A New Application of Solvent Extraction to Separate Copper from Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Producing Solutions for Electrochemical and Biological Recovery Processes

Over the last decade, AMD waters have gained more attention as a potential source of metals due to the emerging need to recover or recycle metals from secondary resources. Metals recovery supports sustainability and the development of a circular economy with benefits for resource conservation and the environment. In this study, five extractants (Acorga M5640, LIX 54, LIX 622, LIX 622 N, and LIX 864) diluted (15% (v/v)) in Shell GTL with 2.5% (v/v) octanol were compared and evaluated for Cu recovery from an extreme AMD sample (5.3?±?0.3 g/L Cu) collected at the inactive São Domingos Mine in the Iberian Pyrite Belt of Portugal. Of the five extractants, Acorga M5640 showed the best selective efficiency. Further tests showed that 30% (v/v) of this extractant was able to selectively extract ≈ 96.0% of the Cu from the AMD in one extraction step and all of the remaining Cu (to below detection) in three steps. Among the different stripping agents tested, 2 M sulfuric acid was the most efficient, with ≈ 99% of the Cu stripped, and the recyclability of the organic phase was confirmed in five successive cycles of extraction and stripping. Furthermore, contact time tests revealed that the extraction kinetics allows the transfer of ≈ 97% of the Cu in 15 min, and aqueous to organic phase ratios tests demonstrated a maximum loading capacity of ≈ 16 g/L Cu in the organic phase. Raising the concentration of Cu in the stripping solution (2 M sulfuric acid) to ≈ 46 g/L through successive striping steps showed the potential to recover elemental Cu using traditional electrowinning. Finally, a biological approach for Cu recovery from the stripping solution was evaluated by adding the supernatant of a sulfate-reducing bacteria culture to make different molar ratios of biogenic sulfide to copper; ratios over 1.75 resulted in precipitation of more than 95% of the Cu as covellite nanoparticles.

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Agricultural sediment reduction using natural herbaceous buffer strips: a case study of the east African highland

Buffer strips are permanently vegetated areas situated immediately adjacent to streams and provide an efficient and economical way to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural areas, but no studies exist of their effectiveness from the East African highlands. We thus evaluated the sediment filtering capabilities of natural herbaceous buffer strips under tropical highland climatic conditions. Overland flow samples were collected at field edges and at various positions in herbaceous buffers and tested for total suspended sediment, nitrate‐nitrogen and total phosphorus. There was a significant effect (P < 0.05) of distance from field edge on the mean values of nutrients. On average, a 10.0 m herbaceous buffer reduced the total phosphorus by 99%, total suspended sediment by 94% and nitrate‐nitrogen by 85%. Altogether, the results suggest that herbaceous buffer strips are important to include in watershed management in agriculturally dominated tropical highlands in order to control sediment loss, stream siltation and the washout of nutrients.     

Large-scale leaf area index inversion algorithms from high-resolution airborne imagery

Large-scale leaf area index (LAI) inversion algorithms were developed to determine the LAI of a forest located in Gatineau Park, Canada, using high-resolution colour and colour infrared (CIR) digital airborne imagery. The algorithms are parameter-independent and developed based on the principles of optical field instruments for gap fraction measurements. Cloud-free colour and CIR images were acquired on 21 August 2007 with 35 and 60 cm nominal ground pixel size, respectively. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), maximum likelihood and object-oriented classifications, and principal component analysis (PCA) methods were applied to calculate the mono-directional gap fraction. Subsequently, LAI was derived from inversion and compared with ground measurements made in 54 plots of 20 by 20 m using hemispherical photography between 10 and 20 August 2007. There was high inter-correlation (the Pearson correlation coefficient, R > 0.5, p < 0.01) among LAI values inverted using the classifications and PCA methods, but neither were highly correlated with LAI inverted from the NDVI method. LAI inverted from the NDVI-based gap fraction significantly correlated with ground-measured LAI (R?=?0.63, root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.52), while LAI inverted from the classification and PCA-derived gap fraction showed poor correlation with ground-measured LAI. Consequently, the NDVI method was used to invert LAI for the whole study area and produce a 20‐m resolution LAI map.     

Time-frequency analysis of SEMG with special consideration to the interelectrode spacing

The surface electromyogram (SEMG) is a complex, nonstationary signal. The spectrum of the SEMG is dependent on the force of contraction being generated and other factors like muscle fatigue and interelectrode distance (IED). The spectrum of the signal is time variant. This paper reports the experimental research conducted to study the influence of force of muscle contraction and IED on the SEMG signal using time-frequency (T-F) analysis. Two T-F techniques have been used: Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) and Choi-Williams distribution (CWD). The experiment was conducted with the help of ten healthy volunteers (five males and five females) who performed isometric elbow flexions of the active right arm at 20%, 50%, and 80% of their maximal voluntary contraction. The SEMG signal was recorded using surface electrodes placed at a distance of 18 and 36 mm over biceps brachii muscle. The results indicate that the two distributions were spread out across the frequency range at smaller IED. Further, regardless of the spacing, both distributions displayed increased spectral compression with time at higher contraction level.     

Identification of system vulnerabilities in the Ethiopian electric power system

The Ethiopian Electric Power(EEP) has been operating and managing the national interconnected power system with dispersed and geographically isolated generators, a complex transmission system and loads. In recent years, with an increasing load demand due to rural electrification and industrialization, the Ethiopian power system has faced more frequent, widely spread and long lasting blackouts. To slash the occurrence of such incidents, identifying the system vulnerabilities is the first step in this direction. In this paper, the vulnerability assessment is performed using indices called active power performance index(PIp) and voltage performance index(PIv). These indices provide a direct means of comparing the relative severity of the different line outages on the system loads and voltage profiles. Accordingly, it is found that the most severe line outages are those lines that interconnect the high load centered(Addis Ababa and Central regions) with the rest of the regional power systems. In addition, the most vulnerable buses of the network in respect of voltage limit violations are mainly found at the high load centers.     

Transparent electrodes based on conducting polymers for display applications

The materials science and engineering related to the fabrication of conducting polymer thin films and the progress in the development of devices integrated with organic transparent electrodes based on conducting polymers for display applications are reviewed. Transparent electrodes are essential components for many display modules. With the evolution of display technologies, conducting polymers are recently emerging as important alternative materials for the fabrication of transparent electrodes. Conducting polymers offer some advantages, such as light weight, low cost, mechanical flexibility and excellent compatibility with plastic substrates for the development of next-generation display technologies and, in particular, are expected to play an important role in the development of flexible display technologies.     

Normalized sensitivity measures for leaf area index estimation using three-band spectral vegetation indices

A great number of spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) have been developed to estimate key biophysical parameters such as leaf area index (LAI). Considerable interest is often given to the local optimization, performance analysis and sensitivity of each spectral band and SVI for LAI estimation given that several confounding factors are present. In this regard, inclusion of shortwave infrared (SWIR) reflectance in traditionally near-infrared (NIR)-red (R)-based SVIs has played a great role for local optimization and increased sensitivity of SVIs to LAI. This study presents the enhanced and normalized sensitivity functions for evaluating (1) the sensitivity of each spectral band and SVI to LAI and (2) the generic performance analysis of empirical model to estimate LAI based on the SVIs. Several alternatives for three-band (NIR-R-SWIR) SVI modifications have been recommended and proven to be simplistic and unbiased way of local optimization.     

Modeling fatigue crack and spalling for rolling die under hot milling

In hot milling process, rolling die is subjected to nonsteady conditions which can rise the combinations of fatigue and spalling damage mechanism. An understanding about the failure mechanism of the rolling die is essential under hot rolling process. Fatigue crack growth and spalling process are governed by highly concentrated strain and stress in the crack tip region. Based on the theory of elastic‐plastic fracture mechanics, an analytical model are presented in this paper to determine the elliptical crack growth rate and spalling damage mechanism. The model includes new proposed constitutive equations for fatigue and spalling crack growth. To verify the models, finite element simulation and experimental data are considered. The results show good agreement with finite element simulation and experimental data.