Towards integration of hydrolysis,decomposition and electrolysis processes of the Cu–Cl thermochemical water splitting cycle

The thermochemical copper–chlorine (Cu–Cl) cycle is a promising technology that can utilize various energy sources such as nuclear and solar energy to produce hydrogen with minimal or no emissions of greenhouse gases. Past investigations have primarily focused on the design and testing of individual unit operations of the Cu–Cl cycle. This paper investigates the chemical streams flowing through each individual process from the aspect of system integration. The interactions between each of the two immediate upstream and downstream processes are examined. Considering the integration of electrolytic hydrogen production and cupric chloride hydrolysis steps, it is evident that an intermediate step to concentrate CuCl₂ and reduce HCl composition is required. Spray drying and crystallization, serving as the intermediate steps, are examined from the aspects of energy requirements and viability of engineering. Regarding the integration of the hydrolysis and oxygen production steps, thermodynamic and XRD analysis results are presented to study the mutual impacts of these two steps on each other. Within the hydrolysis reactor, high conversion of CuCl₂ to Cu₂OCl₂ is preferable for the integration because it reduces the release of chlorine gas during the oxygen production. Considering the integration of the oxygen production step and electrolysis of CuCl, pulverization is needed for the solidified CuCl. The recovery of CuCl vapour entrained in oxygen gas requires further research. Residual CuCl₂ introduced from the hydrolysis step into the oxygen production step may be further entrained by CuCl into the electrolytic hydrogen production cell. Additionally, thermal energy integration patterns are briefly discussed while integrating the various chemical streams of the Cu–Cl cycle. Steam generated from the heat recovery of cuprous chloride can be introduced into the hydrolysis reactor to serve as a reactant.     

Manganese ferrite-polyaniline hybrid materials: Electrical and magnetic properties

Magnetic MnFe₂O₄ nanopowders were synthesized by an original solvothermal method in the absence and in the presence of tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB) and Tween 80 (TW) as surfactants. Manganese ferrite/polyaniline (PANI) hybrid materials were synthesized by in situ polymerization of aniline on the surface of MnFe₂O₄ using ammonium persulfate as oxidant. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of the two surfactants on the properties of the MnFe₂O₄ powders and of their composites with PANI. The specific surface area, the cumulative surface area of pores and the cumulative volume of pores are influenced by the nature of surfactant in case of MnFe₂O₄ powders and are higher by comparison to those of the MnFe₂O₄/PANI hybrid materials. The values of saturation magnetization in case of MnFe₂O₄ powders are higher than those of the hybrid materials and are not influenced by the surfactant nature. These features revealed that MnFe₂O₄ powders can be efficiently used as adsorbents for the purification of wastewaters. The values of the electrical conductivity of the composites exhibit a significant increase in comparison to the MnFe₂O₄ powders and depend on the surfactant nature. The highest value of electrical conductivity was achieved by the composite obtained using Tween 80 as surfactant (σ_DC = 54.5·10^?5S?m^?1) which was close to that of PANI (σ_DC = 61.2·10^?5 S?m^?1). The fact that the magnetic and electric properties of the synthesized MnFe₂O₄/PANI composites can be changed by design, demonstrate the high potential of these materials to be used in magneto-electric applications.     

Fast bio-inspired computation using a GPU-based systemic computer

Biology is inherently parallel. Models of biological systems and bio-inspired algorithms also share this parallelism, although most are simulated on serial computers. Previous work created the systemic computer – a new model of computation designed to exploit many natural properties observed in biological systems, including parallelism. The approach has been proven through two existing implementations and many biological models and visualizations. However to date the systemic computer implementations have all been sequential simulations that do not exploit the true potential of the model. In this paper the first ever parallel implementation of systemic computation is introduced. The GPU Systemic Computation Architecture is the first implementation that enables parallel systemic computation by exploiting the multiple cores available in graphics processors. Comparisons with the serial implementation when running two programs at different scales show that as the number of systems increases, the parallel architecture is several hundred times faster than the existing implementations, making it feasible to investigate systemic models of more complex biological systems.     

An empirical examination of application frameworks success based on technology acceptance model

Framework-based development is currently regarded as one of the most promising software development approaches when it comes to improvements in lead time, productivity and quality. However, many frameworks and projects based on frameworks still report failures, which indicate that there are problems related to both frameworks technology and frameworks usage. The objective of our research was to examine the major drivers that have an impact on a framework’s acceptance and a framework’s success. We used the technology acceptance model (TAM) and Seddon’s information systems success model as our underlying theory. Data collected from an online survey of 389 active framework users was used to test hypothesized models. Data analysis was performed via structural equation modeling. Our findings support the post-adoption version of TAM and the relationship between continuous use and the successful use of systems, where more use also means more net benefits. We found that the successful use of frameworks is mainly dependent on two factors: continuous framework usage intention and the perceived usefulness of the framework. Several practical and theoretical implications can be foreseen including advances in framework development guidelines and insight into the relationship between the acceptance and success of frameworks.     

功耗低于1.5mW的精密倾斜/下落检测器

当你需要检测与地球重力有关的角度位置时,你可以使用Analog Devices公司的三轴MEMS加速计。ADXL335有三路模拟输出,对应于正交坐标系统的X、Y、Z     

A general inelastic internal state variable model for amorphous glassy polymers

This paper presents the formulation of a constitutive model for amorphous thermoplastics using a thermodynamic approach with physically motivated internal state variables. The formulation follows current internal state variable methodologies used for metals and departs from the spring-dashpot representation generally used to characterize the mechanical behavior of polymers like those used by Ames et al. in Int J Plast, 25, 1495–1539 (2009) and Anand and Gurtin in Int J Solids Struct, 40, 1465–1487 (2003), Anand and Ames in Int J Plast, 22, 1123–1170 (2006), Anand et al. in Int J Plast, 25, 1474–1494 (2009). The selection of internal state variables was guided by a hierarchical multiscale modeling approach that bridged deformation mechanisms from the molecular dynamics scale (coarse grain model) to the continuum level. The model equations were developed within a large deformation kinematics and thermodynamics framework where the hardening behavior at large strains was captured using a kinematic-type hardening variable with two possible evolution laws: a current method based on hyperelasticity theory and an alternate method whereby kinematic hardening depends on chain stretching and material plastic flow. The three-dimensional equations were then reduced to the one-dimensional case to quantify the material parameters from monotonic compression test data at different applied strain rates. To illustrate the generalized nature of the constitutive model, material parameters were determined for four different amorphous polymers: polycarbonate, poly(methylmethacrylate), polystyrene, and poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide). This model captures the complex character of the stress–strain behavior of these amorphous polymers for a range of strain rates.     

Nanocrystalline silicon films formed under the impact of pulsed excimer laser radiation on polyimide substrates

Polycrystalline silicon films on polyimide substrates were obtained by a method based on the crystallization of amorphous films under the impact of nanosecond pulses of excimer laser radiation. Characteristics of the film structure were studied by methods of Raman scattering and high-resolution electron microscopy. For the laser crystallization regimes employed, nanocrystalline silicon films with an average grain size of 5 nm were obtained. The results are of interest for the development of large-scale microelectronic devices (active thin-film transistor matrices) on cheap flexible substrates.     

Phonological competition and cooperation in form-related priming: Sequential and nonsequential processes in word production.

Phonological competition theory states that competition among discrepant segments of similar words leads to inhibition of high-frequency word-naming responses in form-related priming tasks. If segments are selected sequentially, competition should be greater for begin-related pairs (storage-story), in which discrepant segments are late in the words, than for end-related pairs (glory-story), in which discrepant segments are selected before the shared ones. This pattern was not observed in standard visual priming, probably because of the influence of parallel orthographic input. However, it was observed in a repetitive word-pair production task in which visual input was absent. The findings favor a class of models in which nonsequential activation of phonological content precedes sequential selection of the segments of words to be spoken. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

一所大学建筑中用高效率的照明合理使用电能

0 引言 为了在用能效率上作出工程努力,Cortagena技术大学去年4月已决定实施一项雄心勃勃的计划,要在此后的4年中削减用电费用。为了证实不同政策的可行性和成本效益,应用于原海军医院(工业工程高等技术学校总部)的许多展示活动将在最近期内完成。当然,在此建筑中合理用电的对象将集中在两个主要的电气末端即:电