Electrical conductivity studies of copper-substituted and non-substituted Ni-Zn mixed ferrites

The electrical conductivity of Ni-Zn and copper-substituted Ni-Zn ferrites is investigated in the range 300 to 1000 K. It is seen that the plots of log against 10³/T exhibit a linear relationship. There are four distinct regions exhibited by the Ni-Zn ferrite. However, with the substitution of copper there appears to be gradual disappearance of the fourth region. Also for the samples of Ni-Zn ferrite with more than 80% Zn, there are only three regions in the variation of log with 10³/T. The breaks and discontinuities are attributed to several sources. The electrical conduction in these ferrites is explained on the basis of a hopping mechanism. The activation energy in the paramagnetic region is found to be more than that for the ferri magnetic region. This is attributed to the effect of the magnetic ordering in the conduction process.     

IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS INDUCING IMPELLER DESIGN

Rate of gas induction, static pressure, mixing time and power consumption have been measured in 0.57 m i.d. vessel. Different types of impellers namely shrouded disc turbine, shrouded curved blade turbine and pitched blade turbine were used. The impeller diameter was varied from 0.15-0.25 m and the impeller speed was varied from 3 to 20 r/s.

The pitched blade turbine was found to give 30-60 per cent higher rates of gas induction as compared with the best design reported in the literature. The mixing time was found to be lower by a similar magnitude. Moreover in the case of pitched blade turbine it was found that the gas was getting induced radially as well as axially. This eliminates the necessity of the diffuser and hence reducing the complexities in the mechanical structure.     

Hydrodynamics and liquid phase axial mixing in orifice pipe reactor

Two phase flow in a horizontal pipe, with orifice plates placed at regular intervals as obstructions, was studied for the effect of phase velocities on flow patterns, fractional phase hold-ups, pressure drop and liquid phase axial dispersion. Radioactive technetium-99m (as an aqueous solution of sodium pertechnatate) was used as tracer. A pulse injection technique with two point measurements was employed. Three different orifice diameters were used (8 mm, 16 mm, and 20 mm) in a pipe diameter of 32 mm. The orifice spacing was 500 mm in all cases. Superficial gas (air) velocity was varied over a range from 0.02 m/s to 1.0 m/s and superficial liquid (water) velocity from 0.03 m/s to 0.85 m/s. Different flow patterns under different flow conditions were identified and a generalised flow map is presented. Variations in hold-ups and pressure drop with flow patterns have been explained. Rational correlations have been developed for fractional phase hold-ups and pressure drop. A preliminary comparison of two phase gas-liquid flow in a horizontal pipe with orifice obstructions (to be called orifice pipe reactor), as a gas-liquid contacting device, is made with a conventional bubble column reactor. Recommendations have been made for future work.     

Polybutylene terephthalate/high-density polyethylene alloys. I. Morphological studies

Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) is a commercially successful thermoplastic polyester but has certain drawbacks such as low impact strength and low melt strength. An attempt has been made to modify the properties of PBT by blending it with polyolefin such as highdensity polyethylene (HDPE). Since PBT and HDPE are incompatible, an ionomer has been used as a compatibilizer to form an alloy. Alloys of PBT and HDPE with varying amounts (2-8%) of ionomer were prepared by melt blending. The ultimate mechanical properties improved significantly on the addition of the ionomer due to an increase in interfacial adhesion between PBT and HDPE. DSC studies show that the presence of ionomer facilitated the crystallization of PBT in the alloy. DMTA studies show that more of PBT (amorphous) is going in to the HDPE-rich phase in the presence of ionomer. The morphology of the alloys was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarizing microscopy (PM), and small-angle light scattering (SALS). They showed improved dispersion of HDPE domains in PBT matrix with increasing ionomer content and change in the type of superstructure on adding the ionomer. It has been shown that an alloy of PBT and HDPE with improved mechanical properties and homogeneous morphology can be made with use of ionomer as a compatibilizer. Such alloys are cost effective and can find use in several engineering applications.     

Gas hold-up in highly viscous pseudoplastic non-newtonian solutions in three phase sparged reactors

Gas hold-up structure was studied in a three phase sparged reactor of 200 mm diameter. Air and aqueous solutions of carboxymethyl cellulose were used as gas and liquid phases. Spherical glass beads formed the solid phase. The superficial gas velocity, rheological properties, particle size and solid loading were varied over a wide range and their effects on gas hold-up structure were studied. A correlation for the estimation of the gas hold-up as a function of superficial gas velocity, apparent liquid viscosity, particle settling velocity and solid loading was established.     

Modelling Gas Holdup in Flotation Column Froths

A one‐dimensional steady‐state model is developed for the prediction of axial variation of the gas holdup in flotation column froths. Froth is considered as an inverse fluidized bed of bubbles and hence the frictional pressure gradient is obtained based on the energy balance. Pressure gradient can also be obtained from the Ergun equation with adjustable constants. The model correctly captures the effect of superficial gas velocity, superficial liquid velocity and bubble diameter on the variation of the gas holdup along the froth height. The predictions of the model are in agreement with the experimental data from the literature.