Numerical simulation of mixing process in T-shaped and DT-shaped micromixers

Recently, numerous studies have been done on the micro- and nano-scale equipment because of their importance and wide range of application. Micromixers are among the equipment in which two or more fluids are mixed and have applications in the processes, such as chemical synthesis. In this research, a numerical investigation using finite volume approach is done on mixing two incompressible fluids in 3D mixers with T- and double-T-(DT) shaped geometries in the range of Reynolds numbers 75–400. One of the important parameters for the quantitative analysis of the mixing performance of micromixers is the mixing index. So, the effects of different geometries, Reynolds number and channel length on this parameter are studied. The results show that, at different Reynolds numbers, the mixing index of fluids in the DT-shaped channel with 90° is less than the corresponding one in T-shaped mixers because changing the flow regime occurs at higher Reynolds numbers in the DT-shaped channels. The amount of mixing index increases by decreasing the angle of branches in the DT-shaped channel. It is observed that the mixing index of fluids increases along the channel, which tends to a constant value far away from the inlet.     

Chemical oxidation of high-density polyethylene: Surface energy,functionality, and adhesion to liquid epoxy

The application of polyolefins has increased significantly over the past few decades. However, their chemical inertness and low surface energy limits their application in many industries where high adhesion to polar materials is required, such as for composites and protective coatings. Herein, six different acids are used to create polar functional groups on High-Density Polyethylene's (HDPE) surface and to increase its adhesion to liquid epoxy (LE). Contact angle measurements, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and pull-off strength measurements are used to analyze the surface energy and functionality of HDPE and to measure its adhesion to LE. The results show that each acid increases both the polar and disperse surface energies of HDPE to a different extent, but that this is not necessarily a function of acid strength. Chlorosulfonic acid and chromic acid increase the oxygen to carbon ratio by a factor of 8 and increase HDPE's adhesion to LE by more than 400%. Furthermore, a comparison between predicted work of adhesion values from the OWRK model and experimental results shows that the latter are significantly higher than what is predicted, especially with increasing surface polarity.     

Nano-morphology characterization of organic bulk heterojunctions based on mono and bis-adduct fullerenes

We have studied organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on a bridged-bithiophene donor–acceptor type low-band gap polymer blended with PCBM and bis-PCBM. The impact of the molecular arrangement is discussed in terms of the correlation between the solar-cell performance and the degree of crystallization. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) prove that films with bis-PCBM typically result in more amorphous blends than comparable films with PCBM. Electron tomography (ET) is used to visualize the three dimensional morphology of photoactive layers, confirming the presence of nanofibers, formed in different scales through the thickness in the blended films with mono and bis-fullerenes.     

Employing secure coding practices into industrial applications: a case study

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are the vital part of modern critical infrastructures. Recent attacks to ICS indicate that these systems have various types of vulnerabilities. A large number of vulnerabilities are due to secure coding problems in industrial applications. Several international and national organizations like: NIST, DHS, and US-CERT have provided extensive documentation on securing ICS; however proper details on securing software application for industrial setting were not presented. The notable point that makes securing a difficult task is the contradictions between security priorities in ICS and IT systems. In addition, none of the guidelines highlights the implications on modification of general IT security solutions to industrial settings. Moreover based on the best of our knowledge, steps to develop a successful real-world secure industrial application have not been reported. In this paper, the first attempts to employ secure coding best practices into a real world industrial application (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) called OpenSCADA is presented. Experiments indicate that resolving the vulnerabilities of OpenSCADA in addition to possible improvement in its availability, does not jeopardize other dimensions of security. In addition, all experiments are backed up with proper statistical tests to see whether or not, improvements are statistically significant.     

Production and examination of oxygen‐carrier materials based on manganese ores and Ca(OH)2 in chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling

This study concerns production of oxygen‐carrier particles using six different manganese ores. The ores were made to react with Ca(OH)₂ at elevated temperature, forming calcium manganite. The method utilized to manufacture particles was extrusion. Methane and syngas conversion and oxygen release of the samples in inert atmosphere were investigated. The oxygen carrier based on South African (B) manganese ore, showed good methane conversion and was able to transfer oxygen corresponding to 1.5% of its mass during reduction with gaseous fuel. All examined oxygen carriers were capable of converting syngas completely. The ability to release gaseous oxygen was examined by adding wood char in a stream of nitrogen for four selected samples sintered at 1300°C/6 h. These samples released an amount of oxygen corresponding to 0.37–0.68% of their mass. The reactivity of all the ores was improved after the proposed treatments. Reactivity results of the oxygen carrier made from South African (B) ore and Ca(OH)₂, sintered at 1300°C for 6 h were the most promising. Attrition measurements with a jet cup of the oxygen carriers sintered at 1300°C/6 h showed that all the samples made from ores were at least three times more resistant to mechanical attrition compared to particles made from synthetic Mn₂O₃. Producing feasible oxygen carriers directly from ores could potentially cut the cost of chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling and have a significant impact on its competitiveness among other carbon capture technologies. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J 60: 645–656, 2014     

The Dissolution of Fe in HCl from the Ilmenite Concentrate; Evaluating the Effect of Operating Parameters and Mutual Interactions

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - Selective HCl dissolution of ilmenite components for obtaining Ti or titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been highly recognized due to its advantages, greater...     

Selective Laser Melting of Maraging Steels Using Recycled Powders: A Comprehensive Microstructural and Mechanical Investigation

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use a high energy density laser to fuse metallic powders for producing three-dimensional parts. So far, most studies of SLM have been focused on using virgin metal powders. There are few comprehensive studies on the microstructure and mechanical properties of SLM-produced parts using recycled powders, especially for maraging steels. In this study, we employ recycled steel powder (reused after 113 building cycles) in the SLM process to print multiple shaped components and systematically characterize the microstructure and mechanical properties (indentation, tensile, and Charpy testing). Our results show that maraging steel produced with recycled powder exhibit the nearly identical microstructure and mechanical properties (940 MPa yield strength, 1127 MPa ultimate tensile strength, 11 pct elongation, and 47.5 J room temperature impact fracture energy) to those produced using virgin powders. This study provides a useful generic guide towards using recycled metal powders in the SLM processing, promoting an economic solution to industrial productions.

     

Flicker Source Tracing by Wavelet Transform

In the present day, voltage fluctuations (flicker) have received more attention by both utilities and consumers. Flicker mitigation needs identification of the flicker sources. After identifying the flicker sources, it would also be possible to penalize the relevant utility or the consumers. In this article, a new method based on flicker power theory and wavelet transform is proposed to identify the locations of single and multiple flicker sources in a multi-flicker source power network. The wavelet transform is utilized for demodulation and then the total flicker powers are computed by adding the flicker power belongs to individual flicker frequency components. The method also computes the contributions of each consumer and utility to the global flicker level of a common coupling busbar. For validation, the IEEE 13-bus network is simulated and an algorithm for flicker sources tracing is tested. Time-domain simulations in MATLAB/Simulink (The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts, USA) are performed to examine the accuracy of the proposed method. Simulation results show that by using the proposed method, all flicker sources and their contributions on the global flicker level can be detected correctly. To assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, the comparison with the most well-known methods has been presented.     

A numerical design study of chaotic mixing of magnetic particles in a microfluidic bio-separator

A two-dimensional numerical investigation into the mixing of magnetic microparticles with bio-cells in a chaotic micromixer is carried out by using a multiphysics finite element analysis package. Fluid and magnetic problems are simulated in steady-state and time-dependent modes, respectively. Intensity of segregation is utilized as the main index to examine the efficiency of the mixer. Trajectories of the particles are used in order to detect chaos in their motion and quantify its extent. Moreover, probability of the collision between particles and target bio-cells is examined as a supplemental index to study the effects of driving parameters on the mixing process. Simulation results reveal that while in some ranges of operating conditions all indices are in good agreement, there are some ranges where they appear to predict contradicting results which is discussed in details. It is found that optimum operating conditions for the system is obtained when the Strouhal number is less than 0.6, which corresponds to the efficiency of about 85% in a mixing length of 500 μm (The mixer design described here is patent pending).     

Occurrence and removal of priority pollutants by lamella clarification and biofiltration

This study investigates the occurrence of all priority substances (n = 41) listed in the Water Framework Directive and additional substances (n = 47) in raw sewage, as well as the removal performance of lamella clarification and biofiltration techniques. Once the efficiency of both types of techniques has been assessed for typical wastewater parameters, the differences in each technique's ability to remove pollutants becomes obvious; nevertheless, pollutant removal in quantitative terms still depends on the physico-chemical properties of the compounds used and operating conditions within the selected facility. For lamella clarification, the removal of organic chemicals was found to be primarily correlated with their sorption potential and, hence, strongly dependent upon log K_ow of the compound under study. Compounds with a strong hydrophobic character (log K_ow > 4.5) are removed to a significant extent (approx. 85%), while hydrophilic compounds (log K_ow < 3.5) are poorly removed (<20%). For biofiltration, the removal of chemicals appears to be compound-dependent, although this outcome involves several mechanisms, namely: i) physical filtration of total suspended solids, ii) volatilisation, iii) sorption, and iv) biotransformation of substances. Even if the complex processes within a biofilter system do not yield an accurate prediction of pollutant removal, two groups of chemicals can still be clearly identified: i) hydrophobic or volatile compounds, for which moderate to high removal rates are observed (from 50% to over 80%); and ii) hydrophilic, non-volatile and refractory compounds for which a low removal rate would be expected (<20%).