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Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research
VOLUME 61
NUMBER 1
JANUARY 2002
CONTENTS
Editorial
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Plant oils—Fuel of the future
Biodiesel is an efficient, clean, 100 per cent natural energy alternative to petroleum
fuels. Among the many advantages of biodiesel fuel include the following: safe for
use in all conventional diesel engines, offers the same performance and engine
durability as petroleum diesel fuel, non-inflammable and non-toxic, reduces tailpipe
emissions, visible smoke and noxious fumes and odors, produced in Hawaii from
100 per cent recycled vegetable oils. Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. is a pioneer in the successful commercial production of biodiesel. With numerous benefits to the environment, the community and the private consumer, biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum diesel is gaining momentum in the United States and throughout the world. The
fuel, made on Maui from 100 per cent-recycled vegetable oil, meets both the US and
German specifications for quality biodiesel.
Review Paper
17
Non-conventional phenolic resins—
An overview on recent advances
This paper consolidates the very recent developments in the field of nonconventional phenlolic resins. Innovative research for overcoming the inherent
shortcoming of phenolic systems concerning processability, brittleness, oxidative
resistance, etc. has gained momentum. The concept of addition-cure phenolics
addresses partly to these problems. The strategies adopted for structural modifications through introduction of thermally stable, addition curable groups such as,
phenyl maleimide, phenyl meleimide-allyphenol, propargyl ether, acetylene and
phenyl ethynyl are described. The strategy of reactive and non-reactive blending and
control of the cure and morphology of the network is also briefed. Adhesive evaluation of selected modified phenolic resins and their blends are described.
C P Reghunadhan Nair
Papers
34
Some studies on modelling and
designing intelligent sensory devices
for industrial applications
N P Mahalik & S K Lee
The paper presents work on modelling and designing intelligent devices such as
sensors, used in industrial automation and control applications. Model-based spectrum analysis schemes are used for diagnosis of sensor anomalies. IBM compatible
PC, LON-based fieldbus system, Matlab and Visual Basic tools are used as the
realizing platform for evaluation.
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Papers
48
Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence
spectrometry analysis of elements in
tobacco cigarette and ashed-tobacco
samples
A O Oyewale, I I Funtua &
P Ekwumemgbo
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Chemical industry wastewater
treatment using adsorption
EDXRF spectroscopy, using a 109Cd excitation source is used for the multi-element
analysis of two tobacco leaves and ten brands of cigarettes widely consumed in
Nigeria. The dried tobacco leaves, cigarettes and ashes of the samples are analysed
for 14 elements (K, Ca, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Ti, Zr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se and Pb). Statistical
correlations is found to exist between As and Pb (+0.99), Zr and Br (-0.94), Rb and
Br (-0.92), and K and Br (-0.96).
The study aims at demonstrating that adsorption as the first stage of treatment increases efficiency of the subsequent biological treatment. Experiments are carried
out on different wastewater samples from chemical plants on adsorbents viz. activated carbon, bentonite, and lignite. The effectiveness of adsorbents in the removal of
refractory organics by way of reducing chemical oxygen demand and colour is
evaluated. The results of COD reduction are fitted into different models available in
literature including the new model Rathi Puranik equation, which requires least
experimentation for predicting COD values.
A K A Rathi & S A Puranik
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Studies on zirconium (IV)
selenomolybdate gel based Mg (II)
selecltive heterogeneous membrane
sensor—Determination of water
hardness
A Mg(II) ion sensor selective araldite zirconium(IV) selenomolybdate membrane
sensor is prepared. It exhibits slope 23 mV/decade, which is a sub-Nernstain slope.
The sensor shows working concentration range as 1.0  10-5 M to 1.0  10-1 M and
working pH range as 2.5 to 6.0. The selectivity coefficients for 17 metal ions are
studied. It can be used in the presence of some solvents up to 10 per cent v/v concentration as well as in the presence of 10-4 to 10-6 M Na-lauryl suphate surfactant. The
membrane electrode is put in the determination of Mg(II) ion content in synthetic
samples as well as in hard water samples. The error is found to be 2 to 6 per cent.
A P Gupta, Saiqa Ikram &
Himanshu Agarwal
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Effect of exposure to acid vapours on
the dielectric behaviour of hot
pressed aluminium nitride ceramic
with and without oxide additives
Dielectric behaviour of hot pressed aluminium nitride (AIN) ceramic with and
without additives is studied before and after exposing the samples to some inorganic
and organic acid vapours. It is observed that the dielectric dispersion increases after
exposing the samples to acid vapours over and above the atmospheric humidity. In
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all the cases the presence of oxide additives (BeO, MgO, and Y2O3) is found to
increase the exposure effects.
Arti Khanna, A Kumar &
K K Srivastava
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Biodegradation of catechol by
fluorescent Pseudomonas for
sustainable environment
Lakshmi Tewari & Piyush Malviya
A bioremedial study is undertaken to elucidate the role of a soil bacterial isolate
fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. in biodegradation and removal of organic pollutant,
catechol, from the environment. Free and immobilized cells of fluorescent Pseudomonas, a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, isolated from wheat rhizosphere and
entrapped in calcium alginate beads are screened for their in vitro catechol (1,2
dihydroxy benzene) degrading efficiency. The bacterium degrades catechol under all
the four physiological states tested. Agitation enhanced its rapid degradation. Shake
cultures of both immobilized and free cells degrade 83.2 per cent and 82.2 per cent,
respectively in 72 h indicating high efficiency of immobilized and free cells degrade
83.2 per cent and 82.2 per cent catechol, respectively in 72 h indicating high efficiency of immobilized and free cells for bioremedial purposes. Thus, versatility of
fluorescent Pseudomonas to degrade phenolic pollutants as well as to enhance plant
growth can be exploited for biotechnological applications.
Book Reviews
75
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Global E-commerce strategies for small businesses
Reviewer: Chandra Prakash Gupta
Entrepreneurial competiton and industrial location—Investigating the structural patterns and intangible sources of
competitive performance
Reviewer: P Banerjee
Sci-Tech Update
79
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Beowulf class supercomputers
Niger-year of new information and communication technologies designed
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Advanced biotechnology: view of agricultural scientist
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Biological treatment of pollutants
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Ripped genes
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Monolayer photoreactivity—a new study
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Hydrogen fuel cell electrolyte
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Vaccine for livestock gas emissions developed
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Synthetic gene-delivery polymers identified
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Announcement