Robust stability of hybrid Roesser models against parametric uncertainty: a general approach

This paper aims at proposing a general framework for the establishement of LMI conditions to analyse the robust stability of a singular hybrid Roesser model subject to parametric uncertainties. The uncertain parameters are involved through implicit Linear Fractional Representations (LFR). Special focus is put on the influence of the number of uncertain parameters and the dimensionality of the model. More precisely it is shown that each dimension can nearly be regarded as an uncertain parameter and the other way around. Therefore, their influence on the conservatism of the obtained condition is very similar.     

Computerized scaled cells to study the effect of additive ratios and concentrations on nodulation during copper electrorefining

Scaled copper electrorefining cells were designed, built and computerized to simulate as closely as possible industrial conditions at three Canadian copper refineries. The industrial dimensions of Falconbridge, Kidd Metallurgical Division, were considered while designing scaled cells. Anode width to cell width ratio, anode width to cathode width ratio, anodic surface to cathodic surface ratio, as well as electrolyte volume to cathodic surface ratio, which was about 60 L m^–2, were consistent with Kidd's industrial ratios. However, the cell design also allowed simulation of INCO's Copper Cliff Copper Refinery (CCCR) or Noranda's Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR). Electrorefining cells were 135.0 cm deep by 14.7 cm wide. Electrolyte flow rate was parallel to the electrodes. Electrolyte was circulated from the lower part of the electrorefining cells to the top where there was an overflow going to the electrowinning circuit. The equipment was computer controlled using Labview software. Experiments were conducted using this scaled electrorefining set-up to evaluate the effect of various ratios and concentrations of additives on nodulation during copper electrorefining under high current densities. Cathodic polarization curves, SEM micrographs, porosity analyses and copper grain analyses were used to characterize the cathodes produced.     

The Hydrogenolysis of Commercial Corn Glucose Syrup

Hydrogenolysis of corn syrup was carried out at 170°C and 60 at pressure. After 3 h 92.3% of the glucose content of the syrup was converted into sorbitol.     

Infrared and electron spin resonance for the high temperature superconductor Y1Ba2Cu3O9−x

Samples of the high temperature superconductor Y-Ba-Cu-O were prepared to achieve the oxygen deficient perovskite structure Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_9–x withx>2. The electrical resistance has been measured with the temperature in the range from 77 to 300 K, under the application of d.c. and a.c. with frequency 900 Hz. The d.c. produced a rather lower critical temperatureT _c with zero resistance at 77.1 K, but the a.c. gave a sharp drop in the resistance but zero resistance was reached at liquid nitrogen temperature. To elucidate this behaviour, an X-ray diffraction pattern was obtained. An infrared analysis was carried out for the sample and the starting materials to provide more information about the bonds. To complete the picture, electron spin resonance study is discussed. It is important to point out that this is the first time infrared measurements for superconductors have been carried out in Egypt.     

Multi-dimensional analysis of soil moisture dynamics in trickle irrigated fields. I: Mathematical modelling

An approach is presented to model soil moisture dynamics in irrigated fields. A generalised conceptual model is proposed for moisture transfer in response to hydraulic and thermal gradients. A model to stimulate moisture extraction by roots is presented, based on a philosophy related to fundamental physical principles and recent experimental evidence. The combined models are interpreted numerically by the finite element method and a number of numerical techniques are developed to treat time-dependent, nonlinear and moving boundary conditions. The approach is sufficiently general and is independent of the method of water application being considered. Its benefits are particularly magnified in studies of localised irrigation, where complex soil-water distribution patterns evolve.     

Use of desiccant dehumidification to improve energy utilization in air-conditioning systems in Beirut

Humidity and indoor moist surrounding affect air cleanliness and protects harmful microorganisms when relative humidity is above 70%. In humid climates, the humidity issues are a major contributor to energy inefficiency in HVAC devices. The use of liquid desiccant dehumidification systems of supply air is a viable alternative to reduce the latent heat load on the HVAC system and improve efficiency. Thermal energy, at a temperature as low as 40–50°C, required for the operation of a liquid desiccant hybrid air conditioner can be efficiently obtained using a flat-plate solar collector. In this work a model of a solar-operated liquid desiccant system (using calcium Chloride) for air dehumidification is developed. The system utilizes packed beds of counter flow between an air stream and a solution of liquid desiccant for air dehumidification and solution regeneration. The desiccant system model is integrated with a solar heat source for performance evaluation at a wide range of recorded ambient conditions for Beirut city. Standard mass and energy balances are performed on the various components of the system and a computer simulation program is developed for the integrated system analysis. The desiccant system of the current study replaces a 3 TR (10.56 kW) vapour compression unit for a typical house as low latent load application, and is part of a hybrid desiccant–vapour compression system for a high latent load application, namely a small restaurant with an estimated cooling load of 11.39 TR (40 kW), including reheat. The relevant parameters of the desiccant system are optimized at peak load, and it is found out that there is an important energy saving if the ratio of the air flow rate in the regenerator to that in the dehumidifier is about 0.3 to 0.4. The COP of the desiccant unit is 0.41 for the house, and 0.45 for the restaurant. The size of the vapor compression unit of the restaurant is reduced to 8 TR when supplemented by a desiccant system. The performance is studied of the desiccant system integrated with a solar collector system and an auxiliary natural gas heater to heat the regenerator. The transient simulation of the solar desiccant system is performed for the entire cooling season. The solar fraction for the house is equal to 0.25, 0.47, and 0.68 for a collector area of 28.72, 57.44, and 86.16 m², respectively. The solar fraction for the restaurant is 0.19, 0.38, and 0.54, for the same collector areas. The life cycle savings for the house run solely on desiccant system were positive only if natural gas is available at a cheap price. For the restaurant, the economic benefit of the desiccant system is positive, because the need for reheat in the vapor compression system is eliminated. For a gas price of 0.5638 $/kg, the payback period for the restaurant turned out to be immediate if the energy is supplied solely by natural gas, and 11 years if an 86.16 m² solar collector is implemented to reduce the fuel consumption. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New PSO-based Algorithm for Two-Dimensional Non-Guillotine Non-Oriented Cutting Stock Problem

In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed for the two-dimensional non-guillotine non-oriented cutting stock problem. The considered problem consists of cutting small rectangular pieces of predetermined sizes from large but finite rectangular plates. The objective is to generate cutting patterns that minimize the unused area and fulfill customer orders. The proposed algorithm is a combination of a new particle swarm optimization approach with a heuristic criterion inspired from the literature. The algorithm is tested on twenty-two instances divided into two sets. Corresponding results show the algorithm efficiency in optimizing the trim loss that is comprised between 2.6% and 7.8% for all considered instances.     

Adaptive noise-reducing anisotropic diffusion filter

In image processing and computer vision, the denoising process is an important step before several processing tasks. This paper presents a new adaptive noise-reducing anisotropic diffusion (ANRAD) method to improve the image quality, which can be considered as a modified version of a speckle-reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD) filter. The SRAD works very well for monochrome images with speckle noise. However, in the case of images corrupted with other types of noise, it cannot provide optimal image quality due to the inaccurate noise model. The ANRAD method introduces an automatic RGB noise model estimator in a partial differential equation system similar to the SRAD diffusion, which estimates at each iteration an upper bound of the real noise level function by fitting a lower envelope to the standard deviations of pre-segment image variances. Compared to the conventional SRAD filter, the proposed filter has the advantage of being adapted to the color noise produced by today’s CCD digital camera. The simulation results show that the ANRAD filter can reduce the noise while preserving image edges and fine details very well. Also, it is favorably compared to the fast non-local means filter, showing an improvement in the quality of the restored image. A quantitative comparison measure is given by the parameters like the mean structural similarity index and the peak signal-to-noise ratio.     

Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoparticles coated by new functionalized tetraaza-2,3 dialdehyde micro-crystalline cellulose: synthesis,characterization, and catalytic application for degradation of Acid Yellow 17

In this study, we developed an original approach for preparing cellulose-coated magnetite nanoparticles (NPs). Two novel Schiff bases (PDA-g-DAC) and [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)] were synthesized via condensation reactions of periodate oxidized micro-crystalline cellulose (DAC) with o-phenylene diamine (PDA) to obtain its azomethine derivative with 85% yield. Subsequently, the functionalization of (PDA-g-DAC) with benzil (Bz) yields the tetraaza macrocycle [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)]. The physicochemical characterization of the condensation products was performed using ¹³CNMR, FTIR, ATG, DSC, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Magnetic nanomaterial-based Schiff base cellulose was successfully prepared using in situ chemical co-precipitation of coordinated ferric and ferrous ions in cellulose Schiff base matrix under optimized conditions, and then, its magnetic properties were characterized. The results demonstrated that the Fe₃O₄ NPs coated with [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)] were homogeneously coated in the matrix under ultrasonic irradiation with the saturation magnetization of 69.50 emu g^?1. In addition, XRD line broadening analysis showed that the average particle size of the NPs was 37.3 nm. Furthermore, FTIR spectra demonstrated that [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)] concavity was anchored to magnetite Fe₃O₄ NPs through azomethine groups. Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) of [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)@Fe₃O₄] magnetic nanocomposite samples showed the typical behavior of ferromagnetism. This study provided a green and facile method to inhibit magnetic nanoparticle aggregation. Activity results revealed that the prepared [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)@Fe₃O₄] catalyst shows the maximum activity for degradation of Acid Yellow 17 (AY17) compared to other prepared catalysts. After degradation reaction, the [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)@Fe₃O₄] catalyst was recovered from the reaction mixture via an external magnet and used for further five consecutive cycles with excellent catalytic activity, successively, which was comparable to the fresh catalyst. The catalyst degradation efficiency and its easy separation exhibited that [Bz-(PDA-g-DAC)@Fe₃O₄] catalyst is a promising material for the removal of AY17 from aqueous solutions in green chemistry perspectives.