Chemical Engineering Journal Advances最新文献

{"title":"Green valorisation of waste cooking oil into biodiesel using copper metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) catalyst in a packed-bed continuous process","authors":"A.Annam Renita ,&nbsp;J Aravind Kumar ,&nbsp;Anstey Vathani T ,&nbsp;Sai Sruthi V ,&nbsp;Sathish T ,&nbsp;Basem Abu Zneid","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101056","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101056","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Waste cooking oil (WCO) has the benefit of conversion to biodiesel, which has both ecological and economic benefits. This paper presents a copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) catalyst that was used in the WCO transesterification reaction and then the separation of the product in a packed bed column. The thermogravimetric analysis was used in the determination of catalyst stability and showed a degradation temperature of 250°C. Other structural and morphological characterisation was done through FESEM, FTIR, and XRD. Optimisation of the process was conducted based on the response surface using a central composite design that showed a maximum biodiesel yield of 88% when the ratio of methanol to oil was 6:1 and 5.28 g of the Cu-MOF was used. Sustained activity in reusability tests was demonstrated up to the tenth cycle, with a 70% yield observed until the yield dropped. The results indicate high catalytic efficiency and recyclability of Cu-MOF, which has a strong potential for producing sustainable biodiesel by using WCO.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101056"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-performance boron nitride-halloysite nanocomposite as a recyclable adsorbent for methylene blue removal","authors":"Shirin Daneshnia ,&nbsp;Majid Abdouss ,&nbsp;Sadegh Sahraei ,&nbsp;Zohreh Arefi Khorrami ,&nbsp;Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101058","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101058","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of efficient and renewable adsorbents for industrial wastewater decolorization remains a critical environmental challenge. In this study, we report the synthesis of a novel boron nitride-halloysite (h-BN-HNT) nanocomposite via a facile solution mixing method and its outstanding performance in removing methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. Morphology, chemical structure, and crystallinity of the nanocomposite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), confirming successful functionalization and revealing a hierarchical porous structure with high potential for dye adsorption. The nanocomposite material demonstrated excellent performance in water decolorization, achieving complete MB removal within 40 min for all concentrations studied (5–50 mg/L), with a maximum adsorption capacity of 473.6 mg/g at 50 mg/L initial concentration after 40 min. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption process follows pseudo-second-order kinetics with excellent correlation (R² = 0.9999, for the initial concentration, 20 mg/l), indicating chemisorption as the dominant mechanism. Statistical error analysis confirmed the model validity with low chi-squared (χ² = 0.93), sum of squared errors (SSE = 339.45), and average relative error (ARE = 0.11 %) values. Notably, the nanocomposite also demonstrated excellent recyclability, maintaining over 95% removal efficiency after five consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, confirming its practical reusability. These results establish the h-BN-HNT nanocomposite as a highly promising candidate for practical applications in industrial wastewater treatment, offering a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the removal of cationic dyes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101058"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanism of enhanced punicalagin adsorption by ultrasound-chitosan functionalized baobab green adsorbents","authors":"Balarabe B. Ismail ,&nbsp;Hassan A. Saeed ,&nbsp;Umar Abdulbaki Danhassan ,&nbsp;Songfeng Yu ,&nbsp;Yunfeng Pu ,&nbsp;Wenjun Wang ,&nbsp;Donghong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101069","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101069","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developing sustainable low-cost adsorbents with high polyphenol adsorption capacity is crucial for advancing green separation technologies. This study integrates experimental and computational techniques to elucidate the synergistic effects of ultrasonication (US) and chitosan (CS) functionalization on the adsorption performance of baobab fruit shell (BFS) green adsorbents for punicalagin adsorption. Characterization via BET, FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDS analyzes confirmed that US-CS functionalization increased surface area, pore volume, and accessible functional groups. Modified BFS (MBFS) adsorbents treated under high-intensity short-time (HIST, 687.9 W cm⁻², 5 min) US treatment showed a three-fold increase in punicalagin adsorption capacity (211.21 mg g⁻¹) and rapid adsorption equilibrium within 5 min. US generally intensified mass transfer during adsorption, as evidenced by the significant increase in external mass transfer coefficient from 1.21 × 10⁻⁴ to 2.82 × 10⁻⁴ ms⁻¹ following HIST treatment. Based on XPS results, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic, and electrostatic interactions are involved in punicalagin adsorption on MBFS. The pseudo-first-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models (R² &gt; 0.99) best described the adsorption mechanism, confirming both physisorption and a propensity for monolayer adsorption on homogeneous surfaces. HIST treatment preserved structural integrity under transient mechanical stress, enabling MBFS to retain over 85 % efficiency after four adsorption-desorption cycles. Machine learning models, particularly XGBoost (R² &gt; 0.95; RMSE = 6.47), accurately predicted the punicalagin adsorption capacity and identified HIST and CS crosslinking as the key variables. Overall, US- and CS-functionalized BFS adsorbents show strong potential as a green and sustainable alternatives for polyphenol purification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101069"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainable synthesis of p,p'-diphenolic acid from renewable levulinic acid with heterogeneous acid resins","authors":"Domenico Licursi ,&nbsp;Vincenzo Russo ,&nbsp;Benedetta Bertini ,&nbsp;Federica Orabona ,&nbsp;Francesco Taddeo ,&nbsp;Martino Di Serio ,&nbsp;Anna Maria Raspolli Galletti ,&nbsp;Claudia Antonetti","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101080","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101080","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diphenolic acid (<em>p,p’</em>-DPA) is a very interesting substitute for bisphenol A. In this work, the optimization of its synthesis from phenol and bio-based levulinic acid was proposed, comparing homogeneous (e.g. mineral acids) and heterogeneous catalysts (commercial acid resins), the latter being preferred due to their greater industrial relevance. Some unresolved bottlenecks still hinder <em>p,p’</em>-DPA industrial development, in particular 1) lack of systematic optimization studies; 2) preference for lab-scale synthesized catalysts, rather than commercial ones, the latter industrially available and well-characterized; 3) sporadic evaluations on catalyst recycling; 4) undeveloped purification of the product from the reaction medium with non-toxic solvents; 5) complete lack of kinetic studies on heterogeneous systems. The present work aims to address these issues, optimizing the <em>p,p’</em>-DPA synthesis with commercial acid resins. Aquivion P87S was identified as the best heterogeneous catalyst, with the highest yield and selectivity to <em>p,p'</em>-DPA (both 91.7%), as well as good stability over time (4 cycles), all remarkable achievements, well beyond those of the state of the art. Ethanol was identified as the most compatible solvent with Aquivion P87S, enabling its effective swelling and mild regeneration. For the intensification development, <em>p,p'</em>-DPA purification was successfully achieved (purity degree of 94%), developing a new sustainable procedure with water as the crystallization solvent. Green metrics and LCA energy analysis demonstrated the potential sustainability of this process. The activation energies of all the tested resins were calculated with the Arrhenius equation and the Weisz Prater criterion was utilized to assess potential internal diffusion limitations within the systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101080"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cross-Attention Feature Fusion network for robust estimation of Cd2+ and Pb2+ in water samples using Cyclic Voltammetry","authors":"Rizqy Ahsana Putri ,&nbsp;Riyanarto Sarno ,&nbsp;Wahyu Prasetyo Utomo ,&nbsp;Fadlilatul Taufany ,&nbsp;Kelly Rossa Sungkono ,&nbsp;Taufiq Choirul Amri ,&nbsp;Alya Kamilah ,&nbsp;Rini Handayani ,&nbsp;Sang-Seok Lee ,&nbsp;A. Min Tjoa ,&nbsp;Arif Abdullah Sagran","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101065","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101065","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Voltammetry is a promising technique for estimating heavy metal pollution such as Cadmium (Cd<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>) and Lead (Pb<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>) in water. Its advantages include rapid analysis and cost-effectiveness over established methods like Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, current analysis often depends only on peak data, ignoring the rest of the voltammetric signal which may contain useful information that could potentially improve measurement accuracy. To address this limitation, the Cross-Attention Feature Fusion (CAFF) network is proposed to analyze Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) signals acquired using a 3-electrode setup with a Glassy Carbon Electrode (GCE) as the working electrode, Platinum as the counter, and Ag/AgCl as the reference. Unlike standard self-attention mechanisms or simple concatenation fusion methods, CAFF introduces a novel dual-stream architecture that dynamically captures the inter-dependencies between raw CV signals and extracted peak data—an approach previously unexplored in electrochemical sensing. The model integrates an Improved Beluga Whale Optimization (IBWO) algorithm that automatically determines the optimal hyperparameters, resulting in a more robust model. Robustness was assessed using Chemically-Informed Degradation Simulation (CIDS). As a result, the proposed CAFF-IBWO model demonstrated superior performance, achieving R<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></math></span> values of 0.97 for Cd<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span> and 1.00 for Pb<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>. It also significantly reduced the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) by 65.79% for Cd<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span> and 72.50% for Pb<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span> compared to single-input attention networks. Furthermore, CAFF-IBWO exhibited remarkable resilience against signal degradation, maintaining stable prediction performance across varying noise conditions. While the study focuses specifically on Cd<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span> and Pb<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span> and requires further validation for broader generalization, the demonstrated performance is highly promising. These findings underscore the model’s potential for real-world environmental sensing applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101065"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrohydrodynamic ion regulation in soft-coated nanochannels: A comparative assessment of geometry effects on desalination performance","authors":"Amir Abbas Nazari ,&nbsp;Mahdi Khatibi ,&nbsp;Seyed Nezameddin Ashrafizadeh ,&nbsp;Jérôme F.L. Duval","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101071","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101071","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Meeting the growing demand for high-quality freshwater requires membrane systems that can provide strong ion discrimination while sustaining adequate water transport. This work presents a comprehensive, systematic numerical investigation comparing three distinct integrated nanochannel arrays—a uniform array of cylindrical channel (Type 1), an array of forward-tapered cone (Type 2), and an array of reverse-tapered cone (Type 3)—specifically within soft-coated nanochannels featuring a negatively charged polyelectrolyte layer. Our approach uniquely analyzes the electrohydrodynamic ion regulation by evaluating these architectures using a fully coupled Poisson–Nernst–Planck and Navier–Stokes framework for three monovalent electrolytes (NaCl, KCl, and KNO₃) under a wide range of operating conditions. The simulations show that geometric confinement substantially alters electrohydrodynamic interactions inside the channels. The reverse-tapered design demonstrates the strongest ion-exclusion capability, reducing NaCl concentration by more than 99 %, whereas the cylindrical and forward-tapered structures achieve approximately 87 % and 95 % rejection, respectively. The same geometry also produces a favorable balance between ion blocking and hydraulic throughput, delivering a pure-water flux of 41.8 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹ compared to 38.0 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹ for the forward-tapered channel under identical conditions. Analysis of ionic conductance and selectivity further reveals that the reverse-tapered configuration enhances electrostatic focusing, suppresses co-ion leakage, and yields higher selectivity (<em>S</em>) and lower conductance (<em>G</em>) than the other two geometries. These findings demonstrate that optimizing both the shape of the nanochannel and the charge characteristics of the soft layer provides a robust pathway for designing next-generation nanofluidic membranes with high desalination efficiency and competitive water permeability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101071"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma torch for energy-efficient NOx generation and direct production of high-concentration plasma-activated water for on-site fertilizer","authors":"Geon Woo Yang ,&nbsp;Heejae Lee ,&nbsp;Jong-Seok Song ,&nbsp;Sunkyung Jung ,&nbsp;Geum Ran Ahn ,&nbsp;Se Min Chun ,&nbsp;Kangil Kim ,&nbsp;Jun Sup Lim ,&nbsp;Yong Cheol Hong","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101063","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101063","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plasma-based nitrogen fixation (NF) is gaining prominence as a sustainable alternative to the Haber-Bosch process because it offers carbon-free operation, high energy efficiency, and potential for decentralized production. This paper reports the design and evaluation of a coupled microwave plasma torch-microbubble reactor system to enhance the efficiency of conversion from NO_x to plasma-activated water (PAW) for high-concentration PAW production. Among the various plasma sources, atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma torches provide electrode-free, sTable discharges with high ionization rates, optimizing them for NO_x generation. The effects of the N₂/O₂ mixing ratio and specific input energy (SIE) were systematically investigated. At a N₂/O₂ ratio of 1:1 and a SIE of 1500 J/L, the system achieved an energy efficiency of 82 g (NO_x)/kWh and energy cost of 1.86 MJ/mol (per mol of total NO_x), representing the lowest reported energy cost among atmospheric-pressure plasma-based NF technologies. Under the optimal condition, the system achieved the highest NO_x production rate and directly produced highly concentrated PAW with a nitrate (NO₃^-) concentration of 5 wt.%. After dilution to 100–1000 ppm NO₃^-, the system generated 1000–10,000 L of nitrate formulation with high energy efficiency (up to 543.4 L/kWh). The concentrated PAW maintained chemical stability over six months, and continuous operation for 16 h demonstrated operational durability. Collectively, the results highlight the feasibility of coupling microwave plasma-based PAW production with air separation units, enabling an on-site, renewable-powered nitrogen fertilizer supply.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101063"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facile synthesis of micro and nano sized iron based metal organic frameworks for optimization of effective metronidazole removal","authors":"Utku Bulut Simsek ,&nbsp;Meral Turabik ,&nbsp;Belgin Gozmen ,&nbsp;Suleyman Gokhan Colak","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101059","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101059","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The widespread application of antibiotics has led to pollution of aquatic systems with long-lasting pharmaceutical residues that pose serious environmental hazards and encourage antibiotic resistance. Metronidazole (MNZ), which belongs to the class of nitroimidazoles used widely, can commonly be traced to occur in water bodies as it possesses high persistence in the environment. To address this issue, this study reports the synthesis of micro and nano sized MIL-101(Fe) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), or mMIL-101(Fe) and nMIL-101(Fe), by solvothermal and ultrasonic-assisted solvothermal methods, respectively. Comprehensive physicochemical characterization confirmed the successful synthesis of highly porous materials, with mMIL-101(Fe) exhibiting octahedral crystals with average size 2.3 µm and nMIL-101(Fe) existing as nanoparticles with size around 78 nm. BET surface area measurements yielded outstanding values of 4102 m²/g for mMIL-101(Fe) and 2411 m²/g for nMIL-101(Fe). Adsorption performance against MNZ was systematically optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Adsorption isotherm experiments revealed a closer fit to the Langmuir model, reflecting monolayer adsorption. Notably, the maximum adsorption capacities were as high as 333 mg/g for mMIL-101(Fe) and a improving 555 mg/g for nMIL-101(Fe), compared to most reported MOF-based adsorbents. Furthermore, reusability tests revealed that there was only a 6% loss of adsorption capacity after five cycles of adsorption-desorption, reflecting the material's structural stability and reusability potential. These findings position both mMIL-101(Fe) and nMIL-101(Fe) as efficient adsorbents for the elimination of MNZ from water contamination, which hold potential applications in future advanced water treatment technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101059"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Decoding the complete spatiotemporal evolution of seven gas–liquid flow regimes in inclined pipelines: A high-fidelity multisensor–wavelet framework integrating 3D scalograms, difference maps, and statistical descriptors","authors":"Fayez M. Al-Alweet ,&nbsp;Othman Y. Alothman ,&nbsp;Fahad Al-Alweet ,&nbsp;Imad A. Almushaigeh","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101079","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101079","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding gas–liquid flow regimes in pipelines is a critical challenge in multiphase transport, where spatiotemporal transitions influence operational performance and safety. Existing diagnostics often lack the resolution to capture transient, multiscale dynamics. This study establishes a unified, experimentally validated framework to decode the evolution of seven flow regimes—small bubble, plug, elongated bubble, slug, slug–churn, annular, and stratified—in inclined pipelines. Five capacitance sensors installed at 1-m intervals along a 6-m test section continuously recorded permittivity signals. Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) enabled localized time–frequency decomposition, and 3D scalograms revealed distinct spectral structures for each regime. Adjacent-sensor difference scalograms identified spatial onset and attenuation of transitions. Statistical descriptors (mean, variance, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis) quantified instability and intermittency. Notably, stratified flow exhibited upstream skewness ≈1.53 and kurtosis ≈5.1, both decreasing downstream as the interface stabilized. Annular flow showed sustained oscillations within 5–35 Hz with high CWT magnitude values ≥0.9. High-speed imaging confirmed the physical accuracy of these fingerprints. The proposed framework improves regime detection, enhances data availability for CFD validation, and supports more reliable flow assurance strategies in industrial pipeline systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101079"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Partitioning behavior of cesium in an alkali fluoride and its implications for cesium separation via melt-crystallization","authors":"María del Rocío Rodríguez-Laguna ,&nbsp;Kevin R. Tolman ,&nbsp;Brian S. Newell ,&nbsp;Jacob A. Yingling ,&nbsp;Tae-Sic Yoo","doi":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101064","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101064","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Liquid-fueled molten-salt reactors (MSRs) are advanced nuclear-fission systems in which fuel is dissolved in molten salt. So far, all successfully demonstrated MSRs have used fluoride-based salts. Our investigation focuses on recovering non-radioactive cesium from a fluoride-salt surrogate (CsF-LiF-KF-NaF). FLiNaK, the eutectic mixture of LiF-KF-NaF, is widely used as a surrogate to study the physical and chemical behavior of fluoride salts for nuclear-energy applications and serves as the base salt in this work. Cesium-137, a high-yield fission product with a 30-year half-life, emits beta particles and gamma radiation, posing significant contamination risks due to its high water solubility and mobility. The separation of fission products from the salt can substantially reduce the volume of long-term nuclear waste. This study investigates a thermally controlled solid-liquid separation process based on melt-crystallization to effectively separate CsF from the rest of the matrix. Our study shows that cesium preferentially concentrates in the liquid phase during melt-crystallization. This behavior is supported by high-temperature (HT) X-ray diffraction (XRD), which shows no detectable Cs-containing crystalline phases above the solidus, implying that Cs predominantly partitions into the liquid. Furthermore, the calorimetric data shows that the addition of 10 wt.% of CsF to FLiNaK barely affects the system’s melting temperature compared to that of pure FLiNaK. This study reveals how fission products might affect the thermal behavior of a fluoride-based fuel salt in MSRs and highlights the potential of employing melt-crystallization to effectively separate cesium from a fluoride matrix.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9749,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal Advances","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 101064"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}