Sorption behavior of ion-exchange terpolymer resin with environmental impact: synthesis,characterization and isotherm models

A novel terpolymer acts as an effective chelating ion exchanger which was synthesized using 2-amino-6-nitro-benzothiazole and semicarbazide with formaldehyde (BSF) by solution condensation technique. Its ion exchange properties was determined against certain metal ions viz. Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Pb²⁺ using batch equilibrium technique with different electrolyte concentrations, pH ranges and time intervals. The results of batch studies revealed that the separation of the selected metal ions from the aqueous solution by the terpolymer is found to be excellent compared to the available commercial resins and earlier reported resins. The order of metal ion uptake at higher concentrations by the BSF terpolymer at lower pH is Cu²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Fe³⁺ and at lower concentration at higher pH is Zn²⁺ > Co²⁺ > Pb²⁺. The reusability of the resin was also reported for its effective ion-exchange behaviour for several cycles. The adsorption isotherm model was evaluated and the results are in good agreement with each other. The order of kinetics was also determined and the resin follows pseudo-second-order kinetics. Moreover, the physico-chemical analysis gives strong evidence for the effective metal ion removal compared with the earlier reported and commercial resins. Earlier, the structure and the properties of the synthesized novel chelating resin were clearly elucidated by elemental, FTIR, UV–Vis, ¹H & ¹³C NMR spectra, GPC, SEM and XRD.     

Land availability of Jatropha production in Malaysia

This study reports the conversion of Jatropha curcas oil to biodiesel catalyzed by sulphated zirconia loaded on an alumina catalyst using response surface methodology (RSM). Specifically, it studies the effect of interaction between process variables on the yield of biodiesel. Jatropha is found to be survived in different locations in South-East Asia. Jatropha oil is favoured to palm oil for its cold filter plugging the point (CFPP) values, making it a better option for use in cold climates. The increasing industrialization and modernization of the world have to a steep rise for the demand of petroleum products. Economic development in developing countries has led to huge increase in the energy demand. The crude oil demand of the country is met by imparting about 80%. Thus, the energy security has become a key issue for the nation as a whole. Petroleum-based fuels are limited. This article is an attempt to present the prevailing fossil-fuel scenario with respect to petroleum diesel, fuel properties of biodiesel of biodiesel resources for biodiesel production, processes for its production, purification, etc. At last, a discussion of stability of biodiesel is described here.     

Intelligent Intrusion Detection for Industrial Internet of Things Using Clustering Techniques

The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the industrial sector has given rise to a new term: the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The IIoT is a collection of devices, apps, and services that connect physical and virtual worlds to create smart, cost-effective, and scalable systems. Although the IIoT has been implemented and incorporated into a wide range of industrial control systems, maintaining its security and privacy remains a significant concern. In the IIoT contexts, an intrusion detection system (IDS) can be an effective security solution for ensuring data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In this paper, we propose an intelligent intrusion detection technique that uses principal components analysis (PCA) as a feature engineering method to choose the most significant features, minimize data dimensionality, and enhance detection performance. In the classification phase, we use clustering algorithms such as K-medoids and K-means to determine whether a given flow of IIoT traffic is normal or attack for binary classification and identify the group of cyberattacks according to its specific type for multi-class classification. To validate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed model, we validate the detection method on a new driven IIoT dataset called X-IIoTID. The performance results showed our proposed detection model obtained a higher accuracy rate of 99.79% and reduced error rate of 0.21% when compared to existing techniques.     

Ineffectiveness and poor reliability of arsenic removal plants in West Bengal, India

In the recent past, arsenic contamination in groundwater has emerged as an epidemic in different Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Arsenic removal plants (ARP) are one possible option to provide arsenic-safe drinking water. This paper evaluates the efficiency of ARP projects in removing arsenic and iron from raw groundwater, on the basis of our 2-year-long study covering 18 ARPs from 11 manufacturers, both from home and abroad, installed in an arsenic affected area of West Bengal, India, known as the Technology Park Project (TP project). Immediately after installation of ARPs on August 29, 2001, the villagers began using filtered water for drinking and cooking, even though our first analysis on September 13, 2001 found that 10 of 13 ARPs failed to remove arsenic below the WHO provisional guideline value (10 microg/L), while six plants could not achieve the Indian Standard value (50 microg/L). The highest concentration of arsenic in filtered water was observed to be 364 microg/L. Our 2-year study showed that none of the ARPs could maintain arsenic in filtered water below the WHO provisional guideline value and only two could meet the Indian standard value (50 microg/L) throughout. Standard statistical techniques showed that ARPs from the same manufacturers were not equally efficient. Efficiency of the ARPs was evaluated on the basis of point and interval estimates of the proportion of failure. During the study period almost all the ARPs have undergone minor or major modifications to improve their performance, and after our study, 15 (78%) out of 18 ARPs were no longer in use. In this study, we also analyzed urine samples from villagers in the TP project area and found that 82% of the samples contained arsenic above the normal limit.     

Study and Fabrication of a Frequency Divider-Multiplier Scheme for High-Efficiency Microwave Power

The design, fabrication, and experimental evaluation of an exploratory 8.2 W, microwave FM power amplifier for the 4-GHz band are presented. It operates on a frequency divide, amplify, and multiply scheme receiving about 2-4 dBm of FM signal in the 4-GHz band, divides the frequency coherently by two, amplifies the modulated signal to about 10.4 W, and doubles the frequency coherently, yielding about 8.2 W into standard 50-ω 4-GHz load, with an overall efficiency of about 30 percent. Frequency halving is accomplished by a wideband regenerative frequency divider yielding about 1-2 dBm of signal at 1995 MHz. The signal is amplified by commercial class C amplifiers and is restored to the 4-GHz band by a stacked varactor containing two 0.32 ω, 15-pF chips in a coaxial embodiment. This entire ensemble, with a total breakdown of 160 V, serves as a frequency doubler.     

Quality and safety evaluation of genetically modified potatoes spunta with Cry V gene: compositional analysis, determination of some toxins, antinutrients compounds and feeding study in rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the composition, nutritional and toxicology safety of GM potato Spunta lines compared to that of conventional potato Spunta. Compositional analyses were conducted to measure the proximate chemical composition with references to 14 components, total solid, protein, lipid, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate, starch, reducing sugar, nonreducing sugar, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and ascorbic acid. Some toxins and anti-nutrients compounds were determined. Feeding study of GM potatoes line (G2 and G3) in rats were done for 30 days. Four groups of albino rats were used for studying the effect and the safety assessment of GM potatoes Spunta G2 and G3. Group (I) was fed on control basal diet, group (II) was fed on control diet plus 30% freeze-dried nongenetically modified potato Spunta, group (III) was fed on control diet plus 30% freeze-dried genetically modified potato Spunta, and group (IV) was fed on control diet plus 30% freeze-dried genetically modified potato Spunta GMO G3. There were no significant differences between GM potatoes G2, G3, and Spunta control potato line in the proximate chemical composition. The levels of glycoalkaloids in transgenic potato tubers and nontransgenic were determined and there were also no significant differences between the GM potatoes and conventional potato line, the levels were in agreement with a safety level recommended by FAO/WHO (200 mg/ kg) for acute toxicity. Protease inhibitor activity and total phenol were estimated and no significant differences between the GM potatoes line and conventional potato Spunta line were found. During the period tested, rats in each group (I, II, III, IV) grew well without marked differences in appearance. No statistical difference were found in food intake, daily body weight gain and feed efficiency. But there is a slightly significant difference in finally body weight between the control group and experimental groups. No significant difference were found in serum biochemical value between each groups, and also between relative organs weight (liver, spleen, heart, kidney, testes). From these results, it can be concluded that the GM potatoes Spunta line (G2 and G3) with Cry V gene are confirmed to have nearly the composition and biochemical characteristics as non-GM potato Spunta.     

Effect of Azadirachta indica leaves on testis and its recovery in albino rats

Histological and biochemical changes in the testis of rats treated with the leaf powder of A. indica are reported. The pattern of recovery is also studied at 8, 16 and 24 day after withdrawal of the treatment. In the treated rats, a general reduction in the diameters of seminiferous tubule, nuclei of the germinal elements and a mass atrophy of the spermatogenic elements has been observed. The Leydig cells are found to be atrophic. Biochemically, a decrease in the protein content and the activity of acid phosphatase and an increase in the total free sugar, glycogen, cholesterol contents and the activities of alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase have been observed. A gradual recovery is observed in both the histological and biochemical parameters after 8.16 and 24 day of cessation of the treatment. The result suggest a possible reversible antiandrogenic property of the leaves of A. indica in male albino rats.     

EDM of hybrid Al–SiCp–B4Cp and Al–SiCp–Glassp MMCs

Hybrid metal matrix composites are a class of material system, with two or more discrete particulate reinforcement. Notwithstanding their superior properties, their widespread application is constrained by the difficulty in machining them. Non-conventional processes such as electrical discharge machining can be applied to machine such composites. This work reports on the application of EDM to machine cast aluminum–silicon carbide–boron carbide and cast aluminum–silicon carbide–glass hybrid metal matrix composites and how the metal removal rate and surface finish vary in response to the various EDM parameters     

Review on solar water heater collector and thermal energy performance of circulating pipe

The effect of thermal conductivity of the absorber plate of a solar collector on the performance of a thermo-siphon solar water heater is found by using the alternative simulation system. The system is assumed to be supplied of hot water at 50 °C and 80 °C whereas both are used in domestic and industrial purposes, respectively. According to the Rand distribution profile 50, 125 and 250 l of hot water are consumed daily. The condition shows that the annual solar fraction of the planning functions and the collector's configuration factors are strongly dependent on the thermal conductivity for its lower values. The less dependence is observed beyond a thermal conductivity of 50 W/m °C for the solar improper fraction and above 100 W/m °C for the configuration factors. In addition, the number of air ducts and total mass flow rate are taken to show that higher collector efficiency is obtained under the suitable designing and operating parameters. Different heat transfer mechanisms, adding natural convection, vapor boiling, cell nucleus boiling and film wise condensation is observed in the thermo-siphon solar water heater with various solar radiations. From this study, it is found that the solar water heater with a siphon system achieves system characteristic efficiency of 18% higher than that of the conventional system by reducing heat loss for the thermo-siphon solar water heater.