Search results for: trace of heavy metal

Authors: Elvin Çomo, Edlira Tako, Albana Hasimi, Rrapo Ormeni, Olger Gjuzi, Mirela Ndrita

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In Albania, only low enthalpy geothermal springs and wells are known, the temperatures of some of them are almost at the upper limits of low enthalpy, reaching over 60°C. These resources can be used to improve the country's energy balance, as well as for profitable economic purposes. The region of Elbasan has the greatest geothermal energy potential in Albania. This bass is one of the most popular and used in our country. This area is a surface with a number of sources, located in the form of a chain, in the sector between Llixha and Hidraj and constitutes a thermo-mineral basin with stable discharge and high temperature. The sources of Elbasan Springs, with the current average flow of thermo mineral water of 12-18 l/s and its temperature 55-65oC, have specific reserves of 39.6 GJ/m2 and potential power to install 2760 kW. For the assessment of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals, water samples were taken at 5 monitoring stations throughout the year 2022. The levels of basic parameters were analyzed using ISO, EU and APHA 21-th edition standard methods. This study presents the current state of the physico-chemical parameters of this thermal basin, the evaluation of these parameters for curative activities and for industrial processes, as well as the integrated utilization of geothermal energy. Possibilities for using thermomineral waters for heating homes in the area around them or even further, depending on the flow from the source or geothermal well. Sensitization of Albanian investors, medical research and the community for the high economic and curative effectiveness, for the integral use of geothermal energy in this area and the development of the tourist sector. An analysis of the negative environmental impact from the use of thermal water is also provided.

Keywords: geothermal energy, Llixha, physic-chemical parameters, thermal water

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Opeyemi Atiba-Oyewo, Maurice S. Onyango, Christian Wolkersdorfer

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Characterization and nanostructure formation of banana peels as sorbent material are described in this paper. The transformation of this agricultural waste via mechanical milling to enhance its properties such as changed in microstructure and surface area for water pollution control and other applications were studied. Mechanical milling was employed using planetary continuous milling machine with ethanol as a milling solvent and the samples were taken at time intervals between 10 h to 30 h to examine the structural changes. The samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer Emmett and teller (BET). Results revealed three typical structures with different deformation mechanisms and the grain-sizes within the range of (71-12 nm), nanostructure of the particles and fibres. The particle size decreased from 65µm to 15 nm as the milling progressed for a period of 30 h. The morphological properties of the materials indicated that the particle shapes becomes regular and uniform as the milling progresses. Furthermore, particles fracturing resulted in surface area increment from 1.0694-4.5547 m2/g. The functional groups responsible for the banana peels capacity to coordinate and remove metal ions, such as the carboxylic and amine groups were identified at absorption bands of 1730 and 889 cm-1, respectively. However, the choice of this sorbent material for the sorption or any application will depend on the composition of the pollutant to be eradicated.

Keywords: characterization, nanostructure, nanosorbent, eco-friendly, banana peels, mechanical milling, water quality

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Authors: Thiago Victor Cordeiro Marcos, Joao Felipe de Araujo Martos, Ronaldo de Lima Cardoso, David Romanelli Pinto, Paulo Gilberto de Paula Toro, Israel da Silveira Rego, Antonio Carlos de Oliveira

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Currently, the use of 3D rapid prototyping, also known as 3D printing, has been investigated by some universities around the world as an innovative technique, fast, flexible and cheap for a direct plastic models manufacturing that are lighter and with complex geometries to be tested for hypersonic shock tunnel. Initially, the purpose is integrated prototyped parts with metal models that actually are manufactured through of the conventional machining and hereafter replace them with completely prototyped models. The mechanical design models to be tested in hypersonic shock tunnel are based on conventional manufacturing processes, therefore are limited forms and standard geometries. The use of 3D rapid prototyping offers a range of options that enables geometries innovation and ways to be used for the design new models. The conception and project of a prototyped model for hypersonic shock tunnel should be rethought and adapted when comparing the conventional manufacturing processes, in order to fully exploit the creativity and flexibility that are allowed by the 3D prototyping process. The objective of this paper is to compare the conception and project of a 3D rapid prototyping model and a conventional machining model, while showing the advantages and disadvantages of each process and the benefits that 3D prototyping can bring to the manufacture of models to be tested in hypersonic shock tunnel.

Keywords: 3D printing, 3D prototyping, experimental research, hypersonic shock tunnel

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Authors: Masahiro Suzuki, Nobuyuki Okura

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The crosswind effect on ground transportations has been extensively investigated for decades. The effect of tornado, however, has been hardly studied in spite of the fact that even heavy ground vehicles, namely, trains were overturned by tornadoes with casualties in the past. Therefore, aerodynamic effects of the tornado on the train were studied by several approaches in this study. First, an experimental facility was developed to clarify aerodynamic forces acting on a vehicle running through a tornado. Our experimental set-up consists of two apparatus. One is a tornado simulator, and the other is a moving model rig. PIV measurements showed that the tornado simulator can generate a swirling-flow field similar to those of the natural tornadoes. The flow field has the maximum tangential velocity of 7.4 m/s and the vortex core radius of 96 mm. The moving model rig makes a 1/40 scale model train of single-car/three-car unit run thorough the swirling flow with the maximum speed of 4.3 m/s. The model car has 72 pressure ports on its surface to estimate the aerodynamic forces. The experimental results show that the aerodynamic forces vary its magnitude and direction depends on the location of the vehicle in the flow field. Second, the aerodynamic forces on the train were estimated by using Rankin vortex model. The Rankin vortex model is a simple tornado model which widely used in the field of civil engineering. The estimated aerodynamic forces on the middle car were fairly good agreement with the experimental results. Effects of the vortex core radius and the path of the train on the aerodynamic forces were investigated using the Rankin vortex model. The results shows that the side and lift forces increases as the vortex core radius increases, while the yawing moment is maximum when the core radius is 0.3875 times of the car length. Third, a computational simulation was conducted to clarify the flow field around the train. The simulated results qualitatively agreed with the experimental ones.

Keywords: aerodynamic force, experimental method, tornado, train

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Authors: Adedolapo Ayoade, John the Beloved Dada

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This study identified the phytoplankton assemblage of the Dandaru Lake (that received effluents from a zoological garden and hospital) as bioindicators of water quality. Physicochemical parameters including Dissolved Oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, phosphate and heavy metals were also determined. Samples of water and plankton were collected once monthly from April to September, 2015 at five stations (I – V). The mean physicochemical parameters were within the limits of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and USEPA except Lead, 0.02 ± 0.08 mg/ L; Manganese, 0.46 ± 1.00 mg/ L and Zinc, 0.05 ± 0.17 mg/ L. Means of DO, alkalinity, and phosphate were significantly different between the stations at p < 0.05. While highest mean DO (6.88 ± 1.34 mg/L) was recorded in station I with less anthropogenic activities, highest phosphate concentration (0.28 ± 0.28 mg/L) occurred in station II, the entry point of wastewater from hospital and zoological garden. The 147 phytoplankton species found in the lake belonged to six classes: Chlorophyceae (50), Euglenophyceae (40), Bacillariophyceae (37), Cyanophyceae (17), Xanthophyceae and Chrysophyceae (3). The order of abundance for phytoplankton was Euglenophyceae (49.77%) > Bacillariophyceae (18.00%) > Cyanophyceae (17.39%) > Chlorophyceae (13.7%) > Xanthophyceae (1.06%) > Chrysophyceae (0.02%). The stations impacted with effluents were dominated by members of Euglenophyceae (Station III, 77.09%; IV, 50.55%) and Cyanophyceae (Station II, 27.7%; V, 32.57%). While station I was dominated by diatoms (57.98%). The species richness recorded was 0.32 – 4.49. Evenness index was highest in station I and least in station III. Generally, pollution tolerant species (Microcystis, Oscillatoria, Scenedesmus, Anabaena, and Euglena) showed greater density in areas impacted by human activities. The phytoplankton assemblage and comparatively low biotic diversity in Dandaru Lake could be attributed to perturbations in the water column that exerted selective effects on the biological assemblage.

Keywords: manmade lake, Nigeria, phytoplankton, water quality

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Authors: Muhammad Shoaib, Hassan M. Al-Swaidan

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Air pollution has been a major challenge for the scientists today, due to the release of toxic emissions from various industries like power plants, desalination plants, industrial processes and transportation vehicles. Harmful emissions into the air represent an environmental pressure that reflects negatively on human health and productivity, thus leading to a real loss in the national economy. Variety of air pollutants in the form of carbon oxides, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, suspended particulate material etc. are present in air due to the combustion of different types of fuels like crude oil, diesel oil and natural gas. Among various pollutants, NOx and SOx emissions are considered as highly toxic due to its carcinogenicity and its relation with various health disorders. In Kingdom of Saudi Arabia electricity is generated by burning of crude, diesel or natural gas in the turbines of electricity stations. Out of these three, crude oil is used extensively for electricity generation. Due to the burning of the crude oil there are heavy contents of gaseous pollutants like sulfur dioxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), gases which are ultimately discharged in to the environment and is a serious environmental threat. The breakthrough point in case of lab studies using 1 gm of sliced activated carbon adsorbant comes after 20 and 30 minutes for NOx and SOx, respectively, whereas in case of PP8 plant breakthrough point comes in seconds. The saturation point in case of lab studies comes after 100 and 120 minutes and for actual PP8 plant it comes after 60 and 90 minutes for NOx and SOx adsorption, respectively. Surface characterization of NOx and SOx adsorption on SAC confirms the presence of peaks in the FT-IR spectrum. CHNS study verifies that the SAC is suitable for NOx and SOx along with some other C and H containing compounds coming out from stack emission stream from the turbines of a power plant.

Keywords: activated carbon, flue gases, NOx and SOx adsorption, physical activation, power plants

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Authors: Frank Jaksoni Mweta, Nozomu Adachi, Yoshikazu Todaka, Hirokazu Sato, Yuta Sato, Hiromi Miura, Masakazu Kobayashi, Chihiro Watanabe, Yoshiteru Aoyagi

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Advances in the consumption of hydrogen fuel increase demands of high strength steel pipes and storage tanks. However, high strength steels are highly sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement. Because the introduction of hydrogen into steel during the fabrication process or from the environment is unavoidable, it is essential to improve hydrogen embrittlement resistance of high strength steels through microstructural control. In the present study, the heterogeneous nanostructure with a tensile strength of about 1.8 GPa and the homogeneous nanostructure with a tensile strength of about 2.0 GPa of 316LN steels were generated after 92% heavy cold rolling and high-pressure torsion straining, respectively. The heterogeneous nanostructure is composed of twin domains, shear bands, and lamellar grains. The homogeneous nanostructure is composed of uniformly distributed ultrafine nanograins. The influence of heterogeneous and homogenous nanostructures on the hydrogen embrittlement resistance was investigated. The specimen for each nanostructure was electrochemically charged with hydrogen for 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours, respectively. Under the same hydrogen charging time, both nanostructures show almost the same concentration of the diffusible hydrogen based on the thermal desorption analysis. The tensile properties of the homogenous nanostructure were severely affected by the diffusible hydrogen. However, the diffusible hydrogen shows less impact on the tensile properties of the heterogeneous nanostructure. The difference in embrittlement behavior between the heterogeneous and homogeneous nanostructures was elucidated based on the mechanism of the cracks' growth observed in the tensile fractography. The hydrogen embrittlement was suppressed in the heterogeneous nanostructure because the twin domain became an obstacle for crack growth. The homogeneous nanostructure was not consisting an obstacle such as a twin domain; thus, the crack growth resistance was low in this nanostructure.

Keywords: diffusible hydrogen, heterogeneous nanostructure, homogeneous nanostructure, hydrogen embrittlement

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Authors: Bao Trang Thi Nguyen, Stephen Moore

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A large number of Vietnamese lecturers leave their home institutions every year to pursue an education in Australia and in other countries and most of whom return home to careers back in the Vietnamese work context. However, to the authors’ best knowledge, there is little empirical knowledge about these Vietnamese returnees. Much less is about how these overseas-trained returnees continue doing research while taking a lecturing role, though research has recently received growing heightened attention in Vietnamese Higher Education institutions and returnees are an important source of human resources. The research is mixed-methods in nature with questionnaires and interviews as the main instruments of data collection. Seven-six Vietnamese returnees working from a broad range of disciplines from different higher education institutions in central Vietnam completed a questionnaire on their perceived constraints and affordances in teaching and continuing doing research upon return from their overseas education. Twenty-five of these returnees took part in a subsequent in-depth interview which lasted from 30 minutes to an hour, which further seeks understanding of their lived individual experiences and stories. The overall results show that time constraint, heavy teaching loads, and varied administrative and familial roles are among inhibiting factors. However, these factors were more constraining for some returnees more than others. Their motivations to do research varied, from passion to work pressure and self-perceived responsibilities. Above all, these were mediated by personal, institutional and disciplinary contexts. The paper argues for a nuanced understanding of returnee academics’ life as complex and layered with the multiple identities they associated themselves with and the differing trajectories they embarked on as to what they perceived important as a university lecturer. Implications for Higher Education management and administration and professional development are addressed.

Keywords: Vietnamese overseas-trained returnees, higher education, teaching, doing research, constraints, affordances

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Authors: Dogan Cetin, Burak Turk, Mahmut Candan

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Landslides cause remarkable damage and loss of human life every year around the world. They may be made more likely by factors such as earthquakes, heavy precipitation, and incorrect construction activities near or on slopes. The stadium of Karabük University is located at the bottom of a very high slope. After construction of the stadium, severe deformations were observed on the social activity area surrounding the stadium. Some inclinometers were placed behind the stadium to detect the possible landslide activity. According to measurements of the inclinometers, irregular soil movements were detected at depths between 20 m and 45 m. Also, significant heaves and settlements were observed behind the stadium walls located at the toe of the slope. The heaves indicate that the stadium walls were under threat of a significant landslide. After inclinometer readings and field observations, the potential failure geometry was estimated. The protection system was designed based on numerous numerical analysis performed by 2-D Plaxis software. After the design was completed, protective geotechnical work was started. Before the geotechnical work began, new inclinometers were installed to monitor earth movement during the work and afterward. The total horizontal length of the possible failure surface is 220 m. Geotechnical work included two-row-pile construction and three-row-pile construction on the slope. The bored piles were 120 cm in diameter for two-row-pile construction, and 150 cm in diameter for three-row-pile construction. Pile length is 31.30 m for two-row-pile construction and 31.40 m for three-row-pile construction. The distance between two-row-pile and three-row-pile construction is 60 m. With these bored piles, the landslide was divided into three parts. In this way, the earth's pressure was reduced. After a number of inclinometer readings, it was seen that deformation continued during the work, but after the work was done, the movement reversed, and total deformation stayed in mm dimension. It can be said that the protection work eliminated the possible landslide.

Keywords: landslide, landslide protection, inclinometer measurement, bored piles

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Authors: Sundara Subramanian Karuppasamy, Che Hua Yang

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In this work, the laser ultrasound technique has been used for analyzing and imaging the inner defects in metal blocks. To detect the defects in blocks, traditionally the researchers used piezoelectric transducers for the generation and reception of ultrasonic signals. These transducers can be configured into the sparse and phased array. But these two configurations have their drawbacks including the requirement of many transducers, time-consuming calculations, limited bandwidth, and provide confined image resolution. Here, we focus on the non-contact method for generating and receiving the ultrasound to examine the inner defects in aluminum blocks. A Q-switched pulsed laser has been used for the generation and the reception is done by using Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). Based on the Doppler effect, LDV provides a rapid and high spatial resolution way for sensing ultrasonic waves. From the LDV, a series of scanning points are selected which serves as the phased array elements. The side-drilled hole of 10 mm diameter with a depth of 25 mm has been introduced and the defect is interrogated by the linear array of scanning points obtained from the LDV. With the aid of the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) algorithm, based on the time-shifting principle the inspected images are generated from the A-scan data acquired from the 1-D linear phased array elements. Thus the defect can be precisely detected with good resolution.

Keywords: laser ultrasonics, linear phased array, nondestructive testing, synthetic aperture focusing technique, ultrasonic imaging

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Authors: Balram Panjwani, Bernd Wittgens, Jan Erik Olsen, Stein Tore Johansen

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The Norwegian ferroalloy industry is a world leader in sustainable production of ferrosilicon, silicon and manganese alloys with the lowest global specific energy consumption. One of the byproducts during the metal reduction process is energy rich off-gas and usually this energy is not harnessed. A novel concept for sustainable energy recovery from ferroalloy off-gas is discussed. The concept is founded on the idea of introducing a combustion chamber in the off-gas section in which energy rich off-gas mainly consisting of CO will be combusted. This will provide an additional degree of freedom for optimizing energy recovery. A well-controlled and high off-gas temperature will assure a significant increase in energy recovery and reduction of emissions to the atmosphere. Design and operation of the combustion chamber depend on many parameters, including the total power capacity of the combustion chamber, sufficient residence time for combusting the complex Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH), NOx, as well as converting other potential pollutants. The design criteria for the combustion chamber have been identified and discussed and sizing of the combustion chamber has been carried out considering these design criteria. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been utilized extensively for sizing the combustion chamber. The results from our CFD simulations of the flow in the combustion chamber and exploring different off-gas fuel composition are presented. In brief, the paper covers all aspect which impacts the sizing of the combustion chamber, including insulation thickness, choice of insulating material, heat transfer through extended surfaces, multi-staging and secondary air injection.

Keywords: CFD, combustion chamber, arc furnace, energy recovery

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Authors: Varshith Kotagiri, Lei Li

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Fluorescent sensors are organic fluorophores that detect specific analytes with quantitative fluorescence intensity changes. They have offered impressive benefits compared with instrumental techniques, such as low cost, high selectivity, and rapid responses. One issue that limits the fluorescent sensors for further application is their poor solubility in the aqueous medium, where most targeted analytes, including metal ions, inorganic anions, and neutral biomolecules, are readily soluble. When fluorescent sensors are utilized to detect these analytes, a heterogeneous phase is formed. In most cases, an extra water-miscible organic solvent is needed as an additive to facilitate the sensing process, which complicates the measurement operations and produces more organic waste. We aim to resolve this issue by skillful molecular design to introduce a hydrophilic side chain to the fluorescent sensor, increasing its water solubility and facilitating its sensing process to analytes, like various protons, fluoride ions, and copper ions, in an aqueous medium. Simultaneously, its sensitivity and selectivity will be retained. This work will simplify the sensing operations and reduce the amount of organic waste produced during the measurement. This strategy will additionally be of broad interest to the chemistry community, as it introduces the idea of modifying the molecular structure to apply an initial hydrophobic compound under hydrophilic conditions in a feasible way.

Keywords: organic fluorescent sensor, analytes, sensing, aqueous medium, phenanthroimidazole, hydrophilic side chain

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Authors: Karim Kheloufi, El Hachemi Amara

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In the present study, a three-dimensional transient numerical model was developed to study the temperature field and cutting kerf shape during laser fusion cutting. The finite volume model has been constructed, based on the Navier–Stokes equations and energy conservation equation for the description of momentum and heat transport phenomena, and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method for free surface tracking. The Fresnel absorption model is used to handle the absorption of the incident wave by the surface of the liquid metal and the enthalpy-porosity technique is employed to account for the latent heat during melting and solidification of the material. To model the physical phenomena occurring at the liquid film/gas interface, including momentum/heat transfer, a new approach is proposed which consists of treating friction force, pressure force applied by the gas jet and the heat absorbed by the cutting front surface as source terms incorporated into the governing equations. All these physics are coupled and solved simultaneously in Fluent CFD®. The main objective of using a transient phase change model in the current case is to simulate the dynamics and geometry of a growing laser-cutting generated kerf until it becomes fully developed. The model is used to investigate the effect of some process parameters on temperature fields and the formed kerf geometry.

Keywords: laser cutting, numerical simulation, heat transfer, fluid flow

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Authors: Martin Elstner

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Processing of information by means of handling chemicals is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature. Technical implementations of chemical information processing lack of low integration densities compared to electronic devices. Stimuli responsive hydrogels are promising candidates for materials with information processing capabilities. These hydrogels are sensitive toward chemical stimuli like metal ions or amino acids. The binding of an analyte molecule induces conformational changes inside the polymer network and subsequently the water content and volume of the hydrogel varies. This volume change can control material flows, and concurrently information flows, in microfluidic devices. The combination of this technology with powerful chemical logic gates yields in a platform for highly integrated chemical circuits. The manufacturing process of such devices is very challenging and rapid prototyping is a key technology used in the study. 3D printing allows generating three-dimensional defined structures of high complexity in a single and fast process step. This thermoplastic master is molded into PDMS and the master is removed by dissolution in an organic solvent. A variety of hydrogel materials is prepared by dispenser printing of pre-polymer solutions. By a variation of functional groups or cross-linking units, the functionality of the hole circuit can be programmed. Finally, applications in the field of bio-molecular analytics were demonstrated with an autonomously operating microfluidic chip.

Keywords: bioanalytics, hydrogels, information processing, microvalve

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Authors: Md. Obidul Haque, Abbasi Khanm

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Port city Chittagong, the commercial capital of Bangladesh, is flourished with fascinating topography and climatic context along with basic resources for livelihood; both shape this city and become living archives of its ecologies. Chittagong has been witnessing numerous urban development measures being taken by city development authority, though some of those seem incomplete because of lack of proper planning. Due to this unplanned trail, the blessings of nature have become the reason of sufferings for city dwellers. One of which is the water clogging due to heavy rainfall, seepage, high tide, absence of well-knit underground drainage system, and so on. The problem has reached such an extent that the first monsoon rain is enough to shut down the entire city and causing immense sufferings to livestock, specially most vulnerable groups such as children and office going people. Study shows that total discharge is higher than present drainage capacity of the canals, thus, resulting in overflow, as major channels are clogged up by dumping waste or illegal encroachment, which are supposed to flush out rain water. This paper aims to address natural and manmade causes behind urban water clogging, adverse socio-environmental hazardous effects, possibilities for probable solutions on basis of local people’s experience and rational urban planning and landscape architectural proposals such as facilitating well planned drainage system, along with waste management policies etc. which can be able to intervene in these movements to activate the mighty port city’s unfulfilled potentials.

Keywords: drainage, high-tide, urban storm water logging (USWL), urban planning, water management

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Authors: Ali Jahanfar, Brajesh Dubey, Bahram Gharabaghi, Saber Bayat Movahed

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Ever increasing population growth of major urban centers and environmental challenges in siting new landfills have resulted in a growing trend in design of mega-landfills some with extraordinary heights and dangerously steep slopes. Landfill failure mobility risk analysis is one of the most uncertain types of dynamic rheology models due to very large inherent variabilities in the heterogeneous solid waste material shear strength properties. The waste flow of three historic dumpsite and two landfill failures were back-analyzed using run-out modeling with DAN-W model. The travel distances of the waste flow during landfill failures were calculated approach by taking into account variability in material shear strength properties. The probability distribution function for shear strength properties of the waste material were grouped into four major classed based on waste material compaction (landfills versus dumpsites) and composition (high versus low quantity) of high shear strength waste materials such as wood, metal, plastic, paper and cardboard in the waste. This paper presents a probabilistic method for estimation of the spatial extent of waste avalanches, after a potential landfill failure, to create maps of vulnerability scores to inform property owners and residents of the level of the risk.

Keywords: landfill failure, waste flow, Voellmy rheology, friction coefficient, waste compaction and type

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Authors: Maria Pintea, Nigel Mason

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Induced chemistry is one of the newest pathways in the nanotechnology field with applications in the focused electron beam induced processes for deposition of nm scale structures. Si(OPr)₄ and Ti(OEt)₄ are two of the precursors that have not been so extensively researched, though highly sought for semiconductor and medical applications fields, the two compounds make good candidates for FEBIP and are the subject of velocity slice map imaging analysis for deposition purposes, offering information on kinetic energies, fragmentation channels, and angular distributions. The velocity slice map imaging technique is a method used for the characterization of molecular dynamics of the molecule and the fragmentation channels as a result of induced chemistry. To support the gas-phase analysis, Meso-Bio-Nano simulations of irradiation dynamics studies are employed with final results on Fe(CO)₅ deposited on various substrates. The software is capable of running large scale simulations for complex biomolecular, nano- and mesoscopic systems with applications to thermos-mechanical DNA damage, complex materials, gases, nanoparticles for cancer research and deposition applications for nanotechnology, using a large library of classical potentials, many-body force fields, molecular force fields involved in the classical molecular dynamics.

Keywords: focused electron beam induced deposition, FEBID, induced chemistry, molecular dynamics, velocity map slice imaging

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Authors: Muhammad Arshad, Ghulam Hussain Bhatti, Abdul Qayyum

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Zinc-doped silica oxide nanoparticles having size 7.93nm were synthesized by the deposition precipitation method by using different solvents (acetonitrile, n-hexane, isoamylalchol). Biological potential such as antibacterial activities against Bacillussubtilusand Escherichia coli, and antifungal activities against Candida parapsilosis and Aspergilusniger were also investigated by Disc diffusion method. Different characterizations techniques including Fournier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Thermo-gravimeteric Analysis (TGA), Atomic forced microscopy (AFM), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) were used. FT-IR characterization confirmed the presence of metal oxide bond (SiO2) while XRD showed the hexagonal structure. SEM and TEM characterization showed the morphology of nanoparticles. AFM study showed good particle size distribution as depicted by a histogram. DLS study showed the gradual decease in the size of nanoparticles from 24.86nm to 13.24 nm. Highest antibacterial activities revealed by acetonitrile solvents (6%and 4.5%) followed by isoamylalchol (3% and 2.4%) while n-hexane solvent showed the lowest activity (2%and 1%) respectively. Higher antifungal activities exhibited by n-hexane (0.34 % and 0.43%) followed by isoamylalchol (0.27% and 0.19%) solvent while acetonitrile (0.21% and 0.17%) showed least activity respectively. Statistical analysis by using one-way ANOVA also indicated the significant results of both biological activities.

Keywords: nanoparticles, precipitation methods, antibacterial, antifungal, characterizations

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Authors: Rumesh Liyanage, S. B. Nawaratne, K. K. D. S. Ranaweera, Indira Wickramasinghe, K. G. S. C. Katukurunda

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Study it was attempted to identify an effect of food habits and publics’ attitudes on micro-sleepiness and preventive measures to develop a food product to combat. Statistical data pertaining to road accidents were collected from, Sri Lanka Police Traffic Division and a pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 250 respondents. They were selected representing drivers (especially highway drivers), private and public sector workers (shift based) and cramming students (university and school). Questionnaires were directed to fill independently and personally and collected data were analyzed statistically. Results revealed that 76.84, 96.39 and 80.93% out of total respondents consumed rice for all three meals which lead to ingesting higher glycemic meals. Taking two hyper glycemic meals before 14.00h was identified as a cause of micro-sleepiness within these respondents. Peak level of road accidents were observed at 14.00 - 20.00h (38.2%)and intensity of micro-sleepiness falls at the same time period (37.36%) while 14.00 to 16.00h was the peak time, 16.00 to 18.00h was the least; again 18.00 to 20.00h it reappears slightly. Even though respondents of the survey expressed that peak hours of micro- sleepiness is 14.00-16.00h, according to police reports, peak hours fall in between 18.00-20.00h. Out of the interviewees, 69.27% strongly wanted to avoid micro-sleepiness and intend to spend LKR 10-20 on a commercial product to combat micro sleepiness. As age-old practices to suppress micro-sleepiness are time taken, modern day respondents (51.64%) like to have a quick solution through a drink. Therefore, food habits of morning and noon may cause for micro- sleepiness while dinner may cause for both, natural and micro-sleepiness due to the heavy glycemic load of food. According to the study micro-sleepiness, can be categorized into three zones such as low-risk zone (08.00-10.00h and 18.00-20.00h), manageable zone (10.00-12.00h), and high- risk zone (14.00-16.00h).

Keywords: food habits, glycemic load, micro-sleepiness, road accidents

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Authors: E. K. Hardwick, L. B. Siwela, J. G. Falconer, M. E. Mathibela, W. Rolfe

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Lithium-ion battery (LiB) demand has increased with the advancement in technologies. The applications include electric vehicles, cell phones, laptops, and many more devices. Typical components of the cathodes include lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Recycling the spent LiBs is necessary to reduce the ecological footprint of their production and use and to have a secondary source of valuable metals. A hydrometallurgical method was investigated for the recovery of cobalt and nickel from LiB cathodes. The cathodes were leached using a chloride solution. Ion exchange was then used to recover the chloro-complexes of the metals. The aim of the research was to determine the efficiency of a chloride leach, as well as ion exchange operating capacities that can be achieved for LiB recycling, and to establish the optimal operating conditions (ideal pH, temperature, leachate and eluant, flowrate, and reagent concentrations) for the recovery of the cathode metals. It was found that the leaching of the cathodes could be hindered by the formation of refractory metal oxides of cathode components. A reducing agent was necessary to improve the leaching rate and efficiency. Leaching was achieved using various chloride-containing solutions. The chloro-complexes were absorbed by the ion exchange resin and eluted to produce concentrated cobalt, nickel, lithium, and manganese streams. Chromatographic separation of these elements was achieved. Further work is currently underway to determine the optimal operating conditions for the recovery by ion exchange.

Keywords: cobalt, ion exchange, leachate formation, lithium-ion batteries, manganese, nickel

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Authors: Michael Munther, Keivan Davami

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One significant roadblock for additively manufactured (AM) parts is the buildup of residual tensile stresses during the fabrication process. These residual stresses are formed due to the intense localized thermal gradients and high cooling rates that cause non-uniform material expansion/contraction and mismatched strain profiles during powder-bed fusion techniques, such as direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). The residual stresses adversely affect the fatigue life of the AM parts. Moreover, if the residual stresses become higher than the material’s yield strength, they will lead to acute geometric distortion. These are limiting the applications and acceptance of AM components for safety-critical applications. Herein, we discuss laser shock peening method as an advanced technique for the manipulation of the residual stresses in AM parts. An X-ray diffraction technique is used for the measurements of the residual stresses before and after the laser shock peening process. Also, the hardness of the structures is measured using a nanoindentation technique. Maps of nanohardness and modulus are obtained from the nanoindentation, and a correlation is made between the residual stresses and the mechanical properties. The results indicate that laser shock peening is able to induce compressive residual stresses in the structure that mitigate the tensile residual stresses and increase the hardness of AM IN718, a superalloy, almost 20%. No significant changes were observed in the modulus after laser shock peening. The results strongly suggest that laser shock peening can be used as an advanced post-processing technique to optimize the service lives of critical components for various applications.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, Inconel 718, laser shock peening, residual stresses

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Authors: Kai Pei Huang, Ting Chung Hung, Li Ching Wu

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Amyloidosis refers to a variety of conditions wherein amyloid proteins are abnormally deposited in organ or tissues and cause harm. Among the several forms of amyloidosis, the principal types of that in inpatient medical services are the AL amyloidosis (primary) and AA amyloidois (secondary). AL Amyloidois is due to deposition of protein derived from overproduction of immunoglobulin light chain in plasma cell myeloma. Furthermore, it is a systemic disorder that can present with a variety of symptoms, including heavy proteinemia and edema, heptosplenomegaly, otherwise unexplained heart failure. We reported a 78-year-old female presenting dysuria, oliguria and leg edema for several months. Laboratory data showed proteinuria (UPCR:1679.8), leukocytosis (WBC:16.2 x 10^3/uL), results of serum urea nitrogen (39mg/dL), creatinine (0.76 mg/dL), IgG (748 mg/dL.), IgA (635 mg/dL), IgM (63 mg/dL), kappa light chain(18.8 mg/dL), lambda light chain (110.0 mg/dL) and kappa/lambda ratio (0.17). Renal biopsy found amyloid fibrils in glomerular mesangial area, and Congo red stain highlights amyloid deposition in glomeruli. Additional lab studies included serum protein electrophoresis, which shows a major monoclonal peak in β region and minor small peak in gamma region, and the immunotyping studies for serum showed two IgA/λ type. We treated sample with beta-mercaptoethanol which reducing the polymerized immunoglobulin to clarify two IgA/λ are secreted from the same plasma cell clone in bone marrow. Later examination confirmed it existed plasma cell infiltration in bone marrow, and the immunohistochemical staining showed monotypic for λ light chain and are positive for IgA. All findings mentioned above reveal it is a case of plasma cell myeloma with λ Light Chain Amyloidosis.

Keywords: amyloidosis, immunoglobulin light chain, plasma cell myeloma, serum protein electrophoresis

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Authors: Bahattin Abay

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Thin film of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon rubrene, C₄₂H₂₈ (5,6,11,12-tetraphenyltetracene), has been surfaced on Moderately Doped (MD) n-InP substrate as an interfacial layer by means of spin coating technique for the electronic modification of Au/MD n-InP structure. Ex situ annealing has been carried out at 150 °C for three minutes under a brisk flow of nitrogen for the better adhesion of the deposited film with the substrate surface. Room temperature electrical characterization has been performed on the C₄₂H₂₈/MD n-InP hybrid junctions by current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement in the dark. It has been seen that the C₄₂H₂₈/MD n-InP structure demonstrated extraordinary rectifying behavior. An effective barrier height (BH) as high as 0.743 eV, along with an ideality factor very close to unity (n=1.203), has been achieved for C₄₂H₂₈/n-InP organic/inorganic device. A thin C₄₂H₂₈ interfacial layer between Au and MD n-InP also reduce the reverse leakage current by almost four orders of magnitude and enhance the BH about 0.278 eV. This good performance of the device is ascribed to the passivation effect of organic interfacial layer between Au and n-InP. By using C-V measurement, in addition, the value of BH of the C₄₂H₂₈/n-InP organic/inorganic hybrid junctions have been obtained as 0.796 eV. It has been seen that both of the BH value (0.743 and 0.796 eV) for the organic/inorganic hybrid junction obtained I-V and C-V measurement, respectively are significantly larger than that of the conventional Au/n-InP structure (0.465 and 0.503 eV). It was also seen that the device had good sensitivity to the light under 100 mW/cm² illumination conditions. The obtained results indicated that modification of the interfacial potential barrier for Metal/n-InP junctions might be attained using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon thin interlayer C₄₂H₂₈.

Keywords: I-V and C-V measurements, heterojunction, n-InP, rubrene, surface passivation

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Authors: Anna Ivanovskaya, Alexandra E. L. Overland, Swetha Chandrasekaran, Buddhinie S. Jayathilake

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Iron-based redox flow batteries (IRFB) are promising for grid-scale storage because of their low-cost and environmental safety. Earth-abundant iron can enable affordable grid-storage to meet DOE’s target material cost <$20/kWh and levelized cost for storage $0.05/kWh. In conventional redox flow batteries, energy is stored in external electrolyte tanks and electrolytes are circulated through the cell units to achieve electrochemical energy conversions. However, IRFBs are hybrid battery systems where metallic iron deposition at the negative side of the battery controls the storage capacity. This adds complexity to the design of a porous structure of 3D-electrodes to achieve a desired high storage capacity. In addition, there is a need to control parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction which accompanies the metal deposition process, increases the pH, lowers the energy efficiency, and limits the durability. To achieve sustainable operation of IRFBs, electrolyte pH, which affects the solubility of reactants and the rate of parasitic reactions, needs to be dynamically readjusted. In the present study we explore the impact of complexing agents on maintaining solubility of the reactants and find the optimal electrolyte conditions and battery operating regime, which are specific for IRFBs with additives, and demonstrate the robust operation.

Keywords: flow battery, iron-based redox flow battery, IRFB, energy storage, electrochemistry

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Valentina Adduci

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The developing research aims to define in general the criteria of environmental sustainability of rural buildings in Puglia and particularly in the manor farm. The main part of the study analyzes the relationship / dependence between the rural building and the landscape which, after many stratifications, results clearly identified and sometimes also characterized in a positive way. The location of the manor farm, in fact, is often conditioned by the infrastructural network and by the structure of the agricultural landscape. The manor farm, without the constraints due to the urban pattern’s density, was developed in accordance with a logical settlement that gives priority to the environmental aspects. These vernacular architectures are the most valuable example of how our ancestors have planned their dwellings according to nature. The 237 farms, analysis’ object, have been reported in cartography through the GIS system; a symbol has been assigned to each of them to identify the architectural typology and a different color for the historical period of construction. A datasheet template has been drawn up, and it has made possible a deeper understanding of each manor farm. This method provides a faster comparison of the most recurring characters in all the considered buildings, except for those farms which benefited from special geographical conditions, such as proximity to the road network or waterways. Below there are some of the most frequently constants derived from the statistical study of the examined buildings: southeast orientation of the main facade; placement of the sheep pen on the ground tilted and exposed to the south side; larger windowed surface on the south elevation; smaller windowed surface on the north elevation; presence of shielding vegetation near the more exposed elevations to the solar radiation; food storage’s rooms located on the ground floor or in the basement; animal shelter located in north side of the farm; presence of tanks and wells, sometimes combined with a very accurate channeling storm water system; thick layers of masonry walls, inside of which were often obtained hollow spaces to house stairwells or depots for the food storage; exclusive use of local building materials. The research aims to trace the ancient use of bioclimatic constructive techniques in the Apulian rural architecture and to define those that derive from an empirical knowledge and those that respond to an already encoded design. These constructive expedients are especially useful to obtain an effective passive cooling, to promote the natural ventilation and to built ingenious systems for the recovery and the preservation of rainwater and are still found in some of the manor farms analyzed, most of them are, today, in a serious state of neglect.

Keywords: bioclimatic devices, farmstead, rural landscape, sustainability

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Authors: Shobha U. Jadhav, R. S. Saler

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Onion is most Important Vegetable crop grown throughout the world. Onion suffers from pest and fungal diseases but the fungicides cause pollution and disturb microbial balance of soil. Under integrated fungal disease management programme cost effective and eco- friendly component like plant extract are used to control plant pathogens. Alternaria porri, Fusarium oxysporium, Stemphylium vesicarium are soil borne pathogens of onion. Effect of three different plant extract (Datura metel, Pongamia pinnata, Ipomoea palmata) at five different concentration Viz, 10,25,50,75 and 100 percentage on these pathogens was studied by food poisoning techniquie. Detura metal gave 94.73% growth of Alternaria porri at 10% extract concentraton and 26.31% growth in 100% extract concentration. As compared to Fusarium oxysporium, and Stemphylium vesicarium, Alternaria porri give good inhibitory response. In Pongamia pinnata L. at 10% extract concentration 84.21% growth and at 100% extract concentration 36.84% growth of Stemphylium vesicarium was observed. Stemphylium vesicarium give good in inhibitory response as compared to Alternaria porri and Fusarium oxysporium. Ipomoea palmata in 10% extract concentration 92% growth and in 100% extract concentration 40% growth of Fusarium oxysporium was recorded. Fusarium oxysporium give good inhibitory response as compared to Alternaria porri and, Stemphylium vesicarium.

Keywords: pathogen, onion, plant extract, Allium cepa L.

Procedia PDF Downloads 466

Authors: Saliha Gachi, Mouloud Aissani, Fouad Boubenider

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Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding technique that can join material without melting the plates to be welded. In this work, we are interested to demonstrate the potentiality of FSW for joining the heat-treatable aluminum alloy 2024-T3 which is reputed as difficult to be welded by fusion techniques. Thereafter, the FSW joint is compared with another one obtained from a conventional fusion process Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG). FSW welds are made up using an FSW tool mounted on a milling machine. Single pass welding was applied to fabricated TIG joint. The comparison between the two processes has been made on the temperature evolution, mechanical and microstructure behavior. The microstructural examination revealed that FSW weld is composed of four zones: Base metal (BM), Heat affected zone (HAZ), Thermo-mechanical affected zone (THAZ) and the nugget zone (NZ). The NZ exhibits a recrystallized equiaxed refined grains that induce better mechanical properties and good ductility compared to TIG joint where the grains have a larger size in the welded region compared with the BM due to the elevated heat input. The microhardness results show that, in FSW weld, the THAZ contains the lowest microhardness values and increase in the NZ; however, in TIG process, the lowest values are localized on the NZ.

Keywords: friction stir welding, tungsten inert gaz, aluminum, microstructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: H. E. Elzain, S. Y. Chung, V. Senapathi, Kye-Hun Park

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Groundwater is considered a significant source for drinking and irrigation purposes in Miryang city, and it is attributed to a limited number of a surface water reservoirs and high seasonal variations in precipitation. Population growth in addition to the expansion of agricultural land uses and industrial development may affect the quality and management of groundwater. This research utilized multidisciplinary approaches of geostatistics such as multivariate statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis and kriging technique in order to identify the hydrogeochemical process and characterizing the control factors of the groundwater geochemistry distribution for developing risk maps, exploiting data obtained from chemical investigation of groundwater samples under the area of study. A total of 79 samples have been collected and analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) for major and trace elements. Chemical maps using 2-D spatial Geographic Information System (GIS) of groundwater provided a powerful tool for detecting the possible potential sites of groundwater that involve the threat of contamination. GIS computer based map exhibited that the higher rate of contamination observed in the central and southern area with relatively less extent in the northern and southwestern parts. It could be attributed to the effect of irrigation, residual saline water, municipal sewage and livestock wastes. At wells elevation over than 85m, the scatter diagram represents that the groundwater of the research area was mainly influenced by saline water and NO3. Level of pH measurement revealed low acidic condition due to dissolved atmospheric CO2 in the soil, while the saline water had a major impact on the higher values of TDS and EC. Based on the cluster analysis results, the groundwater has been categorized into three group includes the CaHCO3 type of the fresh water, NaHCO3 type slightly influenced by sea water and Ca-Cl, Na-Cl types which are heavily affected by saline water. The most predominant water type was CaHCO3 in the study area. Contamination sources and chemical characteristics were identified from factor analysis interrelationship and cluster analysis. The chemical elements that belong to factor 1 analysis were related to the effect of sea water while the elements of factor 2 associated with agricultural fertilizers. The degree level, distribution, and location of groundwater contamination have been generated by using Kriging methods. Thus, geostatistics model provided more accurate results for identifying the source of contamination and evaluating the groundwater quality. GIS was also a creative tool to visualize and analyze the issues affecting water quality in the Miryang city.

Keywords: groundwater characteristics, GIS chemical maps, factor analysis, cluster analysis, Kriging techniques

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Authors: Santanu Pakhira, Chandan Mazumdar, R. Ranganathan, Maxim Avdeev

Abstract:

Magnetically frustrated systems are of great interest and one of the most adorable topics for the researcher of condensed matter physics, due to their various interesting properties, viz. ground state degeneracy, finite entropy at zero temperature, lowering of ordering temperature, etc. Ternary intermetallics with the composition RE₂TX₃ (RE = rare-earth element, T= d electron transition metal and X= p electron element) crystallize in hexagonal AlB₂ type crystal structure (space group P6/mmm). In a hexagonal crystal structure with the antiferromagnetic interaction between the moments, the center moment is geometrically frustrated. Magnetic frustration along with disorder arrangements of non-magnetic ions are the building blocks for metastable spin-glass ground state formation for most of the compounds of this stoichiometry. The newly synthesized compound Er₂NiSi₃ compound forms in single phase in AlB₂ type structure with space group P6/mmm. The compound orders antiferromagnetically below 5.4 K and spin freezing of the frustrated magnetic moments occurs below 3 K for the compound. The compound shows magnetic relaxation behavior and magnetic memory effect below its freezing temperature. Neutron diffraction patterns for temperatures below the spin freezing temperature have been analyzed using FULLPROF software package. Diffuse magnetic scattering at low temperatures yields spin glass state formation for the compound.

Keywords: antiferromagnetism, magnetic frustration, spin-glass, neutron diffraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Ncoza Dlova, Tivani Mashamba-Thompson

Abstract:

Garcinia livingstonei (Clusiaceae) extracts, morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol were shown to be effective against hyper-pigmentation through inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme, in vitro . The aim of this study is to elucidate the structural mechanism through which morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol binds human tyrosinase. Implementing a homology model to construct a tyrosinase model using the crystal structure of a functional unit from Octopus hemocyanin (PDB: 1JS8) as a reference template enabled us to create a human tyrosinase model. Molecular dynamics and binding free energy calculations were optimized to enable molecular dynamics simulation of the copper dependent inhibitors. Results show the importance of the hydrogen bond formation morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol between compound and active site residues. Both complexes demonstrated the metallic coordination between compound and arginine residue as well as copper ions within the active site. The comprehensive molecular insight gained from this study should be vital in understanding the binding mechanism morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol. Moreover, these results will assist in the design of novel of metal ion dependent enzyme inhibitors as potential anti-hyper-pigmentation disorder therapies.

Keywords: hyper-pigmentation disorders, dyschromia African skin, morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate, sagoal

Procedia PDF Downloads 406