Dynamic flow phenomena in a foam application unit

If, during the operation of a foam application unit, a change in the foam production is introduced, the change in the flow becomes noticeable at the point of application onlyafter a certain response delay time. During the operation of the unit it is necessary to take this response delay into consideration. By varying the flow of foam in the application unit, the mass content of foam in the unit is changed as a result of the changed pressure inside the unit. The response delay has been mathematically derived for the flow of agiven type of foam through pipes, as well as through a foam printing unit as a whole. A deviation in the yield of foam on the substrate can be avoided by considering the respons delay caused by a change in the foam production process

The economically optimal design of heat exchangers

A new method to design heat exchangers is proposed, which is based on the process description by Kays and London and lends itself very well to optimization.\ud The method is described by applying it to the economic optimization of a counter-current exchanger, the extension to other flow configurations being selfexplanatory.\u

Absorption and rheological phenomena during foam application on textiles

A simple rheological model has been used to describe foam flow through moving textile assemblies. The validity of this model was tested, and the nature and the relative magnitude of deviations from the model evaluated for several different substrates. Neglecting foam degeneration during transport, the model was found to represent a valuable means of evaluating some rheological and geometrical deviations. The model can be used in a semi-quantitative way to describe absorbency during foam application. Liquid absorption experiments done off-line, absorption during foam application and some earlier results could be described using different theoretical approaches. Some rheological anomalies have been discussed

Foam generation in a rotor—stator mixer = Schaumerzeugung in einem rotor—stator mischer

The foaming process of an aqueous liquid system with surface active agents and thickeners in a rotor-stator mixer has been studied.\ud \ud The foaming capacity of a rotor—stator mixer may be represented by a so-called mixing characteristic. The foamabilities of several liquid systems have been measured as a function of the mixer geometry and the rotational speed.\ud \ud The hydrodynamics in a rotor-stator mixer is characterized by a Newton—Reynolds relationship. The mechanism of foaming and the dependence of several mixing parameters are different for the turbulent and laminar flow regions. The mixing process is evaluated in both regimes. In the transition region from turbulent to laminar the foaming is very poor in comparison with that in the turbulent and laminar flow regimes.\u

Mass transfer, fluid flow and membrane properties in flat and corrugated plate hyperfiltration modules

Concentration polarisation, decreasing the efficiency in membrane separation processes, can be reduced by increasing mass transfer between membrane surface and bulk of the feed stream. Analogous to techniques used in plate heat exchangers efforts have been made to enhance mass transfer in a plate hyperfiltration module by using a corrugated membrane in stead of a flat one. The corrugations are pressed into an originally flat membrane. These corrugations do not only have an influence on the mass transfer, but also on such membrane properties as salt and water permeability. Corrugations enhance mass transfer in a more effective way than increase of flow rate does.\ud \ud The effect of the corrugations on membrane properties shows a large spread. For corrugated membranes prepared by our group, flux increases of 100% at almost the same or even slightly higher retentions have been obtained

The flow properties of foam

The rheological behaviour of foam, prepared from an aqueous solution with lauryl sulphate as surfactant, has been measured with a viscometer as a function of the blow ratio, bubble diameter distribution and concentration of the thickener used. The influence of wall slip and of hysteresis effects on the rheological behaviour have been determined. Calculations and measurements pertaining to the pressure drop in pipes have been performed, in which the foam was considered as a compressible pseudoplastic whose rheology depended on blow ratio. The distribution of the foam passing through a closed distribution unit has been studied. This distribution unit consisted of a pipe and a cross-head distribution slit. Complementary measurements of the flow of foam through narrow slits have been made. The design of a closed foam distribution unit is discussed. The consequences of the choice of several design parameters are examined

Footrot and interdigital dermatitis in sheep: Farmer satisfaction with current management, their ideal management and sources used to adopt new strategies

The aims of this research were to identify management practices that sheep farmers currently use to treat and prevent footrot in sheep and whether they consider that these are successful management tools and to find out how sheep farmers would ideally like to manage footrot in their flock. Over 90% of lameness in sheep in the UK is caused by Dichelobacter nodosus, which presents clinically as interdigital dermatitis (ID) alone or with separation of hoof horn (FR). A questionnaire was sent to 265 farmers to investigate their current management and their satisfaction with current management of the spectrum of clinical presentations of footrot. Farmers were also asked their ideal management of footrot and their interest in, and sources of information for, change. Approximately 160 farmers responded. Farmers satisfied with current management reported a prevalence of lameness ≤5%. These farmers caught and treated lame sheep within 3 days of first seeing them lame, and treated sheep with FR and ID with parenteral antibacterials. Farmers dissatisfied with their management reported a prevalence of lameness >5%. These farmers practised routine foot trimming, footbathing and vaccination against footrot. Whilst 89% of farmers said they were satisfied with their management of FR over 34% were interested in changing management. Farmers identified veterinarians as the most influential source for new information. Farmers reported that ideally they would control FR by culling/isolating lame sheep, sourcing replacements from non-lame parents, trimming feet less, using antibacterial treatments less and using vaccination more. Footbathing was a commonly used management that was linked with dissatisfaction and that also was listed highly as an ideal management. Consequently, some of the ideal managements are in agreement with our understanding of disease control (culling and isolation, sourcing healthy replacements) but others are in contrast with our current knowledge of management and farmers self-reporting of satisfaction of management of footrot (less use of antibacterial treatment, more footbathing and vaccination). One explanation for this is the theory of cognitive dissonance where belief follows behaviour, i.e. farmers report that they believe an ideal which is what they are currently doing, even if the management is sub-optimal

The inter- and intra-observer reliability of a locomotion scoring scale for sheep

A seven point locomotion scoring scale, ranging from 0 = normal locomotion to 6 = unable to stand or move, has been developed. To test the between and within observer reliability of the scale, 65 movie clips of sheep with normal and varying degrees of abnormal locomotion were made. Three observers familiar with sheep locomotion were trained to read the movie clips. Thirty clips were randomly selected and used to test between and within observer agreement. There was high inter-(intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.93, weighted kappa [κw] = 0.93) and intra-(ICC = 0.90, κw = 0.91) observer reliability, with no evidence of observer bias. The main between score differences were for scores 0 (normal) and 1 (uneven posture and shortened stride but no head movement). The results indicate that the locomotion scoring scale using groups of defined observations for each point on the scale was reliable and may be a useful research tool to identify and monitor locomotion in individual sheep when used by trained observers

Factors associated with changes of state of foot conformation and lameness in a flock of sheep

The aim of this research was to investigate transitions between foot conformation, lameness and footrot in sheep. Data came from one lowland flock of approximately 700 ewes studied for 18 months. Multilevel multistate analyses of transitions between good and poor foot conformation states in ewes, and lame and non-lame states in ewes and lambs were conducted. Key results were that the longer sheep had feet in good conformation, the more likely they were to stay in this state; similarly, the longer a ewe was not lame the more likely she was not to become lame. Ewes with poor foot conformation were more likely to become lame (OR: 1.83 (1.24-2.67)) and to be > 4 years (OR: 1.50(1.09-2.05)). Ewes with footrot were less likely to move to good foot conformation (OR: 0.48 (0.31-0.75)) and were more likely to become lame (OR: 3.81(2.60-5.59)). Ewes lame for > 4 days and not treated with parenteral antibacterials had a higher risk of developing (OR: 2.00 (1.08-3.61)), or remaining in (OR: 0.49 (0.29-0.95)) poor foot conformation compared with ewes never lame. Treatment of ewes lame with footrot with parenteral antibacterials increased the probability of transition from a lame to a non-lame state (OR: 1.46 (1.05-2.02)) and these ewes, even if lame for > 4 days, were not more likely to develop poor foot conformation. The risk of a ewe becoming lame increased when at least one of her offspring was lame (OR: 2.03 (1.42-2.92)) and when the prevalence of lameness in the group was ≥ 5% (OR: 1.42 (1.06-1.92)). Lambs were at increased risk of becoming lame when they were male (OR: 1.42 (1.01-2.01)), single (OR: 1.86 (1.34-2.59)) or had a lame dam or sibling (OR: 3.10 (1.81-5.32)). There were no explanatory variables associated with lambs recovering from lameness. We conclude that poor foot conformation in ewes increases the susceptibility of ewes to become lame and that this can arise from untreated footrot. Treatment of ewes lame with footrot with parenteral antibacterials leads to recovery from lameness and prevents or resolves poor foot conformation which then reduces the susceptibility to further lameness with footrot

Foam Generation in Rotor-Stator Mixers

One of the unit operations in foam technology is foam generation in a liquid/gas mixer. The foaming process of an aqueous liquid system with a surface-active agent in a rotor-stator mixer has been studied, and it was found that it could be represented by a mixing characteristic relating the liquid flow rate to the maximum gas flow rate needed to produce a foam without 'blow-by'. Too high a gas flow rate resulted in a short-circuiting flow of gas via the rotor shaft to the outlet. The influence of the number of rotor-stator blades, equipment size and operating pressure on the behaviour of the foam mixer has been investigated