Conversion of Extracted Oil Cake Fibers into Bioethanol Including DDGS,Canola, Sunflower,Sesame, Soy,and Peanut for Integrated Biodiesel Processing

We have come up with a novel, integrated approach for making biodiesel by in-house producion of ethanol after fermentation of hexane extracted edible oil cake fiber. In addition, we have demonstrated how ethanol could be manufactured from commonly available oil cakes (such as canola, sunflower, sesame, soy, peanut) and dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS). The edible oil cakes and DDGS were hexane extracted, ammonia fiber expansion pretreated, enzymatically hydrolysed and fermented to produce ethanol. From all the oil cakes tested in this work, DDGS and peanut oil cake showed the most promising results giving more than 180 g of glucose/kg of oil cake. These two feedstock’s were hydrolyzed at 15% solids loading and fermented by a native strain of Pichia stipitis. Most sugars were consumed during the first 24 h, with no pronounced inhibition of P. stipitis by the degradation products in the hydrolysate. Xylose consumption was more effective for peanut cake hydrolyzate compared to DDGS.     

Cure characteristics and mechanical properties of short nylon fiber‐reinforced nitrile rubber composites

Acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)‐based composites were prepared by incorporating short nylon fibers of different lengths and concentration into the matrix using a two‐roll mixing mill according to a base formulation. The curing characteristics of the samples were studied. The influence of fiber length, loading, and rubber crosslinking systems on the properties of the composites was analyzed. Surface morphology of the composites has been studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Addition of nylon fiber to NBR offers good reinforcement, and causes improvement in mechanical properties. A fiber length of 6 mm was found to be optimum for the best balance of properties. It has been found that at higher fiber loadings, composites show brittle‐type behavior. Composites vulcanized by the dicumyl peroxide (DCP) system were found to have better mechanical properties than that by the sulfur system. The swelling behavior of the composites in N,N‐dimethyl formamide has been analyzed for the swelling coefficient values. Composites vulcanized in the DCP system were found to have higher rubber volume fraction than that in the sulfur system, which indicates better rubber–fiber interaction in the former. The crosslink densities of various composites were also compared. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1023–1030, 2004     

Crystal structure transformations and orientation in crosslinked elastic fibers of an ethylene‐octene copolymer in response to deformation and heat treatment

Crosslinked elastic fibers, made from a low density (0.875 g/cc) ethylene‐octene copolymer, were studied after constrained at 300% elongation and annealed at different temperatures (40–80°C) to simulate conditions encountered in yarn and textile processing. It is surprisingly found that the transition from pseudo hexagonal to orthorhombic structure is much faster under simultaneously constraining and annealing than that without strain. Almost a neat orthorhombic structure can be produced when the fiber is annealed at 60°C. Annealing above 60°C leads to mixed orthorhombic and pseudo‐hexagonal structures. The average melting point increases with an increase in the fraction of orthorhombic phase. It is also surprisingly noted that the simultaneously constraining and annealing of the fiber can produce highly oriented crystals, even annealed at 80°C (above the average melting point of 65°C). The unique effect of annealing under large strain can be attributed to the crosslinking of the fiber, which makes it possible for the fiber to have strong chain orientation (even in molten state) under large strain. The strong chain orientation in melt leads to a faster structural transition from pseudo hexagonal to more stable orthorhombic structure. The strong chain orientation is also very likely the reason why highly oriented crystal and amorphous phases are formed, including the case where the fiber is annealed above melting point. These findings could be leveraged for improving thermal and mechanical properties of the fabrics made with such fibers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3565–3573, 2013     

Indole‐based polymer and its silver nanocomposite as advanced antibacterial agents: synthetic path,kinetics of polymerization and applications

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde (AIC) was studied by employing 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide as initiator in toluene. It led to controlled radical polymerization of AIC, with an increase of molecular weight along with the conversion of the monomer, and a relatively narrow molar mass distribution was obtained, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. The living nature of poly(1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde) (PAIC) was confirmed by the chain extension polymerization whereas ¹H NMR analysis showed that the major population of PAIC retained the chain‐end functional group. PAIC and its silver nanocomposite were found to be biologically active against some tested bacterial pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration tests revealed that PAIC exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumonae whereas PAIC/Ag nanocomposite showed antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and K. pneumonae. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

非磁性粘性颗粒在添加磁性大颗粒磁场流化床中的流化性能

通过添加磁性大颗粒，破碎活塞及沟流，显著改善了非磁性粘性颗粒在磁场流化床中的流化性能。为了评价非磁性粘性颗粒在磁场流化床中的流化性能，测量了最小流化速度、床层压力降和床膨胀高度。实验结果表明，非磁性粘性颗粒的最小流化速度，由于添加磁性大颗粒，而显著降低。磁性大颗粒添加量对非磁性粘性颗粒的最小流化速度有较大影响，随磁性大颗粒添加量的增加，最小流化速度降低，但当磁性大颗粒添加量增大到40％后，非磁性粘性颗粒和磁性大颗粒的混合物的最小流化速度就不再降低。     

Improving the performance of an active carbon-nitrogen adsorption cryocooler by thermal regeneration

Thermodynamic analysis was done on single and two stage active carbon nitrogen adsorption cryocoolers to study the effect of thermal regeneration on the performance. Heat regeneration within compressors operating in the same temperature range is considered. From the analysis done on 80 K cooler and 117.5 K cooler, it is found that dramatic efficiency improvement is possible with the use of compressor heat regeneration techniques.     

Effect of water depth on internal heat and mass transfer for active solar distillation

In this communication, an attempt has been made to find out the convective heat transfer coefficient for active solar distillation system. It is a well-known fact that the distillate output (the yield) decreases significantly with the increase of water depth in the basin of the solar still. It is also known that more yield is obtained in case of active solar distillation system as compared to passive solar still due to higher temperature difference between the water and inner glass cover temperatures in the active mode. For the present study, experiments have been conducted for 24 hours during winter months for different water depths in the basin (0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 m) for passive as well as active solar distillation system. The objective of the present paper is to study the effect of different water depths in the basin on the heat and mass transfer coefficients. It is inferred that the convective heat transfer coefficient between water and inner condensing cover depends significantly on the water depth in the basin. It is also observed that more yield is obtained during the off shine hours as compared to daytime for higher water depths in solar still (0.10 m and 0.15 m) due to storage effect.     

Solid Suspension in Jet Mixers

Experiments have been carried out with jet mixers to study the solid suspension characteristics. The jet velocities required for solid suspension in 0.5 and 1 m ID tanks were measured experimentally. The nozzle diameter was varied from 0.0156 to 0.05 m. The nozzle clearance from the tank bottom was varied from 0.1 to 0.9 m. Tap water and sand of average sizes 100, 300, and 500 µm were used. The solid loading was varied from 1 to 5% (wt.). The effect of nozzle angle was also studied. A semi‐empirical model has been developed to predict the jet velocity needed to achieve a certain degree of suspension.     

Differential Physio-Biochemical and Metabolic Responses of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) under Multiple Abiotic Stress Conditions

The frequency and severity of extreme climatic conditions such as drought, salinity, cold, and heat are increasing due to climate change. Moreover, in the field, plants are affected by multiple abiotic stresses simultaneously or sequentially. Thus, it is imperative to compare the effects of stress combinations on crop plants relative to individual stresses. This study investigated the differential regulation of physio-biochemical and metabolomics parameters in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) under individual (salt, drought, cold, and heat) and combined stress treatments using multivariate correlation analysis. The results showed that combined heat, salt, and drought stress compounds the stress effect of individual stresses. Combined stresses that included heat had the highest electrolyte leakage and lowest relative water content. Lipid peroxidation and chlorophyll contents did not significantly change under combined stresses. Biochemical parameters, such as free amino acids, polyphenol, starch, and sugars, significantly changed under combined stresses compared to individual stresses. Free amino acids increased under combined stresses that included heat; starch, sugars, and polyphenols increased under combined stresses that included drought; proline concentration increased under combined stresses that included salt. Metabolomics data that were obtained under different individual and combined stresses can be used to identify molecular phenotypes that are involved in the acclimation response of plants under changing abiotic stress conditions. Peanut metabolomics identified 160 metabolites, including amino acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids, fatty acids, sugar acids, and other organic compounds. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that abiotic stresses significantly affected amino acid, amino sugar, and sugar metabolism. The stress treatments affected the metabolites that were associated with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) and urea cycles and associated amino acid biosynthesis pathway intermediates. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and heatmap analysis identified potential marker metabolites (pinitol, malic acid, and xylopyranose) that were associated with abiotic stress combinations, which could be used in breeding efforts to develop peanut cultivars that are resilient to climate change. The study will also facilitate researchers to explore different stress indicators to identify resistant cultivars for future crop improvement programs.     

Electrical and Dielectric Properties of Non-magnetic Al<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Substituted Ni–Zn Nano Ferrites for High Frequency Applications

The effect of Al substitution on electrical and dielectric parameters of Ni–Zn ferrite has been discussed in the present work. The phase identification, surface morphology was studied using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The XRD patterns confirm the single-phase formation of these ferrites. With Al³⁺, substitution lattice parameter decreases due to smaller Al³⁺ ions replacing Fe³⁺ ions. The average grain size obtained from SEM results are in the range of 390–27 nm. The DC resistivity was observed to increase with increasing Al³⁺ ions concentration due to the unavailability of Fe³⁺ ions. Dielectric constant (\(\upvarepsilon ^{\prime }\)) and dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) have been studied as a function of frequency (1 kHz–10 MHz) and temperature (50–300 °C). The observed results are explained on the basis of interfacial polarization as predicted by Maxwell and Wagner.