Effect of heating and acidic pH on characteristics of wheat gluten suspension

The effects of different pH treatments with and without heating on the characteristics of wheat gluten suspension was investigated. At pH 1, maximum changes in colour were observed with a concurrent 65% decrease in protein free-thiol content compared to the control gluten. The SDS-Extractability of protein (SDS-EP) chromatogram eluted at lower retention time and the presence of bands at the top lane even during reducing conditions in SDS-PAGE gel suggested complex formation involving bonds other than disulphides. An increase in the free-amino group content and the presence of an additional peak at a higher retention time in the SDS-EP chromatogram was suggestive of hydrolysis. At pH 2 and 3, similar decreases in SDS-EPs and free-thiol content indicated formation of complexes. When heated, the free-thiol content of the dispersions increased compared to the non-heated dispersions indicating disruption of disulphide bonds with changes in gluten structure and size distribution.     

Development and analysis of a tool for speed up of EnergyPlus through parallelization

This paper describes how the EPparallel tool splits a single annual simulation into 12 simulations of one month each and runs them in parallel. The paper also describes the methodology to prepare input files, enable file sharing between nodes, collate results generated by the nodes, and ensure quality check on the simulations. The EPparallel tool uses Message Passing Interface library and runs on Linux. The tool has been tested on 16 commercial reference buildings over 16 US weather files. The results of these 256 runs which include the run times, computing time overheads, speed gains and accuracy of results are presented in this paper. The speed gain ranged from 2.9×to 7.8×and deviation (percentage of output values obtained in parallel simulation which were off by more than 1% as compared to output values obtained in annual simulation) ranged from 0% to 4%.     

Phase development and pore stability of yttria- and ytterbia-stabilized zirconia aerogels

High-porosity yttria- and ytterbia-stabilized zirconia aerogels offer the potential of extremely low thermal conductivity materials for high-temperature applications. Yttria- and ytterbia-doped zirconia aerogels were synthesized using a sol-gel approach over the dopant range of 0-20 atomic percent. Surface area, pore volume, and morphology of the as-dried aerogels and materials thermally exposed for short periods of time to temperatures up to 1200°C were characterized by nitrogen physisorption, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The aerogels as supercritically dried all were X-ray amorphous. At a 5% dopant level, a tetragonal structure with a smaller monoclinic phase developed on thermal exposure. Mixed tetragonal and cubic phases or predominantly cubic materials were observed at higher dopant levels, depending on the dopant level, temperature and exposure time. The formation of crystalline phases was accompanied by loss of surface area and pore volume, although some mesoporous structure was maintained on short-term exposure to 1000°C. Incorporation of the smaller Yb atom into the lattice structure resulted in smaller lattice dimensions on crystallization than was seen with Y doping and favored a more highly equiaxed structure. Aerogels synthesized with 15% Y maintained the smallest particle size without evidence of sintering at 1100°C. Largest shrinkage and loss of pore volume occurred on crystallization from the amorphous phase, with further loss of pores at temperatures above 1000°C attributable to changes in lattice parameters.     

Different glazing systems and their impact on human thermal comfort—Indian scenario

In the present communication, fifteen different glazing systems ranging from 3 mm single glazed clear glass to double glazed with low-e and solar control coating, have been analysed in terms of their human thermal comfort impact. Thermal comfort is measured in term of PMV (predicted mean vote) and PPD (predicted percentage of dissatisfied). Study encompasses all the six climatic zones of India. By using OPTICS 5.0 and WINDOW 5.0, U-values, solar heat gain coefficient, inside glazing surface temperatures and inside solar radiation have been computed. Depending upon different climatic zones, six sets of different design conditions, in terms of ambient temperatures, solar radiation and wind velocity, have been chosen. Typical values of metabolic rate and clothing insulation taken are 1.2 met and 0.5 clo for summer and 1.0 met and 1.0 clo for winter, respectively. Inside room air velocity is taken as 0.15 m s⁻¹ round the year. Room temperature is taken as 20 °C in winter and 25 °C in summer. It is found that for cold station (e.g. Leh) all glazings except solar control glazings, ensure thermal comfort and total PPD is less than 10% (|PMV|?0.5). For warm and hot climates, solar control glazings are thermally suitable. Results for winter night of Delhi shows that all the 15 glazings are inadequate for thermal comfort and PPD, due to cold feeling, varies between 27% and 33% approximately.     

Octane number enhancement studies of naphtha over noble metal loaded zeolite catalysts

An Indian industrial naphtha containing mixture of various hydrocarbons belong to n-paraffins, isoparaffins, naphthenes and aromatics falling in C₅ to C₉ carbon range has been studied for its octane boosting through the production of isoparaffins over various Pt loaded zeolite catalysts possessing different acidity and porosity properties. Optimum balance of acid and metal functionalities in 0.6 wt.% Pt loaded on BEA zeolite helped in achieving highest increase in research octane number (RON) from 44 to 80, suitable for gasoline applications, through the production of lower isoparaffins (iC₄-iC₆) along with C₇+ isoparaffins.     

Sediment Yield Assessment of a Large Basin using PSIAC Approach in GIS Environment

Reservoirs are the key infrastructure for the socio-economic development of a country. The reservoirs are proven to be a remedial solution of highly erratic spatial and temporal availability of water. The growth in population and consequent developmental activities within a catchment area has shown to aggravate the problem of sedimentation which comprised of erosion, sediment transport and its deposition in these reservoirs. Among all above mentioned, reservoir sediment deposition is most important as it reduces its useful life and impairs the purposes of these vast water resource. The sediment yield has been considered as comprehensive index for assessing sustainability of such resources. The present study investigates the suitability of Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee (PSIAC) model in determining the sediment yield rate for a drainage basin considering nine basin factors in geographical information system (GIS) environment. For the analysis, a large river basin at the foothill of Himalayas in India has been considered as case study. It was realized that the GIS approach made large basin characteristic sampling very easy and efficient for this hilly basin. A regression equation between specific sediment yield and effective model factors was established based on geomorphic features for this basin. It was observed that most of the basin area is falling under moderate to high sediment yielding potential zone, leading to high sediment yield.     

Effect of urban-site and vegetation on channel capacity in higher altitude platform communication system

Communication services using higher altitude platforms have highlighted a need for estimating the effect of local obstructions on radio wave link. Vegetation and buildings are the major factors responsible for attenuation. The authors have calculated the radio wave attenuation because of vegetation and buildings. Here, the authors have used the fitted radio international telecommunication union model to calculate the vegetation attenuation. The attenuation because of buildings is calculated for an urban-site (residential area of Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, NSIT, New Delhi, India) using geometrical optics and a uniform theory of diffraction. Further, channel capacity is calculated for vegetation and urban-site environment using Shannon?s channel capacity theorem.     

Remote Sensing and GIS Based Approach for Identification of Artificial Recharge Sites

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the capabilities of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for the demarcation of suitable sites for artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers, in the Loni watershed, located in Unnao and Raebareli districts, Uttar Pradesh, India. In this study, the SCS-CN model, groundwater depth data and morphological parameters (bifurcation ratio, elongation ratio, drainage density, ruggedness number, relief ratio, and circulatory ratio) have been used to delineate the recharge sites for undertaking water conservation measures. Augmentation of water resource is proposed in the watershed by constructing runoff storage structures, like check dam, percolation tank and nala bund. The site suitability for these water harvesting structures is determined by considering spatially varying parameters, like runoff potential, slope, groundwater fluctuation data and morphometric information of the watershed. GIS has been used as an effective tool to store, analyse and integrate spatial and attribute information pertaining to runoff, slope, drainage, groundwater fluctuation and morphometric characteristics for such studies.