• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.49-68
• /
• 2015

Chemically activated and carbonized adsorbents were prepared from Moringa oleifera pod husks (MOP), characterized and evaluated for their ability to remove a common antibiotic - ofloxacin (OFX) from aqueous solution. The pulverized precursor was steeped in a saturated ammonium chloride solution for a day to give the chemically activated adsorbent (AMOP). A portion of AMOP was pyrolyzed in a muffle furnace at 623 K for 30 min to furnish its carbonized analogue (CMOP). The adsorbents showed favorable physicochemical attributes. The effects of operational parameters such as initial OFX solution pH and concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature and contact time on OFX removal were investigated. At equilibrium, optimal removal efficiencies of 90.98% and 99.84% were achieved at solution pH 5 for AMOP and CMOP, respectively. The equilibrium adsorption data fitted into both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Gibbs free energy change (${\Delta}G^o$), enthalpy change (${\Delta}H^o$) and entropy change (${\Delta}S^o$) indicated that the adsorption of OFX was feasible, spontaneous, exothermic and occurred via the physisorption mode. Adsorption kinetics obeyed the Blanchard pseudo-second-order model. The results may find applications in the adsorptive removal of micro-contaminants of pharmaceutical origin from wastewater.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 2005

Using a general Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model strain, continuous ethanol fermentation was carried out in a stirred tank bioreactor with a working volume of 1,500 mL. Three different gravity media containing glucose of 120, 200 and 280 g/L, respectively, supplemented with 5 g/L yeast extract and 3 g/L peptone, were fed into the fermentor at different dilution rates. Although complete steady states developed for low gravity medium containing 120 g/L glucose, quasi-steady states and oscillations of the fermented parameters, including residual glucose, ethanol and biomass were observed when high gravity medium containing 200 g/L glucose and very high gravity medium containing 280 g/L glucose were fed at the designated dilution rate of $0.027\;h^{-1}$. The observed quasi-steady states that incorporated these steady states, quasi-steady states and oscillations were proposed as these oscillations were of relatively short periods of time and their averages fluctuated up and down almost symmetrically. The continuous kinetic models that combined both the substrate and product inhibitions were developed and correlated for these observed quasi-steady states.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.217-230
• /
• 2014

The large quantity of green cull bananas has the potential of being used industrially and, thereby, to improve banana economics and eliminate the large environmental problem presented by banana waste. Wastewaters from textile, cosmetics, printing, dying, food colouring, and paper-making industries are polluted by dyes. The adsorption of basic dye by waste banana pith was investigated by varying dye concentrations, adsorbent dose, particle size and agitation rate. The adsorption capacity was found to be maximum value of removal by using 0.1 g of sorbent with particle size 1mm at mixing speed 200 rpm for initial concentration 25 mg/l to reach value of approximate 89%. The Langmuir, Temkin and Freundlich adsorption models were used for mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium and it was found that experimental data fitted very well to these models except Langmuir model. Adsorption of dye was applied on (pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetics), and the experimental data was more fitted to pseudo second order. The results of this study showed that banana pith could be employed as effective and low-cost materials for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.71-77
• /
• 1986

A one dimensional neutron kinetics program, BIK which is applicable to the safety analyses of PWR's is developed to analyze the reactor core in axial dimension. The BIK employs the finite difference technique in space and $\theta$-time integration method in time. Detailed models for the Doppler and moderator feedbacks and control rod motion are included. The benchmark of the nuclear model is carried out through the ANL benchmark problem and the time dependent nuclear power change in the rod ejection accident of KNU1 is calculated by BIK code. The results indicate that the BIK can predict the neutron dynamics with fair accuracy within the limits of one dimensional analysis and it is useful for the safety analyses of PWR's.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.131-136
• /
• 2021

Collision-induced dissociation of peptides involves a series of proton-transfer reactions in the activated peptide. To describe the kinetics of energy-variable dissociation, we considered the heat capacity of the peptide and the Marcus-theory-type proton-transfer rate. The peptide ion was activated to the high internal energy states by collision with a target gas in the collision cell. The mobile proton in the activated peptide then migrated from the most stable site to the amide oxygen and subsequently to the amide nitrogen (N-protonated) of the peptide bond to be broken. The N-protonated intermediate proceeded to the product-like complex that dissociated to products. Previous studies have suggested that the proton-transfer equilibria in the activated peptide affect the dissociation kinetics. To take the extent of collisional activation into account, we assumed a soft-sphere collision model, where the relative collision energy was fully available to the internal excitation of a collision complex. In addition, we employed a Marcus-theory-type rate equation to account for the proton-transfer equilibria. Herein, we present results from the integrated thermochemical approach using a tryptic peptide of ubiquitin.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.367-374
• /
• 2021

This paper presents the characteristics of gentamicin-loaded into cetyl trimethyl ammonium intercalated montmorillonite (GtM/CTMA/Mt) as a hybrid composite for a slow-released antibacterial delivery systems. The work describes the successful immobilization of gentamicin into the interlayers of surfactant-modified montmorillonite. Physicochemical characterization of the material is carried out by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The kinetics of the gentamicin release is investigated by in vitro study and analyzed based on UV-Vis spectrometry. In addition, antibacterial study is performed towards Klebsiella pneumoniae Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus pyogenes. The results show that the gentamicin loading into CTMA/Mt increases the effectiveness of the antibacterial activity, as shown by the higher inhibition zone for all tested bacteria, compared to gentamicin as a positive control. The kinetics study suggests that the gentamicin release obeys the modified Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The physicochemical study and activity test demonstrate the feasibility of the GtM/CTMA/Mt for practical applications.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.187-193
• /
• 2010

The solute carbon content in ferrite is one of the important factors to obtain good formability in low carbon steels. Although most of the carbons are consumed by the formation of grain boundary cementite during coiling after hot-rolling, the carbon content after coiling is normally observed much more than that of equilibrium. In this study, a classical nucleation and growth model is used to simulate the precipitation kinetics of the grain boundary cementite from coiling temperature (CT) to room temperature (RT). The predicted precipitation behaviors depending on the initial carbon content and the cooling rate are compared with the reported. As a result, the lateral growth of thickening of cementite is a major factor for the sluggish reaction of grain boundary cementite. The reduction of solute carbon content after coiling is divided into three regions: a) increase due to no cementite precipitation, b) decrease due to the fast length-wise growth of cementite, c) increase due to the slow thickness-wise growth of cementite.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.667-678
• /
• 2021

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were first oxidized (O-CNTs) to introduce carboxylic group and then further functionalized (F-CNTs) with m-phenylenediamine, which was confirmed by FTIR and SEM. It was used as an effective adsorbent for the adsorptive removal of diclofenac drug from water. Under optimum conditions of pH 6, stirring speed 600 rpm, the maximum adsorption capacity obtained was 532 mg g^-1 which is superior to the values reported in literature. The adsorption was quite rapid as 25 mg L^-1 drug solution was adsorbed in only 3 minutes of contact time with 10 mg of adsorbent dose. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms were studied using various models to evaluate the adsorption process. The results showed that the data best fit in kinetics pseudo-second order and Langmuir isotherm model. Furthermore, the oxidized and functionalized MWCNTs were applied on gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus using agar disc diffusion assay to validate their anti-microbial activity. Results were unique as both oxidized and functionalized MWCNTs were equally active against both E. coli and S. aureus. The newly synthesized F-CNTs have great potential in water treatment, with their dual action of removing drug and pathogens from water, makes it potential applicant to save environment.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.61 no.2
• /
• pp.273-277
• /
• 2023

The biosorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution was investigated using dried Rhodotorula glutinis as the biosorbent. The effects of pH, initial dye concentration, biosorbent dosage, and kinetic studies were determined to obtain valuable information for biosorption. Results indicated that most of the adsorbed MB bound within 30 minutes of contact and the MB adsorption capacity increased from 21.1 to 101.8 mg/g with the initial MB concentration increased from 50 to 300 mg/L. Additionally, the MB adsorption capacity gradually increased from pH 4.0 to 9.0, reaching its peak at an initial pH of 9.0. As the biomass load was increased from 0.25 to 4.0 g/L, the MB removal efficiency increased from 14.1 to 84.5%. The Langmuir model provided the best fit throughout the concentration range, and the maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) and Langmuir constant (b) were determined to be 135.14 mg/g and 0.026 l/mg, respectively. Furthermore, the biosorbent process of R. glutinis was found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics and the calculated q_eq,cal value showed good agreement with the experimental q_eq value. Overall, the biosorption of MB by R. glutinis can be characterized as a monolayer, single site type phenomenon, and the rate-limiting step was determined to be the chemical reaction between the adsorbent and the adsorbate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.980-992
• /
• 2024

Steam line break accident (SLB) in the nuclear reactor is one of the representative Non-LOCA accidents in which thermal-hydraulics and neutron kinetics are strongly coupled each other. Thus, the multi-scale and multi-physics approach is applied in this study in order to examine a realistic safety margin. An entire reactor coolant system is modelled by system scale node, whereas sub-channel scale resolution is applied for the region of interest such as the reactor core. Fuel performance code is extended to consider full core pin-wise fuel behaviour. The MARU platform is developed for easy integration of the codes to be coupled. An initial stage of the steam line break accident is simulated on the MARU platform. As cold coolant is injected from the cold leg into the reactor pressure vessel, the power increases due to the moderator feedback. Three-dimensional coolant and fuel behaviour are qualitatively visualized for easy comprehension. Moreover, quantitative investigation is added by focusing on the enhancement of safety margin by means of comparing the minimum departure from nucleate boiling ratio (MDNBR). Three factors contributing to the increase of the MDNBR are proposed: Various geometric parameters, realistic power distribution by neutron kinetics code, Radial coolant mixing including sub-channel physics model.