A combined theoretical and experimental investigation of the valorization of mechanical and thermal properties of the fly ash-reinforced polypropylene hybrid composites

Journal of Materials Science - Fly ash (FA) particles were surface modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (Ctab) and hybridized with graphene oxide (GO) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)...     

Generalized form of optimal teleportation witnesses

We propose a generalized form of optimal teleportation witness to demonstrate their importance in experimental detection of the larger set of entangled states useful for teleportation in higher dimensional systems. The interesting properties of our witness reveal that teleportation witness can be used to characterize mixed state entanglement using Schmidt numbers. Our results show that while every teleportation witness is also a entanglement witness, the converse is not true. Also, we show that a hermitian operator is a teleportation witness iff it is a decomposable entanglement witness. In addition, we analyze the practical significance of our study by decomposing our teleportation witness in terms of Pauli and Gell-Mann matrices, which are experimentally measurable quantities.     

Experimental investigation of Al2O3–MgO hot hybrid nanofluid in a plate heat exchanger

Exergy–energy analysis of the plate heat exchanger is experimentally performed with different Al₂O₃–MgO hybrid nanofluid (HyNf) as a hot fluid. There were six combinations of fluids, namely, deionized (DI) water, ethylene glycol–DI water brine (1:9 volume ratio), propylene glycol–DI water brine (1:9 volume ratio), base fluids and their respective Al₂O₃–MgO (4:1 particle volume ratio) HyNfs of 0.1% total volume concentration. The effects of different flow rates and hot inlet temperatures on the heat transfer rate, heat transfer coefficient, pump work, irreversibility, and performance index (PI) are investigated. It is witnessed that the heat transfer rate, heat transfer coefficient, pump work, and irreversibility enhances with the flow rate and nanoparticle suspension. While the PI declines with a rise in the flow rate, the heat transfer rate, heat transfer coefficient, PI, and irreversibility rise up maximum for MgO–alumina (1:4) DI water HyNf upto 11.8%, 31.7%, 11.1%, and 4.05%, respectively. The pump work enhances upto 1.6% for MgO–alumina (1:4)/EG–DI water (1:9) HyNf.     

Influence of grain boundary sliding on diffusion in yttria doped zirconia

Grain boundary sliding during high temperature deformation can lead to stress concentrations and an enhancement of diffusion in mobile boundaries. Experiments were conducted on a fine grained 3 mol% yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia, under conditions associated with superplastic flow involving grain boundary sliding. Tracer diffusion studies under creep conditions and without load indicate that there is no enhancement in either the lattice or grain boundary diffusivities. The experimental creep data are consistent with an interface controlled diffusion creep mechanism.     

Photosynthesis in a test tube- dye sensitized solar cells as a teaching tool

Dye sensitized solar cells employing natural plant dyes as phosensitizers can be effectively used to train students in the science and technology of solar cells. This is especially relevant to developing countries where facilities for silicon cell fabrication are non-existent. The cross-disciplinary nature of this device makes it very attractive for student projects. The present work describes such a project where anthocyanin dye from hibiscus flowers has been used as the electron harvester.     

Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects

This paper made a modest attempt for designing a sustainable model for financial viability of biomass gasifier power projects for enhancing electricity access in India and other developing countries. For long term sustainability of distributed generation projects in remote rural areas, viability from both project implementing agency (PIA) and the end-users need to be ensured. The minimum required prices of electricity from both PIA and end-user perspective have been estimated. While for PIA the cost recovery is the key for viability, the affordability to pay the electricity cost is crucial for the end users. Analysis carried out in this paper on the basis of data obtained from operational projects implemented in India reveal that it is essential to operate the system at a higher capacity utilization factor. While this can be achieved though creating convergence with locally relevant economic activity, it is also observed that micro-enterprises cannot pay beyond a certain price of electricity to keep it sustainable. This paper sets forth a case for developing a regulatory mechanism to extend the tariff fixation for the projects and providing cross-subsidies to ensure long term sustainability of off-grid project.