Analysis of the Operating Conditions of a Continuous Linear Crystallizer

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - The operation of a linear crystallizer, which performs crystallization extraction of uranium from a nitric acid solution of uranyl nitrate during...     

Investigation on La3+ and Dy3+ co-doped ceria ceramics with an optimized average atomic number of dopants for electrolytes in IT-SOFCs

In the present study, we investigate the fundamental properties of CeO₂ by selecting La³⁺ (57), and Dy³⁺ (66) as dopants with optimized average atomic number of 61.5, which lies in between Pm³⁺ (62) and Sm³⁺ (62) in accordance with the criteria for optimum doping. A system of co-doped ceria ceramics Ce_1–x–yLa_xDy_yO_2-δ ((x, y) = (0.00, 0.00), (0.025, 0.025), (0.05, 0.05), (0.075, 0.075), (0.10, 0.10), (0.00, 0.20) and (0.20, 0.00)) as electrolytes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells were successfully prepared by a well-known sol-gel auto-combustion route. In order to obtain dense samples, the prepared pellets were sintered in air at 1300 °C for 4 h using conventional furnace and relative densities of all the samples were found to be higher than 95%. Single phase cubic structure, microstructural density and elemental composition analysis of all the samples were studied by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy techniques, respectively. Raman spectroscopy analysis confirmed the formation of concentrated O^2-–vacancies in the co-doped ceria system. Impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed the high value of total ionic conductivity and low activation energy for the composition Ce_0.85La_0.075Dy_0.075O_2?δ i.e., 2.08 × 10^–2 S cm^–1 and 0.58 eV, respectively. Linear thermal expansion analyses of all the samples revealed the matched thermal expansion coefficients. Finally, these results recommend that the Ce_0.85La_0.075Dy_0.075O_2?δ sample can be useful as a solid electrolyte in IT-SOFC applications.     

Low-Complexity Equalization for SC-FDMA Uplink Systems Over Time and Frequency Selective Channels

Wireless Personal Communications - In this paper, we propose novel equalization schemes for compensating the adverse effects caused by carrier frequency offsets (CFOs), timing errors and doubly...     

Polarization Properties of Photoluminescence of Anisotropic Polymer Films Containing Aligned Au Nanorods and Semiconductor Nanoparticles of Various Shape

Semiconductors - Anisotropic polymer films containing aligned Au nanorods and semiconductor nanoparticles of various shape were fabricated. The photoluminescence of semiconductor nanoparticles in...     

Assessment of toxic content in Balanites aegyptiaca seed cake and use of enzymatic-catalysed biodiesel in diesel engine

The present study deals with the estimation of toxic phorbol esters in Balanites aegyptiaca seed cake and to evaluate the performance and combustion characteristics of different blends of biodiesel in a diesel engine. The seeds were manually collected from arid regions of Rajasthan, India and the oil extracted from the powdered kernel with Solvent extraction process. The extracted oil processed by enzymatic catalytic reactions are carried out at optimum operating conditions such as the molar ratio of 8:1 (methanol:oil), reaction temperature at 40°C for 4?h reaction time and xylanase 1% based on oil weight. The total conversion rate of extracted oil to methyl ester by enzymatic reactions yields up to 98.3%. The toxic content of seed cake was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, Shimadzu). The performance and combustion parameters such as BP, BTE and CP decreased, whereas BSFC and DP increased with biodiesel blends.     

Outcome‐based ventilation: A framework for assessing performance,health, and energy impacts to inform office building ventilation decisions

This article presents an outcome‐based ventilation (OBV) framework, which combines competing ventilation impacts into a monetized loss function ($/occ/h) used to inform ventilation rate decisions. The OBV framework, developed for U.S. offices, considers six outcomes of increasing ventilation: profitable outcomes realized from improvements in occupant work performance and sick leave absenteeism; health outcomes from occupant exposure to outdoor fine particles and ozone; and energy outcomes from electricity and natural gas usage. We used the literature to set low, medium, and high reference values for OBV loss function parameters, and evaluated the framework and outcome‐based ventilation rates using a simulated U.S. office stock dataset and a case study in New York City. With parameters for all outcomes set at medium values derived from literature‐based central estimates, higher ventilation rates’ profitable benefits dominated negative health and energy impacts, and the OBV framework suggested ventilation should be ≥45 L/s/occ, much higher than the baseline ~8.5 L/s/occ rate prescribed by ASHRAE 62.1. Only when combining very low parameter estimates for profitable impacts with very high ones for health and energy impacts were all outcomes on the same order. Even then, however, outcome‐based ventilation rates were often twice the baseline rate or more.     

Airborne spread of expiratory droplet nuclei between the occupants of indoor environments: A review

This article reviews past studies of airborne transmission between occupants in indoor environments, focusing on the spread of expiratory droplet nuclei from mouth/nose to mouth/nose for non‐specific diseases. Special attention is paid to summarizing what is known about the influential factors, the inappropriate simplifications of the thermofluid boundary conditions of thermal manikins, the challenges facing the available experimental techniques, and the limitations of available evaluation methods. Secondary issues are highlighted, and some new ways to improve our understanding of airborne transmission indoors are provided. The characteristics of airborne spread of expiratory droplet nuclei between occupants, which are influenced correlatively by both environmental and personal factors, were widely revealed under steady‐state conditions. Owing to the different boundary conditions used, some inconsistent findings on specific influential factors have been published. The available instrumentation was too slow to provide accurate concentration profiles for time‐dependent evaluations of events with obvious time characteristics, while computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies were mainly performed in the framework of inherently steady Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes modeling. Future research needs in 3 areas are identified: the importance of the direction of indoor airflow patterns, the dynamics of airborne transmission, and the application of CFD simulations.     

Multiphonon Intracenter Relaxation of Boron Acceptor States in Diamond

Semiconductors - The relaxation rates are calculated in the adiabatic approximation, in which the steady-state impurity states are taken to be electronic-vibrational (vibronic) states. The...     

Activated Carbon Supported CaO from Waste Shells as a Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

In the wake of increasing environmental constraints, this work is aimed at developing a catalyst purely prepared from waste biomass source as the raw material. The catalyst is investigated for its applicability in transesterification of vegetable oil with the objectives: (i) to use waste shells of mollusk as raw material for the preparation of activated carbon and CaO; (ii) to use it as heterogeneous catalyst in the transesterification of waste cooking oil; (iii) to optimize the different parameters affecting the transesterification reaction; and (iv) to study its reusability. Under optimized conditions it was observed that a conversion >90% was possible and the catalyst could be reused five times with a slight loss in activity. This study indicates that the biomass source could also be used as a potential raw material in the synthesis of environmentally benign catalysts.