Influence of oxygen pressure on structural,optical and magnetic properties of pure ZnO films

In this paper, we study the influence of oxygen pressure on structural, optical and magnetic properties of pure ZnO films. The chemical compositions and thickness of the film were estimated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry measurements. X-ray diffraction patterns show all the films are in single phase and preferred along (002) orientation. With an increase of oxygen pressure, grain growth and average root mean square roughness is found to be increased. It is found that the intensity of UV emission peak increases whereas visible emission peak decreases in intensity with an increase of oxygen pressure. From the magnetization measurements, it is observed that ZnO film grown without oxygen pressure shows an enhanced ferromagnetic behaviour than that of the films grown with oxygen pressure of 0.05 and 0.1 mbar.     

Drying and energy aspects of tapioca sago processing-an experimental field study

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - The drying characteristics of tapioca sago were studied using four different drying methods—Open sun drying (OSD), Conveyor belt drying (CBD),...     

Analyzing the characteristics of fuel extracted by catalytic conversion of waste engine oil

Production of hydrocarbon fuel from waste oil such as industrial and engine waste oil is an excellent way for producing alternating fuel sources. The aim of the present study is to obtain diesel-like fuel from waste engine oil (WEO) which can be used as an alternate fuel for compression ignition (CI) engine. With this aim in mind, WEO was purified from contaminants and thermally cracked with two different catalysts such as red mud and fly ash in a catalytic thermal reactor (CTR). The oil product obtained after catalytic conversion using red mud catalyst was named as WEORM and using fly ash catalyst was named as WEOFA. To investigate the influence of these two catalysts with WEO, different properties such as density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value, flash, and fire points were determined. Moreover, the compositional analyses for WEORM and WEOFA were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). FT-IR spectroscopy revealed the presence of several bonds which appeared in WEORM and WEOFA were almost identical to the diesel fuel. Further FT-IR results confirmed that most of the hydrocarbons present in WEORM and WEOFA were alkanes. Furthermore, in GC-MS analysis, WEORM and WEOFA were mainly composed of C₁₀–C₃₀ hydrocarbons with the presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatics. Similar to fossil diesel fuel, they mainly contain paraffins, napthenese, and aromatics. Our results revealed that WEO can be effectively recycled and reused as an alternate source of hydrocarbon energy.     

Combustion characteristics of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with a blend of crude rice bran oil methyl ester and diesel

The objective of the present work is to analyze the combustion characteristics of crude rice bran oil methyl ester (CRBME) blend (20% of CRBME with 80% no.2 diesel on volume basis) as a fuel in a stationary small duty direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine. When operating with CRBME blend the cylinder pressure was comparable to that of diesel. It was observed that the delay period and the maximum rate of pressure rise for CRBME blend were lower than those of diesel. The occurrence of maximum heat release rate advanced for CRBME blend with lesser magnitude when compared to diesel. CRBME blend requires more crank angle duration to release 50% & 90% of heat when compared with diesel. The brake specific fuel consumption of CRBME blend was found to be only marginally different from that of the diesel and its hourly fuel cost was higher than that of diesel. CRBME blend has lower smoke intensity and higher NOx emission than those of diesel. Since the measured parameters for CRBME blend differs only by a smaller magnitude, when compared with diesel, this investigation ensures the suitability of CRBME blend as fuel for CI engines with higher fuel cost.     

Generator absorber heat exchange based absorption cycle—A review

GAX based absorption cooling systems have been investigated in recent years by various groups across the world due to their advantage of offering a higher performance compared to that of the conventional ammonia–water absorption systems. In this paper, a comprehensive review of several different GAX cycle configurations has been explained in detail. The choice of working fluids and the performance of the GAX cycle in terms of coefficient of performance and temperature lift are also presented. The study reveals an improvement in the COP of about 10–20%, 20–30% and 30–40% in absorber heat recovery cycle, simple GAX and branched GAX cycle respectively, than that of a conventional single effect system for the same set of operating conditions. The importance of the GAX cycle with respect to the current energy scenario is also highlighted.     

媒染剂和染料用量对红土染料染色棉织物色牢度的影响

从红土中提取天然染料并将其应用于棉织物.改变媒染剂用量和染液用量进行染色试验.结果表明,与不使用媒染剂的试样相比,使用媒染剂的天然红土染色织物试样表现出较好的耐水洗、耐光和耐摩擦色牢度,且色牢度随着媒染剂用量的增加而提升.染料用量的增加未导致织物试样的色牢度明显提升.     

Assessing the impact of palmitic,myristic and lauric acids on hydrogen production from glucose fermentation by mixed anaerobic granular cultures

The effects of lauric (LUA), myristic (MA), palmitic (PA), and a mixture of myristic:palmitic (MA:PA) acids on hydrogen (H₂) production from glucose degradation using anaerobic mixed cultures were assessed at 37 °C with an initial pH set at 5.0 and 7.131 mM of each acid. The maximum H₂ yield (2.53 ± 0.18 mol mol⁻¹ glucose) was observed in cultures treated with PA. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the by-products and the microbial population data sets detected similarities between the controls and PA treated cultures; however, differences were observed between the controls and PA treated cultures in comparison to the MA and LUA treated cultures. The flux balance analysis (FBA) showed that PA decreased the quantity of H₂ consumed via homoacetogenesis compared to the other LCFAs. The control culture was dominated by Thermoanaerovibrio acidaminovorans (60%), Geobacillus sp. and Eubacterium sp. (28%), while Clostridium sp. was less than 1%. Treatment with PA, MA, MA:PA, or LUA increased the H₂ producers (Clostridium sp. and Bacillus sp.) population by approximately 48, 67, 86, and 86%, respectively.     

Effect of Processing Conditions on Flexural Strength Properties of Chicken Feather Fibre (CFF) and Its Hybrid Composites with Polypropylene Resin

ABSTRACT

This study discusses the effect of molding temperature, pressure and time on the final compression-molded hybrid composites with polypropylene resin for its flexural strength. The results of tests conducted to characterize the hybrid composites developed with different proportion of fibers and processing conditions are discussed in this study. When comparing the overall results on the flexural strength of the composites, 25:75 Chicken Feather Fiber (CFF)/Jute composite showed highest flexural strength by keeping minimum temperature, maximum pressure and medium time. The influence of pressure on flexural strength is significant compared to temperature and time. As time increases the flexural strength decreases.