Microchemical Engineering: Components,Plant Concepts User Acceptance – Part I

Over the last five years, many activities have focused on the unexploited field of carrying out reactions on small scales. Due to the rapid development of new components, this paper deals with recent developments only in a compressed form. An important point is the analysis of possible plant concepts for microreactors and whether these are a sensible option. Due to the enormous difference in size between the microchannels and the fluid periphera of possible components this is not just a technical question. It touches on the microtechnology concept as a whole. The direction in which the field should be developed and which measures can be taken to influence its development are questions that are addressed here with respect to the big industrial interest in microreactors.     

Mathematical Modeling of Thermomechanical Processes under Intense Thermal Effect

Mathematical models of thermomechanical processes which are based on the laws of rational thermodynamics of irreversible processes are treated. Singular features of the unsteady-state behavior of a continuous medium are demonstrated within different models, such as a medium with internal parameters of state, a medium with memory, and a medium of the velocity type.     

Evanescently coupled photodiodes integrating a double-stage taper for 40-Gb/s applications-compared performance with side-illuminated photodiodes

The design, fabrication, and performance of double-stage taper photodiodes (DSTPs) are reported. The objective of this work is to develop devices compatible with 40-Gb/s applications. Such devices require high efficiency, ultrawide band, high optical power handling capability, and compatibility with low-cost module fabrication. The integration of mode size converters improves both the coupling efficiency and the responsivity with a large fiber mode diameter. Responsivity of 0.6 A/W and 0.45 A/W are achieved with a 6-/spl mu/m fiber mode diameter and cleaved fiber, respectively, providing relaxed alignment tolerances (/spl plusmn/1.6 /spl mu/m and /spl plusmn/2 /spl mu/m, respectively), compatible with cost-effective packaging techniques. DSTPs also offer a wide bandwidth greater than 40 GHz and transverse-electric/transverse-magnetic polarization dependence lower than 0.2 dB. Furthermore, a DSTP saturation current as high as 11 mA results in optical power handling greater than +10 dBm and a high output voltage of 0.8 V. These capabilities allow the photodiode to drive the decision circuit without the need of a broad-band electrical amplifier. The DSTP devices presented here demonstrate higher responsivities with large fiber mode diameter and better optical power handling capabilities and are compared with classical side-illuminated photodiodes.     

LiNbO3 optical waveguides formed in a new proton source

Proton-exchanged planar waveguides have been fabricated on Z-cut and X-cut lithium niobate crystals by using a new proton source formed by a mixture of benzoic and adipic acids. Waveguide index profiles and optical characteristics have been obtained at different values of the adipic-benzoic acid concentration ratio. The samples have been structurally characterized by Raman and infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy and double-crystal X-ray diffraction. Good quality samples have been fabricated by using 30 mol% ratio dilution, showing very low scattering levels (<0.1 dB/cm), relatively high electrooptic coefficient (r₃₃=0.88 pm/V), and low relative percentage of interstitial protons (26%). The main factor limiting the waveguide optical properties is the substitutional-interstitial proton ratio, which can be easily controlled to produce good quality waveguides. A demonstration of the repeatability of the exchange process in the acid mixture is also provided     

Increasing the service properties of weld joints by electrohydroimpulse treatment

Known examples of the positive influence of electrohydroimpulse treatment on the quality of weld joints of various steels, particularly including an increase in their long-term and cyclic strength and also corrosion resistance, are analyzed. It is shown that in this case there is a reduction in residual macro- and micro-stresses and also a change in the parameters of the dislocation structure of the joint metal in the direction of stabilization of it.Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 4, pp. 119–123, April, 1996.     

The electrostatic problem for the SAW interdigital transducers inan external electric field. II. Periodic structures

For pt.I see ibid., vol.43, no.6, pp.1150-9 (1996). An exact solution of the electrostatic problem for calculating the surface charge and electric field distributions in an arbitrary periodic interdigital transducer (IDT) is given using the results of our companion paper. An arbitrary external electric field may be specified along the electrode structure with the unit cell containing one electrode, or several electrodes, of different widths. The potentials of the electrodes that may be specified are also arbitrary. It is shown that in the case without an external field, the solution includes all the known results as special cases. The case of shorted electrodes in the external electric field is investigated in detail. The surface charge and electric field distributions are calculated for a spatially harmonic external field with an arbitrary wavenumber. The results of the calculations are represented graphically for various ratios between the period of the electrode structure and the wavelength of the external field for the case of a unit cell containing one or two electrodes of different widths     

Experimental estimate of self-irradiation of building bricks due to incorporated radionuclides

A method is described for experimentally determining the dose rate created in building bricks by incorporated natural radionuclides. It was established using the thermoluminescence dosimetry method that the measured dose rate depends on the detector thickness, the mass of the ceramic product investigated, and the irradiation geometry. The contributions to the measured dose of weakly penetrating α and β radiation and hard ψ radiation are separated, the ratio between them depending on the experimental conditions. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 7, pp. 62–66, July, 1996.     

Series equivalence/operation of current-controlled boost-typesingle-phase voltage source converters for bidirectional power flow

Single-phase voltage source power converters (VSCs) under consideration are AC-DC current-controlled boost-type power converters with bidirectional power-handling capability. Equivalence between two series-connected two-level power converters and a single three-level power converter is considered here. Further considered is the series operation of three-level power converters. Simulation results and experimental verification for both are provided. Economical configurations of three-level power converters leading to multilevel waveforms are presented thereafter     

Quantization effects in digitally behaving circuit implementationsof Kohonen networks

Implementing a neural network on a digital or mixed analog and digital chip yields the quantization of the synaptic weights dynamics. This paper addresses this topic in the case of Kohonen's self-organizing maps. We first study qualitatively how the quantization affects the convergence and the properties, and deduce from this analysis the way to choose the parameters of the network (adaptation gain and neighborhood). We show that a spatially decreasing neighborhood function is far more preferable than the usually rectangular neighborhood function, because of the weight quantization. Based on these results, an analog nonlinear network, integrated in a standard CMOS technology, and implementing this spatially decreasing neighborhood function is then presented. It can be used in a mixed analog and digital circuit implementation.