Effects of Sputtering of and Radiation by Aluminum on Magnetized Target Fusion Plasmas

We estimate numerically the rate of radiation by aluminum impurities for parameters relevant to magnetized target fusion (MTF) plasmas. We demonstrate that the coronal equilibrium is appropriate for expected MTF plasma parameters. Using the coronal equilibrium, we estimate the power radiated per impurity ion is 0.25–0.5 × 10⁻¹⁶ MW for temperatures and densities relevant to present plasma parameters taken from the FRX-L experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory and is approximately 75.0 × 10⁻¹⁶ MW for temperatures and densities relevant to anticipated MTF plasmas. We calculate the sputtering rate of aluminum by thermal deuterium and tritium plasma ions is a few percent assuming an impact angle of 45°. Finally, we estimate that with aluminum impurity levels of a few percent, the impurity radiation power density would be approximately 25 kW/cm³ for FRX-L conditions and 2.5 GW/cm³ for anticipated conditions in a MTF plasma. While we have assumed a sputtering model of impurity generation, the results for the power density apply for impurity levels of a few percent, regardless of the generation mechanism.     

Groundwater Protection and Management Strategy in Jordan

Groundwater resources are essential in Jordan that require careful planning and management in order to sustain human socio-economic development and various ecosystems. However these vital resources are under the threat of degradation by both mismanagement and over-exploitation that leads to contamination and decline of water levels. A new by-law, which specifically addresses pollution prevention and protection of water resources used for domestic purposes through appropriate land use restriction and zoning, is currently under preparation in Jordan. This law (i.e., Groundwater Management Policy) addresses the management of groundwater resources including development, protection, management, and reducing abstraction for each renewable aquifer to the sustainable rate (i.e., safe yield). Groundwater vulnerability mapping and delineation of groundwater protection zones were implemented in different areas in Jordan in cooperation between the German Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) company and Ministry of Water and Irrigation. This paper presents the status of groundwater resources in Jordan and their major issues. It attempts to discuss the groundwater vulnerability and protection strategy and the impacts of over-exploitation on the groundwater aquifers in an integrated water resources management perspective.     

A comprehensive simulator for assessing the reliability of a photovoltaic panel peak power tracking system

When designing a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, it is often difficult to correctly predict, before field testing, the behavior of this MPPT under varying solar irradiation on photovoltaic (PV) panels. A solution to this problem is to design a maximum power point trackers simulator of a PV system used to test MPPT algorithms. This simulator must have the same role as the MPPT card of the PV panel and thus will fully emulate the response of a real MPPT card of the PV panel. Therefore, it is a good substitute to help to test the peak power trackers of the PV system in the laboratory. This paper describes a simple peak power trackers simulator of the PV system which has a short response time thus, can be used to test MPPT algorithms under very rapid variation condition. The obtained results and the theoretical operation confirm the reliability and the superior performance of the proposed model.     

Assessment of the effect of modern transformation on the traditional settlement ‘Ksar’ of Ouargla in southern Algeria

The architecture of the Ouargla Ksar has long been recognized as an example of adaptation to harsh climate in the deep desert of Algeria. Over the last few decades, it has undergone some changes in its initial urban structure, due to accelerated and uncontrolled modern urbanization, that had negative implications and devaluation of its thermal characteristics. This article tries to understand the bioclimatic concept of adaptation of this Ksar and assess to what extent its morphological transformation has impacted its microclimatic conditions. This assessment is made through a comparative study between two different areas: one untransformed and the other transformed. A referential weather station situated in the suburbs was also exploited for consolidation of comparison. The investigation was undertaken using site measurements and observations.     

Influence of evaluated data of fission product poisons on criticality

The main objective of this research is to study the influence of cross-section differences of fission product poisons among various newly released evaluated cross-section libraries ENDFB-VI.8, JENDL3.2, JEF2.2, IAEA, ENDFB-VII and JEFF3.1 on criticality of an MTR type research reactor. The effect of cross-sections of poisons on the reactivity was studied with the help of WIMSD and CITATION codes. Various cross-section libraries were used in SARC (System for Analysis of Reactor Core) code for the fuel cycle analysis. It was found that the negative reactivity induced due to ¹³⁵Xe for the equilibrium core is around 36.00 mk whereas for ¹⁴⁹Sm it ranges from 6.65 to 7.06 mk. The three libraries (JENDL3.2, IAEA and ENDFB-VII) resulted in small increase in the Xenon worth as compared to the other three libraries. For Samarium, JEFF3.1 gives the highest worth whereas ENDFB-VI.8 gives the least worth among the six libraries.     

Extracting the overlapped sub-regions in wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks, the overlapped sub-regions (faces) are generated due to the intersections among the sensing ranges of nodes. The faces play a significant role in solving the three problems k-coverage (i.e., all the points in the interested field should be covered by at least k active nodes while maintaining connectivity between all active nodes), coverage scheduling and cover sets. To find the faces and discover their coverage degrees, this article presents a distributed algorithm that runs in three steps. First, a colored graph called Intersection Points Colored Graph (IPCG) is proposed, in which the vertices are defined by the range-intersections of nodes-devices and are colored according to the position of these intersections in relation to the ranges of the nodes. The vertex that located on perimeter of the node’s range is colored by red, while the green vertex is an intersection of two ranges inside the range of a third node. The edge that joins two red vertices is colored by red and the edge that joins two green vertices is colored by green while the edge that joins two distinct colored vertices is colored by blue. Second, based on their properties and distinct features, the faces in IPCG are classified into five classes (simple, negative, red, green and positive). Third, based on faces classification, the Three Colored Trees algorithm is proposed to extract the faces in linear time in terms of the number of vertices and edges in IPCG.

     

Synthesis of Thiazolo(4,5-b)-quinoxalines and related compounds

The reaction of 2,3,7-trichloroquinoxaline ( 1 ) or 2,3-dichloro-7-bromoquinoxaline ( 2 ) with thiourea in DMSO gave 6,6′-dichloro- or 6,6′-dibromodiquinoxalino[2,3-b:2′:3′-e]1,4-dithiien ( 3 or 4 ). However, 1 or 2 reacts with thiourea in ethanol to give ( 3 or 4 ) beside 7-chloro- or 7-bromo-2-imino-2,3-dihydrothiazolo[4,5-b] quinoxaline ( 5 or 6 ) respectively. Interaction of 1 or 2 with acetone thiosemicarbazone gave 7-chloro- or 7-bromo-3-amino-2-imino-2,3-dihydro-thiazolo[4,5-b] quinoxaline hydrochloride ( 13 or 14 ) respectively. Cyclization of 7-chloro- or 7-bromo-3-amino-2-imino-2,3-dihydrothiazolo[4,5-b]quinoxaline ( 15 or 16 ) on treatment with aromatic acid chlorides or isothiocyanates succeeded to give 19—21 or 28 and 29 .     

Design and Characterization of a New Food Packaging Material by Recycling Blends Virgin and Recovered polyethylene terephthalate

This research is dealing with plastic wastes recycling environmental problem. The objective is the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) valorization from postconsumer bottles by the optimization of the most suitable virgin and recycled PET mixture to be used as food contact packaging. Mixtures of these materials were elaborated by extrusion and injection molding using different recycled PET rates. Rheological, mechanical, and thermal analyses were achieved, and then migration tests were investigated to assess the recycled PET compatibility for food contact packaging. The rheological analysis showed a PET degradation after the mechanical recycling, with PET viscosity decrease, compared to that of the virgin material. The blends properties showed that at low deformation, mechanical properties were significantly improved by adding recycled PET. Consequently, the new material was more rigid with a crystallinity degree improvement, increasing the materials resistance that enhanced their tenacity. However, at great deformations, the PET mixed materials were deteriorated through drastic ductility losses. The mixture 30/70 recycled/virgin PET seems to be the best blend. For all the studied mixtures, the overall migrations conformed the European Standard, allowing the use of the recycled PET for packaging as an issue in circular economy principles for a sustainable development. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 60: 250–256, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers