A total of seven anthocyanin pigments were observed in both paper and thin layer chromatograms of the fresh and freeze-dried compressed samples stored for O month whereas the freeze-dried compressed samples stored at 70 F and 100 F for 6 months showed the retention of three to six pigments. All of those seven pigments were unstable and cyanidin-3- (2G- xylosylrutinoside) was the least stable pigment. The separation of anthocyanina by disc gel electrophoresis was studied for the first time. Disc electropherograms of fresh and freeze-dried com-pressed sour cherries stored at O month revealed the presence of eight bands whereas the freeze-dried compressed sour cherries stored at 70 F and 100 F for 6 months showed the retention of three to four bands. In further study, this technique could be helpful for the separation of anthocyanins in other fruits. The study indicated that the fresh samples had anthocyanin content higher than those of the freeze-dried compressed samples stored at 70 F and 100 F for 6 months and also showed that the degradation of anthocyanins is greater at the higher storage temperature with longer storage periods.

Since 1905 when Professor Henry C. Taylor opened the area of economies of scale for discussion with his observations on the variables affecting farm size, agricultural economists have been concerned with scale of plant in agriculture. Considerable study and discussion have not resolved many of the questions raised in this area, but a basic framework has been constructed which can be used as a planning tool in the efficient organization and operation of plants of various sizes under given conditions.

No description available.

No description available.

Two endemic late-season grape rot diseases, ripe rot and sour rot continue to pose a significant challenge to grape growers in Virginia and similar climates. Managing these diseases in the vineyard is challenging due to concerns over the increased risk of resistance against traditional single-site mode of action pesticides. This study evaluated the efficacy of different biopesticides and novel chemical options with a series of field trials across four vineyards in northern Virginia in 2021 and 2022. Among the tested products, a potassium-based nutrient formulation resulted in consistent ripe rot suppression in two of the three trials, showing around 46% and 83% less mean disease severity at the AHS AREC trial in 2022 and 2021, respectively, and 63% and 19% less mean disease incidence at the South Loudoun trial in 2021 and AHS AREC trial in 2022. For sour rot, zeta-cypermethrin with cyprodinil + fludioxonil or hydrogen peroxide + peroxyacetic acid resulted in effective control in two of the five trials, with a high of 71% and 73% less mean disease incidence compared to the untreated check in the Frederick trial in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In general, treatments with spinosad were less effective and resulted in lower disease control compared to those with zeta-cypermethrin and its fungicides/antimicrobials counterpart. The results suggest that integrating these biopesticides and novel chemicals into a spray program could offer a more sustainable solution for sour rot and ripe rot disease management without compromising the level of disease control. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Ripe rot and sour rot are two diseases of concern for growers in Virginia and many other grape-growing regions due to significant losses in fresh cluster yield and the risk of contamination during the winemaking process. Traditional pesticides are often used; however, the breakdown of the effectiveness of these pesticides after continuous application, i.e., pesticide resistance, has become a critical issue. The other issues include, but are not limited to, adverse effects on human health, nature, and winemaking. On the other hand, biopesticides derived from microorganisms, their products, plant extracts, etc., are considered relatively safer and more sustainable options. This study evaluated the efficacy of biopesticides and novel chemicals against ripe rot and sour rot through field trials over two years at four locations in northern Virginia. Although no clear-cut winners were among the tested treatments, one of the tested chemicals (a potassium-based plant nutrient formulation) provided consistent disease suppression (up to 83%) against ripe rot. In the case of sour rot, several treatments, including a biologically derived insecticide, produced comparable disease suppression (up to 73%) compared to the current standard application. These safer options can be included in the spray schedule without compromising the level of disease control, meanwhile aiding the sustainability of the spray program in the long run.

This diploma thesis is focused on comparison of results from simulations programs ProMax and PRO/II. Both simulation models were based on a sour water stripping unit according to a project of CBI Lummus s.r.o. The thesis also includes a theroretical part deals with technology of sour water stripping.

Os grandes campos de petróleo offshore recentemente descobertos na camada pré-sal, localizada no sudeste do Brasil, representam um avanço significativo da participação brasileira nas reservas mundiais de hidrocarbonetos, que ainda são a principal matriz energética mundial. Nesse cenário, torna-se importante o desenvolvimento da produção desses campos. Um dos principais desafios tecnológicos da exploração desses campos é o processamento do gás natural associado, que possui altos teores de dióxido de carbono CO2. Esse contaminante deve ser separado para possibilitar a injeção no reservatório e/ou o escoamento desse gás através de dutos submarinos, dadas as restrições na legislação ambiental. Nas plantas de processamento instaladas no convés de grandes embarcações, são previstas instalações para a separação do CO2 e a remoção de umidade do gás a fim de evitar a formação de hidratos e a corrosão acentuada das linhas de escoamento, pois tanto a injeção quanto a exportação do gás são realizadas em condições de pressão e temperaturas extremas. Nesse contexto, o conhecimento acurado das condições em que se forma uma fase aquosa líquida é importante para garantir a viabilidade técnica e de segurança dessas operações. Considerando a relevância do assunto e as limitações da literatura para os cenários enfrentados no pré-sal brasileiro, esse trabalho tem o objetivo de fazer um estudo abrangente do equilíbrio de fases em sistemas contendo hidrocarbonetos em fase gasosa com altos teores de CO2 e traços de água, visando à obtenção de modelo para cálculo do ponto de orvalho da água. O uso de modelos rigorosos baseado na teoria dos fluidos associativos (PC-SAFT) mostrou-se adequado para o cálculo das condições de saturação em amplas faixas de pressão e temperatura. Com base em dados experimentais publicados foi possível fazer um ajuste preciso dos parâmetros de interação binária da equação de estado PC-SAFT. Como resultado, obteve-se um modelo capaz de descrever o comportamento de fases em misturas de hidrocarbonetos com composição próxima das encontradas no pré-sal brasileiro. / The giant offshore petroleum fields recently discovered in the pre-salt layer on the southeast of Brazil represent a significant increment in the Brazilian share of the global hydrocarbon reserves, which is still the most important energetic matrix. In this scenario, the development of production for these petroleum fields becomes important. One of the main technological challenges posed by these fields is the processing of the associated gas, which contains high amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). Due to environmental laws, this contaminant must be separated to allow the injection back into the reservoir and/or the gas flow through subsea pipelines. The gas processing plants installed on large vessels comprise facilities that remove CO2 and moisture from natural gas, to prevent hydrate formation and severe corrosion throughout the pipelines, as both gas injection and gas exportation are performed in extreme pressure and temperature conditions. Thus, the accurate knowledge of conditions in which aqueous liquid phases are formed is important to ensure the technical viability and operational safety of these operations. Considering the relevance of this subject and the limitations of published works for the Brazilian pre-salt scenario, this work presents a comprehensive study on the phase equilibrium in systems with hydrocarbons in gas phase with high content of CO2 and traces of water, aiming at developing a model to calculate the dew point of water. The use of a rigorous method based on the associating fluid theory (PCSAFT) has shown to be appropriate to calculate the saturation condition for a large range of pressure and temperature. Based on the experimental data published, the fitting of the binary interaction parameter from the PC-SAFT equation of state was carried out. The resulting model was able to describe the phase behavior of hydrocarbon mixture with composition similar to those found in the Brazilian pre-salt.

Aços de alta resistência e baixa liga (ARBL) têm sido bastante utilizados na fabricação de tubulações para o transporte de petróleo e gás. Entretanto, o uso destes materiais em meios com elevadas concentrações de H2S, denominados sour, tem resultado em falhas frequentes, devido à suscetibilidade destes materiais ao desenvolvimento do fenômeno de trincamento induzido pelo hidrogênio (Hydrogen Induced Cracking - HIC), assim como devido a problemas de corrosão. O desenvolvimento de diferentes processos tecnológicos para a produção de tubos de aços ARBL, tais como a laminação controlada e resfriamento acelerado, a adição de microligantes, assim como a diminuição do teor de enxofre, fósforo, carbono e manganês, tem levado à elaboração de materiais com propriedades mecânicas otimizadas, permitindo também um melhor controle da microestrutura. As perdas de dureza e resistência mecânica devidas à redução do teor de manganês, são compensadas pela adição de elementos como cromo e nióbio. Neste trabalho estão sendo comparadas a resistência à corrosão e os parâmetros de permeabilidade do hidrogênio de dois tubos de aço API 5L X65 e uma chapa API 5L X65, todos do tipo ARBL e com baixo manganês (0,27%) e alto nióbio (0,083% a 0,090%), na solução B da norma NACE, TM-0284 (2011). Para isto, foram realizados ensaios de potencial de circuito aberto (Open Circuit Potential - OCP), espectroscopia de impedância eletroquímica (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy - EIS) e curvas de polarização potenciodinâmicas no eletrólito naturalmente aerado, desaerado e saturado com H2S. Os testes de permeabilidade do hidrogênio foram realizados com base na norma ASTM INTERNATIONAL G148 - 97, porém usando a célula modificada de DEVANATHAN e STACHURSKY (1962) e com H2S como veneno catódico. Os materiais foram caracterizados por microscopia óptica (MO), microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) e espectroscopia de energia dispersiva de Raios-X (X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy - EDS) antes e depois de testes de imersão nos diferentes eletrólitos. Caracterização dos produtos de corrosão por difração de raios-X (DRX) também foi realizada após imersão em meio saturado com H2S (sour). As análises por MO e MEV mostraram matrizes ferríticas para os três aços, com a presença de baixos teores do microconstituinte martensita/austenita (M/A), de perlita e com baixo nível de inclusões uniformemente distribuídas e com composições químicas semelhantes. Os resultados dos ensaios de corrosão mostraram que, para todos os meios investigados, o aço denominado como B apresentou a melhor resistência à corrosão, enquanto aquele denominado como C se mostrou o mais suscetível em todas as condições estudadas. Para os três aços, a resistência à corrosão apresentou a seguinte ordem crescente de acordo com o meio de exposição: meio saturado com H2S < meio naturalmente aerado < meios desaerados. Ensaios de OCP e EIS no meio saturado com H2S em um período de 24h mostraram que a resistência à corrosão aumenta com o tempo em razão da formação de uma camada de sulfeto de ferro, que, no entanto, se apresentou pouco aderente. Os resultados dos ensaios de permeação de hidrogênio mostraram que o aço denominado B, que apresentou maior resistência à corrosão em todos os meios e que não apresenta perlita em sua microestrutura, teve o maior valor de difusividade efetiva de hidrogênio, menor concentração de hidrogênio atômico na sub-superfície e menor quantidade de traps por unidade de volume. Quanto aos outros dois materiais, os resultados dos testes de permeabilidade ficaram em desacordo com os resultados da caracterização microestrutural e dos testes de resistência à corrosão, indicando que fatores diferentes dos detectados neste estudo são importantes para governar essas propriedades. / High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels have been widely used in the manufacture of pipelines for the transport of oil and gas. However, the application of these steels in media with high H2S concentrations, denominated sour, has resulted in frequent failures due to the susceptibility of these materials to the development of Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) phenomena, as well as due to corrosion problems. The development of different technological processes for HSLA piping production, like controlled rolling and accelerated cooling, the addition of microalloying elements, as well as the reduction of the amounts of sulphur, phosphorus, carbon and manganese, has led to the development of materials with optimized mechanical properties, also allowing a better microstructural control. Hardness and mechanical resistance reduction due to the lowering of Mn content are compensated by niobium and chromium addition. In this work, the corrosion resistance and the hydrogen permeability parameters of two API 5L X65 steel tubes and an API 5L X65 plate, all HSLA type and with low manganese (0.27%) and high niobium (0.083% to 0.090%) contents, are compared in solution B of NACE standard TM-0284 (2011). For this, open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization curves were carried out in the naturally aerated, deaerated and H2S saturated electrolyte. Hydrogen permeability tests were performed based on ASTM INTERNATIONAL G148-97, but using a modified DEVANATHAN and STACHURSKY (1962) cell and with H2S as cathodic poison. The materials were characterized by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) prior and after immersion tests in the different electrolytes. Characterization of the corrosion products by X-ray diffraction (XRD) was also performed after immersion in the H2S-saturated (sour) medium. The OM and SEM characterization showed ferritic matrices for the three steels, with the presence of low levels of the martensite/austenite (M/A) microconstituent, perlite and with a low level of inclusions evenly distributed and with similar chemical compositions. The results of the corrosion tests showed that, for all investigated media, the steel denominated as B presented the best resistance to corrosion, whereas the one denominated as C showed to be the most susceptible in all the conditions studied. For the three steels, the corrosion resistance showed the following ascending order according to the exposure medium: H2S saturated < naturally aerated medium < deaerated media. OCP and EIS tests in the H2S-saturated medium in a period of 24 hours showed that the corrosion resistance increases over time due to the formation of an iron sulphide layer, which, however, presented little adhesion. The results of the hydrogen permeation tests showed that the steel denominated B, that presented greater corrosion resistance in all media and that does not present perlite in its microstructure, had the highest values of effective hydrogen diffusivity, the lowest concentration of atomic hydrogen in the subsurface and the smallest amount of traps per unit volume. Concerning the other two materials, the results of the permeability tests were at variance with the results of the microstructural characterization and corrosion resistance tests, indicating that factors other than those detected in this study are important to govern such properties.

The main objective of the study was to encapsulate the phenolic compounds from sour cherry pulp in micro size, to investigate the physicochemical properties of capsules and their digestability in simulated gastric and intestinal fluid. The effect of different coating materials, ultrasonication time and core to coating ratio on encapsulation of phenolic compounds from sour cherry pomace was investigated. Maltodextrin and gum Arabic were chosen as coating materials. Coating material was prepared with different maltodextrin:gum Arabic (MD:GA) ratios of 10:0, 8:2, 6:4 to make the total solid content 10%. In addition, two different core to coating ratios of 1:10 and 1:20 were used. Emulsions were prepared by homogenization through ultrasonication at 160 W power and 20 KHz frequency for different time periods (5-30 min). Then, the emulsions were freeze dried for 48 hours to obtain the microcapsules. Encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant activity, surface morphology, particle size, color, digestability and glass transition temperatures of the microcapsules were determined. The microcapsules with a core to coating ratio of 1:20 were found to have higher encapsulation efficiencies (78.80-92.26%) than those with a core to coating ratio of 1:10 (69.38-77.83%). Increasing the gum Arabic ratio in the coating material increased encapsulation efficiency. Optimum conditions for encapsulation with the highest efficiency and the lowest particle size were sonication time of 22.5 min, MD:GA ratio of 8:2 and core to coating ratio of 1:20. Encapsulation was effective in preventing the release of the phenolic compounds in gastric fluid. On the other hand, phenolic compounds were released from the capsules into the intestinal fluid.

The objective of this study was to compare microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and conventional extraction methods for the extraction of total phenolic compounds (TPC) from tomato and sour cherry pomace. Antiradical efficiency (AE) of the extracts and also the concentration of phenolic compounds were determined. In MAE, the effects of microwave power (400 and 700 W), solvent type (water, ethanol and ethanol-water mixture at 1:1 v/v), extraction time (8-20 min) and solvent to solid ratio (10, 20 and 30 ml/g) were studied to observe the change of TPC and AE of the extracts. Conventional extraction was conducted for 6 h using different solvent to solid ratios (10, 20 and 30 ml/g) and solvent types (water, ethanol and ethanol-water mixture at 1:1 v/v). When the power increased from 400 W to 700 W, TPC and AE values increased. In MAE, maximum TPC and AE values were obtained at a solvent to solid ratio of 20 ml/g. The highest TPC and AE values were obtained when the ethanol-water mixture was used for both MAE and conventional extraction. The highest TPC and AE of tomato pomace extracts was determined as 3.76 mg gallic acid equivalent, GAE/g sample and 4.84 mg 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH/g sample, respectively in MAE using power level of 700 W, ethanol-water mixture, solvent to solid ratio of 20 ml/g and extraction time of 14 min. The major phenolic acids detected in tomato pomace extract were gentisic acid and vannilic acid. For sour cherry pomace extracts, the highest TPC and AE was found as 14.14 mg GAE/g sample and 28.32 mg DPPH/g sample, respectively in MAE using power level of 700 W, solvent to solid ratio of 20 ml/g, ethanol-water mixture and extraction time of 12 min. Epicatechin was found to be the major phenolic acid in sour cherry pomace. There was no significant difference in different extraction methods in terms of TPC. On the other hand, AE value and concentration of major phenolic acids of tomato and sour cherry pomace increased when MAE was used.