A bi-layer optimization approach for a hybrid flow shop scheduling problem involving controllable processing times in the steelmaking industry

A steelmaking-continuous casting (SCC) scheduling problem is an example of complex hybrid flow shop scheduling problem (HFSSP) with a strong industrial background. This paper investigates the SCC scheduling problem that involves controllable processing times (CPT) with multiple objectives concerning the total waiting time, earliness/tardiness and adjusting cost. The SCC scheduling problem with CPT is seldom discussed in the existing literature. This study is motivated by the practical situation of a large integrated steel company in which the just-in-time (JIT) and cost-cutting production strategy have become a significant concern. To address this complex HFSSP, the scheduling problem is decomposed into two subproblems: a parallel machine scheduling problem (PMSP) in the last stage and an HFSSP in the upstream stages. First, a hybrid differential evolution (HDE) algorithm combined with a variable neighborhood decomposition search (VNDS) is proposed for the former subproblem. Second, an iterative backward list scheduling (IBLS) algorithm is presented to solve the latter subproblem. The effectiveness of this bi-layer optimization approach is verified by computational experiments on well-designed and real-world scheduling instances. This study provides a new perspective on modeling and solving practical SCC scheduling problems.     

气液螺旋环状流压降特性研究

考虑旋流衰减的影响，对气液螺旋环状流的压降特性进行研究并推导出了螺旋环状流压降预测模型。定义压降旋-直比系数为气液两相螺旋环状流和气液两相直流的压降之比，以此来表征旋流衰减对压降的影响。基于量纲分析的方法对压降旋-直比系数进行分析，推导出其表达式，压降旋-直比系数依赖于Lockhart-Martinelli 参数和气相Froude数变化。最终，得出了气液两相螺旋环状流的压降预测模型。在50 mm内径的水平管内对螺旋环状流的压降特性进行了实验研究，其中气相表观流速变化范围为10~16 m/s，体积含液率（LVF）变化范围为0.6%~4.8%。通过与实验数据进行对比，压降预测模型的相对误差在±15%以内，为工程应用提供了参考。     

Corrosion behavior of under‐, peak‐, and over‐aged 6063 alloy: A comparative study

The mechanical property of age‐hardenable Al‐alloys is governed by the state of ageing, which determines the microstructure and consequently, their corrosion behavior which is a vital aspect for a number of applications. This article presents a comparative assessment of corrosion behavior of under‐, peak‐ and over‐aged Al‐Mg‐Si alloy. Corrosion characteristics have been determined via immersion tests in 0.1 M ortho‐phosphoric acid solution and intergranular corrosion (IGC) tests. Corroded surfaces are examined by field emission scanning electron micrographs‐energy dispersive spectroscopy and 3D optical profilometer. The obtained results reveal that the corrosion rate at a specific immersion time as well as the depth of IGC increases in the order for under‐, peak‐, and over‐aged states. Irrespective of the state of ageing, corrosion loss increases linearly but the rate of corrosion decreases rapidly with increasing immersion time. The dominant mode of corrosion in under‐aged alloy is identified as localized pitting, while peak‐aged is highly susceptible to IGC in contrast extensive pitting corrosion is observed for over‐aged alloy. The observed differences in corrosion behavior are explained considering characteristics of precipitates. Formation of β (Mg₂Si) in case of over‐aged alloy and presence of inclusions like AlFeMnSi particles are found to accelerate pitting corrosion.     

A Complexing Agent to Enable a Wide-Temperature Range Bromine-Based Flow Battery for Stationary Energy Storage

Bromine-based flow batteries (Br-FBs) are considered one of the most promising energy storage systems due to their features of high energy density and low cost. However, they generally suffer from uncontrolled diffusion of corrosive bromine particularly at high temperatures. That is because the interaction between polybromide anions and the commonly used complexing agent (N–methyl–N–ethyl–pyrrolidinium bromide [MEP]) decreases with increasing temperatures, which causes serious self-discharge and capacity fade. Herein, a novel bromine complexing agent, 1–ethyl–2–methyl–pyridinium bromide (BCA), is introduced in Br-FBs to solve the above problems. It is proven that BCA can combine with polybromide anions very well even at a high temperature of 60 °C. Moreover, the BCA contributes to decreasing the electrochemical polarization of Br⁻/Br₂ couple, which in turn improves their power density. As a result, a zinc–bromine flow battery with BCA as the complexing agent can achieve a high energy efficiency of 84% at 40 mA cm⁻², even at high temperature of 60 °C and it can stably run for more than 400 cycles without obvious performance decay. This paper provides an effective complexing agent to enable a wide temperature range Br-FB.     

高效液相色谱法测定多环芳烃的出峰顺序探讨

目的探讨水﹑气﹑土壤中多环芳烃检测标准(HJ 478-2009﹑HJ 647-2013、HJ 784-2016)的正确出峰时间和顺序。方法用高效液相色谱来对苊烯、芴、苊、?、苯并(a)蒽进行定性分析,并与3个标准中的出峰顺序进行比较。结果苊烯、苊、芴、苯并(a)蒽、?的出峰时间分别为6.450、7.923、8.233、17.760、18.740min,与标准HJ478-2009﹑HJ647-2013的出峰顺序存在差异。结论在使用标准HJ478-2009﹑HJ647-2013、HJ 784-2016同时测定16种多环芳烃时,多环芳烃的出峰顺序及时间应以HJ 784-2016为准。     

重力注水过程流动不稳定现象关键影响因素研究

重力驱动注水过程中由于流量较小以及蒸汽的积聚可能导致流动不稳定现象的发生，对核反应堆安全运行具有重要的影响。通过实验研究的方法，搭建了重力注水模拟实验装置，研究了不同蒸汽出口形阻、高位储水箱水位和加热棒初始温度下流动不稳定现象的变化规律。结果表明，重力驱动注水过程流动不稳定现象包含冷却水初次注入阶段、注入水逐出阶段和冷却水再注入阶段等。在一定冷却水初始温度、冷却水入口形阻以及系统压力下，蒸汽排出速度以及实验本体内筒顶部的聚集情况取决于蒸汽出口形阻，减小蒸汽出口形阻可加快蒸汽排放速度，压力峰峰值降低、振荡周期变长，有利于系统稳定；提高高位储水箱水位加快了冷却水注入速率，增加了加热棒被淹没率，降低了流动不稳定现象的发生次数和持续时间；随加热棒初始温度的升高，冷却水流量出现了波动向停滞的转变，流动不稳定现象发生的次数增加且持续时间加长。     

Flow state monitoring of gas-water two-phase flow using multi-Gaussian mixture model based on canonical variate analysis

As a highly complex and time-varying process, gas-water two-phase flow is commonly encountered in industries. It has a variety of typical flow states and transition flow states. Accurate identification and monitoring of flow states is not only beneficial to further study of two-phase flow but also helpful for stable operation and economic efficiency of process industry. Combining canonical variate analysis (CVA) and Gaussian mixture model (GMM), a strategy called multi-CVA-GMM is proposed for flow state monitoring in gas-water two-phase flow. CVA is used to extract flow state features from the perspective of correlation between historical data and future data, which solves the cross correlation and temporal correlation of multi-sensor measurement data. GMM calculates the possibility that the current flow state belongs to each typical flow pattern and judges the current flow state by probability indicators. It is conducive to follow-up use of Bayesian inference probability and Mahalanobis distance-based (BID) indicator for flow state monitoring, which avoids repeated traversal of multiple CVA-GMM models and improves the efficiency of the monitoring process. The probability indicators can also be used to analyze transition flow states. The method combining the probabilistic idea of GMM with the deterministic idea of multimodal modeling can accurately identify the current flow state and effectively monitor the evolution of flow state. The multi-CVA-GMM method is validated by using the measured data of the horizontal flow loop of gas-water two-phase flow experimental facility, and its effectiveness is proved.     

基于数据运营安全的个人信息保护

个人信息因其自身携带隐私特性,与每个个体息息相关。个人信息保护不当,影响公众权益、企业利益以及社会秩序。在互联网、大数据、5G万物互联的时代,个人信息被广泛收集和使用,必须妥善解决个人信息保护问题,才能保障整个数据产业健康发展。而现有的个人信息保护方法或技术,不足以应对新形势下的保护诉求。基于数据运营安全的个人信息保护,针对当前个人信息保护的新形势和新诉求,提出结合人工智能,通过数据运营安全对结构化、半结构化、非结构化的个人信息流动的保护,涵盖从生产到运维,从采集、传输、存储、处理、分析、共享、销毁全生命周期保护,深入数据运营中内嵌防护,同时与业务解耦,达到保护个人信息安全的目标。     

Comments on “Study and application of discharge calibration for submerged radial gates” by Guo X., Guo Y., Wang T., Fu H., Li J. Flow Meas. Instrum. 78 (2021) 101912, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2021.101912

This paper discusses the capability of Guo et al.'s (2021) equations to determine the discharge of radial gates under submerged flow conditions. It was concluded that Guo et al.'s (2021) equations are associated with error reduction compared to the Incomplete Self-Similarity (ISS) theory and the calibration method. However, it does not have a significant advantage over Energy-Momentum (E-M) approach. Employing E-M principles, new equations were proposed to determine the discharge of radial gates, which has some advantages compared to Guo et al. (2021), such as (1) error reduction under partially and fully submerged flow conditions, (2) least dependence on the empirical constants, (3) uniformity of form over the entire submerged condition, and (4) no need to classify the submerged flow. Field calibration showed that the proposed equations in the present study for a single gate predict the discharge of parallel radial gates with a mean absolute error of less than 4.5% subject to the submerged operation of all open gates.     

气瓶内部淬火过程的流动换热特性

 大直径厚壁气瓶内部淬火时的流动换热过程极其复杂，受到多种因素的影响，而研究气瓶内部压强和温度的变化规律对改善流动换热效果、提高产品组织性能具有重要的理论指导意义。以914 mm厚壁气瓶和瓶内流体为研究对象，建立了二维等效流 固耦合模型；采用多喷嘴系统对气瓶内外进行喷水淬火，研究了气瓶总长、喷水流速及淬火时间对瓶内压强及内壁温度的影响，通过间歇淬火试验验证了数学模型的正确性。结果发现，气瓶长度对瓶内压强和瓶壁温度的影响显著，喷水流速次之，当喷水流速大于8 m/s后，水量对瓶壁的冷却效果大大降低；气瓶内壁长度方向的温度梯度分别随气瓶总长的增加和淬火时间的延长而减小，但基本不受喷水量的影响。