MHD flow in a rotating vertical cone through a porous medium

In the context of advancements in both heat and mass transfer, the current study intends to analyze the impacts of thermal radiation, Soret, and Dufour on the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow through a vertical spinning cone in porous media. The Dufour effect is the energy flux due to the mass concentration gradient with a reciprocal phenomenon, the Soret effect. Energy expression considers the physical aspects of heat generation and absorption. It is expected that the tangential, circumferential, and normal directions will all have velocity components in flow through a porous media. The governing equations are nonlinear partial differential equations that are rearranged into ordinary differential equations via similarity transformation, and then they are numerically solved using the Runge–Kutta method along with a proper shooting strategy. Graphs are used to examine the impacts of many parameters on flow characteristic velocity, temperature, and concentration, including magnetic parameters, porous parameters, Dufour and Soret parameters, chemical reaction parameters, and more. The numerical findings of the gradient of velocity, the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, and the surface drag force are tabulated and compared with the current result and the one from the literature. The findings are found to be in good agreement. Circumferential and normal velocities are improved visually for greater values of the porosity parameter, but the tangential velocity behavior of the magnetic parameter exhibits the reverse behavior. In addition, the Dufour parameter and chemical reaction both exhibit diminishing behavior when the Soret parameter increases.     

Manganese stearate initiated photo‐oxidative and thermo‐oxidative degradation of LDPE,LLDPE and their blends

This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of a representative pro‐oxidant (manganese stearate) on the degradation behavior of 70 ± 5 μ thickness films of LDPE, LLDPE and their blends. Films were prepared by film blowing technique in the presence of varying quantities of manganese stearate (0.5–1% w/w) and subsequently subjected to accelerated degradative tests: xenon arc exposure and air‐oven exposure (at 70°C). The physico–chemical changes induced as a result of aging were followed by monitoring the mechanical properties (Tensile strength and Elongation at break), carbonyl index (CI), morphology (SEM), melt flow index (MFI), oxygen content (Elemental analysis), and DSC crystallinity. The results indicate that the degradative effect of pro‐oxidant is more pronounced in LDPE than LLDPE and blends, due to the presence of larger number of weak branches in the former. The degradation was also found to be proportional to the concentration of the pro‐oxidant. Flynn‐Wall‐Ozawa iso‐conversion technique was used to determine the kinetic parameters of degradation, which were used to determine the effect of the pro‐oxidant on the theoretical lifetime of the polymer. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Palladium‐nanoparticle intercalated vermiculite for selective hydrogenation of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes

Palladium nanoparticles were generated in the interlamellar region of swelling 2:1 type vermiculite clay using an adsorption excess isotherm. An adsorption excess isotherm was constructed for vermiculite after exchanging the exchangeable Na⁺ ions in the interlamellar region using a binary liquid mixture (ethanol:toluene). Based on adsorption excess isotherm, 1% w/w palladium was intercalated into the interlamellar space of vermiculite. The Pd‐intercalated vermiculite was characterized by X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy. The 1% w/w Pd‐intercalated vermiculite was tested for its catalytic activity towards selective hydrogenation reactions involving some α,β‐unsaturated carbonyl compounds using a pulse reactor and its catalytic activity was compared with commercial 1% Pd/C. The intercalated catalyst was found to be very selective towards the desired product of unsaturated alcohols. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Role of transformed martensite in the cracking of stainless steel plumbing lines

Austenitic stainless steel AISI 321 is used to fabricate plumbing lines to transfer cryogens from storage to output collector of propulsion system. Cracks were found in some of such tubes during one of the qualification tests of pipelines. The crack occurred at the bent region of the fuel feed pipeline along its neutral axis. Detailed metallographic investigations revealed presence of numerous longitudinal fine cracks on the inner surface of the tube that resulted from improper extrusion of the tube. Further, deformation induced martensitic transformation occurred, as the tube was bent at liquid nitrogen temperature. The transformed martensite, in presence of fine cracks on inner surface of the tube, due to improper extrusion, resulted in crack opening. This paper highlights the details of investigations carried out.     

Bio-diesel production by alkali catalyzed transesterification of dairy waste scum

The potential of using dairy waste scum as a feed stock for bio-diesel production was investigated. Present study optimized the parameters involved in transesterification process of Dairy Waste Scum Oil. Gas chromatography was used to determine the fatty acid composition of Dairy Waste Scum Oil. Results revealed that the low free fatty acid content was a notorious parameter to determine the viability of alkaline transesterification. The yield of bio-diesel reached 96.7% when 1.2 wt.% of Potassium Hydroxide, reaction temperature of 75 °C, 30 min of time and 6:1 Methanol oil ratio at 350 rpm. Thermo gravimetric analysis followed the evaluation of transesterification process. The present analysis confirms that bio-diesel from dairy waste scum is quit suitable as an alternative to petroleum diesel with recommended fuel properties as per ASTM standards. This new way for using dairy waste scum reduces the cost of production of bio-diesel and the problem related to the disposal of Dairy scum.     

A Novel Narrow Band Red-Emitting Phosphor for White Light Emitting Diodes

Research on down conversion phosphor materials is the key for the development of solid-state lighting (SSL). Especially finding alternative red phosphor for white light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on blue or near ultraviolet (NUV) LEDs is important research task. In this view, we have synthesized a series of Eu³⁺-substituted La₂W_{2− x} Mo _x O₉ ( x =0–2, in step of 0.3) red phosphor and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence. XRD results reveal a phase transition from triclinic to cubic structure for x >0.2. All the compositions show broad charge transfer (CT) band due to CT from oxygen to tungsten/molybdenum and red emission due to Eu³⁺ ions. Select compositions show high red emission intensity compared with the commercial red phosphor under NUV/blue ray excitation. Hence, this candidate can be a possible red phosphor for white LEDs.     

Lactic acid fermentation of anthocyanin-rich sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) into lacto-juice

Sweet potato (SP) is an important root crop grown all over the world and consumed as a vegetable, boiled, baked or often fermented into food and beverages. The grated SP roots [non- boiled and fully boiled (boiled in water at 100 °C for 15 min) were treated with 0.05% of commercial pectinase enzyme (Pectinex, Novoenzyme) in order to extract the juice. The fresh juice was inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 1407 culture at 28 ± 2 °C for 48 h to produce lacto-juice (LJ). The anova analysis of analytical data revealed that there was significant effect of boiling conditions (fully boiled and non-boiled) on pH [ F (1, 4) = 220.5, P  < 0.001), TA [ F (1, 4) = 78.89, P  < 0.01], starch [ F (1, 4) = 26.63, P  < 0.01), total sugar [ F (1, 4) = 61.36, P  < 0.01) and anthocyanin [ F (1, 4) = 32.86, P  < 0.01) but not on reducing sugar [ F (1, 4) = 2.48, P  = 0.19). Sensory evaluation rated the SP LJ acceptable based on texture, taste, aroma, flavour and after taste. LJ prepared from fully boiled roots with 10% cane sugar was most preferred by a consumer's panelist based on Linear Discriminant Analysis. Principal component analyses (PCA) reduced the seven original analytical variables to three independent components (factors), which accounted for 99.9% of the total variations. Similarly, six original sensory variables were reduced to two independent components, which accounted for 65.7% of the total variations.     

The AS biometry technique--a novel technique to aid accurate intraocular lens power calculation after corneal laser refractive surgery.

Intraocular lens power (IOL) calculation for cataract surgery has been shown to be inaccurate after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Many techniques exist to calculate corneal power with varying results and require the clinician to be aware of the pitfalls of IOL power calculation in post-refractive eyes. The AS biometry method proposed here is a simple method which does not rely on the calculation of corneal power. This new method is compared to the current gold standard the clinical history method (CHM). Twenty-nine eyes of 15 patients had routine biometry prior to LASIK, LASEK or PRK. The range of pre-operative spherical equivalent refractive error was -5.37 to +4.00 diopters. The post-operative refraction was measured at 3-6 months. The IOL power calculation was calculated using the AS biometry method and the CHM. The two methods were compared using the Student's paired t-test and the Bland Altman technique. There was no statistical difference between the AS biometry method and the CHM. The paired Student's t-test comparing the AS biometry method and the CHM showed no statistical difference, t=0.33 with a p-value of 0.75, at a 95% confidence interval. The authors conclude that the AS biometry technique is as accurate as the CHM. The former is a simpler method which avoids many of the pitfalls and confounding factors involved in IOL power calculation following corneal excimer laser surgery. However, like the CHM it requires measurements prior to laser surgery.     

Development of transparent and conductive ZnO films by spray pyrolysis

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films were deposited on Corning 7059 substrates by the spray pyrolysis technique. To achieve higher electrical conductivity both the zinc acetate concentration and indium concentration in the solution were varied. The films were characterized for their structural and electrical properties. Film stability in H₂ plasma was also checked for possible use in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon related fields. It was observed that the films can be sustained in a hydrogen plasma, and hence IZO films of high conductivity can be used for the development of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells.