As colloidal quantum dot (CQD) optoelectronic devices continue to improve, interest grows in the scaled-up and automated synthesis of high-quality materials. Unfortunately, all reports of record-performance CQD photovoltaics have been based on small-scale batch syntheses. Here we report a strategy for flow reactor synthesis of PbS CQDs and prove that it leads to solar cells having performance s...

The aim of this paper is to present simulation of model predictive control of chemical exothermic semi-batch reactor model, while the MPC controller uses an artificial neural network as a predictor. A first order chemical reaction is considered to be running in the reactor. The reaction is strongly exothermic so the in-reactor temperature is rising very fast due to reaction component dosing. Th...

The membrane fouling of an aerobic granular reactor coupled with a submerged membrane in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was evaluated. The fouling analysis was performed by applying microscopy techniques to determine the morphology and structure of the fouling layer on a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane. It was found that the main cause of fouling was the polysaccharide adsorption on the memb...

A rotary reactor and a fluidized bed reactor (both laboratory-scale and operated in batch mode) are used for the treatment of granulates containing SSA and CaCl ) and treating this mixture (possible after granulation) in a rotary kiln at 1000±100°C leads to the formation of volatile heavy metal compounds which evaporate and to Pphases with a high bio-availability. Due to economical and ecologic...

BACKGROUND Simultaneous nitrogen, phosphorous and COD removal in a pilot-scale enhanced Sequencing Batch Reactor (eSBR) was investigated. METHODS The reactor consisted of a pre-anoxic zone and internal recycle and was fed with synthetic wastewater. The study was performed by operating the reactor in 6-hour cycles in three different operational modes during a time frame of 279 days. RESULTS ...

The complex hybrid and nonlinear nature of many processes that are met in practice causes problems with both structure modelling and parameter identification; therefore, obtaining a model that is suitable for MPC is often a difficult task. The basic idea of this paper is to present an identification method for a piecewise affine (PWA) model based on a fuzzy clustering algorithm. First we introd...

The sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is a specific fill and draw version of the conventional activated sludge (AS) process. In contrast to continuous flow systems, the sequencing of batch processes in the SBR is time rather space oriented; metabolic reaction and solid/liquid separation take place at different times in the same reactor. This study aims to investigate the performance and treatment ...

Alkaline hydrolysis of ethyl acetate is essentially an irreversible and second order reaction. Industrial importance of the reaction product, sodium acetate, necessitate for process improvement in terms of maximum conversion and economical usage of raw materials. Statistical design of experiments was utilized to enhance conversion in both batch and plug flow reactors. A full two level factorial...

Abstract The paper presents an approach to improve the product quality from batch to batch by exploiting the repetitive nature of batch processes to update the operating trajectories using process knowledge obtained from previous runs. The data-based optimization methodology is based on using the linear time varying (LTV) perturbation model in an iterative learning control (ILC) framework to pr...

This paper considers the maximisation of conversion by manipulating the input flowrate for an exothermic second-order esterification reaction (propionic anhydride + 2-butanol) performed in a semi-batch reactor. Safety considerations impose bounds on the heat release rate in normal operation and on the maximum attainable temperature in the case of cooling failure. The optimal input flowrate is c...