Effective separation of coal gasification fine slag: Role of classification and ultrasonication in enhancing flotation

Effective separation of residual carbon and ash is the basis for the resource utilization of coal gasification fine slag(CGFS).The conventional flotation process of CGFS has the bottlenecks of low carbon recovery and high collector dosage.In order to address these issues,CGFS sample taken from Shaanxi,China was used as the study object in this paper.A new process of size classification-fine grain ultrasonic pretreatment flotation(SC-FGUF)was proposed and its separation effect was compared with that of wholegrain flotation(WGF)as well as size classification-fine grain flotation(SC-FGF).The mechanism of its enhanced separation effect was revealed through flotation kinetic fitting,flotation flow foam layer stability,particle size composition,surface morphology,pore structure,and surface chemical property analysis.The results showed that compared with WGF,pre-classification could reduce the collector dosage by 84.09%and the combination of pre-classification and ultrasonic pretreatment could increase the combustible recovery by 17.29%and up to 93.46%.The SC-FGUF process allows the ineffective adsorption of coarse residual carbon to collector during flotation stage to be reduced by pre-classification,and the tightly embedded state of fine CGFS particles is disrupted and surface oxidizing functional group occupancy was reduced by ultrasonic pretreatment,thus carbon and ash is easier to be separated in the flotation process.In addition,some of the residual carbon particles were broken down to smaller sizes in the ultrasonic pretreatment,which led to an increase in the stability of flotation flow foam layer and a decrease in the probability of detachment of residual carbon particles from the bubbles.Therefore,SCFGUF could increase the residual carbon recovery and reduce the flotation collector dosage,which is an innovative method for carbon-ash separation of CGFS with good application prospect.

Polyphenols extracted from Aronia melanocarpa by combined enzymatic and ultrasonication and their antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity

The extraction of polyphenols from Aronia melanocarpa was carried out using a combination of enzymatic and ultrasound.After single-factor and orthogonal design and experiment,the optimized polyphenol extraction conditions were 1%enzyme,1:40 material-to-liquid ratio,55℃,60 min ultrasonication,70%ethanol,and the final extraction amount was 88.634 mg/g,which displayed a 25.15%and 34.08%improvement compared with the single ultrasonication and enzymatic extraction methods,respectively.Significant antibacterial effects of polyphenols were shown against Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.Further antioxidation effects were evaluated,and the superoxide anion radical scavenging rate,hydroxyl radical scavenging rate and DPPH free radical scavenging rate reached 45.2%,83.5%and 85.4%,respectively.This combined enzymatic and ultrasonic extraction method exhibited the advantages of high extraction rate,saving solvent consumption and extraction time,but also provided a new method for the development and utilization of natural antimicrobial and antioxidant health products.

Effects of Ultrasonication on Genetic Transformation via the Pollen-Tube Pathway in Chinese Cabbage

[Objective] This research aimed to explore the method to increase conversion rate of pollen-tub pathway in Chinese cabbage.[Method] Chinese cabbage varieties Yuqing and No.03 were used as materials for the selection of germination buffer and parameters for ultrasonication.[Result] The optimal buffer for pollen germination of Chinese cabbage was 200 g/L sucrose ＋ 100 mg/L boric acid ＋ 200 mg/L calcium nitrate,the preferred ultrasonic processing power was 150 W,processing time was 5 s,interval time was 5 s and processing frequency was 8.Three T1-generation plants were obtained through selection with 200 mg/L kanamycin.[Conclusion] This research laid foundation for the further genetic transformation of Chinese cabbage.

Dimethylether production on zeolite catalysts activated by Cl^-,F^- and / or ultrasonication

The chlorinated and fluorinated zeolite catalysts were prepared by the impregnation of zeolites( H-ZSM-5,H-MOR or H-Y) using two halogen precursors( ammonium chloride and ammonium fluoride) in this study. The influence of ultrasonic irradiation was evaluated for optimizing both halogen precursors for production of dimethylether( DME) via methanol dehydration in a fixed bed reactor. The catalysts were characterized by SEM,XRD,BET and NH3-TPD. The reaction conditions were temperatures from 100 to 300 ℃ and a WHSV = 15. 9 h-1. All halogenated catalysts showhigher catalytic activities at all reaction temperatures studied. However, the halogenated zeolite catalysts prepared under ultrasonic irradiation showhigher performance for DME formation. The chlorinated zeolite catalysts show higher activity and selectivity for DME production than the respective fluorinated versions.

Synthesis of Nanostructured TiO₂Photocatalyst with Ultrasonication at Low Temperature

A thin film TiO2 in hierarchical nano-structure with high photocatalytic activities was synthesized in simple steps with ultrasonication. The crystal structure and morphology of the photocatalyst were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). In the present work, nanostructured TiO2 was directly formed onto a Ti substrate via a solution approach. This nanostructured TiO2 photocatalyst can be reused and will not generate secondary contamination to treated water. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized TiO2 photocatalyst was evaluated by the degradation of phenol under UVC irradiation in water and was compared with the general sol-gel derived TiO2 films as well as a commercial DP-25 TiO2 coating. It was found that the synthesized nanostructured TiO2has significantly high and stable photocatalytic activity.

Effect of Ultrasonication on the Properties of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes/Hollow Glass Microspheres/Epoxy Syntactic Foam

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes（MWCNTs） reinforced hollow glass microspheres（HGMs）/epoxy syntactic foam was fabricated. The effects of ultrasonication on the density, compression strength, and water absorption properties were studied. Better dispersed MWCNTs can be obtained after ultrasonication treatment, but an increasing viscosity will lead to a larger amount of voids during syntactic foam preparation especially when the content of HGMs is more than 70 vol%. The existing voids will decrease the density of epoxy syntactic foam. However, the ultrasonication does not change the compression strength much. Ultrasonication treatment will decrease the water absorption content due to the better dispersion and hydrophobic properties of MWCNTs. But a significant increase of water absorption content occurs when HGMs is more than 70 vol%, which is attributed to the higher viscosity and larger amount of voids.

Monosaccharide Recovery from Peat and Peatified Wood by Ultrasonication Pretreatment and Hydrothermal Treatment

Peat and peatified wood are significant carbohydrate resources in tropical rainforests. The carbohydrates of cellulose and hemicellulose are important sources of monosaccharides for both vital activities and industrial applications, such as furan production of furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural. Hydrothermal treatment at 200°C and ultrasonic irradiation pretreatment were used to recover monosaccharides from the abovementioned resources. The monosaccharide recovery from peat was shown to be higher than that from peatified wood. The conversion to organic acids is considered to proceed rapidly because acids are always detected with monosaccharides. This conversion is outstripped by the organic acid-to-gas reaction for treatment times longer than 20 min. The monosaccharide recovery from peatified wood was improved by the ultrasonication pretreatment. It is considered that ultrasonic irradiation broke down lignin blockages, enabling water molecules to access the carbohydrates more easily in the subsequent hydrothermal treatment.

Effect of Ultrasonication on Optical Properties and Electronic States of Conjugated Polymer MEH-PPV

Poly[2-methoxy-5-（2＇-ethyl-hexyloxy）-1,4-phenylene vinylene]（MEH-PPV）solutions with different concen-trations were prepared in chloroform for different ultrasonication times.The ultraviolet absorption and photoluminescence（PL）spectra of the MEH-PPV solutions were measured,and the electronic states of the polymer chains under different experimental conditions were studied.The results showed that the effects of ultrasonication on the dilute and concentrated solutions were different.After ultrasonication,the intensity of the absorption peak at 280 nm significantly decreased,relative to the absorption peak at 500 nm for both dilute and concentrated solutions,indicating that the proportion of the two excited states in the polymer chains had changed.For dilute MEH-PPV solutions,the blue-shifted absorption（at about 500 nm）and PL spectra show that ultrasonication also led to polymer chain degradation and thus shortened the effective conjugation length.For concentrated solutions,however,the peak positions of the absorption spectra remained unchanged.In addition,the effects of the solution temperatures on the optical spectra for the MEH-PPV solutions were also discussed.

Influence of clay concentration on the morphology and properties of clay-epoxy nanocomposites prepared by in-situ polymerization under ultrasonication

To investigate the effect of clay concentration on the structures and properties of bisphenol-A epoxy/nanoclay composites, three composites with organoclay concentrations of 2.5wt%, 5wt%, and 7.5wt% of the epoxy resin were prepared by in-situ polymerization under mechanical stirring followed by ultrasonic treatment. The clay aggregates on micro-scale indicate the absence of fully exfoliated nanocomposites. The layer space decreases with the increase of clay concentration, which suggests that the exfoliation would be constrained if more clay is added as the ultrasonic force is exerted. The thermal decomposition temperature remains almost unchanged with the increase of clay concentration. The glass transition temperature of the composites decreases slightly with the increase of clay concentration, whereas the storage modulus increases with the increase of clay concentration.

Low Frequency Ultrasonication Induced Antitumor Effect in 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Treated Malignant Glioma

We investigated the feasibility of sonodynamic therapy for glioma by low frequency ultrasoundwith5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), a precursor of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in heme synthetic process. In vivo tumor model was made by inoculating human glioma cell line U87-MG subcutaneously in nude mice. The tumor was sonicated by 25-kHz ultrasound 4 hours following administration of 5-ALA. The tumor size decreased in 5-ALA administered (ALA(+)US(+)) mice, while increased in non-5-ALA administrated (ALA(-)US(+)) mice and non-sonicated mice (ALA(+)US(-)). The immunohistochemical analysis revealed an apoptotic change in tumor tissue of ALA(+)US(+) mice. The results showed the therapeutic effect of 25 kHz ultrasound for the glioma in 5-ALA administered tumor-bearing mice by inducing apoptotic change of tumor cells. This is a first report to elucidate the feasibility of therapeutic use of 25 kHz, relatively low frequency, ultrasound in sonodynamic therapy using 5-ALA as a sonosensitizer precursor. The utilization of this frequency will contribute to the development of sonodynamic therapy for gliomas and the spread of this technique in many hospitals that possess ultrasonic aspirators.

The Role of Electric Field and Ultrasonication in the Deposition and Alignment of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks Using Dielectrophoresis

The effects of electric field and ultrasonication on the deposition and alignment of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) across a 10 μm electrode gap have been studied. It was found that a frequency of ~1 MHz of the applied field yields the largest current independent of the magnitude of the voltage or the ultrasonication time of the sample. Increasing the ultrasonication time of a SWCNT solution changes the I-V characteristics of the deposited nanotubes from linear to nonlinear for all the voltages and frequencies of the applied field. Even in the absence of an electric field, SWCNTs bridged the electrode gap up to a critical sonication time which depends on the concentration of nanotubes in the solution.

Characterization of oil component and solid particle of oily sludge treated by surfactant-assisted ultrasonication

The ultrasonic technique has been demonstrated to be a promising method for the disposal of hazardous oily sludge.However,the separation of oil from the surfaces of the solid particles is still difficult due to the strong interaction between the oil and solid particle.In this study,three types of surfactants were used to assist the ultrasonic treatment of oily sludge.The oil component,surface composition,and structure of the solid particle were determined.The results showed that different surfactants had different oil removal abilities.In the three surfactant-assisted sonication systems,the oil removal rate increased during the starting reaction period and then decreased with longer sonication time.The results of four components analysis suggested that surfactant easy to be ionized in water posed a better removal effect on resins,while the amphiphilic surfactant preferred saturates,aromatics and asphaltenes.The morphology analysis indicated that particle size was shattered into smaller ones by the ultrasonic process,and the wettability of the solid surface also changed during this treatment.The characterization of the oil component and solid particle during surfactant-assisted ultrasonication treatment will help to better understand the separation of oil from oily sludge and improve the oil recovery efficiency from oily sludge.

Ultrasonication as anaerobic digestion pretreatment to improve sewage sludge methane production:Performance and microbial characterization

A large amount of sludge is inevitably produced during sewage treatment.Ultrasonication(US)as anaerobic digestion(AD)pretreatment was implemented on different sludges and its effects on batch and semi-continuous AD performance were investigated.US was ef-fective in sludge SCOD increase,size decrease,and CH_(4)production in the subsequent AD,and these effects were enhanced with an elevated specific energy input.As indicated by semi-continuous AD experiments,the mean daily CH_(4)production of US-pretreated A^(2)O-,A^(2)O-MBR-,and AO-AO-sludgewere 176.9,119.8,and 141.7 NmL/g-VSadded,whichwere 35.1%,32.1%and 78.2%higher than methane production of their respective raw sludge.The US of A^(2)O-sludge achieved preferable US effects and CH_(4)production due to its high organic con-tent andweak sludge structure stability.In response to US-pretreated sludge,amore diverse microbial community was observed in AD.The US-AD system showed negative net energy;however,it exhibited other positive effects,e.g.,lower required sludge retention time and less residual total solids for disposal.US is a feasible option prior to AD to improve anaer-obic bioconversion and CH_(4)yield although further studies are necessary to advance it in practice.

Grindability Evaluation of Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding of Silicon Nitride Ceramic Using Minimum Quantity Lubrication Based SiO_(2)Nanofluid

Minimum quantity Lubrication(MQL)is a sustainable lubrication system that is famous in many machining systems.It involve the spray of an infinitesimal amount of mist-like lubricants during machining processes.The MQL system is affirmed to exhibit an excellent machining performance,and it is highly economical.The nanofluids are understood to exhibit excellent lubricity and heat evacuation capability,compared to pure oil-based MQL system.Studies have shown that the surface quality and amount of energy expended in the grinding operations can be reduced considerably due to the positive effect of these nanofluids.This work presents an experimental study on the tribological performance of SiO_(2)nanofluid during grinding of Si_(3)N_(4)ceramic.The effect different grinding modes and lubrication systems during the grinding operation was also analyzed.Different concentrations of the SiO_(2)nanofluid was manufactured using canola,corn and sunflower oils.The quantitative evaluation of the grinding process was done based on the amount of grinding forces,specific grinding energy,frictional coefficient,and surface integrity.It was found that the canola oil exhibits optimal lubrication performance compared to corn oil,sunflower oil,and traditional lubrication systems.Additionally,the introduction of ultrasonic vibrations with the SiO_(2)nanofluid in MQL system was found to reduce the specific grinding energy,normal grinding forces,tangential grinding forces,and surface roughness by 65%,57%,65%,and 18%respectively.Finally,regression analysis was used to obtain an optimum parameter combinations.The observations from this work will aid the smooth transition towards ecofriendly and sustainable machining of engineering ceramics.

Effects of ultrasonication on the DBP formation and toxicity during chlorination of saline wastewater effluents

Chlorine disinfection of saline wastewater effluents rich in bromide and iodide forms relatively toxic brominated and iodinated disinfection byproducts(DBPs). Ultrasonication is a relatively new water treatment technology, and it is less sensitive to suspended solids in wastewaters. In this study, we examined the effects of ultrasonication(in terms of reactor type and combination mode with chlorination) on the DBP formation and toxicity in chlorinated primary and secondary saline wastewater effluents. Compared with the chlorinated wastewater effluent samples without ultrasonication, ultrasonic horn pretreatment of the wastewater effluent samples reduced the total organic halogen(TOX) levels in chlorination by ~30%, but ultrasonic bath pretreatment of the wastewater samples did not significantly change the TOX levels in chlorination, which might be attributed to the higher energy utilization and decomposition extent of organic DBP precursors in the ultrasonic horn reactor. Moreover, the TOX levels in the chlorinated samples with ultrasonic horn pretreatment(USH–chlorination), simultaneous treatment(chlorination + USH) and subsequent treatment(chlorination–USH) were also significantly reduced, with the maximum TOX reductions occurring in the samples with ultrasonic horn pretreatment. A toxicity index was calculated by weighting and summing the levels of total organic chlorine, total organic bromine and total organic iodine in each treated sample. The calculated toxicity index values of the chlorinated wastewater effluent samples followed a descending rank order of “chlorination” > “chlorination + USH” > “chlorination–USH” > “USH–chlorination”, with the lowest toxicity occurring in the samples with ultrasonic horn pretreatment. Then, a developmental toxicity bioassay was conducted for each treated sample. The measured toxicity index values of the chlorinated wastewater samples followed the same descending rank order.

Transformation of maize embryogenic calli mediated by ultrasonication and regeneration of fertile transgenic plants

An insecticidal protein gene isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis was transferred into maize by using ultrasonication. The fertile transgenic plants and their progeny were obtained. The Southern hybridization results indi-cated that the foreign gene had integrated into the maize genome. It has been found that the acoustic intensity and the duration of treatment are the important parameters influencing transformation efficiency by ultrasonication. The maxi-mum relative transformation frequency of 34. 1 % was achieved after 30 min of sonication at 0. 5 W/cm2 acoustic inten-sity. With appropriate parameters the ultrasonication ran make a number of micropores formed on the cell surface and minimize the treatment damage to the foreign DNA molecules, thus facilitating the DNA molecules to enter the cells.

Combination of salicylic acid and ultrasonication for alleviating chilling injury symptoms of longkong

Objectives Chilling injury is a prominent physiological disorder in longkong fruit pericarp when stored under 13℃for a prolonged period.This study aimed to investigate the effects of individual salicylic acid(SA)and ultrasonication(US)treatments and of the combination salicylic acid and ultrasonication(SA-US)on alleviating the chilling injury symptoms in longkong fruit pericarp when in prolonged cold storage.Materials and Methods SA(1 mmol/L)and US(40 kHz,10 min at 90%amplitude,350 W)were used as individual and combined(SA-US)treat-ments to control the chilling injury in longkong pericarp.The various quality measures were checked every 2 d in longkong for up to 18 d of cold storage(13℃,90%relative humidity).Results The results revealed that the control fruits treated with water exhibited severe chilling injury symptoms followed in rank order by US,SA,and SA-US cases.Treatments such as US and SA alone were more effective in controlling chilling injuries than control,while only minimal signifi-cant differences were noticed between them.On the other hand,the longkong pericarp treated with the SA-US combination had significantly increased antioxidant enzyme(superoxide dismutase and catalase)activities and decreased levels of membrane lytic(phospholipase D and lipoxygenase)enzymes and browning-inducing enzymes(phenylalanine ammonia lyase and polyphenol oxidase).Consequently,in the longkong pericarp,the chilling injury index,electrolytic leakage,respiration rate,weight loss,firmness,malondialdehyde content,changes in unsaturated and saturated fatty acid contents,and reactive oxygen species were significantly controlled by this treatment.Conclusions The present study concludes that longkong fruit treatment with a combination of US and SA is an excellent alternative for control-ling the chilling injury symptoms and extending the shelf-life.

超声空化在船舶与海洋工程中的应用

Biofouling on ships and offshore structures has always been a difficult problem to solve,which not only jeopardizes the structural strength but also brings great economic losses.Ultrasonic cavitation is expected to solve this problem due to its characteristics of no damage to structures and no pollution.Starting from the phenomenon and mechanism of ultrasonic cleaning,this paper introduces the application of ultrasonic cavitation in ship,pipeline and oil cleaning as well as ballast water treatment.By reviewing the existing studies,limitations such as insufficient ultrasonic parameter studies,lack of uniform cleanliness standards,and insufficient cavitation studies are summarized to provide traceable research ideas for improving ultrasonic cavitation technology and to guide the expansion and improvement of its applications.

Determining rock crack stress thresholds using ultrasonic through-transmission measurements

The crack initiation stress threshold is widely used in excavation industries as rock spalling strength when designing deep underground structures to avoid unwanted brittle failures.While various strain-based methods have been developed for the estimation of this critical design parameter,such methods are destructive and often requires subjective interpretations of the stress–strain curves,particularly in rocks with pre-existing microcracks or high porosity.This study explore the applicability of non-destructive ultrasonic through-transmission methods for determining rock damage levels by assessing the changes in transmitted signal characteristics during loading.The change in velocity,amplitude,dominant frequency,and root-mean-square voltage are investigated with four different rock types including marble,sandstone,granite,and basalt under various stress levels.Results suggest the rate of signal variations can be reliably used to estimate crack closure and crack initiation stress levels across the tested rocks before failure.Comparison of the results between the conventional techniques and the new proposed methods based on ultrasonic monitoring are further discussed.

Synergistically Improved Mechanical Properties and Thermal Conductivity of Hypoeutectic AlSiNiFeMg Alloy Prepared by Ultrasonic-assisted Casting

We employed a melt ultrasonic treatment near the liquidus to prepare a high-thermal-conductivity Al-4Si-2Ni-0.8Fe-0.4Mg alloy.The influences of various ultrasonic powers on its microstructure,mechanical properties,and thermal conductivity were investigated.It is shown that near-liquidus ultrasonication significantly refines the alloy grains and eutectic structure,synergistically improving the alloy’s mechanical properties and thermal conductivity.Specifically,the grain size decreased by 84.5%from 941.4 to 186.2μm.Increasing the ultrasonic power improved the thermal conductivity of the alloy slightly and significantly enhanced its mechanical properties.At an ultrasonic power of 2100 W,the tensile strength,yield strength,elongation rate,and thermal conductivity were 216 MPa,142 MPa,6.3%,and 169 W/(m·k),respectively.