Combining a new baseboard radiator with a fan coil system for improving heating performance and reduce energy consumption

In the present work, the heating performance of a new system combined with a new modified baseboard radiator and fan coil is investigated. Using longitudinal fins with special geometry and also forced airflow at the end of the system causes that at the lower inlet water temperature compared with the conventional models, higher heat output rate be obtained. The heat output rate of the new modified system is obtained by experimental metrology based on the European Standard No. EN-442. Temperature and velocity distribution in the room space is done by simulation of the modified system in the Flovent software. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results are validated against experimental results and there is a good agreement between them. Also, the energy consumption of the system during the winter season is calculated in TRANSYS software. Experimental results show that the heat output rate of a new modified heating system with inlet water temperature in the range of 45–55°C is on average 4.17 times higher compared with the conventional model. CFD simulation also showed that the combined system provides good thermal comfort conditions. Energy consumption of the new system reduced about 13% compared with conventional models.     

Simulation of interaction between high-temperature process and heat emission from electricity system in summer

During the hot summer season, using electricity systems increases the local anthropogenic heat emission, further increasing the temperature. Regarding anthropogenic heat sources, electric energy consumption, heat generation, indoor and outdoor heat transfer, and exchange in buildings play a critical role in the change in the urban thermal environment. Therefore, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model was applied in this study to investigate the heat generation from an indoor electricity system and its influence on the outdoor thermal environment. Through the building effect parameterization (BEP) of a multistorey urban canopy scheme, a building energy model (BEM) to increase the influence of indoor air conditioning on the electricity consumption system was proposed. In other words, the BEP+BEM urban canopy parameterization scheme was set. High temperatures and a summer heat wave were simulated as the background weather. The results show that using the BEP+BEM parameterization scheme of indoor and outdoor energy exchange in the WRF model can better simulate the air temperature near the surface layer on a sunny summer. During the day, the turning on the air conditioning and other electrical systems have no obvious effect on the air temperature near the surface layer in the city, whereas at night, the air temperature generally increases by 0.6 ℃, especially in densely populated areas, with a maximum temperature rise of approximately 1.2 ℃ from 22:00 to 23:00. When the indoor air conditioning target temperature is adjusted to 25–27 ℃, the total energy release of the air conditioning system is reduced by 12.66%, and the temperature drops the most from 13:00 to 16:00, with an average of approximately 1 ℃. Further, the denser the building is, the greater the temperature drop.     

Effects of Bacillus velezensis zk1 on the physiology and metabolism of peaches

Bacillus velezensis zk1 is the dominant bacterium that causing rot in peaches. However, the mechanisms through that this bacterium causes rot have not been elucidated. Here, we explored the mechanisms of peach decay caused by B. velezensis zk1. The invasion of B. velezensis zk1 in peaches resulted in an increase in glucose and arabinose contents in fruit tissues. Moreover, the relative conductivity of the fruit reached 84% after 4 days of culture with bacterial invasion. With the destruction of cells, the malondialdehyde content increased, whereas the vitamin C, dialdehyde, flavonoid and total phenol contents decreased. Polyphenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase and ammonia lyase activities also decreased. Overall, these findings demonstrated that B. velezensis zk1 infection damaged peach chloroplasts, mitochondria, respiratory chain activity and related free radical scavenging enzyme systems, thereby disrupting the normal physiological metabolism of peaches and causing rot.     

Furan fatty acid concentrations in tea infusions prepared from green,black, and herbal teas

Furan fatty acids (FuFAs) are valuable antioxidants with highly effective radical scavenging properties which are widely distributed at low levels in food. Previous research indicated that tea is a valuable source of FuFAs. However, tea is only consumed in form of infusions. To fill this gap, we prepared infusions from different herbal, green, and black teas. Initial measurements with GC-MSMS of tea verified previous findings that 11-(3,4-dimethyl-5-penylfuran-2-yl)-undecanoic acid (11D5) was the prevalent FuFA in tea matrix. Therefore, 11D5 was quantified in tea infusions by means of UHPLC-MSMS equipment after mild alkaline hydrolysis. While herbal tea infusions were low or free of FuFAs, 11D5 was detectable in all samples of green and black tea infusions. Amounts of 11D5 were higher in green tea than in black tea. Moreover, Darjeeling tea infusions were by ~30% richer in 11D5 than black and green teas from other regions. Each cup of green and black tea infusion may provide 20–60 μg 11D5, which is about 5% of the amounts found in tea samples. Spread over the day, regular tea consumption may contribute to the intake of valuable FuFAs.     

Pattern design and optimization of yarn-dyed plaid fabric using isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory

Under the circumstance of perceptual consumption, it is still challenging to grasp consumer's emotions and demands due to the large search space, diversified preferences, and easy fatigue of consumers. To reduce user fatigue and enlarge search space, a novel method was presented to design and optimize the pattern of yarn-dyed plaid fabric using the isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory. Each pattern was encoded as a chromosome based on the real number code. The population was initialized and evolved using INGA to maintain the diversity. The rough set theory was adopted as the fitness function of isolation niche genetic algorithm to extract the consumer's demands. After multiple evolutions, a large set of practical patterns of the yarn-dyed plaid fabric are obtained. Experiments were carried out by 24 testers of different ages and genders. The results prove that the proposed method based on the isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory is feasible and effective, supplying references to the designer.     

Synergistically improved thermal stability and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of in-situ synthesized polyaniline/sulphur doped reduced graphene oxide (PANI/S-RGO) nanocomposites

Polyaniline (PANI) and its composite with sulphur doped reduced graphene oxide (S-RGO) have been successively synthesized via in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline in presence of 10 wt. % S-RGO nanosheets. Physico-chemical analyses of the synthesized nanomaterial was performed with various characterization techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Thermogravimetric analysis/Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TGA/DSC). The results interpreted from the various characterizations confirm the doping of RGO with sulphur as well as strong interaction of PANI nanofibers and S-RGO nanosheets. TG/DSC curves confirm the enhanced thermal stability of polyaniline/sulphur doped reduced graphene oxide (PANI/S-RGO) nanocomposites with heat resistance index (T_HRI) of 155.2 °C in comparision to pure PANI (T_HRI = 145.3 °C) at a filler loading of 10 wt. %. TGA validates that thermal stability of PANI/S-RGO nanocomposite improves by 6–7 °C than pure PANI in terms of weight loss percentage at a temperature of 1117 °C. However DSC analysis confirms that PANI/S-RGO retains its structural integrity and conformity to temperatures as high as 900 °C beyond which the polymer composite starts to degrade. The electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of PANI and PANI/S-RGO nanocomposites were measured via open-ended coaxial probe set-up connected to a Vector Network Analyser (VNA) at a broadband frequency range of 1–20 GHz (1000–20000 MHz). For EMI SE measurements the various nanomaterials were incorporated into paraffin wax and made into composite pellets of thickness 5 mm by solution casting technique. The dielectric properties, electrical conductivity and EMI SE were all greatly enhanced for the PANI/S-RGO/Paraffin composite pellets. The as synthesized PANI/S-RGO/Paraffin composite pellets exhibited highest EMI SE of ?22.5 dB (>99%) as compared to ?15.89 dB of PANI/Paraffin composite pellets. The prepared composite pellets revealed an absorption dominant mechanism of shielding with highest SE_A of ?14.6 dB for PANI/S-RGO/Paraffin composite pellets.     

Molecular design for thermally stable SiZrBOC structure from single source precursor with high ceramic yield

A new type of high-temperature-resistant SiZrBOC ceramics was prepared by sol-gel method using polymethyl-hydro siloxane (PMHS), boric acid (B(OH)₃), and n-propyl zirconate (Zr(OPr)₄) as raw materials. After high-temperature pyrolysis, the SiZrBOC precursor was transformed into a crystalline ceramic material with a yield of 89.5 wt%. Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were applied to characterize the polymer-ceramic conversion process and thermal behavior of ceramic precursors. According to the results, the addition of boron elements led to the formation of Si-O-B links in the system. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the phase composition and microstructure of SiZrBOC ceramics. Finally, the oxidation test at 1200 °C revealed that SiZrBOC ceramics with a boron/zirconium molar ratio of 2.5:1 exhibited the best oxidation resistance at a weight gain of 0.4 wt% only.     

Deterministic and probabilistic ship pitch prediction using a multi-predictor integration model based on hybrid data preprocessing,reinforcement learning and improved QRNN

The deterministic and probabilistic prediction of ship motion is important for safe navigation and stable real-time operational control of ships at sea. However, the volatility and randomness of ship motion, the non-adaptive nature of single predictors and the poor coverage of quantile regression pose serious challenges to uncertainty prediction, making research in this field limited. In this paper, a multi-predictor integration model based on hybrid data preprocessing, reinforcement learning and improved quantile regression neural network (QRNN) is proposed to explore the deterministic and probabilistic prediction of ship pitch motion. To validate the performance of the proposed multi-predictor integrated prediction model, an experimental study is conducted with three sets of actual ship longitudinal motions during sea trials in the South China Sea. The experimental results indicate that the root mean square errors (RMSEs) of the proposed model of deterministic prediction are 0.0254°, 0.0359°, and 0.0188°, respectively. Taking series #2 as an example, the prediction interval coverage probabilities (PICPs) of the proposed model of probability predictions at 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence levels (CLs) are 0.9400, 0.9800, and 1.0000, respectively. This study signifies that the proposed model can provide trusted deterministic predictions and can effectively quantify the uncertainty of ship pitch motion, which has the potential to provide practical support for ship early warning systems.     

基于自适应LS-SVM的柴油机废气再循环冷却控制系统设计

针对当前柴油机废气再循环冷却控制系统受到时滞问题影响,导致系统开度走势与设定走势不一致、废气再循环效果差的问题,提出基于自适应LS-SVM的柴油机废气再循环冷却控制系统;以AT89C51单片机40针作为电控单元核心部件,利用位置传感器向系统发送负载信号,利用温度传感器来传输信号并反馈至D/A转换器;在D/A转换器中,反馈信号以串行或并行方式进入寄存器,并在转换后输出电流电压,控制系统阀门在排气再循环时的开启;伺服泵采用冷却系统,为系统提供液压动力源;利用自适应LS-SVM原理计算柴油机废气再循环冷却控制目标边界值,在最小二乘支持向量机基础上,利用求解线性方程组进行优化,消除了控制误差;根据控制差的大小,调整控制系统的输出值;由试验结果可知,该系统开度走势与设定开度走势一致,且与设定开度误差为1开度,说明使用该系统具有良好稳态特性,有效克服了系统中时滞问题,废气再循环效果较好。     

Data requirements for improving the Quantitative Risk Assessment of liquid hydrogen storage systems

Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) supports the development of risk-informed safety codes and standards which are employed to enable the safe deployment of hydrogen technologies essential to decarbonize the transportation sector. System reliability data is a necessary input for rigorous QRA. The lack of reliability data for bulk liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage systems located on site at fueling stations limits the use of QRAs. In turn, this hinders the ability to develop the necessary safety codes and standards that enable worldwide deployment of these stations. Through a QRA-based analysis of a LH₂ storage system, this work focuses on identifying relevant scenario and probability data currently available and ascertaining future data collection requirements regarding risks specific to liquid hydrogen releases. The work developed consists of the analysis of a general bulk LH₂ storage system design located at a hydrogen fueling station. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and traditional QRA modeling tools such as Event Sequence Diagrams (ESD) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) are employed to identify, rank, and model risk scenarios related to the release of LH₂. Based on this analysis, scenario and reliability data needs to add LH₂-related components to QRA are identified with the purpose of improving the future safety and risk assessment of these systems.