Effect of thermostatic expansion valve tuning on the performance enhancement and environmental impact of a mobile air conditioning system

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this work, the performance enhancement of a HFO-1234yf mobile air conditioning (MAC) system with a suction/liquid line heat exchanger (SLHX) was...     

Fly ash based zeolite analogues: versatile materials for energy and environment conservation

Fly ash is combustion residue from burning of pulverised coal in electric utility generating stations. The annual production of fly ash in India is around 100 MTPA and is responsible for several environmental hazards, which is quite well documented. There are stringent norms for its land disposal and hence utilisation of fly ash is imperative. Fly ash has more than 85% of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ content and is therefore a tailor made raw material for production of zeolite. An innovative process has been developed for synthesis of zeolites using fly ash as a substitute for conventional raw materials viz. sodium silicate and aluminate. The process consists of three major steps viz. fusion of caustic soda and fly ash for optimal extraction of silicate and aluminate, aging step which provides time for formation of nuclei and hydrothermal crystallization resulting in activation of nuclei into well defined crystals. Low temperature operation, simplicity of process and optimal recycling of unused reactants and process water are special features of these processes. Zeolites have high internal and external surface areas and also exhibit high exchange capacities, which makes them versatile materials for targeting wide range of pollutants, ranging from cationic to anionic and hydrophilic to hydrophobic molecules. The major uses of zeolites are in adsorption, ion exchange and as catalysts. The use of zeolites in environmental remediation is restricted due to procurement problem and prohibitive cost, which can be overcome by using low cost fly ash based zeolites (FAZs). The synthesis of FAZ-A and FAZ-Y and their modifications either by transition metal incorporation or by surfactant treatment for various environmental applications in air, water and soil remediation are addressed in this review.     

Application of supported perovskite-type catalysts for vehicular emission control

Catalytic control of auto-exhaust emissions is one of the most successful applications of heterogeneous catalysis, both in commercial and environmental point of views. Although noble metal-based catalysts have dominated this area, efforts were always put in towards development of low cost non-noble metal-based catalysts. With the recent need of closed-coupled catalytic converter, thermal stability requirements have also become more severe, leading to the search for stable catalytic materials. Mixed oxides, including those perovskite type compounds with ABO₃ structure have been extensively studied, mainly for their catalytic and electrical properties. Low surface area of these catalysts has so far been the most important limitation for their catalytic applications involving high space velocities, e.g. auto-exhaust catalysis. Various synthesis routes have been earlier attempted to improve their surface area, yet this was much inferior than the noble metal catalysts, dispersed on high surface area alumina. The in situ synthesis of these oxides on alumina is often associated with the formation of undesired phases, due to the reactive nature of perovskite precursors. However, alumina washcoat, commonly used for improving the surface area of ceramic and metallic catalyst supports, can be modified for perovskite applications. In situ synthesis of stabilized perovskites on modified alumina-washcoated supports offer high surface area and excellent catalyst adhesion. Although, it is difficult to ascertain the presence of pure perovskite type materials on support, such improved synthesis has resulted in remarkable improvement in their catalytic activity for their applications in auto-exhaust catalytic converters. This review presents our work on synthesis of various improved perovskite-type mixed oxides supported on modified alumina-washcoated cordierite honeycomb, their characterization, and detailed catalytic evaluations for possible application in automobile pollution control.     

Uncertainty analysis of transport of water and pesticide in an unsaturated layered soil profile using fuzzy set theory

Incomplete information is notoriously common in planning soil and groundwater remediation. For making decisions groundwater flow and transport models are commonly used. However, uncertainty in prediction arises due to imprecise information on flow and transport parameters like saturated/unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water retention curve parameters, precipitation and evapo-transpiration rates as well as factors governing the fate of pollutant in soil like dispersion, diffusion, degradation and chemical transformation. Different methods exist for quantifying uncertainty, e.g. first and second order Taylor’s Series and Monte-Carlo method. In this paper, a methodology based on fuzzy set theory is presented to express imprecision of input data, in terms of fuzzy number, to quantify the uncertainty in prediction. The application of the fuzzy set theory is demonstrated through pesticide (endosulfan) transport in an unsaturated layered soil profile. The governing partial differential equation along with fuzzy inputs, results in a non-linear optimization problem. The solution gives complete membership functions for flow (suction head) and pesticide concentration in soil column.