A new technique for two-dimensional current distribution measurements in electrochemical cells

A new technique has been developed using a magnetic loop array to measure current distribution in electrochemical cells. The main advantage of this approach is the combination of high spatial and time resolution and stack integration with an easily handled measurement carried out independently of the cell operation. A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) of technically relevant dimensions (about 600 cm² electrode area) with 5 × 8 current sensors has been constructed and operated, thus confirming the feasibility of the measurement technique.     

A printed circuit board approach to measuring current distribution in a fuel cell

A new method of measuring current distribution in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell of active area 100cm2 has been demonstrated, using a printed circuit board (PCB) technology to segment the current collector and flow field. The PCB technique was demonstrated to be an effective approach to fabricating a segmented electrode and provide a useful tool for analysing cell performance at different reactant gas flow rates and humidification strategies. In this initial chapter of work with the segmented cell, we describe measured effects on current distribution of cathode and anode gas stream humidification levels in a hydrogen/air cell, utilizing a NafionTM 117 membrane and single serpentine channel flow fields, and operating at relatively high gas flow rates. Effects of the stoichiometric flow of air are also shown. A clear trend is seen, apparently typical for a thick ionomeric membrane, of lowering in membrane resistance down the flow channel, bringing about the highest local current density near the air outlet. This trend is reversed at low stoichiometric flows of air. At an air flow rate less than three times stoichiometry, the local performance starts to drop significantly from inlet to outlet, as local oxygen concentration drop overshadows the lowering in resistance along the direction of flow.     

Numerical simulation of the current, potential and concentration distributions along the cathode of a rotating cylinder Hull cell

Numerical simulations of the non-uniform current, potential and concentration distributions along the cathode of a rotating cylinder Hull (RCH) cell (RotaHull^® cell) are performed using finite element methods. Copper electrodeposition from an acid sulfate electrolyte is used as a test system. Primary, secondary and tertiary current distributions are examined. The importance of controllable and uniformly accessible hydrodynamics along the length of the RCH cathode is demonstrated. Charge transfer kinetics are described by a Tafel approximation while mass transport is considered using a Nernstian diffusion layer expression. The effects of applied current density and electrode rotation speeds on the distribution of potential and current along the RCH cathode are investigated. An expression of the primary current distribution and a dimensionless mass transport correlation facilitate comparisons with the simulations.     

Nanomolar detection of rutin based on adsorptive stripping analysis at single-sided heated graphite cylindrical electrodes with direct current heating

A single-sided heated graphite cylindrical electrode (ss-HGCE) was designed. Compared to previous alternative current (AC) heating, much simpler and cheaper direct current (DC) heating supplier was adopted for the first time to perform adsorptive accumulation of rutin at ss-HGCE at elevated electrode temperature. This offers great promise for low cost, miniaturization and high compatibility with portability. The square wave voltammetry (SWV) stripping peak current was enhanced with increasing the electrode temperature only during preconcentration step. This enhancement was contributed to the forced thermal convection induced by heating the electrode rather than the bulk solution, which is able to improve mass transfer and facilitate adsorption hence enhance stripping response. A detection limit of 1.0 × 10⁻⁹ M (S/N = 3) could be obtained at an electrode temperature of 48 °C during 5 min accumulation, one magnitude lower than that at 28 °C (room temperature). This is the lowest value at carbon-based electrodes for rutin determination as we know. Such novel method was also successfully used to determine rutin in pharmaceutical tablets.     

Flow through diffusion cell method: A novel approach to study in vitro enzymatic degradation of a starch‐based ternary semi‐interpenetrating network for gastrointestinal drug delivery

A ter‐polymeric semi‐IPN has been synthesized by aqueous polymerization of methacrylamide in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and natural polysaccharides starch, and its enzymatic degradation has been studied in the phosphate buffer medium of pH 6.8 at the physiological temperature 37°C. With the increase in content of enzyme in the external solution and starch in the hydrogel, the degradation is enhanced while the extent of degradation is lowered with the increase in the amount of PEG in the hydrogel. The initial water content also affects the degradability of the polymer matrix. The degradation follows Michaelis–Menten kinetics and K_M was found to be 3.92 × 10^?5 mol dm^?3. The hydrogel exhibits different degradation behavior when studied by “traditional degradation method” (TDM) and “flow through diffusion cell” (FTDC) method. The degradability is suppressed in FTDC method because of the absorption of amylase molecules onto filler particles. Finally the nature and size of the filler particles also affects the degradation behavior of hydrogels. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2975–2984, 2006     

基于热重法的准东煤等转化率热解动力学模型

准东煤热解脱挥发分特性对其热加工利用过程具有重要影响,建立准东煤热解通用动力学模型对预测挥发分产率及反应性能具有重要意义。采用热重测量了不同升温速率条件下的准东煤脱挥发分失重特性,使用Friedman、Flynn-Wall-Ozawa（FWO）和Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose（KAS）3种等转化率模型来处理热重实验数据,仔细分析了不同模型参数的获得方法及不同模型中活化能及指前因子的差异。研究结果表明,准东煤活化能分布函数呈现单峰分布;相比其他模型,FWO模型能够较好地描述准东煤的热解过程。     

A simplified analytical approach for the clear height in compartment fire based on a two-layer zone model

Compartment fire is an important research area in fire science and fire safety. Owing to its simplicity, the zone model remains attractive in studying compartment fire. Although computer software packages for the two-layer zone are in popular use, a basic understanding of the physical phenomena involved and the mathematical formulation thereon would benefit users of the zone model in terms of critical judgement of software outputs, which could be unreasonable, and insight of the general trends of important variables. In general, the differential equations based on a two-layer zone model have no analytical solutions and numerical methods are required. However, stiffness is present in using numerical methods to solve these differential equations, and reliable results are obtained only when very small time steps are used in computation. Nevertheless, in some special cases, analytical solution for the clear height in the zone model exists, as demonstrated in the present study. Predicted values of smoke layer height in the present approach are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results reported in the literature. The present work would provide insight into the tenability condition of a compartment on fire and is an important issue in fire safety management.     

复杂故障判定的基于结构化残差的多层次分析法

In industrial processes,there exist faults that have complex effect on process variables.Complex and simple faults are defined according to their effect dimensions.The conventional approaches based on structured residuals cannot isolate complex faults.This paper presents a multi-level strategy for complex fault isolation.An extraction procedure is employed to reduce the complex faults to simple ones and assign them to several levels.On each level,faults are isolated by their different responses in the structured residuals.Each residual is obtained insensitive to one fault but more sensitive to others.The faults on different levels are verified to have different residual responses and will not be confused.An entire incidence matrix containing residual response characteristics of all faults is obtained,based on which faults can be isolated.The proposed method is applied in the Tennessee Eastman process example,and the effectiveness and advantage are demonstrated.     

A simultaneous approach for singular optimal control based on partial moving grid

Singular optimal control plays an important role in process engineering, including optimal operation of batch and semi-batch reactions. However, for many practical applications, accurate solution of singular optimal control profiles is still an open issue. In particular, numerical optimization must deal with an ill-conditioned problem that often leads to very slow convergence or failure. Starting from the nested approach in our previous work in 2016, this study develops a more efficient strategy for singular control through a heuristic approach for the outer problem. The approach includes three stages. Starting from a coarse distribution of finite elements, sufficiently many finite elements are inserted where control profiles are steep and fixed gridpoints are inserted on the basis of error estimation of state profiles. Then, moving gridpoints are inserted where the modified switching function is violated. Initial junctions are obtained by moving the latest inserted gridpoints. Moreover, further mesh refinements are considered based on switching point detection and a moving grid point update strategy, until modified switching conditions are satisfied over the whole-time span. A key feature of this approach is that only a subset of finite elements needs to move during optimization. Complexity of the optimization formulation is considerably decreased compared to our previous work. This approach is demonstrated on eight classical singular control problems with known solutions, as well as six complex singular control problems drawn from the chemical engineering literature.     

Development of a numerical approach based on coupled CFD/FEM analysis for virtual fire resistance tests—Part A: Thermal analysis of the gas phase combustion and different test specimens

In the present two‐parted study, a numerical approach is shown to consider fire resistance tests in virtual space, including the combustion, thermal analysis of the test specimen, and the deformation process. This part is dealing with the combustion process and thermal analysis of different building materials tested in a fire resistance furnace. Instead of using coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD)/finite element method simulation for the combustion and thermal heat conduction in the solid, which is commonly used in literature, the present approach considers these transport phenomena in one CFD simulation. This method enables a two‐way coupling between the gas phase and the solid material, where chemical reactions and the release of volatile components into the gas phase can occur (eg, release of water vapour from gypsum). To validate the numerical model, a fire resistance test of a steel door, which is a multilayer construction, and a wall made of gypsum blocks were experimentally and numerically investigated. Due to the chemical reactions inside the gypsum, water vapour is released to the gas phase reducing the flue gas temperature about 80 K. This effect was taken into account using a two‐way coupling in the CFD model, which predicted temperatures in close accordance to the measurement.