Volume 1, Issue 1, March-April 2016

Methane found in coal seams is about 17% of total methane emissions by human activities and 8% of world’s greenhouse gases emissions. Mine methane can be generated through different streams of coal mines like degasification of underground coal mines, ventilation of air in coal seams, post mining processes and surface mining. Methane from ventilation air is the most abandoned form obtained from coal seams but its utilization as an energy source is very difficult due to high flow rate and low concentration of methane in vented air. This discussion not only includes VAM’s mitigation but also its utilization techniques which have been developed mostly based on oxidation and underdeveloped with their technical feasibilities and operational parameters.

Read more…

In the present study a computer model of a pumping well has been developed and calibrated by using two slave programs of Geo-Slope software, i.e. (SIGMA/W and SEEP/W). The model has been used to study the behaviour of watertable and drawdown in an aquifer during pumping. SIGMA/W program was used to compute initial pore-pressure within an aquifer, while SEEP/W program was used to analyze the change in pore-pressure and drawdown during pumping respectively. From the results it is revealed that the vectors displaying the movement of the flow direction towards discharge well due to which decline in watertable occurs and a cone of depression and drawdown curve was formed. Comparison of the experimental and simulated data showed a good agreement among them. The drawdown line has been simulated for each concern depth and at each interval of time, which was further compared with the actual data for the computation of model efficiency. The performance of the model was evaluated on the basis of statistical parameters, i.e. mean error, root mean square error and model efficiency; these results are presented in Table 7. Statistical analysis of all the research data, i.e. RMSE, ME, R.E, and EF was found to be 0.134 m and 0.126 m, 3.05% and 98.86% respectively. Additionally verifiability of the model was also made by comparing observed and simulated values of observation wells (piezometeric heads); such graph is illustrated in Figure 5. The slope of the line was observed to be approximately at 45 degrees; thus the figure indicates no considerable difference between observed and simulated head values for all the observation wells. Consequently, it is concluded that simulated values of piezometeric heads are not much different than the observed ones. The results support the use of SIGMA/W and SEEP/W programs as a tool for investigating and designing pumping well practices.

Read more…

 In depth study focusing to ascertain the effect of different rates of Zinc (Zn) fertilization in improving the quality and yield of Guava fruit was carried out at Gharo, Sindh – Pakistan during year 2014-15. The outcome of the research revealed that there was no significant effect on the yield as well as quality, without using foliar Zn fertilizers. However, after application of the arrangement of foliar fertilizer the quality and production of fruits was significantly increased.   The fruit yield in terms of plant height (3.111 m), length of fruit (6.989 cm), breadth of fruit (6.070 cm), weight of fruit (111.555 gm), number of fruits per plant (379.679), fruit yield (41.935 kg/plant) was recorded maximum in plants which were treated with Zn₅ (0.5%). Same treatment also showed the superior fruit quality traits evaluated in terms of TSS (9.373 %), Vitamin C (45.147 mg per 100 ml of juice), and Firmness (5.969 kg/cm²) with lower acidity (0.485 %). Nearly same results were achieved by Zn₆ (0.6%) and Zn₇(0.7%) treatments but statistically some parameters recorded less. However, plants with no foliar application showed un-satisfactory results regarding all the parameters. Too low or high concentration of Zinc solution may reduced the yield and yield parameters of guava.

Read more…

Lipids are the fatty acid or their derivative which are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvent. Brown color seaweeds have high value of total lipids (TL) contents, ranging from 10 to 18 % of dry weight. It contains glycoglycerol lipids (GL) as lipid class, which is rich in 18:4n_2, 20:5n_2 and 20:4n_5. Brown colored seaweed also contains fucoxanthin as a main functional compound. Its stable nature of oxidation is due to the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Oxidative stability of brown seaweeds is very high. They also show ant obesity and anti-diabetic effects.

Read more…