Optimization of Fermentation Parameters for Higher Lovastatin Production in Red Mold Rice through Co-culture of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Monascus purpureus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Monascus ruber</Emphasis>

Monascus, fermented rice (red mold rice), has been found to reduce the serum total cholesterol and triglyceride due to presence of lovastatin. Lovastatin acts as an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase. Coculture of Monascus purpureus MTCC 369 and Monascus ruber MTCC 1880 was used to produce red mold rice by solid-state fermentation. Optimization of different fermentation process parameters such as temperature, fermentation time, inoculum volume, and pH of the solid medium was carried out by Box–Behnken’s factorial design of response surface methodology to maximize lovastatin concentration in red mold rice. Maximum lovastatin production of 2.83 mg/g was predicted at 14th day in solid medium under optimized process condition.     

Rheological and Microstructural Characteristics of Canola Protein Isolate−Chitosan Complex Coacervates

Wastage of byproducts such as canola meal is a pressing environmental concern, and canola protein isolate (CPI)?chitosan (Ch) coacervates have a good potential to utilize and convert the wastes into a high value added product. Yet so far, there is very limited rheological and microstructural information to assist in proper utilization of CPI ‐Ch complex coacervates. The rheological and microstructural properties of the complex coacervates formed from CPI and chitosan Ch at various CPI‐to‐Ch mixing ratios (1:1, 16:1, 20:1, and 30:1) and pH values (5.0, 6.0, and 7.0) were therefore investigated. These CPI?Ch complex coacervate phases were found to exhibit elastic behavior as evidenced by significantly higher elastic modulus (G?) compared to viscous modulus (G″) in all the tested ratios and pH ranges. They also exhibited shear‐thinning behavior during viscous flow. The complex coacervates formed at the optimum CPI‐to‐Ch ratio of 16:1 and pH of 6.0 demonstrated the highest G?, G″, and shear viscosity, which correlated well with the high strength of electrostatic interaction and thick‐walled, sponge‐like, less‐porous microstructure at this condition. The higher shear viscosity of the coacervate at pH 6.0 was most likely induced by stronger attractive electrostatic interactions between CPI and Ch molecules, due to the formation of a rather densely packed complex coacervate structure. Hence, it can be concluded that the microstructural observations of denser structure correlated well with the rheological findings of stronger intermolecular bonds at the optimum CPI‐to‐Ch ratio of 16:1 and pH of 6.0. The complex coacervate phase formed at a CPI‐to‐Ch ratio of 16:1 and pH of 6.0 also showed glassy consistency at low temperatures and rubbery consistency above its glass‐transition temperature. This study identified the potential for the newly developed CPI–Ch complex coacervate to be used as an encapsulating material due to its favorable strength. This would drastically reduce the wastage of byproducts, provide a solution to tackle the pressing global issue of wastage of byproducts, and bring about a more environmentally friendly paradigm.     

Thermal effects of two immiscible fluids through a permeable stenosed artery having nanofluid in the core region

A theoretical investigation of two-layered fluid flow in a stenosed tube having permeable walls is studied. The fluid (blood with nanoparticles) within the core region behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid (nanofluid) and the fluid within the peripheral layer behaves as a Newtonian fluid. Flow equations are linearized considering mild stenoses. The closed form mathematical expressions for flow resistance and wall shear stress are computed. The problem is solved using HPM (homotopy perturbation method). The numerical calculations of flow parameters (like flow resistance, wall shear stress) are performed and are discussed graphically. A novel result is found that with increased permeability and viscosity, the resistance of the fluid flow and shear at the wall is found to decrease. Moreover, the velocity profiles are increasing in the radial direction with the enhancement of viscosity of the fluid in the peripheral layer but decrease with permeability. Streamlines are drawn to examine the flow pattern.     

Evaluation of new equipments for utilization of waste heat in sponge iron industry

The present work investigates the design modifications which can lead to efficient energy integration in coal-based sponge iron plant with a capacity of 500 t/day. For the present energy integration investigations, two scenarios: 1 and 2 are proposed and compared with the existing one. During the operation in coal-based sponge iron plant, a tremendous amount of heat is generated and a significant part of this heat, associated with the waste gas, remains unutilized. In scenario 1, the feed materials are preheated in a rotary drier with waste gas outside the rotary kiln. As a result of preheating, the intake capacity of the kiln is enhanced. The author takes this opportunity and increased the feed rate of iron ore by 10 % in scenario 2. For the purpose of energy integration, design and development of duct carrying waste gas and rotary drier is carried out. The comparative study based on capital investment, coal and energy consumption, water requirement, profit, and payback period, shows that scenario 2 is the best one. In scenario 2, production rate is increased by 10 % which consumes 17 % less coal, generates 24 % less waste gas, and consumes 30 % less water to produce 1 t direct reduced iron than that of the existing one and gives a profit of $31,000/day with a payback period of 34 days.     

Peristaltic Transport of a Herschel–Bulkley Fluid in an Elastic Tube

In this paper, we investigate the peristaltic transport of a non‐Newtonian viscous fluid in an elastic tube. The governing equations are solved using the assumptions of long wavelength and low Reynolds number approximations. The constitution of blood has a non‐Newtonian fluid model and it demands the yield stress fluid model: The blood transport in small blood vessels is done under peristalsis. Among the available yield stress fluid models for blood flow, the non‐Newtonian Herschel–Bulkley fluid is preferred (because Bingham, power‐law and Newtonian models can be obtained as its special cases). The Herschel–Bulkley model has two parameters namely the yield stress and the power‐law index. The expressions for velocity, plug flow velocity, wall shear stress, and the flow rate are derived. The flux is determined as a function of inlet, outlet, external pressures, yield stress, amplitude ratio, and the elastic property of the tube. Further when the power‐law index n = 1 and the yield stress and in the absence of peristalsis, our results agree with Rubinow and Keller [J. Theor. Biol. 35 , 299 (1972)]. Furthermore, it is observed that, the yield stress, peristaltic wave, and the elastic parameters have strong effects on the flux of the non‐Newtonian fluid flow. Effects of various wave forms (namely, sinusoidal, trapezoidal and square) on the flow are discussed. The results obtained for the flow characteristics reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study on the non‐Newtonian fluid phenomena, especially the shear‐thinning phenomena. Shear thinning reduces the wall shear stress.     

On the Application of the Fast Kalman Algorithm to Adaptive Deconvolution of Seismic Data

The application of a recently proposed fast implementation of the recursive least squares algorithm, called the Fast Kalman Algorithm (FKA) to adaptive deconvolution of seismic data is discussed. The newly proposed algorithm does not require the storage and updating of a matrix to calculate the filter gain, and hence is computationally very efficient. Furthermore, it has an interesting structure yielding both the forward and backward prediction residuals of the seismic trace and thus permits the estimation of a ?smoothed residual? without any additional computations. The paper also compares the new algorithm with the conventional Kalman algorithm (CKA) proposed earlier [3] for seismic deconvolution. Results of experiments on simulated as well as real data show that while the FKA is a little more sensitive to the choice of some initial parameters which need to be selected carefully, it can yield comparable performance with greatly reduced computational effort.     

Analysis of couple stress nanofluid flow under convective condition in the temperature-dependent fluid properties and Lorentz forces

In recent years, a great deal of interest has been generated in modern micro- and nanotechnologies for micro/nano-electronic devices. These technologies are increasingly utilizing sophisticated fluid media to enhance performance. Among the new trends is the simultaneous adoption of nanofluids and biological micro-organisms. Motivated by bio-nanofluid vertical channel oxygenators in medical engineering, in the current work, a mathematical model is developed to examine the flow of mixed convective couple-stress nanofluids in a vertical channel with a transverse magnetic field, fluid viscosity that changes with temperature, and thermal conductivity. The non-Newtonian model follows Brownian motion and heat spread by nanoparticles in a fluid under coupled stress. Highly linked, nonlinear regulating equations are translated into nondimensional equations using relevant variables. The governing equations are then turned into a form with no dimensions. The Keller-box technique, a second-order finite difference method for solving second-order equations, is used to solve them numerically. On the other hand, the effects of different non-Newtonian flow parameters, such as the couple stress fluid parameter, the magnetic parameter, the variable fluid viscosity, the variable thermal conductivity parameters, the Brinkman number, the nanofluid and buoyancy parameters, and the rate of chemical reaction parameter, are carefully studied. The velocity, temperature, and concentration fields are calculated over a wide range of possible values for the relevant parameters.     

A FULL 3-DIMENSIONAL ADAPTIVE FINITE VOLUME SCHEME FOR TRANSPORT AND PHASE-CHANGE PROCESSES,PART I: FORMULATION AND VALIDATION

A full three-dimensional (3-D) numerical formulation for accurate simulation of transport and phase-change processes is presented. These processes are characterized by a variety of flow and heat transfer mechanisms in irregular domains with or without the movement of phase-change interfaces and free surfaces. A generalized 3-D nonorthogonal curvilinear finite volume formulation is developed in conjunction with a robust mesh generation scheme known as multizone adaptive grid generation (MAGG) to tackle such problems. The coupling between the interfacial dynamics and transport phenomena in the bulk of the phases is inherent in this formulation. A 3-D k-epsilon model is also incorporated to tackle the turbulent flows in these applications. The unified numerical model is validated against classical 3-D problems such as turbulent natural convection in a differentially heated cube, solidification in a cavity, and so on. In a companion paper, Part II (see this issue), application of this formulation to 3-D simulation of hydrothermal crystal growth and low and high pressure Czochralski (Cz) crystal growth is presented.