Nanosecond Laser Fabrication of Novel Micro-/Nanostructured Metal Surfaces: A Dual-Functional Supersurface Combining Antireflectivity and Superhydrophobic Properties.

The research and applications in the field of micro/nano surface manufacturing are progressively shifting their focus toward multifunctional surfaces. In practical applications, objects often need to operate under demanding environmental conditions, and single-function surfaces have inherent limitations in terms of performance, adaptability, and longevity. In this paper, a micro-/nanolayered structural strategy with dual functions of ultrahigh antireflective properties and superhydrophobicity was created on the surface of titanium alloy by using nanosecond pulsed laser processing, and two structural modes of periodic honeycomb and lattice with controllable shapes were designed. In addition, the morphology and formation mechanism of multilevel micro-/nanostructures were investigated in depth, combining laser texturization and silanization of substrate microstructures. The effects of the micro-/nanostructured morphology on the reflection and wettability properties were evaluated with different pulse widths and lateral overlap index. This study also demonstrated that water droplets exhibit excellent bouncing and rolling behavior on superhydrophobic surfaces, further verifying the excellent hydrophobic properties of the prepared samples. Furthermore, in addressing the challenges of susceptibility to dust contamination and performance degradation in extreme environments associated with antireflective surfaces, a series of durability and mechanical stability tests were conducted on controllability periodic micro-/nanostructured surfaces. Successfully meeting this challenge will open up great potential and opportunities for significant improvements in equipment performance and stable operation under extreme operating conditions.

Analysis of the mixing performance of a full-scale membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment.

High energy consumption remains to be a key problem for application of membrane bioreactor (MBR). Optimization of MBR to save energy requires a compressive understanding of the performance of the reactor, among which the mixing performance is a significant parameter, however received little attention. In this study, a tracer experiment was carried out in a full-scale MBR for municipal wastewater treatment in China. The mixing performance of both the entire plant and the membrane tanks were evaluated. The entire plant was found to be a cascade of 2.15 continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) with 8.02% of dead zones. The membrane tanks were also found to deviate from CSTR. The mixing energy was analyzed and compared with literature data from three aspects: the specific power used per unit of tank volume (Ps,v), per unit of permeate volume (Ps,p), and per unit of membrane area (Ps,m).

Hydraulic optimization of membrane bioreactor via baffle modification using computational fluid dynamics.

Baffles are a key component of an airlift membrane bioreactor (MBR), which could enhance membrane surface shear for fouling control. In order to obtain an optimal hydraulic condition of the reactor, the effects of baffle location and size were systematically explored in this study. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the hydrodynamics in a bench-scale airlift flat sheet MBR with various baffle locations and sizes. Validated simulation results showed that side baffles were more effective in elevating membrane surface shear than front baffles. The maximum average shear stress was achieved by adjusting baffle size when both front and side baffles were installed. With the optimized baffle configuration, the shear stress was 10-30% higher than that without baffles at a same aeration intensity (specific air demand per membrane area in the range of 0-0.45m(3)m(-2)h(-1)). The effectiveness of baffles was particularly prominent at lower aeration intensities.

[Determination of kinetic parameters of activated sludge in an MBR wastewater treatment plant].

One of the main problems in application of MBR technology is lack of reliable kinetic parameters for process design. The activated sludge in the aerobic tank of an MBR municipal wastewater treatment plant was investigated therefore. Using oxygen utilization rate method, following kinetic parameters were measured: heterotrophic yield coefficient YH = 0.693, autotrophic yield coefficient Y(A) = 0.263, heterotrophic decay coefficient KdH, = 0.108 d(-1), autotrophic yield coefficient KdA = 0.089 d(-1), specific maximum COD removal rate v(mS), = 1.94 mg x (mg x d)(-1), half saturation constant for COD removal K(S) = 34.6 mg x L(-1), specific maximum ammonia removal rate vmN = 0.18 mg x (mg x d)(-1), half saturation constant for ammonia removal K(N) = 1.06 mg x L(-1). Compared with the normal reported data of conventional activated sludge process (CAS), Y(H), KdH obtained are higher and vmS, vmN are lower. The high sludge concentration condition of MBR process may account for those differences.