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A precise description of the thermodynamic states of gaseous and solid detonation products is essential when using thermodynamic calculations to determine the detonation performance and destructive power of explosives. For high oxygen-lean explosives (the oxygen contained in explosives is insufficient to completely oxidize combustible elements and excess solid carbon will be generated in the detonation products), the phase state of solid carbon product affects the Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) detonation performance parameters, reaction zone, and energy release process. However, the recovery of detonation products demonstrates that the actual detonation carbon product is primarily a mixed state of diamond/graphite stack, as opposed to the existing thermodynamic codes, which essentially treat detonation carbon as single-phase carbon. To understand the thermodynamic effect of the mixed carbon phase state on the non-ideal detonation behavior, in this work, the matching relationship among the VINET equation of state parameters, thermodynamic potential parameters of the solid products of the equivalent system and the phase mixed system was constructed by using the nonlinear fitting method. The relationship between the carbon phase composition at the CJ point and the explosive composition structure was researched. Investigations were conducted into how the mixed carbon phase affected the volume and content of gas products as well as the composition at CJ points. Diamond formation in products is good for enhancing explosive's working capacity. Based on mixed-state potential parameters, the correlation mechanism between the mixed carbon phase and the chemical reaction zone was investigated, and it was found that intramolecular carbon/intermolecular carbon and more detonation graphite/diamond products all would lead to the extension of the reaction zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a prediction-based product change recovery strategy for the SC (supply chain) under long-term disruptions. A real-world case composed of multi-period planning and dynamic customer demand is considered. First, to forecast dynamic customer demand, a data-based demand predictive method with feedback errors is designed. Second, to schedule procurement and production in advance, based on the predicted demand, the selection of the supply portfolio is transformed into a bi-objective mixed integer programming problem incorporating product change. Furthermore, goods allocation and customer order fulfillment strategy is also designed to finish the transportation of goods and delivery of customer orders. To systematically synthesise and address the problems aforementioned, a three-stage heuristic method is further developed. Finally, a case study is presented to substantiate the reliability of the proposed strategy via an actual SC model of Dongsheng Electronics Co., Ltd. Based on the results obtained after one month, the proposed disruption recovery strategy can reduce the unit product cost and improve the service level, which outperforms the original method adopted by Dongsheng. Additionally, sensitivity analysis of unit product change cost is conducted to reveal the effect of different unit product change costs on SC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a continuous-review inventory control problem for a hybrid manufacturing and remanufacturing system with product recovery and setup costs. A pull policy has been proposed in the literature, however, finding its optimal parameters requires an exhaustive search and a single cost function evaluation is itself complex. We propose a tractable approach to finding these parameters using an interim policy called double (r, Q) with parameters (r m , Q m , r r , Q r) . When the inventory position of the serviceable item reaches rr, a remanufacturing lot size Qr is setup if recoverable inventory is sufficient. Otherwise, we allow the inventory position to decrease further. As it drops to rm, a manufacturing lot size Qm is placed. Unlike the pull policy, this interim policy suspends the remanufacturing option when the inventory position is less than rr. This facilitates an efficient approximation of the recoverable inventory which decouples the double (r, Q) problem into two standard (r, Q) problems. It can then be efficiently solved using a modification of existing (r, Q) algorithms for two instances. Numerical studies show that our approach performs well relative to the optimal pull policy with parameters estimated from an extensive Simulation-Optimization method and other heuristics found in the literature. The approach is also extended to correlated demand and return arrivals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acidic CO2 electrolysis, enhanced by the introduction of alkali cations, presents a strategic approach for improving carbon efficiency compared to processes conducted in neutral and alkaline environments. However, a significant challenge arises from the dissolution of both organic acids and alkali cations in a strongly acidic feed stream, resulting in a considerable energy penalty for downstream separation. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of using flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) technology to separate organic acids and recover alkali cations from a strongly acidic feed stream (pH ~ 1). We show that organic acids, such as formic acid and acetic acid, are retained in molecular form in the separation chamber, achieving a rejection rate of over 90% under all conditions. Alkali cations, such as K+ and Cs+, migrate to the cathode chamber in ionic form, with their removal and recovery significantly influenced by their concentration and the pH of the feed stream, but responding differently to the types and concentrations of organic acids. The energy consumption for the removal and recovery of K+ is 4 to 8 times higher than for Cs+, and the charge efficiency is significantly influenced by the types of organic acid products and alkali cations. We conduct a series of electrochemical measurements and analyze the impedance spectroscopy, identifying that hindered mass transfer governed the electrode process. Our findings underscore the potential of FCDI as an advanced downstream separation technology for acidic electrocatalysis processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient production of biobased organic acids is crucial to move to a more sustainable and eco-friendly economy, where muconic acid is gaining interest as a versatile platform chemical to produce industrial building blocks, including adipic acid and terephthalic acid. In this study, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae platform strain able to convert glucose and xylose into cis,cis-muconic acid was further engineered to eliminate C2 dependency, improve muconic acid tolerance, enhance production and growth performance, and substantially reduce the side production of the intermediate protocatechuic acid. This was achieved by reintroducing the PDC5 gene and overexpression of QDR3 genes. The improved strain was integrated in low-pH fed-batch fermentations at bioreactor scale with integrated in situ product recovery. By adding a biocompatible organic phase consisting of CYTOP 503 and canola oil to the process, a continuous extraction of muconic acid was achieved, resulting in significant alleviation of product inhibition. Through this, the muconic acid titer and peak productivity were improved by 300% and 185%, respectively, reaching 9.3 g/L and 0.100 g/L/h in the in situ product recovery process as compared to 3.1 g/L and 0.054 g/L/h in the control process without ISPR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Komagataella phaffii (K. phaffii), formerly known as Pichia pastoris, is a widely utilized yeast for recombinant protein production. However, due to the formation of overflow metabolites, carbon yields may be reduced and product recovery becomes challenging. This study investigates the impact of oxygen availability, different glucose concentrations and feeding strategies on overflow metabolite formation and recombinant protein production in K. phaffii. Results: High glucose concentrations in batch fermentation, as applied in literature, lead to substantial ethanol accumulation, adversely affecting biomass yield and product formation. Increasing dissolved oxygen setpoints does not significantly reduce ethanol formation, indicating that glucose surplus, rather than oxygen availability, drives overflow metabolism. Decreasing the initial glucose concentration to 5 g/L and adapting the feeding strategy of the fed-batch phase, effectively mitigates overflow metabolite formation, improving biomass yield by up to 9% and product concentration by 40% without increasing process time. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of a suitable glucose-feeding strategy in K. phaffii fermentation processes and highlight the detrimental effects of overflow metabolites on productivity. By optimizing carbon source utilization, it is possible to enhance fermentation efficiency and recombinant protein production with K. phaffii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Ethyl acetate is at present exclusively produced from fossil resources. Microbial synthesis of this ester from sugar‐rich waste as an alternative is an aerobic process. Ethyl acetate is highly volatile and therefore stripped with the exhaust gas from the bioreactor which enables in situ product recovery. Previous research on microbial formation of ethyl acetate has focused on the kinetics of ester synthesis and in part on the ester stripping, while the separation of the ester from the exhaust gas has hardly been investigated. A mixed matrix membrane was developed consisting of Silikalite‐1 embedded in polydimethylsiloxane which was installed in a radial–symmetrical membrane module. Evaluation of the separation of ethyl acetate was based on the analysis of the composition of the feed and retentate gas by mass spectrometry. The separation efficiency of the membrane was first tested with varied flows of artificial exhaust gas, containing defined amounts of ethyl acetate. A model for describing the separation process was parametrized by the measured data and used to design a real separation experiment. Ethyl acetate produced from delactosed whey permeate by Kluyveromyces marxianus DSM 5422 in a stirred bioreactor gassed with 0.5 vvm air was successfully separated from the exhaust gas by membranes; 93.6% of the stripped ester was separated. Liquid ethyl acetate was recovered by cooling the permeate gas to ‒78°C, whereby 99.75% of the condensed organic compounds were ethyl acetate. This study demonstrates for the first time that microbially produced and stripped ethyl acetate can be effectively separated from the exhaust gas of bioreactors by membrane technology to obtain the ester in high yield and purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermentative volatile fatty acid (VFA) production is a sustainable approach for waste valorization. However, selective product recovery remains challenging due to the range of VFAs produced and their dilute concentrations, requiring energy‐intensive purification. Membrane‐based electrochemical separations comprise an energy‐efficient and continuous platform for small molecule separations. At the same time, there is a lack of suitable ion‐exchange membranes for separating between structurally similar organic acids. Here, bicontinuous polyelectrolyte complex (PEC)‐layered nanofiltration membranes are designed for the selective recovery of VFAs using redox‐mediated electrodialysis. Hydrophobic modification of polyelectrolytes via aza‐Michael addition precisely tunes the complexation‐induced phase separation behaviors and the assembled nanostructures. Surface‐confined layer‐by‐layer complexation generates a nanoscale bicontinuous PEC active layer with tailored surface properties that is inaccessible through bulk complexation. Redox‐mediated electrodialysis using the nanostructured membrane exhibits enhancement of both ion permeability and selectivity toward VFAs, with notable reduction of energy consumption by up to 80% compared to conventional electrodialysis. Treatment of synthetic and cow manure fermentation effluents showcases 2 to 4‐fold enrichment of VFAs and simultaneous removal of co‐existing organic acids, with an energy consumption as low as 1.5 kWh kg−1. These findings advance the understanding of interfacial complexation‐induced phase separation of polyelectrolytes and the development of next‐generation nanostructured membranes for multicomponent separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time‐temperature data for queso fresco (QF) cheese varieties stored in a residential refrigerator operating at 5°C and a predictive microbiology secondary model for Listeria monocytogenes in QF were used to estimate a refrigerator performance indicator (RPI) of microbial preservation. RPI values were used to assess how compressor technology (single [SS] and variable speed [VS]), ambient temperature (21.1°C [LT] and 32.2°C [HT]), and refrigerator load (22.5 kg regular load and 39 kg higher load) affected preservation performance. All deterministic and probabilistic RPI estimations slightly exceeded the desirable 1.0 value, i.e., the variable temperatures for the QF kept in the refrigerator were worse than keeping it constantly at the temperature recommended by food safety agencies for QF. Furthermore, the mean comparison of estimates of the time‐temperature equivalent indicator previously developed by French researchers showed similar behavior to those observed for RPI. Finally, statistical analysis showed that Tambient was the factor with the highest impact on refrigerator performance because of its impact on the sample temperature increase during door openings and when exposed to ambient temperature during product use. This highlights the need to reduce the time for product temperature recovery by improving the compressor operation logic. Also important are consumer behavior changes such as a reduction in product exposure to ambient temperature and in the door opening duration and frequency. Practical Application: This study demonstrated how a quantitative tool (RPI) can assess refrigerator preservation performance. Although the findings presented can be applied to any cold chain segment, the data used was collected for its weakest link, the domestic refrigerator. Surveys show that 77% of them operate above the recommended 4°C. The RPI methodology is ready for use by refrigerator designers to assess performance improvements possible by modifications of the compressor operation logic. Moreover, it can be integrated into smart‐hubs monitoring the frequency and duration of refrigerator door openings to inform consumers when their habits are compromising the preservation performance of the refrigerator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While bioactivity and a favorable safety profile for biotherapeutics is of utmost importance, manufacturability is also worth of consideration to ease the manufacturing process. Manufacturability in the scientific literature is mostly related to stability of formulated drug substances, with limited focus on downstream process‐related manufacturability, that is, how easily can a protein be purified. Process‐related impurities or biological impurities like viruses and host cell proteins (HCP) are present in the harvest which have mostly acid isoelectric points and need to be removed to ensure patient safety. Therefore, during molecule design, the surface charge of the target molecule should preferably differ sufficiently from the surface charge of the impurities to enable an efficient purification strategy. In this feasibility study, we evaluated the possibility of improving manufacturability by adapting the surface charge of the target protein. We generated several variants of a GLP1‐receptor‐agonist‐Fc‐domain‐FGF21‐fusion protein and demonstrated proof of concept exemplarily for an anion exchange chromatography step which then can be operated at high pH values with maximal product recovery allowing removal of HCP and viruses. Altering the surface charge distribution of biotherapeutic proteins can thus be useful allowing for an efficient manufacturing process for removing HCP and viruses, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of waste is generated during the processing of granite, resulting in negative impacts on the environment. As part of an environmental commitment, granite waste is currently recovered to obtain feldspar minerals, one of the main raw material for ceramic products. Nevertheless, the requirement of the ceramic industry for feldspar ore with low iron impurities complicates their recovery from granite waste. Various studies deal with the concentration of feldspar minerals, this literature review focuses on the different techniques used in the purification of feldspar minerals from its ferromagnetic impurities. The removal and liberation of iron-bearing minerals involves various mineral treatments, of which magnetic separation, leaching, and flotation are the main purification methods used. Several studies have been carried out on the application of these three techniques separately and combined, to obtain a feldspar concentrate with a low content of colored impurities that meets the requirements of the ceramic and glass industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biobutanol‐based biofuel fermentation is hindered by the challenge of inadequate fermentation broth concentration and the azeotropic systems of water. The application of eucalyptus oil in diesel fuel makes it a promising extractant for biobutanol extraction and dehydration, thus resulting in product recovery and the development of fuel blend technology. Eucalyptus oil‐derived 1,8‐cineole was applied to acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) and isobutanol systems to enhance the butanol recovery and dehydration. The recovery of n‐butanol and isobutanol reached 92% and 95%, respectively, while the water removal in a 2% butanol system exceeded 99%. These results demonstrated that 1,8‐cineole exhibited a high selectivity toward butanol, thus providing a robust theoretical foundation for the fermentation‐based biofuel recovery and the elimination of azeotropic systems. The introduction of high‐density diesel‐fuel‐like eucalyptus oil into low‐energy‐density biobutanol will increase the energy density of fermentation‐based alcohols, yielding linear and cyclic biofuel blends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) in the presence of an alkaline catalyst is one of the major pretreatment processes that recover cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin at effective process conditions and also for the production of bioethanol. Replacement of conventional catalysts with waste‐derived catalysts in the pretreatment process will be helpful for the development of low‐cost biorefinery. The continuous impact of different mass transfer properties during the chemical pretreatment of LCB will affect the final yield of products at a high reaction time and has been reviewed in the current study. Intraparticle diffusion of an alkaline catalyst into LCB is going to determine the diffusion of the selected catalyst within the porous biomass structure, which helps in the enhancement of the final yield of the product recovery at low‐process conditions. The diffusion of the synthesized catalyst within the selected biomass during the chemical pretreatment process is a rate‐limiting step that influences the final recovery yield of desired products. Enhancement of the biomass pretreatment reaction through the assessment of the diffusivity using the modified Nernst–Einstein relation is also discussed. Determination of different unique mass transfer properties rate of diffusion, diffusivity flux, and mass transfer coefficient are also to be analyzed to advance the reaction rate of the pretreatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development and competitive advantage are impacted by strategic choices that maximize resource value and reduce waste. Numerous instances of thriving OEM remanufacturing can be observed, predominantly in the business‐to‐business domain. The significance of Closed‐Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) in generating value and managing the recovery process is widely acknowledged within the supply chain industry. Manufacturing companies now have to come up with green supply chain and process design strategies in response to recent changes in environmental regulations. This study designates the specific features of circular closed‐loop supply‐chain design considering end‐of‐life products. Uncertainty in various aspects, such as acquisition, processing, and market stages, is impeding the progress of circular economies and also sustainable development in closed‐loop supply chains (CLSCs). This has led to increased complexity in remanufacturing processes and decreased efficiency. To address this issue, the study proposes a comprehensive, integrative approach for establishing a sustainable CLSC network that adapts to fluctuating demand through a questionnaire analysis. Moreover, the study introduces a multi‐objective optimization model for a dual‐channel supply chain network, aiming to enhance the flow. This model considers both economic and environmental objectives to achieve a sustainable and efficient supply chain system. To determine the ideal circular closed‐loop supply chain (CLSC) network design, the research proposes linear programming model with mixed integer, where recovery can take place in one of three ways: through material recovery, component recovery, or product recovery. Numerous findings from a thorough analysis by data backup that inform CLSC managers of ways to improve product returns in terms of quantity and quality. To address the uncertainty problem, the research also developed the fuzzy credibility constraint technique with a Simulated Annealing algorithm. Using cutting‐edge methods, it is explored and compared how sensitivity analysis results, the impact of altering the problem parameters, and the performance of the suggested model respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cellobiose lipids (CL) are biosurfactants produced by various Ustilaginaceae species in aerobic fermentations. They show high potential for application as alternatives to conventional oleochemical- or petrochemical surfactants. To ensure their environmentally friendly performance, we aimed to assess CL production from a life cycle perspective at an early developmental stage to identify process steps that have the highest impact on the environment. With this information, optimisation approaches can be derived. Materials and methods: Following a cradle-to-gate approach, we modelled the CL fermentation and purification process based on experimental data from the lab scale and process simulation data at a 10 m3 scale. For LCA, the impact categories (IC) abiotic depletion potential (ADP), eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, global warming potential, acidification potential, and the primary energy demand were calculated for all process steps. Based on the obtained results, process bottlenecks were identified, and alternative process scenarios varying the related process parameters were simulated. These were used to assess the environmental impact reduction potential (EIRP) of an optimised process and draw recommendations for experimental process optimisation. Results and discussion: The obtained results showed that the fermentation caused ~ 73% of ADP and more than 85% of all other ICs. The major contributor was the electricity consumption for continuous fermenter aeration. Thus, reducing the fermentation duration from the initial 14 to 5 days would result in a decrease in all investigated ICs of up to ~ 27–52%. An increase in CL concentration results in a decrease in all ICs of a similar magnitude due to the higher yield per batch at comparable energy and material consumption. Although the share of purification process steps to all ICs is overall relatively small, implementing foam fractionation for in situ product recovery showed an additional EIRP of 18–27% in all purification IC shares. Conclusions: The conducted LCA showed that overall, more EIRP can be achieved by optimising fermentation process parameters compared to purification process steps. This is mainly due to the long fermentation duration and large energy consumption for fermenter aeration. This highlights the importance of using LCA as a driver for process optimisation to identify process steps with high EIRP. While some of the results are specific to CL, other obtained results can be transferred to other fermentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disassembly recovers the valuable parts/subassemblies or materials from old and outdated products. The collected old and outdated products have inherent variability in quality, which frequently results in task failure. In disassembly line balancing literature, the authors have handled task failure situations using a predictive-reactive approach which relaxes the cycle time constraint. This relaxation disturbs the paced setting of the disassembly line, which chokes or blocks the workflow in downstream stations. In this manuscript, a station crashing-based recursive solution approach is proposed and a mathematical model is presented to address the task failure problem without relaxing the cycle time constraint. The aim of the proposed approach is to maximise the profit of the disassembly line and minimise the number of workstations required for accommodating all corrective actions. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated with the help of a case study of a toy car. Numerical experiments are performed on the proposed recursive solution framework to (i) test its compatibility with other evolutionary algorithms; (ii) compare its performance with the predictive-reactive approach; and (iii) validate the use of a probability-based station crashing scheme. The results indicate that the proposed approach can consistently produce a significantly better solution (19–28.5% improvement) than the PR approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate how the classical separation methods alter the solid catalyst surface structure in heterogeneous-catalyzed transesterification, viz., centrifugal and gravitational settling-in-funnel schemes, for the first time. The FTIR spectroscopy showed that while the settling system produces vivid and smooth surface shifting as a result of long-term contact with reaction products, centrifugal separation does not entirely obliterate the identity of the post-reaction catalyst surface. In addition, the SEM analysis confirmed that smaller agglomerates, which may have resulted from the dissolution of some particles and the accumulation of organic substances that clog the catalyst pore through the formation of calcium-glycerol bonds during the decantation period, were observed in the gravitational settling system; this trait could also complicate the separation and lower the desired product recovery (biodiesel). Whereas the centrifugal separation technique revealed the presence of bigger oval-shaped agglomerates, which are anticipated to possess more unoccupied active sites for efficient catalysis. As a result, centrifugal separation produces a greater biodiesel yield (87 ± 0.9%) than the settling method (76.6 ± 2%). The fuel properties of biodiesel products were characterized in terms of acid value, kinematic viscosity, cetane number, and specific gravity, of which only the cetane number does not meet the international limit due to its aromatic content. Generally, the results of this study proved that centrifuges are a more effective method of separating heterogeneous catalysts relative to the decantation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) has increased exponentially due to the humungous growth in the information technology and communication sector. Many multi-metal catalysts are developed by researchers for electronic waste plastic conversion into fuel products and recovery of valuable metals. In the present study, an Alumina-supported catalyst powder with selected transition metals metal oxides was prepared to improve the yield of hydrocarbon liquids. FESEM with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, XRD and laser diffraction particle size analysis were used to characterise catalysts. The shredded e-waste chips to catalyst weight ratio was maintained from 2:1 to 10:1 and studied. The experiments were conducted with a reaction temperature range from 300°C to 500°C. The produced fuel density was 0.88 kg/L, with 0.75 liquid fuel conversion and 71.7% overall liquid fuel yield. The light gas percentage was 4–6%. NMR analysis, bomb calorimetric study and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy of liquid fuel analysis suggest carbon chain compounds of C3–C20 hydrocarbon, indicating a mixture of petrol and diesel-like liquid products. The catalyst can be tuned to improve liquid fuel conversion. The liquid fuel product is promising for fuel use, however, upgrading treatments are needed to meet standard product specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) have emerged as a sustainable and highly promising technology that has garnered significant attention from researchers worldwide. These systems provide an efficient platform for the removal and recovery of valuable products from wastewater, with minimal or no net energy loss. Among the various types of BES, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a notable example, utilizing microbial biocatalytic activities to generate electrical energy through the degradation of organic matter. Other BES variants include microbial desalination cells (MDCs), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), microbial electrosynthesis cells (MXCs), microbial solar cells (MSCs), and more. BESs have demonstrated remarkable potential in the recovery of diverse products such as hydrogen, methane, volatile fatty acids, precious nutrients, and metals. Recent advancements in scaling up BESs have facilitated a more realistic assessment of their net energy recovery and resource yield in real-world applications. This comprehensive review focuses on the practical applications of BESs, from laboratory-scale developments to their potential for industrial commercialization. Specifically, it highlights successful examples of value-added product recovery achieved through various BES configurations. Additionally, this review critically evaluates the limitations of BESs and provides suggestions to enhance their performance at a larger scale, enabling effective implementation in real-world scenarios. By providing a thorough analysis of the current state of BES technology, this review aims to emphasize the tremendous potential of these systems for sustainable wastewater treatment and resource recovery. It underscores the significance of bridging the gap between laboratory-scale achievements and industrial implementation, paving the way for a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With three years having elapsed since the pandemic onset, a comprehensive assessment of the adaptation process and its extent becomes crucial. In this research note, we provide evidence in this regard by analyzing the tourism resilience determinants of the Spanish provinces throughout the entire 2020–2022 period. The results show that some determinants have played a time-varying role during shock absorption in 2020, adaptation in 2021, and market recovery in 2022. Although the previous equilibrium has been partially reached, there are still persistent effects that remain in 2022. These include the tourist preferences for natural tourism in front of the urban product or the incomplete recovery of distant markets. These insights provide valuable perspectives on the dynamics of the tourism industry and inform strategies to achieve a complete rebound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since prehistoric times, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been employed for various therapeutic purposes due to their varied array of pharmaceutically relevant bioactive compounds, i.e. secondary metabolites. However, when secondary metabolites are isolated directly from MAPs, there is occasionally very poor yield and limited synthesis of secondary metabolites from particular tissues and certain developmental stages. Moreover, many MAPs species are in danger of extinction, especially those used in pharmaceuticals, as their natural populations are under pressure from overharvesting due to the excess demand for plant‐based herbal remedies. The extensive use of these metabolites in a number of industrial and pharmaceutical industries has prompted a call for more research into increasing the output via optimization of large‐scale production using plant tissue culture techniques. The potential of plant cells as sources of secondary metabolites can be exploited through a combination of product recovery technology research, targeted metabolite production, and in vitro culture establishment. The plant tissue culture approach provides low‐cost, sustainable, continuous, and viable secondary metabolite production that is not affected by geographic or climatic factors. This study covers recent advancements in the induction of medicinally relevant metabolites, as well as the conservation and propagation of plants by advanced tissue culture technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current trend of shifting to food naturalness has prompted food industries to switch from synthetic to natural colorants. Concurrently, there is a spike in interest concerning the extraction of pigments from natural sources using non-conventional extraction techniques as the latter are environmental-friendly and sustainable compared to traditional methods. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is one of the emerging technologies that has been reported to be effective in the recovery of bioactive compounds from a plethora of natural sources because of its ability to expeditiously heat the extraction matrix, leading to rapid product recovery. This review focuses on the voluminous demand for natural colorants, their limitations, and potential food applications. Also, this review emphasizes the underlying principle and mechanism of MAE, as well as studies that unveil the efficacy and suitability of the technique for the recovery of pigments. Hence, given that natural pigments are susceptible to natural degradation, MAE is a promising technology for enhanced pigment yield and stability. In addition, recent trends such as technology integration and novel extraction solvents have considerably widened the scope and versatility of MAE as a greener extraction method. Furthermore, when coupled with MAE, waste valorization and further exploration of novel pigment sources (such as algae and other microorganisms) present thrust areas of research concerning the global sustainable development goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Existing life cycle assessment (LCA) methods for buildings often overlook the benefits of product recovery potential, whether for future reuse or repurposing. This oversight arises from the limited scope of such methods, which often ignore the complex interdependencies between building products. The present paper, backed by its supplementary Python library, introduces a method that addresses this gap, emphasizing the influence of product interdependencies and future recovery potential on environmental impact. Methods: Implementing the proposed method requires adding a phase, the recovery potential assessment, to the four phases that constitute an LCA according to the ISO 14040/14044 guidelines. Given the disassembly sequence for each product, in the first step of the recovery potential assessment, a disassembly network (DN) is created that displays structural and accessibility dependencies. By calculating the average of the disassembly potential (DP) of each structural dependency (second step) associated with that product, we obtain the DP (0.1–1) at the product level in a third step. Because there is no empirical data available to support a specific relationship between product disassembly potential and recovery potential (RP) (0–1), we employ, in a fourth step, a flexible model specification to represent scenarios of how this relationship may look like. Ultimately, for each scenario, the resulting RP is used to enable a probabilistic material flow analysis with a binary outcome, whether to be recovered or not. The resulting product-level median material flows are then used to quantify the building's environmental impact for a given impact category in the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). The results are interpreted through an uncertainty, hotspot, and sensitivity analysis. Results and discussion: Our results show that not considering the interdependencies between building products in building LCAs results in underestimating the embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 28.29%. This discrepancy is primarily attributed to a failure to account for additional material flows stemming from secondary replacements owing to the interdependencies during the life cycle. When accounting for end-of-life recovery benefits, a zero-energy building (ZEB) design incorporating some DfD principles demonstrated up to 45.94% lower embodied GHG emissions than the ZEB design with low disassembly potential when assuming that recovered products will be reused. Conclusions: Our approach provides first-of-a-kind evidence that not accounting for recovery potential may significantly distort the results of an LCA for buildings. The method and its supporting code support the semi-automated calculation of the otherwise neglected potential environmental impact, thus helping to drive the transition towards a more sustainable built environment. The supporting code allows researchers to build on the proposed framework if more data on the relationship between DP and RP become available in the future. Finally, while applied to buildings in this paper, the proposed framework is adaptable to any complex product with limited modifications in the supporting code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transformation in our food production system is being enabled by the convergence of advances in genome-based technologies and traditional fermentation. Science at the intersection of synthetic biology, fermentation, downstream processing for product recovery, and food science is needed to support technology development for the production of fermentation-derived food ingredients. The business and markets for fermentation-derived ingredients, including policy and regulations are discussed. A patent landscape of fermentation for the production of alternative proteins, lipids and carbohydrates for the food industry is provided. The science relating to strain engineering, fermentation, downstream processing, and food ingredient functionality that underpins developments in precision fermentation for the production of proteins, fats and oligosaccharides is examined. The production of sustainably-produced precision fermentation-derived ingredients and their introduction into the market require a transdisciplinary approach with multistakeholder engagement. Successful innovation in fermentation-derived ingredients will help feed the world more sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanobody has become an important tool for immunoassays because of its stability, specificity, and ease of expression. To monitor the aflatoxin M1 in dairy products, the anti-AFM1 nanobody, named M6, selected from the Bactrian camel AFM1 immune library, evaluated its properties, and developed an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA). After optimizing the parameters, including the blocking method, methanol concentrations, pH values, and ionic strength in the reaction system, a standard competitive inhibition curve was established, and methodological specificity and accuracy was verified. Results showed that Nb-M6 had a good affinity and thermal stability, the limit of detection (LOD) of Nb-icELISA was 0.111 ng/ mL, and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 1.498 ng/ mL. The recoveries of dairy products spiked were 89.8% - 104.1%, which were in agreement with the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The Nb-icELISA is simple, convenient and can be applied to batch screening of AFM1 in dairy products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel fluidized-bed homogeneous granulation (FBHo-G) process was developed to recover lithium (Li) from industrial Li-impacted wastewater. Five important operational variables (i.e., temperatures, pH, [P]0/[Li]0 molar ratios, surface loadings, and up-flow velocities (Umf)) were selected to optimize the Li recovery (TR%) and granulation ratio (GR%) efficiencies of the process. The optimal operational conditions were determined as the following: a temperature of 75 °C, pH of 11.5, [P]0/[Li]0 of 0.5, surface loading of 2.5 kg/m2·h, and Umf of 35.7 m/h). The TR% and GR% at optimal condition could be as much as 90%. The material characterization of the recovery pellet products showed that they were highly crystallized Li3PO4 (purity ~88.2%). The pellets had a round shape and smooth surface with an average size of 0.65 mm, so could easily be stored and transported. The high purity enables them to be further directly reused as raw materials for a wide range of industrial applications (e.g., in the synthesis of cathode materials). Our calculation shows that the FBHo-G process could recover up to 0.1845 kg of lithium per cubic meter of Li-containing wastewater, at a recovery rate of ~90%. A brief technoeconomic analysis shows that FBHG process had economic viability, with an estimate production cost of USD 26/kg Li removed, while the potential gained profit for selling lithium phosphate pellets could be up to USD 48 per the same volume of wastewater and the net profit up to USD 22/m3 Li treated. In all, fluidized-bed homogeneous granulation, a seedless one-step recovery process, opens a promising pathway toward a green and sustainable recycling industry for the recovery and application of the resource-limited lithium element from nonconventional water sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A product recovery system is proposed to reduce the bulk of waste sent to landfills by retrieving materials and parts of obsolete products for using them in remanufacturing and recycling. Product recovery is a significant strategy for enhancing customer satisfaction with regard to environmental concerns. Considering the fact that some products are returned, it becomes challenging to analyse whether to manufacture a new product or to rework the returned product at every step of the product recovery chain. Our approach uses a mixed integer linear programming model with the genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimisation, where two meta-heuristic algorithms are introduced for solving the MILP problem. Here, a recovery scenario is modelled, subject to the time and type of product to be processed. The study is intended to enhance the overall productivity of the product recovery chain. To demonstrate the approach, a case study is presented in the fast-moving consumer goods industry in which the proposed model demonstrates a reduction in the overall cost in the product recovery chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consider a product take-back regulation with remanufacturing target imposed on a manufacturer. The manufacturer is responsible for regulation compliance by remanufacturing the product collected from multiple geographic regions. The channel alternatives for the manufacturer are 1) regional third-party collection firms, 2) regional third-party collection-remanufacturing firms, 3) a third-party firm for remanufacturing, 4) in-house collection, and 5) in-house remanufacturing. The paper proposes a mixed-integer linear programming problem (MILP) formulation for the manufacturer to select a combination of these channels to maximise the profit over a finite planning horizon. The decision model has the number of used products, remanufacturing approach, heterogeneity in the quality of returned products, and the remanufacturing target as constraints. We conduct numerical analysis using field study data for 200 litres of mild-steel drums in India to draw managerial insights. The vital suggestions and insights are as follows. 1) Regulators to impose incremental targets considering the current optimum level of remanufacturing. 2) A comprehensive remanufacturing target covering multi-region/market to discourage manufacturers from evading behaviour. 3) Managers to assist regional firms in increasing the recovery rate of products that can collect and remanufacture. 5) Manufacturers to remanufacture products during the decline stage of product life cycle (PLC) for higher profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of bioprocess development relies heavily on the successful application of primary recovery and purification techniques. Aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) disrupts the definition of "unit operation" by serving as an integrative and intensive technique that combines different objectives such as the removal of biomass and integrated recovery and purification of the product of interest. The relative simplicity of processing large samples renders this technique an attractive alternative for industrial bioprocessing applications. However, process development is hindered by the lack of easily predictable partition behaviours, the elucidation of which necessitates a large number of experiments to be conducted. Liquid handling devices can assist to address this problem; however, they are configured to operate using low viscosity fluids such as water and water-based solutions as opposed to highly viscous polymeric solutions, which are typically required in ATPE. In this work, an automated high throughput ATPE process development framework is presented by constructing phase diagrams and identifying the binodal curves for PEG6000, PEG3000, and PEG2000. Models were built to determine viscosity- and volume-independent transfer parameters. The framework provided an appropriate strategy to develop a very precise and accurate operation by exploiting the relationship between different liquid transfer parameters and process error. Process accuracy, measured by mean absolute error, and device precision, evaluated by the coefficient of variation, were both shown to be affected by the mechanical properties, particularly viscosity, of the fluids employed. For PEG6000, the mean absolute error improved by six-fold (from 4.82% to 0.75%) and the coefficient of variation improved by three-fold (from 0.027 to 0.008) upon optimisation of the liquid transfer parameters accounting for the viscosity effect on the PEG-salt buffer utilising ATPE operations. As demonstrated here, automated liquid handling devices can serve to streamline process development for APTE enabling wide adoption of this technique in large scale bioprocess applications. • Automation minimised experimental set-up for binodal curve construction. • High throughput screening and automation can expedite ATPS characterisation. • Physicochemical properties of fluids impact the automated transfer characteristics. • Transfer volume and speed are critical parameters to determine optimal transfer. • Correlation of viscosity and transfer parameters minimises manipulation errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biowaste fermentation is a promising technology for low‐carbon print bioenergy and biochemical production. Although it is believed that the microbiome determines both the fermentation efficiency and the product profiles of biowastes, the explicit mechanisms of how microbial activity controls fermentation processes remained to be unexplored. The current study investigated the microbiome dynamics and fermentation product profiles of biowaste fermentation under different organic loads (5, 20, and 40 g‐VS/L) and with additives that potentially modulate the fermentation process via methanogenesis inhibition (2‐bromoethanesulfonate) or electron transfer promotion (i.e., reduced iron, magnetite iron, and activated carbon). The overall fermentation products yields were 440, 373 and 208 CH4‐eq/g‐VS for low‐, medium‐ and high‐load fermentation. For low‐ and medium‐load fermentation, volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were first accumulated and were gradually converted to methane. For high‐load fermentation, VFAs were the main fermentation products during the entire fermentation period, accounting for 62% of all products. 16S rRNA‐based analyses showed that both 2‐bromoethanesulfonate addition and increase of organic loads inhibited the activity of methanogens and promoted the activity of distinct VFA‐producing bacterial microbiomes. Moreover, the addition of activated carbon promoted the activity of H2‐producing Bacteroides, homoacetogenic Eubacteriaceae and methanogenic Methanosarcinaceae, whose activity dynamics during the fermentation led to changes in acetate and methane production. The current results unveiled mechanisms of microbiome activity dynamics shaping the biowaste fermentation product profiles and provided the fundamental basis for the development of microbiome‐guided engineering approaches to modulate biowaste fermentation toward high‐value product recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reviews the mathematics of the EOQ/EPQ-based reverse logistics models. • It provides a condensed review of the works that stemmed from the work of Schrady (1967). • It identifies significant research gaps and provides future research directions. This paper reviews the mathematics of the economic order/production quantity (EOQ/EPQ)-based models in the reverse logistics (RL) literature. It starts with the seminal work of Schrady (A deterministic inventory model for reparable items. Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, 14(3), 1967, 391–398) up until December 31, 2022. It provides researchers with a road map of how the mathematics has evolved since the work of Schrady and saves them time and effort by avoiding the need to review the entire RL literature. As it unifies the notations for all reviewed models, it also provides some research pointers for promising topics to be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-waste represents a rapidly expanding category of solid waste, with mobile phones being particularly noteworthy contributors to the global waste stream. The substantial consumer demand for mobile phones, coupled with their relatively short lifespan, limited repair options, and the absence of efficient recycling methods, significantly contributes to the generation of e-waste. In order to address this pressing concern, a sustainable circular inventory model that promotes green industrial practices without compromising profitability is a need in this era. This paper aims to develop an integrated sustainable circular model for a mobile industry that incentivizes the end-of-life processing of used mobile phones. The model explores the idea of the retailer's inspection to segregate defectives and the manufacturer's remanufacturing and product recovery initiatives to identify e-waste as a valuable secondary source of raw materials. The ultimate objective of this study is to determine the optimal expected average integrated total profit of the system with optimal order quantity and shortage quantity. An algorithm is designed to get the local maximum of the expected average integrated total profit using Mathematica 9.0 software. The practicability of the suggested model in the mobile industry is verified numerically and theoretically. The effect of investment in emission reduction technology and waste minimization technology with a carbon cap policy is studied, and it is found that the industry benefits from investments in green technology and waste minimization technology by generating 7.076% more profit while lowering emissions by 48.6336% and waste by 97.9758%. The study concludes that the implementation of the reuse, recycle, and rework concept of circularity for the end-of-life processing and product recovery of discarded mobile phones enhances the supply chain profit without contributing to pollution, which is the ultimate goal of a sustainable economic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current commercial aqueous based extraction processes are energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive and require large tailings ponds. Non‐aqueous extraction (NAE) of bitumen from mineable oil sands is an alternative that eliminates tailings ponds with potentially lower energy requirements and GHG emissions. The economics of the NAE process depend partly on the impact of ore quality on bitumen recovery and product quality (low water and solids content). It has been claimed that NAE performance is insensitive to the quality (bitumen content) of the oil sand ores. However, the available data are ambiguous because different extraction methods and solvents were used in different studies and, in many cases, a limited range of ore qualities was examined. In this study, bitumen was extracted from eight ores of different quality with cyclohexane using a multistage method equivalent to a countercurrent process with a solvent/ore ratio of 0.67 w/w. The bitumen recovery and the water and solids content of the product bitumen were determined for each ore. It was found that bitumen recovery correlated negatively to clay content of the ore. The loss of recovery was attributed to bitumen adsorption on clays. The product quality was insensitive to the ore quality and instead depended on the density of the fluid medium, as expected with a centrifuge‐based separation method. The recovery and product quality from the NAE method were similar to those from aqueous extractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the pyrolysis process applied to various non-utilized waste materials, specifically focusing on separated plastics from municipal waste, wood waste (including pallets and window frames), paper rejects, and automotive carpets. Different combinations of these waste materials were subjected to pyrolysis, a process involving high-temperature treatment (600 °C) in a nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting products, including biochar, gas, and liquid fractions, as well as the residual waste materials, underwent comprehensive analysis. The evaluation of pyrolysis products emphasizes their quality, energy content, and potential applications. Notably, the pyrolysis gas derived from the combination of separated municipal plastics and waste wood exhibited the highest calorific value at 49.45 MJ/m3. Additionally, Mixture 2, consisting of plastic and wood waste, demonstrated the highest calorific value for the pyrolysis condensate, reaching 30.62 MJ/kg. Moreover, Mixture 3, benefiting from biochar utilization as a sorbent, displayed the highest iodine value at 90.01 mg/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato tuber shape, size, and specific gravity are important agronomic traits in the russet market class of potatoes with an impact on quality, consistency, and product recovery of processed foods such as French fries. Therefore, identifying genetic regions associated with the three traits through quantitative trait locus/ loci (QTL) analysis is a crucial process in the subsequent development of markerassisted selection for use in potato breeding programs. QTL analysis was conducted on a tetraploid mapping population consisting of 190 individuals derived from the cross between two russet-skinned parents, Palisade Russet and the breeding clone ND028673B-2Russ. Field data collected over a 2-year period and used in the QTL analyses included tuber length--width and width--depth ratios that were obtained using a digital caliper. The width--depth ratio provided an assessment of the "flatness" of a tuber, which is of importance in potato processing. To cross-validate the accuracy and differences among tuber shape measurement methods, a trained evaluator also assessed the identical tubers based on 1--5 scale (compressed to long) visual assessment method. Furthermore, the weights of analyzed tubers and specific gravities were also collected during the phenotyping process for each mapping clone. A major tuber shape QTL was consistently observed on chromosome 10 with both the length--width ratio and visual assessments. On chromosome 4, a significant QTL for tuber shape from the visual assessment phenotypic data was also detected. Additionally, a tuber shape-related QTL on chromosome 6 was also detected from the length--width ratio data from 2020. Chromosome 2 was also identified as having a significant QTL for the width--depth ratio, which is of importance in influencing the flatness of a tuber. One significant QTL for tuber weight (i.e., tuber size) was observed on chromosome 5, and a significant QTL for specific gravity was found on chromosome 3. These significant and major QTL should be useful for developing marker-assisted selection for more efficient potato breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanofiltration is an energy efficient separation technology with yet not fully explored potential for in situ product recovery from fermentation solutions. In this work, a commercially available cellulose acetate nanofiltration membrane was investigated to separate different carboxylic acids from glucose in an aqueous solution. The membrane showed a high stability and good separation performance at low pH. Dead‐end and cross‐flow experiments revealed the transferability to real fermentation mixtures and demonstrate the possibility of coupling fermentation with in situ product separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both in clinical routine and in preclinical research, the established standard procedure for the final purification of radiometal-labeled peptide radiopharmaceuticals is cartridge-based reversed-phase (RP) solid phase extraction (SPE). It allows the rapid and quantitative separation of the radiolabeled peptide from hydrophilic impurities and easy integration into automated synthesis procedures. However, product elution from RP cartridges necessitates the use of organic solvents and product recovery is sometimes limited. Thus, an alternative purification method based on commercially available size exclusion cartridges was investigated. Results: Since most peptide radiopharmaceuticals have a molecular weight > 1 kDa, Sephadex G10 cartridges with a molecular size cut-off of 700 Da were used for the final purification of a broad palette of 68Ga-, 64Cu- and 99mTc-labeled experimental peptide radiotracers as well as the clinically relevant ligand PSMA-617. Results (radiochemical purity (RCP, determined by ITLC), recovery from the solid support) were compared to the respective standard RP-SPE method. Generally, retention of unreacted 68Ga, 64Cu and 99mTc salts on the G10 cartridges was quantitative up to the specified elution volume (1.2 mL) for 68Ga and 99mTc and 99.6% for 64Cu. Even at increased elution volumes of 1.5-2 mL, RCPs of the eluted 68Ga- and 99mTc -radiopeptides were > 99%. For all peptides with a molecular weight ≥ 2 kDa, product recovery from the G10 cartridges was consistently > 85% upon respective adjustment of the elution volume. Product recovery was lowest for [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-617 (67%, 1.2 mL to 84%, 2 mL). The pH of the final product solution was found to be volume-dependent (1.2 mL: pH 6.3; 1.5 mL: pH 5.9; 2 mL: pH 5.5). Notably, the G10 cartridges were reused up to 20 times without compromising performance, and implementation of the method in an automated radiosynthesis procedure was successful. Conclusions: Overall, size exclusion purification yielded all peptide radiopharmaceuticals in excellent radiochemical purities (> 99%) in saline within 10–12 min. Although product recovery is marginally inferior to classical SPE purifications, this method has the advantage of completely avoiding organic solvents and representing a cost-effective, easy-to-implement purification approach for automated radiotracer synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laccase from Trametes versicolor was applied to produce phenolic polymeric compounds with enhanced properties, using a wine lees extract as the phenolic source. The influence of the incubation time on the progress of the enzymatic oxidation and the yield of the formed polymers was examined. The polymerization process and the properties of the polymeric products were evaluated with a variety of techniques, such as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The enzymatic polymerization reaction resulted in an 82% reduction in the free phenolic compounds of the extract. The polymeric product recovery (up to 25.7%) and the molecular weight of the polymer depended on the incubation time of the reaction. The produced phenolic polymers exhibited high antioxidant activity, depending on the enzymatic oxidation reaction time, with the phenolic polymer formed after one hour of enzymatic reaction exhibiting the highest antioxidant activity (133.75 and 164.77 μg TE mg−1 polymer) towards the ABTS and DPPH free radicals, respectively. The higher thermal stability of the polymeric products compared to the wine lees phenolic extract was confirmed with TGA and DSC analyses. Finally, the formed phenolic polymeric products were incorporated into chitosan films, providing them with increased antioxidant activity without affecting the films' cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forestry Chronicle is the property of Canadian Institute of Forestry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Active remediation at sites with light non‐aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) often leaves residual hydrocarbons in the subsurface, necessitating long‐term management. While much of the effort in recent years has focused on natural source zone depletion (NSZD) as the primary method for demonstrating continued hydrocarbon removal, the same data collection methods can quantify biodegradation enhancements that can sustainably increase the rate of SZD. This approach has been applied at the Guadalupe Restoration Project, one of the first sites at which NSZD measurements and monitoring technology were demonstrated. Sitewide NSZD quantification was conducted using CO2 efflux measurements and subsurface temperature profiling. The results fell within the range of previously reported estimates that were based on soil‐gas profiling in the early 2000s, demonstrating the viability of the new methods at this site. The data collection methods were then deployed during pilot testing of solar‐powered bioventing. The system used seven 400‐W solar panels to power a regenerative blower that delivered approximately 0.85 cubic meter per minute (30 cfm) air to the LNAPL‐impacted vadose soil near the interface with the groundwater table. Soil‐gas data indicated an upward fanning of injected air toward ground surface. Elevated temperature due to hydrocarbon oxidation yielded an approximate 10.2 kg day−1 source depletion rate above the baseline NSZD mass removal rate over an approximate 30 m (100 ft) radius of influence, which aligned well with a 8.2 kg day−1 rate estimated from CO2 efflux measurements. Introduction of O2 via bioventing substantially increased the LNAPL biodegradation rate from baseline NSZD processes by almost an order of magnitude. The results demonstrate that site management can proceed along a sequenced program that began with aggressive hydraulic recovery of hydrocarbon product, transitions to enhanced SZD in areas with poorly recoverable LNAPL, and then to NSZD without intervention to address residual LNAPL across the full footprint of the LNAPL bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butyric acid, a four-carbon fatty acid, is an important industrial chemical and feedstock. To produce this chemical, a control fermentation was run with a 126.5 g.L−1 glucose concentration in the feed medium. In this medium, the strain produced 44.8 g.L−1 total acid with a productivity of 0.23 g.L−1h−1 and a yield of 0.41 g.g−1. The strain (Clostridium tyrobutyricum ATCC 25755) was also able to utilize glucose and xylose simultaneously with similar fermentation performance. The culture was also used to produce butyric acid from wheat straw hydrolysate (WSH) employing a hot water pretreatment. In a batch system, the strain resulted in a productivity and yield of 0.27 g.L−1h−1 and 0.44 g.g−1, respectively, which was an improvement over the use of glucose or xylose alone or mixtures of both. To improve reactor productivity, a membrane cell recycle bioreactor was used which resulted in a productivity of 1.89 g.L−1h−1. This productivity was 822% of that achieved in the glucose or xylose batch fermentation. Furthermore, a butyric acid recovery method was developed using XAD-4 adsorbent resin. In this system, up to 206.1 g.L−1 of butyric acid was used in the feed and, as a result of the quick adsorption, the residual butyric acid concentration was 29.5 g.L−1. In this experiment, the rate of acid removal of 1059.4 g.L−1h−1 was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purchasing green products is one of the cornerstones to promote sustainable development since the negative impact of these products is lower than traditional goods. In a Circular Economic (CE) context, green products begin to encompass reconditioned products reintroduced to the production and consumption cycle, such as remanufactured products. Many green products and remanufactured products' features intersect; however, the consumers' perception of these two products is not equal. The present work analyses the consumers' intention to purchase remanufactured products in the Southern Brazil, in a CE context. To that end, 228 consumers from Southern Brazil answered a stated preference questionnaire with different scenarios of remanufactured smartphones with warranty, label and discount. Results indicate that warranty, label, and discount positively impact the consumers' choice towards remanufactured smartphones. Furthermore, results indicate that consumers would be willing to give up more on the discount in order to have a scenario where the remanufactured smartphone has a label and warranty. This study contributes to the literature on consumers' perception and purchase intention towards remanufactured products in emerging economies, which is still scarce. Furthermore, the industry might benefit from this work since understanding what affects consumers' purchase intention may help redirect marketing strategies to increase demand and competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spent bleaching earth (SBE) is the largest waste produced by the palm oil industry. However, according to several studies, SBE and its recovery product DBE have the potential as filler materials in NPK fertilizers. This study examines the influence of NPK fertilizer with SBE and DBE as filler materials on soybean plants' biochemical and agronomic properties. The field-based experiment was done in a single-factor randomized complete block design with 4 replicates. We tested fertilizers of 10% bentonite clay mineral using NPK on a filler basis (control), 5% bentonite clay mineral with 5% SBE of NPK on a filler basis, and 5% bentonite clay mineral with 5% DBE using NPK on a filler basis. The variables observed include soil chemical properties after applying fertilizer, which involves the concentrations of several heavy metals. Biochemical characteristics, including the content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), relative electrolyte leakage (REL), total phenolic content, and proline content. The agronomic characteristics of soybean plants, including root and shoot dry weight. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and tested using the least significant difference test at a 95% confidence interval. The results indicated that materials of SBE and DBE could partially substitute the filler elements in bentonite clay mineral of NPK fertilizer on a filler basis, and they had the same influence in SOD activity, H2O2 content, POD, MDA, REL, total phenolic, proline and root dry weight and shoot of soybean plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product return is a critical issue due to the uncertainty associated with the price, demand, and quality of the product. Thus, businesses must improve their information transparency to administer the product return behaviour of the end-user. Different studies so far have contributed to developing solutions to manage product return issues. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the product returns management domain to provide the scientific landscape map of existing studies for exploring the state of the current body of knowledge. A systematic literature review of existing literature, quantitative bibliometric analysis, and in-depth content analysis are conducted to accomplish the purpose. A total of 518 published articles from January 1986 to November 2020 are selected, reviewed, classified, and analysed in this study. We classified papers into six identified PRM categories, namely product recovery, forecasting product returns, consumer behaviour, return policy, uncertainty, and technology. Finally, we blended the state-of-the-art research and outlined the future research agenda concerning various themes, methodologies used, and aspects like lean, agility, and disruption in PRM based on research gap analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personalised consumption and sustainable development are increasingly gaining people's attention. To meet consumers' individualised needs and achieve sustainable development, it is very important and urgent for manufacturers to make operations decisions on whether to implement a product variety and/or a product recovery programme. To explore some management implications for firms making those decisions, we develop three analytical game-theoretical models: (1) Model V where the manufacturer only adopts a product variety strategy; (2) Model R where he only adopts a product recovery strategy; (3) Model VR where both the product variety and recovery strategies are implemented. By comparing the equilibrium outcomes of these three models, we find that the manufacturer's optimal operations strategy largely depends on the market recoverable rate, the cost spillover effect, and the manufacturer's product variety efficiency. Through numerical examples and sensitivity analyses, we further examine the impacts of some key factors on the manufacturer's optimal operations strategy choice. With two model extensions, we find that the manufacturer's environmental preference and the government's tax and subsidy policy could motivate the manufacturer to adopt Strategy R or VR instead of Strategy V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) models assess the processes of the underlying system at a certain moment and disregard the dynamic effects in the production process. Hence, distorted efficiency evaluation is gained that might give misleading information to decision-making units (DMUs). Malmquist–Luenberger Productivity Index (MPI) assesses efficiency changes over time, which are measured as the product of recovery and frontier-shift terms, both coming from the DEA framework. In this study, a form of MPI involving network structure for evaluating DMUs in the presence of uncertainty and undesirable outputs in two periods of time is presented. To cope with uncertainty, we use the stochastic p-robust approach and the weak disposability of Kuosmanen (American Journal Agricultural Economics 87 (4):1077–1082, 2005) proposed to take care of undesirable outputs. The proposed fractional models for stages and overall system are linearized by applying the Charnes and Cooper transformation. Finally, the proposed models are applied to evaluate the efficiency of 11 petroleum wells to identify the main factors determining their productivity, utilizing the data from the 2020 to 2021 period. The results show that the management of resource consumption, especially equipment and capital, is not appropriate and investment is inadequate. Although the depreciation rate of capital facilities in this industry is high, the purpose of the investment is not to upgrade the level of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The evolution and speciation of chlorine during ASR pyrolysis are studied. • Org-chlorine can be converted to InO-chlorine and remain in char. • Up to 12% and over 64% of chlorine are migrated to HCl and char, respectively. • Rising temperature promotes the conversion from Org-chlorine to inorganic in char. • Calcium-based compounds in ASR play a predominant role in the capture of chlorine. Disposal of automobile shredder residue (ASR) via pyrolysis enables the recovery of valuable products; however, the production of hazardous pollutants and low-value products is inevitable due to its high chlorine content. In this work, chlorine evolution behavior and the conversion mechanism during ASR pyrolysis between 480 and 600 °C were systematically studied. The experimental results for organic chlorine (Org-Cl) showed that released chlorinated gases were complex, and HCl only accounted for 35% of the gas phase products, while short-chain hydrocarbons with carbon atoms between two and four accounted for 52%. Chlorine was predominantly retained in the char, and Org-Cl was the primary contributor to the residual chlorine, accounting for over 50% of the char. The content of inorganic chlorine (InO-Cl) was low in the raw sample but significantly increased in the char. Through the distinction between organic and inorganic chlorine content in char, it was confirmed that Org-Cl could be converted to InO-Cl due to complex secondary reactions with metallic compounds. The conversion was favored by increasing the Org-Cl content and the temperature. Our findings clarified the evolution mechanism of chlorine and the transformation from Org-Cl to InO-Cl, thus providing guidance for chlorine regulation and the efficient recycling of metal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acetogenic gas fermentation is increasingly studied as a promising technology to upcycle carbon‐rich waste gasses. Currently the product range is limited, and production yields, rates and titres for a number of interesting products do not allow for economically viable processes. By pairing process modelling and host‐agnostic metabolic modelling, we compare fermentation conditions and various products to optimise the processes. The models were then used in a simulation of an industrial‐scale bubble column reactor. We find that increased temperatures favour gas transfer rates, particularly for the valuable and limiting H2, while furthermore predicting an optimal feed composition of 9:1 mol H2 to mol CO2. Metabolically, the increased non‐growth associated maintenance requirements of thermophiles favours the formation of catabolic products. To assess the expansion of the product portfolio beyond acetate, both a product volatility analysis and a metabolic pathway model were implemented. In‐situ recovery of volatile products is shown to be within range for acetone but challenging due to the extensive evaporation of water, while the direct production of more valuable compounds by acetogens is metabolically unfavourable compared to acetate and ethanol. We discuss alternative approaches to overcome these challenges to utilise acetogenic CO2 fixation to produce a wider range of carbon negative chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]