Kinetic Study of the Electrochemical Mineralization of m-Cresol on a Boron-Doped Diamond Anode.

The kinetics of the electrooxidation of m-cresol in aqueous solution was investigated in a one-compartment flow electrochemical cell with a boron-doped diamond electrode (BDD). Cyclic voltammograms recorded on BDD revealed that cresol oxidation takes place at a potential very close to the discharge of water. Under potentiostatic conditions, at a working potential lower than water discharge, a passive layer was rapidly formed on the electrode surface due to cresol polymerization. The anode fouling was not observed during electrolysis performed with the flow electrochemical cell operating under galvanostatic conditions. In this case, the decay of mcresol concentration followed a pseudo-first-order kinetics. The abatement of chemical oxygen demand (COD) showed that the kinetics of m-cresol oxidation was limited by mass transfer and that a full mineralization was achieved. A good agreement between predicted and experimental COD and instantaneous current efficiency values was obtained, although some deviations were observed at high current since the experimental data decreased faster than those predicted ones. These deviations can be explained by the occurrence of oxygen evolution which increases the mass transfer coefficient

Recent development of electrochemical advanced oxidation of herbicides. A review on its application to wastewater treatment and soil remediation

Herbicides have been largely utilized during the last decades to maintain the quality and quantity of agricultural crop, ensuring the need of an increasing world food production. However, these synthetic organics are highly biorecalcitrant and stable at mild conditions and cannot be effectively destroyed in conventional wastewater treatment facilities. Among the advanced oxidation processes used to remove herbicides, electrochemical technologies have been recently developed at bench scale as potential powerful treatments. This review presents a critical, exhaustive and detailed analysis on the application of single and combined electrochemical advanced oxidation processes to remediate wastewaters and soils contaminated with common herbicides, covering the period 2010-2019. Nine kinds of treatments, including single methods like anodic oxidation, anodic oxidation with electrogenerated H2O2, homogeneous and heterogeneous electro-Fenton, photoelectro-Fenton, solar photoelectro-Fenton and photoelectrocatalysis, as well as combined ones involving hybrid and sequential processes, have been examined. The fundamentals of each technology are briefly described, and the main results obtained for the removal of the most used herbicide families from synthetic solutions and soil-washing effluents are carefully exposed and discussed. The role of generated oxidizing agents and/or photolytic reactions in photo-assisted processes is explained to justify the mechanisms proposed for herbicide mineralization. The comparative oxidation ability of the different methods is discussed. Finally, future challenges remarking the need of treating real agricultural wastewaters and contaminated soils, the construction of electrochemical systems with stable electrodes at industrial scale and the realization of techno-economic studies are envisaged

Construction of ETSEIB's website Chatbot with IBM Watson Assistant

Aquest projecte tracta sobre la creació d’un assistent virtual (xatbot) per la web de l‟Escola Tècnica Superior d‟Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB) amb el programa Watson Assistant. Els principals objectius d'aquest treball són disminuir la càrrega de treball de les persones encarregades de respondre les preguntes dels usuaris i millorar l'experiència de la pàgina web. En aquest treball consta un apartat teòric, on s'explica la definició i l'estat de l'art dels chatbots, així com diferents suports per crear-los. A continuació, s'explica més a fons el funcionament de IBM Watson Assistant, que és l'eina utilitzada per crear el xatbot. Després de presentar l'eina, s'explica la metodologia emprada en la ideació i la construcció d'aquest. Durant el capítol de la metodologia es fa un paral·lelisme entre com es desenvoluparia el producte per un equip d'IBM i com ho he desenvolupat jo com a particular. Finalment s'exposa el xatbot a experimentació i se n'extreuen conclusions. Es pot concloure que és una bona manera de donar resposta a preguntes freqüents que entrin dins de l'abast, disminuiria el treball mecànic de resolució de dubtes que hi ha actualment de forma manual i ajuda en la navegació de la pàgina webEste proyecto trata sobre la creación de un asistente virtual (chatbot) para la web de la Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB) con el programa Watson Assistant. Los objetivos principales de este trabajo son disminuir la carga de trabajo de las personas encargadas de responder las preguntas de los usuarios y mejorar la experiencia de la página web. En este trabajo consta un apartado teórico, donde se explica la definición y el estado del arte de los chatbots, así como diferentes soportes para la creación de estos. A continuación, se explica más a fondo el funcionamiento de IBM Watson Assistant, que es la herramienta utilizada para crear el chatbot. Después de presentar la herramienta, se explica la metodología emprada en la ideación y construcción de este. Durante el capítulo de la metodología se hace un paralelismo entre cómo se desarrollaría el producto por un equipo de IBM y como lo he desarrollado yo como particular. Finalmente se expone el chatbot a experimentación y se extraen conclusiones. Se puede concluir que es una buena manera de dar respuesta a preguntas frecuentes que entren dentro del alcance, disminuiría el trabajo mecánico de resolución de dudas que existe actualmente de forma manual y ayuda en la navegación de la página webThis project deals with the creation of a virtual assistant (chatbot) for Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB) website with the Watson Assistant program. The main objectives of this work are to reduce the workload of the people in charge of answering user questions and to improve the experience of the website. In this work there is a theoretical section, where the definition and the state of the art of chatbots are explained, as well as different supports for their creation. Next, the operation of IBM Watson Assistant, which is the tool used to create the chatbot, is explained in more depth. After presenting the tool, the methodology used in its ideation and construction is explained. During the methodology chapter, a parallelism is made between how would the product be developed by an IBM team and how I have developed it as an individual. Finally, the chatbot is exposed to experimentation and conclusions are drawn. It can be concluded that it is a good way to answer frequently asked questions that fall within the scope of the chatbot, it would reduce the mechanical and repetitive work of resolving questions manually and it would help to navigate the web pag

Sequential use of a continuous-flow electrocoagulation reactor and a (photo)electro-Fenton recirculation system for the treatment of Acid Brown 14 diazo dye

The decolorization and TOC removal of solutions of Acid Brown 14 (AB14) diazo dye containing 50 mg L-1 of total organic carbon (TOC) have been first studied in a continuous-flow electrocoagulation (EC) reactor of 3 L capacity with Fe electrodes of ~110 cm2 area each. Total loss of color with poor TOC removal was found in chloride, sulfate, and/or hydrogen carbonate matrices after 18 min of this treatment. The best performance was found using 5 anodes and 4 cathodes of Fe at 13.70 A and low liquid flow rate of 10 L h-1, in aerated 39.6 mM NaCl medium within a pH range of 4.0–10.0. The effluent obtained from EC was further treated by electro-Fenton (EF) using a 2.5 L pre-pilot flow plant, which was equipped with a filter-press cell comprising a Pt anode and an air-diffusion cathode for H2O2 electrogeneration. Operating with 0.10–1.0 mM Fe2+ as catalyst at pH 3.0 and 50 mA cm-2, a similar TOC removal of 68 % was found as maximal in chloride and sulfate media using the sequential EC-EF process. The EC-treated solutions were also treated by photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) employing a photoreactor with a 125 W UVA lamp. The sequential EC-PEF process yielded a much higher TOC reduction, close to 90 % and 97 % in chloride and sulfate media, respectively, due to the rapid photolysis of the final Fe(III)-carboxylate complexes. The formation of recalcitrant chloroderivatives from generated active chlorine limited the mineralization in the chloride matrix. For practical applications of this two-step technology, the high energy consumption of the UVA lamp in PEF could be reduced by using free sunlight

Solar photoelectro-Fenton treatment of a mixture of parabens spiked into secondary treated wastewater effluent at low input current

Aqueous mixtures of methyl, ethyl and propyl paraben (MeP, EtP and PrP) prepared in real urban wastewater with low conductivity were treated by solar photoelectro-Fenton (SPEF) process at low input current (j = 10 mA cm-2) using a pre-pilot plant with an electrochemical reactor equipped with an air-diffusion cathode to electrogenerate H2O2 and a boron-doped diamond (BDD) or RuO2-based anode. Comparative trials in simulated water matrices with or without Cl− in the absence of natural organic matter (NOM) always led to a slower decay of parabens concentration and total organic carbon (TOC). This was mainly due to the superior regeneration of Fe2+ from photoreduction of Fe(III) complexes formed with NOM in real wastewater compared to that from Fe(OH)2+. In all matrices, a catalyst concentration as low as 0.20 mM Fe2+ was enough to ensure the production of ¿OH in the bulk from Fenton's reaction. SPEF with BDD yielded a complete removal of parabens in 180 min and 66% mineralization at 240 min. This gave rise to the greatest mineralization current efficiencies reported so far, up to 1000%, with a low energy consumption of 84 kWh (kg TOC)-1. The synergy between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, which allowed the efficient dosage of ¿OH and M(¿OH) at low j, with simultaneous action of high UV power from sunlight justified such a good performance. Analogous apparent rate constants were determined for MeP, EtP and PrP. Slower decays were found with RuO2-based anode due to its lower oxidation power. As a result, the MCE was 425% as maximum, but a lower energy consumption of 52 kWh (kg TOC)-1 was needed. Since the role of active chlorine was of minor importance, the formation of toxic, refractory chloroderivatives was minimized. All by-products were transformed into malic, formic and oxalic acids prior to total mineralization

Editorial of the special issue on advanced electrochemical technologies for environmental applications

This special issue of Separation and Purification Technology gathers 27 articles, which are related to keynotes and oral or poster presentations at the 2nd European Workshop of Electrochemical Engineering entitled ‘New Bridges for a New Knowledge on Electrochemical Engineering’. The workshop was held from 1st to 5th October 2017 in Barcelona (Spain), as a Joint Event of the 10th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE10). This congress was promoted by the World Chemical Engineering Council (WCEC), the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) and the European Society of Biochemical Engineering Sciences (ESBES) to approach researchers and specialists in all areas of chemical engineering and to improve their strategy for the development of innovative processes that will be vital for the society of tomorrow. The joint event was promoted by the Working Party on Electrochemical Engineering (WPEE) of the EFCE and co-organized with the Spanish Excellence Network on Environmental and Energy Applications of the Electrochemical Technology (thus being the 2nd Workshop of E3TECH Network). It took place at Fira de Barcelona, one of the most important trade fair institutions in Europe

Intrauterine growth restriction and later cardiovascular function

Intrauterine growth restriction is one of the most common obstetric conditions, affecting 7-10% of fetuses. Affected fetuses are actually exposed in utero to an adverse environment during the highly critical time of development and may face life-long health consequences such as increased cardiovascular risk in adulthood. Already in utero, fetuses affected by growth restriction show remodeled hearts with signs of systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Cardiovascular remodeling persist into postnatal life, from the neonatal period to adolescence, suggesting a primary fetal cardiac programming that might explain the increased cardiovascular risk later in life. In this review we summarize the current evidence on fetal cardiovascular programming in fetuses affected by growth restriction, its consequences later and possible strategies from which they could benefit to reduce their cardiovascular risk

Long-term cardiovascular consequences of fetal growth restriction: biology, clinical implications, and opportunities for prevention of adult disease

In the modern world, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death for both men and women. Epidemiologic studies consistently have suggested an association between low birthweight and/or fetal growth restriction and increased rate of cardiovascular mortality in adulthood. Furthermore, experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated that sustained nutrient and oxygen restriction that are associated with fetal growth restriction activate adaptive cardiovascular changes that might explain this association. Fetal growth restriction results in metabolic programming that may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome and, consequently, of cardiovascular morbidity in the adult. In addition, fetal growth restriction is strongly associated with fetal cardiac and arterial remodeling and a subclinical state of cardiovascular dysfunction. The cardiovascular effects ocurring in fetal life, includes cardiac morphology changes, subclinical myocardial dysfunction, arterial remodeling, and impaired endothelial function, persist into childhood and adolescence. Importantly, these changes have been described in all clinical presentations of fetal growth restriction, from severe early- to milder late-onset forms. In this review we summarize the current evidence on the cardiovascular effects of fetal growth restriction, from subcellular to organ structure and function as well as from fetal to early postnatal life. Future research needs to elucidate whether and how early life cardiovascular remodeling persists into adulthood and determines the increased cardiovascular mortality rate described in epidemiologic studies