Enhanced <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">-</Emphasis>(+)-Lactic Acid Production by an Adapted Strain of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhizopus oryzae</Emphasis> using Corncob Hydrolysate

Corncob is an economic feedstock and more than 20 million tons of corncobs are produced annually in China. Abundant xylose can be potentially converted from the large amount of hemicellulosic materials in corncobs, which makes the crop residue an attractive alternative substrate for a value-added production of a variety of bioproducts. Lactic acid can be used as a precursor for poly-lactic acid production. Although current industrial lactic acid is produced by lactic acid bacteria using enriched medium, production by Rhizopus oryzae is preferred due to its exclusive formation of the l-isomer and a simple nutrition requirement by the fungus. Production of l-(+)-lactic acid by R. oryzae using xylose has been reported; however, its yield and conversion rate are poor compared with that of using glucose. In this study, we report an adapted R. oryzae strain HZS6 that significantly improved efficiency of substrate utilization and enhanced production of l-(+)-lactic acid from corncob hydrolysate. It increased l-(+)-lactic acid final concentration, yield, and volumetric productivity more than twofold compared with its parental strain. The optimized growth and fermentation conditions for Strain HZS6 were defined.     

钢渣与污泥协同资源化研究进展

钢渣和污泥作为传统大宗固体废弃物,始终面临处理成本高、回收利用率低等问题,但其内部含有大量可利用物质,具有较高的资源化利用价值,现已成为国内外的研究热点。为了提高钢渣与污泥绿色、高效、协同资源化利用,综述了近年来国内外钢渣在建筑、道路、水处理、农业等领域资源化利用的研究进展,立足固废无害化、减量化,从钢渣和污泥的资源化进行分析与总结,指出不同研究方法的特点和优劣,为固废资源化利用提供参考。并基于我国发展现状对钢渣与污泥资源化利用的未来发展方向进行了展望,以期为固废处理行业的良性发展提供一定的理论支撑。     

Environmental remediation by hydroxyapatite: Solid state synthesis utilizing waste chicken eggshell and adsorption experiment with Congo red dye

This study reports the adsorption efficacy of hydroxyapatite (HAp) for removing Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous solution. HAp was synthesized utilizing chicken eggshell as a precursor of Ca source. Solid state synthesis method was implemented which comprised calcination at 950 °C (E-HAp950). XRD analysis confirmed the formation of bi-phasic HAp with 15.5% of β-TCP. Elemental composition was evaluated by XPS and EDX analysis. FESEM analysis revealed the particles are of plate and spherical shaped also confirmed by the TEM images. DLS particle size, zeta potential, BET surface area and point of zero charge were also evaluated. Adsorption efficacy of E-HAp950 for removing CR was evaluated by batch adsorption experiment. Maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) was found to be 9.64 mgg⁻¹ which was best explained by the non-linear fitting (R² = 0.98) of Langmuir isotherm. Adsorption kinetics profusely followed pseudo second order kinetic model (R² = 0.999) with q_{e (experimental)} being very much closer to q_{e (calculative)} for this model. Thus, hydroxyapatite prepared by utilizing eggshell waste through solid state method has the potential to remove toxic dyes.     

废铬革屑的综合回收利用

碱法水解铬鞣废革屑得到的胶原蛋白灰分含量较高,达不到产品质量标准。针对此问题,利用较为廉价的氧化钙作碱性试剂处理废铬革屑,确定了最优实验方案:碱用量为6%,反应温度为85℃,反应时间为6h。在此基础之上,进一步研究了降低胶原灰分含量的方法:对革屑进行预处理,将胶原液静置过夜过滤除杂,并以不同用量的离子交换树脂处理,当其用量为革屑质量的20%时可使灰分含量降低到国家标准。从水解残余物铬饼中制得了商品氧化铬和硫酸铬,提高了废革屑的利用价值,减少了环境污染。     

基于电能节约的E-DEA模型及其应用

按照全要素能源效率的概念,重点考虑电能投入约束,构造了基于电能节约的E-DEA模型,其目标函数为极大化产出比例和电能投入比例之差,约束条件中除考虑一般投入量约束外,还同时强调电能投入径向节约和产出径向增加。根据模型最优解,给出了相应的有效、非有效、弱有效、用电规模收益状态的判断准则,以及相应于不同有效性情况下决策单元的改进。以合肥市通用制造业规上企业所属21个行业为研究对象,从第二次经济普查中选择年均资产、从业人员、电力、非电力能源、二氧化碳排量为投入指标,主营业务收入为产出指标,对行业电能利用效率进行实证分析,通过分析潜在电能可节约量和主营业务收入可增加量,明确了各行业改进目标。     

The Kolkata Paise Restaurant problem and resource utilization

We study the dynamics of the “Kolkata Paise Restaurant problem”. The problem is the following: In each period, N agents have to choose between N restaurants. Agents have a common ranking of the restaurants. Restaurants can only serve one customer. When more than one customer arrives at the same restaurant, one customer is chosen at random and is served; the others do not get the service. We first introduce the one-shot versions of the Kolkata Paise Restaurant problem which we call one-shot KPR games. We then study the dynamics of the Kolkata Paise Restaurant problem (which is a repeated game version of any given one shot KPR game) for large N. For statistical analysis, we explore the long time steady state behavior. In many such models with myopic agents we get under-utilization of resources, that is, we get a lower aggregate payoff compared to the social optimum. We study a number of myopic strategies, focusing on the average occupation fraction of restaurants.     

Utilization of α-olefins obtained by pyrolysis of waste high density polyethylene to synthesize α-olefin-succinic-anhydride based cold flow improvers

A new route of utilization of α-olefin rich hydrocarbon fractions obtained by waste polymer pyrolysis was investigated. α-olefin-succinic-anhydride intermediate-based pour point depressant additives for diesel fuel were synthesized, in which reactions needed α-olefins were obtained by pyrolysis of waste high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Fraction of α-olefins was produced by the de-polymerization of plastic waste in a tube reactor at 500℃ in the absence of catalysts and air. C_17~22 range of mixtures of olefins and paraffins were separated for synthesis and then, these hydrocarbons were reacted with maleic-anhydride (MA) for formation of α-olefin-succinic-anhydride intermediates. The olefin-rich hydrocarbon fraction contained approximately 60% of olefins, including 90%~95% α-olefins. Other intermediates were produced in the same way by using commercial C₂₀ α-olefin instead of C_17~22 olefin mixture. The two different experimental intermediates with number average molecular weights of 1850g/mol and 1760g/mol were reacted with different alcohols: 1-butanol, 1-hexanol, 1-octanol, i-butanol, and c-hexanol to produce their ester derivatives. The synthesized ten experimental pour point depressants were added in different concentrations to conventional diesel fuel, which had no other additive content before. The structure and efficiency of experimental additives were followed by different standardized and non-standardized methods. Results showed that the experimental additives on the basis of the product of waste pyrolysis were able to decrease not only the pour but also the cloud point and cold filter plugging point (CFPP) of diesel fuel, whose effects could be observed even if the concentration of additives was low. Furthermore, all additives had anti-wear and anti-friction effects in diesel fuel.     

Biomass Productivities in Wild Type and Pigment Mutant of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyclotella</Emphasis> sp. (Diatom)

Microalgae are expected to play a significant role in greenhouse gas mitigation because they can utilize CO₂ from power plant flue gases directly while producing a variety of renewable carbon-neutral biofuels. In order for such a microalgal climate change mitigation strategy to become economically feasible, it will be necessary to significantly improve biomass productivities. One approach to achieve this objective is to reduce, via mutagenesis, the number of light-harvesting pigments, which, according to theory, should significantly improve the light utilization efficiency, primarily by increasing the light intensity at which photosynthesis saturates (I _s). Employing chemical (ethylmethylsulfonate) and UV mutagenesis of a wild-type strain of the diatom Cyclotella, approximately 10,000 pigment mutants were generated, and two of the most promising ones (CM1 and CM1-1) were subjected to further testing in both laboratory cultures and outdoor ponds. Measurements of photosynthetic oxygen production rates as a function of light intensity (i.e., P–I curves) of samples taken from laboratory batch cultures during the exponential and linear growth phase indicated that the light intensity at which photosynthesis saturates (I _s) was two to three times greater in the pigment mutant CM1-1 than in the wild type, i.e., 355–443 versus 116–169 μmol/m² s, respectively. While theory, i.e., the Bush equation, predicts that such a significant gain in I _s should increase light utilization efficiencies and thus biomass productivities, particularly at high light intensities, no improvements in biomass productivities were observed in either semi-continuous laboratory cultures or outdoor ponds. In fact, the maximum biomass productivity in semi-continuous laboratory culture was always greater in the wild type than in the mutant, namely 883 versus 725 mg/L day, respectively, at low light intensity (200 μmol/m² s) and 1,229 versus 1,043 mg/L day, respectively, at high light intensity (1,000 μmol/m² s). Similarly, the biomass productivities measured in outdoor ponds were significantly lower for the mutant than for the wild type. Given that these mutants have not been completely characterized in these initial studies, the exact reasons for their poor performance are not known. Most likely, it is possible that the mutation procedure affected other photosynthetic or metabolic processes. This hypothesis was partially validated by the observation that the pigment mutant had a longer lag period following inoculation, a lower maximum specific growth rate, and poorer stability than the wild type.     

Utilization and transport of l-arabinose by non-Saccharomyces yeasts

l-Arabinose is one of the sugars found in hemicellulose, a major component of plant cell walls. The ability to convert l-arabinose to ethanol would improve the economics of biomass to ethanol fermentations. One of the limitations for l-arabinose fermentation in the current engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains is poor transport of the sugar. To better understand l-arabinose transport and use in yeasts and to identify a source for efficient l-arabinose transporters, 165 non-Saccharomyces yeast strains were studied. These yeast strains were arranged into six groups based on the minimum time required to utilize 20 g/L of l-arabinose. Initial transport rates of l-arabinose were determined for several species and a more comprehensive transport study was done in four selected species. Detailed transport kinetics in Arxula adeninivorans suggested both low and high affinity components while Debaryomyces hansenii var. fabryii, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Pichia guilliermondii possessed a single component, high affinity active transport systems.     

Decomposing capacity utilization in data envelopment analysis: An application to banks in India

This paper briefly reviews the existing methods of capacity utilization in nonparametric framework from economic perspectives, and then suggests an alternative in the light of limitations therein. In the spirit of work by Coelli et al. [Coelli, T.J., Grifell-Tatje, E., Perelman, S., 2002. Capacity utilisation and profitability: A decomposition of short run profit efficiency. International Journal of Production Economics 79, 261–278], we propose two methods, radial and non-radial, to decompose the input-based physical (technological) capacity utilization into various meaningful components viz., technical inefficiency, ray economic capacity utilization and optimal capacity idleness. A case study of Indian banking industry is taken as an example to illustrate the potential application of these two methods of decomposition. Our two broad empirical findings are that first, competition created after financial sector reforms generates high efficiency growth, and reduces excess capacity; second, the cost gap of the short-run cost from the actual cost is higher for the nationalized banks over the private banks indicating that the former banks, though old, do not reflect their learning experience in their cost minimizing behavior.