Effect of Butternut Squash (Cucurbita moschata) Seed Powder on the Chemical and Rheological Properties of Stirred Cultured Camel Milk and Yoghurt

Research shows that producing fermented camel milk is hard because of the milk’s inability to form a firm coagulum, attributed to low levels of κ-casein and ꞵ-lactoglobulin and the large casein micelle size, leading to a weak network of casein formation. In an effort to address this issue, researchers turned to corn starch as a thickening agent, discovering that a concentration of 2.0% effectively improved the viscosity and significantly reduced syneresis in stirred camel milk yoghurt and cultured camel milk. This study explores alternatives to corn starch, focusing on butternut squash seeds as a promising substitute due to their hydrocolloid composition. By incorporating butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) seed powder (BSSP) as a thickening agent, this study aimed at enhancing the chemical and rheological properties of stirred camel milk yoghurt and cultured camel milk. Fermented camel milk was prepared using 4 litres of camel milk, 2% starter cultures (thermophilic culture for yoghurt and mesophilic aromatic culture for stirred cultured camel milk) and BSSP 0.0% (negative control), 0.4%, 0.8%, 1.2%, 1.6%, 2.0% mixed with 0.4% gelatin. 2.0% corn starch mixed with 0.4% gelatin was used as a standard for comparison. Results showed that increasing the BSSP level significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the moisture content while increasing the total solid content of stirred fermented camel milk products. There was an increase in ash content with an increase in BSSP levels. There was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the pH, with an increase in BSSP levels in stirred fermented camel milk samples. Increasing the concentration of BSSP from 0.4% to 2.0% resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in viscosity and a reduction in syneresis of stirred camel milk yoghurt and stirred cultured camel milk samples. This study demonstrated that BSSP effectively enhances the viscosity, reduces syneresis and increases acidity in stirred fermented camel milk products during storage.

Effect of aspect ratio of elliptical stirred vessel on mixing time and flow field characteristics in the absence of baffles

Elliptical tanks were used as an alternative to circular tanks in order to improve mixing efficiency and reduce mixing time in unbaffled stirred tanks(USTs). Five different aspect ratios of elliptical vessels were designed to compare their mixing time and flow field. Computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulations were performed using the k–ε model to calculate the mixing time and simulate turbulent flow field features, such as streamline shape, velocity distribution, vortex core region distribution, and turbulent kinetic energy(TKE) transfer. Visualization was also carried out to track the tinctorial evolution of the liquid phase. Results reveal that elliptical stirred tanks can significantly improve mixing performance in USTs. Specifically, the mixing time at an aspect ratio of 2.00 is only 45.3% of the one of a circular stirred tank. Furthermore, the secondary flow is strengthened and the vortex core region increases with the increase of aspect ratio. The axial velocity is more sensitive to the aspect ratio than the circumferential and radial velocity. Additionally, the TKE transfer in elliptical vessels is altered. These findings suggest that elliptical vessels offer a promising alternative to circular vessels for enhancing mixing performance in USTs.

Application of the CatBoost Model for Stirred Reactor State Monitoring Based on Vibration Signals

Stirred reactors are key equipment in production,and unpredictable failures will result in significant economic losses and safety issues.Therefore,it is necessary to monitor its health state.To achieve this goal,in this study,five states of the stirred reactor were firstly preset:normal,shaft bending,blade eccentricity,bearing wear,and bolt looseness.Vibration signals along x,y and z axes were collected and analyzed in both the time domain and frequency domain.Secondly,93 statistical features were extracted and evaluated by ReliefF,Maximal Information Coefficient(MIC)and XGBoost.The above evaluation results were then fused by D-S evidence theory to extract the final 16 features that are most relevant to the state of the stirred reactor.Finally,the CatBoost algorithm was introduced to establish the stirred reactor health monitoring model.The validation results showed that the model achieves 100%accuracy in detecting the fault/normal state of the stirred reactor and 98%accuracy in diagnosing the type of fault.

Impact of Inulin Extracted, Purified from (Chicory and Globe Artichoke) Roots and the Combination with Maltodextrin as Prebiotic Dietary Fiber on the Functional Properties of Stirred Bio-Yogurt

Inulin is a prebiotic dietary fiber that plays an integral role in producing functional dairy products with improved health benefits. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: extract and purify inulin from chicory roots and globe artichoke roots;evaluate the physicochemical, functional properties and functional groups of the purified inulin;determine the functional properties of chicory roots inulin-maltodextrin and globe artichoke roots inulin-maltodextrin and compare it with that of the commercial inulin;examine the impact of various inulin on physiochemical, microstructural, textural, sensory characteristics and as prebiotic dietary fiber on probiotic bacteria’s viability of stirred bio-yogurt. The characteristics of the microstructure were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy to detect the functional group. The resulting inulin exhibited a high yield and purity along with enhanced functional properties. Stirred bio-yogurt fortified with chicory roots inulin or globe artichoke roots inulin showed enhanced physicochemical, microstructural, microbiological, and overall sensorial acceptability followed by chicory roots inulin-maltodextrin or globe artichoke roots inulin-maltodextrin and the commercial inulin as compared to the control. Stirred bio-yogurt samples can offer various health benefits and wide applications as supplement of prebiotic dietary fiber in dairy industry.

Computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method simulation of stirred tank reactor for graphene production

Liquid phase exfoliation(LPE)process for graphene production is usually carried out in stirred tank reactor and the interactions between the solvent and the graphite particles are important as to improve the production efficiency.In this paper,these interactions were revealed by computational fluid dynamics–discrete element method(CFD-DEM)method.Based on simulation results,both liquid phase flow hydrodynamics and particle motion behavior have been analyzed,which gave the general information of the multiphase flow behavior inside the stirred tank reactor as to graphene production.By calculating the threshold at the beginning of graphite exfoliation process,the shear force from the slip velocity was determined as the active force.These results can support the optimization of the graphene production process.

Effect of Ti on microstructure and properties of electromagnetic stirred Al-18wt.%Mg_(2)Si alloy

By adding different amounts of Ti into the electromagnetic stirred Al-18wt.%Mg_(2)Si alloy,the effect of Ti element on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy was studied.The experimental results show that the microstructure is refined after modification with Ti,which is related to the heterogeneous nucleation of TiAl_(3) particles on theα-Al matrix.With the increase of Ti content and holding time after stirring,the primary Mg_(2)Si phase is refined firstly and then coarsened,and correspondingly,the mechanical properties of the alloy show a trend of increasing at first and then decreasing.When the addition of Ti is 0.5wt.%and the holding time is about 20 min,the refinement effect of primary Mg_(2)Si phase is the most significant and the mechanical properties of the alloy are optimal.

An innovative flake graphite upgrading process based on HPGR,stirred grinding mill, and nanobubble column flotation

Physical upgrading of graphite is typically achieved with many stages of grinding and flotation to produce a concentrate with approximately 95% carbon grade.An innovative grinding and column flotation process has been developed for efficient graphite upgrading to substantially simplify the process flowsheet and reduce operating costs.In this process,a high-pressure grinding roller(HPGR) and a stirred mill were employed as primary comminution techniques and a nanobubble flotation column as a key separation process.The results obtained with a crystalline flake graphite sample with a carbon grade of 11.15% show that the novel process can produce a concentrate with 94.82% carbon grade and 97.89% recovery from an open circuit of one rougher and two cleaner flotation stages.Scanning electron microscope(SEM)microphotographs indicate that HPGR offers the advantage of more effective protection of graphite flakes during crushing.Grinding test results show that stirred mill could not only protect graphite flakes but also promote the efficient liberation of graphite.Compared with the traditional flotation process,nanobubble flotation can effectively recover ultrafine graphite.The new process possesses a number of important advantages over the traditional method,including substantially higher graphite recovery,greatly simplified process flowsheet,better protection of flake size,reduced reagent consumption and process costs,etc.

Drawdown mechanism of light particles in baffled stirred tank for the KR desulphurization process

To improve the efficiency of the desulfurization process, the drawdown mechanism of light particles in stirred tank is studied in this paper. For both up and down pumping modes, the just drawdown speeds(Njd) of floating particles in transformative Kanbara Reactor(KR) are measured in one and four baffled stirred tanks experimentally. Then numerical simulations with standard k-ε model coupled with volume of fluid model(VOF) and discrete phase model(DPM) are conducted to analyze the flow field at the just drawdown speed Njd. The torques on the impeller obtained from experiments and simulations agree well with each other, which indicates the validity of our numerical simulations. Based on the simulations, three main drawdown mechanisms for floating particles, the axial circulation, turbulent fluctuation and largescale eddies, are analyzed. It's found that the axial circulation dominates the drawdown process at small submergence(S = 1/4 T and 1/3 T) and the large-scale eddies play a major role at large submergence(S = 2/3 T and 3/4 T). Besides, the turbulent fluctuation affects the drawdown process significantly for up pumping mode at small submergence(S = 1/4 T and 1/3 T) and for down pumping mode at large submergence(S = 2/3 T and 3/4 T). This paper helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the KR desulphurizer drawdown process in the baffled stirred tank.

Numerical optimization for blades of Intermig impeller in solid-liquid stirred tank

The multiphase flow in the solid-liquid tank stirred with a new structure of Intermig impeller was analyzed by computational fluid dynamics(CFD).The Eulerian multiphase model and standard k-ε turbulence model were adopted to simulate the fluid flow,turbulent kinetic energy distribution,mixing performance and power consumption in a stirred tank.The simulation results were also verified by the water model experiments,and good agreement was achieved.The solid-liquid mixing performances of Intermig impeller with different blade structures were compared in detail.The results show that the improved Intermig impeller not only enhances the solid mixing and suspension,but also saves more than 20% power compared with the standard one.The inner blades have relatively little influence on power and the best angle of inner blades is 45°,while the outer blades affect greatly the power consumption and the optimized value is 45°.

Study on macro-instability in stirred tank

Macro-instability(MI)is an important natural phenomenon affecting the mixing performance in stirred tank significantly,which results from movement and evolution of large eddies.Factors associated with MI frequency in mixing operation and energy dissipation related to MI were reviewed.Flow pattern in turbulent regime contains many coherent structures,which have much energy vortices and may result in flow field MI.Adjustment of coherent structure and controlling MI may contribute to energy saving and good mixing performance.Controlling methods for MI was prospected.

Effect of the Inclination of Baffles on the Power Consumption and Fluid Flows in a Vessel Stirred by a Rushton Turbine

The role of baffles in mechanically stirred tanks is to promote the stability of power drawn by the impeller and to avoid the fluid swirling, thus enhancing mixing. The present paper numerically investigates the baffles effects in a vessel stirred by a Rushton turbine. The geometric factor of interest is the baffle inclination which is varying between 25°, 32.5°, 45°, 70° and 90° at different impeller rotational speeds. The impeller rotational direction has also been varied. The vortex size and power consumption were evaluated for each geometrical configuration. It was found that the best configuration is the baffle inclination by = 70° at a negative angular velocity.

Numerical simulation of micro-mixing in gas–liquid and solid–liquid stirred tanks with the coupled CFD-E-model

The coupled CFD-E-model for multiphase micro-mixing was developed,and used to predict the micro-mixing effects on the parallel competing chemical reactions in semi-batch gas–liquid and solid–liquid stirred tanks.Based on the multiphase macro-flow field,the key parameters of the micro-mixing E-model were obtained with solving the Reynolds-averaged transport equations of mixture fraction and its variance at low computational costs.Compared with experimental data,the multiphase numerical method shows the satisfactory predicting ability.For the gas–liquid system,the segregated reaction zone is mainly near the feed point,and shrinks to the exit of feed-pipe when the feed position is closer to the impeller.Besides,surface feed requires more time to completely exhaust the added H+solution than that of impeller region feed at the same operating condition.For the solid–liquid system,when the solid suspension cloud is formed at high solid holdups,the flow velocity in the clear liquid layer above the cloud is notably reduced and the reactions proceed slowly in this almost stagnant zone.Therefore,the segregation index in this case is larger than that in the dilute solid–liquid system.

Experimental study of power consumption, local characteristics distributions and homogenization energy in gas–liquid stirred tank reactors

In this paper, the power consumption, the vertical local void fraction and the local gas–liquid interfacial area are investigated in the aerated stirred tank reactors(STRs) equipped with a rigid-flexible impeller. Meanwhile, the regressive correlation based on power consumption and interfacial area is proposed. Then a novel homogenization energy(HE = RSDPtm) expression based on power consumption and local interfacial area is redefined and used to indicate the mixing efficiency. The optimal operating mode is selected based on the change of the HE value. This paper can provide research ideas for structural optimization of stirred reactors.

Experimental study and simulation of a three-phase flow stirred bioreactor

In order to obtain the reasonable operating conditions and minimize the power consumption in the stirred bioreactor, the hydrodynamic experiments in the stirred bioreactor have been taken to obtain the basic data. Subsequently, an Eulerian model for the gas–liquid–solid three phase flow in the stirred bioreactor has been proposed and the CFD simulation has been conducted. By comparing the results of experiment and simulation, it can be concluded that the simulation results were consistent with the experimental data. The inner relationship between operating variables and indicators could be obtained by comparing the results of just suspension speed, gas holdup, power consumption and operational maps, further the reasonable operating conditions could be also determined under the minimum power consumption. The operational maps could provide the theoretical foundation for industrial application of the gas–liquid–solid stirred bioreactors under the low solid concentration(no more than 20 wt%).

CFD simulation of flow and mixing characteristics in a stirred tank agitated by improved disc turbines

To reduce the power consumption and improve the mixing performance in stirred tanks,two improved disc turbines namely swept-back parabolic disc turbine(SPDT)and staggered fan-shaped parabolic disc turbine(SFPDT)are developed.After validation of computational fluid dynamics(CFD)model with experimental results,CFD simulations are carried out to study the flow pattern,mean velocity,power consumption,pumping capacity and mixing efficiency of the improved and traditional impellers in a dished-bottom tank under turbulent flow conditions,The results indicate that compared with the commonly used parabolic disc turbine(PDT),the power number of proposed SPDT and SFPDT impellers is reduced by 43%and 12%,and the pumping efficiency is increased by 68%and 13%,respectively.Furthermore,under the same power consumption(0-700 W·m^(-3)),the mixing performance of both SPDT and SFPDT is also superior to that of Rushton turbine and PDT.

Study on the solid-liquid suspension behavior in a tank stirred by the long-short blades impeller

We investigated the solid–liquid suspension characteristics in the tank with a liquid height/tank diameter ratio of 1.5 stirred by a novel long-short blades(LSB) impeller by the Euler granular flow model coupled with the standard k–ε turbulence model. After validation of the local solid holdup by experiments,numerical predictions have been successfully used to explain the influences of impeller rotating speed,particle density, particle size, liquid viscosity and initial solid loading on the solid suspension behavior,i.e. smaller particles with lower density are more likely to be suspended evenly in the liquid with higher liquid viscosity. At a low impeller rotating speed(N), increase in N leads to an obvious improvement in the solid distribution homogeneity. Moreover, the proposed LSB impeller has obvious advantages in the uniform distribution of the solid particles compared with single Rushton turbine(RT), dual RT impellers or CBY hydrofoil impeller under the same power consumption.

THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON BUBBLE DIAMETER AND GAS HOLDUP IN AERATED STIRRED TANKS

1 INTRODUCTIONBubble diameter distribution and gas holdup are very important parameters indicatingthe characteristics of gas-liquid dispersion,works done are mostly experimentalobservation.Theoretical analysis of bubble diameter has been mostly focused on thebreak-up of bubbles in the impeller region,and only the theoretical relationship be-tween bubble diameter and operating variables in the impeller region has been

Breakage of drops and bubbles in a stirred tank： A review ofexperimental studies

The rate of breakage of drops and bubbles(fluid particles) in stirred systems is of great consequence on mass,heat, and momentum transport phenomena. Therefore, over the years, the topic has gained a considerable attention from the researchers to study and characterize this phenomenon. In present work, the experimental studies of breakage phenomenon in a stirred tank in the last four decades were reviewed. The review highlighted the investigated experimental conditions and the major findings concerning the breakage mechanism and the effect of operating conditions. The discrepancy and contradictions of the outcomes of those studies were specified and discussed. Experimental observations and conclusions concerning the breakage characterization parameters,such as deformation, breakage probability, breakage time, and breakage location were presented and commented on. Possible future refinements and prospective were recommended. The review indicated that there are clear discrepancies and contradictions between previous studies regarding the effect of some operating parameters and the values of breakage time, breakage probability, number of daughter particles, and breakage location relative to the impeller. In addition, there are still many scientific gaps that need to be studied and characterized in future by overcoming specific experimental difficulties and uncertainties.

Chemical, Nutritional, Rheological, and Organoleptical Characterizations of Stirred Pumpkin-Yoghurt

Pumpkin contains considerable amounts of bioactive compounds which hardly valorized in dairy products. This study aims to investigate the chemical, nutritional, rheological, and organoleptical properties of prepared stirred pumpkin-yoghurt. Stirred yoghurt with three different pumpkin varieties pulp [American (AP), Domestic (DP), and Indian (IP) pumpkin] at 15% was prepared and stored at 5°C ± 1°C up to 14 d. The chemical properties of yoghurts include protein, fat, crude fiber, and available carbohydrates were significantly affected by adding pumpkin without remarkable change in caloric value. Addition of pumpkin pulps decreased the pH and increased the acidity of stirred pumpkin-yoghurt significantly (P -1 in all stirred yoghurts after 1 d. After that, it was increased without notable effect of adding pumpkin pulps, and with slight simulation in LAB, growth was noticed in DP and IP yoghurts. Total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoid (TF), total flavonols (TFL), carotenoids contents, and antioxidant capacity of pumpkin-yoghurts were significantly increased. Fortifying yoghurt with pumpkin pulp was associated with a statistically significant effect on sensory parameters such as flavor, color, and overall acceptability. Scores of AP yoghurt showed the highest score which significantly differed from CY. It is obviously showed that panelists were favored the prepared stirred pumpkin-yoghurt. Thus, it is recommended that adding pumpkin pulps increases yoghurt health benefits and could be scaled up further.