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Plant communities --- Community development --- land improvement --- Landscaping --- environmental protection --- Belgium

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This thesis investigates the impact of the addition of long chain triglycerides (LC-TAGs) on the 
behaviour of coconut oil (CO) during its dry fractionation. The main objective of this improved dry 
fractionation process is different from the usual stearin use. Indeed, the goal is to increase the content of medium chain triglycerides (MCT content - C6 to C10) in the oleic fraction recovered after vacuum filtration. Two vegetable oils were used to provide LC-TAGs (Vegetable oil 1 and 2). These were chosen due to their high content of LC-TAGs. The crystallization was examined during the main crystallization and during the post-cooling. The effect of long chain triglycerides on the CO crystallization: solid fat content (SFC) increase, polymorphism, morphology of the crystals and viscosity of the slurry using scanning calorimetry, pulsed-nuclear magnetic resonance, powder X-ray diffraction, microscopy and viscosimeter. The addition of vegetable oil 2 would appear to be more advantageous compared to the addition of vegetable oil 1. Indeed, the SFC in the mixture and the content of medium chain triglycerides in the olein fraction increased more (up to 9.5% SFC and 14,7% MCT content) while limiting the increase of the viscosity in the medium below 3500 cP. In addition, the induction time for crystallization is also improved, being reduced to 2 hours instead of 7 hours, as was the case with CO alone or CO+vegetable oil 1. The β'-polymorphism of CO as well as the morphology of the crystals were not influenced by the addition of vegetable oil 2. This can be explained by a good match between CO and vegetable oil 2 triglycerides and their nucleation on each other's surface. This strong interaction is the result of a model effect, itself due to the matching chain lengths of the triglycerides present. Finally, it also appears that the temperature delta between water and oil and the duration of post-cooling influence the final amount of medium chain triglycerides in the oleins, regardless of the type of LC-TAGs added to CO.

Coconut oil, dry fractionation, improvement --- Ingénierie, informatique & technologie > Ingénierie chimique

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bpost is Belgium’s leading postal operator and universal service provider. bpost offers 
addressed and unaddressed mail services, and efficient, high-quality business and 
administrative communication solutions. bpost is well-positioned on the Belgian parcel 
delivery market thanks to the wide range of delivery options and an outstanding international 
network. 

The project developed in this thesis was undertaken in the Financial and Accounting 
department of bpost (F&A), within a team supporting the department in terms of process improvement and operational excellence: the F&A process team. Recently, F&A experienced several organizational changes, including the creation of a shared service center named “Global Services Operations” (GSO) in April 2016. As key actor of the operational excellence within F&A, the F&A process team wants to improve itself. They expect a fresh, impartial, analytical and scientific approach regarding their work. They want to apply the best practices of their colleagues/(competitors) to better satisfy their clients (namely F&A and particularly the GSO) and their management. Thus, the project consists of the evaluation and optimization of the F&A Process team through the axes of methodology, organization, communication, tools and systems, change management and services offered. 

In a first phase, audits have been carried out. On the one hand, it helped develop a better understanding of the context; on the other hand, it allowed to establish the evaluation of the F&A process team through its “present state”. Moreover, research was performed in the scientific literature as well as on the internet. Then, internal and external benchmarking was 
conducted. Firstly, knowledge was shared with the process teams of other departments within 
bpost. Secondly, benchmarking with advanced companies in terms of business process 
management and continuous improvements was accomplished. Afterwards, the expectations 
of the F&A process team’s clients have been collected. Finally, the outputs of all these approaches have been gathered and analyzed. All this led to the formulation of 
recommendations in each of the investigation domains: methodology, organization, 
communication, tools and systems, change management and services offered.

Business process management, postal operator, operational excellence, continuous improvement, organization, methodology, services offered, tools and systems, communication, change management, process improvement --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit

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Thermal analysis --- Simulation models --- habitat improvement --- Building construction --- Joints (timber) --- Ventilation

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Zebu. --- Land races --- Milk production --- Production increase --- Artificial insemination --- Animal health --- Disease control --- pasture improvement --- Niger