KINETICS FOR LOW TEMPERATURE PYROLYSIS OF BLACK LIQUOR

A kinetic study of pyrolysis of dried black liquor was performed using a Netzsch 429 Thermogravimetric Analyzer. It was found that as conversion increases from 10 to 45% the apparent pyrolysis activation energy for black liquor increases from 77.20 to 112.74 KJ/mol. For black liquor the order of reaction was found to be first-order. The reaction rate constant was found to be 2.12×10⁹ min. These results are in agreement with the data reported by other investigators on biomass pyrolysis.     

Excavation and support design of the Dicle–Kralkizi water tunnel: an overview

Tunneling projects have their uniqueness in terms of engineering problems. The expertise gained from analyzing these projects establishes a sound basis for future application. This paper conveys experiences gained during the construction and support of the design of the Dicle–Kralkizi water tunnel, Turkey. Tunnel stability problems including overbreaks and surface subsidence are evaluated. An analysis of the breakdowns, factors controlling advance rate and the overall performance of tunnel are covered. The accumulated information presented here is believed to be useful and reliable for a successful tunnel excavation in similar formations.     

Determination of the optimum conditions for ion nitriding of AISI 5140 steel

AISI 5140 low alloy steel was ion nitrided under different process parameters including time (1, 4, 8 and 12 h), temperature (400, 450, 500 and 550 °C) and gas mixture ratio (0.05, 0.33, 1 and 3 N₂/H₂). By determining the fatigue strength, surface hardness, compound layer thickness and case depth, the optimum working conditions were determined by using a Taguchi design of experiment. After ion nitriding process, it is aimed to maximize fatigue strength, surface hardness and case depth as well as to minimize compound layer thickness. While the optimum conditions were determined, due to the goals (above aims) more than one being, the trade-off among goals was considered. First of all, each goal was optimised, separately. Then, all the goals were optimised together, considering the priority of the goals, and the optimum results were obtained at 0.05 N₂/H₂ gas mixture ratio, at the temperature of 450 °C and for 12 h process time.     

Medical image segmentation with transform and moment based features and incremental supervised neural network

In this study, a novel incremental supervised neural network (ISNN) is proposed for the segmentation of medical images. Performance of the ISNN is investigated for tissue segmentation in medical images obtained from various imaging modalities. Two feature extraction methods based on transform and moments are comparatively investigated to segment the tissues in medical images. Two-dimensional (2D) continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and the moments of the gray-level histogram (MGH) are computed in order to form the feature vectors of ultrasound (US) bladder and phantom images, X-ray computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) head images. In the 2D-CWT method, feature vectors are formed by the intensity of one pixel of each wavelet-plane of different energy bands. The MGH represents the tissues within the sub-windows by using the spatial variation of image intensities. In this study, the ISNN and Grow and Learn (GAL) network are employed for the segmentation task. It is observed that the ISNN has significantly eliminated the disadvantages of the GAL network in the segmentation of the medical images.     

DESIGN OF TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED QUARTZ CRYSTAL MICROBALANCE SYSTEM

In this study, the dual modulated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with heating and cooling control has been developed for the quantitative determination of biological molecules, as a biosensor. On the other hand, since, the Sauerbrey formula is misprinted in some publications, the correct form of formula is also discussed. The proposed QCM biosensor has three main parts, which are the oscillator circuit, temperature control circuit, and the differential frequency measurement unit. Colpitts oscillators with the buffer amplifier, microcontroller (PIC16F877) for the temperature control circuit and a peltier element were used for heating and cooling inside the developed system. Differential frequency measurement is a known technique to compensate environmental effects causing instability of crystals. For this reason, one of the crystals is implemented with oscillatory circuits, i.e., the detector; the other one is used as the reference. The designed system was tested between 8°C and 50°C and frequency shift versus temperature is observed at 0.5 ppm/°C over a given temperature range.     

Resistorless floating immittance function simulators employing current controlled conveyors and a grounded capacitor

In this paper, new floating immittance function simulators employing second-generation current controlled conveyors are proposed. The first four of the presented circuits employ only a single grounded capacitor as passive component and can realize either a negative or a positive floating inductor or capacitor. The last two of the proposed circuits do not employ passive components and can realize either negative or positive floating resistances. All of the proposed circuits do not require passive element matching. As an application, a third-order butterworth filter is realized using the proposed positive floating inductance simulator. SPICE simulation results and large signal behavior of the filter are included.     

Comparison of pool boiling CHF of a polished copper block and carbon steel block on a declined slope

This study conducts a critical heat flux (CHF) experiment on a carbon steel block, and the block is positioned on slope that is declined at angles of 5° and 10°. The results of the carbon steel block experiment were then analyzed and compared with the results obtained from a copper block experiment that had been conducted previously at the same test facility. The comparison showed that several different types of phenomena had occurred, and the carbon steel block CHF at both 5° and 10° was much lower than that of the copper block. Detailed images of the heating surface of each material were acquired by a high-speed camera under different heat fluxes and analyzed. The carbon steel block surface generates more bubbles compared to the copper block under the same heat flux, which indicates that the carbon steel block should have a large number of nucleation sites. This causes a higher CHF. Finally, several existing theories on CHF mechanisms were also analyzed in an attempt to explain the difference of copper and carbon steel. It seemed that the contact angle alone was not sufficient to explain the large CHF decrease in the carbon steel block.     

Evaluation of natural gas hydrates as a future methane source

In recent years, attention has been given to obtaining methane gas from natural gas hydrates (NGHs) sediment; but its production, economics, and safety are still far away from being commercially viable for many years, and so more research is needed. NGHs are nonstoichiometric crystalline solid compounds that form from mixtures of water molecules and light weight natural gases such as methane, ethane, propane, and carbon dioxide. They are formed in specific thermodynamic conditions, low temperatures (5–15°C) and high pressures (2–3 MPa), and are found in (a) onshore polar regions beneath permafrost and (b) offshore deep-sea sediments. Methane, NG, is the cleanest fossil fuel and its huge amounts in NGHs have carbon quantities more than double of all fossil fuels. The methods that have been proposed for NG extraction from NGHs include: (a) depressurization, (b) thermal stimulation, and (c) chemical inhibitor injections. The authors review the potential of methane gas from NGHs as an unconventional source of future energy. The formation of NGHs as well as extraction of methane from NGHs coupled with technical and environmental challenges are also addressed.     

Numerical treatment of a quasilinear initial value problem with boundary layer

The paper deals with the singularly perturbed quasilinear initial value problem exhibiting initial layer. First the nature of solution of differential problem before presenting method for its numerical solution is discussed. The numerical solution of the problem is performed with the use of a finite-fitted difference scheme on an appropriate piecewise uniform mesh (Shishkin-type mesh). An error analysis shows that the method is first-order convergent except for a logarithmic factor, in the discrete maximum norm, independently of the perturbation parameter. Finally, numerical results supporting the theory are presented.