INFLUENCE of OIL TEMPERATURE ON CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER DURING IMMERSION FRYING

The relationship between oil temperature, convective heat transfer coefficient, and heat flux during immersion frying was investigated. Potato cylinders were fried in 120, 150, and 180C oil and convective heat transfer coefficients and heat flux measurements were made. These measurements followed the expected trends predicted by fundamental heat transfer calculations. the maximum convective heat transfer coefficient and heat flux reached during frying increases as oil temperature increases. the process time to reach these maxima decreases as oil temperature increases. This research provides fundamental knowledge relevant to the effects of oil temperature on the coupled heat and mass transfer problem present during immersion frying. This knowledge will provide a first step towards better understanding the frying process, and eventual process optimization through manipulation of the time-temperature regime of the frying processes.     

Characterization of Culturable PAH and BTEX Degrading Bacteria from Heavy Oil of the Rancho La Brea Tarpits

Novel petroleum degrading bacteria have been identified in heavy oil from natural asphalt seeps using DNA-based methods, but there is little knowledge of the extent to which these bacteria can be cultured by selective enrichments on different aromatic hydrocarbons. Here we report the species composition of bacterial communities from a 40,000 yr-old asphalt deposit that could be grown on selected petroleum compounds. Species compositions of the degrader communities determined by PCR-DGGE and 16S rDNA sequencing showed that selective enrichment using (PAHs) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene) as growth substrates produced relatively simple degrader communities, and included a predominant species, Pseudomonas stutzeri, which grew on multiple compounds. PCR-based techniques further identified genes encoding naphthalene dioxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase from P. stutzeri in the enrichment cultures. The results suggest that only a small portion of the asphalt-inhabiting community can be cultured under aerobic conditions on individual substrates. Within these communities were several new species that merit further characterization as consortia, as well as new isolates of the cosmopolitan degrader, P. stutzeri.     

Unstable rational function approximation

The problem is considered of approximating a transfer function with stable and unstable poles by a lower-order transfer function with the same number of unstable poles. A method is suggested and compared with alternative known methods based on Hankel-norm approximation. Examples suggest that no one method always outperforms other methods in terms of minimizing the approximation error.     

The Automated Underground: Computer-Aided Design of Boston's Central Artery Project

Computer applications related to under-ground construction are described as they are being applied to Boston's Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project. The project is currently one of the largest highway projects in the country. Computer applications include a geotechnical boring log management system, spreadsheets for tunnel analysis and design, finite-element studies of soil-structure interaction for a construction excavation problem, and software that draws flow nets. Each application is outlined, and problems and future improvements to the methods are discussed.     

NATIONAL SECURITY/EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER RECOVERY COMMUNICATIONS VIA ACTS

During the period from early 1993 to 1994, the U.S. National Communication System (NCS), a government agency, sponsored the development and execution of several fixed and mobile experiments using the advanced communications technology satellite (ACTS). The purpose of these experiments was to evaluate the feasibility of integrating an ACTS-like communications system into national security/emergency preparedness (NS/EP) operational scenarios. These experiments focused on clear and secure voice communications in both the fixed and mobile environment. For the mobile experiments, the focus was on the performance of both clear and secure voice in the land-mobile satellite communications channel. For the fixed experiments, the focus was on the use of a T1 terminal for restoration of communication services in the event of a disaster and for remote user communications. The results of these experiments are described in this paper.     

MODELING THE TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON THE FLOW BEHAVIOR OF SWEET POTATO PUREE1

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature on viscosity of sweet potato (SP) puree. Rheological data of the puree were measured using a Bohlin VOR Rheometer. Shear rates employed ranged from 0.01–921 s^?1. Thermal scans were run at 15, 25, 40, 60, 75, and 90C. The puree exhibited “shear thinning” behavior with a yield stress value of 10 Pa at each temperature tested. The characteristic of the flow behavior of the puree was determined by fitting the experimental data to Herschel-Bulkley, Casson and Modified Casson models. The model with the best fit was then used to represent the combined effect of shear rate and temperature on the apparent viscosity of SP puree in a model based upon the Modified Casson model. The model was validated using data for SP puree samples at 50C. Results showed that, within the experimental conditions used in this study, the model could adequately predict apparent viscosities of sweet potato puree processed at different temperatures.     

DISTRIBUTION AND SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF TRIMETHYLAMINE N-OXIDE (TMAO) DEMETHYLASE ACTIVITY OF RED HAKE MUSCLE

It has been suggested by some workers that decomposition of trimethyl N-oxide (TMAO) to dimethylamine (DMA) and formaldehyde in gadoid fishes occurs via enzymic processes while others have suggested a nonenzymic pathway. DMA production in frozen red hake muscle is shown in this study to be enzymic by the necessity of the high molecular weight soluble or insoluble fraction from red hake to convert the low molecular weight components of flounder muscle to DMA. In red hake muscle the TMAO demethylase activity is approximately evenly divided between the high molecular weight soluble and the insoluble fractions: the amount of potential activity in either fraction is 60–100 times that required for the production of DMA that normally occurs during frozen storage of the muscle tissue. The K_m for TMAO of the soluble enzyme was approximately 3 mM; the concentrations of TMAO in red hake muscle range from 60 to 140 mM (calculation based on water content of 80%). Thus, it seems unlikely that TMAO or TMAO demethylase limit the rate of the reaction. On the other hand, the K_m values for flavin mononucleotide and NADH are higher than the concentrations of these components found in the tissue suggesting that the cofactors limit the rate of TMAO breakdown to DMA and formaldehyde in the stored muscle. This supports other studies (Landolt and Hultin 1982; Banda and Hultin 1983) in which the same conclusion is reached based on other considerations.