The impact of applying natural clinoptilolite (zeolite) on the chemical,sensory and microbiological changes of vacuum packed sardine fillets

Different doses (1% and 5%) of natural zeolite were applied to determine quality changes in vacuum packaged sardine fillets during 19 days at 4 ± 1 °C. Zeolite had an effect to improve sensory quality of sardine especially for removing off‐odour. The acceptable shelf life of vacuum packaged sardine was 8 days for control and 12 days for groups treated with 1% and 5% zeolite. The zeolite application resulted in significant reduction in total volatile basic nitrogen values, except for group treated with 5% zeolite at 15 days. Although the effect of zeolite depended on dose and specific storage days, application of zeolite had no effect on free fatty acid analysis. The use of zeolite significantly reduced ammonia and biogenic amine accumulation, especially for histamine and tyramine. The result of the study showed that the efficacy of zeolite as natural antimicrobials was high and lower dose of zeolite has to be applied to get maximum preservation effect.     

Natural colorant enrichment of apple tissue with black carrot concentrate using vacuum impregnation

Coloured apple discs containing black carrot concentrate (BCC), calcium lactate and lactic acid were formulated and produced as a new functional fresh fruit product using vacuum impregnation. Sensory test was conducted to select the most preferred impregnation formulation containing an addition of 0.0%, 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2% BCC, 1.5%, 3.0% and 4.5% calcium lactate and 2.0%, 3.0% and 4.0% lactic acid. Results indicated that the formulation with the addition of 3% Ca‐lactate, 3% lactic acid and 0.8% BCC within 0.2 m mannitol solution was significantly preferred. The optimum vacuum pressure (211 mm Hg), vacuum time (3 min) and restoration time (20 min) according to highest colorant transfer, while the minimum cellular disruption occurs were estimated using response surface methodology. The use of Ca‐lactate and BCC contributed the treated apple to resemble untreated apple properties in terms of texture, total phenolic, total flavonoid contents and antioxidant capacity.     

Electrodeposition of poly(4‐methyl carbazole‐3‐carboxylic acid) on steel surfaces and corrosion protection of steel

The electropolymerization of 4‐methyl carbazole‐3‐carboxylic acid was successfully performed on a stainless steel (316L) surface with lithium perchlorate/acetonitrile as the supporting electrolyte. The corrosion resistance of the new coating, poly(4‐methyl carbazole‐3‐carboxylic acid) (PCz), was investigated. To this end, potentiodynamic polarization curves, open circuit potentials, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to evaluate the capacity of the PCz coating to protect the steel surface. The corrosion tests indicated that PCz exhibited effective anodic protection in a corrosive test solution. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Thermodynamic performance analysis of a copper–chlorine thermochemical cycle and biomass based combined plant for multigeneration

The primary objective of this work is to investigate a comprehensive thermodynamic assessment of the biomass-assisted multigeneration plant for electrical energy, hydrogen, heating-cooling, drying, and hot water production. The suggested multigeneration plant includes the biomass gasification process, Brayton cycle, Kalina cycle, organic Rankine cycle, and cascade refrigeration plant, which is to produce heating and cooling loads, drying system, hydrogen generation with copper–chlorine thermochemical process, and hydrogen liquefaction process. Based on the thermodynamic laws, the total irreversibility rate and performance assessment of the examined study is conducted. Moreover, the impact of various factors such as reference temperature, biomass gasifier temperature, and mass flow rate of biofuel, on the effectiveness and useful outputs of planned plant are examined. The outcomes of the proposed study show that 18 626, 3948 and 1037 kW electrical energy are generated by using the Brayton, Kalina, and organic Rankine cycle. Furthermore, the total cooling and heating capacities and hydrogen generation rates are 2392, 2864 kW and 0.068 kg s⁻¹. Finally, energetic and exergetic effectiveness of the examined model are calculated as 56.71% and 53.59%.     

Influence of dispersant,storage time and temperature on the rheological properties of zirconia–paraffin feedstocks for LPIM

The dependence of the rheological properties of zirconia–paraffin feedstocks for low-pressure injection moulding (LPIM) on binder composition, storage time and temperature was investigated. Feedstocks with varying amounts of dispersant were fabricated to work out the required quantity for a monolayer of dispersant molecules on zirconia particles. Experimental results revealed that a shear rate dependent characteristic of the viscosity against the amount of dispersant exists. The observations were compared with calculated values according to an adsorption model, which overestimated the required quantity of dispersant to form a monolayer. Feedstocks stored at elevated temperature for several days exhibited a time-dependent decrease of the yield stress and viscosity, which is supposed to be caused by physical or chemical interactions among zirconia and the dispersant. Increasing working temperature and decreasing solids loading were found to significantly decrease the yield stress as well as the viscosity. Flow activation energies and flow indices were calculated and compared with literature. This study shows that the dispersant used in this investigation has a remarkable influence especially on the time-dependent flow behaviour of zirconia–paraffin feedstocks that affects further processing and reproducibility.     

Fuzzy-based estimation of mixed convection heat transfer in a square cavity in the presence of an adiabatic inclined fin

In this study, heat transfer from a square cavity in the presence of a thin inclined adiabatic fin is estimated using inputs–outputs generated from a CFD code with a fuzzy based identification procedure. The Reynolds number based on cavity length is 300 and the Richardson number is varied between 1 and 30. The top and bottom walls of the cavity are kept at constant temperature while the vertical walls are assumed to be adiabatic. The fin height, fin inclination angle, and Richardson number are considered as the input and the spatial averaged Nusselt number is taken as the output for the fuzzy model. Two data sets are used. One data set which contains 45 cases is used for estimation and another data set which contains 10 cases (not used in estimation) is used for validation purposes. The predictions using fuzzy model compare well with the CFD computations.     

Nanocrystallization in Cu-Zr-Al-Sm Bulk Metallic Glasses

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The effect of rare-earth element (Sm) microalloying on the thermal stability and crystallization kinetics of melt-spun ribbons and suction-cast rods of...