AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON EFFERVESCENT ATOMIZATION OF BIO-OIL FUELS

This paper presents the work on detailed characterization of effervescent spray of Jatropha and Pongamia pure plant oils. The spray characteristics of these biofuels are compared with those of diesel. Both macroscopic and microscopic spray characteristics at different injection pressures and gas-to-liquid ratio (GLR) have been studied. The particle/droplet imaging analysis (PDIA) technique along with direct imaging methods are used for the purpose of spray characterization. Due to their higher viscosity, pure plant oils showed poor atomization compared to diesel and a blend of diesel and pure plant oil at a given GLR. Pure plant oil sprays showed a lower spray cone angle when compared to diesel and blends at lower GLRs. However, the difference is not significant at higher GLRs. Droplet size measurements at 100 mm downstream of the exit orifice showed reduction in Sauter mean diameter (SMD) diameter with increase in GLR. A radial variation in the SMD is observed for the blend and pure plant oils. Pure oils showed a larger variation when compared to the blend. Spray unsteadiness has been characterized based on the image-to-image variation in the mean droplet diameter and fluctuations in the spray cone angle. Results showed that pure plant oil sprays are more unsteady at lower GLRs when compared to diesel and blend. A critical GLR is identified at which the spray becomes steady. The three regimes of spray operation, namely ``steady spray,'' ``pulsating spray,'' and ``spray and unbroken liquid jet'' are identified in the injection pressure-GLR parameter space for these pure plant oils. Two-phase flow imaging inside the exit orifice shows that for the pure plant oils, the flow is highly transient at low GLRs and the bubbly, slug, and annular two-phase flow regimes are all observed. However, at higher GLRs where the spray is steady, only the annular flow regime is observed.

EQCM investigation of electrochemical deposition and stability of Co-Pi oxygen evolution catalyst of solar energy storage

Photoassisted electrolysis of water is considered as an effective way of storing solar energy in the form of hydrogen fuel. This overall reaction involves the oxidation of water to oxygen at the anode and the reduction of protons to hydrogen at the cathode. Cobalt-phosphate-based catalyst (Co-Pi) is a potentially useful material for oxygen evolution reaction. In the present study, electrochemical deposition of Co-Pi catalyst is carried out on Au-coated quartz crystal from 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7) containing 0.5 mM Co2+ ion, along with the simultaneous measurement of mass changes at the electrode surface. Cyclic voltammograms and mass variations are recorded during the course of deposition. A current peak is observed at 0.92 V vs Ag/AgCl, 3 M KCl corresponding to oxidation of Co2+ ion. The mass of the electrode starts increasing at this potential, suggesting the deposition of a Co(III)-based insoluble product on the electrode surface. The stability of the catalyst is also studied at several potentials in both buffered and nonbuffered electrolyte by monitoring the real-time mass variations.

Multi-resistance states in the electrical switching behavior of amorphous Si15Te75Ge10 thin films: Possibility of multi-bit storage

Electrical switching studies on amorphous Si15Te75Ge10 thin film devices reveal the existence of two distinct, stable low-resistance, SET states, achieved by varying the electrical input to the device. The multiple resistance levels can be attributed to multi-stage crystallization, as observed from temperature dependant resistance studies. The devices are tested for their ability to be RESET with minimal resistance degradation; further, they exhibit a minimal drift in the SET resistance value even after several months of switching. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High Li storage capacity of poorly crystalline porous delta-MnO2 prepared by hydrothermal route

Poorly crystalline porous delta-MnO2 is synthesized by hydrothermal route from a neutral aqueous solution of KMnO4 at 180 degrees C and the reaction time of 24 h. The as-synthesized sample and also the sample heated at 300 degrees C have nanopetals morphology with large surface area. On heating at temperatures 400 degrees C, there is a decrease in BET surface area and also a change in morphology from nanopetals to clusters of nanorods. Furthermore, the poorly crystalline delta-MnO2 converts into well crystalline alpha-MnO2 phase. The electrochemical lithium intercalation and de-intercalation studies in a non-aqueous electrolyte provide a high discharge specific capacity (275 mAh g(-1)) at a specific current of 40 mA g(-1) for the poorly crystalline delta-MnO2 samples. The rate capability is also high. There is a decrease in capacity on repeated charge-discharge cycling. The specific capacity values of the crystalline alpha-MnO2 samples are considerably less than the values of poorly crystalline delta-MnO2 samples. Thus, the hydrothermal route facilitates preparation of poorly crystalline electrochemically active porous MnO2.

Employing synergistic interactions between few-layer WS2 and reduced graphene oxide to improve lithium storage, cyclability and rate capability of Li-ion batteries

The aim of the contribution is to introduce a high performance anode alternative to graphite for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). A simple process was employed to synthesize uniform graphene-like few-layer tungsten sulfide (WS2) supported on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) through a hydrothermal synthesis route. The WS2-RGO (80:20 and 70:30) composites exhibited good enhanced electrochemical performance and excellent rate capability performance when used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The specific capacity of the WS2-RGO composite delivered a capacity of 400-450 mAh g(-1) after 50 cycles when cycled at a current density of 100 mA g(-1). At 4000 mA g(-1), the composites showed a stable capacity of approximately 180-240 mAh g(-1), respectively. The noteworthy electrochemical performance of the composite is not additive, rather it is synergistic in the sense that the electrochemical performance is much superior compared to both WS2 and RGO. As the observed lithiation/delithiation for WS2-RGO is at a voltage 1.0 V (approximate to 0.1 V for graphite, Li* /Li), the lithium-ion battery with WS2-RGO is expected to possess high interface stability, safety and management of electrical energy is expected to be more efficient and economic. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New insights into designing metallacarborane based room temperature hydrogen storage media

Metallacarboranes are promising towards realizing room temperature hydrogen storage media because of the presence of both transition metal and carbon atoms. In metallacarborane clusters, the transition metal adsorbs hydrogen molecules and carbon can link these clusters to form metal organic framework, which can serve as a complete storage medium. Using first principles density functional calculations, we chalk out the underlying principles of designing an efficient metallacarborane based hydrogen storage media. The storage capacity of hydrogen depends upon the number of available transition metal d-orbitals, number of carbons, and dopant atoms in the cluster. These factors control the amount of charge transfer from metal to the cluster, thereby affecting the number of adsorbed hydrogen molecules. This correlation between the charge transfer and storage capacity is general in nature, and can be applied to designing efficient hydrogen storage systems. Following this strategy, a search for the best metallacarborane was carried out in which Sc based monocarborane was found to be the most promising H-2 sorbent material with a 9 wt.% of reversible storage at ambient pressure and temperature. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Regenerating codes for errors and erasures in distributed storage

Regenerating codes are a class of codes proposed for providing reliability of data and efficient repair of failed nodes in distributed storage systems. In this paper, we address the fundamental problem of handling errors and erasures at the nodes or links, during the data-reconstruction and node-repair operations. We provide explicit regenerating codes that are resilient to errors and erasures, and show that these codes are optimal with respect to storage and bandwidth requirements. As a special case, we also establish the capacity of a class of distributed storage systems in the presence of malicious adversaries. While our code constructions are based on previously constructed Product-Matrix codes, we also provide necessary and sufficient conditions for introducing resilience in any regenerating code.

FLOTATION OF QUARTZ WITH SOAPS OF BOMBAX MALABARICA OIL AND SHARK LIVER OIL AS COLLECTORS

An attempt has been made to use the indigeneous oils-Bombax Malabarica oil and Shark liver oil in the form of sodium soaps as collectors in the flotation of quartz using barium chloride as activator. The effect of pH, collector concentration and activator concentration on the flotation of quartz is studied in a Leaf and knoll flotation cell. The experiments show that it is possible to obtain 98.0 per cent of quartz as float using 10 mg. of Bombax. Malabarica oil and Shark liver oil soaps at pH values of more than 7.0 and when barium ion concentration is in excess of that required to form barium soaps. Bombax Malabarica oil is found to be superior to Shark liver oil as collector in the flotation of quartz.

Regenerating codes: A reformulated storage-bandwidth trade-off and a new construction

In this paper, the storage-repair-bandwidth (SRB) trade-off curve of regenerating codes is reformulated to yield a tradeoff between two global parameters of practical relevance, namely information rate and repair rate. The new information-repair-rate (IRR) tradeoff provides a different and insightful perspective on regenerating codes. For example, it provides a new motivation for seeking to investigate constructions corresponding to the interior of the SRB tradeoff. Interestingly, each point on the SRB tradeoff corresponds to a curve in the IRR tradeoff setup. We characterize completely, functional repair under the IRR framework, while for exact repair, an achievable region is presented. In the second part of this paper, a rate-half regenerating code for the minimum storage regenerating point is constructed that draws upon the theory of invariant subspaces. While the parameters of this rate-half code are the same as those of the MISER code, the construction itself is quite different.

Surface freshwater storage and variability in the Amazon basin from multi-satellite observations, 1993-2007

The amount of water stored and moving through the surface water bodies of large river basins (river, floodplains, wetlands) plays a major role in the global water and biochemical cycles and is a critical parameter for water resources management. However, the spatiotemporal variations of these freshwater reservoirs are still widely unknown at the global scale. Here, we propose a hypsographic curve approach to estimate surface freshwater storage variations over the Amazon basin combining surface water extent from a multi-satellite-technique with topographic data from the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) from Advance Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Monthly surface water storage variations for 1993-2007 are presented, showing a strong seasonal and interannual variability, and are evaluated against in situ river discharge and precipitation. The basin-scale mean annual amplitude of similar to 1200 km(3) is in the range of previous estimates and contributes to about half of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) total water storage variations. For the first time, we map the surface water volume anomaly during the extreme droughts of 1997 (October-November) and 2005 (September-October) and found that during these dry events the water stored in the river and floodplains of the Amazon basin was, respectively, similar to 230 (similar to 40%) and 210 (similar to 50%) km(3) below the 1993-2007 average. This new 15 year data set of surface water volume represents an unprecedented source of information for future hydrological or climate modeling of the Amazon. It is also a first step toward the development of such database at the global scale.

Moisture Aided Degradation of Oil Impregnated Paper Insulation in Power Transformers

The presence of moisture in oil impregnated paper insulation (OIP) is detrimental to its long time performance. Until recently, it was thought insulation ageing was only a function of temperature and electrical stress. It has now been realized that moisture in all its forms causes rapid degradation of the electrical and mechanical properties with time. In this study, insulation paper samples were conditioned for desired level of moisture and were impregnated with premium quality transformer oil. The oil impregnated samples with 1 to 3 % moisture content were aged at 90 to 130 C. The indices for determining the extent of ageing considered in this work are degree of polymerization (DP), furan, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide content. These quantities were monitored throughout the ageing experimental run. End-of-life (EOL) criterion used here is the reduction in the value of DP. Phenomenological models for estimating the service life of insulation are proposed and are validated against actual experimental data.

Influence of exhaust gas heating and L/D ratios on the discharge efficiencies for an activated carbon natural gas storage system

A transient 2D axi-symmetric and lumped parameter (LP) model with constant outflow conditions have been developed to study the discharge capacity of an activated carbon bed. The predicted discharge times and variations in bed pressure and temperature are in good agreement with experimental results obtained from a 1.82 l adsorbed natural gas (ANG) storage system. Under ambient air conditions, a maximum temperature drop of 29.5 K and 45.5 K are predicted at the bed center for discharge rates of 1.0 l min(-1) and 5.0 l min(-1) respectively. The corresponding discharge efficiencies are 77% and 71.5% respectively with discharge efficiencies improving with decreasing outflow rates. Increasing the LID ratio from 1.9 to 7.8 had only a marginal increase in the discharge efficiency. Forced convection (exhaust gas) heating had a significant effect on the discharge efficiency, leading to efficiencies as high as 92.8% at a discharge of 1.0 l min(-1) and 88.7% at 5 l min(-1). Our study shows that the LP model can be reliably used to obtain discharge times due to the uniform pressure distributions in the bed. Temperature predictions with the LP model were more accurate at ambient conditions and higher discharge rates, due to greater uniformity in bed temperatures. For the low thermal conductivity carbon porous beds, our study shows that exhaust gas heating can be used as an effective and convenient strategy to improve the discharge characteristics and performance of an ANG system. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green ionothermal synthesis of hierarchical nanostructures of SnS2 and their Li-ion storage properties

Flower-like hierarchical architectures of layered SnS2 have been synthesized ionothermally for the first time, using a water soluble EMIM]BF4 ionic liquid (IL) as the solvent medium. At lower reaction temperatures, the hierarchical structures are formed of few-layered polycrystalline 2D nanosheet-petals composed of randomly oriented nanoparticles of SnS2. The supramolecular networks of the IL serve as templates on which the nanoparticles of SnS2 are glued together by combined effects of hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, hydrophobic and imidazolium stacking interactions of the IL, giving rise to polycrystalline 2D nanosheet-petals. At higher reaction temperatures, single crystalline plate-like nanosheets with well-defined crystallographic facets are obtained due to rapid inter-particle diffusion across the IL. Efficient surface charge screening by the IL favors the aggregation of individual nanosheets to form hierarchical flower-like architectures of SnS2. The mechanistic aspects of the ionothermal bottom-up hierarchical assembly of SnS2 nanosheets are discussed in detail. Li-ion storage properties of the pristine SnS2 samples are examined and the electrochemical performance of the sample synthesized at higher temperatures is found to be comparable to that reported for pristine SnS2 samples in the literature.

Polyanhydrides of Castor Oil-Sebacic Acid for Controlled Release Applications

A family of high molecular weight castor oil (CO)-based biodegradable polyanhydrides was synthesized by a catalyst-free melt-condensation reaction between prepolymers of CO and sebacic acid (SA). The structure of the polymers was characterized by H-1 NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which indicated the formation of the anhydride bond along the polymer backbone. Thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction confirmed the semicrystalline nature of the polymers. Incorporation of SA enhanced the crystallinity of the polymer. The hydrophobic nature of these polymers was revealed by contact angle goniometry. Water wettability decreased with increase in SA content. Compressive tests demonstrated a sharp increase in strength and decrease in ductility with increasing SA content. In vitro hydrolytic degradation studies indicated surface-eroding behavior. The degradation rate decreased with an increase of SA content in the polymers because of increased crystallinity. The release studies of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic dyes followed zero-order kinetics. In vitro cell studies to assess the cytotoxicity of the polymer confirmed minimal toxicity of the degradation products. Thus, a family of CO-SA polyanhydrides have been synthesized and characterized for controlled release applications where the physical, mechanical, and degradation kinetics can be modulated by varying the weight fraction of the prepolymers.