New control paradigm for integration of photovoltaic energy sources with utility network

The employment of an inverter to integrate a distributed generation system to the utility network is well known. In such a context, there is an increasing interest in developing an appropriate control strategy to derive a current with less distortion from the inverter. In this paper, a new current controller for inverters of this kind has been proposed. The proposed technique combines the benefits of a proportional-integral controller and a hysteresis limiter. The paper presents the development of such a controller and its structure. Inverter-output current waveforms of the proposed scheme are compared with that of a hysteresis alone and average current mode controllers. A better harmonic elimination and current tracking performance of the proposed controller is thereby established. Filter responses have also been compared to establish the superiority of the proposed approach.     

Preparation of nano-CaO using thermal-decomposition method

CaO is an important inorganic material, which can be used as catalyst, toxic-waste remediation agent, adsorbent etc. In order to make use of CaO, nano-CaO was prepared by thermal-decomposition method using Ca(NO₃)₂.4H₂O as precursor, NaOH aqueous solution as precipitant, and ethylene glycol as medium in this paper. Characteristics of samples were measured by TGA, XRD, TEM et al techniques. The results showed that the size of nano-CaO about 14 nm could be obtained under the conditions (calcinations temperature 500 °C, calcinations time 1.5 h, heating rate of calcinations 5 °C/min). It is a very simple and effective method to prepare nano-CaO.     

Polyacetylene content and UV-induced 6-methoxymellein accumulation in carrot cultivars

The antifungal polyacetylenes falcarindiol and falcarinol, the production potential of the phytoalexin 6-methoxymellein (6-MM), and the carbohydrate profiles of five carrot cultivars were studied in order to assess variability in their content of these compounds as well as to determine the existence of any interrelationship among them. The polyacetylene content was measured in the peel of carrot roots shortly after harvest; the accumulation of 6-MM was measured in carrot slices incubated at 1°C after exposure to ultraviolet light (UV-C); and the carbohydrate content (glucose, fructose, sucrose and total non-structural), determined on whole carrots. Significant differences among the cultivars were noted in the content of polyacetylenes and 6-MM accumulation as well as in the carbohydrate constituents. The variation among the cultivars for the polyacetylene content and that for the accumulation of 6-MM were found to be independent of each other. The results suggest that cultivars with higher levels of antifungal compounds could be bred in order to improve their resistance to diseases. The carbohydrate profiles of the cultivars did not affect their production of 6-MM. Furthermore, 6-MM accumulation–UV dose response was similar for all the cultivars. Thus, a single dose of UV could be used to induce 6-MM in several cultivars of carrot.     

Environmental impacts of utilizing waste steel slag aggregates as recycled road construction materials

Slag is an industrial waste generated during the steelmaking process. Electric arc furnace slag (EAFS) and ladle furnace slag (LFS) are both produced at different stages of steelmaking process, respectively, in electric arc furnaces and refining ladle furnaces. As part of this research, an extensive suite of engineering and environmental tests were undertaken on steel slag aggregates to evaluate their potential usage as road construction materials. The engineering assessment included particle size distribution, hydrometer, organic content, flakiness index, Atterberg limits, particle density, water absorption, pH, minimum and maximum dry densities with a vibrating table, modified compaction, California bearing ratio (CBR) and Los Angeles abrasion tests. In addition, a suite of environmental tests comprising total and leachable heavy metal tests were undertaken on both types of steel slag aggregates. From an environmental perspective, EAFS and LFS were found to pose no environmental risks for use as aggregates in roadwork applications. The engineering properties of LFS aggregates with its satisfactory geotechnical and environmental results, particularly its high CBR values, indicated that the material was ideal for usage as a construction material in roadwork applications such as pavement base/subbases and engineering fills. EAFS, with its comparatively lower CBR value, was found to be only suitable to use as a construction material for pavement subbases and engineering fills. The usage of steel slag aggregates in roadwork applications would bring about a practical end-of-life alternative for their sustainable reuse and possibly divert large amount of these waste materials from landfills.     

A machine learning system for identifying transmembrane domains from amino acid sequences

We present our machine learning system, that uses inductive logic programming techniques to learn how to identify transmembrane domains from amino acid sequences. Our system facilitates the use of operators such as ‘contains’, that act on entire sequences, rather than on individual elements of a sequence. The prediction accuracy of our new system is around 93%, and this compares favourably with earlier results. This work was carried out with the support of a research grant from ISIS, Fujitsu Laboratories.     

Prediction of the tensile capacity of cold formed angles experiencing shear lag

The present study deals with the shear lag phenomenon in cold formed angles under tension, which are connected on one leg. A new expression for shear lag factor which represents the net section reduction coefficient has been suggested in the present paper. The proposed expression based on the regression analysis of 108 experimental results reported in the literature is validated by experiments involving net section failure in angles under tension. Totally 18 experiments were carried out on single angles fastened with bolts to the gusset plates under tension loaded upto net section rupture mode of failure. The experimental test parameters considered are number of bolts, pitch and shear lag distances and ratio of connected leg length to unconnected leg length. The tensile capacities are evaluated by various specifications such as AS/NZS:4600:2005, NAS:2001, AISC:2005, BS:5950-Part5:1998, IS:800-2007 and the proposed equation. A comparative study of tensile capacities predicted based on various codes and the experiment results is presented in this paper. For the tested range of specimens, both NAS:2001 and AISC:2005 standards over-predicted the capacities for all the specimens. The IS:800-2007 and AS/NZS 4600:2005 predictions are good for the specimens with three bolted connections and unconservative in the case of specimen with two bolts. Both BS:5950-Part-5:1998 and the proposed equation for IS:801 predict good estimate of the tensile capacity of cold formed angle members. The proposed equation for cold formed steel tension members, which is in the same format of IS:800 (2007) (Indian code for Hot rolled steel design), has been demonstrated to be good.     

A Novel Synthesis,Structural, Morphological,and Opto-magnetic Characterizations of Magnetically Separable Spinel Co x Mn1−x Fe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) Nano-catalysts

Spinel Co _x Mn_1?x Fe₂O₄ (0≤x≤1) nano- crystals were successfully synthesized by a simple microwave-assisted combustion method. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis was used to study the morphological variations and found the particle-like nanocrystal morphologies. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results showed that the composition of the elements were relevant as expected from the combustion synthesis. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that all composition was found to have cubic spinel-type structure. Average crystallite size of the samples was found to be in the range of 10.36–21.16 nm. The lattice parameter decreased from 8.478 to 8.432 Å with increasing Co²⁺ content. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra showed two strong absorption peaks observed at lower frequency (～435 to ～800 cm^?1), which can be assigned to the M–O (Mn, Co, and Fe) bonds. UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) shows that the energy band gap of pure MnFe₂O₄ is 1.78 eV and with increase in the Co²⁺ ion, it increases from 1.87 to 2.33 eV. Addition of Co²⁺ in MnFe₂O₄ reduces the particle size, which can be confirmed by the blue shift in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) results that confirmed a weak ferromagnetic behavior for all composition with saturation magnetization values in the range of 50.05 ±04 to 67.09 °03 emu/g. All composition of spinel Co _x Mn_1?x Fe₂O₄ nano-crystals were successfully tested as catalyst for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde, which has resulted 87.32 and 94.28 % conversion efficiency of MnFe₂O₄ and Co_0.6Mn_0.4Fe₂O₄, respectively.     

Strong quantum confinement effect in nanocrystalline cerium oxide

Highly uniform and well-dispersed cerium oxide quantum dots were successfully synthesized by simple precipitation method by using cerium ammonium nitrate and ammonium hydroxide as precursor materials with suitable conditions. The X-ray diffraction pattern indicates the formation of cubic phase CeO₂. The average particle size of cerium oxide from high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was found to be 3 nm. The X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectrum confirms the presence of Ce³⁺ in CeO₂. Optical studies by UV–vis spectroscopy for the synthesized CeO₂ nanoparticles exhibit a blue shift (E_g = 3.78 eV) with respect to the bulk material (E_g = 3.15 eV) due to quantum confined exciton absorption.     

Efficient reliability estimate of passive thermal hydraulic safety system with automatic differentiation

An approach for efficient estimation of passive safety system functional reliability has been developed and applied to a simplified model of the passive residual heat transport system typical of sodium cooled fast reactors to demonstrate the reduction in computational time. The method is based on generating linear approximations to the best estimate computer code, using the technique of automatic reverse differentiation. This technique enables determination of linear approximation to the code in a few runs independent of the number of input variables for each response variable. The likely error due to linear approximation is reduced by augmented sampling through best estimate code in the neighborhood of the linear failure surface but in a sub domain where linear approximation error is relatively more. The efficiency of this new approach is compared with importance sampling MCS which uses the linear approximation near the failure region and with Direct Monte-Carlo Simulation. In the importance sampling MCS, variants employing random sampling with Box-Muller algorithm and Markov Chain algorithm are inter-compared. The significance of the results with respect to system reliability is also discussed.     

Design and evaluation of Operation Grade Decay Heat Removal System of PFBR

The decay heat removal (DHR) system removes the decay heat generated (by radioactive decay of fission products) in the core after the reactor is shut down, thereby ensuring proper cooling of the core sub assemblies and limiting main vessel, internals and sodium temperature within safe limits. There are two diverse paths for removal of decay heat from the reactor, namely, Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal System (SGDHRS) and Operation Grade Decay Heat Removal System (OGDHRS). OGDHR circuit is used when at least one secondary sodium loop, DHR related steam water circuit and off site power supply is available and SGDHR circuit is used when OGDHR system is not available or when both the secondary loops are not available for DHR. This paper provides brief details of the design and evaluation of OGDHRS.