Investigation of milling characteristics of alumina powders milled with a newly designed vibratory horizontal attritor

In this study, a vibratory horizontal attritor was designed, constructed and used to produce alumina powders. The effects of process parameters, such as milling time, ball-powder weight ratio (BPR) and rotational speed (RS) of the attritor on the mean particle size and particle size distribution have been investigated. Milling times of 1, 5, 10 and 15 h and ball-powder weight ratios of 5:1, 10:1, 20:1 and 40:1 were considered in the present study. Rotational speeds of the attritor were selected as 500, 700 and 900 rpm and distilled water was used as milling media.The experimental results show that increasing milling time and ball-powder weight ratio resulted in finer particles. Optimum rotational speed of the attritor was found as 700 rpm. The mean particle size of attrited powders were in the range of 2.05-6.82 μm, depending on process parameters.     

Studying the sol-gel transition of styrene-divinyl benzene crosslinking co-polymerization via excimer forming dye molecules

A novel method based on the steady state fluorescence technique was used to study the sol-gel transition in the free radical crosslinking reaction between styrene (St) and divinyl benzene (DVB) with 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. N-(4-(pyrenyl methylene)-oxycarbonyl phenyl)maleimide (Py-MI) was used as a fluorescence probe. The possible enchainment of Py-MI in alternating sequences occurred randomly in polymer clusters produced modifications in the fluorescence spectra, namely the shift at the higher wavelengths due to the excimer formation. The fluorescence spectra of Py-MI's excimers allowed both to monitor the sol-gel transition and to test the critical exponents as function of co-monomer's concentration. The gel fraction exponent β and the weight average degree of polymerization exponent γ agreed best with the static percolation values. Although this technique was applied for St-DVB co-polymerization, it may be generalized for the other monomers that are able to bind chemically to Py-MI monomer during the polymerization.     

Lovastatin production by Aspergillus terreus in a two‐staged feeding operation

BACKGROUND: Lovastatin is known to inhibit its own synthesis in the fungus Aspergillus terreus. Therefore, the use of a fermentation strategy that continuously removes some of the lovastatin produced from the bioreactor can enhance its productivity. This paper reports on the effects of dilution rate and the composition of the feed medium on lovastatin production by A. terreus. RESULTS: The feeding strategy consisted of an initial batch/fed‐batch phase and a semi‐continuous culture phase in which the pelleted biomass was retained inside a slurry bubble column. A nitrogen‐free medium was fed at various fixed dilution rates in the semi‐continuous phase. In experiments that were designed to assess the effects of the composition of the medium, the dilution rate was held at 0.42 d^?1, but different feed media were used in separate runs. The best two‐staged production strategy was shown to consist of a 96 h batch/fed‐batch phase that used a nutritionally complete medium. This was followed by a semi‐continuous operation using a medium that was free of both nitrogen and carbon sources. CONCLUSION: Semi‐continuous operation enhanced productivity of lovastatin by 315% compared with a conventional batch operation. The optimal dilution rate in semi‐continuous operation was about 0.42 d^?1. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Protease production by Aspergillus oryzae in solid‐state fermentation using agroindustrial substrates

BACKGROUND: An inexpensive and readily available agroindustrial substrate such as rice bran can be used to produce cheap commercial enzymes by solid‐state fermentation. This work investigates the production of food‐grade proteases by solid‐state fermentation using readily available Thai rice bran. RESULTS: A local strain of Aspergillus oryzae (Ozykat‐1) was used to produce proteases. Rice bran used alone proved to have poor substrate morphology (insufficient porosity) for satisfactory solid‐state fermentation. A certain amount of wheat bran was necessary to improve the morphology of the substrate. The following variables affected protease production: substrate composition, initial moisture content and initial pH. A high protease activity (∼1200 U g⁻¹ dry solids) was obtained on a substrate that had a wheat bran to rice bran ratio of 0.33 by dry weight, a moisture content of 50%, initial pH of 7.5, and incubation temperature of 30 °C. CONCLUSION: Nutritionally, rice bran used alone was as good a substrate as mixed bran for producing protease, but rice bran had poor morphological characteristics for consistent fermentation. A substrate that had a wheat bran to rice bran ratio of 0.33 by dry weight was best for producing protease. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Bubble size in a forced circulation loop reactor

BACKGROUND: The bubble size distribution in gas‐liquid reactors influences gas holdup, residence time distribution, and gas‐liquid interfacial area for mass transfer. This work reports on the effects of independently varied gas and liquid flow rates on steady‐state bubble size distributions in a new design of forced circulation loop reactor operated with an air–water system. The reactor consisted of a cylindrical vessel (～26 L nominal volume, gas‐free aspect ratio ≈ 6, downcomer‐to‐riser cross‐sectional area ratio of 0.493) with a concentric draft tube and an annular riser zone. Both gas and liquid were in forced flow through a sparger that had been designed for minimizing the bubble size. RESULTS: Photographically measured bubble size distributions in the riser zone could be approximated as normal distributions for the combinations of gas and liquid flow rates used. This contrasted with other kinds of size distributions (e.g. bimodal, Gaussian) that have been reported for other types of gas‐liquid reactors. Most of the bubbles were in the 3 to 5 mm diameter range. At any fixed low value of aeration rate (≤1.8 × 10^?4 m³s^?1), increase in the liquid flow rate caused earlier detachment of bubbles from the sparger holes to reduce the Sauter mean bubble size in the riser region. CONCLUSION: Unlike in conventional bubble columns where bimodal and Gaussian bubble size distributions have been reported, a normal bubble size distribution is attained in forced circulation loop reactors with an air–water system over the entire range of operation. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of ultrasound on culture of Aspergillus terreus

BACKGROUND: Fermentations of Aspergillus terreus are commercially used to produce lovastatin. How ultrasound might influence this fermentation is unknown. While high‐intensity ultrasound is effective in disrupting microbial cells, ultrasound of low intensity is known to improve productivity of some fermentation processes without damaging cells. Mechanisms behind productivity improvements have not been clearly identified in earlier studies. This work reports on the effects of ultrasound on A. terreus fermentation for low (957 W m^?3), medium (2870 W m^?3) and high (4783 W m^?3) values of sonication power input in a slurry bubble column sonobioreactor. RESULTS: Sonication at any power level did not affect biomass growth profiles in comparison with negative controls. In contrast, medium‐ and high‐intensity sonication greatly reduced production of lovastatin and substantially altered the growth morphology. At medium and high intensity, ultrasound disrupted fungal pellets and caused the biomass to grow mainly as dispersed hyphae. Sonication affected broth rheology because rheology depends on the morphology of the suspended biomass. CONCLUSION: Sonication can be used to modify growth morphology and broth rheology without affecting growth of filamentous fungi. Sonication appears to influence the primary growth metabolism and secondary metabolism differently in different situations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Static, dynamic and fatigue analysis of a semi-automaticgun locking block

Reduction of the recoil forces on shotgun parts and even effects on the human body are a considerable importance during design of the semi-automatic shotgun parts. These forces are strongly affected by the dynamics of motion of rifle parts upon firing. Therefore, managing of these recoil forces would be crucial issue to produce functional, ergonomic, safe, reliable, and robust designs. In the literature, many researchers have investigated static, dynamic, and fatigue behaviors of most mechanical parts which especially take a role under the dynamic loads. However, shotgun parts have not been investigated formally yet. Therefore, in this study we particularly focused on investigating static, dynamic, and fatigue behaviors of a semi-automatic shotgun’s locking block, which is an integral part of the shotgun mechanism during firing. In this study, techniques such as hardness measurements, analysis of the recoil forces of a semi-automatic shotgun, and finite element analysis were performed. Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0 series software was used to model the locking block and the other parts of the gun. Moreover, the finite element code ANSYS/LS-DYNA, and ANSYS Workbench were used to determine the stress distribution, and fatigue behaviors of the locking block, based on the Morrow Theorem.     

Synthesis and characterization of conducting copolymers of poly(vinyl alcohol) with thiophene side‐groups and pyrrole

Graft copolymers of poly(vinyl alcohol) with thiophene side‐groups and pyrrole were synthesized by electrochemical polymerization methods. Poly(vinyl alcohol) with thiophene side‐groups (PVATh) was obtained from the reaction between poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and thiophene‐3‐acetic acid. The syntheses of copolymers of PVATh and pyrrole were achieved electrochemically by using three different supporting electrolytes, p‐toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TBAFB). Characterization of PVATh and graft copolymers was performed by a combination of techniques including cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, size‐exclusion chromatography, ¹H NMR and FT‐IR. The conductivities were measured by the four‐probe technique. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Dimensional analyses and surface quality of the laser cutting process for engineering plastics

In this study, the effect of the CO₂ laser cutting process parameters (gas pressure, cutting speed, and laser power) on the dimensional accuracy and measured surface roughness of engineering plastic (PTFE and POM) materials was investigated. Cutting surface profile of specimens was examined by using an optical microscope. The surface quality of specimens was examined by measuring surface roughness and form error. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analyses are employed to assess the effect of the process parameters on the dimensional accuracy.     

Ultra-Structural Imaging Provides 3D Organization of 46 Chromosomes of a Human Lymphocyte Prophase Nucleus

Three dimensional (3D) ultra-structural imaging is an important tool for unraveling the organizational structure of individual chromosomes at various stages of the cell cycle. Performing hitherto uninvestigated ultra-structural analysis of the human genome at prophase, we used serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) to understand chromosomal architectural organization within 3D nuclear space. Acquired images allowed us to segment, reconstruct, and extract quantitative 3D structural information about the prophase nucleus and the preserved, intact individual chromosomes within it. Our data demonstrate that each chromosome can be identified with its homolog and classified into respective cytogenetic groups. Thereby, we present the first 3D karyotype built from the compact axial structure seen on the core of all prophase chromosomes. The chromosomes display parallel-aligned sister chromatids with familiar chromosome morphologies with no crossovers. Furthermore, the spatial positions of all 46 chromosomes revealed a pattern showing a gene density-based correlation and a neighborhood map of individual chromosomes based on their relative spatial positioning. A comprehensive picture of 3D chromosomal organization at the nanometer level in a single human lymphocyte cell is presented.