Inertia effects on non-parallel thermal instability of natural convection flow over horizontal and inclined plates in porous media

The inertia effect on the onset of thermal instability in natural convection flow over heated horizontal and inclined flat plates embedded in fluid-saturated porous media is analyzed. The linear non-parallel flow model is employed in the instability analysis, which takes into account the streamwise variation as well as the transverse variation of the disturbance amplitude functions. The set of partial differential equations for the disturbance amplitude functions are converted to a system of homogeneous linear ordinary differential equations with homogeneous boundary conditions by the local non-similarity method. The resulting eigenvalue problem is then solved by an implicit finite-difference method. Representative neutral stability curves and critical Rayleigh numbers are presented. It has been found that as the angle of inclination relative to the horizontal increases, the surface heat transfer rate increases, whereas the flow becomes more stable to the vortex mode of instability. Also, as the inertia effect, expressed in terms of Forchheimer number, Fr, increases, the heat transfer rate decreases, but the flow becomes more stable. It is demonstrated that the non-parallel flow model predicts a more stable flow than the parallel flow model.     

High-resolution electron microscopy of the twinning and intergrowth in Ca4Al6SO16 and Ca3SrAl6SO16

The microstructures of unhydrated calcium aluminosulphate Ca₄Al₆SO₁₆ and Ca₃SrAl₆SO₁₆ have been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The results showed that twinning and twinned slabs could be introduced taking the [1 1 2] direction as the twin axis so that it seems to be coincident with the law of twinning formed in body-centred cubic structures. A previously reported superlattice with a repeat period twice that of the fundamental structure along the 〈1 1 0〉 direction has also been found in both matrix and twin variants. The close intergrowth of Ca₃SrAl₆SO₁₆ and another phase, possibly Sr₃Al₂O₆ existing as an inclusion between these two twin variants, was determined and clearly revealed by electron diffraction and HREM images. The coherent interphase boundaries and orientation relationship between them can also be deduced.     

Determination of molecular weight distributions of tert-octylphenol ethoxylate surfactant polymers by laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography

Triton polymers are commercial surfactants whose molecular weight distributions are conventionally determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, in the case of the important octylphenol ethoxylates [p-C8H17-C6H4-O-(CH2CH2O)n-H], HPLC cannot resolve individual oligomers of high molecular weight Triton surfactants (e.g., greater than 2000 u or so; u = unified atomic mass unit). In this paper, we show that laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LD/FT/ICR/MS) provides a simple and accurate measure of such Triton surfactant molecular weight distributions up to at least 3500 u, based on a single-shot laser pulse measurement of a few seconds duration. Comparison of LD/FT/ICR/MS and HPLC molecular weight distributions of low molecular weight surfactants shows that laser desorption/ionization produces minimal fragmentation and thus offers an accurate measure of the relative abundances of the neutral oligomers, without the need for prior chromatographic separation of the components. Moreover, for all Triton polymer molecular weight distributions (700-3000 u), LD/FT/ICR/MS provides much more highly resolved profiles of oligomer relative abundances. Finally, LD/FT/ICR/MS reveals the presence of poly(ethylene oxide) side products of the polymerization process, which are not observed by HPLC with conventional ultraviolet absorption detection.     

A Note on PIN Polynomials and PRIN Rational Functions

This brief presents a necessary and sufficient condition for testing positive, real, imaginary, and negative rational functions. A related term, the positive, imaginary, and negative polynomial, is defined and two necessary and sufficient conditions for testing it are given.     

Cooling and Solidification of Melted Drops in an Immiscible Cooling Medium

The cooling and solidification of melted drops during their movement in an immiscible cooling medium is widely employed for granulation in the chemical industry, and a study of these processes to provides a basis for the design of the granulation tower height and the temperature of the cooling medium is reported. A physical model of the cooling and solidification of the drop is established and the numerical calculation is performed. The influences of the key factors in the solidification, i.e., Bi number, drop diameter, temperature of the cooling medium, etc. are presented. The cooling and solidification during wax granulation in a water‐cooling tower and during urea granulation in an air‐cooling tower (spraying tower) are described in detail. Characteristics of the solidification and temperature distribution within the particle at different times are shown. The model and calculations can be used for structure design of the granulation tower and optimization of the operation parameters.     

A general framework for debugging

The state of the art of debugging is examined. A debugged process model that serves as the basis of a general debugging framework is described. The relationship of the model to traditional debugging processes and support tools is discussed. A minimal set of requirements for a general debugging framework is described in terms of both the theory behind debugging methodologies and the support tools. An execution monitor, Eden, that serves as a debugging tool within this general framework is described     

A comparison of the3He melting curve,T c(P) curve,and the susceptibility of lanthanum-diluted cerium magnesium nitrate below 50 mK

The ac susceptibility of lanthanum-diluted cerium magnesium nitrate has been compared to the temperature scales as derived from the (P, T) relation determined by Halperin and that was measured recently by Greywall. It is found that the susceptibility does not obey a simple Curie-Weiss law over the temperature range between 1 and 50 mK. The results of these calibrations are also used to determine the temperatures for the second-order phase transitions into the superfluid phases of³He at several pressures. TheseT _c(P) values are compared to results of earlier experiments that used thermometry based on the susceptibility of platinum as well as other thermometry techniques.     

An improved analysis of experimental data from 125 I hot-line autoradiographs: allowing for the effects of background grains

In this paper we suggest a new statistical method of correcting the results of hot-line experiments for the effects of background sources and we use the new method to reassess the adequacy of three probability distributions proposed in the literature for image spread from line sources. The data are from sources labelled with ¹²⁵I in semi-thin resin sections 0·4-0·8 μm in thickness. The new method reveals that two of the models describe the empirical distributions more closely than earlier analysis had suggested, and it confirms an increasing relationship between half distance of image spread and the thickness of the source. However, it also confirms that considerable ‘inter hot-line’ experimental variation remains, even after background correction. This suggests that multiple experiments are needed to produce reliable estimates of half distance.     

Low-thermal expansion polycrystalline tantalum tungstate ceramics

The synthesis of thermal-shock-resistant materials from the system Ta₂O₅WO₃ was investigated. Ta₂WO₈ had a very low unit-cell thermal expansion coefficient (+0.5 X 10^–6° C^–1). Ta₃₀W₂O₈₁ also had a relatively low coefficient (+4.0 X 10^–6 ° C^–1) and a thermal durability over 1600° C. The thermal expansion curves of these polycrystalline ceramics were lowered because of microcracks caused by the large thermal expansion anisotropy of the crystal axes and were accompanied by hysteresis loops. The densification of Ta₂WO₈ ceramic was promoted by the addition of some metal oxides, and the strong ceramic of Ta₃₀W₂O₈₁ was obtained by controlling grain growth.