Abstract: In this current era of competitive machinery productions, the industries are designed to place more emphasis on the product quality and reduction of cost whilst abiding by the pollution-preventing policy. In attempting to delve into the concerns, the industries are aware that the effectiveness of existing lubrication systems must be improved to achieve power-efficient and pollution-preventing machining processes. As such, this research is targeted to study on a plausible solution to the issue in grinding titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) by using nanolubrication, as an alternative to flood grinding. The aim of this research is to evaluate the optimum condition of grinding force and surface roughness using MQL lubricating system to deliver nano-oil at different level of weight concentration of Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) mixed normal mineral oil. Taguchi Design of Experiment (DoE) method is carried out using a standard Taguchi orthogonal array of L16(43) to find the optimized combination of weight concentration mixture of SiO2, nozzle orientation and pressure of MQL. Surface roughness and grinding force are also analyzed using signal-to-noise(S/N) ratio to determine the best level of each factor that are tested. Consequently, the best combination of parameters is tested for a period of time and the results are compared with conventional grinding method of dry and flood condition. The results show a positive performance of MQL nanolubrication.
Abstract: Tribological properties that include nanoparticles are an alternative to improve the tribological behaviour of lubricating oil, which has been investigated by many researchers for the past few decades. Various nanostructures can be used as additives for tribological improvement. However, this also depends on the characteristics of the nanoparticles. In this study, tribological investigation was performed to examine the effect of CuO nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of Syntium 800 SL 10W−30. Three parameters used in the analysis using the wear tester (piston ring) were load, revolutions per minute (rpm), and concentration. The specifications of the nanoparticles, such as size, concentration, hardness, and shape, can affect the tribological behaviour of the lubricant. The friction and wear experiment was conducted using a tribo-tester and the Response Surface Methodology method was used to analyse any improvement of the performance. Therefore, two concentrations of 40 nm nanoparticles were used to conduct the experiments, namely, 0.005 wt % and 0.01 wt % and compared with base oil 0 wt % (control). A water bath sonicator was used to disperse the nanoparticles in base oil, while a tribo-tester was used to measure the coefficient of friction and wear rate. In addition, the thermal properties of the nanolubricant were also measured. The results have shown that the thermal conductivity of the nanolubricant was increased when compared with the base oil. Therefore, the results indicated that CuO nanoparticles had improved the tribological behaviour as well as the thermal properties of the nanolubricant oil.
Abstract: Chemical stabilization is a technique commonly used
to improve the expansive soil properties. In this regard, an attempt
has been made to evaluate the influence of Calcium Chloride (CaCl2)
stabilizer on the engineering properties of expansive soil. A series of
laboratory experiments including consistency limits, free swell,
compaction, and shear strength tests were performed to investigate
the effect of CaCl2 additive with various percentages 0%, 2%, 5%,
10% and 15% for improving expansive soil. The results obtained
shows that the increase in the percentage of CaCl2decreased the
liquid limit and plasticity index leading to significant reduction in the
free swell index. This, in turn, increased the maximum dry density
and decreased the optimum moisture content which results in greater
strength. The unconfined compressive strength of soil stabilized with
5% CaCl2 increased approximately by 50% as compared to virgin
soil. It can be concluded that CaCl2 had shown promising influence
on the strength and swelling properties of expansive soil, thereby
giving an advantage in improving problematic expansive soil.
Abstract: A computational study on bio-inspired NACA634-021 hydrofoils with leading-edge protuberances has been carried out to investigate their hydrodynamic flow control characteristics at a Reynolds number of 14,000 and different angles-of-attack. The numerical simulations were performed using ANSYS FLUENT and based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver mode incorporated with k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model. The results obtained indicate varying flow phenomenon along the peaks and troughs over the span of the hydrofoils. Compared to the baseline hydrofoil with no leading-edge protuberances, the leading-edge modified hydrofoils tend to reduce flow separation extents along the peak regions. In contrast, there are increased flow separations in the trough regions of the hydrofoil with leading-edge protuberances. Interestingly, it was observed that dissimilar flow separation behaviour is produced along different peak- or trough-planes along the hydrofoil span, even though the troughs or peaks are physically similar at each interval for a particular hydrofoil. Significant interactions between adjacent flow structures produced by the leading-edge protuberances have also been observed. These flow interactions are believed to be responsible for the dissimilar flow separation behaviour along physically similar peak- or trough-planes.
Abstract: Squalene is a valuable component of the oil composed of 30 carbon atoms and is mainly used for cosmetic materials. The main concern of this article is to study the Squalene composition in the Lebanese olive oil and to compare it with foreign oil results. To our knowledge, extraction of Squalene from the Lebanese olive oil has not been conducted before. Three different techniques were studied and experiments were performed on three brands of olive oil, Al Wadi Al Akhdar, Virgo Bio and Boulos. The techniques performed are the Fractional Crystallization, the Soxhlet and the Esterification. By comparing the results, it is found that the Lebanese oil contains squalene and Soxhlet method is the most effective between the three methods extracting about 6.5E-04 grams of Squalene per grams of olive oil.
Abstract: Anthropogenic sources of zinc (Zn), including industrial emissions and effluents, Zn–rich fertilizer materials and pesticides containing Zn, can contribute to increasing the concentration of soluble Zn at levels toxic to plants in acid sandy soils. The application of municipal sewage sludge or biosolids (MBS) which contain metal immobilizing agents on coarse-textured soils could improve the metal sorption capacity of the low-CEC soils. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the sorption of Zn in surface samples (0-15 cm) of six Quebec (Canada) soils amended with MBS (pH 6.9) from Val d’Or (Quebec, Canada). Soil samples amended with increasing amounts (0 to 20%) of MBS were equilibrated with various amounts of Zn as ZnCl2 in 0.01 M CaCl2 for 48 hours at room temperature. Sorbed Zn was calculated from the difference between the initial and final Zn concentration in solution. Zn sorption data conformed to the linear form of Freundlich equation. The amount of sorbed Zn increased considerably with increasing MBS rate. Analysis of variance revealed a highly significant effect (p ≤ 0.001) of soil texture and MBS rate on the amount of sorbed Zn. The average values of the Zn-sorption capacity of MBS-amended coarse-textured soils were lower than those of MBS-amended fine textured soils. The two sandy soils (86-99% sand) amended with MBS retained 2- to 5-fold Zn than those without MBS (control). Significant Pearson correlation coefficients between the Zn sorption isotherm parameter, i.e. the Freundlich sorption isotherm (KF), and commonly measured physical and chemical entities were obtained. Among all the soil properties measured, soil pH gave the best significant correlation coefficients (p ≤ 0.001) for soils receiving 0, 5 and 10% MBS. Furthermore, KF values were positively correlated with soil clay content, exchangeable basic cations (Ca, Mg or K), CEC and clay content to CEC ratio. From these results, it can be concluded that (i) municipal biosolids provide sorption sites that have a strong affinity for Zn, (ii) both soil texture, especially clay content, and soil pH are the main factors controlling anthropogenic Zn sorption in the municipal biosolids-amended soils, and (iii) the effect of municipal biosolids on Zn sorption will be more pronounced for a sandy soil than for a clay soil.
Abstract: Evaluation of the seismic-induced settlement of an unsaturated soil layer depends on several variables, among which the small strain shear modulus, Gmax, and soil’s state of stress have been demonstrated to be of particular significance. Recent interpretation of trends in Gmax revealed considerable effects of the degree of saturation and hydraulic hysteresis on the shear stiffness of soils in unsaturated states. Accordingly, the soil layer is expected to experience different settlement behaviors depending on the soil saturation and seasonal weathering conditions. In this study, a semi-empirical formulation was adapted to extend an existing Gmax model to infer hysteretic effects along different paths of the SWRC including scanning curves. The suitability of the proposed approach is validated against experimental results from a suction-controlled resonant column test and from data reported in literature. The model was observed to follow the experimental data along different paths of the SWRC, and showed a slight hysteresis in shear modulus along the scanning curves.
Abstract: Effect of enzyme on the yield and chemical composition of Artemisia campestris essential oil is reported in the present study. It was demonstrated that enzyme facilitated the extraction of essential oil with increase in oil yield and did not affect any noticeable change in flavour profile of the volatile oil. Essential oil was tested for antibacterial activity using Escherichia coli; which was extremely sensitive against control with the largest inhibition (29mm), whereas Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive against essential oil obtained from enzymatic pre-treatment with the largest inhibition zone (25mm). The antioxidant activity of the essential oil with hemicellulase pre-treatment (EO2) and control sample (EO1) was determined through reducing power. It was significantly lower than the standard drug (vitamin C) in this order: vitamin C˃EO2˃EO1.
Abstract: An accuracy nonlinear analysis of a deep beam resting on elastic perfectly plastic soil is carried out in this study. In fact, a nonlinear finite element modeling for large deflection and moderate rotation of Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on linear and nonlinear random soil is investigated. The geometric nonlinear analysis of the beam is based on the theory of von Kàrmàn, where the Newton-Raphson incremental iteration method is implemented in a Matlab code to solve the nonlinear equation of the soil-beam interaction system. However, two analyses (deterministic and probabilistic) are proposed to verify the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed model where the theory of the local average based on the Monte Carlo approach is used to analyze the effect of the spatial variability of the soil properties on the nonlinear beam response. The effect of six main parameters are investigated: the external load, the length of a beam, the coefficient of subgrade reaction of the soil, the Young’s modulus of the beam, the coefficient of variation and the correlation length of the soil’s coefficient of subgrade reaction. A comparison between the beam resting on linear and nonlinear soil models is presented for different beam’s length and external load. Numerical results have been obtained for the combination of the geometric nonlinearity of beam and material nonlinearity of random soil. This comparison highlighted the need of including the material nonlinearity and spatial variability of the soil in the geometric nonlinear analysis, when the beam undergoes large deflections.
Abstract: The boundary layer separation and new active flow control of a NACA 0025 airfoil were studied experimentally. This new flow control is sometimes known as a co-flow jet (cfj) airfoil. This paper presents the fluctuating velocity in a wall jet over the co-flow jet airfoil subjected to an adverse pressure gradient and a curved surface. In these results, the fluctuating velocity at the inner part increasing by increased the angle of attack up to 12o and this has due to the jet energized, while the angle of attack 20o has different. The airfoil cord based Reynolds number has 105.
Abstract: The aim of irrigation is to recharge the available water
in the soil. Quality of irrigation water is essential for the yield and
quality of crops produced, maintenance of soil productivity and
protection of the environment. The analysis of irrigation water arises
as a need to know the impact of irrigation water on the yield of crops,
the effect, and the necessary control measures to rectify the effect of
this for optimum production and yield of crops. This study was conducted to assess the quality of irrigation water
with its performance on crop planted, in Josepdam irrigation scheme
Bacita, Nigeria. Field visits were undertaken to identify and locate
water supply sources and collect water samples from these sources;
X1 Drain, Oshin, River Niger loop and Ndafa. Laboratory
experiments were then undertaken to determine the quality of raw
water from these sources. The analysis was carried for various parameters namely; physical
and chemical analyses after water samples have been taken from four
sources. The samples were tested in laboratory. Results showed that
the raw water sources shows no salinity tendencies with SAR values
less than 1me/l and Ecvaules at Zero while the pH were within the
recommended range by FAO, there are increase in potassium and
sulphate content contamination in three of the location. From this, it
is recommended that there should be proper monitoring of the
scheme by conducting analysis of water and soil in the environment,
preferable test should be carried out at least one year to cover the
impact of seasonal variations and to determine the physical and
chemical analysis of the water used for irrigation at the scheme.
Abstract: Medicinal and aromatic plants are promising and are characterized by the biosynthesis of odorous molecules that make up the so-called essential oils (EO), which have long been known for their antiseptic and therapeutic activity in folk medicine. Essential oils have many therapeutic properties. In herbal medicine, they are used for their antiseptic properties against infectious diseases of fungal origin, against dermatophytes, those of bacterial origin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of drying in the shade on the water content and on the content of essential oils extracted from leaves of Eucalyptus camendulensis for better quality control of medicinal and aromatic plants. The water content of the Eucalyptus camendulensis plant material decreases during the drying process. It decreased from 100% to 0.006% for the drying in the shade after ten days. The moisture content is practically constant at the end of the drying period. The drying in the shade increases the concentration of essential oils of Eucalyptus camendulensis. When the leaves of Eucalyptus camendulensis plant are in the shade, the maximum of the essential oil content was obtained on the eighth day, the recorded value was 1.43% ± 0.01%. Beyond these periods, the content continuously drop in before stabilizing. The optimum drying time is between 6 and 9 days.
Abstract: The simulation in wind tunnel is used thoroughly to model real situations of drainages of air. Besides the automotive industry, a great number of applications can be numbered: dispersion of pollutant, studies of pedestrians’ comfort, and dispersion of particles. This work had the objective of visualizing the characteristics aerodynamics of two automobiles in different ways. To accomplish that drainage of air a fan that generated a speed exists (measured with anemometer of hot thread) of 4,1m/s and 4,95m/s. To visualize the path of the air through the cars, in the wind tunnel, smoke was used, obtained with it burns of vegetable oil. For “to do smoke” vegetable oil was used, that was burned for a tension of 20V generated by a thread of 2,5mm. The cars were placed inside of the wind tunnel with the drainage of “air-smoke” and photographed, registering like this the path lines around them, in the 3 different speeds.
Abstract: The major environmental risk of soil pollution is the
contamination of groundwater by infiltration of organic and inorganic
pollutants which can cause a serious menace. To prevent this risk and
to protect the groundwater, we proceeded in this study to test the
reliability of a biosolid as barrier to prevent the migration of very
dangerous pollutants as ‘Cadmium’ through the different soil layers. In this study, we tried to highlight the effect of several parameters
such as: turbidity (different cycle of Hydration/Dehydration),
rainfall, effect of initial Cd(II) concentration and the type of soil.
These parameters allow us to find the most effective manner to
integrate this barrier in the soil. From the results obtained, we found a
significant effect of the barrier. Indeed, the recorded passing
quantities are lowest for the highest rainfall; we noted also that the
barrier has a better affinity towards higher concentrations; the most
retained amounts of cadmium has been in the top layer of the two
types of soil tested, while the lowest amounts of cadmium are
recorded in the bottom layers of soils.
Abstract: Strong anthropogenic impact has uncontrolled
consequences on the nature of the soil. Hence, up-to-date sustainable
methods of soil state improvement are essential. Investigators provide
the evidence that biochar can positively effects physical, chemical,
and biological soil properties and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi
which are in the focus of this study. The main aim of the present
investigation is to demonstrate the effect of two types of plant growth
promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculums along with the beech wood
biochar and mineral N additives on mycorrhizal colonization.
Experiment has been set up in laboratory conditions with containers
filled with arable soil from the protection zone of the main water
source “Brezova nad Svitavou”. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been
selected as a model plant. Based on the obtained data, it can be
concluded that mycorrhizal colonization increased as the result of
combined influence of biochar and PGPB inoculums amendment. In
addition, correlation analyses showed that the numbers of main
groups of cultivated bacteria were dependent on the degree of
mycorrhizal colonization.
Abstract: Coal fly ash, an industrial by product of coal
combustion thermal power plants is considered as a hazardous
material and its improper disposal has become an environmental
issue. On the other hand, manufacturing conventional clay bricks
involves on consumption of large amount of clay and leads
substantial depletion of topsoil. This paper unveils the possibility of
using fly ash as a partial replacement of clay for brick manufacturing
considering the local technology practiced in Bangladesh. The effect
of fly ash with different replacing ratio (0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and
50% by volume) of clay on properties of bricks was studied. Bricks
were made in the field parallel to ordinary bricks marked with
specific number for different percentage to identify them at time of
testing. No physical distortion is observed in fly ash brick after
burning in the kiln. Results from laboratory test show that
compressive strength of brick is decreased with the increase of fly
ash and maximum compressive strength is found to be 19.6 MPa at
20% of fly ash. In addition, water absorption of fly ash brick is
increased with the increase of fly ash. The abrasion value and
Specific gravity of coarse aggregate prepared from brick with fly ash
also studied and the results of this study suggests that 20% fly ash
can be considered as the optimum fly ash content for producing good
quality bricks utilizing present practiced technology.
Abstract: Biochar can be produced from the waste matter and its
application has been associated with returning of carbon in large
amounts into the soil. The impacts of this material on physical and
chemical properties of soil have been described. The biggest part of
the research work is dedicated to the hypothesis of this material’s
toxic effects on the soil life regarding its effect on the soil biological
component. At present, it has been worked on methods which could
eliminate these undesirable properties of biochar. One of the
possibilities is to mix biochar with organic material, such as compost,
or focusing on the natural processes acceleration in the soil. In the
experiment has been used as the addition of compost as well as the
elimination of toxic substances by promoting microbial activity in
aerated water environment. Biochar was aerated for 7 days in a
container with a volume of 20 l. This way modified biochar had six
times higher biomass production and reduce mineral nitrogen
leaching. Better results have been achieved by mixing biochar with
compost.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of
supplementing broiler starter diet with different levels of an essential
oil blend (EOB) containing capsaicin, carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde
on the performance of broilers. A total of 300 day-old straight-run
Cobb broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three treatments after
7-day group brooding following a completely randomized design
(CRD). Birds assigned in treatment 1 were given starter basal diet
while those in treatments 2 and 3 were given starter basal diet with
400 mg/kg antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) and 150 mg/kg EOB,
respectively, until the 28th day. Basal finisher feed were given for all
the treatments until harvest. Following 37 d feeding, body weight
gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, dressing percentage,
livability and jejunal villi height were determined. Results showed no
significant differences (P>0.05) in growth performance. However,
villi height and crypt depth was significantly lower for birds fed
EOB.
Abstract: A number of studies have been conducted recently to
investigate the influence of randomly oriented fibers on some
engineering properties of cohesive and cohesionless soils. However,
few studies have been carried out on freezing-thawing behavior of
fine-grained soils modified with discrete fiber inclusions and additive
materials. This experimental study was performed to investigate the
effect of randomly distributed polypropylene fibers (PP) and some
additive materials [e.g.., borogypsum (BG), fly ash (FA) and cement
(C)] on freezing-thawing durability (mass losses) of a fine-grained
soil for 6, 12, and 18 cycles. The Taguchi method was applied to the
experiments and a standard L9 orthogonal array (OA) with four
factors and three levels were chosen. A series of freezing-thawing
tests were conducted on each specimen. 0-20% BG, 0-20% FA, 0-
0.25% PP and 0-3% of C by total dry weight of mixture were used in
the preparation of specimens. Experimental results showed that the
most effective materials for the freezing-thawing durability (mass
losses) of the samples were borogypsum and fly ash. The values of
mass losses for 6, 12 and 18 cycles in optimum conditions were
16.1%, 5.1% and 3.6%, respectively.
Abstract: Strong anthropogenic impact has uncontrolled
consequences on the nature of the soil. Hence, up-to-date sustainable
methods of soil state improvement are essential. Investigators provide
the evidence that biochar can positively effects physical, chemical,
and biological soil properties and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi
which are in the focus of this study. The main aim of the present
investigation is to demonstrate the effect of two types of plant growth
promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculums along with the beech wood
biochar and mineral N additives on mycorrhizal colonization.
Experiment has been set up in laboratory conditions with containers
filled with arable soil from the protection zone of the main water
source “Brezova nad Svitavou”. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been
selected as a model plant. Based on the obtained data, it can be
concluded that mycorrhizal colonization increased as the result of
combined influence of biochar and PGPB inoculums amendment. In
addition, correlation analyses showed that the numbers of main
groups of cultivated bacteria were dependent on the degree of
mycorrhizal colonization.