 17.8 (L μm)/(m² h bar). The hydrogels were applied to a commercial RO membrane (AG brackish water RO membrane from GE Water and Process Technologies). The water flux of coated membranes and a series-resistance model were used to estimate coating thickness; the coatings were approximately 2 μm thick. NaCl rejection for both uncoated and coated membranes was 99.0% or greater, and coating the membranes appeared to increase salt rejection, in contrast to predictions from the series-resistance model. Zeta potential measurements showed a small reduction in the negative charge of coated membranes relative to uncoated RO membranes. Model oil/water emulsions were used to probe membrane fouling. Emulsions were prepared with either a cationic or an anionic surfactant. Surfactant charge played a significant role in membrane fouling even in the absence of oil. A cationic surfactant, dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), caused a strong decline in water flux while an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), resulted in little or no flux decline. In the presence of DTAB, the AG RO membrane water flux immediately dropped to 30% of its initial value, but in the presence of SDS, its water flux gradually decreased to 74% of its initial value after 24 h. DTAB-fouled membranes had lower salt rejection than membranes not exposed to DTAB. In contrast, SDS-fouled membranes had higher salt rejection than membranes not exposed to SDS, with rejection values increasing, in some cases, from 99.0 to 99.8% or higher. In both surfactant tests, coated membranes exhibited less flux decline than uncoated AG RO membranes. Additionally, coated membranes experienced little fouling in the presence of an oil/water emulsion prepared from DTAB and n-decane. For example, after 24 h the water flux of the AG RO membrane fell to 26% of its initial value, while the water flux of a PEGDA-coated AG RO membrane was 73% of its initial value.     

Phosphorus-based nanothermites: A new generation of energetic materials

Thermites are energetic materials that are classically made of a transition metal oxide mixed with a reducing metal. Contrary to explosives, thermites do not detonate because their combustion is relatively slow and their reaction by-products are often solid or liquid. The use of nanoparticles to prepare superthermites is very promising. The dramatic changes observed in their reactivity were reported by numerous recent papers dealing with the use of aluminium as fuel.Red phosphorus is widely used in pyrotechnic devices. Highly explosive compositions are classically obtained by mixing this substance with strong oxidizers such as oxygenated potassium salts (chlorate, nitrate). But to our knowledge, the idea to prepare P-nanothermites with metallic oxide nanoparticles was never reported before. In order to illustrate this new concept of energetic formulations, P-nanothermites were prepared from nickel oxide (NiO), iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), and copper oxide (CuO) nanopowders. The reactivity of these compositions was studied by thermogravimetric analysis, impact and friction tests, electrostatic discharge and high-speed cinematography. P-nanothermites are very insensitive to thermal and impact stress. Their combustion rates strongly depend on the nature of the oxide (NiO <Fe₂O₃?CuO). The SEM observation of the microstructure of the residues produced by the combustion clearly indicates that they were formed by the solidification of molten phases. In other words, the energy released by the combustion of P-nanothermites provokes the melting of the reaction products. The temperatures reached are thus high enough to cause the gasification of phosphoric anhydride produced by the combustion. For this reason, P-nanothermites can be considered gas-generating materials.     

Optical design of a freeform TIR lens for LED streetlight

Secondary optics is a critical component determining the output efficiency and light distribution of the LED streetlight. A good roadway illumination requires the LED streetlight have a rectangular light pattern just cover the roadway and without excess spill light creeping into yards and shining into windows of neighbor residents. The adoption of the unsymmetrical freeform optics with different light distributions along X and Y directions is necessary. The whole LED streetlight can be constructed if only mounts these LED modules on the planar PCB plate. The mechanism, thermal management, and the power control electronics of the LED streetlight become very simple. In this paper, an optical design approach of a freeform TIR (total internal reflection) lens for the LED streetlight is investigated. With these freeform lenses, high output efficiency, even light distribution, and batwing far field beam angle distribution can be achieved.     

A randomized embedding algorithm for trees

In this paper, we propose a simple and natural randomized algorithm to embed a tree T in a given graph G. The algorithm can be viewed as a “self-avoiding tree-indexed random walk“. The order of the tree T can be as large as a constant fraction of the order of the graph G, and the maximum degree of T can be close to the minimum degree of G. We show that our algorithm works in a variety of interesting settings. For example, we prove that any graph of minimum degree d without 4-cycles contains every tree of order εd ² and maximum degree at most d-2εd-2. As there exist d-regular graphs without 4-cycles and with O(d ²) vertices, this result is optimal up to constant factors. We prove similar nearly tight results for graphs of given girth and graphs with no complete bipartite subgraph K _s,t .     

Hamiltonicity thresholds in Achlioptas processes

In this article, we analyze the appearance of a Hamilton cycle in the following random process. The process starts with an empty graph on nlabeled vertices. At each round we are presented with K = K(n) edges, chosen uniformly at random from the missing ones, and are asked to add one of them to the current graph. The goal is to create a Hamilton cycle as soon as possible. We show that this problem has three regimes, depending on the value of K. For K = o(log n), the threshold for Hamiltonicity is n log n, i.e., typically we can construct a Hamilton cycle K times faster that in the usual random graph process. When K = ω(log n) we can essentially waste almost no edges, and create a Hamilton cycle in n + o(n) rounds with high probability. Finally, in the intermediate regime where K = Θ(log n), the threshold has order nand we obtain upper and lower bounds that differ by a multiplicative factor of 3. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2010     

A study on beam profile of an industrial electron accelerator

Experimental evaluation of electron beam profile of a recently upgraded industrial electron accelerator has been carried out to study characteristics of the beam required for the irradiation of various industrial products. Calibrated cellulose triacetate (CTA) film strip dosimeters were used for the measurement of dose profile along and transverse to the scanning direction at different distances in air under the beam extraction window in dynamic (conveyor) and static mode of operation. Two-dimensional dose distribution mapping under the beam has also been measured by using a large number of CTA strip dosimeters. The obtained result shows that the electron beam emerging out from scanning horn has a good uniformity along the scanning direction within 90% of the average maximum dose. Also, the paper reports depth dose distribution in unit density material under the 4.5?MeV beam. Using this study, area affecting dose to the product is controlled within the limit for the irradiation.     

Simultaneous Determination of 2- and 3-Monochloropropan-1,3-diol Esters in Foods by Enzymatic Hydrolysis and GC–MS Detection

A simple, reliable and accurate method for simultaneous determination of 2- and 3-monochloropropan-1,3-diol fatty acid esters (2- and 3-MCPD esters) in food by enzymatic hydrolysis and gas chromatography mass spectrometry was developed and validated. The extraction of lipids in food was conducted by mixed with hexane and homogenized for 2 min. After extraction, the lipids were directly transferred to enzymatic hydrolysis and the content was determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it can simultaneously analyse both 2- and 3-MCPD esters in foods and preserve their structural integrity. The limits of detection (LODs) of 2- and 3-MCPD esters in edible oil were 40 and 20 μg kg⁻¹ as 2- and 3-MCPD, respectively. For low fat foods containing less than 3 % fat, the LOD of 2- and 3-MCPD esters were lowered to 1.2 and 0.6 μg kg⁻¹ as 2- and 3-MCPD, respectively. Quantitative recoveries of different fatty acid esters of 2- and 3-MCPD esters were obtained after spiked corresponding standards into blank matrices.

     

Strategies for quantifying C(60) fullerenes in environmental and biological samples and implications for studies in environmental health and ecotoxicology

Fullerenes are sphere-like molecules with unique physico-chemical properties, which render them of particular interest in biomedical research, consumer products and industrial applications. Human and environmental exposure to fullerenes is not a new phenomenon, due to a long history of hydrocarbon-combustion sources, and will only increase in the future, as incorporation of fullerenes into consumer products becomes more widespread for use as anti-aging, anti-bacterial or anti-apoptotic agents.An essential step in the determination of biological effects of fullerenes (and their surface-functionalized derivatives) is establishment of exposure-assessment techniques. However, in ecotoxicological studies, quantification of fullerenes is performed infrequently because robust, uniformly applicable analytical approaches have yet to be identified, due to the wide variety of sample types. Moreover, the unique physico-chemistry of fullerenes in aqueous matrices requires reassessment of conventional analytical approaches, especially in more complex biological matrices (e.g., urine, blood, plasma, milk, and tissue).Here, we present a review of current analytical approaches for the quantification of fullerenes and propose a consensus approach for determination of these nanomaterials in a variety of environmental and biological matrices.     

An Experimental Study of Three-Phase Trapping in Sand Packs

The trapped saturations of oil and gas are measured as functions of initial oil and gas saturation in water-wet sand packs. Analogue fluids—water, octane and air—are used at ambient conditions. Starting with a sand-pack column which has been saturated with brine, oil (octane) is injected with the column horizontal until irreducible water saturation is reached. The column is then positioned vertically and air is allowed to enter from the top of the column, while oil is allowed to drain under gravity for varying lengths of time. At this point, the column may be sliced and the fluids analyzed by gas chromatography to obtain the initial saturations. Alternatively, brine is injected through the bottom of the vertical column to trap oil and gas, before slicing the columns and measuring the trapped or residual saturations by gas chromatography and mass balance. The experiments show that in three-phase flow, the total trapped saturations of oil and gas are considerably higher than the trapped saturations reported in the literature for two-phase systems. It is found that the residual saturation of oil and gas combined could be as high as 23 %, as opposed to a maximum two-phase residual of only 14 %. For very high initial gas saturations, the residual gas saturation, up to 17 %, was also higher than for two-phase displacement. These observations are explained in terms of the competition between piston-like displacement and snap-off. It is also observed that less oil is always trapped in three-phase flow than in two-phase displacement, and the difference depends on the amount of gas present. For low and intermediate initial gas saturations, the trapped gas saturation rises linearly with initial saturation, followed by a constant residual, as seen in two-phase displacements. However, at very high initial gas saturations, the residual saturation rises again.