Volume Changes of Iron Oxide Compacts under Isothermal Reduction Conditions

Compacts made from chemically grade Fe₂O₃ were fired at 1473K for 6 hrs. The fired compacts were isothermally reduced either by hydrogen or carbon monoxide at 1073–1373K. The O₂ weight‐loss resulting from the reduction process was continuously recorded as a function of time using TGA technique, whereas the volume change at different reduction conditions was measured by displacement method. Porosity measurements, microscopic examination and X‐ray diffraction analysis were used to characterize the fired and reduced products. The rate of reduction at both the initial and final stages was increased with temperature. The reduction mechanism deduced from the correlations between apparent activation energy values, structure of partially reduced compacts and application of gas‐solid reaction models revealed the reduction rate (dr/dt) at both the initial and final stages. At early stages, the reduction was controlled by a combined effect of gaseous diffusion and interfacial chemical reaction mechanism, while at the final stages the interfacial chemical reaction was the rate determining step. In H₂ reduction, maximum swelling (80%) was obtained at 1373K, which was attributed to the formation of metallic iron plates. In CO reduction, catastrophic swelling (255%) was obtained at 1198K due to the formation of metallic iron plates and whiskers.     

A Leakage-Based Precoding Scheme for Downlink Multi-User MIMO Channels

In multiuser MIMO downlink communications, it is necessary to design precoding schemes that are able to suppress co-channel interference. This paper proposes designing precoders by maximizing the so-called signal-to-leakage-and-noise ratio (SLNR) for all users simultaneously. The presentation considers communications with both single- and multi-stream cases, as well as MIMO systems that employ Alamouti coding. The effect of channel estimation errors on system performance is also studied. Compared with zero-forcing solutions, the proposed method does not impose a condition on the relation between the number of transmit and receive antennas, and it also avoids noise enhancement. Simulations illustrate the performance of the scheme     

Design of Unskewed Interior Permanent Magnet Traction Motor with Asymmetric Flux Barriers and Shifted Magnets for Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs) are commonly used in electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (EV) uses skewed-rotor IPMSM as a traction motor. This motor is considered as a benchmark in this work. Although, skewing improves the torque quality of the motor by reducing the torque ripple, it reduces the average torque and increases the motor manufacturing complexity and cost. This article proposes improvements to the benchmark motor torque quality without skewing. The proposed motor uses the same stator winding and rotor magnet topologies of the benchmark motor with the same geometric constraints and magnet volume. Modifications are applied to the placement of the magnets in the rotor and the shape of the flux barriers to achieve the performance requirements. The design procedure of the proposed unskewed design is illustrated. Moreover, the electromagnetic performance of the proposed design is investigated. The design shows competitive performance in terms of the average torque, torque ripple, cogging torque, and efficiency compared to the benchmark motor. The mechanical integrity of the design is also verified. The proposed design is found to be a suitable alternative to the benchmark traction motor with a reduced rotor weight and without skewing.     

Distributed Bayesian diagnosis for modular assembly systems—A case study

The growing interest in modular and distributed approaches for the design and control of intelligent manufacturing systems gives rise to new challenges. One of the major challenges that have not yet been well addressed is monitoring and diagnosis in distributed manufacturing systems. In this paper we propose the use of a multi-agent Bayesian framework known as Multiply Sectioned Bayesian Networks (MSBNs) as the basis for multi-agent distributed diagnosis in modular assembly systems. We use a close-to-industry case study to demonstrate how MSBNs can be used to build component-based Bayesian sub-models, how to verify the resultant models, and how to compile the multi-agent models into runtime structures to allow consistent multi-agent belief update and inference.     

A framework for state-space estimation with uncertain models

Develops a framework for state-space estimation when the parameters of the underlying linear model are subject to uncertainties. Compared with existing robust filters, the proposed filters perform regularization rather than deregularization. It is shown that, under certain stabilizability and detectability conditions, the steady-state filters are stable and that, for quadratically-stable models, the filters guarantee a bounded error variance. Moreover, the resulting filter structures are similar to various (time- and measurement-update, prediction, and information) forms of the Kalman filter, albeit ones that operate on corrected parameters rather than on the given nominal parameters. Simulation results and comparisons with ℋ_∞ guaranteed-cost, and set-valued state estimation filters are provided     

Mercury content in some marine fish from the Alexandria coast

The total Hg of 6 marine fish species, caught from the 3 main fishing grounds along the coast of Alexandria, was determined and the distribution among the different organs was studied. It was found that the total Hg levels in fish differed according to species, size, and organs of fish as well as fishing ground. The highest value was found in large size especially in the viscera of Mullus barbatus obtained from El-Mex fishing ground.     

Fabrication and modification of polyvinylchloride based heterogeneous cation exchange membranes by simultaneously using Fe-Ni oxide nanoparticles and Ag nanolayer: Physico-chemical and antibacterial characteristics

Polyvinylchloride-blend-styrene butadiene rubber based nanocomposite cation exchange membranes were prepared by solution casting technique. Iron-oxide nanoparticles and Ag-nanolayer were simultaneously utilized as filler and surface modifier in membrane fabrication. The effects of Ag-nanolayer film thickness on membrane physicochemical and antibacterial characteristics of nanocomposite PVC-blend-SBR/Iron-oxide nanoparticles were studied. SEM images showed membrane roughness decreasing by Ag nanolayer thickness increasing. Membrane charge density and selectivity declined by Ag nanolayer coating up to 5 nm in membranes and then showed increasing trend by more nanolayer thickness. Ionic flux also showed increasing trend. Membranes showed good ability in E-Coli removal. 20 nm Ag-nanolayer coated membrane showed better performance compared to others.     

Volatiles Retention in the Drying of Skin Forming Materials PART 2: Natural Materials

ABSTRACT

The retention of ethanol as a simulated flavour was determined by drying single droplets in a horizontal wind tunnel, with fructose, reconstituted skim milk or coffee as the flavour encapaulant. Droplet temperature histories, ethanol content, and crust structure were evaluated for each encapsulant. No enhancement of volatile retention was obtained with the fructose eolutions irrespective of initial concentration, air velocity, or air temperature. Enhancement of the volatiles retention with the coffee and skim milk solutions correlated with an increase in initial solide concentration. resulting from selective diffusion phenomena and the formation of a resistant skin. In both cases air velocity had no significant effect upon volatiles retention. Skin forming materials with similar characteristics would be advantageous for flavour retention.