Search For New Processes Research Articles

Investigation on single/double pass friction stir processing techniques of nickel 200 alloy

Due to the increasing demand for high-strength materials in the world, the researcher’s interest in moving towards the search for new processes and/or materials to achieve the goal. To address the issue friction stir processing (FSP) was applied to Nickel 200 alloy to study the consequences of the single-pass and double-pass approaches. The evolving microstructure and mechanical properties after each successive FSP pass were studied. The tensile response and hardness were studied for both approaches at particular process parameters of 400 rpm rotational speed and 90 mm/min traverse velocity. The peaks in the XRD pattern shift towards a lower angle in the double pass process compare to that of the single-pass process. The average crystalline size of a double pass increased as compared to that a single pass. Microhardness, as well as tensile strength, is higher for single-pass process samples compare to that of double-pass process samples.

Social embeddedness and innovation behavior of innovation platform actors

Agricultural innovation platforms are increasingly being used as a means of mitigating agricultural value chain challenges through enabling the co-evolution of different elements in the innovation process. Given a number of actors and their different interests, governance dynamics and institutions are likely to play a fundamental role in the attainment of this objective. This study employed network governance theory to establish the influence of structures and relations in innovation platforms influence on actors’ innovation behavior. Using a sample of 319 randomly selected farmers and key informant interviews, it was established that the direct effect of embeddedness on innovation behavior was positive but insignificant (β=0.005, p= 0.953). The effect embeddedness on adaptation, coordination and safeguard of exchanges was positive and significant at (β=0.339, p0.01), (β=0.239, p0.01) and (β=0.262, p0.01) respectively. The role of adaptation in influencing innovation behavior was positive and significant with (β=0.264, p0.05). The study also finds that the indirect role of adaptation and safeguard of exchanges enhances the relationship between embeddedness and actor innovation behavior. The study recommends that to increase agricultural innovations, members of the networks should have adaptive measures through continuous search for new processes, new markets, reliable inputs and take advantage of new opportunities in their operating environment so as to be adaptive to this new work arrangement.

The Identification of Fouling in Reverse Osmosis in the Treatment of Water with Petroleum Substances

Water containing petroleum substances is very difficult to clean, and the treatment process usually consists of several stages. Despite the increasing use of integrated membrane processes to purify natural waters, including the removal of organic substances, work is underway on the search for new processes and their optimization. This paper deals with the study of the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from the benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) group by reverse osmosis and optimization. The research was conducted on surface water enriched with a fuel mixture. Then, the reverse osmosis efficiency was modeled using the constant pressure filtration model (Hermia model), which determined the most likely membrane blocking mechanism. When the membrane was operated on surface water enriched with BTEX, the blocking of the membrane was based on the n = 0 cake mechanism. In surface water alone, the highest correlation coefficient was 0.9994 and corresponded to a temporary blocking mechanism (n = 1).

Exploring the Vastness of design space for greener solutions using a quality approach

Abstract Chemistry and biology constitute Vast and/or infinite design spaces which can be used by scientists and engineers to generate new and ever more complex chemical molecules and other structures having new emergent properties. A Vanishingly small proportion of those new molecules can generate even more complexity and new emergent properties by interacting with other molecules, bio-molecules, or complex collections of biomolecules. Large degrees of unpredictability reign throughout that Vastness, as well as in the Environment, and human society and behavior. Yet Life, the Earth’s ecosystem, consciousness, and civilized human societies evolved from simpler systems, despite the Vastness and unpredictability. Green Chemistry and Engineering emerged over the last few decades from an evolutionary search for new processes and products for the benefit of humans and the planet that are both economically viable and do less harm to the Environment. The author, who originally conceived, in 1984, the BHC Ibuprofen Process that won one of the very first Presidential Green Chemistry Awards, was inspired and guided in significant part by the “Quality” philosophy, teachings and methods of W. Edwards Deming. Deming’s Quality philosophy and methods adapt the empirical/reductionist perspectives and approaches of the Scientific Method, to readily integrate holistic, human, and ethical goals, ideas, and perspectives, in order to identify and solve Real-World problems. Deming’s methods include his “PDCA” circles, which, when continuously iterated, can guide scientists, engineers, and their interdisciplinary team-mates as to what to do toward the development and evolution of Real-World processes and products that create little waste, and therefore are both economically and ecologically beneficial, via a process of human guided and human accelerated evolution.

Distribution of sulfur-containing aromatics between [hmim][Tf2N] and supercritical CO2: a case study for deep desulfurization of oil refinery streams by extraction with ionic liquids

Stringent regulations of the maximum content of sulfur in transportation fuels have prompted an intense search for new processes of deep desulfurization to complement common catalytic hydrodesulfurization. One of the alternative processes under development involves extraction of sulfur-containing aromatic compounds (SAs) from diesel fuel and gasoline with ionic liquids (ILs). In these applications, recycling of ILs will be highly important, and reextraction of SAs from ILs with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) appears to be a possible method to regenerate ILs. The design and feasibility assessment of supercritical reextraction requires the partition coefficients of SAs between ILs and scCO2. We used open tubular capillary-column chromatography to measure the partition coefficients of several SAs between 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([hmim][Tf2N]) and scCO2, with [hmim][Tf2N] serving as the stationary liquid and scCO2 as the mobile phase (carrier fluid). The results confirm that the partition coefficients of SAs can be tuned within wide limits (over a decadic order of magnitude) by relatively modest changes in temperature (40–80 °C) and pressure (8.7–17.6 MPa). However, even the most favourable values of the partition coefficients of SAs between [hmim][Tf2N] and scCO2 suggest that feasibility of a large-scale supercritical reextraction process is questionable at best.

Relationships Between Microstructure and Properties of Stainless Steels— A Few Working Examples

Microstructral characterisation is crucial for having a basic understanding of the relationship between the properties of stainless steels and their chemistry and processing to improve the existing steels and in search for new processes and new steels. Modern stainless steels are highly alloyed, and often have complex microstructures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with high spatial resolution provides a powerful means to investigate the microstructure qualitatively and quantitatively, using techniques such as imaging, quantitative image analysis, selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED), X-ray energy-dispersive analysis (EDX), and EDX mapping. In the present report, a few working examples illustrate that microstructural characterisation is essential to bridge between the chemistry, process, and property of modern stainless steel.

Isolated hard photon emission in hadronic Z 0 decays

We report on a study of energetic, isolated photons in a sample of ∼ 320 000 Z 0 hadronic decays. Energetic isolated photons probe the short-distance structure of QCD. We compare our data with the prediction of several QCD-based calculations. A search for new processes with one or two photons in the hadronic final state is also presented. No evidence for physics beyond the standard model is found.