万维网为设计师们提供一个公平竞争的舞台

拥有复杂和昂贵设计工具的大公司霸占设计舞台的日子已经一去不复返了。这种变化的山现应当归功于万维网(Worldwide Web)。现在,在设计高档ASIC时,所需要的只不过是可靠地连到互联网上去。不论是大公司,还是小公司,建立在互联网上的技术会帮助他们很快地把ASIC设计出来。     

Effect of reduced oxygen atmosphere and sodium acetate treatment on the microbial quality changes of seer fish (Scomberomorus commerson) steaks stored in ice

The effect of reduced oxygen atmosphere and sodium acetate treatment on the microbial quality of seer fish (Scomberomorus commerson) steaks was determined during chilled storage (1–2 °C). The O₂ absorber reduced the oxygen content in the pack to less than 0.01% corresponding to 99.96% reduction within 24 h. The use of O₂ absorber with sodium acetate dip treatment (2% w/v) extended the sensory shelf life up to 25 days compared to only 12 days for control air packs and 20 days for untreated samples with O₂ absorber. A prominent lag phase was observed for many bacterium studied, particularly for the sodium acetate treated samples with O₂ absorber. On the day of sensory rejection, both the total mesophilic and psychrotrophic counts reached 7.7–8.1 and 7.1–7.9 log cfu/g, respectively. The sodium acetate treatment and reduced O₂ atmosphere affected the type of major spoilers. In air packed samples, H₂S-producers predominated followed by Brochothrix thermosphacta, Pseudomonas spp., where as in the untreated samples with O₂ absorber, H₂S-producers predominated the microbial flora followed by Lactobacillus spp. For treated samples with O₂ absorber, B. thermosphacta formed the major micro-flora followed by Lactobacillus spp. The use of O₂ absorber inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas spp., and total Enterobacteriaceae.     

Assessing Process and Coating Reliability Through Monitoring of Process and Design Relevant Coating Properties

Thermal spray in general, plasma spray in particular, is a highly complex process with numerous interacting variables associated with generation of the spray stream, deposit formation dynamics, and the resultant property linkages. Compounding this variability further are both the spatial (different booths and different locations) and temporal (process start-stops, hardware degradation, operator etc.) effects. As such, an understanding of process and coating consistency and variability offers significant challenges. Recent scientific advances as well as measurement tools have enabled elucidation of the intrinsic variabilities associated with each of the process sub-steps; however, integrated understanding of the system level reliability is still lacking. This article seeks an integrated assessment of process and coating reliability through systematic measurements of variabilities during each stage of the process subjected to different operating parameters. Through critical examination of first-order process maps, the influence of process parameters on particle state is reviewed for repeated spray runs with a single parameter effect as well as across a spectrum of process parameters. In addition, influence of these changes on design-relevant coating properties were obtained for plasma-sprayed zirconia through recourse to novel in situ and ex situ substrate curvature measurements. Finally, the implications of such integrated reliability studies have been explored through collaborative experiments conducted in the industrial sites.     

Charge trapping and conduction in pure and iodine-dopedbiaxially-oriented polypropylene

Study of charge trapping and conduction in pure and iodine doped biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) is presented. Structural and chemical modifications induced by iodine were investigated using X-ray, optical and infrared methods. Optical spectra of doped BOPP show absorption at 290 nm from charge transfer complexes. X-ray examination revealed a decrease in crystallinity and crystallite size after doping. The effect of iodine on charge trapping was determined by thermally stimulated current technique. Deep traps (120°C peak) at crystalline-amorphous interfaces are destroyed by iodine, which provides new traps (68°C peak) with activation energy 0.9 eV. Pressure dependence of conductivity indicates ionic conduction in pure samples and electronic conduction in doped samples. Steady state currents in 0.5%wt iodine doped BOPP were measured for fields 1 to 5×10⁵ V cm^-1 and at elevated temperatures 22 to 50°C. Iodine enhances conductivity by ~700× in pure BOPP and the steady state conductivity shows a good fit of the 3-D Poole-Frenkel theory to the experiment. It is proposed that trapped electrons (arising due to donor-acceptor action) thermally released through PF lowering, predominantly contribute to the conduction     

Influence of B site Substituents on Lanthanum Calcium Chromite Nanocrystalline Materials for a Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell

Highly reactive and nanocrystalline powders of LaCrO₃based compositions, having the general formula La_0.9Ca_0.1Cr_{1− x} M _x O_3−δ (0≤ x ≤0.1, and M=Al, Co, or Mg), suitable for solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications, have been synthesized using an auto-combustion technique with ammonium dichromate as the chromium source. Owing to very fine crystallite size (ranging from 10 to 50 nm) and the high reactivity of the powders (surface area as high as 25 m²/ g ), the sintering temperature reduces drastically and a highly dense, uniform, and fine-grained microstructure is obtained. A dramatic improvement in densification (nearly theoretical density) is observed for aluminum substitution, when sintered at as low a temperature as 1300°C. The microstructure shows a uniform distribution of grains having an average grain size of ∼0.5 μm. Depending on the substituent, the electrical conductivities of the sintered samples in air, at 1000°C, were found to be in the range of 10–45 S/cm, and are more than that of the values required for SOFC application. The thermal expansion coefficients, as obtained, are also comparable with the other SOFC cell components.     

Nanodimensional organostannoxane molecular assemblies

Organooxotin cages, clusters, and coordination polymers containing [Sn 2(mu-O)], [Sn 2(mu-OH)], [Sn 2(mu-O) 2], [Sn 2(mu-OH) 2], and [Sn 3(mu 3-O)(mu-OR) 3] building blocks have been assembled by the reactions of organotin precursors with phosphonic, phosphinic, carboxylic, or sulfonic acids. Various synthetic methodologies including Sn-C bond cleavage reactions and solventless procedures have been utilized to generate several nanodimensional organostannoxane assemblies. The synthesis, structure, and structural interrelationship of these diverse organostannoxane compounds are discussed. The synthetic knowledge gained to prepare specific organostannoxane structural forms in high yields has been utilized for the construction of dendrimer-like molecules. These contain a central stannoxane core and a functional periphery. The functional periphery can be readily modulated to assemble photoactive, electroactive, or multisite coordinating molecules. The synthesis, structure, and potential uses of these compounds are discussed.     

Laser welding of 3 mm thick laser-cut AISI 304 stainless steel sheet

The objective of the present work was to study the laser weldability of laser-cut 3 mm thick AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel sheet (using oxygen as an assist gas). For minimizing heat input during laser cutting, which is an important factor influencing the thickness of the oxide layer on the cut surface, laser cutting was performed in pulsed mode. The results of the study demonstrated that although the laser welding of laser-cut specimens did not result in the formation of weld defects, the resultant laser weldments exhibited reduced ductility with respect to base metal and bead-on-plate laser weldments. Laser-cut and laser-welded specimens also displayed higher notch sensitivity than the base metal. However, laser-cut and laser-welded specimens still possessed enough ductility to pass guided bend tests.     

SO2 SCRUBBING IN A TAPERED BUBBLE COLUMN SCRUBBER

SO₂ emissions from various sources are found to occur in various concentrations and quantities. Abatement of SO₂ emission, therefore, assumes significant importance over the decades. Wet scrubbers offer great advantage over other devices for gas cleaning. That is the reason that compliance with SO₂ standards will in many cases result in the installation of scrubbing devices. This article presents results of a study on the scrubbing of SO₂ (initial concentration ranging between 400 and 1780 ppm) in a tapered bubble column scrubber using water and dilute sodium alkali. Preliminary studies reveal that the tapered bubble column is capable of generating higher fractional gas holdup than a standard bubble column under similar situations. Moreover, the tapered bubble column has generated bubbles with less power consumption than the existing columns under comparable hydrodynamical conditions. Experimental results indicate that almost 100% SO₂ removal (i.e., zero penetration) can be achieved in the scrubber developed in alkali scrubbing at an optimum Q_L/Q_G ratio of 3.0 m³/1000 ACM. The selection of any gas-cleaning device is based on the performance of the system. In view of this, empirical and semi-empirical correlations are put forward for the prediction of the performance of the scrubber in terms of different pertinent variables of the system for water as well as alkali scrubbing. Experimental results fit extremely well with the correlations. The removal efficiency achievable in the present tapered bubble column scrubber has been found to be higher than that of a single-stage standard bubble column with some modification. The present tapered bubble column is, therefore, hydrodynamically, energetically, and efficiency-wise much better than a standard bubble column.     

Observer-based control algorithms for a distillation column

This paper studies the synthesis of nonlinear observer-based globally linearizing control (GLC) algorithms for a multivariable distillation column. Two closed-loop observers/estimators, namely extended Kalman filter (EKF) and adaptive state observer (ASO), have been designed within the GLC framework to estimate the state variables along with the poorly known parameters. Exactly same basic model structure was used for developing the observers. The model structure is so simple that the estimator design was performed based on only two component balance equations around the condenser-reflux drum and the reboiler-column base systems of the distillation column. To construct these observers, the poorly known parameters, namely component vapor flow rate leaving top tray, component liquid flow rate leaving bottom tray and distribution coefficient in the reboiler, were considered as extra states with no dynamics. The comparative study has been carried out between the proposed GLC in conjunction with ASO (GLC-ASO) and that coupled with EKF (GLC-EKF). The GLC-ASO control scheme showed comparatively better performance in terms of set point tracking and disturbance as well as noise rejections. The control performance of GLC-ASO and a dual-loop proportional integral derivative (PID) controller was also compared under set point step changes and modeling uncertainty. The proposed GLC-ASO structure provided better closed-loop response than the PID controller.