Multiphase Flow Regime Detection Algorithm for Gas-Liquid Interface Using Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo Technique

Efficiency of the cooling process for cryogenic propellant boiling in engine cooling channels on space applications is relentlessly affected by the phase change occurs during the boiling. The effectiveness of the cooling process strongly pertains to the type of the boiling regime such as nucleate and film. Geometric constraints like a non-transparent cooling channel unable to use any of visualization methods. The ultrasonic (US) technique as a non-destructive method (NDT) has therefore been applied almost in every engineering field for different purposes. Basically, the discontinuities emerge between mediums like boundaries among different phases. The sound wave emitted by the US transducer is both transmitted and reflected through a gas-liquid interface which makes able to detect different phases. Due to the thermal and structural concerns, it is impractical to sustain a direct contact between the US transducer and working fluid. Hence the transducer should be located outside of the cooling channel which results in additional interfaces and creates ambiguities on the applicability of the present method. In this work, an exploratory research is prompted so as to determine detection ability and applicability of the US technique on the cryogenic boiling process for a cooling cycle where the US transducer is taken place outside of the channel. Boiling of the cryogenics is a complex phenomenon which mainly brings several hindrances for experimental protocol because of thermal properties. Thus substitute materials are purposefully selected based on such parameters to simplify experiments. Aside from that, nucleate and film boiling regimes emerging during the boiling process are simply simulated using non-deformable stainless steel balls, air-bubble injection apparatuses and air clearances instead of conducting a real-time boiling process. A versatile detection algorithm is perennially developed concerning exploratory studies afterward. According to the algorithm developed, the phases can be distinguished 99% as no-phase, air-bubble, and air-film presences. The results show the detection ability and applicability of the US technique for an exploratory purpose.

Study of Mechanical Properties of Glutarylated Jute Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Natural fibers have attained the potential market in the composite industry because of the huge environmental impact caused by synthetic fibers. Among the natural fibers, jute fibers are the most abundant plant fibers which are manufactured mainly in countries like India. Even though there is a good motive to utilize the natural supplement, the strength of the natural fiber composites is still a topic of discussion. In recent days, many researchers are showing interest in the chemical modification of the natural fibers to increase various mechanical and thermal properties. In the present study, jute fibers have been modified chemically using glutaric anhydride at different concentrations of 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%. The glutaric anhydride solution is prepared by dissolving the different quantity of glutaric anhydride in benzene and dimethyl-sulfoxide using sodium formate catalyst. The jute fiber mats have been treated by the method of retting at various time intervals of 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours. The modification structure of the treated fibers has been confirmed with infrared spectroscopy. The degree of modification increases with an increase in retention time, but higher retention time has damaged the fiber structure. The unmodified fibers and glutarylated fibers at different retention times are reinforced with epoxy matrix under room temperature. The tensile strength and flexural strength of the composites are analyzed in detail. Among these, the composite made with glutarylated fiber has shown good mechanical properties when compared to those made of unmodified fiber.

Graft Copolymerization of Cellulose Acetate with Nitro-N-Amino Phenyl Maleimides

The construction of Nitro -N-amino phenyl maleimide branches onto Cellulose acetate (CA) substrate by free radical graft copolymerization using benzoyl peroxide as initiator led to formation of highly thermal stable copolymers as shown from the results of gravimetric analysis (TGA). CA-g-2,4-dinitro amino phenyl maleimide exhibited higher thermal stability than the CA-g-4-nitro amino phenyl maleimide as shown from the initial decomposition temperature (To). This is due to the ability of nitro group to form hydrogen bonding with hydroxyl group of the glucopyranose ring which increases the crystallinity of polymeric matrix. The crystalline shapes representing the graft part are clearly distinct in the Emission scanning electron microscope (ESEM) morphology of the copolymer. A suggested reaction mechanism for the grafting process was also discussed.

Fluorescence Quenching as an Efficient Tool for Sensing Application: Study on the Fluorescence Quenching of Naphthalimide Dye by Graphene Oxide

Recently, graphene has gained much attention because of its unique optical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Graphene has been used as a key material in the technological applications in various areas such as sensors, drug delivery, super capacitors, transparent conductor, and solar cell. It has a superior quenching efficiency for various fluorophores. Based on these unique properties, the optical sensors with graphene materials as the energy acceptors have demonstrated great success in recent years. During quenching, the emission of a fluorophore is perturbed by a quencher which can be a substrate or biomolecule, and due to this phenomenon, fluorophore-quencher has been used for selective detection of target molecules. Among fluorescence dyes, 1,8-naphthalimide is well known for its typical intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and photo-induced charge transfer (PET) fluorophore, strong absorption and emission in the visible region, high photo stability, and large Stokes shift. Derivatives of 1,8-naphthalimides have found applications in some areas, especially fluorescence sensors. Herein, the fluorescence quenching of graphene oxide has been carried out on a naphthalimide dye as a fluorescent probe model. The quenching ability of graphene oxide on naphthalimide dye was studied by UV-VIS and fluorescence spectroscopy. This study showed that graphene is an efficient quencher for fluorescent dyes. Therefore, it can be used as a suitable candidate sensing platform. To the best of our knowledge, studies on the quenching and absorption of naphthalimide dyes by graphene oxide are rare.

Enhanced Thermal Properties of Rigid PVC Foams Using Fly Ash

PVC foam-fly ash composites (PVC-FA) are characterized for their structural, morphological, mechanical and thermal properties. The tensile strength of the composites increased modestly with higher fly ash loading, while there was a significant increase in the elastic modulus for the same composites. On the other hand, a decrease in elongation at UTS was observed upon increasing fly ash content due to increased rigidity of the composites. Similarly, the flexural modulus increased as the fly ash loading increased, where the composites containing 25 phr fly ash showed the highest flexural strength. Thermal properties of PVC-fly ash composites were determined by Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). The microstructural properties were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). SEM results confirm that fly ash particles were mechanically interlocked in PVC matrix with good interfacial interaction with the matrix. Particle agglomeration and debonding was observed in samples containing higher amounts of fly ash.

The Thermal Properties of Nano Magnesium Hydroxide Blended with LDPE/EVA/Irganox1010 for Insulator Application

This paper illustrates the effect of nano Magnesium Hydroxide (MH) loading on the thermal properties of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)/Poly (ethylene-co vinyl acetate) (EVA) nano composite. Thermal studies were conducted, as it understanding is vital for preliminary development of new polymeric systems. Thermal analysis of nanocomposite was conducted using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Major finding of TGA indicated two main stages of degradation process found at (350 ± 25oC) and (480 ± 25oC) respectively. Nano metal filler expressed better fire resistance as it stand over high degree of temperature. Furthermore, DSC analysis provided a stable glass temperature around 51 (±1oC) and captured double melting point at 84 (±2oC) and 108 (±2oC). This binary melting point reflects the modification of nano filler to the polymer matrix forming melting crystals of folded and extended chain. The percent crystallinity of the samples grew vividly with increasing filler content. Overall, increasing the filler loading improved the degradation temperature and weight loss evidently and a better process and phase stability was captured in DSC.

Thermal Properties of the Ground in Cyprus and Their Correlations and Effect on the Efficiency of Ground Heat Exchangers

Ground Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHPs) exploit effectively the heat capacity of the ground, with the use of Ground Heat Exchangers (GHE). Depending on the mode of operation of the GCHPs, GHEs dissipate or absorb heat from the ground. For sizing the GHE the thermal properties of the ground need to be known. This paper gives information about the density, thermal conductivity, specific heat and thermal diffusivity of various lithologies encountered in Cyprus with various relations between these properties being examined through comparison and modeling. The results show that the most important correlation is the one encountered between thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity with both properties showing similar response to the inlet and outlet flow temperature of vertical and horizontal heat exchangers.

Mechanical and Thermal Properties Characterisation of Vinyl Ester Matrix Nanocomposites Based On Layered Silicate: Effect of Processing Parameters

The mechanical properties including flexural and tensile of neat vinyl ester and polymer based on layered silicate nanocomposite materials of two different methodologies are discussed. Methodology 1 revealed that the addition of layered silicate into the polymer matrix increased the mechanical and thermal properties up to 1 wt.% clay loading. The incorporation of more clay resulted in decreasing the properties which was traced to the existence of aggregation layers. The aggregation layers imparted a negative impact on the overall mechanical and thermal properties. On the other hand, methodology 2 increased the mechanical and thermal properties up to 4 wt.% clay loading. The different amounts of improvements were assigned to the various preparation parameters. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were utilized in order to characterize the interlamellar structure of nanocomposites.

Microwave Dehydration Behavior of Admontite Mineral at 360W

Dehydration behavior gives a hint about thermal properties of materials. It is important for the usage areas and transportation of minerals. Magnesium borates can be used as additive materials in areas such as in the production of superconducting materials, in the composition of detergents, due to the content of boron in the friction-reducing additives in oils and insulating coating compositions due to their good mechanic and thermal properties. In this study, thermal dehydration behavior of admontite (MgO(B2O3)3.7(H2O)), which is a kind of magnesium borate mineral, is experimented by microwave energy at 360W. Structure of admontite is suitable for the investigation of dehydration behavior by microwave because of its seven moles of crystal water. It is seen that admontite lost its 28.7% of weight at the end of the 120 minutes heating in microwave furnace. 

Mechanical and Thermal Properties Characterisation of Vinyl Ester Matrix Nanocomposites Based On Layered Silicate

The mechanical properties including flexural and tensile of neat vinyl ester and polymer based on layered silicate nanocomposite materials are discussed. The addition of layered silicate into the polymer matrix increased the tensile and flexural modulus up to 1 wt.% clay loading. The incorporation of more clay resulted in decreasing the mechanical properties which was traced to the existence of aggregation layers. Likewise, up to 1 wt.% clay loading, the thermal behaviour showed significant improvements and at higher clay loading the thermal pattern was reduced. The aggregation layers imparted a negative impact on the overall mechanical and thermal properties. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were utilised in order to characterise the interlamellar structure of nanocomposites.