Experimental study of horizontal ground source heat pump performance for mild climate in Turkey

The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of horizontal GSHP by considering various system parameters for winter climatic condition of Bursa, Turkey. For this purpose, a previously used experimental facility on cooling cycle [Coskun S, Pulat E, Unlu K, Yamankaradeniz R. Experimental performance investigation of a horizontal ground source compression refrigeration machine. International Journal of Energy Research 2008; 32: 44–56] was modified for the heating cycle. Soil thermal conductivity estimation was expanded and discussed. Preliminary numerical temperature distribution around GHE pipes was obtained. Tests were performed under laboratory conditions for space heating from December 2004 to March 2005. Variations of entering and leaving antifreeze solution temperatures, extracted heat from ground and rejected heat to the test room, super heat rate in evaporator and subcooling rate in condenser, total power consumption and coefficient of performance (COP) values for both the entire system and only heat pump unit (HPU) were obtained. Effect of outdoor temperature on system capacities and COP values with respect to outdoor air and mean soil temperatures were also presented. The COP of the entire system and HPU lie between 2.46–2.58 and 4.03–4.18, respectively. GSHP system was compared to conventional heating methods in the economical analysis and it was shown that the GSHP system is more cost effective than the all other conventional heating systems.     

Estimation of brainstem auditory evoked potentials using a nonlinear adaptive filtering algorithm

In this study, we introduce a novel nonlinear system not only for tracking of both the latency and amplitude variations in brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP), but also for reduction of single-trial numbers in BAEP pattern extraction process. Trial-to-trial variations in auditory evoked potential (AEP) are very important in quantifying dynamical properties of the nervous system and in specifying the group-specific effects in clinical applications. Due to the nonlinear dynamics of the AEP, a nonlinear adaptive filtering technique is considered as a powerful tool for tracking such variations. Therefore, we have designed a wavelet network-based nonlinear adaptive filter (WaNe-NAF) satisfying asymptotic stability in the sense of Lyapunov. The simulation results are verified that the proposed WaNe-NAF can effectively track the trial-to-trial variations. We have also compared the WaNe-NAF with the most widely used ensemble averaging technique using real measured human BAEP data. The WaNe-NAF shows promise for requiring less number of ensembles than conventional ensemble averaging method to attain adequate signal quality. As a result, the proposed filtering system is suggested as a powerful tool in AEP acquisition and processing systems.     

Carbon spheres from lactose as green catalyst for fast hydrogen production via methanolysis

Micrometer sized carbon spheres (CSs) are prepared in a single step using lactose precursor via hydrothermal method. These CSs are chemically modified with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl ammonium chloride (CHPACl) and triethylenetetramine (TETA) to generate amine groups on the particle surface. Modified CSs with TETA was protonated with HCl as CSs-TETA-HCl that the zeta potential is increased to +40.3 ± 0.70 from ?51.4 ± 4.66 mV. The catalytic performance of CSs are tested as catalysts in the methanolysis of NaBH₄, and the best catalytic performance as 2586 mL min^?1 g^?1 hydrogen generation rate (HGR) was obtained by CSs-TETA-HCl catalyst at 298 K as metal free catalyst. Furthermore, various parameters such as the amount of NaBH₄, the reaction temperature, and the reusability of CSs-TETA-HCl particles are investigated. More importantly, relatively low activation energy, 23.82 kJ mol^?1 for CSs-TETA-HCl catalyzed NaBH₄ methanolysis reaction is obtained in comparison to metal nanoparticle and metal free catalysts reported for the same purpose in the literature.     

Metal nanoparticle-embedded super porous poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate) cryogel for H2 production from chemical hydride hydrolysis

Poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate) (p(SPM)) cryogel was prepared under cryogenic conditions (T = −18 °C) and used as template for in situ metal nanoparticle preparation of Co, Ni and Cu. These metal nanoparticle-containing super macroporous cryogel composites were tested for H₂ production from hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) and ammonia borane (AB). It was found that amongst p(SPM)-M (M: Co, Ni, and Cu) composite catalyst systems, the catalytic performances of Co- and Ni-containing p(SPM) cryogel composite catalyst systems were the same, however in hydrolysis of NH₃BH₃, the order of performance of the catalysts was Co > Ni > Cu. Interestingly, p(SPM)-Co cryogel composite demonstrated better catalytic performances in salt environments e.g., faster H₂ production rate in sea and tap water compared to DI water, and almost no effect of ionic strength of the solution medium was observed, but the salt types were found to affect the H₂ generation rate. Other parameters that affect H₂ production rate such as metal type, temperature, water source, salt concentration, amount of metal nanocatalyst and reusability were investigated. It was found that the hydrogen generation rate (HGR) was increased to 2836 ± 90 from 1000 ± 53 (ml H₂)(g of Co min)⁻¹ by multiple loading and reduction cycles of Co catalyst. Also, it was found that TOF values are highly temperature dependent, and increased to 15.1 ± 0.8 from 2.4 ± 0.1 (mol H₂)(mol catalyst min)⁻¹ by increasing the temperature from 30 to 70 °C. The activation energy, activation enthalpy and activation entropy were determined as 40.8 kJ (mol)⁻¹, 37.23 kJ (mol K)⁻¹, and −170.87 J (mol K)⁻¹, respectively, for the hydrolysis reaction of NaBH₄ with p(SPM)-Co catalyst system, and 25.03 kJ (mol)⁻¹, 22.41 kJ (mol K)⁻¹, and −182.8 J (mol K)⁻¹, respectively, for AB hydrolysis catalyzed by p(SPM)-Co composite system.     

Design and analysis of an integrated concentrated solar and wind energy system with storage

This study analyzes a renewable energy‐driven innovative multigeneration system, in which wind and solar energy sources are utilized in an efficient way to generate several useful commodities such as hydrogen, oxygen, desalted water, space cooling, and space heating along with electricity. A 1‐km² heliostat field is considered to concentrate the solar light onto a spectrum splitter, where the light spectrum is separated into two portions as reflected and transmitted to be used as the energy source in the concentrated solar power (CSP) and concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) receivers, respectively. As such, CSP and CPV systems are integrated. Wind energy is proposed for generating electricity (146 MW) or thermal energy (138 MW) to compensate the energy need of the multigeneration system when there is insufficient solar energy. In addition, multiple commodities, 46 MW of electricity, 12 m³/h of desalted water, and 69 MW of cooling, are generated using the Rankine cycle and the rejected heat from its condenser. Further, the heat generated on CPV cells is recovered for efficient photovoltaic conversion and utilized in the space heating (34 MW) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer (239 kg/h) for hydrogen production. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the overall system are calculated as 61.3% and 47.8%, respectively. The exergy destruction rates of the main components are presented to identify the potential improvements of the system. Finally, parametric studies are performed to analyze the effect of changing parameters on the exergy destruction rates, production rates, and efficiencies.     

Poly(acrylamide-co-vinyl sulfonic acid) p(AAm-co-VSA) hydrogel templates for Co and Ni metal nanoparticle preparation and their use in hydrogen production

P(AAM-co-VSA) hydrogel was prepared at different mole ratios form the corresponding monomers and used in absorption of metal ions such as Co and Ni from aqueous environments. Then, these bound metal ions within the hydrogel matrices were reduced to their metal nanoparticles by aqueous NaBH₄ treatment. Finally, p(AAm-co-VSA)–M (M: Co or Ni) composites were used as reactor in the hydrolysis of NaBH₄ for hydrogen generation. The amounts of metal ions before and after metal nanoparticle formation were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). P(AAm-VSA) hydrogel showed greater absorption tendency for Ni(II) ions than Co(II) ions, and the metal ion binding capacity of these hydrogels was increased with an increase in the amount of VSA in the copolymeric hydrogel. It was also found that although the amount of Ni ions loaded into the hydrogel matrices were more than Co ions, Co metal nanoparticle-containing hydrogel produced hydrogen faster than Ni metal nanoparticle-containing hydrogel composites. The activation energy for the Co nanoparticle-embedded p(AAm-co-VSA) was found as 34.505 kJ mol⁻¹k⁻¹, and other thermodynamic parameters were also calculated. The p(AAm-co-VSA)–Co hydrogel can be used up to 5 times repetitively without any loss of yield but with 55% of catalytic activity.     

Metal nanoparticle preparation within modifiable p(4-VP) microgels and their use in hydrogen production from NaBH4 hydrolysis

Composite poly(4-vinyl pyridine)-silica (p(4-VP)–Si) nanoparticles were synthesized, employing trimethoxy vinyl silane (TMVS) as silica forming agent using ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker, and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the initiator in an oil-in-water micro emulsion system. Porous p(4-VP) nanoparticles were generated from p(4-VP)–Si by treatment with hydrofluoric acid (HF). The size of p(4-VP)-based particles ranged between 300 and 500 nm. The porous p(4-VP) particles have a surface area of 42.26 m²/g. We also report preparation of various metal nanoparticles, such as Co and Ni, inside bare p(4-VP), p(4-VP)–Si and porous p(4-VP) nanoparticles by absorption from the corresponding metal ions aqueous solution and then reduction with NaBH₄. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to determine the metal particle content of the p(4-VP)-based nanoparticles. The hydrogen production rate of Co-containing p(4-VP) was found to be superior to Ni-containing p(4-VP) under the same conditions. Cobalt-containing p(4-VP)–Si and porous p(4-VP) microgel composites can generate hydrogen faster than Co-containing p(4-VP). Moreover, p(4-VP)-based microgels showed seven fold hydrogen production rate, and almost five fold turn over frequency (TOF) than p(AMPS) microgels in terms of catalytic performances reported earlier.     

Preparation and Characterization of Bi-metallic and Tri-metallic Metal Organic Frameworks Based on Trimesic Acid and Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) Ions

Trimesic acid-M1(II):M2(II) (M1,2(II)=M(II)=Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II)) bi-metallic or tri-metallic organic frameworks (MOFs) were synthesized by the reaction of trimesic acid (H3BTC) ligand with the corresponding MCl₂nH₂O aqueous solutions. Here, bi- and tri-metallic MOF preparations were demonstrated by using H3BTC as an organic linker, with dual metal ion mixtures at different mole ratios such as Co(II):Ni(II), Ni(II):Cu(II), and Cu(II):Co(II) as metal ion sources in the synthesis of bi-metallic MOFs, and the triple metal ion mixture of Co(II):Ni(II):Cu(II) as the metal ion source in the synthesis of tri-metallic MOFs. The bi- or tri-metallic MOFs were characterized via the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and magnetic susceptibility measurements with the Gouy method, FT-IR spectroscopy, and electronic spectral studies. The results revealed that the H3BTC MOFs have octahedral and distorted octahedral arrangement around the metal ions, and the d–d transition was not observed in the complex. It was further found that all the prepared MOFs contain water molecules confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and TGA analyses. The FT-IR spectra of the MOF complexes were characterized by the appearance of a broad band in the region of 3454–3300 cm^?1 due to the ν(-OH) of the coordinated water; therefore, the location of the two water molecules was assumed to be inside the complex structure. Remarkably, the synthesized bi-metallic MOFs had unique and distinct colors depending on the amounts of metal ions used in the feed, implying that these bi-metallic MOFs with tunable M1(II) and M2(II) ratios offer great potential in the design of color-coded materials for use as sensors.     

Automatic detection of epileptiform events in EEG by a three-stage procedure based on artificial neural networks

This paper introduces a three-stage procedure based on artificial neural networks for the automatic detection of epileptiform events (EVs) in a multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. In the first stage, two discrete perceptrons fed by six features are used to classify EEG peaks into three subgroups: 1) definite epileptiform transients (ETs); 2) definite non-ETs; and 3) possible ETs and possible non-ETs. The pre-classification done in the first stage not only reduces the computation time but also increases the overall detection performance of the procedure. In the second stage, the peaks falling into the third group are aimed to be separated from each other by a nonlinear artificial neural network that would function as a postclassifier whose input is a vector of 41 consecutive sample values obtained from each peak. Different networks, i.e., a backpropagation multilayer perceptron and two radial basis function networks trained by a hybrid method and a support vector method, respectively, are constructed as the postclassifier and then compared in terms of their classification performances. In the third stage, multichannel information is integrated into the system for contributing to the process of identifying an EV by the electroencephalographers (EEGers). After the integration of multichannel information, the overall performance of the system is determined with respect to EVs. Visual evaluation, by two EEGers, of 19 channel EEG records of 10 epileptic patients showed that the best performance is obtained with a radial basis support vector machine providing an average sensitivity of 89.1%, an average selectivity of 85.9%, and a false detection rate (per hour) of 7.5.     

Highly porous acrylonitrile-based submicron particles for UO2(2+) absorption in an immunosensor assay

Our laboratory has previously reported an antibody-based assay for hexavalent uranium (UO(2)(2+)) that could be used on-site to rapidly assess uranium contamination in environmental water samples (Melton, S. J.; et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2009, 43, 6703-6709). To extend the utility of this assay to less-characterized sites of uranium contamination, we required a uranium-specific adsorbent that would rapidly remove the uranium from groundwater samples, while leaving the concentrations of other ions in the groundwater relatively unaltered. This study describes the development of hydrogel particles containing amidoxime groups that can rapidly and selectively facilitate the uptake of uranyl ions. A miniemulsion polymerization technique using SDS micelles was employed for the preparation of the hydrogel as linked submicrometer particles. In polymerization, acrylonitrile was used as the initial monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker and 2-hydroxymethacrylate, 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, acrylic acid, or methacrylic acid were added as co-monomers after the initial seed polymerization of acrylonitrle. The particles were characterized by transmission electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cryo-SEM. The amidoximated particles were superior to a commercially available resin in their ability to rapidly remove dissolved UO(2)(2+) from spiked groundwater samples.