CFD Simulation of a shell and multiple tubes condensing heat exchanger in a modified microwave plant applied for reprocessing End of Life Tires (ELTs)

Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in BURA at https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. The condensation heat exchanger has a critical role in the microwave reduction process to separate and capture valuable by-products after the microwave reactor. This study aims to perform a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a condenser to assess the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger comprehensively. The type of heat exchanger used for this study is based upon an existing industrial-scale condenser taken from a conventional thermal pyrolysis end of tires (ELT) reprocessing plant and repurposed for integration into a 1500 kg/h ELT microwave reduction process. The condenser is a shell-and-multiple-tube heat exchanger in which the syngas passes through the tubes while cold water from a cooling tower is placed inside the shell. After the simulation, the effects of inlet temperatures and mass flow rates of the gas and water are investigated. The results show that the heat transfer rate is 58 kW for the inlet air velocity of 0.25 m/s and increases due to the convective heat transfer by 32% and 55% when the air velocity rises to 0.5 and 1 m/s, respectively, for the inlet gas and water temperatures of 80 and 15°C, respectively. Additionally, because the outlet air temperature and the inlet water temperature are strongly correlated with convective heat transfer, the outlet air temperature is equivalent to 17.2, 22.3, and 29.5°C when the inlet water temperature is 15, 20, and 25°C, respectively

Serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) inhibition as a potential novel targeted therapeutic strategy in prostate cancer

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Angiogenesis is required for tumour growth and is induced principally by vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). VEGF-A pre-mRNA is alternatively spliced at the terminal exon to produce two families of isoforms, pro- and anti-angiogenic, only the former of which is upregulated in prostate cancer (PCa). In renal epithelial cells and colon cancer cells, the choice of VEGF splice isoforms is controlled by the splicing factor SRSF1, phosphorylated by serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1). Immunohistochemistry staining of human samples revealed a significant increase in SRPK1 expression both in prostate intra-epithelial neoplasia lesions as well as malignant adenocarcinoma compared with benign prostate tissue. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the selective upregulation of pro-angiogenic VEGF in PCa may be under the control of SRPK1 activity. A switch in the expression of VEGF 165 towards the anti-angiogenic splice isoform, VEGF 165 b, was seen in PC-3 cells with SRPK1 knockdown (KD). PC-3 SRPK1-KD cells resulted in tumours that grew more slowly in xenografts, with decreased microvessel density. No effect was seen as a result of SRPK1-KD on growth, proliferation, migration and invasion capabilities of PC-3 cells in vitro. Small-molecule inhibitors of SRPK1 switched splicing towards the anti-angiogenic isoform VEGF 165 b in PC-3 cells and decreased tumour growth when administered intraperitoneally in an orthotopic mouse model of PCa. Our study suggests that modulation of SRPK1 and subsequent inhibition of tumour angiogenesis by regulation of VEGF splicing can alter prostate tumour growth and supports further studies for the use of SRPK1 inhibition as a potential anti-angiogenic therapy in PCa