Estimation of Olefin Dimerisation Products by GC/GC–MS and IR Techniques

A GC and IR based protocol was developed for monitoring the isobutene dimerisation process wherein the complete characterisation of the products was carried out by GC coupled with mass spectrometry. In the dimerisation process, LPG from FCC process comprising a mixture of saturated and unsaturated C4 hydrocarbons is subjected to a dimerisation process using a catalyst to produce C8 hydrocarbons. The reaction is carried out keeping in view the demand for high-octane blending components in gasoline. The isooctene generated in the process (mainly from the dimerisation of isobutene) is converted into isooctane having the RON and MON value 100. The monitoring process requires the use of two different column chemistries, viz., a 100 m CPSIL PONA CB non-polar column for C8 and its isomers and an Alumina PLOT column for C4 hydrocarbons. A 100 m non-polar column does not separate the C4 mixture since the column is meant for gasoline range products containing C5 and above hydrocarbons. Therefore, a need was felt for an improvised method which can handle both the analyses simultaneously. A cryogenic oven program starting from 0 °C was developed for separating the isomers of C4 hydrocarbons and C8 hydrocarbons on a single column during the single run by Detailed Hydrocarbon Analyzer. The data obtained using the cryo programme was validated with data obtained using Alumina PLOT column on C4 mixture since the Alumina PLOT column is the widely accepted column chemistry for separating the C4 hydrocarbons. An IR method for the estimation of the total olefin content was developed using 2,2,4-trimethyl pentene-1 as the reference standard. The total olefins generated during the process were identified by GC–MS, quantified by DHA-FID and validated by infrared spectroscopy. A good correlation was found between GC and IR spectral results (correlation coefficient R ²  = 0.99).     

A thermodynamic study of the complexation reaction for some amino acids with cerium(III) and yttrium(III)

The thermodynamic parameters for the complexation reaction of leucine, valine, proline and hydroxyproline with cerium(III) and yttrium(III) were determined potentiometrical1y in aqueous solution at 25, 35 °C and μ=0.1. The values for the formation constants have been reported. The values of enthalpy changes (ΔS) and entropy changes (ΔS) are positive for all systems. The chelation effect is believed to be essentially an entropy effect.     

XPS study of glassy Pd80Ge20

An X-ray photoemission and Auger electron spectroscopy study of the electronic structure of Pd₈₀Ge₂₀ alloy in its glassy and crystalline states is reported. The glassy state shows some modifications in the valence band structure, symmetry of the Pd $\text{3}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{?3}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ spin-orbit doublet and a shift in M₄₅-V-V Auger transition of Pd. Analysis of the chemical shifts in the core-level binding energies of the constituents indicates negligible charge transfer from the metalloid atom (Ge) to d-band of the Pd.     

Effect of impurities on the thermoelectric power of amorphous germanium

Large and anomalous changes in the thermoelectric power of amorphous (a?) Ge films have been observed on doping with impurities of Al, Fe and Sb. Depending on the concentration, Al and Sb impurities contribute a negative thermoelectric power below 300°K. and a positive thermoelectric power above 300°K. The effect of Fe is very small below 1 at. %. The thermoelectric power attains high temperature-independent positive values for large (> 1 at. %) concentrations of Al. The observed effects of the impurities cannot be understood in terms of the conventional crystalline semiconductor concepts. A band structure model for a-Ge has been proposed to qualitatively understand the changes in the sign and magnitude of the thermoelectric power with temperature.     

Piezoelectric non-linearity in PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 thin films

Epitaxial (001)-oriented PbSc_0.5Ta_0.5O₃ (PST) thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition. Local piezoelectric investigations performed by piezoelectric force microscopy show a dual slope for the piezoelectric coefficient. A piezoelectric coefficient of 3 pm/V was observed at voltages up to 0.8 V. However, at voltages above 0.8 V, there is a steep increase in piezoelectric coefficient mounting to 23.2 pm/V. This nonlinear piezoelectric response was observed to be irreversible in nature. In order to better understand this nonlinear behavior, voltage dependent dielectric constant measurements were performed. These confirmed that the piezoelectric non-linearity is indeed a manifestation of a dielectric non-linearity. In contrast to classical ferroelectric systems, the observed dielectric non-linearity in this relaxor material cannot be explained by the Rayleigh model. Thus the dielectric non-linearity in the PST films is tentatively explained as a manifestation of a percolation of the polar nano regions.     

Probing Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov dynamics in the dijet cross section at large rapidity intervals in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1800 and 630 GeV

Inclusive dijet production at large pseudorapidity intervals (Deltaeta) between the two jets has been suggested as a regime for observing Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov (BFKL) dynamics. We have measured the dijet cross section for large Deltaeta in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1800 and 630 GeV using the D0 detector. The partonic cross section increases strongly with the size of Deltaeta. The observed growth is even stronger than expected on the basis of BFKL resummation in the leading logarithmic approximation. The growth of the partonic cross section can be accommodated with an effective BFKL intercept of alphaBFKL(20 GeV)=1.65+/-0.07.     

Temperature dependence of photon bunching in thermal radiation

Results obtained for the fluctuations in the number of photons by a thermodynamic approach and by the photon-counting-formula approach are contradictory. However, if thermal fluctuations in the photodetector are taken into account, the results from the two different approaches agree.     

Magnetohydrodynamic shock waves in a gas mixture

The properties of the non-relativistic propagation of a plane shock wave in a gas mixture of charged particles in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field, oriented in a direction transverse to the direction of propagation, are studied. Expressions for the pressure, density and velocity ratios are obtained. It is shown that the presence of a transverse magnetic field narrows down the range of values of the density ratio.