Experimental study on the permeability and self-healing capacity of geosynthetic clay liners in heavy metal solutions

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), which have a very low permeability to water and a considerably high self-healing capacity, are widely used in liner systems of landfills. In this study, a series of experimental tests were carried out under complex conditions on typical commercial GCLs from China. In particular, the effects of pH values and lead ions (Pb²⁺) were tested in addition to other factors. The swelling properties of natural bentonite encapsulated between geotextile components in the GCLs were tested first. The swelling capacity was reduced rapidly at pH values < 3 and concentrations of Pb²⁺ >40 mM. Permeability tests on GCLs with different concentrations of lead ions were then performed by using the self-developed multi-link flexible wall permeameter, and data showed that increases in lead ion concentrations greatly improved the permeability. Finally, self-healing capacity tests were conducted on needle-punched GCLs under different levels of damage. Results showed that the GCLs have a good self-healing capacity with small diameter damage holes (2 mm, close to three times the original aperture), but with a damage aperture larger than 15% of the sample area, the self-healing capacity could not prevent leakage; hence, in certain situations it will be necessary to repair the damage to meet the anti-seepage requirement.     

A new Pd-oxide-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As MOS hydrogen sensor

A new and interesting Pd-oxide-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As MOS hydrogen sensor has been fabricated and studied. The steady-state and transient responses with different hydrogen concentrations has been measured at various temperatures. Based on the large Schottky barrier height and presence of oxide layer, the studied device exhibits a high hydrogen detection sensitivity and wide temperature operating regime. The studied device exhibits the low-leakage current and obvious current changes when exposed to hydrogen-contained gas. Even at room temperature, a very high hydrogen detection sensitivity of 155.9 is obtained when a 9090 ppm H/sub 2//air gas is introduced. Furthermore, when exposed to hydrogen-contained gas at 95/spl deg/C, both the forward and reverse currents are substantially increased with increased hydrogen concentration. In other words, the studied device can be used as a hydrogen sensor under the applied bidirectional bias. Under the applied voltage of 0.35 V and 9090 ppm H/sub 2//air hydrogen ambient, a fast adsorption response time about 10 s is found. The transient and steady-state characteristics of hydrogen adsorption are also investigated.     

A novel InP/InGaAs TEBT for ultralow current operations

A novel InP/InGaAs tunneling emitter bipolar transistor (TEBT) is fabricated and demonstrated. The studied device exhibits a very small collector-emitter offset voltage of 40 mV and an extremely wide operation regime. The operation region is larger than 11 decades in magnitude of collector current (10/sup -12/ to 10/sup -1/A). A current gain of 3 is obtained even if the device is operated at an ultralow collector current of 3.9 /spl times/ 10/sup -12/A (1.56 /spl times/ 10/sup -7/A/cm/sup 2/). Furthermore, the common-emitter breakdown voltage of the studied device is higher than 2 V. Consequently, the studied device shows a promise for low supply voltage, and low-power consumption circuit applications.     

椰子油甲酯化法合成烷基醇酰胺

以国产椰子油为原料,在碱性催化剂作用下先甲酯化再缩合制备烷基醇酰胺,通过多次平行实验,确立了最佳反应条件:甲酯化反应的油醇比(mol)为1:5,催化剂氢氧化钾用量为剂油比(w)0.07:1,反应时间1小时;缩合反应的酯胺比(mol)为1:1.15,催化剂氢氧化钾用量为剂酯比(w)0.01:1,反应温度100～110℃,反应压力40～50mmHg,反应时间3.5小时.     

为国家重点建设项目服务打造有公信力的名牌监理公司

中咨工程建设监理公司是中国国际工程咨询公司的全资子公司。而其母公司早在80年代即承担起多个工程项目的施工监理。进入90年代，中咨监理业务得到迅速发展，成为中国监理行业的一支重要力量。2001年起经过整合重组而成中咨工程建设监理公司后，以集中和优化资源配置，努力打造有公信力的名牌监理公司。经过多年的探索和积累，该公司形成了一套既符合国家规范，又具有自身特色的管理模式。本文介绍该公司在承担国家重点建设项目工程监理方面的一些经验和做法。     

Hidden-Action in Network Routing

In communication networks, such as the Internet or mobile ad-hoc networks, the actions taken by intermediate nodes or links are typically hidden from the communicating endpoints; all the endpoints can observe is whether or not the end-to-end transmission was successful. Therefore, in the absence of incentives to the contrary, rational (i.e., selfish) intermediaries may choose to forward messages at a low priority or simply not forward messages at all. Using a principal-agent model, we show how the hidden-action problem can be overcome through appropriate design of contracts in both the direct (the endpoints contract with each individual router directly) and the recursive (each router contracts with the next downstream router) cases. We further show that, depending on the network topology, per-hop or per-path monitoring may not necessarily improve the utility of the principal or the social welfare of the system.     

A geometry-based error estimation for cross-ratios

For choosing specific cross-ratios as 2D projective coordinates in various computer vision applications, a reasonable error analysis model is usually required. This investigation adopts the assumption of normal distribution for positioning errors of point features in an image to formulate the error variances of cross-ratios. Based on a geometry-based error analysis, a straightforward way of identifying the cross-ratios with minimum error variances is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed approach, as well as a further simplified alternative, yield much better estimations of minimum error variances in terms of accuracy, cost, and stability compared with some other methods, e.g., the one based on the rule given by Georis et al. (IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. 20 (4) (1998) 366). Some causes of the performance differences in the estimations are explained using a special configuration of point features.     

Colloidal silica removal in coagulation processes for wastewater reuse in a high-tech industrial park.

Four experiments of coagulation and flocculation were conducted to investigate the characteristics of colloidal silica removal in a high-tech industrial wastewater treatment plant for reclamation and reuse of the effluent. Experimental results illustrated that poly-aluminium chloride (PACl) showed higher performances on colloidal silica removal than alum. Interestingly, the two coagulants demonstrated the same capacity on silica removal. The specific silica removal capacity was approximately 0.135 mg SiO2/mg Al2O3 when the dosage of coagulants was in the range 30-150 mg/L Al2O3. In addition, the silica was reduced significantly at the condition of pH above 8. Experimental data implied that precipitation of aluminium flocs was the major mechanism for colloid silica removal in PACl and alum coagulation, besides, charge adsorption was also important for improving removal efficiency. Moreover, the addition of polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a flocculant could slightly advance silica removal in the PACl coagulation. The combined PACl/PAA/flocs coagulation was effective for the removal of colloidal silica, soluble COD, and turbidity and also suitable as a pretreatment unit in wastewater reclamation and reuse processes.