Much attention has been paid for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate(DMC) by urea indirect alcoholysis method, which had not been actually industrialized by now. The rigorous full process model was then necessary to o...Much attention has been paid for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate(DMC) by urea indirect alcoholysis method, which had not been actually industrialized by now. The rigorous full process model was then necessary to optimize the process with heat integration. In this paper, a full process was designed and optimized for the DMC synthesis by urea indirect alcoholysis method based on Aspen Plus software.The technological analysis was developed to find how the process was influenced by the three main recycled materials of methanol, 1,2-propylene glycol(PG) and mixture of DMC–methanol. Simultaneously,the thermal optimization was taken into account for energy saving and the optimized process was proposed with heat integration. Moreover, the economic evaluation was implemented for the optimized process with total annualized cost(TAC) and cost of product(COP) according to the plant investment and operations. It was found that the 11.6% decrease in TAC was obtained for the optimized process compared to the original designed process. The COP analysis showed that the process was economically efficient for the production of DMC from urea and methanol.展开更多
A clear diagram for the unfolding of protein induced by denaturant is a classical but still unsolved challenge. To explore the unfolded conformations of ubiquitin under different urea concentrations, we performed hybr...A clear diagram for the unfolding of protein induced by denaturant is a classical but still unsolved challenge. To explore the unfolded conformations of ubiquitin under different urea concentrations, we performed hybrid Monte Carlo-molecular dynamics simulations (MC-MD) guided by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) structural information. Conformational ensembles sampled by the hybrid MC-MD algorithm exhibited typical 3D structures at different urea concentrations. These typical structures suggested that ubiquitin was subjected to a sequential unfolding, where the native contacts between adjacent β-sheets at first were disrupted together with the exposure of hydrophobic core, followed by the conversion of remaining β-strands and helices into random coils. Ubiquitin in 8 mol·L?1 urea is almost a random coil. With the disruption of native structure, urea molecules are enriched at protein hydrated layer to stabilize newly exposed residues. Compared with water, urea molecules prefer to form hydrogen bonds with the backbone of ubiquitin, thus occupying nodes of the hydrogen bonding network that construct the secondary structure of proteins. Meanwhile, we also found that the slow dynamics of urea molecules was almost unchanged while the dynamics of water was accelerated in the hydration shell when more residues were unfolded and exposed. The former was also responsible for the stabilization of unfolded structures.展开更多
基金Supported by the Science Foundation for Young Scientists of Shanxi Province,China(201701D221052)Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province(201601D102006)the Key Science and Technology Program of Shanxi Province,China(MD2014-09,MD2014-10)
文摘Much attention has been paid for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate(DMC) by urea indirect alcoholysis method, which had not been actually industrialized by now. The rigorous full process model was then necessary to optimize the process with heat integration. In this paper, a full process was designed and optimized for the DMC synthesis by urea indirect alcoholysis method based on Aspen Plus software.The technological analysis was developed to find how the process was influenced by the three main recycled materials of methanol, 1,2-propylene glycol(PG) and mixture of DMC–methanol. Simultaneously,the thermal optimization was taken into account for energy saving and the optimized process was proposed with heat integration. Moreover, the economic evaluation was implemented for the optimized process with total annualized cost(TAC) and cost of product(COP) according to the plant investment and operations. It was found that the 11.6% decrease in TAC was obtained for the optimized process compared to the original designed process. The COP analysis showed that the process was economically efficient for the production of DMC from urea and methanol.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21504092 and U1832177)One Hundred Person Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences+1 种基金Computing Center of Jilin ProvinceHenan Province Supercomputer Center for essential support
文摘A clear diagram for the unfolding of protein induced by denaturant is a classical but still unsolved challenge. To explore the unfolded conformations of ubiquitin under different urea concentrations, we performed hybrid Monte Carlo-molecular dynamics simulations (MC-MD) guided by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) structural information. Conformational ensembles sampled by the hybrid MC-MD algorithm exhibited typical 3D structures at different urea concentrations. These typical structures suggested that ubiquitin was subjected to a sequential unfolding, where the native contacts between adjacent β-sheets at first were disrupted together with the exposure of hydrophobic core, followed by the conversion of remaining β-strands and helices into random coils. Ubiquitin in 8 mol·L?1 urea is almost a random coil. With the disruption of native structure, urea molecules are enriched at protein hydrated layer to stabilize newly exposed residues. Compared with water, urea molecules prefer to form hydrogen bonds with the backbone of ubiquitin, thus occupying nodes of the hydrogen bonding network that construct the secondary structure of proteins. Meanwhile, we also found that the slow dynamics of urea molecules was almost unchanged while the dynamics of water was accelerated in the hydration shell when more residues were unfolded and exposed. The former was also responsible for the stabilization of unfolded structures.
