Effect of the addition of depolymerised ethylene vinyl acetate on the mechanical,thermal, chemical and shrinkage properties of cured unsaturated polyester resins

Unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) are versatile compounds. However, their major drawback is the high shrinkage exhibited on curing. An attempt was made to reduce the shrinkage of UPRs without affecting other properties. In the present study a commonly used iso‐reactive UPR was modified by the addition of ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA; subjected to controlled depolymerisation to obtain samples of various molecular weights), and was cured at room temperature. The peak exotherm temperature and gel time were both observed to decrease with an increase in EVA content. The composition incorporating 0.5% of depolymerised EVA1 (highest degree of branching) showed maximum improvement in tensile and flexural properties with the heat deflection temperature and impact properties remaining almost unaffected. A uniform dispersion for the UPR containing 0.5% of EVA1 was observed. Addition of EVA reduced the percentage shrinkage in the modified matrix. Incorporation of depolymerised EVA can be an attractive option for the reduction of shrinkage in UPRs. The advantage of using depolymerised EVA is that generated waste EVA can be depolymerised and reused for this application making it cost effective. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Hydrogenolysis of glycerol with FeCo macrocyclic complex bonded to Raney Nickel support under mild reaction conditions

The hydrogenolysis of dilute glycerol solution to 1,2‐propanediol was studied in the presence of heterogeneous catalyst (FeCoL/Raney Nickel) having a heterodinuclear FeCo macrocyclic complex ionically bonded to Raney Nickel. Studies on the stability of the complex bonded to the support were carried out at different temperature as well as the effect of solvent to confirm that it was stable up to 600°C and 100 h of refluxing. In the hydrogenolysis of glycerol, the temperature has been varied from 165 to 220°C with an initial hydrogen pressure 0.35 MPa and the conversion increases from 1% to 36% with no gases evolving in this temperature range. The major product is 1,2‐propanediol which is formed with 80% selectivity. The initial water content (20–60%) in the feed was also varied and it was found that the conversion and yield of 1,2‐propanediol increases when the water content increases. Based on literature, a kinetic model was proposed and optimal rate constants determined using Genetic Algorithm (GA).     

Online measurement of particle size distribution during crystallization using ultrasonic spectroscopy

Particle growth during crystallization of paracetamol was monitored on-line using a new modified method based on ultrasonic spectroscopy. The model was earlier developed and tested with inert particles systems and accounts for low angle scattering and probe geometry. A graphic user interface was developed and integrated with the model based deconvolution algorithm for real-time data acquisition, analysis and display of results. The crystal growth and changes in size distribution were measured during the crystallization of paracetamol from paracetamol–isopropanol–water solution. A simplified pre-calibration procedure using acoustic velocity to estimate solution properties was established. The model based particle size distribution showed good agreement with offline measurements using laser diffraction analysis of a sample retrieved from the crystallizer.     

Real-Time Ray Tracing of Implicit Surfaces on the GPU

Compact representation of geometry using a suitable procedural or mathematical model and a ray-tracing mode of rendering fit the programmable graphics processor units (GPUs) well. Several such representations including parametric and subdivision surfaces have been explored in recent research. The important and widely applicable category of the general implicit surface has received less attention. In this paper, we present a ray-tracing procedure to render general implicit surfaces efficiently on the GPU. Though only the fourth or lower order surfaces can be rendered using analytical roots, our adaptive marching points algorithm can ray trace arbitrary implicit surfaces without multiple roots, by sampling the ray at selected points till a root is found. Adapting the sampling step size based on a proximity measure and a horizon measure delivers high speed. The sign test can handle any surface without multiple roots. The Taylor test that uses ideas from interval analysis can ray trace many surfaces with complex roots. Overall, a simple algorithm that fits the SIMD architecture of the GPU results in high performance. We demonstrate the ray tracing of algebraic surfaces up to order 50 and nonalgebraic surfaces including a Blinn's blobby with 75 spheres at better than interactive frame rates.     

Attempt to Detect Nano Oil Film on the Surface of Polished KDP Crystal

Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing - Abstract—The KDP (Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate) crystal is important in high-energy optical system as a high quality non-linear optical material....     

Single-Step Synthesis of Sr4V2O6Fe2As2: The Blocking Layer Based Potential Future Superconductor

We report synthesis, structural details and transport measurements on Sr₄V₂O₆Fe₂As₂. Namely, the stoichiometric amounts of V₂O₅+1/2×SrO₂+7/2×Sr+2×FeAs are weighed mixed, ground thoroughly and palletized in rectangular form in a glove box in high purity Ar atmosphere. The pellet is further sealed in an evacuated (10^?5 torr) quartz tube and put for heat treatments at 750 and 1150°C in a single step for 12 and 36 hours respectively. Finally the quartz ampoule is allowed to cool naturally to room temperature. The as-synthesized sample is black in color. The compound crystallized in P4/nmm space group with lattice parameters a=b=3.925 Å and c=15.870 Å. Also seen are some small impurity lines. The compound did not exhibit superconductivity but instead a spin density wave (SDW) like metallic step at around 175 K is seen in R(T) measurements. Principally in [FeAs]^?1{Sr₄V₂O₆}^C[FeAs]^?1 the net value of blocking layer charge C must be either less or more than 2, to let it be electron or hole type superconductor respectively. Efforts are under way to achieve superconductivity in the studied system.     

Treatment of composite chemical wastewater by aerobic GAC-biofilm sequencing batch reactor (SBGR)

The performance of granular activated carbon (GAC)-biofilm configured sequencing batch reactor (SBGR) in aerobic environment was investigated for the treatment of composite chemical wastewater [low BOD/COD ratio ( approximately 0.3), high sulfate content (1.75 g/l) and high TDS concentration (11 g/l)]. Composite wastewater was a combined mixture of effluents from about 100 chemical based industries. Reactor was operated under anoxic-aerobic-anoxic microenvironment conditions with a total cycle period of 24 h (fill: 15 min; reaction (aeration with recirculation): 23 h; settle: 30 min; decant: 15 min) and the performance of the system was studied at organic loading rates (OLR) of 1.7 kg COD/cum-day, 3.5 kg COD/cum-day and 5.5 kg COD/cum-day. The reactor showed efficient performance with respect to substrate degradation rate and sustained its performance at higher operating OLR (5.5 kg COD/cum-day) and at low BOD/COD ratio. Substrate utilization was found to increase with increase in the operating OLR. Maximum non-cumulative substrate utilization of 1.837 kg COD/cum-h, 2.99 kg COD/cum-h and 3.821 kg COD/cum-h was observed after 15 h of the cycle operation for operating OLRs of 1.7 kg COD/cum-day, 3.5 kg COD/cum-day and 5.5 kg COD/cum-day, respectively. Sulfate removal efficiency of 11+/-2% was recorded in the SBGR due to the induced anoxic conditions prevailing during the sequence phase operation of the reactor and the existing internal anoxic zones in the biofilm. Effective performance of the reactor may be attributed to sorption capacity of GAC as carrier material facilitating low toxicant concentration in the mixed liquor. The existing high flow rates around the GAC particle results in good mass transfer of the substrate from the bulk liquid. The long retention of biofilm on GAC increases the potential for the treatment of recalcitrant industrial wastewater. GAC configured biofilm configuration coupled with sequencing batch mode operation appears to be promising for the effective treatment of complex industrial wastewater containing poorly degradable compounds.