System optimization and selection of coking coal drying process for coking pr...Alex Wong
Low Temp Coking Oven Flue Gas Fludized Bed Drying Process; High Temp Flue Gas Fluidized Bed Drying and Briquetting Process; Low Temp & High Temp Combined Flue Gas Fluidized Bed Drying and Briquetting Process; Modified SCOPE21 Process; Fine Coal Hot Briquetting Process.
Basic and detailed discussion on Coal Mill (Raymond) and Air Fans Performance in a Thermal Power Plant.
Gives an idea as to how the performance of Coal Mills and fans can be improved
Response to Climate Change (incl. case of Carbon Capture)Shibojyoti Dutta
The presentation contained context of Iron & Steel w.r.t. Climate Change, response of sector in India and Tata Steel. Sustainable solution offered by Tata Steel and brief discussion on Carbon Capture prospects at BF at the National seminar on “Environmental Prisnciples, Policies and Climate Change” organised by Indian Institute of Metals - Kolkata Chapter on 16 Dec 2010 at Taj Bengal, Kolkata
Captive Power Plants has made a major contribution to the development of the power industry in India. The authors argue that this is possibly an overlooked opportunity in Africa.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
System optimization and selection of coking coal drying process for coking pr...Alex Wong
Low Temp Coking Oven Flue Gas Fludized Bed Drying Process; High Temp Flue Gas Fluidized Bed Drying and Briquetting Process; Low Temp & High Temp Combined Flue Gas Fluidized Bed Drying and Briquetting Process; Modified SCOPE21 Process; Fine Coal Hot Briquetting Process.
Basic and detailed discussion on Coal Mill (Raymond) and Air Fans Performance in a Thermal Power Plant.
Gives an idea as to how the performance of Coal Mills and fans can be improved
Response to Climate Change (incl. case of Carbon Capture)Shibojyoti Dutta
The presentation contained context of Iron & Steel w.r.t. Climate Change, response of sector in India and Tata Steel. Sustainable solution offered by Tata Steel and brief discussion on Carbon Capture prospects at BF at the National seminar on “Environmental Prisnciples, Policies and Climate Change” organised by Indian Institute of Metals - Kolkata Chapter on 16 Dec 2010 at Taj Bengal, Kolkata
Captive Power Plants has made a major contribution to the development of the power industry in India. The authors argue that this is possibly an overlooked opportunity in Africa.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
Earliest Galaxies in the JADES Origins Field: Luminosity Function and Cosmic ...Sérgio Sacani
We characterize the earliest galaxy population in the JADES Origins Field (JOF), the deepest
imaging field observed with JWST. We make use of the ancillary Hubble optical images (5 filters
spanning 0.4−0.9µm) and novel JWST images with 14 filters spanning 0.8−5µm, including 7 mediumband filters, and reaching total exposure times of up to 46 hours per filter. We combine all our data
at > 2.3µm to construct an ultradeep image, reaching as deep as ≈ 31.4 AB mag in the stack and
30.3-31.0 AB mag (5σ, r = 0.1” circular aperture) in individual filters. We measure photometric
redshifts and use robust selection criteria to identify a sample of eight galaxy candidates at redshifts
z = 11.5 − 15. These objects show compact half-light radii of R1/2 ∼ 50 − 200pc, stellar masses of
M⋆ ∼ 107−108M⊙, and star-formation rates of SFR ∼ 0.1−1 M⊙ yr−1
. Our search finds no candidates
at 15 < z < 20, placing upper limits at these redshifts. We develop a forward modeling approach to
infer the properties of the evolving luminosity function without binning in redshift or luminosity that
marginalizes over the photometric redshift uncertainty of our candidate galaxies and incorporates the
impact of non-detections. We find a z = 12 luminosity function in good agreement with prior results,
and that the luminosity function normalization and UV luminosity density decline by a factor of ∼ 2.5
from z = 12 to z = 14. We discuss the possible implications of our results in the context of theoretical
models for evolution of the dark matter halo mass function.
Introduction:
RNA interference (RNAi) or Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS) is an important biological process for modulating eukaryotic gene expression.
It is highly conserved process of posttranscriptional gene silencing by which double stranded RNA (dsRNA) causes sequence-specific degradation of mRNA sequences.
dsRNA-induced gene silencing (RNAi) is reported in a wide range of eukaryotes ranging from worms, insects, mammals and plants.
This process mediates resistance to both endogenous parasitic and exogenous pathogenic nucleic acids, and regulates the expression of protein-coding genes.
What are small ncRNAs?
micro RNA (miRNA)
short interfering RNA (siRNA)
Properties of small non-coding RNA:
Involved in silencing mRNA transcripts.
Called “small” because they are usually only about 21-24 nucleotides long.
Synthesized by first cutting up longer precursor sequences (like the 61nt one that Lee discovered).
Silence an mRNA by base pairing with some sequence on the mRNA.
Discovery of siRNA?
The first small RNA:
In 1993 Rosalind Lee (Victor Ambros lab) was studying a non- coding gene in C. elegans, lin-4, that was involved in silencing of another gene, lin-14, at the appropriate time in the
development of the worm C. elegans.
Two small transcripts of lin-4 (22nt and 61nt) were found to be complementary to a sequence in the 3' UTR of lin-14.
Because lin-4 encoded no protein, she deduced that it must be these transcripts that are causing the silencing by RNA-RNA interactions.
Types of RNAi ( non coding RNA)
MiRNA
Length (23-25 nt)
Trans acting
Binds with target MRNA in mismatch
Translation inhibition
Si RNA
Length 21 nt.
Cis acting
Bind with target Mrna in perfect complementary sequence
Piwi-RNA
Length ; 25 to 36 nt.
Expressed in Germ Cells
Regulates trnasposomes activity
MECHANISM OF RNAI:
First the double-stranded RNA teams up with a protein complex named Dicer, which cuts the long RNA into short pieces.
Then another protein complex called RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex) discards one of the two RNA strands.
The RISC-docked, single-stranded RNA then pairs with the homologous mRNA and destroys it.
THE RISC COMPLEX:
RISC is large(>500kD) RNA multi- protein Binding complex which triggers MRNA degradation in response to MRNA
Unwinding of double stranded Si RNA by ATP independent Helicase
Active component of RISC is Ago proteins( ENDONUCLEASE) which cleave target MRNA.
DICER: endonuclease (RNase Family III)
Argonaute: Central Component of the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC)
One strand of the dsRNA produced by Dicer is retained in the RISC complex in association with Argonaute
ARGONAUTE PROTEIN :
1.PAZ(PIWI/Argonaute/ Zwille)- Recognition of target MRNA
2.PIWI (p-element induced wimpy Testis)- breaks Phosphodiester bond of mRNA.)RNAse H activity.
MiRNA:
The Double-stranded RNAs are naturally produced in eukaryotic cells during development, and they have a key role in regulating gene expression .
(May 29th, 2024) Advancements in Intravital Microscopy- Insights for Preclini...Scintica Instrumentation
Intravital microscopy (IVM) is a powerful tool utilized to study cellular behavior over time and space in vivo. Much of our understanding of cell biology has been accomplished using various in vitro and ex vivo methods; however, these studies do not necessarily reflect the natural dynamics of biological processes. Unlike traditional cell culture or fixed tissue imaging, IVM allows for the ultra-fast high-resolution imaging of cellular processes over time and space and were studied in its natural environment. Real-time visualization of biological processes in the context of an intact organism helps maintain physiological relevance and provide insights into the progression of disease, response to treatments or developmental processes.
In this webinar we give an overview of advanced applications of the IVM system in preclinical research. IVIM technology is a provider of all-in-one intravital microscopy systems and solutions optimized for in vivo imaging of live animal models at sub-micron resolution. The system’s unique features and user-friendly software enables researchers to probe fast dynamic biological processes such as immune cell tracking, cell-cell interaction as well as vascularization and tumor metastasis with exceptional detail. This webinar will also give an overview of IVM being utilized in drug development, offering a view into the intricate interaction between drugs/nanoparticles and tissues in vivo and allows for the evaluation of therapeutic intervention in a variety of tissues and organs. This interdisciplinary collaboration continues to drive the advancements of novel therapeutic strategies.
Deep Behavioral Phenotyping in Systems Neuroscience for Functional Atlasing a...Ana Luísa Pinho
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) provides means to characterize brain activations in response to behavior. However, cognitive neuroscience has been limited to group-level effects referring to the performance of specific tasks. To obtain the functional profile of elementary cognitive mechanisms, the combination of brain responses to many tasks is required. Yet, to date, both structural atlases and parcellation-based activations do not fully account for cognitive function and still present several limitations. Further, they do not adapt overall to individual characteristics. In this talk, I will give an account of deep-behavioral phenotyping strategies, namely data-driven methods in large task-fMRI datasets, to optimize functional brain-data collection and improve inference of effects-of-interest related to mental processes. Key to this approach is the employment of fast multi-functional paradigms rich on features that can be well parametrized and, consequently, facilitate the creation of psycho-physiological constructs to be modelled with imaging data. Particular emphasis will be given to music stimuli when studying high-order cognitive mechanisms, due to their ecological nature and quality to enable complex behavior compounded by discrete entities. I will also discuss how deep-behavioral phenotyping and individualized models applied to neuroimaging data can better account for the subject-specific organization of domain-general cognitive systems in the human brain. Finally, the accumulation of functional brain signatures brings the possibility to clarify relationships among tasks and create a univocal link between brain systems and mental functions through: (1) the development of ontologies proposing an organization of cognitive processes; and (2) brain-network taxonomies describing functional specialization. To this end, tools to improve commensurability in cognitive science are necessary, such as public repositories, ontology-based platforms and automated meta-analysis tools. I will thus discuss some brain-atlasing resources currently under development, and their applicability in cognitive as well as clinical neuroscience.
Richard's aventures in two entangled wonderlandsRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
Nutraceutical market, scope and growth: Herbal drug technologyLokesh Patil
As consumer awareness of health and wellness rises, the nutraceutical market—which includes goods like functional meals, drinks, and dietary supplements that provide health advantages beyond basic nutrition—is growing significantly. As healthcare expenses rise, the population ages, and people want natural and preventative health solutions more and more, this industry is increasing quickly. Further driving market expansion are product formulation innovations and the use of cutting-edge technology for customized nutrition. With its worldwide reach, the nutraceutical industry is expected to keep growing and provide significant chances for research and investment in a number of categories, including vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and herbal supplements.
Multi-source connectivity as the driver of solar wind variability in the heli...Sérgio Sacani
The ambient solar wind that flls the heliosphere originates from multiple
sources in the solar corona and is highly structured. It is often described
as high-speed, relatively homogeneous, plasma streams from coronal
holes and slow-speed, highly variable, streams whose source regions are
under debate. A key goal of ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter mission is to identify
solar wind sources and understand what drives the complexity seen in the
heliosphere. By combining magnetic feld modelling and spectroscopic
techniques with high-resolution observations and measurements, we show
that the solar wind variability detected in situ by Solar Orbiter in March
2022 is driven by spatio-temporal changes in the magnetic connectivity to
multiple sources in the solar atmosphere. The magnetic feld footpoints
connected to the spacecraft moved from the boundaries of a coronal hole
to one active region (12961) and then across to another region (12957). This
is refected in the in situ measurements, which show the transition from fast
to highly Alfvénic then to slow solar wind that is disrupted by the arrival of
a coronal mass ejection. Our results describe solar wind variability at 0.5 au
but are applicable to near-Earth observatories.
1. Coal Beneficiation Technology - 2007
Initiatives, Policies and Practices
M. Satyamurty
Joint Adviser (Coal)
Planning Commission
2. Coal Beneficiation
Coal beneficiation is a process by which the quality
of raw coal is improved by either reducing the
extraneous matter that gets extracted along with the
mined coal or reducing the associated ash or both.
Two basic processes of beneficiation:
– Dry-deshaling: Non-coal or shaly-coal is removed
without using any liquid media.
– Wet process: Coal is crushed to smaller size and put
in a liquid media of adjustable specific gravity to
separate the lighter coal (low ash) from heavier coal
(high ash). The rejects from wet process also contain
carbonaceous matter
3. Unlike India, major coal producing countries in the
world sell prepared or beneficiated coal to their
consumers.
Demand for appropriate quality of coking coal in
steel making compelled coking coal producers in
India to wash and sell.
Till recently all non-coking coal produced in the
country was consumed as mined.
One policy initiative by the Government changed
scenario. Today, more than 100 million tonne non-
coking coal washing capacity exists.
4. Thermal coal washing
The Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India
promulgated Gazette Notification (GSR 560(E) &
378(E), dated September 19, 1997 and June 30,
1998 respectively) on use of beneficiated/blended
coal containing ash not more than 34 percent w.e.f.
June 2001 (extended to June 2002) in the following
power plants :
– Power plants located beyond 1000 km from pit head;
– Power plants located in critically polluted areas, urban areas
and in ecologically sensitive areas.
– Power plants using Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC,
PFBC & AFBC) and IGCC combustion technologies are
exempted to use beneficiated coal irrespective of their
locations.
5. Whose Gain?
- Coal producers continued to sell RoM
obviously no gains.
- Washery operators gained and return on
investment was quite encouraging .
- Power sector got the taste of consistency in
quality and reported improvement in plant
availability.
- Consumers’ gain in cost of transportation
almost offset the washing charges and cost of
coal lost as rejects.
6. Measure taken by coal producers and
consumers for compliance of the stipulation
Short Term Measure: Blending of low ash with high ash coal at the plant site on
annual average basis.
Long Term Measure: Setting up of coal washeries to meet the requirement.
EITHER the Coal producer sells beneficiated coal OR Consumers set up coal
beneficiation units at the mine site Or a third party undertakes coal washing on Build
Own Operate basis or on contract at the initiative by the producer or the consumer.
Beneficiated/blended coal is being supplied to 17 thermal power plants such as Dadri
(U.P.), Badarpur, Rajghat & Indraprastha (Delhi), Dahanu (Maharashtra), Kota
(Rajsthan), Sikka (Gujurat) etc.
Independent Power Producer, BSES built washery near the mine for their plant in
Maharashtra.
State Electricity Boards of Punjab, Karnataka, Gujrat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
took initiative in involving private entrepreneurs to invest in putting up a washery at
the pit head and deliver washed coal to them. Washery operators charge cost of
washing and own the rejects (15-20%) generated during washing.
7. Benefits of Thermal Coal Beneficiation
- Saving in transportation cost by not transporting the
dirt material over long distances
- Saving in capital and operating cost of power plants.
- Cost of energy produced using washed coal may also
reduce further provided the washed coal helps in
increasing PLF and washery rejects are utilized
efficiently in higher capacity AFBC/CFBC boilers.
contd..
8. Benefits of Thermal Coal Beneficiation
- Regulating the quality of coal feed
- Reduce the ash content resulting in improving the life
of the pressure parts of the boilers, grinding parts of
mill, pulverized coal pipe lines, coal burner nozzles,
ducts, ESP internals, air pre-heater seals, ID fan
impellers etc.
- Specific secondary oil consumption is also expected
to reduce.
9. Some power plants may not show
gains of using beneficiated coal…
- In order to attain the desired level of performance and
keeping in view of the multiple sources of coal with
widely varying quality parameters, power plant
operators have tendency to choose equipments
designed on the basis of one of the extreme possibilities
of the supply. Hence supply of better coal in such plants
may not show improvements in performance. Powr
- In case of washed coal, the quality of supply would
definitely be uniform and operators would opt for boilers
based on the coal quality parameters. The difference in
capital cost between plants using RoM coal (high ash)
and washed coal (low ash) is significant.
10. Sustainability of using washed coal
in thermal power plants
To understand the mechanism and
attribute numbers to advantages of using
beneficiated coal in thermal power plants,
a study was instituted. Results of the study
are encouraging in favor of using washed
coal in thermal power plants. Cost of
energy may become cheaper even for the
pithead power plants if these use washed
coal and utilize rejects in AFBC/CFBC
boilers at the pithead.
11. Assumed data for the study
Particulars Unit
RoM Coal with
40% ash
Washed Coal with
34% ash
Station Heat rate k cal 2450 2455
Station Heat Rate for AFBC K cal - 3657
Auxiliary Power consumption % 7.5 7.33
GCV of Coal k cal/kg 3710 4268
Capital cost reduction % Base 4
AFBC boiler cost Rs cr/MW - 0.7
Washing Cost Rs/te - 90
RoM coal cost Rs/te 515
Coal yield % 100 80
Plant size MW 2x500 2x500+2x40
12. Impact of washing on Cost of Energy
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Distance in km
C
o
st
o
f
E
n
erg
y
in
p
aise/kW
h
ROM coal (44% ash)
Washed coal (34% ash)
Washed coal + Rejects in AFBC
13. Thermal coal washing
• Techno-economically, pithead power plants using RoM
(run of mine) coal have the least Cost of Energy
(COE). However, assured supply of consistent quality
sized RoM coal will help in optimizing the plant cost
and reduce O&M problems.
• The washing of coal and utilization of washery rejects
in AFBC/CFBC plant at pithead is techno-economically
viable for load centre power plants beyond a certain
distance from the pithead.
• For the low performing power plants (where the poor
quality of coal has been identified as the reason for low
performance), any increase in the PLF with the use of
washed coal will result in higher breakeven cost of
washed coal. For such cases, use of washed coal up
to calculated break-even costs may be a viable option
for consideration.
14. Use of washed coal in thermal power plants
• The prime technology of coal beneficiation has not been widely
appreciated either by the coal or the power producers because they
view the economic benefits in isolation to their own sector. By
lowering the ash content of input fuel there is a definite reduction in
the cost of coal and ash-handling system of conventional boilers due
to reduced quantities of handled material. At the same time
operation and maintenance cost would also lower by reduction of
ash content due to lesser wear and tear in pulverising system.
Rough estimate suggest a saving in the cost of 500 MWe
conventional unit by about 25% and 30% in case the ash content in
feed coal is reduced from 42% to 34% and to 24% respectively.
Total project cost of such plant including cost of coal washery and
AFBC for using washery rejects at ash content at 42%, 34%, 24% is
likely to be cheaper by 5%, 8% and 10% respectively. Generation of
15 to 18 MWe by AFBC is an extra benefit. Larger gains may be
expected if life-time cost in lieu of lower R&M is taken in to account.
• Higher thermal efficiency and better environmental performance are
audible benefits of CFBC, IGCC and Super-Critical Boiler. High ash
Indian Coal and high Sulfur Lignite has been found to be good for
these technologies.
15. Status of thermal coal washing in India
In-spite of the fact that economic incentive on coal washing is
apparently low, existing capacity of thermal coal washeries in the
country is more than 100 Mt per year comprising of 83 Mt in
private sector.
The capacity of the washeries under development (construction
and proposal stage) at present is about 106.5 Mty.
Out of the projected capacity addition during XI Plan, about 27 %
power plants of capacity 12735 MW would be located at more
than 1000 kilometres distance from pithead.
Out of total projected coal requirement of 540.0 Mt, power
stations situated beyond 1000 kilometres and others within
MOEF stipulation would be consuming about 158.0 Mt of coal.
16. XI Plan scenario
The total non coking coal production in the country has been estimated
as about 650 Mt in the terminal year of XI plan which includes around
104 Mt from captive mining. The requirement of the beneficiated non-
coking coal by the turn of XI Plan period (2011-12) has been assessed:
Type of coal Projected production
(Mty)
Remarks
Superior grade
Pithead TPS linked low grade coal
Coal from captive mining.
Remaining low grade coal
143
160
104
243
Need based
Need based
Captive consumption.
Beneficiation needed
17. Policy initiative
Unlike the rest of the world, Indian coal producers sell
run of the mine coal. Simple de-shaling, improved mining
procedures and sizing of coal could bring down the
average ash content of Indian coal to around 35% from
the current level of over 40%. Full washing could reduce
the ash content further, thereby saving transport costs
and resulting in more efficient power plant design and
operation. One of the hurdles to washing in the
prevailing unique practice of pricing coal on grades
based on Useful Heat Value (UHV) with wide bands
instead of fully variable system based on more precise
internationally practiced Gross Calorific Value (GCV).
18. Impact on stakeholders
If price of coal is made fully variable based
on its heat content measured in GCV then
the producer would be encouraged to
undertake coal beneficiation.
Consumers would save in cost of
transportation, storage, fly ash handling in
addition to above-mentioned benefits.
19. Price of Delivered coal at 1500 km
0.00
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500
GCV of coal in k cal/kg
Price
in
Rs/M
cal
Freight
RoM Coal
Delivered price
20. Price of delivered coal (in Rs/M cal)
0.00
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
600.00
700.00
2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500
GCV of Coal in k cal/kg
Price
of
coal
in
Rs/M
cal
1500 km
1000 km
2000 km
G F E