Ammonia two-phase flow in a horizontal smooth tube: Flow pattern observations,diabatic and adiabatic frictional pressure drops and assessment of prediction methods

The present study illustrates new experimental two-phase flow pattern observations together with diabatic boiling and adiabatic two-phase frictional pressure drop results for ammonia (R717) flowing inside a 14-mm internal diameter, smooth horizontal stainless steel tube. The flow pattern observations were made for mass velocities of 50, 100 and 160 kg s^?1 m^?2 and saturation temperatures of ?14, ?2 and 12 °C for vapor qualities ranging from 0.05 to 0.6. The flow patterns observed during the study included: stratified-wavy, slug-stratified-wavy, slug, intermittent and annular. For all the experimental conditions, the flow structure observations were compared against the predictions of the flow pattern map model of Wojtan et al. [L. Wojtan, T. Ursenbacher, J.R. Thome, Investigation of flow boiling in horizontal tubes: part I – a new diabatic two-phase flow pattern map, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 2955–2969] and showed very good correspondence. The frictional pressure drop measurements were obtained for vapor qualities from 0.05 to 0.6, saturation temperatures from ?14 to 14 °C, mass velocities from 50 to 160 kg s^?1 m^?2 and heat fluxes from 12 to 25 kW m^?2. The experimental results show the traditional pressure drop trends: the frictional pressure drop increases with vapor quality and mass velocity. Moreover, the results also show that both diabatic and adiabatic frictional pressure drop values are similar, that is, the boiling process in itself does not affect the frictional pressure drop. The correlations of Friedel [L. Friedel, Improved friction drop correlations for horizontal and vertical two-phase pipe flow, in: European Two-Phase Flow Group Meeting, paper E2, Ispra, Italy, 1979], Lockhart and Martinelli [R.W. Lockhart, R.C. Martinelli, Proposed correlation of data for isothermal two-phase two-component in pipes, Chem. Eng. Process 45 (1949) 39–48] and Müller-Steinhagen and Heck [H. Müller-Steinhagen, K. Heck, A simple friction pressure correlation for two-phase flow in pipes, Chem. Eng. Process 20 (1986) 297–308] predicted only 54%, 52% and 60% of the experimental data within ±30%, respectively. The correlation of Grönnerud [R. Grönnerud, Investigation of liquid hold-up, flow-resistance and heat transfer in circulation type of evaporators, part iv: two-phase flow resistance in boiling refrigerans, in: Annexe 1972-1, Bull. de l’Inst. Froid, 1979] predicted 93% of the data and the flow pattern based method of Moreno Quibén and Thome [J. Moreno Quibén, J.R. Thome, Flow pattern based two-phase frictional pressure drop model for horizontal tubes. Part II: new phenomenological model, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 28 (2007) 1060–1072] predicted more than 97% of the experimental data within the same error band, while the latter method captures almost 89% of the data within ±20%.     

Suitability modeling and sensitivity analysis for biomass energy facilities in Turkey

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Nowadays, problems relating to the inadequacy of energy resources are emerging, due to fast population growth and inevitable urban sprawl. Renewable...     

Incremental and accurate computation of machine learning models with smart data summarization

Journal of Intelligent Information Systems - Nowadays, data scientists prefer “easy” high-level languages like R and Python, which accomplish complex mathematical tasks with a few lines...     

A spatial multicriteria decision-making method for natural gas transmission pipeline routing

In accordance with current demands, the natural gas transmission pipeline (NGTP) is one of the most appropriate methods used in the distribution of existing reserves. Construction of long-distance pipelines requires large expenditures. Decreasing the time and cost of such construction and minimising environmental damage depend upon identifying the optimum routes from the onset of the project. Route determination is one of the most important steps in NGTP projects. The route determination process requires obtaining the existing graphic and non-graphic data from different institutions and organisations, as well as gathering, storing, querying and analysing non-existing data in an appropriate and efficient manner. Accessing the correct results rapidly by analysing such large data-sets can be achieved with spatial multicriteria decision-making technologies based on the geographic information system as an effective decision support tool. In this study, three methods were implemented for two NGTP projects of 103.60 and 60.89 km in length. At the end of this study, it was concluded that Spatial technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution was the most effective of the three pipeline routing methods and that it could reduce project costs by approximately 21%.     

Variation in organic acids content during ripening of pickled white cheese

Nine organic acids (formic, pyruvic, lactic, acetic, orotic, citric, uric, propionic, and butyric) were analyzed during ripening of pickled White cheese for 12 mo by high-performance liquid chromatography with a reverse phase C18 (120x 5-mm) column and UV detector. The level oftotal organic acids showed an increase along the ripening period, but its composition varied during the process. Initially, lactic acid accounted for 95% of the total, after 9 and 12 mo of ripening, butyric acid constituted 20 and 27% of the total, respectively. Each organic acid presented a characteristic pattern of change during ripening. Discriminant analysis classified cheeses according to their age. Stepwise regression analysis allowed estimation of the ripening time of samples according to their organic acid levels.     

Temperature Dependency of Steady, Dynamic, and Creep-Recovery Rheological Properties of Ice Cream Mix

In this study, effect of processing temperature (5, 15, 25, and 35 °C) on the steady, dynamic, and creep recovery rheological properties of the ice cream mix (ICM) was investigated. It was found that processing temperature significantly affected all rheological parameters of the ICM sample. The flow behavior of the ICM sample was fitted to the Ostwald de Waele model. The magnitude of storage modulus (G′) was higher than that of loss modulus (G″) indicating that ICM sample had weak gel-like structure. Modified Cox–Merz rules were satisfactorily applied to the ICM sample to observe relationship between steady and dynamic shear properties. Additionally, Burger model was used to characterize the viscoelastic properties of the ICM sample. The gel strength (S) value was also calculated, and a decrease was observed with the increase of temperature. Arrhenius equation satisfactorily described the temperature dependency of the rheological parameters such as apparent viscosity at 50 s^?1 (η ₅₀), consistency coefficient (K), the instantaneous shear modulus of the Maxwell unit (G ₀), permanent deformation (J _∞ ), and S values that may be predicted by using established equations depending on the temperature. The increase in processing temperature caused a decrease in resistance of the mixture subjected to the deformation, which is very important for production of high quality ice cream.     

Dermatomal and mixed nerve somatosensory evoked potentials in the diagnosis of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome

To evaluate the diagnostic utility of dermatomal and mixed nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in patients with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) and to compare their value with routine electrodiagnostic methods, we studied a group of 44 patients with neurogenic TOS and 30 healthy controls. In addition to bilateral median and ulnar SEPs, evoked potentials were recorded after stimulation of C6 and C8 dermatomes from the first and fifth digits, respectively. The patients were classified into 3 groups according to the nature of their clinical condition. The abnormality rate for both ulnar and C8 dermatomal SEPs was 100% in a small group of patients with severe neurological signs like atrophy. In groups of patients with lesser degrees of neurogenic damage, abnormality rates for ulnar and C8 dermatomal SEPs on affected limb(s) were 67 and 50%, respectively. Same abnormality rates were 25 and 18% in patients with only subjective symptoms. In patients with objective neurological signs, the major increase in sensitivity was with electromyography (EMG). Abnormalities of routine nerve conduction studies and F-wave latency were observed in patients with severe neurogenic damage. We concluded that the most useful tests in the diagnosis of neurogenic TOS are needle EMG and ulnar SEPs.     

Acrylic bone cements: Effects of the poly(methyl methacrylate) powder size and chitosan addition on their properties

The effect of the particle size of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and the incorporation of chitosan (CH) on the mechanical and thermal properties and the biocompatibility of acrylic bone cements were investigated. Three groups of bone cements were prepared with different PMMA particles. Groups 1 (BC1) and 2 (BC2) contained ground and sieved PMMA with particle sizes in the ranges 50–150 μm and 1–50 μm, and group 3 (BC3) contained synthesized PMMA microspheres with a size of about 1 μm. The mechanical properties of the three groups were similar, but their curing properties were significantly affected. The presence of CH improved the mechanical and thermal properties. For the BC1 group, the compressive strength increased more than 10 MPa, and the curing temperature decreased 12°. The cement having the optimum properties (BC1) was applied to rats, where it enhanced the bone bonding ability, and bioactivity was observed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39662.     

e-Science, caGrid, and Translational Biomedical Research

Translational research projects target a wide variety of diseases, test many different kinds of biomedical hypotheses, and employ a large assortment of experimental methodologies. Diverse data, complex execution environments, and demanding security and reliability requirements make the implementation of these projects extremely challenging and require novel e-Science technologies.     

Why perinatal mortality cannot be a proxy for maternal mortality

Although vasodilator agents have been used to alleviate the pain of complex regional pain syndromes, the precise mechanism of pain relief is not well known. In this study the effects of various kinds of vasodilators on primary afferent nociceptors were investigated by measuring the thermal pain threshold. Evaluated in the study were the effects of guanethidine (2 mg/mL), nicardipine (0.2 mg/mL). Nitroglycerin (0.3 mg/mL), and prostaglandin E1 (1 microgram/mL) on the cutaneous pain threshold and blood flow at 7-day intervals in six healthy volunteers. Each aliquot of 0.5 mL of the test vasodilator or lidocaine (10 mg/mL) and saline (control) were intradermally injected at three sites each on both forearms. The pricking-pain threshold and skin tissue blood flow were determined using a radiant heat-stimulating system and a laser-Doppler tissue-blood flowmeter, respectively. The pain threshold increased with lidocaine, guanethidine, and nicardipine; remained unchanged with Nitroglycerin; but decreased with prostaglandin E1. In contrast, the skin tissue blood flow increased by four to nine times with all vasodilators. These results indicate that the effect of vasodilators on primary afferent nociceptors is not related to the vasodilating effect and may not involve a common mechanism of action for pain relief in complex regional pain syndromes.