Majari Picks: Web-of-the-Month is American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Today, if you’re thinking about a Chemical Engineering professional organization, the word AIChE should pop up on your mind. As far as I know, AIChe is the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals. The only institution run by chemical engineers for chemical engineers. Founded in 1908 with more than 40,000 members from 93 countries until now.

As a member, we can access information on recognized and promising chemical engineering processes and methods through knowledge gained from AIChE’s eLibrary. Connecting with a global network of intelligent, resourceful colleagues and their shared wisdom. Find learning opportunities from recognized authorities. We can also views their latest chemical engineering news on CEP publication.

Unfortunately, some of AIChe benefits like scholarships, awards and competitions, conference and events, are only eligible for US citizen. But tools, career resources, eLibrary and more are online worldwide available.

And favorite options from AIChe is their FREE member registration for both, students and professionals.

See you again later on Majari Picks!
Salam Majari Kanayakan.

The idea is simple: it uses the evaporation of a liquid to absorb heat, making a cold environment. Refrigerator is designed to keep food cold because cold temperatures help food stay fresh longer. The activity of bacteria, which all food contains, will be slower in cold surroundings so that it takes longer for the bacteria to spoil the food.

What do actually happen inside a refrigerator? How can it be so cold like that? Well, it is simply one of the most important thermodynamic cycle: the refrigeration cycle. This is what happens to keep the refrigerator cool:

The refrigeration cycle

In the cycle, a circulating refrigerant such as Freon and ammonia enters the compressor as a vapor. The vapor is compressed at constant entropy and exits the compressor superheated. The superheated vapor travels through the condenser which first cools and removes the superheat and then condenses the vapor into a liquid by removing additional heat at constant pressure and temperature. Then, the liquid refrigerant goes through the expansion valve (also called a throttle valve) where its pressure abruptly decreases, causing flash evaporation and auto-refrigeration of, typically, less than half of the liquid.

That results in a mixture of liquid and vapor at a lower temperature and pressure. The cold liquid-vapor mixture then travels through the evaporator coil or tubes and is completely vaporized by cooling the warm air (from the space being refrigerated) being blown by a fan across the evaporator coil or tubes. The resulting refrigerant vapor returns to the compressor inlet to complete the cycle.

It is interesting to understand how the a box of refrigerator, which have a variety of shapes, sizes, and functions, actually operates based on a thermodynamic cycle. Do you imagine how difficult the food preservation is without this technology? Well, just don’t. And should any of you be interested in buying any kind of refrigerator, you can read these refrigerators reviews from Wize.com. In addition to your comprehensive understanding about the refrigeration cycle, you may sharpen you aesthetic skill a bit by reading their refrigerators reviews .

Majari Picks: Web-of-the-Month is Inkers.biz.

Ink? It is in your everyday life, almost in every aspect of our activity. In the morning we read our newspaper and get to school bringing all our books. In the afternoon we jot things down on our agenda and leave sticky notes to friends. At night we print a lot of school assignments from our computer. Ink is everywhere. What is ink?

An ink is a liquid containing various pigments (organic and inorganic) and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing. Generally, an ink consists of two components, the pigment and/or dye and the vehicle/solvent.

According to its purposes, ink is categorized into four types: writing ink, drawing ink, printing ink, and invisible ink. One of the most common ink type is printing ink, a mixture of dispersed pigment in a carrier media that forms liquid or gel which can be pressed and dried on a media. Printing inks are further broken down into two subclasses: ink for conventional printing, in which a mechanical plate comes in contact with or transfers an image to the paper or object being printed on; and ink for digital non-impact printing, which includes inkjet cartridges and electrophotographic technologies.

Printing Ink

Linseed oil, soybean oil, and heavy petroleum distillate, combined with organic pigments, are primary raw materials for solvent (called the vehicle) in color printing ink production. The pigments are made up of salts of multi-ring nitrogen-containing compounds (dyes), for example: yellow lake, peacock blue, phthalocyanine green, and diarylide orange. Inorganic pigments also are used in printing inks to a lesser extent. Some examples are chrome green (Cr₂O₃), Prussian blue (Fe₄[Fe(CN)₆]₃), cadmium yellow (CdS), and molybdate orange (a mix of lead chromate, molybdate, and sulfate).

Carbon black is the raw material for black ink. White pigments, such as titanium dioxide, are used either by themselves or to adjust characteristics of color inks. Inks also contain additives such as waxes, lubricants, surfactants, and drying agents to aid printing and to impart any desired special characteristics.

So what does the future hold for ink? Would ink someday become a history? Although there is a big tendency in people’s everyday life to use electronic devices instead of paper, the great paperless society hasn’t begun to show itself yet–people simply like paper too much. And as long as there’s paper, then there must be ink.

Majari Picks: Web-of-the-Month is Mailboxixchange.com

The mailbox concept is very simple; it collects all the letters and important stuffs in one compact dedicated container. In spite of the simple concept that mailbox may have, it has been a real life-saver in our life. Internet and e-mails may have taken some part of the role but still mailboxes have its own significant niche in our everyday communication.

There are a broad variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. Many stores sell the materials you will need to use for decorative mailboxes. Locking mailboxes made from durable, weatherproof materials are highly desirable due to the built in safety features and the long-lasting exterior. Various colors and shapes are available so you will be sure to match the color of your home perfectly or you may choose a mailbox that provides a striking contrast sure to be noticed by your friends and neighbors. Stainless steel, aluminum, and other materials will make your new locking mailbox an addition to your home that will endure through the worst weather for many years.

Stainless steel mailboxes
Stainless steel mailboxes is one of the most favorite material for mailboxes. Despite of its high durability, stainless steel can be easily formed into so many shapes; providing so many variety in the mail box design itself.

Aluminum mailboxes
Compared to stainless steel mailboxes, aluminum ones are usually cheaper. This is because the material cost of aluminum is also less expensive than stainless steel. Aluminum mailboxes have all of the advantages that stainless steel have and moreover aluminum ones have high resistance to bad weather and rains.

Wooden mailboxes
If you prefer a vintage touch in front of your house, wooden mailboxes is a good choice. Mail boxes that made of woods are now becoming a popular option for them who loves a unique and old-fashioned mailbox. Even so, wood is not a waterproof material so that good design and placement is futhermore needed.

If you want to have your creativity in practice, you can use any old materials that you may have lying around in your house. You can use cotton balls and color them with a marker or paint then glue them on your mailbox. Voila, you have your very-hand-made mailbox of you liking. If you want to have some insights in designing your own mailbox, you could check Mailboxixchange.com. They’re actually having a great affiliation deals – a $20.00 for you if you register.

Tennis racquet. Nanotechnology now has its own position in tennis racquets. The carbon nanotubes racquets are five times more rigid than current carbon racquets.

Racquets

The earliest racquets used in tennis were made of wood which caused a number of inconsistency problems such as the wood warping and the use of different woods in racquets making a different feel when striking the ball. Early designs used metals in their new designs many companies experimented with metals such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium. Then many companies experimented with materials such as boron, ceramics, graphite and composites. Each material had its own desirable qualities but ceramics and graphite were the best picks for being very stiff as well as being very good with vibration reduction. And now nanotechnology now has its own position in tennis racquets. The carbon nanotubes racquets are five times more rigid than current carbon racquets and enhance the performance for the stabilizers between the sweetspot and racquet handle.

Strings

The earliest tennis strings were made from cow intestines – which is now called natural gut – a very reliable string but very expensive. With time and increasing technology manufacturers have been trying to duplicate the natural gut feel with synthetic materials. Also, manufacturers are creating strings that are designed to produce more spin and power as well as making the string more durable.

Tennis balls.

Balls

Originally the ball consisted of crude cloth strips tightly bound together. Eventually the cloth strips became the core, wrapped in twine and covered by a finer cloth or felt hand-stitched around it. In 1972 the tennis ball was manufactured with the optic yellow felt. Now tennis balls are mass produced for high performance at minimal costs.

Apparels

Even though tennis does not really require a high-technology apparels as it doesn’t really concern the human body’s aerodynamics, tennis shirts and skirts are quite important for the sake of comfort. Today’s tennis shirts and tennis skirts are made of polymers such as polyester, polyvinyl chloride, nylon, elastane, and some other synthetic materials. Those materials are marketed with a brand of Lycra(r), Nylon(r), and some other famous sport wear material brands.

Amazing, huh? It is very impressive how chemical and material engineering influence the development of sports. Boron, ceramics, graphite, composites, polymers, optics, and nanotechnology! Well, we guess those terms are now not as scientific as it seems.

Reference: Wikipedia, TennisPlaza, Tennis Warehouse

Majari Picks: Web-of-the-Month is Affordabook.com

Bird’s Transport Phenomena

Have you ever thought of buying college books online? Perrys’ Chemical Engineers’ Handbook? Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers? Affordabook.com, one of the leading online bookstore on the internet can provide you with all our college needs with a very low price! With an impressive and complete range of catalog, Affordabook.com will give you the right to choose the price and pick the shop where we want to buy the book from!

Remember Bird? He must be somewhere in your mind if you have enrolled the Transport Phenomena subject. Yup, he is the writer of the Transport Phenomena textbook that is widely used in Indonesia. Bird’s Transport Phenomena, the original one of course, will cost us $26.77 ($8.78 shipping price included). Don’t you all know Perry? The one who wrote the ‘Bible’ for Chemical Engineers? The hardcover version of the book will cost us only $95.27 ($5.86 shipping price included). It is quite an investment for college students like us, indeed. But don’t you realize how useful the book is?

See you again later on Majari Picks!
Salam Majari Kanayakan.