Energy efficiency and physical integrity of maize grains subjected to continuous and intermittent drying

ABSTRACT Grain drying is a common process, due to its need for the maintenance of quality, but it is the activity with the highest energy demand among the postharvest stages. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of different tempering times on the energy efficiency of drying process and maintenance of cell membrane integrity of maize grains harvested with moisture content at 0.34 ± 0.01 d.b. The grains were dried in an experimental fixed-bed dryer with control of temperature and air flow conditions. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with five tempering times (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 hours) and four repetitions, where zero corresponds to continuous drying, while the remaining times correspond to the intermittent dryings. The grains were dried at the temperature of 100 ºC and air flow of 15.4 m3 min-1 t-1 until reaching moisture content of 0.16 ± 0.03 d.b. For intermittent drying, the process was interrupted with 0.22 ± 0.02 d.b. and restarted after the tempering time. The increase of tempering time led to reductions in effective drying time, specific energy consumption, electrical conductivity and damage and increase in the drying rate and overall energy efficiency. Intermittent drying reduced the drying time, being 30.25% more efficient than continuous drying.

Effect of Tempering Time on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of SA738 Gr.B Steel

The effect of tempering time on the microstructure and mechanical properties of SA738 Gr.B nuclear power steel was studied using SEM, TEM and thermodynamic software, and its precipitation and microstructure evolution during tempering were clarified. The results showed that SA738 Gr.B nuclear power steel has better comprehensive mechanical properties after tempering at 650 °C for 1h. With the extension of the tempering time, M3C transformed into M23C6 with increasing size, which affected the yield strength and impact energy. When the tempering time is 8h ~ 10h, due to the transformation of M3C to M23C6, the composition of matrix around the carbide changed, causing the temperature of Ac1 dropped, forming twin-martensite which deteriorated the impact toughness of the steel.

Design of Polypropylene Random Co-Polymer Pipe Cutter

The purpose of this research is to design disc cutter for cutting poly propylene random co-polymer (PPR) and high density polypropylene (HDP) extrudates. Analytical methods and software including like Catia and ANSYS are used to design the tool and analyze the effect of load on the cutter. In designing the disc Cutter, using the digital logic method of material selection, the optimum material, carbon steel 19573 with the least cost, locally obtainable, manufacturable and with hardness 63.42HRC is selected. The desired optimum combination of hardness and toughness of the cutter is obtained using hardening temperature 10200C, tempering temperature 2000C, and tempering time 120min which finally gives a hardness value of 63.42HRC. The strength and quality of cut edge are tested by cutting hard plastic PPR pipe with maximum thickness of 12.9mm. By the same setup of the cutter used in the factory the prototype disc cutter serves and its failure rate improves from cutting 150 to 250 PPR pipe pieces which was recognized by the industry. The research results can be used to design the cutter disk and fabricate a cutter with enough strength to cut different thickness of PPR pipes without breakage, reducing unwanted additional cost.

Dilatometric and Microstructural Study of Martensite Tempering in 4% Mn Steel

This paper presents the results of martensite tempering resistance in 4% Mn steel. The material was quenched and tempered at 350 °C for 15, 30, and 60 min. The analysis of the quenching and tempering was carried out using dilatometric and microstructural approaches. The phase composition was assessed using X-ray diffraction. The Ms temperature and tempering progress were simulated using JMatPro software. The dilatometric analysis revealed a small decrease in the relative change in length (RCL) during tempering. This decrease was connected to the precipitation kinetics of cementite within the martensite laths. The microstructure investigation using a scanning electron microscope showed a very small amount of carbides, even for the longest tempering time. This showed the high tempering resistance of the martensite in medium-Mn steels. The hardness results showed an insignificant decrease in the hardness depending on the tempering time, which confirmed the high tempering resistance of martensite.

Wear volume prediction of AISI H13 die steel using response surface methodology and artificial neural network

Resistance to wear of hot die steel is dependent on its mechanical properties governed by the microstructure. The required properties for given application of hot die steel can be obtained with control the microstructure by heat treatment parameters. In the present paper impact of different heat treatment parameters like austenitizing temperature, tempering time, tempering temperature is studied using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) to predict sliding wear of H13 hot die steel. After heat treating samples at austenitizing temperature of 1020°C, 1040°C and 1060°C; tempering temperature 540°C, 560°C and 580°C; tempering time 1hour, 2hours and 3hours, experimentation on pin-on-disc tribo-tester is done to measure the sliding wear of H13 die steel. Box-Behnken design is used to develop a regression model and analysis of variance technique is used to verify the adequacy of developed model in case of RSM. Whereas, multi-layer feed-forward backpropagation architecture with input layer, single hidden layer and an output layer is used in ANN. It was found that ANN proves to be a better tool to predict sliding wear with more accuracy. Correlation coefficient R2 of the artificial neural network model is 0.986 compared to R2 of 0.957 for RSM. However, impact of input parameter interactions can only be analysed using response surface method. In addition, sensitivity analysis is done to determine the heat treatment parameter exerting most influence on the wear resistance of H13 hot die steel and it showed that tempering time has maximum influence on wear volume, followed by tempering temperature and austenitizing temperature. The prediction models will help to estimate the variation in die lifetime by finding the amount of wear that will occur during use of hot die steel, if the heat treatment parameters are varied to achieve different properties.

Preparation of heavy-section ductile iron with improved mechanical properties through quenching and tempering

In order to prepare heavy-section ductile iron with high strength and excellent elongation, a series of quenching- tempering experiments was conducted. A relationship between quenching-tempering time and temperature and the contents of martensite and pearlite was established by adjusting different quenching mediums and process parameters, and different microstructures in the iron matrix led to different mechanical properties. The content of martensite in the iron matrix reached over 94% after quenching at 880°C or a higher temperature. Further, the pearlite content could reach over 91% after tempering at 570°C or a higher temperature, thus resulting in improved mechanical properties. The investigated ductile iron yielded mechanical properties of a tensile strength of 970 MPa and an elongation of 6% after quenching in water at 880°C and tempering at 570°C. This will provide more possibilities for the application of heavy-section ductile iron parts.