Price dynamics in European petroleum markets

This paper analyses horizontal and vertical price dynamics in the EU petroleum markets. The results indicate that the cross-country price differentials have significant impact on the local price adjustments. We investigate the cross-national price spill-overs and find that the extent of the welfare transfer due to asymmetric price transmission, when analysed in a cross-country setting, is less pronounced than claimed in previous contributions in this area. We also find empirical evidence, although indirect, for the politically charged concept of “fuel tourism”, using a pan-European cross-product time series dataset.     

Synthesis of Mixed Refrigerant Cascade Cycles

This paper considers the synthesis of refrigeration systems with refrigerant mixtures as working fluids. The employed refrigeration topology encompasses features from industrial liquefaction of natural gas (LNG) systems. This configuration consists of a combination of horizontal and vertical cascades generalizing the vertical cascade of pure refrigerant systems. The key features of mixtures exploited here are their ability to evaporate/condense over a temperature range and their potential to generate streams with different compositions through partial condensation. The synthesis problem is formulated and solved as a nonlinear program. The proposed methodology is illustrated using an example of cooling a methane-rich stream.     

Square-Root-Domain Realization of Single-Cell Architecture of Complex TDCNN

Square-root-domain (SRD) CMOS analog realization of a single cell architecture of the complex Temporal Derivative Cellular Neural Networks (TDCNNs) is introduced in this paper. TDCNN initiates time derivative ‘diffusion’ between CNN cells for non-separable spatiotemporal filtering applications, where the input to the CNN is an image that changes over time. The evaluation of the performance of the complex SRD TDCNN cell has been done using the Cadence Orcad software with TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS process model parameters. The provided simulated results confirm the validity of the theory.     

Minimum and maximum delay problems in real-time systems

We consider a finite-state system with a finite number of clocks, where the transitions may depend on the values of the clocks, and may reset some of the clocks. We address the complexity and provide algorithms for the following problems. Suppose that the system starts from a given current state with a given assignment of values to the clocks. Can a given target state ever appear in the history of the system? What is the earliest time it can appear? What is the latest time it can appear?     

Selective and localized laser annealing effect for high-performance flexible multilayer MoS2 thin-film transistors

We report the use of ultra-short, pulsed-laser annealed Ti/Au contacts to enhance the performance of multilayer MoS2 field effect transistors （FETs） on flexible plastic substrates without thermal damage. An analysis of the temperature distribution, based on finite difference methods, enabled understanding of the compatibility of our picosecond laser annealing for flexible poly（ethylene naphthalate） （PEN） substrates with low thermal budget （〈 200 ℃）. The reduced contact resistance after laser annealing provided a significant improvement in transistor performance including higher peak field-effect mobility （from 24.84 to 44.84 cm2-V-l.s-1）, increased output resistance （0.42 MΩ at Vgs- Vth = 20 V, a three-fold increase）, a six-fold increase in the self-gain, and decreased sub- threshold swing. Transmission electron microscopy analysis and current-voltage measurements suggested that the reduced contact resistance resulted from the decrease of Schottky barrier width at the MoS2-metal junction. These results demonstrate that selective contact laser annealing is an attractive technology for fabricating low-resistivity metal-semiconductor junctions, providing important implications for the application of high-performance two-dimensional semicon- ductor FETs in flexible electronics.     

A study of steam methanol reforming in a microreactor

Steam reforming of methanol is investigated numerically considering both heat and mass transfer of the species in a packed bed microreactor. The numerical results are shown to be in good agreement with experimental data [M.T. Lee, R. Greif, C.P. Grigoropoulos, H.G. Park, F.K. Hsu, J. Power Sources Transport in, 166 (2007) 194–201] with a BASF F3-01(CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃) catalyst. A correlation for the conversion efficiency of methanol has been obtained as a function of the operating temperature and a dimensionless time parameter which represents the ratio of the characteristic time of the methanol flow to the time for chemical reaction. The results show that for the constant wall temperature condition the steam reforming process of methanol results in a nearly uniform temperature throughout the microreactor over the range of operating conditions.     

Novel Results on 3G Reconfigurable Outer Block Interleaving Based on FER

Outer block interleaving and time transmission interval (TTI) are two interrelated parameters for the design of 3G systems. Particularly, they represent a critical issue for the implementation of UMTS turbo coding in flat Rayleigh fading channels. Thus, an efficient TTI choice can save computational complexity. In this paper different scenarios are investigated using the maximum UMTS frame length and simulation results are presented for the four possible outer block interleaver configurations in the case of flat Rayleigh fading channel. Considering frame error rate (FER) performance we propose a TTI of 80 ms for rural and urban/suburban outdoor operating environments for the majority of scenarios. For indoor/low range outdoor operating environment 20 ms is the proposed choice apart from low data rates.     

Membrane-assisted capacitive deionization: Effect of Poly(vinyl alcohol) cross-linking on the properties of ion exchange membranes

Novel composite electrodes were developed for application in membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI). Activated carbon (AC) was dispersed in a solution of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) mixed with polyacrylic acid (PAA) or poly dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (PDMDAAC), and cast onto the surface of an AC-based modified graphite electrode, prepared by phase inversion, to form a composite membrane further cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA). The effect of the cross-linking on the chemical structure of the PVA-based membranes was determined by attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry was conducted to examine the specific capacitance of the composite electrodes. Desalination experiments were then performed with MCDI unit cells to study the effect of cross-linking on the desalination efficiency. It was proved that after optimization, the synthesized composite electrodes exhibited one and a half times higher NaCl removal capacity and three times higher adsorption rate as compared to that of a conventional CDI cell using commercial ion exchange membranes (IEMs) with almost the same energy consumption. The enhanced desalination performance was attributed to the optimized properties of the selected polymers and the improved adhesion of IEMs to the electrodes. This research paves the way for the application of new materials in MCDI processes for improved water desalination.