An assessment of beeswax as a thickener for environmentally friendly lubricating grease production

Environmentally friendly lubricants are preferred in many applications where groundwater or soil pollution is possible. The main purpose of the current study was to evaluate the possibility of beeswax use as a thickener for lubricating greases. European beeswax was used as a thickening material for the preparation of lubricating greases. Rapeseed oil and two mineral oils were used as base oils. The consistency, dropping point temperature, and tribological properties of the prepared lubricating greases were investigated and compared with conventional soap‐thickened greases. The prepared greases exhibited good tribological properties, especially the rapeseed‐oil‐based grease. However, tribological properties of conventional lubricating grease were superior to prepared ones. The weakness of the prepared lubricating greases is their narrow working temperature range. However, the beeswax together with rapeseed oil has great potential in the production of environmentally friendly, completely renewable lubricating greases. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DEM Simulation of the Impact of Ultrafine Glass Particles on the Partition Wall of the Multichannel Cyclone

This article focuses on the simulation of the impact of ultrafine particles on the rigid partition wall of the multichannel cyclone by applying the discrete element method (DEM). Ultrafine particles with diameters ranging from 0.1 to 10 µm are assumed to be most dangerous pollutants because of their property to easily penetrate the human circulatory system through the respiratory tract. An emphasis is placed on demonstrating the stick-rebound behavior of glass pollutant particles. The numerical experiment simulating the oblique impact load induced by mechanically generated inlet air flow has been numerically conducted. Hertz contact and short-range van der Waals attraction are the main forces describing normal contact, while their tangential counterpart is defined according to Coulomb friction law and by considering normal compression and attraction. Both normal and tangential models are modified to comprise the effect of energy dissipation due to adhesion hysteresis. Simulation results provide a theoretical framework for designing of the cyclone when a device is applied to capture ultrafine pollutant particles.     

Detection and activity evaluation of radical scavenging compounds by using DPPH free radical and on-line HPLC-DPPH methods

The antiradical activity of crude extracts (80% methanol, 20% water) of S. officinalis, S. glutinosa, S. sclarea and S. aethiopis was determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) radical scavenging method. For validation of this method several well known antioxidants (ascorbic acid-6-palmitate, gallic, chlorogenic, ferulic, caffeic, uric, gentisic and vanillic acids, catechin, quercetin, epicatechin, phloridzin, rutin and naringin) were investigated additionally. In these experiments ascorbic acid-6-palmitate had highest antiradical activity. Within the group of phenolic acids gentisic acid had the highest antiradical activity comparing with the other tested phenolic acids. Uric acid, vanillic acid, phloridzin and naringin have a much lower antiradical activity. Different reaction kinetics behaviour was observed. The validated DPPH radical scavenging method was applied to the evaluation of the antiradical activity of plant extracts. The Salvia extracts showed very high antiradical activity towards the DPPH·. An on-line HPLC-DPPH method was developed using a methanolic solution of DPPH· for a rapid detection of radical scavenging components after HPLC separation. The HPLC-DPPH on-line method was also applied to a screening of several radical scavenging components in plant extracts as well as for quantitative analysis. The HPLC analysis revealed the presence of several radical scavenging components in the all Salvia extracts. This HPLC-DPPH on-line method can also be used for quantitative determination of radical scavenging compounds.     

Dynamic pricing of wind futures

Daily average wind speeds are dynamically modelled by a continuous-time autoregressive model with seasonal mean and volatility. Futures prices based on an index of aggregated wind speeds are derived, and it is shown that the Samuelson effect breaks down. The volatility of these futures will decrease when approaching maturity, an effect which is explained by the memory in higher-order autoregressive models.     

Thiophene-based hydrazones as hole-transporting materials

The synthesis, optical, thermal and photoelectrical properties of thiophene-based hydrazones are reported. The HOMO levels in a solid state of thiophene-based hydrazones measured by the electron photoemission technique are ?5.25 eV and ?5.28 eV. Hole-drift mobilities of the solid solutions in bisphenol-Z polycarbonate (PC-Z) of the synthesized hydrazones were studied by the time-of-flight technique. Room temperature hole mobilities in the solid solution of thiophene-2-carbaldehyde N,N-diphenylhydrazone in PC-Z exceeded 10^?5 cm²/(V s) at high electric fields.     

Interactions between flavour release and rheological properties in model custard desserts: Effect of starch concentration and milk fat

The influence of the concentration of various reagents and of the storage time on the flavour release of custard desserts was evaluated by headspace solid-phase microextraction and supported by rheological measurements. The presence of milk fat induced a significant decrease of the headspace concentration of flavour compounds, mainly due to hydrophobic matrix–flavour interactions. An elevated starch concentration enhanced the strength of the custard gels considerably. However, the increasing starch concentration resulted in an increased flavour release at low flavour concentrations, while a tendency to flavour retention was noted at higher flavour concentrations. During storage time, a denser network was formed as shown by rheological measurements, but no significant difference in flavour release was noted upon storage (three days). These results show that the complex interactions between flavour compounds and the food matrix in a model custard are difficult to predict and have to be carefully evaluated by a combination of rheological parameters and physicochemical interactions.     

High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis as a tool to differentiate wild from farmed cod (Gadus morhua) and to assess the protein composition of klipfish

Tris and CHAPS–urea extracts from wild and farmed cod muscle and from rehydrated cod klipfish fillets were analyzed by one (1DE) and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). 2DE maps of tris extracts from farmed cod differed from the wild in a series of spots of Mw 35 and 45 kDa. The CHAPS–urea extracts from farmed cod had a several spots of Mw between 100 and 45 kDa, which were hardly detectable in wild cod and very prominent in klipfish. Klipfish was clearly different from the other samples: the myosin heavy chain was hardly detectable in these samples, and the tris extracts contained fewer, and the CHAPS–urea more spots than the corresponding extracts from the raw muscles. Further identification of these potentially diagnostic spots will make it easier the differentiation of farmed from wild cod and the evaluation of klipfish processing on the protein content of the product.     

Evaluation of corrosion defects in oil pipelines based on the approaches of fracture mechanics

We study the development of corrosion defects in an industrial oil pipeline. Defects appearing in the pipeline after 5 and 10 yr of operation are measured by the ultrasonic method. It is shown that, after 10 yr of operation, the pipe wall becomes thinner by 22% (as compared with its initial thickness). To evaluate the defectiveness of state of the pipeline, we use the concepts of J -integral and crack-opening displacement δ. The experimental data on corrosion defects are used to find the values of J-integral.     

Codeposition of copper and tin from acid sulphate solutions containing polyether sintanol DS-10 and benzaldehyde

Cu(II) and Sn(II) reduction in acid sulphate solutions containing polyether laprol DS-10 and benzaldehyde (BA) was studied by means of impedance, voltammetric, XPS and XRD techniques. Both additives demonstrate weak surface activity on copper substrate in Cu(II) solutions in the absence of halide impurities. In contrast, their effect is overwhelmingly higher in the Sn|Sn(II) system. The additives induce a significant increase in Sn-electrode impedance and simultaneous strong inhibition of Sn(II) reduction over a wide range of cathodic polarizations. The effects of sintanol and BA in mixed Cu(II) and Sn(II) solutions demonstrate a kind of synergism. Underpotential deposition of tin on foreign (copper) substrate is observed at potentials more positive than the equilibrium potential of the Sn|Sn²⁺ system. Incorporation of tin into the Cu crystalline lattice results in the formation of multiphase material containing pure copper, α-CuSn phase, and intermediate hexagonal hcp phase. Formation of the pure tin phase occurs at more negative potentials and results in a strong inhibitive adsorption that manifests itself in the development of a deep voltammetric minimum. The tin content in the coatings depends on BA concentration and, particularly, on the electrode potential.     

Production of synthesis gas from propane using thermal water vapor plasma

In this work, an experimental plasma-chemical reactor equipped with a water vapor plasma torch was used for catalyst-free thermal plasma reforming of propane to produce a synthesis gas. Thermal arc discharge plasma (a mixture of water vapor and argon) was generated at atmospheric pressure.