Nanofluids have the potential to minimize these thermal resistances and the industries that could benefit from such improved heat transfer fluids are very varied. In the paper, “An Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Al2O3 Nanofluid in Circular Tube with Tight Spring Insert”, the authors, Parinam Anuradha, Harendra Kumar, Ramandeep and Sachin Raghav, have investigated and analyzed the thermal properties of nanofluid-composed of distilled water and Al2O3 nanoparticles at different particle volume fractions (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%) in a circular copper tube fitted with tight spring insert. The study suggested that Nusselt numbers continuously increased with the volume fraction and temperature of the nanofluids and Reynolds number, whereas the friction factor was found to be minimum at a volume fraction of 1.0%. The thermal viscosity of Al2O3 water-based nanofluid was minimum at 40 °C and 1% of volume concentration of nanoparticle.

Casting process is the most versatile manufacturing process. It involves pouring of metal into a mold, wherein the mold material and molding method must be selected with care. The Furan-No-Bake (FNB) sand molding is known to produce castings with high strength and good surface finish. Many tangible and intangible parameters could affect the soundness of sand casting, which in a way ends up in reducing the strength of castings and worst finish of the casting surface. It is a very tedious process to characterize the quality of FNB cast product due to the complex existence of parameters that affect the quality of the motor body casted product. The influence of the casting parameters such as resin percentage, catalyst percentage and temperature of sand at mixing on the compressive strength of the mold could indicate the robustness of the mold. In the next paper, “Sensitivity Analysis of Furan-No-Bake Sand Mold System Parameters”, the authors, Shailee G Acharya, Manojkumar V Sheladiya, Jaimin G Pandya and Ghanshyam D Acharya, have developed a model to evaluate the compressive strength based on the percentage of resin and catalyst and temperature, and performed sensitivity analysis to identify and compare the influence of the casting parameters. Based on the sensitivity analysis, their study indicated that compressive strength increases with the increasing resin percentage and/or with decreasing catalyst percentage and/or decreasing temperature of sand at mixing. The study concluded that compressive strength is more sensitive to temperature followed by resin percentage and catalyst percentage.

The constantly increasing costs and demand for energy have prompted theoretical and experimental researchers on the absorption of refrigeration systems and solar energy-based systems. Simplified cost minimization methods adopt the calculation of the economic costs of all the internal flows and products of the system by formulating thermoeconomic cost balances. Thermoeconomic Input–Output analysis provides general relationships between the product and the resource with the efficiency for each component of an energy system. In the paper, “Thermoeconomic Input-Output Analysis Applied to Ammonia-Water Absorption Systems, the authors, Sanjay Khatwani and Govind Maheshwari, have analyzed Fuel Product (FP) relationship using TAESS (Thermoeconomic Analysis of Energy Systems Software) to evaluate the effects of design variables on cost. The study suggests values of optimum design variables to make the system cost-effective.

Occupational noise is known to be hazardous for human beings. Very high noise level in forging shops is also considered to lower the labor productivity. However, occupational noise is being accepted as an integral part of the job. In every industry, need arises to assess the noise induced, and more so in forging industry where hearing loss among workers is known. In the paper, “Occupational Noise-Induced Auditory Fatigue Among Indian Forging Industry Workers”, the authors, Kamaljeet Bhambri, Ishbir Singh, Harwinder Singh and Tejeet Singh, have investigated the noise exposure levels and hearing loss among Indian forging workers. The sound pressure level measured was ranged between 90 db and 120 db, which was above the OSHA limit of 80 db as recommended for such type of industry. The audiometry results showed that permanent hearing loss is prevalent among 95% workers.

Heat exchangers with convective heat transfer of fluid inside the tubes are frequently used in the many engineering applications. Heat transfer enhancement technology has been developed and widely applied to heat exchanger applications. Optimizing the design and development of heat exchangers that are commonly used to transfer heat between two passing fluids at different temperatures without mixing of fluids is gaining importance day by day. Present day emphasis is on the lookout for some kinds of inserts which can be placed in the flow passage to augment the heat transfer rate thereby reducing the diameter of the flow passage. In the paper, “CFD Analysis of Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Spring Turbulator as Insert in Corrugated Pipe Heat Exchanger”, the authors, Parinam Anuradha, Gourav Gupta and Mohd. Ahmad, have studied the effect of inserts like corrugation on the inner pipe, helical spring insert on inner pipe and combination of both. The study suggested that by providing helical spring insert as an obstacle in the fluid path, the pressure drop increased significantly. The study suggested that at lower pumping powers, the heat transfer can be more effective with the use of corrugation alone as an insert.