Determination of Tehran Research Reactor power by N gamma detection

The radioisotope ¹⁶N is produced by the interaction of fast neutrons with ¹⁶O in water reactor coolant. This radioisotope emits at the two major gamma ray energies of 6.13 MeV and 7.1 MeV. Exploiting the linear relation between the number of gamma particles versus the reactor power change, the reactor power is determined by detecting and counting the emitted gammas. In this work, for the detection of gammas to measure the reactor power, two different methods are employed. First, by NaI(Tl) scintillator detector and second, by assembly of ten GM detectors. The obtained results confirm that the number of emitted gammas is proportional to the change in reactor power as shown by different monitoring systems such as UIC, CIC, FC, Cherenkov and thermal power. Both of the applied methods are shown to give reliable results for reactor power above 20 kW. Both systems, having been calibrated, are being used as monitoring systems of power in Tehran Research Reactor. These systems are usable in other research reactors and possibly in power reactors as well.     

Thermal annealing effect on zinc nitride thin films deposited by reactive rf-magnetron sputtering process

Zinc nitride films were deposited by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering using a zinc target in a nitrogen and argon plasma. The deposited films were annealed in either air or O₂ at 300 °C to investigate the annealing effect on the microstructure, optical properties, and electronic characteristics of zinc nitride films. It was found that the annealing process decreased the crystallinity of zinc nitride films. It was also found that the optical band gap decreased from 1.33 eV to 1.14 eV after annealing. The analysis of film composition suggested that the concentration of oxygen increased slightly after annealing. Although the conduction type of both as-deposited and annealed films were n-type, the annealed films exhibited a higher resistivity, lower carrier concentration and lower mobility than the as-deposited films. Also, it was found that the as-deposited films did not exhibit any photoconducting behavior whereas the annealed films exhibited a pronounced photoconducting behavior.     

Synthesis,characterization, and supercapacitor studies of manganese (IV) oxide nanowires

One-dimensional manganese (IV) oxide (MnO₂) (～20 nm in average diameter) were synthesized by cathodic electrodeposition and heat treatment. The mechanism of electrodeposition and nanowire formation were discussed. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). Nanowires with varying lengths and diameters were found in TEM and SEM images of the sample. The results of N₂ adsorption–desorption analysis indicated that the BET surface area of the MnO₂ nanowires was 157 m² g^?1 and the pore size distributions were 2.5 and 4.5 nm. The electrochemical performances of the prepared MnO₂ as an electrode material for supercapacitors were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements in a solution of 0.5 M Na₂SO₄. The higher specific capacitance of 318 F g^?1 and good capacity retention of 86% were achieved after 1000 charge–discharge cycles had been observed for the MnO₂ nanowires electrode.     

Explaining the different efficiency behaviors of PHOLEDs with/without a hole injection barrier at the hole transport layer/emitter layer interface

In this work we investigate the different efficiency behaviors of the devices with and without hole injection barrier, utilizing in our investigation the archetypical 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl:Tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III) host–guest PHOLEDs system. The results show that the recombination of electrons and holes on the host material generally leads to higher device efficiency in comparison to the case where recombination happens on the guest material. The results also show that in devices where a hole injection barrier between the HTL and the host material in the EML exists, the emission mechanism gradually changes from one based on host e–h recombination to one based on guest e–h recombination as the guest concentration is increased. When host e–h recombination is dominant, although it tends to produce higher device efficiency, host e–h recombination is generally also associated with significant efficiency roll-off; the latter arises from quenching of the host triplet excitons primarily due to host–host TTA. As the concentration of the guest molecules increases and the creation of host triplet excitons subsides (since most e–h recombination occurs on the guest) host–host TTA decreases, hence also the efficiency roll-off. In such case, quenching is mostly caused by polarons residing on guest sites. At optimum guest concentrations (∼8% Vol.), a balance between host e–h recombination and guest e–h recombination is reached, and thus also minimal TTA and Triplet-Polaron Quenching. On the other hand, in devices where hole injection barrier between the HTL and the host in the EML is insignificant, emission mechanism is always based on host e–h recombination irrespective of the guest concentration, and therefore have higher efficiency and the efficiency does not depend on guest concentration. The absence of the injection barrier in these devices results in a wider recombination zone, and hence a lower exciton concentration in general, which in turn reduces host–host TTA and thus lowers efficiency roll-off. In contrast, guest–guest TTA is not found to play a significant role in device efficiency behavior.     

Thermodynamic and Economic Optimization of Plate Fin Heat Exchangers Using the Bees Algorithm

This study presents the successful application of the bees algorithm (BA) for optimal design of a cross‐flow plate fin heat exchanger by offset strip fins. The ε – NTU method is used to approximate the heat exchanger effectiveness and pressure drop. Two different objective functions including the minimization of total annual cost (sum of investment and operational costs) and total number of entropy generation units for certain heat duty required under given space constraints are considered as targets of optimization separately. Based on the applications, seven design parameters (heat exchanger length at hot and cold sides, fin height, fin frequency, fin thickness, fin‐strip length, and number of hot side layers) are selected as optimization variables. Two examples from the literature are presented to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm. Results showed that the BA can detect an optimum configuration with higher speed (short computational time) and accuracy compared to the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) and the genetic algorithm (GA). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 43(5): 427–446, 2014; Published online 3 October 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21087     

The PANOPTIC Camera: A Plenoptic Sensor with Real-Time Omnidirectional Capability

A new biologically-inspired vision sensor made of one hundred “eyes” is presented, which is suitable for real-time acquisition and processing of 3-D image sequences. This device, named the Panoptic camera, consists of a layered arrangement of approximately 100 classical CMOS imagers, distributed over a hemisphere of 13 cm in diameter. The Panoptic camera is a polydioptric system where all imagers have their own vision of the world, each with a distinct focal point, which is a specific feature of the Panoptic system. This enables 3-D information recording such as omnidirectional stereoscopy or depth estimation, applying specific signal processing. The algorithms dictating the image reconstruction of an omnidirectional observer located at any point inside the hemisphere are presented. A hardware architecture which has the capability of handling these algorithms, and the flexibility to support additional image processing in real time, has been developed as a two-layer system based on FPGAs. The detail of the hardware architecture, its internal blocks, the mapping of the algorithms onto the latter elements, and the device calibration procedure are presented, along with imaging results.     

Steady-state analysis of quantized distributed incremental LMS algorithm without Gaussian restriction

In this paper, we analyze the steady-state performance of the distributed incremental least mean-square (DILMS) algorithm when it is implemented in finite-precision arithmetic. Our analysis in this paper does not consider any distribution of input data. We first formulate the update equation for quantized DILMS algorithm, and then we use a spatial-temporal energy conservation argument to derive theoretical expressions that evaluate the steady-state performance of individual nodes in the network. We consider mean-square error, excess mean-square error, and mean-square deviation as the performance criteria. Simulation results are generated by using two types of signals, Gaussian and non-Gaussian distributed signals. As the simulation results show, there is a good match between the theory and simulation.     

A novel ANFIS model to prediction of the density of n-alkane in different operational condition

Abstract

The density has an important role in the oil and gas industries calculation. In this study, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) model was employed to predict the density of n-alkane. The result obtained by the ANFIS model analyzed with the statistical parameters (i.e., MSE, RMSE, and R²) and graphical method. According to the result obtained the ANFIS has the highest accuracy with R² = 0.999, MSE = 0.1438, and RMSE = 0.3792.     

Reducing Dangerous Effects of Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine as a Liquid Propellant by Addition of Hydroxyethylhydrazine—Part I: Physical Properties

In this work, the effect of low volatile hydroxyethylhydrazine (HEH) as a solute on unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) has been studied in order to reduce harmful effects of UDMH vapors. Desirable physical properties of binary mixtures UDMH/HEH have been measured and compared to pure UDMH. These properties include boiling point, viscosity, density, and vapor pressure that are important for using binary mixtures of UDMH/HEH as less dangerous liquid propellants. Due to the formation of strong hydrogen bonding between UDMH and HEH, the volatility of UDMH has been reduced appreciably upon the addition of HEH. It is indicated that the measured physical properties may deviate significantly compared to corresponding predicted values. Binary mixtures of UDMH/HEH can also react spontaneously in contact with nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) and red fuming nitric acid (RFNA), so they can be called hypergolic propellants.     

Synthesis of hybrid free and nanoporous silica aerogel‐anchored polystyrene chains via in situ atom transfer radical polymerization

Polystyrene nanocomposite with mixed free and anchored chains was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. Attachment of 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate with a double bond on the nanoporous silica aerogel surface results in a double bond grafted silica aerogel which could be incorporated into the polystyrene chains by a grafting‐through process. Conversion and molecular weight evaluation was carried out using gas chromatography and gel permeation chromatography, respectively. Double bond containing silica aerogel has an inconsiderable effect on conversion. There is no considerable discrepancy between the molecular weights of the free and anchored chains. Addition of silica aerogel with pendant CC bonds leads to increase of apparent rate constant of polymerization and also molecular weights. This is mainly because of initiator trapping in silica aerogel pores. Every percent of double bond containing silica aerogel with respect to styrene results in trapping of about 0.08 mol of ethyl alpha‐bromoisobutyrate among the silica pores. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1648–1654, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers