Abstract:Chicken feathers are the most abundant keratinous biomass in the world. Only 60-70% of the poultry slaughterhouse products are edible. The slaughterhouse by-products contain keratin which forms more than million tons of waste worldwide annually. Disposal of the huge and increasing volume of waste feathers, presents as a major concern for poultry industry. On the other hand, energy and material recovery of this valuable protein source is an important issue for organic solid waste treatment and bioenergy generation. The high protein content of poultry feather makes it an excellent raw material for various utilizations. Dried feather contains 91% proteins and with 0.2 methane potential (m 3 kg-1 VS added) and 0.05 methane potential. The keratincontent of the feather has the difficulty in pre-treatment before utilisation. Fungal isolates: Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium species are found to produce keratinase enzyme, which can be beneficially used for pre-treatment of feather. Different types of fungal isolates which degrade keratinous substrate are screened using feather bait technique. The isolates were then cultured in feather meal medium to induce keratinase enzyme production. The activities of enzyme produced by different isolates were estimated using spectroscopic technique. The potential feather degrading enzyme is then analysed. The treated keratinous waste can be used economically in bio gas production, as fortified food for animals and also as bio fertilizer for plants. Recycling of the slaughterhouse feather and by-products can solve three main problems: disposal of harmful materials, producing of renewable energy and soil nutrient. Feather waste-this difficultly disintegrating material produced in large amount-finds an environmentally friendly way of utilization

Keywords:Feather bait technique, Keratinolytic fungi, estimation of keratinase activity, potential keratinolytic fungi_Aspergillus flavus I

Abstract:Electricity is the prime indicator of the economic growth and standard of living of the people in a nation. Generation of power is mainly dependent on coal fired power plants throughout the world. Coal is known to be one of the most important natural resources in the world. The surplus availability, extensive distribution and versatility of coal makes it a significant source of electrical energy for all times. The major proportion of electric power is generated using coal rather than any other source of fuel. It is cheaper than other fossil fuels but it is hard to be burnt. For power units operating on fossil fuel, the sole, prime, operating cost is fuel. The fuel expenses account for about 50 - 60% of the cost of generating electricity. Hence, procuring fuel of lower price is often a major challenge. Despite this and other environmental concerns, coal is still found to hold a major share of the electrical energy consumption in future. Over 48% of the world’s electric power supply is obtained from thermal power plants. A thermal power plant produces electrical power from fossil fuel, namely coal through several energy conversion processes, using water as a working fluid. It comprises a boiler, turbine, electric generator and other auxiliary equipments each of which serve a definite purpose. This paper deals with the mathematical model and the design aspects of the boiler and the system response when it is subjected to many inputs.

Keywords:Process control, Utility Boiler, Chien-Hrones-Reswick tuning, feed control

Abstract:Due to industrialization the amount of effluent discharged in environment has increased rapidly with time. The safe disposal of these effluent is a major issue that is been faced all over the world. One of the major predicaments faced by geotechnical engineers around the world is land contamination. The effluent when it comes in contact with soil causes changes the engineering behaviour of the soil which may affect the stability of the foundation and pavements. In some cases the changes caused by these effluents can either improve or degrade the engineering behaviour of soil. If there is an improvement in engineering behaviour of soil, there is a value addition to the industrial wastes serving the three benefits of safe disposal of effluent, using as a stabilizer and return of income on it. If there is degradation of engineering behaviour of soil then solution for decontamination is to be obtained. Hence an attempt is made in this present study that the effect of certain Industrial effluents such as Soap effluent, on the plasticity, compaction characteristic and shear strength parameters of red soil. Effluents were added in the percentage of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by the dry weight of the soil for a curing period of 7, 14, 28 and 60 days. Results of the study shows that Soap Effluent increases the maximum dry density with decrease in optimum moisture content, lowers the liquid limit, plastic limit and higher the shrinkage limit. It can be inferred that the increase in percentage of soap effluent with increase in curing period causes the marginal variations in geotechnical properties of red soil. When soil interacts with industrial effluents, the interaction changes the pore fluid chemistry and subsequently the thickness of diffused double layer. These changes are likely to be reflected by variation in engineering properties.

Keywords:Degradation, Diffused double layer, Pore fluid chemistry, Soap effluent

Abstract:Copper iodide nanoparticles were synthesized by convention method. The Nano particles prepared was dried at 60oC and then annealed different temperatures like 100oC, 200oC, 300oC and 400oC. It was observed from powder XRD, the sample annealed at 100oC is a pure phase of CuI. From the XRD pattern of the samples annealed at 300oC and 400oC copper oxide peaks were observed in addition to copper iodide peaks. Using Debye-Scherer’s relation, the particle size was determined. FTIR, optical, photoluminescence studies and SEM micrographs were recorded for the samples annealed at 300 oC and 400 oC.

Keywords:Copper iodide; nanoparticle; annealing; characterization; XRD; SEM; FTIR; Photoluminescence

Abstract:Soil provides substratum for plants and animal life, it is a favourable habitat for various microorganism, and the production of the crops also depends on the quality of the soil. Soil and microorganisms are interdependent, microbes add nutrients to soil. So the present study was undertaken to isolate and identify certain microbes from the soil and to study their characterization.

Keywords:Soil, microbes