Wet Forward Combustion for Heavy Oil Recovery

The purpose of this study was to perform wet forward combustion experiments for Bati Kozluca heavy oil under different experimental conditions. In the experiments, a vertical combustion tube was packed with crushed limestone and saturated with crude oil and water. A total of five wet combustion tube runs were conducted. It was observed that peak temperatures were higher when stabilized combustion was achieved and decreased as the combustion front approached the outlet of combustion tube. In wet combustion experiments, excess carbon dioxide productions were observed due to the decomposition of carbonate minerals. The concentration of carbon dioxide increased after the injection of water while the concentration of the oxygen and carbon monoxide decreased. Atomic H/C ratio of the fuel consumed decreased as the average peak temperature increased. Fuel consumption rate also decreased as the water-air ratio increased. The oil recovery was increased with the water injection until the optimum value. After this point, a decrease in oil recovery was observed due to the decrease in peak temperatures in Bati Kozluca crude oil. The main advantage of wet combustion was to reduce air requirements and improve the sweep efficiency by expanding the steam plateau region. Since most of the oil was displaced ahead of the burning front, the steam plateau becomes the primary driving mechanism for oil production.     

Determination of optimum hazelnut roasting conditions

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the roasting conditions used for hazelnuts, such as the air temperature, air velocity and roasting time (independent variables), could be optimized by using Response Surface Methodology. Effects of independent variables on sensory and physical characteristics were determined. A consumer test was used to determine the acceptable samples. Very dark and very light roasted samples, corresponding to 165 °C, 3 m/s, 25 min and 125 °C, 1 m/s, 15 min process conditions, respectively, were unacceptable. Superimposed contour plots were used to determine the values of independent variables and these showed the process conditions where all product characteristics were acceptable to consumers. At low velocity (0.3 m/s), acceptable products were produced at about 165–179 °C for 20–25 min. When air velocity increased, air temperature shifted to lower temperatures. Samples roasted at 145 °C, 2 m/s, 28 min, 165 °C, 1 m/s, 25 min and 145 °C, 3.7 m/s, 20 min produced the most acceptable products. The sample roasted at 165 °C, 1 m/s, 25 min required the least air velocity and was the most economical in terms of energy consumed among the samples rated most acceptable by consumers.     

A deep learning-based CEP rule extraction framework for IoT data

The Journal of Supercomputing - With the recent developments in Internet of Things (IoT), the number of sensors that generate raw data with high velocity, variety, and volume is tremendously...     

Susceptor-assisted fast microwave sintering of TiN reinforced SiAlON composites in a single mode cavity

In the present study, 17 wt % TiN reinforced α-β SiAlON composites were sintered at low temperature by susceptor-assisted microwave heating. The effect of TiN addition on dielectrical properties of starting powders, as well as the influence of sintering temperature on phase evolution, microstructure development and mechanical properties of α/β-SiAlON-TiN composites were investigated. The obtained results showed that TiN addition increased the microwave absorbing properties which is reflected in the peak sintering temperature. Thus, the α:β ratio decreased and mechanical properties were improved, especially the fracture toughness of the composites. Furthermore, an estimate of energy consumption during microwave assisted sintering at the laboratory scale is presented. As a result, the highest values for relative density (97.1%), Vickers hardness (13.35 ± 0.47 GPa), and fracture toughness (7.52 ± 0.54 MPa m^1/2) were obtained by microwave sintering for 30 min at 1300 °C.     

Carboxymethyl sago pulp/chitosan hydrogel as an immobilization medium for activated sludge for p-nitrophenol biodegradation

In this study, carboxymethyl sago pulp (CMSP) derived from sago waste was successfully crosslinked with ferric ions in the presence of chitosan forming a novel immobilization matrix for p-nitrophenol (PNP)-acclimated activated sludge. On the basis of the shortest biodegradation time of PNP, the optimized operational conditions of immobilization were found to be: 7 w/v% CMSP, 9 g L⁻¹ of activated sludge, 0.1 M ferric ion, and 15 min of crosslinking time. Observable inhibited PNP biodegradation was exhibited by the suspended activated sludge at the initial PNP concentration of 400 mg L⁻¹. In contrast, complete mineralization was achieved by the CMSP/chitosan-immobilized activated sludge (CMSP/Ch-AS) beads. The results revealed the important role of CMSP/Ch hydrogel in protecting activated sludge from the toxicity of PNP. The CMSP/Ch-AS beads could be reused consecutively up to three and two cycles, respectively, for the biodegradation of PNP at 200 and 400 mg L⁻¹, with the attainment of more than 99% of PNP removal at each cycle. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47531.     

Edge cracks in a transversely isotropic hollow cylinder

The analytical solution for the linear elastic, axisymmetric problem of inner and outer edge cracks in a transversely isotropic infinitely long hollow cylinder is considered. The z = 0 plane on which the crack lies is a plane of symmetry. The loading is uniform crack surface pressure. The mixed boundary value problem is reduced to a singular integral equation where the unknown is the derivative of the crack surface displacement. An asymptotic analysis is done to derive the generalized Cauchy kernel associated with edge cracks. It is shown that the stress intensity factor is a function of three material parameters. The singular integral equation is solved numerically. Stress intensity factors are presented for various values of material and geometric parameters.     

Removal of basic and acid dyes from aqueous solutions by a waste containing boron impurity

In this study, batch experiments were carried out for the sorption of basic blue 41 (BB 41), and acid blue 225 (AB 225) onto boron waste (BW) from boron enrichment plant. The operating variables studied are the initial dye concentration, contact time, solution pH, and adsorbent dosage. The experimental equilibrium data were analyzed by using various adsorption isotherm models and the results have shown that the adsorption behavior of AB 225 and BB 41 could be described well reasonably by Langmuir and Temkin isotherms, respectively. Kinetics studies indicated that the adsorption of both dyes follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. The sorption of basic dye increased at high pH values, whereas the opposite was true for acidic dye. The results indicate that BW could be employed as low-cost alternatives to the commercially available adsorbents in wastewater treatment for the removal of acid and basic dyes.     

Effect of XRD relative intensities of the Li (002) on surface,optical and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses of the deposited LiCoO<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin film

In this paper, the effect of RF power on LiCoO₂ thin films was investigated using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscopy, UV–Vis spectrophotometer, and potentiostat. The microstructural, surface, optical and electrochemical impedance measurements were performed to LiCoO₂ thin films, are used to for the fully solid-state battery cathode material. According to obtained results, the relative intensities of the Li (002) crystal phase in XRD patterns of deposited LiCoO₂ thin films were increased by increasing applied RF power, for the first time. The intensity of the LiCoO₂ (104) plane is nearly invariant. The relative intensities of the LiCoO₂ (113) plane were decreased by increasing RF power. The peak locations of the Li (002) and LiCoO₂ (104) were not changed. It was found that Li (002) relative intensities affect the all investigated parameters for the LiCoO₂ thin films. Especially, transmittance value increased about 20%. The band gap of the deposited film was changed 100–300 meV drastically. Deposited samples are shown high transparency in the visible region. Randles circuit was used for the equivalent circuit model. Nyquist plots, fitting parameters values and value of the circuit elements were estimated by ZSim software.