FT-IR Technique in Marine Sludge Studies

FT-IR spectroscopy is a quick and useful method to monitor the sludge process: however any particular sludge mixture needs preliminary studies of the spectra. The FT-IR technique was used to distinguish between different types of organic contents and to derive information concerning their composition and structural changes upon chemical modification. No special accessories were used: the reported sampling technique is commonly available in the infrared laboratories. The selection of the sampling technique used depends on the purpose of the study and on the physical state of the sample. KBr pressed disk technique was found to be very useful for a routine characterization of sludge during heat treatment. The study then reviews the major scientific and technological advances, focusing principally on the developments in raw materials compositions resulting from the introduction of certain key raw materials to enhance composition quality. As the interpretations of unfired marine sludge compositions and the relation of fired marine sludge compositions have drawn particular attention from the scientific community, the paper addresses these issues in depth.ÂÂ

Mechanical properties related to use of glass waste as a raw material in porcelain stoneware tile mixtures

Porcelain represents one of the most complex ceramics, formulated from a mix of clay, feldspar and quartz are sintered to conform a glass-ceramic composite. Porcelain stoneware tile has excellent technical characteristics. Nowadays, research of new materials, for example non-hazardous wastes, that are able to replace the traditional fluxing agent with out changing the process or quality of the final products has been realized. The aim of this work is to study the possibility of the use of glass powder waste, in ceramic mixtures, for manufacturing of porcelain stoneware tiles. It was prepared by mixtures containing different amount of fireclay, glass waste, feldspar and quartz. The samples were fired reaching different maximum temperatures in the range 900-12000 C, with a soaking time of 1 hour. The fired samples were characterized and the use of small amounts of glass powder in addition with feldspar and quartz showed good results of mechanical technological properties. The 10F5Q5G was the only product that can be classified as a porcelain stoneware tile due to its properties

Measurement of Natural Radioactivity in Porcelain Stoneware Tiles

This paper presents the results of the measurement of natural radio activity present in the Porcelain stoneware tiles samples collected from the ceramic firms of Government Ceramic institute, Virudhachalam.  Natural radioactivity in the porcelain stoneware tiles samples in mainly due to 226Ra, 232Th and 40K and their daughter products.  In this study, these measurements have been estimated in Gamma-ray spectrometry and their levels for six samples are compared and also the Radium equivalent concentration (Raeq) is calculated. The gamma index is calculated and compared well with the reported values

Effect of variegated biosolids incorporation on the technological properties of fired clay bricks using Taguchi method

Green routes to effectively mitigate the extensive generation of variegated biosolids (VB) from the artisanal basketry sector has been specially constrained with traditional waste management practices. In this investigation, VB is used as a pore forming material in the development of fired clay bricks. Three compositional different bricks formulated with different dosages of VB (i.e., 0, 6 and 12 wt%) inclusion in brickmaking clay (BC) were fired at 900, 1000 and 1100 °C temperatures, and assessed for their physico-mechanical and thermal properties. Weight loss (WL) results showed the bricks WL increased with elevated firing and high addition VB admixed proportion. The highest 12.8% WL was observed among the BS12–1100 bricks. Fired shrinkage (FS) values were within recommended limits of 2.4–7.6%. Apparent Porosity (AP) results ranged from 19.3% to 38.6%. AP increased by 52.3% with VB addition but decreased up to 23.83% due to improved firing. Water absorption (WA) results were mostly found within the quality standards of 9.1 – 19.8%. Bulk density (BD) variations were observed between 1.3 g/cm3 and 2.2 g/cm3. Compressive strength (CS) reductions were in the acceptable range of 25.0 – 9.1 MPa. The thermal conductivity (TC) test results of the bricks showed a 28.59% improvement in the thermal insulation properties of the bricks. The Taguchi method revealed BS12–900 brick series as best optimized products due to its acceptable 9.1 MPa CS and least TC (0.452 W/mK). Thus, the usage of VB for brick production has an important contributory role to the economy and ecology of Ghana

Optimization and Thermodynamics Studies on Enzymatic Milk Fat Splitting Process using Soybean Lecithin

Abstract: Lecithin a natural product with unique surface active properties makes it ideal in food processing particularly for fat splitting applications. In the present work the effect of initial fat content, process time, initial enzyme concentration and temperature on splitting of milk was studied using soybean lecithin. The optimum conditions for the maximum percentage fat splitting and unsaturated fatty acid formation were found to be an initial fat content 0.3 g, processing time 90 min, lecithin concentration 5 mL of 3% (v/v) and temperature 40ºC. The maximum percentage fat splitting and unsaturated fatty acid formation were found to be 6.26% (w/w) and 23.24% (w/w) respectively. Activation energy (E a ) required for the milk fat splitting using soybean lecithin was found to be 0.44 J/mol

Effect of Annealing on the ZnS Nanocrystals Prepared by Chemical Precipitation Method

Nanocrystals of ZnS have been synthesized through simple chemical precipitation method using thiourea as sulphur source. The synthesized products were annealed at different temperatures in the range of 200–800∘C. The as-synthesized and annealed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible absorption (UV-Vis), and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The morphological features of ZnS annealed at 200 and 500∘C were studied by atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. The phase transformation of ZnS and formation of ZnO were confirmed by thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) curves

Optimization of Karanja oil transesterification

505-509Production of biodiesel through transesterification of Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil was studied. The Karanja oil was treated with a lower alcohol (methanol) in the presence of a base catalyst (KOH) to yield methyl esters of fatty acids (biodiesel) and glycerin. The influences of reaction temperature, molar ratio of alcohol to oil, amount of catalyst and reaction time on the product yield were studied. The optimal combination of operating parameters for maximum yield was found out using Taguchi’s method. The performance and emission tests were carried out in a four stroke single cylinder, Kirloskar Av1 D.I.Engine. Different blends of biodiesel with conventional diesel were tested. The results show an appreciable reduction in emission level and marginal increase in performance when compared with sole fuel. The results concluded that the biodiesel from Karanja oil can be used as an effective alternate in existing diesel engines without any engine hardware modifications

Synthesis and characterization of surfactant assisted Mn2+ doped ZnO nanocrystals

AbstractWe report the synthesis and characterization of Mn doped ZnO nanocrystals, both in the free standing and PVP capped particle forms. The nanocrystals size could be controlled by capping them with polyvinylpyrollidone and was estimated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The chemical compositions of the products were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy measurements reveal that the capping of ZnO leads to blue shift due to quantum confinement effect. The morphology of the particles was evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Both the Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) curves of the ZnO show no further weight loss and thermal effect at a temperature above 510°C