Drying Kinetics of Oil Palm Frond Particles in an Agitated Fluidized Bed Dryer

The drying kinetics of oil palm frond particles in a laboratory-scale agitated fluidized bed dryer were investigated under various operating conditions: inlet air temperature (50–80°C), superficial air velocity (0.6–1.0 m/s), bed load (200–300 g), and agitation speed (300–500 rpm). To study the effects of these variables on the drying time and drying rate, an experimental design using Taguchi orthogonal array was employed. Based on analysis of variance (ANOVA), the results indicated that inlet air temperature greatly affected the drying rate, followed by superficial air velocity and bed load. The effect of agitation speed on the drying rate was found to be small. The experimental drying kinetics data were compared with the values obtained from three different models, namely, the Page model, modified quasi-stationary method (MQSM), and a new composite model. It was found that the proposed new model could satisfactorily predict the complete drying rate curve for the drying of oil palm fronds.     

CONDUCTIVE DRYlNG CHARACTERISTICS OF GELATINIZED RICE STARCH

The main objective of the experiment in thispaper is to investigate the influence of the ratio of the thickness of the plate and that of the film, and initial condi- tions on the conductive drying characteristics of thin films of gelatinized rice starch on a hot plate under constant heat and mass transfer to the surroundings. The plate was. supported on one arm of a sensitive balance which measured and recorded the weight loss due to drying. Tbennocouples situated at the upper and lower surfaces of the plate recorded the respective temperatures. The gelatinized starch was prepared by cooking a slurry of rice starchin a heated and agitated vessel at slightly above the gelatinization temperatureof the starch 70C. The film was applied after the plate was heated to its initial temperature which ranged from 70C to 119C. The weight 10s and the temperature of the upper and lower surfaces of the plate were recorded. The m3isture content of the dried sample was determined by measuring the weight loss after heating it in an oven at 90C for 24 hours.The dimensionless average moisture content was fitted to the drying rate eauation of the form The dimensionless temperature of tbe filmplate interface data was fitted to the following equation It was found that the critlcal moisture content Xc increases when both the intial temperature level and the ratio of the thickness of the plate to that of the film are raised. The dimensionless avenge moisture content profiles against dimensionless time and the dimensionless drying rate ploti against the dimensionless moisture content are not affected at all by this ratio. There was an initial cooling period fol lowed by a continuous rue in temperature. The dimensionless temperature is independent of the ratio of the thickness of rbe plate to that of the film. The dimen     

Textile wastewater treatment efficiency by Fenton oxidation with integration of membrane separation system

This work investigates the performance of an integrated Fenton-Ultrafiltration treatment scheme to treat textile wastewater. The treated effluent is particle-free at a quality higher than that obtained by any novel membrane based process or Fenton oxidation in singularity. The study is divided into three parts: part one, Fenton process was optimized for COD: H₂O₂ (wt/wt), H₂O₂: Fe⁺² (wt/wt) and pH to attain highest degradation removal and lowest sludge generation. The process efficiency was analyzed by considering COD, TOC and color removal as key parameters. Part two, the process was scaled up to 5?L and efficiency of integrated system was investigated under optimized conditions by using two different types of membranes at different operating pressures. Part three, the performance of membrane process was studied in terms of flux behavior and its recovery. The treated effluent has COD, TOC and color removal values of 48.0?mg/L, 1.2?mg/L and >99% respectively. These values are compliant to typical discharge environmental standards.     

Optical properties of bismuth tellurite based glass

A series of binary tellurite based glasses (Bi(2)O(3))(x) (TeO(2))(100-) (x) was prepared by melt quenching method. The density, molar volume and refractive index increase when bismuth ions Bi(3+) increase, this is due to the increased polarization of the ions Bi(3+) and the enhanced formation of non-bridging oxygen (NBO). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results show the bonding of the glass sample and the optical band gap, E(opt) decreases while the refractive index increases when the ion Bi(3+) content increases.     

Synthesis and optical properties of CuO nanostructures obtained via a novel thermal decomposition method

We report a novel method that allows the synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures and control their morphology and size by rapid thermal decomposition of copper nitrate (CuN₂O₆) under ambient conditions. The size and morphology of the nanostructures can be controlled by changing the temperature and the duration of the decomposition process. The structure of the products was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the morphology of the nanostructures changed as the temperature was varied and their size increased with increasing the treatment time. The optical properties of the samples were investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy and a photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer. Rice-like nanostructures were observed and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)/EDS and XRD which confirmed that the as-synthesized powders correspond to pure CuO.     

Microwave-assisted pre-ionization experiments on GLAST-Ⅲ

GLAss Spherical Tokamak(GLAST-Ⅲ) is a spherical tokamak with an insulating vacuum vessel that has a unique single-passage capability for incident microwaves.In this work,electron cyclotron resonance heating(ECRH)-assisted plasma pre-ionization in GLAST-Ⅲ is explored for three radio-frequency(RF) polarizations(the O-,X-,and M-modes) at different toroidal-field(TF) strengths and filled gas pressures.The optimum hydrogen pressure is identified for efficient plasma pre-ionization.A comparison of the plasma pre-ionizations initiated by the O-,X-,and M-modes shows prominent differences in the breakdown time,location,and wave absorption.In the case of O-mode polarization,microwave absorption occurs for a relatively shorter duration,resulting in a bell-shaped electron-temperature(T_e) temporal profile.Microwave absorption is dominant in the case of the X-mode,leading to a broader T_e temporal profile.The M-mode discharge contains features of both the X-and O-modes.Efficient plasma pre-ionization is achieved in the X-mode polarization for the intermediate TF strengths(with a central toroidal magnetic field B_0=0.075 T).Traces of the electron-number density show a similar tendency,as revealed by T_e.These results suggest that the X-mode is the best candidate for efficient plasma pre-ionization at low filled gas pressures(~10~(-2) Pa) in small tokamaks.     

A FAST ALGORITHM FOR OPTIMAL HYDROTHERMAL SCHEDULING WITH CASCADED AND INDEPENDENT HYDRO PLANTS

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a fast algorithm for solving the short-term hydrothermal scheduling problem in a power system consisting of cascaded plants with time delay and independent hydro plants. The operational planning of such problem is concerned with the determination of scheduling for hydro as well as thermal plants to meet the daily system demand with the objective of minimizing the total fuel cost of the thermal plants over the day subject to the relevant operating constraints associated with the thermal and hydro plants.

The algorithm employs a fast and simple alternating solution approach for hydrothermal scheduling in which the hydro subproblem is solved using the method of local variation while the associated thermal subproblem is solved through a judicious combination of Successive Linear Programming (SLP) method and Participation Factor method. Many computational features are incorporated in the solution algorithm exploiting the inherent characteristic of the complex hydrothermal scheduling problem.     

Simple and spectrally-efficient design of high capacity hybrid WDM/TDM-PON with improved receiver sensitivity

A simple design of hybrid wavelength division multiplexed/time division multiplexed passive optical network （WDM/ TDM-PON） is demonstrated for the high capacity next generation access （NGA） network, having advantages of both WDM and TDM based PON techniques. A 10 Gbit/s differential quadrature phase shift keying （DQPSK） data signal is used at optical line terminal （OLT） for downstream, whereas a 2.5 Gbit/s inverse return-to-zero （IRZ） data signal with high extinction ratio is used for upstream signal by intensity re-modulation of downstream signal, no additional laser is used at optical network unit （ONU）. Simulation results verify that aggregated 100 Gbit/s downstream transmissions of 10 DQPSK channels and aggregated 25 Gbit/s upstream transmission of 10 IRZ channels, using spectrally-efficient 50 GHz channel spacing, can be successfully achieved over a distance of 20 km with less than 1 dB transmission power penalties and improved receiver sensitivity.     

Aqueous solution of basic fuchsin as food irradiation dosimeter

Dosimetric characterization of aqueous solution of basic fuchsin was studied spectrophotometrically for possible application in the low-dose food irradiation dosimetry. Absorption spectra of unirradiated and irradiated solu- tions were determined and the decrease in absorbance with the dose was noted down. Radiation-induced bleaching of the dye was measured at wavelengths of maximum absorption λmax (540nm) as well as 510nm and 460 nm. At all these wavelengths, the decrease in absorbance of the dosimeter was linear with respect to the absorbed dose from 50 Gy to 600 Gy. The stability of dosimetric solution during post-irradiation storage in the dark at room temperature showed that after initial bleaching during first ten to twenty days, the response was almost stable for about 34 days. The study on the effect of different light and temperature conditions also showed that the response gradually decreased during the storage period of 34 days, which shows that basic fuchsin dye is photosensitive as well as thermally sensitive.     

圆管内对流换热过程中潜热型功能流体流动阻力特性的实验研究

实验研究了由正十四烷和尿素甲醛树脂制成的相变微胶囊和水混合制成的潜热型功能流体在流过恒热流圆管进行对流换热时的流动阻力特性,获得了压降随流速的变化关系、摩擦阻力系数和表观黏度随R e的变化关系。并在同样条件下用单相水进行了对比实验。相变微胶囊的加入导致流体流动阻力较单相流体有显著增大。管路中扰动件导致单相流体的流动阻力特性在低R e条件下呈湍流特征;功能流体则呈不同规律,扰动仅导致流动阻力进一步增大,而流动阻力特性仍呈层流特征。