Stability enhancement of polypyrrole thin film ammonia sensor by camphor sulfonic acid dopant

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - The main weakness of polymer gas sensors is its stability. Here, we report stability enhancement of a 100 nm polypyrrole (PPy) thin...     

Three-phase four-wire shunt active power filter based on the SOGI filter and Lyapunov function for DC bus control

The three-phase four-wire shunt active power filter (SAPF) was developed to suppress the harmonic currents generated by nonlinear loads, and for the compensation of unbalanced nonlinear load currents, reactive power, and the harmonic neutral current. In this work, we consider instantaneous reactive power theory (PQ theory) for reference current identification based on the following two algorithms: the classic low-pass filter (LPF) and the second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) filter. Furthermore, since an important process in SAPF control is the regulation of the DC bus voltage at the capacitor, a new controller based on the Lyapunov function is also proposed. A complete simulation of the resultant active filtering system confirms its validity, which uses the SOGI filter to extract the reference currents from the distorted line currents, compared with the traditional PQ theory based on LPF. In addition, the simulation performed also demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approach, for DC bus voltage control based on the Lyapunov function, compared with the traditional proportional-integral (PI) controller. Both novel approaches contribute towards an improvement in the overall performance of the system, which consists of a small rise and settling time, a very low or nonexistent overshoot, and the minimization of the total harmonic distortion (THD).     

On stochastic comparisons of finite mixtures for some semiparametric families of distributions

In this paper, we consider the classical finite mixture model, which is an effective tool for modeling lifetime distributions for random samples from heterogeneous populations. We discuss new results on stochastic comparison for two finite mixtures when each of them is drawn from one of the following semiparametric families, i.e., proportional hazards, accelerated lifetime and proportional reversed hazards.     

Electrical and magnetic properties of lithium borate glass containing iron

Journal of Materials Science Letters -     

Ice-slurry production using direct contact heat transfer

An ice slurry generation system was developed using direct contact heat transfer between water and the coolant, Fluroinert FC-84. The location of the coolant nozzle is an important design consideration to avoid clogging due to freezing of water. An ice fraction of up to about 40 percent was obtained with the nozzle located at the bottom of the ice slurry tank and the jet directed upwards into the water. Two simplified model were developed to extract the heat transfer coefficient between the coolant drops and the water. The first model requires as input the average drop diameter and the residence time while the second model uses the measured drop diameter distribution. The estimated heat transfer coefficients are much smaller than those computed using single-sphere correlations.     

A generalized equation for the prediction of melting temperatures of homopolymers and copolymers

A generalized equation was derived to calculate the melting temperatures of homopolymers and copolymers. The Gibbs‐Thomson equation for homopolymers and a modified application to copolymers were derived using the proposed equation. The melting temperature T_m⁰ in the Flory equation corresponds to the melting temperature T_m^C,∞ of copolymer crystals with stems of infinite length. Also, T_m^C,n*, the melting temperature for copolymer crystals with stems containing the maximum possible number of structural units, n*, should be used instead of T_m⁰ as the basis of supercooling in crystallization. The proposed equation shows good agreement with experimental data for α‐alkene‐ethylene homogeneous copolymers.     

Dynamic analysis and drilling degrees of freedom

Finite element methods for dynamic analysis employing elements with drilling degrees of freedom are presented. The formulation is based on a variational principle in which displacements and rotations are interpolated independently. The issue of zero masses corresponding to rotational degrees of freedom is addressed and techniques for defining consistent and lumped rotational mass matrices are presented.     

On the kinetics of the autoxidation of fats: influence of pro‐oxidants,antioxidants and synergists

The influence of minor amounts of pro‐ and anti‐oxidants on the kinetics of the autoxidation of fat has been evaluated. The reaction rates of oxygen with the substrates were found to follow the same basic equation, hitherto established for pure substrates. There is evidence that the surface of the reaction vessel also acts as a reaction catalyst and its effect is proportional to the area of glass in contact with lipids. Oxidation is enhanced by trace metal ions as well as by surface‐active compounds (e.g. hydroperoxides and sterols). Antioxidants such as α‐tocopherol and butylated hydroxyanisole inhibit the oxidation by delaying the start of oxygen consumption (the induction period) while retarders like amino acids only decrease the rate of oxidation. Thus pro‐ and anti‐ oxidants affect either the start or the rate of oxygen consumption. The empirical formula dx/dt = k [O₂] (1‐x/n) f′(t) was found applicable to the different stages of oxidation.     

A knowledge-based system for sensor selection

This paper presents a Knowledge-based system (KBS) developed to allow users, who may not be knowledgeable about sensors, to select sensors suitable for their specific needs. The KBS runs on a micro-computer. The selection criteria are user specified and are based on the desired measurement parameters. The system output includes all of the operational and dimensional parameters of the recommended sensor, price, and vendor information.