Transmission pricing and recovery of investment costs in the deregulated power system based on optimal circuit prices

Transmission pricing has become a major issue in the discussions about the deregulated electricity markets.Conse-quently,open access to the transmission system is one of the basic topics to allow compe...     

A low‐power,area‐efficient multichannel receiver for micro MRI

A new integrated, low‐noise, low‐power, and area‐efficient multichannel receiver for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is described. The proposed receiver presents an alternative technique to overcome the use of multiple receiver front‐ends in parallel MRI. The receiver consists of three main stages: low‐noise pre‐amplifier, quadrature down‐converter, and a band pass filter (BPF). These components are used to receive the nuclear magnetic resonance signals from a 3 × 3 array of micro coils. These signals are combined using frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) method in the pre‐amplifier and BPF stages, then amplified and filtered to remove any out‐of‐band noise before providing it to an analog‐to‐digital converter at the low intermediate frequency stage. The receiver is designed using a 90 nm CMOS technology to operate at the main B₀ magnetic field of 9.4 T, which corresponds to 400 MHz. The receiver has an input referred noise voltage of 1.1 nV/√Hz, a total voltage gain of 87 dB, a power consumption of 69 mA from a 1 V supply voltage, and an area of 305 µm × 530 µm including the reference current and bias voltage circuits. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive neural dynamic surface control of MIMO stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown control directions

In this paper, an adaptive neural output‐feedback control approach is considered for a class of uncertain multi‐input and multi‐output (MIMO) stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown control directions. Neural networks (NNs) are applied to approximate unknown nonlinearities, and K‐filter observer is designed to estimate unavailable system's states. Due to utilization of Nussbaum gain function technique in the proposed approach, the singularity problem and requirement to prior knowledge about signs of high‐frequency gains are removed, simultaneously. Razumikhin functional method is employed to deal with unknown state time‐varying delays, so that the offered control approach is free of common assumptions on derivative of time‐varying delays. Also, an adaptive neural dynamic surface control is developed; hence, explosion of complexity in conventional backstepping method is eliminated, effectively. The boundedness of all the resulting closed‐loop signals is guaranteed in probability; meanwhile, convergence of the tracking errors to adjustable compact set in the sense of mean quartic value is also proved. Finally, simulation results are shown to verify and clarify efficiency of the offered approach. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LMI‐based adaptive output feedback fault‐tolerant controller design for nonlinear systems

This paper presents 2‐novel linear matrix inequality (LMI)‐based adaptive output feedback fault‐tolerant control strategies for the class of nonlinear Lipschitz systems in the presence of bounded matched or mismatched disturbances and simultaneous occurrence of actuator faults, including failure, loss of effectiveness, and stuck. The constructive algorithms based on LMI with creatively using Lyapunov stability theory and without the need for an explicit information about mode of actuator faults or fault detection and isolation mechanism are developed for online tuning of adaptive and fixed output‐feedback gains to stabilize the closed‐loop control system asymptotically. The proposed controllers guarantee to compensate actuator faults effects and to attenuate disturbance effects. The resulting control methods have simpler structure, as compared with most existing recent methods and more suitable for practical systems. The merits of the proposed fault‐tolerant control scheme have been verified by the simulation on nonlinear Boeing 747 lateral motion dynamic model subjected to actuator faults.     

A wide range delay locked loop for low power and low jitter applications

In this paper, a design of analog delay locked loop is introduced in which new techniques are applied to eventually increase operating frequency range and reduce jitter considerably. In this design, all blocks of a delay locked loop including a voltage controlled delay line, charge pump, and loop filter are accurately designed. A new delay cell is proposed with wide delay range, in which increase of delay range results in using fewer cells, and consequently the power consumption will decrease. Current mirror techniques and feedback in the proposed charge pump also cause higher current matching and better jitter performance. This delay locked loop, which is designed with TSMC 0.18‐μm CMOS technology, has a wide frequency range from 217 to 800 MHz. It consumes maximum 3.4‐mW and minimum 2.6‐mW power dissipation in source voltage of 1.8 V, which is suitable for low power applications. It also has an appropriate lock time that is at least equal to 3 clock cycles at 217 MHz and at most 25 clock cycles at 800 MHz. Jitter performance in this delay locked loop is improved significantly: RMS jitter is 0.65 ps at 800 MHz and 2.54 ps at 217 MHz. Moreover, its maximum peak‐to‐peak jitter is equal to 5.17 ps, and its minimum peak‐to‐peak jitter is equal to 1.39 ps at 217 and 800 MHz, respectively.     

Measurement of Consumed Energy Due to the Two-Phase Pressure Drop in a Pulsed Semi-Industrial Column: Effect of Geometry

This article deals with the evaluation of pressure drop and consumption of energy for a steady-state solvent extraction in a horizontal pulsed sieve-plate column, which are important for the design and optimization of the periodic-flow processes for industrial applications. In this study, the pressure drop and the position of loading points are investigated. Moreover, a mathematical evaluation on the energy consumption in the case of a pulsed flow is conducted, and besides the influence of pulsation intensity, the effect of geometrical parameters including the plate spacing and plate-free area is investigated as well. The results of this study are helpful for optimization of column geometry targeted to higher performance and lower energy consumption.     

Highly efficient[C8mim][Cl] ionic liquid accompanied with magnetite nanoparticles and different salts for interfacial tension reduction

The 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [C_8 mim][Cl] ionic liquid(IL) was used as a novel surfactant in n-heptane/water system. The interfacial tensions(IFT) were measured and corresponding variations were investigated. An IFT reduction of 80.8% was appropriate under the IL CMC of about 0.1 mol·L~(-1) and stronger effects were achieved when magnetite nanoparticles and salts were present profoundly under alkaline p Hs.The equilibrium IFT data were accurately simulated with the Frumkin adsorption model. Hereafter, the saturated surface concentration, equilibrium constant and interaction parameter were obtained and their variations were demonstrated. Further, emulsion stability and contact angle of oil/water interface over quartz surface were studied. The oil/water emulsion stability was hardly changed with nanoparticles; however, the stability of oil/water + IL emulsions was significantly improved. It was also revealed that the presence of sodium and calcium chloride electrolytes fortifies the IL impact, whereas sodium sulfate weakens. From dynamic IFT data and fitting with kinetic models, it was found that the IL migration toward interface follows the mixed diffusion–kinetic control model. Consequently, the IL diffusion coefficient and the appropriate activation energy were determined.     

Diffuse reflectance behavior of the printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics treated with zirconium and cerium dioxide and citric acid in near- and short-wave IR radiation spectral ranges

Near- and short-wave IR emission spectra of printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics coated with inorganic compounds in order to tune their diffuse reflectance behavior to the ones with woodland and desert backgrounds are investigated. In this regard, cotton/nylon blend fabrics printed with a four-color digital pattern were used as the substrate, and different concentrations of zirconium and cerium dioxide (ZrO₂ and CeO₂) with and without citric acid as a cross-linker were loaded on these fabrics using the pad-dry-cure method. The diffuse reflectance of the coated fabrics with various concentrations of nanoparticles and a cross-linker was first measured by near-infrared (NIR) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Then, fabrics with an optimum concentration of nanoparticles and appropriate reflectivity profiles similar to woodland and desert were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), washing, and rubbing fastness properties. In general, NIR and short-wave infrared (SWIR) reflectance of fabrics coated with ZrO₂ and CeO₂ nanoparticles in range of 1% to 1.5% (w/v [%]) was suitable for matching with different environments. According to the findings obtained from the durability test, it was concluded that the washing fastness of the treated fabrics with CeO₂ nanoparticles was excellent in both environments. FE-SEM images of the treated fabrics containing ZrO₂ and CeO₂ indicated that the presence of nanoparticles on the surface of fabrics in woodland patterns was greater than the desert ones. However, the coated fabrics with CeO₂ and citric acid in the woodland pattern have shown better dispersion with a mean particle size of 30 to 60 nm.     

Numerical study of n-heptane/benzene separation by thermal diffusion column

In this article,numerical simulations are performed to investigate the performance of the thermal diffusion column for the separation of n-heptane/benzene mixture.The present work tried to optimize column by analyzing significant parameters such as feed flow rate,temperature and cut.In order to obtain the hydrodynamic and temperature and mass distribution inside thermal diffusion column,computational fluid dynamic(CFD) method is applied to solve the Navier-Stocks equations.Numerical simulations are conducted to study the main parameters in both stationary and time-dependent conditions.By using the separation work unit as a function of cut,the optimal cut for maximum SWU occurs within a limited range of 0.47-0.5 for feed rate between 0.5 and 4 g min-1.Our findings reveal that the optimum feed rate in the range of optimum cut is about 1 g min~(-1).In transient study,results show that the best cut for reaching to steady-state condition is θ=0.5.     

Preparation and characterization of a novel calcium-conducting polymer inclusion membrane: Part I

The preparation and characterization of a novel type of castor oil-based polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) was investigated, focusing on its flux and selective recovery of Ca²⁺ over competitive ions such as K⁺, Na⁺, and Mg²⁺. The PIM contains a cross-linked high-molecular-weight green polyol (GPO) as a polymer base, benzene-18-crown-6 as a carrier, and an ionic liquid called 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride as a plasticizer. GPO was first synthesized by a reaction between an epoxidized castor oil and a cellulose acetate, thereafter, cross-linked by isophorene isocyanate. The base polymer and the prepared PIM were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FTIR results indicate that oxirane groups in the epoxidized castor oil molecules reacted with the primary hydroxyl groups of cellulose acetate chains. The contact angle measurement hints at the hydrophobic characteristics of the prepared membrane. Compared to the PVC-, CA-, and PVDF-based polymer inclusion membrane, the cured GPO-based PIM, showed higher selectivity and flux of calcium ions with the same composition. The greater stability and significantly higher surface roughness are further favorable features of the novel PIM.