6BTA 5.9 G2-1 Cummins engine performance and emission tests using methyl ester mahua (Madhuca indica) oil/diesel blends

Neat mahua oil poses some problems when subjected to prolonged usage in CI engine. The transesterification of mahua oil can reduce these problems. The use of biodiesel fuel as substitute for conventional petroleum fuel in heavy-duty diesel engine is receiving an increasing amount of attention. This interest is based on the properties of bio-diesel including the fact that it is produced from a renewable resource, its biodegradability and potential to exhaust emissions. A Cummins 6BTA 5.9 G2- 1, 158 HP rated power, turbocharged, DI, water cooled diesel engine was run on diesel, methyl ester of mahua oil and its blends at constant speed of 1500 rpm under variable load conditions. The volumetric blending ratios of biodiesel with conventional diesel fuel were set at 0, 20, 40, 60, and 100. Engine performance (brake specific fuel consumption, brake specific energy consumption, thermal efficiency and exhaust gas temperature) and emissions (CO, HC and NOx) were measured to evaluate and compute the behavior of the diesel engine running on biodiesel. The results indicate that with the increase of biodiesel in the blends CO, HC reduces significantly, fuel consumption and NOx emission of biodiesel increases slightly compared with diesel. Brake specific energy consumption decreases and thermal efficiency of engine slightly increases when operating on 20% biodiesel than that operating on diesel.     

Scale-dependent stratification: a skyline–shoreline scatter plot

Scientometrics - Most performance exercises help identify size-dependent and size-independent indicators which separately represent quantity and quality proxies. A good example is the evaluation of...     

Mixed convective flow of immiscible viscous fluids in a vertical channel

Combined free and forced convection flow in a parallel‐plate vertical channel is analyzed for immiscible viscous fluids taking into account the effect of viscous dissipation. Three types of thermal boundary conditions are described. These thermal boundary conditions are isothermal‐isothermal, isoflux‐isothermal, and isothermal‐isoflux for the left–right walls of the channel. The coupled nonlinear governing equations are solved analytically using the regular perturbation method. Separate solutions are matched at the interface using suitable matching conditions. The results are represented graphically for various governing parameters such as the ratio of Grashof number to Reynolds number, viscosity ratio, width ratio, and conductivity ratio for equal and different wall temperatures. It is found that the viscous dissipation enhances the flow reversal in the case of a downward flow while it counters the flow in the case of an upward flow. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20324     

The Energy–Exergy–Entropy (or EEE) sequences in bibliometric assessment

Bibliometric research assessment has matured into a quantitative phase using more meaningful measures and analogies. In this paper, we propose a thermodynamic analogy and introduce what are called the energy, exergy and entropy terms associated with a bibliometric sequence. This can be displayed as time series (variation over time), or in event terms (variation as papers are published) and also in the form of phase diagrams (energy–exergy–entropy representations). It is exergy which is the most meaningful single number scalar indicator of a scientist’s performance while entropy then becomes a measure of the unevenness (disorder) of the publication portfolio.     

Letter to the editor: comments on the paper of Lucio Bertoli-Barsotti and Tommaso Lando: a theoretical model of the relationship between the h-index and other simple citation indicators

Scientometrics - In this discussion we show using results from Bertoli-Barsotti and Lando (Scientometrics, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11192-017-2351-9 ) that the simplest formula that could be derived...     

Biosolids mineralization in an anaerobic-aerobic combined reactor system

In this paper, we describe a biosolids mineralization process that could address some concerns about biosolids management. Solids retention in a combined anaerobic/aerobic reactor system promotes biosolids mineralization. Solids retained in the reactor were subjected to both anaerobic and aerobic degradation in two different zones in the reactor. After 267 d of operation, 75% of the solids that entered the reactors were mineralized, 62% of the total nitrogen (TN) was transformed, 51% of the phosphorus in the reactors was precipitated, and 39% of the solids dissolved and appeared in the effluent. Accumulation of solids in the reactors did not have an adverse effect on reactor performance. Evidence of biosolids degradation included a decrease in the VSS/TSS ratio, an increase in temperature, loss of nitrogen, decrease in COD, and an increase in TDS.     

Polyaniline-based highly sensitive microbial biosensor for selective detection of lindane

A highly sensitive, selective, and rapid, whole-cell-based electrochemical biosensor was developed for detection of the persistent organochlorine pesticide γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), commonly known as lindane. The gene linA2 encoding the enzyme γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) dehydrochlorinase (LinA2), involved in the initial steps of lindane (γ-HCH) biotransformation, was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli . The lindane-biodegrading E. coli cells were immobilized on polyaniline film. The rapid and selective degradation of lindane and concomitant generation of hydrochloric acid by the recombinant E. coli cells in the microenvironment of polyaniline led to a change in its conductivity, which was monitored by pulsed amperometry. The biosensor could detect lindane in the part-per-trillion concentration range with a linear response from 2 to 45 ppt. The sensor was found to be selective to all the isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and to pentachlorocyclohexane (PCCH) but did not respond to other aliphatic and aromatic chlorides or to the end product of lindane degradation, i.e., trichlorobenzene (TCB). The sensor also did not respond to other commonly used organochlorine pesticides like DDT and DDE. On the basis of experimental results, a rationale has been proposed for the excellent sensitivity of polyaniline as a pH sensor for detection of H(+) ions released in its microenvironment.     

Synthesis of imidazole-based NHC–Au(I) complexes and their application in non-enzymatic glucose sensing

In this study, imidazole-based NHC–Au(I) complexes were prepared. Geometrically optimized structures and molecular orbital energy diagrams were computed using density functional theory. Cyclic voltammetry and amperometric methods were used to evaluate the catalytic activity of the NHC–Au(I)-modified electrodes toward glucose oxidation. The mechanism of electrocatalytic oxidation at NHC–Au(I)-modified electrodes is explained on the basis of the oxidation and reduction potentials in the presence of glucose. Applicability of NHC–Au(I)-modified electrode was extended to determine the glucose level in the blood serum and the precision of the method was found to be satisfactory. The non-enzymatic sensor exhibited excellent reproducibility, repeatability, antifouling, and anti-interference characteristics.     

Network energy optimization and intelligent routing in WSN applicable for IoT using self-adaptive coyote optimization algorithm

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a recent wireless telecommunications platform, which contains a set of sensor nodes linked by wireless sensor networks (WSNs). These approaches split the sensor nodes into clusters, in which each cluster consists of an exclusive cluster head (CH) node. The major scope of this task is to introduce a novel CH selection in WSN applicable to IoT using the self-adaptive meta-heuristic algorithm. This paper aids in providing the optimal routing in the network based on direct node (DN) selection, CH selection, and clone cluster head (CCH) selection. DNs are located near the base station, and it is chosen to avoid the load of CH. The adoption of the novel self-adaptive coyote optimization algorithm (SA-COA) is used for the DN selection and CCH selection. When the nodes are assigned in the network, DN and CCH selection is performed by the proposed SA-COA. Then, the computation of residual energy helps to select the CH, by correlating with the threshold energy. CCH is proposed to copy the data from the CH to avoid the loss of data in transmitting. By forming the CCH, the next CH can be easily elected with the optimal CCH using SA-COA. From the simulation findings, the best value of the designed SA-COA-LEACH model is secured at 1.14%, 3.17%, 1.18%, and 7.33% progressed than self-adaptive whale optimization algorithm (SAWOA), cyclic rider optimization algorithm (C-ROA), krill herd algorithm (KHA), and COA while taking several nodes 50. The proposed routing of sensor networks specifies better performance than the existing methods.     

Stress oscillations and spurious load mechanisms in variationally inconsistent assumed strain formulations

Assumed field-consistent strain formulations of the displacement finite element procedure can lead to poor convergence and spurious stress oscillations if the assumed strain fields are not variationally correct, i.e. they do not satisfy an important orthogonality condition emerging from the equivalence sought between assumed strain displacement procedures and mixed procedures based on the Hellinger–Reissner theorem. Failure to ensure variational correctness introduces errors which can be equated to the presence of spurious loading mechanisms that cause stress oscillations. In this paper, we use the Timoshenko beam element to demonstrate that field-consistency and variational' consistency are two complementary but mutually exclusive principles—one does not imply the other and that both are necessary to successfully implement a displacement type finite element for constrained media.