Flash pyrolysis of Silopi asphaltite in a free-fall reactor under vacuum

Flash pyrolysis experiments on asphaltite samples were performed in a free-fall reactor under vacuum to determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature, feed rate and particle size. Maximum liquid yield of 13 wt.% was obtained in free-fall reactor under vacuum when the pyrolysis temperature was 700 °C, feed rate was 0.4 g min⁻¹ and particle sizes were between 0.075 and 0.250 mm. The liquid products obtained at various pyrolysis conditions were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) and liquid products were classified as following: C5–C10, C11–C15, C16–C20 and C20+. The amount of saturated hydrocarbons decreased while the amount of unsaturated hydrocarbons increased with increase of temperature. While percent of C5–C10 unsaturated hydrocarbons continuously increased with increase of temperature, the percent of C11–C15 unsaturated hydrocarbons increased up to 750 °C and then started to diminish. Functional group analysis of solid residue was carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). The proximate analysis of solid residue indicated that percent of fixed carbon and ash increased with temperature.     

Laws of large numbers for supercritical branching Gaussian processes

A general class of non-Markov, supercritical Gaussian branching particle systems is introduced and its long-time asymptotics is studied. Both weak and strong laws of large numbers are developed with the limit object being characterized in terms of particle motion/mutation. Long memory processes, like branching fractional Brownian motion and fractional Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes with large Hurst parameters, as well as rough processes, like fractional processes with smaller Hurst parameter, are included as important examples. General branching with second moments is allowed and moment measure techniques are utilized.     

Heuristics for workforce planning with worker differences

This study considers decisions in workforce management assuming individual workers are inherently different as measured by general cognitive ability (GCA). A mixed integer programming (MIP) model that determines different staffing decisions (i.e., hire, cross-train, and fire) in order to minimize workforce related costs over multiple periods is described. Solving the MIP for a large problem instance size is computationally burdensome. In this paper, two linear programming (LP) based heuristics and a solution space partition approach are presented to reduce the computational time. A genetic algorithm was also implemented as an alternative method to obtain better solutions and for comparison to the heuristics proposed. The heuristics were applied to realistic manufacturing systems with a large number of machine groups. Experimental results shows that performance of the LP based heuristics performance are surprisingly good and indicate that the heuristics can solve large problem instances effectively with reasonable computational effort.     

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic behavior of functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 with various organo-silanes

Mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been synthesized and functionalized by one-step synthesis method to widen their various application possibilities. In this study, phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS), 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and trimethoxypropylsilane (TMPS) were used as silane precursors for the functionalization, and after treated with HCl solution, their catalytic activities were evaluated in the lactic acid-methanol esterification. The presence of anchoring of functional groups on SBA-15 was proved by XRD, FT-IR, BET surface area and pore size distributions. Good catalytic activity was observed especially for SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS, and the catalytic activity order was determined as follows: SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS>SBA-15-TMPS>SBA-15-PTMS, which is directly associated with the surface area, pore size and pore volume. As compared with homogeneous catalyst, SBA-15-SO(3)H-MPTMS heterogeneous catalyst shows remarkable performance, such as separation, recovery and reusability.     

A new Chebyshev polynomial approximation for solving delay differential equations

The purpose of this study is to give a Chebyshev polynomial approximation for the solution of mth-order linear delay differential equations with variable coefficients under the mixed conditions. For this purpose, a new Chebyshev collocation method is introduced. This method is based on taking the truncated Chebyshev expansion of the function in the delay differential equations. Hence, the resulting matrix equation can be solved, and the unknown Chebyshev coefficients can be found approximately. In addition, examples that illustrate the pertinent features of the method are presented, and the results of this investigation are discussed.     

Multisource Bayesian sequential binary hypothesis testing problem

We consider the problem of testing two simple hypotheses about unknown local characteristics of several independent Brownian motions and compound Poisson processes. All of the processes may be observed simultaneously as long as desired before a final choice between hypotheses is made. The objective is to find a decision rule that identifies the correct hypothesis and strikes the optimal balance between the expected costs of sampling and choosing the wrong hypothesis. Previous work on Bayesian sequential hypothesis testing in continuous time provides a solution when the characteristics of these processes are tested separately. However, the decision of an observer can improve greatly if multiple information sources are available both in the form of continuously changing signals (Brownian motions) and marked count data (compound Poisson processes). In this paper, we combine and extend those previous efforts by considering the problem in its multisource setting. We identify a Bayes optimal rule by solving an optimal stopping problem for the likelihood-ratio process. Here, the likelihood-ratio process is a jump-diffusion, and the solution of the optimal stopping problem admits a two-sided stopping region. Therefore, instead of using the variational arguments (and smooth-fit principles) directly, we solve the problem by patching the solutions of a sequence of optimal stopping problems for the pure diffusion part of the likelihood-ratio process. We also provide a numerical algorithm and illustrate it on several examples.     

A Taylor polynomial approach for solving the most general linear Fredholm integro‐differential‐difference equations

In this study, a matrix method is developed to solve approximately the most general higher order linear Fredholm integro‐differential‐difference equations with variable coefficients under the mixed conditions in terms of Taylor polynomials. This technique reduces the problem into the linear algebraic system. The method is valid for any combination of differential, difference and integral equations. An initial value problem and a boundary value problem are also presented to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrophotometric total protein assay with copper(II)-neocuproine reagent in alkaline medium

Total protein assay was made using copper(II)–neocuproine (Nc) reagent in alkaline medium (with the help of a hydroxide-carbonate-tartarate solution) after 30 min incubation at 40 °C. The absorbance of the reduction product, Cu(I)–Nc complex, was recorded at 450 nm against a reagent blank. The absorptivity of the developed method for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was 0.023 l mg⁻¹ cm⁻¹, greater than that of Lowry assay (0.0098), and much greater than that of Cu(II)–bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay (0.00077). The linear range of the developed method (8–100 mg l⁻¹ BSA) was as wide as that of Lowry, and much wider than that of BCA (200–1000 mg l⁻¹ BSA) assay. The sensitivity of the method was greater than those of Cu-based assays (biuret, Lowry, and BCA) with a LOD of 1 mg l⁻¹ BSA. The within-run and between-run precisions as RSD were 0.73 and 1.01%, respectively. The selectivity of the proposed method for protein was much higher than those of dye-binding and Lowry assays: Most common interferents to other protein assays such as tris, ethanolamine, deoxycholate, CsCl, citrate, and triton X-100 were tolerated at 100-fold concentrations in the analysis of 10 mg l⁻¹ BSA, while the tolerance limits for other interferents, e.g., (NH₄)₂SO₄ and acetylsalicylic acid (50-fold), SDS (25-fold), and glycerol (20-fold) were at acceptable levels. The redox reaction of Cu(II)–Nc as an outer-sphere electron transfer agent with the peptide bond and with four amino acid residues (cystine, cysteine, tryptophan, and tyrosine) was kinetically more favourable than that of Cu(II) alone in the biuret assay. Since the reduction product of Cu(II) with protein, i.e., Cu(I), was coordinatively saturated with Nc in the stable Cu(Nc)₂⁺ chelate, re-oxidation of the formed Cu(I) with Fenton-like reactions was not possible, thereby preventing a loss of chromophore. After conventional protein extraction, precipitation, and redissolution procedures, the protein contents of the minced meat (veal and turkey), sardine, various milk products, and egg white were analyzed with the proposed and Lowry methods, and the results correlated appreciably (r = 0.98). The method was validated by Kjeldahl analyses of the tested samples; the data sets of complex samples assayed by Cu(II)–Nc and Lowry correlated to the findings of Kjeldahl yielded correlation coefficients r = 0.96 and 0.97, respectively, with slopes being close to 1. Interferences of glucose and thiol compounds at relatively low concentrations could be compensated for by selecting a lower alkaline pH (i.e., pH 10) at a cost of slightly reduced sensitivity and adding an identical amount of interferent to the reagent blank, respectively, since the absorbances due to BSA and interferent were additive. Thus a novel spectrophotometric method for total protein assay using a stable reagent and chromophore, which was simple, rapid, sensitive, flexible, and relatively selective, was developed, and applied to a variety of food products.     

Electrical and optical properties of an organic semiconductor based on polyaniline prepared by emulsion polymerization and fabrication of Ag/polyaniline/n-Si Schottky diode

The electrical, optical, and metal-semiconductor contact properties of the polyaniline prepared by emulsion polymerization have been investigated to obtain an organic semiconductor material. The obtained results suggest that the polyaniline (PANI) studied is an organic semiconductor material with optical band gap (E(g) = 2.21 eV) and room electrical conductivity (sigma(25) = 3.12 x 10(-2) S/cm) values. A Schottky diode with configuration Ag/PANI/n-Si was fabricated. The ideality factor and barrier height of Ag/PANI/n-Si diode at room temperature were found to be 4.59 and 0.38 eV, respectively. The obtained diode parameters change with temperature. The Richardson constant A* value for the Ag/PANI/n-Si diode was found to be 3.81 x 10(-4) A/cm(2).K. The Ag/PANI/n-Si diode is a metal-insulator-semiconductor-type device. The standard deviation, which is a measure of the barrier homogeneity, was found to be 0.14, indicating the presence of interface inhomogeneities. It can be concluded that the polyaniline prepared by emulsion polymerization is an organic semiconductor and Ag/PANI/n-Si configuration shows a Schottky contact.     

Steady-state mechanism for polymer ablation by a free-running Er:YAG laser

A free-running Er:YAG laser is used to ablate polyethylene glycol and the ablation yield is studied as a function of molecular weight (1000-10,000 g/mol) and laser fluence (8-25 J/cm²). A steady-state ablation mechanism is proposed which includes recoil-induced expulsion as the primary contributor to the ablation yield. It is also proposed that the formation of a molten layer is a necessary part of the ablation mechanism because the calculated tensile strengths for the solid polymer are too large to permit fracture of the target due to the laser-induced stress transient. The ablation yield is found to depend in a sigmoidal fashion upon laser fluence, thus implying a variable ablation enthalpy. Finally, the current results are compared with that obtained previously with a free electron laser.