Performance and carbon deposition over Pd nanoparticle catalyst promoted Ni/GDC anode of SOFCs in methane,methanol and ethanol fuels

The electrochemical performance and carbon deposition on palladium catalyst promoted Ni/Gd_0.1C_0.9O_1.95 (Ni/GDC) anode in methane and alcohol fuels like methanol and ethanol are investigated at open circuit potential and under dc bias using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique. Presence of Pd nanoparticle catalyst significantly promotes the electrocatalytic activity of Ni/GDC for the electrooxidation reaction in methane and in particularly in methanol and ethanol fuels. For instance, in the case of methanol oxidation reaction, there is clear separation of the impedance arcs at high and low frequencies and activation energy for the reaction is reduced by ∼33% on a 0.15 mg cm⁻² PdO impregnated or infiltrated Ni/GDC anode. The transitional impedance response study when the inlet gas is switched from hydrogen to methane or alcohol fuels indicates that the oxidation reaction in methane and alcohol fuels is most likely dominated by adsorption, dissociation and diffusion steps of the reaction. Carbon deposition is also observed on Pd-infiltrated Ni/GDC in methanol and ethanol, but different from that observed in methane, there is no filament carbon fibers formation on the Pd-impregnated Ni/GDC surface in methanol fuel.     

Combination effect of phosphate and vacuum packaging on quality parameters of Rutilus frisii kutum fillets in ice

Improving food quality among consumers is of high importance. This case in fish meat due to its quick spoilage is the more obvious. Therefore in this study in order to maintain and improve the quality of fish meat, effect of pretreatment with three different phosphate compounds including sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), sodium pyrophosphate (PP) and mixture of them (STPP + PP) in combination with vacuum packaging (VP) on Rutilus frisii kutum fillets stored in ice was investigated. Phosphate pretreatment showed the synergistic effect with VP on reduction of psycrophilic bacteria, chemical and sensory deterioration of Rutilus frisii kutum fillets as evidenced by the lowered microbial counts, thiobarbituoric acid and total volatile base, compared with samples stored in air and those kept under VP. Pretreatment with PP resulted in the retarded protein denaturation as evidenced by the reduced changes in sulfhydryl content during the extended storage. Increase in water holding capacity accompanied by the decrease in pH was observed in samples pretreated with phosphates, especially tripolyphosphate. No marked autolytic degradation in samples kept under VP with and without phosphate pretreatment was observed throughout the storage as indicated by no changes in electrophoresis patterns. Determined shelf life based on psychrophilic bacteria counts for Rutilus frisii kutum fillets pretreated with STPP and stored under VP, until 15 days and according to sensory analysis until 12 days compared with samples stored in air. Therefore, the effective retardation of psycrophilic bacteria, chemical and sensory deterioration of Rutilus frisii kutum fillets stored under VP could be achieved by pretreatment with tripolyphosphate.     

Decontamination of Bacillus cereus in cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) seeds by infrared radiation and modeling of microbial inactivation through experimental models

In this work, infrared (IR) irradiation was used for inactivation of Bacillus cereus in cardamom seeds. The effect of IR power (100, 200, and 300 W), sample distance from radiation source (5, 10, and 15 cm) and holding times (0–11 min) was investigated on B. cereus count, as well as cardamom seeds color and temperature profiles. Inactivation of B. cereus on cardamom seeds during IR processing was demonstrated by experimental models. The highest reduction of B. cereus count (5.11 Log CFU/g) was achieved after 8 min IR irradiation at 300 W power and 15 cm distance. Measurement of temperature profiles revealed that there was a significant difference (p < .05) between surface and center temperatures of the cardamom seeds. The green color (a* value) of cardamom seeds was slightly affected and the highest color change was observed at 200 W IR, 10 cm distance and 10 min irradiation that resulted in an increase of a* from −3.05 ± 0.96 to −0.05 ± 0.44. In conclusion, IR irradiation could be successful for decontamination of cardamom seeds without severe alteration of its quality. Among the experimental models for microbial inactivation during IR processing, the Double Weibull model had the highest coefficient value of determination (R² = 0.9966).     

Salient object detection using the phase information and object model

Multimedia Tools and Applications - One of the most important features of saliency detection algorithms is to reduce the size of processing data for algorithms with higher processing size such as...     

Removal of Arsenic and Copper from Water Solution Using Magnetic Iron/Bentonite Nanoparticles (Fe3O4/Bentonite)

Silicon - Heavy metal pollution is one problem in the water purification industry, which causes extreme risk aversion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the removal of arsenic (As) and...     

Agent-Based Modeling for Evaluation of Crop Pattern and Water Management Policies

Water Resources Management - The objective of the present paper is to propose a framework for development of an optimal cropping pattern aimed at ground water recovery using an agent based...     

Mechanical properties of SiC-C-B4C composites with different carbon additives produced by pressureless sintering

In this research, carbon sources (Resin Phenolic, Carbon Black and Graphite) and Boron Carbide (B₄C) were used to improve the mechanical properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC) composite. For this purpose, carbon sources of 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 5 wt% as well as 0.5 wt% B₄C were added to SiC powder, respectively. The sample containing SiC—2.5 wt% Resin Phenolic—0.5 wt% B₄C had the best properties with relative density, hardness, and fracture toughness values of 98.5%, 2820 GPa, and 3.9 MPa.√m, respectively. Examination of SEM images showed that by increasing carbon from 0.5 to 2.5 wt%, the fracture changes from intergranular to transgranular.     

Remaining fatigue life assessment of aging fixed steel offshore jacket platforms

Actual fatigue life of an existing offshore platform typically deviates from that intended by its designer because aging platforms commonly experience some degradations, mechanical damages, repairs and modifications, and come across demands for the service extension. The current multidisciplinary paper focuses on different aspects of the remaining fatigue life assessment of an aging offshore platform. In the course of a case study, it describes a hindcasting technique for quantitative estimation of the long-term wave climatology, methods for geotechnical/structural modelling of the platform foundation to evaluate the piles fatigue damages accumulated during their driving and in-place service and the outlines for a spectral fatigue modelling and analysis of the fatigue damages to welded structural joints. Potential limitations in the available codes of practice, regarding the fatigue life assessment of existing offshore structures, are highlighted. The reliability of the fatigue life evaluations, possible remedy measures and some fatigue integrity monitoring techniques are discussed.     

Simulation of novel hybrid method to improve dynamic responses with PSS and UPFC by fuzzy logic controller

In this paper, a hybrid method is proposed to damp frequency and power oscillations in the power system equipped with unified power flow controller (UPFC) and power system stabilizer (PSS) controllers. The method is robust with respect to operating point’s changes. This hybrid method consists of two stages: offline and online. In the offline stage, the coefficients of PSS and UPFC controllers for different operating points have been found by PSO algorithm; then in the second stage, online new fuzzy controller is proposed to select the best PSS and UPFC coefficients according to operating point. The proposed method is simulated for single machine infinite bus system-associated PSS and UPFC for three different operating points in MATLAB software, and results of proposed method simulation are investigated and compared with conventional PSS (CPSS) + UPFC, CPSS controllers. Simulation results show that the proposed method has a better performance.