Towards Efficient Modularity in Industrial Drying: A Combinatorial Optimization Viewpoint

The industrial drying process consumes approximately 12% of the total energy used in manufacturing, with the potential for a 40% reduction in energy usage through improved process controls and the development of new drying technologies. To achieve cost-efficient and high-performing drying, multiple drying technologies can be combined in a modular fashion with optimal sequencing and control parameters for each. This paper presents a mathematical formulation of this optimization problem and proposes a framework based on the Maximum Entropy Principle (MEP) to simultaneously solve for both optimal values of control parameters and optimal sequence. The proposed algorithm addresses the combinatorial optimization problem with a non-convex cost function riddled with multiple poor local minima. Simulation results on drying distillers dried grain (DDG) products show up to 12% improvement in energy consumption compared to the most efficient single-stage drying process. The proposed algorithm converges to local minima and is designed heuristically to reach the global minimum

Onset of the Mutual Thermal Effects of Solid Body and Nanofluid Flow over a Flat Plate Theoretical Study

The falling and settling of solid particles in gases and liquids is a natural phenomenon happens in many industrial processes. This phenomenon has altered pure forced convection to a combination of heat conduction and heat convection in a flow over a plate. In this paper, the coupling of conduction (inside the plate) and forced convection of a non-homogeneous nanofluid flow (over a flat plate) is investigated, which is classified in conjugate heat transfer problems. Two-component four-equation non-homogeneous equilibrium model for convective transport in nanofluids (mixture of water with particles<100nm) has been applied that incorporates the effects of the nanoparticles migration due to the thermophoresis and Brownian motion forces. Employing similarity variables, we have transformed the basic non-dimensional partial differential equations to ordinary differential ones and then solved numerically. Moreover, variation of the heat transfer and concentration rates with thermal resistance of the plate is studied in detail. Setting the lowest dependency of heat transfer rate to the thermal resistance of the plate as a goal, we have shown that for two nanofluids with similar heat transfer characteristics, the one with higher Brownian motion (lower nanoparticle diameter) is desired

Prostaglandin E2 Stimulates the Expansion of Regulatory Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are multipotent stem cells that have been harnessed as a curative therapy for patients with hematological malignancies. Notably, the discovery that HSPCs are endowed with immunoregulatory properties suggests that HSPC-based therapeutic approaches may be used to treat autoimmune diseases. Indeed, infusion with HSPCs has shown promising results in the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and remains the only “experimental therapy” that has achieved a satisfactory rate of remission (nearly 60%) in T1D. Patients with newly diagnosed T1D have been successfully reverted to normoglycemia by administration of autologous HSPCs in association with a non-myeloablative immunosuppressive regimen. However, this approach is hampered by a high incidence of adverse effects linked to immunosuppression. Herein, we report that while the use of autologous HSPCs is capable of improving C-peptide production in patients with T1D, ex vivo modulation of HSPCs with prostaglandins (PGs) increases their immunoregulatory properties by upregulating expression of the immune checkpoint-signaling molecule PD-L1. Surprisingly, CXCR4 was upregulated as well, which could enhance HSPC trafficking toward the inflamed pancreatic zone. When tested in murine and human in vitro autoimmune assays, PG-modulated HSPCs were shown to abrogate the autoreactive T cell response. The use of PG-modulated HSPCs may thus provide an attractive and novel treatment of autoimmune diabetes

The unsteady flow of a nanofluid in the stagnation point region of a time-dependent rotating sphere

This paper deals with the unsteady boundary layer flow and heat transfer of nanofluid over a time-dependent rotating sphere where the free stream velocity varies continuously with time. The boundary layer equations were normalized via similarity variables and solved numerically. Best accuracy of the results has been obtained for regular fluid with previous studies. The nanofluid is treated as a two-component mixture (base fluid+nanoparticles) that incorporates the effects of Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis simultaneously as the two most important mechanisms of slip velocity in laminar flows. Our outcomes indicated that as A and λ increase, surface shear stresses, heat transfer and concentration rates, climb up. Also, Increasing the thermophoresis Nt is found to decrease in the both values of heat transfer and concentration rates. This decrease supresses for higher thermophoresis number. In addition, it was observed that unlike the heat transfer rate, a rise in Brownian motion Nb, leads to an increase in concentration rate

Impact of rapid urbanization on the surface water's quality: a long-term environmental and physicochemical investigation of Tajan river, Iran (2007-2017)

Sustainable development of our society requires protection and monitoring of aquatic environments, as they are the pivotal water resources and niche for wildlife animals. In this research, physicochemical parameters of Tajan river's water were determined and compared with standards to assess the rural and human activity impact on water quality. First, monitoring and analyzing the water quality of the river were performed for 11&nbsp;years (from 2007 to 2017). Based on calculated water quality index (WQI) values, Tajan river's water quality falls into four categories: good water with WQI less than 30 at upstream and middle of the river, poor water, and very poor to even unsuitable water (WQI ranges from 86 to 134) at the more urbanized locations. The high values of WQI are due to an elevated concentration of sulfate, nitrate, total dissolved solids (TDS), and chloride substances. The source of contaminations, according to the geochemistry of the area and having more than 90% growth rate in the population near to the most polluted location, is probably anthropogenic activities. Then, the long-term experimental data set has been utilized for developing a statistical model to be used for prediction of water quality with a few chemical analyses, generating a rapid and low-cost water quality evaluation for this river. The model was developed based on the stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) approach and confirmed the experimental observation data of the most defective elements on WQI were respectively SO4, NO3, TDS, Cl, pH, and EC. This study presents a long-term evaluation of changes in surface water quality at a region with a recent rapid urban and civil development providing a suitable case to understand better human-water relations