INDIAN VENTURE CAPITALISTS (VCs) INVESTMENT EVALUATION CRITERIA

The Venture capital (VC) industry in India is of recent origin. However, the average investment value of each deal in India have grown from $3.85 million in 2000 to$7.89 million in 2001.These developments together with the recent steps taken by government to promote venture capitalism in India provide an opportunity for an examination of venture capital industry in India. This paper analyses the validity of venture evaluation model in India by directly comparing the relative importance of evaluation criteria on the funding decision with the relative importance to factors influencing venture's empirical performance. In the light of the differences in investment opportunities around India, and the nature of industrial development in South East Asia in general, the author anticipated that the investment criteria employed by Venture Capital Firms (VCs) in India would differ. A questionnaire was administered to venture capitalists (regular members of Indian Venture Capital Association) to determine the criteria they use to decide on funding new ventures. The response rate was 100%. A list of forty two criteria was developed on previously developed lists. The criteria fell into six groups: the entrepreneur’s personality, the entrepreneur’s experience, characteristics of the product or service, characteristics of the market, financial consideration and characteristics of venture management team. Answers were given on a four point rating scales. The results reveal that criteria adopted by Indian VCs are different from those adopted by VCs in other countries including US. The results also confirm that the entrepreneur’s personality and experience are seen as being primary indicators of the venture’s potential.India, Venture, Capital, Vanture Capital, Criteria, VCs, VCCs, VCFs, Venture Capitalists

Numerical Investigations on Vortical Structures in the Near Tongue Region of a Centrifugal Pump during Transient Operation

Centrifugal pumps are considered to be an integral part of process industries around the world. The flow structure within centrifugal pumps is very complex due to the interaction between the rotating impeller and the geometric features around it, such as tongue. Researchers have been analysing the effects of the interactions between impeller blades and the tongue, however, most of these studies are based on steady-state approximations where the impeller blades are modelled using frozen-rotor approach which leads to discrepancies in the predicted flow fields. In the present study, fully transient numerical investigations, on the generation and dissipation of vortical structures in the vicinity of the tongue region, have been carried out using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solver. The instantaneous behaviour of a centrifugal pump is studied using the Sliding Mesh technique. Simulations have been carried out on both a constant rotating speed and under decelerating conditions. The second invariant of the velocity gradient tensor i.e. Q-criterion, has been employed to identify the generation and dissipation of vortical structures near the tongue region of the pump. The results indicate that the Q-criterion is fairly non-uniform downstream the tongue region due to the complex interaction between the impeller blades and the tongue. Furthermore, it has been observed that as the rotational speed of the centrifugal pump decreases, the Q-criterion in the near tongue region remains constant. The generation, expansion and subsequent mixing of two distinct vortical structures have been noticed downstream the tongue (within the volute), whereby the strength of these structures has been observed to be decreasing as the distance from the tongue increases

Numerical Investigations on the Transient Performance of a Centrifugal Pump

Centrifugal pumps are an integral part of plants used in process industries. The flow structure within a centrifugal pump is very complex due to the interaction between the rotating impeller and the geometric features around it. In the present study, numerical investigations on a centrifugal pump have been carried out using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solver. This study employs finite volume technique in order to analyse the influence of variations in the rotational speed of the pump on its head. The instantaneous behaviour of a centrifugal pump with varying rotational speeds is studied using the Sliding Mesh technique. The performance parameters of a centrifugal pump have been predicted using numerical simulations. The results indicate that as the rotational speed of the centrifugal pump decreases, the head developed by the pump also decreases, where the effects of varying rotational speeds are dominant in the volute region. Furthermore, the complex interaction between the impeller blades and the tongue region has been analysed in the present study

Numerical Investigations on the Performance Degradation of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Operating in Dusty Environment

Rapid increase in global energy requirements has resulted in considerable attention towards energy generation from the renewable energy sources. In order to meet renewable energy targets, harnessing energy from all available resources including those from urban environment is required. Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) are seen as a potential way of utilising distributed wind energy sources. Most of the research on the wind turbines constitutes performance analysis and optimisation of VAWTs, in a clean environment, using steady state approximations where the transient effects are not considered. Operations in dusty environments (such as in desserts) may change the nature of the flow field around the VAWT which could decrease its life cycle. This study is an attempt to use Computational Fluid Dynamic’s based techniques to study and analyse the performance of a wind turbine under dusty environment. For this purpose, a novel modelling technique, known as Discrete Phase Modelling (DPM), has been used in the present study to introduce dust particles in the vicinity of a VAWT. The predicted results show that the instantaneous torque output of the VAWT decreases significantly in dusty environment. This abrupt change in the instantaneous torque output of the turbine may give rise to highly transient loads on the turbine’s structure which may induce heavy stresses on the turbine, leading to structural failure

Computational Fluid Dynamics based Flow Diagnostics in Hydraulic Capsule Pipeline Bends

Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines (HCPs) are the third generation of pipelines that are based on the transport of hollow spherical, or cylindrical, capsules by the force exerted on them from the carrier fluid, which is water. These hollow capsules can be filled with a variety of cargo goods, such as minerals, jewellery etc. The hydrodynamics of this transport phenomena is quite complex, and researchers around the globe have been trying to analyse the hydrodynamics of such systems. However, most of these studies are based on experimental investigations, which can provide reasonably accurate results for the pressure drop etc. across the pipeline. However, the flow structure within HCPs cannot be easily mapped using experimental facilities. Furthermore, in case of pipe bends, the difficulty level increases exponentially due to a constant curvature in the geometry of the pipeline, and hence mounting the flow measuring instruments can be very challenging. The present study makes use of the advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solvers, with powerful computing services, in order to analyse the flow structure within HCP bends. It is expected that this information can provide valuable information to the HCP designers, not only to calculate pressure drop across HCP bends, but in order to select the correct size etc. bends for the pipeline

Numerical Investigations on the Effect of Blade Angles of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine on its Performance Output

There are many social, political and environmental issues associated with the use of fossil fuels. For this reason, there are numerous investigations currently being carried out to develop newer and renewable sources of energy to alleviate energy demand. Wind is one source of energy that can be harnessed using wind turbines. In this study, numerical investigations using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver have been carried out to determine the optimum blade angles of a wind turbine used in urban environment. The effect of these blade angles have been considered to be within the normal operating range (α from 1.689⁰ to 21.689⁰, ϒ from 18.2⁰ to 38.2⁰ and δ from 22.357⁰ to 42.357⁰) while β was kept constant at 90⁰ due to design requirements. The results show that as α increases average torque output increases to a certain point after which it remains constant. On the contrary, as ϒ and δ increase, average torque output decreases. From the results, it can be concluded that the ideal blade angles, for optimal torque output, are α=11.689⁰, ϒ=18.2⁰ and δ=22.357⁰

Effect of the Shape of Stator Blades on the Performance Output of a Vertical Axis Marine Current Turbine

Due to the diminishing reserves of fossil fuels and increased pollution from exploitation of these fuels, the world is focusing on the renewable energy sources. Energy from tidal waves is one of the most exciting forms of renewable energy because of its consistent nature. Hence, the predictable, consistent and reliable nature of marine currents has enthused the researchers to emphasize on harnessing energy from marine currents in order to meet the renewable energy targets. Exploitation of this technology is underway and further research is required to extract this energy optimally. Operating under water and harnessing kinetic energy has restated the importance of Vertical Axis Marine Current Turbines (VAMCTs). Recent studies have shown that the shape of the blades, within a VAMCT, has an appreciably considerable effect on its performance output. The flow field in the vicinity of the VAMCT is greatly affected by the design and shape of the stator blades. This paper presents an effort carried out to analyze the effect of the shape of the stator blades of a VAMCT on its performance output. VAMCT with curved stator blades has been analyzed and the results have been compared with the existing literature for the performance output from a VAMCT having straight stator blades. It has been shown that a VAMCT with curved stator blades performances superiorly as compared to straight stator blades. Furthermore, the operational range of a VAMCT with curved stator blades increases significantly as compared to straight stator blades

An Empirical Analysis of Market Reaction Around the Bonus Issues in India

Past researches have revealed significant abnormal returns for bonus issues even though the bonus issue date is known in advance and the distribution contains no new information. This study examines the stock price reaction to the information content of bonus issues with a view of examining the Indian stock market is semi-strong efficient or not. The period of the study is June 1998 to August 2004. Samples of 46 bonus issues have been used to study the announcement effect by using event study methodology. The results indicate that there are significant positive abnormal returns for a five-day period prior to bonus announcement in line with evidence from developed stock market. On the announcement day the average abnormal return of -0.10% is observed. The results provide stronger evidence of semi-strong market efficiency of the Indian stock market.Bonus Issues, India, stock market, abnormal returns, semi strong efficient, event study, cumulative abnormal return, Cowan Test, Standardized abnormal return

Effect of solar heat flux and thermal loading on the flow distribution within the riser pipes of a closed-loop solar thermo-syphon hot water system

Solar energy is one of the main sources of renewable energy that is abundantly available throughout the world. Solar energy can be used for useful purposes through a number of mechanical artefacts. One such artefact is known as Thermo-syphon, which typically contains water as its working fluid. One of the major applications of Thermo-syphon is within the residential and industrial units, where a constant supply of hot water is required. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solvers has recently been proven capable of predicting the flow behaviour within thermo-syphons with reasonable accuracy. Hence, the present study focuses on using a commercial CFD based solver to predict the flow behaviour within the riser pipes of a thermo-syphon with varying solar heat flux and thermal loading conditions. In order to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the flow structure within the riser pipes of the thermo-syphon, velocity magnitude and static temperature distributions within these pipes is analysed in detail. The results depict that the solar heat flux has a significant impact on the velocity magnitude and static temperature profiles within the riser pipes. Furthermore, it has been observed that the thermal loading has negligible effects on the velocity magnitude and static temperature profiles within the riser pipes. The data has also been used to develop novel design correlations

An Empirical Analasis of Market reaction Around the Bonus Issues in India

Past researches have revealed significant abnormal returns for bonus issues even though the bonus issue date is known in advance and the distribution contains no new information. This study examines the stock price reaction to the information content of bonus issues with a view of examining the Indian stock market is semi-strong efficient or not. The period of the study is June 1998 to August 2004. Samples of 46 bonus issues have been used to study the announcement effect by using event study methodology. The results indicate that there are significant positive abnormal returns for a five-day period prior to bonus announcement in line with evidence from developed stock market. On the announcement day the average abnormal return of -0.10% is observed. The results provide stronger evidence of semi-strong market efficiency of the Indian stock market.Bonus Issues, India, stock market, abnormal returns, semi strong efficient, event study, cumulative abnormal return, Cowan Test, Standardized abnormal return,