In this study, copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) were obtained by biosynthesis using aqueous extracts of black tea (BT), green tea (GT) and tarragon tea (TT). The effect of extracts from leaves of plants on the reduction mechanism has been investigated. The amount of polyphenol as using reducing agent in the extracts from the plants was determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu’s method. Total phenolic acid amounts of the extracts of BT, GT and TT were found as 59.18, 42.81 and 49.83 mg/L, respectively. Properties of synthesized CuO-NPs using these extracts were examined by UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier infrared transformation spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis. In addition, prepared CuO-NPs were used in methylene blue (MB) removal as a photocatalyst. According to AFM results, average size of CuO-NPs was determined ranging from 10 to 12 nm. Regarding photocatalytic activity, prepared CuO-NPs from BT, GT and TT removed 89%, 87% and 90% of dye in 360 min, respectively. In the photocatalytic removal study, the reaction kinetics were investigated with zero, first and second order kinetics.

In this study, the aim was to microwave dry Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. leaves, while evaluating the role of microwave power regarding drying behavior, drying rate, drying time, drying kinetics, moisture diffusivity, and essential oil yield. The leaves were dried by microwave at four different power levels (180, 360, 600 and 720 W). The results found that increasing the increment power levels decreased the time for drying and increased the drying rate. To fit the experimental data, nine widely used thin layer drying kinetics models were used. The analysis of the drying curves indicated that the Page model was the most appropriate. There was a significant difference in moisture diffusivity between 2.36×10-11 and 11.45×10-11m2/s. Increasing microwave power was led to an increase in moisture diffusivity. In accordance with the Arrhenius equation, a value of 7.4225 W/g was determined for the activation energy. In terms of specific energy consumption, the results ranged from 8.56 to 9.93 kWh/kg. When leaves were dried with a microwave power of 180 W, the maximum yield of essential oil was obtained.

This paper examined the radiation shielding characteristics as linear attenuation (LAC) and half-value layer (HVL) of barium-borotellurite glass (BBT), 20BaO-20B2O3-60TeO2, reinforced with 2.5 mol% of different heavy metal oxides (HMOs), X2O3 (X: Bi, Gd, La, Sm). For this purpose, five different glass systems (BBT: reference, BBTB: Bi2O3, BBTG: Gd2O3, BBTL: La2O3, and BBTS: Sm2O3) were explored by performing the newly developed Phy-X/PSD program for theoretical computations. The LAC and the HVL were found out in the photon energies of 0.015 to 15 MeV. Eventually, the findings were compared with some heavyweight concretes and commercial radiation shielding glasses to make a deeper sense. One can report that all HMOs addition contributed to increasing LAC while decreasing HVL thicknesses in our newly developed BBT system. In particular, the BBTB glass provided the best effectiveness in radiation shielding. Further, the BBTB glass system can compete with commercially available glasses, particularly, it could accomplish to overtake lead-oxide containing ones. This study revealed that BBT glasses with differing HMOs can effectively be used in radiation shielding applications.

Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) is a popular Model Predictive Control algorithm that has the advantage of handling multivariate process effectively. In this study, experimental temperature control of the reactive distillation column process in calcium−oxide catalyzed biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil was investigated using NARIMAX model−based nonlinear GPC and ARX model−based discrete–time PID control. Prior to the experiments, the effects of all parameters on temperature and biodiesel mole fraction were analyzed by HYSYS simulation. Subsequently, the control studies were carried out with the help of WCO flow rate and reboiler heat duty manipulating variables, and the algorithms and codes developed in MATLAB. In the SISO experiments, significant convergent temperature responses were obtained in each region controlled by the relevant manipulating variable. With respect to the MIMO experiments, all proposed methods, except the non-decoupled nonlinear GPC, were found to ultimately converge the setpoints, but the best performance was achieved in decoupled nonlinear GPC with less severe interaction, smaller settling time with no oscillations, lower IAE and ISE.

The sugar production process is a complex process in which many variables interact. The cost and time requirements of complex processes are reduced by computer-based modeling techniques and necessary actions can be taken regarding the obtained product quality. In this study for the crystallization stage, solution color which is one of the quality control criteria for sugar production, was predicted by multiple linear regression (MLR), artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Production data (brix, purity, pol, pH, ash, color and vacuum temperature ) obtained from Ankara Sugar Factory General Directorate. As a result of the sensitivity analysis ash, color and vacuum temperature was determined to be the most effective parameters on the estimated output and used as a model input variables. R and MSE values were used as model performance criteria. ANFIS showed better prediction performance than MLR and ANN, R= 0.99.

In this study, different molecular weighted PSs were chemically modified by two functional modifiers (maleic anhydride (MA) and acetic anhydride (AA)) under optimum reaction conditions with BF3O(C2H5)2 catalyst and the bonding of active functional groups (MAPS: -CO – CH = CH-COOH and AAPS: –CO-CH3) to the aromatic ring of the polymer was carried out. Depending on the structure of the carboxyl and acetyl groups attached to the aromatic ring, the photolithographic properties were examined by solubility and FT-IR analysis, also the effect of borneol, which is used as a sensitizer-activator, on photolithographic properties was investigated. As a result, the optimum reaction conditions was found to be as PS: modifier mole ratio 1: 0.2; modifier: catalyst molar ratio 1: 1 and it was determined that more functional groups were attached to the structure of lower molecular weighted PS. It was determined that modified PSs dissolved less in toluene than virgin PS (70.04% and 85.48% respectively). In dissolution tests performed after irradiation, the best value was obtained from MAPS (54.51%), while there was no significant change in the dissolution values of AAPS (83.46%). However the solubility value of MAPS decreased to 49.67% with the irradiation process performed after the addition of borneol substance but there was no significant change in the solubility values of AAPS (84.50%). In addition, it was observed that the dissolution values decreased depending on the irradiation time in MAPS, but it was not observed in AAPS. The decrease in dissolution of MAPS after UV irradiation has proven that MAPSs are light sensitive and they are negative photoresists that crosslinked by light effect. It was observed that the borneol also supports the photoresist feature. Although AAPS gives lower dissolution values than virgin PS but no significant change was observed in dissolution values after UV-irradiation and it was determined that AAPS did not present photoresist properties.

PVC is one of the commonly preferred thermoplastic. Plasticizing additives or plasticizers are added to break interstrand-dipole interaction in PVC and soften PVC in general. Plasticizers have many applications such as electrical connectors, vinyl floorings, vinyl water stops, toys, bottle caps, and medical devices. Although a great majority of plasticizers are phthalates that harm to environment, Dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) is known as a non-phthalate plasticizer. DOTP, one of the plasticizers preferred in the industry, is an aromatic terephthalate. There are two main production methods of DOTP; direct esterification and transesterification. In this review, different synthesis reactions of DOTP plasticizer were summarized. Studies have generally focused on different catalysts, solvents, reactant ratios, and reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, and reaction time in literature. Synthesizing DOTP from scrap PET products is an environmentally friendly manufacturing method. Besides, properties of DOTP plasticized PVC, mainly migration, mechanical and thermal properties, have been reviewed. According to the results, DOTP has high compatibility with PVC, and DOTP plasticized PVC shows good migration, mechanical and thermal properties. DOTP is a promising plasticizer due to having good properties, low production cost, and low toxicity.

In many branches of the industry, there is painting processes in the dyehouse areas. A wide variety of hazardous chemicals are used in this process, and explosions can arise from the properties of such chemicals such as flammability, flammability and flammability, and can have serious and fatal consequences. All studies for controlling the risks by evaluating the situations that may create an explosive atmosphere are handled within the framework of “Explosion Protection Document (EPD)” as stipulated by national legislation. Concepts, calculations and other technical arrangements laid down by national and international standards are needed in determining explosive atmospheres. The basis of the Explosion Protection Document is the determination of the type and extent of the explosive atmosphere.
In this study, in order to identify potential hazardous areas related to gas explosion risk, which is one of the most important hazards encountered in a paint shop located in a local enterprise, firstly, the physical properties of flammable liquid chemicals used in the process and their sources of release in the enterprise were determined. Afterwards, the speed and flow rates of the liquids that may cause an explosive atmosphere in the process have been determined beforehand and the hazardous zone type and extent have been determined, by using the Italian national standard (application guide) CEI 31-35, which contains detailed regulations within the scope of the restrictions arising with the TSE EN 60079-10-1 standard. Suggestions were made regarding the determination of control and safety measures, including the determination of equipment that can be used in the explosive atmosphere.

In the study, microcapsules containing aloe vera oils were produced with 92% yield by complex coacervation method. In the process, gelatin and Arabic gum as cationic and anionic polymer, sodium dodecyl sulfate as surface active agent and glutaraldehyde as crosslinking and hardening agent were used. The presence of spherical microcapsules were demonstrated by optical microscope. The microcapsules were applied to cotton fabric by sol-gel and conventional process containing respectively silane based precursors and dimethyldihydroxy ethylene urea as crosslinking agent. The fabric samples were dried at 100 oC for 5 min. and then cured at 120 oC for 4 min. The fragrance release durability against wearing (4 weeks), washing and abrasion of the fabrics were subjectively evaluated. Fragrance release durability properties against wearing and abrasion for the fabric samples treated by sol-gel process improved in comparison with that of the fabric samples treated by conventional process. Besides effective antibacterial activity against S.aureus bacteria of the fabric samples coated with nanosols containing microcapsules with aloe vera content were determined.

Cotton is the leading natural fiber in the apparel and fashion industry. One of the reasons for this high demand is the belief that cotton is an environmentally safe product since cotton is a biodegradable fiber obtained from natural sources. However, contrary to what is conceived, cotton fiber has some ecological drawbacks, both in the cultivation and during processing. Recycling of fibers, such as polyester, obtained from synthetic polymers is widely applied for a long time. Even some synthetic yarns obtained from wastes have been branded. However, in terms of cotton, the recycling ratio does not seem to be as good as synthetic ones. One of the reasons for this situation is the opinion of insufficient quality of recycled or reclaimed cotton products. The purpose of this study was to compare some main mechanical properties of recycled cotton clothing fabrics with the ones obtained from carded cotton and by this way showing the potential of recycled cotton fibers in the clothing industry. Besides that, we summarized the ecological drawbacks of cotton cultivation and processing and reviewed current challenges that the textile industry has to overcome in cotton recycling.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the rehydration properties of freeze- and vacuum-dried damson plums (Prunus insititia) at three different temperatures (25, 45 and 60°C). First, kinetic models (Weibull, Peleg, Exponential and First-order) were designed to construct mathematical models and analyze the rehydration kinetics. Second, an artificial Chebsyhev network was designed for modeling of the rehydration kinetics such that a novel extreme learning machine-based feature extraction layer is proposed to improve its modeling capability. The experimental data and artificial models were analyzed considering the randomly selected data sets, and the root-mean squared-errors were calculated to compare accuracy of the models. Due to orthogonality and feature extraction, the proposed enhanced Chebyshev network was obtained as the best approximator model among tested models having the lowest RMSE values for the explaining the rehydration behavior of damson plums. It is concluded that the proposed Chebyshev network can be used as a parsimonious model in the embedded design of the rehydration and drying machines so that predefined rehydration and drying characteristics can be accurately obtained.

In this article, the effects of different combinations of hydrocolloids (xanthan gum-guar gum, carrageenan-guar gum and carrageenan-xanthan gum) on the physical, sensory, chemical and textural properties of rice pudding were investigated. Storage time and different formulations had a statistically significant effect on serum separation, Hunter L, b values, hardness, springiness, gumminess, and cohesiveness values (p<0.05). While serum separation increased depending on the storage time, carrageenan-xanthan gum containing rice pudding sample had the lowest serum separation value at the end of the storage. The hardness values of the rice puddings were determined as 1.01-2.31 N, the springiness values as 6.28-12.71 mm and the gumminess values as 0.426-0.872 N and cohesiveness as 0.20-0.52. As a result of the sensory analysis conducted with the panelists, it was determined that the sample prepared with the combination of guar gum and carrageenan gave the highest odor, consistency and taste score at the end of storage. Althought, the general appreciation scores of the sample without hydrocolloid were lower than the other samples., this difference was not found to be statistically significant (p>0.05).

In this study, the chemical, physical and sensory properties of muffin cakes produced with 100% whole grain einkorn flour (EF), a 50/50 blend of whole grain einkorn flour/whole grain modern wheat flour (E-WGWF), and 100% whole grain modern wheat flour (WGWF) were determined. The insoluble and total dietary fiber content, Ca, K, Mg, P and Mn content, total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity values of the muffins were increased by using whole grain einkorn flour and whole grain modern wheat flour instead of refined white wheat flour (WWF). The muffins produced with EF had the highest protein content; the crumb color of the control muffin (C) was the lightest and yellowest, while the crumb color of the muffin produced with 100% WGWF (WGM) was the darkest and reddest. Volume index values, specific volumes, symmetry indexes and uniformity indexes of all muffins were similar. Muffins having 100% einkorn flour (EM) had the highest hardness, gumminess and chewiness values. According to SEM micrographs, the WGM, EM and muffins produced with E-WGWF (E-WGM) had larger sized air pores due to the higher amount of dietary fiber. In the sensory evaluation, all of the muffins had similar scores of odor, flavor and overall acceptability.