Search

Norway spruce log soaking water (SLSW) is considered a waste in the plywood and veneer industry but has not been characterised, and its possible uses remain unexplored. The purpose of this study is to characterise and test the possibility of using SLSW in wood preservative formulations. First, the SLSW was characterised, and the presence of carbohydrates in the log soaking water was reduced with a hydrophobic adsorbent to reduce the nutrient availability for fungi in the liquids. Then, the feasibility of using SLSW and the sugar free SLSW (denoted later as EHC solution) as wood preservatives was studied by testing their antifungal and antioxidant activities and performing a mini-block test against Schizophyllum commune, Trametes versicolor, Fibroporia vaillantii and Gloeophyllum trabeum. Several phenolic compounds were found in the SLSW. This water also had high antioxidant activity at 1000 mg/L before and after carbohydrate removal but no antifungal activity. Its impregnation in wood caused a slight reduction in mass loss of the Pinus sylvestris specimens but had no effect on the Fagus sylvatica specimens when exposed against Schizophyllum commune, Trametes versicolor, Fibroporia vaillantii and Gloeophyllum trabeum. The SLSW as a wood preservative is invalid, even after partial carbohydrate removal. However, due to the presence of wood constituents, SLSW could be a resource for other uses requiring high antioxidant activity but specific applications need further investigation. Nasl. z nasl. zaslona. Opis vira z dne 10. 1. 2022. Abstract. Bibliografija: str. 10-11.

Comparison of different regeneration options for direct air capture (DAC) has usually been limited to only consider pure CO2 production, limiting the process options to e.g. temperature-vacuum swing adsorption (TVSA) or steam-stripping. In this work, detailed experimental comparison is conducted of temperature swing adsorption (TSA/TCSA) and TVSA for DAC. Particularly, TVSA is assessed with air or inert gas purge flow (TVCSA) and without purge flow. The working capacity, regeneration specific energy requirement (SER) and adsorbent regenerability of these processes was compared. For all other studied regeneration options except TVSA without purge flow, over 85% regeneration was obtained already at 60 °C. Isobaric TSA at 60 °C had the lowest regeneration SER of 4.2 MJ/kgCO2. Coupling TSA with mild vacuum improved desorption rate and increased working capacity from 0.47 to 0.51 mmolCO2/gsorbent, requiring 7.5 MJ/kgCO2 for regeneration. Without purge flow, TVSA resulted in only 0.39 mmolCO2/gsorbent with the SER of 8.6 MJ/kgCO2 at 100 °C. Due to lower allowable regeneration temperature of 60 °C, mild vacuum TVSA with air flow also had a lower cyclic capacity decrease rate of 0.26%/cycle compared to 0.38%/cycle with TVSA without purge flow at 100 °C. However, using 100 °C with air flow in the TVSA process lead to a significant capacity decrease of 0.6%/cycle. Therefore, using either air or inert purge flow below 100 °C coupled with mild vacuum has benefits over the TVSA process with no inflow in terms of CO2 productivity, specific energy requirement and adsorbent regenerability. For utilization purposes that require low-concentration CO2, TVSA with purge flow should thus be considered as a viable regeneration option for direct air capture along with isobaric TSA. Publishers version

Our recent clinical study suggested that polyphenol-rich purple potatoes lowered postprandial glycemia and insulinemia compared to yellow potatoes. Here, 17 healthy male volunteers consumed yellow potatoes with or without purple potato extract (PPE, extracted with water/ethanol/acetic acid) rich in acylated anthocyanins (152 mg) and other phenolics (140 mg) in a randomized cross-over trial. Ethanol-free PPE decreased the incremental area under the curve for glucose (p = 0.019) and insulin (p = 0.015) until 120 min after the meal, glucose at 20 min (p = 0.015) and 40 min (p = 0.004), and insulin at 20 min (p = 0.003), 40 min (p = 0.004) and 60 min (p = 0.005) after the meal. PPE affected some of the studied 90 inflammation markers after meal; for example insulin-like hormone FGF-19 levels were elevated at 240 min (p=0.001). These results indicate that PPE alleviates postprandial glycemia and insulinemia, and affects postprandial inflammation. Post-print / Final draft