Design and Manufacture of 1kW Wind Turbine Blades

To meet sustainable development goals and address concerns on climate change, much of the world's energy demand is expected to be delivered from clean alternative energy sources. Small-scale wind turbines have proven to be applicable for off-grid electrification. The objective of this study is to present the details on the design and manufacture of a 1 kW wind turbine blade for specified conditions. Blade element moment theory is adopted in the design of the geometry of the blade. Accordingly, the aerodynamic analysis on NACA 64A410 airfoil resulted in a blade radius of 1.95m, an overall twist angle of 31°, and a gradually tapering chord length of 0.062m at the root and 0.247m at the tip of the blade. Then, the wind turbine blades are manufactured from fiberglass (mat350g), resin, catalyst, and gelcoat. Experimental results reveal the wind turbine blades started producing power at a cut-in wind speed of 3m/s. The maximum power achieved during the testing process was 900W at a hub wind velocity of 9m/s. This is lower than the expected 1000W theoretical power output due to not perfect workmanship in the manufacture of the wind turbine blades. This study will help in building local manufacturing facilities and enhance rural electrification through off-grid technologies.

Kinetic studies on esterification of acetic acid with isopropyl alcohol in presence of novel solid catalyst

The reaction of isopropyl alcohol with acetic acid was carried out in an isothermal batch reactor in presence of solid resin catalyst to produce isopropyl acetate and water. A novel solid resin catalyst Indion 140 was used in the present study. The temperature of reaction mixture was maintained in the range of 333.15 – 363.15 K. The effects of reaction temperature, catalyst loading, mole ratio, size of catalyst, agitation speed were investigated on acetic acid conversion. Further, pseudo-homogeneous kinetic model was developed for the catalyzed reaction. The forward reaction rate constants and activation energies were determined from the Arrhenius plot. The forward and backward activation energies are found to 53,459 J/mol and 54,748 J/mol, respectively. The heat of reaction is −1.289 kJ/mol with Indion 140 catalyst. The mathematical equation was developed for frequency factor as function of the catalyst loading and found that it follows a linear relationship between frequency factor and catalyst loading. The simulations were performed for pseudo homogeneous kinetic model and found that the model is able to predict the experimental data very well. The developed kinetic equation is useful for the simulation of a reactive distillation column for the synthesis of isopropyl acetate.

Reactive Distillation for the Production of Cyclohexanol

Cyclohexanol is an organic chemical intermediate product widely used in chemical<br /> industry and commonly produced by cyclohexene hydration. Because of the low mutual<br /> solubility of cyclohexene and water, the reaction is limited by chemical equilibrium,<br /> which has the disadvantage of low conversion of cyclohexene. In this paper, the hydration reaction of cyclohexene catalysed by A-36 cation exchange resin catalyst was analysed by Aspen Plus V8.6 simulation software in the presence of isophorone as cosolvent.<br /> The process model of synthesising cyclohexanol by catalytic distillation was verified by<br /> process experiments. The simulation experiments were carried out using the process<br /> model, and suitable operating conditions of the catalytic distillation column were obtained. These are: ketene feed ratio 1.5, alkene/water ratio 0.5, distillation stage trays 5,<br /> reaction stage trays 12, stripping stage trays 6, cyclohexene feed at the 18th tray, water<br /> and isophorone feed at the 5th tray, reflux ratio 3, feed ratio (D/F) 0.25. Under these<br /> operating conditions, the conversion of cyclohexene can reach 40.63 %.

Highly selective self-condensation of cyclohexanone: the distinct catalytic behaviour of HRF5015

HRF5015, a perfluorosulfonic acid resin catalyst with unique pore structures, was investigated in the catalytic self-condensation of cyclohexanone under mild conditions. The morphology of HRF5015 was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), and the reaction mechanism was studied by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The effects of reaction time and temperature on the yield of dimer were investigated under the nitrogen atmosphere. The results show that the reaction temperature is low, and especially, the selectivity of the dimer is close to 100%. The apparent activation energy for the dimer formation reaction is 54 kJ mol −1 . Synergistic action of cluster structure formed by sulfonic groups and nanopores in HRF5015 may be the key factor of high-efficiency catalytic activity and high selectivity. In situ infrared spectra indicate that the intermediate is stable in the reaction process. HRF5015 is environmentally friendly and re-usable, which shows good potential in a future application.

Achieving environmental sustainability in the shell mould foundry through thermal reclamation

Shell moulding is a process for producing simple or complex near-net-shape castings and maintaining tight tolerances with a high degree of dimensional stability. The main objective of the present research is to achieve environmental sustainability by thermal reclamation of the used shell mould foundry sand and present the results of achieving environmental sustainability. The investigations indicate that the thermal reclamation of the used foundry sand helps in achieving sustainability, and the selection of optimal process parameters like percentage of resin, catalyst, and fresh silica sand addition are very important in the shell mould foundry.