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A non‐invasive γ‐ray emission system, employing eight NaI detectors, has been developed to follow the motion of a single radioactive particle in a three‐dimensional spouted bed reactor. The count‐rates measured simultaneously by the detectors are converted into tracer coordinates (x, y, z) using a pre‐established calibration model which accounts for every physical and geometrical aspects involved in the spouting facility. Typically four hundred thousands successive coordinates, obtained over 3.5 hours of particle tracking, are used for determining the average particle velocity field and other hydrodynamic quantities such as the cycle time distribution, the spout shape and the solid exchange distribution at the spout boundary, which could not be evaluated accurately using any available techniques.

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Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of composting or simple addition of compost to the mineralization of n-hexadecane, pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene in soil. Soil (contaminated or clean) was composted with maple leaves and alfalfa. Samples from different composting phases were spiked with radiolabeled and cold n-hexadecane, pyrene or benzo(a)pyrene, placed in aerated microcosms at different temperatures, and monitored for mineralization. It was determined that neither composting nor the addition of compost had any effect on n-alkane or benzo(a)pyrene mineralization. In contrast, the pyrene mineralization rate increased dramatically with the amount of time that soil had been composted. Highest pyrene mineralization rates and extents (more than 60% after 20 days) were obtained when pyrene was in contact with composted soil from the curing stage. Neither thermophiles (55 degrees C) nor fungi were responsible for pyrene mineralization.

in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com)Solid particles flow in a conical spouted bed is characterized by radioactive particle tracking. The influence of operating conditions on key parameters of this flow is evaluated and discussed: the morphology of the solid bed is not strongly influenced by the forces exerted by the gas on the solid particles, but rather by geometrical considerations; the particles spend approximately 8% of their time in the spout in all experiments; it is the force exerted on the solid particles by the gas that directly controls the volumetric flow rate between adjacent regions, and not the amount of particles in the bed; as U/U ms increases, the volume of solid particles in the annulus decreases, the volume of solid particles in the fountain increases and the volume of solid particles in the spout remains constant. Correlations to predict key flow parameters as functions of operating conditions are also established and discussed. V C 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 26-37, 2016 Figure 1. Specific parameters of a static conical bed and an operating conical spouted bed.Figure 3. Time evolution of the z coordinate of the tracer position during a typical experiment. Detection of the transition times when the tracer enters each region (H 0 5 20 cm and U/U ms 5 1.18).

The addition of composted PAH-contaminated soil to PAH-contaminated soil spiked with 14C-labeled pyrene resulted in rapid mineralization of pyrene (more than 57% after 21 days compared with 3.4% in un-amended soil). The addition of the humic acid fraction of the composted soil also increased the mineralization potential of the soil significantly, but to a lesser extent (37.5% mineralization after 106 days compared with 20.6% in unamended soil). Increasing the humic acid concentration increased mineralization up to a maximum of more than three times the unamended rate, after which the rate of pyrene mineralization decreased, possibly due to inhibitory pH or concentrations of salts. The amendment of PAH-contaminated soil with materials containing humic acids or humic acid extracts is suggested as a method of bioremediation.