Technical and economic analysis of solvent-based lithium-ion electrode drying with water and NMP

Processing lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrode dispersions with water as the solvent during primary drying offers many advantages over N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). An in-depth analysis of the comparative drying costs of LIB electrodes is discussed for both NMP- and water-based dispersion processing in terms of battery pack $/kWh. Electrode coating manufacturing and capital equipment cost savings are compared for water vs. conventional NMP organic solvent processing. A major finding of this work is that the total electrode manufacturing costs, whether water- or NMP-based, contribute about 8–9% of the total pack cost. However, it was found that up to a 2?×?reduction in electrode processing (drying and solvent recovery) cost can be expected along with a $3–6?M savings in associated plant capital equipment (for a plant producing 100,000 10-kWh Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) batteries) using water as the electrode solvent. This paper shows a different perspective in that the most important benefits of aqueous electrode processing actually revolve around capital equipment savings and environmental stewardship and not processing cost savings.     

Assessment of spray quality from an external mix nozzle and its impact on SQL grinding performance

Spray quality is the critical factor which decides the efficacy of Small Quantity Lubrication (SQL) technology in a high specific energy involved machining process like grinding. Yet, the understanding about spray quality, the actual process mechanics and its effect on machining performance is inadequate. The present work is an attempt to establish a correlation between the spray input variables, quality of the spray and machining performance of SQL grinding through modelling and experiments. Using computational fluid dynamic techniques, the variation of droplet size, droplet velocity, number of droplets and heat transfer coefficient have been analysed at different input parameters and the computed trends have been verified and validated. CFD modelling of spray indicates that it is possible to produce aerosol medium with high heat dissipation ability at moderately high air pressure and low flow rate. It also shows that any increase in atomising air pressure favourably leads to notable increase in wetting area and also results in substantial enhancement in heat dissipation ability. Reduction of residual stress is thus remarkably good. On the other hand, grinding fluid flow rate, if increased, offers significantly better lubricity and reduces the grinding force which also reduces tensile residual stress. Short spell grinding test results are found to be in good agreement with CFD results.     

不同润湿表面液体沸腾的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法研究纳米尺度下液氩在过热基板上的沸腾过程。通过调节固液间相互作用的方式改变壁面润湿性，模拟并分析了壁面润湿性对沸腾过程中能量传递和液体运动情况的影响。结果表明：不同润湿性表面均会发生固液分离的现象，但是固体表面附近吸附的氩原子数密度随润湿性增强而增大；润湿性较强时，液体的能量上升快，热通量高，液体内部温度梯度大，发生固液分离时间早，系统中氩的温度和能量低，上升过程中液氩密度、厚度变化小；润湿性较弱时，液体的能量上升慢，热通量小，液体内部温度梯度小，发生固液分离时间延后，系统中氩的温度、能量更高，上升过程中液氩密度、厚度变化较大。下部气体压力整体上大于上部气体压力，发生固液分离时润湿性越强的表面上液体上下压差越大，首次上升过程能达到的高度越高，所需时间越短。     

Soret and Dufour effects between two rectangular plane walls with heat source/sink

This study addresses the thermo‐diffusion and the diffusion‐thermo phenomena in a semi‐infinite absorbent channel whose walls are contracting/expanding, with heat source/sink effects. The governing partial differential equations with suitable boundary conditions are transformed to a system of dimensionless ordinary differential equations. An analytic solution of the problem has been found using a technique called homotopy analysis method (HAM). HAM gives consistently valid answers to the problem over an extensive variety of parameters and also provides better accuracy. To validate the analytical results, a comparison has been presented with a numerical solution calculated by using the parallel shooting method. The effects of dimensionless parameters, that is, deformation parameter, Reynolds number, Soret and Dufour numbers, and heat source/sink parameter on the expressions of velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are analyzed graphically to understand the physics of the deformable channel. It has been noted that the velocity across the channel is higher for the expanding channel, as compared to that for the contracting channel. Also the Soret and Dufour number increases the temperature of the fluid, and decreases the concentration. The temperature profile has an increasing behavior in the case of heat source, and a decreasing behavior in the case of heat sink.     

基于热电效应的高效环控系统

部分空间科学实验对环境温度有较高的要求，环境温度高于或低于空间科学系统能够提供的热沉温度，需要有可靠有效的加温降温处理措施。使用可靠性强的热电制冷片作为制冷制热方式和气液换热器二次换热来实现环境温度控制的需求，并对不同流体温度制冷制热效果进行分析，结果表明流体温度和目标温度差越小，热电制冷制热的效果越好。在环境温度制冷工况中，热电单元数量随电流增加先减少后增加，在制热工况中则单调递减，设计中需按照制冷工况进行热电单元数量的确定。当流体温度接近制冷制热的目标温度时，会出现整个系统总效率优于热电系统效率的区间。通过对热电单元和气液换热器的组合系统的性能计算，提供一种适于热电环控系统的计算方法和部件选型思路，对空间站环控系统的设计有重要参考意义。     

Development of mobile miniature natural gas liquefiers

With increasing consumption of natural gas (NG), small NG reservoirs, such as coalbed methane and oil field associated gas, have recently drawn significant attention. Owing to their special characteristics (e.g., scattered distribution and small output), small-scale NG liquefiers are highly required. Similarly, the mixed refrigerant cycle (MRC) is suitable for small-scale liquefaction systems due to its moderate complexity and power consumption. In consideration of the above, this paper reviews the development of mobile miniature NG liquefiers in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC), China. To effectively liquefy the scattered NG and overcome the drawbacks of existing technologies, three main improvements, i.e., low-pressure MRC process driven by oil-lubricated screw compressor, compact cold box with the new designed heat exchangers, and standardized equipment manufacturing and integrated process technology have been made. The development pattern of “rapid cluster application and flexible liquefaction center” has been eventually proposed. The small-scale NG liquefier developed by TIPC has reached a minimum liquefaction power consumption of about 0.35 kW·h/Nm³. It is suitable to exploit small remote gas reserves which can also be used in boil-off gas reliquefaction and distributed peak-shaving of pipe networks.     

Efficiency and effectiveness enhancement of an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor by low‐cost Al2O3/water nanofluids

The present study was aimed to utilize low‐cost alumina (Al₂O₃) nanoparticles for improving the heat transfer behavior in an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor. Experimental investigation was carried out with three different volume concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0% Al₂O₃/water nanofluids to assess the performance of the intercooler, that is, counterflow heat exchanger at different loads. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and overall heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid increased substantially with increasing concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. Specific heat capacity of nanofluids were lower than base water. The intercooler performance parameters such as effectiveness and efficiency improved appreciably with the employment of nanofluid. The efficiency increased by about 6.1% with maximum concentration of nanofluid, that is, 1% at 3‐bar compressor load. It is concluded from the study that high concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles dispersion in water would offer better heat transfer performance of the intercooler.     

Theoretical Prediction of Chiral 3D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), in particular 3D HOIPs, have demonstrated remarkable properties, including ultralong charge‐carrier diffusion lengths, high dielectric constants, low trap densities, tunable absorption and emission wavelengths, strong spin–orbit coupling, and large Rashba splitting. These superior properties have generated intensive research interest in HOIPs for high‐performance optoelectronics and spintronics. Here, 3D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites that implant chirality through introducing the chiral methylammonium cation are demonstrated. Based on structural optimization, phonon spectra, formation energy, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that the chirality of the chiral cations can be successfully transferred to the framework of 3D HOIPs, and the resulting 3D chiral HOIPs are both kinetically and thermodynamically stable. Combining chirality with the impressive optical, electrical, and spintronic properties of 3D perovskites, 3D chiral perovskites is of great interest in the fields of piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, ferroelectricity, topological quantum engineering, circularly polarized optoelectronics, and spintronics.     

防振条约束失效对蒸汽发生器传热管面内流弹失稳的影响研究

根据防振条布置以及面内支承连续失效个数，将防振条面内约束失效分析划分为多种工况，分析了不同工况下面内约束失效对传热管面内模态的影响，采用各位置阻尼在振型函数上进行加权平均的方法计算了各阶模态的阻尼比，进而研究了防振条面内不同约束对传热管面内流弹失稳的影响。分析结果表明，随着面内支承连续失效位置的增多，弯管段面内首阶模态频率不断降低，出现在弯管段的振型越加明显；弯管段面内首阶模态不一定是最大流弹失稳比值出现的模态，最大流弹失稳比值出现模态的振型几乎都出现在弯管段；随着面内支承连续失效位置的增多，面内流弹失稳比值不断增大，当连续3个及以上防振条面内约束失效时，将出现流弹失稳现象。     

Assessment of local strain field in adhesive layer of an unsymmetrically repaired CFRP panel using digital image correlation

The present study focuses on experimental investigation of through the thickness displacement and strain field in thin adhesive layer in single sided (unsymmetrical) patch repaired CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) panel under tensile load. Digital image correlation (DIC) technique is employed to acquire the displacement and strain (longitudinal, peel and shear) field. Experimental determination of shear transfer length based on shear strain field obtained from DIC is introduced to estimate the optimum overlap length which is an essential parameter in patch design for the repair of CFRP structures. Further, DIC experiment with magnified optics is performed to get an insight into complex and localized strain field over thin adhesive layer especially at critical zones leading to damage initiation. The failure mechanism, load displacement behavior, damage initiation and propagation are closely monitored using DIC. The influence of patch edge tapering on strain distribution in adhesive layer is also investigated. The DIC successfully captures the global and localized strain field at critical zones over thin adhesive layer and further helps in monitoring the damage based on strain anomalies. Strains are found to have maximum magnitude at the patch overlap edge and the shear strain level in adhesive layer is higher than the peel strain. Normal tapering increases the peel strain and has negligible influence on shear strain level in adhesive layer. The recommended overlap length is found to be consistent with the recommendation in the literature. Whole field strain pattern and the overlap length obtained from experiment are further compared with the finite element analysis results and they appear to be in good coherence.