Hybrid metaheuristics for scheduling of machines and transport robots in job shop environment

In real manufacturing environments, the control of some elements in systems based on robotic cells, such as transport robots has some difficulties when planning operations dynamically. The Job Shop scheduling Problem with Transportation times and Many Robots (JSPT-MR) is a generalization of the classical Job Shop scheduling Problem (JSP) where a set of jobs additionally have to be transported between machines by several transport robots. Hence, the JSPT-MR is more computationally difficult than the JSP presenting two NP-hard problems simultaneously: the job shop scheduling problem and the robot routing problem. This paper proposes a hybrid metaheuristic approach based on clustered holonic multiagent model for the JSPT-MR. Firstly, a scheduler agent applies a Neighborhood-based Genetic Algorithm (NGA) for a global exploration of the search space. Secondly, a set of cluster agents uses a tabu search technique to guide the research in promising regions. Computational results are presented using two sets of benchmark literature instances. New upper bounds are found, showing the effectiveness of the presented approach.     

Polyhalogenation of nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds. II. Polychloro-1,10-phenanthrolines

1,10-Phenanthroline can be chlorinated directly with sulfuryl and thionyl chloride giving a chromatographically separable mixture of polychloro compounds.     

Cleaning method of InSb [111] B of n-InSb [111] A/B for the growth of epitaxial layers by liquid phase epitaxy

The crystal structure of InSb[111]A/B surfaces shows that this structure is polarized.This means that the surfaces of InSb[111]A and InSb[111]B contain two different crystallized directions and they have different physical and chemical properties.Experiments were carried out on the InSb[111]A/B surfaces,showing that tartaric acid etchant could create a very smooth surface on the InSb[111]B without any traces of oxides and etch pit but simultaneously create etch pit on InSb[111]A surfaces.After lapping and polishing,some particles remained on the InSb[111]B surface,they could not be removed easily by standard cleaning process and if these particles remain on the surface of the substrate,the growth layer was not uniform and some island-like regions were observed.The purpose of this work is to remove these particles on the InSb[111]B surface.Some morphology images of both surfaces,InSb[111]A/B,will be presented.     

Cleaning Method of InSb [-1-1-1] B of n- InSb [111] A/B for growth of epitaxial layers by liquid phase epitaxy

The crystal structure of InSb [111] A/B surfaces shows that this structure is polarized. This means that the surfaces of InSb [111] A and InSb [1 1 1] B contain two different crystallized directions and they have different physical and chemical properties. Experiments were carried out on the InSb [111] A/B surfaces, showing that tartaric acid etchant could create a very smooth surface on the InSb [1 1 1] B without any traces of oxides and etch pit but simultaneously create etch pit on InSb [111] A surfaces. After lapping and polishing, some particles remained on the InSb [1 1 1] B surface, they could not be removed easily by standard cleaning process and if these particles remain on the surface of the substrate, the growth layer was not uniform and some island-like regions were observed. The purpose of this work is to remove these particles on the InSb [1 1 1] B surface. Some morphology images of both surfaces, InSb [111] A/B, will be presented.     

Synthesis of thermally stable polyamides with pendant 1,3,4-oxadiazole units via direct polycondensation in ionic liquids

The synthesis of high molecular weight polyamides by using 1-methyl-3-alkyl imidazolium bromides (alkyl = C₃–C₈) as reaction media has been reported. Polymers were prepared from the reaction of 2-(5-(3,5-diaminophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-yl)pyridine, POBD, and aromatic/aliphatic dicarboxylic acids in ionic liquids in the presence of triphenyl phosphite as a condensing agent without requiring any extra components such as CaCl₂ or pyridine. The number average molecular weight of the polymers was measured by vapor pressure osmometry. The effects of various reaction parameters such as alkyl chain length of ionic liquids, reaction temperature, and reaction time on the molecular weight were investigated. No regular relationship between inherent viscosity or molecular weight with the alkyl chain length in the ionic liquid was observed; however, the highest molecular weight was observed in 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium bromide. The thermal properties of the prepared polymers were also studied with DSC and TGA methods. Removal of Co²⁺ from aqueous solutions was performed using polymer (7).     

A novel polymer composite with a small optical band gap: New approaches for photonics and optoelectronics

In this article, a novel approach is presented for the preparation of small band‐gap polymer composites. The intensity of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak increased from 0.64 to 3.2 for the chitosan–silver nitrate sample containing 1 wt % titanium dioxide (TiO₂). In the cases of 3 and 5 wt % added TiO₂ particles, the SPR peak disappeared. A wide shift of the absorption coefficient from 4.36 to 0.93 eV was observed. The smallest optical band gap of about 0.98 eV was achieved for the sample containing 3 wt % TiO₂ filler. The wide shift in the optical band gap was interpreted on the bases of the formation of metal‐induced gap states between the metallic silver particles and the TiO₂ structure. A novel approach was achieved that was an alternative method to Tauc's semi‐empirical model for band‐gap estimation. The optical dielectric loss parameter for the band‐gap study was easily calculated and analyzed, whereas it unfolded a deep knowledge from the physics point of view. The established quantum mechanical expression revealed a strong relationship between the energy band gap and the optical dielectric loss parameter. The scanning electron microscopy results show the leakage of white aggregated silver particles and distinguishable intense peaks of metallic silver particles between 3 and 3.3 keV appearing in the energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrum. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44847.     

Novel surfactants incorporated with 1,3,5-triethanolhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine moiety as corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in hydrochloric acid: Electrochemical and quantum chemical investigations

The main objective of this work was to examine the corrosion inhibition ability of three novel surfactant molecules synthesized from 1,3,5-triethanolhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine, which named (I, II and III). The chemical structure of these surfactants was confirmed by FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Also the surface active properties for the synthesized compounds were calculated. The effect of these surfactants on carbon steel in a solution of 1 M HCl was studied using mass-loss and electrochemical measurements. Protection efficiencies were found to be 93.1%, 90.7%, and 87% for III, II, and I, respectively. The order of increasing inhibition efficiency was correlated with increasing the number of ethylene oxide units. Potentiodynamic polarization curves indicated that the prepared surfactants acted as mixed type inhibitors. Adsorption of the inhibitor obeys the Langmuir isotherm. Quantum chemical calculations based on ab initio method were performed on I, II and III. The molecular structural parameters, such as the frontier molecular orbital energy HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) and LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital), the charge distribution and the fraction of electrons (ΔN) transfer from inhibitor to carbon steel were calculated and discussed.     

The Effect of Operating Conditions on Permeation of Water-methanol Mixtures by a Pervaporation Membrane System

In this work, the effects of various operating parameters on the membrane performance in separation of water from methanol by pervaporation (PV) using a commercial poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membrane have been studied.

Experimental results were obtained at different feed temperatures (30–60°C) and permeate pressures (1–10 mm Hg) as well as concentrations of 1–10 wt% water in feed. Investigations indicate that increasing feed temperature and vacuum (lowering permeate pressure) increase flux and selectivity resulting in improvement of membrane performance. Also, increasing water concentration in feed from 1 to 10 wt% increases permeate flux from 0.4 to 0.6 kg/hm² while selectivity first decreases from 10.6 to 4.8 and then increases to 6.8.     

A spatio‐temporal water quality assessment of the Beas and Sutlej Rivers at the Harike Wetland: A Ramsar site in Punjab,India

Lakes play a vital role in regulating water storage, flow of river water, and ultimately maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Spatial and temporal variations in physicochemical parameters of water in Harike Wetland, a Ramsar site in the northwestern state of Punjab, India, were studied. This study was conducted on a monthly basis from January to December 2015. The water quality was studied at ten locations from sites 1 to 10 upstream, central and downstream from Harike Lake for ten physicochemical parameters, including temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen concentration biological oxygen demand, nitrate and phosphate concentrations and salinity. The findings of this study revealed that, except for temperature and pH, all parameters exhibited relatively higher values for the Sutlej River, compared with the Beas River, with sampling sites 5 to site 7 exhibiting intermediate results. The mean seasonal temperature variations ranged from 16.9 to 26.6 °C, the pH from 7.7 to 8.2, electrical conductivity from 223 to 303 μS cm^?1 and TDS concentration from 148.7 to 180.4 ppm. Correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relations between the variables. The electrical conductivity exhibited a high positive correlation with salinity and biological oxygen demand, whereas it correlated negatively with the dissolved oxygen concentration. Box and whisker plots were also plotted for the study results to better examine the data distribution.     

Geospatial technology applied to spatiotemporal assessment of Harike Wetland,Punjab

The Harike Wetland situated in Punjab is a Ramsar site and a wetland of national importance. The present study was undertaken to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the wetland on the basis of geospatial technology and ground‐based studies. Landsat images for the years 2002 and 2014 were acquired from the United States Geological Survey and classified digitally to generate landuse/land cover maps involving four classes (water, grassland (including water hyacinth), agriculture, built‐up (settlement), barren land). The total area of the Harike Wetland was found to be 8023.68 ha. Water sampling at eleven sites was carried out and evaluated for physicochemical parameters. The water quality at several sampling points was found to be severely degraded. Change detection analysis revealed the submerged area (area under water) and grassland (including water hyacinth) had decreased over the past 12 years, whereas that area under agriculture and built‐up land has increased, indicating a shrinkage in the total wetland area. The present study also indicated that the near‐infrared band is a good indicator of water quality parameters, as indicated by the significant positive correlation between the near‐infrared band and relevant water parameters. Because the wetland is important from both an ecological perspective and economic perspective, regular monitoring is recommended, for which geospatial technology has proven to be very useful.