Recycling Cigarette Butts in Ceramic Tiles

Cigarettes are one of the favoured commodities on our planet. However, the annual consumption of 5.7 trillion cigarettes and 75% littering rate results in cigarette butts (CBs) being one of the most critical environmental issues. The leachate of heavy metals and toxic chemicals is polluting our ecosystem and threatening the wildlife species. Therefore, it is crucial to find effective and efficient recycling methods to solve the growing CB waste issue. In this study, unglazed fired ceramic tiles were manufactured with 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% shredded CBs by dry mass to investigate the feasibility of the proposed sustainable recycling method. The chemical and mineralogical characterisation, density, shrinkage, bulk density, breaking strength, water absorption, and modulus of rupture were investigated and compared with the Australian Standards for ceramic tiles (AS 4459). The results revealed that tiles incorporating 0.5% CBs by mass demonstrated the greatest performance compared to the other mixtures. The water absorption for all tile–CB mixtures was found to be greater than 10%, with a positive growth tendency. The addition of 0.5% CBs by mass slightly improved flexural strength from 15.56 MPa for control samples to 16.63 MPa. Tiles containing 0.5% CBs by mass satisfied the modulus of rupture and water absorption limits for group III class according to the Australian Standards (AS 13006), and they may be suitable to be used as wall tiles. The result of a simulation equation predicts that an energy savings of up to 7.79% is achievable during the firing process for ceramic tiles incorporating 1% CBs by mass.

Study on improving three-dimensional dynamic simulation model and equation of flexible fabric

The use of the traditional fabric simulation model evidently shows that it cannot accurately reflect the material properties of the real fabric. This is against the background that the simulation result is artificial or an imitation, which leads to a low simulation equation. In order to solve such problems from occurring, there is need for a novel model that is designed to enhance the essential properties required for a flexible fabric, the simulation effect of the fabric, and the efficiency of simulation equation solving. Therefore, the improvement study results will offer a meaningful and practical understanding within the field of garment automation design, three-dimensional animation, virtual fitting to mention but a few.

A Cradle to Handover Life Cycle Assessment of External Walls: Choice of Materials and Prognosis of Elements

This research focuses on a comparison of 20 external wall systems that are conventionally used in Spanish residential buildings, from a perspective based on the product and construction process stages of the life cycle assessment. The primary objective is to provide data that allow knowing the environmental behavior of walls built with materials and practices conventionally. This type of analysis will enable promoting the creation of regulations that encourage the use of combinations of materials that generate the most environmentally suitable result, and in turn, contribute to the strengthening of the embodied stages study of buildings and their elements. The results indicate that the greatest impact arises in the product stage (90.9%), followed by the transport stage (8.9%) and the construction process stage (<1%). Strategies (such as the use of large-format pieces and the controlled increase in thickness of the thermal insulation) can contribute to reducing the environmental impact; on the contrary, practices such as the use of small-format pieces and laminated plasterboard can increase the environmental burden. The prediction of the environmental behavior (simulation equation) allows these possible impacts to be studied in a fast and simplified way.

Research on Correlation between the Pressure and the Grain Moisture Content in the Rectangular Silo

In the process of grain drying, the pressure of grain formation has a certain rule when the grains flow in the silo. In the project, we research on the method of the saturated pressure would measure grain moisture in the silo. The dynamic and static pressure is set up the simulation equation in the rectangular silo. We explore dynamic and static pressure change regularity and analysis the trend of the dynamic and static pressure with height in the rectangular silo.The results show that with the increase of filling height, dynamic and static pressure has gradually becoming saturated trend. At the same time, we study on the correlation between the saturated pressure and moisture content. When the grain reaches a certain height, the pressure achieves the ultimate value.

Simulation of Oxygen Transfer Rates in Circular Aeration Tanks

Experiments were conducted to study the performance of circular and square tank surface aerators on the oxygen transfer coefficient and to a limited extent on power requirements. All the tanks are geometrically similar except for their shapes. They consist of a rotor of diameter, D, fixed with six flat blades rotating with a speed, N, in pure waters of viscosity, υ, at room temperature. A simulation equation to predict the oxygen transfer coefficient, k = KLa20(υ/g2)1/3 for any given dynamic parameter governing the theoretical power per unit volume, X = N3D2/(g4/3υ1/3) was developed for circular tank aerators. The data on square tank aerators support another such simulation equation developed earlier for square tanks. A comparison of results, while re-aerating the same volume of water in both the shapes of tanks, leads to the interesting conclusion that for a given rotor speed the oxygen transfer rate is substantially more in square tanks than in circular tanks; whereas for a given effective input power to the rotor the oxygen transfer rate is more in circular tanks than in square tanks. This suggests that square tanks are preferred to circular tanks to raise the oxygen concentrations at a faster rate, whereas the circular tanks are advantageous as far as power requirements are concerned.

A study of the effect of temperature on the growth of Fasciola hepatica in Lymnaea truncatula

The growth rates of the intramolluscan stages of the parasite Fasciola hepatica were determined at three temperatures 16°, 20° and 25°C. A graphical relationship of growth rate with respect to temperature was produced and a growth array was calculated from this. Meteorological data were summarized in the form of a temperature array. These arrays were then used in conjunction with a simple equation to simulate parasite growth within the snail host. A digital computer was employed to solve iteratively the simulation equation, initially by checking its application against experimentally determined results. It was then employed with the meteorological data to simulate growth with respect to environmental temperatures and the results obtained were compared with those derived from field collections. Estimates were also made of the duration of the shortest life-cycle under field conditions.