Wind effects on flame projection probability from a compartment with opposing openings

This paper investigates flame projection probability from a compartment with opposing openings under assisting wind environment. The effect of external wind on the flow conditions at the door, hot gas velocity at the window and flame projection probability was investigated. Results showed that when the external wind is absent or at low wind velocities, bidirectional flow can be seen at the door. With the increment of the wind velocity, the bidirectional flow will become unidirectional at low fuel supply rate. At high wind velocities, the unidirectional flow can be seen at the door regardless of the fuel supply rate. Correlations for hot gas velocity at the window are formulated based on the mass conservation of the flow in the compartment. The calculated results have a good agreement with the experimental data. Due to fluctuations of the gases ejected from the window, flames eject from the compartment intermittently. The intermittent characteristic of flame ejecting from the compartment is influenced by the temperature and velocity of the hot gas velocity at the window. The model to predict flame projection probability is modified based on previous study without external wind.     

Noncausality and the commodity currency hypothesis

This paper provides new evidence on the role of exchange rates in forecasting commodity prices. Consistent with previous studies, we find that commodity currencies hold out-of-sample predictive power for commodity prices when using standard linear predictive regressions. After we reconsider the evidence using noncausal autoregressions, which provide a better fit to the data and are able to accommodate the effects of nonlinearities and omitted variables, the predictive power of exchange rates disappears.     

DL-Learner—A framework for inductive learning on the Semantic Web

In this system paper, we describe the DL-Learner framework, which supports supervised machine learning using OWL and RDF for background knowledge representation. It can be beneficial in various data and schema analysis tasks with applications in different standard machine learning scenarios, e.g. in the life sciences, as well as Semantic Web specific applications such as ontology learning and enrichment. Since its creation in 2007, it has become the main OWL and RDF-based software framework for supervised structured machine learning and includes several algorithm implementations, usage examples and has applications building on top of the framework. The article gives an overview of the framework with a focus on algorithms and use cases.     

The influence of simulation time-resolution on the matching between on-site micro-wind generation and building electric demand

This paper is to investigate the unique impact of simulation time-resolutions on energy matching between on-site micro-wind turbine and household electric demand. The focused indices are on-site electrical energy fraction (OEFe), on-site electrical energy matching (OEMe), and their errors (e_OEF and e_OEM). The methodology consists of parametric analyses with respect to time-resolution levels, averaging methods, demand profiles, turbine capacities, and wind conditions. Two averaging methods are used: ‘Speed Averaging’ and ‘Power Averaging’. With a coarser resolution, two averaging effects have been found. One is an overestimation effect by both the averaging methods, which are more likely to be encountered especially when a high-resolution generation curve frequently crosses intermittent long spikes of a demand curve. The other effect is an underestimation effect on OEFe simultaneously occurring with the Speed Averaging Method under the conditions of (1) a low wind speed and (2) a high unstable wind speed and a low turbine capacity.     

Characterization and application of propylene grafted hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene hydrocarbon resin

Hydrocarbon resins, which are defined as low molecular weight, amorphous, and thermoplastic polymers, are widely used as tackifiers for various types of adhesives, as processing aids in rubber compounds, and as modifiers for paint and ink products, and for use in plastics polymers such as isotactic polypropylene. Recently, the quantities of the hydrocarbon resin׳ raw materials which are the side products from naphtha cracking process have decreased because of light-feed cracking such as gas cracking, so new raw materials for hydrocarbon resin production are essential. To be satisfied with the previously mentioned factors, the substitution of hydrocarbon resin raw materials with renewable resources is a worthy consideration. Moreover, new hydrocarbon resin having high adhesion performance, low specific gravity, and good compatibility with various polymers has been requested in various adhesives.To meet those requests, in this study, propylene instead of side product from naphtha cracking as main raw material of hydrocarbon resin were partially used. The propylene serves as a new, sustainable raw material and was successfully grafted onto dicyclopentadiene. The reaction of the propylene with dicyclopentadiene was confirmed because, according to NMR and FT-IR analyses, a pendant methyl-propylene group exists in the structure of the propylene-grafted, hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene hydrocarbon resin. To establish an optimal production condition regarding the propylene-grafted, hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene hydrocarbon resin, numerous experiments were conducted according to the mole ratio of the raw materials and the polymerization temperature. The propylene-grafted, hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene hydrocarbon resin that was manufactured according to optimal conditions results in a lower specific gravity and a high molecular weight, whereby the advantages of the adhesion properties of an SIS-based pressure-sensitive-adhesive are exploited. When the propylene-grafted, hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene hydrocarbon resin was formulated with the SIS-based pressure-sensitive-adhesive, both the heat stability and the shear-adhesion strength are sound.     

Assessment of an integrated active solar and air-source heat pump water heating system operated within a passive house in a cold climate zone

In the pursuit of energy savings and emission reductions, solar energy heating systems have been promoted in China. However, there still exist many barriers to the operation of solar heating systems, in combination with other systems, under realistic conditions. In order to investigate this further, an integrated space heating system including passive sunspace, active solar water heating, and air-source heat pump (ASHP) was built. The detailed running performance of each subsystem was comparatively analyzed in a full-scale test house in a cold climate zone. This integrated system showed many encouraging results in terms of the maintenance of a stable and comfortable indoor thermal environment during the winter season. The study building consumed electricity as convectional energy, which only accounted for about one-third of the total energy supplied for heating. However, our study also found some shortcomings in the system design. Feasible suggestions regarding the running procedures aimed at a more optimal and effective design were proposed. The systems proposed in this study could be used as a promising future technology for energy savings and emission reductions in rural buildings. The study could also help achieve targets for energy savings and renewable energy utilization in China and other countries.     

Influence of different carbon nanostructures on the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Pt supported electrocatalysts

Commercially available graphitized carbon nanofibers and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, two carbon materials with very different structure, have been functionalized in a nitric–sulfuric acid mixture. Further on, the materials have been platinized by a microwave assisted polyol method. The relative degree of graphitization has been estimated by means of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction while the relative concentration of oxygen containing groups has been estimated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which resulted in a graphitic character trend: Pt/GNF > Pt/F-GNF ? Pt/MWCNT > Pt/F-MWCNT. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the Pt particle size is around 3 nm for all samples, which was similar to the crystallite size obtained by X-ray diffraction. The activity towards electrochemical reduction of oxygen has been quantified using the thin-film rotating disk electrode, which has shown that all the samples have a better activity than the commercially available electrocatalysts. The trend obtained for the graphitic character maintained for the electrochemical activity, while the reverse trend has been obtained for the accelerated ageing test. Long-term potential cycling has demonstrated that the functionalization improves the stability for multi-walled carbon nanotubes, at the cost of decreased activity.