Design of a flotation cell equipped with ultrasound transducers to enhance coal flotation

Ultrasonic treatment is widely used for surface cleaning during physical, chemical and physico-chemical processes in mineral processing. Several research papers and a few industrial applications about the subject suggest that the mechanism behind the positive effect of ultrasound for mineral processing and especially flotation is due to formation of cavitation by ultrasonic energy. Within this study, coal floatability is investigated by use of a specially designed flotation cell equipped with ultrasound transducers with different power, frequency and geometry. The results indicate that ultrasonic treatment during coal flotation positively affects the quality and quantity of the properties of floated coals while using of lesser amounts of reagent than a conventional flotation system.     

Phenoxazine polymers: synthesis and structure

Phenoxazine polymers were obtained for the first time under conditions of chemical oxidative polymerization in aqueous alcohols and in an interphase process. The interphase process gave products with the higher molecular weight. Dependencies of the yields and degree of polymerization of phenoxazine from polymerization method, concentration of reactants, their ratio, reaction temperature and time, as well as chemical structures of the obtained polymers depending on the synthesis conditions, were studied. The polyphenoxazine chain growth is accomplished by the C-C-addition at the para-position of the phenyl rings with respect to nitrogen. Even when an excess of oxidant was used, the polyphenoxazine structure has only phenyleneamine units. The polymers obtained are amorphous and thermally stable.     

Preparation, characterization and antimicrobial property of micro-nano sized Na-borosilicate glass powder with spherical shape

Spherical glass powders are potential materials for the production of a high performance coating where uniform porosities are obtainable with a high hydrophilic nature. Coating with antimicrobial properties increases the engineering properties of the materials. In this study, Ag₂O doped (0.5-5 wt.% Ag₂O) Na-borosilicate micro (1.227 μm) and nano (134 nm) sized glass powders were prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The antimicrobial properties against gram positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and yeast (Candida albicans) were determined using the agar-disc diffusion and modified agar well methods. The results show that the prepared powders are spherical, of amorphous structure and have a very smooth surface. The increase in silver oxide content increased the powders' antimicrobial activity. Powders with 2.5 wt.% Ag₂O content are highly active (?) against the three types of microorganisms. The nano sized powder also increased antimicrobial activity.     

Theoretical and Experimental Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis for a Falling Film Outside a Grooved Tube

The heat and mass transfer from a grooved tube is investigated experimentally for a falling-film flow. The experiments are conducted on a helical trapezoidal grooved tube at three temperatures of the feeding water: 30°C, 35°C, and 40°C. The Reynolds number (Re) of the air ranges between 1,500 and 3,500. Nusselt number (Nu) is expressed as a function of the Prandtl number (Pr), Re for air (Re_a), Re for water (Re_w); Sherwood number (Sh) is expressed as a function of the Schmidt number (Sc), Re_a, and Re_w, and the correlation coefficients are determined.     

Flow around a cylinder surrounded by a permeable cylinder in shallow water

The change in flow characteristics downstream of a circular cylinder (inner cylinder) surrounded by an outer permeable cylinder was investigated in shallow water using particle image velocimetry technique. The diameter of the inner cylinder and the water height were kept constant during the experiments as d?=?50?mm and h _w ?=?25?mm, respectively. The depth-averaged free-stream velocity was also kept constant as U?=?170?mm/s which corresponded to a Reynolds number of Re_d?=?8,500 based on the inner cylinder diameter. In order to examine the effect of diameter and porosity of the outer cylinder on flow characteristics of the inner cylinder, five different outer cylinder diameters (D?=?60, 70, 80, 90 and 100?mm) and four different porosities (???=?0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7) were used. It was shown that both porosity and outer cylinder diameter had a substantial effect on the flow characteristics downstream of the circular cylinder. Turbulent statistics clearly demonstrated that in comparison with the bare cylinder (natural case), turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stresses decreased remarkably when an outer cylinder was placed around the inner cylinder. Thereby, the interaction of shear layers of the inner cylinder has been successfully prevented by the presence of outer cylinder. It was suggested by referring to the results that the outer cylinder having 1.6????D/d????2.0 and 0.4????D/d????0.6 should be preferred to have a better flow control in the near wake since the peak magnitude of turbulent kinetic energy was considerably low in comparison with the natural case and it was nearly constant for these mentioned porosities ??, and outer cylinder to inner cylinder diameter ratios D/d.     

Exact Solutions for Fractional Differential-Difference Equations by (G′/G)-Expansion Method with Modified Riemann-Liouville Derivative

In this paper, the ($G′/G$)-expansion method is suggested to establish new exact solutions for fractional differential-difference equations in the sense of modified Riemann–Liouville derivative. The fractional complex transform is proposed to convert a fractional partial differential difference equation into its differential difference equation of integer order. With the aid of symbolic computation, we choose nonlinear lattice equations to illustrate the validity and advantages of the algorithm. It is shown that the proposed algorithm is effective and can be used for many other nonlinear lattice equations in mathematical physics and applied mathematics.     

Size tunable three-dimensional annular laser trap based on axicons

A three-dimensional (3D) ring-shaped laser trap has been built using axicons. The diameter of this laser trap ranges from 70 to 140 mum and is adjusted by simply changing the position of one axicon in the optical path. Parallel 3D trapping of 5 mum silica microspheres and 3D confinement of cells along the ring are demonstrated. In this system the special optical properties of axicons are used to create a continuous annular trap with high power efficiency and a constant numerical aperture. This new approach, without any mechanical scanning, offers significant potential for applications in cell motility analysis and biotropism studies.     

Finite-Size Scaling Analysis of a Three-Dimensional Blume--Capel Model in the Presence of External Magnetic Field

The Blume-Capel model in the presence of external magnetic field H has been simulated using a cellular automaton algorithm improved from the Creutz cellular automaton in three-dimension lattice. The field critical exponent 5 is estimated using the power law relations and the finite size scaling functions for the magnetization and the susceptibility in the range -0.1≤ h = H/J ≤0. The estimated value of the field critical exponent 5 is in good agreement with the universal value （δ = 5） in three dimensions. The simulations are carried out on a simple cubic lattice under periodic boundary conditions.     

The effect of B2O3 addition to the microstructure and magnetic properties of Ni0.4Zn0.6Fe2O4 ferrite

The effects of 0.01 and 0.1 mol B₂O₃ addition to the microstructure and magnetic properties of a Ni–Zn ferrite composition expressed by a molecular formula of Ni_0.4Zn_0.6Fe₂O₄ were investigated. The toroid-shaped samples prepared by pressing the milled raw materials used in the preparation of the composition were sintered in the range of 1000–1300 °C. The addition of 0.01 mol B₂O₃ increased the grain growth and densification giving rise to reduced intergranular and intragranular porosity due to liquid-phase sintering. The sintered toroid sample at 1300 °C gave the optimum magnetic properties of B_r=170 mT, H_c=0.025 kA/m and a high initial permeability value of μ_i=4000. The increment of the B₂O₃ content to 0.1 mol resulted in a pronounced grain growth and also gave rise to large porosity due to the evaporation of B₂O₃ at higher sintering temperatures. Hence, it resulted in an air-gap effect in the hysteresis curves of these samples.     

Infrared photoluminescence from TlGaS2 layered single crystals

Photolimuniscence (PL) spectra of TlGaS₂ layered crystals were studied in the wavelength region 500‐1400 nm and in the temperature range 15‐115 K. We observed three broad bands centered at 568 nm (A‐band), 718 nm (B‐band) and 1102 nm (C‐band) in the PL spectrum. The observed bands have half‐widths of 0.221, 0.258 and 0.067 eV for A‐, B‐, and C‐bands, respectively. The increase of the emission band half‐width, the blue shift of the emission band peak energy and the quenching of the PL with increasing temperature are explained using the configuration coordinate model. We have also studied the variations of emission band intensity versus excitation laser intensity in the range from 0.4 to 19.5 W cm^‐2. The proposed energy‐level diagram allows us to interpret the recombination processes in TlGaS₂ crystals. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)