Co-liquefaction of Yatağan lignite and waste tire under catalytic conditions. Part 1. Effect of fresh tetraline and recycled tetraline on the conversion

In this study, the effect of solvent type and the solvent/solid ratio on the liquefaction of Mu?la-Yatagan lignite (YL) combined with waste tire (WT) under catalytic conditions investigated. Liquefaction experiments carried out the following conditions, a reaction temperature of 400°C, a catalyst concentration of 3%, solvent/solid ratio from 1/1 to 9/1, reaction time of 90 min, lignite/waste ratio of 1/1. In addition, mixing speed was 400 rpm, and the nitrogen gas pressure fixed at 30 bar. After the each of liquefaction experiments finished, the soluble products (SP) classified as preasphaltene (PAS), asphaltene (AS) and oil+gas (OG), by solvent extraction. Due to the optimum total conversion determined, fresh tetraline obtained as the most favorable solvent with 71.71%, for the liquefaction of YL with WT. However, the total conversion for recycling tetraline is 68.6%. According to the results, co-liquefaction of YL combined with WT using recycle solvent is the one way to offer, alternatively of using crude oil, producing SP for not crude oil, producing SP for not only fuel-oil production but also prefer chemical raw materials. With respect to the optimum oil+gas yield results, the most convenient solvent type and the solvent/solid ratio are the recycled solvent and its 3/1 ratio.     

Depth sensing indentation analysis of electrochemically synthesized polythiophene

A depth sensing indentation (DSI) test with associated analyses was used to investigate some mechanical properties (reduced elastic modulus, hardness and creep) of electrochemically synthesized polythiophene (PT). Internal friction (IF) and energy absorption representing the degree of anelastic deformation of the material were also determined using cyclic and step-load/unload (SLU) test procedure, respectively. The indentation load–displacement (P–h) curves of the sample were obtained under different peak loads with two load holding time, 70 and 300 s. Elastic modulus values were determined by analyzing of these curves with Oliver–Pharr (O–P) and Feng–Ngan (F–N) procedures. The obtained results pointed out that both methods yielded comparable results for 300 s, while the corresponding values of 70 s were not well-matched with each other. These results were explained by the saturation of creep effects within 300 s holding period. Creep analysis exhibited that creep displacement increases at a declining rate with time and finally reaches a constant rate. Cyclic test results indicated that IF values approach saturation after several cycles and the saturation value of IF was found to be depending on loading rate. From SLU tests, an upper limit of the normalized dissipated energy was observed.     

Grading of gliomas using transfer learning on MRI images

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - Despite the critical role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of brain tumours, there are still many pitfalls in the...     

Voxel-Based Full-Field Eigenstrain Reconstruction of Residual Stresses

Inverse eigenstrain (inherent strain) analysis methods are shown to be effective for the reconstruction of residual stresses in plane eigenstrain problems (continuously processed bodies) while conversely residual stress reconstruction in discontinuously processed bodies is extremely challenging and necessitates the use of complex regularizing assumptions. Herein, a new generic inverse eigenstrain method suitable for the reconstruction of residual stresses along with residual elastic strains and displacements in discontinuously processed bodies is introduced. The proposed method uses the superposition of eigenstrain radial basis functions together with a set of limited experimental data for model-free (unconstrained) determination of unknown eigenstrain fields. This approach eliminates the limitations introduced by global basis functions such as polynomials. The novel point of this method is the ability to account for all six components of strain in an isotropic body without using regularizing assumptions. By lifting complex guiding formulation, the fidelity of full-field eigenstrain reconstruction becomes directly related to the quality of experimental data and proper discretisation of the model domain. The FEniCS implementation has been validated using the experimental data of pointwise high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements from a bent titanium alloy bar. A hybrid high throughput computing approach is also introduced for effective parallel computing.     

Microbiological aspects and challenges of whey powders – I thermoduric,thermophilic and spore-forming bacteria

For dairy processors, spoilage and pathogenic spore-forming bacteria are key sources of concern, not only due to their ability to remain dormant in a desiccated state in powders and to survive heat treatments, but also their ability to form biofilms in the vegetative state that lead to contamination of foods. These include members of the genera Bacillus, Geobacillus, Anoxybacillus, Brevibacillus, Paenibacillus and Clostridium, many of which are associated with food poisoning and spoilage. Here, we review the common bacterial species that form spores in whey powders and their sources and provide insights into their risks and strategies to control them.