Browsing by Author "Calabrò, Vincenza"

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Crossed analysis by T-history and Turbiscan for the characterization of PCM with Glauber salt
(2016-12-20) De Paola, Maria Gabriela; De Simone, Marilena; Arcuri, Natale; Calabrò, Vincenza
The Glauber salt (sodium sulfate decahydrate) is a low-cost Phase Change Material (PCM) with promising characteristics. It offers economic and environmental advantages since it can be recovered as a waste product from the lead battery disposal. However, sub-cooling and phase segregation problems [1] require the addition of appropriate additives capable to reduce the melting temperatures as well as the latent heat [2]. These mixtures are dispersions, heterogeneous systems, for which the T-history method [3] seems to be more suitable respect to the traditional DSC, due to the major and more significant sampling. On the other hand, these systems are not thermodynamically stable and need more detailed information on the kinetics of destabilization. With this aim, the authors propose the analysis by using Turbiscan, an instrument commonly used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sector since it allows identification of slow and not visible phenomena that precede the dispersion destabilization [4]. Also the integration of the characterization by this method could provide further information on the effectiveness of the additives addition and on the method of samples preparation.
Dinamiche fisiologiche e molecolari in Arthrospira maxima durante il trattamento con glifosato e microplastiche
(2021-12-12) Nisticò, Dante; Angelone, Tommaso; Mazzuca, Silvia; Calabrò, Vincenza
Experimental & simulation analysis of reforming reactions of bio-fuels in both membrane and fixed bed reactors for hydrogen production
(2011) Liguori, Simona; de Cindio, Bruno; Calabrò, Vincenza; Basile, Angelo
Light scattering methods to test inorganic PCMs for application in buildings
(IOP, 2017) De Paola, Maria Gabriela; Calabrò, Vincenza; De Simone, Marilena
Thermal performance and stability over time are key parameters for the characterization and application of PCMs in the building sector. Generally, inorganic PCMs are dispersions of hydrated salts and additives in water that counteract phase segregation phenomena and subcooling. Traditional methods or in “house” methods can be used for evaluating thermal properties, while stability can be estimated over time by using optical techniques. By considering this double approach, in this work thermal and structural analyses of Glauber salt based composite PCMs are conducted by means of non-conventional equipment: T-history method (thermal analysis) and Turbiscan (stability analysis). Three samples with the same composition (Glauber salt with additives) were prepared by using different sonication times and their thermal performances were compared by testing both the thermal cycling and the thermal properties. The stability of the mixtures was verified by the identification of destabilization phenomena, the evaluation of the migration velocities of particles and the estimation of variation of particle size.
Optimization of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass
(2011-11-28) Verardi, Alessandra; Calabrò, Vincenza; De Bari, Isabella; De Cindio, Bruno
Preparation and characterization of PCM from Glauber salt recoverable from the disposal of lead batteries
(2016-12-20) De Paola, Maria Gabriela; Arcuri, Natale; Calabrò, Vincenza; De Simone, Marilena
Glauber salt (sodium sulfate decahydrate) is a promising phase change material (PCM) to use in the building sector, thanks to the high enthalpy of fusion associated with a proper phase transition temperature. Also it offers economic and environmental advantages because it can be obtained as by product from the disposal process of lead batteries. However the Glauber salt, due to phenomena of phase segregation and subcooling, cannot be used in the pure state but requires the addition of rheological modifiers and nucleating agents. In this work the thermal performances of mixtures based on Glauber salt with different compositions are compared by using T-history method, by adopting sonication for mixing, and following the same preparation procedure for all the samples. Fixed the composition, also the effects of the sequence of addition of the reagents is examined. The analysis carried out by Turbiscan allowed to identify the kinetic of destabilization of each sample and revealed the need to specify in detail the preparation stages of PCM in order to make the composition reproducible in laboratory and on a wider scale.
Processi di separazione, estrazione e bioconversione nella produzione di biocombustibili da micro alghe
(2014-10-28) Lopresto, Catia Giovanna; Pagnotta, Leonardo; Arcuri, Natale; Calabrò, Vincenza
Processi di trattamento di reflui e materiali di scarto
(2017-12-07) Albo, Laura; Canonaco, Marcello; Calabrò, Vincenza
Renewable Energy iDriven low cost .membrane for water purification and Reclamation
(Università della Calabria, 2020-05-26) Mukherjee, Debolina; Cerra, Maria Carmela; Calabrò, Vincenza
Industrial wastewater is the aqueous discard that results from substances having been dissolved or suspended in water, typically during the use of water in an industrial manufacturing process or the cleaning activities that take place along with that process. The wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater may be reused or released to a sanitary sewer or to a surface water in the environment. Inorganic effluents are produced from various industries, including textile, electroplating, paints and stainless-steel manufacturing which leads to alarming the concern to the environmental issues. These inorganic micro-pollutants are generally toxic and non-biodegradable in the environment. The majority of the inorganic micro-pollutants consist of metal ion carrying charge and this fact can be used to separate them using membranes with comparatively bigger pore size and having charge on their surface. In fact, the development of nanofiltration membranes has improved the economy of the process because they perform comparable separation at much lower pressure as compared to the reverse osmosis membranes. Therefore, the necessity of obtaining higher performance with lower cost lead to development of charged membranes for ultrafiltration to separate metal ions from industrial effluents. These membranes are gaining popularity in wastewater treatment due to their capability for electrostatic interactions between a charged membrane and metal ions, even when wide pore membranes are used. Solar energy is also being use to minimize the cost in some cases. Sunlight may provide heat for evaporative desalination processes, or for some indirect methods, convert to electricity to power a membrane process. Solar derivatives have been studied and, in some cases, implemented in small and medium scale plants around the world. Production data shows that MSF solar distillation has an output capacity of 6-60 L/m2/day versus the 3-4 L/m2/day standard output of a solar still which is why it is one of the major sources of energy to treatment of the wastewater for pure water production. Ceramic membranes have been exploited in different fields. However, in the development of these ceramic membranes, expensive commercial ceramic supports such as, alumina, Titania and zirconia are used, contributing significantly to cost of production of these membranes. Despite this shortcoming, ceramic membranes, employed as UF membranes, have been extensively used for concentrating and purifying macromolecular species in aqueous solutions. Especially, membranes with single or multiple separative layers are made by depositing the active layers on microporous supports resulting in asymmetric membrane materials with varied pore size. The present study describes the preparation, characterization and performance evaluation of three different types of ceramic membranes prepared using low cost material as support including utilization of renewable energy for the water treatment and reclamation. These fabricated membranes were employed to treat two effluent discharges from the industry and other possibility will also explored.
Thermal and Stability Investigation of Phase Change Material Dispersions for Thermal Energy Storage by T-History and Optical Methods
(MDPI, 2017-03) De Paola, Maria Gabriela; Arcuri, Natale; Calabrò, Vincenza; De Simone, Marilena De Simone
Glauber’s salt (sodium sulphate decahydrate) is a promising phase change material (PCM) for use in the building sector, thanks to its high enthalpy of fusion associated with a proper phase transition temperature. It also offers economic and environmental advantages because it can be obtained as a byproduct from the disposal process of lead batteries. However, due to phenomena of phase segregation and supercooling, Glauber’s salt cannot be used in its pure state and requires the addition of rheological modifiers and nucleating agents. In this work, the initial thermal performances of mixtures based on Glauber’s salt with different compositions are compared by using the T-history method and adopting sonication for mixing, and following the same preparation procedure for all the samples. With fixed composition, the effects of the addition sequence of the reagents are also examined. The analysis carried out by optical methods based on light scattering (Turbiscan equipment) allowed us to identify the kinetics of destabilization for each sample and revealed the need to specify in detail the preparation stages of PCMs, in order to make the composition reproducible in the laboratory and on a wider scale