The August issue of CJCE features four exciting new Issue Highlight articles, all of which are open access.
The Editor’s Choice article of this issue is “Data-driven simulation of crude distillation using Aspen HYSYS and comparative machine learning models” by Aldimiro Paixão Domingos, Heleno Bispo, Thiago Vaz da Costa, and Sérgio Mauro da Silva Neiro. In this article the authors note that “crude oil refining is a complex process requiring precise modelling to optimize yield, quality, and efficiency.” The study presented in this article “integrates Aspen HYSYS® simulations with machine learning techniques to develop predictive models for key refinery variables.” The results indicate that “increasing feed temperature enhances kerosene and gasoil yields while reducing the residue fraction”, and “the study highlights the potential of combining data-driven models with process simulations to improve refinery efficiency and decision-making.”
The second Issue Highlight is “Innovative electrospun geopolymer/zeolite/PVA composite membranes”. In this article, authors Mariana Schneider, Mar Calzado-Delgado, Enrique Rodríguez-Castellón, Maria Olga Guerrero-Pérez, Dachamir Hotza, Agenor De Noni Junior, Adel Zrelli, and Regina de Fátima Peralta Muniz Moreira fabricate and characterize “innovative electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)–geopolymer–zeolite 13X composite membranes.” They note that “the optimal electrospinning solution was prepared by mixing ethanol with 8 wt.% PVA and 1 wt.% of inorganic powder (geopolymer, zeolite 13X, or geopolymer/zeolite composites containing 20 or 30 wt.% zeolite)” and “the incorporation of the inorganic fillers into the PVA matrix led to significant improvements in thermal, mechanical, and adsorption properties.” The results indicate that “even at low filler content, the hybrid membranes display enhanced multifunctional performance, making them promising candidates for separation processes, filtration, catalytic supports, and protective coatings.”
The next issue highlight is titled “A-optimal model-based design of experiments for processes with uncertain inputs” by Bright Ofori, Iman Moshiritabrizi, Anh-Duong Vo, and Kimberley B. McAuley. Within this article, the authors propose a new model-based design of experiments method: “Model-based design of experiments (MBDoE) techniques are tools for selecting experimental conditions that enable accurate parameter estimation for mechanistic models. Most MBDoE approaches assume that the selected experimental conditions will be implemented perfectly, without uncertainties in the independent variables. Unfortunately, some chemical processes have independent variables with uncertainties, which are as important as uncertainties in the process responses. In this study, a new sequential A-optimal MBDoE method is proposed, which accounts for input uncertainties when selecting new experimental conditions.”
The final issue highlight is an article titled “Precipitation of niobic acid from potassium niobate in sulphuric acid solution: A route to niobium oxide” by Cássia R. Souza, Gabriela C. Silva, Isabel P. Silva, Frederico M. Penha, and Sônia D. F. Rocha. This study “investigates the precipitation of niobic acid (Nb2O5.nH2O) from potassium niobate solution with addition of sulphuric acid, and its subsequent thermal conversion into niobium oxide (Nb2O5).” The results “emphasize the importance of supersaturation control, calcination conditions, and purification protocols in producing high-purity niobium oxide from secondary niobium sources.”
Have you accessed CJCE’s Perspectives and Conversations in Chemical Engineering virtual issue? In this virtual issue, CJCE features articles from the ongoing Perspectives in Chemical Engineering Special Series as well as the Conversations in Chemical Engineering Special Series published from 2023 to 2026. Within the August issue of CJCE, you will find CJCE Editor-in-Chief João B. P. Soares’ editorial discussing the two special series that this virtual issue brings together. Be sure to check it out while it is free to read until the end of the month!