Hierarchical control of a train of continuous polymerization reactors

A multilayer control scheme is synthesized for a series of polymerization stirred tank reactors to control the monomer conversion over the reactor line. In this work two layers of control are implemented. In the' first level digital PI or self-tuning regulators (STR) are used to control the reaction temperature of each reactor in the series by manipulating the flowrates of the coolant streams. In the second layer, a locally linear state space model, that can predict the monomer concentration in each reactor, is derived based on steady-state energy balances. A quadratic performance index is then minimized to obtain the optimal reaction profile that will bring the monomer distribution over the reactor line to its desired target value.     

Internal packing conditions and fluctuations of amino acid residues in globular proteins

In order to investigate the environmental conditions of amino acid residues in protein molecules, four kinds of packing studies (atomic, geometric, hydrophobic and hydration) were formulated and tested on two proteins; bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and bovine pancreatic ribonuclease S (RNase S). The inter-relationship of these packings on the fluctuations of amino acid residues was analysed by comparing the packing results with the dynamical studies, such as the root-mean-square-deviation values of atomic displacements obtained from the trajectories of molecular dynamics simulation, temperature factor information from crystal structures and residue fluctuations in proteins from continuum model. These analyses yield information about the most fluctuating and most stabilizing residue sites. Comparison of the results obtained by these methods indicate a good agreement, specifying an inverse correlation between the residue packing and fluctuations. This kind of study is helpful in identifying the specific residue sites such as nucleation, receptor binding and antigenic determining sites which in a way indirectly correlates with the functional residues in protein molecules.     

Optimization of a batch polymerization reactor at the final stage of conversion. II. Molecular weight constraint

A mathematical model for the free radical batch solution polymerization of methyl methacrylate that takes depropagation into account was developed. This model was then used to derive optimal temperature and initiator concentration policies to reduce residual monomer concentration to desired levels, producing at the same time a polymer with the desired number average molecular weight. An objective function was formulated to take account of the cost of the initiator with respect to the cost of time of reaction. It was observed that when the cost of initiator increased, optimal initiator concentration decreased whereas optimal temperature increased. Finally temperature reached a limiting value above which polymer with desired number average molecular weight could not be produced. These results give insight into the factors that determine the policies that could be employed in optimizing the operation of a reactor.     

Role of Grain Refinement in the Hot Tearing of Cast Al-Cu Alloy

The effects of grain refinement on hot tear formation and contraction behavior in a modified Al-Cu alloy 206 (M206) have been studied. The experiments were conducted using a newly developed mold which could simultaneously measure the contraction force/temperature during solidification for a restrained casting, and thereby could be used to investigate hot tear formation. Quantitative information on crack initiation and propagation was obtained by analyzing load measurement data. Al-Ti and Al-Ti-B master alloys were added to the melt to refine the grains to obtain grains ranging from columnar dendritic to equiaxed dendritic and globular structures. Effects of grain structure and grain size on hot tearing susceptibility were investigated. The correlations between microstructure evolution in grain-refined castings at various levels and hot tear formation were determined and discussed. Grain refinement was found to have a complex effect on load onset. Hot tearing tendency was significantly affected by both grain size and grain morphology as reflected by the measured data.     

The rectilinear steiner arborescence problem

The Rectilinear Steiner Arborescence (RSA) problem is “Given a setN ofn nodes lying in the first quadrant of E², find the shortest directed tree rooted at the origin, containing all nodes inN, and composed solely of horizontal and vertical arcs oriented only from left to right or from bottom to top.” In this paper we investigate many fundamental properties of the RSA problem, propose anO(n logn)-time heuristic algorithm giving an RSA whose length has an upper bound of twice that of the minimum length RSA, and show that a polynomial-time algorithm that was earlier reported in the literature for this problem is incorrect.     

The rectilinear steiner arborescence problem

The Rectilinear Steiner Arborescence (RSA) problem is Given a setN ofn nodes lying in the first quadrant of E², find the shortest directed tree rooted at the origin, containing all nodes inN, and composed solely of horizontal and vertical arcs oriented only from left to right or from bottom to top. In this paper we investigate many fundamental properties of the RSA problem, propose anO(n logn)-time heuristic algorithm giving an RSA whose length has an upper bound of twice that of the minimum length RSA, and show that a polynomial-time algorithm that was earlier reported in the literature for this problem is incorrect.     

Structural,morphological, optical and gas sensing properties of pure and Ce doped SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin films prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis (JNSP) technique

Pure and cerium (Ce) doped tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films are prepared on glass substrates by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique at 450 °C. The synthesized films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive analysis X-ray, ultra violet visible spectrometer (UV–Vis) and stylus profilometer. Crystalline structure, crystallite size, lattice parameters, texture coefficient and stacking fault of the SnO₂ thin films have been determined using X-ray diffractometer. The XRD results indicate that the films are grown with (110) plane preferred orientation. The surface morphology, elemental analysis and film thickness of the SnO₂ films are analyzed and discussed. Optical band gap energy are calculated with transmittance data obtained from UV–Visible spectra. Optical characterization reveals that the band gap energy is found decreased from 3.49 to 2.68 eV. Pure and Ce doped SnO₂ thin film gas sensors are fabricated and their gas sensing properties are tested for various gases maintained at different temperature between 150 and 250 °C. The 10 wt% Ce doped SnO₂ sensor shows good selectivity towards ethanol (at operating temperature 250 °C). The influence of Ce concentration and operating temperature on the sensor performance is discussed. The better sensing ability for ethanol is observed compared with methanol, acetone, ammonia, and 2-methoxy ethanol gases.     

Grain Size Distribution and Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient during Solidification of Magnesium Alloys Using High Pressure Die Casting Process

The objective of this study is to predict grain size and heat transfer coefficient at the metal–die interface during high pressure die casting process and solidification of the magnesium alloy AM60. Multiple runs of the commercial casting simulation package, ProCAST~(TM), were used to model the mold filling and solidification events employing a range of interfacial heat transfer coefficient values. The simulation results were used to estimate the centerline cooling curve at various locations through the casting. The centerline cooling curves, together with the die temperature and the thermodynamic properties of the alloy, were then used as inputs to compute the solution to the Stefan problem of a moving phase boundary,thereby providing the through-thickness cooling curves at each chosen location of the casting. Finally, the local cooling rate was used to calculate the resulting grain size via previously established relationships.The effects of die temperature, filling time and heat transfer coefficient on the grain structure in skin region and core region were quantitatively characterized. It was observed that the grain size of skin region strongly depends on above three factors whereas the grain size of core region shows dependence on the interfacial heat transfer coefficient and thickness of the samples. The grain size distribution from surface to center was estimated from the relationship between grain size and the predicted cooling rate.The prediction of grain size matches well with experimental results. A comparison of the predicted and experimentally determined grain size profiles enables the determination of the apparent interfacial heat transfer coefficient for different locations.