Reuse of glass waste in the manufacture of ceramic tableware glazes

Today, various studies are carried out to spread the understanding of sustainability. The sustainability of production processes gains importance in corporate areas. In this study, the use of glass waste instead of frit used in glaze compositions in the ceramic industry was evaluated. The chemical and physical properties of glass wastes on samples were examined. The glaze formulations were prepared using 3%, 5%, and 8% by weight of glass waste instead of frit. Glass wastes were added to glaze compositions and 12 different glaze formulation studies were carried out. Transparent, Opaque, and Matte test glazes were prepared with glass waste added glaze formulations, and these glazes were applied to ceramic bodies. SEM (scanning electron microscope) analysis of standard glaze and glass waste added glazes was performed to determine the microstructural and morphological characterizations. Also, surface whiteness, brightness, L*a*b values, glaze flows, harcort test results, and final water absorption values were compared. As a result of the studies, it has been determined that it is appropriate to use 3% glass waste by weight instead of the frit in the production of ceramic tableware.     

Numerical research of cavitation on Francis turbine runners

Francis turbines, as other hydraulic turbines, are custom-designed for nominal operating conditions specific to each power plant. However, they may need to be operated at off-design flow conditions because of variable reservoir levels and flowrates. Operating the turbine at off-design points can cause cavitation. Four cavitation types can be observed on Francis turbine runners. These are leading edge, travelling bubble, draft tube swirl and inter-blade vortex cavitation. They may cause erosion, reduction in efficiency, vibration, instability of operation and noise. Runner blades must be designed taking the flow characteristics into account for design conditions to prevent cavitation. Cavitation limits for the off-design points must also be determined. In this study, the runner geometry of an actual hydroelectric power plant that was designed and implemented in 1960s, is redesigned with the help of the state of the art computational fluid dynamics techniques for cavitation free operation. The cavitation limits for the off-design points are also determined.     

Simulation of heat transfer for solid–liquid food mixtures in cans and model validation under pasteurization conditions

During processing of canned mixtures of solid–liquid foods, conduction and convection occur simultaneously. The literature lacks in a complete simulation study where a large number of solids are dispersed in the liquid phase, e.g. canned peas. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine temperature changes inside a can containing solid–liquid food mixtures. For this purpose, dispersed stationary solids (canned peas in water) in a 2D (axi-symmetrical) configuration were applied. Ansys V11 (Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA) was used to solve continuity, energy and momentum equations. For experiments, canned pea samples were prepared in 500 g cans, and heating process was conducted in a retort under pasteurization conditions at ≈98 °C. Temperature changes were measured using needle type thermocouples, and simulation results were validated against experimental data. This study is expected to be a significant contribution to the literature for further optimization studies and to form basis of an industrial project to improve canning process of solid–liquid mixtures.     

Determinants of cross-regional R&D collaboration: some empirical evidence from Europe in biotechnology

In this study, we focus on the pattern of cross-regional R&D collaborations through which voluntary knowledge flows and accompanying spillovers might occur. Our aim is to investigate the processes that give rise to the observed network configuration in order to identify hampering factors of knowledge diffusion, with a particular interest in the role of geographical proximity and differences in territorial features. We make use of the data on project proposals submitted to the 7th Framework Programme in the field of biotechnology. We build a non-valued inter-regional R&D cooperation network among a set of European regions and study its formation through exponential random graph models (Frank and Strauss in J Am Stat Assoc 81(395):832–842, 1986; Wasserman and Pattison in Psychometrika 61(3):401–425, 1996). Besides the role played by absorptive capacities, the empirical results reveal that contiguity affects the pattern of cross-regional collaborations not only via edge formation among neighbours but also through a triadic closure process which links neighbouring regions to non-neighbours. Furthermore, triadic closure is found out to be in play among highly populated regions and regions including capital cities.     

Joint analysis of transient flux behaviors via membrane fouling in hybrid PAC/MF processes using neural network

The main purpose of this study is to understand the transient flux behaviors via membrane fouling in hybrid powdered activated carbon/microfiltration (PAC/MF) processes. Experiments were carried out for nickel solution at various surfactant adsorbent and membrane types and membrane pore sizes. Transient fluxes were modeled together using neural network (NN). A good agreement was obtained with correlation value of 0.986 and mean absolute error of 0.366 m³/m² h respectively. In hybrid processes three discriminable phase behaviors for the flux were determined as fast [0-40s] slow [40-1000s] and low stable [1000-4500s]. Considerable losses in the flux were determined during the first and the second phases while the flux reached a partial steady-state in the third phase. In the first and the third phases participation of surfactant-adsorbed PACs to the cake layer and/or interaction of surfactants and PACs in the cake with each other were found to be predominant ways for the fouling. Whereas in the second phase the interaction of surfactants with both membrane and cake layer was appeared more influential on transient flux behavior.     

Modeling of 3D temperature fields for oblique machining

Fast and accurate temperature prediction for oblique cutting processes is still one of the most complex problems and challenges in the machining research community. For the first time in this article, a novel 3D temperature prediction model based on the finite difference approach for oblique cutting processes is presented. An elliptic structural grid generation method is implemented. Representing different oblique cutting geometries is straightforward now. Moreover, since the resulting equation system is algebraic, the model allows much faster calculations compared to available finite element method based machining temperature models. 3D oblique simulation results verify that temperatures are in good agreement with experimental results.     

Operation assignment and capacity allocation problem in automated manufacturing systems

We address an operation assignment and capacity allocation problem that arises in semiconductor industries and flexible manufacturing systems. We assume the automated machines have scarce time and tool magazine capacities and the tools are available in limited quantities. The aim is to select a subset of operations with maximum total weight. We show that the problem is NP-hard in the strong sense, develop two heuristics and a Tabu Search procedure. The results of our computational tests have revealed that our Tabu Search procedure produces near optimal solutions very quickly.     

In Situ Deprotection of Polymeric Binders for Solution-Processible Sulfide-Based All-Solid-State Batteries

Sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) have been featured as promising alternatives to the current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) mainly owing to their superior safety. Nevertheless, a solution-based scalable manufacturing scheme has not yet been established because of the incompatible polarity of the binder, solvent, and sulfide electrolyte during slurry preparation. This dilemma is overcome by subjecting the acrylate (co)polymeric binders to protection−deprotection chemistry. Protection by the tert-butyl group allows for homogeneous dispersion of the binder in the slurry based on a relatively less polar solvent, with subsequent heat-treatment during the drying process to cleave the tert-butyl group. This exposes the polar carboxylic acid groups, which are then able to engage in hydrogen bonding with the active cathode material, high-nickel layered oxide. Deprotection strengthens the electrode adhesion such that the strength equals that of commercial LIB electrodes, and the key electrochemical performance parameters are improved markedly in both half-cell and full-cell settings. The present study highlights the potential of sulfide-based ASSBs for scalable manufacturing and also provides insights that protection−deprotection chemistry can generally be used for various battery cells that suffer from polarity incompatibility among multiple electrode components.