Numerical investigations on swirl intensity decay rate for turbulent swirling flow in a fixed pipe

Due to the importance of predicting the SIDR¹ associated with engineering problems such as combustion chambers, draft tube of the Francis and Kaplan turbines, heat exchanger tubes, separators and so forth, in this research the trend of SIDR and its affecting factors, through a turbulent swirl decay pipe flow have been investigated. The swirling flow is created by means of a rotating honeycomb which produces solid body rotation at the inlet of a fixed pipe. First of all, turbulent swirling decay flow has been numerically surveyed using different flow conditions at the pipe inlet. The numerical results have been validated and compared with the existing experimental data and mathematical relations, showing satisfactory coincide. The obtained results show that, the SIDR depends mainly on the Reynolds number of the passing flow. On this basis, correlations have been proposed in order to improve the predictions of swirl intensity decay rate at upstream regions as well as those with high swirl intensity. In addition, conducted analyses demonstrates (analyses have been made to demonstrate) that the previous developed correlations for predicting swirl intensity decay rate, agree with those provided in this study only for regions far enough from downstream having the low swirl intensity. This implies that the swirl intensity decay rate should be a function of the type of swirl generator at the pipe inlet.     

Dendrosomes as novel gene porters‐III

BACKGROUND: It was previously reported that dendrosomes, i.e. neutral, biodegradable, covalent or self‐assembled, hyperbranched, spheroidal nano‐particles with a size ranging from 15 to 100 nm, provide a convenient and efficient means of gene delivery into various kinds of cells such as human hepatoma and kidney cells as well as animal models. RESULTS: New studies via circular dichroism show that hydrophilic and amphipathic dendrosomes either do not affect the DNA structure or moderately transform it from B‐ to A‐conformation. Gene delivery into human liver, kidney, and endothelial cells as well as other animal cells like Bowes, U‐937, Raw, CCRF‐CEM, MOLT‐4, K562, Huh‐7 and VERO reveal that the genes are efficiently expressed and in comparison with other gene porters like Lipofectin or bacterial ghosts, do quite well. It is also shown that dendrosomes are able to deliver genes into cells like endothelials that are usually hard to transfect. Cell culture experiments as well as intraperitoneal/intradermal injections of dendrosomes into mice establish their nontoxicity (up to 2.5 mg kg^?1 of animal weight in the latter case). Studies on immunization of BALB/c mice using conventional adjuvants such as aluminium phosphate, C_pG motif and one of the dendrosomes, indicate that the latter leads to the mildest initial response development while exceeding them afterwards. CONCLUSION: CD studies reveal that, owing to the neutrality of dendrosomes, formation of Den/DNA complexes is accompanied by slight structural modifications of DNA cell culture, and animal studies reveal that dendrosomes are inert, non‐toxic and highly efficient gene porters that perform at extremely low doses. In comparison with bacterial ghosts and some common porters, they are efficient in delivery of genes into animals and a variety of cells including those that are usually hard to transfect. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Diesel engine performance and exhaust emission analysis using waste cooking biodiesel fuel with an artificial neural network

This study deals with artificial neural network (ANN) modeling of a diesel engine using waste cooking biodiesel fuel to predict the brake power, torque, specific fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of the engine. To acquire data for training and testing the proposed ANN, a two cylinders, four-stroke diesel engine was fuelled with waste vegetable cooking biodiesel and diesel fuel blends and operated at different engine speeds. The properties of biodiesel produced from waste vegetable oil was measured based on ASTM standards. The experimental results revealed that blends of waste vegetable oil methyl ester with diesel fuel provide better engine performance and improved emission characteristics. Using some of the experimental data for training, an ANN model was developed based on standard Back-Propagation algorithm for the engine. Multi layer perception network (MLP) was used for non-linear mapping between the input and output parameters. Different activation functions and several rules were used to assess the percentage error between the desired and the predicted values. It was observed that the ANN model can predict the engine performance and exhaust emissions quite well with correlation coefficient (R) 0.9487, 0.999, 0.929 and 0.999 for the engine torque, SFC, CO and HC emissions, respectively. The prediction MSE (Mean Square Error) error was between the desired outputs as measured values and the simulated values were obtained as 0.0004 by the model.     

Single micro-bubble generation by pressure pulse technique

A new method for generation of gas bubbles from a micropipette has been developed. In this method, step pulses of gas pressure are used to inject micro-volumes of gas into a liquid. Both the size and number of gas bubbles produced can be controlled through pressure regulation, pressure variation, orifice diameter and pipette position. A theoretical model derived to predict the size of bubbles generated from a non-vertical micropipette agrees well with the experimental results.     

Algae as a sustainable energy source for biofuel production in Iran: A case study

Algae can be converted directly into energy, such as biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethanol and therefore can be a source of renewable energy. There is a growing interest for biodiesel production from algae because of its higher yield non-edible oil production and its fast growth that does not compete for land with food production. About 50% of algae weight is oil that this lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel. Algae is capable of yielding 30 times more oil per acre than the crops currently used in biodiesel production. Processes for biodiesel production from algae-oil are similar to food and non-food crops derived biodiesel processes. Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Iran has high biofuel energy potential. The Iranian government is considerable attention to the utilization of renewable energy, especially biofuels. Iran has enough land in order to algae cultivation that does not compete with food production. A salt lake (Lake Orumieh) in Iran's West Azarbaijan province, Maharlu salt lake in Iran's Fars province, Qom salt lake in Iran's Qom province have given rise to a new species of algae for biofuel. Algae are frequent in the shallow-marine lime stones in Zagros Mountains in north of Fars province. Greenish blooms of algae can be seen in the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea, south and north of Iran respectively. This study presents a brief introduction to the resource, status and prospect of algae as a sustainable energy source for biodiesel production in Iran. The main advantages of using algae for biodiesel production in Iran are described.     

Statistical Analysis of Effects of Nanoparticles on Hydrocarbon Pool Fire

The effects of pool diameters, height, fuel type, and presence of nanoparticles on flame temperature are tested. Nanoparticles were added and mixed with the fuel and its effect on flame spread time over the liquid fuel surface is studied. The results showed that pool diameter has the maximum effect on the increase of flame temperature. Nanoparticles reduce the flame temperature from 10 to 20% while flame spread time is increased 15% to 30% for kerosene and 6% to 26% for diesel oil. Experimental measurement of flame temperature distribution in a pool fire is carried out. Statistical analysis of flame temperature, flame spread time was made using Yates and ANOVA methods.     

Stress Analysis and Fatigue Life Assessment of a Piston in an Upgraded Engine

Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention - Need for exploiting a higher performance out of an already designed engine due to the high costs of redesign and manufacturing new engines, makes the...     

Hybrid Amine-Functionalized Titania/Silica Nanoparticles for Solid-Phase Extraction of Lead,Copper, and Zinc from Food and Water Samples: Kinetics and Equilibrium Studies

In the present study, hybrid amine-functionalized titania/silica nanoparticles were employed as a new and novel adsorbent for solid-phase extraction of Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ ions prior to their determination using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Under the best conditions (including adsorbent, 0.4 g; eluent, 5.0 mL nitric acid (HNO₃), 3.0 mol L^?1, 1.0 mL min^?1; and sample, pH 5.0, 3.0 mL min^?1), detection limits, adsorption capacities, and preconcentration factors were 0.12–0.24 μg L^?1, 7.1–20.7 mg g^?1, and 200, respectively. To predict the adsorption isotherms, different isotherm models were studied and the obtained results showed that the Langmuir model is the most suitable one to explain the experimental data. The kinetics of the reaction followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters like free energy (ΔG ⁰) and enthalpy (ΔH ⁰) confirmed the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the process. The method was successfully applied for determination of the analytes in different food and water samples.