An Indo-Soviet experiment on anmhd generator test section at the Soviet U-02 facility

This paper summarizes the major results of the joint Indo-Soviet experiment for testing the Indianmhd generator channel section, designed and fabricated at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, which was carried out at the U-02 facility in Moscow, USSR, in May 1980. The total test duration was 65 hours and included electrophysical tests and life tests under applied electric fields. The main purpose of the tests was to substantiate the physical concepts, computer codes, design features and special processing techniques involved in the development ofmhd generators for the Indian pilot plant at Tiruchirapalli. The experimental observations on the phenomena of heat transfer to the walls, gas dynamics in the channel, electrical characteristics of the generator and near-electrode processes including the analysis of arc spots correlate with the theoretical estimates based on present understanding of the physical processes occuring in similarmhd generators. The post-operational inspection of the channel section and extensive investigation of materials through microscopic analysis, chemical analysis and x-ray analysis are also reported in this paper. The joint test programme has clearly demonstrated the definite operating capability of the test section and has given sufficient information and encouragement for building better and improved channels for the future.     

Numerical investigations on the Dish–Stirling engine system

The Stirling engine is an environmentally friendly external combustion heat engine and reduces the complexities of the combustion process, and indirectly helps in reduction of CO₂ emission. Modelling based on cyclic analysis is performed for a Beta configuration Stirling engine of 1.5?kW_e capacity using a rhombic drive for the solar-dish-supported Stirling engine. The analysis helps in estimating the overall efficiency of the system using the experimental correlation of the solar concentrator ARUN160 at the engine operating temperature. The analysis shows that the system will have overall efficiency around 25% in the range of 750–1050?K at the expansion space. The degradation of performance compared to that at an operating temperature of 1025?K is only marginal and makes 750?K a more preferred temperature. The present study evaluates a range of possible design goals and provides suitable alternatives and thus provides a clear understanding of the system design considerations.     

A new proposed model for dielectric behavior of PVC/rice husk composites

Ecofriendly materials are becoming a need of the day. We have severe setback when there is lot of use of agro wastes in plastics. To reduce pure plastic use in agriculture, this study has been made to find some remedial measure. In the process, we sought the effect of addition of rice husk (RH) in polyvinylchloride (PVC) on the dielectric properties at different frequency and temperature has been studied. Measurements have been performed in the frequency range from 1 to 10 kHz and temperature range of 32–80°C. The experimental results show that dielectric constant (ε′) increases with the addition of RH in PVC. Dielectric constant (ε′) decreases with increasing frequency, which indicates that the major contribution to the polarization comes from orientation polarization. Dielectric constant (ε′) increases with increasing temperature due to greater freedom of movement of dipoles within PVC at higher temperatures. A theoretical model for dielectric constant with temperature and frequency dependent is proposed. Experimental results are in good agreement with the proposed theoretical model. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

A preventive registry for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is a genetic disorder characterized by a strong family history of colorectal and extracolonic cancers, usually at a young age. This article presents a new provincial service for families with HNPCC. The Steve Atanas Stavro Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry at Mount Sinai Hospital is accruing patients that meet a set of criteria establishing a putative diagnosis of HNPCC. The objectives of the Registry are to develop and assess patient pedigrees, to coordinate screening procedures for at-risk persons, to maintain a prospective database of patient information, to provide education and support for families and to contribute to research. To date, surgeons and patients are the most common referral sources, while oncologists and geneticists are the least common. The ultimate goal of the HNPCC service is the secondary prevention of cancer and a corresponding decrease in mortality for HNPCC family members.     

Calculation of the nonstationary interaction of jet flows with a two-dimensional target

A finite-difference scheme is employed to calculate the flow field in the region of interaction of nonuniform jet-type flows with a flat target at normal incidence. Results obtained in the numerical solution are presented.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 31–38, January, 1972.     

M/G/I queue analysis for Huffman coded english text decoding system

The queueing model with limited waiting room, i.e. buffer size for messages of arbitrary lengths and Poisson arrival, at a demultiplexing terminal using a HP 2100A computer has been studied. The data have been constructed using Huffman code to English text. Storage capacity for an ergodic system has been estimated by M/G/I analysis with practically no loss of information. This analysis may be used as a guide-line for buffer size estimation in computer communication networks when data are being constructed with the use of Huffman code and due consideration to the frequencies of alphabets and word size.     

Thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of two types of ATJ-S graphite to 3500° K

Thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity in the with-grain direction of two types of ATJ-S graphite, from 300°K up to 3500°K are reported. Above 500°K, the thermal conductivity appears to follow a T^?1 type function, which is characteristic of Umklapp thermal resistivity processes. The results are analyzed in terms of relative first order contributions of the lattice and electronic components of the thermal conductivity. At high temperatures, our results are at variance with some literature that indicate a ‘strongly’ decreasing thermal conductivity or an essentially ‘temperature independent’ thermal conductivity.     

Application of ESP for gas cleaning in cement industry--with reference to India

Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) are used for gas cleaning in almost every section of cement manufacture. Application of ESP is studied, keeping in view Indian conditions. The characterisation of dust emissions has been done for different units, such as rotary kiln and raw mill, alkali by-pass, clinker cooler, cement and coal mill, in terms of exit gas quantity, temperature, dew point, dust content and particle size. It is seen that all these characteristics have a wide range of variance. The ESP system must effectively deal with these variations. The fundamental analytical expression governing the performance of ESP, i.e. the Deutsch equation, and that for particle migration velocity, were analysed to predict the effect of major operating parameters, namely particle size, temperature and applied voltage. Whereas the migration velocity (and the efficiency) varies directly with the particle size, it is proportional to the square and square root of applied voltage and absolute temperature of the gas, respectively. The increase in efficiency due to temperature is not seen in dc based ESP, perhaps due to more pronounced negative effect on the applied voltage due to the increase in dust resistivity at higher temperatures. The effect of gas and dust characteristics on the collection efficiency of ESP, as seen in the industrial practice, is summarised. Some main process and design improvements effectively dealing with the problem of gas and dust characteristics have been discussed. These are gas conditioning, pulse energization, ESP-fabric filter (FF) combination, improved horizontal flow as well as open top ESP.Generally, gas conditioning entails higher operating and maintenance costs. Pulse energization allows the use of hot gas, besides reducing the dust emission and power consumption. The improved horizontal flow ESP has been successfully used in coal dust cleaning. The open top or vertical flow ESP has a limitation on collection efficiency as it provides for only one electric field.     

Adaptive Empirical Path Loss Prediction Models for Indoor WLAN

This paper presents robust empirical path loss models to characterize indoor propagation for access point (AP) deployed at different heights. The proposed models are developed with wireless local area network infrastructure at 2.4 GHz. The models are backed by extensive received signal strength (RSS) measurements acquired in line of sight and obstructed line of sight regions. The models are developed for two conditions, viz; quasi realistic and realistic RSS measurements. The quasi realistic measurements are taken after suppressing human intervention and electrical interferences to minimum. While the realistic RSS measurements are made in presence of all the human interventions and electrical interferences. The shadow fading component for both quasi realistic and realistic conditions is statistically modeled with the dependency on AP height. The proposed technique can be applied with higher confidence level to the buildings with similar construction features where RSS measurements are made upon. The results reveal that the performance of the proposed propagation models is significantly higher than the existing International Telecommunication Union-path loss model. The results also demonstrate that the realistic path loss model is more robust than the quasi realistic model.     

Optimization of bead geometry in electron beam welding using a Genetic Algorithm

Bead-on-plate welds were carried out on austenitic stainless steel plates using an electron beam welding machine. Experimental data were collected as per central composite design and regression analysis was conducted to establish input–output relationships of the process. An attempt was made to minimize the weldment area, after satisfying the condition of maximum bead penetration. Thus, it was posed as a constrained optimization problem and solved utilizing a Genetic Algorithm with a penalty function approach. The Genetic Algorithm was able to determine optimal weld-bead geometry and recommend the necessary process parameters for the same.