Mathematical analysis of SOFC based on co-ionic conducting electrolyte

In co-ionic conducting solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), both oxygen ion (O2) and proton (H+) can transport through the electrolyte, generating steam in both the an-ode and cathode. Thus the mass transport phenomenon in the electrodes is quite different from that in conventional SOFC with oxygen ion conducting electrolyte (O-SOFC) or with proton conducting electrolyte (H-SOFC). The generation of steam in both electrodes also affects the concentration over-potential loss and further the SOFC performance. However, no detailed modeling study on SOFCs with co-ionic electrolyte has been reported yet. In this paper, a new mathematical model for SOFC based on co-ionic electrolyte was developed to predict its actual performance considering three major kinds of overpotentials. Ohm’s law and the Butler-Volmer formula were used to model the ion conduction and electrochemical reactions, respectively. The dusty gas model (DGM) was employed to simulate the mass transport processes in the porous electrodes. Parametric simulations were performed to investigate the effects of proton transfer number (tH) and current density (jtotal) on the cell performance. It is interesting to find that the co-ionic conducting SOFC could perform better than O-SOFC and H-SOFC by choosing an appropriate proton transfer number. In addition, the co-ionic SOFC shows smaller difference between the anode and cathode concentration overpotentials than O-SOFC and H-SOFC at certain t H values. The results could help material selection for enhancing SOFC performance.     

Optimization of LiMn2O4 electrode properties in a gradient- and surrogate-based framework

In this study, the effects of discharge rate and LiMn2O4 cathode properties (thickness, porosity, particle size, and solid-state diffusivity and conductivity) on the gravimetric energy and power density of a lithium-ion battery cell are analyzed simultaneously using a cell-level model. Surrogate-based analysis tools are applied to simulation data to construct educed-order models, which are in turn used to perform global sensitivity analysis to compare the relative importance of cathode properties. Based on these results, the cell is then optimized for several distinct physical scenarios using gradient-based methods. The comple-mentary nature of the gradient-and surrogate-based tools is demonstrated by establishing proper bounds and constraints with the surrogate model, and then obtaining accurate optimized solutions with the gradient-based optimizer. These optimal solutions enable the quantification of the tradeoffs between energy and power density, and the effect of optimizing the electrode thickness and porosity. In conjunction with known guidelines, the numerical optimization frame-work developed herein can be applied directly to cell and pack design.     

Fe_3Al/WS_2复合材料的真空摩擦学性能研究

采用热压烧结的方法制备了添加WS2质量百分数为10%、20%和30%的Fe-28Al-5Cr基复合材料,通过XRD和SEM等手段分析了样品的相组成和组织结构.利用自制的真空摩擦试验机测试了样品在4×10-4Pa真空下的摩擦学性能.研究结果显示:通过与WS2的复合能够显著降低Fe3Al基金属间化合物在真空条件下的摩擦系数,但三种不同WS2含量复合材料的摩擦系数差别不大.随着WS2含量增加,复合材料的磨损率逐渐降低,特别是30%复合材料的磨损率较纯Fe-28Al-5Cr的磨损率低约1个数量级.滑动速度和载荷对三种材料的摩擦系数和磨损率均有一定的影响.纯Fe3Al的磨损表面较为粗糙,出现严重的剥落坑和剥落痕迹,磨损机理为严重的疲劳磨损.添加质量百分数为10%WS2的复合材料的磨损机理为磨粒磨损和疲劳磨损;添加WS2质量百分数为20%和30%的复合材料,其磨损表面相对较为光滑平整,磨损机理为轻微剥落.因此,在复合材料制备中添加WS2能够显著提高Fe3Al金属间化合物的真空摩擦学性能.     

Facile biogenic selenium nanoparticle synthesis,characterization and effects on oxidative stress generated by UV in microalgae

Since nanoparticle synthesis via chemical and physical methods is expensive and includes hazardous chemicals, biosynthesis has emerged as an environmentally friendly, clean and viable alternative. The present study reports the synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) using Citricoccus sp.. For the production of SeNPs, the influence of some parameters (time, pH, temperature and stirring rate) was studied. Optimum synthesis conditions were found as pH 8, 24 h reaction time, 37 °C and 150 rpm. Synthesized particles were spherical and were 104.46 ± 50.82 nm with a zeta potential of –20.43 ± 0.41 mV. Afterward, the effects of the nanoparticles on oxidative stress biomarkers, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), malondialdehyde (MDA), chlorophyll (a + b) and growth rate, subsequent to UV-C irradiation on Chlorella vulgaris were investigated. In culture contains nanoparticle and UV-C exposed, the amount of H₂O₂ and MDA decreased on the 1st, 3rd and 7th days following UV exposure compared to UV-applied group, while optical density and cell density increased, the amount of chlorophyll (a + b) changes were statistically similar. Consequently, it has been shown that the synthesized SeNPs alleviated the adverse effects of UV stress in microalgae.     

Ag-Cu-MoS2复合材料的真空载流磨损性能

采用粉末冶金方法制备了含有不同Cu质量分数(2%~4%)的Ag-Cu-MoS_2复合材料,并对其力学性能、电学性能和真空载流磨损性能进行了研究.结果表明:较高Cu质量分数的Ag-Cu-MoS_2复合材料表现出较高的硬度和抗弯强度;中等Cu质量分数(2.5%和3%)的Ag-Cu-MoS_2复合材料电刷表现出较低的电压降和电噪声;滑动速度的增加会降低材料间的接触稳定性,进而导致较高的电压降和较大的电噪声.在真空载流条件下与Ag合金盘滑动摩擦过程,不同Cu质量分数的Ag-Cu-MoS_2复合材料电刷均表现出较低的磨损,其磨损率在1×10~(–14)m~3/(N·m)~2.5×10~(–14)m~3/(N·m)范围,其磨损机理主要为疲劳磨损以及黏着磨损.     

Director reorientation and order reconstruction: competing mechanisms in a nematic cell

We propose a model to explore the competition between two mechanisms possibly at work in a nematic liquid crystal confined within a flat cell with strong uniaxial planar conditions on the bounding plates and subject to an external field. To obtain an electric field perpendicular to the plates, a voltage is imposed across the cell; no further assumption is made on the electric potential within the cell, which is therefore calculated together with the nematic texture. The Landau-de Gennes theory of liquid crystals is used to derive the equilibrium nematic order tensor Q. When the voltage applied is low enough, the equilibrium texture is nearly homogeneous. Above a critical voltage, there exist two different possibilities for adjusting the order tensor to the applied field within the cell: plain director reorientation, i.e., the classical Freedericksz transition, and order reconstruction. The former mechanism entails the rotation of the eigenvectors of Q and can be described essentially by the orientation of the ordinary uniaxial nematic director, whilst the latter mechanism implies a significant variation of the eigenvalues of Q within the cell, virtually without any rotation of its eigenvectors, but with the intervention of a wealth of biaxial states. Either mechanism can actually occur, which yields different nematic textures, depending on material parameters, temperature, cell thickness and the applied potential. The equilibrium phase diagram illustrating the prevailing mechanism is constructed for a significant set of parameters.      

Experimental study and modeling of particle drying in a continuously-operated horizontal fluidized bed

Multistage fluidized beds are frequently used for product drying in industry. One advantage of these fluidized beds is that they can achieve a high throughput, when operated continuously. In this study, γ-Al₂O₃ particles were dried in a pilot-scale horizontal fluidized bed, without considering any comminution effects. For each experiment, the particle moisture content distribution and residence time distribution were determined. To take into account particle back mixing in our experiments, a one-dimensional population balance model that considers particle residence time was introduced into a fluidized bed-drying model. Experimental particle residence time distributions were reproduced using a tank-in-series model. Subsequently, the moisture content distribution was implemented, as a second dimension to the population balance in this model. These two-dimensional simulations were able to describe the experimental data, especially the spread in the residual particle moisture distribution, much more accurately than one-dimensional simulations. Using this novel two-dimensional model, the effects of different operating parameters (process gas temperature, solid feed rate, superficial air velocity) on the particle moisture content distribution were systematically studied.     

氢气/丙烷/空气预混气体爆轰性能的实验研究

通过采用压力传感器和烟灰板两种测试设备,开展了常温常压下氢气/丙烷和空气混合气体爆轰性能的实验研究。实验过程中观察到自持爆轰波,爆轰速度比值在0.99~1之间,爆轰压力比值在0.8~1.2之间。爆轰胞格尺寸在10~50 mm范围内,建立了爆轰胞格尺寸和化学诱导长度的关系式。随着丙烷不断添加,爆轰速度减小,而爆轰压力和胞格尺寸增加。这种变化趋势起初较快,而后变缓。因为起初氢气摩尔分数较大,混合气体趋向于氢气/空气的爆轰性能;而后因丙烷摩尔质量较大,丙烷逐渐起主要作用,混合气体表现出丙烷/空气的爆轰性能。     

Determination of the constants of electrochemical reactions and the ion mobility coefficients in weakly conducting liquids from an analysis of the current—voltage characteristics

The problem is considered of the passage of a direct current through a solution of a weak electrolyte in a two-dimensional cell. Allowance is made for the electrochemical reactions of dissociation and reconbination which take place in the electrolyte when the rate of dissociation of the molecules is regarded as dependent on the electric field intensity [1–3]. For electrolytes whose recombination coefficient is of the order of magnitude of the Langevin coefficient, theoretical current—voltage characteristics are given for the limiting cases of large and small values of the characteristic times for the ion concentrations to be changed by electrochemical reactions and the transport of ions by the electric field. A method of determining the dissociation rate, the recombination coefficient, and the ion mobility coefficients is proposed on the basis of comparison of the theoretical and experimental current—voltage characteristics.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6. pp. 113–120, November–December, 1984.     

MoS2/a-C复合薄膜在高/低湿度环境下的摩擦学性能研究

采用磁控溅射方法制备了MoS_2薄膜与不同碳含量的MoS_2/a-C复合薄膜,利用XRD、SEM、Raman光谱仪、纳米压痕仪和CSM摩擦试验机等分析了复合薄膜的结构、力学和摩擦学性能.结果表明:MoS_2薄膜为疏松的柱状结构,MoS_2/a-C复合薄膜为无定形的致密结构,硬度较高.低湿环境下MoS_2薄膜与MoS_2/a-C复合薄膜的摩擦性能差别不明显;高湿环境下薄膜的摩擦系数和磨损率均有所升高,其中MoS_2薄膜与低碳含量的MoS_2/a-C复合薄膜氧化严重,而高碳含量的MoS_2/a-C复合薄膜的摩擦学性能稳定,对湿度交替变换的环境适应性更佳.这是由于碳元素掺杂改善复合薄膜的微观结构,提高复合薄膜的抗氧化性和力学性能.     

偏压及测试环境对新型MoS2-Ti复合膜摩擦学性能的影响

采用新型高功率脉冲复合磁控溅射技术制备MoS2-Ti复合膜,并研究基体偏压和测试环境对复合膜摩擦学性能的影响.结果表明:制备的MoS2-Ti复合膜表面呈现颗粒状结构,Ti在薄膜表层与O反应形成氧化物有效抑制MoS2的氧化.随着基体负偏压从OV增大到-400 V,复合膜的S/Mo原子比逐渐减小.在-300 V偏压下,颗粒堆积最为紧密,薄膜硬度和弹性模量达到最大值,分别为9.7和137.1GPa,并具有最低的平均摩擦系数值(0.04)和磨损率[(10-7mm3/(N·m)].多种测试环境下的摩擦研究显示:在室温大气环境下复合膜的摩擦学性能与其结构的致密性紧密相关,而在N2以及不同湿度环境下薄膜表现出的优异摩擦学性能则归因于在摩擦过程中有效形成的转移膜贡献.     

Melt-particle mixing in gas-stirred ladles with throughflow

An experimental study is performed on a gas-particle stirred ladle system with throughflow, using a simplified water model. Narrow ladles are used to produce 2-D flows. Flow visualization by the direct photographic method is employed to investigate the effects of ladle geometry, throughflow rate, air flow rate and its injection location on the melt-particle mixing performance. Image processing is applied to aid in determining the mixing performance. It is disclosed that an efficient mixing may be achieved if the gas at a higher flow rate is injected with particles through a nozzle near the bottom corner of the ladle wall on the melt inlet side. The mixing performance is better in a rectangular ladle (aspect ratio of 2) than in a square ladle (aspect ratio of unity). The effect of throughflow rate on mixing is minor. The study has an important application in manufacturing processes, such as continuous casting process, and materials processing.List of symbols AR aspect ratio - B width of water vessel, m - Bn Nozzle location on bottom surface of water vessel, m - H height of water vessel or height between bottom surface and free surface of water vessel, m - Hn Nozzle location on vertical (inlet side) surface of water vessel, m - Q _g volumetric rate of gas, m³/s - Q _l volumetric rate of water, m³/s - Q _s volumetric rate of particle, m³/s - x transverse coordinate, m - y longitudinal coordinate, m Visiting scholar on leave from the Mechanical Engineering Department, Kagoshima University, Japan     

Unsteady thermal response of a porous fin under the influence of natural convection and radiation

In this study, the effects of transient thermal performance of a rectangular porous fin in the presence of radiation and natural convection heat transfer are considered. The porous fin allows the flow to infiltrate through it and solid–fluid interaction takes place. This study is performed using Darcy’s model to formulate heat transfer equation. To study the thermal performance, three types of cases are considered, namely, long fin, finite length fin with insulated tip and finite length fin with tip exposed. The effects of the porosity parameter S_h, radiation parameter G and the temperature ratio C_T on the dimensionless transient temperature distribution and heat transfer rate are discussed.     

Numerical simulation of the nanoparticle diameter effect on the thermal performance of a nanofluid in a cooling chamber

The thermal performance of a nanofluid in a cooling chamber with variations of the nanoparticle diameter is numerically investigated. The chamber is filled with water and nanoparticles of alumina (Al₂O₃). Appropriate nanofluid models are used to approximate the nanofluid thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity by incorporating the effects of the nanoparticle concentration, Brownian motion, temperature, nanoparticles diameter, and interfacial layer thickness. The horizontal boundaries of the square domain are assumed to be insulated, and the vertical boundaries are considered to be isothermal. The governing stream-vorticity equations are solved by using a secondorder central finite difference scheme coupled with the mass and energy conservation equations. The results of the present work are found to be in good agreement with the previously published data for special cases. This study is conducted for the Reynolds number being fixed at Re = 100 and different values of the nanoparticle volume fraction, Richardson number, nanofluid temperature, and nanoparticle diameter. The results show that the heat transfer rate and the Nusselt number are enhanced by increasing the nanoparticle volume fraction and decreasing the Richardson number. The Nusselt number also increases as the nanoparticle diameter decreases.     

Competitive Methane Desorption by Supercritical CO2 Injection in Coal

A large diameter (∼70 mm) dry coal sample was used to study the competitive displacement of CH₄ by injection of supercritical CO₂, and CO₂–CH₄ counter-diffusion in coal matrix. During the test, a staged loading procedure, which allows the calibration of the key reservoir modelling parameters in a sequential and progressive manner, was employed. The core-flooding test was history matched using an Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM) simulator, in which Fick’s Law for mixed gas diffusion and the extended Langmuir equations are implemented. The system pressure rise during the two loading stages and the CO₂ breakthrough time in the final production stage were matched by using the pair of constant sorption times (9 and 3.2 days) for CH₄ and CO₂, respectively. The corresponding diffusion coefficients for CH₄ and CO₂ were estimated to be 1.6 ×  10⁻¹² and 4.6 ×  10⁻¹² m²/s, respectively. Comparison was made with published gas diffusion coefficients for dry ground samples (ranging from < 0.063 to ∼3 mm) of the same coal at relatively low pressures (< 4 MPa). The CO₂/CH₄ gas diffusion coefficient ratio was well within the reported range (2–3), whereas the CH₄ diffusion coefficient obtained from history matching of the core-flooding test is approximately 15 times smaller than that arrived by curve-fitting the measured sorption uptake rate using a unipore diffusion model. The calibrated model prediction of the effluent gas composition was in good agreement with the test data for CO₂ mole fraction of up to 20%.     

AN ANALYTICAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR AN ANNULAR COMBUSTOR

SUMMARY

This paper describes a computational procedure for the optimization of the performance parameters of a simulated annular combustor. This method has been applied to analyze the influence of the performance parameters and geometries on the annular combustor characteristics and provide a good understanding of combustor internal flow fields, and therefore it can be used for guiding the combustor design process. The approach is based on the solution of governing nonlinear, elliptic partial differential equations for 3-D axisymmetric recirculating turbulent reacting swirling flows and the modelling of turbulence, combustion, thermal radiation and pollutant formation. The turbulence effects are introduced via the modified two-equation κ-ε model. Turbulent combustion is modelled using the κ-ε-g model and a two-step turbulent combustion model is employed for the excess emission of carbon monoxide CO. For the evaluation of the NO pollutant formation rate, the NO pollutant formation model, which takes into account the influence of turbulence, presented here. The radiative heat transfer is handled by the heat flux model. The predictions of the combustor character-istics and performance parameters are made using the present approach.

Predictions of velocity, length of the recirculation zone, combustion efficiency and wall temperature are compared with measurements. Agreement between the predictions and experimental data is very satisfactory.     

3D Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow analysis in plate-fin and tube heat exchangers with electrohydrodynamic enhancement

Three-dimensional laminar fluid flow and heat transfer over a four-row plate-fin and tube heat exchanger with electrohydrodynamic (EHD) wire electrodes are studied numerically. The effects of different electrode arrangements (square and diagonal), tube pitch arrangements (in-line and staggered) and applied voltage (V_E=0–16 kV) are investigated in detail for the Reynolds number range (based on the fin spacing and frontal velocity) ranging from 100 to 1,000. It is found that the EHD enhancement is more effective for lower Re and higher applied voltage. The case of staggered tube pitch with square wire electrode arrangement gives the best heat transfer augmentation. For V_E=16 kV and Re = 100, this study identifies a maximum improvement of 218% in the average Nusselt number and a reduction in fin area of 56% as compared that without EHD enhancement.     

An experimental platform for creating white dwarf photospheres in the laboratory

We present an experimental platform for measuring hydrogen Balmer emission and absorption line profiles for plasmas with white dwarf (WD) photospheric conditions (T_e ～1 eV, n_e ～10¹⁷ cm^?3). These profiles will be used to benchmark WD atmosphere models, which, used with the spectroscopic method, are responsible for determining fundamental parameters (e.g., effective temperature, mass) for tens of thousands of WDs. Our experiment, performed at the Z Pulsed Power Facility at Sandia National Laboratories, uses the large amount of X-rays generated from a z-pinch dynamic hohlraum to drive plasma formation in a gas cell. The platform is unique compared to past hydrogen line profile experiments in that the plasma is radiation-driven. This decouples the heating source from the plasma to be studied in the sense that the radiation temperature causing the photoionization is independent of the initial conditions of the gas. For the first time we measure hydrogen Balmer lines in absorption at these conditions in the laboratory for the purpose of benchmarking Stark-broadened line shapes. The platform can be used to study other plasma species and to explore non-LTE, time-dependent collisional-radiative atomic kinetics.     

Magneto-electro-elastic antiplane analysis of a bimaterial BaTiO3–CoFe2O4 composite wedge with an interface crack

The antiplane analysis is made for a bimaterial BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ composite wedge containing an interface crack. The coupled magneto-electro-elastic field is induced by the piezoelectric/piezomagnetic BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ composite materials. For the crack problems, the intensity factors of stress, strain, electric displacement, electric field, magnetic induction and magnetic field at crack tips are derived analytically. Also, the energy density criterion is applied to predict the fracture behavior of the interface crack. The numerical results also show that the energy release rate for a crack in a single wedge is negative.     

SIMULATION OF NOx FORMATION IN TURBULENT SWIRLINGCOMBUSTION USING A USM TURBULENCE—CHEMISTRY MODEL

A unified second-order moment (USM) turbulence-chemistry model for simulating Nox formation in turbulent combustion is proposed. All of correlations, including the correlation of the reaction-rate coefficient fluctuation with the concentration fluctuation, are closed by the transport equations in the same form. This model discards the approximation of series expansion of the exponential function or the approximation of using the product of several 1-D PDF‘s instead of a joint PDF. It is much simpler than other refined models, such as the PDF transport equation model and the condi-tional moment closure model. The proposed model is used to simulate methane-air swirling turbulent combustion and Nox formation. The prediction results are in good agreement with the experimental results.