Detoxifying CO2 Capture Reclaimer Waste by Anaerobic Digestion

The decrease in toxicity of carbon capture reclaimer monoethanolamine (MEA) waste (MEAw) during anaerobic degradation of such waste together with easily degradable organics was investigated. Samples were collected from a bioreactor at steady state with 86 % organic chemical oxygen demand removal at room temperature, which had been running on MEAw for 2 years. The toxicity of the digester effluents were 126, 42 and 10 times lower than that of the MEAw to the tested freshwater trophic groups of Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Daphnia magna and embryos of Danio rerio, respectively. The toxicity of the tested taxonomic groups after anaerobic digestion was mainly attributed to the ammonia generated by the degradation of MEAw.     

Associative thickeners. Part I: Synthesis,rheology and aggregation behavior

Nonionic associative thickeners with systematic changes in chemical composition have been synthesized. Rheological measurements of thickened latexes are presented as well as measurements of relaxation times, intrinsic viscosity and osmotic pressure of polymers in pure water solution. We find that the general hydrophobicity of the polymers' end groups control both rheology and efficiency. Hydrophobic parts in the interior of the polymer do not seem to effect rheology in latex systems. Viscosity increases with molecular weight in the low molecular region (Mw<10000), and passes through a maximum in the high molecular region. The thickeners seem to form micelle-like aggregates even at very low concentrations, while at higher concentrations the viscoelastic properties may be modeled by means of one Maxwell element. Only the network relaxation times but not the network structure seems to be dependent on the polymers' end group.     

Gravitational geometric phase in the presence of torsion

We investigate the relativistic and non-relativistic quantum dynamics of a neutral spin-1/2 particle subject to an external electromagnetic field in the presence of a cosmic dislocation. We analyze the explicit contribution of the torsion in the geometric phase acquired in the dynamics of this neutral spinorial particle. We discuss the influence of the torsion in the relativistic geometric phase. Using the Foldy–Wouthuysen approximation, the non-relativistic quantum dynamics is studied and the influence of the torsion on the Aharonov–Casher and He–McKellar–Wilkens effects are discussed. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Turbulent diffusion of a buoyant layer at a wall

Summary When a light fluid is injected at a steady rate at the roof of a tunnel in which there is a turbulent main flow of a heavier fluid, the turbulent diffusion of the light layer may be considerably reduced due to buoyancy. For large Richardson numbers turbulent mixing ceases altogether.The equations of motion and diffusion were solved by introducing an eddy diffusivity which is dependant on the Richardson number. Experiments were made on brine (floor) layers in a water flow, and on methane (roof) layers in an air flow. Results were essentially in agreement with theory.The motion and mixing of the layers depend mainly on the inclination of the tunnel and on a dimensionless combination of main-flow velocity, gravity, relative density difference, volume input rate of layer fluid, and tunnel width. Values of the dimensionless parameter are suggested to overcome the effects of buoyancy on mixing, and to prevent layers from moving up a slope against the main flow.     

Optimal fields for integral equations

The theory of optimal fields is developed for optimal control problems in which the state variables are determined by integral equations. The Hilbert integral is considered and the Hamilton-Jacobi equations are derived. The results obtained contain two maximum principles as special cases; one reflecting the special character of field theory and one corresponding to the results previously obtained by use of variations.     

Limits of Pure-Injective Cotilting Modules

The set of pure-injective cotilting modules over an artin algebra is shown to have a monoid structure. This monoid structure does not restrict down to a monoid structure on the finitely generated cotilting modules in general, but it does whenever the algebra is of finite representation type. Pure-injective cotilting modules are also constructed from any set of finitely generated cotilting modules with bounded injective dimension. Presented by Y. Drozd Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000) 16G10, 16P20, 16E30.