Integrated circuit and system design for renewable energy inverters

This study proposes that a novel integrated circuit (IC) and system design for renewable energy inverters can harvest renewable energy to power direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) loads. In addition, an intelligent synthesis and management tool is developed to design the proposed system and to judge the system’s operational maintenance decisions. Finally, a renewable energy inverter’s information is posted to an online system. Users can obtain the proposed system’s information at any time and place. The accurate and superior performance of the proposed IC and system is confirmed by computer simulations and experimental results.     

Accounting for the uncertainties in the estimation of average shear wave velocity using V S– N correlations

Site-specific seismic hazard analysis is crucial for designing earthquake resistance structures, particularly in seismically active regions. Shear wave velocity ( V _S) is a key parameter in such analysis, although the economy and other factors restrict its direct field measurement in many cases. Various V _S–SPT– N correlations are routinely incorporated in seismic hazard analysis to estimate the value of V _S. However, many uncertainties question the reliability of these estimated V _S values. This paper comes up with a statistical approach to take care of such uncertainties involved in V _S calculations. The measured SPT– N values from all the critical boreholes were converted into statistical parameters and passed through various correlations to estimate V _S at different depths. The effect of different soil layers in the boreholes on the Vs estimation was also taken into account. Further, the average shear wave velocity of the top 30 m soil cover ( V _S30) is estimated after accounting for various epistemic and aleatoric uncertainties. The scattering nature of the V _S values estimated using different V _S– N correlations was reduced significantly with the application of the methodology. Study results further clearly demonstrated the potential of the approach to eliminate various uncertainties involved in the estimation of V _S30 using general and soil-specific correlations.     

How Cells Communicate with Each Other in the Tumor Microenvironment: Suggestions to Design Novel Therapeutic Strategies in Cancer Disease

Connexin- and pannexin (Panx)-formed hemichannels (HCs) and gap junctions (GJs) operate an interaction with the extracellular matrix and GJ intercellular communication (GJIC), and on account of this they are involved in cancer onset and progression towards invasiveness and metastatization. When we deal with cancer, it is not correct to omit the immune system, as well as neglecting its role in resisting or succumbing to formation and progression of incipient neoplasia until the formation of micrometastasis, nevertheless what really occurs in the tumor microenvironment (TME), which are the main players and which are the tumor or body allies, is still unclear. The goal of this article is to discuss how the pivotal players act, which can enhance or contrast cancer progression during two important process: “Activating Invasion and Metastasis” and the “Avoiding Immune Destruction”, with a particular emphasis on the interplay among GJIC, Panx-HCs, and the purinergic system in the TME without disregarding the inflammasome and cytokines thereof derived. In particular, the complex and contrasting roles of Panx1/P2X7R signalosome in tumor facilitation and/or inhibition is discussed in regard to the early/late phases of the carcinogenesis. Finally, considering this complex interplay in the TME between cancer cells, stromal cells, immune cells, and focusing on their means of communication, we should be capable of revealing harmful messages that help the cancer growth and transform them in body allies, thus designing novel therapeutic strategies to fight cancer in a personalized manner.     

干湿联合冷却塔冷却节水分析软件开发及应用

为实现对干湿联合冷却塔冷却特性、节水特性的综合分析，编制干湿联合冷却塔校核计算流程，基于Visual Studio开发平台，本文开发了干湿联合冷却塔冷却节水特性分析优化软件。通过对某在运干湿联合冷却塔进行冷却节水特性计算，验证了所开发软件计算结果的准确性；在消雾节水计算结果基础上，对标干湿联合消雾冷却塔验收测试规程，生成其成雾频率曲线、耗水量曲线、塔雾指数、冷却特性曲线，综合分析其消雾特性、节水特性及冷却特性，从而确定了干湿联合冷却塔的最佳运行工况。同时运用所开发软件对比分析了某冷却塔设计干段散热面积对其消雾特性、节水特性及冷却特性的耦合影响，并分析了百叶窗开度对干湿联合冷却塔性能的影响，为干湿联合冷却塔的运行优化和设计优化提供了工具性软件支持。     

刮板输送机中板仿生耐磨优化试验研究

刮板输送机中板磨损失效已成为输送机运行故障的主要原因之一，为了提高中板耐磨性，基于蜣螂非光滑单元进行了仿生中板设计，以磨损量为响应值，进行了单因素和响应面法优化试验。根据响应面法试验结果得到的因素显著性影响顺序（从高至低）依次为：径向距离，深径比，直径，节距角。基于试验结果建立了磨损量与因素的回归预测模型，经试验对比发现，预测模型与真实试验的相对误差为3.2%。在特定工况（煤散料粒度为6~8 mm、载荷为20 N、刮板链速为0.65 m/s及试验时长为6 600 s）下，当深径比为1.41、直径为0.69 mm、节距角为6.55°和径向距离为4.66 mm时，磨损量最小，仿生中板的耐磨性提高了12.6%。分析其耐磨机理发现，与光滑板相比，仿生板的磨粒磨损及黏着磨损较轻。凹坑分布可破坏持续切削中板表面的煤粒运动状态。中板的仿生优化可为今后刮板输送机的设计提供一定参考。     

Event-triggered variable horizon Supervisory Predictive control of hybrid power plants

The supervision of a hybrid power plant, including solar panels, a gas microturbine and a storage unit operating under varying solar power profiles is considered. The Economic Supervisory Predictive controller assigns the power references to the controlled subsystems of the hybrid cell using a financial criterion. A prediction of the renewable sources power is embedded into the supervisor. Results deteriorate when the solar power is unsteady, owing to the inaccuracy of the predictions for a long-range horizon of 10 s. The receding horizon is switched between an upper and a lower value according to the amplitude of the solar power trend. Theoretical results show the relevance of horizon switching, according to a tradeoff between performance and prediction accuracy. Experimental results, obtained in a Hardware In the Loop (HIL) framework, show the relevance of the variable horizon approach. Power amplifiers allow us to simulate virtual components, such as a gas microturbine, and to blend their powers with that of real devices (storage unit, real solar panels). In this case, fuel savings, reaching 15%, obtained under unsteady operating conditions lead to a better overall performance of the hybrid cell. The overall savings obtained in the experiments amount to 12%.     

Rethinking Enterprise Architecture for Sustainable Energy System Development

The development of a sustainable energy system throughout an enterprise is a complex task, which requires an agile holistic approach. Such an approach needs to include a variety of objectives including energy strategy formation and strategic decision-making, which are directly related to the analysis and management of the main areas of sustainable development:The economic, technological, environmental, and social. These multidimensional requirements of sustainability are often difficult to achieve within the enterprise, because these aspects are interrelated and influenced by various internal and external environment factors. This paper first reviews the main challenges for an energy system, and then demonstrates how a strategic agile enterprise architecture driven approach could effectively guide the sustainable energy system development. The study presented in this paper provides a holistic approach that contributes to the advancement and usage of literature dealing with issues of sustainable energy system development and agile enterprise architecture, which has not been discussed before to any great extent.     

Novel organic dyes containing N-bridged oligothiophene coplanar cores for dye-sensitized solar cells

Three novel organic dyes adopting fully-fused coplanar heteroarene as the donor moieties end-capped with two cyanoacrylic acids as acceptors and anchoring groups have been synthesized, characterized, and used as the sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the novel dyes and the characteristics of the DSSCs based on the novel organic dyes were investigated. The incorporation of the coplanar cores with electron-donating N-bridges are beneficial for the better intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), giving these new dyes good light-harvesting capability. The LUMO energy levels of these coplanar heteroacene-based dyes are sufficiently high for the efficient electron injection to TiO₂ upon photo-excitation, while the suitable HOMOs allow the regeneration of oxidized dyes with the electrolyte redox (I⁻/I₃⁻). The structural features of the coplanar cores (penta vs. hexa heteroarene) as well as the alkyl substitutions play crucial roles in governing the physical properties and device performance. Among these three novel organic sensitizers, the EHTt dye composed of a fully fused hexa-arene core and less bulky N-alkyl groups caused the DSSC to show the best photovoltaic performance with an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.58 V, a short-circuit photocurrent density (J_SC) of 13.72 mA/cm², and a fill factor (FF) of 0.69, yielding an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.52% under AM 1.5G solar irradiation.     

Mathematical representation of radiality constraint in distribution system reconfiguration problem

Distribution systems are most commonly operated in a radial configuration for a number of reasons. In order to impose radiality constraint in the optimal network reconfiguration problem, an efficient algorithm is introduced in this paper based on graph theory. The paper shows that the normally followed methods of imposing radiality constraint within a mixed-integer programming formulation of the reconfiguration problem may not be sufficient. The minimum-loss network reconfiguration problem is formulated using different ways to impose radiality constraint. It is shown, through simulations, that the formulated problem using the proposed method for representing radiality constraint can be solved more efficiently, as opposed to the previously proposed formulations. This results in up to 30% reduction in CPU time for the test systems used in this study.     

Φ177mm PQF无缝管连轧机前横移系统改进

对鞍钢股份无缝钢管厂连轧机前毛管坯横移装置存在的设计缺陷进行了分析,并提出改进方案,将原横移装置由高架轨道横移机构及上下升降链传动装置,改进为地面轨道横移系统及同步旋转臂实现取管、放管过程。实施后消除了生产故障,缩短了轧制周期,降低生产成本。