Dependence of dielectric behaviour of Mn-Zn ferrite on sintering temperature

The dielectric constant of Mn-Zn ferrite was measured at different temperature and frequencies as a function of sintering temperature ranging from 1200°C to 1400°C at heating rate of 6°C/min. The resistivities as well as Seebeck coefficient were measured in the same range of temperature. More than one type of polarization is expected to vary the dielectric constant. Hoping mechanism was the predominant one in conduction processes. The grain size was calculated from X-rays and SE micrographs and it was found to decrease with increasing sintering temperature.     

A Supervisory Control Method for Ensuring the Conformance of Real-Time Discrete Event Systems

In this article, we study the problem of controlling a plant described as a real-time discrete event system. The aimed objective is to ensure a conformance relation denoted tioco between the plant and the formal specification of the system, by means of a supervisor. We adopt a two-step approach. In Step 1, we express the problem into a non-real-time form, by using a transformation of timed automata (TA) into particular finite state automata called Set-Exp-Automata (SEA). The latter use two additional types of events, Set and Exp. And in Step 2, we propose a non-real-time control method suitable for SEA. We also propose a control architecture.     

Active query forwarding in sensor networks

While sensor networks are going to be deployed in diverse application specific contexts, one unifying view is to treat them essentially as distributed databases. The simplest mechanism to obtain information from this kind of a database is to flood queries for named data within the network and obtain the relevant responses from sources. However, if the queries are (a) complex, (b) one-shot, and (c) for replicated data, this simple approach can be highly inefficient. In the context of energy-starved sensor networks, alternative strategies need to be examined for such queries.We propose a novel and efficient mechanism for obtaining information in sensor networks which we refer to as ACtive QUery forwarding In sensoR nEtworks (ACQUIRE). The basic principle behind ACQUIRE is to consider the query as an active entity that is forwarded through the network (either randomly or in some directed manner) in search of the solution. ACQUIRE also incorporates a look-ahead parameter d in the following manner: intermediate nodes that handle the active query use information from all nodes within d hops in order to partially resolve the query. When the active query is fully resolved, a completed response is sent directly back to the querying node.We take a mathematical modelling approach in this paper to calculate the energy costs associated with ACQUIRE. The models permit us to characterize analytically the impact of critical parameters, and compare the performance of ACQUIRE with respect to other schemes such as flooding-based querying (FBQ) and expanding ring search (ERS), in terms of energy usage, response latency and storage requirements. We show that with optimal parameter settings, depending on the update frequency, ACQUIRE obtains order of magnitude reduction over FBQ and potentially over 60–75% reduction over ERS (in highly dynamic environments and high query rates) in consumed energy. We show that these energy savings are provided in trade for increased response latency. The mathematical analysis is validated through extensive simulations.     

Optimum shapes of tire‐treads for avoiding lateral slippage between tires and roads

Optimum design of tire‐tread sections is an important practical issue. However, useful study of the problem that can suggest a reliable guideline for determining the optimum tread sections had hardly been made in the past. The present paper describes a new analysis of the state of stresses in tire‐tread sections in contact with the road surface, taking special care of the boundary conditions. Based on the analysis, a method is proposed to determine the optimum tread shapes for avoiding lateral slippage between tires and roads. The displacement potential function formulation, an ideal mathematical model for the practical stress problems, has been used in conjunction with finite‐difference method of solution. For the present analysis, lateral slipping in absence of frictional resistance as well as the no‐slip conditions of the tire‐tread contact surface have been considered along with a large number of tread aspect ratios. The present computational approach proves to be a powerful tool for determining the optimum tread shapes for avoiding the lateral slippage of tire‐treads. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective Sharing of Load Current Components Among Parallel Power Electronic Interfaces in Three-phase Four-wire Stand-alone Microgrid

This paper investigates selective sharing of load current components among the parallel operation of distributed generators (DGs) in three-phase four-wire stand-alone microgrids. The proposed control method is based on master-slave operation of DGs, and the goal of selective sharing of load current components is to have DGs located in close proximity of the load operating in slave mode, in order to inject their available energy and also compensate the non-active load current components, while the distant DGs might operate in master mode to share the remaining load autonomously. Droop control is employed due to impracticality of communication at remote nodes, and resistive line impedance compensation is adopted to decouple active and reactive power controllers and ensure proper active power sharing among master DGs, irrespective of the mitigation of non-active current components by the slave inverters. The sharing factors for each current component are determined by a higher level control. The Conservative Power Theory (CPT) decompositions provide decoupled power and current references for the inverters, resulting in a selective sharing strategy. The principles supporting the developed control strategy are discussed, and the effectiveness of the control is demonstrated through computational simulations using PSIM software.     

An adaptive supervised wide-area backupprotection scheme for transmission linesprotection

Background: The increasing penetration of a massive number of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and distributed generators (DGs) into current power distribution networks imposes obvious challenges on power distribution network operation. Methods: This paper presents an optimal temporal-spatial scheduling strategy of PEV charging demand in the presence of DGs. The solution is designed to ensure the reliable and secure operation of the active power distribution networks, the randomness introduced by PEVs and DGs can be managed through the appropriate scheduling of the PEV charging demand, as the PEVs can be considered as mobile energy storage units. Results: As a result, the charging demands of PEVs are optimally scheduled temporally and spatially, which can improve the DG utilization efficiency as well as reduce the charging cost under real-time pricing (RTP). Conclusions: The proposed scheduling strategy is evaluated through a series of simulations and the numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and the benefits of the proposed solution.     

Erratum to: Conductivity Sensors Based System Development and Application to Investigate the Interfacial Behaviour between Supersonic Steam Jet and Water

Instruments and Experimental Techniques - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020441221050249     

Synthesis and Characterization of Some Nonionic Bolaamphiphiles

A series of nonionic bolaamphiphiles were synthesized from the reaction of fluoroalkylene (dimercaptoacetates) with maleate crown ethers. Surface activity of the new surfactants was evaluated on the basis of surface tension measurements. The new fluorinated bolamphiphiles exhibit a remarkable lowering of surface tension in comparison with nonfluorinated analogues.     

Fe2O3/TUD-1: an efficient catalysts for Friedel–Crafts alkylation of aromatics

Three-dimensional mesoporous (Fe-TUD-1) catalysts with different Si/Fe ratios (100, 50, 20 and 10) are prepared using triethanolamine as template. Physicochemical and textural measurements by XRD, elemental analysis, N₂ adsorption, UV–Vis spectroscopy and HR-TEM imaging indicate the formation of pure solid mesoporous materials and the presence of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles in the prepared Fe-TUD-1 samples. The catalytic performance of Fe-TUD-1 catalysts is tested in Friedel–Crafts alkylations of single-ring aromatic compounds [e.g. toluene (T), ethyl benzene (EB) and cumene (C)] by benzyl alcohol (BnOH). Dispersion of Fe(III) in the mesoporous matrix of TUD-1 enhanced the catalytic activity of Fe-TUD-1 in the alkylation of aromatic compounds compared to pure Fe₂O₃ and TUD-1 catalysts. The catalytic activity further increases by the decreasing of Si/Fe ratio. Sample loaded with Si/Fe ratio = 10 (Fe-10) showed almost complete conversion of BnOH in a relatively very short reaction time (<30 min) with 95 % selectivity. The catalytic performance of Fe-TUD-1 was superior to other metal-containing TUD-1 (e.g. Ga, Sn, and Ti) catalysts, or other Fe-containing catalysts (e.g. Fe-MCM-41, ZSM-5 and Fe-HMS). Alkylation of C is the fastest among the three aromatic substrates investigated (at temperatures very close to their boiling points) due to the largest inductive effect by the isopropyl group compared to the methyl group of T and the ethyl group in EB. Dibenzyl ether is formed as a byproduct only in the early times of the reaction and proved to act as alkylating agent after being hydrolyzed backwards to reform BnOH. Leaching experiments show the Fe-TUD-1 materials are very stable and can be reused as alkylation catalyst.     

Soft-templating pathway to create nanostructured Mg–Al spinel as high-temperature absorbent for SO2

Interest in reducing SO₂ emission from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) crude oil has been encouraging the development of new materials to achieve such goal. The nanostructured Mg–Al spinel (MgAl₂O₄) was prepared by co-precipitation and post hydrothermal treatment in the presence of glucose and followed by elimination of the organic components by calcination at 700 °C for 3 h. Physical and chemical properties were characterized by XRD, N₂ sorption, TG, FTIR, SEM, and TEM methods. Mesoporous nanostructured MgAl₂O₄ with a high surface area of 324 m² g^?1 were obtained. The organic components contributed to the development of mesoporosity, functioning as a soft template. SO₂ adsorption tests showed that the nanostructured MgAl₂O₄ had a 51.58 % increase of SO₂ sorption capacity than MgAl₂O₄ prepared without glucose. These results showed that the nanostructured MgAl₂O₄ is a promising candidate as catalyst for flue gas desulfurization in FCC process. Three kinetic models were also applied to analyze the SO₂ adsorption kinetics; the pseudo-second order kinetic model fit well with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.991 for nanostructured MgAl₂O₄.