Modeling and simulation of drying operation in PVC powder production line: a pneumatic dryer model

A one-dimensional steady-state model is developed to simulate drying of PVC powder in a pneumatic dryer. In this model, a two-phase continuum model was used to describe the steady-state flow of a dilute dispersed phase (wet PVC powder) and a continuous phase (humid air) through dryer. The particle scale kinetics was obtained by immersion of a fixed mass of wet PVC’s particles (cake) in a batch dense fluidized bed containing inert hot particles (glass bead). The drying kinetics was described by a shrinking core type model and integrated in pneumatic dryer model. The results show that the inlet temperature is the most important parameter in the operation. The drying rate is controlled by a two-stage process. The first stage corresponds to the surface water evaporation, and the second to the pore water evaporation

Optimisation des opérations de séchage dans la chaîne de fabrication du PVC en poudre : Expérimentation, simulation et modélisation

Lors de la production du PVC en poudre, après l’étape de polymérisation en suspension, on obtient une bouillie constituée d’un mélange de grains macroporeux de taille comprise entre 100 et 200 μm et d’eau. L’étape de centrifugation permet la séparation de la phase liquide exprimable et la production d’un milieu poreux humide appelé « gâteau ». La teneur en eau du gâteau ainsi formé est de 30 % de la masse du produit anhydre. Le séchage du gâteau de filtration se fait dans un séchoir Flash (séchoir pneumatique) couplé à un séchoir à lit fluidisé. Cette opération, très gourmande en énergie et donc très impactante en termes d’émission de Gaz à Effet de Serre (GES), représente 30% du coût de fabrication et 50% des émissions de CO2. Ce travail, réalisé dans le cadre d’une collaboration avec le groupe INEOS ChlorVinyls, est consacrée à l’étude de l’étape de séchage thermique, et à la réalisation d’outils expérimentaux et théoriques permettant d’optimiser le fonctionnement et de réduire la consommation énergétique de cette étape. Dans ce but, l’étude du séchage du PVC est réalisée à l’échelle d’une particule isolée d’une part, et à l’échelle du procédé industriel d’autre part. La détermination expérimentale de la cinétique de séchage est effectuée en immergeant une quantité de produit humide (gâteau de filtration) dans un lit fluidisé de grosses particules inertes et chaudes (billes de verre), et permet d’étudier l’influence de différents paramètres sur la cinétique d’évaporation. Les résultats ont montré que cette cinétique est limitée par les processus d’évaporation à l’intérieur et à la surface des particules. Du point de vue théorique, un modèle dont le principe repose sur les bilans de matière et de chaleur à l’échelle du grain de PVC, couplés aux bilans sur le séchoir à lit fluidisé, a été élaboré. La comparaison des résultats de ce modèle avec les résultats expérimentaux a permis de vérifier la validité de la loi cinétique ainsi établie. Finalement, cette loi a été intégrée dans un modèle simulant le séchoir pneumatique industriel. Les résultats théoriques sont comparés à des mesures réalisées sur un séchoir pneumatique industriel équipé de capteurs de pression, d’humidité et de température. Les résultats de cette étude ont permis de proposer une nouvelle stratégie de régulation du séchoir pneumatique ainsi que des modifications du procédé, ne nécessitant pas d’investissement. L’ensemble de ces propositions a permis de réduire d’environ 30% la consommation énergétique pour un rendement de séchage équivalent

Tree-AMP: Compositional Inference with Tree Approximate Message Passing

We introduce Tree-AMP, standing for Tree Approximate Message Passing, a python package for compositional inference in high-dimensional tree-structured models. The package provides a unifying framework to study several approximate message passing algorithms previously derived for a variety of machine learning tasks such as generalized linear models, inference in multi-layer networks, matrix factorization, and reconstruction using non-separable penalties. For some models, the asymptotic performance of the algorithm can be theoretically predicted by the state evolution, and the measurements entropy estimated by the free entropy formalism. The implementation is modular by design: each module, which implements a factor, can be composed at will with other modules to solve complex inference tasks. The user only needs to declare the factor graph of the model: the inference algorithm, state evolution and entropy estimation are fully automated.Comment: Source code available at https://github.com/sphinxteam/tramp and documentation at https://sphinxteam.github.io/tramp.doc

Explosive breeding in tropical anurans: Environmental triggers, community composition and acoustic structure

Background: Anurans largely rely on acoustic communication for sexual selection and reproduction. While multiple studies have focused on the calling activity patterns of prolonged breeding assemblages, species that concentrate their reproduction in short-time windows, explosive breeders, are still largely unknown, probably because of their ephemeral nature. In tropical regions, multiple species of explosive breeders may simultaneously aggregate leading to massive, mixed and dynamic choruses. To understand the environmental triggers, the phenology and composition of these choruses, we collected acoustic and environmental data at five ponds in French Guiana during a rainy season, assessing acoustic communities before and during explosive breeding events. Results: We detected in each pond two explosive breeding events, lasting between 24 and 70 h. The rainfall during the previous 48 h was the most important factor predicting the emergence of these events. During explosive breeding events, we identified a temporal factor that clearly distinguished pre- A nd mid-explosive communities. A common pool of explosive breeders co-occurred in most of the events, namely Chiasmocleis shudikarensis, Trachycephalus coriaceus and Ceratophrys cornuta. Nevertheless, the species composition was remarkably variable between ponds and for each pond between the first and the second events. The acoustic structure of explosive breeding communities had outlying levels of amplitude and unexpected low acoustic diversity, significantly lower than the communities preceding explosive breeding events. Conclusions: Explosive breeding communities were tightly linked with specific rainfall patterns. With climate change increasing rainfall variability in tropical regions, such communities may experience significant shifts in their timing, distribution and composition. In structurally similar habitats, located in the same region without obvious barriers, our results highlight the variation in composition across explosive breeding events. The characteristic acoustic structure of explosive breeding events stands out from the circadian acoustic environment being easily detected at long distance, probably reflecting behavioural singularities and conveying heterospecific information announcing the availability of short-lived breeding sites. Our data provides a baseline against which future changes, possibly linked to climate change, can be measured, contributing to a better understanding on the causes, patterns and consequences of these unique assemblagesThis research was supported by the Labex CEBA (Centre d’Étude de la Biodiversité Amazonienne), which provided fnancial and logistic support for the data collection. JSU was supported by COLCIENCIAS (Doctoral Scholarship of the Colombian government, 2014 call #646). DLL was supported by a Global Marie S. Curie fellowship (European Commission, program H2020, EAVESTROP–661408), a postdoctoral grant Atracción de Talento Investigador (Comunidad de Madrid, CAM, Spain, 2016-T2/AMB-1722), and acknowledges funding provided by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (CGL2017-88764-R, MINECO/AEI/FEDER, Spain). None of the funders had any role in the design, analysis, interpretation of results or writing the manuscrip

Determination of PVC Powder Drying Kinetics at Particle Scale: Experimental Study and Modeling

An original experimental method is used to determine drying kinetic at particle scale. The particle scale kinetics was obtained by immersion of a small mass of wet PVC particles (cake) in a batch dense fluidized bed containing inert hot particles (glass bead). The results are summarized here and prove clearly that the PVC drying is controlled by a competition between internal and external transfer. The drying kinetic was described by a particle scale model taking into account the convective-diffusive (mass transfer) and the convective-evaporative (heat transfer) phenomena. To validate this model with the experimental data, the experimental fluidized bed dryer is modeled following two different approaches: a perfect stirred reactor model and a 3D numerical simulation using the multiphase flow code NEPTUNE_CFD. The aim of this 3D simulation is to simulate the phenomena occurring, at local scale, in a dense fluidized bed dryer and to show the limitations of the perfect stirred reactor model

Effets de la variation spatiale et temporelle des propriétés des terrains sur les défaillances des réseaux enterrés

Les interactions entre la nappe phréatique peu profonde et les réseaux d assainissement sont en général très complexes. Dans le but d étudier l impact des variations du niveau de la nappe phréatique sur les dégradations des conduites, un modèle hydrogéologique numérique tridimensionnel (3D) de la nappe phréatique ayant un aquifère multicouche au sein d une zone de 83 km2 de l agglomération bordelaise (Mérignac, Pessac, Talence) a été développé, calibré et validé. Pour ce faire, un modèle conceptuel de cet aquifère multicouche a dans un premier temps été défini sur la base des descriptions lithostratigraphiques des forages. Puis un travail géostatistique a été entrepris pour construire les limites des formations géologiques et les cartes piézométriques issues de campagnes de mesures de hauteurs d eau de la nappe phréatique. Nous avons par la suite développé une méthodologie originale de transformation de l information lithologique au droit des sondages en perméabilités, puis en champs de perméabilités en utilisant des méthodes géostatistiques. Dans un second temps, les conditions hydrogéologiques ont été simulées en utilisant le logiciel Visual Modflow . Les paramètres hydrogéologiques ont été calibrés manuellement et automatiquement sur la base des niveaux d eau mesurés lors des campagnes de juillet 2010, octobre 2010 et mars 2011. La validation du modèle qui s est effectuée en simulant les cotes piézométriques au pas mi-décadaire allant de juin 1993 à mai 2012 montre que les chroniques piézométriques observées sur les 35 piézomètres du domaine étudié sont correctement restituées et la dynamique de la nappe phréatique est reproduite. Dans un dernier temps, les distributions spatiales et temporelles des cotes piézométriques simulées ont permis d identifier les zones d ennoiement des réseaux d assainissements en comparant les cotes piézométriques aux cotes des réseaux. Ces zones d ennoiement ont été comparées aux principaux secteurs de casses de canalisations. Les secteurs de casses de canalisations sont localisés dans les zones à faible probabilité d ennoiement des conduites. L environnement naturel hydrogéologique pris comme paramètre isolé ne constitue donc pas un facteur explicatif au phénomène de casses des canalisations.The interactions between shallow groundwater and sewer network are generally complex. The aim of this research is to study the impact of the water table level variation on the damages of the buried pipes. For this purpose, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical groundwater flow model of the shallow multi-aquifer of the Bordeaux urban area, within a 83 km2 area (Mérignac, Pessac, Talence), is developed, calibrated and validated. In order to do this, in a first step, a conceptual model was built based on stratigraphic descriptions of the boreholes. A geostastistical study was carried out to build the limits of the geological layers and the piezometrical maps from the measurement campaigns of water table levels. Then, an original methodology to transform the description of lithological units to local hydraulic conductivity values is proposed and the reconstruction of hydraulic conductivity fields at the urban scale was performed based on geostatistical methods. In a second step, hydrogeological conditions were simulated using the finite-difference groundwater flow model MODFLOW-2005 (Visual Modflow ). The hydrogeological parameters were then calibrated manually and automatically based on water table elevation data measured in July 2010, October 2010 and March 2010. The model validation covered 6890 days, from June 1993 to may 2012. The results showed that the simulated heads are quite accurate and reproduce the main dynamics of the system at 35 piezometers. The spatial and temporal distribution of the heads of the piezometers simulated permitted to identify the flooding zones of the sewer network by comparing the piezometric head with the altitude of the networks. The sectors where the pipes are damaged were localized in the zone wherein there is low probability of flooding. Additionally, the natural hydrologic environment, taken as a sole factor, cannot explain the pipe breakage phenomena.BORDEAUX1-Bib.electronique (335229901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Evaluation of Multiorbital SAR and Multisensor Optical Data for Empirical Estimation of Rapeseed Biophysical Parameters

This article aims to evaluate the potential of multitemporal and multiorbital remote sensing data acquired both in the microwave and optical domain to derive rapeseed biophysical parameters (crop height, dry mass, fresh mass, and plant water content). Dense temporal series of 98 Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images were used to derive normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), green fraction cover (fCover), and green area index (GAI), while backscattering coefficients and radar vegetation index (RVI) were obtained from 231 mages acquired by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) onboard Sentinel-1 platform. Temporal signatures of these remote sensing indicators (RSI) were physically interpreted, compared with each other to ground measurements of biophysical parameters acquired over 14 winter rapeseed fields throughout the 2017–2018 crop season. We introduced new indicators based on the cumulative sum of each RSI that showed a significant improvement in their predictive power. Results particularly reveal the complementarity of SAR and optical data for rapeseed crop monitoring throughout its phenological cycle. They highlight the potential of the newly introduced indicator based on the VH polarized backscatter coefficient to estimate height (R2 = 0.87), plant water content (R2 = 0.77, from flowering to harvest), and fresh mass (R2 = 0.73) and RVI to estimate dry mass (R2 = 0.82). Results also demonstrate that multiorbital SAR data can be merged without significantly degrading the performance of SAR-based relationships while strongly increasing the temporal sampling of the monitoring. These results are promising in view of assimilating optical and SAR data into crop models for finer rapeseed monitoring

Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Strains in Patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma

We investigated whether Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patients in France carry Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and then identified strain variations. All frozen MCC specimens and 45% of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens, but none of the non-MCC neuroendocrine carcinomas specimens, had MCPyV. Strains from France and the United States were similar

Multiple Promoters and Alternative Splicing: Hoxa5 Transcriptional Complexity in the Mouse Embryo

The genomic organization of Hox clusters is fundamental for the precise spatio-temporal regulation and the function of each Hox gene, and hence for correct embryo patterning. Multiple overlapping transcriptional units exist at the Hoxa5 locus reflecting the complexity of Hox clustering: a major form of 1.8 kb corresponding to the two characterized exons of the gene and polyadenylated RNA species of 5.0, 9.5 and 11.0 kb. This transcriptional intricacy raises the question of the involvement of the larger transcripts in Hox function and regulation.We have undertaken the molecular characterization of the Hoxa5 larger transcripts. They initiate from two highly conserved distal promoters, one corresponding to the putative Hoxa6 promoter, and a second located nearby Hoxa7. Alternative splicing is also involved in the generation of the different transcripts. No functional polyadenylation sequence was found at the Hoxa6 locus and all larger transcripts use the polyadenylation site of the Hoxa5 gene. Some larger transcripts are potential Hoxa6/Hoxa5 bicistronic units. However, even though all transcripts could produce the genuine 270 a.a. HOXA5 protein, only the 1.8 kb form is translated into the protein, indicative of its essential role in Hoxa5 gene function. The Hoxa6 mutation disrupts the larger transcripts without major phenotypic impact on axial specification in their expression domain. However, Hoxa5-like skeletal anomalies are observed in Hoxa6 mutants and these defects can be explained by the loss of expression of the 1.8 kb transcript. Our data raise the possibility that the larger transcripts may be involved in Hoxa5 gene regulation.Our observation that the Hoxa5 larger transcripts possess a developmentally-regulated expression combined to the increasing sum of data on the role of long noncoding RNAs in transcriptional regulation suggest that the Hoxa5 larger transcripts may participate in the control of Hox gene expression

Modeling and simulation of drying operations in PVC powder production line: Experimental and theoretical study of drying kinetics on particle scale

An experimental method to determine drying kinetic at a particle scale and a pneumatic dryer model are presented. The particle scale kinetics were obtained by immersion of a fixed mass of wet PVC particles (cake) in a batch dense fluidized bed containing inert hot particles (glass bead). It appears clearly that the PVC drying is controlled by a competition between internal and external transfers. The drying kinetic was described by a shrinking core type model and integrated in a one-dimensional steady-state model simulating a pneumatic dryer. A two-phase continuum model was used to describe the steady-state flow of a diluted dispersed phase (wet PVC powder) and a continuous phase (humid air) through dryer. Themodel takes into account the convective heat,mass and momentumtransfers. The numerical results are compared with industrial experimental data. The results show that the inlet temperature is the most important parameter in the operation