The behavior of membrane bioreactors operating in recycle configuration is characterized from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view. The theoretical model is based on the unsteady-state balance equations governing momentum... more
The behavior of membrane bioreactors operating in recycle configuration is characterized from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view. The theoretical model is based on the unsteady-state balance equations governing momentum and mass transfer within the ...
Research Interests: Engineering, Mass Transfer, Membrane Science, Kinetics, Finite element method, and 15 moreTransport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Immobilized enzymes, Performance Index, and Mass Balance(Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Immobilized enzymes, Performance Index, and Mass Balance)
(Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Immobilized enzymes, Performance Index, and Mass Balance)
In the present work, the fermentation process aimed at obtaining bio-ethanol start-ing from ricotta cheese whey (RCW), a waste biomass rich in lactose, was simulated by both a pure neural network model (NM) and a multiple hybrid neural... more
In the present work, the fermentation process aimed at obtaining bio-ethanol start-ing from ricotta cheese whey (RCW), a waste biomass rich in lactose, was simulated by both a pure neural network model (NM) and a multiple hybrid neural model (HNM). The simulation results showed that the developed HNM was capable of providing an accurate representation of the actual time evolution of lactose, ethanol and biomass concentrations even in conditions never exploited during model development. HNM predictions indeed exhibited an average percentage error lower than 10 %, as compared to the experimental data collected during RCW fermentation runs. The proposed methodology, leading to the formulation of a hybrid paradigm, may allow overcoming some of the inherent difficul-ties accompanying the development of reliable models that are called to describe the true behavior of biotechnological processes.
Coagulation-nanofiltration based integrated treatment scheme was employed in the present study to maximize the removal of toxic Cr(VI) species from tannery effluents. The coagulation pretreatment step using aluminium sulphate... more
Coagulation-nanofiltration based integrated treatment scheme was employed in the present study to maximize the removal of toxic Cr(VI) species from tannery effluents. The coagulation pretreatment step using aluminium sulphate hexadecahydrate (alum) was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). A nanofiltration unit was integrated with this coagulation pre-treatment unit and the resulting flux decline and permeate quality were investigated. Herein, the coagulation was conducted under response surface-optimized operating conditions. The hybrid process demonstrated high chromium(VI) removal efficiency over 98%. Besides, fouling of two of the tested nanofiltration membranes (NF1 and NF3) was relatively mitigated after feed pretreatment. Nanofiltration permeation fluxes as high as 80-100L/m(2)h were thereby obtained. The resulting permeate stream quality post nanofiltration (NF3) was found to be suitable for effective reuse in tanneries, keeping the Cr(VI) concentration (0.13mg/L)...
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An experimental study on enzymatic transesterification was performed to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently immobilized on a epoxy-acrylic resin support. The immobilized enzyme... more
An experimental study on enzymatic transesterification was performed to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently immobilized on a epoxy-acrylic resin support. The immobilized enzyme exhibited high catalytic specific surface and allowed an easy recovery, regeneration and reutilisation of biocatalyst. Waste vegetable oils - such as frying oils, considered not competitive with food applications and wastes to be treated - were used as a source of glycerides. Ethanol was used as a short chain alcohol and was added in three steps with the aim to reduce its inhibitory effect on lipase activity. The effect of biocatalyst/substrate feed mass ratios and the waste oil quality have been investigated in order to estimate the process performances. Biocatalyst recovery and reuse have been also studied with the aim to verify the stability of the biocatalyst for its application in industrial scale.
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ABSTRACT Background Inulin is a polydisperse carbohydrate consisting of β(2 1) fructosyl-fructose links; at one end of the molecule, a glucose residue may be present. The enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin by inulinase represents a promising... more
ABSTRACT Background Inulin is a polydisperse carbohydrate consisting of β(2 1) fructosyl-fructose links; at one end of the molecule, a glucose residue may be present. The enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin by inulinase represents a promising alternative for the production of fructose and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) However, the studies reported in literature do not take into account the variability of molecular weight of the inulin, that affects significantly kinetics of bioconversion.ResultsIn this paper a mass transport/kinetic model is proposed with the aim of describing inulin enzymatic hydrolysis catalyzed by immobilized inulinase. The proposed model takes into account both kinetic and mass transfer phenomena and quantified their respective significance through the evaluation of the effectiveness factor. The model was able to predict the effect of molecular weight and poly-dispersity of inulin on both enzyme intrinsic kinetics and mass transfer. This was confirmed by a favourable comparison between a set of experimental results and model predictions, which offered a realistic representation of system behavior over a wide range of operating conditions.Conclusion subheadingsAlthough developed with reference to inulin hydrolysis, the proposed approach, due to its versatility and generality, can be applied also to model the enzymatic hydrolysis of different types of polysaccharides.
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ABSTRACT The present paper was aimed at developing a rigorous methodology to optimize the performance of vegetables hot convective drying. The proposed optimization method was formulated combining a multiphase transport phenomena model,... more
ABSTRACT The present paper was aimed at developing a rigorous methodology to optimize the performance of vegetables hot convective drying. The proposed optimization method was formulated combining a multiphase transport phenomena model, which predicted the time evolutions of temperature and water activity distributions in the food, a product decontamination model, which described the microbial inactivation kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes and a model estimating the color changes, expressed in terms of the Hunter parameters. The effects of operating conditions both on color degradation, chosen as a reference quality parameter, and on microbial population decay, chosen as a measure of food safety, were ascertained. The formulated optimization model allowed analyzing different scenarios and calculating the set of operating conditions, which were to be exploited to attain specific control objectives, represented by a trade-off between quality and safety of dried foods. By the proposed methodology, it would be possible to minimize expensive and time-consuming pilot test runs and obtain precise indications about optimization of vegetables convective drying.Practical ApplicationsThe proposed transport model allows calculating the effects of operating conditions on both microbial inactivation and color changes occurring during vegetables drying. Such a model can be exploited to develop computational tools aimed at optimizing the performance of real convective driers.
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ABSTRACT In this work, a theoretical approach via artificial neural networks model has been followed for studying the water gas shift reaction in hydrogen selective membrane reactors, based on an experimental campaign useful for training... more
ABSTRACT In this work, a theoretical approach via artificial neural networks model has been followed for studying the water gas shift reaction in hydrogen selective membrane reactors, based on an experimental campaign useful for training the aforementioned model. In particular, such parameters as the reaction pressure (from 150 to 300 kPa), reaction temperature (from 300 to 360 °C), gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) between 2000 and 6000 h−1, sweep gas flow rate (between 35.75 and 130.42 mL/min of N2), H2O/CO feed molar ratio (from 1/1to 4.5/1) and feed configuration (co–or counter-current mode with respect to the sweep gas) have been considered from both a modeling and an experimental point of view in order to analyze their influence on the water gas shift performance (in terms of CO conversion, hydrogen recovery, hydrogen permeate purity) in two membrane reactors, allocating dense Pd–Ag membranes, having different active membrane surface areas. As best experimental results, by using a Cu–Zn based catalyst, at GHSV = 3340 h−1, T = 350 °C, H2O/CO feed molar ratio = 2/1 and co-current configuration of sweep gas, CO conversion around 100% and H2 recovery of about 70% were reached. Meanwhile, the artificial neural networks model has been validated by using part of the experimental tests as training values and, then, it was used for optimizing the system to achieve as much as possible high hydrogen recovery. The model predicted the experimental performance of the water gas shift membrane reactors with an error on CO conversion lower than 0.5% and around 10% for the H2 recovery over the experimental tests not used during the model training.
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An experimental study on enzymatic transesterification was performed to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently immobilized on a epoxy-acrylic resin support. The immobilized enzyme... more
An experimental study on enzymatic transesterification was performed to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently immobilized on a epoxy-acrylic resin support. The immobilized enzyme exhibited high catalytic specific surface and allowed an easy recovery, regeneration and reutilisation of biocatalyst. Waste vegetable oils - such as frying oils, considered not competitive with food applications and wastes to be treated - were used as a source of glycerides. Ethanol was used as a short chain alcohol and was added in three steps with the aim to reduce its inhibitory effect on lipase activity. The effect of biocatalyst/substrate feed mass ratios and the waste oil quality have been investigated in order to estimate the process performances. Biocatalyst recovery and reuse have been also studied with the aim to verify the stability of the biocatalyst for its application in industrial scale.
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Retention of toxic dyes with molecular weights lower than the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the ultrafiltration membranes can be improved through selective binding of the target dyes to a water-soluble polymer, followed by... more
Retention of toxic dyes with molecular weights lower than the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the ultrafiltration membranes can be improved through selective binding of the target dyes to a water-soluble polymer, followed by ultrafiltration of the macromolecular complexes formed. This method, often referred to as polymer enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF), was investigated in the present study, using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as the chelating agent. Model azo dye Reactive Red 120 was selected as the poorly biodegradable, target contaminant, because of its frequent recalcitrant presence in colored effluents, and its eventual ecotoxicological impacts on the environment. The effects of the governing process factors, namely, cross flow rate, transmembrane pressure polymer to dye ratio and pH, on target dye rejection efficiency were meticulously examined. Additionally, each parameter level was statistically optimized using central composite design (CCD) from the response surface methodology (RSM) toolkit, with an objective to maximize performance efficiency. The results revealed high dye retention efficiency over 99%, accompanied with reasonable permeate flux over 100L/m(2)h under optimal process conditions. The estimated results were elucidated graphically through response surface (RS) plots and validated experimentally. The analyses clearly established PEUF as a novel, reasonably efficient and economical route for recalcitrant dye treatment.
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ABSTRACT Biogas is the result of a complex conversion process that takes place because of the metabolic activity of various types of bacteria. The anaerobic digestion (AD) plants are characterized by many different criticisms, which risk... more
ABSTRACT Biogas is the result of a complex conversion process that takes place because of the metabolic activity of various types of bacteria. The anaerobic digestion (AD) plants are characterized by many different criticisms, which risk their failure. One of these is the washout phenomena that imply a premature removal of the active biomass, owing to a vigorous addition of organic matter. There is also the possibility of generating an excess of digestate with high nitrogen and phosphorous content that can induce water eutrophication if left freely in nature. In this sense, membranes can be useful; with their high separation power, they can be employed for both the stabilization of the exhausted digestate and the enhancement of the solid retention time (SRT). Membranes are promising, even in the field of final biogas separation for bio-methane production. To date, various types of setups have been tested for capturing CO2, and the results indicate a possible stable application for anaerobic digestion plants. Therefore, membranes are a good choice for the development of advanced processes optimized for both gas and semi-liquid phase handling.
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ABSTRACT Poly(ether-b-amide) (Pebax®1657)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite hollow fiber membranes for a potential use in CO2/CH4 separation were prepared by a new continuous coating method, referred to as cross-flow filtration. This... more
ABSTRACT Poly(ether-b-amide) (Pebax®1657)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite hollow fiber membranes for a potential use in CO2/CH4 separation were prepared by a new continuous coating method, referred to as cross-flow filtration. This technique allows to obtain the simultaneous coating of a large number of fibers, facilitating the scale-up. The dense layer was deposited in the lumen of the fibers allowing the coating of all the fibers in a single step. The coating on the inner surface of the fibers avoids the negative effects such as sticking or accidental mechanical damages occurring in the case of external coating. The membrane preparation was optimized by modulating different parameters. The optimal range of viscosity and concentration of the polymer solution to obtain a selective homogeneous Pebax® layer was identified. The presence of the Pebax®1657 dense layer was confirmed by IR spectroscopy and the morphology of the composite membranes was observed by SEM analysis. The gas separation performance of the membrane modules was determined by single gas permeation measurements. A preliminary optimization yielded membranes with = 5 × 10−3 (m3 m−2 h−1 bar−1), = 18 equal to that of the neat dense polymer. The PEBAX®/PAN hollow fibers modules are potentially useful for application in the purification of biogas.
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ABSTRACT The aim of the present work was the formulation of a theoretical model predicting the behavior of a 28 convective drier over a wide range of process conditions. The proposed approach was based on the cou- 29 pling of a transport... more
ABSTRACT The aim of the present work was the formulation of a theoretical model predicting the behavior of a 28 convective drier over a wide range of process conditions. The proposed approach was based on the cou- 29 pling of a transport phenomena model, describing the simultaneous transfer of momentum, heat and 30 mass both in the drying chamber and in the food, and of a structural mechanics model aimed at estimat- 31 ing food sample deformations, as due to moisture loss. The effects of food shrinkage on drying perfor- 32 mance were ascertained by analyzing the spatial distributions of temperature, moisture content, strain 33 and stress, as a function of operating conditions. The agreement between model predictions and a set 34 of experimental data collected during drying of cylindrical potatoes was good as far as the time evolu- 35 tions of food average moisture content and of its main dimensions, i.e. length and diameter, were 36 concerned.
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The aim of the present work is the development of a theoretical model describing the transport phenomena involved in food drying. A fundamental multiphase approach was utilized to account for the simultaneous presence of both liquid water... more
The aim of the present work is the development of a theoretical model describing the transport phenomena involved in food drying. A fundamental multiphase approach was utilized to account for the simultaneous presence of both liquid water and vapor within the sample undergoing drying. The transport equations referred to the food were coupled, by a proper set of boundary conditions,
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The focus of the paper was the description of a feedback control system that, based on the predictions of a previously formulated hybrid neural model, allowed improving the performance of proteins UF, carried out in pulsating conditions.... more
The focus of the paper was the description of a feedback control system that, based on the predictions of a previously formulated hybrid neural model, allowed improving the performance of proteins UF, carried out in pulsating conditions. The behavior of three classical feedback controllers, i.e., proportional (P), proportional integral (PI) and proportional-integral-derivative (PID), were compared and analyzed in different situations.
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The present work reviews the main advancements achieved in the last decades in the study of the fructose production process by inulin enzymatic hydrolysis. With the aim of collecting and clarifying the majority of the knowledge in this... more
The present work reviews the main advancements achieved in the last decades in the study of the fructose production process by inulin enzymatic hydrolysis. With the aim of collecting and clarifying the majority of the knowledge in this area, the research on this subject has been divided in three main parts: a) the characteristics of inulin (the process reactant); b) the properties of the enzyme inulinase and its hydrolytic action; c) the advances in the study of the applications of inulinases in bioreactors for fructose production. Many vegetable sources of inulin are reported, including information about their yields in terms of inulin. The properties of inulin that appear relevant for the process are also summarized, with reference to their vegetable origin. The characteristics of the inulinase enzyme that catalyzes inulin hydrolysis, together with the most relevant information for a correct process design and implementation, are described in the paper. An extended collection of data on microorganisms capable of producing inulinase is reported. The following characteristics and properties of inulinase are highlighted: molecular weight, mode of action, activity and stability with respect to changes in temperature and pH, kinetic behavior and effect of inhibitors. The paper describes in detail the main aspects of the enzyme hydrolysis reaction; in particular, how enzyme and reactant properties can affect process performance. The properties of inulinase immobilized on various supports are shown and compared to those of the enzyme in its native state. Finally, a number of applications of free and immobilized inulinases and whole cells in bioreactors are reported, showing the different operating procedures and reactor types adopted for fructose production from inulin on a laboratory scale.
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A biochemically structured model has been developed to describe the continuous fermentation of lactose to ethanol by Kluveromyces marxianus and allowed metabolic coefficients to be determined. Anaerobic lactose-limited chemostat... more
A biochemically structured model has been developed to describe the continuous fermentation of lactose to ethanol by Kluveromyces marxianus and allowed metabolic coefficients to be determined. Anaerobic lactose-limited chemostat fermentations at different dilution rates (0.02-0.35h(-1)) were performed. Species specific rates of consumption/formation, as well as yield coefficients were determined. Ethanol yield (0.655 C-mol ethanol(∗)C-mol lactose(-1)) was as high as 98% of theoretical. The modeling procedure allowed calculation of maintenance coefficients for lactose consumption and ethanol production of m(s)=0.6029 and m(e)=0.4218 (C-mol) and (C-molh)(-1), respectively. True yield coefficients for biomass, ethanol and glycerol production were calculated to be Y(true)(sx)=0.114, Y(true)(ex)=0.192 and Y(sg)=2.250 (C-mol) and (C-mol)(-1), respectively. Model calculated maintenance and true yield coefficients agreed very closely with those determined by regressions of the experimental data. The model developed provides a solid basis for the rational design of optimised fermentation of cheese whey.
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ABSTRACT In the present work a relevant problem for enzymatic process temperature optimization is formulated, evidencing the need for an accurate choice of the reaction temperature. A reaction kinetics model and a deactivation model of... more
ABSTRACT In the present work a relevant problem for enzymatic process temperature optimization is formulated, evidencing the need for an accurate choice of the reaction temperature. A reaction kinetics model and a deactivation model of the reaction of inulin enzymatic hydrolysis are coupled to predict reaction performance; the result is a complete model able to predict reaction performances for substrate concentrations ranging between 10 and 40 g/l and reaction temperature up to 60 degrees C, even on a long time scale. The model is used to predict optimal conditions in different situations of industrial interest, proving to be not only a predictive tool, but also a means to reduce reaction times through thermal optimization of enzymatic processes. From a different point of view, the model could be used to minimize the enzyme loading needed for a reaction with reaction time and final conversion constraints.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS Volume 20, 2010 Editors Enrico Bardone, Aurelio Viglia Copyright © 2010, AIDIC Servizi Sri, ISBN 978-88-95608-12-9 ISSN 1974-9791 DOI: 10.3303/CET1020014 Feasibility of the batch fermentation process of... more
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS Volume 20, 2010 Editors Enrico Bardone, Aurelio Viglia Copyright © 2010, AIDIC Servizi Sri, ISBN 978-88-95608-12-9 ISSN 1974-9791 DOI: 10.3303/CET1020014 Feasibility of the batch fermentation process of Ricotta Cheese ...
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Research Interests: Engineering, Mass Transfer, Membrane Science, Kinetics, Finite element method, and 14 moreTransport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Performance Index, and Mass Balance(Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Performance Index, and Mass Balance)
(Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Non Linear Partial Differential Equations, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Enzyme activity, Reaction Rate, Point of View, Theoretical Model, Experimental Analysis, Membrane Reactor, Performance Index, and Mass Balance)
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The photocatalytic degradation of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHD), a disinfectant and topical antiseptic and adsorption of CHD catalyst surface in dark condition has been studied. Moreover, the value of kinetic parameters has been... more
The photocatalytic degradation of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHD), a disinfectant and topical antiseptic and adsorption of CHD catalyst surface in dark condition has been studied. Moreover, the value of kinetic parameters has been measured and the effect of adsorption on photocatalysis has been investigated here. Substantial removal was observed during the photocatalysis process, whereas 40% removal was possible through the adsorption route on TiO2 surface. The parametric variation has shown that alkaline pH, ambient temperature, low initial substrate concentration, high TiO2 loading were favourable, though at a certain concentration of TiO2 loading, photocatalytic degradation efficiency was found to be maximum. The adsorption study has shown good confirmation with Langmuir isotherm and during the reaction at initial stage, it followed pseudo-first-order reaction, after that Langmuir Hinshelwood model was found to be appropriate in describing the system. The present study also confirmed that there is a significant effect of adsorption on photocatalytic degradation. The possible mechanism for adsorption and photocatalysis has been shown here and process controlling step has been identified. The influences of pH and temperature have been explained with the help of surface charge distribution of reacting particles and thermodynamic point of view respectively.
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The present paper was aimed at showing that advanced modeling techniques, based either on artificial neural networks or on hybrid systems, might efficiently predict the behavior of two biotechnological processes designed for the... more
The present paper was aimed at showing that advanced modeling techniques, based either on artificial neural networks or on hybrid systems, might efficiently predict the behavior of two biotechnological processes designed for the obtainment of second-generation biofuels from waste biomasses. In particular, the enzymatic transesterification of waste-oil glycerides, the key step for the obtainment of biodiesel, and the anaerobic digestion of agroindustry wastes to produce biogas were modeled. It was proved that the proposed modeling approaches provided very accurate predictions of systems behavior. Both neural network and hybrid modeling definitely represented a valid alternative to traditional theoretical models, especially when comprehensive knowledge of the metabolic pathways, of the true kinetic mechanisms, and of the transport phenomena involved in biotechnological processes was difficult to be achieved.
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Research Interests: Engineering, Optimal Control, Membrane Science, Modeling, Neural Networks, and 15 moreTransport phenomena, Neural Network, Control system, Ultrafiltration, Desalination, Complex System, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Experimental Tests, Flow Rate, Process Model, Simulation Analysis, Artificial Neural Network, Hybrid Model, Conditional Model, and Hybrid System
In the present paper a factor analysis is presented for the enzymatic transesterification of waste oil for biodiesel production. The experimental data on batch reactor evidence two key variables: enzyme loading and mixing conditions.... more
In the present paper a factor analysis is presented for the enzymatic transesterification of waste oil for biodiesel production. The experimental data on batch reactor evidence two key variables: enzyme loading and mixing conditions. These variables were subjected to a factor analysis and their combined effect on the reaction performance was determined. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used based on
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In this paper, the reaction of enzymatic trans-esterification of glycerides with ethanol in a reaction medium containing hexane at a temperature of 37 °C has been studied. The enzyme was Lipase from Mucor miehei, immobilized on ionic... more
In this paper, the reaction of enzymatic trans-esterification of glycerides with ethanol in a reaction medium containing hexane at a temperature of 37 °C has been studied. The enzyme was Lipase from Mucor miehei, immobilized on ionic exchange resin, aimed at achieving high catalytic specific surface and recovering, regenerating and reusing the biocatalyst. A kinetic analysis has been carried out to
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In the present work a deactivation model for an inulinase from Aspergillus niger is presented; a first order kinetic is found and the deactivation constant kd is related to temperature through the Arrhenius model. The deactivation model... more
In the present work a deactivation model for an inulinase from Aspergillus niger is presented; a first order kinetic is found and the deactivation constant kd is related to temperature through the Arrhenius model. The deactivation model was satisfactorily validated and implemented into a kinetic model for inulin hydrolysis predictions; the result is a complete model that is able to
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The aim of the present work is the formulation of a theoretical model describing the simultaneous transfer of momentum, heat and mass occurring in a convective drier where hot dry air flows under turbulent conditions around a food sample.... more
The aim of the present work is the formulation of a theoretical model describing the simultaneous transfer of momentum, heat and mass occurring in a convective drier where hot dry air flows under turbulent conditions around a food sample. The proposed model does not rely on the specification of interfacial heat and mass transfer coefficients and, therefore, represents a general
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The aim of the present paper is to analyze membrane systems behavior, operating in pulsating conditions, by means of artificial neural networks (ANNs). Different ANNs have been developed, by means of Matlab® Neural Network Toolbox, to... more
The aim of the present paper is to analyze membrane systems behavior, operating in pulsating conditions, by means of artificial neural networks (ANNs). Different ANNs have been developed, by means of Matlab® Neural Network Toolbox, to model the ultrafiltration process of aqueous BSA solutions through poly-ethersulfone membranes. A specific neural network architecture, constituted by one input layer, two hidden layers
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The behavior of a hollow fiber (HF) membrane bioreactor with entrapped biocatalyst is analyzed and characterized from a theoretical point of view. The model is based on the numerical solution of the dimensionless balance equations... more
The behavior of a hollow fiber (HF) membrane bioreactor with entrapped biocatalyst is analyzed and characterized from a theoretical point of view. The model is based on the numerical solution of the dimensionless balance equations governing mass transfer within the regions that can be defined for this reacting system, namely the fiber lumen, the membrane dense and spongy layers. The
Research Interests: Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mass Transfer, Membrane Science, Food Engineering, and 27 moreFinite element method, Finite Element, Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, Laminar Flow, Theoretical Analysis, PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, Enzyme, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Concentration polarization, Rheological properties, Membrane Reactors, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Food Sciences, System performance, Point of View, Numerical Solution, Flow Rate, Reaction Kinetics, Residence Time, Experimental Data, Theoretical Model, Constitutive Equation, Membrane Reactor, Mass Transfer Coefficient, and Performance Index(Finite element method, Finite Element, Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, Laminar Flow, Theoretical Analysis, PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, Enzyme, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Concentration polarization, Rheological properties, Membrane Reactors, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Food Sciences, System performance, Point of View, Numerical Solution, Flow Rate, Reaction Kinetics, Residence Time, Experimental Data, Theoretical Model, Constitutive Equation, Membrane Reactor, Mass Transfer Coefficient, and Performance Index)
(Finite element method, Finite Element, Transport phenomena, Membrane Bioreactor Technology, Laminar Flow, Theoretical Analysis, PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, Enzyme, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Concentration polarization, Rheological properties, Membrane Reactors, Operant Conditioning, Chemical Reaction, Food Sciences, System performance, Point of View, Numerical Solution, Flow Rate, Reaction Kinetics, Residence Time, Experimental Data, Theoretical Model, Constitutive Equation, Membrane Reactor, Mass Transfer Coefficient, and Performance Index)
A novel approach in the treatment of olive mill wastewater is presented. Aim of the proposed process is both the reduction of pollution caused by the wastes and the selective separation of some useful products that are present (fats,... more
A novel approach in the treatment of olive mill wastewater is presented. Aim of the proposed process is both the reduction of pollution caused by the wastes and the selective separation of some useful products that are present (fats, sugars, polyphenols, etc.). The treatment consists in a preliminary centrifugation step, in which the suspended solids are removed, and in an