Effect of Physical Processing of Commercial De-oiled Rice Bran on Particle Size Distribution, and Content of Chemical and Bio-functional Components

Rice bran is a rich source of nutrients and nutraceuticals, which has bio-functional properties. De-oiled rice bran, a major byproduct of rice bran oil industry, is not yet efficiently utilized for human consumption due to its poor edible quality. Various physical processing methods like sieving, pin milling and air classification were applied to upgrade the quality of bran and also to investigate its effect on particle size distribution, content of ash, protein, total dietary fiber, insoluble fiber, soluble fiber and oryzanol as well as total antioxidant activity in bran fractions. Sieve separation resulted in an increase in the content of protein and bio-functional components like soluble fiber and oryzanol as well as total antioxidant activity. Pin milling and sieving resulted in smaller particle size fraction without loss in the content of protein and other bio-functional components and antioxidant activity. Air classification of this material resulted in significant decrease in ash content with moderate increase in protein content and significant increase in the contents of oryzanol and soluble fiber and the total antioxidant activity. This resulted in quality improvement of commercial de-oiled bran viz., reduction in coarse bran fraction (>250μ_m size particles) from 65% to 0%, content of ash from 14.3 to 13.1 g/100 g, and insoluble fiber from 49.3 to 46.1 g/100 g, and increase in the content of protein from 13.7 to 17 g/100 g, soluble fiber from 2.75 to 4.35 g/100 g, oryzanol from 13.6 to 18.1 mg/100 g, and total antioxidant activity from 61 to 96 mM α-tocopherol equivalent/g. About 30% edible and nutrient rich rice bran, which can be used as an ingredient in the bakery products and health food formulations, was obtained from unutilized commercial de-oiled bran by this process.     

Fungitoxic activity of Indian borage (Plectranthus amboinicus) volatiles

Indian borage (Plectranthus amboinicus) was investigated for antifungal activity through agar well diffusion assay. Indian borage oil (IBO) was found to be effective against various fungi tested, as it inhibited the radial growth of mycelia and exhibited broad fungitoxic properties against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus CFR 221, Aspergillus oryzae, Candida versatilis, Fusarium sp. GF-1019, Penicillium sp., and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The effective concentration of IBO on the growth of A. ochraceus in yeast extract sucrose medium was determined. IBO completely inhibited ochratoxin (OTA) production by the toxigenic strain A. ochraceus at 500 ppm. Also, the application of IBO at 100 mg/g in food samples resulted in inhibition of the growth of A. ochraceus in food systems such as groundnut, maize and poultry feed and no detectable amount of OTA was found at a high moisture level of 30%, even after seven days. IBO has the potential for use as a botanical fungitoxicant against fungal attack in stored food commodities.     

Failure analysis of left barrel of an aircraft engine

This investigation analyses the failure of left barrel used in engine of an aircraft. The barrel was subjected to detailed examination using standard non-destructive and destructive testing methods in order to identify the cause of failure of left barrel. The experimental results include fractography, chemical analysis, coating analysis and optical microstructure. The investigation concludes that failure is caused by the formation of corrosion pits which act as stress raiser and fatigue has assisted in propagation of the crack.     

Magnetoelectric properties of Ni/PZT/Ni layered composite for low field applications

A composite material when placed under the external magnetic/electric fields exhibits voltage/induced magnetization is known as magnetoelectric (ME) composite. Such composite materials should have ferroelectric and ferro/ferri magnetic phases as constituents. The magnetoelectric output is exhibited as a product property. Magnetoelectric composites are being used for variety of applications including resonators, filters, phase shifters, optical isolators, actuators and magnetic field sensors. Metal/ferroelectric/metal magnetoelectric composite using Ni and PZT as constituent phases has been fabricated in 2-2 composite pattern to study its product property. The paper presents magnetoelectric studies of Ni/PZT/Ni composite using low dc magnetic field magnetoelectric set-up. Using this ME set-up ME output of Ni/PZT/Ni composite is studied as a function of dc magnetic field. The results were analyzed to identify the useful magnetic field (dc and ac) range in which Ni/PZT/Ni sensor can be utilized for applications.     

Structural,optical and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Zn0.9Co0.1O-based diluted magnetic semiconductors

With a view to understand the influence of nano size on various properties of cobalt-doped ZnO-based diluted magnetic semiconductors, a series of materials were prepared by the citrate gel route. The phase and morphology studies have been carried out by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. All the samples of the present investigation are found to have hexagonal wurtzite structure and crystallite sizes are found to vary from 25 nm to 65 nm. From the optical absorption measurements it has been observed that upon doping with cobalt, the energy band gap is found to shift towards lower energy side (red shift) while it shifts towards higher energy side (blue shift) when the crystallite size is increased continuously. It has been observed from the XPS results that oxidation state of Cobalt is +2 and that the difference in binding energies of Co 2p_3/2 and Co 2p_1/2 is found to increase continuously with increasing crystallite size. Finally, all the samples are found to exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism and the specific magnetization decreases with increasing crystallite size.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of High Reynolds Number Turbulent Flow Past a Square Cylinder

Flow past a square cylinder at a Reynolds number of 21,400 has been studied numerically using the large-eddy simulation technique. A dynamic subgrid-scale stress model has been used for the small scales of turbulence. The time- and span-averaged axial and transverse velocities in the downstream of the cylinder are in good agreement with the experimental results. The distribution of turbulent normal and shear stresses is also well predicted. The coherent and incoherent components of turbulent fluctuations at some specified phases have been separated and their relative magnitudes downstream of the cylinder have been compared. The comparison shows more coherence in the near wake than the far wake, while the coherent and incoherent components are of comparable magnitude in the far wake. The far wake shows irregular phase-averaged structures.     

Pattern of crack formation in rice grain as influenced by shape and orientation of cells

Stress cracks usually develop across the grain in rice, although longitudinal cracks also develop occasionally on one axis. On examination of sections of rice grain it was noticed that orientation of elongated cells provided cell wall continuation across the grain and also along the length in the dorsiventral axis. Cracks were found to develop easily along these cell wall lines. Crack formation was difficult in the lateral axis along the length since cell wall continuity was absent. However, when severely dried grains were suddenly wetted cracks developed even in this axis by disruption of cells along the cleavage path.     

An investigation into the stability of enclosed laminar diffusion flames

Experiments on enclosed laminar diffusion flames have revealed the existence of a critical relative velocity of air and fuel which is associated with the threshold of low frequency flame vibration. Starting from the hypothesis that these vibrations are triggered by a selectively amplified disturbance arising in the free shear layers near the base of the flame, the authors have obtained evidence of the nature of the disturbance. Further systematic experiments have enabled them to account for the observed behavior of low frequency vibrating diffusion flames in the light of their hypothesis and in relation to the acoustical properties of their combustion system.     

Two-phase flow regimes in round, square and rectangular tubes during condensation of refrigerant R134a

An experimental investigation of two-phase flow mechanisms during condensation of refrigerant R134a in six small diameter round (4.91 mm), square (D_h=4 mm, α=1), and rectangular (4×6 and 6×4 mm: D_h=4.8 mm, α=0.67 and 1.5; 2×4 and 4×2 mm: D_h=2.67 mm, α =0.5 and 2) was conducted. Unique experimental techniques and test sections were developed to enable the documentation of the flow mechanisms during phase change. For each tube under consideration, flow mechanisms were recorded over the entire range of qualities for five different refrigerant mass fluxes between 150 and 750 kg m⁻² s⁻¹. The flow mechanisms were categorized into four different flow regimes: intermittent flow, wavy flow, annular flow, and dispersed flow. In addition, the large amount of data enabled the delineation of several different flow patterns within each flow regime, which provides a clearer understanding of the different modes of two-phase flow. Transition lines between the respective flow patterns and regimes on these maps were established based on the experimental data. It was found that for similar hydraulic diameters, flow regime transitions are not very strongly dependent on tube shape or aspect ratio. These maps and the transition lines can be used to predict the particular flow pattern or regime that will be established for a given mass flux, quality and tube geometry.