Estimation of fine and oversize particle ratio in a heterogeneous compound with acoustic emissions

The final phase of powder production typically involves a mixing process where all of the particles are combined and agglomerated with a binder to form a single compound. The traditional means of inspecting the physical properties of the final product involves an inspection of the particle sizes using an offline sieving and weighing process. The main downside of this technique, in addition to being an offline-only measurement procedure, is its inability to characterise large agglomerates of powders due to sieve blockage. This work assesses the feasibility of a real-time monitoring approach using a benchtop test rig and a prototype acoustic-based measurement approach to provide information that can be correlated to product quality and provide the opportunity for future process optimisation. Acoustic emission (AE) was chosen as the sensing method due to its low cost, simple setup process, and ease of implementation. The performance of the proposed method was assessed in a series of experiments where the offline quality check results were compared to the AE-based real-time estimations using data acquired from a benchtop powder free flow rig. A designed time domain based signal processing method was used to extract particle size information from the acquired AE signal and the results show that this technique is capable of estimating the required ratio in the washing powder compound with an average absolute error of 6%

Particle size distribution estimation of a powder agglomeration process using acoustic emissions

Washing powder needs to undergo quality checks before it is sold, and according to a report by the partner company, these quality checks include an offline procedure where a reference sieve analysis is used to determine the size distributions of the powder. This method is reportedly slow, and cannot be used to measure large agglomerates of powders. A solution to this problem was proposed with the implementation of real time Acoustic Emissions (AE) which would provide the sufficient information to make an assessment of the nature of the particle sizes. From the literature reviewed for this thesis, it was observed that particle sizes can be monitored online with AE but there does not appear to be a system capable of monitoring particle sizes for processes where the final powder mixture ratio varies significantly. This has been identified as a knowledge gap in existing literature and the research carried out for this thesis contributes to closing that gap. To investigate this problem, a benchtop experimental rig was designed. The rig represented limited operating conditions of the mixer but retained the critical factors. The acquired data was analysed with a designed hybrid signal processing method based on a time domain analysis of impact peaks using an amplitude threshold approach. Glass beads, polyethylene and washing powder particles were considered for the experiments, and the results showed that within the tested conditions, the designed signal processing approach was capable of estimating the PSD of various powder mixture combinations comprising particles in the range of 53-1500 microns, it was also noted that the architecture of the designed signal processing method allowed for a quicker online computation time when compared with other notable hybrid signal processing methods for particle sizing in the literature

XVIII International Coal Preparation Congress

Changes in economic and market conditions of mineral raw materials in recent years have greatly increased demands on the ef fi ciency of mining production. This is certainly true of the coal industry. World coal consumption is growing faster than other types of fuel and in the past year it exceeded 7.6 billion tons. Coal extraction and processing technology are continuously evolving, becoming more economical and environmentally friendly. “ Clean coal ” technology is becoming increasingly popular. Coal chemistry, production of new materials and pharmacology are now added to the traditional use areas — power industry and metallurgy. The leading role in the development of new areas of coal use belongs to preparation technology and advanced coal processing. Hi-tech modern technology and the increasing interna- tional demand for its effectiveness and ef fi ciency put completely new goals for the University. Our main task is to develop a new generation of workforce capacity and research in line with global trends in the development of science and technology to address critical industry issues. Today Russia, like the rest of the world faces rapid and profound changes affecting all spheres of life. The de fi ning feature of modern era has been a rapid development of high technology, intellectual capital being its main asset and resource. The dynamics of scienti fi c and technological development requires acti- vation of University research activities. The University must be a generator of ideas to meet the needs of the economy and national development. Due to the high intellectual potential, University expert mission becomes more and more called for and is capable of providing professional assessment and building science-based predictions in various fi elds. Coal industry, as well as the whole fuel and energy sector of the global economy is growing fast. Global multinational energy companies are less likely to be under state in fl uence and will soon become the main mechanism for the rapid spread of technologies based on new knowledge. Mineral resources will have an even greater impact on the stability of the economies of many countries. Current progress in the technology of coal-based gas synthesis is not just a change in the traditional energy markets, but the emergence of new products of direct consumption, obtained from coal, such as synthetic fuels, chemicals and agrochemical products. All this requires a revision of the value of coal in the modern world economy

Index to 1986 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 11, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1986 Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

Modelling and Calculation of Raw Material Industry

The raw materials industry is widely considered to be too environmentally costly, and causing more losses than benefits. The responsible solving of the problems caused by this industry is not “exporting” its operations to less developed countries, but addressing all recognized hazards with dedicated technological developments. Such an approach is presented by the authors of this book. The contributions deal with the optimization of processes in the raw materials industry, obtaining energy from alternative fuels, researching the environmental aspects of industrial activities. This book determines some guidelines for the sustainable raw materials industry, describing methods of the optimized use of mined deposits and the recovery of materials, reductions in energy consumption and the recuperation of energy, minimizations in the emissions of pollutants, the perfection of quieter and safer processes, and the facilitation of modern materials-, water-, and energy-related techniques and technologies

Investigation of enzymatic hydrolysis process to valorize waste mussel shells

Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) are the most common mussel harvested with high value nutritional compounds including proteins, vitamins ( C, A, and B12), and minerals (iron and calcium). Blue mussels are filter feeders eating plankton from the water. Mussel farming is more sustainable form of aquaculture as fish meal, chemicals (antibiotics and additives) are not required and the risk of pathogens escaping into the coastal ecosystems is minimal. The worldwide aquaculture and processing of mussels is rapidly increasing and blue mussels are Canada’s top shellfish aquaculture product produced in every province in Atlantic Canada, as well as in Quebec and British Columbia. By-products from mussel aquaculture and processing, such as processed mussel shells, unmarketable and broken mussels, make up a significant waste stream from this industry and are currently difficult to valorize. Waste mussel shells are a potential source of bio-calcium carbonate and proteins. Protein enzymatic hydrolysis, a process where protein macromolecules are hydrolyzed to amino acids and peptides of smaller size. The process is a simple, effective, and environmentally friendly means of valorizing waste mussel shells, producing two product streams: mussel shells without residual meat and non-toxic hydrolysate. This study includes a review of literature on valorizations of waste mussel shells for the source of bio-calcium carbonate and proteins. The review shows the lack of kinetic studies for enzymatic hydrolysis of mussels, required for any scale up to a commercial process. In this study, mussel meat is removed from whole mussels by using enzymatic hydrolysis technology. The process is carried out using a food grade enzyme, Multifect PR 6L, and tap water at neutral pH, with no pH control, and a temperature 50ﾟC. To determine the rate of hydrolysis, the degree of digested meat (DM) is used in this study instead of the degree of hydrolysis (DH). The enzyme and substrate concentrations were varied to determine the impact of these factors on the final digested meat and rate of reaction. The fraction of digested meat (or degree of shell cleaning) varied from 0.57 g/gₘₑₐₜ to 0.94 g/gₘₑₐₜ depending on the enzyme and substrate (meat) concentrations. Soluble protein concentration of the obtained hydrolysates was also analyzed. After evaluating a number of reaction rate mechanisms, the first-order model is suggested as the best model to describe the enzymatic hydrolysis of whole raw mussels. The soluble protein concentration in the resulting hydrolysate increases with the increases in the amount of digested meat

Gas Flows in Microsystems

International audienc

Proceedings of the Scientific-Practical Conference "Research and Development - 2016"

talent management; sensor arrays; automatic speech recognition; dry separation technology; oil production; oil waste; laser technolog