Numerical investigation for combustion characteristics of vacuum residue (VR) in a test furnace

It has become inevitable to search for alternative fuels due to current worldwide energy crisis. In this paper combustion characteristics of vacuum residue (VR) is investigated numerically against experimental data in typical operating conditions of a furnace. Heat release reaction is modeled as sequential steps of devolatilization, simplified gas phase reaction and char oxidation as for pulverized coal. Thermal and fuel NO are predicted by the conditional moment closure (CMC) method for estimation of elementary reaction rates. It turns out that Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of VR droplets is a crucial parameter for better combustion efficiency and lower NO. Reasonable agreement is achieved for spatial distributions of major species, temperature and NO for all test cases with different fuel and steam flow rates.     

Mode II interlaminar fracture behavior of carbon bead‐filled epoxy/glass fiber hybrid composite

To investigate the effect of including carbon beads on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin, the fracture toughness of carbon bead‐filled epoxy was earlier evaluated using a CT (compact tension) specimens and Mode I fracture toughness was observed. Based on those results, in this study, the Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon bead filled epoxy/glass fiber hybrid composites was evaluated using end notch flexure (ENF) specimens. The hybrid composites showed increased Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness. The optimal bead volume fraction was around 15%.     

Characterization and DC electrical conductivity of the composite films containing polyaniline‐carboxymethyl cellulose

New polymer composites containing polyaniline‐carboxymethyl cellulose (PANI‐CMC) were prepared via the polymerization of aniline hydrochloride using different concentration (wt%) of sodium CMC using ammonium persulfate as an oxidant. The thermal stability and embedded crystallinity of the composites were investigated using thermogravimetric and X‐ray diffraction analysis method, respectively. The electrical properties of the composites were examined using temperature‐dependent DC conductivity within 300–500 K. As compared to pure polyaniline the composites with increasing CMC in the PANI‐CMC composites shows the enhancement in the higher crystallinity and thermal stability, and higher electrical conductivities under equivalent conditions. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers