Indian Institute Of Technology Research Articles

A preview of ICERP 2006

FRP Institute, India is proud to announce its International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics (ICERP 2006). The first two events in this series were held at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in 2002 and the Chennai Trade Centre in 2004. This year's event is expected to be bigger and better. Dr N.G. Nair reports.

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Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsVijai N. GiriVijai N. Giri is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Commentary: FTAS and the WTO Doha Development Round--Asian Response to EEU and FTAA

Commentary on FTAs and the Doha Development Round. Rajesh Chadha is Chief Economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, India. His Teaching and research experience of more than 29 years includes the University of Delhi and the NCAER. Chadha’s specialization is international trade with significant experience in applied economic research and economic modeling. His international experience includes Visiting Scholar in the Department of Economics, University of Michigan, and in the Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, Australia. He has also held visiting faculty positions at IIT, Delhi; IIT, Roorkee; IEG, Delhi; IIFT, New Delhi; IIPA, New Delhi; MDI Gurgaon and AIMA, New Delhi. Chadha was consultant to the World Bank in 1989, 1990, and 1999, and Consultant to the Australian Government in 2002. He was nominated as a GTAP Research Fellow for 2004-2007 by Purdue University. His research experience includes national as well as international research projects sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Government of Australia, Ford Foundation, European Union, World Bank, USAID, and ESCAP. He earned a B.Sc. Honours in Physics and an M.A. in Business Economics at the University of Delhi and a Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

The use of electronic resources at IIT Delhi Library: a study of search behaviours

PurposeThe paper seeks to examine the use of electronic information services (EIS) among the users of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Library in Delhi, India.Design/methodology/approachBoth questionnaire and observational methods were used for data collection where 300 valid samples were collected. The analysis of data collected covers awareness of EIS services, use of e‐journals, advanced search facilities, acquaintance with electronic information sources, the purpose of using e‐information, problems faced by the users while using EIS, infrastructure facility available and satisfaction level of users.FindingsThe study found that Boolean logic and truncation are the most often used search facilities by IIT users. Lack of printing facilities, terminals and trained staff are the major reasons that would discourage users from accessing the EIS. The survey also reveals that some 60 per cent of users face difficulties while browsing e‐information.Originality/valueThe paper provides suggestions for the further improvement of EIS to fulfill the information needs and requirements of users at the IIT Library, Delhi.

Drainage of ponded land through irrigation well in a leaky aquifer

Unsteady flow through an irrigation well installed in an inundated leaky aquifer underlying a semi-pervious soil layer has been analysed. Solutions for unsteady piezometric head distribution and rate of recharge into the aquifer under constant and variable surface ponding conditions have been developed for two cases, namely, flow from gravity well and constant rate injection well using approximate method of Laplace inversion technique [Schapery, R.A., 1961. Approximate methods of transform inversion for viscoelastic stress analysis. Proc. IV: US National Congress of Applied Mechanics, pp. 1075–1085]. The developed solutions for constant surface ponding condition have been verified with the field data at Tabageria village of Shaldahari watershed near Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. The daily runoff depth, drainage depth and proceeding ponding depth have been analysed using solutions for variable surface ponding for Tabageria village in the monsoon year 1978. The Total volume and duration of water drained into aquifer through irrigation-cum-drainage well from a given command area of the watershed were computed. The analysis indicates that the gravity-cum-injection well is the best feasible solution for reclaiming surface impounding before sowing of winter season crop.

Assessment of ambient air PM 10 and PM 2.5 and characterization of PM 10 in the city of Kanpur, India

This research was initiated to study the air quality in the city of Kanpur, India in terms of PM 10 and PM 2.5 and chemical composition in terms of heavy metals and benzene-soluble organic fraction (BSOF) for PM 10. Three sampling locations, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) (control site), Vikas Nagar (VN) (commercial site) and Juhi Colony (JC) (residential site) were selected. Total forty-seven 24-h samples were collected for PM 2.5 and PM 10 during October 2002–February 2003 at these locations. The collected PM 10 samples were subjected to chemical analysis for determination of heavy metals and toxic organic fraction by measuring BSOF. PM 10 (45–589 μg m −3), PM 2.5 (25–200 μg m −3), BSOF (1–170 μg m −3) and heavy metals were highest at VN followed by JC and IIT. The study concluded that the overall air quality in the city of Kanpur was much inferior to other cities in India and abroad. Similar to PM 10 and PM 2.5, heavy metals were almost 5–10 times higher than levels in European cities. The study concluded that there was a need to address the issue of PM 2.5 monitoring and control. Because regular PM 2.5 monitoring may take some time, a linear model for predicting PM 2.5 using routinely monitored parameters PM 10 and BSOF was suggested for preliminary assessment. The model was checked for its adequacy and it was validated.

Pollutant dispersion simulation for low wind speed condition by the ILS method

A semi-analytical Lagrangian particle model to simulate the pollutant dispersion during low wind speed conditions is presented and tested. The method relies to a stochastic integral equation whose solution is obtained using ILS method, which consists in the iterative solution of Langevin equation by the Picard's iteration method. To consider the low wind speed effect, the solution for the horizontal components of the turbulent velocity takes account the Eulerian autocorrelation function as suggested by Frenkiel [1953. Advances in Applied Mechanics 3, 61–107]. The model results are shown to agree very well with the field tracer data collected during stable conditions at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and during convective conditions from the series of field experiments at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). A statistical analysis reveals that the model simulates very well the experimental data and presents results comparable or even better than ones obtained with other models used as comparison. The analytical feature of the ILS method and the inclusion of the Eulerian autocorrelation function suggested by Frenkiel (1953) allow generating more accurate results.

International Conference on Aerosols, Clouds and the Indian Monsoon

In recent years, dense haze and fog problems in the northern parts of India have affected the 460 million people living in the Indo‐Gangetic basin. Substantial Indian research activities related to aerosols, clouds, and monsoon are taking place in the central and southern parts of India.To attract attention to the problems, a three‐day International Conference on Aerosols, Clouds and Indian Monsoon was recently held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in the central part of the Indo‐Gangetic basin. About 120 delegates from India, Germany, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States attended the conference.

Plume dispersion simulation in low wind conditions in stable and convective boundary layers

The present study proposes a steady-state mathematical model for dispersion of contaminants in low winds that takes into account the along-wind diffusion. The solution of the advection–diffusion equation for these conditions is obtained applying the Laplace transform, considering the planetary boundary layer as a multilayer system. The eddy diffusivities used in the K-diffusion model were derived from the local similarity and Taylor's diffusion theory. The eddy diffusivities are functions of distance from the source and correctly represent the near-source diffusion in weak winds. The performances of the model were evaluated against the field experiments carried out at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and during the convective conditions at the Indian Institute of Technology. Furthermore, the study suggests that the inclusion of the longitudinal diffusion, important at short distance diffusion from a continuous point source in low wind conditions, can improve the description of the turbulent transport of atmospheric contaminants.

PERFORMANCE OF ALOE VERA AS INFLUENCED BY ORGANIC AND INORGANIC SOURCES OF FERTILIZER SUPPLIED THROUGH FERTIGATION

ISHS III WOCMAP Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Volume 2: Conservation, Cultivation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants PERFORMANCE OF ALOE VERA AS INFLUENCED BY ORGANIC AND INORGANIC SOURCES OF FERTILIZER SUPPLIED THROUGH FERTIGATION

Seasonal variability of the aerosol parameters over Kanpur, an urban site in Indo-Gangetic basin

With the growing antropogenic activities and urbanization, pollution level is found to be increasing in the Indo-Gangetic (IG) basin. This trend of increasing pollution has direct impact on the climatic conditions, especially the increase of haze, fog and cloudy conditions in the region. A ground-based CIMEL radiometer has been deployed on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India, as a part of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) program with an objective to characterize the aerosols in the IG basin. The optical properties of the aerosols over Kanpur, which is one of the largest industrial cities in the IG basin, show strong seasonal and inter-annual variations. The fine mode urban/industrial aerosols contribute more than 75% to the observed aerosol optical depth (AOD) during the post-monsoon and winter seasons, whereas the natural dusts contribute ∼60% to the AOD during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Effective radius ( R eff) and volume weighted mean radius ( R V), the two best representative parameter of the coarse and fine modes of aerosol size distribution show maximum values during winter season. The increase in the R V is attributed to the hygroscopic growth of fine mode particles in presence of high relative humidity and favorable temperature condition; but the increase in r eff is due to the association of the fine mode absorbing particles to the coarser dusts. This is also reflected in low values (<0.8) of single scattering albedo (SSA) at coarse mode during the season. Higher values of SSA at fine mode indicate dominance of water-soluble aerosols scattering in nature. The linear regression equations between AOD (at 0.67 μm wavelength) and extinction coefficient due to fine and coarse modes also reveal the relative contribution of the fine and coarse mode particles to the observed optical properties during different seasons in Kanpur.

Working group report: Heavy ion physics

The 8th workshop on high energy physics phenomenology (WHEPP-8) was held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India during January 5–16, 2004. One of the four working groups, group III was dedicated to QCD and heavy ion physics (HIC). The present manuscript gives a summary of the activities of group III during the workshop (see also [1] for completeness). The activities of group III were focused to understand the collective behaviours of the system formed after the collisions of two nuclei at ultra-relativistic energies from the interactions of the elementary degrees of freedom, i.e. quarks and gluons, governed by non-abelian gauge theory, i.e. QCD. This was initiated by two plenary talks on experimental overview of heavy ion collisions and lattice QCD and several working group talks and discussions.

Working group report: Low energy and flavour physics

This is a report of the low energy and ∞avour physics working group at WHEPP-8, held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, during 5{16 Jan- uary 2004.

Anil Lala (1950–2004)

Anil Kumar Lala, Professor of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and a member of the Editorial Board of Protein Science, died on July 17, 2004, following a stroke that he suffered three weeks earlier. Born on January 13, 1950, Lala received his B.Sc. from Delhi University and obtained his Ph.D. at Bombay University in 1974, working under the supervision of A.B. Kulkarni. His doctoral work was in the area of steroid chemistry, introducing him to the areas of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Following a year at the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, Lala moved to the State University of Ghent, Belgium, to work with Marc Anteunis. I first saw his name in a scientific publication when the conformational analysis of methionine enkephalin, then recently discovered as the endogeneous ligand for the opioid receptor, was described by the French and Belgian groups with Lala as a co-author (Roques et al. 1976). In 1976, he moved to Harvard University to work with Konrad Bloch. This period sparked his lifelong interest in membranes, specifically lipid-protein interactions. Lala joined the chemistry department at IIT, Mumbai, in 1979, where he spent the remaining 25 years of his scientific career.

Effects of Particulate Air Pollution on the Respiratory Health of Subjects Who Live in Three Areas in Kanpur, India

In this study, the authors assessed the relationship between daily changes in respiratory health and particulate levels with diameters of (a) less than 10 microm (PM10) and (b) less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) in Kanpur, India. The subjects (N = 91) were recruited from 3 areas in Kanpur: (1) Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), which was a relatively clean area; (b) Vikas Nagar, a typical commercial area; and (c) finally, the residential area of Juhilal Colony. All subjects resided near to air quality monitoring sites. Air quality and peak expiratory flow rate samplings were conducted for 39 d. Once during the sampling period, lung-function tests (i.e., forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity) were performed on each subject. Subjects who resided at the clean site performed at predicted (i.e., acceptable) values more often than did subjects who lived at the remaining 2 sites. Subjects who lived at all 3 sites demonstrated a substantial average deficit in baseline forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s values. The authors used a statistical model to estimate that an increase of 100 microg/m3 of the pollutant PM10 could reduce the mean peak expiratory flow rate of an individual by approximately 3.2 l/min.

Developments in new processes for colour removal from effluent

Review of Progress in Coloration and Related TopicsVolume 34, Issue 1 p. 58-71 Developments in new processes for colour removal from effluent M Joshi, M Joshi Department of Textile Technology; Indian Institute of Technology. Horn Khas. New Delhi 110016. India (email: mangala@netearth.iitd.ac.in).Search for more papers by this authorR Purwar, R Purwar Department of Textile Technology; Indian Institute of Technology. Horn Khas. New Delhi 110016. India (email: mangala@netearth.iitd.ac.in).Search for more papers by this author M Joshi, M Joshi Department of Textile Technology; Indian Institute of Technology. Horn Khas. New Delhi 110016. India (email: mangala@netearth.iitd.ac.in).Search for more papers by this authorR Purwar, R Purwar Department of Textile Technology; Indian Institute of Technology. Horn Khas. New Delhi 110016. India (email: mangala@netearth.iitd.ac.in).Search for more papers by this author First published: 23 October 2008 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-4408.2004.tb00152.xCitations: 24AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume34, Issue1June 2004Pages 58-71 RelatedInformation

A market‐based approach to managing industrial SPM emissions in India's Jamshedpur Region

Environmental Quality ManagementVolume 13, Issue 4 p. 51-58 Feature A market-based approach to managing industrial SPM emissions in India's Jamshedpur Region V. B. Gupta, V. B. Gupta vbgupta.fsp@dauniv.ac.in guptavb@hotmail.com School of Futures Studies and Planning, Devi Ahilya University, IndoreSearch for more papers by this authorVinay Kumar, Vinay Kumar Centre for Advocacy and Research in Environment, MumbaiSearch for more papers by this authorH. K. Gupta, H. K. Gupta School of Futures Studies and Planning, Devi Ahilya University, IndoreSearch for more papers by this authorArvind Kumar Gupta, Arvind Kumar Gupta Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New DelhiSearch for more papers by this authorC. V. C. Rao, C. V. C. Rao National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, NagpurSearch for more papers by this author V. B. Gupta, V. B. Gupta vbgupta.fsp@dauniv.ac.in guptavb@hotmail.com School of Futures Studies and Planning, Devi Ahilya University, IndoreSearch for more papers by this authorVinay Kumar, Vinay Kumar Centre for Advocacy and Research in Environment, MumbaiSearch for more papers by this authorH. K. Gupta, H. K. Gupta School of Futures Studies and Planning, Devi Ahilya University, IndoreSearch for more papers by this authorArvind Kumar Gupta, Arvind Kumar Gupta Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New DelhiSearch for more papers by this authorC. V. C. Rao, C. V. C. Rao National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, NagpurSearch for more papers by this author First published: 18 June 2004 https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.20015AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume13, Issue4Summer 2004Pages 51-58 RelatedInformation

&lt;bold&gt;Computer Vision and Fuzzy-Neural Systems &lt;/bold&gt;

From the Publisher: New computer vision techniques based on neural networks, fuzzy inference systems, and fuzzy-neural network models Detailed tutorials, hands-on exercises, real-world examples, and proven algorithms CD-ROM: code libraries for the MATLAB neural network, fuzzy logic, and image processing toolboxes, test images from Kodak and Space Imaging, and more. The first complete guide to applying fuzzy-neural systems in computer vision. Recent advances in neural networks and fuzzy logic are transforming the field of computer vision, making it possible for computer vision applications to learn much as the brain does, and to handle imprecise visual data far more effectively. Now, Dr. Arun D. Kulkarni brings together the field's latest research and applications, presenting the field's first comprehensive tutorial and reference. Kulkarni starts by reviewing the fundamentals of computer vision, and the stages of a computer vision system. He shows how these stages have traditionally been implemented via statistical techniques; then introduces approaches that incorporate neural networks, fuzzy inference systems, and fuzzy-neural network models. Coverage includes: Preprocessing techniques such as radiometric or geometric corrections Feature extraction, supervised and unsupervised classification, associative memories, and other techniques for improving accuracy and performance Key computer vision applications: remote sensing, medical imaging, compression, data mining, character recognition, stereovision, and more Computer Vision and Fuzzy-Neural Systems illuminates the state-of-the-art throughhands-on exercises, real-world examples, and proven algorithms. It's an essential resource for every engineer, scientist, and programmer working in computer vision and a wide range of related fields. It can also be used as a textbook for undergraduate- or graduate-level courses in computer vision. CD-ROM Included Contains extensive library of MATLAB command files, executable files for some useful programs, and test images from Kodak and Space Imaging. Author Biography: Dr. Arun D. Kulkarni is Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, Texas. His research interests include computer vision, fuzzy-neural systems, data mining, image processing, and artificial intelligence. He has authored a book and published more than 50 referred papers. His awards include the 1984 Fulbright Fellowship award and the 1997 NASA/ASSE Summer Faculty Fellowship. Dr. Kulkarni obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Virginia Tech.

Experimental Measurement and Model Based Inferencing of Solubility of Polyethylene in Xylene

ANGULYDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Kharagpur-721302, IndiaKeywords: Solid–Liquid Equilibrium, Laser Sensing, Polyethylene, Model PredictorSolubility of polyethylene in mixed xylene was determined experimentally under atmospheric pres-sure by an indigenously developed laser based technique. In this work, a PC-SAFT equation of state wasused to model solid–liquid equilibrium (SLE). With the experimental SLE data available in the litera-ture for low molecular weight n-alkanes and aromatic compounds under atmospheric pressure, the suit-ability of the developed SLE model based on the PC-SAFT equation of state was tested. Subsequently asensitivity study was performed to understand the effects of different parameters that affect the solubil-ity of polyethylene. The validated model was then used to correlate the experimentally determined solu-bility data for the polyethylene system.

Drying performance of a batch type vibration aided infrared dryer

A batch type vibration aided infrared dryer was developed and studied for drying characteristics of three varieties of high moisture paddy using 0.8 kg each (variety: ADT-37 of slenderness ratio ( μ)=2.70, Shankar of μ=4.48 and Basmati of μ=5.77) under the optimum range [Simultaneous parboiling and drying of high moisture paddy using infrared, PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, unpublished] of radiation intensity (3100 and 4290 W/m 2) and grain bed depth (12 and 16 mm). The drying rate was found to be dependent on levels of radiation intensity. Two distinct drying rates periods were observed i.e., an initial heating up period and falling rate period. The drying took place almost entirely in the falling rate period. For any particular radiation intensity level, the drying rate among the bed depths was found to be insignificant ( p<0.01). The Page model adequately fitted the experimental drying data.