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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solution using magnetically separable novel adsorbent prepared by coating activated charcoal on magnetic nanoparticles.

The synthesized magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was characterized using Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The removal of Congo red from aqueous solution using magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was optimized. The equilibrium and kinetics modeling of adsorption of Congo red was analyzed.

The presence of activated charcoal on magnetic nanocomposite was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The average size of the nanocomposite was found to be 12.77 nm using SEM characterization. The elemental composition by EDS analysis confirmed the increase in concentration of carbon due the adsorption of Congo red dye. The optimum conditions for batch adsorption was found to be 1 g/L of adsorbent, dye concentration 50 mg/L, pH 3 and temperature 70°C. The adsorption of Congo red dye on magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was found to follow Temkin adsorption isotherm.

The experimental data were found to fit well with the pseudo second-order kinetics and the rate of adsorption was found to be controlled by intra-particle diffusion.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize production of cellulase enzyme from agricultural waste by using Aspergillus fumigatus JCF. The study also aims at the production of bioethanol using cellulase and yeast.

Cellulase production was carried out using modified Mandel’s medium. The optimization of the cellulase production was carried out using Plackett-Burman and Response surface methodology. Bioethanol production was carried out using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.

Maximum cellulase production at optimized conditions was found to be 2.08 IU/ml. Cellulase was used for the saccharification of three different feed stocks, i.e. sugar cane leaves, corn cob and water hyacinth. Highest amount of reducing sugar was released was 29.1 gm/l from sugarcane leaves. Sugarcane leaves produced maximum bioethanol concentration of 9.43 g/l out of the three substrates studied for bioethanol production.

The present study reveals that by using the agricultural wastes, cellulase production can be economically increased thereby bioethanol production.

–Prosopis juliflora is a raw material for long-term sustainable production of bioethanol. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best combination of pre-treatment strategy implemented on the lignocellulosic biomass Prosopis juliflora for bioethanol production.

Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic material was carried out using acid, alkali and sonication in order to characterize the biomass for bioethanol production. Prosopis juliflora stem was subjected to steam at reduce temperature (121°C) for one hour residence time initially. Further acid and alkali treatment was carried out individually followed by combinations of acid and sonication, alkali and sonication. Sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid were used with 3 per cent (w/v) and 3 per cent (v/v) concentration under temperature range of 60-90°C for 60 min incubation time. Sonication under 60°C for 5 min and 40 KHz frequency was carried out. Pre-treated sample were further characterised using field emission scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to understand the changes in surface morphology and functional characteristics.

In sono assisted acid treatment-based method, nitric acid yields better cellulose content at 70°C and removes lignin that even at increased temperatures no burning was observed.

The paper adds to the scarce research available on the combination of auto hydrolysis coupled with sono assisted acid/alkali hydrolysis which is yet to be practiced.

Airline travel is composed of business and nonbusiness travelers, each with different preferences that give rise to differences in demand elasticities and substitution not only across airlines but also airports. In this study, we develop and estimate a model of airline wherein consumers choose which airports and airline to use that allows for unobserved differences between travelers (e.g., business and nonbusiness travelers). The results point to the role that airports themselves play in the ultimate selection of a flight, and that there are strong interactive effects between the airlines’ networks and the consumers’ preferences across airports.

Machinery operating in a sand-dust environment is more susceptible to sand particles. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of sand particle deposition rate, surface hardness and normal load on the tribological performance.

A predictive model to approximate the number of sand particles within the pin-on-disc contact surface is proposed. The efficacy of the model is validated through experimental method, which replicates a sand environment with two distinct particle deposition rates. Dry sliding friction experiments are also conducted using 45 carbon steel and H90 brass pins against GCr15 bearing steel discs.

When at high particle deposition rate [6.89 × 10^–5 g/(s·mm²)], the contact surfaces are separated by particles, resulting in an indirect metal contact. While at low deposition rate [6.08 × 10^–8 g/(s·mm²)], there is an alternating occurrence of direct and indirect metal contacts. In sand environment, the specific wear rate of 45 and H90 decreases by 50% and 33%, respectively, compared to non-sand environment when the applied load is 2.45 N. However, it is only 0.18% for 45 but remains significant at 25% for H90 at load of 9.8 N.

The predictive model and experimental method used in this paper are helpful for understanding the interaction between particles and sliding surfaces, thereby providing a solid foundation for material selection and load optimization of friction pairs influenced by sand-dust environments.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-05-2024-0155/

Acrylamide is a compound found in several food products. Due to the toxicity of this compound, research also seeks strategies to modify industrial and homemade processes, impacting on the reduction of the compound. This paper aims to discuss the aspects surrounding the presence of acrylamide in foods.

Published literature on the presence of acrylamide in foods and on its effects has been reviewed. This paper explores the importance of this compound, summarizes the knowledge of its formation and gathers data on its incidence in food and the possibilities of mitigation. Special attention is given to an evaluation of the toxicological tests applied, to analyze whether acrylamide can be considered as a food safety problem.

Human exposure to food with high levels of acrylamide varies in their levels regarding the consumption of food in the diet and not only by the level of the compound present in them. Although the compound is well defined as toxic to humans, the association between its intake and most common cancers may not be directly related.

Depending on the approach of the researchers, contradictory results are obtained, showing the importance of this topic to the development of healthy food products. Further research is still needed to validate the potential effects of acrylamide on human health.

The electric power system is a complex system, whose operating condition may not remain at a constant value. The various contingencies like outage of lines, transformers, generators and sudden increase of load demand or failure of equipments are more common. This causes overloads and system parameters to exceed the limits thus resulting in an insecure system. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the power system security by alleviating overloads on the transmission lines.

Fuzzy logic system (FLS) with particle swarm optimization based optimal power flow approach is used for overload alleviation on the transmission lines. FLS is modeled to find the changes in inertia weight by which new weights are determined and their values are applied to particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for velocity and position updation.

The proposed method is tested and examined on the standard IEEE-30 bus system under base case and increased load conditions at different contingency. This method gives better results in terms of optimum fuel cost and fast convergence under base case and could alleviate the line overloads at different contingency with optimum generation cost, when compared to adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO) and PSO.

FLS is modeled in MATLAB environment. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested and examined on the standard IEEE-30 bus system and their results are compared with APSO and PSO under MATPOWER environment. The results show that the proposed algorithm is capable of improving the transmission security with optimum generation cost.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the tribological performance (anti-friction and anti-wear properties) of commercial Mobil grade lubricants used in a journal bearing system in a power plant.

Three grades of Mobil lubricants (DTE 24, DTE 25 and DTE 26) are considered during the study. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂, 0.5 Wt.%) of size 40 nm are used as a lubricant additive to examine the performance of the lubricants. The viscosity of the lubricant is computed using modified Krieger–Dougherty viscosity model. The morphology of TiO₂ nanoparticles is studied with the help of scanning electron microscopy, ultra violet spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction. The study of antifriction and antiwear properties for lubricants is carried out on four-ball tribo-tester for operating conditions specified by ASTM standards.

The tribochemical reaction film is formed between ball surfaces during the experiments on four-ball tester that minimizes the asperity contact due to addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles in the lubricant. The viscosity of the lubricant is enhanced due to the addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The frictional coefficient and wear scar diameters of balls in the lubricants are reduced in the range of 6-26 and 2-7 per cent, respectively.

The tribological properties of TiO₂ as a lubricant additive in three commercial Mobil grade lubricants are investigated in this paper. The results obtained in this paper are expected to be helpful to bearing designers, researchers and academicians concerned with the relevant study.

The purpose of this paper is to experimentally investigate the effect of biodiesel fuel blending and heating on engine torque and power.

To obtain torque and power data, a 1200 AWD dynamometer was used. The 1200 AWD dynamometer is a device used to obtain readings, and is made up of a chassis, inertia roller, roller sensor and converter modules, and can also be connected to a personal computer.

The result revealed that biodiesel blending and heating significantly affected torque and power. When only biodiesel blend ratio was varied, the highest torque and power were obtained at 30 per cent fuel blending. Also, the highest torque and power were obtained at 20 mm when only a spaced finned tube heater was used. When both variables were combined, the highest torque was obtained at a 20 per cent biodiesel blend and a 10 mm radial radiator finned spacing. Maximum power for two variables was obtained at the 20 per cent blend ratio and 20 mm finned tube heater spacing.

A novel radial finned tube heater is used.

This paper aims to study the tribological performance of Cu nanoparticles mixed in avocado oil.

A Pin-on-Disc tribometer was used to determine the tribological performance of avocado oil as a lubricant as well as for measuring the effectiveness of Cu nanoparticles. Stribeck curve was generated with the base oil and the oil containing Cu nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are added in 0.5 wt. % and 1 wt. % concentration. The worn-out surfaces of aluminum alloy 6061 pins are explored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The use of Cu nanoparticles led to a reduction in friction and wear. Coefficient of friction (COF) was found to be minimum at 1 wt. % concentration, whereas specific wear rate was minimum for 0.5 wt. % concentration. The film-formation capability of the Cu nanoparticles led to an overall improvement in the tribological properties of the base oil.

Experiments are performed to evaluate the tribological performance of avocado oil using Cu nanoparticles. The results obtained herein suggest that avocado oil has a great potential to replace the conventional mineral oils in the field of industrial lubrication.