Radiation flux distribution over solar images formed on the focal plane by a paraboloidal reflector with tracking errors

The radiation flux distribution of off-centered solar images formed by a sun-tracking paraboloidal reflector is theoretically analyzed for several tracking error angles using Jose’s sunshape equation and assuming a specularly reflecting surface without taking meteorological conditions into consideration. The results are printed out by computer in the form of shade density maps to bring out a clear contrast to the low and high flux areas of a full image.     

Modeling and control of Wiener-type processes

We develop a simple relay feedback method to identify Wiener-type nonlinear processes. It separates the identification problem of the nonlinear static function from that of the linear dynamic subsystem to simplify the identification procedure significantly. Owing to the separation, the unmeasurable output of the linear dynamic subsystem can be obtained in a straightforward manner. Then, determining the model structure of the nonlinear static function becomes very simple and the estimates are robust to additive output noises. We can identify the whole activated region of the nonlinear static function as well as the ultimate information of the linear dynamic subsystem from only one relay feedback test. More information on the linear dynamic subsystem can be estimated by well-established linear system identification methods from additional tests. We use a nonlinear control strategy to compensate the nonlinear dynamics of the Wiener process so that the design parameters can be determined by usual tuning rules developed for linear processes and a high control performance can be achievable as in linear processes.     

Dynamic reaction inside co‐rotating twin screw extruder. I. Truck tire model material/polypropylene blends

Waste ground rubber tire (WGRT) is a complex composite containing various elastomers, carbon black, zinc oxide, stearic acid, processing oils, and other curatives. Most of the waste ground rubber tire is composed of mainly natural rubber (NR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) in varying proportions. Blending it with other thermoplastic materials is difficult due to the inherent thermodynamic incompatibility. But, the compatibility can be increased by making the reactive sites in WGRT with suitable chemicals under optimum condition of shearing inside a twin screw extruder and it is said to undergo a dynamic reaction inside the extruder. To understand the mechanism of dynamic reaction process of a rubber/polyolefin blend, the blending of a truck tire model material rubber with polyolefin was first tried before it was applied to waste WGRT material. It was observed that the blends of a truck tire model rubber material and PP thermoplastic are physical mixture of two incompatible polymers in which a continuous plastic phase is largely responsible for the tensile properties. The rubber particles are the dispersed phase. The large particle size and the poor adhesion of these rubber particles are believed to be liable for the poor tensile properties. In case of blends of truck tire model material with isotactic polypropylene the tensile properties are found to be lower than that of its PP‐g‐MA counterpart which can be attributed to the reaction of the MA with the carbon black particles. A schematic representation of the possible interactions has been proposed. The effect of addition of compatibilizers such as SEBS and SEBS‐g‐MA has also been studied. The tensile and TGA studies indicate that the polarity of SEBS and SEBS‐g‐MA induces an increase in the performance characteristics for both types of polyolefins but the intensity of this increase is higher in the PP‐g‐MA based blends. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 106: 3193–3208, 2007     

Morphology and characterization of conductive films based on polyaniline‐coated polystyrene latexes

The polyaniline (PANI)‐coated polystyrene (PS) latexes were synthesized, and the electrically conductive films were prepared thereafter. The weight ratio of PANI was 5%. Thermal analysis of the latices was performed using DSC and TGA. In this study, the electrically conductive films were prepared above the PS glass transition temperature (T_g). During the film formation, the effects of the annealing temperature and atmosphere (air or N₂) on the film resistance were investigated. In addition, the film morphology was observed utilizing scanning electron microscopy. The film resistance decreased in the initial heating stage due to the increasing temperature and the compaction of film. Then the film resistance increased with further annealing due to the aging of PANI. Typically, the film resistance was about 6000 Ω/sq, and the conductivity was 0.3 S/cm. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5406–5413, 2006     

Detailed Molecular Structure Modeling – A Path Forward to Designing Application Properties of ldPE

Summary: This paper describes a step on the ambitious aim to “design” application properties of ldPE by first simulating the detailed molecular structure of a high‐pressure tubular reactor product. The reactor of a certain configuration produces under well‐defined operating conditions. The next step is to correlate the structure with the application properties. Finally, the sequence will be reversed in order to deduce the operating conditions, which lead to the desired product quality. Two‐dimensional distributions, in molecular weight and branching frequency, as well a two compartment models with a core and a shell stream were simulated and compared with experimental results. Therefore, CFD simulations were carried out to discretize the reaction medium. Samples were taken from both pilot and commercial plants. The TREF‐SEC analytical method was successfully applied in order to measure the microscopic structure of the material. The tremendous numerical problems were solved with the help of the software PREDICI .

Detailed MWD for a pilot scale reactor product.     

Thermal and mechanical properties of the polymers synthesized by the sequential polymerization of propylene and 1‐hexadecene

The block copolymer of poly(1‐hexadecene) (PHD) and polypropylene (PP) was effectively synthesized by the sequential polymerization of propylene and 1‐hexadecene by using highly isospecific TiCl₃/Cp₂Ti(CH₃)₂ (Cp = cyclopentadienyl). The block copolymers had two separate melting temperatures of constituent blocks. The modulus of PHD–PP block copolymer was enhanced as the content of sequentially polymerized PP block was increased. The elongation at break showed positive deviation at the intermediate compositions from the simple additive values of constituent homopolymers. Shape memory effect which utilizes the crystalline PHD block as a reversible phase and the crystalline PP block as a fixed structure was examined. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 1709–1715, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10551     

Effect of reaction kinetics of polymer electrolyte on the ion‐conductive behavior for poly(oligo oxyethylene methacrylate)–LiTFSI mixtures

The effect of the reaction kinetics on the ionic conductivity for a comblike‐type polyether (MEO) electrolyte with lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) was characterized by DSC, complex impedance measurements, and ¹H pulse NMR spectroscopy. The ionic conductivity of these electrolytes was affected by the reaction condition of the methacrylate monomer and revealed by the glass transition temperature (T_g), spin–spin relaxation time (T₂), steric effects of the terminal groups, and the number of charge carriers indicated by the VTF kinetic parameter. In this system, the electrolytes prepared by the reaction heating rate of 10°C/min of MEO–H and 15°C/min of MEO–CH₃ showed maximum ionic conductivity, σ_i, two to three times higher in magnitude than that of the σ_i of the others at room temperature. As experimental results, the reaction kinetic rate affected the degree of conversion, the ionic conductivity, and the relaxation behaviors of polyether electrolytes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 2149–2156, 2003     

High catalytic activity of PdOx/MnO2 for CO oxidation and importance of oxidation state of Mn

PdO_x/MnO₂ has been examined as a catalyst for CO oxidation using a conventional flow reactor at reaction temperatures between 50 and 150°C. In the reaction conditions of GHSV (gashourlyspacevelocity) of 1.22 × 10⁵/h and CO concentration of 2000 ppm, PdO_x/MnO₂ showed higher catalytic activity compared with PdO_x/Mn₂O₃, which had been previously reported as an effective catalyst due to the cooperative action of Pd and Mn₂O₃ for this reaction. The reason for higher activity of PdO_x/MnO₂ than PdO_x/Mn₂O₃ has been investigated using TPR (temperatureprogrammed reduction) and XPS studies. TPR showed that PdO_x/MnO₂ could be reduced by CO at much lower temperature than PdO_x/Mn₂O₃. During the experiment of reduction and oxidation, XPS showed that the valence of Mn in the PdO_x/MnO₂ was between 4+ and 3+, which is higher than that of Mn in the PdO_x/Mn₂O₃ catalyst of which the valence has been reported to be between 3+ and 2+. It is known that in this catalyst system the support supplies oxygen onto Pd, where the oxidation occurs with adsorbed CO, and the ability of the support to provide oxygen improves the performance of the catalyst. Therefore, it was concluded that the readiness of MnO₂ to be reduced with maintaining a higher oxidation state showed higher CO oxidation activity than Mn₂O₃ as support for PdO_x.     

Effect of polycyclopentene on crystallization of isotactic polypropylene

The application of some polymers as nucleating agents for polypropylene has been examined. Among various polymeric nucleating agents, polycyclopentene was found to be a superior nucleating agent to typical organic nucleating agents. When polycyclopentene was added to polypropylene, the crystallization temperature and the degree of crystallinity of polypropylene increased. In addition, the crystallization rate and the number of spherulites increased whereas the size of spherulites decreased remarkably. As a result of polycyclopentene addition, the transparency of polypropylene film could be improved considerably. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Absorption of NO x in packed column (I)

A mathematical model for an absorption of nitrogen oxides into water in packed column was developed based on the mass-transfer coefficient in packed column and the chemical reaction accompanying NO _x absorption produces HNO₃ and HNO₂ in the liquid phase. The subsequent dissociation of HNO₂ in the liquid-phase results in the formation of HNO₃ and NO gas, and then this NO gas follows to be oxidized by O₂ in air. The important factors influenced on the absorption of NO _x are the oxidation state of NO gas and the partial pressure of nitrogen oxides in the gas. The efficiency of NO _x absorption increases with the increase of the partial pressure of NO _x . The most critical value for using the model is the constant of .The selection of 11×10⁻⁴kg·mol/atm·m²·sec for resonable for this model.