Description of martensitic transformation kinetics in Fe-C-X(X = Ni,Cr,Mn,Si) system by a modified model

Controlling the content of athermal martensite and retained austenite is important to improving the mechanical properties of high-strength steels,but a mechanism for the accurate description of martensitic transformation during the cooling process must be addressed.At present,frequently used semi-empirical kinetics models suffer from huge errors at the beginning of transformation,and most of them fail to exhibit the sigmoidal shape characteristic of transformation curves.To describe the martensitic transformation process accurately,based on the Magee model,we introduced the changes in the nucleation activation energy of martensite with temperature,which led to the varying nucleation rates of this model during martensitic transformation.According to the calculation results,the relative error of the modified model for the martensitic transformation kinetics curves of Fe-C-X(X = Ni,Cr,Mn,Si) alloys reached 9.5% compared with those measured via the thermal expansion method.The relative error was approximately reduced by two-thirds compared with that of the Magee model.The incorporation of nucleation activation energy into the kinetics model contributes to the improvement of its precision.

Study Progress Analysis of Effluent Quality Prediction in Activated Sludge Process Based on CiteSpace

In this paper, CiteSpace, a bibliometrics software, was adopted to collect research papers published on the Web of Science, which are relevant to biological model and effluent quality prediction in activated sludge process in the wastewater treatment. By the way of trend map, keyword knowledge map, and co-cited knowledge map, specific visualization analysis and identification of the authors, institutions and regions were concluded. Furthermore, the topics and hotspots of water quality prediction in activated sludge process through the literature-co-citation-based cluster analysis and literature citation burst analysis were also determined, which not only reflected the historical evolution progress to a certain extent, but also provided the direction and insight of the knowledge structure of water quality prediction and activated sludge process for future research.

Application of BP NN and RBF NN in Modeling Activated Sludge System

Based on the operation data from a certain wastewater treatment plant(WWTP) in northeast China, the models of back propagation neural network(BP NN) and radial basis function neural network(RBF NN) have been designed respectively and the ability of convergence and generalization has been analyzed separately. As for BP NN, the effects of numbers of layers and nodes have been studied; as for RBF NN, the influences of the number of nodes and the RBF′s width have been studied. It is concluded that BP NN has converged much slowly in comparison with RBF NN. The conclusion that the RBF NN is suitable for modeling activated sludge system has been drawn. An automatically optimum design program for RBF NN has been developed, through which the RBF NN model of traditional activated sludge system has been established.

Fixed-Bed Column Adsorption Modeling of MnO4- Ions from Acidic Aqueous Solutions on Activated Carbons Prepared with the Biomass

Activated carbons calcined at 400˚C and 600˚C (AC-400 and AC-600), prepared using palm nuts, collected in the town of Franceville in Gabon, were used to study the dynamic adsorption of MnO4- ions in acidic media on fixed bed column and on the kinetic modeling of experimental data of breakthrough curves of MnO4- ions obtained. Results on the adsorption of MnO4- ions in fixed-bed dynamics obtained on AC-400 and AC-600 adsorbents beds indicated that the AC-400 bed appears to be the most efficient in removing MnO4- ions in acidic media. Indeed, the adsorbed amounts, the adsorbed capacities at saturation and the elimination percentage of MnO4- ions obtained with AC-400 (31.24 mg;52.06 mg·g-1 and 41.65% respectively) were higher compared to those obtained with AC-600 (9.87 mg;16.45 mg·g-1 and 17.79% respectively). The breakthrough curves kinetic modeling revealed that the Thomas model and the pseudo-first-order kinetic model were the most suitable models to describe the adsorption of MnO4- ions on adsorbents studied in our experimental conditions. The results of the intraparticle diffusion model showed that intraparticle diffusion was involved in the adsorption mechanism of MnO4- ions on investigated adsorbents and was not the limiting step and the only process controlling MnO4- ions adsorption. In contrast to AC-400, the intraparticle diffusion on AC-600 bed plays an important role in the adsorption mechanism of MnO4- ions.

Kinetic analysis of waste activated sludge hydrolysis and short-chain fatty acids production at pH 10

The accumulation of short-chain fatty acids （SCFAs）, a preferred carbon source for enhanced biological phosphorus removal microbes, was significantly improved when waste activated sludge （WAS） was fermented at pH 10. The kinetics of WAS hydrolysis and SCFAs production at pH 10 was investigated. It was observed that during WAS anaerobic fermentation the accumulation of SCFAs was limited by the hydrolysis process, and both the hydrolysis of WAS particulate COD and the accumulation of SCFAs followed first-order kinetics. The hydrolysis and SCFAs accumulation rate constants increased with increasing temperature from 10 to 35℃, which could be described by the Arrhenius equation. The kinetic data further indicated that SCFAs production at pH 10 was a biological process. Compared with the experiment of pH uncontrolled （blank test）, both the rate constants of WAS hydrolysis and SCFAs accumulation at 20℃ were improved significantly when WAS was fermented at pH 10.

Kinetics of aerobically activated sludge on terylene artificial silk printing and dyeing wastewater treatment

Aerobically activated sludge processing was carried out to treat terylene artificial silk printing and dyeing wastewater (TPD wastewater) in a lab-scale experiment, focusing on the kinetics of the COD removal. The kinetics pa-rameters determined from experiment were applied to evaluate the biological treatability of wastewater. Experiments showed that COD removal could be divided into two stages, in which the ratio BOD/COD (B/C) was the key factor for stage division. At the rapid-removal stage with B/C>0.1, COD removal could be described by a zero order reaction. At the mod-erate-removal stage with B/C<0.1, COD removal could be described by a first order reaction. Then Monod equation was introduced to indicate COD removal. The reaction rate constant (K) and half saturation constant (KS) were 0.0208-0.0642 L/(gMLSS)h and 0.44-0.59 (gCOD)/L respectively at 20 C-35 C. Activation energy (Ea) was 6.05104 J/mol. By comparison of kinetic parameters, the biological treatability of TPD wastewater was superior to that of traditional textile wastewater. But COD removal from TPD-wastewater was much more difficult than that from domestic and industrial wastewater, such as papermaking, beer, phenol wastewater, etc. The expected effluent quality strongly related to un-biodegradable COD and kinetics rather than total COD. The results provide useful basis for further scaling up and efficient operation of TPD wastewater treatment.

Kinetics of continuous biodegradation of pesticide organic wastewater by activated carbon-activated sludge

Organic triazophos wastewater was continuously treated with Rhodopseudomonas capsulatus and activated carbon and activated sludge system(PACT AS) in a plug bioreactor. A kinetic model of PACT AS wastewater treatment system was established to provide an useful basis for further simulate scale up treatment of toxic organic wastewater.

Bioregeneration of spent activated carbon:Review of key factors and recent mathematical models of kinetics

The disposal of spent activated carbon(AC) will inevitably create secondary pollution. In overcoming this problem, the spent AC can be regenerated by means of biological approach. Bioregeneration is the phenomenon in which through the action of microorganisms, the adsorbed pollutants on the surface of the AC will be biodegraded and this enables further adsorption of pollutants to occur with time elapse. This review provides the challenges and perspectives for effective bioregeneration to occur in biological activated carbon(BAC)column. Owing to very few reported works on the bioregeneration rate in BAC column, emphasis is put forward on the recently developed models of bioregeneration kinetic in batch system. All in all, providing potential solutions in increasing the lifespan of AC and the enhancement of bioregeneration rate will definitely overcome the bottlenecks in spent AC bioregeneration.

Biosorption of zinc(Ⅱ) from aqueous solution by dried activated sludge

The biosorption potential of dried activated sludge as a biosorbent for zinc（Ⅱ） removal from aqueous solution was investigated.The effects of initial pH,contact time,initial zinc ion concentration,and adsorbent dosage on the biosorption processes were determined,and the equilibrium data were modeled by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.The Langmuir isotherm model （R 2=0.999） was proved to fit the equilibrium data much better than the Freundlich isotherm model （R 2=0.918）.The monolayer adsorption capacity of dried activated sludge for zinc（Ⅱ） was found to be 17.86 mg/g at pH of 5 and 25°C.The kinetic data were tested using pseudo firstand second-order models.The results suggested that the pseudo second-order model （R 2 〉 0.999） was better for the description of the adsorption behavior of zinc（Ⅱ） onto the dried activated sludge.Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis showed that the dominant mechanism of zinc（Ⅱ） biosorption onto the dried activated sludge was the binding between amide groups and zinc ions.

An Adsorption Kinetic Model for Sulfur Dioxide Adsorption by ZL50 Activated Carbon

A semi-empirical adsorption kinetic model was proposed with the time compensation method to describe the chemisorption of SO2 in flue gas by carbon adsorbents for flue gas purification.The change in adsorption capacity and adsorption rate with time at different water vapor concentrations and different SO2 concentrations was studied.The model was in good agreement with experimental data.The surface reaction was probably the rate controlling step in the early stage for SO2 adsorption by ZL50 activated carbon.The parameters m and n in the nth order adsorption kinetic model were related to the magnitude of the time compensation and adsorption driving force,respectively.The change of parameter n with water vapor concentrations and sulfur dioxide concentrations was studied and some physical implications were given.The sum of square errors was less than 1.0 and the average absolute percentage deviations ranged from 0.5 to 3.2.The kinetic model was compared with other models in the literature.

Modeling of metadynamic recrystallization kinetics after hot deformation of low-alloy steel Q345B

Based on the steady-state strain measured by single-pass hot compression tests,the method by a double-pass hot compression testing was developed to measure the metadynamic-recrystallization kinetics.The metadynamic recrystallization behavior of low-alloy steel Q345B during hot compression deformation was investigated in the temperature range of 1 000-1 100℃,the strain rate range of 0.01-0.10 s -1 and the interpass time range of 0.5-50 s on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine.The results show that metadynamic recrystallization during the interpass time can be observed.As the deformation temperature and strain rate increase,softening caused by metadynamic recrystallization is obvious.According to the data of thermo-simulation,the metadynamic recrystallization activation energy is obtained to be Qmd=100.674 kJ/mol and metadynamic recrystallization kinetics model is set up.Finally,the error analysis of metadynamic recrystallization kinetics model proves that the model has high accuracy(correlation coefficient R=0.988 6).

Adsorption of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds onto Activated Sludge

The performance of activated sludge in the removal of tetradecyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (C14BDMA) by adsorption from aqueous solution was investigated with different PH, contact time, ionic strength and temperature. Equilibrium was achieved within 2 h of contact time. The adsorption capacity increased largely with increasing solution pH and remained constant above pH 9. The ionic strength had a negative effect on C14BDMA removal. The adsorption isotherms were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, and equilibrium partitioning data was described well by both models. Kinetics data was best described by the pseudo second-order model. Experimental results indicated that the adsorption was favorable at lower temperatures. Thermodynamic parameters, including the Gibbs free energy (ΔG0), enthalpy (ΔH0), and entropy (ΔS0), were also calculated. These parameters indicated that adsorption of C14BDMA onto activated sludge was feasible, spontaneous and exothermic in the temperature range of 15-35℃. The activated sludge was shown to be an effective adsorbent for C14BDMA.

Kinetic analysis and modeling of maize straw hydrochar combustion using a multi-Gaussian-distributed activation energy model

Combustion kinetics of the hydrochar was investigated using a multi-Gaussian-distributed activation energy model(DAEM)to ex-pand the knowledge on the combustion mechanisms.The results demonstrated that the kinetic parameters calculated by the multi-Gaussian-DAEM accurately represented the experimental conversion rate curves.Overall,the feedstock combustion could be divided into four stages:the decomposition of hemicellulose,cellulose,lignin,and char combustion.The hydrochar combustion could in turn be divided into three stages:the combustion of cellulose,lignin,and char.The mean activation energy ranges obtained for the cellulose,lignin,and char were 273.7-292.8,315.1-334.5,and 354.4-370 kJ/mol,respectively,with the standard deviations of 2.1-23.1,9.5-27.4,and 12.1-22.9 kJ/mol,re-spectively.The cellulose and lignin contents first increased and then decreased with increasing hydrothermal carbonization(HTC)temperature,while the mass fraction of char gradually increased.

Extended activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) for simulating biodegradation process using bacterial technology

Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients required to support various kinds of biodegradation processes. As this particular nutrient is not included in the activated sludge model no. 1 （ASM1）, this study extended this model in order to determine the fate of phosphorus during the biodegradation processes. When some of the kinetics parameters are modified using observed data from the restoration project of the Xuxi River in Wuxi City, China, from August 25 to 31 in 2009, the extended model shows excellent results. In order to obtain optimum values of coefficients of nitrogen and phosphorus, the mass fraction method was used to ensure that the final results were reasonable and practically relevant. The temporal distribution of the data calculated with the extended ASM1 approximates that of the observed data.

An Adaptive Time-Step Backward Differentiation Algorithm to Solve Stiff Ordinary Differential Equations: Application to Solve Activated Sludge Models

A backward differentiation formula (BDF) has been shown to be an effective way to solve a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that have some degree of stiffness. However, sometimes, due to high-frequency variations in the external time series of boundary conditions, a small time-step is required to solve the ODE system throughout the entire simulation period, which can lead to a high computational cost, slower response, and need for more memory resources. One possible strategy to overcome this problem is to dynamically adjust the time-step with respect to the system’s stiffness. Therefore, small time-steps can be applied when needed, and larger time-steps can be used when allowable. This paper presents a new algorithm for adjusting the dynamic time-step based on a BDF discretization method. The parameters used to dynamically adjust the size of the time-step can be optimally specified to result in a minimum computation time and reasonable accuracy for a particular case of ODEs. The proposed algorithm was applied to solve the system of ODEs obtained from an activated sludge model (ASM) for biological wastewater treatment processes. The algorithm was tested for various solver parameters, and the optimum set of three adjustable parameters that represented minimum computation time was identified. In addition, the accuracy of the algorithm was evaluated for various sets of solver parameters.

Stoichiometric deduction of activated sludge process for organic carbon and nitrogen removal

The activated sludge process （ASP） is the most generally applied biological wastewater treatment method. The ASP for the removal of organic carbon and nitrogen can be looked as the combination of eight processes. In order to set up an ASP model, the stoichiometric coefficients should be deduced so that the stoichiometric matrix can be presented. The important assumptions and simplifications behind the model for ASP are enumerated. Using the matrix, mass balance equation and consistent units, the stoichiometric coefficients in the eight processes are exclusively deduced one by one.

Drying Kinetics of Paper Mill Sludge

Drying experiments of two paper mill sludge were carried using hot air with a temperature range of 50?C - 80?C and an air velocity of 0.96 m/son a laboratory convective dryer. The drying characteristics were discussed and the drying kinetic equation was solved. The dependence of the reaction rate constant on the drying temperature was given by Arrhenius equation, and the activation energies for moisture diffusion in paper mill sludge sample A and B were found to be 21.53 kJ/mol and 15.38 kJ/mol, respectively.

A Model-based Phenomenological Investigation of Char Combustion Kinetics through Thermogravimetry

Five coal char samples were burnt in thermobalance with ramp heating rate of 30 K/min. The pore structure of these char samples was studied through mercury intrusion method. Combined with the kinetic theory of gases, the data of surface area was used in fitting the results. As a result, the kinetic triplet was given. The analysis showed that five char samples share almost the same intrinsic activation energy of the overall reaction. The phenomenological implication of the derived combustion rate equation was given.

Design and Comparison of Wastewater Treatment Plant Types (Activated Sludge and Membrane Bioreactor), Using GPS-X Simulation Program: Case Study of Tikrit WWTP (Middle Iraq)

Mathematical models and simulation are considered a powerful tool in engineering practice. Those tools are becoming increasingly used for the improvement of wastewater treatment plants design because the conceptual design is complex and ill-defined. In this paper, three alternatives: 1) complete mix activated sludge without nitrogen removal (CAS);2) complete mix activated sludge with nitrogen removal (CAS-N) and;3) membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes were designed into two steps: first concept design to calculate the size of process units, then second implement modeling and simulation to improve the accuracy of the conceptual design. In brief, the treatment process design has been verified by using the activated sludge model No. 1 (ASM1) in GPS-X (v.7) simulation software. This application helps not only in sizing the treatment units but also in understanding the plant’s capacity. In the same time, it can assist in studying the future expansion works required for increased hydraulic and organic loadings. For this purpose, Tikrit WWTP was selected as a case study. The used model was validated by comparing the designed values of the plant and the modeling data. The verification of the obtained results from both hand calculations and the results of the program showed a good agreement. A significant difference in the volume of secondary treatment was obtained from design calculations, where the CAS without denitrification system was 9244 m3 (aerobic and secondary tanks), CAS with denitrification system was 11,324 m3 (anoxic, aerobic and secondary tanks) and for MBR system was 7468 m3 (anoxic, aerobic and immersed membrane tanks). From the obtained results point of view, it can be concluded that mathematical models can be considered as worthy tools to complement the established wastewater treatment plant design procedures.

NaOH Activation of Raw Soils: Effect of NaOH Content on the Drying Kinetic and Its Modelling

NaOH activation of soils is an affordable and promising way to improve mechanical properties of earthen bricks. If for well-activated geopolymers, the hard polymeric network limits the influence of water on mechanical properties, for the weakly activated one, as non-calcined raw clayey soils, the influence of water on these properties would be more critical. This work aims to determine the effect of sodium hydroxide concentration on the drying kinetics of bricks made with raw clayey soils, and to model this kinetics. The results show that the drying kinetics is governed by the diffusion of water due to the absence of free water. The drying duration increases linearly with the increasing of NaOH content, while the volumetric shrinkage decreases, probably thanks to the reduction of the material porosity during the formation of the zeolitic structures. Besides, the drying duration is strongly and negatively correlated with the initial drying rate (&#8722;0.97) and bricks did not show visible cracks. Among the five parametric models tested, the Khazaei’s model is the best in terms of all statistical criteria considered. For all models used, the coefficient of determination is ranged from 0.993 to 0.999, and the evolution of the models’ parameters is in accordance with that of the drying kinetics observed.