An enhanced zone 3 algorithm of a distance relay using transient components and state diagram

Zone 3 of a distance relay is used to provide the remote backup protection in case of the failure of the primary protection. However, the risk of maloperation under stressed conditions such as heavy loading, voltage, and transient instability is quite high. Zone 3 is used in combination with the derivatives of the voltage and current, etc. to prevent maloperation. At times, the impedance characteristics that restrict the tripping area of relay are used to avoid maloperation due to load encroachment. This work presents a novel zone 3 scheme based on combining the steady-state components (i.e., 60 Hz) and the transient components (TCs) using a state diagram that visualizes the sequence of studies that emanate from the sequence of events. The simulation results show that the novel zone 3 distance relay elements using the proposed method operate correctly for the various events.     

Validation of 3-D curved objects: CAD model and fabricatedworkpiece

This paper proposes a new method to describe and identify a 3-D curved object for the purpose of validating a fabricated object to the design specification. Curved 3-D objects are, in general, difficult to represent and identify because they lack distinct properties such as edges, planes, or cylindrical surfaces which are the building blocks in representing objects. In this paper, the authors propose to use principal axes of a 3-D object to establish a reference for the representation. A method of obtaining an inertia matrix from a 3-D range image is developed. The unique set of principal axes is obtained from the inertia matrix of an object with an arbitrary 3-D position and orientation, and the object can be described uniquely on these principal axes. On the principal axes, an object is described by a set of features describing the shape of the object such as spine, section size, section orientation, and section contraction. The features are used for comparing two objects for the validation purpose. The authors also propose a direct measure of similarity between two objects as a mean-squared difference of radii. As an experiment, two 3-D object models are designed through a CAD package, and fabricated objects are compared with the designed models for validation purposes     

Micromechanical characterisation of fibre/matrix interfaces

Theoretical analyses for the single fibre pull-out and push-out models under monotonic loading are given which are based on a shear-lag analysis in a fracture mechanics approach considering non-constant friction at the debonded interface as a result of fibre Poisson contraction (or expansion). The solutions allow the determination of typical fibre/matrix interfacial properties such as the interfacial fracture toughness, G_ic, the coefficient of friction, μ, and the residual clamping stress, q₀. Under cyclic loading the interfacial properties are expected to degrade as a result of repetitive abrasion, and a power law function is assumed between μ and the number of elapsed cycles, N. However, G_ic is assumed to be unaffected and a fracture mechanics based debond criterion is derived for the relationship between the external applied stress, the debond length and the reduced friction coefficient for both fibre pull-out and fibre push-out. In addition, the relative displacements between the free fibre end and the matrix top are obtained for cyclic fatigue when the fibre is loaded and unloaded. A relationship obtained for the protrusion (or intrusion) length in fibre pull-out (or push-out) experiments allows the severity of the interface frictional degradation to be evaluated and characterised. Similarities and differences in the frictional degradation behaviour between fibre pull-out and push-out are also identified.     

Manipulation of microenvironment with a built-in electrochemical actuator in proximity of a dissolved oxygen microsensor

Biochemical sensors for continuous monitoring require dependable periodic self diagnosis with acceptable simplicity to check its functionality during operation. An in-situ self-diagnostic technique for a dissolved oxygen microsensor is proposed in an effort to devise an intelligent microsensor system with an integrated electrochemical actuation electrode. With a built-in platinum microelectrode that surrounds the microsensor, two kinds of microenvironments, called the oxygen-saturated or oxygen-depleted phases, can be created by water electrolysis, depending on the polarity. The functionality of the microsensor can be checked during these microenvironment phases. The polarographic oxygen microsensor is fabricated on a flexible polyimide substrate (Kapton) and the feasibility of the proposed concept is demonstrated in a physiological solution. The sensor responds properly during the oxygen-generating and oxygen-depleting phases. The use of these microenvironments for in-situ self-calibration is discussed to achieve functional integration, as well as structural integration, of the microsensor system.     

Studies on the synthesis of SAPO-5

Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-5) molecular sieves have been synthesised from reaction mixtures having a molar composition of: 0.7–1.0 Al₂O₃:0.7–1.0 P₂O₅:0.01–2.0 SiO₂:xR:40 H₂O (where R = (C₂H₃)₃N or (C₂H₃)₄NOH and x = 1.5–2.5 for (C₂H₅)⁵N and 0.5 for (C₂H₅)₄NOH, at 473 K using various sources of alumina and silica. The effects of (i) varying the crystallinity of the alumina source (boehmite) and (ii) the use of different silica sources such as freshly prepared silica either from sodium silicate or paddy husk extract, silica gel from commercial water-glass, and tetraethyl orthosilicate have been studied. The crystallinity of boehmite has been found to have a strong effect on its reactivity towards the formation of SAPO-5. The activity of boehmite for SAPO-5 formation increased with a decrease in its crystallinity (or with increase in its moisture content). Any silica source devoid of sodium ions could be employed for the synthesis of SAPO-5. The process of crystallisation started as early as within 1.5 h of reaction and incorporation of silicon into the AlPO₄ framework has been noted at this stage. Formation of some tridymite phase as impurity has been observed under conditions such as (i) SiO₂ concentration > 1.7 mole and (ii) x > 2.0 when R = (C²H₅)₃N.     

Deactivation of copper-ion-exchanged hydrogen-mordenite-type zeolite catalyst by SO2 for no reduction by NH3

Deactivation of copper-ion-exchanged hydrogen-mordenite-type zeolite catalyst by SO₂ for NO reduction by NH₃ was examined in a fixed-bed flow reactor. The deactivation of the catalyst was strongly dependent on reaction temperature. At high reaction temperatures over 300°C, the catalyst did not lose its initial activity up to 50 h of operation, regardless of SO₂ feed concentration from 500 to 20,000 ppm. However, at low reaction temperatures near 250°C, apparent deactivation did occur. Changes in the physicochemical properties such as surface area and sulfur content of deactivated catalyst well correlated with catalyst activity, depending upon reaction temperatures. The deactivation was due to pore blocking and/or filling by deactivating agents, which plugged and/or filled the pores of catalyst. The deactivating agents deposited on the catalyst surface were presumed to be (NH₄)₂SO₄ and/or (NH₄)HSO₄ from the results of TGA and ion-chromatography measurement.     

Parathion degradation and toxicity reduction in solar photocatalysis and photolysis.

The solar photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion was investigated using a circulating TiO2/solar light reactor. Under solar photocatalysis condition, parathion was more effectively degraded than solar photolysis and TiO2-only conditions. With solar photocatalysis, 20 mg/L of parathion was completely degraded within 60 min with a TOC decrease of 63% after 150 min. The main ionic byproducts during photocatalysis recovered from parathion degradation were mainly as NO3-, NO2- and NH4+, 80% of the sulphur as SO4(2-), and 5% of phosphorus as PO4(3-). The organic intermediates 4-nitrophenol and methyl paraoxon were also identified, and these were further degraded in solar photocatalytic condition. Two different bioassays (Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia magna) were used to test the acute toxicity of solutions treated by solar photocatalysis and photolysis. The Microtox test using V. fischeri showed that the toxicity expressed as EC50 (%) value increased from 5.5% to >82% in solar photocatalysis, indicating that the treated solution is non-toxic, but only increased from 4.9 to 20.5% after 150 min in solar photolysis. The acute toxicity test using D. magna showed that EC50 (%) increased from 0.05 to 1.08% under solar photocatalysis, but only increased to 0.12% after 150 min with solar photolysis, indicating the solution is still toxic. The pattern of toxicity reduction parallels the decrease in TOC and the parathion concentrations.     

Hierarchical classifier design in high-dimensional numerous classcases

In applying pattern recognition methods in remote sensing problems, an inherent limitation is that there is almost always only a small number of training samples with which to design the classifier. A hybrid decision tree classifier design procedure that produces efficient and accurate classifiers for this situation is proposed. In doing so, several key questions are addressed, among them the question of the feature extraction techniques to be used and the mathematical relationship between sample size, dimensionality, and risk value. Empirical tests comparing the hybrid design classifier with a conventional single layered one are presented. They suggest that the hybrid design produces higher accuracy with fewer features. The need for fewer features is an important advantage, because it reflects favorably on both the size of the training set needed and the amount of computation time that will be needed in analysis     

A distributed approach for access and visibility task with a manikin and a robot in a virtual reality environment

This paper presents a new method, based on a multi-agent system and on a digital mock-up technology, to assess an efficient path planner for a manikin or a robot for an access and visibility task taking into account ergonomic constraints or joint and mechanical limits. In order to solve this problem, the human operator is integrated in the process optimization to contribute to a global perception of the environment. This operator cooperates, in real time, with several automatic local elementary agents. The result of this work validates solutions through the digital mock-up; it can be applied to simulate maintainability and mountability tasks.