Development of mobile miniature natural gas liquefiers

With increasing consumption of natural gas (NG), small NG reservoirs, such as coalbed methane and oil field associated gas, have recently drawn significant attention. Owing to their special characteristics (e.g., scattered distribution and small output), small-scale NG liquefiers are highly required. Similarly, the mixed refrigerant cycle (MRC) is suitable for small-scale liquefaction systems due to its moderate complexity and power consumption. In consideration of the above, this paper reviews the development of mobile miniature NG liquefiers in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC), China. To effectively liquefy the scattered NG and overcome the drawbacks of existing technologies, three main improvements, i.e., low-pressure MRC process driven by oil-lubricated screw compressor, compact cold box with the new designed heat exchangers, and standardized equipment manufacturing and integrated process technology have been made. The development pattern of “rapid cluster application and flexible liquefaction center” has been eventually proposed. The small-scale NG liquefier developed by TIPC has reached a minimum liquefaction power consumption of about 0.35 kW·h/Nm³. It is suitable to exploit small remote gas reserves which can also be used in boil-off gas reliquefaction and distributed peak-shaving of pipe networks.     

An image encryption scheme based on precision limited chaotic system

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In recent years, various chaotic maps have been used for image encryption. However, most of these image encryption algorithms entail a lot of floating-point...     

The effect of optimized carbon source on the synthesis and composition of exopolysaccharides produced by Lactobacillus paracasei

This study aimed to predict the optimal carbon source for higher production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) by Lactobacillus paracasei TD 062, and to evaluate the effect of this carbon source on the production and monosaccharide composition of EPS. We evaluated the EPS production capacity of 20 strains of L. paracasei under the same conditions. We further investigated L. paracasei TD 062, which showed the highest EPS-producing activity (0.609 g/L), by examining the associated biosynthesis pathways for EPS. Genomics revealed that fructose, mannose, trehalose, glucose, galactose, and lactose were carbon sources that L. paracasei TD 062 could use to produce EPS. We identified an EPS synthesis gene cluster that could participate in transport, export, and sugar chain synthesis, and generate 6 sugar nucleotides. Experimental results showed that the sugar content of the EPS produced using fermentation with the optimized carbon source (fructose, mannose, trehalose, glucose, galactose, and lactose) increased by 115%. Furthermore, use of the optimized carbon source changed the monosaccharide content of the associated EPS. The results of enzyme activity measurements showed significant increases in the activity of 2 key enzymes involved in the glycoside synthesis pathway. Our study revealed that optimizing the carbon source provided for fermentation not only increased the production of EPS, but also affected the composition of the monosaccharides by increasing enzyme activity in the underlying synthesis pathways, suggesting an important role for carbon source in the production of EPS by L. paracasei TD 062.     

Role of Co in formation of Ni-Ti clusters in maraging stainless steel

The effect of Co addition on the formation of Ni-Ti clusters in maraging stainless steel was studied by three dimensional atom probe (3DAP) and first-principles calculation. The cluster analysis based on the maximum separation approach showed an increase in size but a decrease in density of Ni-Ti clusters with increasing the Co content. The first-principles calculation indicated weaker Co-Ni (Co-Ti) interactions than Co-Ti (Fe-Ti) interactions, which should be the essential reason for the change of distribution characteristics of Ni-Ti clusters in bcc Fe caused by Co addition.     

Surface structural and solar absorptance features of nitrate-based copper-cobalt oxides composite coatings: Experimental studies and molecular dynamic simulation

The copper and cobalt oxides composites coatings on aluminum substrates have been successfully synthesized via sol-gel method using nitrate-based sol precursors. The composites were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometry. The sol-gel reactions were discussed and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation was integrated into the study to predict molecules assembly properties. The XRD analyses revealed that the CuO and the Co₃O₄ composites were formed after the annealing process with the average difference of the calculated lattice parameters compared to ICDDs was 1.17%. The surface electronic structure was mainly consisted of tetrahedral Cu(I), octahedral Cu(II), tetrahedral Co(II), octahedral Co(III) as well as surface, sub-surface and lattice oxygen O^?. The XRD, XPS and MD simulation results showed that there was minimal (or possibly non-existing) indication of copper-cobalt mixed phase oxides formations. FESEM and AFM surveys revealed that the coating had a porous surface composed of interlinked nanoparticles in the range of ~?10 to ~?40?nm. UV–Vis–NIR reflectance spectra showed that the sol precursors concentration and the dip-drying cycle significantly influenced the absorptance value with optimum absorptance (α) of 88.7% exhibited by coating synthesized using sol concentration of 0.1?M and 10 dip-drying cycles. High absorptance value and simplicity in the synthesis process render the coatings to be very promising candidates for solar selective absorber (SSA) applications.     

Formation of a protective layer against corrosion on Mg alloy via alkali pretreatment followed by vanillic acid treatment

Although Mg alloy possesses high specific strength, low density, and good biocompatibility, poor corrosion resistance hinders its further applications. In the present study, an innovative protective layer against corrosion was prepared on the AZ31 Mg alloy via alkali pretreatment followed by vanillic acid treatment. The alkali pretreatment supplied –OH for the AZ31 Mg alloy surface to react with vanillic acid. The vanillic acid treatment played a crucial role in enhancing the corrosion resistance due to the excellent ability to act as a barrier and retard aqueous solution penetration, which effectively isolated the underlying Mg alloy from the corrosive environment. The corrosion current density of alkali and vanillic acid-treated Mg alloy (AZ31V) almost showed two orders of magnitude lower values in comparison with that of the AZ31 Mg alloy, and the corrosion potential of AZ31V Mg alloy increased from −1.41 to −1.25 V. The immersion tests proved that there was no occurrence of severe corrosion. Hence, the alkali pretreatment and vanillic acid treatment may represent a promising method to improve the corrosion resistance of Mg alloy.