Motion control of underactuated linkage robot based on gymnastic skill

In this paper, a reproduction of a swing‐up and a giant swing motion of underactuated robots based on technique of the horizontal bar gymnast is discussed with focusing on an equivalent center of mass (ECM) of underactuated robots and the gymnast. At first, the behaviors of the ECM of the gymnast (ECMG) are analyzed by using a motion capturing technique and an efficient motion of the ECMG for the swing‐up and for the giant swing motion are identified from analysis results, respectively. Next, a partial linearization method, which can realize that the ECM of the Acrobot (ECMA) replicates this efficient motion, is designed and reproduces the underactuated robots the swing‐up and giant swing motion like the gymnast. Finally, an effectiveness of the proposed controller is shown by numerical simulations.     

Contribution of metal vapor mass at periphery part of pulsed arc to electromagnetic force in weld pool

The arc welding has been used in various welding methods because it is inexpensive and high in strength after welding. However, it is a problem that accidents such as collapse of the bridge occur because of the welding defects. The welding of low cost and high productivity is required without the welding defects. The pulsed TIG welding is inexpensive and capable of high‐quality welding. The electromagnetic force contributing to penetration changes because the transient response of arc temperature and iron vapor generated from anode occurs. However, the analysis of pulsed TIG welding with metal vapor has been elucidated only metal vapor concentration near anode with transient phenomenon and heat flux. Thus, the theoretical elucidation of penetration depth with control factor has not been researched. In this paper, the contribution of metal vapor mass at the periphery part of pulsed arc to the electromagnetic force in the weld pool is elucidated. As a result, the iron vapor mass at periphery part decreased with increasing the frequency. The iron vapor was stagnated at axial center within one cycle. The electromagnetic force to the penetration depth direction in weld pool increased at axial center. Therefore, the metal vapor mass at periphery part plays an important role for the electromagnetic force increment at axial center.     

Ammonia production using iron nitride and water as hydrogen source under mild temperature and pressure

Ammonia generation was studied in the reaction between water and nitrogen-containing iron at 323 K and atmospheric pressure. Similar to metallic Fe, the interstitial compound Fe₃N reduced water through Fe oxidation to produce hydrogen gas, while the N combined with atomic hydrogen to produce ammonia as a byproduct. The addition of carbon dioxide to this system accelerated the reaction with concomitant consumption of carbon dioxide. The promoted ammonia production upon addition of carbon dioxide can be attributed to the generation of atomic hydrogen from the redox reaction of carbonic acid and Fe, as well as removal of used Fe from the reaction system through the formation of a soluble carbonato complex. When carbonate was added to the reaction system, the production rates of ammonia and hydrogen increased further. The results here confirmed that ammonia can be synthesized from iron nitride under mild conditions by utilizing carbon dioxide.     

Optimal Pricing Algorithm in the Electricity Market with Battery and Accumulator and Demand–Supply Balancing

This paper considers the day‐ahead market with batteries and accumulators to level power generation. First, we model consumers with batteries, generators with batteries, and accumulators, all of whom strive to maximize their own profit. An optimal pricing algorithm based on dual decomposition and the steepest descent method is derived and shown to be stable. Finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations which indicate that it achieves demand–supply balance.     

Photocatalytic Synthesis of p-Anisaldehyde in a Mini Slurry-Bubble Reactor under Solar Light Irradiation

Dense photocatalyst slurry was employed for the synthesis of p-anisaldehyde under solar light irradiation. An Fe-modified rutile TiO ₂ (Fe-TiO _2, 34.5 m ²/g) photocatalyst was used as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst. A conventional TiO ₂ (P25, 35 m ²/g) photocatalyst was also examined as a reference catalyst. XRD patterns and diffuse reflectance spectra showed that Fe-TiO ₂ consists of 100 % rutile phase and absorbs more visible light compared to P25, respectively. The catalyst powder was suspended in an ethyl acetate solution of p-methoxytoluene in the mini-reactor, with oxygen bubbling, under a solar simulator, visible light, and UV LEDs. p-anisaldehyde, as a reaction product, was analyzed by sampling using gas-chromatograph. Regardless of the light source, Fe-TiO ₂ always outperformed P25 in terms of both generation rates (GR) of p-anisaldehyde and energy requirements (ER). It was demonstrated that the highly dense Fe-TiO ₂ slurry was efficient for the synthesis under solar light owing to the small size of the reactor. The small amount of Pt and ZrO ₂ cocatalysts significantly enhanced the GR under solar light. By adopting a visible light responsive Fe-TiO ₂ photocatalyst, the mini slurry-bubble reactor under solar light achieved a high GR per catalyst mass (CM), which is one to two orders higher than that reported by most previous studies with high-power lamps.     

Tomakomai Large Scale Crude Oil Fire Experiments

This paper summarizes the results of large-scale crude oil fire experiments conducted in Tomakomai, Japan, in 1998 to obtain information that could be applied to the development of firefighting strategies for, and the design of, huge petroleum storages. Arabian light-equivalent crude oil was burned in pans 5-, 10-, and 20-m in diameter. Most of the experiments were performed under favorable conditions. Measured data include external radiation, infrared image of the flame, flame temperature, gas concentration inside the flame, and other burning characteristics. The height of the strongest radiant emittance was H/D=0.1 to 0.2, where D=pan diameter and H=height from the initial fuel surface, and a kind of fireball appeared occasionally at the intermittant flame zone. Emitted smoke particles were sampled on the ground and observed with a scanning electron micrograph, and the distribution of the diameters of primary smoke particles was examined. The average diameter of primary smoke particles is 53.0 (±10.5)nm. The dependence of burning characteristics and flame structure on pan diameter is discussed. The flame height of the 20-m diameter pan fire is 1.9 (±0.3) D. The burning rate increases as the pan diameters increase, but the radiative fraction decreases as pan diameter increases.     

Evaluation of the impact of bioaugmentation and biostimulation by in situ hybridization and microelectrode

Three rotating disk biofilm reactors were operated to evaluate whether bioaugmentation and biostimulation can be used to improve the start-up of microbial nitrification. The first reactor was bioaugmented during start-up period with an enrichment culture of nitrifying bacteria, the second reactor received a synthetic medium containing NH(4)(+) and NO(2)(-) to facilitate concomitant proliferation of ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, and the third reactor was used as a control. To evaluate the effectiveness of bioaugmentation and biostimulation approaches, time-dependent developments of nitrifying bacterial community and in situ nitrifying activity in biofilms were monitored by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique and microelectrode measurements of NH(4)(+), NO(2)(-), NO(3)(-), and O(2). In situ hybridization results revealed that addition of the enrichment culture of nitrifying bacteria significantly facilitated development of dense nitrifying bacterial populations in the biofilm shortly after, which led to a rapid start-up and enhancement of in situ nitrification activity. The inoculated bacteria could proliferate and/or survive in the biofilm. In addition, the addition of nitrifying bacteria increased the abundance of nitrifying bacteria in the surface of the biofilm, resulting in the higher nitrification rate. On the other hand, the addition of 2.1mM NO(2)(-) did not stimulate the growth of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and did inhibit the proliferation of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria instead. Thus, the start-up of NO(2)(-) oxidation was unchanged, and the start-up of NH(4)(+) oxidation was delayed. In all the three biofilm reactors, data sets of time series analyses on population dynamics of nitrifying bacteria determined by FISH, in situ nitrifying activities determined by microelectrode measurements, and the reactor performances revealed an approximate agreement between the appearance of nitrifying bacteria and the initiation of nitrification activity, suggesting that the combination of these techniques was a very powerful monitoring tool to evaluate the effectiveness of bioaugmentation and biostimulation strategies.