Numerical and Experimental Study on Fluid Dynamic Features of Combined Gas and Electromagnetic Stirring in Ladle Furnace

Basic fluid dynamic features of combined electromagnetic stirring, EMS, and gas stirring (EMGAS) have been studied in the present work. A transient and turbulent multiphase numerical flow model was built. Simulations of a real size ladle furnace were conducted for 7 cases, operating with and without combined stirring and varying the argon gas inlet plug position. The results of these simulations are compared considering melt velocity, melt turbulence, melt/slag‐interface turbulence and dispersion of gas bubbles. An experimental water model was also built to simulate the effects of combined stirring. The water model was numerically simulated and visual comparison of the gas plume shape and flow pattern in the numerical and in the experimental model was also done for 3 flow situations. The results show that EMGAS has a strong flexibility regarding the flow velocity, gas plume, stirring energy, mixing time, slag layer, etc.     

Diffuse-object Holograms in Silver Halide Sensitized Gelatin

Abstract

This paper deals with diffuse-object holograms recorded in silver halide sensitized gelatin. Both the diffraction efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio when reconstruction is done with different wavelengths are measured. The experimental results we obtained show that new theoretical models for the functioning of this type of processing must be developed if we wish to justify the results we obtained.     

Nonlinear Response of Photopolymers for Holography: Copolymerization Process

Abstract

A model is proposed which allows us to obtain the diffraction efficiency of photopolymeric materials with a nonlinear response to the refraction index, using the equations on the evolution of copolymerization reactions as a base. The photochemical material being analysed can be optimized by correctly selecting the material's parameters.     

Deep‐fat frying under moderate vacuum of potato cylinders

This study evaluates parameters relating to the mass transfer during the frying of potato cylinders at different temperatures (100, 120 and 140 °C) and moderate vacuum (around 25 kPa). In all cases, there is a linear relation between water loss and fat uptake. The parameters relating to the textural and structural modifications show less marked changes in vacuum fried products compared to those fried under atmospheric pressure. The maximum penetration force reaches 30%–40% of the initial hardness in vacuum frying and 10% for atmospheric pressure frying; starch gelatinization and pectin methylesterase enzyme activity reduce more quickly under atmospheric pressure, although after 240 s both values are negligible. The scanning electron microscopy images verify that the surface of potato cylinders fried under vacuum or atmospheric pressure are completely different as a result of the steam being released at different temperatures.     

The influence of alkaline treatment on the chemical composition and adsorption-structural characteristics of mineral nanoporous sorbent M<Subscript>45</Subscript>K<Subscript>20</Subscript>

The chemical and adsorption-structural properties of natural nanoporous mineral sorbent M₄₅C₂₀ having two main components (clay-montmorillonite and zeolite-clinoptilolite) and treated with 2M NaOH solution are investigated. It is ascertained based on the results of chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and IR spectrometry that alkali treatment results in modification of the chemical composition and structure of the mineral sorbent M₄₅C₂₀ and significantly improves its adsorption properties.     

Which App? A recommender system of applications in markets: Implementation of the service for monitoring users’ interaction

Users face the information overload problem when downloading applications in markets. This is mainly due to (i) the increasing unmanageable number of applications and (ii) the lack of an accurate and fine-grained categorization of the applications in the markets. To address this issue, we present an integrated solution which recommends to the users applications by considering a big amount of information: that is, according to their previously consumed applications, use pattern, tags used to annotate resources and history of ratings. We focus this paper on the service for monitoring users’ interaction.     

Micro-scale truss optimization using genetic algorithm

This paper describes the development of a genetic algorithm that is capable of optimizing the mass of micro-scale trusses. Belonging to the group of periodic cellular materials, micro-scale trusses are characterized by the creation of a base cell with a pattern that is repeated in space until a global structure is obtained. Investigation in this field has generally been focused on the design of base cells and their resistance once the final structure is obtained. In this project we have attempted to optimize each individual cell and in particular its elements according to the loads and boundary conditions applied to the global structure. With this objective, we defined a dichotomic search algorithm that establishes a set of cross-sectional areas suitable for the micro-scale truss, formulated the penalty coefficient for the over-sized elements, and studied the clones and rebirth process in order to avoid stagnation of the genetic algorithm. The cell elements used in this project were equal to or less than to 1 mm long, with a cross-sectional area in the order of 10^− 9 m².     

Efficient implementation of the implicit error correction nVoD schema

Implicit Error Correction is a near Video-on-Demand (nVoD) schema that trades bandwidth utilization for initial playback delay while potentially allowing an infinite number of users. Additionally, it provides error protection without further bandwidth increase by exploiting the implicit redundancy of nVoD protocols, using linear combinations of the segments transmitted in a given time slot. This paper introduces a new implementation that outperforms the original schema by adding two new mechanisms: redundancy channels and feedback error correction.     

Revision of ochratoxin a production capacity by the main species of Aspergillus section Circumdati. Aspergillus steynii revealed as the main risk of OTA contamination

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a highly toxigenic mycotoxin commonly present in a number of diverse agroproducts. Aspergillus Section Circumdati includes some of the most important OTA-producing species: Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus elegans and the recently described Aspergillus steynii and Aspergillus westerdijkiae. In this work, OTA production by several strains of these four species from diverse origins and food matrices was examined. Identification of all the strains was carried out by specific PCR assays. The strains were cultivated in CYA solid medium and OTA was measured by HLPC. This study demonstrated for the first time the high capacity of A. steynii strains to produce OTA at higher levels than A. westerdijkiae,A. ochraceus and A. elegans strains showed low levels or no production at all. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the occurrence of A. steynii and A. westerdijkiae might represent the major potential risk for OTA contamination due to their high production and the diversity of commodities that these species may contaminate.     

Stress–strain relationship in axial compression for concrete using recycled saturated coarse aggregate

In this work the stress–strain curve of the recycled concretes was determined by replacing different percentages of the natural coarse aggregate with recycled coarse aggregate (20%, 50% and 100%). The results made it possible to establish the differences between the stress–strain relationship of a conventional concrete and this relationship for a recycled concrete depending on the percentage of replacement. In this way, it was found that the longitudinal strain of the recycled concretes increases with the percentage of recycled coarse aggregate used.Finally, using the experimental results, an analytical expression of the stress–strain curve accounting for the percentage of replacement was developed. The verification of the proposed model equation was done by comparing it to the experimental data. The results show that the proposed model equation satisfactorily describes the effect of the recycled aggregate on the stress–strain curve.