Combustion of fuel blends containing digestate pyrolysis oil in a multi-cylinder compression ignition engine

Digestate from the anaerobic digestion conversion process is widely used as a farm land fertiliser. This study proposes an alternative use as a source of energy. Dried digestate was pyrolysed and the resulting oil was blended with waste cooking oil and butanol (10, 20 and 30 vol.%). The physical and chemical properties of the pyrolysis oil blends were measured and compared with pure fossil diesel and waste cooking oil. The blends were tested in a multi-cylinder indirect injection compression ignition engine.Engine combustion, exhaust gas emissions and performance parameters were measured and compared with pure fossil diesel operation. The ASTM copper corrosion values for 20% and 30% pyrolysis blends were 2c, compared to 1b for fossil diesel. The kinematic viscosities of the blends at 40 C were 5–7 times higher than that of fossil diesel. Digested pyrolysis oil blends produced lower in-cylinder peak pressures than fossil diesel and waste cooking oil operation. The maximum heat release rates of the blends were approximately 8% higher than with fossil diesel. The ignition delay periods of the blends were higher; pyrolysis oil blends started to combust late and once combustion started burnt quicker than fossil diesel. The total burning duration of the 20% and 30% blends were decreased by 12% and 3% compared to fossil diesel. At full engine load, the brake thermal efficiencies of the blends were decreased by about 3–7% when compared to fossil diesel. The pyrolysis blends gave lower smoke levels; at full engine load, smoke level of the 20% blend was 44% lower than fossil diesel. In comparison to fossil diesel and at full load, the brake specific fuel consumption (wt.) of the 30% and 20% blends were approximately 32% and 15% higher. At full engine load, the CO emission of the 20% and 30% blends were decreased by 39% and 66% with respect to the fossil diesel. Blends CO2 emissions were similar to that of fossil diesel; at full engine load, 30% blend produced approximately 5% higher CO2 emission than fossil diesel. The study concludes that on the basis of short term engine experiment up to 30% blend of pyrolysis oil from digestate of arable crops can be used in a compression ignition engine

Antiulcer, wound healing and hepatoprotective activities of the seaweeds Gracilaria crassa, Turbinaria ornata and Laurencia papillosa from the southeast coast of India

Seaweeds have bioactive compounds of interest in the pharmaceutical industry. In India, seaweeds are used exclusively for phycocolloids production and have not yet received consideration as a dietary supplement. So, it has become imperative to explore the biomedical potential of seaweeds and promote their utilization as a functional food. The seaweeds Turbinaria ornata, Gracillaria crassa and Laurencia papillosa, collected from the Tuticorin coast of the Southeast coast of India and selected based on preliminary screening, were extracted with acetone and evaluated for antiulcer, wound healing and hepatoprotective activities. L. papillosa showed the highest level of gastric protection activity (81%) at 200 mg/kg, comparable to the standard drug ranitidine (90%). G. crassa followed with 76%. G. crassa and L. papillosa, showed marked wound-healing activity. G. crassa at 200 mg/kg, showed a marked effect on the serum marker enzymes indicating prominent hepatoprotective activity. The noteworthy wound-healing and hepato-protective properties of G. crassa besides anti-ulcer activity next to L. papillosa were indicative of its potential for further consideration

A comparative study on growth performance of crossbred and purebred Mecheri sheep raised under dry land farming conditions

In order to improve mutton production, Dorset x Mandya and Dorset x Nellore halfbred rams were mated with Mecheri ewes to produce Dorset x Mecheri x Mandya and Dorset x Mecheri x Nellore quarterbreds. Least-squares analyses of the body weight of crossbred (n = 541) and purebred (n = 959) Mecheri sheep were made. The overall means for bodyweight of crossbred Mecheri sheep at birth, three, six, nine and 12 months of age were 2.27 ± 0.05, 7.97 ± 0.24, 11.84 ± 0.38, 14.73 ± 0.48 and 17.55 ± 0.56 kg, respectively and for purebred Mecheri sheep the values were 2.27 ± 0.02, 7.80 ± 0.10, 11.48 ± 0.15, 14.04 ± 0.17 and 16.23 ± 0.18 kg, respectively. Crossbreds had higher body weight than purebred Mecheri sheep at all age groups. However, it was not significant up to nine months of age. In general, period of lambing and sex of the lambs had significant effects on body weight of both genetic groups at different ages. The estimates of heritability for body weight ranged from 0.177 ± 0.129 to 0.338 ± 0.176 among different age groups. Highest heritability estimates were obtained for body weight at three and six months of age, hence these traits may be considered as selection criteria for improving the body weight of Mecheri sheep at different age groups

Ocorrência de Hyblaea puera (Cramer, 1777)(Lepidoptera: Hyblaeidae) em teca no Brasil Occurrence of the teak defoliator Hyblaea puera (Cramer, 1777) (Lepidoptera: Hyblaeidae) in teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) in Brazil

Relata-se a ocorrência de Hyblaea puera (Cramer, 1777) em povoamentos homogêneos de teca, Tectona grandis L.f., no Brasil. Infestações dessa praga foram observadas em reflorestamentos localizados nos municípios de Cáceres e Rosário Oeste, Estado de Mato Grosso. Cita-se, também, a ocorrência deste lepidóptero em outras localidades brasileiras: Chapada dos Guimarães (MT), Nobres (MT), Jataí (GO), Dourados (MS) e Rio de Janeiro (RJ).<br>The occurrence of the Hyblaea puera (Cramer, 1777) in homogeneous plantations of teak, Tectona grandis L.f., in Brazil, is reported here. Infestations of this pest were observed in the districts of Cáceres and Rosário Oeste, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The occurrence of this moth is also registered in other Brazilian areas such as: Chapada dos Guimarães and Nobres (State of Mato Grosso), Jataí (State of Goiás), Dourados (State of Mato Grosso do Sul) and Rio de Janeiro (State of Rio de Janeiro)

A comparative study on electrochemical cycling stability of lithium rich layered cathode materials Li1.2Ni0.13M0.13Mn0.54O2 where M ¼ Feor Co

In this work we compare electrochemical cycling stability of Fe containing Li rich phase Li1.2Ni0.13- Fe0.13Mn0.54O2 (FeeLi rich) with the well-known Co containing Li rich composition Li1.2Ni0.13- Co0.13Mn0.54O2 (CoeLi rich). During the first charge, the activation plateau corresponding to removal of Li2O from the structure is smaller (removal of 0.6 Li) in the case of FeeLi rich compared to CoeLi rich composition (0.8 Li removal). Consequently, the Fe compound shows better capacity retention; for example, after 100 cycles FeeLi rich compound exhibits 20% capacity degradation where as it is about 40% in the case of CoeLi rich phase. The electrochemical and microscopy studies support the fact that compared to CoeLi rich compound, the FeeLi rich composition display smaller voltage decay and reduced spinel conversion. XPS studies on charged/discharged FeeLi rich samples show participation of Feþ3/Feþ4 redox during electrochemical cycling which is further supported by our first principles calculations. Also the temperature dependent magnetic studies on charge-discharged samples of FeeLi rich compound point out that magnetic behavior is sensitive to cation oxidation states and Ni/Li disorde