Microbial desulphurization of coal containing pyritic sulphur in a continuously operated bench scale coal slurry reactor

Pre-combustion microbial desulphurization of coal containing total sulphur (3.90%) and pyritic sulphur (2.80%) has been evaluated in a coal slurry reactor. The coal slurry reactor operated at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 96 h with a coal pulp density of 15 percent and remove 79 percent of pyritic sulphur and 76 percent of ash with an increase in the calorific value of coal from 4400 to 6800 kcal kgK1 at a pyritic load of 1.9 kg pyritic sulphur kgK1 MLSS dK1. The treated coal yield is 72 percent. The biochemical kinetic coefficients, viz. yield coefficient (Y) and decay coefficient (Kd) in the coal slurry reactor system are 0.178 and 0.007 dK1, respectively, while maximum growth rate (mmax) and half saturation rate constant (Ks) are 0.025 hK1 and 0.220 g lK1 as pyrite, respectively

A Dual Wide-Band Mushroom-Shaped Dielectric Antenna for 5G Sub-6-GHz and mm-Wave Bands

RÉSUMÉ: The design and implementation of a dual wide-band mushroom-shaped antenna are presented in this paper. The antenna consists of a cylindrical dielectric resonator (cDRA), a cylindrical dielectric rod as a waveguide (cDR), and a dielectric lens (DL). The cDRA in conjunction with the DL acts as a sub-6-GHz antenna. At the mm-wave band, the small cDR acts as a waveguide, which transfers the wave from the feed toward the larger cDRA and the DL in order to produce a high gain. A dual wide-band antenna is designed and fabricated with different dielectric constants for the cDRA/cDR and the DL. 3D printing is utilized to precisely control the dielectric constant of printed component. Measurement results show a maximum gain of 6.4 dB at 5.3 GHz with a 21% 3-dB gain bandwidth and 12.7 dB at 31.5 GHz with a 26.2% 3-dB gain bandwidth. The sub-6-GHz band exhibits a measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth of 21% (centered at 5.15 GHz), and the mm-wave frequency band demonstrates a measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth of 26.2% (centered at 30.5 GHz)

Comparison of Small Gut and Whole Gut Microbiota of First-Degree Relatives With Adult Celiac Disease Patients and Controls

Recent studies on celiac disease (CeD) have reported alterations in the gut microbiome. Whether this alteration in the microbial community is the cause or effect of the disease is not well understood, especially in adult onset of disease. The first-degree relatives (FDRs) of CeD patients may provide an opportunity to study gut microbiome in pre-disease state as FDRs are genetically susceptible to CeD. By using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we observed that ecosystem level diversity measures were not significantly different between the disease condition (CeD), pre-disease (FDR) and control subjects. However, differences were observed at the level of amplicon sequence variant (ASV), suggesting alterations in specific ASVs between pre-disease and diseased condition. Duodenal biopsies showed higher differences in ASVs compared to fecal samples indicating larger disruption of the microbiota at the disease site. The duodenal microbiota of FDR was characterized by significant abundance of ASVs belonging to Parvimonas, Granulicatella, Gemella, Bifidobacterium, Anaerostipes, and Actinomyces genera. The duodenal microbiota of CeD was characterized by higher abundance of ASVs from genera Megasphaera and Helicobacter compared to the FDR microbiota. The CeD and FDR fecal microbiota had reduced abundance of ASVs classified as Akkermansia and Dorea when compared to control group microbiota. In addition, predicted functional metagenome showed reduced ability of gluten degradation by CeD fecal microbiota in comparison to FDRs and controls. The findings of the present study demonstrate differences in ASVs and predicts reduced ability of CeD fecal microbiota to degrade gluten compared to the FDR fecal microbiota. Further research is required to investigate the strain level and active functional profiles of FDR and CeD microbiota to better understand the role of gut microbiome in pathophysiology of CeD

A modified anaerobic baffled reactor for municipal wastewater treatment

A nine-chambered modified anaerobic baffled reactor (MABR) was developed to evaluate its suitability for the treatment of municipal wastewater and to establish the understanding of the relationship between reactor design and operational parameters. The paper presents the configuration of the MABR, its start-up, effect of variation of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on treatment efficiency, and performance evaluation of the MABR while treating the municipal wastewater. To assess the self-inoculation potential of the MABR, the start-up was carried out without seed sludge at a HRT of 6 d. An acclimatization curve was plotted and indicated that a start-up period of 90 d was required for the MABR. Reactor performance evaluation was carried out for 375 d at 11 different HRTs ranging from 6 d to 3 h. The HRT of 6 h was adjudged to be appropriate for this reactor configuration. At a HRT of 6 h, the efficiencies of reduction in suspended solids (SS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were found to be 86%, 87% and 84% respectively. Specific biogas yield and methane content were found to be 0.34 m3CH4/KgCODr and 67% respectively. The study has evaluated the performance pattern of the MABR and identified it as a suitable reactor technology for municipal wastewater management in India.

A modified anaerobic baffled reactor for municipal wastewater treatment

A nine-chambered modified anaerobic baffled reactor (MABR) was developed to evaluate its suitability for the treatment of municipal wastewater and to establish the understanding of the relationship between reactor design and operational parameters. The paper presents the configuration of the MABR, its start-up, effect of variation of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on treatment efficiency, and performance evaluation of the MABR while treating the municipal wastewater. To assess the self-inoculation potential of the MABR, the start-up was carried out without seed sludge at a HRT of 6 d. An acclimatization curve was plotted and indicated that a start-up period of 90 d was required for the MABR. Reactor performance evaluation was carried out for 375 d at 11 different HRTs ranging from 6 d to 3 h. The HRT of 6 h was adjudged to be appropriate for this reactor configuration. At a HRT of 6 h, the efficiencies of reduction in suspended solids (SS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were found to be 86%, 87% and 84% respectively. Specific biogas yield and methane content were found to be 0.34 m3CH4/KgCODr and 67% respectively. The study has evaluated the performance pattern of the MABR and identified it as a suitable reactor technology for municipal wastewater management in India.

INDIAN ENERGY SCENARIO AND METHODS FOR REDUCING ELECTRICITY BILL IN RESIDENTIAL SECTOR

ABSTRAC