Sedimentological and petrophysical characteristics of Raha Formation at Wadi Tubia,Northern Gulf of Aqaba,Sinai, Egypt

The main aim of this study is to shed some light on the microfacies association, geochemistry and petrophysical properties of the rock types: dolomite, sandstone, shale and limestone forming the Raha Formation.The microfacies association includes: ferroan dolomite, sublithic arenite, ferruginous sublithic arenite, dolomitic lithic arenite, sandy bioclastic wackstone, bioclastic packstone, calcareous ferruginous lithic arenite and fossiliferous bioclastic grainstone.The depositional environments of these sediments are interpreted as restricted, shelf lagoon and open circulation.The dominant diagenetic processes presented in the studied samples are cementation, compaction, replacement, dissolution and dolomitization in sandstone rocks, while neomorphism, micritization, cementation, dolomitization, compaction and dissolution are present in carbonate facies. Geochemically, the ferruginous sublithic arenite microfacies are characterized by phosphate bands and high chemical weathering. Calcareous ferruginous lithic arenite microfacies are characterized by high concentration of iron oxides and fossiliferous bioclastic grainstone is characterized by high concentration of barium, as indicated from the chemical index of alteration (CIA).Statistical analysis of the measured petrophysical data shows that, the dolomitic lithic arenite and fossiliferous bioclastic grainstone microfacies have a good storage capacity in the Raha Formation of Wadi Tubia, Northern Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai, Egypt.     

Water distribution measurement for a PEMFC through neutron radiography

Neutron radiography has been used for in situ and non-destructive visualization and measurement technique for liquid water in a working proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In an attempt to differentiate water distribution in the anode side from that in the cathode side, a specially designed cell was machined and used for the experiment. The major difference between our design and traditional flow field design is the fact the anode channels and cathode channels were shifted by a channel width, so that the anode and cathode channels do not overlap in the majority of the active areas.

The neutron radiography experiments were performed at selected relative humidities, and stoichiometry values of cathode inlet. At each operating condition, the water distribution in anode/cathode gas diffusion layers (GDLs) was obtained. Image processing with four different spatial masks was applied to those images to differentiate liquid water in four different types of areas. Results indicate that the reactant gas relative humidity and stoichiometry significantly influence current density distribution and water distribution.     

Spectrophotometric Determination of Lead in some propellants

A new sensitive method has been proposed for the determination of lead in some single- and double-base propellants. The method is based on the color reaction of lead(II) with hematoxylin in presence of the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. At pH 8.0, the formed ternary system possesses an absorption maximum at 605 nm with a molar absorptivity of 5.5 × 10⁴ l · mol⁻¹ · cm⁻¹. The system adheres to Beer's law up to 1.78 ppm of lead, and the sensitivity index is 0.0039 μg · cm ². The susceptibility of interference of common ions is studied and some masking agent solutions are recommended to improve the selectivity of the method. The proposed method shows good agreement with the results obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry. An average recovery of 99.3% with a standard deviation not exceeding 1.7% is observed.     

Efficient flow‐control algorithm cooperating with energy allocation scheme for solar‐powered WSNs

Recently, solar energy emerged as a feasible supplement to battery power for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which are expected to operate for long periods. Since solar energy can be harvested periodically and permanently, solar‐powered WSNs can use the energy more efficiently for various network‐wide performances than traditional battery‐based WSNs of which aim is mostly to minimize the energy consumption for extending the network lifetime. However, using solar power in WSNs requires a different energy management from battery‐based WSNs since solar power is a highly varying energy supply. Therefore, firstly we describe a time‐slot‐based energy allocation scheme to use the solar energy optimally, based on expectation model for harvested solar energy. Then, we propose a flow‐control algorithm to maximize the amount of data collected by the network, which cooperates with our energy allocation scheme. Our algorithms run on each node in a distributed manner using only local information of its neighbors, which is a suitable approach for scalable WSNs. We implement indoor and outdoor testbeds of solar‐powered WSN and demonstrate the efficiency of our approaches on them. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Commutation modelling and sparks reduction based on coupled circuit method

The commutating machines have a notable effect on the exchanges in brush–commutator contact area, which is particularly obvious when determining the intensity of sparks located on the brush. With time, higher current density at the descending edge promote sparks excitation, which itself increases intensity of the electrical erosion, brush temperature and thus also the wear. So in order to make an analytical study of commutation phenomenon, the coupled circuit method was developed. Therefore, a generalized mathematical model of the commutation, for brush–commutator, is established and can be extended for any other types of commutation on the basis of electromagnetic field (e.g. transformers and phase shift transformer. This model provides a greater efficiency to explain the impact of the electromagnetic fluxes surrounding brush area (or switch), specially for the current transition of the commutation process. Successful commutation is defined as operation in normal service, with no serious damages to the commutator, brushes or switches due to sparking that might require abnormal maintenance. It is recognized that some visible sparking are not evidence of unsuccessful commutation. The recommendation to improve the commutation (to achieve longer brush life) is the implementation of the proposal (slotted brush), which provides a linear and a sweet transition of currents in the coils of commutation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.