Effect of residues from a burnt oil refinery on the compaction parameters and strength of clayey sand

Soil contamination by petroleum contaminants and their derivatives has harmful effects on the environment, including groundwater and marine contamination and on the geotechnical properties of the soil. It decreases the soil strength, bearing capacity of foundations, and slope and trench stability. Petroleum contaminants can also alter the structure of cohesive granular soil. The present study examined the effect of acidic sludge and dirt filter contaminants from a burnt oil refinery on the compaction parameters and strength of clayey sand. Proctor compaction and direct shear tests were performed on soil samples containing 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9% of these pollutants. Direct shear tests were performed at different depths and stresses on soil samples from sandy soil contaminated with the residue from a burnt oil refinery. The results showed that with approximately 4 to 5% increase in pollution, the maximum dry soil unit weight increases and decreases with the addition of more contaminants. Also, the friction and dilatancy angles of the soil decreased. The sample containing 9% pollutants recorded the most significant decrease in these values. The effect of surface-active agents on acidic sludge caused an increase in the Van der Waals force between the particles, resulting in an increase in soil cohesion. Contamination with 47.7% SiO₂ from the dirt filter increased the soil cohesion parameter. Under similar experimental and loading conditions, an increase in the acidic sludge and dirt filter contents decreased the soil shear strength and dilatancy angle.

     

A Novel Approach to Detect Faults Occurring During Power Swings by Abrupt Change of Impedance Trajectory

The main purpose of power swing blocking is to distinguish faults from power swings. However, faults occurred during a power swing should still be detected and cleared promptly. This paper proposes an index based on detecting abrupt jump of impedance trajectory by utilization of the predicting capability of the Kalman Filter. The proposed index is calculated by assessing the difference between predicted and actual samples of impedance. The predicted impedance samples are obtained using the Kalman filter and Taylor expansion, which are used in this paper to track the phasor precisely. Second order of Taylor expansion is used to decrease the corrugation effect of impedance estimation and increase the reliability of the proposed method. Furthermore, in order to increase the selectivity of the proposed method, the proposed index is armed with phase comparison logic to detect internal faults. The instantaneous estimation and prediction capability of the Kalman filter are two reasons for proposing the use of Kalman filter. Intensive studies have been performed and the merit of the method is demonstrated by test simulations.     

Least square and Kalman based methodsfor dynamic phasor estimation: a review

The characterization of sinusoidal signals with time varying amplitude and phase is useful and applicable for many fields. Therefore several algorithms have been suggested to estimate main aspects of these signals. Within no standard approach to test the properties of these algorithms, it seems to be helpful to discuss a large class of algorithms according to their properties. In this paper, six methods of estimating dynamic phasor have been reviewed and discussed which three of them are based on least square and others are based on Kalman filter. Taylor expansion is used as a first step and continued with least square or Kalman filter in accordance with the proposal observer of each method. The theoretical processes of these methods are briefly clarified. The characterizations have been made by some tests in time and frequency domains. The tests include amplitude step, phase step, frequency step, frequency response, total vector error, transient monitor, noise, sample number, computation time, harmonic and DC offset which build a framework to compare the different methods.     

Distance transform algorithm for measuring nanofiber diameter

This paper describes a new distance transform method used for measuring fiber diameter in electrospun nanofiber webs. In this algorithm, the effect of intersection is eliminated, which brings more accuracy to the measurement. The method is tested by a series of simulated images with known characteristics as well as some real webs obtained from electrospinning of PVA. Our method is compared with the distance transform method. The results obtained by our method were significantly better than the distance transform, indicating that the new method could successfully be used to measure electrospun fiber diameter.     

Perturbation methods for the estimation of parameter variability in stochastic model updating

The problem of model updating in the presence of test-structure variability is addressed. Model updating equations are developed using the sensitivity method and presented in a stochastic form with terms that each consist of a deterministic part and a random variable. Two perturbation methods are then developed for the estimation of the first and second statistical moments of randomised updating parameters from measured variability in modal responses (e.g. natural frequencies and mode shapes). A particular aspect of the stochastic model updating problem is the requirement for large amounts of computing time, which may be reduced by making various assumptions and simplifications. It is shown that when the correlation between the updating parameters and the measurements is omitted, then the requirement to calculate the second-order sensitivities is no longer necessary, yet there is no significant deterioration in the estimated parameter distributions. Numerical simulations and a physical experiment are used to illustrate the stochastic model updating procedure.     

Improvement of Canola Oil Frying Stability by Bene Kernel Oil’s Unsaponifiable Matter

The anti-rancidity effect of the unsaponifiable matter fraction of bene kernel (UFB) oil on canola oil (CAO) during frying was compared to that of tert-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ). The UFB was separated into hydrocarbons (12.9%), carotenes (9.6%), tocopherols and tocotrienols (65.8%, mainly γ-tocopherol), linear and triterpenic alcohols (3.8%), methyl sterols (2.8%), sterols (3.0%, mainly β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, Δ⁵-avenasterol, and Δ⁷-avenasterol, respectively), and triterpenic dialcohols (2.2%). The results obtained from the measurements of the total polar compounds, the conjugated diene value, the carbonyl value, and total tocopherols showed that the stability of CAO improves similarly in the presence of UFB or TBHQ, and even more in the presence of UFB in some cases (especially inhibition of oxidized triglyceride monomers and triglyceride dimers). The analysis of polar components showed that the antioxidative additives were more effective to resist the formation of thermo-oxidative than hydrolytic products during the frying of CAO.     

A new approach for optimization of electrospun nanofiber formation process

Precise control of fiber diameter during electrospinning is very crucial for many applications. A systematic and quantitative study on the effects of processing variables enables us to control the properties of electrospun nanofibers. In this contribution, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to quantitatively investigate the simultaneous effects of four of the most important parameters, namely solution concentration (C), spinning distance (d), applied voltage (V) and volume flow rate (Q), on mean fiber diameter (MFD) as well as standard deviation of fiber diameter (StdFD) in electrospinning of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers.     

Parametric simulation and performance analysis of a solar gas turbine power plant from thermodynamic and exergy perspectives

Using solar energy in gas turbine cycles is a new method that can improves the efficiency of gas turbines. Placing a solar receiver before a combustion chamber can raise the temperature of the air coming into the chamber and reduce the consumption of fuel in the chamber. The system that combines a solar energy receiver with a gas turbine cycle is technically called a “solar gas turbine”. The goal of this paper is the parametric simulation and performance analysis of a gas turbine cycle equipped with a solar receiver from thermodynamic and exergy aspects of view. The selected parameters in this study, include the pressure ratio of compressor, the temperature of gases at the turbine inlet and the direct normal irradiance. The obtained results indicate that the fuel consumption of this combined system is reduced by using a solar receiver and the temperature of gases entering the combustion chamber increased. The reduction of consumed fuel, in turn, reduces the rate of exergy destruction in the combustion chamber. Another important point is that the solar receiver itself has the least amount of exergy destruction. The net power generated by a solar gas turbine cycle is 10 % higher than that produced by a simple gas turbine cycle. Also, the studies show that the electrical efficiency of a solar gas turbine cycle is about 41 % higher than the simple gas turbine cycle.

     

Antioxidant activity of various extracts of old tea leaves and black tea wastes (Camellia sinensis L.)

The antioxidant activity of various extracts of old tea leaves (OTL) and black tea wastes (BTW) in comparison with that of green tea leaves (GTL) was evaluated. The highest extraction yield and antioxidant activity were found in hot water extracts of GTL. Hot water extracts of OTL and BTW showed the same statistically significant antioxidant activities (P < 0.05). Also, there was no statistically significant difference between the antioxidant activities of OTL and BTW extracts obtained by the other two extraction methods (ethyl acetate and methanolic methods) and, in some cases, BTW extracts acted even better than OTL extracts. The antioxidant activity of tea extracts was not concomitant with the development of their reducing power. This suggested that the antioxidant activity of tea extracts likely involves other mechanisms in addition to those of reductones. Totally, BTW extracts had antioxidant activities comparable with or even better than those of OTL extracts. Hence, OTL and BTW, which are often considered as agricultural wastes, can be used as potent natural antioxidative sources.     

A study on electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers

Aligned and molecularly oriented Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were prepared using a non-conventional approach. Various take up velocity of rotating drum was examined for increasing of productivity, alignment and mechanical properties of nanofibers. Impressive techniques like Raman spectroscopy were utilized for characterization of nanofibers.