Synthesis and analysis of transformer-isolated converters

A systematic and straightforward procedure is developed for the synthesis and analysis of transformer-isolated power converters. The procedure can be used to determine the ranges of duty-ratio over which the transformer-isolated power converters of a given class can be operated without transformer saturation. The procedure can also be used to study the dependence of the power converter switch stresses on duty-ratios. This information is useful in the selection of the transformer-isolated power converter most suitable for a given application and in the design of this power converter with minimum switch stresses, high power density, and low cost     

Electro-copolymerisation of indene and styrene

Electroinitiated cationic copolymerisation of indene and styrene was investigated by constant potential electrolysis. Effects of copolymerisation potential and temperature on the copolymer composition and the reactivity ratios are discussed. The reactivity ratios of the monomers were calculated according to the integrated Lewis-Mayo equation.     

Study of liquid injection impact on the performance of new refrigerant mixtures

In this paper, the test results of liquid injection impact on the performance of new alternative refrigerant mixtures such as: R-410A, R-507, R-407C and R-404A are discussed, analysed and presented. The test results were obtained using an air-source heat pump set-up with enhanced surface tubing under various liquid injection ratios. Performance tests were conducted according to the ARI/ASHRAE standards. The performance data demonstrated that as liquid injection ratio increases, compressor head pressure and discharge temperature decrease. This has a positive effect in protecting the compressor. The effect of liquid injection on mixture behaviour varies from one mixture to another depending upon the mixture's composition. Furthermore, liquid injection appears to have a significant influence on R-410A behaviour compared to the other mixtures in question. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acidogenic fermentation of blended food‐waste in combination with primary sludge for the production of volatile fatty acids

The performance of a laboratory‐scale anaerobic acidogenic fermenter fed with a mixture of blended kitchen food‐waste and primary sludge from a sewage treatment plant was investigated for the production of volatile fatty acids (VFA). The operating variables for acidogenic fermentation were kitchen food‐waste content (10 and 25 wt %), hydraulic retention time (HRT: 1, 3 and 5 days), temperature (ambient: 18 ± 2 °C, and mesophilic: 35 ± 2 °C) and pH (varied from 5.2 to 6.7). The experimental results indicated that effluent VFA concentrations and VFA production rates were higher at ambient temperature than at mesophilic conditions. The net amount of VFA with 10 wt % food‐waste increased up to 920 mg dm^?3 with an increase of HRT, but contrasting results (a decrease of 2610 mg dm^?3) were found due to the conversion of VFA into biogas in the case of 25 wt % food‐waste, which increased significantly at HRT of 3–5 days. In terms of biogas composition (CO₂ and CH₄), the organic matter was converted into CO₂ through the oxidative pathway by facultative species at low temperature while mesophilic temperature and optimum pH (6.3–7.8) played a pivotal role in increasing rate of conversion of VFA into biogas by methanogenesis. Rates of VFA production and their conversion are dependent on the food‐waste content in the mixture. Yet, the higher concentration of food‐waste (25% compared with 10%) did not produce VFA proportionally due to the increased rate of conversion of VFA into gaseous products. The maximum VFA production rate (0.318 g VFA_produced g^?1 VS_fed day^?1) was achieved in the 10 wt % food‐waste at ambient temperature and at a 5‐day HRT. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Electromagnetic Resistive Drift Instability in Current Carrying Low Temperature Tokamak Edges

It is shown that the purely growing electrostatic rippling mode can couple with the shear Alfven wave to give rise to an oscillatory electromagnetic instability in tokamak edge regions. This mechanism can be one of the causes of electromagnetic fluctuations observed near plasma edges. This instability can occur only in the very low temperature regions where resistivity fluctuations can become important due to large electron-ion collision frequency.     

The optimisation of higher order resampling methods in a multiprocessor environment

The processing of images obtained from satellites often involves highly repetitive calculations on very large amounts of data. This processing is extremely time consuming when these calculations are performed on sequential machines. Parallel computers are well suited to handling computationally expensive operations such as higher order interpolations on large data sets. This paper decribes work undertaken to develop parallel implementations of a set of resampling procedures on an Alliant VFX/4. Each resampling procedure implemented has been optimised in three stages. First, the algorithm has been restructured, where two-dimensional resampling is performed by two one-dimensional resampling operations. Second, each procedure has been reprogrammed in such a way that the autoparallelisation provided by the FX/Fortran compiler has been exploited. Thirdly, data dependent analysis of each procedure has been performed in order to achieve full optimization of each procedure; each procedure has been restructured where appropriate to circumvent vectorisation and concurrency inhibiting data dependencies. The nature and extent of the code optimization achieved for each procedure is presented in this paper. The original code for the most computationally expensive procedure, as targeted at a sequential machine, was found to have an execution time of 4900 seconds on the Alliant VFX/4 when compiled with regular compiler optimization options. Following algorithmic redesigning and reprogramming of the code, as indicated in stage 1 and stage 2, the execution time was reduced to 248 seconds. Restructuring of the code following data dependency analysis indicated in stage 3 in order to avoid data dependencies and allow concurrency and vectorisation, further reduced execution time to 162 seconds. The consequence of this work is that higher-order resampling methods which had not previous been practical are now routinely performed on the Alliant VFX/4 at the University of Dundee.     

Capacitor coupled converter (C3) for high power DCconversion

The bang-bang controlled capacitor coupled converter (C³) is described in this paper. Due to the converter's inherent commutating property, the C³ can accommodate thyristors as well as high-power gate turn-off switches, due to zero-current switching transitions. The zero-current switching is achieved at no current stress increase, therefore, the topology is considered appropriate for high-power processing. DC and small signal AC models are derived for the bang-bang controlled C³, a design procedure is proposed, and simulation results are discussed. Finally, oscillograms from a proof of principle prototype circuit are presented     

Rheumatic heart disease in India

A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural areas of Jawan Block, District Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, covering a total population of 3760 drawn from 11 villages. The total number of confirmed cases of rheumatic heart disease was 24 with a prevalence rate of 6.4 per 1000 of the general rural population. The prevalence of rheumatic heart disease increased with age until the age of 25 years. Females were more prone to rheumatic heart disease compared to males. Socio-economic class had a direct impact on the occurrence of rheumatic heart disease.