Sulphur study of the Palaeogene coals from Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, NE India: Implications for palaeoenvironment, utilisation prospects, and environmental impacts

Coal samples of Eocene age (Shella Formation) from four different mines (Bapung, Jaintia, Sutunga, and Lakadong) of the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, Northeast India, were collected and investigated to observe the sulphur content and to understand the palaeoenvironment, utilisation prospects, and environmental impact. The study reveals that these coal samples contain sulphur in higher concentration (4.46% to 7.26%) both organic and inorganic forms. There are 3 coal seams exposed in the area. The organic sulphur is higher (2.53%-5.49%) than the inorganic forms (1.26%-1.77%). The upper seam is found to contain higher concentration of sulphur than the lower seam. Intra seam pyritic sulphur also shows an upward increasing trend. The high sulphur content in the coal seams suggests the marine influence in the peat-forming swamps. These coals are classified as High Sulphur coal (>1%) which is the main obstacle in the utilization although high volatile matter and hydrogen content strongly suggest that these coals are good for liquefaction. Moreover, during coal combustion emissions of sulphur dioxide produce acid rain, affecting the environment of the mine areas.

Effect of Drip Fertigation under Different Fertilizer Levels on Nutrient Status in Coconut (Cocos nucifera L) Leaf

A study was conducted during 2017-18 under the All India Co-ordinated Research Project initiated in 2009 at research farm of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur. The aim of this study was compare the nutrient concentration of coconut leaves at different nutrient levels through drip fertigation in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with four (4) replications. Result was observed that leaf Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Sulphur, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Boron content under different fertigation treatments were not significantly different from each other. The content of micronutrients in leaf were found to increase with increasing levels of fertilizer in the treatments. Cation Exchange Capacity was positively correlated with all the leaf nutrients. Organic carbon did not show remarkable relation with plant nutrient parameters. Soil K content of all three depths was positively correlated with all the leaf nutrient elements. Soil pH value was positively correlated with leaf P content in coconut which explains that leaf P content is directly proportional to the soil pH value. Electrical conductivity (EC) of soil was also positively correlated with P, K and B concentration in coconut leaf. Correlation coefficient value between CEC and leaf nutrient contents explains that 2nd depth of soil is more important for mineral nutrition of coconut palm. Correlation coefficient values between soil P content and leaf nutrient content. Higher correlation coefficient value was found at lower soil depth between available sulphur content in soil and sulphur content in leaf of coconut. This result suggests that inherent supplying capacity of micronutrient of experimental soil is not so influential for higher plant growth, but application of N, P and K fertilizers trigger the absorption capacity for micronutrient from soil. Under different NPK levels, the applied NPK does not have significant effect on leaf N, P, S, Zn content after five (5) years of experimentation while the effect was found to be significant for few elements like K, Fe, Mn, Cu, and B. An increasing trend was observed for leaf nutrient content with increasing levels of fertilizer application.

Marine fuels after 2020 III

On 1st January 2020, a drastic change came into force to reduce the maximum permitted sulphur content of marine fuels from 3.5 % wt. to 0.5% wt. for the deep sea and oceans. This change had an impact not only on the shipping industry, but also on the entire refining sector, be it oil marketers, refineries, traders and manufacturers of fuels and end-user additives. In 2017 and 2018, the situation regarding marine fuels and the impending IMO 2020 changes was mapped out in the articles "Marine Fuels Post-2020" and "Marine Fuels Post-2020 II" published in Paliva journal. These publications are directly followed by the present article, which summarises the current data (as of early 2021) and experience from the past year, the first year of implementation of IMO 2020. The article describes how vessel operators have coped with this drastic reduction of the maximum sulphur content of marine fuels, as well as the economic consequences of this change.

MATHEMATICAL OPTIMIZATION OF THE PROCESS OF BIRCH WOOD XYLAN SULFATION BY SULFAMIC ACID IN N, N-DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE MEDIUM

The effect of temperature and duration of sulfation of birch wood xylan by sulfamic acid in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) medium in the presence of urea on the yield of sulfated xylan and on the sulphur content was studied. By mathematical optimization, the sulfation conditions have been established allowing to achieve a high yield of the obtained xylan sulfates with a high sulphur content. Under optimal sulfation conditions: temperature 100±3 °C, duration 1.5 hours, the yield of sulfated xylan reaches to 63% mas. and the content of sulfur – 17.6% mas. The presence of sulfate groups in sulfated xylan samples obtained under optimal conditions was confirmed by elemental analysis and FTIR and 13C NMR spectroscopy.

Effect of different sources and doses of sulphur on yield, nutrient content and uptake by spring wheat

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of two sulphur forms (sulphate and tiosulphate) in combination with three different N:S ratios on the yield of spring wheat and total N- and S-content and uptake by the aboveground biomass on chernozem and sandy soil. In the greenhouse experiment, the effects of two sulphur forms were compared: sulphate (SO42-) and thiosulphate (S2O32-). The sulphate was applied as potassium-sulphate (K2SO4) and thiosulphate as ammonium-thiosulphate ((NH4)2S2O3). Increasing doses of both sulphur forms (24, 60, 120 kg S ha-1) were used with the same nitrogen dose (120 kg N ha-1) which caused three different N:S ratios background (1:0.2, 1:0.5, 1:1). Nitrogen was supplied in the form of monoammonium-phosphate (MAP), ammonium-nitrate and ammonium-thiosulphate. Plant samples were taken in three different development stages of spring wheat based on the BBCH scale: at the stage of BBCH 30–32 (stem elongation), BBCH 65–69 (flowering) and BBCH 89 (ripening). The total nitrogen and total sulphur content of plant at different development stages and also wheat grain were measured by Elementar Vario EL type CNS analyser. The nutrient uptake by plant and grain was calculated from the yield of spring wheat and the N and S content of plant. The grain yield on chernozem soil ranged between 6.31 and 12.13 g/pot. All fertilised treatments significantly increased the grain yield compared to the control. The highest yield was obtained in the case of the application of 120 kg N ha-1 and 60 kg S ha-1in sulphate form. The grain yield on sandy soil varied from 2.53 to 6.62 g/pot. The fertilised treatments significantly enhanced the yield compared to the control. The highest yield was observed in the case of the application of 120 kg N ha-1 and 60 kg S ha-1 in thiosulphate form. On chernozem soil the increasing doses of sulphur (24, 60, 120 kg S ha-1) with the same N dose (120 kg N ha-1) increased the N-content of spring wheat at all development stages and in the grain. The treatments with different sulphur sources did not cause further changes in the N-content. On sandy soil in the most cases the N-content did not change significantly as a result of increasing sulphur doses. The treatments with sulphate form basically resulted higher nitrogen-content than treatments with thiosulphate form. The treatments with increasing sulphur doses resulted higher S-content on both of chernozem and sandy soil in the case of all development stage. Comparing the effect of the applied sulphur sources on the S-content it can be stated that at the stage of BBCH 30–31 and 65–69 the treatments with sulphate form resulted higher sulphur-content. At the stage of BBCH 89 there was no significant differences in S-content of grain as a result of different sulphur-sources.

Analysis Sulphur (S) Content of SP-36 Fertilizer PT Petrokimia Using In-House and Innovation Method

Fertilizer is an essential component in increasing food self-sufficiency in Indonesia. PT Petrokimia Gresik is one of the fourth-largest fertilizer producers in Indonesia and produces various kinds of fertilizers. One of the fertilizer is SP-36, contains sulphur and phosphate. This study investigated the sulphur (S) content in SP-36 fertilizer using the in-house and innovation method. The difference between the two methods is BaCl2; the in house method used BaCl2 powder, while the Innovation method used liquid BaCl2. Different used of BaCl2 were based on their colloid formation. This study used a UV-Vis spectrophotometer instrument to calculate the sulphur content of SP-36 fertilizer. The results obtained from the research show that the two methods tested can be used to measure the sulphur content in SP-36 fertilizer. The most accurate result was In house method. The average value of sulphur content in SP-36 fertilizer using the in house method is 4,83%, while the average value of sulphur content in SP-36 fertilizer using the innovation method is 5,22%.

Influence of Sulphur Content on Structuring Dynamics during Nanosecond Pulsed Direct Laser Interference Patterning

The formation of melt and its spread in materials is the focus of many high temperature processes, for example, in laser welding and cutting. Surface active elements alter the surface tension gradient and therefore influence melt penetration depth and pool width. This study describes the application of direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) for structuring steel surfaces with diverse contents of the surface active element sulphur, which affects the melt convection pattern and the pool shape during the process. The laser fluence used is varied to analyse the different topographic features that can be produced depending on the absorbed laser intensity and the sulphur concentration. The results show that single peak geometries can be produced on substrates with sulphur contents lower than 300 ppm, while structures with split peaks form on higher sulphur content steels. The peak formation is explained using related conceptions of thermocapillary convection in weld pools. Numerical simulations based on a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model are employed to further investigate the influence of the sulphur content in steel on the melt pool convection during nanosecond single-pulsed DLIP.