Electrostatic precipitation in a small scale wood combustion furnace

Wood combustion generates a high concentration of particulate matter emission, but most of the particulates in the exhaust gas can be filtered through an electrostatic precipitator. The objective of this paper is to model the trajectory of particulates in the exhaust chimney of a small scale wood combustion furnace with an electrostatic precipitator. The precipitator consists of a central electrode subjected to a maximum high voltage of 50 kV and an outer electrode of 180 mm diameter, ground potential. The parameters including particle size, ambient temperature, pressure, gas flow rate and the applied voltage have been varied while computing the trajectories of the particles in the chimney. The trajectories of particulates have been analyzed for different sizes of a typical wood combusting stove by taking different forces into account on particulates. The critical conditions give the trajectory of particles as a function of particulate size and applied voltage together with the function of efficiency.     

喷雾腔压力及喷嘴孔径对相变喷雾冷却性能的影响

为了满足大功率激光器件高热流密度及低表面温度的冷却需求,以R22为冷却工质,实验研究了在闭式系统中改变喷雾腔压力及喷嘴孔径对相变喷雾冷却中临界热流密度、冷却温度等冷却性能的影响,实验结果表明：在喷雾入口压力为0.8 MPa,喷雾高度为22 mm,入口温度为-3 ℃的实验条件下,当喷雾腔压力在0.2~0.4 MPa范围内变化时,随着喷雾腔压力的升高,临界热流密度值（CHF）先增大后减小,存在最优的临界热流密度,冷却壁面温度随着喷雾腔压力的升高而上升;当改变喷嘴孔径时,CHF存在最优值,过小及过大的孔径均会影响喷雾冷却性能;当喷嘴孔径为 0.4 mm,喷雾腔压力为0.34 MPa时, CHF值最高,为276.1 Wcm-2,其对应的被冷却表面温度为26.8 ℃,表面换热系数为 66 640 Wm-2K-1。     

Electrostatic spray deposited zinc oxide films for gas sensor applications

In this work, thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) for gas-sensor applications were deposited on platinum coated alumina substrate, using electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) technique. As precursor solution zinc acetate in ethanol was used. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) evaluation showed a porous and homogeneous film morphology and the energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) confirmed the composition of the films with no presence of other impurities. The microstructure studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the ZnO oxide films are crystallized in a hexagonal wurtzite phase. The films showed good sensitivity to 1 ppm nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) at 300 °C while a much lower sensitivity to 12 ppm hydrogen sulphide (H₂S).     

小型撬装式BOG再液化装置的研发及性能测试

以最新研制的大功率回热式脉管制冷机为核心,建立了一台小型撬装式BOG(Boiled off Gas)再液化实验装置。与传统的BOG再液化装置相比,该装置具有结构紧凑、操作简单、经济效益好等优点。通过测试实验,0.4MPa时,在9400W的电机功率下,该装置制冷功率达到267W@86K;对制冷机冷头和冷屏进行改进后,在8450W的电机功率下,该装置在0.3MPa时的制冷功率达到430W@83K。实验结果表明:对制冷机冷头和冷屏进行优化后,装置的有效制冷功率大幅提高。     

Fiber Bragg grating pressure sensor with enhanced sensitivity

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) pressure sensor with the enhanced sensitivity has been demonstrated. A piston-like diaphragm with a hard core in the center is used to enhance the sensitivity. Both the theoretical analysis and the experimental result show that the radius of the hard core has significant effect on the pressure sensitivity. When the radius of the hard core is 1.5 mm, a pressure sensitivity of 7.23 nm/MPa has been achieved.     

Effect of small length scale on elastic buckling of multi-walled carbon nanotubes under radial pressure

A nonlocal multiple-shell model is developed for the elastic buckling of multi-walled carbon nanotubes under uniform external radial pressure on the basis of theory of nonlocal elasticity. The effect of small length scale is incorporated in the formulation. An explicit expression is derived for the critical buckling pressure for a double-walled carbon nanotube. The influence of the small length scale on the buckling pressure is examined. It is concluded that the critical buckling pressure for a carbon nanotube could be overestimated by the classic (local) shell model due to ignoring the effect of small length scale.     

High-accuracy measurement for small scale specular objects based on PMD with illuminated film

In this paper we describe an approach to measure small glossy objects by illuminated film based on Phase Measuring Deflectometry (PMD) system. In this setup, the standard sinusoidal fringe patterns are produced by the photographic film frame (135-film), which is illuminated from behind using LED and diffuser, instead of the well-known LCD monitor plane or digital projector. This setup can avoid the influence of electronic noise and screen refreshing, and fulfill the test of small objects in low cost. Moreover the system is easily calibrated with its vertical setup. With the experiments of measuring a plastic contactless smartcard and a metal plate, it is proven that the setup can reach sub-micrometer accuracy with respect to the data of the Wyko white light interferometer. This setup will be promising in the small scale measurement field.     

Electrostatic micromirrors for subaperturing in an adaptive optics system

An electrostatic digital mirror device has been used to replace the lenslet array in a simple adaptive optics system. Clusters of binary pixels define the subapertures of the image plane and direct a small portion of the image onto a detector. The detector measures position shifts in the focused subaperture image caused by optical aberrations. Measurements on a digital mirror-based system and a similar lenslet-based system compare favorably to within a simple scaling factor. A subaperture system designed around a digital mirror device could aid in the development of a sequential subaperturing method that would replace the more complex schemes used in traditional adaptive optics.     

高斯噪声背景下稳健型Durbin检测器设计

考虑了一种水下高斯噪声环境中的多通道点目标自适应检测问题,且高斯噪声的协方差矩阵未知。通常,描述这类问题的假设检验中包含多重未知变量,所以不存在一致最优检验,为此,我们采用Durbin检验准则的一阶近似寻求其次优解。在设计阶段,推导出Durbin检验所对应的检验统计量,以及虚警概率的闭式解,并由此证明Durbin检验具有对噪声协方差矩阵的恒虚警特性。在仿真阶段,分析了新检测器的性能,并与传统的广义似然比检验(GLRT)、自适应匹配滤波(AMF)检测器进行比较。仿真和实验结果表明在目标导向向量失配情况下,Durbin检验的检测性能优于传统检测器,但是在信号匹配情况下Durbin检验的检测性能略有损失。     

Electrostatic solution and rayleigh approximation for small nonspherical particles in a spheroidal basis

The electrostatic problem for the case of axially symmetric particles is analyzed in a spheroidal basis. In this case, the wavenumber is zero and Maxwell’s equations are reduced to the Laplace equation for scalar potentials. An alternative approach involves solving integral equations that are similar to those obtained within the framework of the extended boundary conditions method. The scalar potentials are represented as expansions in terms of eigenfunctions of the Laplace equation in a spheroidal frame of reference, and unknown expansion coefficients are determined from an infinite set of linear algebraic equations (the separation of variables method). These two approaches yield exact solutions of the problem in the case of axially symmetric particles, which coincide with known solutions in particular cases. Investigation of infinite systems allowed finding the boundaries where these algorithms are valid. Numerical calculations showed that, for spheroidal Chebyshev particles (i.e., perturbed spheroids), the Rayleigh approximation based on the electrostatic solution is applicable in a wide range of the problem parameters and is in fair agreement with the results obtained using the discrete dipole approximation.     

Sonochemical modification of carbon nanotubes for enhanced nanocomposite performance

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been treated using 20 kHz ultrasound in combination with dilute nitric and sulfuric acids at much lower concentrations than previously reported. The measurements revealed an optimum set of sonication conditions (in this case 30 min at 12 W cm⁻²) exists to overcome aggregation of the nanotubes and to allow efficient dispersion in ethanol or in chitosan. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy suggested the removal of amorphous material and reduction of the CNT diameter as well as modifications to their defect structures. The surface oxidation was determined by FTIR spectroscopy. At longer times or higher ultrasound intensities, degradation such as nanotube shortening and additional defect generation in the graphitic network occurred and the benefits of using ultrasound decreased. The modified CNTs were used as fillers for chitosan films and gave a tenfold increase in tensile strength and integrity of the films. The methodology was combined with sonochemical generation of gold or iron oxide nanoparticles to produce a range of functional membranes for catalytic reductive hydrogenation or dye degradation under conditions that are more environmentally benign than those previously used. Our results further add to the usefulness of sonochemistry as a valuable tool in preparative materials chemistry but also illustrate the crucial importance of careful control over the experimental conditions if optimum results are to be obtained.     

A novel design of membrane mirror with small deformation and imaging performance analysis in infrared system

A method of diminishing the shape error of membrane mirror is proposed in this paper. The inner inflating pressure is considerably decreased by adopting the pre-shaped membrane. Small deformation of the membrane mirror with greatly reduced shape error is sequentially achieved. Primarily a finite element model of the above pre-shaped membrane is built on the basis of its mechanical properties. Then accurate shape data under different pressures can be acquired by iteratively calculating the node displacements of the model. Shape data are applicable to build up deformed reflecting surfaces for the simulative analysis in ZEMAX. Finally, ground-based imaging experiments of 4-bar targets and nature scene are conducted. Experiment results indicate that the MTF of the infrared system can reach to 0.3 at a high spatial resolution of 10l p/mm, and texture details of the nature scene are well-presented. The method can provide theoretical basis and technical support for the applications in lightweight optical components with ultra-large apertures.     

HR-AR coated DFB lasers with high-yield and enhanced above-threshold performance

Optimized HR-AR-DFB laser structures are proposed foreseeing their use in directly modulated optical communication systems. They present, simultaneously, high single-longitudinal-mode yield, stable single-longitudinal-mode operation, high power efficiency and stable emitted wavelength. Lasers harder to manufacture were previously proposed elsewhere and did not succeed in achieving such high performances. A detailed assessment of the proposed lasers is presented and discussed.     

Floating synthesis with enhanced catalytic performance via acoustic levitation processing

Acoustic levitation supplies a containerless state to eliminate natural convection and heterogeneous crystal nucleation and thus provides a highly uniform and ultra clean condition in the confined levitating area. Herein, we attempt to make full use of these advantages to fabricate well dispersed metal nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles, synthesized in an acoustically levitated droplet, exhibited a smaller size and improved catalytic performance in 4-nitrophenol reduction were synthesized in an acoustically levitated droplet. The sound field was simulated to understand the impact of acoustic levitation on gold nanoparticle growth with the aid of crystal growth theory. Chemical reducing reactions in the acoustic levitated space trend to occur in a better dispersed state because the sound field supplies continuous vibration energy. The bubble movement and the cavitation effect accelerate the nucleation, decrease the size, and the internal flow inside levitated droplet probably inhibit the particle fusion in the growth stage. These factors lead to a reduction in particle size compared with the normal wet chemical synthetic condition. The resultant higher surface area and more numerous active catalytic sites contribute to the improvement of the catalytic performance.     

Electrostatic hazard and protection: expert system for fuel delivery modules

It is well-known that fuel supplying the engine of vehicles passes through a filtration process. Previously, fuel pump, filter and pressure regulator were separated; nowadays, they are built together in a compact module and placed into the fuel tank of the vehicle. Components of such a module are mainly made of good insulating plastic material, resulting in significant charging and risk of electrostatic discharge. Replacing all of the plastic parts with electrostatically dissipative materials and applying appropriate grounding and bounding risk can be reduced to almost zero, but it requires extremely high costs. To obtain economical construction with acceptable risk, an expert system had to be created to evaluate different constructions from the aspect of electrostatic charging.     

Digital particle holographic system for measurements of spray field characteristics

A digital particle holographic system for measurements of spray fields is presented. A double exposure hologram recording system with a synchronization system for time control is established, resulting in digital holograms that can be quickly recorded. To process recorded holograms, the correlation coefficient method is used for focal plane determination of particles. To remove noise and improve the quality of holograms and reconstructed images, a Wiener filter is adopted. The two-threshold and image segmentation methods are used for binary image transformation. For particle pairing, the match probability method is adopted. The proposed system is applied to a spray field, and three-dimensional velocities and sizes of spray droplets are measured. Measurement results from the digital holographic system are compared to those made by laser instruments, which prove the feasibility of the proposed in-line digital particle holographic system as a good measurement tool for spray droplets.     

Nano-manipulation performance with enhanced evanescent field close to near-field optical probes

Recently, interest in nano-manipulation using the evanescent wave generated by nano-objects has been growing, but the analyses of manipulation flexibility and performance haven't been solved. In this paper the near-field optical trap utilizing a tapered metalized probe used in NSOM is described in detail. By employing a generalization of the conservation law for momentum using three-dimensional FDTD method, rigorous calculations of field distributions and trapping forces in near-field region are conducted. Calculations show that the particle with radius larger than the aperture is pushed away from the metal-coated fiber probe, while it tends to be trapped in larger effective region as its radius becoming smaller. The particle that is placed very near the aperture and around two field peaks intends to be dragged to the aperture edge, while the particle placed at other position tends to be attracted to the center surface of the probe tip. Furthermore, a preferable method using the combination of the near-field optical fiber probe and the AFM metallic probe is proposed, for more efficient non-contact manipulation and better observation of one single nano-particle. The analyses of trapping potential along the probe axis and the near-field distribution show the possibility of particle trapping.