Life cycle of hydroprocessing catalysts and total catalyst management

Hydroprocessing catalysts based on Ni, Co, Mo and W are used in various refinery processing applications where several deactivation mechanisms become of importance (coke formation, active phase sintering, metals deposition, poisoning) in the catalyst's life cycle. The life cycle of commercial hydroprocessing catalysts is very complex and includes the catalyst production, sulfidation, use, oxidative regeneration followed by re-sulfidation and reuse or, if reuse is not possible, recycling or disposal. To understand the changes in catalyst properties taking place during a life cycle, the catalyst quality in the different stages can be best monitored by using advanced analytical techniques. The catalyst's life cycle is further complicated by numerous technical, environmental and organizational issues involved. In principle, different companies can be involved in each of the life cycle steps. Leading catalyst manufacturers, together with specialized firms, offer refineries a total catalyst management concept, starting with the purchase of the fresh catalyst and ending with its final recycling or disposal. Total catalyst management includes a broad range of services, ensuring optimal timing during the change-out process, reliable, smooth and safe operations, minimal downtime and maximum catalyst and unit performance.     

Forgotten pioneers of color order. Part I: Gaspard Grégoire (1751–1846)

Some 100 years before Albert Munsell developed his color order system, French silk merchant and inventor of a technology for producing works of art in silk velours, Gaspard Grégoire, introduced a color order system based on the color attributes hue, (relative) chroma, and lightness. Conceived in the mid‐1780s, an atlas with 1350 samples was produced before 1813 and found use in French Royal manufacturing operations and educational institutions. It was followed a few years later by one with 343 samples. Grégoire's work was subsequently overshadowed by Michel‐Eugene Chevreul's more complicated and less intuitive hemispherical system of 1839. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 5–9, 2008     

Software for dynamic reconfigurable order picking systems

This paper describes an approach, conceptual framework, and software architecture for dynamic reconfiguration of the order picking system. The research and development project was sponsored by the Material Handling Research Center (MHRC), a National Science Foundation sponsored Cooperative Industry/University Research Center. The storage configuration is assumed to be an in-the-aisle order picking system in which stockkeeping units (SKUs) can occupy variable capacity storage locations and stock-splitting is allowed among zones (clusters). The product mix may include multiple product families with different life cycles, correlated demand within families and commonality of demand across families.     

Oxidation of some aliphatic polyols on anodically deposited MnO2

Galvanostatic steady state current potential measurements were carried out for oxidation of a series of aliphatic alcohols having varying number of hydroxyl groups. The anodically deposited layer of MnO₂ on platinum was used as the electrode material. The deposit was characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and electrode potential measurements. The catalytic role of MnO₂ in the electro-oxidation of alcohols was indicated by the chronopotentiograms and the cyclic voltammograms. An analysis of the electrochemical data indicated a catalytic EC mechanism in which Mn (V) is generated electrochemically and consumed chemically in succession. Based on this and the hydrogen bonding interaction between alcoholic hydroxyl groups and MnO₂ layer, a mechanism was proposed which accounts for the variation in the observed electrochemical reaction orders. Tafel behaviour was found to be followed only approximately. Current efficiency of the electrochemical oxidation of polyols was studied. Replacement of platinum by carbon as current collector was found to leave the electrocatalytic activity of the MnO₂ deposit practically unaltered.     

Lyapunov analysis of the approximate motion equations of flexible structures

In this paper, the effectiveness of the approximate motion equations of a flexible structure, obtained by the RitzKantorovich method, is analysed by using Lyapunov functions. The analysis, which is restricted to the case of a single flexible beam for the sake of simplicity, is carried out under the assumption that a partial dissipation is present, affecting only the first degrees of freedom of the system. By means of suitable Lyapunov functions, an overbounding estimate of the quadratic approximation error is determined as a decreasing function of the approximation order. The analysis is completed by considering the two ‘extreme’ cases: the theoretical absence of dissipation and the presence of structural dissipation, affecting all the infinite degrees of freedom.     

A study of the static and dynamic properties of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers in low molar mass mesogens

The static and dynamic properties of solutions of a side chain polysiloxane liquid crystal polymer have been studied in a cyanobiphenyl nematic host as a function of concentration and temperature. Refractive index measurements were carried out on aligned samples and the data used to determine the macroscopic order parameter, S, using Haller's method. Photon correlation spectroscopy has been used to measure ($\text{k}{}_{22}\text{γ}{}_1$) for the pure nematic solvent and the solutions. From these measurements it appears that the static properties vary slowly and linearly with increasing polymer concentration whilst the dynamic or viscoelastic properties change markedly. This change has been attributed to γ₁, the twist viscosity, and the results have been discussed in terms of the function of the siloxane polymer backbone.     

一种改进的VI CFAR检测器

为得到不同杂波背景下的良好检测性能,给出了一种改进的VI CFAR检测器.该检测器主要利用均值类可变性指示（MLVI）CFAR检测器和有序统计类可变性指示（OSVI）CFAR检测器的各自优点以及VI CFAR的以背景均匀程度自动选择不同检测器思想.理论分析和仿真结果表明：该检测器在均匀背景下性能基本与MLVI CFAR重合;多目标背景下具有较强的抗多目标能力;杂波边缘背景下有较好的虚警概率控制能力且运算量小,是一种稳健的检测器.     

汽车车内行驶噪声测试的阶次跟踪法

应用PULSE测试分析系统中阶次跟踪法,测试分析某型乘用车车内四个位置的噪声水平随发动机转速变化的关系.揭示了该型汽车在测试工况下,不同的转速对车内噪声的贡献规律.为降低车内行驶噪声和振动响应提供了重要的分析依据和参考.     

一种光纤陀螺随机漂移的高精度建模方法

为减小光纤陀螺随机漂移,采用时间序列分析法对其进行ARMA模型辨识.提出一种全局最优的模型阶次搜索算法,将模型适用性检验方法中的BIC(Bayesian information criterion)用于模型阶次搜索,并采用Pandit-Wu建模思想,把二维搜索化为一维搜索,得到了模型阶次的一致性估计.提出了一种改进的U-C算法,并与长自回归模型计算残差法相结合共同估计模型参数.它将非线性参数估计过程转化为线性过程,使用了正置与逆置漂移时序参与估计,以前向和后向模型的滤波误差平方和最小为参数估计的指标,在p+1维空间中求极小值.采用上述方法确定的模型其残差标准差为0.002 4°,最大预报误差为0.011 2°,能准确预报光纤陀螺随机漂移趋势.