Compact multiple-valued multiplexers using negative differentialresistance devices

Quantum electronic devices with negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristics have been used to design compact multiplexers. These multiplexers may be used either as analog multiplexers where the signal on a single select line selects one out of four analog inputs, or as four-valued logic multiplexers where the select line and the input lines represent one of four quantized signal values and the output line corresponds to the selected input. Any four-valued logic function can be implemented using only four-valued multiplexers (also known as T-gates), and this T-gate uses just 13 devices (transistors) as compared to 44 devices in CMOS. The design of the T-gate was done using a combination of resonant tunneling diodes (RTD's) and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with the folded I-V characteristic (NDR characteristic) of the RTD's providing the compact logic implementation and the HBT's providing the gain and isolation. The application of the same design principles to the design of T-gates using other NDR devices such as resonant tunneling hot electron transistors (RHET's) and resonant tunneling bipolar transistors (RTBT's) is also demonstrated     

Thermodynamic-behaviour model for air-cooled screw chillers with a variable set-point condensing temperature

This paper presents a thermodynamic model to evaluate the coefficient of performance (COP) of an air-cooled screw chiller under various operating conditions. The model accounts for the real process phenomena, including the capacity control of screw compressors and variations in the heat-transfer coefficients of an evaporator and a condenser at part load. It also contains an algorithm to determine how the condenser fans are staged in response to a set-point condensing temperature. The model parameters are identified, based on the performance data of chiller specifications. The chiller model is validated using a wide range of operating data of an air-cooled screw chiller. The difference between the measured and modelled COPs is within ±10% for 86% of the data points. The chiller’s COP can increase by up to 115% when the set-point condensing temperature is adjusted, based on any given outdoor temperature. Having identified the variation in the chiller’s COP, a suitable strategy is proposed for air-cooled screw chillers to operate at maximum efficiency as much as possible when they have to satisfy a building’s cooling-load.     

Thermal characteristics of a premixed impinging circular laminar-flame jet with induced swirl

A swirling flow has been induced in a premixed gas-fired impinging circular flame jet by adding two tangential air flows to the main axial air/fuel flow. The flame jet system was considered to be small-scale and operated under low-pressure, laminar flow conditions. The effects of Reynolds number of the air/butane mixture and nozzle-to-plate distance on the heating performance of the flame were studied and compared with the heat-flux distributions on an impingement plate under different operating conditions. The whole investigation was conducted under the stoichiometric air/fuel condition (i.e., equivalence ratio, Φ = 1) with the Reynolds number being varied from 800 to 1700, and nozzle-to-plate distance being selected between 1.5 and 4.0. The introduction of swirl to small-scale, low-pressure, laminar premixed gas-fired impinging circular flame jets is the method for enhancing their thermal performances. The heat-flux distribution on the impingement plate was more uniform and the flame temperatures essentially higher when compared with a similar flame jet system without induced swirl.     

轻型柴油车尾气烟羽中颗粒数量与粒径分布

测量了轻型柴油车在高怠速和低怠速运转的条件下，其尾气烟羽中粒径范围在15nm到30μm的颗粒数量和粒径的分布。利用SMPS和APS测量装置测量尾气烟羽中心线和环境背景条件下的颗粒排放。测量结果表明，测试的柴油车在高怠速运转的条件下会排放出更多的颗粒。然而，在两种怠速条件下，总的颗粒数量浓度由于沉降的作用会随着远离排气管的距离而减少。测量结果还表明，柴油车排放的颗粒主要是粒径小于700nm的颗粒，这些细颗粒比粗颗粒更易长期悬浮于大气中，从而引发局部的颗粒物污染问题。     

储油罐内壁铁锈硫化及氧化反应

储罐内壁铁锈在低温有水的条件下与储罐中的硫化氢气体反应生成硫铁化物．硫铁化物的氧化放热是引起含硫油品储罐着火的主要原因．采用X-射线衍射仪鉴定铁锈成份,对铁锈主要成分室温下进行硫化及硫化产物的氧化实验,绘制硫化及硫化产物氧化反应温度-时间曲线,并鉴定分析硫化产物及硫化产物的氧化产物,研究对含硫储罐自燃的作用．结果表明,铁锈主要成分为Fe2O3和Fe3O4,室温硫化产物均为FeS,但FeS形状与其来源有关．形状、致密性不同,致使氧化自燃性不同．Fe2O3硫化产物比Fe3O4硫化产物的氧化自燃性高,对引发储罐自燃的危险性大．     

Effect of structure on porous gas-diffusion electrodes for phosphoric acid fuel cells

This investigation is concerned with the variation of structure in the catalyst layer for porous gas-diffusion electrodes. The pore-size distribution and the total pore volume of the electrode are measured by a mercury penetration method. A model that accounts for this incomplete wetting electrode is solved by an orthogonal collocation method and matched with experimental observations. The numerical solution indicates that the effectiveness factor drops noticeably under high current density when the agglomerate radius is greater than 40 μm. When the agglomerate radius is smaller than 1.2 μm, however, the effect of ionic transport becomes important. The maximum reaction rate occurs at carbon-paper/ catalyst-layer interface when the effective conductivity of the electrolyte is larger than that of the solid phase. If the effective conductivity of the electrolyte is smaller, then the maximum reaction rate occurs at the electrode/electrolyte interface.     

Graphene Quantum Sheet Catalyzed Silicon Photocathode for Selective CO2 Conversion to CO

The reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into chemical feedstock is drawing increasing attention as a prominent method of recycling atmospheric CO₂. Although many studies have been devoted in designing an efficient catalyst for CO₂ conversion with noble metals, low selectivity and high energy input still remain major hurdles. One possible solution is to use the combination of an earth‐abundant electrocatalyst with a photoelectrode powered by solar energy. Herein, for the first time, a p‐type silicon nanowire with nitrogen‐doped graphene quantum sheets (N‐GQSs) as heterogeneous electrocatalyst for selective CO production is demonstrated. The photoreduction of CO₂ into CO is achieved at a potential of ?1.53 V versus Ag/Ag⁺, providing 0.15 mA cm^?2 of current density, which is 130 mV higher than that of a p‐type Si nanowire decorated with well‐known Cu catalyst. The faradaic efficiency for CO is 95%, demonstrating significantly improved selectivity compared with that of bare planar Si. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed, which suggest that pyridinic N acts as the active site and band alignment can be achieved for N‐GQSs larger than 3 nm. The demonstrated high efficiency of the catalytic system provides new insights for the development of nonprecious, environmentally benign CO₂ utilization.     

Connectivity properties of large-scale sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks, both nodes and links are prone to failures. In this paper we study connectivity properties of large-scale wireless sensor networks and discuss their implicit effect on routing algorithms and network reliability. We assume a network model of n sensors which are distributed randomly over a field based on a given distribution function. The sensors may be unreliable with a probability distribution, which possibly depends on n and the location of sensors. Two active sensor nodes are connected with probability p _e (n) if they are within communication range of each other. We prove a general result relating unreliable sensor networks to reliable networks. We investigate different graph theoretic properties of sensor networks such as k-connectivity and the existence of the giant component. While connectivity (i.e. k = 1) insures that all nodes can communicate with each other, k-connectivity for k > 1 is required for multi-path routing. We analyze the average shortest path of the k paths from a node in the sensing field back to a base station. It is found that the lengths of these multiple paths in a k-connected network are all close to the shortest path. These results are shown through graph theoretical derivations and are also verified through simulations.     

Sol-gel processed silica/titania/ÿ-Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane composite materials for photonic applications

Silica/titania/?-Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane composite materials processed by the sol-gel technique were studied for photonic applications. Waveguide thin films with thickness more than 1.7 μm were prepared by the sol-gel spin coating technique and low temperature heat treatment from this high titanium content composite materials. The films were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry, differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. It was observed that the film becomes thinner as the titanium contents increase. A change of the refractive index through the range 1.52–1.61 at the optical wavelength of 633 nm was achieved by varying the molar ratio between silica and titanium. A dense, low absorption, and high transparency in the visible range waveguide films could be obtained at a low temperature. It was also noted that organic compounds in the film would decompose in the temperature range from 200°C to 480°C. Accordingly, purely inorganic silica-titania films with a thickness of about 0.7 μm could also be obtained by a single-coating process, when the film was baked at a temperature of 500°C or higher. The waveguides properties and photonic applications of the composite material solgel films were also investigated.