Thermax (India)

The increasing global population and the demand for food production have led to higher usage of fertilizers in the agricultural sector. This, in turn, has raised the cost of food production. Urea, commonly used in crop fertilization, is prone to losses through volatilization and leaching, and current methods reduce the efficiency of nitrogen use by plants, leading to limited crop yields and environmental pollution. A potential solution to this problem is the use of controlled release urea (CRU), achieved through various methods and materials. One such method is the physical conversion of urea granules with an appropriate coating material, which produces controlled-release coated urea (CRCU). The development of CRCU, a green technology, not only reduces nitrogen loss caused by volatilization and leaching, but also adjusts the rate of nitrogen release, providing nutrients to plants in a manner more aligned with their metabolic needs. This mini review discusses the physical coating of original urea granules, emphasizing the latest coating methods, release experiments, and mechanisms, and provides critical analysis and suggestions for future research.

In the past few years, the airline and travel industries have suffered unprecedented crisis during COVID-19 pandemic. With the gradual reopening of economies, airline companies are progressively bouncing back to normalcy. While airline traffic has come back to normalcy, travelers still continue to remain cautious about their health, hygiene and safety. In this regard, we examine the applicability of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled digital technologies in reassuring airline travelers’ confidence by offering benefits, such as contactless travel, health monitoring of onboard travelers, crowd management at the airport, air quality, and hygiene management inside the airport. The study sheds light on emerging travelers’ preference for air travel post-COVID-19. This article prioritizes the IoT-based application areas assessed through the theoretical lens of the theory of planned behavior. Our research highlights the underlying inter-relationships among the digital enablers that can be implemented for the airline industry, focusing on travelers’ hygiene and safety priorities. The study is conducted in the international airports operating in India. By improving travelers’ confidence, this study will help travel and airline industries to revive from the postpandemic loss by using the capabilities of IoT technologies.

The peripheral nervous system has a complex anatomical structure. Stimulation of nerve fibers in the peripheral nervous system depends on the fiber diameter and myelination as well as its location within the nerve, packing fraction and fascicle distribution within the nerve bundle. This paper analyzes the impact of the variation in peripheral nervous system anatomy and the distance of the stimulating electrodes on the probability of generating an action potential. A mathematical model for effective fascicle conductivity has been developed to capture the variation in the packing fraction and fiber diameter. A linear activating function is utilized to analyze the impact of this effective conductivity and fascicle distribution as an indicator of generating an action potential. Finite element simulations are performed for the nerve-electrode configuration to evaluate the electric field. The simulation results are used to analyze the activating function for different packing fractions and type of nerve fibers. The effect of electrode distance on activating function and the total current through a nerve bundle has also been studied. The simulation results indicate that the peripheral nerve anatomy and electrode distance have a significant effect on the action potential generation.

Summary gprMax is open source software that simulates electromagnetic wave propagation. It uses Yee’s algorithm to solve Maxwell’s equations using a Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) scheme. It is the most widely used simulation tool in the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) community, and has been successfully utilised for a diverse range of applications in industry and academia.

In this present works, a generalized approach for the two-phase flow analysis of a natural circulation in hybrid boiler. The model uses the combination of node and loop equations and the Newton Raphson technique for the solution of the set of equations. Loop equations have been developed for each evaporator tube with the unique driving force and pressure drop of the concerned loop. Node equations are mainly developed for common risers and downcomers. A unique connectivity matrix has been used to correlate each branch flow with loop and node equations. The model is validated by a unique indirect method by comparing the actual water level and calculated water level. Experiments have been performed with uniform diameter of tubes in 53 channels circulating loop to find the volume of steam. The model shows good agreement with experimental investigations with a maximum of 3.57% absolute error. The model can be used for the design, analysis, and optimization of the natural circulation network.

The paper presents a generalized approach for the flow distribution analysis of a natural circulation boiler. The model uses the combination of node and loop equations and the Newton Raphson technique for the solution of the set of equations. Loop equations have been developed for each evaporator tube with the unique driving force and pressure drop of the concerned loop. Node equations are mainly developed for common risers and downcomers. A unique connectivity matrix has been used to correlate each branch flow with loop and node equations. The model is validated by a unique indirect method by comparing the actual water level and calculated water level. The model shows good agreement with experimental data with a maximum of 4% absolute error. The model can be used for the design, analysis, and optimization of the natural circulation network.