Measurement of the amount and rate of methane dissolution in pure water and aqueous solution of SDS + multi-wall carbon nanotubes + β-cyclodextrin

In this paper, the impact of the mixture of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) + multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) + β-cyclodextrin on the quantity and initial rate of methane dissolved in water is investigated. The experiments were performed at a temperature range of 278.15–303.15 K and an initial pressure of 0.5 MPa. The experimental results show that simultaneous utilization of β-cyclodextrin (0.01 mass fraction), MWCNTs (0.0005 mass fraction), and SDS (0.001 mass fraction) at 278.15 K increases the amount and the rate of methane dissolution in water by 29.90% and 173.78%, respectively, compared to pure water. An increase in the temperature decreases the quantity and the initial rate of methane dissolution in all solutions containing additives. However, no consistent relationship is observed between the temperature and the enhancement percentage of solubility of methane in solutions containing additives.     

Controller design for a wind farm, considering both power and load aspects

In this paper, a wind farm controller is developed that distributes power references among wind turbines while it reduces their structural loads. The proposed controller is based on a spatially discrete model of the farm, which delivers an approximation of wind speed in the vicinity of each wind turbine. The control algorithm determines the reference signals for each individual wind turbine controller in two scenarios based on low and high wind speed. In low wind speed, the reference signals for rotor speed are adjusted, taking the trade-off between power maximization and load minimization into account. In high wind speed, the power and pitch reference signals are determined while structural loads are minimized. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the proposed dynamical model is a suitable framework for control, since it provides a dynamic structure for behavior of the flow in wind farms. Moreover, the controller has been proven exceptionally useful in solving the problem of both power and load optimization on the basis of this model.     

Axisymmetric and One-Dimensional Thermoelastic Fields of Radially Graded Bodies

In this paper, both Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio along with thermal expansion coefficient are allowed to vary across the radius in a solid ring and a curved beam. Effects of non-constant Poisson's ratio on the thermoelastic field in these graded axisymmetric and one-dimensional problems are studied. A governing differential equation in terms of stress function is obtained for general axisymmetric and one-dimensional problems. Two linearly independent solutions in terms of hypergeometric functions are then attained to calculate the stresses and the strains. Using Green's function method, a form of a solution for the stress functions in terms of integral equations for a curved beam and a solid ring are obtained. Specifically, closed form solutions for the stress functions, when Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are expressed as power law functions across the radius, are calculated. The results show that the effect of varying Poisson's ratio upon the thermal stresses is considerable for the solid ring. In addition, a non-constant Poisson's ratio has significant influences on the thermal strain field in solid rings. The effect of varying Poisson's ratio upon the thermal stresses is negligible for the curved beam. However, non-constant Poisson's ratios have substantial effects on the thermal strain field in curved beams. Finally, the effects of varying Poisson's ratio on the thermal stresses in thick solid rings and curved beams are also investigated.     

Resolution Improvement of Scanning Acoustic Microscopy Using Sparse Signal Representation

Scanning acoustic microscopy is an imaging method in which the focused high frequency ultrasound is used to visualize the micro structures. The morphology and acoustic properties of the biological tissues can be evaluated using scanning acoustic microscope system. To determine thin tissues having micrometer thickness, the high acoustic frequency is required for conventional SAM. In practice the acoustic frequency is restricted by the penetration depth through the material. Characterization of thin sliced tissue is difficult, as the reflected signals from top and bottom are superimposed. In order to improve the axial resolution of conventional SAM, a technique based on sparse signal representation in overcomplete time–frequency dictionaries is investigated and among the great number of algorithms for finding sparse representation, we first apply matching pursuit (MP) and basis pursuit (BP) and then propose the orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) and stagewise orthogonal matching pursuit (StOMP) algorithms to decompose the A-scan signal to an overcomplete Gabor dictionary. Different criteria are used for measuring the performance of these algorithms in C-scan imaging. The proposed method can separate closely space overlapping echoes beyond the resolution of conventional SAM systems and also the final results show that StOMP performs best overall in extracting the specific echo, since this algorithm is precise and fast.     

Narrow‐band interference suppression in wavelet packets based multicarrier multicode CDMA overlay system

The wavelet packets based multicarrier (MC) multicode (MCD) code‐division multiple‐access (CDMA) transceiver consists of the MCD part, which ensures the transmission for high speed and flexible data rate; the MC part contributing to robustness to frequency‐selective fading and flexibility for handling multiple data rates; and wavelet packets (WPs) modulation technique, which contributes to the mitigation of the interference problems. As WPs have lower sidelobes compared with sinusoidal carriers, this system is very effective in reducing the problem of inter‐carrier interference. Of course, like any CDMA system, the system can suppress a given amount of interference. This paper considers an interference suppression scheme which will enhance the performance of the system. The receiver employs suppression filters to mitigate the effect of narrow‐band jammer interference. The framework for the system and the performance evaluation are presented in terms of the bit error rate and the outage probability over a Nakagami fading channel. Also, we investigate how the performance is influenced by various parameters, such as the number of taps of the suppression filter and the ratio of narrow‐band interference bandwidth to the spread‐spectrum bandwidth. Finally, the performance of the system is compared with the performance of sinusoidal based MC/MCD‐CDMA system denoted Sin‐MC/MCD‐CDMA. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental study of the synergistic effects of BMIM-BF_4,BMIM-DCA and TEACI aqueous solutions on methane hydrate formation

In this work, the effects of three ionic liquids(ILs), namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide and tetraethyl-ammonium chloride, on methane hydrate formation and dissociation kinetic parameters were studied. The kinetic parameters including the initial rate of hydrate formation, hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and hydrate storage capacity were evaluated. The experimental measurements were performed in an initial pressure range of 3.5-7.1 MPa. It was found that both of ILs with imidazolium-based cation increase the initial methane hydrate formation rate while the IL with ammonium-based cation leads to a decrease in the initial methane hydrate formation rate. It was also interpreted from the results that all of the three studied ILs decrease methane hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and increase methane hydrate storage capacity. Finally, both of ILs with imidazolium-based cations were found to have higher impacts on decreasing hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and increasing the methane hydrate storage capacity than the applied IL with ammonium-based cation.     

An experimental study of the synergistic effects of BMIM.BF4, BMIM.DCA and TEACl aqueous solutions on methane hydrate formation

In this work, the effects of three ionic liquids (ILs), namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide and tetraethyl-ammonium chloride, on methane hydrate formation and dissociation kinetic parameters were studied. The kinetic parameters including the initial rate of hydrate formation, hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and hydrate storage capacity were evaluated. The experimental measurements were performed in an initial pressure range of 3.5–7.1 MPa. It was found that both of ILs with imidazolium-based cation increase the initial methane hydrate formation rate while the IL with ammonium-based cation leads to a decrease in the initial methane hydrate formation rate. It was also interpreted from the results that all of the three studied ILs decrease methane hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and increase methane hydrate storage capacity. Finally, both of ILs with imidazolium-based cations were found to have higher impacts on decreasing hydrate stability at atmospheric pressure and increasing the methane hydrate storage capacity than the applied IL with ammonium-based cation.     

Reliability and Mobility Load Balancing in Next Generation Self-organized Networks: Using Stochastic Learning Automata

Self-organizing networking (SON) is an automation technology designed to make the planning, configuration, management, optimization and healing of mobile radio access networks simpler and faster. Most current self-organization networking functions apply rule-based recommended systems to control network resources which seem too complicated and time-consuming to design in practical conditions. This research proposes a cognitive cellular network empowered by an efficient self-organization networking approach which enables SON functions to separately learn and find the best configuration setting. An effective learning approach is proposed for the functions of the cognitive cellular network, which exhibits how the framework is mapped to SON functions. One of the main functions applied in this framework is mobility load balancing. In this paper, a novel Stochastic Learning Automata has been suggested as the load balancing function in which approximately the same quality level is provided for each subscriber. This framework can also be effectively extended to cloud-based systems, where adaptive approaches are needed due to unpredictability of total accessible resources, considering cooperative nature of cloud environments. The results demonstrate that the function of mobility robustness optimization not only learns to optimize HO performance, but also it learns how to distribute excess load throughout the network. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme minimizes the number of unsatisfied subscribers (N_us) by moving some of the edge users served by overloaded cells towards one or more adjacent target cells. This solution can also guarantee a more balanced network using cell load sharing approach in addition to increase cell throughput outperform the current schemes.

     

An ultra low-voltage low power PSK backscatter modulator for passive UHF RFID tags compatible with C1 G2 EPC standard protocol

Reducing the power consumption of a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is the key in many applications. As the modulator is usually the most power-hungry block in an RFID tag, this paper proposes a power-saving modulator. The proposed modulator uses phase shift keying (PSK) backscatter modulation which allows tag to communicate data from its memory to a reader by PSK modulation. The proposed modulator uses a MOSCAP as a variable impedance and is designed in a new one-inverter structure in compare to the conventional varactor-based modulators designed in two-inverter structure, as this modulator needs just a low voltage swing to drive its MOSCAP. Using MOSCAP as the variable capacitance leads to a low voltage design. Also, the fundamental equations required for determination of the capacitive impedance seen by the antenna is presented. This impedance is the master key in modulator design. The modulator has been designed, simulated and optimized in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. All possible simulation results are presented to approve its compatible operation with C1 G2 EPC global standard. The power consumption of less than 46 nW is achieved in all process corner cases at 0.8 V power supply.     

A partial-SOI LDMOSFET with triangular buried-oxide for breakdown voltage improvement

In this paper, a near-triangular buried-oxide partial silicon-on-insulator (TB-PSOI) lateral double-diffused MOS field-effect transistor is proposed. The electric field and electrostatic potential in this structure are modified by the gradual buried-oxide thickness increase. The modification includes the addition of a new peak in the electric field in comparison to that of the conventional PSOI. To assess the efficiency of the proposed structure, its breakdown voltage is compared with that of conventional PSOI using two-dimensional simulations. A comparative study is performed in terms of silicon-film and buried-oxide layer thicknesses, drift region and buried-oxide layer lengths, and drift region doping concentrations. The study shows that under the same drain current, the breakdown voltage of TB-PSOI is nearly two times higher than its PSOI counterpart (108% improvement). Simulation results show that the three-stepped oxide layer closely follows the TB-PSOI structure with a breakdown voltage improvement of 96% compared to that of the PSOI structure.