Optimal design approach for heating irregular-shaped objects in three-dimensional radiant furnaces using a hybrid genetic algorithm–artificial neural network method

In this article, a new hybrid method based on the combination of the genetic algorithm (GA) and artificial neural network (ANN) is developed to optimize the design of three-dimensional (3-D) radiant furnaces. A 3-D irregular shape design body (DB) heated inside a 3-D radiant furnace is considered as a case study. The uniform thermal conditions on the DB surfaces are obtained by minimizing an objective function. An ANN is developed to predict the objective function value which is trained through the data produced by applying the Monte Carlo method. The trained ANN is used in conjunction with the GA to find the optimal design variables. The results show that the computational time using the GA-ANN approach is significantly less than that of the conventional method. It is concluded that the integration of the ANN with GA is an efficient technique for optimization of the radiant furnaces.     

Three-stage hybrid osmotic–intermittent microwave–convective drying of apple at low temperature and short time

ABSTRACT

In recent years, intermittent microwave coupled with hot air-drying has been used increasingly, thanks to considerable improvements observed in drying properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of process of drying apple pretreated osmotically with sucrose solution at five concentrations of 0 (control), 10, 30, 50, and 70% (w/w), using intermittent microwave at four power levels of 0 (control), 360, 600, and 900?W, four pulse ratios of 1, 2, 3, and 4, and convective hot air (40°C) on drying kinetics, effective moisture diffusion coefficient, shrinkage, bulk density, rehydration ratio, and energy consumption. Results showed that the three-stage hybrid osmotic–intermittent microwave–convective drying of apple at low temperature yielded higher drying rates (with 41.5% decrease in drying time) and improved quality of final product. The effective moisture diffusion coefficient increased with an increase in power, pulse ratio, and the concentration of osmotic solution. Furthermore, shrinkage, bulk density, and energy consumption of the samples decreased with an increase in power, pulse ratio, and the concentration of osmotic solution. In summary, the use of intermittent microwave coupled with forced convection of hot air (at low temperature) in drying of apple pretreated by sucrose osmotic solution led to products with improved properties in terms of both quality and quantity.     

An efficient numerical algorithm for stability testing of fractional-delay systems

This paper presents a numerical algorithm for BIBO stability testing of a certain class of the so-called fractional-delay systems. The characteristic function of the systems under consideration is a multi-valued function of the Laplace variable s which is defined on a Riemann surface with finite number of Riemann sheets where the origin is a branch point. The stability analysis of such systems is not straightforward because there is no universally applicable analytical method to find the roots of the characteristic equation on the right half-plane of the first Riemann sheet. The proposed method is based on the Rouche’s theorem which provides the number of the zeros of a given function in a given simple closed contour. One advantage of the proposed method over previous works is that it gives the number and the location of the unstable poles. The algorithm has a reliable result which is illustrated by several examples.     

A kinetic study of Pd–Au catalyzed synthesis of vinyl acetate from oxidation of ethylene and acetic acid in heterogeneous gas reaction

While qualitative interpretation of the experimental results is often limited to the identification of global mechanistic phenomena, kinetic modeling is a more powerful tool for the identification of the chemical reaction network that can describe the experimental results. In this paper, kinetic study of vinyl acetate (VA) synthesis was performed in a fixed bed reactor with oxidation of ethylene and acetic acid in gaseous phase over Pd/Au/SiO₂ catalyst under the industrial relevant reaction condition as follows: temperature of 120–165 °C, at constant pressure of 8 bar and the ratio of catalyst mass to the feed (W/F) was maintained at 70 g/mol min. Variation in partial pressure and concentration of reactants have led us to determine the rate limiting step and therefore proposing a new rate low based on Langmuir-Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW) approached consistent with experimental observation while adapted through mathematical formulation with high reliance. So, the kinetic parameters were determined by the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. Effect of temperature has also been surveyed showing a decreased in selectivity due to the difference in reaction constants of main and side reaction rate and an increase rate due to the increase in apparent activation energy.