Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining acceptance for modern control systems in various applications in daily life including the Chemical process industry. Above all, application of AI is increasing in the field of membrane-based treatment where it shows great potential until now. Membrane separations are generally recognized as energy-efficient processes. In particular, membrane desalination, forward osmosis, energy generation, and biomass treatment have shown substantial potential in modern industries, such as wastewater treatment, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and natural products. All these industries consume more than 20% of total energy consumption in the world. Moreover, the laboratory research outcomes illuminate the way to better membrane design and development, including advanced process control and optimization. The membrane processes with existing technologies for a sustainable environment could be integrated with the AI model. This review summarizes several membrane-based water treatment designs and plant performances where artificial intelligence is being used to minimize waste generation and lead to cleaner production.

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Artificial Intelligence-Based Optimization of Industrial Membrane Processes

Opencast coal mining accelerates soil quality decline through removal of surface soil. Fertilization can influence soil biogeochemical processes by altering microbial community composition and influencing soil quality. Land impaired by mining activity can be restored to a productive state by fertilization. However, the effects of organic-inorganic fertilization on reclaimed soil biochemical features, coupled with the associated underlying microbial mechanisms, remain poorly understood, which is critical for predicting the associated soil quality. This study used high-throughput sequencing to analyze the community structure of soil bacteria in reclaimed soil from the Pingshuo opencast coal mine. We collected soil samples after the following fertilization treatments were applied: no fertilizer (CK), single applications of inorganic fertilizer (H) and organic fertilizer (S), and combined applications of inorganic and organic fertilizer at a 1:1 ratio (HS1) and a 1:1.5 ratio (HS1.5). High-throughput sequencing analyses of 16S RNA genes revealed that organic-inorganic fertilization altered the bacteria community structure. Differences were detected by cluster analysis, and the HS1 contained more abundant bacteria than other treatments by differential contribution analysis. Redundancy analyses showed that environmental properties explained most of the variation (62%) in the soil microbial community compositions. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis indicated enhancement of the metabolism functions and environmental adaptation of the bacterial community following HS1. Ten species of bacteria, noted for degradation of complex C compounds, were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in HS1 compared to the rest coupled with N and P cycling-related bacteria. This led to enhanced C degradation and improved reclaimed soil quality. The improved soil also had higher total organic carbon and enzyme levels. Fertilization shifted the predominant microbial strategies and improved soil biochemical properties, accelerating soil organic matter decomposition and improving soil quality.

Organic-inorganic combined fertilization alters reclaimed soil bacterial communities in an opencast coal mine area and improves soil quality

2022 Considering the BSSF steelmaking slag generated in a Brazilian steelwork, it would be worth to separate iron and calcium from it, with the objective of increasing its iron content, or producing Fe 2 O 3 and CaO by selective precipitation from cations in aqueous solution. In this way, materials could be produced and used in-house, e.g., sintering plant. This possibility was explored through acid leaching for an industrial sample. A possibility to increase concentration of iron of the slag is to leach it with a 2 mol.L -1 HCl solution; in this condition, 63.6% of the CaO is extracted from the slag to the aqueous solution, and Fe content of the slag increases from 27.4 to 37.1 wt%. Another possibility is to use HCl 5 mol.L -1 ; in this condition, 86.8% of the Fe and 90.7% of the CaO are transferred to the liquid solution. Then separation of iron and calcium can be achieved by selective precipitation: firstly, adding ammonia to precipitate Fe(OH) 3 , and then calcinating it to produce Fe 2 O 3 (~ 200 °C); in the following, adding sodium carbonate to precipitate CaCO 3 , which in turn can be calcinated to produce CaO (~ 900 °C). In this way, Fe 2 O 3 and CaO could be

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Separation of Iron and Calcium from a BSSF Steelmaking Slag Through Acid Leaching

Technological features of powdered reagents injection into the melt using a submersible tuyere were investigated for the research and development of the main provisions of rail steel out–of-furnace treatment in a ladle-furnace. Authors analyzed the characteristics of influence of a directed heat flow through the tuyere conditional separation wall from metal to two-phase gas-powder flow under purging conditions. Using numerical methods, we determined the parameters of influence of the submersible tuyere surface temperature on characteristics of the transporting gas, concentration of the powder and its density, and on characteristics of the gas-powder flow, including the aerodynamic drag coefficient, pressure of the transporting gas, difference in phase velocities, equivalent diameter, and particle shape coefficient. The obtained experimental results show that, at fixed flow rate of the transporting gas, more significant heat flows are created by using a lighter gas (nitrogen) ensuring stable operation of the blowing device, while the diameter of powdered particles does not affect the amount of heat transferred from the tuyere wall to the transporting gas. It was established that, when using submersible tuyeres and heating the gas–powder flow to a temperature of 500–600°C, the strength of the interfacial interaction changes by 2 to 10 times depending on the particle shape coefficient, concentration of the injected powder, pressure of the transporting gas, difference in phase velocities, and the powder density. 

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Numerical Studies of Heat Transfer Parameters during Injection Feeding of Powders into the Rail Steel Melt in Ladle-Furnace

The article focuses on the study of the nature of dust and smoke generation in the gas-oxygen blowing of a converter bath. The main causes of metal waste are determined. The influence of the main parameters of the process on the loss of metal at the dust discharge and evaporation of iron in the reaction zone are studied. The metal pulverization due to floating CO bubbles is evaluated. This pulverization is determined by the rate at which they rise to the bath surface. The characteristic features of the temperature regime of the reaction zone and the heat balance upon the addition of fuel to the oxygen flow are determined. The addition of fuel to oxygen makes it possible to increase the heat input into the bath, while reducing the rate of decarburization. This favors the reduction in the amount of discharged dust formed at the rupture and crushing of metal films by gas bubbles. The influence of using combustion product oxygen on the oxidation of metal impurities is considered. The blowing of carbon and alloyed steel for mill rollers is used as an example to show that the main qualities of gas-oxygen blowing are the decomposition degrees of CO2 and H2O in the bath. These indicators determine the oxidizing and heating properties of the air blast. The change in the total, consumed heat and its losses with exhaust gases are evaluated, depending on the degree, to which the oxygen flow is diluted with natural gas (methane). In these conditions, the use of submersible combustion torches with the change in their oxidizing ability makes it possible to solve various process tasks, including the provision of an efficient procedure of reducing dust emission in the converter process.

Nature of Dust and Smoke Generation at Gas-Oxygen Blowing in a Converter Bath

Linz-Donawitz (LD) or BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) Slag produced in the LD Process during steelmaking is one of the major threats to the steel producers worldwide. In general, BOF Slag undergoes phys...

Chandramouli Sarkar

Papers

Nonmetallic LD slag fines – opportunities by invoking chemistry

Geotechnical cleaning of groundwater using reject of iron ore slime (RIOS)