Reliability options: Can they deliver on their promises?

Capacity mechanisms have been controversial in theory as well as practice. Lessons from experience with different capacity mechanisms led to the development of the reliability options. This mechanism promises two advantages over other types of capacity mechanisms. Firstly, it ensures the availability of capacity contracted via the capacity mechanism during scarcity. Secondly, the reliability option mechanism limits any energy market distortion due to its implementation and provides the consumer a hedge from high prices. We assess the ability of reliability options in delivering the two promises by analysing the reliability option designs in Italy and Ireland. We find that they deliver on the first promise but only partly on the second.     

Synergism and Interfacial Property Study of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate and Polysorbate 80 at the Air–Water Interface

Adsorption and micellization behavior of sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and Polysorbate 80 (PS80) was investigated using equilibrium and dynamic surface tension and foaming measurements. Critical micelle concentration (CMC) was determined using surface tension and dye (Sudan red III) solubilization method with the help of the Wilhelmy plate method and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopic method, respectively. The strength of the interaction for micellization and adsorption between the mixtures are calculated using the β interaction parameter. The SLES-PS80 mixture shows synergistic interaction with β = −8.0. The dynamic and foaming behavior at constant bulk concentration showed a higher t ^* value with lowest foaming at 50% mole fraction of SLES. The emulsification index (EI) of pure SLES, pure PS 80, and 1:1 SLES-PS 80 composition was studied using neem, karanja, and sunflower oils. Karanja and sunflower oils show a higher EI for mixture than the pure surfactants, whereas neem shows a lower EI for mixture than pure surfactants.     

Electrochemical Evaluation of Radiation-Induced Segregation in Austenitic Stainless Steels with Oversize Solute Addition

Effect of different levels of oversize element, cerium, on radiation-induced segregation (RIS) in type 316 stainless steel was investigated. The effect of prior cold-work on RIS was also investigated. Samples with 0.00, 0.01, and 0.04 wt.% cerium were irradiated to 0.70 dpa using 4.8 MeV protons at 300 °C. Characterization of proton-irradiated specimens was carried out using electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (EPR) test followed by atomic force microscopic examination. The specimen with prior cold-work (without cerium addition) showed the lowest EPR values indicating the lowest chromium depletion in this material. The specimen with 0.04 wt.% cerium showed the lower EPR value as compared to the specimen with 0.01 wt.% Ce. The irradiated specimen with prior cold-work showed linear features after the EPR tests and such features were attributed to decoration of dislocations, generated due to prior cold-work, by point defects produced during irradiation. The resistance to RIS offered by cold-work (linear features) has been more effective as compared to that by the addition of oversize solute addition.     

Association of extrarenal Wilms'' tumor with a horseshoe kidney

Nephroblastoma (Wilms' tumor) is the most common renal malignancy in childhood. Extrarenal Wilms' tumor is uncommon, and the diagnosis is almost always postsurgical. The authors report two cases, located in the sigmoid mesocolon, one of these having an associated horseshoe kidney. Both were treated with excision followed by chemotherapy. They are now 36 months and 7 months postchemotherapy, respectively, and are symptom and recurrence free. Both had favorable histological findings. Association with a horseshoe kidney raises an important issue regarding the histogenesis of these tumors. The authors believe that there is a nexus between the fusion of metanephric blastema during the sixth to seventh week of intrauterine life and the "ectopic" metanephric blastema cells that may give rise to extrarenal Wilms' tumor. Association with a horseshoe kidney with an extrarenal Wilms' tumor has been reported on five previous occasions. The authors closely examine the link between the two.     

Synthesis of nanocrystalline zirconia by amorphous citrate route: structural and thermal (HTXRD) studies

Nanocrystalline zirconia powder with a fairly narrow particle size distribution has been synthesized by the amorphous citrate route. The sample obtained has a high BET surface area of 89 m² g⁻¹. Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) profile of the zirconia sample confirms stabilization of zirconia in the tetragonal phase with around 8% monoclinic impurity. The data show the presence of both anionic as well as cationic vacancies in the lattice. Crystallite size determined from XRD is 8 nm and is in close agreement with the particle size determined by TEM. The in situ high temperature-X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) study revealed high thermal stability of the mixture till around 1023 K after which the transformation of tetragonal phase into the monoclinic phase has been seen as a function of temperature till 1473 K. This transformation is accompanied by an increase in the crystallite size of the sample from 8 to 55 nm. The thermal expansion coefficients are 9.14 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ along ‘a’- and 15.8 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ along ‘c’-axis. The lattice thermal expansion coefficient in the temperature range 298-1623 K is 34.6 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹.     

Synthesis and Surface Activity of Bisphosphate Gemini Surfactants

Anionic bisphosphodiester gemini surfactants with two different spacer moieties and varying alkyl chain lengths were synthesized and investigated for their surface active properties. The equilibrium and dynamic surface tension studies were carried out using the Wilhelmy plate technique and maximum bubble pressure method respectively. It was found that these gemini surfactants possess lower critical micellar concentration values, and reduce the surface tension to a greater extent in comparison with the conventional analogues. The efficiency of the synthesized gemini surfactants was also evaluated. The results of surface activities obtained were correlated with the structures of gemini surfactants. The dynamic surface tension measurements showed that the geminis with long chains adsorb very slowly at the air/water interface within the time span of measurements. These gemini surfactants showed low foamability.     

Taguchi's Method Analysis of an FMS Under Review-Period-Based Operational Controls: Identification of Control Periodicity

Flexibility of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) has been considered as an effective tool to compete in the present manufacturing environment. Enormous research efforts have been made to harness the benefits of flexibility through superior control strategies. While modeling flexibility and control strategies, researchers have mostly assumed an information system that can provide real-time control. Literature qualitatively reports that the real-time control can be highly capital intensive and difficult to achieve. This paper focuses on FMS operating under review-period (RP)-based control and presents a combined study of routing flexibility (RF), control strategies, and information system under Taguchi's method using simulation. RP-based control for FMS has been compared with real-time control. This paper contributes an approach for the decision maker to study the performance of an FMS operating under RP control and to identify the periodicity (time interval) of RP that will not deteriorate its performance in comparison to real-time control. It also helps the decision maker to reach a tradeoff between RP-based control and real-time control. The results show that RP-based control can be effectively implemented on an FMS having lower RF level. RP-based control can outperform real-time control with a superior control strategy and smaller RP size. The results under Taguchi's method suggest that the RF and control strategy should have maximum relative percentage contributions in FMS performance, whereas contribution of the RP (information system) should be minimum. Increasing the relative percentage contribution of the information system may deteriorate the performance of FMS. The information system is needed as a catalyst to facilitate the contributions of other factors in improving the FMS performance and not its own contribution     

Time relaxation of magnetization in type-II superconductors

We assume that currents induced by isothermal changes of magnetic field decay logarithmically with time. Incorporating this time dependence into the critical state model, we obtain logarithmic relaxation rate of magnetization as a function of field for the case of an infinite cylinder. We compare these calculations with our earlier calculations on infinite slab geometry.     

Application of a molecular beacon-real-time PCR technology to detect Salmonella species contaminating fruits and vegetables

An oligonucleotide probe that becomes fluorescent upon hybridization to the target DNA (molecular beacon; MB) was evaluated in a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect the presence of Salmonella species. As few as 1-4 colony-forming units (CFU) per PCR reaction could be detected. The capability of the assay to detect Salmonella species from artificially inoculated fresh-cut produce such as cantaloupe, mixed-salad, cilantro, and alfalfa sprouts was demonstrated. A comparison of two commercially available kits utilizing MB-PCR (iQ-Check, Bio-Rad Laboratories) and conventional Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC)-approved PCR (BAX, Dupont Qualicon) was performed on artificially inoculated produce. As few as 4 CFU/25 g of produce were detected after 16 h of enrichment in buffered peptone broth. These assays could be carried out entirely in sealed PCR tubes, enabling a rapid and high-throughput detection of Salmonella species in a large number of food and environmental samples. This is the first report of the application of MB probe being used for real-time detection of Salmonella species in whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.     

Thermodynamic analysis and experimental validation of multi-composition ammonia liquor absorption engine cycle for power generation

Energy conservation, utilization, and effective integration are of utmost importance for future sustenance. Accordingly, this work focuses on the generation of power from the low-grade temperature below 150°C . A proposed novel multi-composition ammonia liquor absorption engine (MALAE) power cycle can be used toward the above purpose by supplying renewable energy obtained from low concentration type solar collectors. Proposed MALAE power cycle minimizes heal loss due to heat recovery and uses high purity NH₃ vapors to expand through the isentropic turbine. MALAE power system is modeled and simulated using NH₃-H₂O as a working fluid for a reboiler temperature of 115°C . The purpose of this work is to simulate the proposed MALAE power cycle with the distillation column and two solution heat exchanger (SHE). MALAE modeling and simulation is accomplished in SCILAB software. The simulation outcome is validated with the pilot-scale 5 kW experimental setup and validation showed ±5% deviation. A comparison of MALAE cycle with published cycles signifies higher efficiency of MALAE cycle toward the utilization of low-grade energy from a temperature range of 100°C to 150°C . Finally, detailed parametric analysis of MALAE cycle efficiency is presented in terms of number of plates, distillation pressure and vapor flowrate, absorber temperature, pressure partial condenser temperature, and heat loads.