The Effect of Cooking Water Composition on Textural and Cooking Properties of Spaghetti

The effect of cooking water on both textural and cooking properties of spaghetti was investigated for spaghetti samples, which differ in protein content. The samples were analysed after cooking in deionised, laboratory tap water, deionised water with 2.5% salt and deionised water with 5.0% salt. Brands A, B, and C were usual durum wheat spaghetti and brand D was spaghetti enriched with bran. Regardless of the cooking water used, brand D had higher hardness and lower adhesiveness than other spaghetti samples and required longer cooking time to achieve optimum cooking. It was found that samples cooked deionised water had lower hardness and adhesiveness values as compared to samples cooked in salty water. It can be concluded that a certain amount of salt in the cooking water improves textural characteristics of cooked pasta.     

Soluble and conductive polypyrrole copolymers containing silicone tegomers

Soluble and processable conductive copolymers of silicone tegomers and pyrrole were developed. This was easily accomplished by the oxidative polymerization of pyrrole monomer by Ce(IV) salt in the presence of silicone tegomers with hydroxyl chain ends. The resulting copolymers were soluble in dimethylformamide. The products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, ¹H‐NMR, and four‐point probe conductivity, and their surface properties were investigated with contact‐angle measurements. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 2896–2901, 2003     

Preparation of Gadolina Stabilized Bismuth Oxide Doped with Boron via Electrospinning Technique

In this study, boron doped and undoped poly (vinyl) alcohol/bismuth–gadolina acetate (PVA/Bi–Gd) nanofibers were prepared using electrospinning technique then calcinated at 800 °C for 2 h. The originality of this study is the addition of boron to metal acetates. The effects of boron doping were investigated in terms of solution properties, morphological changes and thermal characteristics. The characteristics of the fibers were investigated with FT-IR, XRD, SEM and BET. The addition of boron did not only increase the thermal stability of the fibers, but also their diameters, which yielded stronger fibers. XRD analyses showed that boron doping increased the peak intensities and indicated that the boron doping enhanced the crystallite size. Moreover, no shifts were noticed in diffraction angles for boron doped and undoped samples. Therefore, boron doping did not significantly alter the lattice spacing. The SEM micrograph of the fibers showed that the addition of boron resulted in the formation of cross-linked bright-surfaced fibers. The average fiber diameter for boron doped and undoped fiber mats were 204 and 123 nm, respectively. Also, grain diameters of boron doped and undoped nanocrystalline sintered powders were measured as 140 and 118 nm, respectively. The BET results showed that boron undoped and doped Bi₂O₃–La₂O₃ nanocrystalline powder ceramic structures sintered at 800 °C have surface areas of 59.72 and 39.80 m²/g, respectively.     

Synthesis of N‐polyethereal polypyrroles and their application for the preconcentration of rare earth ions

Conducting polymers containing polyether pseudocages (P I , P II , P III ) have been synthesized via chemical oxidation of 1,5‐bis(1,1‐pyrrole)‐3‐oxabutane (M I ), 1,8‐bis(1,1‐pyrrole)‐3,6‐dioxahexane (M II ), and 1,11‐bis(1,1‐pyrrole)‐3,6,9‐trioxaundecane (M III ) using anhydrous FeCl₃ in CHCl₃. Because as obtained polymer resins did not give any response toward any cations, they were reduced (undoped) using chemical reducing agents. Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide was found to be more effective in undoping to obtain more reproducible and reusable polymer resins. The undoped polymer resins were tried in the extraction of rare earth metal ions from the aqueous medium. Among them, only P III resin removes La(III), Eu(III) and Yb(III) and can be employed for the preconcentration of these metal ions. For batch extraction of La(III), Eu(III) and Yb(III) at neutral pH values, percent recoveries of 98.0 ± 1.0, 90.7 ± 1.4, 87.3 ± 4.0, respectively, has been obtained. The sorption capacity is found as 1.3 mg of La(III) per gram of P III resin. The P III resin could be reused at least five times without significant change in its sorption capacity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Selective separation of cobalt and nickel by supported liquid membranes

The selective separation of cobalt from acidic media, containing both equimolar and nonequimolar mixtures of cobalt and nickel, was examined by supported liquid membranes using Alamine 336 as mobile carrier dissolved in various diluents. The membrane support was microporous hydrophobic polypropylene Celgard 2500 (25 μm thick, 0.209 × 0.054 μm pore size and 55% porosity). Acetic acid-Na acetate buffer was used for the adjustment of the feed pH which was critical. Various parameters were experimentally studied and the optimum conditions were determined.     

Microstructure,wear and corrosion characteristics of multiple-reinforced (SiC–B4C–Al2O3) Al matrix composites produced by liquid metal infiltration

In this study, AA7075 aluminum matrix composites reinforced with the combination of SiC, Al₂O₃, and B₄C particles were fabricated by the liquid metal infiltration method. The effects of the relative ratio of B₄C and Al₂O₃ particles on the microstructural, wear, and corrosion features of the composite samples were analyzed using XRD, light metal microscopy, SEM, EDS, Brinell hardness, ball-on-disc type tribometer, and potentiodynamic polarization devices. It was determined that infiltration occurred more successfully, and homogenously distributed particles with reduced porosity were obtained as the amount of Al₂O₃ increased. Worn surface studies revealed that the specimens were predominantly worn by abrasion and adhesion. The increase in B₄C/Al₂O₃ ratio caused a decrease in the hardness and wear strength, whereas it increased the corrosion resistance.     

Entropy generation in the flow system generated in between two parallel plates due to bivertical motion of the top plate

Thermodynamic irreversibility in the flow system provides information on the energy and power losses in the system. Minimization of entropy generation in the flow system enables for the parametric optimization of the system operation. In the present study, parallel plates, in between, filled with the fluid are considered. The fluid motion resulted from the bi-vertical compression of the top plate of the parallel plates is examined. The entropy generation rate in the flow system is formulated after considering the constant movement of the top plate, constant applied load, and the combination of the constant velocity and applied load to the top plate. The optimum operating conditions related to the fluid motion in between the parallel plates is determined through the entropy analysis. It is found that the combination of the constant velocity and the constant applied load resulted in the low entropy generation rate.     

Diffusion bonding of electroless Ni plated WC composite to Cu and AISI 316 stainless steel

In this study, a composite containing WC (Tungsten Carbide) and Ni was produced by two different processing routes. Electroless Ni coated WC powders were consolidated and sintered at 1200 °C. Diffusion bonding couples of WC(Ni)-electrolytic Cu, WC(Ni)-AISI 316 stainless steel and WC(Ni)-WC(Ni) were manufactured by using a preloaded compression system under Ar atmosphere. Diffusion bonding was carried out at varying bonding temperatures; 750 °C for (WC)Ni-Cu diffusion couple and 1200 °C for (WC)Ni-(WC)Ni and (WC)Ni-AISI 316 stainless steel diffusion couples. Standard metallographic techniques, Scanning Electron Microscopy and a shear test were employed to characterize the microstructure of bondline and mechanical properties of each diffusion couple, respectively.     

RFID behavior study in enclosed marine container for real time temperature tracking

The performance of radio waves in open environments has been studied for years. In contrast, the behavior of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) inside metal enclosed areas is not yet understood. This research project focuses on the 3-D mapping of RFID signal strength inside a 12 m refrigerated marine container instrumented with three different types of radio frequency (RF) emitters: 915 MHz reader; 2.45 GHz reader and 433 MHz RF transmitter. The main goal is to find a frequency/configuration that would allow real time reading of the temperature in a shipment of perishable products using RFID. Only one frequency and one antenna were used at a time. The RF transmitter antenna was mounted at two different places inside the container; at the top of the front wall (facing back) and on the ceiling in the middle of the container (facing down). The signal strength was acquired by a spectrum analyzer and its antenna was mounted on a small electric cart inside the container. The cart was programmed to move along the length of the container and stop repeatedly, allowing three automated measures per position. All data were analyzed in terms of power level and attenuation. The maps showed that the RFID antenna positioned at the front of the container delivered slightly better results than the one in the middle of the ceiling. The results showed a significantly higher performance at the 433 MHz level. This article was presented at Food Processing Automation Conference, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASABE), Providence, RI, June 28–29 2008.     

Forecasting of entropy production due to buoyant convection using support vector machines (SVM) in a partially cooled square cross-sectional room

Forecasting of entropy generation of laminar natural convection in a partially cooled square cross-sectional room has been performed using support vector machines (SVM). The two-dimensional room was modeled as floor heating story with a window. Values of temperature and velocities were obtained by solving governing equations of natural convection with finite difference technique and using these values entropy generation was calculated with its definition. Forecasting of entropy generation due to fluid friction irreversibility (FFI) and heat transfer irreversibility (HTI) were made with known values for unknown parameters using SVM. Thus, calculation time was extremely reduced and values were obtained even for non-convergence cases. It was observed that the SVM was a strong method to predict the entropy generation without computational fluid dynamic analysis for all cases.