Paritosh C. Kulkarni

By Paritosh C. Kulkarni

Soot has been the cause of global warming since the dawn of diesel engines. Soot oxidation in the diesel particulate filters fixated at the exhaust of the engine has been a boon to reduce the particulate matter from entering the atmosphere. Here we have attempted to synthesize the smooth powder of supported and macro-porous perovskite LaFeO3 and its doped variant with 5, 10, 20, and 30% copper on B site. Subsequent catalysts, termed as LFO and LFCO- (5, 10, 20, 30) with formula LaFe1-xCuxO3, were investigated as catalysts for soot oxidation reaction. The structural and physical and chemical attributes of LaFe1-xCuxO3 and LaFeO3 are characterized by XRD patterns, FESEM, BET, particle size analysis measurements. Undoped LaFeO3 with desired textural structures were successfully prepared, employing the citric-acid auto combustion method, and the porous sample exhibits the best activity towards redox reactions, pointing out the enriched activity at redox sites of fabrication of porous perovskite for the responses. By correlating with the catalytic activities and the physical and chemical properties, of both doped and undoped samples, it is inferred that the best activity obtained from the porous LaFe0.9Cu0.10O3 is attributed to its extensive surface area corresponding to least particle size, precious active lattice oxygen, high oxygen storage capacity and vigorous surface activity.

Part of the book: Global Warming and Climate Change

By Paritosh Kulkarni

The rising water pollution levels and depleting freshwater sources have formed a delirious inverse proportionality for which the cause is human and effect is also on humanity. A possible solution to this problem is harnessing solar energy to engender thermal energy for solar distillation. Thus solar distillation is one of the potential solutions to asses both the ever-increasing demands for clean water and the inquisition for finding eco-friendly techniques to yield the water. This analysis was undertaken to discover the possible utilization of phase change material on solar distillation in double-slope solar still. The equipment that performs distillation is called “Solar Still.” A phase change material (PCM) is a substance that either releases or absorbs energy comparable to the sensible heat during its phase transition to provide useful heat/cooling. Examples of PCM include phenol, paraffin, salt hydrate, and fatty acid. The experiment includes a blank distillate output without PCM, followed by possible optimization on the designed solar still. Solar distillation was performed in the improved solar still with varying types of PCMs. A theoretical model discerning the above phenomena and experiments were performed on the solar still. It was reported that for the yield maximum of water distillate with PCM (Phenol—5 cm) is 370 mL and without PCM is 345 mL, showing a 7.2% increase.

Part of the book: Thermodynamics and Energy Engineering