Distribution of mineral species in different coal seams of Talcher coalfield and its transformation behavior at varying temperatures

International Journal of Coal Science & Technology - Mineral phase characterization and thorough understanding of its transformation behavior during combustion are imperative to know the...     

Effect of PEG on PLA/PEG blend and its nanocomposites: A study of thermo‐mechanical and morphological characterization

In this study, the effect of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the preparation of Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/PEG blend and its nanocomposites by melt intercalation method were investigated. The PEG having molecular weight of 6,000 g/mol used with various concentrations (0, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 wt%) in the preparation of PLA/PEG blend. Again, two types of commercialized organoclay [cloisite 93A (C93A) and cloisite 30B (C30B)] were used for the preparation of blend nanocomposites. With the incorporation of PEG into PLA the tensile strength and modulus decreases, whereas the percentage elongation and impact strength increases predominantly. Further, the PLA/PEG blend nanocomposites showed improved tensile strength and modulus with the addition of oraganoclays into the blend. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the surface and miscibility study of the PLA/PEG blend. The effect of clay interaction in the PLA/PEG blend nanocomposites were also studied by using wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was used to investigate the viscoelastic behavior of the blends and its nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study reveals decreased glass transition temperature in case of PLA/PEG blend. The thermal stability of the blend and its nanocomposites were being studied by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). POLYM. COMPOS., 35:283–293, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Design of agrivoltaic system to optimize land use for clean energy-food production: a socio-economic and environmental assessment

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Accessing solar photovoltaic energy is a key point to develop sustainable energy and the economy of a developing country like India. The country has...     

Removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution by adsorption using bael leaves (Aegle marmelos)

Biosorption of Pb(II) on bael leaves (Aegle marmelos) was investigated for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution using different doses of adsorbent, initial pH, and contact time. The maximum Pb loading capacity of the bael leaves was 104 mg g^?1 at 50 mg L^?1 initial Pb(II) concentration at pH 5.1. SEM and FT-IR studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb(II) occurs inside the wall of the hollow tubes present in the bael leaves and carboxylic acid, thioester and sulphonamide groups are involved in the process. The sorption process was best described by pseudo second order kinetics. Among Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, the latter had a better fit with the experimental data. The activation energy E_a confirmed that the nature of adsorption was physisorption. Bael leaves can selectively remove Pb(II) in the presence of other metal ions. This was demonstrated by removing Pb from the effluent of exhausted batteries.     

Supply chain risk assessment during new product development: a group decision making approach using numeric and linguistic data

Companies strive to minimise supply chain related risks during new product development as any glitch while developing new products can lead to considerable delay in product launch with severe financial implications. However, many organisations face difficulty in properly assessing the vulnerabilities of their globally dispersed supply chains during the product development stage as no suitable procedure for that purpose seems to be readily available in the literature. The present research is an attempt to fulfil this requirement. A step-by-step approach for supply chain risk assessment during new product development, involving group decision making, is suggested. This approach can use both numeric and linguistic data and helps in determining vulnerability scores for various sub-systems and for each supplier of the most vulnerable sub-system. This is followed by failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) which helps prioritise failure modes of vulnerable suppliers and thus create specific control plans to mitigate supply related failures. Using this approach, organisations can devise control plans to alleviate the supplier related risks during new product development. Although, the methodology is illustrated through an application in aircraft manufacturing, it can also be used in other discrete and process manufacturing industries.     

Observer design for differential difference systems

Sufficient conditions for a full order observer design for deterministic linear time-invariant differential difference systems is suggested. The observer parameters are constrained so that its coefficient matrices corresponding to delayed and nondelayed states commute. Then, a desired degree of stability for the observer can be achieved.     

Prediction of Mass Transfer Coefficients in a Packed Bed using Tamarind Nut Shell Activated Carbon to Remove Phenol

Phenol is a refractive pollutant that is generated from almost all the types of industries. Removal of phenol can be achieved economically by using a cost effective technique like adsorption on to activated carbon. The present paper reports on the preparation and characterization of activated carbon from tamarind nutshell, an agricultural waste byproduct, and its use in a packed bed for the removal of phenol. The breakthrough curves for column sorption of phenol from aqueous solutions to TNSAC have been measured at various flow rates and different particle sizes at 28 °C. The results obtained showed that the sorption of phenol is dependent on both the flow rate and the particle size of the adsorbent, and that the breakpoint time and phenol removal yield decrease with increasing flow rate and particle size. The overall mass transfer coefficient is calculated from the experimental data and compared with the values obtained from the correlation. Experimental values are in excellent agreement with the predicted values from the correlation.     

Thermotransport in γ(bcc) U-Zr alloys: A phase-field model study

Atomic transport in the presence of a temperature gradient, commonly known as thermotransport or the thermomigration phenomenon, was simulated for U-Zr alloys using a phase-field model derived from irreversible thermodynamics. The free energy of the U-Zr system, a necessary ingredient for the phase-field-model, was directly incorporated from the available thermodynamic database. Kinetic parameters such as atomic mobility and heat of transport terms were obtained from experimental values reported in the literature. The model was applied to a single-phase (bcc-γ phase) alloy and to a diffusion couple consisting of two single-phase (bcc-γ phase) alloys of different compositions, both subjected to a constant temperature gradient. Constituent redistribution in the absence and presence of a compositional gradient was examined. An enrichment of Zr with a corresponding depletion of U was observed at the hot end of the initially homogeneous single-phase alloy. A similar atomic transport behavior was observed in the diffusion couple, where the magnitude and direction of the final composition gradient was dictated by the combined influence of atomic mobility and heat of transport terms.     

Binary and ternary signals with small cross correlations

A large number of equal energy signals of period 2ⁿ ? 1, n ? 0 can be generated from signal generators described by primitive and irreducible polynomials of a degree n and whose correlation is small. Binary signals are generated using difference set sequences. Trace functions are used to find initial states of the shift register which generates difference set sequences. Periodic and nonperiodic auto and cross correlation of binary signals are studied and their bounds are derived. Then ternary signals are obtained from the binary signals that have lower correlation than the binary signals.