Optical inline analysis and monitoring of particle size and shape distributions for multiple applications: Scientific and industrial relevance

Particles occur in almost all processes in chemical and life sciences. The particle size and shape influence the process performance and product quality, and in turn they are influenced by the flow behavior of the particles during production. Monitoring and controlling such characteristics in multiphase systems to obtain sufficient qualities will greatly facilitate the achievement of reproducible and defined distributions. So far, obtaining this information inline has been challenging, because existing instruments lack measurement precision, being unable to process overlapping signals from different particle phases in highly concentrated multiphase systems. However, recent advances in photo-optics made it possible to monitor such features(particle size distribution(PSD), aspect ratio and particle concentration) with advanced image analysis(IA) in real-time. New analysis workflows as well as single feature extractions from the images using multiple image analysis algorithms allowed the precise real-time measurements of size, shape and concentration of particle collectives even separated from each other in three phase systems. The performances, advantages and drawbacks with other non-photo-optical methods for assessing the particle size distribution are compared and discussed.

Inocula selection in microbial fuel cells based on anodic biofilm abundance of Geobacter sulfurreducens

Microbial fuel cells （MFCs） rely on microbial conversion of organic substrates to electricity. The optimal perfor- mance depends on the establishment of a microbial community rich in electrogenic bacteria. Usually this micro- bial community is established from inoculation of the MFC anode chamber with naturally occurring mixed inocula. In this study, the electrochemical performance of MFCs and microbial community evolution were eval- uated for three inocula including domestic wastewater （DW）, lake sediment （LS） and biogas sludge （BS） with varying substrate loading （Lsub） and external resistance （Rext） on the MFC. The electrogenic bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens was identified in all inocula and its abundance during MFC operation was positively linked to the MFC performance. The IS inoculated MFCs showed highest abundance （18% ± 1%） of G. sulfurreducens, maximum current density [Imax = （690 ± 30） mA.m 2] and coulombic efficiency （CE = 29% ±1%） with acetate as the substrate./max and CE increased to （1780 ± 30） mA.m-2 and 58%± 1%, respectively, after decreasing the Rext from 1000 Ωto 200 Ω, which also correlated to a higher abundance ofG. sulfurreducens （21% ±0.7%） on the MFC anodic biofilm. The data obtained contribute to understanding the microbial community response to Lsub and Roy, for of timizing electricity eneration in MFCs.

Reversible Immobilization of Chelating Affinity Surfactants on Reversed Phase Adsorbents for Protein and Peptide Separations under Metal Affinity Chromatography

Alkyl-bound silica was modified using chelating surfactants and the resulting adsorbent was used in immobilized metal affinity chromatography of proteins and peptides. Brij-76, a non-ionic amphiphilic surfactant with an alkyl moiety and an ethylene oxide chain, was reversible adsorbed to alkyl silica (C18). The hydroxyl group at the end of the ethylene oxide chain was chemically modified previously with an iminodiacetate functionality as chelating agent of transitional metal ions. Cu(II) was studied as immobilized ion for the adsorption of peptides and proteins. Three chromatographic supports were prepared having different Cu(II) capacities. For a low Cu(II) capacity case, the generated adsorbent behaved as a controlled access media preventing the adsorption of large molecular weight proteins, such as BSA, while small peptides, such as Angiotensin III, or amino acids could be retained. For a medium and high Cu(II) capacity, the synthesized adsorbent no longer behaved as a controlling access media and all molecules in this study, either large or small, were retained by the immobilized ion. Nonetheless, most of the BSA was strongly retained by the system and a pH change did not remove any of the adsorbed BSA while the small molecules were removed by the same pH change.

Influence of Polyphosphate Hydrolysis on the Degradation of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) in Anaerobic Digestion

The degradation rate of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) produced predominantly in the acidogenesis stage is a key process parameter to be optimised to ensure a successful Anaerobic digestion (AD). Thermodynamically, the oxidation of the VFAs are energetically unfavourable, and as such external energy source apart from the energy derived from the hydrolysis of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is needed for the initial activation of the VFAs, initial growth of the methanogens in AD process and improved degradation rate of the VFAs. Thus, this research investigated the influence of polyphosphate hydrolysis on the degradation rate of the VFAs at high concentration. Sodium-propionate, Sodium-butyrate and Sodium-acetate salts were added at the start of experiments in order to increase the concentration of the VFAs. The polyphosphate salts used were;Na-hexametaphosphate, Na-tripolyphosphate and potassium pyrophosphate. The control experiment was polyphosphate free and three process parameters (degradation rate, cumulative biogas production and specific methane content) of anaerobic digestion were investigated. The experiments were carried out at a mesophilic temperature of 37.5°C for 41 days. The results of the investigation showed that the treated reactors with the polyphosphate salt solution in low concentration performed better than the reactors with high concentration of the polyphosphate salts solution. All the treated reactors with poly-P salts performed better than reactor Nr-9 (control experiment), but reactor Nr-1 was outstanding with an improved degradation rate of 47%, cumulative biogas production of 21% and specific methane content of 23%.