The concept of the gas turbine‐based hybrid vehicle: system,design and configuration issues

The object of this study is a theoretical and experimental analysis of a new hybrid propulsion system for a passenger sedan in which the thermal engine is a small gas turbine set. Some preliminary results on the possibility of replacing the conventional ICE of a hybrid ‘series’ configuration by a turbogas were presented and discussed in previous papers by the same authors: several possible designs were examined under both a thermodynamic and an operative point of view. This paper presents a summary of the project and constitutes an attempt to put things in a proper engineering perspective: the technical feasibility of the project is assessed via a calculation of the required mission loads, a preliminary design of the most important elements of the propulsive system, the choice of the mission control strategy and the implementation of a numerical system simulator. The experiments that provided a verification for the assumed component efficiencies were carried out, in cooperation with the Research Centre of ENEA‐Casaccia, on an ELLIOTT TA‐45 group. Our results, though only preliminary, allow for a direct comparison between a GT‐hybrid vehicle and a modern diesel car, and indicate that the GT‐hybrid may be actually a competitor for the FC‐powered vehicle concept. Our ‘optimal’ configuration is a combination of a 100 kg battery pack and two turbogas set of 5 and 16 kW, respectively. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macro- and micro-cellular porous ceramics from preceramic polymers

Macrocellular and microcellular SiOC open cell ceramic foams were fabricated from a preceramic polymer. Macrocellular foams, with a cell size ranging from about 100–600 μm and a bulk density ranging from about 0.25–0.58 g/cm³, depending on the processing parameters, were fabricated using a direct foaming approach. Microcellular foams, with a cell size of about 8 μm, were fabricated using poly(methyl methacrylate)microbeads as sacrificial templates. The bulk density ranged from about 0.31–0.48 g/cm³, depending on the amount of microbeads in the starting material. The compression strength of the foams increased with increasing relative density, and microcellular foams possessed a 2–5 times higher crushing strength than macrocellular foams of similar density.     

Examining the alliance using the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set.

The alliance between therapist and patient was investigated using the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set (PQS), an instrument that quantitatively describes therapy sessions in a manner that captures the complexity of the therapy process. More specifically, the PQS was used to examine the treatment processes being assessed by observer ratings on the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales (CALPAS). Using data from 30 brief psychodynamic psychotherapy treatments (patients aged 20–81 yrs), three PQS factors were found to be associated with alliance: Patient–Therapist Interaction, Patient Capacity/Commitment, and Therapist Countertransference. In multiple regression analyses with scales constructed from these three factors, Patient–Therapist Interaction was found to predict alliance ratings, while the other two aspects of the treatment process did not account for any significant additional variance in the alliance ratings. Results suggest that Patient–Therapist Interaction plays a defining role in the alliance construct, as assessed by the observer version of the CALPAS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solving advanced network reliability problems by means of cellular automata and Monte Carlo sampling

This paper extends the cellular automata-based, Monte Carlo sampling methodology for computing network reliability, previously proposed by the first author. The extension regards the development of cellular automata for the solution of the all-terminal and k-terminal connection problems and the maximum unsplittable flow problem, which can be considered as a particular, simplified case of the maximum flow distribution problem. The algorithms developed are presented in detail and verified on literature cases.     

Heat conduction with a temperature-dependent thermal conductivity coefficient

A variational method is employed to solve stationary and nonstationary heat conduction problems when the thermal conductivity coefficient is temperature-dependent and the heat generation function of the medium is arbitrary.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 1070–1078, December, 1970.     

Characterization of a lab-scale platinum filament pyrolyzer for studying the fast devolatilization of solid fuels

Platinum filament pyrolyzers achieve very high temperature and heating rate and can provide useful parameters for practical applications in combustion, pyrolysis and gasification processes. The critical use of an experimental instrument is necessary to provide reliable data. In this work, a commercial pyrolyzer (CDS Pyroprobe 2000) is characterized to obtain a correspondence between the nominal and the effective operating conditions. This is the basis for the modeling estimation of the effective thermal history of the sample during each experimental run. The experimental results obtained performing the devolatilization of coals, biomass and waste fuels using the pyrolyzer are compared with those obtained in a conventional thermogravimetric balance, to evaluate the effects of extremely different operating conditions. The amount of volatile released programming the most severe thermal conditions using the pyrolyzer (thus in conditions more similar to large-scale plants) differs significantly from that of thermogravimetric runs. Global kinetics are obtained fitting the experimental results and using the thermal history of the sample from the model results. They depend strongly on the conditions used for the devolatilization. Global kinetics obtained in the thermogravimetric balance runs (low heating rate) overestimate the rate of devolatilization in the pyrolyzer (high heating rate).     

Balance between nutrients and anti-nutrients in nine Italian potato cultivars

Nine commercial potato cultivars have been analyzed in order to detect differences in nutritional quality, considering the balance between nutrients and anti-nutrient compounds present in each. The most important nutrients studied in this paper were: water, starch, free sugars, such as glucose, fructose and sucrose, malic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid and chlorogenic acid. The anti-nutrients measured included α-solanine, α-chaconine and asparagine. This last compound was added to the anti-nutrient compounds because it is involved in the formation of acrylamide during thermal food processes. From this study, by considering the nutritional quality of each cultivar, we can divide the potato cultivars into three groups, each being suitable for a different technological processes.