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Cell wall biomass, Earth’s most abundant natural resource, holds significant potential for sustainable biofuel production. Composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, and other polymers, the plant cell wall provides essential structural support to diverse organisms in nature. In contrast, non-plant species like insects, crustaceans, and fungi rely on chitin as their primary structural polysaccharide. The saprophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus has been widely recognized for its adaptability to various environmental conditions. It achieves this by secreting different cell wall biomass degradation enzymes to obtain essential nutrients. This review compiles a comprehensive collection of cell wall degradation enzymes derived from A. fumigatus, including cellulases, hemicellulases, various chitin degradation enzymes, and other polymer degradation enzymes. Notably, these enzymes exhibit biochemical characteristics such as temperature tolerance or acid adaptability, indicating their potential applications across a spectrum of industries.

ABSTRACTYeast cells involved in fermentation processes face various stressors that disrupt redox homeostasis and cause cellular damage, making the study of oxidative stress mechanisms crucial. In this investigation, we isolated a resilient yeast strain, Candida nivariensis GXAS-CN, capable of thriving in the presence of high concentrations of H2O2. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the up-regulation of multiple antioxidant genes in response to oxidative stress. Deletion of the catalase gene Cncat significantly impacted H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Enzymatic analysis of recombinant CnCat highlighted its highly efficient catalase activity and its essential role in mitigating H2O2. Furthermore, over-expression of CnCat in Saccharomyces cerevisiae improved oxidative resistance by reducing intracellular ROS accumulation. The presence of multiple stress-responsive transcription factor binding sites at the promoters of antioxidative genes indicates their regulation by different transcription factors. These findings demonstrate the potential of utilizing the remarkably tolerant C. nivariensis GXAS-CN or enhancing the resistance of S. cerevisiae to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of industrial fermentation processes.IMPORTANCEEnduring oxidative stress is a crucial trait for fermentation strains. The importance of this research is its capacity to advance industrial fermentation processes. Through an in-depth examination of the mechanisms behind the remarkable H2O2 resistance in Candida nivariensis GXAS-CN and the successful genetic manipulation of this strain, we open the door to harnessing the potential of the catalase CnCat for enhancing the oxidative stress resistance and performance of yeast strains. This pioneering achievement creates avenues for fine-tuning yeast strains for precise industrial applications, ultimately leading to more efficient and cost-effective biotechnological processes.

Abstract Serine proteases are among the most important biological additives in various industries such as detergents, leather, animal feed and food. A serine protease gene, Fgapt4, from Fusarium graminearum 2697 was identified, cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The optimal pH and temperature of FgAPT4 were 8.5 and 40°C, respectively. The relative activity was >30% even at 10°C. It had a wide range of pH stability (4.0–12.0) and detergent compatibility. To improve the catalytic activity, a strategy combining molecular docking and evolutionary analysis was adopted. Twelve amino acid residue sites and three loops (A, B and C) were selected as potential hot spots that might play critical roles in the enzyme's functional properties. Twenty‐eight mutants targeting changes in individual sites or loops were designed, and mutations with good performance were combined. The best mutant was FgAPT4‐M3 (Q70N/D142S/A143S/loop C). The specific activity and catalytic efficiency of FgAPT4‐M3 increased by 1.6 (1008.5 vs. 385.9 U/mg) and 2.2‐fold (3565.1 vs. 1106.3/s/mM), respectively. Computational analyses showed that the greater flexibility of the substrate pocket may be responsible for the increased catalytic activity. In addition, its application in detergents indicated that FgAPT4‐M3 has great potential in washing.

Abstract In order to limit global warming to 2 °C, countries have adopted carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emission. However, it is currently facing challenges such as controversial investment costs, unclear policies, and reduction of new energy power generation costs. In particular, some CCS projects are at a standstill. To promote the development of CCS projects in different countries, this paper reviews and compares energy conservation and emission reduction policies and different national goals. From a policy perspective, CCS-driven policies are analyzed. Based on this, corresponding policy recommendations are put forward, in order to promote the healthy development of global CCS technology and deal with climate issues more effectively. With less than 10 years away from the short-term goal, promoting the development and application of CCS projects requires scientific research from universities, enterprises and governments in order to attain zero or negative CO2 emission. On the basis of focusing on the development of CCS technology, according to the actual situation of each country, the appropriate application of CCS engineering should focus on the development of science and technology, rather than a unified requirement around the world.

Abstract Background Glucoamylase is an important industrial enzyme for the saccharification of starch during sugar production, but the production cost of glucoamylase is a major limiting factor for the growth of the starch-based sugar market. Therefore, seeking strategies for high-level expression of glucoamylase in heterologous hosts are considered as the main way to reduce the enzyme cost. Results ReGa15A from Rasamsonia emersonii and TlGa15B-GA2 from Talaromyces leycettanus have similar properties. However, the secretion level of ReGa15A was significantly higher than TlGa15B-GA2 in Pichia pastoris. To explore the underlying mechanisms affecting the differential expression levels of glucoamylase in P. pastoris, the amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures of them were compared and analyzed. First, the CBM region was identified by fragment replacement as the key region affecting the expression levels of ReGa15A and TlGa15B-GA2. Then, through the substitution and site-directed mutation of the motifs in the CBM region, three mutants with significantly increased expression levels were obtained. The eight-point mutant TlGA-M4 (S589D/Q599A/G600Y/V603Q/T607I/V608L/N609D/R613Q), the three-point mutant TlGA-M6 (Q599A/G600Y/V603Q) and the five-point mutant TlGA-M7 (S589D/T607I/V608L/N609D/R613Q) have the same specific activity with the wild-type, and the enzyme activity and secretion level have increased by 4–5 times, respectively. At the same time, the expression levels were 5.8-, 2.0- and 2.4-fold higher than that of wild type, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression of genes related to the unfolded protein responses (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) did not differ significantly between the mutants and wild type. In addition, the most highly expressed mutant, TlGA-M7 exhibits rapidly and effectively hydrolyze raw corn starch. Conclusions Our results constitute the first demonstration of improved expression and secretion of a glucoamylase in P. pastoris by introducing mutations within the non-catalytic CBM. This provides a novel and effective strategy for improving the expression of recombinant proteins in heterologous host expression systems.

Abstract Background Glucoamylase is an important industrial enzyme in the saccharification of starch into glucose. However, its poor thermostability and low catalytic efficiency limit its industrial saccharification applications. Therefore, improving these properties of glucoamylase is of great significance for saccharification in the starch industry. Results In this study, a novel glucoamylase-encoding gene TlGa15B from the thermophilic fungus Talaromyces leycettanus JCM12802 was cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The optimal temperature and pH of recombinant TlGa15B were 65 ℃ and 4.5, respectively. TlGa15B exhibited excellent thermostability at 60 ℃. To further improve thermostability without losing catalytic efficiency, TlGa15B-GA1 and TlGa15B-GA2 were designed by introducing disulfide bonds and optimizing residual charge–charge interactions in a region distant from the catalytic center. Compared with TlGa15B, mutants showed improved optimal temperature, melting temperature, specific activity, and catalytic efficiency. The mechanism underlying these improvements was elucidated through molecular dynamics simulation and dynamics cross-correlation matrices analysis. Besides, the performance of TlGa15B-GA2 was the same as that of the commercial glucoamylase during saccharification. Conclusions We provide an effective strategy to simultaneously improve both thermostability and catalytic efficiency of glucoamylase. The excellent thermostability and high catalytic efficiency of TlGa15B-GA2 make it a good candidate for industrial saccharification applications.

Recent years have seen increasing attention to TCES technology owing to its potentially high energy density and suitability for long-duration storage with negligible loss, and it benefits the deployment of future net-zero energy systems. This paper provides a review of salt hydrate adsorption material-based TCES for space heating applications at ~150 °C. The incorporation of salt hydrates into a porous matrix to form composite materials provides the best avenue to overcome some challenges such as mass transport limitation and lower thermal conductivity. Therefore, a systematic classification of the host matrix is given, and the most promising host matrix, MIL-101(Cr)(MOFs), which is especially suitable for loading hygroscopic salt, is screened from the perspective of hydrothermal stability, mechanical strength, and water uptake. Higher salt content clogs pores and, conversely, reduces adsorption performance; thus, a balance between salt content and adsorption/desorption performance should be sought. MgCl2/rGOA is obtained with the highest salt loading of 97.3 wt.%, and the optimal adsorption capacity and energy density of 1.6 g·g−1 and 2225.71 kJ·kg−1, respectively. In general, larger pores approximately 8–10 nm inside the matrix are more favorable for salt dispersion. However, for some salts (MgSO4-based composites), a host matrix with smaller pores (2–3 nm) is beneficial for faster reaction kinetics. Water molecule migration behavior, and the phase transition path on the surface or interior of the composite particles, should be identified in the future. Moreover, it is essential to construct a micromechanical experimental model of the interface.

Thermochemical heat storage has attracted significant attention in recent years due to potential advantages associated with very high-energy density at the material scale and its suitability for long-duration energy storage because of almost zero loss during storage. Despite the potential, thermochemical heat storage technologies are still in the early stage of development and little has been reported on thermochemical reactors. In this paper, our recent work on the charging and discharging behavior of a fixed-bed thermochemical reactor is reported. Silica gels were used as the sorbent for the experimental work. An effective model was established to numerically study the effect of different charging conditions on the discharging behavior of the reactor, which was found to have a maximum deviation of 10.08% in terms of the root mean square error compared with the experimental results. The experimentally validated modelling also showed that the discharging temperature lift increased by 5.84 times by changing the flow direction of the air in the discharging process when the charging level was at 20%. At a charging termination temperature of 51.25 °C, the maximum discharging temperature was increased by 2.35 °C by reducing the charging flow velocity from 0.64 m/s to 0.21 m/s. An increase in the charging temperature and a decrease in the air humidity increased the maximum discharging outlet temperature lift by 3.37 and 1.89 times, respectively.

Flue gas produced by biomass fuel combustion contains various chlorine-containing substances and is an important factor causing biomass boiler corrosion. The corrosion processes of chlorine, hydrogen chloride and water on iron covered with an intact/damaged oxide film were investigated under the high temperature of 1300 K through reactive molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that the diffusion processes of oxygen and chlorine are similar and can be divided into three stages: rapid diffusion, continuous diffusion, and no oxide film (stable). Oxygen diffusion in Fe2O3 into a pure iron layer is the main cause of gas corrosion in iron/iron oxide systems. A complete oxide film can hinder iron corrosion by chlorine and hydrogen chloride. Damage in an oxide film significantly affects oxygen and chlorine diffusion and iron corrosion. However, such influence is gradually reduced. The integrity of a protective film is the key to alleviating corrosion. Water facilitates the dissociation of chlorine and hydrogen chloride, and it reacts with iron at high temperatures to enhance corrosion. This study improves the understanding of the iron oxide/iron corrosion from chlorine-containing gases from a microscopic perspective and is of great significance to metal corrosion protection and biomass combustion technologies.

Liquid hydrogen is the main fuel of large-scale low-temperature heavy-duty rockets, and has become the key direction of energy development in China in recent years. As an important application carrier in the large-scale storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen, liquid hydrogen cryogenic storage and transportation containers are the key equipment related to the national defense security of China’s aerospace and energy fields. Due to the low temperature of liquid hydrogen (20 K), special requirements have been put forward for the selection of materials for storage and transportation containers including the adaptability of materials in a liquid hydrogen environment, hydrogen embrittlement characteristics, mechanical properties, and thermophysical properties of liquid hydrogen temperature, which can all affect the safe and reliable design of storage and transportation containers. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to systematically master the types and properties of cryogenic materials for the development of liquid hydrogen storage and transportation containers. With the wide application of liquid hydrogen in different occasions, the requirements for storage and transportation container materials are not the same. In this paper, the types and applications of cryogenic materials commonly used in liquid hydrogen storage and transportation containers are reviewed. The effects of low-temperature on the mechanical properties of different materials are introduced. The research progress of cryogenic materials and low-temperature performance data of materials is introduced. The shortcomings in the research and application of cryogenic materials for liquid hydrogen storage and transportation containers are summarized to provide guidance for the future development of container materials. Among them, stainless steel is the most widely used cryogenic material for liquid hydrogen storage and transportation vessel, but different grades of stainless steel also have different applications, which usually need to be comprehensively considered in combination with its low temperature performance, corrosion resistance, welding performance, and other aspects. However, with the increasing demand for space liquid hydrogen storage and transportation, the research on high specific strength cryogenic materials such as aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, or composite materials is also developing. Aluminum alloy liquid hydrogen storage and transportation containers are widely used in the space field, while composite materials have significant advantages in being lightweight. Hydrogen permeation is the key bottleneck of composite storage and transportation containers. At present, there are still many technical problems that have not been solved.

Experimental heat transfer equipment with a buried tube granular bed was set up for waste heat recovery of flue gas. The effects of flue gas inlet temperature (1096.65–1286.45 K) and cooling water flow rate (2.6–5.1 m3/h) were studied through experiment and computational fluid dynamics’ (CFD) method. On the basis of logarithmic mean temperature difference method, the total heat transfer coefficient of the granular bed was used to characterize its heat transfer performance. Experimental results showed that the waste heat recovery rate of the equipment exceeded 72%. An increase in the cooling water flow rate and inlet gas temperature was beneficial to recovering waste heat. The cooling water flow rate increases from 2.6 m3/h to 5.1 m3/h and the recovery rate of waste heat increases by 1.9%. Moreover, the heat transfer coefficient of the granular bed increased by 4.4% and the inlet gas temperature increased from 1096.65 K to 1286.45 K. The recovery rate of waste heat increased by 1.7% and the heat transfer coefficient of the granular bed rose by 26.6%. Therefore, experimental correlations between the total heat transfer coefficient of a granular bed and the cooling water flow rate and inlet temperature of dusty gas were proposed. The CFD method was used to simulate the heat transfer in the granular bed, and the effect of gas temperature on the heat transfer coefficient of granular bed was studied. Results showed that the relative error was less than 2%.

Field synergy characteristics in condensation heat transfer with non-condensable gas (NCG) over a horizontal tube were numerically simulated. Consequently, synergy angles between velocity and pressure or temperature gradient fields, gas film layer thickness, and induced velocity and shear stress on gas–liquid interface were obtained. Results show that synergy angles between velocity and temperature gradient fields are within 73.2°–88.7° and ascend slightly with the increment in mainstream velocity and that the synergy is poor. However, the synergy angle between velocity and pressure gradient fields decreases intensively with the increase in mainstream velocity at θ ≤ 30°, thereby improving the pressure loss. As NCG mass fraction increases, the gas film layer thickness enlarges and the induced velocity and shear stress on gas–liquid interface decreases. The synergy angles between velocity and temperature gradient fields increase, and the synergy angles between velocity and pressure gradient fields change at θ = 70°, decrease at θ < 70°, and rise at θ > 70°. When the horizontal tube circumference angle increases, the synergy angles between velocity and temperature or pressure gradient fields decrease, the synergy between velocity and pressure fields enhances, and the synergy between velocity and temperature fields degrades.

Multi-pass welding is used in high-pressure and thick-walled pipes in natural gas and oil pipelines. When a welding layer of a welded joint is subjected to different welding thermal cycles, its microstructure and properties change, thereby affecting the overall welding performance. In this study, the temperature and microstructural variations of the fill pass 2 (FP2) in the entire welding process were investigated by combining the thermal cycle with the cascade welding method. The original FP2 and FP2 after double thermal cycles had the worse deformation ability by tensile test. The toughness of FP2 improved after a single thermal cycle, decreased after double thermal cycles, and improved again after triple thermal cycles. The content of martensite−austenite (M−A) constituents and the average grain size of FP2 in the cascade samples were inversely proportional to FP2 toughness. Massive M−A constituents and their unique distribution at the inter-critical temperature were harmful to weld metal toughness. Controlling the size and fraction of M−A constituents can improve weld metal toughness.

The energy consumption of urban central heating in northern China is two to four times that in northern Europe and other countries. Beijing has adopted measures, such as ‘coal to gas’ and ‘coal to electricity’, to reduce environmental pollution caused by central heating. Given a peak-to-valley difference in the electricity supply of power plant, which is uneven day and night, this study proposes to store the night-time off-peak electricity in the form of heat energy and drive the ammonia absorption system in the form of steam or hot water during peak or flat electricity. Simulation results of ammonia absorption cooling and heating dual-supply system show that heat source temperature increases, evaporation temperature increases, and cooling water temperature decreases are all beneficial to improve the refrigeration coefficient in the summer cooling condition. In the meantime, heat source temperature increases, evaporation temperature increases, and cooling water temperature decreases are beneficial for increasing the heating coefficient in the winter heating condition. The heating and cooling coefficients of the system are 1.38 and 0.65 in the optimal working condition in winter and summer. Benefit analysis shows that, compared with central heating and cold storage air conditioning, the system can save 576,000 tons of standard coal and 1.417 million tons of carbon dioxide if used in 12% of the cooling and heat supply areas in Beijing. The potential for energy saving and emission reduction is large.

Abstract The poison dart toxin batrachotoxin is exceptional for its high potency and toxicity, and for its multifaceted modification of the function of voltage-gated sodium channels. By using cryogenic electron microscopy, we identify two homologous, but nonidentical receptor sites that simultaneously bind two molecules of toxin, one at the interface between Domains I and IV, and the other at the interface between Domains III and IV of the cardiac sodium channel. Together, these two bound toxin molecules stabilize α/π helical conformation in the S6 segments that gate the pore, and one of the bound BTX-B molecules interacts with the crucial Lys1421 residue that is essential for sodium conductance and selectivity via an apparent water-bridged hydrogen bond. Overall, our structure provides insight into batrachotoxin’s potency, efficacy, and multifaceted functional effects on voltage-gated sodium channels via a dual receptor site mechanism.

The α-toxin LqhIII from the deathstalker scorpion inhibits fast inactivation of cardiac NaV1.5 channels. Here authors reveal the cryo-EM structure of LqhIII bound to NaV1.5 which shows that LqhIII traps the gating charges of the S4 segment in a unique intermediate-activated state and explains why LqhIII slows inactivation of NaV channels but does not open them.

Voltage-gated and ligand-modulated ion channels play critical roles in excitable cells. To understand the interplay among voltage sensing, ligand binding, and channel opening, the structures of ion channels in various functional states and in lipid membrane environments need to be determined. Here, the random spherically constrained (RSC) single-particle cryo-EM method was employed to study human large conductance voltage- and calcium-activated potassium (hBK or hSlo1) channels reconstituted into liposomes. The hBK structure was determined at 3.5 Å resolution in the absence of Ca2+. Instead of the common fourfold symmetry observed in ligand-modulated ion channels, a twofold symmetry was observed in hBK in liposomes. Compared with the structure of isolated hSlo1 Ca2+ sensing gating rings, two opposing subunits in hBK unfurled, resulting in a wider opening towards the transmembrane region of hBK. In the pore gate domain, two opposing subunits also moved downwards relative to the two other subunits.

An air separation unit (ASU) represents the largest overall energy consumption (about 15-20%) in a steel production facility. Therefore, improving the operating efficiency of an ASU is an effective way to achieve energy savings and emission reductions. The exergy calculation program for an air separation process is developed, and the detailed exergy calculations and analysis for an actual ASU with capacity of 40,000 Nm³/h in service at Tangshan Tangsteel Gas Co. Ltd. are performed. The results show that the molar exergy contained in oxygen is the largest among all gaseous products, liquid argon contains the largest molar exergy among all liquid products, and liquid products of the same type have larger exergy values than their gaseous equivalents. In a same condition scenario (same environmental condition, same air feed mass flow at rated load operation of the expander), increasing liquids production is an effective way to enhance the process efficiency, especially by increasing liquid argon production at the rated load operation of the expander. The object efficiency of the process from the cleaning unit to production in an actual 40,000 m³/h ASU is 46.84%, while the simple efficiency of the cold box of the ASU is 64.31%. The largest amount of exergy loss is caused by the air compressor (AC), the packed-type air cooling tower (PACT), and the molecular sieve (MS) purifier. The cryogenic ASU itself is well operated from an exergetic viewpoint. On the basis of exergy analysis conducted, this study provides a reference for the improvement of the ASU analyzed and provides a reference for ASUs in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]