Biodiesel production using gel‐type cation exchange resin at different ionic forms

In this study, a strong acidic‐type cation exchange resin was used in the transesterification of corn oil to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). The gel‐type cation exchange resin (Purolite‐PD206) was used in H⁺ and Na⁺ forms to utilize ion‐exchange resin as effective heterogeneous catalyst in the production of biodiesel. Effect of ionic forms of ion exchange resin on free fatty acid (FFA) conversion and composition was investigated by using different amounts of ion exchange resin (12, 16, and 20 wt%), various mole ratios of methanol to oil (1:6, 1:12, and 1:18 mol/mol), reaction temperatures (63, 65, and 67°C), and reaction time (24, 36, and 48 h) during transesterification reaction. The highest FFA conversions of 73.5% and 79.45% were obtained at conditions of 20 wt% of catalyst, 65°C of reaction temperature, 18:1 as methanol to oil ratio, and 48 h of reaction time for H⁺ and Na⁺ forms of ion exchange resin, respectively. These results were obtained from regression equations established by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) model according to the experimental results of selected parameters. Gas chromatography analysis revealed that FAME is mainly composed of C16:0 (palmitic), C18:1 (oleic), and C18:2 (linoleic) acids of methyl ester.     

A novel numerical modeling paradigm for bio particle tracing in non-inertial microfluidics devices

Microsystem Technologies - In this work, we report on the design and implementation of a new method for the two dimensional (2D) simulation of rigid spherical particles trajectory which are to be...     

Hybrid intelligent strategy for multifactor influenced electrical energy consumption forecasting

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a novel hybrid strategy based on intelligent approaches to forecast electricity consumptions. The proposed forecasting strategy includes three main steps: (a) the evaluation of a correlation coefficient for socio-economic indicators on electric energy consumptions, (b) the classification of historical and socio-economic indicators using the proposed feature selection method, (c) the development of a new combined method using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System and Whale Optimization Algorithm to predict electrical energy consumptions. The simulation results have been tested and validated by real data sets achieved within 1992 and 2010 in two pilot cases in a developing country (Iran) and a developed one (Italy). The research findings pinpointed the greater accuracy and stability of the new developed method for electrical energy consumption forecasting compared to existing single and hybrid benchmark models.     

Model-order reduction using variational balanced truncation with spectral shaping

This paper presents a spectrally weighted balanced truncation (SBT) technique for tightly coupled integrated circuit interconnects, when the interconnect circuit parameters change as a result of statistical variations in the manufacturing process. The salient features of this algorithm are the inclusion of the parameter variation in the RLCK interconnect, the guaranteed passivity of the reduced transfer function, and the availability of provable spectrally weighted error bounds for the reduced-order system. This paper shows that the variational balanced truncation technique produces reduced systems that accurately follow the time- and frequency-domain responses of the original system when variations in the circuit parameters are taken into consideration. Experimental results show that the new variational SBT attains, in average, 30% more accuracy than the variational Krylov-subspace-based model-order reduction techniques.     

Magnetic properties of maraging steels in relation to nickel concentration

Magnetic properties of maraging steels have been investigated as a function of nickel concentration. The alloys nickel content varied from 12 to 24 wt pct, while other alloying constituents were kept at a level maintained in the 18Ni-2400 MPA-grade maraging steel. The magnetic properties were determined following aging for 1 hour in the temperature range of 450 °C to 750 °C. In every alloy investigated, the coercive field increased with aging temper-ature, reaching a maximum around 670 °C ± 30 °C. The saturation magnetization values were lowest around temperatures where maximum coercive field was observed. The coercive field increased from ∼55 to ∼ 175 Oe (∼4380 to ∼ 13,900 amp/meter) and the corresponding sat-uration magnetization decreased from ∼18,500 to ∼ 4000 G (∼1.85 to ∼0.4 T) in the alloys containing 12 and 24 wt pct Ni, respectively. The reverted austenite increased from 25 vol pct at 12 wt pct Ni to 100 vol pct at 24 wt pct Ni. The hardness and Charpy impact strength of the alloys have also been determined. An attempt has been made to correlate magnetic properties with different phase transformations occurring in maraging steels.     

Mechanical stability and magnetic properties of austenite

Austenitic alloys have been produced by additional alloying in maraging steel grade 18 Ni at 2400 MPa. The concentration of Mo, Ni and Co was increased individually until the martensite start temperature M _s, was suppressed below ambient value. Charpy impact strength, tensile strength and magnetic properties were determined. The impact strength in the annealed condition ranged between 260 to 294 J. In alloys where martensitic transformation occurred following quenching in liquid nitrogen, the impact strength dropped appreciably and was found to be in the range 120–216 J. The tensile strengths of the austenite and martensite phases ranged between 680 to 890 and 1030 to 1100 MPa, respectively. It was observed that the austenite phase transformed to martensite in the region that under went plastic deformation during Charpy and tensile testing. The degree of transformation incorporated, varied as a function of composition. The magnetic properties of the austenite phases were typical of a very weak magnetic material. The coercive field and saturation magnetization values were in the range 1034–2387 Am^–1 and 1.6–2.9 T, respectively. In contrast to the general observation, the austenite phase containing high Co exhibited ferromagnetic behaviour. The coercive field and saturation magnetization of ferromagnetic austenite was 1034 Am^–1 and 11 T, respectively.     

Synthesis of silica-supported ZnO pigments for thermal control coatings and analysis of their reflection model

A spacecraft in orbit undergoes extreme temperature cycling, space radiations, and other extreme conditions that can potentially raise the temperature of spacecraft to harmful levels. Hardware and sensitive detectors utilized in spacecrafts require that temperatures be maintained within specified ranges. Thermal control coatings (TCCs) help to maintain the thermal equilibrium of the spacecraft at a level acceptable for vital components. This is done by employing the diffused reflection of all effective ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and near-IR (NIR) wavelengths of solar radiation and emitting the infrared (IR) energy. The most commonly used TCCs have utilized potassium silicate as the binder and ZnO as the pigment (Z-93), but absorption of UV light by ZnO pigment affects the ideal scheme of these TCCs. In the present study, silica-supported zinc oxide particles with different ZnO contents were synthesized as pigments for white thermal control coatings and the optimized one was selected based on the experimental determination of the optical properties of the prepared coatings. The results revealed that the optimized TCCs containing pigment with the zinc to silicon ratio of 1.91 had better reflection and emission properties in comparison with Z-93, due to the improvement in the refractive index and the dispersion quality of pigment. Then, the scattering properties (S) of the synthesized pigments and ZnO in TCC were investigated based on the reflectance data, according to the Kubelka–Munk analysis. The general trend in scattering coefficients for each formulation showed the same shape, such that with the increase in S values, the zinc to silicon ratio of pigments was raised too. Also, this trend revealed that scattering was more efficient at longer rather than shorter wavelengths. For Z-93, this trend was completely opposite. Also, S values for Z-93 in the wavelength range of 200–400 nm were around zero, while for the prepared coatings, this was not the case. Finally, the statistical nonlinear regression method was utilized to prepare a model for reflectance as a function of the zinc to silicon ratio of pigments and the wavelength of light.     

Polyurethane‐incorporated chitosan/alginate core–shell nano‐particles for controlled oral insulin delivery

Chitosan (CS) and polyurethane‐chitosan (PU‐CS) nano‐particles (NPs) were prepared for the core formation by complex coacervation method whereas alginate (ALG) and PU‐ALG were crosslinked by ionic gelation method to form the protective shell‐layer over the core. Effects of PU incorporation either within the core or shell or both were investigated by different in vitro and in vivo parameters. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of different compositions of nano‐particles showed distinct characteristic peaks for CS, PU, and ALG, indicating their presence in variable ratios. Significance of polyurethane‐incorporated systems towards insulin encapsulation efficiency, swelling parameters, insulin release, and in vivo pharmacological effect were also studied. Particle sizes, zeta potential, morphological analysis, mucoadhesion study, and in vivo acute toxicity studies of these core–shell nano‐particles were also performed. Bioavailability of insulin ranged from 9.04% to 11.6% for polyurethane‐incorporated chitosan‐alginate core–shell nano‐particle formulations which was significantly higher than the insulin bioavailability of basic CS/ALG core–shell nano‐particle system. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46365.