004007   Srivastava S (NO, Central Electricity, Authority, New Delhi) : Base paper on gas insulated substations. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(2), 5-11.

8 illus, 6 tables

004006   Srinivasan K;Porkumaran K;Sainarayanan G (Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering Dep, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore-641 022, Email: srineekvasan@gmail.com) : Background subtraction techniques for human body segmentation in indoor video surveillance. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 342-5.

Computer based automated monitoring and detection of human movements is an interesting and important research problem in the video based applications. The segmentation of human body plays a vital role in the analysis of human activities from the indoor video sequences. The threshold value which uses to separate the human body from the background of video frame. The aim of this paper is to develop an approach for segmenting the human body using background subtraction techniques. This proposed algorithm uses Automatic Threshold Update (ATU) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) approaches for extracting the human body. It is implemented and tested on uniform light and bright light videos.

3 illus, 15 ref

004005   Singh H;Rattan V K (Chemistry Dep, Levely Professional Univ, Panjab-144 402, Email: harminder_env@yahoo.com) : Comparison of hexavalent chromium adsorption from aqueous solutions by various biowastes and granulated activated carbon. Indian chem Engr 2014, 56(1), 12-28.

Aim of this work was to assess the ability of four biowastes, viz. cow dung ash (CDA), corn cob ash (CCA), mango stone ash (MSA) and orange peel powder (OPP) to remove Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution. Results obtained from this study were compared with those for granulated activated carbon (GAC). Surface characterized was carried out using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, from which it was concluded that certain favourable fuctional groups were present on the surface of the adsorbent surface morphology with uniformity. The particle sizes were in the micrometer range for the five adsorbents used in this study. The effects of adsorbent dose, pH and initial metal ion concentration were evaluated. Langmuir as well as Freundlich adsorption models were found to be fit for relating the adsorption of Cr(VI) on all the five adsorbents used. The adsorption capacities of CDA, CCA, OPP, MSA and GAC used in this study were 5.7, 4.2, 6, 4.7 and 10.2 mg/g respectively for Cr(VI) ions at the optimum adsorbent dose.

8 illus, 3 tables, 41 ref

004004   Silveira N;Suresh T;Talaulikar M;Desa E; Prabhu Matondkar S G;Lotlikar A (NO, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona-Paula Goa, Email: 87.noah@gmail.com) : Sources of errors in the measurements of underwater profiling radiometer. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 88-95.

There are various sources of errors from the measurements of optical parameters using a radiometer, which can be classified as mode of deployment, instrument and environment. The errors from the deployment are primarily from the ship and superstructure shadows. Instrument could be a source of error arising from its self-shadow, drift in the calibration and temperature effects. There could be large errors, which at times may be unavoidable to environment factors such as wave focusing at the surface layers, sea state conditions which may affect the tilt of the instrument, atmospheric conditions such as cloud cover, solar elevation, wind and rain. Radiometric optical data in water could also get affected due to Raman scattering and fluorescence effects. Here we discuss the above sources of errors and how they could be minimized. From the measurements carried out in the coastal waters off Goa and Arabian Sea using the hypespectral radiometer, we propose simple protocol to measure the data and also screen the erroneous data measured from the radiometer.

8 illus, 20 ref

004003   Shikha;Das S K;Pal D;Nandy S;Shome S N; Banerjee S (Robotics & Automation Division, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur, Email: shikha@cmeri.res.in) : Underwater terrain mapping with a 5-DOF AUV. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 106-10.

Paper introduces extensive application of a state-of-the-art Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV-150) capable of operating up to a depth of 150 meters, without any human intervention. Considering navigational and guidance issues relating AUV-150 as well as the images obtained on an account of underwater terrain mapping done employing the payload sensors as the pioneer space; the paper also includes the plots generated as a result of post-processing algorithms applied on the raw data obtained from the scanning sensors used typically for seabed mapping.

9 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

004002   Sen S;Vipin Kumar (Environmental Science and Engg., Dep, ISM, Dhanbad) : Reclamation of coal mine degraded land by re-vegetation of Vigna unguiculata L. with application of various soil amendments. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(3), 27-31.

Experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of the application of various soil amendments on soil properties and the growth and yield for Vigna unguiculataL. cultivation in mine degraded soils.V. unguiculataa widely cultivating legume in India for its highly nutritious seeds. Plant growth in terms of different parameters (% seed germination, shoot length, root length, total dry weight, number of leaves and number of root nodules) was measured. The experimental results indicated that all the combinations were significantly increase plant growth and soil fertility. It was observed that the combinations, prepared with bio-fertilizers along with vermicompost and fly-ash induced better results in terms of growth, yield and soil fertility.Mine spoil analysis at harvest revealed that all the physical and chemical properties were improved significantly (pd"0.05) in all the combinations after plantation over the untreated control.

4 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

004001   Sanjana M C;Latha G;Thirunavukkarasu A; Raguraman G (NO, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Velachery-Tambaram Road, Pallikaranai, Chennai-600 100, Email: sanjana@niot.res.in) : Acoustic propagation affected by environmental parameters in coastal waters. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 17-21.

In coastal regions various factors affect the propagation of acoustic signals such as wind, tidal effects, off shore currents and even river outflows. Shallow water waveguide is also characterised by site-specific source nature, bathymetry, sediment properties and sound speed profile. Monterey-Miami Parabolic Equation (MMPE) model has been used to study the propagation in very shallow waters of Arabian Sea with respect to environmental parameters. Sound speed Profiles (SSP) and bottom sediment samples measured at the site characterize the water column and the ocean bottom respectively. Bottom is clay (soft bottom) which can lead to absorption of acoustic intensity into the sediment leading to a decrease in reflected acoustic rays. Under these conditions propagation to large distances will be associated with large losses in acoustic energy. Critical angle of propagation determined theoretically is found to be ±11.42° with respect to horizontal representing low order trapped modes. SSP is downward refracting enhancing propagation along the bottom. In this paper Transmission Loss (TL) computation have been carried out for different frequencies with respect to range and depth. Signal loss and arrival structure and the travel time have been computed for different ranges from 0 to 6 km. Model results have been evaluated by comparing with field measurements and are found to be suitable for modelling extremely shallow water environments.

7 illus, 5 ref

004000   Ramnish Kumar;Arya S K;Ahlawat A (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, Guru Jambheshwar Univ of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana, Email: contactraml@rediffmail.com) : Noise analysis of an AIGaN/GaN pHEMT for microwave frequency applications. Invertis J Sci Technol 2014, 7(3), 178-86.

An analytical model to evaluate current-voltage characteristics, small-signal parameters and noise property for AIGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor is presented. The influence of drain current, frequency and device parameters on noise figure has been studied. The effect of parasitic source and gate resistances has also incorporated to obtain the minimum noise figure. The effect of gate length on the gate voltage behaviour of the noise coefficients P, R and C is also studied which play a vital role in the determination of other important noise performance parameters. The obtained results of device performance are compared with experimental data and shows good agreement. The results show that AlCaN/GaN pHEMTs are attractive to both high power and low noise microwave source applications.

10 illus, 15 ref

003999   Rabiee S M (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Babol Univ of Technology, Mazandaran, Babol, Iran, Email: rabiee@nit.ac.ir ) : Development of hydroxyapatite bone cement for controlled drug release via tetracycline hydrochloride. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 171-4.

The purpose of this work was to study the preparation and characterization of drug-hydroxyapatite cement. The hydroxyapatite (HA) cement has been synthesized by using tricalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous with sodium hydrogen phosphate as liquid phase. The effect of added tetracy-cline hydrochloride (TCH) as drug on final phases, microstructure, setting behaviour and compressive strength has been studied. The drug release rate was first order within the first day and then was zero order. No obvious difference could be detected in XRD patterns of the TCH-HA cement with various amounts of drug. By increasing the drug concentration, mechanical strength of cement was decreased and its setting time was increased. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of using HA cement as a carrier for drug delivery.

4 illus, 1 table, 19 ref

003998   Patra S K;Jena B K (Coastal and Environmental Engineering Division, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Pallikaranai, Chennai-600 100, Email: skpatra@niot.res.in) : Inter-comparison of wave measurement by accelerometer and GPS wave buoy in shallow water off Cuddalore, east coast of India. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 45-9.

The performances of Accelerometer and GPS buoy were tested off Cuddalore at 30 m water depth during 15 to 30 November 2010 by mooring the buoys 225 m apart from each other. Compared to other wave parameters, results of regression analysis on significant wave heights (H_s) shows a better correlation (correlation coefficient R = 0.94) between accelerometer and GPS buoy. A lesser coefficient of R = 0.85 and 0.77 were resulted for wave direction and peak wave period (T_p) respectively. Waves were basically approaching from two directions, i.e. two wave forms or wave fields. One wave field was from around 80° and other was 140°. However, the wave directions averaged within each field over the observation period individually are in good agreement with both buoys. It was noticed that the predominant directions reported by these buoys were not identical always. Even though the buoys were placed at identical water depths (<126> 30 m) and in close proximity (<126> 225 m), they were reporting different predominant directions. The correlation seems low because it was determined to a large extent, with waves from different directions. Comparatively, zero up-crossing wave period (T_z) shows a better agreement with T_p, which may not be a robust parameter due to its dependence on estimation of spectral peak.

5 illus, 8 ref

003997   Patel H R;Shukla P (NO, , BHEL, Piplani, Bhopal) : Reliability of gas insulated switchgear and user expectations. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(2), 12-23.

4 illus, 1 table

003996   Panda S;Stratenwerth T (NO, , ) : Global water governance - a framework for analysis. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(2), 30-9.

This paper presents a framework for understanding the global water governance in vogue. Traditionally, water has been considered to be a local subject and has been dealt accordingly. When the water problems have crossed the local boundaries, efforts have been made to solve them at sub-national, national, supra-national and global level. There is no global government, but the global governance has influenced the national policy domain in many areas including water sector. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyze the concept of governance, water governance and global water governance framework which has been influencing the national policy domain even though such efforts have not acted as binding principles. There has been very few studies on 'water sector as a global subject' and role of global governance in Water Resource Sector (WRS). The global focus for achieving the drinking water and sanitation targets through Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has almost camouflaged the other challenges of this sector requiring global policy response. The Rio+20, has thrown fresh challenges before the water experts and the policy makers alike to identify the specific role of WRS in its broad agenda of Sustainable Development (SD). In this context, the present study examines the hypothesis "Need for Global Water Governance Architecture for Sustainable Development" to understand the present global water politics and the possible role of global governance in this sector. In the process an attempt has also been made to analyze the various efforts being made worldwide to meet the looming challenges of WRS, its sufficiency/adequacy against the magnitude of requirements and derive broad policy recommendations keeping in msind the Rio+20. This study has relevance for the countries like India where the water is not a national subject but a national concern.

2 tables

003995   Nair B M;Padmanabham M;Ajaikumar M P (NO, Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Kochi-682 021, Email: baijumpair@gmail.com) : Measured broadband reverberation characteristics in deep ocean. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 62-6.

Broad band reverberation measurements were collected in deep water (2067m) off Vizag. TNT scare charges (0.450 kg) were used as sound sources which were expended from the ship. The signals were recorded using two hydrophones deployed from the ship. The sound speed profile exhibits 63m duct with a limiting ray angle of about 4.47° and lower cut off frequency of 177 Hz. A flat plateau and then sudden fall of 10 dB near <126>12-13s on the reverberation characteristic in deep water is related to the effect of sound speed profile and water depth. This strong reverberation return will have major consequences on the reverberation limited sonar performance. This effect is correlated with ray theory based model and the results are presented.

7 illus, 5 ref

003994   Nageswara Rao G;Anil Kumar K;Jagadeesh P S V; Anand P (NO, Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Kochi-682 021, Email: gnrao84@gmail.com) : Characteristics of bay of bengal water mass in south eastern arabian sea during 2001-2002. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 27-32.

Present study consists characteristics of intruded Bay of Bengal Water mass (BBW) in the South Eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) during November 2001 - May 2002 by utilizing Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) model outputs (Temperature, Salinity and Currents). During November 2001 the southward flowing East India Coastal Current (EICC) along with Winter Monsoon Current (WMC) brings BBW to Arabian Sea traversing around Sri Lanka coast and feeds the poleward flowing West India Coastal Current (WICC). Even though EICC reversed its direction by January, the WMC along with the WICC transported the BBW further north into Arabian Sea. Maximum northward limit of the BBW was 16°N during January-February which is the peak phase of WICC. When the WICC reversed its direction by March the BBW started depleting and by May no trace of BBW was seen in SEAS. Thickness of the water mass were computed for the entire study region and also vertical integrated volume transport were computed along transects (77.5°E, 8.25°N, 10.25°N, 12.75°N and 15.25°N) perpendicular to the coast. Thickness of the water mass was found to vary from 10 to 60 m during the entire study period. It was shallow during November and March-April while it was deep during peak phase of WICC (January-February). Maximum volume transport of 0.8 Sv towards west along 77.5°E was observed during February. During the period of study total volume transport was seen to be less towards the Northern transects.

3 illus, 22 ref

003993   Mishra S;Anshumali (Laboratory of Biogeochemistry, Environmental Dep, Science and Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826 004, Email: malijnu@gmail.com) : Forest structure and diversity in the tropical deciduous forests of Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(3), 14-18.

Systematic and comprehensive analysis of plant diversity was carried out in the tropical deciduous forests around Jharia coalfield. Three 1- ha plots were established one in each site, located 6 to 20 km apart. Each plot was divided into 100 quadrats each of 10 mX10 m in size. In each quadrat, the diameter at breast height (dbh) of all adult trees (e" 9.6 cm) and saplings (e" 3.2 to <60> 9.6 cm) were measured and identified. The inventory of established seedlings was carried out at diameter <60> 3.2 cm ate" 30 cm height. The study revealed that the BR site is highly disturbed than the MDH and KDH sites. The highly disturbed nature of BR site may be due to its closeness to human settlement particularly villages and establishment of massive BCCL. The number of families, number of species and their individuals in seedling, sapling and adult stages are more in the MDH and KDH sites than that of the BR site. The Fabateae and Moraceae were the most species-rich families in the Jharia Coalfield region.. 25-30% individuals were of legumes at MDH and KDH sites, while <62>50% individuals were legumes at BR site. Opposite trend was observed for nonlegumes. Members of Fabaceae (legumes) emerged as resistant to various anthropogenic activities as reflected from their dominance at all three sites (BR<60> MDH=KDH). The saplings and adults are highly affected stages due to their continuous extraction in three sites of Jharia coalfield. On these sites, particularly the number of seedlings were disproportionally higher compared to the adult individuals, indicating massive seed production and/or high seedling establishment, which could lead to higher recruitment of saplings if anthropogenic pressure is controlled i.e. the regeneration of woody species may be good and the future communities may be sustained in the three sites of the Jharia Coalfield.

2 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

003992   Mehta U (School of Engineering and Physics, The Univ of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands) : Modelling of integrating processes with time delay using a relay response curve. Indian chem Engr 2014, 56(1), 1-11.

This paper presents a technique to identify integrating processes based on time domain analysis of the relay response curve. Explicit analytical expressions are provided for first- and second-order integrating process models in terms of a few critical point data. Models with up to three parameters are estimated by means of a single symmetrical relay experiment without solving any nonlinear equations. The procedure requires less time for the "autotuning test as it uses only half-output limit cycle data. Simulation examples illustrate the simplicity of the presented method.

6 illus, 18 ref

003991   Kundu P;Debsarkar A;Mukherjee S (Environmental Engineering Division, Civil Engineering Dep, Jadavpur Univ, Kolkata-700 032) : Biodegradation of phosphorous in a laboratory-scale sequential batch reactor under anoxic-aerobic conditions. Indian chem Engr 2014, 56(1), 43-57.

Study describes the laboratory-scale evaluation of phosphorus removal uptake along with soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction in a sequencing batch reactor under anoxic-aerobic environment in sequence. The study includes the preparation of acclimatized seeds for phosphate removal and examining the effect of organic substrate like glucose and acetate on phosphate removal in different initial phosphate concentration under anoxic-aerobic conditions. Phosphorus removal efficiency was accelerated remarkably (24.83-88.19%) by the presence of readily biodegradable soluble COD in the form of acetate for an initial phosphate concentration of 10 mg/1 as P during the anoxic-aerobic period. It was also observed that a change in sequence of the react phase from 5 h anoxic + 5 h aerobic to 4 h anoxic + 4 h aerobic + 2 h anoxic should be effective to produce marginal denitrified effluent at the end of the last 2.0 h of anoxic react phase.

9 illus, 3 tables, 15 ref

003990   Kumar L V (NO, , ) : Business and urban water utility operations in India. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(2), 40-4.

Recent recognition by Government of increased focus on Drinking water and Sanitation brings urban and rural water supply systems, in apriority domain. Water services in rural areas are oriented to bringing potable supplies within the access and reach, of village households. In urban cities, the services have so far veered around to providing safe drinking water to economically backward and to effluent sections of urban household and residents. This is done being done by meeting priority for supply of minimum, equity based access of safe water (acceptable quality with water treatment) to weaker sections of society. The effluent city neighbourhood are being provided with water borne sewerage system and more liberal per capita supplies. At the same time, current orientation is to integrate the process of r city planning (transportation, roads and streets, drainage) as part of urban needs. The water and waste water infrastructure, including water for various uses (Industrial, institutional, pumping, domestic recreational etc.) are addressed as a basic service. The waste waters which represent water used as return flows and storm water are also an intrinsic part of this planning. The investments must be recovered from water users, surplus generated for raising public funds, operations awarded to service agencies for efficient supplies, keeping asset management under investors control. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) Programme of Gol categories the cities of India in tiers, based on population. The storm water and effluents evacuation and disposal systems, and solid waste management are no longer a low priority sectots. The states are carving out new, urban oriented departments in urban water supply and sewerage boards, which independent of state Public Health Departments, now entrusted with rural water supplies GNCT is experimenting with 24x7 water supplies in select neighbourhoods, metering and related hydraulic studies for turning urban supply systems financially remunerative. The criteria of water supply in urban areas, for domestic uses of 135 litres/capita/day availability in the dwellings (with 1% extra for fire protection needs). In new minimum figure for provision of water-borne sewerage system in a city and the provision of this systemns charged as a percentage of water supply charges. The paper attempts to understand the reliability, sustainability and efficiency concepts in the system, requirement of Total Quality Management, and explores potential for a turnabout on obtaining financial returns on investment by a water utility. In this exercise, methods and techniques to be adopted to understand, plan, build and operate the system within an effective cost, can interest the readers.

003989   Klarin M M;Brkic V K Spasojevic;Sajfert Z D; Pavlovic A M;Krstic D (NO, Novi Sad Univ, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Zrenjanin, Serbia, Email: vspasojevic@mas.bg.ac.rs) : Interior space design optimization of passenger cars in Serbia. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 338-41.

This study proves that in addition to the angles between the anthropometric measurements, passenger car interior space optimization in terms of ergonomic adjustment is most heavily influenced by the totals of the anthropometric measurements for lower leg length, upper leg length and sitting height for the same overall totals, which are individually different. The regularities of the anthropometric measurement mechanism as well as their geometry and kinematics of movement have been compared with the mechanical mechanism, so that according to new methodology the vehicle has been designed for wider range of drivers. The optimal space is defined within a coordinate system with the origin at the fixed ''O'' point of contact between the driver's heel and the car floor in front of the accelerator pedal. The designed optimal roof-floor space height for the driver along the z-axis amounts to 1250 mm, and the distance from the fixed ''O'' point backwards along the x-axis is 1180 mm, while the distance from the zero point for feet accommodation forwards along the x-axis equals 330 mm. The adjustability of the seat-floor height ranges from 190 mm to 300 mm. The horizontal movement of the seat amounts to 250 mm.

1 illus, 2 tables, 18 ref

003988   Khanam R;Gyana Prasuna R (Microbiology Dep, A. Q. J. degree & P.G. College, Visakhapatnam, Email: rskhanam@gmail.com) : Strain improvement of white rot fungi Pycnoporus cinnabarinus with the influence of physical and chemical mutagens for enhancing laccases production. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 331-7.

Several microorganisms including fungi and bacteria produce the most important industrially applicable enzyme "laccases". The present work was aimed to apply mutagenesis on the test fungus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus for enhancement of the enzyme production. The efficiency of Laccases production by the wild fungal strains Pycnoporus cinnabarinus was investigated by the treatment with physical mutagen [ultraviolet radiation (UV) and X-rays] and chemical mutagens [Ethidium bromide, Colchicine and Hydrogen peroxide]. The effect of X-rays showed an increase in production with increasing exposure (Max. at 8 sec.). Beyond 8 seconds there was a decrease in production. UV irradiation influenced by reducing the enzyme production and the maximum dosage is lethal to the fungus. Among the three chemical mutagens, hydrogen peroxide was found to be having lethal effects to the fungus and low enzyme production even in minimum concentrations. Colchicine and Ethidium bromide showed increase in enzyme production with increasing concentrations (Max. at 4 and 7 μg respectively). The improved strain of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus showed 15% of increase in the yield. The increase in production of laccases in a cheap production medium formulated by using agricultural and industrial wastes may be beneficial industrially when compared to the other costly conventional media. Further work is in progress by protoplast fusion of the best mutants for even more production.

2 illus, 2 tables, 14 ref

003987   Kang A S;Vig R (ECE Dep, Panjab Univ Regional Centre Hoshiarpur, Punjab, Email: askang_85@yahoo.co.in') : Two channel analysis and synthesis filter bank multicarrier sub band processing for physical layer cognitive radio. Invertis J Sci Technol 2014, 7(3), 129-37.

Cognitive Radio(CR) Technology has emerged from software defined radios wherein the key parameters of interest are frequency,power and modulation technique adopted. The role of Cognitive Radio is to alter these parameters under ubiquitous situations. The Spectrum Sensing is an important task to determine the availability of the vacant channels to be utilised by the secondary users without posing any harmful interference to the primary users. In Multicarrier Communication using Digital Signal Processing Techniques.Filter Bank Multi Carrier has an edge over other technologies in terms of Bandwidth and Spectral Efficiency. The present paper deals with the Multi Rate FIR Decimation and Interpolation Filter along with Usage of two band Analysis and Synthesis subband processing approach for physical layer of Cognitive Radio under fading channel environment.

21 illus, 20 ref

003986   Johny Jelmy E;Ramakrishnan S;Rangarajan M; Kothurkar N K (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Dep, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore-641 112, Email: nikhil.kothurkar@gmail.com) : Effect of different carbon fillers and dopant acids on electrical properties of polyaniline nanocomposites. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 37-44.

Electrically conducting nanocomposites of polyaniline (PANI) with carbon-based fillers have evinced considerable interest for various applications such as rechargeable batteries, microelectronics, sensors, elec-trochromic displays and light-emitting and photovoltaic devices. The nature of both the carbon filler and the dopant acid can significantly influence the conductivity of these nanocomposites. This paper describes the effects of carbon fillers like carbon black (CB), graphite (GR) and muti-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and of dopant acids like methane sulfonic acid (MSA), camphor sulfonic acid (CSA), hydrochloric acid (HC1) and sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) on the electrical conductivity of PANI. The morphological, structural and electrical properties of neat PANI and carbon-PANI nanocomposites were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis spectroscopy and the four-point probe technique, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were also conducted for different PANI composites. The results show that PANI and carbon-PANI composites with organic acid dopants show good thermal stability and higher electrical conductivity than those with inorganic acid dopants. Also, carbon-PANI composites generally show higher electrical conductivity than neat PANI, with highest conductivities for PANI-CNT composites. Thus, in essence, PANI-CNT composites prepared using organic acid dopants are most suitable for conducting applications.

10 illus, 4 tables, 30 ref

003985   Jayanthi A N;Ravichandran C S (ECE Dep, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Email: jayanthi_an@rediffmail.com) : Performance optimization of carry select adders using variable latency design style. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 290-3.

This paper presents a Variable Latency (VL) adder. It is introduced to work at a lower time delay than that required by a Ripple Carry Adder (RCA). It proposes a new technique called HOLD LOGIC. The VL-adder design is further modified to overcome the effects of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI). In the CLDC (Carry Length Detection Circuit), more number of components are used and it performs clock stretching. Here HOLD LOGIC circuit is used to reduce the number of components used in CLDC circuit. Because of the HOLD LOGIC, the delay, and the number of gates are reduced. Xilinx ISE is used for simulation and synthesis.

2 illus, 1 table, 15 ref

003984   Huang K;Lin X;Xie C;Yue T M (State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technolog, Huazhong Univ of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China, Email: huangkaijin@yahoo.com.cn) : Laser cladding of Zr-based coating on AZ91D magnesium alloy for improvement of wear and corrosion resistance. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 99-105.

To improve the wear and corrosion resistance of AZ91D magnesium alloy, Zr-based coating made of Zr powder was fabricated on AZ91D magnesium alloy by laser cladding. The microstructure of the coating was characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM techniques. The wear resistance of the coating was evaluated under dry sliding wear test condition at room temperature. The corrosion resistance of the coating was tested in simulated body fluid. The results show that the coating mainly consists of Zr, zirconium oxides and Zr aluminides. The coating exhibits excellent wear resistance due to the high microhardness of the coating. The main wear mechanism of the coating and the AZ91D sample are different, the former is abrasive wear and the latter is adhesive wear. The coating compared to AZ91D magnesium alloy exhibits good corrosion resistance because of the good corrosion resistance of Zr, zirconium oxides and Zr aluminides in the coating.

8 illus, 3 tables, 35 ref

003983   Gupta G;Moon A P;Mondal K (Materials Science and Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur-208 016, Email: kallol@iitk.ac.in) : Electrochemical passivation behaviour of nanocrystalline Fe₈₀Si₂₀. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 51-8.

Passivation behaviour of nanocrystalline coating (Fe₈₀Si₂₀) obtained by in situ mechanical alloying route is studied and compared with that of the commercial pure iron and cast Fe₈₀Si₂₀ in sodium borate buffer solution at two different pH values (7.7 and 8.4). The coating reveals single passivation at a pH of 7.7 and double stage passivity at a pH of 8.4. The first passive layer is due to the dissolution mechanism and second passivity is related to stable passivation. The cast sample shows single stage passivity in the solution of pH 8.4. The difference in the passivation behaviour for the cast alloy (Fe₈₀Si₂₀) and the coating is related to the presence of highly iron-enriched localized regions, formed during the processing stage of coating.

8 illus, 2 tables, 19 ref

003982   Ghosh N;Banerjee G (NO, CIMFR, Dhanbad, Email: ngtrueblue@gmail.com) : Numerical modelling based study on the effect of an overburden dump on the stability of barrier pillars. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(3), 19-28.

Presence of an overburden dump of considerable height on the surface adversely affects the stability of the barrier pillars of an underlying longwall working. The barrier pillars must remain stable during the extraction of both the adjacent panels; their premature crushing may lead to transfer of the side abutment stresses on to the face supports causing their structural damage ultimately leading to strata control problems at the face. In this paper, the effect of a 120 m high overburden dump on the stability of underlying workings and the barrier pillars has been discussed.

10 illus, 5 tables, 12 ref

003981   Ghosh A;Das P (Earth and Environmental Studies Dep, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, Email: papitasaha@gmail.com) : Optimization of copper adsorption by soil of polluted wasteland using response surface methodology. Indian chem Engr 2014, 56(1), 29-42.

Copper is one of the heavy metals, which are essential but toxic at higher concentrations. High uptakes of copper may cause liver and kidney damage and even death. This study was performed to investigate copper reduction using soil as an adsorbent. A multi-step response surface methodology was applied for the maximum reduction of Cu(II) from aqueous solution to optimize the parameters that had an effect on the adsorption studies. A two-level, three-factor (2^{3) full factorial central composite design (CCD) using Design Expert Version 7.0.0 (Stat Ease, USA) was used for the optimization of the adsorption process parameters. From the CCD design it was observed that the optimum reduction of copper was 96.22% at pH 5.50, 31.59 g l-1 of adsorbent and 90 min contact time. The deviation between the experimental and theoretical results was 0.42%.}

7 illus, 5 tables, 14 ref

003980   Eshaghi A;Eshaghi A (Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Maleke Ashtar Univ of Technology, Shahinshahr, Isfahan, Iran, Email: eshaghi.akbar@gmail.com) : Effect of crystal structure on photoinduced superhydrophilicity of copper grafted TiO₂ nanostructure thin film. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 59-63.

In this work, copper grafted titanium dioxide (rutile and brookite) thin films were deposited on glass substrates using the dip-coating method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spec-troscopy were used to evaluate the surface morphology and properties of the film surfaces. The water contact angle on the film surfaces during irradiation and storage in a dark place was measured by a contact angle analyser. The results indicate that copper grafted titanium dioxide brookite thin film showed higher hydrophilicity than copper grafted titania rutile thin film.

4 illus, 2 tables, 24 ref

003979   Dalawai P P;Pandey V (NO, IIT, Delhi) : Application of synchrophasors-a case study in northern regional power system in India. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(2), 24-9.

Deployment of synchrophasor technology in India as apart of the pilot project has significantly improved the visibility of the system dynamics in real-time. The synchrophasor data has also been found to be of great help in off-line analysis of grid events. The grid disturbance in India in July 2012 has increased the need for exploring the possible applications of synchrophasor data in monitoring and analysis of the system dynamics and taking suitable actions to maintain the stability of the system. This paper presents one such application wherein the oscillations captured by the synchrophasors in the Northern Regional Grid were analysed using a signal analysis tool developed in MATLAB®. The analysis reveals the various modes of oscillation observed in the Indian Power System during a few grid events. The paper also suggests the effective utilization of Power System Stabilizers and Power Oscillation Dampers installed in the grid for damping of oscillations and enhancement of dynamic security.

5 illus, 6 tables, 16 ref

003978   Choudhuri K;Chakraborty S;Chakraborti P;Dutta P (Production Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Agartala, Email: kishanchoudhuri@gmail.com) : Stress analysis and design optimization of piston slipper assembly in an axial piston pump. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 318-23.

Amount of research carried out on piston assemblies of axial piston pump is a good indication of the problems which have been encountered. Fortunately this is one branch of engineering where research is usually well ahead of production failures. A representative domain for the high development of the axial piston pumps manufacturing is the aeronautics. In this industrial branch, light hydraulic transmissions that operate in very safe conditions are required. The mass reduction must be done according to an optimal design of the machines geometry, taking into account the static and dynamic stress and deflection states of the mechanical components. In this paper, a steady state stress analysis and also an optimization of the piston slipper assembly has been carried out by using ANSYS software. Optimization is done using Sub-problem approximation method where the main objective is to minimize the volume of the piston and slipper. Dimensions of the assembly are taken from SPV 22 axial piston pump, made by ZTS Company. This optimization technique minimizes the volume of the piston and also slipper. The paper concludes with the Comparison of the piston and slipper dimensions before and after optimization.

3 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

003977   Chopra K N (Applied Physics Dep, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology Rohini, GGSIP Univ, New Delhi-110 086, Email: kchopra.2003@gmail.com) : Infrared sensors and the related materials for use in designing of the devices for IR signature suppression-A technological note. Invertis J Sci Technol 2014, 7(3), 158-77.

The field of IR Sensors has been drawing the attention of various researchers because of their importance in the "IR Signature Estimation and Suppression". Various types of the IR sensors and the related materials along with their advantages and disadvantages for the specific applications have been reviewed. Various topics related to sensors - The Characteristics and Performance of the IR Sensors, Main Functions of a Detector, Some Important Concepts in the Field of Sensors, Types and Optimisation of Sensors, Dependence of Dark Current Density on the Bias Voltage, Comparison of the Quantum well Photoconductors in the IR Technology, Two Colour or Dual band IR Detectors, Air Defence Alerting Device (ADAD) Air Defence Sensors, have been discussed and presented in this paper. Because of the great importance of Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) for these sensors, a detailed discussion of this material and its use for the sensors has been included. This technical review should be of great use to the designers and technologists engaged in the development and fabrication of the IR sensors, keeping in view the specific applications.

15 illus, 1 table, 44 ref

003976   Chaudhry I A;Ahmed A (NO, National Univ of Sciences & Technology, Sector H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan, Email: imranchaudhry-cae@nust.edu.pk) : Preliminary aircraft design optimization using genetic algorithms. J scient ind Res 2014, 73(5), 302-7.

Aircraft design is a highly nonlinear problem and inherently multidisciplinary activity that involves a large number of design variables and different models and tools for various aspects of design. A spreadsheet based genetic algorithm (GA) approach is presented to optimize the preliminary design of an aircraft. A domain independent general purpose genetic algorithm is proposed to implement the optimization routine. Breguet range equation is used as the objective function for the design evaluation. A total of sixteen design variables are considered in the optimization process. It has also been demonstrated that the proposed approach can be adapted to any objective function without changing the optimization routine. The model is applicable to commercial airliner as well as a multirole jet fighter. The proposed model has been validated against known configurations of various aircraft.

1 illus, 23 ref

003975   Boskovic G;Ratkovic S;Kiss E;Geszti O (Faculty of Technology, Novi Sad Univ, Bul. cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad Serbia, Email: boskovic@uns.ac.rs) : Carbon nanotubes purification constrains due to large Fe-Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst particles encapsulation. Bull Mater Sci 2013, 36(1), 1-7.

Purification efficiency of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by the method of chemical oxidation was considered as a function of position and size of catalyst remains and consequently of the tubes morphology. Oxidation of CNTs by means of both HNO₃ and NaOH treatment efficiently removes small catalyst particles embedded in the tubes top, following "tip-mode" CNTs growth mechanism. Destructive character of the purification can be assumed due to the resulting tiniest tube population increase as a consequence of their body tearing. However, limited purification efficiency was observed in the case of bigger metal particles with variable size and position in CNTs. Bigger particles occur on account of catalyst instability portrayed as small metal particles of active phase migration and merging. The formed agglomerates are not stable in the tubes hollow, but disintegrate leading to different sizes and position of metal particles in the tubes body. Consequently, CNT may be obtained with non-uniform thickness and morphology. The phenomenon is due to liquid-like behaviour of the active phase at reaction temperature (700 °C) which is higher than both Huttig and Tamman temperatures of applied metals. A mechanism is proposed assuming that an isolated bigger part of the mother particle stayed encapsulated inside the tube body inactive for further tube growth, while a smaller fragment of the collapsed particle resided at the tube top acting as a new-born active site. Owing to "replica effect" the tube further grows thinner following the size of the new active site. Consequently CNTs of irregular morphology occur as they resemble metal particles of various sizes following their disintegration.

8 illus, 1 table, 19 ref

003974   Bhowmick S A;Raj Kumar;Chaudhuri S (Oceanic Sciences Div, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Group, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, Email: suchandra81@yahoo.com) : Assimilation of significant wave height from EnviSAT in coastal wave model usinig optimum interpolation at variable wave height ranges. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 22-6.

In this study significant wave height (SWH) from EnviSAT radar altimeter data has been assimilated in the coastal ocean wave model SWAN (Simulating WAve Near-shore). Optimum interpolation (OI) technique has been used for this purpose. A detailed validation of the model and the EnviSAT observations has been carried out prior to the assimilation for the determination of the error covariance matrix of prediction and observation. Validation of the EnviSAT data and the model is done using the in-situ buoy observations and Jason-1 altimeter data. Validation exercise revels that at various ranges of SWH the error covariance changes significantly for both the model and the altimeter measurements. Result shows that the assimilation of EnviSAT data at various ranges of SWH, using optimum interpolation scheme in SWAN model improves the prediction by 15-20%. Also there is reduction in the RMSE of SWH by 0.2 m. Multi-mission altimetric data assimilation using the same technique can improve the model prediction significantly.

5 illus, 8 ref

003973   Ashokan M;Latha G;Edwards P D;Nithyanandam K (Ocean Acoustics Dep, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Velachery-Tambaram Road, Pallikaranai, Chennai-600 100, Email: ashokan@niot.res.in) : Application of wavelets for analysing ship noise from shallow water ambient noise measurements. Indian J Geomar Sci 2014, 43(1), 11-16.

Time series measurements of shallow water ambient noise have been made for a week, off Tuticorin by deploying an autonomous ambient noise measurement system. Preliminary analysis of measurements showed that predominantly the noise field is due to ship crossing other than the wind noise. This paper presents the work carried out in extraction of specific ship noise sources by application of wavelet transforms as wavelet denoising algorithm has finer decomposition and reconstruction properties in the frequency domain. Frequency localization of wavelet denoising technique is used to efficiently localize the ship noise. Methodology involves study of spectrogram of the noise measurements initially and then application of wavelet decomposition (down sampling). Optimal threshold value for the wavelet coefficients is calculated and this yields 2(2n-1) levels to denoise the signal. From the wavelet coefficients, reconstruction (up sampling) of the decomposed signal is performed. Finally the spectrogram of the reconstructed signal is studied. Results show clearly the narrow band frequency components of shipping noise present. This has applications in finding different types of boats/ship noise and the technique is applied to different data sets for finding such sources.

9 illus, 10 ref

002688   Zhou D;Hai R;Wang W (Environmental Engineering Dep, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing Univ of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P.R. China, Email: zhoudongk@126.com ) : Novel complex fiber biofilm carrier in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic reactor for sewage mixture treatment. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 6943-7.

A novel complex fiber filler was designed, which composed of an ultra-fine polypropylene fiber outer-coat and a polyacrylonitrile-based activated carbon fiber felt inner-core. And then the complex fiber filler was used as biofilm carrier in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A^{2/O) process for sewage mixture treatment to remove organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. During the continuous tests in three Periods, the A2/O biofilm reactor performed well in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen and total phosphorus. During three period, the influent concentrations of chemical oxygen demand, NH₄+-N, total phosphorus and total nitrogen (mg/L) were 954.04 ± 19.45, 143.74 ± 7.66, 23.51 ± 1.52 and 145.50 ± 7.66. The relevant removal efficiencies were 91.86 ± 1.16, 62.46 ± 2.83, 52.51 ± 4.51 and 54.73 ± 3.21%, respectively; the accumulative rates of NO₃--N and NO₂--N were 413.72 ± 76.50% and 1155.64 ± 116.77%. The novel biofilm carrier has some potential in the A2/O process for removing nutrients from sewage mixture.}

4 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

002687   Zhang P;Liu C H;Li Q F;Zhang T H;Wang P (School of Water Conservancy and Environment Engineering, Zhengzhou Univ, Zhengzhou-450 001, Email: zhangpeng8008@gmail.com) : Fracture properties of steel fibre reinforced high-performance concrete containing nano-SiO₂ and fly ash. Curr Sci 2014, 106(7), 980-7.

In this article, author study the effect of steel fibre on the fracture properties of high performance concrete (HPC) containing fly ash and nano-SiO₂. The results reveal that the addition of appropriate content of steel fibre helps improve the fracture properties of HPC. Steel fibre improves the fracture parameters of initial fracture toughness, unstable fracture toughness, fracture energy and critical crack opening displacement of the beam specimen of HPC. The results also show that steel fibre has major effect on the fracture curves of the three-point bending beam specimen. The fracture toughness and fracture energy increase gradually, and the area under the fracture relational curve becomes larger when the steel fibre content increases from 0.5% to 2%. However, these fracture parameters begin to decrease and the area under the fracture relational curve becomes smaller when the steel fibre content exceeds 2%. This indicates that steel fibre helps improve the fracture properties of HPC containing nano-SiO₂ and fly ash only when its fibre content does not exceed 2%.

9 illus, 5 tables, 33 ref

002686   Zhang H;Liu X;Sun Z (College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry Univ, Fuzhou 350002, Fujian Province, P.R. China, Email: zhanghong381@126.com) : Electrospun TiO₂ microspheres with enhanced activity for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 6963-7.

TiO₂ microspheres were synthesized by electrospinning technique. The morphology, structure and photocatalytic performance in the degradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and UV-visible absorption spectrophotometer. The results show that TiO₂ microspheres have a high anatase phase content and their surface is assembled by large quantities of TiO₂ nanoparticles, resulting in a porous structure. These TiO₂ microspheres exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance with a maximum degradation rate of 95.6%, much higher than that for TiO₂ rods (77.9%) synthesized by electrospinning technique.

5 illus, 1 table, 59 ref

002685   Yoon S B;Kim C K;Jung C H;Choi B S;Choi W K; Lee K W;Moon J K (Decontamination and Decommissioning Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 989-111 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-353, Republic of Korea, Email: bschoi@kaeri.re.kr) : Effect of alkyl alcohol on viscosity of solica-based chemical gels for decontamination of radioactive contaminations. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 7023-7.

Silica-based chemical gel for the decontamination of nuclear facilities was prepared using fumed silica as a viscosifier, a 0.5 M Ce (IV) solution dissolved in concentrated nitric acid as a chemical decontamination agent and tripropylene glycol butyl ether (TPGBE) as a coviscosifier. A new effective strategy for the preparation of the chemical gel was investigated by introducing the alkyl alcohols as organic solvents to effectively dissolve the coviscosifier. Using the mixture solution of the coviscosifier and alkyl alcohol was more effective in the control of viscosity than that of only coviscosifier in the gel. Here, alkyl alcohols play a key role as an effective dissolution solvent for the covicosifier in the preparation of the chemical gel, resulting in a reduction of the amount of covicosifier and gel time compared with that of the chemical gel prepared without alkyl alcohols. It was considered that the alkyl alcohols contributed to the effective dissolution of the coviscosifier as well as homogeneous mixing in the formation of the gel, while the coviscosifier in an aqueous media of the chemical decontaminant solution showed a lower solubility. The decontamination efficiency of the chemical gels prepared in this work using a multi-channel analyzer showed a high decontamination efficiency of over ca. 94% and ca. 92% for Co-60 and Cs-137 contaminated on the surface of stainless steel 304, respectively.

4 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

002684   Wang M;Fu C;Ren X;Chang L;Xie K (State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Coal Science and Technology Co-f, Taiyuan Univ of Technology, Shanxi Taiyuan 030024, P.R. China, Email: lpchang@tyut.edu.cn) : Pyrolytic characteristics and kinetics of fractional step demineralized coals. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 6920-4.

Two Chinese coals with different reductive properties and mineral compositions were selected as the experimental samples to determine their pyrolytic characteristics. The minerals in two coals were successively leached with water, HCl and HF solutions to investigate the influence of minerals on the pyrolytic properties of the two coals. The results show that the alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEM) minerals play an obvious catalytic role on the pyrolysis of different reductive coals, in particular, the secondary devolatilization phase. The pyrolysis process of all coal samples studied can be described by three independent first order kinetic model and the kinetic parameters of these samples during pyrolysis are affected by the minerals removed in different leaching step.

2 illus, 4 tables, 13 ref

002683   Wang D Z;Liu H S;Zhou X R;Ge H Y;Sun K N (Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing o, Ministry of Education, Shandong Univ, Jinan, P.R. China, Email: sunkangning@sdu.edu.cn) : Synthesis and characterization of macromolecular coupling agent ending with epoxy group. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 6935-8.

The macromolecular copolymer coupling agent was obtained by free radical solution polymerization using polyalkylene glycol allyl glycidyl ether (AEPH) and vinyl silane coupling agent (A-151) as reacting monomers. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time and raw material types to the yield of products have been discussed. The structure of the copolymer coupling agent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the solubility in water was also investigated. The results show that the copolymer was prepared when the mole radio of AEPH:A-151:BPO was 1:1:1 x 10^{-3, reaction temperature was 80 °C and reaction time was 2 h. The hydrolyzate of copolymer could form a transparent water solution. Effect of the copolymer on the bend strength of glass fiber/epoxy composite was also investigated. Compared with the sample of A-151, the bend strength of glass fiber/epoxy composite using the copolymer coupling agent was increased 6.5%.}

4 illus, 4 tables, 8 ref

002682   Thote N R;Ramana C V (Mining Engineering Dep, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, Email: ch.venkataramana22@gmail.com) : Opencast coal mine blasting vis-a-vis slope stability: an appraisal. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(1), 8-15.

Blasting is an essential and important operation in opencast coal mines to break coal and overburden because blast excavation technique is the cheapest excavation techniques compared to various other excavation techniques. In India, most of the opencast coal mines the overburden is being excavated by offloading agency (contractor) where as coal is being excavated by departmentally or vice-versa. The offloading agencies are showing less concern towards controlled blasting techniques near the final pit slope benches in order to minimize the cost of drilling and blasting. The High wall mining is also being introduced in most of the coal mines to gainfully extract the locked coal below the final pit slopes and barriers of opencast coal mines. The benefit of an open cast coal mine largely depends on the use of deepest slope possible which should not fail during the entire life of mine. Any undue energy which is not utilized during blasting will lead to undesirable outputs such as ground vibration, damage to remaining rock mass which forms final pit slopes. Slope stability is one of the vital issues in opencast mining with regard to economy and safety. Slope failure mechanism is a complex issue faced by majority of opencast mines. In fact large production blasting in opencast mines alters the rock mass characteristics and stress conditions which may lead to trigger the slope failure. To minimize this damage, adoption of controlled blasting technique becomes essential. This paper presents the blasting methodology that is being practiced at Mine "A". It also analyses the blasting effect on slope stability and suggests the best blasting procedures and controlled blasting techniques to improve pit slope stability.

7 illus, 15 tables, 12 ref

002681   Thakur A (NO, TERRATEC, 402, Ansal Chamber-2, Bhikaji Kama Place, New Delhi-110 066, Email: thakur@terratec-india.com) : Introduction to raise boring technology. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(2), 21-4.

7 illus, 1 table

002680   Tewari S K (NO, , M/s Maihar Cement, PO: Sarlanagar, Distt: Madhya Pradesh) : Energy conservation initiatives adopted in mines & plant. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(1), 16-17.

002679   Swarnkar N K;Arun Kumar (Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee) : Estimation of crane capacity and crane span for small hydro powerhouse. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(8), 12-15.

Small Hydropower (SHP) is the environmentally benign and proven source of energy. Rural and urban areas can also be electrified using this technology, either in isolated or grid connected mode. The powerhouse building is an important component of a SHP scheme which houses the electromechanical equipments, and has an Overhead travelling crane to handle these equipments during installation and maintenance. In the present study, attempt has been made to estimate the powerhouse crane capacity and its span for a given generating unit size of a SHP station. A database of SHP stations available with Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, IIT Roorkee has been used for the analysis and estimation. The powerhouse crane parameters estimated can be used for selecting a suitable powerhouse crane for a SHP station.

5 illus, 7 ref

002678   Surabhi;Udayabhanu G;Nikkam S (NO, , 112, B-Wing, Harmony, Raheja Vihar, Powai, Mumbai-400 072, Email: surabhichem@gmail.com) : Characterization and beneficiation of carbonaceous maerialin Indian fly ash. J Indian Chem Soc 2014, 91(1), 73-80.

Millions of tons of coal fly ash are produced in India every year. The developed world is now exploring all possible ways of recycling this waste so as to avoid environmental problems that may arise from waste accumulation. The presence of excessive carbon in pulverized fly ash is regarded as a serious issue as it is an important power plant efficiency indicator. With the possibility of landfill taxes, quantity and quality of fly ash is a matter of greater concern. Variable or unacceptable carbon contents in fly ash adversely affect ash utilization. Consequently, there is a need to be able to remove carbon from pulverized fly ash streams. In the present paper, carbon removal has been shown to be possible by treatment of high carbon fly ash by flotation. A wide range of characterization of fly ash was done and this was further subjected to flotation to observe the effect of collector and frother on the recovery of carbon.

6 illus, 7 tables, 4 ref

002677   Sukumara T;Starck J;Kishan S G;Harish G; Eashwar Kumar (NO, ABB GISL Ltd, Bhoruka Techn Park, Whitefield Road, Mahadevapura, Bangalore, India; ABB Oy, Vaasa, Finland) : Cyber security - secure communication design for protection and control IEDs in sub-station. Wat Energy int 2013, 70(11), 17-24.

The evolution of smart grid concepts is creating considerable public attention and interest in substation automation/power systems. Smart grid deployments require data to flow seamlessly from various devices like protection relays, smart meters, controllers, gateways in a substation to enterprise level control centres over private and public communication networks. Protection and control IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices), which are the first level intelligent devices in substations, play a critical role in substation protection, control and monitoring functionalities. They aid the optimized management of substation devices, as well as the overall transmission and distribution power network, which is integral to the smart grid vision and framework. Concepts such as remote configuration/parameterization, remote SCADA communication, remote diagnostics and firmware updates are becoming important requirements for lEDs. This leads to inherent requirements for secure communication, strong user authentication and authorization to be considered in the design and development of protection and control IEDs. Changes in the communication technology have brought huge benefits from an operational perspective, but they have also introduced cyber security concerns previously associated only with office or enterprise IT systems. Cyber security risks are inherited once an IED is connected on to the Ethernet network. Securing IED communication is part of the Defense-In-Depth strategy which is a layered security approach that uses multiple layers of network security to protect the power system/substation automation network against intrusion from physical and cyber-borne attacks. This paper covers the development of security architecture design for lEDs, the selection and adaptation of correct security protocol modules and interfacing them with application (protocol) modules/functionalities within the IED architecture to ensure secure communication and exchange of information via external and internal networks. It also highlights the need for maintaining the architecture design in-line with current and upcoming cyber security standards like NERC CIP regulations, IEEE 1686, IEC 62351 etc. as parts of these standards define the cyber security capabilities to be adapted by lEDs in the substation and distribution systems. The SSL handshake and session set-up in a IED is a CPU intensive operation with activities such as client authentication, certification handling and key exchange involved during the hand-shaking process. For SCADA protocol modules like DNP and IEC 61850, the hand-shake process takes place only at the beginning of the connection, as the session is expected to be continuous. On the other hand, in the configuration/engineering of protocol modules like FTPS and HTTPS, the hand-shake process could take place more often as the data transfer is not continuous and is only based on user request/operation. The SSL hand-shaking process is an independent activity and each application module/session will have a separate hand-shake process within the IED. This paper covers ABB's experiences in prototype design and implementation of a secured communication layer to the existing application protocols in the IED architecture. It evaluates available security technologies and shows how they can be used effectively for seamless integration to the IED architecture to realize certain cyber security requirements.

7 illus, 7 ref

002676   Song H S;Jeong K S;Hyun D;Kim G H;Choi B S; Moon J (Computer Engineering Dep, Seowon Univ, 377-3 Musimseoro, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk 361-742, Reublic of Korea, Email: bschoi@kaeri.re.kr) : Methodology to specify software requirements in assessment system for decommission of nuclear facilities. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 7041-3.

This paper deals with a methodology to specify software requirements as well as the top level requirements of the decommissioning assessment system of nuclear facilities. It then surveys related technologies required to build the system. Specifically the two major parts of the system include the assessment technology for radiation exposure to both the workers and the dismantling equipment and the process simulation of physical dismantling jobs such as moving, cutting and transporting. Also important is analyzing the 3Dimentional interference between physical objects in the course of the jobs. Remote handling equipment to reduce the radiation exposure of workers is also considered. A trade-off study of many alternative processes can be supported using the system under consideration. This paper is expected to contribute to the development of requirements of the decommissioning process assessment system.

1 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

002675   Soarabh S;Sunil Kumar;Anwar S;Deeraj Kumar (Mining engineering Dep, ISM, Dhanbad, Email: sunnysourav@hotmail.com) : Mine reclamation planning of Jharia area (Bastacola) through multi temporal remote sensing and GIS. Indian Min Engng J 2014, 53(2), 25-30.

Excavated overburden and ensuing from the surface mining activities pose a long term impact on the environment and the land safety measures. Lack of requisite reclamation of the stripped and the exploited coal in the BASTACOLA (Eastern Jharia, area) has resulted in the loss of substantially important agricultural and urban land. Accurate quantification of the extent of the area occupied by the overburden is important for the assessment and proper restoration of the waste land. Substantial quantity of non urban land monitored can be used to fill the excavated profiles of overburden using the conceptual regrading analysis and, thus providing useful reclamation patterns. This research paper investigates the use of multi temporal remote sensing and satellite imagery for the location of the excavation hinge line of undulating overburden profiles to further their reclamation due to stripping activities. LandSAT 5 TM multispectral ASTER DEM images of the area (Nov 1, 2005 and Nov 5 2011) were used for quantification of overburden. The paper embeds the data acquisition though satellite imagery, data presentation via GIS, Land use and Land cover data of the JCF and the final analysis. The interpolation of results and the statistics acquired can be used for the describing, analyzing and predicting the land use change over the considerable timeframe with the help of the Markov model and statistical and stochastic timeline analysis.

5 illus, 4 ref

002674   Shen Z;Ni M;Guo S;Chen X;Tong M;Lu J (Key Laboratory of Coal Gasification, Ministry of Education, East China Univ of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P.R. China, Email: lujun@ecust.edu.cn) : Studies on magnesium-based wet flue gas desulphurization process with a spray scrubber. Asian J Chem 2013, 25(12), 6727-32.

This paper presents a gas-liquid absorption reaction between Mg(OH)₂ slurry and SO₂ for magnesium-based wet flue gas desulphurization (FGD) with a spray scrubber. Experimental investigations on effects of different operating variables show the reasonable process parameters such as the gas flow rate, the SO₂ inlet concentration in the gas, the liquid-gas ratio, the byproduct concentration in the slurry and the pH value of the slurry. An interesting phenomenon is also found under different byproduct concentrations. A desulphurization process model is established by the double-film theory of mass transfer. The calculated mass transfer coefficients are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values and the absorption process is found to be controlled by gas-film diffusion. These results would be useful for the design or process optimization of the magnesium-based wet FGD system.

6 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref