Synthesis and characterization of zeolite NaY from rice husk silica

Rice husk silica (RHS) in amorphous phase with 98% purity was prepared from a waste rice husk from rice milling by leaching with hydrochloric acid and calcination. The RHS was used effectively as a silica source for the synthesis of zeolite Y in sodium form (NaY). The zeolite in pure phase was obtained from a two-step synthetic route in which the starting gels were mixed, aged for 24 h at room temperature and crystallized for 24 h at 90 °C. The diameter of single crystal particles from a scanning electron microscope was approximately 1.0 μm, whereas the average particle diameter from laser diffraction particle size analyzer was approximately 10 μm because of the agglomeration of small crystals. Longer crystallization time in this route resulted in a mixed phase containing NaY and zeolite P in sodium form (NaP). In addition, a one-step synthetic route (no aging) was studied and the product was also a mixed phase zeolite.     

Quality of subcutaneous,intermuscular and intramuscular fat tissue using elevated quantities of medium chain fatty acids in pig fattening

The present study comprised fat tissue samples of 46 (partly 23) pig carcasses randomly obtained from each one of four production systems: common fattening, pigs fattened on a low-fat diet and pigs grown on diets enriched with medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) in low or high amounts (0.3% and 3.6% C₈ with C₁₄, respectively). As models for subcutaneous, intermuscular and intramuscular fat tissues, back fat, dissected belly fat tissue and belly meat were used. In all fat tissues, the contents of MCFA were significantly elevated only with the high dietary content of MCFA, with a preferential retention of the MCFA in the storage tissues. In the MCFA supplemented groups, linoleic acid contents were slightly lower in subcutaneous and intermuscular fat as compared to the control group, in the group with the low-fat diet linoleic acid was considerably lower in all tissues. In spite of the only marginal differences in fatty acid pattern, the penetrometrically assessed firmness of backfat as well as the oxidative resistance of back and belly fat were almost twice as high in the high-MCFA group as in the other groups. In the low-fat group, water content of the back fat (16.9%) was higher than the average of the other groups (14.5%). The implications for routing assessment of fat tissue properties at slaughter plants are discussed.     

Hydrothermal Crystal Growth,Structures and Thermal Properties of Co(II)-4,4′-bipyridine-Based Coordination Polymeric Materials

Hydrothermal synthetic parameters were studied and optimized for the preparation of new coordination polymeric materials based on Co(II) and 4,4′-bipy. A new polymeric compound, [Co₂(H₂O)₂(OH)₂(4,4′-bipy)₈](NO₃)₂·2(4,4′-bipy) 10(H₂O) (1), was prepared and structurally characterized by single crystal experiment. The framework of (1) is made up of two different one-dimensional substructures, i.e., the neutral chain A and positively charged chain B, both of which share the same nodes and node linkers. This is rarely found, especially from a one-pot crystal growth technique. Two other crystals were also identified, i.e., [Co(SO₄)(H₂O)₃(4,4′-bipy)]·2(H₂O), and K₂Co(H₂O)₆(SO₄)₂. The optimization of synthetic parameters apparently favors the formation of different polymeric structures, and this can be experimentally fine tuned. The influences of these parameters on phase formation, purity and crystal growth are discussed. The complicated thermogravimetric property of the new compound is also reported.     

Aristolactam-Type Alkaloids from Orophea enterocarpa and Their Cytotoxicities

A new aristolactam, named enterocarpam-III (10-amino-2,3,4,6-tetramethoxy phenanthrene-1-carboxylic acid lactam, 1) together with the known alkaloid stigmalactam (2), were isolated from Orophea enterocarpa. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of interpretation of their spectroscopic data. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited significant cytotoxicities against human colon adenocarcinoma (HCT15) cell line with IC(50) values of 1.68 and 1.32 μM, respectively.     

Cobalt(ethylenediamine)sulfate: A Pillared Layered Coordination Polymer

A pillared-layered coordination polymer of formula Co(H₂NCH₂CH₂NH₂)SO₄ (1) has been synthesized under solvothermal condition, and fully characterized. The three-dimensional structure of 1 is built up from cobalt sulfate sheets, each of which is composed of regularly alternating CoO₄N₂ octahedra and SO₄ tetrahedra, with ethylenediamine pillars connecting the adjacent sheets. The coordinate covalent and hydrogen bonds have been revealed to exhibit an important role in the organization of the structure. The compound is found to be thermally stable up to, and above, 573 K and exhibits paramagnetic behavior at room temperature.     

The Development of Ginger Drying Using Tray Drying,Heat Pump–Dehumidified Drying,and Mixed-Mode Solar Drying

Mature ginger was pretreated by soaking in citric acid prior to drying in a single layer in a tray and heat pump dehumidified dryer at three temperatures of 40, 50, and 60°C and in a mixed-mode solar dryer at 62.82°C and a radiation intensity of 678 W/m². The drying data were applied to the modified Page model. Diffusivities were also determined using the drying data. Quality evaluation by color values, reabsorption, and 6-gingerol content showed best quality for ginger with no predrying treatment and dried at 40°C in a heat pump–dehumidified dryer. At drying temperature of 60 to 62.82°C, no pretreated dried ginger from mixed-mode solar dryer provided the shortest drying time and retained 6-gingerol as high as heat pump–dehumidified dryer.     

A heuristic‐based design of robust SMES controller taking system uncertainties into consideration

In this paper, a heuristic‐based design of robust superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) controller is proposed taking system uncertainties into consideration. The SMES model with active and reactive power controllers is used. In addition, the effect of SMES coil current is also included in the model. The power system and the SMES unit with the designed controller are formulated as an optimization problem. The proposed objective function considers both the damping performance index and the robust stability index. In particular, the robust SMES controller is designed to enhance the system damping performance and robustness against system uncertainties such as various load and system parameter changes. The robust stability margin is guaranteed in terms of the multiplicative stability margin (MSM). In the proposed method, the robust SMES active and reactive power controllers are designed systematically by using hybrid tabu search and evolutionary programming, so that the desired damping performance and the best obtainable MSM are acquired. Finally, the designed SMES controller is examined under different situations to evaluate and confirm the effectiveness and robustness via eigenvalue analysis and nonlinear simulations. © 2006 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Development of tailor-made synergistic cellulolytic enzyme system for saccharification of steam exploded sugarcane bagasse

1. Download high-res image (160KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

A robust SMES controller design for stabilization of inter-area oscillations based on wide area synchronized phasor measurements

This paper proposes a robust power controller design of superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) based on wide area synchronized phasor measurement units (PMUs) for stabilization of inter-area oscillation. The structure of active and reactive power controllers of SMES is the first-order lead/lag compensator. Assuming multiple PMUs are located in an interconnected power system, the steady state phasor data are obtained by applying the small load perturbation. Using the phasor data, the simplified oscillation model (SOM) included with SMES power controllers can be identified and applied to estimate the dominant inter-area oscillation modes. In the robust control design, unstructured system uncertainties such as various operating conditions, system parameters variation, etc., are represented by the inverse additive perturbation and included in the SOM. To enhance the system robust stability margin, the optimization of SMES control parameters is solved by genetic algorithm in the SOM. Simulation studies in the West Japan 6-machine power system confirm that the robustness of the proposed SMES is much superior to the conventional SMES against various operating conditions and fault locations.