Experimental and theoretical assessment of the inhibiting action of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspilia africana</Emphasis> extract on corrosion aluminium alloy AA3003 in hydrochloric acid

The adsorption of Aspilia africana extract and subsequent corrosion inhibition of aluminium alloy AA3003 in hydrochloric acid solutions have been investigated using gravimetric and electrochemical techniques. Inhibition efficiency increased with extract concentration and temperature rise. Polarization studies revealed that the extract essentially inhibited the cathodic reaction. An adsorption mechanism involving physisorption and chemisorption of extract constituents at low and high temperatures, respectively, has been proposed from the trend of adsorption-free energies. Quantum chemical computations and molecular dynamics simulations described the individual contributions of some extract constituents to the observed inhibiting effect.     

Experimental study on the discharge characteristics of two eutectic solder packed bed latent heat storage systems

Metallic solder based PCMs possess higher thermal conductivities, larger storage masses and exhibit lower subcooling effects compared to their organic or inorganic counterparts. It is thus justified to investigate their potential usage for medium temperature applications. These solders are relatively expensive and can be combined with cheaper PCMs in cascaded storage systems which are more thermodynamically efficient compared to single PCM systems as reported recently. The aim of the research is thus to compare two packed bed storage systems during discharging cycles using eutectic solder (Sn63/Pb37), that is widely available worldwide. The single PCM system (40 capsules) consists of encapsulated spheres of eutectic solder, whereas the second cascaded system consists of encapsulated spheres of eutectic solder and erythritol in an equal storage ratio in the tank. For the cascaded system, the eutectic solder capsules are placed at the top and erythritol at the bottom of the storage tank (20 capsules at the top and 20 at the bottom). The effect of the discharging flow-rates of 4 mL/s, 6 mL/s and 8 mL/s is investigated in relation to the temperature profiles, energy rates and exergy rates. Increasing the flow-rate, increases heat transfer rate thus shortening the discharging time as well as increasing thermal profile reversals during discharging. The peak energy and exergy rates increase with the increase in the flow-rate for the two storage systems. The single PCM system shows slightly higher average energy and exergy rates compared to the cascaded system possibly due to its higher thermal conductivity. The cascaded PCM system shows higher average stratification numbers at all the flow rates considered. The non-cascaded system exhibited slightly higher exergy recovery efficiencies compared to the cascaded PCM system possibly due to its higher thermal conductivity at all flow-rates considered. The effect of the initial discharging temperature is also investigated with a discharging flow-rate of 6 mL/s after charging with set heater temperatures of 260°C, 280°C and 300°C, respectively. Comparable thermal profiles are seen for both systems for the three set temperatures; however, the single PCM system shows slightly higher storage temperatures. The single PCM shows slightly higher but comparable peak and average discharging energy rates compared to the cascaded system. The exergy rates for the two systems are also comparable. However, the cascaded system shows slightly higher exergy rate values for the lowest set temperature whereas the single PCM system shows slightly higher exergy rate values for the other two set temperatures. Energy and exergy rates are almost independent of the initial storage tank temperatures induced by different set charging temperatures. The average stratification number shows no correlation with set temperature for both storage systems. The cascaded system shows slightly higher average stratification numbers at different set temperatures. Exergy recovery efficiencies for different set heater temperatures are comparable for the two storage systems and vary only marginally with the increase in the set temperature. Overall, the effect of the flow-rate is more pronounced than the effect of the set heater temperature.     

Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water- and Gin-Based Tea Infusions of Selected Tea Brands in Nigeria

The concentrations of the 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tea infusions made of water and local gin (alcohol) were investigated with a view to providing information on the profiles and health hazards associated with these two common Nigerian methods for tea consumption. The water-based tea infusion was prepared by submerging 4 g of tea in boiling water and allowing it to stand for 15 min, while the gin-based infusion was simply prepared by submerging 4 g of tea in gin at room temperature and allowing it to stand for 15 min. The concentrations of the ∑16 PAHs in the infusions were measured by using gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) after ultrasound-assisted extraction and clean-up. The concentrations of the ∑16 PAHs ranged from 24.9–623.4 μg kg^?1 with a mean value of 177 μg kg^?1 and 36.8–438.3 μg kg^?1 with a mean of 189 μg kg^?1 for water- and local gin-based infusions, respectively. The concentration of the ∑16 PAHs in the water- and local gin-based infusions of these teas were high when compared with levels reported in the literature for tea infusions. The local gin-based infusions had a higher mean level of the ∑16 PAHs than the water-based infusions. Four- and five-ring PAH compounds were dominant in these tea infusions.     

Separable property-based super-resolution of lousy image data

Pattern Analysis and Applications - This paper presents a novel wavelet-based approach for single-image super-resolution. Our technique integrates wavelet transform and the learned locally...     

BIOMASS EXTRACTS FOR MATERIALS PROTECTION: CORROSION INHIBITION OF MILD STEEL IN ACIDIC MEDIA BY Terminalia chebula EXTRACTS

The inhibiting action of the fruit extract of Terminalia chebula (TC) on mild steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution was studied using gravimetric, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The experimental results showed that TC functioned as an inhibitor in the acidic corrodent and that corrosion inhibition efficiency increased with extract concentration. Cathodic and anodic polarization curves show that TC functioned as a mixed-type inhibitor, while impedance results show that the extract organic matter was adsorbed at the metal/corrodent interphase. A computational study of the adsorption behavior of some of the organic constituents of the extracts was carried out using density functional theory (DFT). The computations were used to theoretically ascertain the individual contributions of the constituents to the observed corrosion-inhibiting effect of the extract.