Resource-Efficient Technologies最新文献

In modern science, Nanotechnology is an ablaze field for the researchers. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are known to be one of the most multifunctional inorganic nanoparticles with its application in treatment of urinary tract infection. Nanoparticles were synthesized using Passiflora caerulea fresh leaf extract and were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive analysis of x-ray (EDAX), Atomic force microscopy (AFM). Therefore, the study reveals an efficient, eco-friendly and simple method for the green synthesis of multifunctional ZnO NPs using P. caerulea. Urinary tract infection causing microbes were isolated from the disease affected patient urine sample. The synthesized nanoparticles have been tested against the pathogenic culture showed a very good zone of inhibition compared with plant extract. It indicates the biomedical capability of ZnO NPs.

Nanotechnology deals with the production and usage of material with nanoscale dimension. Nanoscale dimension provides nanoparticles a large surface area to volume ratio and thus very specific properties. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) had been in recent studies due to its large bandwidth and high exciton binding energy and it has potential applications like antibacterial, antifungal, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, antioxidant and optic properties. Due to the large rate of toxic chemicals and extreme environment employed in the physical and chemical production of these NPs, green methods employing the use of plants, fungus, bacteria, and algae have been adopted. This review is a comprehensive study of the synthesis and characterization methods used for the green synthesis of ZnO NPs using different biological sources.

In this study, the reduction ways of the electricity demand for Engineering Faculty at Mu'tah University were investigated. The using of the available resources efficiently and effectively to reduce energy bill is one way to reduce the energy consumption as well as the electricity generation. On grid photovoltaic system considers the most promising way to achieve the target of saving. For that, the availability of the solar photovoltaic system as an electricity generation source for Faculty of Engineering proposed to design a 56.7 kW grid-connected as a solar photovoltaic power plant to cover the electricity demand. The analysis revealed that the Engineering Faculty at Mu'tah University consumed 96 MWh annually and by installing an on-grid photovoltaic system with a capacity of 56.7 KW the electricity production to the grid will be 97.02 MWh per year, which cover the electricity demand for Engineering Faculty at Mu'tah University with a capital cost of $117,000 and payback period about 5.5 years.

Citrus waste is an attractive lignocellulosic biomass for the production of bioethanol due to the richness in carbohydrates and low lignin content. In this study, sweet lime peel was chosen as the lignocellulosic biomass. To increase the cellulose for enzymatic hydrolysis, the statistical optimization of process parameters namely, solid loading, time of exposure and sulphuric acid concentration for pretreatment of sweet lime peel were accomplished by Taguchi orthogonal array design. The sweet lime peel was exposed to acid catalyzed steam pretreatment for solid loading [10%, 12%, 15% and 17% (w/v)], time of exposure [15 min, 30 min, 45 min and 60 min] and sulphuric acid concentration [0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% (v/v)]. The cellulose content was found to be an optimum at 35% for 17% (w/v) solid loading and 0.25% (v/v) acid concentration and steam exposure for 60 min. With these optimized process parameters, enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated sweet lime peel was investigated at 50 °C for 48 h using in vitro isolated enzymes, viz., cellulase and pectinase from Aspergillus Niger with an activity of 1.7 FPU/ml and15 IU/ml respectively. 7.09 mg of reducing sugar/ml of hydrolysate was released in enzymatic hydrolysis which was estimated by DNS method. For the production of bioethanol, fermentation of hydrolysate was carried out at 30 °C for 72 h using baker's yeast. The yield of ethanol was 18%. From this study, it is proved that citrus waste is a promising source for the production of bioethanol.

A theoretical and experimental study was conducted at the central Indian location of Rewa, M.P., India (Latitude: 24°33′ 20.81′′ N, Longitude: 81°18′ 49.1′′ E). This paper presents a detailed comparison of the theoretical and the experimental results obtained for a single sloped basin type solar still. Results for different parameters such as basin water temperature, glass cover temperature, distillate output, evaporative, convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients and attenuation factor were obtained for basin water depths ranging from 2 cm to 10 cm. For solar still, daily distillate output decreased with increase in basin water depth. The theoretical value of daily efficiency for 2 cm and 10 cm basin water depth was around 52.83% and 41.75%, respectively, and for the same basin water depth, experimental daily efficiency was around 41.49% and 32.42% respectively. A sound agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results was observed.

Concentrated solar power has great potential for large scale renewable energy sources, and is currently an eye catching one for its utilization with wide area of improvement. Especially, parabolic trough solar collectors (PTSCs) are gaining popularity due to their increased efficiency as compared to photovoltaics. In this work, an effort has been made to evaluate the performance of a designed 5-m length PTSC model. Heat collecting element was made of stainless steel with water as working fluid. The authentication of the proposed model is justified based on the results obtained on a yearly scale with respect to average inlet and outlet temperatures, surface temperatures and thermal efficiency for the climatic conditions of Ramanagaram. It was observed that March to May yielded better outlet temperatures ranging from 93 °C to 103 °C. Experiments were carried out at different flow rates of 0.4 LPM, 0.8 LPM and 1.2 LPM and corresponding Reynolds number was calculated. It was seen that February to May gave good surface and outlet temperatures as compared with other months while the liquid flow is laminar. Simulation studies were carried out using ANSYS software on receiver tube to ensure the robustness and design effectiveness under static loading conditions.

The cobalt metal catalysts are highly active at low temperature ESR. In this study, ESR was studied over barren Co metal (Co⁰) from oxalate precursor without any pre-reduction to find out its role in hydrogen and carbon nano-filament generation. The ethanol conversion was found to be 100% with 96.5% hydrogen selectivity at 723K. The time on stream (TOS) study has shown stability up to 19h for Co catalyst. The diameter of Co-carbon nanofilament was calculated and found to be typically in the range of 70–80 nm by the TEM image analysis of spent catalyst. The SEM with EDS analysis revealed that Co⁰ state was found in between the carbon nanofilament as well as at the tip of carbon nanofilament. The obtained Co-C nanofilament displayed an adsorption capacity of 552 mg/g at optimum parameter of pH = 2, contact time = 60 minute, concentration = 30 ppm, dose = 0.05g for Orange G dye removal without any chemical or physical treatment. This approach has shown significant results in terms of hydrogen generation and method of Co carbon nanofilament for further utilization in different prospects.

Solar energy is the most abundant source of energy on the earth and considered as an important alternative to fossil fuels. Solar energy can be converted into electric energy by using two different processes: photovoltaic conversion and the thermodynamic cycles. Lifetime and efficiency of PV power plant is lesser as compared to the CSP technology. CSP technology is viewed as one of the most promising alternative technology in the field of solar energy utilization. A 100 MW Linear Fresnel Reflector solar thermal power plant design with 6 hours of thermal energy storage has been evaluated for thermal performance using NREL SAM. A location receiving an annual DNI of 2248.17 kWh/m²/year in Rajasthan is chosen for the technical feasibility of hypothetical CSP plant. The plant design consists of 16 numbers of solar collector modules in a loop. HITEC solar salt is chosen as an HTF due to its excellent thermodynamic properties. The designed plant can generate annual electricity of 263,973,360 kWh with the plant efficiency of 18.3 %. The capacity utilization of the proposed LFR plant is found to be 30.2%. The LFR solar thermal power plant performance results encourage further innovation and development of CSP plants in India.

To overcome the difficulties associated with the conventional extraction process like poor selective extraction of biomolecule and scale up of the process, the reverse micellar system consist of AOT/n-heptanol was considered to extract Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as a model biomolecule. The maximum forward extraction of BSA from aqueous phase to micelle phase was observed at AOT concentration 160 mM, aqueous phase pH value of 4, NaCl concentration 0.8 M and 95% back extraction of BSA from micelle phase to stripping phase was obtained at 1 M NaCl concentration with the pH of 7.5. HPLC analysis confirmed the stability of BSA during extraction. The size and water content of the reverse micelle was also reported. The obtained results emphasize the application of the AOT/n-heptanol reverse micellar system for the extraction of BSA and may be utilized for the selective extraction of similar hydrophilic proteins from the complex sources.

Crude glycerol is produced as a by-product from biodiesel production via trans-esterification with methanol and this process accounts for 10% (w/w) of the total biodiesel produced worldwide. The glycerol glut created can be utilized to increase biodiesel profitability since disposal can pose a threat to the environment. The need is to transform this surplus crude glycerol into added-value products. Biological based conversions are efficient in providing products that are drop-in replacements for petro-chemicals and offer functionality advantage, commanding higher price with the potential to increase bio-refinery revenue. Glycerol is a stable and multifunctional compound used as a building block in fine chemical synthesis like bio-polymers, polyunsaturated fatty acids, ethanol, hydrogen, n-butanol, glycerol carbonate, glycerol acetyl esters etc. Bio-catalysts add higher value to bio based products by catalyzing not only their selective modification, but also their synthesis under controlled and mild conditions. This article focuses on different bioconversion technologies of crude-glycerol to value added industrial products – obtained as waste from current bio-diesel production. We abridge the recent relevant approach for the production of various platform chemicals from bio-glycerol over enzyme and chemical catalysts.