Sub-surface injection of liquid waste

The sub-surface injection of sewage sludge in grassland conditions has been investigated showing that injection is a viable alternative technique to surface applications. With the large amounts of existing liquid wastes, either municipal or agricultural, the land required for injection has risen over the available grassland. This study has considered the sub-surface injection of sewage sludge in a growing crop of spring wheat.The agronomic response of spring wheat has been compared at three different levels of crop development. Five different techniques were used to inject the sludge, and compared with two control situations. Using a three leg injector, with the outside tines bent, and placing gaps between rows for the tines and wheels, the crop showed a better agronomic response at the final levels of development.Analysing row by row the dry matter production in the injected plots, it was clear that the lower global production per square metre was due to the damage caused in the rows by the legs and traffic.     

A New Method for the Study of Adhesion: Application of Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy provides an incredibly sensitive and versatile method of detecting and identifying molecular species adsorbed on the surface of a metal oxide. IETS spectra have been measured on the components of the commercial adhesive, Hercules 3501. This epoxy system consists of two molecular components; diamino diphenyl sulfone (DPS) and tetraglycidycl 4,4' diamino diphenyl methane (DPM). IETS spectra of the individual components and of the epoxy mixture adsorbed on aluminum oxide have been obtained and the vibrational modes and frequencies assigned by comparison with computer calculations and existing infrared optical spectra.

IETS is a useful tool for the study of molecular adhesion to an oxide. It is one of the most important methods available for determining the interface physics and chemistry of adhesive bondlines. Its usefulness is greatly enhanced by the fact that in situ studies can be made.

Spectra have been obtained on the components and mixture of the high performance, two component epoxy Hercules 3501. The vibrational modes were identified by comparison with infrared and Raman data, and with computer calculations using force constant information. Evidence for an aging effect was found in the DPS component.

It is suggested that initial studies using IETS should be applied to adhesives of simple molecular structure before proceeding to more complex systems.     

Multi-group QoS consensus for web services

QoS has been considered as a significant factor for web service marketing and selection. The interpretation of QoS value from web service consumers and providers would be very different. However, a large group of web service participants with different backgrounds may have difficulties in reaching consensus on the values of multi-dimensional web service QoS, so they may have to be clustered in multi-groups in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency. The similarity of clustered fuzzy QoS dispositions as well as their preference order over these attributes should be analyzed to form a multi-groups consensus framework. A soft multi-groups clustering approach could be adopted to prevent opinions from being excluded unintentionally. The group boundaries and similarity thresholds which are used for clustering and analyzing fuzzy QoS opinions can be moderated dynamically according to the feedback from the internal learning mechanism and the web service consumers. As a result, a model for marketing web services based on multi-group consumers' QoS consensus, the FMG-QCMA (Fuzzy Multi-Groups based QoS Consensus Moderation Approach), is proposed to meet the above requirements. The proposed FMG-QCMA is also evaluated through a case study to demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency in relation to an existing framework, QCMA (QoS Consensus Moderation Approach).     

product literature

In this study the pH levels of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), silicon dioxide (SiO₂), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles dispersed in propylene glycol and water mixture were measured in the temperature range of 0°C to 90°C. The volumetric concentration of nanoparticles in these fluids ranged from 0 to 10% for different nanofluids. The average particle sizes (APS) considered were from 10 nm to 70 nm. The pH measuring apparatus and the measurement procedure were validated by measuring the pH of a calibration fluid, whose properties are known accurately. The measured pH values agreed within less than ±0.5% with the published data reported by the manufacturer. Following the validation, the pH values of different nanofluids were measured. The measurements showed that pH of nanofluids decreased with an increase in temperature and increased with an increase in particle volumetric concentration. For the same nanofluid at a fixed volumetric concentration, the pH was found to be higher for larger particle sizes. From the experimental data, empirical models were developed for three nanofluids to express the pH as functions of temperature, volumetric concentration, and the size of the nanoparticles.     

Ventilation rates in recently constructed U.S. school classrooms

Low ventilation rates (VRs) in schools have been associated with absenteeism, poorer academic performance, and teacher dissatisfaction. We measured VRs in 37 recently constructed or renovated and mechanically ventilated U.S. schools, including LEED and EnergyStar‐certified buildings, using CO₂ and the steady‐state, build‐up, decay, and transient mass balance methods. The transient mass balance method better matched conditions (specifically, changes in occupancy) and minimized biases seen in the other methods. During the school day, air change rates (ACRs) averaged 2.0±1.3 hour^?1, and only 22% of classrooms met recommended minimum ventilation rates. HVAC systems were shut off at the school day close, and ACRs dropped to 0.21±0.19 hour^?1. VRs did not differ by building type, although cost‐cutting and comfort measures resulted in low VRs and potentially impaired IAQ. VRs were lower in schools that used unit ventilators or radiant heating, in smaller schools and in larger classrooms. The steady‐state, build‐up, and decay methods had significant limitations and biases, showing the need to confirm that these methods are appropriate. Findings highlight the need to increase VRs and to ensure that energy saving and comfort measures do not compromise ventilation and IAQ.     

22nm技术节点的成品率目标

半导体行业正在开发必要的缺陷量测和薄膜量测解决方案,但22nm技术节点的监测还需开发新的成像套刻目标结构。     

Influence of mineral admixtures on mechanical properties of self‐compacting concrete under elevated temperature

Self‐compacting concrete (SCC) is a form of concrete that is capable of flowing into the congested interior of formwork and consolidating under the action of its own weight without segregation and bleeding. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to study the effect of elevated temperature on mechanical properties of SCC specimens made with different mineral admixtures that were heated from 27 to 900 °C and cooled by air or water. Silica fume, flyash, metakaolin were used as mineral admixtures. Master Glenium was used as superplasticizer, and Glenium Stream 2 was used as viscosity modifying agent. Mechanical properties of the cooled specimens such as compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity were found. Compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths of specimens were found to decrease by 73.18%, 65.05%, and 63.2%, and 85.2%, 83.52%, and 83.56% for the specimens with metakaolin that were heated and cooled by air and water, respectively. Similar reductions were found for the SCC specimens made with silica fume and flyash. Microstructure investigation has been carried out on SCC samples using scanning electron microscope and X‐ray diffraction analytical techniques to understand the effect of temperature on decrease in strength. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plasticizer factors influencing take-up by PVC resins

The ease with which plasticizer is combined with poly(vinyl chloride) resin is a measure of processing characteristics critical in the dry blending of suspension PVC and the gelation of plastisols. By using commercial grade plasticizers, this study developed predictive equations for the following processing parameters of dialkyl phthalates in PVC:

• Relative dry-blend rates in suspension PVC as a function of plasticizer viscosity.
• Relative initial gelation temperatures in plastisols as a function of plasticizer molecular weight and solvating strength.
• Relative final gelation temperatures in plastisols as a function of plasticizer solvating strength.

This information allows one to predict the relative processing characteristics of any dialkyl phthalate plasticizer for PVC on the basis of its chemical and physical properties.     

Analysis of build-up of heavy metals and volatile organics on urban roads in gold coast, Australia

Urban water quality can be significantly impaired by the build-up of pollutants such as heavy metals and volatile organics on urban road surfaces due to vehicular traffic. Any control strategy for the mitigation of traffic related build-up of heavy metals and volatile organic pollutants should be based on the knowledge of their build-up processes. In the study discussed in this paper, the outcomes of a detailed experimental investigation into build-up processes of heavy metals and volatile organics are presented. It was found that traffic parameters such as average daily traffic, volume over capacity ratio and surface texture depth had similar strong correlations with the build-up of heavy metals and volatile organics. Multicriteria decision analyses revealed that that the 1-74 microm particulate fraction of total suspended solids (TSS) could be regarded as a surrogate indicator for particulate heavy metals in build-up and this same fraction of total organic carbon could be regarded as a surrogate indicator for particulate volatile organics build-up. In terms of pollutants affinity, TSS was found to be the predominant parameter for particulate heavy metals build-up and total dissolved solids was found to be the predominant parameter for the potential dissolved particulate fraction in heavy metals buildup. It was also found that land use did not play a significant role in the build-up of traffic generated heavy metals and volatile organics.