Carbon – Science and Technology
Volume 8, Issue 2 & 3, Year 2016
Editorial
In view of energy crisis all over the world, a need of healthy and rigorous discussion on energy from alternative sources was felt. With this view this International Conference was planned to bring the experts from academic institutions, research organizations and industries, and policy-makers involved in this area, on a common platform to facilitate close interactions and to share and exchange their views pertaining to the contemporary issues and future challenges in the field of Alternative Energy Sources.
The conference on Alternative Energy Sources (ICAES-2016) was organized by Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Bio- Engineering of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi on January 29-30, 2016 in collaboration with Association of Microbiologists, Jharkhand Chapter, India in two different themes viz. Alternative Energy Resources and Basic Research and Potential Application of Alternative Energy Resources.
The article by Poddar et al. deposition ofTitanium dioxide thin films on silicon (111) and glass substrates by using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering system shows deposited films were transparent and their band gap increases with increase in oxygen gas flow rate.The samples exhibit amorphous phase as deposited and become polycrystalline at 350ºC. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed existence of anatase and rutile phase after post deposition annealing. Pankaj Gupta analyzed effect of location of inlet and outlet vents on the predicted velocity and temperature field of the air inside the dryer by considering flow and temperature field inside a direct type solar dryer by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Pankaj Guptafurther developed and tested the methodology of a reflective panel type low cost solar cooker. Dhole et al. experimentally investigated the effect of using mixture of producer gas and hydrogen in five different proportions as a secondary fuel with diesel as pilot fuel at wide range of load conditions in dual fuel operation on a 4 cylinder turbocharged and intercooled 62.5 kW gen-set diesel engines at constant speed of 1500 RPM. They found that of all the combinations tested, mixture combination of PG:H2=(60:40)% is the most suited one at which the brake thermal efficiency is in good comparison to that of diesel operation.
Prashant et al. investigated brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc), brake thermal efficiency (bte) along with HC, CO, CO2 and NOx at various mixture ratios of methanol substitutions and at different load conditions on a 4 cylinder (turbocharged and intercooled) 62.5 kW gen-set dual fuel diesel engine. The minimum and maximum BSFC were found to be 0.18 and 1.01 at 40 and 10% of full engine load and 40 and 60% of methanol substitution compared to pure diesel operation where the minimum and maximum BSFC were found to be 0.26 and 0.434 at 20 and 10% of full load condition. Dey et al. presented computational analysis of centre line film cooling effectiveness by using Navier-Stokes equation solver. Film cooling effectiveness had been varied along the downstream of cooling holes. The best results were obtained for fan-shaped hole with M=1.00. While for lower blowing ratio, coolant is unable to spread over a longer distance downstream of cooling holes.
Anjum et al. reviewed the current status of research in the field of alternative source of energy emphasizing endophytic fungi as a source of biofuel precursor. Endophytic microbes reside in the healthy part of the plant without causing any symptoms of disease. The endophytic fungi, have also been known to possess a suitable lipid matrix at high concentrations and volatile organic compounds having similarity with conventional diesel fuel that make them promising sources for next generation bio-fuels. Shaw et al. developed producer gas fuelled 4 stroke diesel engine.The effects of higher and lower loads were investigated on the dual fuel mode. It was revealed that at lower loads dual fuel operation with producer gas shows lower efficiency due to lower combustion rate cause by low calorific value of the producer gas. Beyond 40% load the brake thermal efficiency of dual fuel operation improved due to faster combustion rate of producer gas and higher level of premixing.
Jindal et al. discussed gaseous and liquid film cooling employed for effective cooling in nozzles and combustion chambers by using a spray of coolant fluid in the mainstream flow. They analyzed the influence of various parameters such as blowing ratio, measurement flux ratio, density ratio, flow structure, hole geometry, surface roughness and boundary layer displacement thickness. The Pt-Pd/C electro-catalyst was synthesized on graphite substrate by the electrochemical co-deposition technique by Mahapatra and Datta. The electrochemical characterization of the Pt-Pd/C catalyst for 2-propanol electro-oxidation was studied over a range of 2-propanol concentrations in alkaline medium by using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Bhattacharya et al. elucidated few critical facts about the lithium superionic conductor (Li10GeP2S12) and few other compounds of the same family as the electrolyte in Li-ion cells. From the ab-initio MD simulations, they found that the material transport Li-ions predominantly in the crystallographic c- direction.Sreenivasa et al. investigated water tolerance of ethanol-gasoline blends of various proportions by using co-solvents such as TBA (tert-butyl alcohol), cyclohexane, heptane, acetone, iso-octane, and toluene at 300 K. Miscibility results of water tolerance for each co-solvent are presented for stable mixture at room temperature.Dev et al. used a Computer Aided Design model for energy efficient design of offshore structures. In CAD model preliminary dimensions and geometric details of an offshore structure were optimized to achieve a favourable range of motion to reduce the energy consumed by the ‘Dynamic Position System (DPS)’. The presented model allows the designer to select the configuration satisfying the user requirements and integration of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
I am sure that you will find the present issue of ‘Carbon – Science and Technology’ journal informative and stimulating.
With best wishes
Dr. Devdas B. Lata
Guest Editor
Carbon – Science and Technology