An Improved Elite Slime Mould Algorithm for Engineering Design

The Swarm intelligence algorithm is a very prevalent field in which some scholars have made outstanding achievements.As a representative,Slime mould algorithm(SMA)is widely used because of its superior initial performance.Therefore,this paper focuses on the improvement of the SMA and the mitigation of its stagnation problems.For this aim,the structure of SMA is adjusted to develop the efficiency of the original method.As a stochastic optimizer,SMA mainly stimulates the behavior of slime mold in nature.For the harmony of the exploration and exploitation of SMA,the paper proposed an enhanced algorithm of SMA called ECSMA,in which two mechanisms are embedded into the structure:elite strategy,and chaotic stochastic strategy.The details of the original SMA and the two introduced strategies are given in this paper.Then,the advantages of the improved SMA through mechanism comparison,balance-diversity analysis,and contrasts with other counterparts are validated.The experimental results demonstrate that both mechanisms have a significant enhancing effect on SMA.Also,SMA is applied to four structural design issues of the welded beam design problem,PV design problem,I-beam design problem,and cantilever beam design problem with excellent results.

Ash Detection of Coal Slime Flotation Tailings Based on Chromatographic Filter Paper Sampling and Multi-Scale Residual Network

The detection of ash content in coal slime flotation tailings using deep learning can be hindered by various factors such as foam,impurities,and changing lighting conditions that disrupt the collection of tailings images.To address this challenge,we present a method for ash content detection in coal slime flotation tailings.This method utilizes chromatographic filter paper sampling and a multi-scale residual network,which we refer to as MRCN.Initially,tailings are sampled using chromatographic filter paper to obtain static tailings images,effectively isolating interference factors at the flotation site.Subsequently,the MRCN,consisting of a multi-scale residual network,is employed to extract image features and compute ash content.Within the MRCN structure,tailings images undergo convolution operations through two parallel branches that utilize convolution kernels of different sizes,enabling the extraction of image features at various scales and capturing a more comprehensive representation of the ash content information.Furthermore,a channel attention mechanism is integrated to enhance the performance of the model.The combination of the multi-scale residual structure and the channel attention mechanism within MRCN results in robust capabilities for image feature extraction and ash content detection.Comparative experiments demonstrate that this proposed approach,based on chromatographic filter paper sampling and the multi-scale residual network,exhibits significantly superior performance in the detection of ash content in coal slime flotation tailings.

Optimization on selenium and arsenic conversion from copper anode slime by low-temperature alkali fusion process

A process was proposed to convert and separate selenium and arsenic in copper anode slime(CAS) by low-temperature alkali fusion process.Central composite design was employed to optimize the effective parameters,in which Na OH/CAS mass ratio,fusion temperature and fusion time were selected as variables,and the conversion ratio of selenium and arsenic as responses.Second-order polynomial models of high significance and 3D response surface plots were constructed to show the relationship between the responses and the variables.Optimum area of >90% selenium conversion ratio and >90% arsenic conversion ratio was obtained by the overlaid contours at Na OH/CAS mass ratio of 0.65-0.75,fusion temperature of 803-823 K and fusion time of 20-30 min.The models are validated by experiments in the optimum area,and the results demonstrate that these models are reliable and accurate in predicting the fusion process.

Rheological behaviors of coal slime produced by filter-pressing

It is an effective way to use coal slime as fuel for circulating fluidized bed boilers, which will not only solve its pollution to the environment, but also turn waste to treasure. In order to provide basic technical information for transportation of coal slime from the coal preparation plant to the boiler, this paper experimentally studied the rheological behaviors of coal slime produced by filter-pressing. By using a rotational viscometer, the influences of water content, temperature, and shear time on the rheological behaviors of coal slime were investigated. Experimental results show that the coal slime will behave like Bingham plastics with low water content and like Bingham pseudo-plastics with 37.5% water content,while like pseudo-plastics with 40% water content. This indicates that the water content of coal slime must be controlled in consideration of both transportation resistance and combustion efficiency. Study results also show that, the apparent viscosity of coal slime at 5℃ is about 1.5–1.7 times of that at 40℃ for water contents 32%–37.5%, while the influence of temperature can be neglected when the water content is 40%. With increasing of water content, the influences of shear time on the apparent viscosity of coal slime becomes less. When the water content is more than 30%, the effect of shear time is negligible. It indicates that water content has the most important influence on the rheological behaviors of coal slime. There must be an optimal water content in considering conveying resistance and combustion efficiency. The environmental temperature must also be considered in coal slime transportation.

Alkaline pressure oxidative leaching of bismuth-rich and arsenic-rich lead anode slime

A new alkaline pressure oxidative leaching process(with NaNO3 as the oxidant and NaOH as the alkaline reagent)is proposed herein to remove arsenic,antimony,and lead from bismuth-rich and arsenic-rich lead anode slime for bismuth,gold,and silver enrichment.The effects of the temperature,liquid-to-solid ratio,leaching time,and reagent concentration on the leaching ratios of arsenic,antimony,and lead were investigated to identify the optimum leaching conditions.The experimental results under optimized conditions indicate that the average leaching ratios of arsenic,antimony and lead are 95.36%,79.98%,63.08%,respectively.X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the leaching residue is composed of Bi,Bi2O3,Pb2Sb2O7,and trace amounts of NaSb(OH)6.Arsenic,antimony,and lead are thus separated from lead anode slime as Na3AsO4·10H2O and Pb2Sb2O7.Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometry imaging revealed that the samples undergo appreciable changes in their surface morphology during leaching and that the majority of arsenic,lead,and antimony is removed.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to demonstrate the variation in the valence states of the arsenic,lead,and antimony.The Pb(IV)and Sb(V)content was found to increase substantially with the addition of NaNO3.

Intensification of pretreatment and pressure leaching of copper anode slime by microwave radiation

The application of microwave irradiation for pretreatment of copper anode slime with high nickel content prior to pressure sulfuric acid leaching has been proposed.The microwave-assisted pretreatment is a rapid and efficient process.Through the technology of microwave assisted pretreatment-pressure leaching of copper anode slime,copper,tellurium,selenium and nickel are almost completely recovered.Under optimal conditions,the leaching efficiencies of copper,tellurium,selenium and nickel are 97.12%,95.97%,95.37% and 93.90%,respectively.The effect of microwave radiation on the temperature of copper anode slime and leaching solution is investigated.It is suggested that the enhancement on the recoveries of copper,tellurium and selenium can be attributed to the temperature gradient which is caused by shallow microwave penetration depth and super heating occurring at the solid–liquid interface.The kinetic study shows that the pressure leaching of copper anode slime,with and without microwave assisted pretreatment,are both controlled by chemical reactions on the surfaces of particles.It is found that the activation energy calculated for microwave-assisted pretreatment-pressure leaching(49.47 kJ/mol) is lower than that for pressure leaching which is without microwave assisted pretreatment(60.57 kJ/mol).

Ultra fast microwave-assisted leaching for the recovery of copper and tellurium from copper anode slime

The decomposition of copper anode slime heated by microwave energy in a sulfuric acid medium was investigated. Leaching experiments were carried out in a multi-mode cavity with microwave assistance. The leaching process parameters were optimized using response surface methodology（RSM）. Under the optimized conditions, the leaching efficiencies of copper and tellurium were 99.56% ± 0.16% and 98.68% ± 0.12%, respectively. Meanwhile, a conventional leaching experiment was performed in order to evaluate the influence of microwave radiation. The mechanism of microwave-assisted leaching of copper anode slime was also investigated. In the results, the microwave technology is demonstrated to have a great potential to improve the leaching efficiency and reduce the leaching time. The enhanced recoveries of copper and tellurium are believed to result from the presence of a temperature gradient due to the shallow microwave penetration depth and the superheating at the solid-liquid interface.

Dolochar as a reductant in the reduction roasting of iron ore slimes

The present investigation examines the viability of dolochar, a sponge iron industry waste material, as a reductant in the reduction roasting of iron ore slimes, which are another waste generated by iron ore beneficiation plants. Under statistically determined optimum conditions, which include a temperature of 900°C, a reductant-to-feed mass ratio of 0.35, and a reduction time of 30–45 min, the roasted mass, after being subjected to low-intensity magnetic separation, yielded an iron ore concentrate of approximately 64 wt% Fe at a mass recovery of approximately 71% from the feed iron ore slime assaying 56.2 wt% Fe. X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that the magnetic products contain magnetite and hematite as the major phases, whereas the nonmagnetic fractions contain quartz and hematite.

Slime coating of kaolinite on chalcopyrite in saline water flotation

In saline water flotation, the salinity can cause a distinguishable slime coating of clay minerals on chalcopyrite particles through its effect on their electrical double layers in aqueous solutions. In this work, kaolinite was used as a representative clay mineral for studying slime coating during chalcopyrite flotation. The flotation of chalcopyrite in the presence and absence of kaolinite in tap water, seawater, and gypsum-saturated water and the stability of chalcopyrite and kaolinite particles in slurries are presented. Zeta-potential distributions and scanning electron microscopy images were used to characterize and explain the different slime coating degrees and the different flotation performances. Kaolinite particles induced slime coating on chalcopyrite surfaces and reduced chalcopyrite floatability to the greatest extent when the p H value was in the alkaline range. At 0.24 wt% of kaolinite, the chalcopyrite floatability was depressed by more than 10% at alkaline p H levels in tap water. Salinity in seawater and gypsum-saturated water compressed the electrical double layers and resulted in extensive slime coating.

Mechanical Property and Microstructure of Alkali-activated Yellow River Sediment-Coal Slime Ash Composites

This work focuses on the production of a new composite material using Yellow River sediment and coal slime ash via alkali-activating method. XRD, FTIR and SEM/EDS were used to characterize the alkali-activated products and microstructure of the composite material. Compressive strength was tested to characterize the mechanical property of the composite material. It is found that the compressive strength of the Yellow River sediment-coal slime ash composites increases as the added Ca（OH）_2 content grows. The compressive strength increases fast in the early stage but slowly after 28 days. The strength of the composites can be significantly improved via the addition of small amount of Na OH and gypsum. The products（C-S-H, ettringite and CaCO_3）, especially C-S-H, make much contribution to the enhancement of strength. The highest strength of the composites can reach 14.4 MPa after 90 days curing with 5% Ca（OH）_2, 0.2% NaOH and 7.5% gypsum. The improved properties of the composites show great potential of utilizing Yellow River sediment for inexpensive construction materials.

Slime粉末样品EN71-3测试前处理讨论

参考EN71-3:2019对粉末样品Slime进行测试的时候,发现Slime加入0.07mol/L的盐酸后萃取液凝结成稀果冻状,不论是通过离心还是通过滤膜过滤都难以得到样品萃取溶液。将果冻状萃取液稀释至不同倍数进行测试,发现个别重金属元素测试数据的重现性不容乐观。但是,对样品进行脱脂除腊处理后,发现萃取液呈均匀状态且能用滤膜过滤出滤液,测试结果的重现性也较好。

Anti-ulcer potentials of phylum mollusca(tropical snail)slime

Objective:The effectiveness of the slimy substance in snail to regenerate and repair damaged areas on it body/shell lead to this investigation.Methods:The anti-ulcer’property of snail slime extracted from phylur mollusca(tropical snail) from the giant African snail Archachatina marginata(Fam.Arionidae) was investi gated using histamine,stress and indomethacin-induced ulcers.The solubility profile of extract was investiga ted in different solvents and at different temperatures.Chemical analysis was carried out to determine the type of constituents present in the slim,while acute toxicity test was carried out to evaluate its profile of toxicity The effect of the snail slim on gastrointestinal motility was investigated in mice,while the guinea pig ileum wa used to study the effect of the extract on contraction produced by acetylcholine and histamine.The snail slim contained copious quantity of protein,with varying amounts of simple sugars,carbohydrates and fats.Th slime was not soluble in most common solvents and increases in temperature,did not appear to increase its sol ubility.Results:The result further indicated that although the snail slime exhibited significant(P【0.05) an ti -ulcer induced by stress and histamine,it was most potent against ulcer induced by indomethacin.The snai slime potently inhibited gastrointestinal movement in mice in a dose-dependent manner;however,it was not a ble to inhibit contraction induced by acetylcholine and histamine in guinea pig ileum.Conclusion:The snai mucin possesses potent antiulcer properties without any toxic effect.The mechanism responsible for the anti-ul cer property may not be postulated with certainty but cytoprotective and anti-spasmodic activities are most likel to be involved.

Intelligent Slime Mould Optimization with Deep Learning Enabled Traffic Prediction in Smart Cities

Intelligent Transportation System(ITS)is one of the revolutionary technologies in smart cities that helps in reducing traffic congestion and enhancing traffic quality.With the help of big data and communication technologies,ITS offers real-time investigation and highly-effective traffic management.Traffic Flow Prediction(TFP)is a vital element in smart city management and is used to forecast the upcoming traffic conditions on transportation network based on past data.Neural Network(NN)and Machine Learning(ML)models are widely utilized in resolving real-time issues since these methods are capable of dealing with adaptive data over a period of time.Deep Learning(DL)is a kind of ML technique which yields effective performance on data classification and prediction tasks.With this motivation,the current study introduces a novel Slime Mould Optimization(SMO)model with Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit(BiGRU)model for Traffic Prediction(SMOBGRU-TP)in smart cities.Initially,data preprocessing is performed to normalize the input data in the range of[0,1]using minmax normalization approach.Besides,BiGRUmodel is employed for effective forecasting of traffic in smart cities.Moreover,the novelty of the work lies in using SMO algorithm to effectively adjust the hyperparameters of BiGRU method.The proposed SMOBGRU-TP model was experimentally validated and the simulation results established the model’s superior performance in terms of prediction compared to existing techniques.

Effect of Moisture on Combustion Characteristics of High⁃Moisture⁃Content Coal Slime

The effects of moisture content on the combustion characteristics and pore structure change of coal slime are studied in this paper.The effect of moisture content on the bed temperature change,combustion efficiency,and NO_(x)and SO_(2)emission were obtained in a bench⁃scale fluidized bed reactor,revealing that the lowest bed temperature decreases with the increase in moisture content,but the effect on the highest bed temperature is not the same.Moreover,with the increase in moisture content,the observed degree of blackening of the flue gas increased,and more CO was produced,which in turn leads to a lower combustion efficiency of the coal slime.However,the presence of moisture plays a positive role in the reduction of NO_(x)and SO_(2).With the increase in moisture content,the amount of NO_(x)and SO_(2)produced tends to decrease.The effect of water on the combustion process of slime is mostly the impact of the severe vaporization process in the early stage to form a large water vapor channel,which is beneficial to the evaporation and loss of water,conducive to the reaction of water and coal combustion products,such as the formation of CO,reduction of NO_(x),SO_(2),etc.The large holes formed by the impact of water vapor decreased with the decrease of moisture content,and the nanoscale pores are mostly caused by the combustion process of volatilization and coke formation after the end of vaporization,and increase with the decrease of moisture content.

A wireless-communication-based measurement of gas pressure with capsule-slime sealing device

To solve the existing problems of imperfect sealing and the inaccurate measurement of gas pressure in traditional sealing,the present study builds a new model of capsule-slime sealing device based on wireless pressure gauge.The new sealing device is mainly composed of two sets of capsules,a capsule connecting piece and a slime part,measures the pressure through the wireless communication technology,and seals through chemical reaction in the capsule,which generates gas to expand the capsule and extrude the pre-stored slime.Two methods of extruding pre-stored slime are proposed:in the first method,transverse force is generated by the expansion of the capsules at both ends,pushing the capsules toward the middle through the chute and squeezing the pre-stored slime out;in the second,high-pressure gas generated in the capsules is led into the expansion tube,which is inserted into the storage tube,squeezing it and letting the slime out to complete the sealing process.Then the research studies the effect of sealing under the condition of drilling with the structure of slime storage tube.The results indicate that the maximum standing time of slime wrapped in metal net is 2 h,instead of the expected 10 d,failing to meet the sealing requirements.When the slime viscosity is 1200–3000 m Paás in the structure of slime storage tube,the best viscosity of slime is achieved and can simulate sealing the drilling hole(5–4,4–2.36,2.36–1.18,1.18–0.15 mm in diameter),as well as the gap caused by mixed sand accumulation.

Investigatory Study of Long Term Doses of <i>Costus afer</i>, Snail Slime, and Their Combination with a Standard Pharmaceutical Drug on Blood Glucose Level of Alloxan Induced Swiss Albino Rat

The Plant, Costus afer Ker Gawl. belongs to the family of Costaceae and has various uses where they exist. Their use in folk medicine and phytomedicine is in the treatment and management of variety of human ailment, like diabetes mellitus, abdominal problems etc. The search for new antidiabetic therapies has become increasingly urgent due to the development of adverse effects and resistance by the chemically synthesized drugs on one hand and effectiveness with low cost of the plant materials on the other hand. The investigations carried out is to determine the long term effects of Costus afer leaf methanol extract, snail slime and the combined Costus afer and snail slime extracts on blood glucose levels of alloxan induced diabetic Swiss albino rats treated orally for 21 days on graded dose of (100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg). From the determination, the snail slime showed positive effect on blood glucose lowering level but less effective when compared with similar dose of the Costus afer leaf methanol extract. The investigation indicated that there was 103 mg/dL and 87 mg/dL blood glucose reduction for the low dose of Costus afer and Snail slime respectively while the standard hypoglycemic drug (Glibenclamide, 5 mg/kg) used for comparison yielded a blood glucose level reduction of 103 mg/dL. Similarly, the high dose used in the study gave a blood glucose reduction of 99 mg/dL and 95 mg/dL for Costus afer leaf methanol extract and Snail slime respectively. The results obtained when alloxan induced rats was treated with C. afer leaf methanol extract, Snail slime extract, and combined C. afer and snail slime extracts was analysed using Statistix 8.0 American version. The result showed a dose dependent fashion and the difference obtained from the compared results was statistically significant at p 1]. Still to that, medicinal and pharmacological activities of medicinal plants are often attributed to the presence of the so called secondary plant metabolites. Hence this regenerative capacity of snail slime and the fact that diabetes is characterized by damage of the pancreatic beta cells, may give credit to the hypoglycaemic effect observed in Costus afer methanol leaf extract and snail slime for possible drug formulation for anti-diabetic remedy. Our findings may approve snail slime which is insoluble in both acid and alkaline medium, to act as a carrier of chemical and biological nanoparticles for medical and pharmaceutical use.

Extended DLVO theory applied to coal slime-water suspensions

Coal slimes are mainly composed of coal and clay particles.The interaction energies among these particles were calculated using extended DLVO(DERJAGUIN-LANDAU-VERWEY-OVERBEEK)theory and the aggregation mechanisms were analyzed based on the settling experiments for coal-kaolinite and coal-montmorillonite suspensions,respectively,under different conditions of water hardness.The results indicate that for coal-kaolinite suspensions,as the water hardness reaches 10.0mol/L,the coal particles aggregate with each other easily,and then,the coal particles may aggregate with kaolinite particles.However,no aggregation occurs between kaolinite particles.A clay platelet network is formed in coal-montmorillonite suspensions by montmorillonite particles and coal particles are captured into the network.Coal and montmorillonite particles settle completely.

Optimum conditions to treat high-concentration microparticle slime water with bioflocculants

We studied how bioflocculants,produced by white-rot fungi,affect flocculation in slime water.Based on a test in an orthogonal design,flocculation conditions were optimized.The results show that flocculation activity is at its highest when the following conditions are met:slime water concentration 27.42 g/L;coagulant aid(CaCl_2) mass concentration 5.0 g/L;two-segment stirrings:the first at a stirring speed of 60 r/min for 180 s and the second 180 r/min for 60 s;a pH of 11 and a flocculant concentration of 15 mL/L.The flocculation activity can be up to 98.71%of bioflocculants at the time.Further experiments indicate that most of the flocculation active material is found outside the mycelium cells.This is the extracellular secretion produced by mycelium cells during the fermentation process.This flocculant has strong thermal stability.Many kinds of cations have a flocculation function to assist bioflocculants.This aid-flocculation effect of the divalent cation Ca^(2+) is obvious in the bioflocculant produced by the white-rot fungus.Therefore,this is of great value when applied to control engineering in the battle against water pollution.

Ag recovery from copper anode slime by acid leaching at atmospheric pressure to synthesize silver nanoparticles

In this paper, recovery of silver from anode slime of Sarcheshmeh copper complex in Iran and subsequent synthesis of silver nanoparticles from leaching solution is investigated. Sarcheshmeh anode slime is mainly consisted of Cu, Ag, Pb and Se. Amount of Ag in the considered anode slime was 5.4%(by weight).The goal was to recover as much as possible Ag from anode slime at atmospheric pressure to synthesize Ag nanoparticles. Therefore, acid leaching was used for this purpose. The anode slime was leached with sulfuric and nitric acid from room to 90 °C at different acid concentrations and the run which yielded the most recovery of Ag was selected for Ag nanoparticles synthesis. At this condition, Cu, Pb and Se are leached as well as Ag. To separate Ag from leach solution HCl was added and silver was precipitated as AgCl which were then dissolved by ammonia solution. The Ag nanoparticles are synthesized from this solution by chemical reduction method by aid of sodium borohydride in the presence of PVP and PEG as stabilizers. The synthesized Ag nanoparticles showed a peak of 394 nm in UV–vis spectrum and TEM images showed a rather uniform Ag nanoparticles of 12 nm.

Preparation of pure SbCl_3 from lead anode slime bearing high antimony and low silver

A novel treatment process of lead anode slime bearing high antimony and low silver was developed by a potential-controlled chloridization leaching and continuous distillation.The experimental results show a high Sb 3+ concentration,489.2 g/L,in the leaching solution for two-stage countercurrent leaching process,and the leaching rates of Sb,Cu,Bi more than 99% when the potential is controlled at 450 mV.When the leaching solution is distillated and concentrated at 120°C,almost all the silicon compound is evaporated into the concentration distillate and exists as amorphous hydrated silica.By the continuous distillation,high pure SbCl3 could be prepared,and AsCl3 is enriched in the distillate while metals Bi,Cu are enriched in the continuous distillation residue.As a result,the recovery rate of Sb is more than 95%.