Oxidative stability of olive oil during the thermal process: Effect of Pistacia khinjuk fruit oil

The oxidative stability of refined olive oil with incorporated Pistacia khinjuk fruit oil (PKFO; 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%) during thermal processing at 170ºC for 8 h was evaluated. The conjugated diene values, carbonyl values, acid values, oil/oxidative stability indices, and total tocopherol content were measured during thermal processing. Olive oil containing 0.5% PKFO was identified as the most oxidative stable oil followed by oils containing 100 ppm TBHQ and 1, 5, 10, and 2% PKFO. No significant difference between samples of olive oil containing 100 ppm TBHQ and 1% PKFO was observed. Thus, it was concluded that PKFO at levels lower than 1% could provide stronger antioxidation activity in comparison with TBHQ (the strongest syntactic antioxidant used in the food industry). Moreover, reduction in tocopherol compounds during thermal processing was higher in olive oil containing TBHQ as compared to those in pure olive oil.     

Global and Local Mechanical Properties of Autogenously Laser Welded Ti-6Al-4V

Ti-6Al-4V sheets, 3.2-mm in thickness, were butt welded using a continuous wave 4 kW Nd:YAG laser welding system. The effect of two main process parameters, laser power and welding speed, on the joint integrity was characterized in terms of the joint geometry, defects, microstructure, hardness, and tensile properties. In particular, a digital image correlation technique was used to determine the local tensile properties of the welds. It was determined that a wide range of heat inputs can be used to fully penetrate the Ti-6Al-4V butt joints during laser welding. At high laser power levels, however, significant defects such as underfill and porosity, can occur and cause marked degradation in the joint integrity and performance. At low welding speeds, however, significant porosity occurs due to its growth and the potential collapse of instable keyholes. Intermediate to relatively high levels of heat input allow maximization of the joint integrity and performance by limiting the underfill and porosity defects. In considering the effect of the two main defects on the joint integrity, the underfill defect was found to be more damaging to the mechanical performance of the weldment than the porosity. Specifically, it was determined that the maximum tolerable underfill depth for Ti-6Al-4V is approximately 6 pct of the workpiece thickness, which is slightly stricter than the value of 7 pct specified in AWS D17.1 for fusion welding in aerospace applications. Hence, employing optimized laser process parameters allows the underfill depth to be maintained within the tolerable limit (6 pct), which in turn prevents degradation in both the weld strength and ductility. To this end, the ability to maintain weld ductility in Ti-6Al-4V by means of applying a high energy density laser welding process presents a significant advantage over conventional arc welding for the assembly of aerospace components.     

Modeling of liquid hydrocarbon products from syngas

International Journal of Coal Science & Technology - The modeling of hydrocarbon selectivity and CO conversion of the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over Fe–Ni/Al2O3 catalyst by using...     

Chemical vapor deposition of poly(3‐alkylthiophene) nanoparticles on fabric: Chemical and electrochemical characterization

Chemical vapor deposition of poly(3‐methylthiophene) and poly (3‐hexylthiophene) as conductive polymers on the surface of polyester fabrics was successfully obtained. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the formation of polymers on surface of fabrics (the fingerprint of polythiophenes, υ 600–1500 cm^?1). The uniformity of deposition and nanoparticles (average size of 60 nm) were proved with scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that P3HT‐coated samples offer higher conductivity in compared to P3MT‐coated samples. The impedance modulus of P3HT‐coated samples was lowered nine times to that of row materials and reached to c8000 Ω. The samples have also shown electrochromic properties under electrical current, changing its color from yellowish green at 0 V to dark green at +12 V for poly (3‐hexylthiophene) samples and from brown at 0 V to red at +12 V for poly(3‐methylthiophene)‐coated fabrics (V = 0 V, λ = 450 nm; V = 12 V, λ = 650 nm). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40673.     

Removal of Diazinon from aqueous solution by electrocoagulation process using aluminum electrodes

Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical method to treat polluted wastewaters and aqueous solutions. In this paper, the removal of Diazinon was studied by EC on aluminum electrode. The effect of several parameters such as initial concentration of Diazinon, current density, solution conductivity, effect of pH, and electrolysis time were investigated on EC performance. The obtained results showed that the removal efficiency of EC depends on the current density, initial concentration of Diazinon and electrolysis time. The optimum pH is 3 and also the solution conductivity has no significant effect on removal efficiency.     

LaMer diagram approach to study the nucleation and growth of Cu2O nanoparticles using supersaturation theory

Uptake to cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) nanoparticle synthesis with various particle sizes and shapes via supersaturation chemistry approach (LaMer model) has been conducted. Ascorbic acid and maltodextrine as reducing agents and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a surfactant were utilized for synthesis of Cu₂O nanoparticles in aqueous solution. The narrow particle size range was achieved by controlling the kinetics of nucleation and growth of particles to satisfy LaMer theory. This mean was performed utilizing different reducing agents (ascorbic acid and maltodextrin) and also, changing the reducing agent addition condition. The results showed the reducing agent addition condition, varying the size of Cu₂O nanoparticles from 89 nm to 74 nm for drop-wisely and at-once routes, respectively. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results indicate the shape of as-prepared cuprous oxide nanoparticles have close relationship with thermodynamic and kinetic conditions, and also reducing addition condition.     

Creep response of glued-laminated beam reinforced with pre-stressed sub-laminated composite

In the past decades, the use of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) for enhancement of strength and stiffness of wood-based structural members has been established as an economical method. New developments have been ongoing to further improve the structural performance of glued-laminate beams. Recently, a novel integral sub-laminated composite, referred to as pre-stressed FRP–wood composite laminate (PWCL), was patented (KarisAllen and Tynes, 2000 [1]). This system is comprised of pre-stressed high performance fibres, sandwiched and glued within layers of pre-compressed wood strands. The resulting sub-laminated system may be attached to the tension zone of timber/glulam beams. A concern involved with the use of such pre-stressing scheme has been the issue of creep, which could affect the long-term performance of such composite beams. This paper presents the results of a study conducted to investigate the long-term performance of glulam beams reinforced with PWCL sub-laminate. Experimental investigations were conducted to determine the creep parameters of FRP composites and wood species employed in the fabrication of PWCL. The main objective was to develop a finite element model (FEM) to simulate the pre-stressing process and to predict the creep response of an entire reinforced glulam system, including the PWCL, under an externally applied load and constant environmental condition. The FEM was constructed in the Abaqus environment and the residual stress distribution was modeled in a step-wise scheme, corresponding to each step of PWCL and beam fabrication as well as the in situ response of the composite beam. The integrity of the creep model used in the simulation was verified by the experimental results obtained from tests performed on FRP reinforced small-size wood.     

Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P) Processing of Martensitic Stainless Steels

Austenite was stabilized in the martensitic stainless steel grade AISI 420 by means of quenching and partitioning (Q&P) processing. The effects of quenching temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The specimens processed at low quench temperatures (regime I) had a microstructure consisting of tempered martensite and retained austenite. At high quench temperatures (regime II), fresh martensite was present too. The highest austenite fraction of about 0.35 was obtained at the quench temperature delineating regimes I and II. The amount of carbon in retained austenite increased as the quench temperature decreased. The carbon level of austenite was, however, much lower than the carbon concentrations expected from full partitioning assumption. This was mainly due to the extensive cementite formation in the partitioning step. Stabilization of austenite by Q&P processing was found not to be purely chemical. Austenite stabilization was also assisted by locking, because of local carbon enrichment, of potential martensite nucleation sites in the austenite/martensite boundaries and in austenite defects. The importance of the latter stabilization mechanism increased at higher martensite fractions. According to the tensile test results, the Q&P processed specimen with the highest austenite fraction was not associated with the best combination of strength and ductility. The mechanical stability of austenite was found to increase with its carbon concentration being the highest at the lowest quench temperature. The thermal stability, on the other hand, was almost inversely proportional to the retained austenite fraction, being low at intermediate quench temperatures where the retained austenite fraction was high.     

Influences of feeding conditions and objective function on the optimal design of gas flow channel of a PEM fuel cell

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the promising electricity generating technologies with a wide range of applicability; however, it needs further improvements to be commercially viable. The design of a PEMFC plays a key role in its viability, and is often reduced to the design of gas flow channel (GFC) at the cathode side. In this study, it is attempted to figure out the optimal dimensions (i.e., width and height) of the rectangular cross sectional area of the cathode GFC of a PEMFC via numerical examination of various sets of dimensions. The optimization procedure is carried out for two different objective functions (the maximization of the maximum power and the maximization of the average power over a range of operating voltages) as well as for different sets of operating conditions (cell temperature, operating pressure, and stoichiometry and relative humidity of inlet gases). To the best of authors' knowledge, the following observations may be considered to be the contributions of the present work to the subject: First, the influence of cross sectional dimensions on the PEMFC performance is considerable, and this considerable influence is not limited to a specific set of operating conditions. Second, the performance of the PEMFC may both deteriorate and improve with the channel width or height, depending on its operating conditions as well as on its current dimensions. Third, there exists no single optimal cross section for different sets of operating conditions. Fourth, the polarization curves of two different cross sections may intersect, and as a result, one cross section may have a greater maximum power but at the same time lower average power in comparison to the other one. And fifth, among all the operating parameters, the relative humidity of inlet gases has the greatest effect on the optimal cross sectional dimensions.