Modeling of thin layer drying kinetics of grape juice concentrate and quality assessment of developed grape leather

Abstract: Studies on modeling of thin layer drying kinetics of grape juice concentrate were conducted using pilot scale convective dryer.  Experiments were conducted in temperature range of 55-750C and drying bed thickness of 3-7 mm, to attain desired moisture content (14±1% db).  Different thin layer drying models like newton, page, logarithmic, two term, two term exponential and midilli models were fitted to the experimental data of convective dehydration and their adequacy of fit was investigated.  All the samples witnessed falling rate period drying irrespective of the selected temperature and thickness.  The effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy were found in range of 7.18-2.56 m2/sec and 26.07-21.59 kJ/mole respectively for 3-7 mm drying bed thickness.  Among the various models investigated, two term exponential model was found to be best fitted model for depicting the drying kinetics of grape juice concentrate.  The quality properties such as total sugars, non enzymatic browning (NEB), protein, titrable acidity, texture (cutting force), color change, water activity and overall acceptability of dried grape leather were determined and data were analyzed as per ANOVA.  The grape leather developed at 550C drying temperature witnessed maximum acceptability irrespective of the drying bed thickness.   Keywords: convective drying, drying kinetics, drying models, grapes, quality parameter

Formulation and optimization of foam mat dried grape bar

 A five level four factors central composite rotatable design under response surface methodology was used to optimize process conditions of the foam mat drying process i.e. egg albumen (0-12%), methyl cellulose (0.1-0.5%), drying bed thickness (3-7mm) and drying temperature (55-750C) to develop grape bar with final moisture content of 14±1 % (db). Contour and response graphs were generated and the effect of foaming parameters on the quality parameters namely drying time, color change, texture, non-enzymatic browning, total sugars (%), titrable acidity (%), protein (%) and overall acceptability (%) were studied. Significant regression models were established with the coefficient of determination, R2 (≥0.90). Optimization of process for grape bar was performed to result minimum drying time, color change, cutting force, non enzymatic browning and maximum overall acceptability and optimized process conditions were 5.51 % egg albumen, 0.31% methyl cellulose, 4 mm drying bed thickness and 600C drying temperature with desirability 0.74

Exploration of promising optical and electronic properties of (non-polymer) small donor molecules for organic solar cells

Abstract Non-fullerene based organic compounds are considered promising materials for the fabrication of modern photovoltaic materials. Non-fullerene-based organic solar cells comprise of good photochemical and thermal stability along with longer device lifetimes as compared to fullerene-based compounds. Five new non-fullerene donor molecules were designed keeping in view the excellent donor properties of 3-bis(4-(2-ethylhexyl)-thiophen-2-yl)-5,7-bis(2ethylhexyl) benzo[1,2-:4,5-c′]-dithiophene-4,8-dione thiophene-alkoxy benzene-thiophene indenedione (BDD-IN) by end-capped modifications. Photovoltaic and electronic characteristics of studied molecules were determined by employing density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). Subsequently, obtained results were compared with the reference molecule BDD-IN. The designed molecules presented lower energy difference (ΔΕ) in the range of 2.17–2.39 eV in comparison to BDD-IN (= 2.72 eV). Moreover, insight from the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis disclosed that central acceptors are responsible for the charge transformation. The designed molecules were found with higher λmax values and lower transition energies than BDD-IN molecule due to stronger end-capped acceptors. Open circuit voltage (Voc) was observed in the higher range (1.54–1.78 V) in accordance with HOMOdonor–LUMOPC61BM by designed compounds when compared with BDD-IN (1.28 V). Similarly, lower reorganization energy values were exhibited by the designed compounds in the range of λe(0.00285–0.00370 Eh) and λh(0.00847–0.00802 Eh) than BDD-IN [λe(0.00700 Eh) and λh(0.00889 Eh)]. These measurements show that the designed compounds are promising candidates for incorporation into solar cell devices, which would benefit from better hole and electron mobility

Measurement of isolated photon-hadron correlations in √sNN = 5.02 TeV pp and p-Pb collisions

This paper presents isolated photon-hadron correlations using pp and p-Pb data collected by the ALICE detector at the LHC. For photons with |η|<0.67 and 12<pT<40 GeV/c, the associated yield of charged particles in the range |η|<0.80 and 0.5<pT<10 GeV/c is presented. These momenta are much lower than previous measurements at the LHC. No significant difference between pp and p-Pb is observed, with Pythia 8.2 describing both data sets within uncertainties. This measurement constrains nuclear effects on the parton fragmentation in p-Pb collisions, and provides a benchmark for future studies of Pb-Pb collisions.publishedVersio

Constraining the Chiral Magnetic Effect with charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV

Systematic studies of charge-dependent two- and three-particle correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV used to probe the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) are presented. These measurements are performed for charged particles in the pseudorapidity (η) and transverse momentum (pT) ranges |η| < 0.8 and 0.2 < pT < 5 GeV/c. A significant charge-dependent signal that becomes more pronounced for peripheral collisions is reported for the CME-sensitive correlators γ1, 1 = 〈cos(φα + φβ − 2Ψ2)〉 and γ1, − 3 = 〈cos(φα − 3φβ + 2Ψ2)〉. The results are used to estimate the contribution of background effects, associated with local charge conservation coupled to anisotropic flow modulations, to measurements of the CME. A blast-wave parametrisation that incorporates local charge conservation tuned to reproduce the centrality dependent background effects is not able to fully describe the measured γ1,1. Finally, the charge and centrality dependence of mixed-harmonics three-particle correlations, of the form γ1, 2 = 〈cos(φα + 2φβ − 3Ψ3)〉, which are insensitive to the CME signal, verify again that background contributions dominate the measurement of γ1,1.publishedVersio

J/ψ production as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in p-Pb collisions at √sNN = 8.16 TeV

Inclusive J/ψ yields and average transverse momenta in p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN−−−√ = 8.16 TeV are measured as a function of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density with ALICE. The J/ψ mesons are reconstructed at forward (2.03 < ycms < 3.53) and backward (−4.46 < ycms < −2.96) center-of-mass rapidity in their dimuon decay channel while the charged-particle pseudorapidity density is measured around midrapidity. The J/ψ yields at forward and backward rapidity normalized to their respective average values increase with the normalized charged-particle pseudorapidity density, the former showing a weaker increase than the latter. The normalized average transverse momenta at forward and backward rapidity manifest a steady increase from low to high charged-particle pseudorapidity density with a saturation beyond the average value.publishedVersio

J/ψ elliptic and triangular flow in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV

The inclusive J/ψ elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) flow coefficients measured at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) and the v2 measured at midrapidity (|y| < 0.9) in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported. The entire Pb-Pb data sample collected during Run 2 is employed, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 750 μb−1 at forward rapidity and 93 μb−1 at midrapidity. The results are obtained using the scalar product method and are reported as a function of transverse momentum pT and collision centrality. At midrapidity, the J/ψ v2 is in agreement with the forward rapidity measurement. The centrality averaged results indicate a positive J/ψ v3 with a significance of more than 5σ at forward rapidity in the pT range 2 < pT < 5 GeV/c. The forward rapidity v2, v3, and v3/v2 results at low and intermediate pT (pT ≲ 8 GeV/c) exhibit a mass hierarchy when compared to pions and D mesons, while converging into a species-independent curve at higher pT. At low and intermediate pT, the results could be interpreted in terms of a later thermalization of charm quarks compared to light quarks, while at high pT, path-length dependent effects seem to dominate. The J/ψ v2 measurements are further compared to a microscopic transport model calculation. Using a simplified extension of the quark scaling approach involving both light and charm quark flow components, it is shown that the D-meson vn measurements can be described based on those for charged pions and J/ψ flow.publishedVersio

Elliptic and triangular flow of (anti)deuterons in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The measurements of the (anti)deuteron elliptic flow (v2) and the first measurements of triangular flow (v3) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision √sNN = 5.02 TeV are presented. A mass ordering at low transverse momentum (pT) is observed when comparing these measurements with those of other identified hadrons, as expected from relativistic hydrodynamics. The measured (anti)deuteron v2 lies between the predictions from the simple coalescence and blast-wave models, which provide a good description of the data only for more peripheral and for more central collisions, respectively. The mass number scaling, which is violated for v2, is approximately valid for the (anti)deuterons v3. The measured v2 and v3 are also compared with the predictions from a coalescence approach with phase-space distributions of nucleons generated by iebe-vishnu with ampt initial conditions coupled with urqmd, and from a dynamical model based on relativistic hydrodynamics coupled to the hadronic afterburner smash. The model predictions are consistent with the data within the uncertainties in midcentral collisions, while a deviation is observed in the most central collisions.publishedVersio