NOPR Collection:

Performance of a Solar Distillery of Essential Oils with Compound Parabolic Solar Collectors

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Performance of a Solar Distillery of Essential Oils with Compound Parabolic Solar Collectors Authors: Kulturel, Y; Tarhan, S Abstract: The performances of a new solar distillery of essential oils with CPCs were determined for different ambient and working conditions. The essential oil distillation system was composed of seven compound parabolic solar collectors and a distillation unit. The heat transfer oil heated by CPCs was pumped to the distillation unit by a circulation pump. Eleven essential oil distillation trials were carried out in July, August and September. In some trials, compound parabolic reflectors were covered by a black fabric sheet to observe the effectiveness of solar concentration. CPC reflectors increased the total solar radiation coming onto the surface of absorber by 3.55 times on the average. When solar radiation was concentrated and the sky was without clouds, 78-80% of the total energy need of essential oil distillation was supplied from solar energy. The total solar radiation coming on the collector ranged from 23.20 kWh to 26.90 kWh in the trials. However, the occurrence of clouding during daytime required partly electrical heating to complete the distillation process. When the solar radiation was not concentrated, the distillation water could not boil without an electrical heater. 26 to 40 ml essential oils were extracted from 5 kg mint plants per day. Page(s): 691-696

Image Denoising Using Dual-tree Complex Wavelet Transform and Wiener Filter with Modified Thresholding

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Image Denoising Using Dual-tree Complex Wavelet Transform and Wiener Filter with Modified Thresholding Authors: Zhang, Xiaobo Abstract: This paper presents a new image denoising algorithm based on local variance estimation. In the process of denoising, the Wiener filter is used to remove the noise component of the dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) coefficients. The variances of noise-free coefficients are estimated by the DT-CWT coefficients transformed by modified thresholding. The tests show that the proposed method has better performance compared to the related algorithms. Page(s): 687-690

Isolation and Characterization of a Biosurfactant Producing Strain Pseudomonas Aeruginosa SMVIT 1 from Oil Contaminated Soil

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Isolation and Characterization of a Biosurfactant Producing Strain Pseudomonas Aeruginosa SMVIT 1 from Oil Contaminated Soil Authors: Rath, K; Singh, A B; Chandan, S; Vatsala, R S Abstract: The increasing demand of surfactant derived products, typically those based on biosurfactant has led to wide research in this area. This paper aims at isolation, molecular characterization and potential applications of a novel biosurfactant producing strain from oil spilled sample of Sir MVIT petrol bunk. Five different carbon sources were studied and the isolated strain showed better biosurfactant production in soybean oil (1.8 g/l) and hence was used as the sole carbon source for the entire experiment. The isolate was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa SMVIT 1 and phylogenetic analysis was performed using Clustal W2. Biosurfactant activity assays were performed using emulsification measurement, drop collapsing and oil displacement test. Structural and functional analysis was done using FTIR and GC-MS and indicated rhamnolipid nature of the biosurfactant. The isolated strain or the extracted biosurfactant can be used directly or as an immobilised system for bioremediation specifically in oil spill treatment. Page(s): 681-686

Nanoformulations of Pretilachlor Herbicide: Preparation, Characterization and Activity

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Nanoformulations of Pretilachlor Herbicide: Preparation, Characterization and Activity Authors: Kumar, N; Kumar, R; Shakil, N A; Das, T K Abstract: In the present study, two nanoformulations of pretilachlor: microemulsion (ME) and encapsulated monolithic dispersion (MD) have been developed. Both the formulations were tested for their stability and found to be stable at different temperature regimes. Characterization of these nanoformulations was performed by using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) technique. The average particle size of both nano formulations was in the nano range (1-100 nm). Bio-efficacy of nano formulations as weed control agents was studied at the field level against the weed Echinochloa crus-galli in rice fields where weed control was evaluated at 30, 60 and 90 days after transplantation (DAT). Both the tested nano formulations were found to perform better than that of the commercially available formulation of pretilachlor (Rifit^® 50 EC). Harvest time residues of pretilachlor in rice grain and soil were also determined in the present study. Page(s): 676-680