Application of Compressible Volume of Fluid Model in Simulating the Impact and Solidification of Hollow Spherical ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Droplet on a Surface

Applications of hollow spherical particles in thermal spraying process have been developed in recent years, accompanied by attempts in the form of experimental and numerical studies to better understand the process of impact of a hollow droplet on a surface. During such process, volume and density of the trapped gas inside droplet change. The numerical models should be able to simulate such changes and their consequent effects. The aim of this study is to numerically simulate the impact of a hollow ZrO₂ droplet on a flat surface using the volume of fluid technique for compressible flows. An open-source, finite-volume-based CFD code was used to perform the simulations, where appropriate subprograms were added to handle the studied cases. Simulation results were compared with the available experimental data. Results showed that at high impact velocities (U ₀ > 100 m/s), the compression of trapped gas inside droplet played a significant role in the impact dynamics. In such velocities, the droplet splashed explosively. Compressibility effects result in a more porous splat, compared to the corresponding incompressible model. Moreover, the compressible model predicted a higher spread factor than the incompressible model, due to planetary structure of the splat.     

Effect of Active Gas on Weld Shape and Microstructure of Advanced A-TIG-Welded Stainless Steel

Advanced A-TIG method was conducted to increase the weld penetration and compared with the conventional TIG welding process.A two-pipeline setup was designed to apply Ar + CO_2 mixed gas as the outer layer,while pure argon was applied as the inner layer to prevent any consumption of the tungsten electrode.The results indicate that the presence of active gas in the molten pool led to the change in the temperature coefficient of surface tension so that the Marangoni convection turns inward and forms a deep weld zone.The increase in gas flow rate causes a decrease in the weld efficiency which is attributed to the increase in oxygen content in the weld pool and the formation o f a thicker oxide layer on the weld surface.Moreover,the stir and the temperature fluctuation,led by double shielding gas,create more homogeneous nucleation sites in the molten pool so that a fine grain micros true ture was obtained.     

Effect of plasma nitriding parameters on corrosion performance of 17-4 PH stainless steel

This study investigates the effect of plasma nitriding parameters on corrosion susceptibility of 17-4 PH stainless steel in 3.5?wt-% NaCl solution. In this regard, 17-4 PH stainless steel was plasma nitrided at 400°C for 5 and 10?h, 450°C for 5?h and 500°C for 5?h. Cross-sectional images after nitriding process showed that a uniform nitrided layer has been formed on steel substrate. Depending on the temperature and time of the nitriding process, different phases were formed in the nitrided layer. This affected general corrosion and pitting corrosion performance of 17-4 PH stainless steel in 3.5?wt-% NaCl solution. While precipitation of chromium nitrides for nitrided specimens at 450°C and higher increased the susceptibility to pitting and general corrosion, formation of expanded martensite (EM) in nitriding at 400°C improved the pitting corrosion resistance of 17-4 PH stainless steel. This is believed to be due to the release of nitrogen atoms from EM phase to form ammonium ions and increase the pH of the solution, supressing pit growth.     

On the Stability of Reversely Formed Austenite and Related Mechanism of Transformation in an Fe-Ni-Mn Martensitic Steel Aided by Electron Backscattering Diffraction and Atom Probe Tomography

The stability of reversely formed austenite and related mechanism of transformation were investigated against temperature and time in an Fe-9.6Ni-7.1Mn (at. pct) martensitic steel during intercritical annealing at a dual-phase (α + γ) region. Dilatometry, electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD), atom probe tomography (APT), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the mechanism of reverse transformation. It was found that under intercritical annealing at 853 K (580 °C), when the heating rate is 20 K/s (20 °C/s), reverse transformation takes place through a mixed diffusion control mechanism, i.e., controlled by bulk diffusion and diffusion along the interface, where Ni controls the diffusion as its diffusivity is lower than that of Mn in the martensite and austenite. Increasing the intercritical annealing to 873 K (600 °C) at an identical heating rate of 20 K/s (20 °C/s) showed that reverse transformation occurs through a sequential combination of both martensitic and diffusional mechanisms. The transition temperature from diffusional to martensitic transformation was obtained close to 858 K (585 °C). Experimental results revealed that the austenite formed by the diffusional mechanism at 853 K (580 °C) mainly remains untransformed after cooling to ambient temperature due to the enrichment with Ni and Mn. It was also found that the stability of the reversely formed austenite by martensitic mechanism at 873 K (600 °C) is related to grain refinement.     

On the Development of Thermo-Kinetic Eh-pH Diagrams

It is shown that thermo-kinetic Eh-pH diagrams can be generated through electrochemical measurements. These diagrams offer an accurate method of determining stability regions for leaching without relying on thermodynamic calculations, which may be inaccurate or for which data may be difficult to obtain. The Fe-NH₃-CO₃-H₂O system is studied here. Potentiodynamic polarization experiments were performed on an iron sample in ammoniacal solution in de-aerated condition at different temperature and pH. Polarization plots show that both active anodic dissolution and passive regions are present for pure iron in ammoniacal solution depending on the potential. The electrochemically obtained potential-pH data were used to generate the thermo-kinetic Eh-pH diagrams for the Fe-NH₃-CO₃-H₂O system.     

Synthesis and characterization of antibacterial polyurethane coatings from quaternary ammonium salts functionalized soybean oil based polyols

In this study, a simple and versatile synthetic approach was developed to prepare bactericidal polyurethane coatings. For this purpose, introduction of both quaternary ammonium salts (QASs), with well-known antibacterial activity, and reactive hydroxyl groups on to the backbone of soybean oil was considered. Epoxidized soybean oil was reacted with diethylamine and the intermediate tertiary amine containing polyol was reacted with two different alkylating agents, methyl iodide and benzyl chloride, to produce MQAP and BQAP, respectively. These functional polyols were reacted with different diisocyanate monomers to prepare polyurethane coatings. Depending on the structure of monomers used for the preparation of polyurethane coatings, initial modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break of samples were in the ranges of 122–339 MPa, 4.6–12.4 MPa and 8.4–46%, respectively. Polyurethane coatings based on isophorone diisocyanate showed proper mechanical properties and adhesion strength (0.41 MPa) for coating application. Study of fibroblast cells interaction with prepared polyurethanes showed promising cells viability in the range of 78-108%. Meanwhile, MQAP based samples with higher concentration of QASs showed better adhesion strength, surface hydrophilicity and antibacterial activity (about 95% bacterial reduction). Therefore, these materials can find applications as bactericidal coating for biomedical devices and implants.     

Biodiesel production from mixtures of canola oil and used cooking oil

Used cooking oil (UCO) was mixed with canola oil at various ratios in order to make use of used cooking oil for production of biodiesel and also lower the cost of biodiesel production. Methyl and ethyl esters were prepared by means of KOH-catalyzed transesterification from the mixtures of both the oils. Water content, acid value and viscosity of most esters met ASTM standard except for ethyl esters prepared from used cooking oil. Canola oil content of at least 60% in the used cooking oil/canola oil feedstock is required in order to produce ethyl ester satisfying ASTM specifications. Although ethanolysis was proved to be more challenging, ethyl esters showed reduced crystallization temperature (−45.0 to −54.4 °C) as compared to methyl esters (−35.3 to −43.0 °C). A somewhat better low-temperature property of ester was observed at higher used cooking oil to canola oil ratio in spite of similar fatty acid compositions of both oils.     

Enhancement of activity and sulfur resistance of CeO2 supported on TiO2-SiO2 for the selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH3

A series of novel metal-oxide-supported CeO(2) catalysts were prepared via the wet impregnation method, and their NH(3)-SCR activities were investigated. The Ce/TiO(2)-SiO(2) catalyst with a Ti/Si mass ratio of 3/1 exhibited superior NH(3)-SCR activity and high N(2) selectivity in the temperature range of 250-450 °C. The characterization results revealed that the activity enhancement was correlated with the properties of the support material. Cerium was highly dispersed on the TiO(2)-SiO(2) binary metal oxide support, and the interaction of Ti and Si resulted in greater conversion of Ce(4+) to Ce(3+) on the surface of the catalyst compared to that on the single metal oxide supports. As a result of in the increased number of acid sites on Ce/TiO(2)-SiO(2) that resulted from the addition of SiO(2), the NH(3) adsorption capacity was significantly improved. All of these factors played significant roles in the high SCR activity. More importantly, Ce/TiO(2)-SiO(2) exhibited strong resistance to SO(2) and H(2)O poisoning. After the addition of SiO(2), the number of Lewis-acid sites was not decreased, but the number of Br?nsted-acid sites on the TiO(2)-SiO(2) carrier was increased. The introduction of SiO(2) further weakened the alkalinity over the surface of the Ce/TiO(2)-SiO(2) catalyst, which resulted in sulfate not easily accumulating on the surface of the Ce/TiO(2)-SiO(2) catalyst in comparison with Ce/TiO(2).     

Quantifying and cancelation memory effects in high power amplifier for OFDM systems

A modeling approach to power amplifier design for implementation in OFDM radio units is presented. The power amplifier model assesses the impact of linear memory effects within the system using a Wiener representation, and employs a linear novel parametric estimation technique using Hilbert space. In addition, in order to model the nonlinear memory effects the previous topology is generalized by inserting the truncated Volterra filter before the static nonlinearity. Predistortion based on the Hammerstein model is introduced to deal with the nonlinear response. The new general algorithm is proposed to evaluate the Hammerstein model parameters for an OFDM system. A representative test bed was designed and implemented. The assessment of the new methods for PA and PD modeling are confirmed by experimental measurements. The measurement results reveal the preference of the new techniques over the existing approaches.     

Comprehensive review of water management and wastewater treatment in food processing industries in the framework of water-food-environment nexus

Food processing is among the greatest water-consuming industries with a significant role in the implementation of sustainable development goals. Water-consuming industries such as food processing have become a threat to limited freshwater resources, and numerous attempts are being carried out in order to develop and apply novel approaches for water management in these industries. Studies have shown the positive impact of the new methods of process integration (e.g., water pinch, mathematical optimization, etc.) in maximizing water reuse and recycle. Applying these methods in food processing industries not only significantly supported water consumption minimization but also contributed to environmental protection by reducing wastewater generation. The methods can also increase the productivity of these industries and direct them to sustainable production. This interconnection led to a new subcategory in nexus studies known as water-food-environment nexus. The nexus assures sustainable food production with minimum freshwater consumption and minimizes the environmental destructions caused by untreated wastewater discharge. The aim of this study was to provide a thorough review of water-food-environment nexus application in food processing industries and explore the nexus from different aspects. The current study explored the process of food industries in different sectors regarding water consumption and wastewater generation, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The most recent wastewater treatment methods carried out in different food processing sectors were also reviewed. This review provided a comprehensive literature for choosing the optimum scenario of water and wastewater management in food processing industries.