Narrow Results

This study introduces a novel approach utilizing Spike Neural Networks (SNNs) to analyze the performance and emissions of pollutants of a 4-stroke Spark Ignition (SI) engine running on ethanol–gasoline blends. By dynamically adjusting synaptic weights based on various application data, the SNNs technique aims to enhance the solution model for improved exploration and exploitation. Isoamyl alcohol is utilized at high Compression Ratios (CR) in SI engines to boost performance and reduce emissions. The main objectives of the SNNs approach are to evaluate waste products as potential alternative fuels, improve the performance of the engine and lower emissions. Using a variety of gasoline–ethanol combinations and speed conditions as input data, the SNNs model predicts relationships between braking power, Brake-Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC), thermal and volumetric efficiency, torque and components of emissions. Performance evaluation is conducted using MATLAB, comparing against existing methods like Heap-based Optimizer (HBO), Color Harmony Algorithm (CHA) and Random Forest Algorithm (RFA). Results show low Mean Relative Errors (MRE) ranging from 0.46% to 5.57% and relatively low Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) compared to existing approaches.

This study applied piston-valve coating for an engine that worked 100% on biodiesel fuel and investigated the wear characteristics after the experiment. The plasma spraying method was used as the coating method. Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂ ceramics, which are the most frequently used ones in the literature, were selected as coating material. The deformations on the coated and uncoated surfaces were determined after running the engine at different time intervals. The deformations on the piston surfaces were interpreted by conducting SEM and EDX analyses. In particular, the deformation on the coating material, thermal fatigue cracks, abrasive wear and elements that clang to the piston surface after combustion were determined. Additionally, post-combustion engine oil analysis was carried out to determine the elements that were released as a result of the thermal wear in connection to combustion. The relationship of the coating with thermal efficiency was investigated for all types of coatings by determining temperatures from a certain point on the engine by using a thermal camera and a surface temperature measurement device. As a result of the SEM, EDX and engine oil (ICP) analyses, it was seen that the elements that are released as a result of wear such as Al, Fe and Cr had lower quantities with the aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) coating with the Nickel–Chromium (Ni–Cr) bonding agent in comparison to the other coating materials. Additionally, as a result of oil analyses, the coated engine was observed to have more positive outcomes in comparison to the uncoated engine.

AUSTRALIA — Allogenic Stem Cells Effectively Treat Eye Diseases

AUSTRALIA — Leukemia Breakthrough in Australia

AUSTRALIA — A$20 Million for ICT Innovation in Healthcare

AUSTRALIA — Impact of “Silent” Osteoporosis on Australians

AUSTRALIA — Bacteria that Eat Cancer-causers Found

AUSTRALIA — New Therapy for HIV Treatment

CHINA — Chinese SFDA Approves Helicon's ReCell® Concept and Kit — Skin Regeneration Concept and Device

CHINA — Research on Breast Cancer Stem Cells Offers Hope for Vaccine

CHINA — Infectious Intestinal Disease on Rise in North-east China, Causing 3 Deaths

CHINA — Global Stem Cell Forum in China Showcases Cutting-edge Research, Focuses on New Findings for IPS Cells

INDONESIA — Samsung Group to Develop Indonesian Biodiesel

INDIA — Indian Researchers on Way to Creating Vital Part of Human Eye

INDIA — Hyundai Motor Launches Rural Mobile Health Clinic

INDIA — Varadachari Implants New Life with Bio-release Micronutrients

INDIA — Siemens to Make Nuclear Medicines at Indian Plants

INDIA — Milestone Disc Replacement Surgery (4-level) Performed for the First Time in Asia at Artemis Health Institute

INDIA — Transasia Announces All India Launch of Erba Den-Go to Detect Dengue

INDIA — Biotech Sector Grows by 20%

INDIA — U.S., Europe, Australia to Jointly Inspect Indian Drug Factories

INDIA — Chennai Gets India's First Heart Implant Training Centre

JAPAN — MDS Pharma Opens New Facility in Japan

SINGAPORE — New Heart Disease Drug with Fewer Side Effects Available in Singapore

SINGAPORE — A*STAR and Oxford University Agreement Boosts Doctoral Training for A*STAR Scholars

TAIWAN — Biotech Sees Major Industry Changes

VIETNAM — Herbal Drug Offers Hope for Addicts

Simulations Plus Announces Preliminary Success in Malaria Drug Design Project.

xCELLigence System Evaluated in EU Project to Replace Animal Experiments in Cosmetics Industry.

Progress in $100 Million Biodiesel and Commercial Fish Food Project.

QIAGEN and Bio-X Center Open Shanghai Translational Medicine Lab.

Index Ventures Launches First 150m Life Sciences Fund.

Enzo Biochem Expands Distribution with Japan's Cosmo Bio.

Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund Invests in Hepatitis B/D.

ScinoPharm and NHRI Announce Jointly Developed Diabetes Drug.

Calibr: A New Paradigm for Academic – Industry Cooperation.

Biocon and Pfizer End Commercialization Agreement.

Plandai Biotech Demonstrates Significance of Flavonoid & Polyphenol Bioavailability.

Ceva Uses ProBioGen's AGE1.CR Cell Line for Viral Vaccine Production.

Quintiles to Sign Memorandum of Agreement with Malaysia Biotechnology Corporation.

Combining Modern Life Sciences Toolbox to Tackle Current Bottlenecks for Algal Biofuels.

Biodiesel: From Lab to Industry.

Biofuels from Microorganisms.

Membranes for Biofuel Separation.

Carbon Dioxide Bio-mitigation and Third Generation Biofuel - The Way Forward.

Fluidigm China opens its doors.

Brazil Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics at FIOCRUZ chooses Convey to advance genomics.

American CryoStem and Protein Genomics to jointly develop stem cell applications for wound healing.

BASF and Catalent join forces to solve bioavailability challenges.

AB SCIEX and Phenomenex develop food safety solution for India.

Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes: Current Asian Perspectives.

A Crisis in the Development of Antibiotics.

The Marketing of Unapproved Stem Cell Products: An Industry-wide Challenge.

Draining the Goodwill of Science – The Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Industry in East Asia.

Biodiesel – From Lab to Industry.

The Appearance and Development of Commercial Laboratories in China.

Cord Blood Banking – To Go Public or Stay Private.

Open Source – The Future of Drug Discovery.

VACCINES – Where are we headed?

Leveraging on External Expertise.

This study sought to investigate techniques for lowering diesel engine emissions by using waste seed as an alternative energy source in place of conventional fossil fuels. This study thoroughly investigated the process of transesterifying waste seed oil obtained from Bauhinia purpurea linn for use as fuel in a common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) nanoparticles serve as a combustion enhancer. The engine outcome metrics were analyzed using diesel, Bauhinia purpurea linn biodiesel (BPLB) and BPLB-BHT blends ($\mathrm{\text{BPLB}}+10\mu$m BHT 10 ppm and $\mathrm{\text{BPLB}}+20\mu$m BHT 10 ppm) without changing the operating circumstances. At full brake power, the $\mathrm{\text{BPLB}}+10\mu$m BHT 10 ppm mix outperformed the BPLB and $\mathrm{\text{BPLB}}+20\mu$m BHT 10 ppm blends, but fell short of diesel. The $\mathrm{\text{BPLB}}+10\mu$m BHT 10 ppm blend reduced smoke opacity by 39.14%, hydrocarbon (HC) emissions by 42.71%, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 59.03% and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions by 12.29% compared to neat diesel fuel at maximum brake power.

Biodiesel has large amount of oxygen in itself, which make it very efficient in reducing exhaust emission by improving combustion inside an engine. But biodiesel has a low temperature flow problem because it has a high viscosity. In this study, the spray behavior and atomization characteristics were investigated to confirm of some effect for the combination of non-esterification biodiesel and fuel additive WDP and IPA. The process of spray was visualized through the visualization system composed of a halogen lamp and high speed camera, and atomization characteristics were investigated through LDPA. When blending WDP and IPA with biodiesel, atomization and spray characteristics were improved. Through this experimental result, SMD of blended fuel, WDP 25% and biodiesel 75%, was 33.9% reduced at distance 6cm from a nozzle tip under injection pressure 30MPa.

Biodiesel is a renewable liquid fuel made from natural, renewable biological sources such as edible and non edible oils. Over the last years, biodiesel has gained more market due to its benefits and because it appears as the natural substitute for diesel. Reasons for growing interest in biodiesel include its potential for reducing noxious emissions, potential contributions to rural economic development, as an additional demand center for agricultural commodities, and as a way to reduce reliance on foreign oil. Biodiesel was prepared from soybean oil by transesterification with methanol in the presence of cement clinker. Cement clinker was examined as a catalyst for a conversion of soybean oil to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). It can be a promising heterogeneous catalyst for the production of biodiesel fuels from soybean oil because of high activity in the conversion and no leaching in the transesterification reaction. The reaction conditions were optimized. A study for optimizing the reaction parameters such as the reaction temperature, and reaction time, was carried out. The catalyst cement clinker composition was characterized by XRF. The results demonstrate that the cement clinker shows high catalytic performance & it was found that the yield of biodiesel can reach as high as 84.52% after 1 h reaction at 65°C, with a 6:1 molar ratio of methanol to oil, 21 wt% KOH/cement clinker as catalyst.

A 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamics modeling is conducted on a direct injection diesel engine fueled by biodiesel using multi-dimensional software KIVA4 coupled with CHEMKIN. To accurately predict the oxidation of saturated and unsaturated agents of the biodiesel fuel, a multicomponent advanced combustion model consisting of 69 species and 204 reactions combined with detailed oxidation pathways of methyl decenoate (C₁₁H₂₂O₂), methyl-9-decenoate (C₁₁H₂₀O₂) and n-heptane (C₇H₁₆) is employed in this work. In order to better represent the real fuel properties, the detailed chemical and thermo-physical properties of biodiesel such as vapor pressure, latent heat of vaporization, liquid viscosity and surface tension were calculated and compiled into the KIVA4 fuel library. The nitrogen monoxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) formation mechanisms were also embedded. After validating the numerical simulation model by comparing the in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate curves with experimental results, further studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of combustion chamber design on flow field, subsequently on the combustion process and performance of diesel engine fueled by biodiesel. Research has also been done to investigate the impact of fuel injector location on the performance and emissions formation of diesel engine.

In order to continually reduce vehicle pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, fuel standards and regulations are in a state of constant change and tightening. These changes and future trends have an impact on the take-up of renewable fuels for both gasoline and diesel fuels. This chapter discusses current and future fuel standards and illustrates how the hurdles experienced by ethanol and bio-diesel blends have been overcome. Nevertheless, ethanol and bio-diesel still remain and are likely to remain a minor part of the world fuel market.

Ideally new renewable fuels should be drop-in fuels with minimum compatibility issues with conventional fuels. This is illustrated by bio-refinery operations to produce green diesel which is compatible with conventional diesel.

There may be a role for a new renewable additive to improve gasoline octane as octane requirements rise. The market for such an additive could justify large-scale manufacture.

The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA), located in southern New Jersey, is responsible for treating and managing waste in Atlantic County. At both its solid waste facility (Egg Harbor Township) and wastewater treatment facility (Atlantic City), the ACUA has successfully implemented initiatives including renewable energy projects to reduce emissions. These projects have also saved the Authority money. ACUA’s ability to carry out these projects as a government entity demonstrate that opportunities are available for businesses of all types to have an impact.

The sun is the only source of renewable energy available to us, if geothermal energy is not taken into account. In the form of radiation (UV light, visible light, infrared light, Section 1.1) it sends us annually 178,000 terawatts (1 TW = 10¹² W; unit of power 1 W = 1 J s^–1 = 859.85 calories per hour), that is to say 15,000 times the energy consumed annually by humanity. Only 0.1% of the solar energy received by planet Earth is converted into plant biomass, i.e. 100 × 10⁹ tons per year which corresponds to ca. 180 × 10⁹ tons per year of CO₂ captured from the atmosphere. This CO₂ returns to the biosphere after the death of the plants. Consumption of fossil carbon emits ca. 35 × 10⁹ tons of CO₂ yearly. Biomass is the material produced by all living organisms (plants, animals, microorganisms, fungi)…

Given the increasing demand for reducing environmental pollution by using clean energy, there is an urgent need to investigate new and more efficient alternatives for renewable resources use and clean energy production. Although biofuels such as, biodiesel represents a secure, renewable and environmentally safe alternative to fossil fuels. Its production is increasing considerably, and as a consequence, the amount of crude glycerol (main by-product) generated is growing exponentially. In order to solve future environmental problems of glycerol accumulation and to turn the biodiesel production economically viable, implementation of biotechnological strategies that use glycerol as the only carbon source to co-produce higher value products along with biofuels has been proposed as a solution to this problem. In this work it will be presented a well documented argument on the metabolic mechanism of different microorganism for glycerol assimilation. As well as description of different biotechnological processes using glycerol as substrate for bioconversion into different industrial bioproducts in Brazil.

The influence of reaction conditions on the composition and yield of biodiesel made by hydrotreating of waste cooking oil were investigated with Ni-Mo-W/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The results demonstrated that the saturated C₁₅-C₁₈ paraffins was the main product from the hydrotreating of waste cooking oil. With the increase in reaction temperature and LHSV, or the decrease of pressure and hydrogen/oil volume ratio, the decarboxylation or decarbonylation was enhanced. Otherwise, it would be advantageous to deoxidation reaction. The product yield from the hydrotreating of waste cooking oil increased when the reaction temperature and LHSV decreased and when reaction pressure and hydrogen/oil volume ratio increased.

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) simulation and calculation is a new and effective way to do research on engine performance. A 1D simulation model of an engine fueled by biodiesel was established, and its economic performance was simulated. Then, an engine bench test was carried out to review the simulation results. The simulation and test results showed that the model established by the AVL BOOST software can calculate the biodiesel engine's performance accurately, thereby making it an effective way to study engine performance conveniently.

The influences of reaction conditions on the composition and yield of biodiesel made by hydrotreating of rubber seed oil were investigated using Ni-Mo-W/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The results demonstrated that the saturated C₁₅-C₁₈ paraffins were the main product from the hydrotreating of rubber seed oil. Increases in reaction temperature and LHSV or the decrease of pressure and hydrogen/oil volume ratio promotes the enhancement of decarboxylation or decarbonylation, which decreases the yield of the product from the hydrotreating of rubber seed oil. The yield of product from the hydrotreating of rubber seed oil increased when the reaction temperature and LHSV decreased or reaction pressure and hydrogen/oil volume ratio increased.

The kinetics of transesterification for Sapium. Sebiferum oil with methanol catalyzed by immobilized lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia G63 in microaqueous system was investigated. Inhibition of methanol on lipase was observed. The reaction kinetics was successfully built according to “Ping-Pong Bi Bi” mechanism. The parameters in the proposed kinetic model were determined by experiment data. In consideration of transesterification reaction composed of three consecutive reversible steps, the reaction constants (k_1-6) were calculated, and the results indicated that the second forward step (DG→MG) was the limitation step for the reaction. The study provided a deep insight into understanding the enzymatic catalyzed transesterification of Sapium. Sebiferumoil, which will also be beneficial to the industrialization of this technology.

Since more than a decade, synchrotron-based methods play a major role in combustion chemistry research. This chapter focuses on the use of synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) radiation as an ionization source in mass spectrometric applications. The use of tunable VUV radiation allows for the detection, identification, and quantification of different isomeric structures, thus adding a new dimension to mass spectrometric experiments which has not been previously accessible. In particular, this chapter highlights flame-sampling and kinetic experiments that provided new detailed insights into combustion chemistry processes. Examples are provided that are concerned with soot precursor formation and the combustion of prototypical biofuels.