Recovery of pyridine from water by pervaporation using filled and crosslinked EPDM membranes

Organoselective membrane was prepared from ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber. Crosslinked EPDM rubber was filled with 2, 4 and 6 wt% N330 carbon black filler to produce three different filled membranes designated as EPDMCV2, EPDMCV4 and EPDMCV6, respectively. These filled rubber membranes were used for pervaporative recovery of low concentration of pyridine from water. These filled membranes were characterized by crosslink density, SEM, XRD and mechanical properties. Sorption thermodynamics were discussed. Partial permeability, intrinsic membrane selectivity and diffusion coefficients of solvents were also determined. The filled membranes showed much higher pyridine selectivity than most of the membranes reported for similar system.     

Optimization of molecular hydrogen production by Rhodobacter sphaeroides O.U.001 in the annular photobioreactor using response surface methodology

Photofermentative H₂ production at higher rate is desired to make H₂ viable as cheap energy carrier. The process is influenced by C/N composition, pH levels, temperature, light intensity etc. In this study, Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain O.U 001 was used in the annular photobioreactor with working volume 1 L, initial pH of 6.7 ± 0.2, inoculum age 36 h, inoculum volume 10% (v/v), 250 rpm stirring and light intensity of 15 ± 1.1 W m⁻². The effect of parameters, i.e. variation in concentration of DL malic acid, L glutamic acid and temperature on the H₂ production was noted using three factor three level full factorial designs. Surface and contour plots of the regression models revealed optimum H₂ production rate of 7.97 mL H₂ L⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 32 °C with 2.012 g L⁻¹ DL malic acid and 0.297 g L⁻¹ L glutamic acid, which showed an excellent correlation (99.36%) with experimental H₂ production rate of 7.92 mL H₂ L⁻¹ h⁻¹.     

Effect of Flowing Lead–Bismuth Eutectic on the Mechanical and Structural Properties of Stainless Steel 304L

Stainless steel 304L is being considered as a structural material for a component in a critical facility in an environment of molten lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) at a temperature between 250 and 350 °C. This paper gives results on the effect, of 10,000 h exposure to non-isothermal liquid LBE at temperatures of 250 and 350 °C, on the mechanical and structural properties of SS 304L. The dissolved oxygen concentration in the molten eutectic was 4 × 10^?10 wt% and flow velocity was 16 cm/s. In order to assess the changes in mechanical properties tensile tests were carried out in air at 25 °C and fractography of fractured surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed no change in the mechanical properties of SS 304L after 10,000 h exposure to LBE at 250 and 350 °C. Electron probe microanalysis of the interface of SS 304L with LBE showed that there was no penetration of LBE into the grain boundaries nor preferential dissolution of any of the components of steel in LBE after 10,000 h exposure at either temperature. No oxide layer was observed on the surface of SS 304L.     

Dry Sliding Wear Characteristics of Gravity Die-Cast Magnesium Alloys

The paper deals with the wear behavior of conventional cast Mg-Sn-based alloys. The alloys were studied through pin-on-disk wear test under four different loading conditions; namely, 9.8, 19.6, 29.4, and 39.2 N. The study highlights the cumulative wear loss, volumetric wear loss, dry sliding wear rate, and coefficient of friction of the alloys. The volumetric wear increased with increasing applied load. The wear mechanism was studied with scanning electron microscope. The wear occurs mainly by plowing mechanism and also by delamination. During wear, extensive plastic deformation and work hardening occurred. Microstructural analysis has been carried out for all the alloys at different loading conditions.     

Effect of Constraint on Creep Behavior of 9Cr-1Mo Steel

The effect of constraint on creep rupture behavior of 9Cr-1Mo steel has been investigated. The constraint was introduced by incorporating a circumferential U-notch in a plain cylindrical creep specimen of 5 mm diameter. The degree of constraint was increased by decreasing the notch root radius from 5 to 0.25 mm. Creep tests were conducted on plain and notched specimens at stresses in the range of 110 to 210 MPa at 873 K (600 °C). The creep rupture life of the steel was found to increase under constrained conditions, which increased with the increase in degree of constraint and applied stress, and tended to saturate at a higher degree of constraint. The creep rupture ductility (pct reduction in area) of the steel was found to be lower under constrained conditions. The decrease in creep ductility was more pronounced at a higher degree of constraint and lower applied stresses. Scanning electron microscopic studies revealed a change in fracture behavior with stress and degree of constraint. The fracture surface appearance for relatively lower constrained specimens at higher stresses was predominantly transgranular dimple. Creep cavitation-induced intergranular brittle fracture near the notch root was observed for specimens having a higher degree of constraint at relatively lower stresses. The creep rupture life of the steel under constrained conditions has been predicted based on the estimation of damage evolution by continuum damage mechanics coupled with finite element analysis of the triaxial state of stress across the notch. It was found that the creep rupture life of the steel under constrained conditions was predominantly governed by the von-Mises stress and the principal stress became progressively important with increase in the degree of constraint and decrease in applied stress.     

A Finite Element Computational Method for Gas Hydrate. Part I: Theory

Abstract

A finite element scheme is presented to model the dissociation of gas hydrates in porous media by hot water injection. We show a complete derivation of the finite element formulation, including the associated mass and energy conservation equations capable of performing transient analysis of both conductive and convective heat transfer for gas and liquid flow in porous media. The scheme also includes the latent heat effect to accommodate the change of phase due to melting of hydrate. In the companion paper, Part II, this method is successfully applied to hydrate reservoirs.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Homo Polymer of Acrylate of Mixed Alcohols (Decyl,Dodecyl, and Myristyl Alcohol)—A Potential Pour Point Depressant for Lubricating Oils

Polymer of the acrylate of a mixture of three different alcohols, decyl alcohol, dodecyl alcohol, and myristyl alcohol, and the respective homopolymers, poly(decylacrylate), poly(dodecylacrylate), and poly(myristylacrylate), were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for their performances (oil thickening and pour point depression property) as lube oil additive. The viscosity measurements of the synthesized polymers in the toluene solution at 313 K were performed and compared.     

Comparative analysis of in vitro ultraviolet radiation protection of fabrics woven from cotton and bamboo viscose yarns

Ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of fabrics made of 100% cotton and 100% bamboo viscose yarns were studied and a comparative analysis carried out using curve fitting technique. Bamboo viscose fabrics showed higher shrinkage, cover percentage, areal density and UPF compared to its cotton counterpart woven with identical yarn counts and fabric sett. However, the predictive model of cotton fabric UPF using fabric areal density as the input was able to estimate the UPF of bamboo viscose fabrics with very good accuracy. Furthermore, the 100% cotton and 100% bamboo viscose fabrics showed the same UPF if their cover percentage and areal density is similar. It is inferred from the analysis that the apparently higher UPF of bamboo viscose fabrics can be attributed to their higher cover percentage and areal density instead of bamboo’s inherent UV protective property which has been claimed in various literatures.     

Study on thermal resistance of multilayered fabrics under different compressional loads

In this work, the thermal resistance of multilayered fabric ensembles meant for cold weather conditions were studied under different compressional loads. An instrument has been developed to study the thermal resistance of fabrics under different compressional loads. The instrument consists of a test plate, guard plates and a bottom plate. The test plate and guard plates were assembled together as a single entity, which can be moved up and down with a screw shaft. A load cell was connected to the plate assembly to apply the required compressional load on the fabric specimen. Thermal resistance of multilayered fabrics was studied in the developed instrument under different loading conditions. Single-jersey knitted fabric, needle punched fabric and polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) coated fabrics were used in the inner, middle and outer layer, respectively. Twenty different multilayered fabric ensembles with the same inner and outer layers were studied. The middle layers, i.e. needle punched nonwoven fabrics, were produced from polyester hollow fibres, with varying linear density of fibre, mass per unit area and punch density. The thermal resistance of multilayered fabrics obtained from the developed instrument was compared with the thermal resistance of instruments, namely sweating guarded hot plate (SGHP) and Alambeta. Regression equations were developed and the contour plots were drawn to analyse the effect of the fibre, fabric and process parameters. ANOVAs were conducted to find the significance of the compressional load, linear density of fibre, mass per unit area and punch density on the thermal resistance of fabrics. It was found that the thermal resistance obtained from the instrument follows the same trend as that of thermal resistance obtained from SGHP and Alambeta. Mass per unit area was found to have significant effect on the thermal resistance of multilayered fabrics under different compressional loads. The effect of punch density decreases with the increase in compressional load on the thermal resistance of multilayered fabrics. The thermal conductivity of multilayered fabrics was observed to increase with the increase in the compressional load.     

Impact properties of thermoplastic composites

The excellent properties exhibited by thermoplastic composites at much reduced weight have attracted attention in the development of products in different sectors. Thermoplastic (TP) composites, because of their distinctive properties as well as ease of manufacturing, have emerged as a competitor against the conventional thermoset resin-based composites. Depending on the application, these composites may undergo impact events at various velocities and often fail in many complex modes. Hence, the development of TP composites having high energy-dissipation at (the desired) much-reduced weight has become a challenging task, but it is a problem which may be alleviated through the appropriate selection of materials and fabrication processes. Furthermore, fibre surface modification has been shown to increase fibre-matrix interfacial adhesion, which can lead to improved impact resistance. Textile preforms are helpful in acting as a structural backbone in the composites since they offer a relatively free hand to the composite designer to tailor its properties to suit a specific application. Additionally, hybrid textile composite structures may help in achieving the desired properties at much lower weight.

Simulation software can play a significant role in the evaluation of composites without damaging physical samples. Once the simulation result has been validated with actual experimental results, it should be possible to predict the test outcomes for different composites, with different characteristics, at different energy levels without conducting further physical tests. Various numerical models have been developed which have to be incorporated into these software tools for better prediction of the result.

In the current issue of Textile Progress, the effects of various materials and test parameters on impact behaviour are critically analyzed. The effect of incorporating high-performance fibres and natural fibres or their hybrid combination on the impact properties of TP composites are also discussed and the essential properties of TP polymers are briefly explained. The effects of fibre and matrix hybridization, environmental factors, various textile preform structures and fibre surface modification treatments on the impact properties of thermoplastic composites are examined in detail. Various numerical models used for impact analysis are discussed and the potential applications of TP composites in automobile, aerospace and medical sectors are highlighted.