An experimental investigation on the effects of magnesia and alumina nano additives on the exhaust emissions and performance of CI engine using spirulina microalgae biodiesel.

The need for non-renewable fuels is steadily decreasing with their ever-increasing cost and air pollution. As a result, renewable fuel such as biofuel is used as a fuel substitute for diesel engines. The effects of magnesia and alumina nanoparticles on the exhaust pollutants and performance of a naturally aspirated, 17.5 compression ratio, 4-stroke CI engine operating on spirulina microalgae biodiesel, and its amalgams were explored. Oxides of nitrogen, thermal efficiency, carbon dioxide, fuel consumption, and hydrocarbons were among the attributes studied. Test outcomes revealed that the doping of magnesia and alumina nano additives in spirulina biodiesel resulted in increased thermal efficiency and oxides of nitrogen, succeeded by a decrease in fuel consumption and hydrocarbons, at all loads, compared to amalgams without nano additives. At maximum load, the increase in thermal efficiency and oxides of nitrogen was found to be 1.15 and 1.46% with nano magnesia-doped blends when compared to corresponding spirulina blends. On the other, hand when nano alumina is doped in spirulina amalgams, the increase in thermal efficiency and oxides of nitrogen was observed to be 0.82 and 0.97%, respectively. Similarly, fuel consumption and hydrocarbons were reduced by 1.02 and 9.52%, 1.014, and 7.66%%, respectively, for magnesia and alumina-enriched biodiesel, contrasted to that of biodiesel blends.

Performance and exhaust emission characteristics investigation of compression ignition engine fuelled with microalgae biodiesel and its diesel blends.

Biofuels extracted from plant biomass can be used as fuel in CI engines to lower a hazardous atmospheric pollutant and mitigate climate risks. Furthermore, its implementation is hampered by inevitable obstacles such as feedstocks and the crop area required for their cultivation, leading to a lack of agricultural land for the expansion of food yields. Despite this, microalgae have been discovered to be the most competent and unwavering source of biodiesel due to their distinguishing characteristics of being non-eatable and requiring no cropland for cultivation. The objectives of this paper was to look into the potential of a novel, formerly underappreciated biodiesel from microalgae species which could be used as a fuel substitute. Transesterification is being used to extract the biodiesel. Microalgae are blended with petroleum diesel in percentage to create microalgae blends (MAB) as needed for experimentation. The impact of biodiesel on performance as well as exhaust emission attributes of a 1-cylinder diesel engine was experimentally studied. Compared to petroleum diesel, different blend of microalgae biodiesel showed a decline in torque and hence brake power, resulting in an average fall of 7.14 % in brake thermal efficiency and 11.54 % increase in brake-specific fuel consumption. There were wide differences in exhaust emission characteristics, including carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon, as the blend ratio in diesel increased. Moreover, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxides increase in all algae biodiesel blends, but they are still within the acceptable range of petroleum diesel.

Experimental investigation on sucrose/alumina catalyst coated converter in gasoline engine exhaust gas.

In this study, a modified catalytic converter was employed to treat the harmful exhaust gas pollutants of a twin-cylinder, four-stroke spark-ignition engine. This research mainly focuses on the emission reduction of unburnt hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides at low light-off temperatures. A sucrolite catalyst (sucrolite) was coated over the metallic substrate present inside the catalytic converter, and exhaust gas was allowed to pass through it. A scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate the changes in morphology, chemical compounds, and functional group elements caused by the reactions. Catalytic reactions were studied by varying the engine loads and bed temperatures, and the results were compared with those of the commercial catalytic converter. The results show that sucrose present in the catalyst was suitable at low temperatures while alumina was suitable for a wide range of temperatures. In the case of the modified catalytic converter, the maximum catalytic conversion efficiencies achieved for oxidizing CO and HC were 70.73% and 85.14%, respectively, and for reduction reaction at NOx was 60.22% which is around 42% higher than in commercial catalytic converter. As a result, this study claims that sucrolite catalyst is effective for low-temperature exhaust gas.

Effects of sampling strategy in rivers on load estimation for Nitrate-Nitrogen and total Phosphorus in a lowland agricultural area.

The transport of nutrients into water bodies is one of the main causes of water eutrophication. It is therefore important to estimate the loads of nutrients. Discharge and nutrient concentrations are the fundamental elements to estimate the loads of nutrients, the latter can be affected by sampling strategies. As conducting sampling campaign and laboratory analysis are both expensive, it is necessary to find the best effective sampling strategy. The aim of this paper is to show how autocorrelation and standard statistical methods can be used to test the effects of different sampling strategies on the nutrient load estimation and to find the optimal sampling strategy. The data set in this study is from the 50 km² Kielstau catchment, a UNESCO demo site for ecohydrology in Northern Germany and consists of 14 years daily values of climate, hydrology, and water quality from 2006 to 2019. We calculated the autocorrelation (AC) of discharge (Q), precipitation, Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N) and total Phosphorus (Ptot). Then we tested the effects of sampling intervals from 7 to 56 days (1-8 weeks) on the nutrient loads. Our results showed a high AC of Q and NO3-N for a long period, but the AC of Ptot and precipitation decreased very fast. An increase of the sampling interval (less frequent) increased the error of estimating the concentrations and loads. Consequently, we recommend that (1) the optimal sampling strategy for nutrient load estimation in an agriculture-dominant catchment should be continuously monitoring discharge combined with periodic grabbed samples; (2) the sampling frequency for NO3-N is suggested to be monthly (every 28 days) and for Ptot weekly (every 7 days). The information will help those tasked with catchment monitoring to design appropriate sampling strategy to ensure adequate data for nutrients load estimation in lowland rivers.

Chemometric and risk assessment of nitrogen composition of atmospheric rainwater from diverse surfaces in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Organic and inorganic nitrogen ions in the environment play important role across environmental matrices. Rainwater samples collected from ambient and different roofing surfaces (zinc, aluminium, asbestos and stone-coated roofing sheets) from selected locations at Ogale, Rumuodomaya/Rumuodome, Diobu and Chokocho within Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria, from April to June, July to August and September to October depicting three regiments of early, mid and late rains. The samples were analysed for Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate and nitrite using APHA methodology. Quantitative assessment showed that Kjeldahl nitrogen were in range of 0.11 to 28.05 mg/L; ammonium 0.50 to 20.22 mg/L, nitrate from 0.12 to 22.69 mg/L and nitrite from 0.15 to 3.90 mg/L. Parameters decreased from early to late rain, which can be attributed to rain dilution factor potential, wind pattern and emission from anthropogenic sources that influenced the rainwater quality across surfaces. Nitrogen results showed that dry and wet deposition has great impact; atmospheric aerosols and biogeochemical interactions can affect water quality. Monthly variation showed that Ogale had high regression compared to other locations due to close proximity to oil and gas emission and marine contribution. Neutralization factor showed that nitrate-nitrite compounds have strong correlation with ammonium ion. Non-carcinogenic risk assessment using US EPA model showed hazard index less than one (1), thus no associated health effect of nitrate and nitrite in rainwater. In conclusion, it is evident that nitrate/nitrite levels and other nitrogen derivatives in rainwater in crude oil-producing Niger Delta and its continuous consumption can cause negative health outcome.

Ammonia level influences the assembly of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia bacterial community in soils under different heavy metal remediation treatments.

Heavy metal remediation treatments might influence functional microbial community assembly. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA) contributes to the nitrogen retention processes in soil ecosystems. We assumed that remediation might reduce heavy metal toxicity and increase some available nutrients for the DNRA microbes, thus balancing the deterministic and stochastic process for DNRA community assembly. Here, we investigated the process of DNRA bacterial community assembly under different heavy metal remediation treatments (including control, biochar, limestone, rice straw, rice straw + limestone, and biochar + limestone) in an Alfisol soil. The abundance of DNRA bacteria diverged across treatments. The α-diversity of the DNRA bacterial community was correlated with pH, available phosphorus (AP), ammonium (NH4+), and extractable Fe (EFe). Metal Cd and Fe significantly affected the abundance of the nrfA gene. The ß-diversity was associated with pH, NH4+, and EFe. Deterministic processes dominantly drove the assembly processes of the DNRA bacterial community. NH4+ level played an essential role in the assembly processes than the other soil physicochemical properties and metal availability. High, moderate, and low levels of NH4+ could advocate stochastic process plus selection, heterogeneous selection to stochastic process, and heterogeneous selection, respectively. Network analysis highlighted a predominant role of NH4+ in regulating DNRA bacterial community assembly. However, the relative abundance of modules and some keystone species also were influenced by pH and EFe, respectively. Therefore, the DNRA bacterial community assembly under different heavy metal remediation treatments in this study was dominantly driven by nitrogen availability. pH, phosphorus, and metal availability were auxiliary regulators on DNRA bacterial community.

Preparation and characterization analysis of biofuel derived through seed extracts of Ricinus communis (castor oil plant).

The current study assesses the prospect of using R. Communis seed oil as a substitute fuel for diesel engines. Biodiesel is prepared from the R. Communis plant seed oil by a single-step base catalytic transesterification procedure. The investigation deals with the Physico-chemical characteristics of R. Communis biodiesel and has been associated with the base diesel. It has been perceived that the characteristics of biodiesel are well-matched with the base diesel under the ASTM D6751 limits correspondingly. R. Communis biodiesel is blended in different proportions with base diesel such as D10, D20, D30, D40, D50 and D100 and is tested in a Kirloskar TV1 single-cylinder, 4 blows DI engine under altered loading conditions. Outcomes demonstrate that BTE and BSFC for D10 as well as D20 are similar to base diesel. BSFC indicates that the precise BSFC of base diesel, D10, D20, D30, D40 and D50 was 0.87, 1.70, 2.60, 3.0, 3.4, and 3.5 kg/kW-hr, respectively. The extreme BTE at full load condition for base diesel, D10, D20, D30, D40, D50 and D100 are 28.2%, 28.1%, 27.9%, 25.5%, 24.1%, and 23.6% , respectively. In the case of engine emissions, R. Communis biodiesel blends provided an average decrease in hydrocarbon (HC), Carbon-monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with base diesel. Nevertheless, R. Communis biodiesel blends discharged high stages of nitrogen oxide (NOx) compares to base diesel. Base diesel, D10, D20, D30, D40, D50, and D100 had UBHC emissions of 45 ppm, 40 ppm, 44 ppm, 46 ppm, 41 ppm, and 43 ppm, respectively. The reduction in CO emissions for D10, D20, D30, D40, D50 and D100 are 0.13%, 0.14%, 0.17%, 0.18% and 0.21% respectively. The dissimilarity in NOx attentiveness within brake powers for D10, D20, D30, D40, and D50 and base diesel are 50-ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm, 250 ppm, 350 ppm, and 500 ppm, respectively. The dissimilarity of CO2 emanation with reverence to break powers for the base-diesel, D10, D20, D30, D40, D50, and D100 are 4.8%, 4.9%, 4.8%, 4.56%, 4.9% and 5.1%, respectively. The present research provides a way for renewable petrol blends to substitute diesel for powering diesel engines in that way dropping the reliance on fossil fuels.

PM2.5 in Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Composition, sources, and visibility impacts.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeastern New Mexico is adjacent to the Permian Basin, one of the most productive oil and gas regions in the country. The 2019 Carlsbad Caverns Air Quality Study (CarCavAQS) was designed to examine the influence of regional sources, including urban emissions, oil and gas development, wildfires, and soil dust on air quality in the park. Field measurements of aerosols, trace gases, and deposition were conducted from 25 July through 5 September 2019. Here, we focus on observations of fine particles and key trace gas precursors to understand the important contributing species and their sources and associated impacts on haze. Key gases measured included aerosol precursors, nitric acid and ammonia, and oil and gas tracer, methane. High-time resolution (6-min) PM2.5 mass ranged up to 31.8 µg m-3, with an average of 7.67 µg m-3. The main inorganic ion contributors were sulfate (avg 1.3 µg m-3), ammonium (0.30 µg m-3), calcium (Ca2+) (0.22 µg m-3), nitrate (0.16 µg m-3), and sodium (0.057 µg m-3). The WSOC concentration averaged 1.2 µg C m-3. Sharp spikes were observed in Ca2+, consistent with local dust generation and transport. Ion balance analysis and abundant nitric acid suggest PM2.5 nitrate often reflected reaction between nitric acid and sea salt, forming sodium nitrate, and between nitric acid and soil dust containing calcium carbonate, forming calcium nitrate. Sulfate and soil dust are the major contributors to modeled light extinction in the 24-hr average daily IMPROVE observations. Higher time resolution data revealed a maximum 1-hr extinction value of 90 Mm-1 (excluding coarse aerosol) and included periods of significant light extinction from BC as well as sulfate and soil dust. Residence time analysis indicated enrichment of sulfate, BC, and methane during periods of transport from the southeast, the direction of greatest abundance of oil and gas development.Implications: Rapid development of U.S. oil and gas resources raises concerns about potential impacts on air quality in National Parks. Measurements in Carlsbad Caverns National Park provide new insight into impacts of unconventional oil and gas development and other sources on visual air quality in the park. Major contributors to visibility impairment include sulfate, soil dust (often reacted with nitric acid), and black carbon. The worst periods of visibility and highest concentrations of many aerosol components were observed during transport from the southeast, a region of dense Permian Basin oil and gas development.

Reducing nutrient increases diatom biomass in a subtropical eutrophic lake, China-Do the ammonium concentration and nitrate to ammonium ratio play a role?

Response of aquatic organisms to eutrophication have been well reported, while less studies are available for the recovery of eutrophic lakes following a reduction in the external loading, especially for systems where nitrogen is reduced but the phosphorus concentration is maintained high due to internal loading. Diatoms are nitrate (NO3-N) opportunists but can also use ammonium (NH4-N). They may, therefore, be more sensitive to nitrogen reduction than other algae that typically prefer NH4-N. We document the variations of nutrients and diatoms in subtropical, eutrophic Lake Taihu over 28 yr during which a reduction of the external loading resulted from lake management. According to the results of change point analysis, data on environmental variables were divided into two periods (P1: 1992-2006; P2: 2007-2019) with two different seasons (WS: Winter-Spring; SA: Summer-Autumn), respectively. Compared with P1-WS, the concentration of NH4-N decreased significantly whereas NO3-N showed no significant change in P2-WS. In contrast, NH4-N concentrations were low and showed no significant changes in P1-SA and P2-SA and NO3-N decreased significantly in the latter period. Accordingly, NO3-N: NH4-N mass ratios in P1-SA and P2-WS were all significantly higher than those in P2-SA and P1-WS, respectively. The biomass of WS diatom increased significantly and the timing of the peak biomass shifted from P1-SA to P2-WS since 2007. The SEM analysis showed that NO3-N was retained as a statistically significant predictor for diatom biomass in P1-SA and significant effects of windspeed, zooplankton and NH4-N on diatom biomass in P2-WS. Windspeed and zooplankton have further changed the biomass of diatoms in the case of declining inorganic nitrogen. We conclude that the magnitude of vernal suppression or stimulation of diatom assemblages has increased, concomitant with the variations of NH4-N and NO3-N: NH4-N mass ratios. Diatoms response to NH4-N or NO3-N is apparently changing in response to water temperature in this eutrophic shallow lake. Thus, parallel reductions in external nitrogen loading, along with variations in dominant inorganic nitrogen, will stimulate the growth of diatom and therefore increase the total biomass of phytoplankton in still high internal phosphorus loading, which is should be regarded as a good sign of restoration measures.

Inhalation of hydrogenated vegetable oil combustion exhaust and genotoxicity responses in humans.

Biofuels from vegetable oils or animal fats are considered to be more sustainable than petroleum-derived diesel fuel. In this study, we have assessed the effect of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) exhaust on levels of DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as primary outcome, and oxidative stress and inflammation as mediators of genotoxicity. In a randomized cross-over study, healthy humans were exposed to filtered air, inorganic salt particles, exhausts from combustion of HVO in engines with aftertreatment [i.e. emission with nitrogen oxides and low amounts of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm (approximately 1 µg/m3)], or without aftertreatment (i.e. emission with nitrogen oxides and 93 ± 13 µg/m3 of PM2.5). The subjects were exposed for 3 h and blood samples were collected before, within 1 h after the exposure and 24 h after. None of the exposures caused generation of DNA strand breaks and oxidatively damaged DNA, or affected gene expression of factors related to DNA repair (Ogg1), antioxidant defense (Hmox1) or pro-inflammatory cytokines (Ccl2, Il8 and Tnfa) in PBMCs. The results from this study indicate that short-term HVO exhaust exposure is not associated with genotoxic hazard in humans.

Describing the trend of ammonia, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides: The role of livestock activities in northern Italy during Covid-19 quarantine.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and ammonia (NH3) are among the main contributors to the formation of secondary particulate matter (PM2.5), which represent a severe risk to human health. Even if important improvements have been achieved worldwide, traffic, industrial activities, and the energy sector are mostly responsible for NOx and SOx release; instead, the agricultural sector is mainly responsible for NH3 emissions. Due to the emergency of coronavirus disease, in Italy schools and universities have been locked down from late February 2020, followed in March by almost all production and industrial activities as well as road transport, except for the agricultural ones. This study aims to analyze NH3, PM2.5 and NOx emissions in principal livestock provinces in the Lombardy region (Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, and Mantua) to evaluate if and how air emissions have changed during this quarantine period respect to 2016-2019. For each province, meteorological and air quality data were collected from the database of the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment, considering both data stations located in the city and the countryside. In the 2020 selected period, PM2.5 reduction was higher compared to the previous years, especially in February and March. Respect to February, PM2.5 released in March in the city stations reduced by 19%-32% in 2016-2019 and by 21%-41% in 2020. Similarly, NOx data of 2020 were lower than in the 2016-2019 period (reduction in March respect to February of 22-42% for 2016-2019 and of 43-62% for 2020); in particular, this can be observed in city stations, because of the current reduction in anthropogenic emissions related to traffic and industrial activities. A different trend with no reductions was observed for NH3 emissions, as agricultural activities have not stopped during the lockdown. Air quality is affected by many variables, for which making conclusions requires a holistic perspective. Therefore, all sectors must play a role to contribute to the reduction of harmful pollutants.

Dynamics and underlying mechanisms of N2O and NO emissions in response to a transient land-use conversion of Masson pine forest to tea field.

Nowadays, there has been a rapid expansion of tea field converted from forestry for pursuing higher economic benefits. However, few researches focus on the effects of transient land-use conversion from Masson pine forest to artificial tea fields on soil N2O and NO emissions and the underlying mechanisms. A parallel field experiment was conducted from Masson pine forest and a newly converted tea plantation from Masson pine forest from 2013 to 2017 in subtropical central China. Masson pine forest conversion to tea field dramatically increased soil N2O and NO emissions (up to 4.00 ±â€¯0.43 and 1.93 ±â€¯0.45 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively) in the first year possibly due to enhanced soil organic N mineralization. With the extension of tea planting age, N2O and NO emissions showed an upward trend (ranged from 1.19 to 5.28, and 0.15 to 1.78 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively) influenced by fertilization and soil organic matter accumulation. The direct emission factors for N2O and NO in the newly converted tea fields were the largest in the first year (2.64 and 1.07%, respectively) after land-use conversion, and higher than the default value recommended by IPCC. The NO/N2O ratio was mainly lower than 1 in the fertilized tea field, and soil N2O and NO emission peaks mainly occurred in tea-growing season (wet season) with higher soil moisture and NH4+-N concentrations, and dominated by amoA-containing bacteria (AOB), suggesting nitrifier-denitrification could be the dominant process involved in soil nitrogenous gases emissions in tea field. These results can be summarized as dramatically increased soil N2O and NO emissions during the transient land-use conversion from Masson pine forest to tea field were possibly due to the substantial net soil organic N mineralization and the enhanced abundance of nitrification functional genes (AOB).

Air Pollution and Estimated Health Costs Related to Road Transportations of Goods in Italy: A First Healthcare Burden Assessment.

Background: The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine has performed a preliminary assessment of the health impact attributable to road freight traffic in Italy. Methods: We estimated fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated by road transportation of goods in Italy considering the number of trucks, the emission factors and the average annual distance covered in the year 2016. Simulations on data concerning Years of Life Lost (YLL) attributable to PM2.5 (593,700) and nitrogen oxides NO2 (200,700) provided by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) were used as a proxy of healthcare burden. We set three different healthcare burden scenarios, varying from 1/5 to 1/10 of the proportion of the overall particulate matter attributable to road freight traffic in Italy (about 7% on a total of 2262 tons/year). Results: Road freight traffic in Italy produced about 189 tons of PM10, 147 tons of PM2.5 and 4125 tons of NOx in year 2016, resulting in annual healthcare costs varying from 400 million up to 1.2 billion EUR per year. Conclusion: Road freight traffic has a relevant impact on air pollution and healthcare costs, especially if considered over a 10-year period. Any solution able to significantly reduce the road transportation of goods could decrease avoidable mortality due to air pollution and related costs.

Influence of injection timing and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate on lemon peel oil-fuelled CI engine.

In the current phase of world economy, the utilization of the petroleum-based fossil fuels has drastically surpassed the supply. This scenario supplements to the fact that there is an ever increasing necessity for industrialization, specifically in the transportation sector. This requirement and supply of the petroleum and diesel fuels have an astounding impact over the market economy and related commodities. Low viscous and low cetane number biofuels are getting more attention for their usage in engine applications without any further processing. In the present work, lemon peel oil is being fuelled in diesel engine at different timing of injection and exhaust gas recirculation rates. Operation of lemon peel oil (LPO) at standard operating conditions results in increased brake thermal efficiency by consuming less fuel when compared with diesel fuel. The LPO biofuel properties such as boiling point and viscosity being lower leads to better evaporation capacity and thereby results in complete combustion. The advancement in injection timing of 25° bTDC and 27° bTDC resulted in the efficiency increment of 2.17% and 6.19% respectively. Furthermore, the smoke, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions are decreased in consequence on increased nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Hence, in order to decrease the content of nitrogen oxide emissions in the exhaust, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has been implemented in the present work. For EGR rate of 10% and 20%, the NOx emissions is reduced by 43% and 46% respectively for 27° bTDC injection timing. Thus, the advancement of injection timing with optimum EGR is a viable option for the lemon peel oil biofuel in diesel engine with superior performance and emission output.

Performance and emission characteristics analysis of thermal barrier coated diesel engine using palm biodiesel.

Various research works are being undertaken around the world on the subject of thermal efficiency improvisation and emission reduction from diesel engines. This research work analyzes the performance and emission characteristics of a thermal barrier coated diesel engine which used palm biodiesel. The piston and cylinder liners were coated with equal percentages of alumina (Al2O3) and yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powder using plasma spraying coating method. The piston was coated with 100 µm thickness and the two cylinder liners were coated with 150 and 200 µm thicknesses and were used to analyze the performance and emission characteristics. Test results of the thermal barrier coated engine using palm biodiesel were compared with the results derived from the base engine. The tests revealed an increase of 3.8% specific fuel consumption (SFC) as an average when neat palm biodiesel was used in the base engine. Interestingly, the palm biodiesel used in the 150- and 200-µm thick thermal barrier coated engine was responsible for a significant decrease of the SFC by an average of 4.18% and 8.05% respectively. The brake thermal efficiency was found to decrease on an average of 1.02% when tests were run using the neat palm biodiesel in the base engine. But an average proportionate increase of 0.72% and 2.19% was visible when palm biodiesel was used in the tests conducted on the 150- and 200-µm thick thermal barrier coated engine. There was also an understandable brake specific reduction of 0.991 g/kWh carbon monoxide (CO) emission and 0.025 g/kWh unburned hydrocarbon (HC) levels. The nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission was observed as 14.06 g/kWh in the 200-µm thick thermal barrier coated engine which was slightly higher when the results were compared with that of the uncoated engine. The novelty of this research investigation is based on the usage of yttrium-stabilized zirconia and alumina thermal barrier coating on the cylinder liner and piston head of engine. This is justified due to the fact that most of the previous investigations undertaken focused on the thermal barrier coating in the piston, valve, and cylinder head alone. The utility factor of the palm biodiesel (B 100) in the low heat rejection engine has also proved to be another significant and novel factor in the present investigation outlined in this paper. This is mainly due to the fact that the ongoing investigations in this realm concentrated only on blends of 20 to 30% of palm biodiesel with diesel fuel in the low heat rejection diesel engine.

Dietary selenium supplementation alleviates immune toxicity in the hearts of chickens with lead-added drinking water.

Lead (Pb) is an environmental pollutant and can damage organisms. Selenium (Se) can alleviate Pb poisoning. The present study aimed to investigate the alleviative effect of Se on Pb-induced immune toxicity in chicken hearts. One-hundred-and-eighty Hy-line male chickens were randomly divided into four groups at 7 days of age. The control group was offered a standard commercial diet (SD) and drinking water (DW); the Se group was offered SD supplemented with sodium selenite (SeSD) and DW; the Pb + Se group was offered SeSD and DW supplemented with lead acetate (PbDW); and the Pb group was offered SD and PbDW. Relative mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukins (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12ß, IL-17 and IFN-γ), and heat shock proteins (HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90) were determined by means of quantitative real-time PCR. Relative protein expression of iNOS, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 was assessed, as well as nitric oxide (NO) content and iNOS activity in heart tissue. The results indicated a down-regulation of interleukin (IL)-2 and IFN-γ and an up-regulation of NO, iNOS, interleukins (IL-4, IL-6, IL-12ß, IL-17), and heat shock proteins (HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90) in Pb-damaged hearts. Se alleviated all of the above Pb-induced changes. There were time-dependent effects on NO content, iNOS activity, and mRNA levels of iNOS, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 after Pb treatment in the chicken hearts. Se alleviated Pb-induced immune toxicity in the chicken hearts.

Characterization of pyrolysis bio-oil derived from intermediate pyrolysis of Aegle marmelos de-oiled cake: study on performance and emission characteristics of C.I. engine fueled with Aegle marmelos pyrolysis oil-blends.

The present research focuses on the analyzing the characteristics of bio-oil derived from intermediate pyrolysis of Aegle marmelos (AM) seed cake and its suitability for C.I. engine adaptation. Owing to the high volatile matter content of 73.69%, Aegle marmelos biomass was selected as the feedstock for this research. The intermediate pyrolysis was carried out at 600 °C in a 2-kg fixed bed type pyrolysis reactor at a heating rate of 10 °C/min and the obtained bio-oil was characterized by different analytical methods. As per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, physicochemical properties of the bio-oil were tested and it was observed that bio-oil is a highly viscous fluid with low calorific value. Analysis of bio-oil through FT-IR and GC-MS examination confirmed the presence of phenol, esters, alkyl, and oxygenated compounds. The performance and emission testing of direct injection diesel engine were conducted with various bio-oil blends and the results were compared with baseline diesel fuel. The experimental results showed that the addition of bio-oil decreased BTE (%) while increasing the BSEC (MJ/kW-h). At the same time, increasing the bio-oil ratio with diesel decreases dangerous emissions such as carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions in the engine exhaust. According to engine test result, it was suggested that up to 20% of AM bio-oil (F20) can be employed as engine fuel for better engine operating characteristics.

Improvement of ternary fuel combustion with various injection pressure strategies in a toroidal re-entrant combustion chamber.

The present experimental work focuses on the influence injection pressure and toroidal re-entrant combustion chamber in a single cylinder diesel engine fuelled with ternary fuel (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol) blend. Ternary fuel (TF) is prepared by blending 70% diesel, 20% biodiesel, and 10% ethanol blends and its fuel properties were investigated and compared with diesel fuel. Since the physic-chemical properties of TF are well behind the diesel fuel, it is proposed to be blended with 20 ppm alumina nano additives which act as an ignition enhancer and catalytic oxidizer. The resulting fuel mixture (TF + 20 ppm alumina additive) is named as high performance fuel (HPF). Experimentations were conducted on HPF subjected to various injection pressures of 18 MPa, 20 MPa, 22 MPa, and 24 MPa respectively and are operated in toroidal re-entrant chamber geometry (TG) at an injection timing of 22 obTDC. From experimentation, it was identified that, for TG-HPF, higher injection pressure of 22 MPa ensued highest BTE (Brake Thermal Efficiency) of 35.5% and lowest BSEC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) of 10.13 MJ/kWh owing to the pooled effect of higher swirl formation, improved atomization enhanced evaporation rate, and better air-fuel mixing. Emission wise TG-HPF operated at 22 MPa lowered the HC (hydrocarbon), CO (carbon monoxide), and smoke emissions by 18.88%, 7.19%, and 5.02%, but with marginally improved NOx (oxides of nitrogen) and CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions by 3.92% and 3.89% respectively. In combustion point of view, it is observed that injection pressure increased the cylinder pressure, heat release rate (HRR), and cumulative heat release rate (CHRR) by 5.35%, 5.08%, and 3.38% respectively indicating improved combustion rate as a result of enhanced atomization, evaporation, and high turbulence inducement. Overall, it is concluded that operating the ternary fuel at 22 MPa injection pressure at toroidal re-entrant combustion chamber results in improved performance and minimized emissions.

Combustion, performance, and emission analysis of diesel engine fueled with water-biodiesel emulsion fuel and nanoadditive.

The present study is aimed to analyze the combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of water-emulsified soybean biodiesel fueled diesel engine with alumina nanoadditive and the results compared with conventional diesel fuel (BD). Experiments were conducted in a single-cylinder, four-stroke, variable compression ratio, and natural aspirated diesel engine with an eddy current dynamometer at a constant speed of 1500 rpm. Water-soybean biodiesel emulsion fuel was prepared using a mechanical agitator, in which the water concentration was limited to 10%, whereas soybean biodiesel (SB) and surfactant concentrations were 89% and 1% by volume respectively. Alumina (Al) was chosen as a nanoadditive, and the mass fractions of 50 ppm and 100 ppm were blended with emulsion fuel using ultrasonicator and the physicochemical properties were measured. The physicochemical properties of water-emulsified biodiesel and nanoadditive included emulsified biodiesel are at par with EN14214 limits. The in-cylinder pressure (ICP) and net heat release rate (NHR) values of SB are 5.3% and 7.2% lower than BD respectively, whereas the water inclusion significantly increases the ICP and NHR values by 6.9% and 15.9% compared to SB. Brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of SB is higher than BD, and brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC) is lower than BD. An inclusion of 10% water in SB improves the BSFC and BSEC by 4% and 10.6% respectively compared to SB. The Al nanoparticle inclusion in water-emulsified soybean biodiesel further improves the combustion and performance parameters. The exhaust gas temperature (EGT) of sample fuels seems to be lesser than BD due to efficient combustion. As far as the emission characteristics are concerned, the SB promotes lower level of hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and smoke emissions with notable increases in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An inclusion of 10% water in SB reduces the NOx, HC, CO, and smoke emission by 21.2%, 16.7%, 16.9%, and 11.8% respectively under peak brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) condition. The addition of Al nanoparticle in biodiesel emulsion fuel further reduce NOx, HC, CO, and smoke emissions and marginally increases the CO2 emission.

Facile Synthesis of Highly Dispersed Co3O4 Nanoparticles on Expanded, Thin Black Phosphorus for a ppb-Level NO x Gas Sensor.

Expanded few-layer black phosphorus nanosheets (FL-BP NSs) were functionalized by branched polyethylenimine (PEI) using a simple noncovalent assembly to form air-stable overlayers (BP-PEI), and a Co3O4@BP-PEI composite was designed and synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The size of the highly dispersed Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) on the FL-BP NSs can be controlled. The BP-C5 (190 °C for 5 h) sensor, with 4-6 nm Co3O4 NPs on the FL-BP NSs, exhibited an ultrahigh sensitivity of 8.38 and a fast response of 0.67 s to 100 ppm of NO x at room temperature in air, which is 4 times faster than the response of the FL-BP NS sensor, and the lower detection limit reached 10 ppb. This study points to a promising method for tuning properties of BP-based composites by forming air-stable overlayers and highly dispersed metal oxide NPs for use in high-performance gas sensors.