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Wastewater recycling and sludge removal in the paper industry account for about 60% of all process costs. New and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment techniques are, therefore, continually being developed. Cavitation exploitation is currently a well-investigated topic that is also interesting for the paper production industry. This study investigates efficiency of hydrodynamic cavitation alone and in combination with the addition of NaOH for the treatment of secondary pulp and paper mill sludge in order to enhance nutrient release. First, two laboratoryscale devices were tested: the blow-through and the rotating hydrodynamic cavitation generator. The latter set-up proved to be more efficient: therefore, further experiments were performed on its pilot-scale version. The results showed an increase of soluble chemical oxygen demand (CODs) by 514 mg/L, total nitrogen (Nt) by 17.4 mg/L, and total phosphorous (Pt) by 2.3 mg/L. To further increase nutrient release combination of cavitation and sludge sample alkalinization was tested. The addition of NaOH and 30 min cavitation of secondary sludge (500 L) significantly improved CODs and Nt release by 2400 mg/L and 120 mg/L, respectively. Microbiological photos revealed a definite disintegration of sludge flocks. According to our estimates, 1.9 kg of released CODs from alkaline pre-treated and cavitated sludge would cost only one euro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue is following up the success of the latest Symposium on Marine Propulsors (www [...]

Abstract: The influence of temperature on an ultrasound-assisted ink removal process has been investigated. White copy paper was evenly soaked in black writing ink. After drying the paper to constant weight at 75°C, ink removal was attempted under varying conditions. Results were assessed by monitoring the UV–vis absorbance of the aqueous phase and measuring the brightness of the paper. Sonication was observed to improve the brightness of the paper in the temperature range of 15–45°C with an optimum effect at 35°C. Monitoring UV–vis spectra of the aqueous phase provided evidence that modification of the chemical structure of the ink desorbed from the paper occured. Further investigation under the same conditions showed that ink, when not absorbed on paper, did not undergo the same chemical change. This supports the hypothesis that only the compound released from the ink absorbed onto the paper is sensitive to sonodegradation. One possible explanation is that the metal binding component of the ink stays absorbed on the paper, releasing the organic part, whose chemical structure can be altered by the effect of sonication. Inductively coupled plasma analysis was used to confirm that during the de-inking process of the paper, the metal binding component stays absorbed on the paper and only the organic part is released in the aqueous phase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The document is an editorial introducing selected papers from the 4th International Symposium on Thermal-Fluid Dynamics (ISTFD 2023). Thermal-fluid dynamics is a crucial field that impacts various subjects and technologies, including energy generation, aerospace, automotive engineering, and more. The ISTFD series was established in 2019 to promote research and progress in thermal-fluid dynamics. The 4th symposium was successfully held in Nanjing, China, in 2023, with over 200 participants from 15 countries. This special issue contains 15 peer-reviewed articles showcasing recent research progress in thermal-fluid dynamics and interdisciplinary research. [Extracted from the article]

Fluid/fluid interfaces and interfacial rheology are important areas of research for rheologists and modelers. The authors examine the available experimental and theoretical models for the dilatational rheology of fluid/fluid interfaces and discuss the effect of the non-linear character of dilatational deformation on the rheological response of these interfaces. They derive an analytical expression for the fluid inertial kernel for a Maxwell fluid, and they also propose a general method to provide accurate approximations of this expression for complex fluids. These types of processes can occur in flows of foam and emulsion-based applications along with certain chemical processes such as liquid-liquid extraction, froth flotation, wastewater treatment, or tertiary oil recovery. [Extracted from the article]

A combined process consisting of an enzymatic pretreatment of small poplar wood chips, followed by an ultrasonic treatment was proposed and performed. Under the ultrasonic action of cavitation, thermal, and mechanical effects, the two processes of pulping and bleaching can be completed in one procedure. Before the ultrasonic treatment assisted pulping, an enzyme pretreatment was used to destroy the bonds between the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin to make the subsequent ultrasonic treatment exhibit higher selectivity and efficiency. This provided a poplar ultrasonic assisted pulp (PUP) with a 75% yield. A further analysis of the pulp, utilizing a scanning electron microscope (SEM), showed the fine fibrillation degree of the fiber surface of PUP was comparable to the traditional poplar chemimechanical pulp (PMP) and poplar chemical pulp (PCP). Thermogravimetric analysis and Raman analysis showed that the final residue obtained from the PUP was 20%. In addition, a decorative base paper was successfully made using the poplar ultrasonic pulp, and the physical properties reached or exceeded the industry standard of decorative base paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present work deals with application of hydrodynamic cavitation for intensification of delignification of wheat straw as an essential step in the paper manufacturing process. Wheat straw was first treated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) for 48h and subsequently alkali treated wheat straw was subjected to hydrodynamic cavitation. Hydrodynamic cavitation reactor used in the work is basically a stator and rotor assembly, where the rotor is provided with indentations and cavitational events are expected to occur on the surface of rotor as well as within the indentations. It has been observed that treatment of alkali treated wheat straw in hydrodynamic cavitation reactor for 10–15min increases the tensile index of the synthesized paper sheets to about 50–55%, which is sufficient for paper board manufacture. The final mechanical properties of the paper can be effectively managed by controlling the processing parameters as well as the cavitational parameters. It has also been established that hydrodynamic cavitation proves to be an effective method over other standard digestion techniques of delignification in terms of electrical energy requirements as well as the required time for processing. Overall, the work is first of its kind application of hydrodynamic cavitation for enhancing the effectiveness of delignification and presents novel results of significant interest to the paper and pulp industry opening an entirely new area of application of cavitational reactors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Sonoluminescence is the production of electromagnetic radiation, much of it in the form of visible light, that is emitted from a gas-filled cavity that has grown and collapsed under the influence of a varying pressure field. This resource paper provides a guide to the literature of sonoluminescence, from its early history to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-cavity shock absorber with high-pressure piston is the core component of the nose landing gear of the carrier-based aircraft, and its fast-extension performance seriously affects the safety of the catapult-assisted takeoff. The design of a carrier-based aircraft in our country is carried out based on the traditional method of fast-extension dynamics, and it is found that the fast-extension capability is larger than designed. This paper analyzes the working principle of the high-pressure piston shock absorber and explains that the high-pressure air cavity pushes the piston rod to extend rapidly, which will cause the cavitation phenomenon in the main oil chamber. Thus, the cavitation in the main oil chamber makes the traditional modeling method of oil-liquid resistance force no longer applicable. Then, the axial force modeling method of shock absorber considering the cavitation effect is proposed. Based on the carrier-based aircraft, the dynamic response of the shock absorber in the process of fast extension is calculated and then it is compared with the calculation results of the traditional dynamic method. It is found that due to the cavitation effect caused by the forced fast extension section of the high-pressure air plug shock absorber, the fast extension work increases by 67.6%, thus, revealing the fast extension mechanism of the double-chamber shock absorber with high-pressure piston and successfully explaining the phenomenon of the fast extension ability exceeding the expectation of the shock absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In paper production industry, microbial contaminations of process waters are common and can cause damage to paper products and equipment as well as the occurrence of pathogens in the end products. Chlorine omission has led to the usage of costly reagents and products of lower mechanical quality. In this study, we have tested a rotation generator equipped with two sets of rotor and stator assemblies to generate developed cavitation (unsteady cloud shedding with pressure pulsations) or supercavitation (a steady cavity in chocked cavitation conditions) for the destruction of a persistent bacteria Bacillus subtilis. Our results showed that only supercavitation was effective and was further employed for the treatment of waters isolated from an enclosed water recycle system in a paper producing plant. The water quality was monitored and assessed according to the chemical (COD, redox potential and dissolved oxygen), physical (settleable solids, insolubles and colour intensity) and biological methods (yeasts, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, bacterial spores and moulds). After one hour of treatment, a strong 4 logs reduction was achieved for the anaerobic sulphate reducing bacteria and for the yeasts; a 3 logs reduction for the aerobic bacteria; and a 1.3 logs reduction for the heat resistant bacterial spores. A 22% reduction in COD and an increase in the redox potential (37%) were observed. Sediments were reduced by 50% and the insoluble particles by 67%. For bacterial destruction in real industrial process waters, the rotation generator of supercavitation spent 4 times less electrical energy in comparison to the previously published cavitation treatments inside the Venturi constriction design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• RGHC generated intense shear rates and a violent form of developed cavitation. • The RGHC is successful at refining pulp with the usual consistency of 3%. • The physical properties of produced paper sheets were similar to newsprint paper. • Cavitation proved to be more economical in comparison to a Valley beater. Refining of cellulose pulp is a critical step in obtaining high quality paper characteristics, however, this process is slow and costly especially for refining longer conifer fibers which are the preferred source for high quality paper production and give the paper its strength. In this study, we have applied a novel rotation generator of hydrodynamic cavitation for refining conifer rich pulp samples. Our results show that the device is capable of generating intense shear forces and multiple zones of developed cavitation and is successful in increasing the drainage rate of high consistency pulp (3%). The paper produced by means of the obtained pulp has higher quality because of its higher tensile index (50.5 kN m kg−1) and burst index (3 kPa m2 g−1). These physical parameters were sufficient for newsprint paper and other paper/board quality manufacture. In addition, this laboratory scale rotation generator proved to be economically efficient in comparison to the routinely employed laboratory beaters. To our knowledge, this is the first example of using hydrodynamic cavitation for the refinement of softwood fiber pulp of standard industrial consistencies (3%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]