Clean fuel options with hydrogen for sea transportation: A life cycle approach

In this study, two potential fuels, namely hydrogen and ammonia, are alternatively proposed to replace heavy fuel oils in the engines of sea transportation vehicles. A comparative life cycle assessments of different types of sea transportation vehicles are performed to investigate the impacts of fuel switching on the environment. The entire transport life cycle is considered in the life cycle analyses consisting of production of freight ship and tanker; operation of freight ship and tanker; construction and land use of port; operation, maintenance and disposal of port; production and transportation of these clean fuels. Various environmental impact categories, such as global warming, marine sediment ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, acidification and ozone layer depletion are selected in order to examine the diverse effects of switching to clean fuels in maritime transportation. As a carbon-free fuel for marine vehicle engines, ammonia and hydrogen, yield considerably lower global warming impact during the operation. Furthermore, numerous production methods of alternative fuels are evaluated to comparatively show environmentally benign options. The results of this study demonstrate that if ammonia is even partially utilized in the engines of ocean tankers as dual fuel (with heavy fuel oils), overall life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per tonne-kilometer can be decreased about 27% whereas it can be decreased by about 40% when hydrogen is used as dual fuel.     

Electro-Optics and Band Gap Energies of Nanosilver-Coated TiO_2 Nanotubes on Titanium Metal

TiO_2 nanotubes on Ti metal surface were prepared by the electrochemical anodization method. Then, nanosilver was deposited onto the nanotubes by the electroless dip coating and the anodization. The obtained TiO2 nanotubes were examined by using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, and UV–Vis. The electrochemical band gap(E_g~(CV)) of the nanosilver-coated TiO_2 nanotubes prepared by the anodization was found as 1.54 eV. Using the UV–Vis measurements, the optical band gap energy(E_g~(op).) was calculated as 1.51 eV for the Ag/TiO_2 nanotubes obtained by electroless dip coating. The electrical conductivity of the TiO_2 nanotubes also increased from 3.0 9 10-4 to 34.7 S/cm after nano Ag deposition by the anodization method.These Ag/TiO_2 nanotubes with low band gap and high electrical conductivity are desirable for the applications in electronics, Li-ion batteries, and solar cells.     

Developing a Shade Range on Wool by Madder (Rubia cordifolia) Root Extract with Gallnut (Quercus infectoria) as Biomordant

Environmental issues inspire the revival of natural dyes that exhibit better biodegradability and more compatibility over synthetic ones. This research is aimed to investigate the effect of color and fastness properties on wool yarn substrate with natural anthraquinone colorants extracted from madder roots using gallnut (Quercus infectoria) extract as anchoring agent. Prior to the dyeing with Indian Madder (Rubia cordifolia), wool fibers were pre and post-treated with different concentrations of gallnut extract (viz 1–5% o.w.f) to get a broad range of beautiful and color fast shades. The feasibility of gallnut extract as an anchoring agent and its effect on color strength and color fastness to light, rubbing, and washing was investigated. Results of color characteristics showed that the color coordinates of the dyed samples were situated in the red-yellow quadrant of the CIELabcolor space. Bio-mordanting with gallnut extract produced shades of practically acceptable color depth, color fastness to light, washing and rubbing. Pre-treatment with gallnut extract is dominated over post-treatment in terms of better colorimetric and fastness results.     

Uniform version of the modified theory of physical optics based boundary diffraction wave theory

The potential function of the modified theory of physical optics based boundary diffraction wave theory is made uniform by using the principles of the uniform theory of diffraction. The line integration of this new function along the edge contour gives the uniform diffracted fields which are finite for the transition regions of the diffraction geometry. The method is applied to the diffraction problem by the edge of a curved surface.     

Clear-water scour at long skewed bridge piers

Abstract

The results of an experimental study on clear-water scour at long skewed rectangular piers under steady flows at threshold velocity are presented. The scour mechanisms due to skewness effects with a wide range of angle of attack, α, and two sizes of uniform cohesionless bed sediment (d₅₀ = 0.23 and d₅₀ = 0.80 mm) have been investigated in a 50-m-long, 1.5-m-wide, and 2.0-m-deep flume. Empirical relation to demonstrate the effects of skewness in terms of dimensionless variables, such as aspect ratio (L/b), the angle of attack (α), flow shallowness (y/B_α), sediment coarseness (B_α/d₅₀), the sediment gradation coefficient (σ_g), on scour depth is presented. The empirical relation is focused on predicting the angle of attack factor, K_α. The experimental data obtained in this study and data available from the literature were used to validate the predictions of existing methods and the accuracy of the proposed method. The proposed method gives reasonable scour depth predictions and was verified with statistical methods where the mean error was reduced from 53.6 to 18.1%.     

An analytical approach for thermodynamic properties of the six-component systems Ni-Cr-Co-Al-Mo-Ti and their subsystems

In the present study, the results of some thermodynamic prediction methods were applied to the Ni-Cr-Co-Al-Mo-Ti system of six components. The Chou’s general solution model and the traditional models of Kohler and Muggianu were included in the calculation for the comparison and discussion. The excess Gibbs energy dependences on composition for two investigated cross sections at 2000 K, were obtained according to the applied models. The comparison between the results of the three models shows good mutual agreement.     

Room temperature synthesis of PbSe quantum dots in aqueous solution: stabilization by interactions with ligands

An aqueous route of synthesis is described for rapid synthesis of lead selenide quantum dots (PbSe QDs) at room temperature in an attempt to produce water-soluble and stable nanocrystals. Several thiol-ligands, including thioglycolic acid (TGA), thioglycerol (TGC), 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), 2-mercaptoethylamine hydrochloride (MEA), 6-mercaptohexanoic acid (MHA), and l-cysteine (l-cys), were used for capping/stabilization of PbSe QDs. The effects of the ligands on the stability of PbSe QDs were evaluated for a period of two months at room temperature under normal light conditions and at 4 °C in the dark. The TGA- and MEA-capped QDs exhibited the highest stability prior to purification, almost two months when kept in the dark at 4 °C. However, the stability of TGA-capped QDs was reduced substantially after purification to about 5 days under the same conditions, while MEA-capped QDs did not show any significant instability. The stabilization energies of Pb-thiolate complexes determined by theoretical DFT simulations supported the experimental results. The PbSe QDs capped with TGA, MPA and MEA were successfully purified and re-dispersed in water, while those stabilized with TGC, MHA and l-cys aggregated during purification attempts. The purified PbSe QDs possess very susceptible surface resulting in poor stability for about 30-45 min after re-dispersion in water. In the presence of an excess of free ligand, the stability increased up to 5 days for TGA-capped QDs at pH 7.19, 9-12 days for MPA-capped QDs at pH 7.3-7.5 and 45-47 days for MEA-capped QDs at pH 7.35. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the QDs possess a cubic rock salt structure with the most intense peaks located at 2θ = 25.3° (200) and 2θ = 29.2° (100). TEM images showed that the size of the QDs ranges between 5 and 10 nm. ICP-MS results revealed that Pb?:?Se ratios were 1.26, 1.28, 3.85, 1.18, and 1.31 for the QDs capped with TGA, MPA, MEA, l-cys, and TGC, respectively. The proposed method is inexpensive, simple and utilizes environmentally friendly chemicals and solvents.     

Benefits of two mitigation strategies for container vessels: cleaner engines and cleaner fuels

Emissions from ocean-going vessels (OGVs) are a significant health concern for people near port communities. This paper reports the emission benefits for two mitigation strategies, cleaner engines and cleaner fuels, for a 2010 container vessel. In-use emissions were measured following International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocols. The overall in-use nitrogen oxide (NO(x)) emission factor was 16.1 ± 0.1 gkW(-1) h(-1), lower than the Tier 1 certification (17 gkW(-1) h(-1)) and significantly lower than the benchmark value of 18.7 gkW(-1) h(-1) commonly used for estimating emission inventories. The in-use particulate matter (PM(2.5)) emission was 1.42 ± 0.04 gkW(-1) h(-1) for heavy fuel oil (HFO) containing 2.51 wt % sulfur. Unimodal (～30 nm) and bimodal (～35 nm; ～75 nm) particle number size distributions (NSDs) were observed when the vessel operated on marine gas oil (MGO) and HFO, respectively. First-time emission measurements during fuel switching (required 24 nautical miles from coastline) showed that concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and particle NSD took ～55 min to reach steady-state when switching from MGO to HFO and ～84 min in the opposite direction. Therefore, if OGVs commence fuel change at the regulated boundary, then vessels can travel up to 90% of the distance to the port before steady-state values are re-established. The transient behavior follows a classic, nonlinear mixing function driven by the amount of fuel in day tank and the fuel consumption rate. Hence, to achieve the maximum benefits from a fuel change regulation, fuel switch boundary should be further increased to provide the intended benefits for the people living near the ports.     

Effects of surfactants on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in a split‐cylinder airlift reactor

Effects of various concentrations (0–5 ppm) of anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) and non‐ionic (Tween‐80 and Triton X‐405) surfactants on gas hold‐up and gas–liquid mass transfer in a split‐cylinder airlift reactor are reported for air–water. Surfactants were found to strongly enhance gas hold‐up. Non‐ionic surfactants were more effective in enhancing gas hold‐up compared to the anionic surfactant SDS. An enhanced gas hold‐up and a visually reduced bubble size in the presence of surfactants implied an enhanced gas–liquid interfacial area for mass transfer. Nevertheless, the overall gas–liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient was reduced in the presence of surfactants, suggesting that surfactants greatly reduced the true liquid film mass transfer coefficient and this reduction outweighed the interfacial area enhancing effect. Presence of surfactants did not substantially affect the induced liquid circulation rate in the airlift vessel.