Sunday 1 September 2013

BioGas Production From Human Waste | Anaerobic Digestion | Anaerobic Fermentation | Methane Production | Methane Emission

An anaerobic digester is an air tight, oxygen-free container that is fed an organic material, such as Human Waste, animal manure or food scraps. A biological process occurs to this mixture to produce methane gas, commonly known as biogas, along with an odor-reduced effluent. Microbes break down manure into biogas and a nutrient-rich effluent.


Biogas fuel is a flammable substance that burns in a similar fashion to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and as such, biogas energy can be utilized as an alternative to fossil fuels. Biogas production is often achieved using a biogas plant, which is a system that "digests" organic matter to produce gas.
Four Steps of Biogas Production / Fermentation:
Step 1: Hydrolysis                                         Out put: Amino Acids and Fatty Acids
Step 2: Acidity Increase                                Output: Organic Acids and Carbon dioxide
Step 3: Acetic Acid Formation                     Output: Acetic Acid, CO2, Hydrogen
Step 4: Methane Formation                          Output: Methane, Co2, Water

BIODIESEL

What Is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oils and alcohols (Methanol / Ethanol / ISO-Propanol) utilizing a chemical process called Transesterification. The resulting Mono-Alkyl Esters have an acceptable viscosity and can be used interchangeably with petroleum diesel.

What Is Transesterification?
The major components of vegetable oils and animal fats are Triglycerides. To obtain biodiesel, the vegetable oil or animal fat is subjected to a chemical reaction termed transesterification.

In that reaction, the vegetable oil or animal fat is reacted in the presence of a catalyst with an Alcohol (usually methanol) to give the corresponding Alkyl Esters (or for methanol, the methyl esters) of the fatty acid mixture that is found in the parent vegetable oil or animal fat

Biodiesel Materials / Biodiesel Feedstock:
  • Vegetable Oils
    • Soybean
    • Cotton seed
    • Palm
    • Peanut
    • Rape Seed / Canola
    • Sunflower
    • Safflower
    • Coconut
  • Animal Fats
    • Tallow
  • Waste Oils
    • Used Frying oils
Biodiesel Blends:
Biodiesel is often blended with petroleum diesel to produce a fuel that is compatible with diesel engines. Biodiesel blends reduce harmful emissions. Biodiesel blends will become more common as drivers are made aware of the many benefits.
B2 – 2% Biodiesel and 98% Diesel
B5 – 5% Biodiesel and 95% Diesel
B20 – 20% Biodiesel and 80% Diesel
Note: These blends with Petro diesel are not Biodiesel.
Advantages Of Biodiesel:
  • Derivation from a renewable domestic resource, thus reducing dependence on and preserving petroleum
  • Biodegradability
  • Reduction of most exhaust emissions (Exception NOx)
  • Higher flash point leading to safer handling and storage
  • Excellent lubricity
Disadvantages Of Biodiesel:
  • Inherent higher price
  • High expensive Feedstock’s
  • Increased NOx exhaust emissions due to reduced excise taxes

Friday 28 June 2013

top most mechanical engineering universities


World's Best Universities
Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Manufacturing Engineering

Students earning degrees in mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering take many core mathematics classes and may specialize in a wide range of subjects, from fracture mechanics to nanotechnology. These are the world's top universities for mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering. See the methodology.

Rank School Overall Score Academic Reputation Score Employer Reputation Score Citations per Paper Score
#1 94.0 100.0 86.8 93.3
#2
Stanford University
United States
91.8 95.6 84.5 93.9
#3
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
91.7 90.6 91.4 93.3
#4
Harvard University
United States
89.0 77.5 93.4 99.9
#5 88.8 82.6 93.1 92.6
#6 87.0 90.6 75.8 93.3
#7
Imperial College London
United Kingdom
85.9 87.8 82.1 87.2
#8 85.5 84.6 98.9 73.3
#9
University of Oxford
United Kingdom
85.2 80.5 91.1 85.4
#10 84.3 80.4 84.5 89.3
#11 84.1 90.0 75.5 84.9
#12 83.7 81.4 76.4 93.9
#13
University of Michigan
United States
83.5 89.1 72.2 87.4
#14 81.9 76.6 100.0 70.8
#15
Princeton University
United States
81.6 76.7 78.8 90.8
#16 81.0 72.4 87.5 86.0
#17
Purdue University
United States
80.8 83.2 74.1 84.2
#18 80.0 81.1 81.8 76.8
#19 79.9 69.2 88.4 85.7
#19 79.9 70.0 85.5 87.4
#21 79.8 88.6 66.4 81.4
#22
Yale University
United States
79.7 72.8 77.0 91.7
#23 79.5 80.6 75.7 81.9
#24 79.2 72.5 78.8 88.5
#24 79.2 81.6 62.6

mechanical engineering t shirt quotes
























Here are some cool T Shirt quotes for you to write on your Mechanical Engineering Class T-Shirt.
        • Gentlemen I will Start your Engines
        • Suck-Squeeze-Suck-Squeeze We do it 4 stroke way
        • I Screw for a Living
        • Ask Me for a Lube job
        • Have you checked your oil lately
        • Let me tighten your bolts !
        • We do it Four Stroke way
        • Let me check your Horn
        • Rear End Collision Specialist
        • Ask me about my Toolbox !
        • Got the Nerve to dare ME?
        • Inspiration is only beginning rest is all about being ME!
        • Nut is as per bolt
        • Highly Mechanized
        • Mechanical Engineering, a shear delight
        • Get in gear with a mechanical engineer
        • I am not a nut but i can screw well
        • I believe in the big bang theory
        • I am not a mechanic but a mechanical engineer
        • Never take ME as granted!

Thursday 27 June 2013

9 Android Apps for Engineers

With technology constantly changing, many people have grown a little more than attached to their mobile devices. In an age when smart phones and tablets have become the one-stop-shop for communication and entertainment, people are also increasingly using them to accomplish work-related tasks with a simple swipe of the finger.
As the smartphone and tablet market continues to experience growth, apps also are on the rise. A few years ago, smart phone users were downloading more apps on the iPhone than on Android. The scale seems to be tipping now and as reported by Canalys, just over half of all apps downloaded in the first quarter of this year were for Android.


"The market has changed significantly," says Shuchi Khurana, founder and CEO of Axon Calc, a company that develops mobile calculator apps for science and engineering. "When I started the company in 2010, there were fewer apps, but now there are lots of calculation, reference, and unit conversion apps on Google Play," he adds.
In Khurana's opinion, "The natural progression for apps would be mix of information with calculation and apps becoming smarter by doing complex calculations – being able to solve problems with default input and flexibility to add." He envisions a social component where sharing will grow and engineers give feedback to each other.
Regardless of the platform, the multitudes of apps being added to the App Store and Google Play every day are enabling engineers to perform simple and repetitive tasks while on the road. Here are nine useful Android apps that can be handy for mechanical engineering professionals and students.

 Heat Transfer Calculator offers calculators related to heat transfer calculations. The calculators include a conduction and convection calculator which calculates the conduction and convection phenomenon and outputs the temperature or heat transfer rate. It also allows unit conversion of heat transfer-related units from Metric to English units

 EngCalc includes formulae and property tables for mechanical, hydraulic, structural, machine design, electrical, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, HVAC, pipe flow, and automotive. It also integrates a unit convertor with units and conversions.

 Engineering Unit Converter is an engineering unit converter that allows engineers to choose a category such as length, energy, entropy, electric charge, etc., from a list. The available units appear in two spinning wheels and you can change the input value in the yellow field, sort units, or use the swap button
 
 Fluid Mechanics Converter is a conversion calculator that can translate different units of measure related to fluid mechanics. The app includes a fluid converter, flow rate (mass) converter, flow rate (volume) converter, viscosity (dynamic) converter, viscosity (oil and water) converter, and a viscosity (kinematic) converter


Engineering Cookbook is a reference guide for mechanical designers. It provides access to frequently needed information, including heating and cooling load estimating; sound and vibration guidelines, ventilation rates for indoor air quality; and design formulas and conversion factors.

Mechanical Engineering 101 is an on-the-go learning app that helps you to understand the basics of "Mechanical Engineering 101." The app provides bite-sized learning through tutorials, quizzes, and flashcards.

Mechanical Engineering Magazine is the monthly flagship publication of ASME. The app delivers an interdisciplinary view of engineering trends, giving readers a roadmap to understand today's technology and tomorrow's innovations.

 CAD View 3D MFC is a 3-D data file viewer designed for CAD users. It supports the most popular 3-D CAD formats including STL, DXF, and JT. With help of this app, users can take their 3-D files with them no matter where they are and view them with their phone (or tablet) directly. The app provides 3-D features including rotating model with finger movement, changing object material color or rendering background color, and changing rendering light intensity.

Autodesk ForceEffect Motion app allows engineers to develop functional moving mechanical systems right on their mobile devices. Unlike the traditional approach of using paper, pencil, and a calculator to develop equations for design options, the app does all the simulation and engineering calculations on mobile device, enabling engineers to simulate design options during the concept phase to determine the viability of a design.

 Engineers are able to simulate design options during the concept phase using Autodesk’s ForceEffect Motion app. Image: Autodesk