In the present study, Calcium oxide (CaO) obtained from eggshells has been used as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production from highly viscous non-edible rubber seed oil (RSO). Characterization of synthesized catalyst was done with the help of scanning electron microscope equipped with Energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the process parameters and 1H-NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy analysis was performed to find the conversion of RSO to biodiesel. A conversion of 99.7% of RSO to biodiesel was obtained at 12:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 4 (wt%) of catalyst, and 3 hour reaction time with a quadratic regression model of R2 of value 0.9566 was obtained. The composition of prepared biodiesel is estimated with the help of Gas Chromatogram-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was also trained to predict biodiesel conversion and the value of R2 obtained was 0.9976. It was observed that predicted conversion values from ANN were better when compared to prediction using RSM.

Carbon blacks are an extensively used manufactured product. There exist different grades by which the carbon black is classified, based on its purpose and end use. Different properties inherent to the various carbon black types are a result of their production processes. Based on the combustion condition and fuel used, each process results in a carbon black separate from those obtained from other processes. These carbons differ in their aggregate morphology, particle size, and particle nanostructure. Nanostructure is key in determining the material’s behavior in bulk form. A variety of carbon blacks have been analyzed and quantified for their lattice parameters and structure at the nanometer scale, using transmission electron microscopy and custom-developed fringe analysis algorithms, to illustrate differences in nanostructure and their potential relation to observed material properties.

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We have predicted the phase transition pressures and corresponding relative volume changes of EuO and EuS having NaCl-type structure under high pressure using three-body interaction potential (TBIP) approach. In addition, the conditions for relative stability in terms of modified Born criterion has been checked. Our calculated results of phase transitions, volume collapses and elastic behaviour of these compounds are found to be close to the experimental results. This shows that the inclusion of three-body interaction effects makes the present model suitable for high pressure studies.