Study on Mechanism of Gold Leaching by Thiourea in the Presence of Sodium Sulphite

The linear potential sweep voltammetry and electrochemical methods were used to study the mechanism and kinetics of gold dissolution in thiourea solution in the absence and presence of sodium sulphite.The results show that in the absence of sodium sulfite the dissolution rate of gold in thiourea solution is relatively slow and it increases with the increase of the concentration of thiourea and decreases with pH. Thiourea is easily oxidized to formamidine disulphide, which reduces the leaching efficiency and increases reagent consumption. In the presence of sodium sulphite, the effective concentration of thiourea is increased and the dissolution rate of gold in thiourea solution is greatly increased. The activation energy required for gold dissolution in thiourea solution with sodium sulphite is 20.9 kJ·mol -1 which is much lower than 55.0 kJ·mol -1 in the absence of sodium sulphite. It is evident that sodium sulphite has a significant effect on the electrochemical reaction kinetics of gold in thiourea solution.

Sulphite measurement and its influence on Hg behaviour in wet-limestone flue-gas desulphurization

The most abundant and typical reducing agent for oxidized mercury in the slurry of wet flue-gas desulphurization(FGD)is the absorbed sulphur dioxide(SO_(2)),which is present as different species of bisulphite or sulphite,depending on the pH of the slurry.In this study,two different measurement principles for continuous sulphite measurement in the slurry of lab-scale FGD were investigated to check their feasibility to be implemented in a wet FGD.The first method is based on light absorbance at the characteristic wavelength of sulphite measurement using a spectrophotometer and,in the second method,sulphite is measured as sulphur dioxide using a gas sensor.In addition,the correlation of sulphite concentration and mercury(Hg)in the slurry can be shown by measuring sulphite semi-continuously.It was concluded that using a spectrophotometer leads to distorted results.In contrast,measuring sulphite as SO2 in the gas phase proved to be more selective.The implementation of the measurement technique in the lab-scale FGD showed promising results for sulphite measurement.Thus,the correlation of Hg and sulphite concentration could be shown at different synthetic slurries containing different halides.Using a slurry without halides demonstrated the ambivalent influence of sulphite in reactions involving Hg,in which sulphite acts as a ligand for Hg complexes as well as a reducing agent,depending on the existing concentration.However,in the presence of halides,the role of sulphite was less significant.

Polyphenol Oxidase Activity and Inhibition in White Yam （Dioscorea Rotundata. Var. Laasirin） Chips as African Fries for Human Consumption

Polyphenol oxidase, a bi-functional enzyme, has been implicated in enzymatic browning of yam and other tubers in a negative way. The objective of this present study was to examine the activity of polyphenol oxidase in Dioscorea rotundata. Var. laasirin and the efficiency of heat and chemical treatments in inhibiting this enzyme. Crude Polyphenol Oxidase （PPO） of Dioscorea rotundata.Var. Laasirin was isolated and the kinetics studied using the lineweaver-burk plot. The activity of the enzyme was evaluated using spectrophotomeric method. Yam PPO catalyzes oxidation of various substrates with catechol being the most readily oxidized substrate. The Michaelis-Menten constant （Km） and maximum reaction velocity （Vmax） for yam PPO were 0.00037 and 0.3125 respectively. Inhibition data showed that the enzyme had least activity （71.70） when blanched at 95℃ for 7 mins with chemical treatment involving a combination of 0.5% Sodium metabisulphite （Food grade） and 0.5% Ascorbic acid （Food grade）. The activity was highest （83.02） when it was blanched at 95 ℃ for 7 rains. This study has shown that it is possible to inhibit polyphenol oxidase activity in white yam using the chemical pretreatments and processing conditions described in this study for possible adoption in the production of packaged frozen yam chips by food industries.

Tectonics and Sulphide Mineralization in the Boundiali Birimian Formations by Means of Geophysical Data

This study focused on the interpretation of geophysical data collected from the Sissedougou prospect which is located at the southern end of the Korhogo-M’Benguebirimian trench. The geophysical surveys were carried out on two grids with two magnetometers and an induced polarisation unit composed of a transmitter and a receiver. The magnetic data allowed on one side the mapping of basic, intrusive and volcanic formations, weakly magnetic rocks produced by meta-sediments to be showed, and on the other hand to identify the continuity of the shear corridor observed southward and northward of the prospect. Induced polarisation data revealed the signature of sulphide and disseminated mineralization. The synthesis of the obtained results showed that deep NE-SW, NNE-SSW and N-S oriented fractures promoted the late rise of sulphide fluids. The setting of sulphide and gold mineralization in the southern part of the Boundiali trench is therefore controlled by ductile and brittle shearing.

Impulsive state feedback control during the sulphitation reaction in process of manufacture of sugar

In this paper,the system with impulsive state feedback control corresponding to the sulphitation reaction in process of manufacturo of sugar is considered.By means of square approximation and a series of switched systems,the periodic solution is approximated by a series of continuous hybrid limit cycles.Similar to the analysis of limit cycles of continuous systems,the existence and stability criteria of the order-1 periodic solution are obtained.Further,numerical analysis and discussion are given.