A survey of water consumption and product output from ten sago factories in India

Most of the tapioca processing units in India separate starch from slurry by employing the gravity settling method. Sedimentation in settling tanks allows the contact of starch with water. This process leads to fermentation in which alcohols and organic acids are formed and polluting the environment. Wastewater from tapioca processing factories contain high chemical oxygen demand (11,077-19, 083 mg t l), low pH (4.33-5.60) and causes pollution. The effluent from tapioca industries is acidic and organic in nature, contributing biological oxygen demand in the range of 1500 to 2000 g mojo Inorganic constituents like phosphate, sulphate, chloride, and several metals are also found in trace quantities. This paper explains the water consumption, product output and effluent generation in tapioca processing industries. The average water requirement was 4.512 ml to process 1000 kg ofcassava tubers. When the tubers are used for starch manufacture, a product yield of 16. 7% starch, 1.6% dirty starch and 7.0% thippi were obtained, and 18.6% sago, 1.8% dirty starch, 19.1% peel and 3.9% thippi were obtained when the tubers are used for sago manufacture. About 95% of the consumed water is leaving the factory as effluent

Ethics of Worship of Nayanmars

There are twelve Saiva Thirumurais (The Thirumurai is a twelve-volume compendium of songs or hymns in praise of Shiva). Periyapuranam is the twelfth of these. Periyapuranam simplifies the methods of worship. Sixty-three Nayanmars excelled in the worship of Lord Shiva. They followed three kinds of worship and attained salvation. The three types of worship of Guru worship, Linga worship, and Confluence worship are mentioned in the Saiva Siddhanta texts. Linga worship is of two types: Athmartham (Spirituality) and Paramārtham (Salvation). The worship of the Spiritual Linga belongs to everyone. The worship of the Salvation Linga in the temple belongs to the Adi Saivas. The worship of the devotee is the best way to conquer the three subjects that prevent the attainment of the Supreme Being, Shiva. Most of the Nayanmars worship with devotion. Moreover, the lives of the Nayanmars were a form of worship. The ethics shown by them are a simple method of attaining salvation

Fuzzy based Power Flow control of Two Area Power System

This paper deals with the novel approach of fuzzy based power flow control of two area power system. Interconnected operation enables utilities to share the generation from one area to other areas. In each area, all the generators are synchronized at same frequency. The change in system load within the area causes frequency deviation in the generating buses and tie line error in the tie lines connecting neighboring areas. The control of interconnected power system is achieved by Automatic Generation Control (AGC), which maintains the balance between generation and load. In this paper, the components of AGC, frequency deviation (DF), tie line error (DPtie) and the output change in generations (DPgi) are calculated by steady state power flow analysis using decoupled Newton Raphson method. The control action is performed by conventional method using participation factor and Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The DF and DPtie are the inputs to the conventional controller and Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The proposed method is tested with modified IEEE 30 bus system and the results are compared. Analysis reveals that FLC is quite capable of suppressing the frequency deviation and tie line error effectively as compared to that obtained with conventional controller.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i1.219

An Experimental Study on Solar Flat Plate Collector Using an Alternative Working Fluid

This paper describes the performance of a solar water heater with an alternative working fluid. A solar flat plate collector of fIxed orientation was fabricated and connected to a heat exchanger, which was kept inside the water storage drum. The developed collector was a low temperature device operating with the temperature range of ambient to 100°C. Acetone was selected as an alternative working fluid and allowed to re-eirculate in a closed loop. A shell and tube type heat exchanger (non-mixing) was designed and fabricated for the heat transfer between acetone and water. The solar intensity increased from 55 mw/cm2 at 8.30 am to 85 mw/cm2 at 1.30 pm and decreased to 64 mw/cm2 at 5.00 pm. The absorber plate temperature, which remained nearly constant for the first two hours, went up to 90°C in the next two hours. It was nearly constant from 11.00 am to 1.30 pm and then dropped down to 72°C in the afternoon. The hot fluid was found to loose heat to the surrounding water at more or less constant rate from 11.30 am to 5.00 pm. The highest temperature of acetone (70°C) was observed during 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm. The temperature of water increased from 30°C to a maximum of 62°C. Overall efficiency of the system was found to be 45% while considering the solar input to the heat gained by the water. Alternative working fluids such as acetone, methanol or ethanol may be considered for substituting water in the flat plate collector in view of the fact that the fluids have low boiling point coupled with high latent heat of evaporation

Bit plane slicing technique to classify date varieties

Varietal purity is an important parameter in the quality standards of dates. In general, variety identification is done by visual inspection method in grading and handling facilities. Online variety assessment using computer vision methods with minimum features and fast image processing and classification algorithms would be highly beneficial for the date industry. Three date varieties (Khalas, Fard and Madina) were classified using a single type of feature, Euler number, used on the eight bit planes available from gray scale images. An overall classification accuracy of 91.5% was achieved using a two layer neural network classifier with hyperbolic tangent sigmoid transfer function. Additionally, image segmentation was performed using the two most significant bit planes. Therefore, a complete feature extraction module based on logic values and morphological image processing as proposed here can be easily implemented in hardware

BRIGHTNESS PRESERVING HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION (BPHE) TECHNIQUE FOR CLASSIFICATION OF DATES

Brightness preserving histogram equalization (BPHE) technique was used to enhance the features to discriminate three dates varieties (Khalas, Fard and Madina). Mean, entropy and kurtosis features were computed from the enhanced images and used in an Artificial Neural Network classifier. The classification efficiency of 4 sets of hidden neurons (5, 10, 20, and 30) was tested and the network with 5 neurons yielded the highest classification accuracy of 95.2%

Application of imaging and spectroscopy techniques for grading of bovine embryos - a review

Although embryo transfers have grown considerably in the cattle industry, the selection of embryos required for successful pregnancies remains a challenging task. Visual inspection of 7th-day embryos using a stereomicroscope, followed by classification based on morphological features is the most commonly practiced procedure. However, there are inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the manual grading of bovine embryos. The objective of this review was to evaluate the potential of imaging and spectroscopic techniques in the selection of bovine embryos. Digital analysis of microscopic images through extracting visual features in the embryo region, and classification using machine learning methods have yielded about 88–96% success in pregnancies. The Raman spectral pattern provides valuable information regarding developmental stages and quality of the embryo. The Raman spectroscopy approach has also been successfully used to determine various parameters of bovine oocytes. Besides, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has the ability to assess embryo quality through analyzing embryo composition, including nucleic acid and amides present. Hyperspectral Imaging has also been used to characterize metabolite production during embryo growth. Although the time-lapse imaging approach is beneficial for morphokinetics evaluation of embryo development, optimized protocols are required for successful implementation in bovine embryo transfers. Most imaging and spectroscopic findings are still only at an experimental stage. Further research is warranted to improve the repeatability and practicality to implement in commercial facilities

Computer Vision Techniques for Quality Assessment of Dates

Computer vision (CV) is a technique in which the image of an object is obtained through any imaging system and the image is analyzed to characterize the quality of the object objectively. The advancement in electronics has made this technique utilized in various fields. In North America, food industry is one of the top ten industries utilizing CV technique for quality monitoring. However, CV technique is not much utilized in the food industries in Asia. Dates is an important fruit crop in Oman and many other Arab countries. The quality assessment of dates during handling and processing are mainly carried out through manual inspection method. But this method has many challenges such as the efficiency of a worker, subjectivity, and so on. There are lots of opportunities to utilize CV technique for measuring and monitoring various quality aspects of dates. Through an Open Research Grant program funded by The Research Council (TRC), Oman, potential of CV technique for various internal and external qualities of dates was determined. This paper describes the efficiency of CV systems for variety identification, surface crack detection, texture and hardness determination

Chemical characterisation and the anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antibacterial properties of date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Date fruit, Phoenix dactylifera L. has traditionally been used as a medicine in many cultures for the treatment of a range of ailments such as stomach and intestinal disorders, fever, oedema, bronchitis and wound healing. Aim of the review: The present review aims to summarise the traditional use and application of Phoenix dactylifera date fruit in different ethnomedical systems, additionally the botany and phytochemistry are identified. Critical evaluation of in vitro and in vitro studies examining date fruit in relation to anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antimicrobial activities are outlined. Key Findings: The ethnomedical use of Phoenix dactylifera in the treatment of inflammatory disease has been previously identified and reported. Furthermore, date fruit and date fruit co-products such as date syrup are rich sources of polyphenols, anthocyanins, sterols and carotenoids. In vitro studies have demonstrated that date fruit exhibits antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic activity. The recent interest in the identification of the numerous health benefits of dates using in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed that date fruit and date syrup have beneficial health effects that can be attributed to the presence of natural bioactive compounds. Conclusions: Date fruit and date syrup have therapeutic properties, which have the potential to be beneficial to health. However, more investigations are needed to quantify and validate these effects

Optimizing Asphalt Mixtures for Low-volume Roads in Minnesota

(c) 1003325 (wo) 104Minnesota has a large number of low-volume asphalt roads. These roads typically fail because of environmental factors, such as frigid temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles, and seasonal and daily temperature variations. The goal of this study was to suggest modifications to asphalt mixture designs currently used for low-volume roads in Minnesota to improve the resistance of the mixes against the environmentally driven distresses. The study was conducted by accomplishing multiple tasks, such as a literature review, online survey, fieldwork studying the cause of the asphalt pavement distresses, laboratory work comparing asphalt mixtures designed with Superpave-4, Superpave-5, and regressed air voids methods, and studying the field compaction of Superpave-5 mixes. The mechanical performance of the asphalt mixes was studied by conducting Disc-Shaped Compact Tension (DCT), Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS), and Dynamic Modulus (DM) tests. The study included both laboratory- and plant- produced mixes. The study found that asphalt layers for the low-volume roads did not get enough densification, which augments environmentally driven distresses, such as thermal cracks, and longitudinal joint cracks. The Superpave-5 method holds considerable promise for the design of asphalt mixtures for low-volume roads in Minnesota, which may likely increase the asphalt layer densification and mitigate some of the common distresses