Novel simulated moving-bed adsorber for the fractionation of gas mixtures

The separation of propylene-propane mixture is an energy intensive operation commercially practiced using cryogenic distillation. The separation by pressure swing adsorption has been studied as an alternative. A fixed-bed pressure swing adsorption yields the heavy component as a pure product. The product recovery and the productivity are not high. In a moving-bed process, because of the counter-current solid-gas contact, the separation achieved is similar to that of the fractionation by distillation. Although the moving-bed operation offers the upper limit for the performance of a cyclic adsorptive process, due to mechanical complexities in the handling of solids the 'simulated' moving-bed is preferred. By moving the inlet and outlet ports of streams located along the length of the bed, a moving-bed process can be realized in a fixed bed. We describe here a 'moving-port' system which permits injection or withdrawal of the fluid along the axial direction in a fixed bed. A fixed bed embedded with the moving-port systems emulates a simulated moving-bed adsorber. The proposed adsorber can fractionate a binary gas mixture into two product streams with high purities. It is similar to the Sorbex process of UOP but does not have the eluent as an additional separating agent. A parametric study indicates that high purity products and a higher productivity by an order of magnitude can be achieved with simulated moving-beds compared to the fixed beds.     

The microwave spectrum and dipole moment of 1,1-diflurobenzocyclopropene

The rotational spectrum of 1,1-difluorobenzocyclopropene, measured in the X- and R-bands, has been analysed to give the rotational constants in the ground and first four vibrational states. These constants are in agreement with a structure based on those of crystallographically determined related molecules. Indirect evidence is adduced that the carbon skeleton is indeed planar. The dipole moment in the ground (3.57₂ ± 0.02 D) and first excited state (3.54 ± 0.03 D) has been determined through an analysis of the second-order Stark effect. This high value implies considerable polarisation of the π-electron framework.     

Novel domino reactions for diterpene synthesis

New types of concerted domino acylation-cycloalkylation/alkylation-cycloacylation reactions have been described. These processes promoted by methanesulfonic acid-phosphorus pentoxide and concentrated H(2)SO(4), respectively, provide efficient, elegant, and expeditious routes for biologically active naturally occurring diterpenoids, namely (+/-)-ferruginol (1), (+/-)-nimbidiol (2), (+/-)-nimbiol (3), (+/-)-totarol (4), and ar-abietatriene (5).     

Hydroarylation of alkynes and alkenes through alumina-sulfuric acid catalyzed regioselective CC bond formation

A highly atom-efficient synthetic protocol for hydroarylation of terminal-aryl alkynes and styrene through the regioselective CC bond formation via the electrophilic addition of naphthols and substituted phenols has been developed using alumina-sulfuric acid as a heterogeneous supported solid acid catalyst. This methodology shows excellent regioselectivity and affords the desired product in good to excellent yield. The heterogeneous catalyst can also be recycled efficiently without much loss of activity.     

Photoacoustic spectra and modes of vibration of TNT and RDX at CO2 laser wavelengths

IR spectra in the 'Finger Print' spectral range has great importance in qualitative and quantitative analysis of explosives like trinitrotoluene (TNT) and cyclotrimethyltrinitramine (RDX). Highly resolved IR bands of these compounds have been recorded in the 9.6 and 10.6 microm regions of CO2 laser. TNT and RDX are large molecules each having 21 atoms and it is very difficult to assign the modes of vibrations by comparison with those in other molecules making the vibrational assignments of observed bands a difficult task. The ab initio quantum chemical calculation is used for determining the molecular geometries and modes of vibration of these molecules with a view to assign their normal modes in the high resolution vibrational photoacoustic spectra. These assignments are very reliable in view of the good agreement between the observed and calculated frequencies of deuterated TNT.     

Exact Solution of a(2+1)-Dimensional Anisotropic Star in Finch and Skea Spacetime

We provide a new class of interior solution of a(2+1)-dimensional anisotropic star in Finch and Skea spacetime corresponding to the BTZ black hole. We develop the model by considering the MIT bag model EOS and a particular ansatz for the metric function grrproposed by Finch and Skea [M.R. Finch and J.E.F. Skea, Class. Quantum.Grav. 6(1989) 467]. Our model is free from central singularity and satisfies all the physical requirements for the acceptability of the model.     

Surface-Mediated Solid Phase Reaction. IX. A Convenient Procedure for Aldol Reaction of Ketene Silyl Acetals with Aldehydes on the Solid Surface of Alumina

The aldol reaction of ketene silyl acetals with aldehydes proceeds efficiently on the solid surface of alumina impregnated with anhydrous zinc chloride under sonication providing aldol products in high yields and with good stereoselectivity.     

Exact interior solutions in 2+1-dimensional spacetime

An exact formulation of two-dimensional chiral hydrodynamics with diffeomorphism and conformal anomalies is provided. The constitutive relation involving the stress tensor is computed. It reveals a one parameter class of solutions which is a new result. For a particular value of this parameter, the results found in the gradient expansion scheme are reproduced. Moreover, the constitutive relation is analogous to the corresponding relation for an ideal fluid, appropriately modified to include the chirality property, which has also been derived here.     

Characterizing Gaussian Flows Arising from Itô’s Stochastic Differential Equations

In order to identify which of the strong solutions of Itô’s stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are Gaussian, we introduce a class of diffusions which ‘depend deterministically on the initial condition’ and then characterize the class. This characterization allows us to show, using the Monotonicity inequality, that the transpose of the flows generated by the SDEs, for an extended class of initial conditions, are the unique solutions of the class of stochastic partial differential equations introduced in Rajeev and Thangavelu (Potential Anal. 28(2), 139–162 2008), ‘Probabilistic Representations of Solutions of the Forward Equations’.     

Adsorption of collagen onto single walled carbon nanotubes: a molecular dynamics investigation

Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been carried out to understand the adsorption of collagen like peptides onto single walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) in an aqueous environment. It is observed that the triple helical structure of all the model collagen like peptides (CPs) has been unaltered upon adsorption onto CNT. The model CPs do not wrap around the CNT, however, the axis of the triple helix subtends a cross angle with respect to the axis of the CNT. The interaction between the CPs and CNT as well as that between the CPs and water molecules was observed by MD simulation snapshots. The inherent nature of the interaction of CPs with CNT facilitates the penetration of CPs into the water/CNT interface. During this process, water molecules trapped between the CPs and CNT are appreciably displaced. Although, hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction is crucial for the interaction, the role of πR (R = OH and NH(2)) interactions are also observed from the geometrical parameters. The sequence specific interaction of CPs with CNT is evident from the results. It is found that the length of the CNT, curvature of the CNT and length of the CPs do not significantly influence interaction between the two systems. Overall the findings provide important information for the development of nanocomposite materials from collagen and CNT.