Production and characterization of used cooking oil as an alternative fuel: optimization by response surface methodology

The application of biodiesel in internal combustion engines are increasing at a faster rate, due to the fact that biodiesel posses more oxygen content (Approximately 12 %), which helps in the complete combustion of the fuel. On the other hand the production cost of the biodiesel is high compared to mineral diesel fuel. This may be due to the availability of raw oil and its high initial cost. To minimize the high initial cost of the biodiesel used cooking oil is one of the best solutions. In this paper an attempt was made to analyze the fatty acid compositions and other characteristics of used cooking oil. Optimization techniques like response surface methodology (RSM) was successfully used for better yield estimation with the help of advanced software Design Expert. The optimum values of the variables were: oil to methanol ratio (1:8.37), catalyst concentration (0.74 Wt%), reaction temperature (47.950 °C) and reaction time (54.58 min) at 250 rpm. The predicted response value at these optimum values was 96.15 %. To confirm these optimum values, experimentations were conducted based on the optimum values and achieve the yield of 96 %. This shows that the yield of used cooking oil methyl ester is very near to the optimum value with an error of 0.15 % which may be accepted. This showed that the model correctly explains the influence of the process variables on the production of FAME from used cooking oil (UCOME). And from the gas chromatography results there is equal distribution of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. 14 % oxygen can be acclaimed in UCOME by elemental analysis. Unsaturated level of fatty acids are observed

Geomagnetic storm effects on GPS based navigation

The energetic events on the sun, solar wind and subsequent effects on the Earth's geomagnetic field and upper atmosphere (ionosphere) comprise space weather. Modern navigation systems that use radio-wave signals, reflecting from or propagating through the ionosphere as a means of determining range or distance, are vulnerable to a variety of effects that can degrade the performance of the navigational systems. In particular, the Global Positioning System (GPS) that uses a constellation of earth orbiting satellites are affected due to the space weather phenomena. <br><br> Studies made during two successive geomagnetic storms that occurred during the period from 8 to 12 November 2004, have clearly revealed the adverse affects on the GPS range delay as inferred from the Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements made from a chain of seven dual frequency GPS receivers installed in the Indian sector. Significant increases in TEC at the Equatorial Ionization anomaly crest region are observed, resulting in increased range delay during the periods of the storm activity. Further, the storm time rapid changes occurring in TEC resulted in a number of phase slips in the GPS signal compared to those on quiet days. These phase slips often result in the loss of lock of the GPS receivers, similar to those that occur during strong(>10 dB) L-band scintillation events, adversely affecting the GPS based navigation

Novel phytosynthesis of nanoparticles using Indigeneous Australian Plants

Nanoparticles are considered to be the building blocks of nanotechnology. Biosynthesis of nanoparticles using plant material is an exciting and relatively new developing research area in nanobiotechnology. In the present study, Eucalyptus leaves were collected from Olive pink botanical garden, Alice Springs, Australia and were used to synthesize silver nanoparticles. Cubical structured and well monodispersed silver nanoparticles were formed with an average size of 50nm. The formed silver nanoparticles are found to have promising applications in medicine as good antimicrobial agents. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on exploiting indigeneous Australian plant sources for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles

Schwannoma arising from hypoglossal nerve in the submandibular triangle: a case report

Hypoglossal schwannomas usually develop in the intracranial portion of the brain. The incidence of hypoglossal schwannomas of the submandibular region is extremely rare. Here we report a case of schwannoma arising from the extracranial hypoglossal nerve in the left submandibular region

Remote surface inspection system

This paper reports on an on-going research and development effort in remote surface inspection of space platforms such as the Space Station Freedom (SSF). It describes the space environment and identifies the types of damage for which to search. This paper provides an overview of the Remote Surface Inspection System that was developed to conduct proof-of-concept demonstrations and to perform experiments in a laboratory environment. Specifically, the paper describes three technology areas: (1) manipulator control for sensor placement; (2) automated non-contact inspection to detect and classify flaws; and (3) an operator interface to command the system interactively and receive raw or processed sensor data. Initial findings for the automated and human visual inspection tests are reported

Temporal and spatial variations in TEC using simultaneous measurements from the Indian GPS network of receivers during the low solar activity period of 2004?2005

International audienceWith the recent increase in the satellite-based navigation applications, the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and the L-band scintillation measurements have gained significant importance. In this paper we present the temporal and spatial variations in TEC derived from the simultaneous and continuous measurements made, for the first time, using the Indian GPS network of 18 receivers located from the equator to the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region and beyond, covering a geomagnetic latitude range of 1° S to 24° N, using a 16-month period of data for the low sunspot activity (LSSA) years of March 2004 to June 2005. The diurnal variation in TEC at the EIA region shows its steep increase and reaches its maximum value between 13:00 and 16:00 LT, while at the equator the peak is broad and occurs around 16:00 LT. A short-lived day minimum occurs between 05:00 to 06:00 LT at all the stations from the equator to the EIA crest region. Beyond the crest region the day maximum values decrease with the increase in latitude, while the day minimum in TEC is flat during most of the nighttime hours, i.e. from 22:00 to 06:00 LT, a feature similar to that observed in the mid-latitudes. Further, the diurnal variation in TEC show a minimum to maximum variation of about 5 to 50 TEC units, respectively, at the equator and about 5 to 90 TEC units at the EIA crest region, which correspond to range delay variations of about 1 to 8 m at the equator to about 1 to 15 m at the crest region, at the GPS L1 frequency of 1.575 GHz. The day-to-day variability is also significant at all the stations, particularly during the daytime hours, with maximum variations at the EIA crest regions. Further, similar variations are also noticed in the corresponding equatorial electrojet (EEJ) strength, which is known to be one of the major contributors for the observed day-to-day variability in TEC. The seasonal variation in TEC maximizes during the equinox months followed by winter and is minimum during the summer months, a feature similar to that observed in the integrated equatorial electrojet (IEEJ) strength for the corresponding seasons. In the Indian sector, the EIA crest is found to occur in the latitude zone of 15° to 25° N geographic latitudes (5° to 15° N geomagnetic latitudes). The EIA also maximizes during equinoxes followed by winter and is not significant in the summer months in the LSSA period, 2004?2005. These studies also reveal that both the location of the EIA crest and its peak value in TEC are linearly related to the IEEJ strength and increase with the increase in IEEJ

Visualisation of an entangled channel spin-1 system

Co-variance matrix formalism gives powerful entanglement criteria for continuous as well as finite dimensional systems. We use this formalism to study a mixed channel spin-1 system which is well known in nuclear reactions. A spin-j state can be visualized as being made up of 2j spinors which are represented by a constellation of 2j points on a Bloch sphere using Majorana construction. We extend this formalism to visualize an entangled mixed spin-1 system.Comment: 4 pages,4 figure

Chemical Oscillations in Mn2+-catalysed Belousov-Zhabotinskii Reaction in Orthophosphoric Acid Medium

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