Analysis of Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Poly(2-Phenyl-1,3-Dioxolane-4-Yl-Methyl-Methacrylate-Co-Styrene) Polymer with Inverse Gas Chromatography

In this study, physical and thermodynamic properties of poly(2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl-methyl-methacrylate-co-styrene) (PDMMA-ST) were investigated by using inverse gas chromatography. Two groups of solvents with different chemical natures and polarities were used to obtain information about PDMMA-ST-solvent interactions: alcohols and alkanes. The specific retention volume (V_g ⁰), the sorption enthalpy (ΔH₁ ^S), sorption free energy (ΔG₁ ^S), sorption entropy (ΔS₁ ^S), the weight fraction activity coefficients of solute probes at infinite dilution (Ω ₁ ^∞), and Flory-Huggins interaction parameters (χ ₁₂ ^∞) between polymer and solvents were determined for the interactions of PDMMA-ST with alcohols and alkanes by inverse gas chromatography in the temperature range of 333–473 K. Also, the solubility parameters of PDMMA-ST at infinite dilution were found by plotting the graph of [(δ ₁ ²/RT) - χ ₁₂ ^∞/V₁] versus solubility parameters, δ ₁, of probes.     

A mathematical model and a heuristic approach for periodic material delivery in lean production environment

One of the important design elements for a good production system is material handling. In cases where it is not well-designed, it can be the bottleneck in the system. Moreover, it can cause a lot of wastes such as waiting time, idle time, and excessive transportation and cost. In this study, material handling in lean-based production environments is taken into account. Depending on the lean structure of the production systems such as being pull-based, smooth, and repetitive, delivering the materials to the stations periodically becomes important. At this point, milk-run trains are highly used in real applications since they enable the handling of required amount of materials on a planned basis. With this study, it is aimed to develop a specific model for milk-run trains which travel periodically in the production environment on a predefined route in equal cycle times with the aim of minimizing work-in-process and transportation costs. Since the milk-run trains having equal cycle times start their tours at the same time intervals, it becomes simple to manage them. For this reason, they are used in lean production systems where level scheduling is performed. The developed model is based on mixed-integer linear programming, and since it is difficult to find the optimum solution due to the combinatorial structure of the problem, a novel heuristic approach is developed. A numerical example is provided so as to show the applicability of the mathematical model and the heuristic approach.     

Kinetics of para-nitrophenol and chemical oxygen demand removal from synthetic wastewater in an anaerobic migrating blanket reactor

A laboratory scale anaerobic migrating blanket reactor (AMBR) was operated at different HRTs (1-10.38 days) in order to determine the para-nitrophenol (p-NP) and COD removal kinetic constants. The reactor was fed with 40 mg L(-1)p-NP and 3000 mg L(-1) glucose-COD. Modified Stover-Kincannon and Grau second-order kinetic models were applied to the experimental data. The predicted p-NP and COD concentrations were calculated using the kinetic constants. It was found that these data were in better agreement with the observed ones in the modified Stover-Kincannon compared to Grau second-order model. The kinetic constants calculated according to Stover-Kincannon model are as follows: the saturation value constant (K(B)) and maximum utilization rate constants (R(max)) were found as 31.55 g CODL(-1)day(-1), 29.49 g CODL(-1)day(-1) for COD removal and 0.428 g p-NPL(-1)day(-1), 0.407 g p-NPL(-1)day(-1) for p-NP removal, respectively (R(2)=1). The values of (a) and (b) were found to be 0.096 day and 1.071 (dimensionless) with high correlation coefficients of R(2)=0.85 for COD removal. Kinetic constants for specific gas production rate were evaluated using modified Stover-Kincannon, Van der Meer and Heerrtjes and Chen and Hasminoto models. It was shown that Stover-Kincannon model is more appropriate for calculating the effluent COD, p-NP concentrations in AMBR compared to the other models. The maximum specific biogas production rate, G(max), and proportionality constant, G(B), were found to be 1666.7 mL L(-1) day(-1) and 2.83 (dimensionless), respectively in modified Stover-Kincannon gas model. The bacteria had low Haldane inhibition constants (K(ID)=14 and 23 mg L(-1)) for p-NP concentrations higher than 40 mg L(-1) while the half velocity constant (K(s)) increased from 10 to 60 and 118 mg L(-1) with increasing p-NP concentrations from 40 to 85 and 125 mg L(-1).     

The effects of modified atmosphere gas composition on microbiological criteria, color and oxidation values of minced beef meat

This paper reports the effects of modified atmosphere gas compositions with different concentrations of CO(2)/O(2)/N(2) on color properties (L*, a* and b* values), oxidation stability (TBARS value) and microbiological properties of minced beef meat stored at +4 °C. Sampling was carried out on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 14th day of storage. The gas mixtures used were as follows: (i) %30O(2) + %70CO(2) (MAP1), (ii) %50O(2) + %50CO(2) (MAP2), (iii) %70O(2) + %30CO(2) (MAP3), (iv) %50O(2) + %30CO(2) + %20N(2) (MAP4), and (v) %30O(2) + %30CO(2) + %40N(2) (MAP5). Control samples (AP) were packaged under atmospheric air. Pseudomonas, lactic acid bacteria, Brochothrix thermosphacta, and Enterobacteriaceae members were monitored. Among these five modified atmosphere gas compositions, the best preservation for minced beef meat was in MAP4 gas combination maintaining acceptable color together with oxidation stability and acceptable microbial loads until the end of storage period of fourteen days.     

A Thienothiophene-Based Cation Treatment Allows Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells with Improved Efficiency and Stability

Perovskite surface treatment with additives has been reported to improve charge extraction, stability, and/or surface passivation. In this study, treatment of a 3D perovskite ((FAPbI₃)_1−x(MAPbBr₃)_x) layer with a thienothiophene-based organic cation (TTMAI), synthesized in this work, is investigated. Detailed analyses reveal that a 2D (n = 1) or quasi-2D layer does not form on the PbI₂-rich surface 3D perovskite. TTMAI-treated 3D perovskite solar cells (PSCs) fabricated in this study show improved fill factors, providing an increase in their power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) from 17% to over 20%. It is demonstrated that the enhancement is due to better hole extraction by drift-diffusion simulations. Furthermore, thanks to the hydrophobic nature of the TTMAI, PSC maintains 82% of its initial PCE under 15% humidity for over 380 h (the reference retains 38%). Additionally, semitransparent cells are demonstrated reaching 17.9% PCE with treated 3D perovskite, which is one of the highest reported efficiencies for double cationic 3D perovskites. Moreover, the semitransparent 3D PSC (TTMAI-treated) maintains 87% of its initial efficiency for six weeks (>1000 h) when kept in the dark at room temperature. These results clearly show that this study fills a critical void in perovskite research where highly efficient and stable semitransparent perovskite solar cells are scarce.     

Flow-line scheduling problem with controllable processing times

In this paper we address the simultaneous scheduling and optimal-processing-times selection problem in a multi-product deterministic flow line operated under a cyclic scheduling approach. The selection of processing times plays an important role in achieving the desired production rate with the least possible operating cost. We first formulate the important subproblem of optimal-processing-times selection for different objectives, when the sequence of jobs is fixed, and then develop an efficient solution procedure for it. The fast solution of the fixed sequence problem is necessary for the development of efficient approximate solution procedures for the simultaneous scheduling and optimal-processing-times problem. A computational study on the effectiveness of the proposed solution procedure is presented. For the solution of the simultaneous scheduling and optimal-processing-times problem we suggest an iterative solution procedure, and report our computational experience with this procedure. For the solution of large problems we present a genetic algorithm. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated through computational results and by evaluating the performance of the obtained solutions against lower bounds that we developed for the problem.     

Development of metal supported solid oxide fuel cells for operation at 500–600 °C

A novel metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell has been developed that is capable of operating at temperatures of 500–600 °C. The rationale behind the materials used to construct this fuel cell type is given, and results are presented from cell testing on hydrogen and reformed natural gas, including durability trials of some 2500 h duration. This new fuel cell variant is shown to be tolerant of carbon monoxide, durable, robust to thermal and redox cycling, and capable of delivering technologically relevant power densities. This paper was presented at the Fuel Cells: Materials, Processing, and Manufacturing Technologies Symposium sponsored by the Energy/Utilities Industrial Sector & Ground Transportation Industrial Sector and the Specialty Materials Critical Technologies Sector at the ASM International Materials Solutions Conference, October 13–15, 2003, in Pittsburgh, PA. The symposium was organized by P. Singh, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, S.C. Deevi, Philip Morris USA, T. Armstrong, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and T. Dubois, U.S. Army CECOM.     

Power allocation and temporal fair user group scheduling for downlink NOMA

Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) has been proposed as a new radio access technique for cellular networks as an alternative to OMA (Orthogonal Multiple Access) in which the users of a group (pairs or triples of users in a group are considered in this paper) are allowed to use the wireless channel simultaneously. In this paper, for downlink single-input single-output SISO-NOMA, a heuristic power allocation algorithm within a group is first proposed which attempts to ensure that the users of a group benefit from simultaneous transmission equally in terms of achievable throughput. Moreover, a user group scheduling algorithm is proposed for downlink NOMA systems by which a user group is to be dynamically selected for transmission while satisfying long term temporal fairness among the individual contending users. The effectiveness of the proposed power allocation method along with the temporal fair scheduling algorithm for downlink NOMA is validated with simulations and the performance impact of the transmit power and the coverage radius of the base station as well as the number of users are thoroughly studied.