A new bubble-point-pressure correlation for the binary LiBr/H2O solution

In accord with the increasing concern about the global environmental issues, the absorption refrigeration heat-pump systems are currently being considered very promising and attractive. For the purpose of supporting the advanced R&D technology in this area, we have developed a novel correlation to represent the bubble-point pressures of LiBr H₂O solutions. The developed correlation covers the most extensive range of validity ever proposed: 273–483 K for temperatures, 0.05 kPa to 1.0 MPa for pressures. and 29 76 wt% LiBr for concentrations.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994. Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

A vibrating-tube densimeter for fluids at high pressures and temperatures

A vibrating U-tube apparatus has been developed for determining the densities of pure fluids and fluid mixtures at 10-200 MPa and 323-773 K. Measured parameters areP,T, andr (period of vibration). Fluids are injected into the U-tube at constantP andT. Three or more reference fluids are used to calibrate the response of the instrument. Fluid mixtures are produced by pumping pure fluids into T-junctions on the upstream side of the U-tube using high accuracy syringe pumps. An automated syringe pump is used to maintainP at setpoint ±0.01 MPa.T is controlled to ±0.01 K using a closed-loop, electronic signal amplification/feedback system. For mixtures, a statistically significant number of measurements of r are obtained to account for the effects of small heterogeneities in fluid composition (generally <0.005X;). Typically, density data for 15 fluids can be obtained in a 6- to 8-h period. Considering all of the potential sources of error in the experimentation, conservative estimates of uncertainty are as follows:P, ±0.02 MPa;T, ±0.05 K;p (pure fluids), ±0.0005g.cm^–3; andp (fluid mixtures), ±0.0005-0.0010g-cm^–3.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Interfacial tension between coexisting polymer solutions in mixed solvents and its correlation with bulk thermodynamics: phase equilibria (liquid/gas and liquid/liquid) for the system toluene/ethanol/PDMS

Vapor pressures, phase equilibria and interfacial tensions σ were measured for solutions of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS, M_w[equals]75 kg/mol and M_n[equals]50 kg/mol) in mixed solvents of toluene (TL) and ethanol (EtOH) at 30, 40, 50 and 60 °C. The experimental ternary phase diagrams can be modeled quantitatively from the determined concentration and temperature dependent binary interaction parameters χ_ij if the experimentally inaccessible composition dependence of χ_EtOH/PDMS is adjusted. The relations between σ and the equation of state of the system differ from that applying to single solvents. The exponents as well as the amplitude prefactors of the corresponding scaling laws (e.g. the dependencies of σ on the length of the tie lines or on the hump energy, i.e. on the intrusion into the two phase regime quantified in terms of Gibbs energies) change considerably with temperature. However, this variation can be reduced significantly by normalizing the independent variables. Dividing the length of the tie lines by the length for the corresponding binary subsystem proves more efficient than the distance of these tie lines from the critical point of the ternary system relative to the maximum distance of the binary subsystem. A combined normalization does not improve the situation.     

Stress in Dairy Farming and the Adoption of New Technology.

Previous studies have identified a number of different farm stressors and have reported gender and age differences in levels of stress. This study aimed to determine stress experienced by New Zealand dairy farmers, particularly in relation to adoption of new technology and its relationship to age and gender. Measures of farm stress and adoption of technology were completed by 985 dairy farmers. The highest levels of stress were reported for time pressures, machinery breakdown, weather, and government policies. Stress related to new technologies occurred rarely. Women reported more stress and higher levels of stress for understanding new technologies. There was also an increase in severity of stress with age related to new technologies. Overall, stress levels were moderate and may reflect favorable economic conditions. The findings suggest a need to tailor stress interventions to meet specific needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Internal Oxidation of Ternary Alloys II: The Coupled Internal Oxidation of the Two Most-Reactive Components Under Intermediate Oxidant Pressures

The kinetics of the coupled internal oxidation of the two most-reactive components in the scaling of ternary alloys under oxidant pressures below the stability of the oxide of the most noble component are examined using a number of simplifying conditions which allow to develop an approximate analytical treatment. The precipitation of the two oxides may occur either at a single front or at two different fronts of internal oxidation. The former case corresponds to a unique solution for all the parameters involved in the process. On the contrary, the existence of two fronts of internal oxidation yields a finite range of possible solutions for the oxidation kinetics as well as for all the other relevant parameters. Even though the present treatment does not allow to predict which solution will be adopted by a real system, it is possible to set limits to the values of the parameters yielding physically-acceptable solutions. After considering a general case, the treatment is applied to a real system already examined experimentally.     

The Internal Oxidation of Ternary Alloys I: The Single Oxidation of the Most-Reactive Component Under Low Oxidant Pressures

The internal oxidation of the most-reactive component C of ternary A–B–C alloys by a single oxidant is examined assuming a gas-phase oxidant pressure below the stability of the oxides of the other two components. The precipitation of the most-stable oxide leaves behind a matrix composed of a binary alloy of the two less-reactive components, whose composition affects the solubility and diffusivity of the oxidant within the region of internal oxidation, with an effect on the reaction kinetics. Approximate relations between these properties are proposed and used to predict the kinetics of internal oxidation of C under the assumption of parabolic rate law. The results obtained for the ternary alloys are compared with the behavior of binary A–C and B–C alloys with the same C content. A new important factor in establishing the difference between the internal oxidation in ternary A–B–C alloys and in binary A–C and B–C alloys under a fixed gas-phase oxygen pressure and C content is the ratio between the concentrations of A and B in the bulk ternary alloy.     

密闭恒温小室内流场均匀性的研究

对较小空间的密闭小室在孔板送风方式下的气流分布情况进行了实验研究,通过理论分析和实验研究提出了孔板送风方式下二次静压的方法。用Fluent公司推出的专业软件Airpak2.1对密闭小室内的流速分布情况进行了模拟,得出了在孔板送风方式下对送风进行二次静压可以使密闭小室内的气流分布更加均匀的结论。     

基于残余应变的多侧压下混凝土受拉疲劳损伤研究

在侧压分别为0.25fc和0.50fc及其组合条件下,进行了混凝土在多侧压下的受拉等幅与变幅疲劳试验,得到了疲劳累积极限应变和残余极限应变,建立了残余应变与疲劳次数关系方程,并给出了残余应变与循环次数关系曲线。根据残余应变的稳定性,也即不受加载历程的影响,主要与侧应力水平和相对疲劳次数有关,以残余应变与相应应力水平下的残余极限应变之比作为损伤变量,建立了损伤变量与疲劳次数关系的统一方程,并给出了损伤变量与疲劳次数关系曲线。同时,对单轴、单、双侧压下的混凝土受拉疲劳的累积极限应变和残余极限应变与相应应力条件下的静态峰值应变进行了比较,其结果是随着侧应力水平的增加,相应的极限应变增加,再次说明了侧应力水平的影响。静态峰值应变与相应条件下的疲劳累积极限应变接近,残余极限应变与静态峰值应变及疲劳累积极限应变的比值较为稳定,其变化区间在0.22~0.28之间,且两种比值之间相差0.0~0.2。最后,对Miner准则进行了改进,并根据所建立的损伤模型与改进的Miner准则,对变幅疲劳寿命进行了预测,其结果是较为合理的。     

On the ill-conditioning of subspace identification with inputs

There is experimental evidence that the performance of standard subspace algorithms from the literature (e.g. the N4SID method) may be surprisingly poor in certain experimental conditions. This happens typically when the past signals (past inputs and outputs) and future input spaces are nearly parallel. In this paper we argue that the poor behavior may be attributed to a form of ill-conditioning of the underlying multiple regression problem, which may occur for nearly parallel regressors. An elementary error analysis of the subspace identification problem, shows that there are two main possible causes of ill-conditioning. The first has to do with near collinearity of the state and future input subspaces. The second has to do with the dynamical structure of the input signal and may roughly be attributed to “lack of excitation”. Stochastic realization theory constitutes a natural setting for analyzing subspace identification methods. In this setting, we undertake a comparative study of three widely used subspace methods (N4SID, Robust N4SID and PO-MOESP). The last two methods are proven to be essentially equivalent and the relative accuracy, regarding the estimation of the (A,C) parameters, is shown to be the same.