Functionalization of Poly(propylene) Fabric with 4‐Vinylpyridine,N,N‐Dimethylacrylamide and Styrene by γ‐Radiation‐Induced Grafting in an Aqueous Environment

Summary: VP and co‐monomers DMAAm and ST were successfully grafted onto a PP fabric in an emulsion copolymerization process initiated by γ‐radiation. The radiation dose, concentration of VP, the ratio of VP/DMAAm and VP/ST in the reaction solution, and the reaction temperature dependent graft copolymerization were investigated. The order of dependence of the initial rate of grafting on the radiation dose was found to be in the range of 1.2 to 0.93 for VP; 0.84 to 0.70 for VP/DMAAm and for VP/ST was in the range of 0.59 to 0.41. The activation energy of the graft copolymer reaction was determined to be 40.18 J · mol^?1 for 0.464 mol · L^?1 VP. In the case of co‐monomer mixtures (VP/DMAAm: 0.464/0.5) the energy of activation was noticeably higher at 49.71 J · mol^?1 while for VP/ST (0.464/0.436) the activation energy was same as that of VP. XRD results showed that overall crystallinity significantly decreased with the increase of graft weight with a noticeable change in the chemical structure of the PP, indicating that the graft copolymer reaction was taking place both in the amorphous and crystalline regions of PP. A similar characteristic behavior was also obtained by DSC, which revealed the presence of an endotherm process in the range of 25 to 130 °C depending on the degree of grafting, attributed to the grafted chains of the monomer/co‐monomers. In order to determine the graft copolymer reaction of VP, DMAAm and ST onto the backbone of PP, the reaction products were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. A good correlation was found between changes of crystallinity and level of graft copolymerization as determined by WAXRD and DSC.

Typical XRD traces of as‐received PP fabric (PPF) and grafted with VP (PPF‐g‐VP).     

Evaporation rate of a novel tilted solar liquid desiccant regeneration system

The regeneration system represents a vital part of any desiccant air conditioning system. The need of a solar assisted desiccant regeneration system is more important today. In this paper, an experimental study of a novel regeneration system modified from solar tilted still is carried out. A corrugated blackened surface is used to heat the desiccant and an air flow is used to regenerate calcium chloride solution. The effect of the liquid to air flow rate ratio; the desiccant temperature; the desiccant concentration and the inlet air humidity ratio on the evaporation rate has been studied experimentally. A wide range of liquid to air flow rate ratios are employed. The optimum value of the liquid to air flow rate ratio for higher evaporation rate is reported.     

A THREE-PHASE MODEL FOR SORPTION ISOTHERM IN ZEOLITE ADSORBENTS

A three-phase model for adsorption in zeolite cavities is proposed. The adsorbed molecules are taken to be distributed between a surface layer and a dense phase filling the rest of the cavity volume. This model is a more realistic representation of molecules in zeolite cages especially at high pressures. The equation for the adsorption isotherm, based on this model, has two contributions: a surface term and a dense phase term. The dense phase contribution was estimated from a simple equation that obeys the limiting values at low and high pressures. The surface contribution can be estimated from the existing surface adsorption models. When all model parameters are estimated from molecular and literature data, the combination of the two terms was found to be an improvement over traditional treatment of adsorption data of a number of gases in zeolite-A for a wide range of pressures. However, new models for the adsorbed phase that account for sorbate-sorbate repulsive forces correctly are needed for accurate prediction of adsorption data.     

Detection of debonding in composite-aluminum joints using gamma-ray Compton scattering

Gamma-ray Compton scattering is used for the detection of debonding in adhesively bonded composite-aluminum joints. A collimated narrow beam of monochromatic photons, generated by a ¹³⁷CS source, is directed towards the joint and scattered photons are recorded, using a detector located on the same side as the source. The energy of the scattered radiation is measured and related to the angle of scattering. The occurrence of debonding is indicated by a change in the count rate at an energy corresponding to its location. The performance of the technique is successfully demonstrated experimentally for joints of different adhesive-bonding thicknesses and for artificially induced debonds.     

Improving building fabric energy efficiency in hot-humid climates using dynamic insulation

New effective technologies and materials that have the potential to reduce energy demand with excellent energy efficiency and low environmental impact are urgently required in the Gulf Region. Dynamic insulation, which functions by recycling fabric heat loss back to the building, has been established theoretically and proven in pilot projects. It sets the green, low carbon benchmark for thermal insulation in buildings. This paper presents details of the Eco-Villa, its construction, how the performance of the villa was monitored, and the findings from the initial monitoring phase and the dynamic simulation model (DSM). The villa was tested in two modes, bypass (static) and dynamic. The static U value of the external envelop wall was estimated at 0.24 W/(m²·K) in bypass mode. The theoretical dynamic U value changed from 0.24 to 0.05 W/(m²·K) when the ventilation airflow was varied from 0 to 0.001 m³/(s·m²) (0 to 1 L/(s·m²)), with a further small reduction occurring when the flow rate increased beyond 0.001 m³/(s·m²) (1 L/(s·m²)). The design ventilation rate for the Eco-Villa was 0.0008 m³/(s·m²) (0.8 L/(s·m²)), which yielded a theoretical dynamic U value of 0.063 W/(m²·K) compared to a measured U value of 0.125 W/(m²·K). The reduction in the fabric conduction gain was found to be 41% whereas the estimate from the DSM was 38%. The results demonstrate the fabric energy efficiency improvements that can be achieved through the use of dynamic insulation.     

Performance study on a structured packed liquid desiccant regenerator

The solution carryover in traditional desiccant regeneration towers is of serious concern in real applications especially when using triethylene glycol (TEG) as a desiccant. In this study, the cellulose rigid media pads are used as the structured packing. The packing arrangements have provided minimum carryover of TEG. A performance study of the simultaneous heat and mass transfer between air and desiccant in a structured packed-stripping tower is conducted. Through the study of the regenerator, important design variables are defined and the regenerator performance is compared with the previous studies. The effects of air and liquid flow rates, air humidity, desiccant temperature and desiccant concentration have been reported on the evaporation rate and humidity effectiveness of the column. It is found that high liquid flow rates do not have a significant effect on the performance variables.     

Adaptive device-to-device communication using Wi-Fi Direct in smart cities

Wi-Fi Direct has become vastly popular in the last few years. Due to its fast network setup and the provision of high transmission rates, it is expected to be the piggyback technology for high speed device-to-device communications in smart cities. The increasing demand on Wi-Fi Direct networks and its co-location in the same band with other Wi-Fi ad-hoc and infrastructure networks have entailed the need for developing new adaptive techniques to utilize the wireless spectrum efficiently. In this paper, we introduce, analyze and implement a self-organizing algorithm designed specifically for pop-up Wi-Fi Direct networks. The algorithm dynamically changes the operating channels of pop-up Wi-Fi Direct networks according to their performance in a non-cooperative manner. It utilizes the spectrum efficiently, reduces congestion and enhances performance. Moreover, the modified Wi-Fi Direct network running the proposed algorithm is interoperable with all other Wi-Fi network modes and setups and does not affect their functionalities. On the contrary, it enhances their performance implicitly. We implement the algorithm using the driver of RTL8188CUS chipset in a Linux environment and conduct experiments to evaluate its performance. The obtained results illustrate the benefits of using the proposed algorithm.     

Compact Patch Antenna Array for 60 GHz Millimeter-Wave Broadband Applications

Wireless Personal Communications - In this study, a wide-band compact patch antenna array is developed for 60 GHz band applications. The antenna array consists of eight identical elements....     

Computationally efficient methods for blind decision feedback equalization of QAM signals

This paper investigates computationally efficient methods for blind decision feedback equalization (DFE) that reduce the complexity and power requirements of blind equalization algorithms while maintaining their steady-state characteristics for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. These include the power-of-two error (POT), selective coefficient update (SCU), and frequency-domain block (FDB) methods. A novel radius-directed stop-and-go (RSG) method is introduced, which selectively adjusts the equalizer tap coefficients based on the equalizer output radius. In addition, a new activation/de-activation method based on the equalizer output radius is utilized to control the feedback equalizer (FBE) of the DFEs. Simulation studies and analysis are provided for empirically derived cable and microwave channels and Ricean fading channels.     

Performance enhancement of the DSRC system using frequency-domain equalization for 5.9 GHz DSRC applications

This paper proposes the use of equalization concepts in frequency domain that exploit the frequency domain channel matrix to combat inter-carrier interference (ICI) instead of inter-symbol interference (ISI) in 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) systems. The physical layer (PHY) of DSRC is currently being developed by work group of IEEE 802.11p. The conventional system currently assumes static channel characteristics. Channel tracking schemes were investigated and the Viterbi-aided channel estimation scheme was proposed for DSRC systems that did not explicitly exploit the ICI components caused by the time-varying channels. The performance of the DSRC system is investigated for a time-varying channel using a conventional DSRC model, a decision-directed (Viterbi-aided) channel estimation model, and the frequency-domain equalization design. It is shown that the DSRC system with the frequency-domain equalization achieves a considerable performance enhancement compared to both the conventional and the Viterbi-aided channel estimation schemes in terms of both packet error rate (PER) and bit error rate (BER) at relatively high and low velocities.