Dry Beneficiation of High Ash Non-coking Coal Using an Air Dense Medium Fluidized Bed

In this project, dry beneficiation of high ash non-coking coal has been conducted by air dense medium fluidized bed. For dry separation, creating and sustaining the air dense medium is a complex process which requires intensive investigation. The dynamic stability of the bed which plays an important role in the sharpness of the separation has also been studied. Based on experimental data, four dimensionless groups i.e. Froude number, Reynolds number, ratio of density of fluid and solid and aspect ratio of the system are used to characterize the stability and quality of fluidization. The above stabilized bed is used to beneficiate coarse coal of -10 +0.1 mm size. The quality of separation is judged by ash analysis of the beneficiated coal samples collected from specified heights of the bed. Enrichment is represented as a function of different operating parameters represented by four dimensionless groups obtained from dimensional analysis approach. The values of enrichment calculated with the developed correlation have been tested which agrees fairly well with the experimental values of enrichment. Keywords: Air dense medium fluidized bed, dry beneficiation of coal, Dynamic stability of bed, Coal enrichment

THE COAL CHALLENGE IN INDIA

Coal contributes over half of India’s primary commercial energy and is likely to remain India’s most important source of energy for the coming decade or two. However, extraction and usage of coal leads to severe environmental problems within India and also contributes to climate change inducing green-house gas emissions. But the challenges of coal in India go beyond this, as the sector is plagued with governance challenges, inefficiency and allegations of corruption. This article takes a holistic view of the Indian coal sector. It summarizes the challenges produced by coal as well as the challenges that affect the sector. Furthermore, the article provides a glimpse into the perspectives of an energy future for the country with a reduced role for coal

Synthesis and Evaluation of Canola Oil Derived Biolubricants Using Heterogeneous Catalysts

The current research is focused on the preparation of a value-added product called biolubricant using canola oil and canola biodiesel as feedstocks. The presence of unsaturation among the selected feedstocks limits their application as a potential lubricant because unsaturation renders unfavourable oxidative and thermal stability, and poor lubricity when used as a lubricant. The two-step reaction pathway chosen to remove unsaturation in both the feedstocks and make potential lubricants are: (1) epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the canola oil/canola biodiesel followed by epoxide ring opening and vicinal di-O-acetylation with acetic anhydride; and (2) epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the canola oil/canola biodiesel followed by epoxide ring opening and O-alkylation with 1-propanol. This research work is primarily focused on the preparation and development of heterogeneous catalysts using metal oxides or metal supported catalysts for the above-mentioned two-step synthesis procedure. The research work is divided into four phases. The first phase involved preparation of a heterogeneous catalyst for the epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the canola oil. Sulfated tin oxide demonstrated promising activity with 100% conversion of canola oil to epoxidized canola oil (biolubricant base oil) at the optimum conditions such as: temperature (70oC), ethylenic unsaturation in the canola oil to H2O2 molar ratio (1:3), ethylenic unsaturation in the canola oil to acetic acid molar ratio (1:2), catalyst loading of 10 wt% with respect to feed taken and reaction time of 6 h. Catalyst characterization was made to study the properties of sulfated-SnO2 that promoted epoxidation reaction. Co-ordination of sulfate ions to the tin oxide surface after the calcination at 550oC is found necessary because sulfate ions induce Lewis and Bronsted acidity to the catalyst surface. The epoxidation of canola oil reaction followed pseudo first-order reaction and the calculated activation energy was found to be 18 kcal/mol. The second phase involved with the preparation of vicinal di-O-acetylated canola oil (biolubricant type 1) using heterogeneous catalyst by epoxide ring opening and vicinal di-O-acetylation of epoxidized canola oil. Catalyst screening tests showed that sulfated-ZrO2 is highly selective in complete conversion of epoxidized canola oil to vicinal di-O-acetylated canola oil. The optimum conditions obtained from the Taguchi experimental design are: reaction temperature (130 oC), epoxy to acetic anhydride molar ratio (1: 1.25), 16 wt% of catalyst loading with respect to the quantity of feed (epoxidized oil) taken, and a reaction time of 1 h 15 min. The reaction was found to follow the second-order and the calculated activation energy was 23 kcal/mol. The third phase of the work is focused on the development of a single heterogeneous catalyst that is active for both epoxidation, epoxide ring opening and vicinal di-O-acetylation reactions in a single pot. 10 wt% MoO3/Al2O3 was found to be highly active and selective in complete conversion of unsaturated canola oil to vicinal di-O-acetylated canola oil in a single pot in minimum reaction time. The optimum conditions obtained based on response surface methodology are: unsaturation in the canola oil to tert-butyl hydroperoxide molar ratio (1: 2.25), 10 wt% MoO3/Al2O3 as catalyst for both steps, 12 wt% of catalyst loading with respect to amount of canola oil taken, epoxide to acetic anhydride molar ratio (1:2) and a reaction time of 5 h 30 min. These optimum conditions are also applied for the one-pot synthesis of vicinal di-O-acetylated canola biodiesel and complete conversion was found to happen in 4 h and 15 min. The developed one-pot synthesis procedure was found effective in minimizing work-up procedures for product extraction, minimized catalyst usage and reaction time. Further, evaluation and comparison of physicochemical properties of vicinal di-O-acetylated canola oil and vicinal di-O-acetylated canola biodiesel were also made to identify their application as a lubricant for various applications. In the fourth phase O-propylated canola oil (biolubricant type 2) was synthesized from epoxidized canola oil by epoxide ring opening and O-propylation reaction. Al-SBA-15 catalyst with Si/Al ratio 10 showed promising activity with 100% conversion at the optimum conditions (based on response surface methodology). Catalyst characterization showed that impregnation of aluminum in the crystal lattice of SBA-15 promoted epoxide ring opening and O-propylation reaction. The optimum conditions are temperature (100 oC), epoxy to 1-propanol molar ratio (1:6), catalyst loading of 12 wt% with respect to epoxidized canola oil taken, and a reaction time of 6 h. The reaction kinetic showed that epoxide ring opening and O-propylation reaction followed second-order reaction, and the apparent activation energy was 12 kcal/mol. Al-SBA-15 was found to be an efficient catalyst for the preparation of O-propylated canola biodiesel. 100 % conversion was achieved in 6 h reaction time. Determination of physicochemical properties of O-propylated canola oil and canola biodiesel showed that they meet the specifications of transmission gear oil and anti-wear hydraulic oils

Classification of Objects and Background Using Parallel Genetic Algorithm Based Clustering

In this paper, two novel strategies have been proposed to obtain segmentation of an object and background in a given scene. The first one, known as Featureless(FL) approach, deals with the histogram of the original image where Parallel Genetic Algorithm (PGA) based clustering notion is used to determine the optimal threshold from the discrete nature of the histogram distribution. In this regard, we have proposed a new interconnection model for PGA. The second scheme, the Featured Based(FB) approach, is based on the proposed featured histogram distribution. A feature from the given image is extracted and the histogram corresponding to the derived feature pixels is used to determine the optimal threshold for the original image. The proposed PGA based clustering is used to determine the optimal threshold. The performance of both the schemes is compared with that of Otsu's and Kwon's method and FB method is found to be the best among the three techniques

A Compact Elliptical Microstrip Patch Antenna for Future 5G Mobile Wireless Communication

International audienceIn this paper an elliptical inset fed microstrip patch antenna is proposed for future fifth generation (5G) mobile communications. The antenna is mounted on a compact Fr-4 substrate having dimensions 5 X 5 X 1.6 mm 3 with relative permittivity (ε r) 4.4.The antenna is simulated in the HFSS software and the simulated results shows that it is operating at 28 GHz for reflection coefficient (S 11) below-10dB and has relatively stable radiation pattern

The Assessment of Mucoadhesivity of Natural Polymer Derived Form Plant Sources

The main aim and objective of my present research work was to determine the various important mucoadhesive parameters such as mucoadhesive force, force of adhesion and bonding strength etc. Mucoadhesive properties of natural polymers were evaluated by formulating gels using Carbopol 940 P as a gelling agent. Mucoadhesive parameters of the prepared Carbopol 940 P gels containing natural polymers were determined by ex vivo followed by modified physical balance using excised cock intestinal mucosa. From the recent experimental data it was displayed that the mucoadhesive strength, force of adhesion and bonding strength of gel containing low methoxy pectin (1 % w/v) was found higher than other tested gels. The gel containing Moringa oleifera gum (1 % w/v) exhibited less mucoadhesion than other tested gels. The order of mucoadhesion of these plant-derived polymers was found as: low methoxy pectin > jackfruit seed starch > cashew gum/okra gum gum > pumpkin pectin > linseed mucilage > sago starch > gum Arabic > xanthan gum > fenugreek seed mucilage/black palm seed polysaccharide > Moringa oleifera gum. Keywords: Mucoadhesion, Mucoadhesive strength, gelling agent, intestinal mucosa, and plant derived polymers etc

Study of self drug administration among second professional medical students

Background: Self-medication is very common in our day to day life which is an unhealthy and risky practice. Present study was done to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice among second professional medical students.Methods: A questionnaire related to self-medication with consent was prepared and distributed among the students of second professional. Data was collected and analysed the results expressed as counts and percentages.Results: Total 100 students participated in the study for taking self-medication and was no need to visit the doctor for minor illness. In maximum students, source of information of the drugs used for self-medication pharmacological based and learning process in the college. The source of drug was medical store. Most of the students took self-medication for loose motion and headache followed by cough, cold and fever. Out of total 100 students most of the students took paracetamol tablet as self-medication.Conclusions: This study showed that second professional medical students after studying pharmacological books they do not use any wrong medicine as self-medication. High level of awareness of second professional students has minimized self medication

Prevalence and determinants of unmet need for family planning in Kishanganj district, Bihar, India

Background: Unmet need is a valuable indicator for assessing the achievements of national family planning programs. The present study was undertaken with the objectives to determine the magnitude of unmet need for family planning among the married women of reproductive age group (15-49 years), to evaluate the various factors that influence the unmet need and to explore the common reasons for unmet need for family planning. Methods: A community based, cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2012 in Laucha village in Kishanganj, Bihar through multistage sampling. Married women aged 15-49 years, who were permanent residents of the village, were selected by complete enumeration (330 in total) and interviewed through house to house survey with the help of a pre-designed, pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The total unmet need for family planning was 23.9%; 9.4% for spacing births and 14.5% for limiting births. The unmet need varied significantly with age (p < 0.05) and was highest in ≤ 19 years age group (33.7%). It was also significantly higher among illiterates, those with low monthly per capita income, among Muslims and among those having more than two living issues (p < 0.05). Husband’s disapproval (34.2%), lack of awareness (27.8%) and fear of side effects (24.1%) were common reasons behind the unmet need. Conclusion: the unmet need for family planning was quite high among the respondents and associated with various bio-social determinants that should be considered while planning for scaling-up the program

Giant Magnetoimpedance (GMI) Effect and Field Sensitivity of Ferrofluid Coated Co66Fe2Si13B15Cr4 Soft Magnetic Amorphous Microwire

AbstractCo66Fe2Si13B15Cr4 based amorphous microwire was developed at the laboratory using in-water quenching apparatus. The field sensitivity of the wire was enhanced when coated with ferrofluids. The presence of coating also decreased the frequency of the magnetising field 5MHz to 1MHz at which the maximum GMI ratio observed

Comparative evaluation of dental computed tomographic software program in the analysis of jaw lesions in comparison with panoramic radiographs

Background: Dental radiology has long played an exciting and critical diagnostic role in dentistry. The development of novel imaging modalities like computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized dental and medical diagnosis. However the role of conventional radiography in dentistry remains unparalleled. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of dental CT software compared to panoramic radiography in evaluation of the jaw lesions.Methods: Twenty cases of maxillary and mandibular jaw lesions were examined radiographically by digital panoramic radiography orthopantomography (OPG) and dental CT software. The radiographic images obtained with these two examination modalities were compared for visualization of antero-posterior extent of the lesion, dimension of the lesion, cortical bone involvement, tooth displacement, root resorption, involvement of the maxillary sinus, delineation of the neurovascular canal, presence or absence of calcification, imaging diagnosis of the lesion (cystic/solid).Results: The dental CT program rated significantly (P<0.001) higher in all points examined than the panoramic radiography. The dental CT program was found to be superior for detecting cortical bone involvement (P<0.02) and delineation of the mandibular canal (P<0.02) to the conventional CT program.Conclusions: Dentascan offers better characterization of the pathologic processes due to its ability to differentiate between different tissue types based on their Hounsfield units. Hence it can define the contents of the pathology as cystic or solid and thus predict the diagnosis of the lesion