The segmentation and intelligent recognition of structural surfaces in borehole images based on the U2-Net network.

Structural planes decrease the strength and stability of rock masses, severely affecting their mechanical properties and deformation and failure characteristics. Therefore, investigation and analysis of structural planes are crucial tasks in mining rock mechanics. The drilling camera obtains image information of deep structural planes of rock masses through high-definition camera methods, providing important data sources for the analysis of deep structural planes of rock masses. This paper addresses the problems of high workload, low efficiency, high subjectivity, and poor accuracy brought about by manual processing based on current borehole image analysis and conducts an intelligent segmentation study of borehole image structural planes based on the U2-Net network. By collecting data from 20 different borehole images in different lithological regions, a dataset consisting of 1,013 borehole images with structural plane type, lithology, and color was established. Data augmentation methods such as image flipping, color jittering, blurring, and mixup were applied to expand the dataset to 12,421 images, meeting the requirements for deep network training data. Based on the PyTorch deep learning framework, the initial U2-Net network weights were set, the learning rate was set to 0.001, the training batch was 4, and the Adam optimizer adaptively adjusted the learning rate during the training process. A dedicated network model for segmenting structural planes was obtained, and the model achieved a maximum F-measure value of 0.749 when the confidence threshold was set to 0.7, with an accuracy rate of up to 0.85 within the range of recall rate greater than 0.5. Overall, the model has high accuracy for segmenting structural planes and very low mean absolute error, indicating good segmentation accuracy and certain generalization of the network. The research method in this paper can serve as a reference for the study of intelligent identification of structural planes in borehole images.

Recent advances in catalytic oxidation of VOCs by two-dimensional ultra-thin nanomaterials.

Catalytic oxidation, an end-of-pipe treatment technology for effectively purifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs), has received widespread attention. The crux of catalytic oxidation lies in the development of efficient catalysts, with their optimization necessitating a comprehensive analysis of the catalytic reaction mechanism. Two-dimensional (2D) ultra-thin nanomaterials offer significant advantages in exploring the catalytic oxidation mechanism of VOCs due to their unique structure and properties. This review classifies strategies for regulating catalytic properties and typical applications of 2D materials in VOCs catalytic oxidation, in addition to their characteristics and typical characterization techniques. Furthermore, the possible reaction mechanism of 2D Co-based and Mn-based oxides in the catalytic oxidation of VOCs is analyzed, with a special focus on the synergistic effect between oxygen and metal vacancies. The objective of this review is to provide valuable references for scholars in the field.

δ-MnO2 decorated layered double oxides in-situ grown on nickel foam towards electrothermal catalysis of n-heptane.

Energy-saving and efficient monolithic catalysts are hotspots of catalytic purification of industrial gaseous pollutants. Here, we have developed an electrothermal catalytic mode, in which the ignition temperature required for the reaction is provided by Joule heat generated when the current flows through the catalyst. In this paper, Mn/NiAl/NF, Mn/NiFe/NF and Mn/NF metal-based monolithic catalysts were prepared using nickel foam (NF) as the carrier for thermal and electrothermal catalysis of n-heptane. The results indicated that Mn-based monolithic catalysts exhibit high activity in thermal and electrothermal catalysis. Mn/NiFe/NF achieve conversion of n-heptane more than 99% in electrothermal catalysis under a direct-current (DC) power of 6 W, and energy-saving is 54% compared with thermal catalysis. In addition, the results indicated that the introduction of NiAl (or NiFe) greatly enhanced the catalytic activity of Mn/NF, which attributed to the higher specific surface area, Mn3+/Mn4+, Ni3+/Ni2+, adsorbed oxygen species (Oads)/lattice oxygen species (Olatt), redox performance of the catalyst. Electrothermal catalytic activity was significantly higher than thermal catalytic activity before complete conversion, which may be related to electronic effects. Besides, Mn/NiFe/NF has good cyclic and long-term stability in electrothermal catalysis. This paper provided a theoretical basis for applying electrothermal catalysis in the field of VOCs elimination.

Mesoporous molecular sieve-based materials for catalytic oxidation of VOC: A review.

As the main contributor of the formation of particulate matter as well as ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) greatly affect human health and the environmental quality. Catalytic combustion/oxidation has been viewed as an efficient, economically feasible and environmentally friendly way for the elimination of VOCs. Supported metal catalyst is the preferred type of catalysts applied for VOCs catalytic combustion because of the synergy between active components and support as well as its flexibility in the composition. The presence of support not only plays the role of keeping the catalyst with good stability and mechanical strength, but also provides a large specific surface for the good dispersion of active components, which could effectively improve the performance of catalyst as well as decrease the usage of active components, especially the noble metal amount. Mesoporous molecular sieves, owing to their large surface area, unique porous structures, large pore size as well as uniform pore-size distribution, were viewed as superior support for dispersing active components. This review focuses on the recent development of mesoporous molecular sieve supported metal catalysts and their application in catalytic oxidation of VOCs. The effect of active component types, support structure, preparation method, precursors, etc. on the valence state, dispersion as well as the loading of active species were also discussed and summarized. Moreover, the corresponding conversion route of VOCs was also addressed. This review aims to provide some enlightment for designing the supported metal catalysts with superior activity and stability for VOCs removal.

The mechanism of metal-based antibacterial materials and the progress of food packaging applications: A review.

Food packages have been detected carrying novel coronavirus in multi-locations since the outbreak of COVID-19, causing major concern in the field of food safety. Metal-based supported materials are widely used for sterilization due to their excellent antibacterial properties as well as low biological resistance. As the principal part of antibacterial materials, the active component, commonly referred to Ag, Cu, Zn, etc., plays the main role in inhibiting and killing pathogenic microorganisms by destroying the structure of cells. As another composition of metal-based antibacterial materials, the carrier could support and disperse the active component, which on one hand, could effectively decrease the usage amount of active component, on the other hand, could be processed into various forms to broaden the application range of antibacterial materials. Different from other metal-based antibacterial reviews, in order to highlight the detailed function of various carriers, we divided the carriers into biocompatible and adsorptable types and discussed their different antibacterial effects. Moreover, a novel substitution antibacterial mechanism was proposed. The coating and shaping techniques of metal-based antibacterial materials as well as their applications in food storage at ambient and low temperatures are also comprehensively summarized. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and reference for researchers in this field to develop new metal-based antibacterial materials.

Air pollutant emission and reduction potentials from the sintering process of the iron and steel industry in China in 2017.

The iron and steel industry (ISI) is one of the most energy-intensive industries in China, which makes a substantial contribution to the emissions of air pollutants. Among the various manufacturing processes, sintering is the major emitting process, which shares over half of the emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) for the entire industry. In this study we made a comprehensive evaluation of the air pollutant emissions from the sintering process of China's ISI in 2017 based on the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) database and estimated the future reduction potentials. We found that there was a general decreasing trend of emission concentrations in the sintering flue gas in response to the strengthened emission control policies, but the mild increase of the oxygen content in the second half of the year flattened the decreasing trend, indicating the necessity for simultaneous control of the oxygen content in the flue gas. Despite the relative high standard-reaching rates of 90% to the emission concentration limits in GB 28662-2012, the standard-reaching rates to the ultra-low emission standards were only 12%, 40% and 27% for NOx, SO2 and PM respectively, with the lowest value mostly occurred in the western provinces. In 2017, the NOx, SO2 and PM emissions from the sintering process were 378.6 kt, 169.0 kt and 51.9 kt, respectively. If the ultra-low emission standards were met, the corresponding NOx, SO2 and PM emissions would decrease by 69.9%, 52.9%, and 56.4% respectively, illustrating large emission reducing potentials by achieving the ultra-low emission standards.

Application of MCM-48 with large specific surface area for VOCs elimination: synthesis and hydrophobic functionalization for highly efficient adsorption.

MCM-48 molecular sieve with a large specific area (1470.87 m2/g) was hydrothermally synthesized for VOCs elimination by the adsorption method. The dynamic adsorption behaviors of toluene on this material were evaluated via breakthrough curves under both dry and wet conditions. A high toluene adsorption capacity of 171.13 mg/g was observed under dry conditions; however, in the presence of water vapor (20% RH), the adsorption capacity greatly decreased to 58.88 mg/g due to the competitive occupation of adsorption sites between water molecules and toluene molecules. To improve the affinity to toluene, functionalized MCM-48 materials were obtained by the co-condensation method and grafting method, respectively. It was found that co-M48(1:5)-100/48 sample by co-condensation method presents the highest dynamic adsorption capacity at both dry condition (194.62 mg/g) and 20% RH (122.42 mg/g), which has a significant advantage in the same type of adsorbent. This could be ascribed to the conjugated π-electrons effect between aromatic rings of phenyl groups uniformly distributed in MCM-48 skeleton and toluene molecules, which was qualitatively confirmed by FTIR. Moreover, cycle tests confirmed that this adsorbent possesses superior stability. The Yoon-Nelson model was successfully employed to describe the dynamic adsorption behavior of toluene over the organofunctionalized MCM-48 adsorbents, and the adsorption force of toluene was explained. Finally, a diagram describing the effect of different functionalization methods on the hydrophobicity and organophilicity of MCM-48 was given for a better understanding.

Trends in air pollutant emissions from the sintering process of the iron and steel industry in the Fenwei Plain and surrounding regions in China, 2014-2017.

China is the largest iron and steel producer and consumer in the world. The iron and steel manufacture, especially the sintering process, is energy-intensive, and contributes substantially to air pollutant emissions in China. Compared with other regions, the Fenwei Plain, a coal base, has a heavy industry concentration, and high pollutant emission total amount. In addition, urban air pollution has rebounded, and the pollutants concentrations in many cities have increased rather than decreased. In this study, we investigated the inter-annual trends of particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the sintering process of iron and steel industry (ISI) in the Fenwei Plain and the surrounding regions in China from 2014 to 2017 based on the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS). We found that the oxygen content of the flue gas is the key to judge whether the sintering flue gas air pollutant emission concentration can meet the standard. Therefore, we adopted the converted concentration by the reference oxygen content in the final analysis. Overall, the SO2 and PM emission concentrations exhibit a downward trend from 2014 to 2017, in response to the strengthening of the emission control policies and standards in the ISI, whereas the NOx emission concentration did not change significantly during the same period The emission factors (EFs) of PM, NOx and SO2 obtained in this study are lower than previous estimates. In 2017, the SO2 and PM emissions were 27% and 32% lower than the levels in 2014.While NOx was 22% higher than the level in 2014. Our study confirmed the effectiveness of current emission control policies and standards in the iron and steel sector. However, the levels of NOx emissions were still high until 2017, illustrating the urgent need for more advanced emission control technologies to further reduce NOx emissions from the sintering flue gas in China.

Simultaneous removal of gaseous CO and elemental mercury over Cu-Co modified activated coke at low temperature.

Cu-Co multiple-oxides modified on HNO3-pretreated activated coke (ACN) were optimized for the simultaneous removal of gaseous CO and elemental mercury (Hg0) at low temperature (< 200 °C). It was found that 2%CuOx-10%CoOx/ACN catalyst calcined at 400°C resulted in the coexistence of complex oxides including CuO, Cu2O, Co3O4, Co2O3 and CoO phases, which might be good for the simultaneous catalytic oxidation of CO by Co-species and removal of Hg0 by Cu-species, benefiting from the synergistic catalysis during the electro-interaction between Co and Cu cations (CoO ⇌ Co3O4 and Cu2O ⇌ CuO). The catalysis removal of CO oxidation was obviously depended on the reaction temperature obtaining 94.7% at 200 °C, while no obvious promoting effect on the Hg0 removal (68.3%-78.7%). These materials were very substitute for the removal of CO and Hg° from the flue gas with the conditions of 8-20 vol.% O2 and flue-gas temperature below 200 °C. The removal of Hg° followed the combination processes of adsorption and catalytic oxidation reaction via Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, while the catalysis of CO abided by the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism with lattice oxygen species.

Enhancement effects of ultrasound assisted in the synthesis of NiAl hydrotalcite for carbonyl sulfide removal.

Ultrasonic effect in the synthesis of catalysts of NiAl oxides prepared starting from the coprecipitation method of a hydrotalcite structure was evaluated in this work. Removal of carbonyl sulfide (COS) at low temperature over the hydrotalcite-derived oxides was studied. The samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), N2 adsorption/desorption techniques, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). It is found that hydrotalcite treated with ultrasonic has smaller average crystallite size and higher particle dispersion compared to hydrotalcite without ultrasonic treatment. As a result, mixed oxides derived from hydrotalcite treated with ultrasonic show more developed pore structure which is good for the physical adsorption of gaseous pollutant. The result of desulfuration test showed that removal efficiency of COS on the NiAl mixed oxides prepared by ultrasonic method (30min) is greater than that on the catalyst prepared without the ultrasonic irradiation assistance with the same aging time. One important reason for the high activity is that when the ultrasonic is used the number of weak basic sites (OH(-) groups) and moderate basic sites (M-O) was increased, whereas the number of strong basic sites (O(2-)) was decreased. Therefore, ultrasonic treatment promoted the COS hydrolysis and suppress the poisoning of the catalyst.