The August issue of CJCE features the latest article from the Conversations in Chemical Engineering Special Series—this issue’s Editor’s Choice article—as well as a new editorial from CJCE Editor-in-Chief João B. P. Soares on the series.
Within the editorial, Dr. Soares notes the objective of this special series:
“The Conversations in Chemical Engineering special series of the CJCE features review and original articles that aim to advance our knowledge in chemical engineering while restoring an element too often missing in today’s scientific literature: readability.
The main objective of this series is to combat the current trend among authors of scientific papers that makes them write articles that seem intent on extinguishing any joy a reader might find in the act of reading.”
Dr. Soares also discusses the latest addition to this series, an article titled “Human flaws and logical tools in engineering” by André C. R. Martins of Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil:
“In this intellectually generous and quietly provocative essay, Professor Martins asks a question that resonates far beyond the modelling of chemical engineering systems: How do we think, how do we know, and how do we acknowledge what we don’t? Drawing from epistemology, cognitive science, and Bayesian reasoning, André builds a case for methodological humility—a call to reduce error, not to claim certainty—especially in the face of complex systems and limited data…André’s article is a timely and thoughtful reminder that the best science does not merely aim to predict, but to understand, to enlighten, to clarify—and to do so with honesty.”
The second issue highlight from the August issue is a review article titled “Novel techniques in bio-oil production through catalytic pyrolysis of waste biomass: Effective parameters, innovations, and techno-economic analysis” by Behnam Rezvani of University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. This article “scrutinizes catalytic pyrolysis for its ability to improve bio-oil characteristics through the use of catalysts and optimization of process conditions”, examines “critical parameters such as reaction temperature, heating rate, biomass feedstock, and catalyst type” for their “influence on bio-oil properties”, and explores “innovations in catalyst design, including the development of hierarchical zeolites, metal oxides, and bifunctional catalysts” for their “efficacy in deoxygenation, minimizing coke formation, and stabilizing bio-oil”, and more. Be sure to read this extensive review to learn more on this topic.
The next article featured in this issue is an open access article: “Optimal control of axial dispersion tubular reactors with recycle: Addressing state-delay through transport PDEs” by Behrad Moadeli, Guilherme Ozorio Cassol, and Stevan Dubljevic of University of Alberta. Within this article, “the optimal control of an axial tubular reactor with a recycle stream is addressed as a key type of setting for distributed parameter systems in chemical engineering”, and within this study, “the intrinsic time delay from the recycle process, thus far overlooked in relevant literature, is modelled as a transport partial differential equation (PDE), resulting in a system of coupled parabolic and hyperbolic PDEs.” Check out this article for more on this study.
The final issue highlight is an open access article titled “Organic alkalis as potential additives in hot water flooding for enhancing heavy oil recovery” by Xuan Du, Changfeng Xi, You Zhou, Dehuang Shen, Bojun Wang, Tong Liu, Fang Zhao, Jiu Zhao, Zongyao Qi, Lixing Lin, Georgeta Istratescu, Tayfun Babadagli, and Huazhou Andy Li. Within this article, the authors examine Alkali–surfactant–polymer (ASP), a “chemical enhanced oil recovery method”: “In this study, we investigated the feasibility of incorporating organic alkalis as chemical additives in hot water flooding to enhance heavy oil recovery. The focus was on studying the interfacial properties, that is, interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability, emulsification mechanisms, thermal stability of alkalis, and recovery efficiency through coreflooding experiments. Three organic alkalis, including diethylamine (DEA), ethanolamine (ETA), and triethlymine (TEA), were selected to evaluate their potentials in enhancing heavy oil recovery and investigate their recovery mechanisms.” Access this article for more on this study and for the results!